Bloomburrow Commander Decks + Cards Review

Hello and welcome back. Today we dive into the new Commander decks being released with Bloomburrow, exploring their strategies and the new cards within. I’ve already given my first thoughts on the face commanders in a previous article, so I’ll only go over them briefly here. Our focus today is on all the new goodies we get within the decks themselves.

Well, outside of things like the alternate art planeswalkers. Tamiyo <3

SQUIRRELED AWAY

HAZEL OF THE ROOTBLOOM

As I said in the intro, I’ve already covered the face commanders a bit in a prior article. I will go over them briefly in each section however.

Hazel here cares about tapping any kind of tokens for mana and helping you make more tokens. Pretty circular design that can feed itself, though its second ability is more akin to Populate. You have to have a token already to get the gears turning. Of course the squirrel does care slightly for squirrels, so if you make a new squirrel token with the last ability, you get two instead.

While it’s not a squirrel typal commander per se (unlike the secondary commander), it’s nice and open-ended enough that I could see this leading a few different decks, and the main set squirrels care about food tokens, so there’s a place to start.

THE ODD ACORN GANG

While Hazel herself doesn’t much cares about squirrels to the point that a deck NEEDS to have squirrels, this secondary commander definitely does. First though are the stats this bring for 5 mana, which are really good. It’s a 5/5 with Menace, Trample and Reach. Really good on offense and good on defense. Blocking this commander effectively is going to take some work and compromise just from its native abilities for combat.

Of course I did mention it cares about squirrels a lot. Each squirrel you controls and make other squirrels larger by tapping them and gives them evasion through trample. A little redundant for the commander themselves, but good for other squirrels and tokens thereof. Unfortunately the ability can only be activated on your turn, but with the aggressive leanings of this commander I think you want to be going for the acorns anyway.

Lastly, it has some card advantage built in if you hit someone with a squirrel. What commander doesn’t these days, but again an aggressive bend to a deck this leads.

As far as this working in the precon, it can but not as well as a deck focused around it themselves. That just kind of goes with the narrowness of have a typal commander, but the Gang does have some synergies with the deck so I wouldn’t say it’s an immediate cut by any stretch.

SCURRY OF SQUIRRELS

A group of squirrels, if you will. This one in particular brings friends along whenever it attacks, but does it twice. Essentially, three squirrels go one way, two another and two to the last player, assuming it’s a four player game at the time. If they critters hit, you get to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.

Simple design, but effective. If you can get through with every squirrel on the first go, you could have a 9/9 Scurry of Squirrels that really needn’t worry too much about combat. While that is probably not going to happen often, and you might have other targets for those counters, it shouldn’t be overlooked that this on an empty board, maybe after a board wipe, will be dangerous.

HAZEL’S BREWMASTER

Got something brewing here, and it’s food tokens with a unique flavor. When this warlock (an outlaw) comes into play or attacks, you get some single target graveyard removal and create a food token. However, with the brewmaster in play you food tokens get all activated abilities of creature cards exiled with the Brewmaster.

That’s an interesting feature. While you can exile any card from a graveyard with Brewmaster, you get rewarded more for targeting creatures. Makes sense for a Black card. This will be some interesting tech in a lot of decks, especially food centric ones but even as a nice piece against certain strategies. Still, the best spices to pick from are often you own, so having a few decent activated abilities for you to choose from your graveyard might be a good idea.

INSATIABLE FRUGIVORE

Devour all succulents, nuts, and fruits! Apparently, this will enable you to gain +X/+0 and Menace until end of turn. Well, if they’re actually food tokens and you pay 3 and Black. You can gain some of these when the Frugivore comes into play, but you only get more than one if you start eating and exiling your own graveyard.

Overall not too bad. I’d say a little high on costs for activation, but synergizes well with the commander if you have food tokens lying around. I also think people really underestimate Menace as an offensive ability. Oftentimes it can force unfavorable blocks to help you get through or get rid of something in my experience.

MOONSTONE EULOGIST

The stats on this flyer aren’t too bad. A 4/4 for five mana is a good rate when it has other abilities, even in these days of more powerful creatures.

Speaking of, those other abilities don’t do much on their own. The first offers some rummaging via blood tokens (and Hazel does care about any kind of token, so these work there) and when you sacrifice those or another artifact, this gets a +1/+1 counter and you gain 1 life.

In this deck I think it can work fine as an eventual threat and help dig a bit. Neither of the abilities are specific to this deck and strategy, and while that makes it “weaker” here it might still be strong in other decks.

