In a usual twist, the Commander decks for Aetherdrift are being revealed surprisingly early. Usually, these decks are saved until the very end of a set’s spoiler season as a last hurrah of spoiler-y goodness. This time around, however, these decks are being revealed nestled amongst everything else. Following on from the reveal of the Living Energy Commander deck yesterday, today is the turn of Eternal Might.
As we learned quite a while back, this is a graveyard-focused Zombie-themed Esper deck that’s helmed by Temmet, Naktamun’s Will. Overall, the deck has a lot of exciting new toys, many of which aren’t solely focused on the Zombie theme. There are also some exciting reprints which are always a welcome treat.
The Commanders
To kick things off, we’ll take another quick look at the Commander options for the Eternal Might deck. As mentioned, the out-of-the-box face Commander is Temmet, Naktamun’s Will, who is a very good option. Offering board-wide buffs for all of your Zombimes whenever you draw a card, Temmet will always be providing value.
At the very least, all your Zombies will get +2/+2 when attacking each turn, which is nothing to scoff at. Obviously, this ability has a much higher ceiling since draw spells and effects turn into potentially massive buffs.
Should Temmet not take your fancy, Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist is the alternative Commander option that’s nestled within the 99. Rewarding you for discarding creatures, Hashaton seems a bit awkward but can be incredibly synergistic. Not only do you get to copy Zombies you put into the ‘yard, but you can cheat in massive threats too.
Personally, between these two, Temmet seems like the much better face Commander out-of-the-box. That being said, Hashaton can still do some real work, but you’ll likely need to build a dedicated deck around them for that.-
Accursed Duneyard
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Land
- Card Text: Tap: Add C.
2, Tap: Regenerate target Shade, Skeleton, Specter, Spirit, Vampire, Wraith, or Zombie. (The next time it would be destroyed this turn, instead tap it, remove it from combat, and heal all damage on it.)
First up, Accursed Duneyard is basically a Zombie-themed version of Swarmyard. Unfortunately, this new version is significantly worse than the classic Time Spiral card, at least in terms of cost. This may make Accursed Duneyard seem pretty meh, but it’s actually fantastic.
For starters, Accursed Duneyard is colorless, so it can go in pretty much any deck. On top of this, it also supports a wider range of typal archetypes when compared to Swarmyard. Even if it costs more, two mana isn’t a ton to pay and it’ll be well worth it to protect your best threat.
Ultimately, there’s bound to be a lot of interest in Accursed Duneyeard thanks to how many decks it can be played in. If you’re playing Shade, Skeleton, Specter, Spirit, Vampire, Wraith, or Zombie Typal, then this card is an auto-include. Given that Zombies, Spirits, and Skeletons are all fairly popular archetypes, this could make Accursed Duneyard rather expensive.
Lost Monarch of Ifnir
- Mana Value: 3B
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Zombie Noble
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Text: Afflict 3 (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player loses 3 life.)
Other Zombies you control have afflict 3.
At the beginning of your second main phase, if a player was dealt combat damage by a Zombie this turn, mill three cards, then you may return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
If you’re going wide with Zombies, Lost Monarch of Ifnir is an incredibly scary threat. Suddenly, any safety found in chump blocking is thrown out of the window thanks to Afflict 3. With a wide enough board, Lost Monarch of Ifnir threatens to end the game if not dealt with immediately.
Even if you don’t have a massive board full of Zombies, Lost Monarch of Ifnir still forces opponents into difficult situations. Either your opponents block and take the three damage, or let it through and activate the Lost Monarch’s other ability. Most of the time, your opponents will want to avoid this, given it lets you fill your bin and reanimate something back to your hand.
All in all, Lost Monarch of Ifnir is bound to see a fair bit of play in Zombie Typal Commander decks moving forward. Any lord effect that grants abilities is always useful, and Afflict 3 is a great one to have.
On Wings of Gold
- Mana Value: 3W
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Enchantment
- Card Text: Creatures you control that are Zombies and/or tokens get +1/+1 and have flying.
Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, create a 1/1 white Zombie creature token.
As alluded to at the start of this article, On Wings of Gold is one of the few cards that doesn’t just care about Zombies. Instead, this card also cares about any creature token that you control, which gives this card tons of utility. Essentially, any token-focused deck with access to white is going to want to be running this card.
As nice as a +1/+1 buff is, the real draw here is giving creature tokens Flying. This added evasion can completely turn the tide of battle by making blocking significantly more difficult. On top of this, there’s On Wings of Gold also synergizes with Zombie decks that keep reanimating threats.
Looking ahead, there’s a real chance that On Wings of Gold could end up being fairly expensive. Its application in pretty much every token deck in white means there should be a fair bit of demand for this card. Even if you only care about the +1/+1 buff and Flying, four mana isn’t a bad price to pay at all.
Priest of the Crossing
- Mana Value: 3W
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Zombie Bird Cleric
- Stats: 3/3
- Card Text: Flying
At the beginning of each end step, put X +1/+1 counters on each creature you control, where X is the number of creatures that died under your control this turn.
Depending on your deck’s strategy, Priest of the Crossing can have some obscene potential. Even at worst, this card can buff your board after making effective trades in combat, which is always nice. As useful as strengthening your board is, however, Priest of the Crossing has so much more potential in a sacrifice-themed shell.
