Later today we’ll be getting our official first look at the long-awaited Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy crossover set. Turns out Wizards was so excited, however, that it actually couldn’t wait ’till then. Yesterday the four face Commanders for the set were revealed, giving players plenty to chew on as they wait for the big stream today. Among these four, Terra, Herald of Hope looks to be the juiciest from a Commander perspective.
Heading up a deck built around the “latter half” of Final Fantasy VI, Terra is all about reanimating your small creatures to bring down the big bad. The “big bad” in this case being your three opponents, of course. She encourages an aggressive Mardu playstyle not unlike that of Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, but with some interesting twists and caveats. If this fantasy icon looks up your alley, then you may want to pick up some of these staples now. We’ve all seen how much popular Commanders can spike prices, after all.
5 | Vile Entomber
- Mana Value: 2BB
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Creature – Zombie Warlock
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Text: Deathtouch (Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.)
When this creature enters, search your library for a card, put that card into your graveyard, then shuffle.
Kicking things off with a nice budget option, Vile Entomber is just $0.30 for an absolute banger in a Terra, Herald of Hope Commander deck. Terra encourages an aggressive Reanimator playstyle, which requires some amount of self-mill to function properly. You need creatures in your ‘yard to bring back, in other words. Generic self-mill options like Altar of Dementia and Mesmeric Orb will do well here, but Vile Entomber is on another level.
For starters, Entomber is a creature that Terra can bring back. This lets it serve double duty as a way to set up your graveyard and a good reanimation target in itself. Second, it tutors a card into your graveyard, giving you full control that self-mill simply doesn’t offer. You can use this to grab key pieces to get you out of your current situation, or just your best Terra targets to advance your boardstate.
Deathtouch is also a very relevant keyword in Commander, letting Entomber serve as a rattlesnake on the board to deter opposing swings. Vile Entomber is just a fantastic package deal and a great way to bring the disparate strands of a Terra deck together.
4 | Karmic Guide
- Mana Value: 3WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Creature – Angel Spirit
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Text: Flying, protection from black.
Echo 3WW (At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
When this creature enters, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Fans of Alesha will be very familiar with this one. Karmic Guide is an absolute classic, giving you unconditional reanimation on a very convenient body. The two power makes it easy to reanimate itself, and this remains true in a Terra deck. Simply pay two mana and you can get this back alongside literally any other creature in your graveyard, specifics be damned.
The Echo cost looks like a drawback here, but it’s sneakily an upside in disguise. By refusing to pay when your upkeep roles around you can put Karmic Guide into your graveyard for free, ready to reanimate again that turn. This, along with a lower mana cost, gives Guide an edge over the recently printed Sister Hospitaller, which fills a very similar role. To be honest, most Terra decks will likely run both.
Karmic Guide lets you keep up a swarm of small creatures, or bring out one of the big hitters you’ve saved for a special occasion. It’s a hugely flexible card and one you’ll see in a lot of Commander decks for that reason. It also easily enables infinite combos with Reveillark, if that’s the kind of table you’re playing at.
3 | Embercleave
- Mana Value: 4RR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Artifact – Equipment
- Card Text: Flash.
This spell costs 1 less to cast for each attacking creature you control.
When Embercleave enters, attach it to target creature you control.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has Double Strike and Trample.
Equip 3.
A key factor that differentiates Terra, Herald of Hope from popular Mardu Reanimator Commander Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is the combat damage element. Terra actually needs to connect with an opponent in order to bring something back, rather than just attack. This sounds like a downside, and in most cases it is. It does, however, allow you to double up on your triggers by giving Terra Double Strike.
There are plenty of ways to achieve this, but for my money all pale in comparison to Embercleave. Terra encourages an aggressive playstyle by her very nature, which means this should be coming down for two a lot of the time. Once it does, equipping for free and letting Terra swing as a 4/4 Double Striking Flying Trampler is a fantastic combination. You’ll get two opportunities to reanimate, and you’ll make speedy progress toward a commander damage win.
If you’d prefer a budget alternative, something like Arashin Foremost or Fireshrieker may be more your speed. For pure efficiency and power, however, Embercleave is unmatched. The fact that it grants Trample as well as Double Strike prevents your opponents from just throwing their pesky 1/1 fliers in the way. It’s also just very mana-efficient most of the time, letting you pile on the pressure while also playing into your wider gameplan.
2 | Ashnod’s Altar
- Mana Value: 3
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Artifact
- Card Text: Sacrifice a creature: Add CC.
This one is hardly a hidden gem. Pretty much every Aristocrats deck in Commander runs Ashnod’s Altar, such is its absurd mana-cheating power. Turns out it’s a perfect fit in a Terra deck as well, owing to how it interacts with her triggered ability.
There aren’t really any cards that reduce the mana costs of triggered abilities out there. This means Terra’s two colorless cost will be a constant thorn in your side. This is where Ashnod’s Altar comes in. By sacrificing a creature, it covers the entire cost of the ability. Suddenly a whole world of possibilities opens up, and you don’t even need to keep lands untapped to use them.
Since Terra’s trigger goes on the stack after combat damage, you can sacrifice another creature that dealt damage to pay for it. Terra encourages you to run a lot of creatures with enters triggers, so you can sacrifice one and then immediately bring it back for value. Cards like Vile Entomber and Accursed Marauder do a ton of work when looped like this.
Having Altar in play essentially lets you freely switch out creatures in play with those in your graveyard during combat, with no mana investment needed. It’s an extremely potent enabler for the deck, and a great general Commander pick-up in any case.
1 | Fear Of Missing Out
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Enchantment Creature – Nightmare
- Stats: 2/3
- Card Text: When this creature enters, discard a card, then draw a card.
Delirium — Whenever this creature attacks for the first time each turn, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, untap target creature. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
It almost feels embarrassing to put a two drop from Standard on a list like this, but here we are. Fear of Missing Out is just that good in a Terra, Herald of Hope Commander deck. It does everything the deck wants to be doing, all for a very low cost.
For starters, rummaging on entry lets you set up your graveyard for future Terra reanimation. It’s important for Reanimator decks to have discard outlets in case they draw their key targets. Fear is a great one, and it also lets you pitch specific card types to fuel its own Delirium.
Once that’s online, Fear of Missing Out goes from good to great. An extra combat phase means two more cards milled from Terra. Fear can also untap Terra, which allows for a second swing and a second reanimation. We talked earlier about how giving Terra Double Strike lets you get more value out of her, and the same principle applies here.
To top it all off, Fear is a valid Terra target itself. You can bring it back to rummage again and keep your extra combats online with ease. For two mana, Fear of Missing Out is an incredible synergy piece for the deck that you can also just run out as a generic good card. If you want a poster boy for power creep, this is an ideal candidate.