As a long-time player of Commander, I’ve learned that I gravitate towards a specific type of card: those that break and/or exploit the core rules of the game.
These can range from alternate win-cons like Mechanized Production, to screwing with the turn order as I mentioned previously when I highlighted Timesifter. Anything that takes a part of the game that is accepted or “a given” and turns it on its head can be extremely unexpected and powerful.
So what better way to catch your opponents off guard than by running 20+ copies of the same card (that is not a basic land) in Commander, a famously singleton format?
There are a handful of cards that you may play any number of in your deck. They are as follows:
Dragon's Approach, Persistent Petitioners, Relentless Rats, Rat Colony, Shadowborn Apostle
There's a chance you may have pulled one of these in a Secret Lair. Wizards has been dropping special printings of Relentless Rats, Shadowborn Apostle, and Persistent Petitioners as bonus cards in these drops for some time now (fingers crossed we get the same types of treatments for Dragon's Approach soon). Some of them can be worth quite a bit, so chances are people will be wanting to show off their fancy new pulls by building decks around them.
So today I’m showing you some cheap pickups that synergize well with these (aside from Thrumming Stone), for those of you looking to get ahead for when we see another new “can run any number of cards named X” card.
| Dragon's Approach | | |
| Persistent Petitioners | | |
| Relentless Rats | | |
| Rat Colony | | |
| Shadowborn Apostle | | |
For Black Decks
Starting off, for those Shadowborn Apostle or Rat decks, I have two underrated picks that can be acquired for less than $0.50 each.
The first is Secret Salvage, a rare from Aether Revolt that is basically useless in Commander, but can be a powerhouse in these decks, especially if you have Reliquary Tower or other ways to achieve no maximum hand size. Five mana may seem expensive, but if you’re running Shadowborn Apostle or Rat Colony/Relentless Rats, filling your hand with as many copies of your core card is often the best play. It may seem simple and straightforward, but the growing threat from chain-dropping Rats or Apostles is often enough to overwhelm opponents fairly early on.
Additionally, if there's a board wipe and you lose all the creatures you searched for (or if you simply activated your Shadowborn Apostles), the best way to return them all to your hand is a one-drop called Echoing Return. This simple little sorcery from Modern Horizons 2 can be nearly as effective as some more expensive recursion spells at both a fraction of the cost, both mana-wise and monetarily. For just one mana, every one of your core creatures can be returned to your hand from the graveyard. It’s a spell that literally cannot be any more efficient for these decks, unless it were an instant.
| Secret Salvage | | |
| Echoing Return | | |
For Dragon’s Approach
Pivoting a bit, here are two cards that have incredible synergy with Dragon’s Approach, and could be potential sleeper hits if Wizards does decide to print more instants or sorceries that break the singleton rule of Commander in the future.
First up we have Cheering Fanatic, a red two-drop from Battlebond that helps facilitate big turns if played correctly. While Ruby Medallion is better all-around (but $14 more expensive), any kind of cost reducer works great with Dragon’s Approach, especially if you have a way to turn that damage into card advantage with something like Virtue of Courage or Syr Carah, the Bold. Throw in something like Birgi, God of Storytelling to help guarantee you can keep the chain of spells going, and now you got a stew goin’. While Cheering Fanatic may die in combat more times than not, their trigger is off of attack declaration. And if you’re planning on a big turn of chaining numerous Dragon’s Approaches together, this cheap pickup should be on your radar.
Another great card for Dragon’s Approach decks is Spellweaver Helix, an old Mirrodin oddity that doesn’t really have much of a place outside of this one specific deck - but man, does it do work here. When it enters the battlefield you choose two sorceries in your graveyard - one of which will be Dragon’s Approach, and the other of which can be anything from Wheel of Fortune to, well, another Dragon’s Approach. Whenever you cast one, you get a copy of the other for free. If you double up on Dragon’s Approaches this can make the game very, very fast. And if you choose something else, you’re basically guaranteeing that every one of your core spells is a 2-for-1 for another unique effect. This is absurdly strong, and anyone running this deck would do well to give this inexpensive card a shot.
| Cheering Fanatic | | |
| Spellweaver Helix | | |
For Any Color Deck
And lastly, Locket of Yesterdays is an evergreen recommendation for any one of these decks, including Persistent Petitioners. While it may not have as game-ending of an impact as something like Thrumming Stone, it should be considered as much an auto-include for any deck that breaks the singleton rule.
Having seen only one printing in Time Spiral, with no sign of another any time soon, Locket of Yesterdays is less than $1 and arguably just as strong as the Medallions in these decks. It only costs one mana to play, so it comes out earlier and more consistently, and it can fit in literally any deck since it’s colorless. If a good portion of your deck is the same card, then one is almost always going to be in the graveyard for one reason or another, especially if you’re running discard effects. So why not take advantage of that?
In Conclusion
All in all, this is a solid round of recommendations that are dirt cheap, barring some of the more obscure foils, and can and should be acquired by anyone building this style of deck. So if you were gifted a Secret Lair this holiday season and were lucky enough to open one of the many cards that bend the singleton rule in Commander, or simply want to try a new deck archetype… really, any reason is a good reason to try the unique play styles that come with these recommended cards.
Further Reading:
Modern Times - Common Value, Private Value, and the Nine