If you can set up a loop between Phyrexian Altar and Gravecrawler, Priest of the Crossing can provide infinite board-wide buffs. Even outside of this infinite combo any deck that wants to routinely sacrifice creatures sets Priest of the Crossing up for greatness. Aristocrats decks, for instance, are going to have a field day with this new Commander card from Eternal Might
Prophet of the Scarab
- Mana Value: 4U
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Zombie Wizard
- Stats: 3/4
- Card Text: Vigilance
When this creature enters, draw cards equal to the number of Zombies you control or the number of Zombie cards in your graveyard, whichever is greater.
If you’re playing a Zombie Typal deck that has access to blue, you need Prophet of the Scarab. This is basically non-negotiable since the card can provide an obscene amount of draw no matter where your Zombies are. Should you have the capacity to flicker Prophet of the Scarab, there’s a very real chance you can draw your entire deck.
Admittedly, five mana is rather expensive for a draw spell, even one with a body attached. To beat the going rate of Jace’s Ingenuity, however, you only need three Zombies, which shouldn’t be hard at all. Given how wide Zombie decks go, and how much they use the graveyard, it’d almost be hard not to get positive value from Prophet of the Scarab.
Whether you just want to restock your hand or dig deep for a game-ending infinite combo, Prophet of the Scarab is a fantastic card. As mentioned, they’re bound to be an auto-include within Zombie Typal Commander decks going forward. They should also put in great work in the Eternal Might Commander deck, especially if you time it right.
Renewed Solidarity
- Mana Value: 2W
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Enchantment
- Card Text: As this enchantment enters, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+0.
At the beginning of your end step, for each token you control of the chosen type that entered this turn, create a token that’s a copy of it.
Renewed Solidarity is another card from the Eternal Might Commander deck that’s bound to see a lot of play elsewhere. Any typal deck that wants extra tokens and a cheap extra buff will have its eyes on this card. Well… any Token Typal deck with access to white, at least.
Thankfully, many of the fan-favorite token-based typal archetypes have access to this color. Cats, Humans, Spirits, and Zombies (obviously) can all generate a huge amount of value from this card. Given all the token doublers that these archetypes already have access to, the potential for shenanigans is scarily high.
Ultimately, there’s little question that Renewed Solidarity is going to be a popular and fairly expensive card too. It’s difficult to say how expensive this card will be right now, but expectations are already set at $10+. This could make Eternal Might an incredibly popular and profitable Commander deck, depending on supply.
Rhet-Tomb Mystic
- Mana Value: 1U
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Zombie Bird Wizard
- Stats: 2/1
- Card Text: Flying
Each creature card in your hand has cycling 1U. (1U, Discard that card: Draw a card.)
Rhet-Tomb Mystic might seem like a fairly niche card on the surface, thanks to the cost of its Cycling ability. Hiding beneath that beak, however, is a deceptively powerful face since Rhet-Tomb Mystic lets you put anything into the bin. For any deck that cares about putting creatures or spells into the graveyard, this ability will be a godsend.
At worst, Rhet-Tomb Mystic lets you turn all of your useless cards in hand into potentially good ones. Even if you’re not pulling off graveyard shenanigans or game-ending reanimation, this effect should always be useful. The only trouble will be keeping Rhet-Tomb Mystic alive long enough to use it since it’s an easy removal target.
Wizened Mentor
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Zombie Cleric
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Text: Whenever an opponent activates an ability of a permanent that isn’t a mana ability, you create a 1/1 white Zombie creature token. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Last, and by some means least, for the new cards in the Eternal Might Commander deck, we have Wizened Mentor. This card would have been utterly incredible if it weren’t for one little line of text. Sadly, this is yet another MTG card that has, rather sensibly, been kept in check by “This ability triggers only once each turn.”
Even with this clause preventing Wizened Mentor from being downright broken, it can still generate plenty of value. Thanks to the number of turns taken as you go around the table, you can probably get four 1/1 Zombies fairly reliably. On its own, this token-generating effect is hardly overpowered, but in the right synergistic deck, it could do wonders.
Reasonable Reprints
Finally, as always, it’s worth looking at the reprints that this Commander deck has to offer. Thankfully for finance fans, Eternal Might has a compelling selection of expensive cards. When you couple these reprints with the potential new high-value bombs, this deck seems like a very compelling offering.
Before we get into the juicy prices, it’s worth remembering that they probably won’t last for too long. The new supply provided by Commander decks tends to cause the price of existing prints to slump somewhat. Even with this in mind, there’s still a lot to look forward to in the Eternal Might Commander deck.
Sitting at the top of the reprint throne in this deck is The Scarab God. Currently, the cheapest printing of this Zombie-Typal card goes for around $11, thanks to seeing healthy Commander play. Unholy Grotto also has a fairly impressive $9.50 price tag for a similar recent, however, this card is in far shorter supply, so it may dip soon.
Moving down the value order slightly, Rot Hulk is the next move expensive reprint at $9. Notably, the Game Night printing of this card, which has the normal border, currently sells for $26. Sadly, this new version from the Eternal Might Commander deck is unlikely to match that premium.
Taking another step lower we have a few cards around the $6-$8 range. Zombie Master, Bontu’s Monument, and Cryptbreaker are all welcome reprints but don’t break the bank. Hopefully, all these cards getting new reprints will make playing Zombie Typal a little more affordable.
