Just a couple hours ago, the Tarkir: Dragonstorm debut stream revealed a boatload of new spoilers from the set. As expected, many flashy legends were spoiled. However, we also got a glimpse at a handful of the commons and uncommons in the set, many of which seem quite powerful.
One particular uncommon caught our eye as an awesome addition to token-based Commander decks. This card makes Wrath effects look silly and can add a ton of extra power to the board out of nowhere. We are, of course, talking about Duty Beyond Death.
Duty Beyond Death in Commander
Duty Beyond Death is very strong, assuming you are able to go wide. In Commander decks centered around legends like Baylen, the Haymaker, this card should be an automatic inclusion.
Board wipes are very prevalent in Commander and go-wide strategies can be very vulnerable to them. There’s a reason why cards like Grand Crescendo hold hefty price tags.
Obviously, Grand Crescendo has the ability to build out a board of tokens, which is a big deal. However, Duty Beyond Death grows your entire squad in the process. Sacrificing a token is a small cost for such a huge effect on the game.
In some games, you’ll simply use Duty Beyond Death as an instant speed Glorious Anthem, sacrificing a small token that gets blocked. If you add any +1/+1 counters synergies to the mix, this card becomes even better.
Duty Beyond Death is Inspiring Call‘s best friend. Legendary creatures like Hamza, Guardian of Arashin can make great use out of Duty Beyond Death as well.
Duty Beyond Death in Standard
While Duty Beyond Death should be a slam dunk for Commander, there’s also a chance it shows up in Constructed. Boros Convoke plays plenty of expendable creatures, and pumping your whole team can help you push damage.
Duty Beyond Death pairs very well with Gleeful Demolition. Nesting Bot serves as a simple creature to sacrifice at very little cost.
Alongside flash creatures like Resolute Reinforcements, you’re free to leave up two mana and react to what your opponent does. Getting to save your team from Pest Control or Gix’s Command can be the difference between winning and losing.
The concern, though, is that many of the board wipes in Standard exile your creatures. Duty Beyond Death doesn’t do much to stop Sunfall or Temporary Lockdown, whereas Invasion of Gobakhan out of the sideboard can buy you the time necessary to cross the finish line.
As such, it’s possible Duty Beyond Death falls short of expectations in Standard for the time being. There’s still room for other creature heavy archetypes, such as Orzhov Arisocrats with Raise the Past, to gain popularity and abuse this card. At minimum, expect to see Duty Beyond Death become a staple of white Commander decks with a token theme for the foreseeable future.
