For better or worse, it’s no secret that Commander games can go on for a long while. Between generally massive board states, counterspells, and board wipes, it’s not uncommon for games to last for hours. At some point, however, games do need to end, and that’s when players will need to bust out their win conditions to finish things properly.
For the most part, all of the best win conditions are widely known in MTG. Not only can this make them somewhat boring, but players will see them coming, too. At the very least, this can result in them being countered, so it’s often valuable to have a few unorthodox options.
Thankfully, MTG players have recently been sharing their favorite forgotten win conditions. While these might not be the best in MTG, they’re absolutely capable of ending games in a pinch. Considering there’s little to no chance players see these coming, they may well be worth running in your next deck.
Inkfathom Witch
On the surface, Inkfathom Witch feels like a somewhat simple card that needs a lot to go right for it to work. Technically, this is true, since its ability only affects creatures that are unblocked, but that’s not the biggest hurdle. Alongside a card like Sun Quan, Lord of Wu or Archetype of Imagination, for instance, you can easily sneak your entire board through.
Even without these, admittedly expensive, cards, Inkfathom Witch can still work wonders in any go-wide deck. Merfolk, in particular, seems like the perfect home for this card, especially since it is one. Thanks to many Merfolk naturally having evasion and unblockable, too, it’s a wonder this card isn’t more popular in the archetype.
Miraculously, Inkfathom Witch doesn’t see much play anywhere, according to EDHREC. With fewer than 2,700 decks running this card, it’s currently confined to Rogue lists that lean into the unblockable synergy. Realistically, though, since Inkfathom Witch doesn’t just care about your own creatures, it can easily sow chaos anywhere.
Thankfully, due to being so underplayed, Inkfathom Witch is also incredibly cheap right now. Near-mint copies can easily be picked up for just $0.10 on TCGplayer.
Ceaseless Searblades
At first glance, Ceaseless Searblades looks like it’ll only be good in one archetype, and even then, it seems dubious. Not only is it locked to an Elemental Typal deck, but you need abilities to be activating consistently, too. Considering there are quite a few hoops to jump through, it’s not really that surprising that Ceaseless Searblades only gets played in 124 decks.
As DarnOldMan pointed out on Reddit, however, Ceaseless Searblades can create a nasty win condition thanks to an unexpected combo. Alongside either Wandering Fumarole or Lavaclaw Reaches, you have a repeatable 0-cost ability to activate, once animated. Since you can use these infinitely, you can give Ceaseless Searblades infinite power for a lethal swing.
Admittedly, since you’ll also need to give Ceaseless Searblades Trample, and likely Haste too, it’s not a perfect two-card combo. Still, if you’re running these manlands already, then Ceaseless Searblades can still be a potent addition to a deck. If you do want to do this, you won’t have to spend much, at least, since it only costs $0.10.
Soulblast
Appearing in just 1,700 Commander decks, Soulblast feels remarkably underplayed, given its potential. Realistically, this might have something to do with its first ability, since it’s obviously one hell of a downside. Realistically, though, it doesn’t take much to turn this into an upside, as the damage potential is obscene.
So long as you don’t mind the risk, all you have to do to maximize Soulblast is leave one opponent untouched when swinging your board. Ideally, you’ll have enough damage to kill everyone else, allowing Soulblast to finish the game out. Failing that, if you’re down to a stalemate as one of the last two players, Soulblast can get around a board full of blockers.
Realistically, engineering these situations does take a fair bit of work, and you could easily get blown out. If anyone has damage prevention, then you’ll be left without a board to protect yourself, after all. While this is a pretty damning downside, it is very possible to use Soulblast safely.
To mitigate Soulblast’s inherent risk, playing it after a board wipe can result in basically free damage. Since all of your creatures are going to die anyway, there’s almost no downside, outside of the mana cost. The only thing you’d have to watch out for is the board wipe getting countered, as that could sink you.
Tears of Rage
If one way to sacrifice all of your creatures wasn’t enough, Tears of Rage can do the exact same thing. This time around, however, Tears of Rage amps up your damage during combat, turning everything into a massive threat. Naturally, this works wonders within any red-aligned go-wide deck, so long as you’re going for a big finish.
Much like Soulblast, technically, this card can be blown out by damage prevention. While this is damning, you can get around the sacrifice effect, at least, using cards like Sundial of the Infinite. Failing that, you can amp up the damage even more by just using Soulblast after combat.
Realistically, while Tears of Rage is a bit risky as a win condition, it’s definitely underplayed in Commander. According to EDHREC, the card appears in under 2,100 decks right now, and copies cost just $0.24. So long as you don’t mind going out with a bang, Tears of Rage seems like a steal for that price.
Teleportal
While it’s slightly more played than other options, Teleportal is still fairly unknown in Commander. According to EDHREC, it appears in just under 6,200 decks, and it doesn’t appear as a mainstay in any one list. This should hopefully make this sorcery quite a sneaky surprise, which is fitting, given what it does.
Its Overload ability might cost a fair bit of mana, but with enough creatures, it’ll instantly end the game. Even if you’re not going wide, Teleportal enables tons of creatures with powerful attacking and combat-damage-based abilities. Due to this, it’s a strong card even if you’re not spending tons of mana to Overload it.
Thankfully, while Teleportal is slightly more played, it’s still very much a budget MTG card. Copies are routinely selling for just $0.10.
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