ROOTCAST APPRENTICESHIP

This is a nice, flexible card that could go in a lot of decks. Let’s go over the choices on this modal spell.

We get to pick three modes, and can pick the same mode, which is always nice. The first mode gives two +1/+1 counters to a creature. That’s up to six counters, so not bad for the cost, especially with any counter synergies already going on.

The next creates a token that’s a copy of one you already have. Offspring is in the main set, so there is that to consider, but even leaving that out the absolute deluge of things that randomly create tokens these days means this could potentially be a very powerful mode. I think this will be especially true in GU decks, but anywhere really.

The third mode is we would get a 1/1 squirrel. Outside of token and squirrel decks, this is probably the weakest mode, but with synergies it can be just as strong as the others depending on the payoffs.

Lastly we have an opponent sacrifice a nontoken artifact. This is key, as an opponent can’t just sacrifice a food or something that doesn’t really matter. This ability can really hamper the early games plans of anyone or a number of player’s use of mana rocks, and even though they get to choose, I still think this is better than getting three squirrels.

If only this were instant for the last ability, but taking the whole card into account I think it’s actually very good and can be played any time in the game early to late.

SWARMYARD MASSACRE

I really like this card. It’s a typal mass removal that protects your stuff and while hopefully wiping away everything else. It even gives you some critters to help it scale up.

That said, the card itself is dependent on you having certain types of creatures already on the battlefield. It does cover insects, rats, spiders and squirrels, and each of those kindred types have decent support. The main concern I have is that the scale of the wipe can be interacted with via destroying things on your board so you might not always get all the creatures to die that you need to. Outside of that specific concern, I think this wipe will make it into a lot of decks with the supported types. One-sided mass removal creates game winning board states after all.

SWORD OF THE SQUEAK

Alright, pun taken. If you’re unfamiliar, this card is a play on the card Sword of the Meek. They even work in a semi-similar way.

This one grants the wielder +1/+1 for each creature you control with base power 1. To clarify this just in case, that doesn’t include any buffs like counters, just the creature’s original stat for power unless changed by something that redefines that power above 1, like Harmonious Archon or the creature has a variable power, like equal to the number of lands on the field. As an example, if you have three 1/1 Green squirrels with 2 +1/+1 counters on them each, they are still base power 1 creatures.

The second ability gives you a free equip whenever a Hamster, Mouse, Rat or Squirrel enters play.

Honestly it’s a fine card, but outside of some typal decks that might use this, I’m not sure it will see much play. I do enjoy the pun though.

GOURMAND’S TALENT

The Class type Enchantments are back with Bloomburrow, and that includes in the Commander decks. This one in particular cares about food tokens for its first ability, which synergizes well with Hazel.

The second ability cares about life from those food tokens (and anywhere else), and nets you a 3/3 racoon token when you gain life the first time in a turn. That’s a big racoon.

The last ability also cares about the first life gain you have during a turn, putting a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures.

Now I’m not going to keep repeating how +1/+1 counter synergies are everywhere, but what I really like otherwise about the abilities here is that you can trigger them on any turn once, so if you have an engine for life gain going and triggering on every turn with say Properous Innkeeper and Beledros Witherbloom (also in the deck), you’ll be sitting pretty on you next turn with possibly four 7/7 racoons.

DECK OVERVIEW

Overall I think the deck is fine out of the box. There are some snags here and there sure, but what’s a preconstructed deck if it does all the work for you? It’s a good base with a few pointed directions to take the precon, and enough to inspire some new but comfortable builds.

ANIMATED ARMY

BELLO, BARD OF THE BRAMBLES

This trash master wants us to use high mana cost artifacts and enchantments to beat down our opponents. Luckily Bello helps this along by making the animated objects indestructible and gives them haste to get things going quickly. 

While he only has one paragraph of text (I know, a travesty /s), it’s a pretty potent one that protects your larger artifacts and enchantments from a good portion of removal. Plus, it doesn’t keep them active during another player’s turn. This dodges mass removal that could exile creatures outside of things like Farewell. Even then, you can build your deck around that easily enough, as Green has some excellent protections like Asceticism.

With the commander being so open ended, you can really build it however you want.

WILDSEAR, SCOURING MAW

I’m not a big fan of cascade or free casting anything, but it’s nice to see it centered around something to narrow it down a bit. This legend doesn’t care about mana values beyond that, so you could play really anything you want as long as you cast some enchantments along the way.

