Weekly Recs - 09/16/24
Looking back at Bloomburrow reprint commanders!
Weekly Recs
Highlighting five cards that could be worth picking up. (Note: These are sent to subscribers first and then posted a week later)
With the imminent release of Duskmourn and the set's associated commander precon decks, I figured it would be good to look back at some of the reprint commanders from Bloomburrow. The featured cards this week are all legendary creatures, not new to Bloomburrow, that could be worth building around because they are now fairly cheap!
Chatterfang, Squirrel General
1 year ago - $8.69
Today: $4.49
Even with the 3 new legendary squirrels from Bloomburrow, Chatterfang, Squirrel General still takes the cake for being the most powerful squirrel general. The way squirrel decks win is typically by creating a bunch of tokens, pumping them up, and swinging out. Chatterfang is the best at creating those tokens. Plus, he has built in removal and goes infinite with Pitiless Plunderer, allowing you to win the game if you have a Blood Artist type effect on board.
Types of decks to put it in
- Squirrel tribal
- Tokens
Kodama of the East Tree
1 year ago - $2.76
Today: $1.21
Kodama of the East Tree reads "when you play a land, put another land into play. And when you play a big, fat creature, put another into play." Oh, and he has partner so you can pair him with whatever other color(s) you want. You can pair him with Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith to really dump all of your lands onto battlefield, Sakashima of a Thousand Faces if you want to copy Kodama and enjoy the traditional simic landfall strategy, or one of the many other combinations. Kodama is always a threat to accelerate your board, whether heading a deck or being a part of the 99.
Types of decks to put it in
- Ramp + big creatures
- Partner
Grothama, All-Devouring
1 year ago - $5.07
Today: $0.23
Grothama, All-Devouring is an interesting commander. At first blush, it screams mono-green fight tribal or Wurms. This is absolutely a great way to build the deck, but if you dig a bit deeper there is an insane card draw strategy build. Make Grothama indestructible or make sure he cannot die due to damage with a Vigor type of effect. Have your creatures fight him, then sacrifice or flicker him. If you dealt 20 damage to him, that is 20 cards! If you have Psychosis Crawler in play, that is 20 damage to each opponent. There are some other lines of play, but basically you want to control when and how the damage is dealt, and when he dies, and you can end up drawing enough cards to sculpt the perfect 7 or kill your opponents with a draw effect. He's a surprisingly complicated, yet powerful commander.
Types of decks to put it in
- Fight
- Forced combat
- Card draw
Beledros Witherbloom
1 year ago - $10.00
Today: $4.67
Sure, generating a free blocker each turn is nice, and pairs well with an aristocrat strategies, but that second ability is really where Beledros Witherbloom shines. Paying 10 life to untap all of your lands, either on your turn or your opponents, is insane value. You better put some life gain into your deck, though. What is amazing is that you can do it instant speed, so on your turn you can advance your board. Then, on your opponents turn, assuming you have interaction in hand, you can choose to untap your lands or not to cast those removal spells. An aristocrats + Wilderness Reclamation strategy on the same card? Sign me up!
Types of decks to put it in
- Lands matter
- Aristocrats
Mangara, the Diplomat
1 year ago - $1.51
Today: $0.64
When Mangara, the Diplomat was first spoiled, the internet blew up because this was one of WOTC's first attempts at fixing mono white card draw. It has perhaps become the first in a pattern of cards that allow you to draw a card if your opponent does 2 things in a turn. As the head of a deck, he does not provide much power or strategy, meaning he is probably better in the 99. But still, as it gets increasingly more common for players to cast 2 spells each turn, he can solidly net you 1-3 extra cards each rotation around the table.
Types of decks to put it in
- Mono white good stuff
- Stax
End step
The moral of the story is to wait a few weeks to see how the upcoming reprints from Duskmourn commander decks drop in value. At the rate new sets are being released, and thus more commander precons, there is a decent chance that the commander you always wanted to play, but of which it is too expensive to justify buying a copy, will be reprinted and plummet in price.