One of the unique and fun aspects of Commander is getting to craft around forgotten synergistic tools. There’s a wide variety of designs that may not cut it in other formats, but with the right support, offer more than enough utility.
Scythe of the Wretched is a great example of a card from MTG’s past that’s fallen under the radar. This equipment pairs perfectly with a bunch of different Commanders and even offers some sweet infinite combo potential.
MTG Scythe of the Wretched
While Scythe of the Wretched does provide a small stat boost, most of its power lies with its triggered ability. Once you’ve paid the somewhat expensive equip cost, the upside of gaining control of opposing creatures is through the roof, so long as you can trigger it.
The simplest way to get consistent value from Scythe of the Wretched is to pair it with Commanders like Tetsuo, Imperial Champion or Ashling, the Pilgrim that deal noncombat damage to other creatures. This way, you aren’t reliant on your opponents blocking to get your money’s worth. Once you add a Deathtouch-granting effect, like Basilisk Collar, you’re able to start killing and stealing even the biggest of bombs.
Alternatively, Maarika, Brutal Gladiator lets you attack from a different angle by forcing opposing creatures to block. If you’re fortunate enough to suit this Commander up with Nemesis Mask and Basilisk Collar as well, you can steal all of one opponent’s creatures every turn cycle. Similarly, equipping Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile with Scythe and Collar lets you kill all opposing attackers on the defensive end. With the help of Taunt from the Rampart and other mass Goad spells, you’ll amass a big board in no time.
Interestingly, beyond just reanimating opposing creatures that are dealt damage, Scythe also has the ability to resurrect your own. With this in mind, this equipment has cool applications in a Grothama, All-Devouring Commander deck. After equipping Grothama, any attacks you make with your other creatures will set your Commander up to fight them. With an ideal setup, the Wurm legend will die and draw you a bunch of cards, and your other attackers will simply return to the battlefield. This process even helps retrigger potent enters effects.
Infinite Damage and Death Triggers
In addition to Scythe of the Wretched’s more general uses, the card also enables a handful of infinite combos. The easiest of the bunch to execute simply requires you to equip Triskelion. So long as Triskelion still has three +1/+1 counters on it, the artifact creature will be a 6/6 once equipped. This sets you up to shoot Triskelion three times via its own ability, which triggers Scythe’s ability to bring back Triskelion and reattach the equipment.
While repeating this process with nothing else on board won’t accomplish much, adding Disciple of the Vault or any Blood Artist effect makes this combo game-winning. Hardened Scales does something similar, letting you ping opponents with Triskelion’s extra counters. Outside of Triskelion, the combination of Scythe of the Wretched, Inferno Titan, and Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats accomplishes a similar task.
Underplayed and Underappreciated
With this level of combo redundancy, it isn’t hard to make Scythe a worthy inclusion in your Commander deck. Despite its potential, though, this equipment only appears in 6,000 decks, according to EDHREC. Considering that Scythe is colorless and thus can go in many Commander decks, there’s no doubt this card is underrated.
Nonetheless, this may be primarily because players are unfamiliar with the card, rather than because it is underpowered. After all, this card was printed in Mirrodin 23 years ago and hasn’t been reprinted since. Unfortunately, this also means that Scythe of the Wretched is surprisingly expensive, maintaining a $9 price tag despite its low demand. Even still, the card’s uniqueness and high upside make it a worthy Commander pick-up.
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