MTG Leak Reveals 5 Fun New Commanders

Introduction

This article contains spoilers for cards that have currently not been officially revealed!

Yet another batch of MTG March of the Machine: The Aftermath leaks have occurred. March of the Machine: The Aftermath is an unusual set. It will not be draftable and contains only 50 cards. Many of these cards are Legendary Creatures, some of whom are even Planeswalkers that have lost their ability to travel between worlds. Here is an analysis of five of these new cards and how they might be used in Commander.

Nahiri, Forged In Fury

Nahiri is one of Magic: the Gathering’s most iconic Planeswalkers. She was Compleated in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, becoming Nahiri, the Unforgiving Nahiri, the Unforgiving Compleated ({R/W/P} can be paid with {R}, {W}, or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.)
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target creature attacks a player each combat if able.
+1: Discard a card, then draw a card.
0: Exile target creature or Equipment card with mana value less than Nahiri's loyalty from your graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it. That token gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. . She seems to have been both cleansed of Phyrexian corruption and desparked, as she is now just a Legendary Creature.

At six Mana, in Boros, Nahiri seems quite expensive. Affinity For Equipment serves to bring her cost down massively. Nahiri’s affinity ability makes her one mana cheaper for every equipment card her controller has in play.

Nahri causes the top card of her controller’s deck to get exiled whenever an equipped creature they control attacks. That card can be played until the end of the turn and played for free if it is an Equipment card.

To get the most out of Nahiri, players will need to use a combination of low and high-cost equipment. Low-cost equipment can bring Nahiri’s pricedown so that she can be played earlier in the game, while high-cost, equipment will typically be more powerful to cheat out with her ability.

Alongside equipment cards, Nahiri decks will also benefit from support cards like Stoneforge Mystic Stoneforge Mystic When this creature enters, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{1}{W}, {T}: You may put an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield. , Puresteel Paladin Puresteel Paladin Whenever an Equipment you control enters, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft — Equipment you control have equip {0} as long as you control three or more artifacts. , and Sigarda’s Aid Sigarda’s Aid You may cast Aura and Equipment spells as though they had flash.
Whenever an Equipment you control enters, you may attach it to target creature you control. .

There are certainly no shortage of Boros equipment matters Commanders. Cards like Bruenor Battlehammer Bruenor Battlehammer Each creature you control gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to it.
You may pay {0} rather than pay the equip cost of the first equip ability you activate each turn. and Akiri, Fearless Voyager Akiri, Fearless Voyager Whenever you attack a player with one or more equipped creatures, draw a card.
{W}: You may unattach an Equipment from a creature you control. If you do, tap that creature and it gains indestructible until end of turn. have always been reasonably well regarded. Nahiri will join the ranks of these Commanders and, given that she is a popular character with a powerful ability to cheat around mana costs, she may do well going forward.

Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin

Ob Nixilis is a powerful Demonic Planeswalker, who became a crime lord on the Plane of New Capenna. This powerful demon seems to have lost his ability to planeswalker and has become Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin. A four mana 4/3 flying trampler, the New Ob Nixilis gains a +1/+1 counter each time one or more opponents lose exactly one life. After gaining the counter, Ob Nixilis then exiles the top card of his controller’s deck, allowing it to be played until their next end step.

The card Cavalcade of Calamity Cavalcade of Calamity Whenever a creature you control with power 1 or less attacks, this enchantment deals 1 damage to the player or planeswalker that creature is attacking. from Ravnica Allegiance is an absolute auto-include for decks built around this card. Cavalcade of Calamity deals one damage to opponents who are being attacked by creatures with one attack, dramatically escalating the number of times Ob Nixilis’s ability will be activated in a given turn.

This card also synergizes remarkably well with its previous printing, Ob Nixilis, the Adversary Ob Nixilis, the Adversary Casualty X. The copy isn't legendary and has starting loyalty X. (As you cast this spell, you may sacrifice a creature with power X. When you do, copy this spell. The copy becomes a token.)
+1: Each opponent loses 2 life unless they discard a card. If you control a Demon or Devil, you gain 2 life.
−2: Create a 1/1 red Devil creature token with "When this token dies, it deals 1 damage to any target."
−7: Target player draws seven cards and loses 7 life. . The 1/1 devils Ob Nixilis, the Adversary deal one damage to opponents whether they end up getting through unblocked or getting destroyed. Other good cards to run in this deck include End the Festivities End the Festivities End the Festivities deals 1 damage to each opponent and each creature and planeswalker they control. , Impact Tremors, and Kessig Flamebreather Kessig Flamebreather Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature deals 1 damage to each opponent. all of which can be used to deal out little one damage bursts to opponents.

Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin also works nicely as a Sacrifice focussed Commander when used alongside cards like Blood Artist Blood Artist Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. , Mayhem Devil Mayhem Devil Whenever a player sacrifices a permanent, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. , and Zulaport Cutthroat Zulaport Cutthroat Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. .

Samut, Vizier of Naktamun

Hailing from Amonkhet, Samut rebelled against the cruel trials of the world, as depicted on the card Samut, Voice of Dissent Samut, Voice of Dissent Flash
Double strike, vigilance, haste
Other creatures you control have haste.
{W}, {T}: Untap another target creature. . Her spark later ignited and she became a Planeswalker, Samut, the Tested Samut, the Tested +1: Up to one target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
−2: Samut deals 2 damage divided as you choose among one or two targets.
−7: Search your library for up to two creature and/or planeswalker cards, put them onto the battlefield, then shuffle. , in Hour of Devastation. Her new card in March of the Machine: Aftermath reveals both that she has been desparked and that she has gone from a rebel to a government official as she is now Samut, Vizier of Naktamun.