Its base stats aren’t bad as a 6/6 trampler for 5. Beyond that and cascade it really doesn’t offer anything else, but a simple design is sometimes the best and actually offers the greatest innovation opportunities.

TRAILTRACKER SCOUT

A new mana dork design in the two drop space. Like most, this taps to give you some mana of any color. The extra benefit this one brings is that if you use enough mana in a turn to cast spells, you get to recur something for free. 

In deck switch Green this shouldn’t be too much an issue, but this card wont go in every deck. A nice option to have in your back pocket for building a deck though, especially if you’re into Kerugu companion decks or other big mana or many spells decks. Of course, gaining infinite mana on your turn can feed a loop for this, so it can be a combo piece as well.

PROSPEROUS BANDIT

A decent critter in combat with first strike and a decent body at 2/2. The fact that you can double up on the effect with Offspring is nice as well.

The real meat here though is the potential for Treasure tokens when either this or its Offspring token hit for damage. While first strike is an ability I like AND it works out better flavorfully with the card design, I wish it had Menace. That said, forcing some bad combat choices with first strike is also possible, so while I’m not high on the card, it’s not a bad card by any means. Plus, who wants to block a 2/2 most of the time when you can play some politics.

BRIGHTCAP BADGER

Adventure! Grab yourself some saprolings when you do at instant speed. Not too bad to make a couple of blockers when you need them. When you get the badger itself into play, your saps can then tap for mana, and you get another sap at the end of your turns. Not too bad!

There are a lot of decks this card can go into so I think it will find a home from tokens to mana dorks to cast from exile. Good card.

EVERCOAT URSINE

I do like that Wizards keeps finding new ways to incorporate older mechanics into new sets. While recent mechanics are more flexible by design to make use of in the future. Hideaway has been getting a steady stream of cards here and there. The elemental bear here gets two triggers of hideaway 3, which means you look at the top three cards of the deck, exile one face down and put the rest randomly on bottom.

Its stats aren’t bad either. A 6/5 with trample for 5 mana is one par for cost. The trample is important on this card, because dealing damage is how you get cast those cards with Hideaway and cast them for free! A payoff that you can get to but isn’t certain, which means planning. Those are my favorite kinds of cards.

PYRESWIPE HAWK

Another well costed creature. A 5 mana 4/4 with haste and flying is already a good dragon. This time though we get an elemental bird that cares about artifacts, for when it attacks it gets a bonus to its power equal to the highest MV among artifacts you control. This works well enough by itself, but with Bello wanting some high mana value stuff anyway, it slots right in.

Its last ability also cares about mana cost with the expend ability. This triggers when you spend your sixth mana, and allows you to steal an artifact from your opponents and keep it while you control the bird. This feeds Bello’s army of animation, but on its own can also steal things like the Great Henge so you can have two if you’d like.

ROLLING HAMSPHERE

Myr Battlesphere, eat your metallic heart out! While this card has a lot in common with the other battlesphere, there are a number of differences as well.

First it’s a vehicle, which means it has to be crewed to attack unless you animate it somehow. It still gives you tokens like the other battlesphere, but this time they’re hamster tokens. It also burns on attack equal to a specific creature type like the other, but you don’t have to tap the hamsters to do so since they’re needed to crew the Hamsphere. There is also the power buff, though this one also gets a toughness buff instead of having the innate 7 toughness.

One other important thing to remember is that this can deal damage to a creature that might be blocking it where the Myr Battlesphere can’t.

Overall, an adorable callback and I enjoy it alot. As for the card overall, it’s decent at 7 mana but usually you’d want to do more at that point. However, you can animate it with Bello so in this deck it’s fairly good.

ALCHEMIST’S TALENT

Another class enchantment with some nice abilities. This one also costs 4 mana which is something Bello can use to aggravate your opponents with.

Its first stage gives you a refund of two mana via some treasure. Not to bad since it can let you follow up with another spell, which ties into the main set’s expend mechanic. Or, you can use it to immediately pay to level the enchantment up and get your treasure to give a better return. This works fine if you have other treasure, but if you keep the ones you made with this you get the initial investment back as well. Overall it’s a powerful ability to double mana, and doubling what you get from treasures is about as good.

The last ability lets you burn your opponents equal to the mana value of a spell you cast if you use a treasure to cast it. This will likely end games quickly in the right deck.

I’m very excited to add it to my Feather deck.

THICKEST IN THE THICKET

Counter synergies and card draw.

