The Reserved List is truly one of the most bizarre collections of cards MTG has to offer. Despite some of the most powerful cards, like the power nine, rightfully taking a place on there, there’s also a bunch of unplayable chaff that will never be able to see a reprint. Between all that, however, is an interesting set of cards that have been lost to time. They may not have been great in the past, but with all the new MTG cards constantly being released, a lot of these old cards have a lot of powerful interactions now.
That’s the case for Anvil of Bogardan, a Reserved List card that breaks all kinds of effects nowadays. One new Avatar Commander, in particular, goes absolutely bonkers with this Reserved List artifact in play.
Anvil of Bogardan MTG
For two mana, Anvil of Bogardan offers two extremely important effects for the decks that want them, but it offers those effects to everyone. For starters, the Thought Vessel and Reliquary Tower effect can give you some serious leverage around the Commander table, as it benefits everyone. This, in turn, acts as pseudo-protection for Anvil of Bogardan, as players are less likely to remove it.
On top of this, you also get an incredibly compelling draw effect that always provides increased card selection each turn. At worst, this is a very useful effect, although it being symmetrical does hinder its usefulness somewhat. Thankfully, it’s not hard to break parity with this card, giving you more value than each of your opponents.
The simplest way to do this is to find ways to use the cards you discard. In a dedicated reanimator strategy, or alongside a discard-centric Commander like Tinybones, Trinket Thief, you can get value out of the cards that you, or your opponents, discard. From this perspective, Anvil of Bogardan seems uniquely powerful in Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist Commander decks. So long as you have Hashaton in play, Anvil of Bogardan will offer plenty of opportunities to discard creatures that Hashaton can copy.
Even outside of Commander synergies, Anvil of Bogardan has some two-card discard-themed value combos that can pull you ahead on resources. Partnering Anvil with Waste Not, for example, nets you tons of advantage from the cards your opponents are discarding. The Raven Man will, similarly, create a token army from the discards that Anvil of Bogardan causes.
Despite this value, Anvil sees a surprisingly low amount of play in decks that want your opponents to draw two or more cards. Considering that the card will trigger your payoffs while making sure your opponents don’t end up actually gaining cards in hand, this is incredibly bizarre.
Breaking Unagi in MTG Avatar
Of all the draw-two payoffs that Anvil of Bogardan breaks, a new MTG Avatar Commander seems like the best of the bunch. The Unagi at Kyoshi Island goes bonkers with Anvil of Bogardan thanks to its triggered ability. With Anvil in play, The Unagi will be drawing you six extra cards per turn rotation, which is absolutely ludicrous.
As if this wasn’t good enough, Anvil of Bogardan stops you from needing to discard extra cards, allowing you to keep up tons of interaction. Ward also makes it extremely difficult to deal with Unagi effectively, which may force your opponents to go after the Anvil instead. That said, so long as you get even a few turns with the artifact in play, the damage has already been done.
The Unagi at Kyoshi Island isn’t the only Commander that wants your opponents to draw multiple cards in a turn. The Council of Four, a personal favorite, will offer three additional cards each turn rotation with Anvil of Bogardan in play. This may not be quite as much as Unagi, but in exchange, this Commander can create an entire board of tokens for little cost. Xyris, the Writhing Storm can similarly create a massive board of tokens when Anvil of Bogardan is in play.
Alternatively, Anvil of Bogardan can also be used to great effect alongside cards that tax your opponent’s extra draws in some way. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, who deals two damage to your opponents per draw, is a good example of this. That said, if these decks also have discard synergies, you may end up playing yourself somewhat. Regardless, despite this potential drawback, Anvil of Bogardan is definitely still worth considering for future brews.
Try This Card For Yourself!
Thanks to the unique and powerful value that Anvil of Bogardan offers, it could easily see play in tons of Commander decks that care about what it does. Despite this, according to EDHREC, this card sees play in a surprisingly low percentage of decks. Outside of players potentially not knowing about Anvil of Bogardan thanks to its spot on the Reserved List, this card is also quite expensive.
At the time of writing, a copy of Anvil of Bogardan $27 at the absolute cheapest. While this isn’t too expensive for a Reserved List card, it doesn’t exactly qualify as a budget option, either. That said, the value that this card provides for the right Commander decks certainly justifies the cost.
Try Anvil of Bogardan for yourself in our MTG Deckbuilder!
Stick with us at mtgrocks.com: the best place for Magic: The Gathering coverage!