Playing Commander Matchmaker with Hour of Devastation

Hour of Devastation has a lot of great adds for the Commander format. There are splashy Legendary creatures that will be great generals as well as great utility cards that will become staples(Hour of Promise, I’m looking at you). These don’t excite me as much though. Finding the perfect home for a new card excites me.

Match #1

The Scarab God + Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

The Scarab God is a good Zombie tribal commander alongside being great in any UB Zombie deck but what really excites me is playing it in Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. Sidisi generates a lot of Zombies , so the first ability of The Scarab God will still pull its weight. Alongside the self-mill, The Scarab God’s second ability has a lot more selection of what to eternalize. Unlimited fuel and lots of options turns The Scarab God from a modest cad advantage engine to a turbo charged turbine. With lots of options, your graveyard becomes a toolbox available to answer any threats in play. The Scarab God-SIdisi marriage is a match made in Heaven, err, some zombie version of Heaven.

Match #2

Crash Through + Xenagos, God of Revels

Crash Through is one of those cards that I always fall in love with. Granting trample is very powerful and attaching to a cantrip is a good deal. Getting that for one mana is a GREAT deal. The only real opportunity cost of the card is the slot it takes up in your deck. Xenagos, God of Revels loves giant beaters with trample, and while most of the creatures played in the deck have trample, Crash Through still catches the ones that don’t at a bargain bin cost. The added consistency of a cantrip in RG is a great add, especially in those colors. Red and Green don’t have a ton of access to great cantrips and Crash Through does the job just fine. Crash Though is an innocuous card but it and Xenagos make quite the cute pair.

Match #3

Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign + Sharuum the Hegemon

Unesh, a.k.a the Tribal Sphinx commander, spawns a new deck in itself but having only access to blue limits the Sphinxes you can play and doesn’t seem good enough. But what if we play Unesh in a deck with a Sphinx commander? Enter Sharuum. Unesh makes Sharuum cheaper and nets you some card advantage along the way. The cost reduction becomes even more important when casting Sharuum multiples times as  The best part though: Unesh puts the cards you don’t take into the graveyard. Seems good!! This does not even mention the other sphinxes that are played in the deck that fall into the Esper colors and are artifacts. Unesh isn’t the star in this relationship, Sharuum does the heavy lifting but it is still a beautiful union.

Match #4

Djeru, with Eyes Open + Venser, the Sojourner

Djeru, with Eyes Open is a Legendary creature but I don’t think he is General worthy. Mono White doesn’t have a ton of options for planeswalkers which relugates Djeru to the 99. As a card in the 99, Djeru is great in superfriends decks. The pairing that I like the most is Djeru tutoring for Venser to blink Djeru and tutor for another planeswalker. While this is slow, having access to Venser (a perfectly good card in most UW decks) allows you to chain some free cards while also having Djeru just being able to expedite the process and getting the planeswalker you need in the situation. A similar synergy exists with Liliana, Death’s Majesty as she is able to reanimate Djeru if he dies.

Let me know of any combinations you like coming out of Hour of Devastation in the comments below!