We’ve still got some time before Christmas, but it’s never too early to get into the Holiday spirit. As we wait in anticipation for the fun times ahead, we’ve got a special MTG promo to share that’s sure to brighten your day.
Cheer is this year’s MTG Holiday promo, keeping a tradition going that started back in 2006. Thanks to creating a multitude of infinite combos, this might be the best promo we’ve ever seen. Of course, it does have the acorn stamp like all Holiday promos, so it technically isn’t legal anywhere. Nonetheless, if your Commander play group allows you to take advantage of this effect, you definitely should.
Cheer Combos
Cheer is a powerful creature that puts a unique spin on multiple potent mechanics. Just like the cards from the Modern Horizons 2 Evoke cycle, this creature is an Elemental Incarnation that can be cast for free. Rather than pitching a card, though, all you have to do is “celebrate” your opponent in some way, which really means the Evoke cost is zero mana with no drawbacks. Meanwhile, the reward of getting to copy two tokens in play has the potential to be quite high with the right support.
Where things get really interesting, however, is when you’re able to make a token copy of this creature. Because Cheer’s enters ability has no restrictions regarding what tokens you can copy, any token copy of Cheer that enters play has the ability to produce extra token copies of itself. This makes it trivial to generate infinite tokens in a loop.
This isn’t too hard to accomplish, since any effect from Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, to Saw in Half enables the combo nicely. Because these effects work at instant speed, you’re free to Evoke Cheer, and with the Evoke trigger on the stack make a token copy and go to town. Funnily enough, since Cheer’s first triggered ability isn’t a “may” ability, you do need a different token in play to break the chain. Otherwise, you’re forced to make token copies of itself forever, ending the game in a draw. Still, the upside of this combo is insane and well worth playing towards.
Remember, Cheer can copy your opponent’s tokens, too. So, casting Saw in Half on of your opponent’s beefy threats and casting Cheer as a follow up later in the game is a great play to have at your disposal, especially if you’re having trouble finding your combo pieces right away.
Other Ways to Utilize Cheer
Outside of abusing Cheer as a combo piece, your best bet in Commander is to simply play other big tokens worth copying. Tokens generated by Urza’s Saga and Karn, Scion of Urza, for example, can grow very quickly.
From there, adding any blink effects into the mix makes Cheer a very scary card. Obviously, Ephemerate is an elite efficient option that synergizes with Evoke. Once Cheer is in play for good, Conjurer’s Closet and other similar designs will help you flood the board with tokens over time.
Having access to a great combo card that doubles as a solid source of value is amazing. This Holiday Promo truly is one if not the best Evoke cards we’ve ever seen, and we’re happy it’s coming to our beloved game.
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