Okay, in seriousness it’s an okay card. Kind of reminds of a much weaker mono-Green Selvala. It comes into play and essentially doubles the power of a creature you control. In this deck that could be an enchantment or artifact as well once Bello does the thing. Otherwise if you then have the largest creature on board, you get card draw at the end of the turn. You do get two cards, so there is some incentive here to make this on or off draw work more often than not.

That said, there are probably better cards with more efficiency, but we always have Bello to consider. In those regards, the enchantment also offers us a creature on our turn, so with that in mind perhaps I’m too down on the card itself.

DECK OVERVIEW

Looking at the deck list we seem to have a good amount of mana dorks, rocks and land search, with a few payoffs in expend on other things, namely being able to cast the large enchantments in the deck. The few vehicles in the deck help highlight the ability for Bello to be a good vehicle commander.

There are also a few surprises in the deck as well that might push your game over the top, like the inclusion of Kodama of the East Tree and Ghalta. There is a narrow include as well with Grothama, which is an interesting choice that I don’t understand. I like the deck out of the box and look forward to seeing Bello go.

FAMILY MATTERS

ZINNIA, VALLEY’S VOICE

Commander damage while going wide is always a decent strategy in my book, and Zinnia covers those bases and more. It gets a bonus for each creature you control with base power 1, so buffs can get around that while keeping the bonus for Zinnia.

The second ability helps fuel this. Giving your creature spells offspring 2, which allows you to make a 1/1 token copy of the creature you cast, just increases the amount of potential for the first ability. This also means you get to double up on enters and leaves effects. One important thing to remember about the tokens even if it doesn’t come up often is that they gain a mana cost since they are a copy of something.

ARTHUR MARIGOLD

This is an interesting “sneak attack” card. As long as you attack with Arthur and a helper, you get to put a creature onto the field attacking from the top six cards of your deck. Assuming it survives, you put it into your hand at the end of combat.

It’s like a weird, quasi-dash ability. I’ve seen it already compared to Winota as a powered down version, so there is probably a number of players who will be interested in this kind of effect. Like Zinnia, you also get to get a few extra enters or leaves effects, but you don’t get tokens. However, the synergy with the commander is that you get to then cast the bounced creature with Offspring.

Not a bad new commander at all, and with enough scrying and such abilities you can get more or less what you need.

AGATE INSTIGATOR

Another new Impact Tremors variant is always nice to have. This particular 1/3 critter has Offspring, so you can get another one, which helps fuel Zinnia. 

Of course the deck wants to make tokens, so dealing some extra damage along the way is useful to help close the game faster. When you Offsrping this creature, the token comes into play first, seeing the original and giving you one damage. Around we go, and a great card for the deck.

JACKED RABBIT

The name and flavor text of this card! Kudos to whomever did this.

This card has the first in universe use of Ravenous. This means that it gets counters equal to what you pay into X in the mana cost. If X is 5 or more, you get a card.

Its second ability is pretty good. Whenever it attacks, you get some rabbit tokens equal to its power. Since it has X in its cost, it can scale it up and cast it at any point in the game. This also makes the card a good recovery piece after some mass removal.

Simple design.

POLLYWOG PRODIGY

This here frog helps you draw cards when your opponents cast spells, as long as their spell’s mana value is less than its power anyway. It’s important to remember that. Luckily, the creature also has Evolve, so powering it up a bit should be fairly easy. With it being included in deck is it, you can also just use anthem effects.

Overall not bad, and it should gain you some cards. It doesn’t even have the once per turn clause either, which helps counter balance it against being occasionally useless against certain decks.

RAPID AUGMENTER

Another card that cares about creatures with power 1. It doesn’t gain a static bonus, but gives base 1 power creatures haste. It itself does gain a bonus for base 1 power creatures if they weren’t cast, which is great with Offspring and other created small tokens like soldiers or saprolings. That bonus is permanent as well with it being a +1/+1 counter, and the Augmenter becomes unblockable that turn.

It really is a card that could get out of hand quickly, so when it hits the table I’d keep an eye on it. I’m considering it for my own Xryis Writhing Storm deck even if the timing is off.

CALAMITY OF CINDERS

Okay, hold up. Where was this for Kasla!? Feeling a bit of a way here.

This card is mass removal that varies based on untapped and tapped creatures, but you can protect your own creatures by using them to convoke this card. While it’s not Blasphemous Act, I can see this card going in a LOT of decks between the convoke, large mana cost, and many token strategies. On top of that, one-sided wipes are good at closing games.

This could also be good in decks that feature Angel’s Trumpet or Throne of the God-Pharaoh.

