Arriving right at the peak of Magic’s ‘hat set’ era, Outlaws of Thunder Junction has never fully managed to escape the shadow of its poorly-received theming. This is a crying shame, since, excess cowboy hats aside, it’s actually a pretty strong set mechanically. Even at the lower rarities, this MTG expansion shines, as can be seen clearly in Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor. While it’s just an uncommon, this legend offers a unique ability that makes it a deadly addition to your command zone.
Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor MTG
While the board presence that Ertha Jo offers by bringing along a 1/1 Mercenary with its 2/4 body is notable, the real show here is that second ability. Copying any activated ability that targets a creature or player, with no additional mana cost attached, is both huge and unique.
Copying activated abilities on creatures is the obvious use case here, with bangers like Mother of Runes and Humble Defector offering huge potential value swings. You can double down even further by running Marvin, Murderous Mimic and Illusionist’s Bracers for more activations.
While it’s easy to miss, Ertha Jo can also copy abilities that target opponents and their creatures, too, making it particularly good with removal and burn effects. Intrepid Hero can take down two creatures at once, for example, and a buffed-up Spikeshot Elder can burn out multiple creatures or opponents. Throw in an untapper like Thousand-Year Elixir, and even the simplest activated ability can totally change the game.
Since Ertha Jo doesn’t just double activated abilities from creatures, Cheap utility artifacts like Mishra’s Bauble and Tormod’s Crypt can get you double value here. Heck, even normally negligible tokens like Food and Mutagens become decent deals with Ertha Jo around. This ability also applies to planeswalkers, turning otherwise underwhelming cards like Chandra, Dressed to Kill into real threats. These synergies make it possible to run Ertha Jo as a full-on Artifacts or Superfriends deck, if you’re so inclined.
The Copy Combo Corral
As is often the case with MTG cards that copy abilities, Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor also enables a range of infinite combo lines. Alongside Voltaic Key and Palladium Myr, for example, it can generate infinite colorless mana. Simply tap Myr for two, then spend one to activate Key, copying the ability. This will let you untap both Myr and Key, netting two more mana to repeat the process. You can then close things out with Walking Ballista, which is great in the deck anyway since Ertha Jo doubles all of its pings.
Ertha Jo is also nasty with Clock of Omens, since it’s trivial to get infinite untap combos going with it. Make a token with Transmutation Font with it out, for instance, and you can then tap Clock and the token to untap Font and Clock. Tap Clock for another token, then rinse and repeat for infinite Food, Clues, and Blood. With Reckless Fireweaver or Grinding Station in play, this wins you the game on the spot. Alternatively, you can sub in Chrome Companion for Font, and use this combo to gain infinite life instead. This can buy you time to find another win, or fuel an immediate victory with Aetherflux Reservoir.
If you want to get a bit funkier, you can make infinite Hasty tokens by pairing Ertha Jo with The Jolly Balloon Man, Zealous Conscripts, and a mana dork like Purple Dragon Punks. Copy Conscripts with the Balloon Man’s ability, and you’ll get two copies, one of which can untap Balloon Man, and one of which can untap Punks to pay for the ability again. Repeat infinitely, and you’ll have enough Hasty power to take down the table.
A Lesser-Seen Uncommon
Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor has a ton to offer as an MTG Commander, with ability-doubling being open enough to support a range of playstyles. This is reflected in the card’s current EDHREC stats, which show it heading up decks ranging from Superfriends to Burn. Since it’s an uncommon, it’s even a viable choice for a Pauper EDH Commander, if you want to dabble in that lesser-known format.
While it shows up in a range of decks, Ertha Jo sadly doesn’t show up in a lot of them. EDHREC data shows that just 801 decks run it as their Commander, which is low by any standard. It sees more use in the 99, with around 14,000 decks running it there, but barely anyone is getting the full Ertha Jo experience.
Because of this low play rate and Ertha Jo’s low rarity, the card is incredibly affordable. Near-mint copies of the card’s one and only printing can be had for as low as $0.06, with foils not much pricier at $0.12. At these prices, the card is trivial to pick up, and a fantastic starting point for a budget deck, be it in regular Commander or its Pauper variant.
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