Commander 2017

Commander (2017 Edition) brings us the latest Commander Decks. As usual, these are 100-card decks in which each card except basic lands is used only once. This time, however, the decks are not distinguished by the colors of their commanders, but they are tribal decks instead. That is why there are not five, but only four different decks this time, with their focus being on a popular creature type each. For example, one of the decks is dedicated to the majestic dragons. The other decks place their focus on vampires, wizards, and cats respectively. Divided between the four decks, 56 brand new cards are also added to the eternal card pool, which will be allowed in Legacy and Vintage as well as in the Commander format. All included reprints are, of course, still legal in the formats in which they were already legal before.

The decks differ not only in their colors and creature types, but also play quite differently. While the cats are more likely to swing with equipments, the wizards prefer to use their tricks at instant speed. But since all these creature types are among those which have been used very often in the almost 25 years of Magic history, you can also modify these Preconstructed decks very well with other cards.

What else is there to be considered regarding overarching topics and mechanics in the Commander 2017 decks?

Eminence

Each of the new decks features an impressive creature as its commander card. All of these also use the new ability key word Eminence. They are so closely connected with their respective tribe members that they can lead them even without having to be on the battlefield themselves! The Eminence effects work in both cases, regardless of whether the Commander is currently busy in battle or is relaxing a little in the Command Zone. These are powerful tribal effects which differentiates the game-play of these tribal decks even from each other and other decks.

Cursed again

Despite the recent growing interest in Duel Commander, Commander is usually a format enjoyed in multiplayer settings. Therefore, it is not only necessary to play your cards skillfully, but also to convince the other players that it is much more reasonable to attack someone else rather than yourself. If your good arguments are not enough at times, then the new cycle of curses might help you get what you want. These cards reward you and every other player, who attacks the accursed player. Divided over the four decks there is one such a curse for every color, each one with different rewards.

Support for all tribal decks

In addition to the tribal cards which refer specifically to one of the four tribes, the Commander 2017 decks contain general tribe cards as well. These can also be used perfectly in other tribal decks, because they only ask you to name a tribe for which the effect should apply. Cards such as Kindred Dominance or Herald's Horn thus work perfectly in your cleric or frog decks as well.

A small selection of the most popular cards

The Path of Ancestry will probably be found in almost all multicolored commander decks in the future. The same is true for Herald's Horn in all tribal decks. The biggest hype in the community so far was caused by Teferi's Protection , as this card has a very unusual effect, which could prove useful in various scenarios in multiplayer games.