Samut, Vizier of Naktamun is a Gruul 3 mana, 2/3 with first strike, vigilance, and haste. Whenever a creature, owned by Samut’s controller deals combat damage to another play on the turn it entered play then Samut’s controller gets to draw a card.

This card is highly comparable to Goro-Goro and Satoru Goro-Goro and Satoru Whenever one or more creatures you control that entered this turn deal combat damage to a player, create a 5/5 red Dragon Spirit creature token with flying.
{1}{R}: Creatures you control gain haste until end of turn. , one of the March of the Machine Commanders available only in Prerelease kits. Like Goro-Goro and Satoru this card rewards you for attacking with Creatures on the turn they enter play. This card trades Blue and Black for Green. This means that it loses out on many of the Ninjutsu synergies that Goro-Goro and Satoru provide (though, for players looking to be sneaky, there are exactly three Green cards with Ninjutsu). In exchange, however, Samut gains access to Green which has a wide selection of powerful Hasty creatures like Ulvenwald Oddity Ulvenwald Oddity Trample, haste
{5}{G}{G}: Transform this creature. , Questing Beast Questing Beast Vigilance, deathtouch, haste
Questing Beast can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less.
Combat damage that would be dealt by creatures you control can't be prevented.
Whenever Questing Beast deals combat damage to an opponent, it deals that much damage to target planeswalker that player controls. , and, of course, Craterhoof Behemoth Craterhoof Behemoth Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control. .

Red/Green also provides access to Rhythm of the Wilds which gives every Creature in the deck without haste access to hfaste and every hasty Creature in the deck the ability to gain a +1/+1 counter as it enters play.

Overall, the new Samut seems like a reasonably fun Gruul Aggro Commander.

Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival

Pia Nalaar Pia Nalaar When Pia Nalaar enters, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
{1}{R}: Target artifact creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
{1}, Sacrifice an artifact: Target creature can't block this turn. , is Chandra’s mother and a Kaladeshi revolutionary. Like Samut, she seems to have gone from being a rebel to working in the government, as she is now Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival. The new Pia is a two mana Boros commander that grants all Thopters haste and generates 1/1 flying Thopter tokens whenever a card is played from exile.

Commanders that care about casting cards from exile are a relatively new concept, but they are also typically both powerful and widely played. According to EDHREC, Prosper, Tome-Bound Prosper, Tome-Bound Deathtouch
Mystic Arcanum — At the beginning of your end step, exile the top card of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play that card.
Pact Boon — Whenever you play a card from exile, create a Treasure token. is currently the most popular Rakdos Commander in the game. Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald Whenever you cast a spell from exile or a land you control enters from exile, create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.
{1}, {T}, Discard a card: Exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn. is also a highly popular Gruul Commander that casts cards from exile.

Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival shifts this strategy into Boros. Red can be used to provide the majority of the exile effects that these strategies rely upon, using cards like Outpost Siege Outpost Siege As this enchantment enters, choose Khans or Dragons.
• Khans — At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of your library. Until end of turn, you may play that card.
• Dragons — Whenever a creature you control leaves the battlefield, this enchantment deals 1 damage to any target. and Wrenn’s Resolve Wrenn’s Resolve Exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards. . White meanwhile offers a variety of effects that buff the Thopters that Pia creates such as Tempered Steel Tempered Steel Artifact creatures you control get +2/+2. and Master Trinketeer Master Trinketeer Servos and Thopters you control get +1/+1.
{3}{W}: Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token. .

Tazri, Stalwart Survivor

Tazri is a Zendikari general who debuted in Oath of the Gatewatch. Both of Tazri’s previous printings ( General Tazri General Tazri When General Tazri enters, you may search your library for an Ally creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}: Ally creatures you control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of colors among those creatures. and Tazri, Beacon of Unity Tazri, Beacon of Unity This spell costs {1} less to cast for each creature in your party.
{2/U}{2/B}{2/R}{2/G}: Look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal up to two Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, Wizard, and/or Ally cards from among them and put them into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. ) are White cards with five-color activated abilities that enable them to be used as five-color Commanders. The new Tazri continues this pattern.

For two and a White, Tazri is a 3/3 Human Warrior. Tazri encourages players to build a five color deck where they jam together as many creatures with activated abilities as they can. Tazri has an activated ability allowing her to be tapped down for the cost of WUBRG mana in order to mill five cards and then put all creatures milled this way with activated abilities into her controller’s hand. She also grants turns all Creatures with activated abilities into mana dorks that can be tapped down to generate one mana of a color in their identity.

As a reminder, activated abilities are (as their name would imply) abilities that are activated by paying a cost, typically tapping the creature down, paying mana, or sacrificing a Permanent.

The new Tazri synergizes very well with the Training Ground reprint in March of the Machine: The Aftermath which makes using activated abilities cheaper. Beyond this, the pool of cards you could include in a Tazri, Stalwart Survivor deck is absolutely huge. You could run anything from Savageborn Hydra Savageborn Hydra Double strike
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{1}{R/G}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Activate only as a sorcery. to Hell’s Caretaker Hell’s Caretaker {T}, Sacrifice a creature: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only during your upkeep. . The deckbuilding possibilities here are practically endless.

Conclusion

The new cards leaked from March of the Machine: The Aftermath currently all seem pretty exciting. Although these leaks appear very real and the packaging they are contained in matches up with the official packaging advertised by Wizards of the Coast there is no absolute guarantee that these cards are genuine. In the event that these cards are all fake, this is an exceedingly thorough prank. In the event that they are, then this is the latest in a series of regularly occurring leaks that have grown increasingly prevalent in recent years.