M19 has released a lot of juicy new spoilers since we posted last, and it has shown an affinity for dragon tribal. Now, I don’t think I need to bother admitting again my undying love for dragons on here, so…I won’t…Yet, I didn’t pick the two dragons below based on their creature type, as neither is especially effective in a dragon deck, but look like they’d be lots of fun. Let’s take a look at M19, round two!
Suncleanser
I wouldn’t be surprised – or maybe I should say, I fully expect – Suncleanser to be a bulk rare. It doesn’t offer much against the Standard meta, especially since it doesn’t have the ability to target planeswalkers. Yet, I find myself interested in this card because it does have subtle versatility. It can be used to fight Infect in Modern, Legacy and EDH (this is incorrect! I read the card incorrectly…it specifies opponent. This makes it useful against opponents who use Experience Counter commanders in EDH, rather…), as well as be used as removal against +1/+1 counter-heavy creatures like hydras. Many commanders have a +1/+1 counter theme, like Kresh or Ghave, and this can be a brutal counter attack to such decks.
Chromium, the Mutable
I love this card because I honestly have no idea how to use it, and…well…the art is AWESOME. Everything from the Esper color identity to the super-unique ability has me scratching my head on how to use it/abuse it, but that’s what MTG is all about to me. It’s finding fun things to do with unique cards, and this Chromium fits the bill. I would love to find a way to use this as a commander that can feed off the discard, or perhaps its Human creature type adaptation…hmm…
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
Goreclaw has to be a top-5 mono-green Commander for me. He makes big beasties cheaper and gives Trample to all of your attacking creatures. His most obvious downside is his squishiness, but his relatively low cmc, especially for Green, especially for Commander, means you can abuse his second ability even if he dies a few times. Otherwise, use him solely as a means to cheapen large creatures. Sure, there are better mana-ramping mono-green Commanders out there like Omnath, Locus of Mana and you’d probably be better off tutoring a Craterhoof Behemoth than using Goreclaw’s MUCH weaker version…but…okay, I’ve kinda talked myself out of this guy…but he at least offers some fun options in Brawl format!
Arcades, the Strategist
I’ve been waiting for a commander to come out to fit this unique style of play and I finally have it! Yes, I am aware that Doran, the Siege Tower exists…but its color identity isn’t near as effective for a defender deck as Bant. Exchanging Black for Blue is a HUGE deal. There are tons of great Blue walls out there (Guard Gomazoa), and even more U/G (Elusive Krasis, though not really a wall) or U/W (Wall of Denial) walls. Bant is the color identity a Commander like this needed to be, and it makes me so happy that dream has been realized. In a wall-based deck, this Commander is a draw engine and an Assault Formation with wheels, and without the mana cost for attacking with walls. All that for 4 cmc. It may not have style and leans towards a Timmy, but it still offers the possibilities for some fun deck builds in EDH.