The new legends from Myster Booster Commander Edition have all been officially revealed, and there are some serious heavy hitters. The Rulebreakers are particularly exciting, but they’re hardly the only unique options worth crafting around. Tresserhorn’s Lord, Returned, for example, can have a massive impact on a game with the right support.
MTG Tresserhorn’s Lord, Returned
Right away, Tresserhorn’s Lord, Returned’s stat line allows him to flood the board with value using The Reaver Cleaver and Infantry Shield. Double Strike Equipment like Leyline Axe or Embercleave can end the game outright, dealing lethal Commander damage. With the Zombie’s Indestructability in mind, you can also abuse Invasion Plans, forcing your opponents to block in unfavorable ways.
As strong as these stats are, however, this Commander’s entry effect might make it hard to cast it at all. Luckily, cards that counter the trigger like Tale’s End or Stifle circumvent this negative aspect. Torpor Orb provides similar upside in this deck, while simultaneously stopping beneficial enters effects from the opposition.
Notably, if you’re able to go wide with creatures, you can always just bite the bullet and cast Tresserhorn’s Lord as intended. You’ll get to draw three cards if you do this, but you can amplify things further with cards like Teferi’s Ageless Insight.
With this in mind, fodder creatures like Bloodghast and Reassembling Skeleton can become consistent card engines combined with a sacrifice outlet. Cards that generate lots of tokens, like Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia and Ophiomancer can both help you cast Tresserhorn’s Lord and draw you some extra cards.
With so many creatures dying, payoffs like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and Blood Artist can kill your opponents surprisingly quick. So long as you can provide a steady stream of creatures to sacrifice, this Commander can easily take over the game.
Infinite Card Draw and Death Trigger Combos
Besides serving as a value engine, Tresserhorn’s Lord also combos nicely with Gravecrawler and Phyrexian Altar. Because Tresserhorn’s Lord is a Zombie, you can repeatedly sacrifice Gravecrawler to Phyrexian Altar and recast it from the graveyard using the floating mana. Once you’ve drawn your deck, winning the game with Thassa’s Oracle is trivial.
While requiring more mana to set up initially, a similar deck-drawing combo can be executed with Phyrexian Altar and The Locust God. Each time you sacrifice an Insect token, you’ll draw a card and get a replacement. Notably, on top of drawing cards, this combo can create near-infinite mana.
Besides enabling infinite draw combos, Tresserhorn’s Lord sets up infinite death triggers with Blood Pet and Mortuary. By continuously sacrificing Blood Pet to its own ability and redrawing it thanks to Mortuary, you can infinitely drain each opponent with Blood Artist effects without decking yourself.
So long as you can get around its devastating enters ability, Tresserhorn’s Lord, Returned is an extremely powerful Commander. With plenty of ways to easily circumvent the trigger, this card is bound to be popular when the new Mystery Booster set becomes available.
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