Commander is, first and foremost, about creating memorable experiences with a group of friends. Chaining together crazy effects can create board states that shock the table, but bizarre, old cards that no one has ever seen before can get an even bigger reaction. The 28-year-old enchantment Invasion Plans promises exactly this.
MTG Invasion Plans
For three mana, Invasion Plans flips combat in MTG on its head. Allowing the aggressor to choose how creatures block completely changes the board state, essentially turning each creature into a potential removal spell. That said, because each creature needs to block, your attackers could be just as much at risk. This may make Invasion Plans seem narrow, but there are a lot of decks that can take advantage of this.
Deathtouch decks work the best, since Invasion Plans can essentially turn otherwise low-value 1/1s into removal. This is particularly effective with Queen Marchesa, turning her 1/1 Assassins into creature removal. You can otherwise use Heat Stroke to essentially make every creature have Deathtouch.
Even if they don’t have Deathtouch, however, 1/1s can still prove to be quite useful with Invasion Plans. Decks that naturally go wide can use this enchantment to protect their Commanders that have valuable attack triggers. Caesar, Legion’s Emperor and Grub, Storied Matriarch both make tokens when attacking, allowing you to stack all of your opponent’s blockers in front of one irrelevant creature to push damage. This can allow exceedingly nasty combat damage triggers, like Phage, the Untouchable, to get through without getting blocked.
Sadly, Invasion Plans does come with a downside. Just as your opponents are forced to block with their creatures, so are you. Fortunately, Goad does help to get around this by forcing opposing creatures to attack in other directions. Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant, in particular, goes above and beyond here, tapping down potential blockers and Goading them to remove someone else’s valuable creatures. You can similarly use tap effects like Springleaf Drum to keep your valuable creatures from blocking an attacking opponent. If you’re feeling particularly cheeky, you can also accomplish this with cards like Boldwyr Intimidator, protecting your creatures while singling out your opponent’s.
Of course, your opponents can also use tap effects to keep their valuable creatures from blocking, which means you may need to untap them again. Some Commanders, like Stranger Things’s Max, the Daredevil, do exactly this, forcing specific creatures to block with Invasion Plans in play. If untapping one creature is not enough, Jangling Automoton will put all of your opponent’s creatures at risk.
Tons of Combat
While most decks will use Invasion Plans to remove opposing threats or keep their creatures safe, the best homes for Invasion Plans just want their creatures to be blocked. A few different Commander options threaten massive blowout situations with Invasion Plans, causing one-sided board wipes or even winning the game outright.
Anzrag, the Quake-Mole and The Incredible Hulk are the best examples of this. Both creatures want to be blocked so that they can start creating extra combat steps. Pair either of these Commanders with Indestructible using something like Heroic Intervention, and you can take out all of your opponent’s untapped creatures.
While these are the flashiest Commanders who want to be blocked, there are a fair few other options that can be just as problematic. Zurgo Helmsmasher and Maarika, Brutal Gladiator both come with built-in Indestructible, allowing you to take out multiple creatures per attack without worry. You can otherwise use your opponent’s blockers to forcefully buff Commanders like General Marhault Elsdragon and Fumiko the Lowblood.
Fortunately, if you want to try Invasion Plans for yourself, finding copies shouldn’t be too difficult. Despite originating from 1998’s Stronghold, Invasion Plans only has a secondary market value of $1.50 thanks to seeing a reprint in The List. That said, the price is also partially due to the card being somewhat unknown, only appearing in about 6100 Commander decks according to EDHREC. This makes Invasion Plans a great way to surprise your Commander table on a budget.
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