FORTUNE-TELLER’S TALENT

A class enchantment that begins with the ability to allow you to look at the top card of your library at any time. This has some synergy with Arthur Marigold Knight, but overall the effect can be good in multiple decks like Elesha and Yuriko.

The second level of the class allows you to play the top cards of the library as long as you have cast a spell this turn. This helps get lands out of the way and get you to more of the gas in your deck. It being a blue enchantment can’t be overlooked either, and in this Blue, Red and White deck being able to get a land drop and get past it will be a good way to keep going.

The last ability gives you a discount on spells you cast from anywhere other than your hand, including the top of the library. A discount of 2 mana is pretty good, and works with Foretell, Flashback, and any number of other abilities.

Overall, the classes are really hitting well this set, and this one seems particularly tight and useful.

ECHOING ASSAULT

Hey, one of my favorite keywords! Menace I believe is an underrated ability (I might have said that earlier) and it makes things much harder to block. This enchantment only gives it to tokens, but in this deck that makes a lot of sense.

The second ability on the card is nice too. If you attack with a nontoken creature, you get to create a 1/1 token of one of those creatures. This happens per player, so you can double up with a creature on each opponent. They do come into play attacking and are sacrificed at the next end step, so keep the timing of abilities and effect in mind.

This is going to be a really good card in some decks. Considering it for Phabine myself. Again, the timing is off, but having the evasion and some extra enters abilities makes up for it. In THIS deck, it’s essentially extra offspring, and feeds a number of other effects in the deck. Great card for it.

MURMURATION

The storm crows cometh! Well, the enchantment actually cares about all birds with a +1/+1 anthem, but it does create you 1/2 Bird token at your end step for each spell you’ve cast this turn. With the anthem effect these are 2/3 flyers, and potentially a lot of them, calling back to the actual ability Storm. Even with the anthem, remember their base power remains 1 some Zinnia will still get her power bonus.

DECK OVERVIEW

This deck has a bunch of payoffs and tokens abound, and Junkwinder. That thing can help close games really fast. Back on track, the synergy of the deck seems really good, at least on the counting 1/1 creatures side of things. There are some things I find a bit odd, like Time Wipe even if it does allow for some Offspring casts, but overall I like the deck and the new cards are pretty good. Honestly this batch of commander decks are shaping up well.

PEACE OFFERING

MS. BUMBLEFLOWER

In the right build this commander could be nuts, but that might be stretching the strategy too far. As far as being the face commander, it’s quite good. Giving cards away can be dangerous over time, but Ms. Bumbleflower does give you some counters and evasion in exchange. Harder is getting the card draw for yourself, but not out of reach.

Like I said in the prior article, I think this bunny here should not be underestimated. The player of the deck can employ a number of strategies, so beware when it hits the table.

FOXGLOVE

This is another interesting “sneak attack” commander. When Foxglove attacks, you can draw cards equal to the difference between yours and theirs if their hand has more cards. If you can’t, you get to put a creature from your hand onto the battlefield.

Alright, so this effect is pretty powerful. You get to essentially choose which you want as long as your opponents differ in hand size, which plays a bit into what Ms Bumbleflower is doing as the lead commander. By himself the deck he leads could do much the same thing.

Honestly, it’s not an inspired design, but it’s an effective one. Wizards seems to be using an attack clause a lot these days to help balance out powerful commander effects. At least you do have to risk something to get what you want. Getting around mana costs is a powerful ability.

BLOODROOT APOTHECARY

This is an interesting card I like it a lot. A 3/3 for three mana is already fairly good, but it has three abilities on top of that. First is Toxic 2, the fixed version of infect. This means when you hit someone for combat damage with this squirrel, they gain 2 poison counters. If they get 10 of these, they lose the game.

The enters ability gives out a treasure to one of your opponents and one to yourself. Yay for helping! Except you’re not really. The third ability is nice tech against treasure, food, clue and other decks that rely a lot on noncreature artifact tokens. Each time an opponent uses one, they gain two poison counters for the trouble. This leaves very little room for their use and can severely hamper their strategies. Expect this to be a target as soon as it hits the board from the players of those tokens.

STEELBURR CHAMPION

Another creature with Offspring here, so you could potentially have two. So, for five mana you can get two 1/1 with vigilance. Honestly, not the greatest return.

The creature and the potential token can grow much larger if your opponents play a lot of noncreature spells. Depending on the game, these can get large quickly and become a threat.

Still, I’d say this is a meta call or something you might want in a specific deck or theme.

