With Reality Fracture officially released and available on store shelves, players should expect to play against cards from this set shortly. Planeswalkers, in particular, got a massive upgrade from this set, and early price spikes suggest Superfriends will be popular. Throw in Empower Jace, a new Reality Fracture mechanic that creates Planeswalker tokens, and you may need a plan to stop the card type.
Unfortunately, Superfriends, when built properly, is an extremely annoying archetype to play against, especially since most board wipes can’t remove Planeswalkers. Throw in a powerful new combo, and Planeswalkers, as well as Empower Jace by extension, could even temporarily take over constructed MTG.
To prepare yourself for the upcoming onslaught of Planeswalkers, these hate cards can stop your opponents before they even get started.
MTG Clarion Conqueror

While it’s not the cheapest hate piece available,
Clarion Conqueror
Clarion Conqueror
Flying
Activated abilities of artifacts, creatures, and planeswalkers can't be activated.
is by far the most effective hate piece against Planeswalkers, stopping them from activating any of their abilities. The card isn’t hugely expensive, either, starting at $1.50 on TCGplayer at the time of writing.
Beyond stopping your opponent’s Planeswalkers in their tracks, Clarion Conqueror can stop everything from mana dorks to mana rocks from working, completely demolishing most ramp in Commander. This is extremely powerful in constructed, too, shutting down cards like
Badgermole Cub
Badgermole Cub
When this creature enters, earthbend 1. (Target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land. Put a +1/+1 counter on it. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)
Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional {G}.
in Pioneer and Modern. If that weren’t enough, Clarion Conqueror also shuts down Equipment completely, making Voltron Commanders effectively useless.
The only downside to Clarion Conqueror is that it’s double-sided, which can make it hard to find a Commander deck that can use it well. Generally, Commanders that rely on triggered abilities instead of activated ones, like
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.
, are the best places to run this card since it won’t stop your game plan. While it might be difficult to find a home for this card, Clarion Conqueror is one of the best ways to completely stop Planeswalkers, alongside a bunch of other common strategies.
MTG Suppression Field

If Clarion Conqueror shuts down a bit too much for your Commander deck,
Suppression Field
Suppression Field
Activated abilities cost {2} more to activate unless they're mana abilities.
is a great alternative, especially against Superfriends decks. Making every activated ability cost two additional mana to activate, using a Planeswalker’s loyalty abilities will rarely be worth the extra cost. Of course, Suppression Field also makes using Commanders’ activated abilities a real chore, shutting down many opposing strategies.
Unlike Clarion Conqueror, however, Suppression Field doesn’t shut down mana abilities, meaning that your mana dorks and mana rocks won’t be affected by the enchantment. Enchantments are also typically a lot harder to remove than creatures, giving this card some staying power. Throw in its extremely cheap $0.50 price tag, and Suppression Field is a great, affordable way to stop opposing Superfriends decks in their tracks.
Notably, if Suppression Field still does too much splash damage to your Commander’s strategy,
Eidolon of Obstruction
Eidolon of Obstruction
First strike
Loyalty abilities of planeswalkers your opponents control cost {1} more to activate.
offers an even more niche ability, specifically taxing Loyalty abilities of Planeswalkers your opponents control. The card is quite affordable at $0.17, but its ability is so niche that it’s probably not worth running.
MTG Archon of Valor’s Reach

While
Archon of Valor’s Reach
Archon of Valor’s Reach
Flying, vigilance, trample
As this creature enters, choose artifact, enchantment, instant, sorcery, or planeswalker.
Players can't cast spells of the chosen type.
doesn’t stop Empower Jace out of Reality Fracture, it will stop Superfriends players in their tracks, preventing them from casting Planeswalkers. Also capable of stopping instants, sorceries, artifacts, and enchantments, this card has a strong chance of shutting down an opponent’s Commander deck until it gets removed.
While this Archon is already nasty on its own, it can get incredibly disastrous when copied. Since the Archon chooses what it stops on entry, you can stop players from casting a different type of spell for each copy. Once you have 5 in play, players can cast only creature and battle spells, making
Rite of Replication
Rite of Replication
Kicker {5} (You may pay an additional {5} as you cast this spell.)
Create a token that's a copy of target creature. If this spell was kicked, create five of those tokens instead.
a nasty lock with this Archon.
With this in mind, Archon of Valor’s Reach works best with Commanders that primarily want to play creatures, like
Mayael, the Anima
Mayael, the Anima
{3}{R}{G}{W}, {T}: Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a creature card with power 5 or greater from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
, or
Torsten, Founder of Benalia
Torsten, Founder of Benalia
When Torsten enters, reveal the top seven cards of your library. Put any number of creature and/or land cards from among them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
When Torsten dies, create seven 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens.
. The card also works well with other Stax-y Commanders, like
Gaddock Teeg
Gaddock Teeg
Noncreature spells with mana value 4 or greater can't be cast.
Noncreature spells with {X} in their mana costs can't be cast.
, who can push Archon’s effectiveness even further.
Even in decks that aren’t so creature-focused, Archon of Valor’s Reach’s ability to shut down entire Commander decks makes it a powerful asset, and it only costs $0.30 to pick up.
MTG Frenzied Saddlebrute

Frenzied Saddlebrute offers a unique way to handle your opponent’s Planeswalkers, giving your creatures, and all of your opponent’s creatures, Haste to attack them. Saddlebrute also carries less risk than other global Haste enablers, since it only works when attacking opponents.
While this is a powerful way to take down your opponent’s Planeswalkers, Frenzied Saddlebrute is arguably even better alongside cards that force your opponent’s creatures to attack. With
Avatar of Slaughter
Avatar of Slaughter
All creatures have double strike and attack each combat if able.
, for example, Frenzied Saddlebrute essentially forces all of your opponents to attack each other with any creatures that would normally have Summoning Sickness. Pair these Double-Striking menaces with
Invasion Plans
Invasion Plans
All creatures block each combat if able.
The attacking player chooses how each creature blocks each combat.
, and your opponent’s creatures effectively become forced removal for your opponent’s threats.
Despite its uses in a wide variety of strategies, Frenzied Saddlebrute is surprisingly unpopular in Commander, appearing in about 17,000 decks, according to EDHREC. As you may expect, the card mostly appears in Goad-related builds like
Thantis, the Warweaver
Thantis, the Warweaver
Reach, vigilance
All creatures attack each combat if able.
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, put a +1/+1 counter on Thantis.
, or
Kardur, Doomscourge
Kardur, Doomscourge
When Kardur enters, until your next turn, creatures your opponents control attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.
Whenever an attacking creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
, which force your opponent’s creatures to attack.
Thankfully, because it’s so uncommon, Frenzied Saddlebrute is budget-friendly, costing only $0.15 at the absolute cheapest. For this price, using Saddlebrute as a Haste enabler in your creature-focused deck is easy, letting you chop down opposing Planeswalkers without fear.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!