Wizards of the Coast just started revealing more about the upcomingMagic: The Gatheringexpansion set in space, called Edge of Eternities, which is scheduled to come out on August 1. Among the reveals is the fact that the set will come with two Commander decks, and since Commander is now one ofMagic: The Gathering’s most loved formats, there is a lot of hype surrounding these releases. The full card lists came out very recently, and players can now start theorycrafting to see whether they should get one, two, or neither of these decks - especially considering potential upgrades.
Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Commander Decks - World Shaper
This deck features the first-ever spacecraft as a commander, as Edge of Eternities marks abig change forMTG’s Commander format, where now both spacecraft and vehicle cards can be commanders as long as they are Legendary. World Shaper does pretty much what it says on the tin because it’s a Land-based deck with the theme of sacrificing Lands to proc various effects, as seen on the new Hearthhull, the Worldseed, which makes each opponent lose 2 life if the controller sacrifices a Land - assuming players put 8 or more charge counters on the commander for the Station threshold.
Station is anew mechanic in MTG’s Edge of Eternities set, used on spacecraft and planet cards.
Szarel, Genesis Shepherd is the backup commander for the World Shaper deck, but it’s more about sacrificing permanents in general and building up powerful creatures with +1/+1 counters. It’s worth noting that theEdge of Eternities Commander deck lists on WotC’s websiteinclude a total of 12 new cards in each deck, including the commanders, compared to the usual 10 new cards.
Several new cards do have additional effects whenever a permanent is sacrificed, though, so players can build this as a Land-based deck or a more general sacrifice deck. The new Eumidian Hatchery fits perfectly here because it’s a Land that players can put counters on each turn, and whenever it is put in the graveyard, the user creates a 1/1 insect token for each counter on Eumidian Hatchery, creating even more sacrifice fodder. Likewise, the new Evendo Brushrazer can be extremely powerful as a way to play cards from the top of the deck, provide a “sacrifice Land” trigger, and even ramp up mana all in one package.
The World Shaper deck also includes some valuable reprints, like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, which is astapleMagic: The Gatheringcommanderthat’s featured in many lists. Since it also combos with sacrificing permanents, it fits right in. This could even act as an alternate commander. Another great reprint is Oracle of Mul Daya, which may only be worth around $7-8, but it has perfect synergy with playing more Lands per turn.
Potential Upgrades For MTG’s World Shaper Commander Deck
Players have two possible upgrade routes for World Shaper. One is to either remove or tone down the cards that focus on sacrificing Lands and instead add more general sacrifice triggers for all permanents, which works with Korvold and Szarel. The other option is to focus on the face commander of the deck, as Hearthhull is a draw engine and a sacrifice engine with a potentially big payoff when players fully upgrade theEdge of Eternities Station power inMTG. Depending on players' strategies, some great upgrades for this deck include:
Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Commander Decks - Counter Intelligence
Counter Intelligence is afun Commander deckthat has two key themes: counters and artifacts. The face commander of the deck is Inspirit, Flagship Vessel, which is also a spacecraft with Station. In this case, it immediately becomes a 5/5 creature with just one charge counter and unlocks the ability to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature or two charge counters on one artifact. Then, at 8 or more counters, it gains flying and gives all other artifacts hexproof and indestructible. The backup commander is Kilo, Apogee Mind, which has converted mana cost (CMC) of 3, it’s a 3/3 creature with haste, and proliferates whenever it’s tapped.
It’s worth noting that proliferate can be used on charge counters for Inspirit.
In this case, it could be beneficial to use Kilo as the main commander if players want a faster, more generic approach to get as many counters as possible in the first few turns of a game. Among the new cards for thisMagic: The Gatheringpre-con deckis an artifact called Insight Engine, which costs 3 mana, and then by tapping it and paying two mana, players can put a charge counter on it and draw one card for each counter on it. This can be an incredible draw engine when combined with Kilo and other proliferate cards, giving players amazing card advantage.
Another great new card in the deck is Surge Conductor, which makes players proliferate whenever a nontoken artifact enters the battlefield under their control. These cards all work perfectly together, and the deck already has a cohesive theme from the get-go, which cards like Astral Cornucopia, Alibou, Ancient Witness, Steel Overseer, Wake the Past, and Golem Foundry also help make quite strong in terms of gameplay.
Potential Upgrades For MTG’s Counter Intelligence Commander Deck
Still, there are several possible upgrades for this deck, including:
Overall, Counter Intelligence may need fewer upgrades than World Shaper to be a powerful Commander deck inMTG’s Jeskai colors, but there are some outstanding upgrades it can get to reach the next level. World Shaper can also be very powerful, but it needs a bit more steering in one direction to achieve that.