TWENTY-TOED TOAD

A new alternate win con hits the table with this toad. It’s one where you need to attack, but you win as long as the ability on attack resolves.

As far as the ability goes, you need to have 20 or more cards in hand OR twenty or more counters on it to win the game. In order to get either, this toad allows you to gain counters on it and draw cards if you attack with two or more creatures. Luckily you don’t have to attack with the toad itself for that.

Like Foxglove, the attacking seems to be a slight balancing mechanism. It’s not a bad card, but I feel it may be too easy to achieve in some decks on accident. Careful around this one. If you’re going to use it yourself, it can fit into a lot of decks so as long as you can attack, draw cards or gain counters.

OCTOMANCER

This is possibly a very generous Frog. Gifting an 8/8 Octopus token to someone can be a really big deal, and I’ve already seen it win a player a game. However, if you DO gift the token, you get one yourself at the end of the turn.

This continues to happen at the end of every turn, and reminds me a lot of Faerie Artisan. However you get to keep the tokens unlike the Artisan.

This will be good in many decks, but decks like Adrix and Nev will likely love this include. In this deck, gifting things like creature tokens could work, but I think the deck definitely takes a different direction out of the box, concentrating more on card draw and gifting a variety of things.

TEMPT WITH BUNNIES

Tempting Offer makes a return to commander precons with this card. This one gives you a rabbit token and a card, and offers that same option to each opponent you have. For each opponent that takes that option, you get to do it again.

It’s a great political card, and you clearly come out ahead. Just be careful not to play into a deck with Impact Tremors or a Niv-Mizzet combo.

PERCH PROTECTION

Alright. This card is quite interesting, and in my opinion I kind of view it as an inverse Farewell. To start, you get some tokens, and the rate for four 2/2 flyers for six mana is decent. 

However, if you promise the gift of an extra turn to an opponent, you get to protect your board and yourself until your next turn. This is great for the caster, and can give someone else who is behind a leg up.

While I like what I think the idea of this card is, I’m willing to wager this is going to become somewhat infamous like Farewell. The ability to completely rock a game on its side and change the table dynamic is something you really have to read the room about and might bring you some ire. Usually I wouldn’t think too much of it, but the extra turn given to someone might cause some people alarm. That said, this is a powerful card and I think it will be played.

COMMUNAL BREWING

An enchantment that isn’t so political as a non-optional trade. You get to choose of course, though the trade off seems worth it. Give your opponents a card each, and the enchantment gains an ingredient counters equal to that number plus one. As long as the enchantment has those counters, your creatures will enter with that many additional +1/+1 counters.

As a three mana enchantment, it can make a fine addition to many a deck. I don’t think the cards given are really any kind of detriment and the counters can really add up over a game. I think this card in this deck works well since it hits all the right places with “helping” and closing a game.

FISHER’S TALENT

The last new card in the deck is another Class Enchantment. This one’s first ability rewards you with a 1/1 Blue fish token and some card draw if the top card of your deck is a land. So it provides defense and card advantage. Not bad and helps get you past lands you’d have to draw otherwise, smoothing out both land drops and drawing gas.

The remaining two abilities grant you a larger token for each time you level it up. There is a substantial improvement in the tokens created as well. First your 1/1 fish gets replaced with a 3/3 shark, and then the sharks get replaced with an 8/8 octopus. This replacement effect applies across cards so if you have Shark Typhoon out, you get 8/8 octopus instead.

It’s a good card since the effects are essentially added together as you add levels. While the tokens are a bit specific, I don’t think it hampers the card at all.

DECK OVERVIEW

The deck does do some politicking, but it seems to want to just play with counters and card draw. This isn’t to say it isn’t going to have plenty of opportunities to politic and take advantage of that though. The deck looks like it will do a good job of benefitting off the card draw it gives other players as much as you, though I still might add some light hate pieces or protections for the deck.

The thing about the deck though is that it might be a hard to pilot deck for players newer to commander who have less experience with politics and threats assessment. Be kind to player still learning.

TRAVELING THROUGH VALLEY

This crop of decks look really good, and from what I’ve seen so far they look like a good starting point for the intermediate player. I’m not sure these are going to be the best to bring newer commander players in on, but with guidance I think that they could be enjoyable decks for them as well.

I also enjoy the openness of the legendary creatures’ designs. Almost all of them you could run in another place, and even the more narrow Wildsear, Scouring Maw seems like it could lead a few decks into different end games.

The hype has been real, but will this set live up to it?! Let me know your thoughts below.

Until next time, steer clear of calamity beasts.