Commander Cards You Missed from Thunder Junction

18 Jun
by Steve Heisler

Horizon Forbidden West

Welcome back for another History, Restapled, a Commander-focused column that attempts to validate a newer card’s status as a staple by looking at how cards that are similar, synergistic, or competing have fared in the past financially.

Modern Horizons 3, aka Commander Masters 3 (after Commander Masters and Modern Horizons 2) has arrived, at long last, and packs are being opened frantically in search of fetchland reprints and, presumably, multiple copies of my new fave, Wight of the Reliquary. Before prices settle, it felt worth revisiting Outlaws of Thunder Junction one last time to catch any potential staples missed in the MH3 fervor. Read on…

Harvester of Misery

Flexibility reigns in Commander, and Harvester of Misery offers plenty of versatility alongside its power. The body and stat lines are decent enough: a beefier Grief that ETBs like Massacre Wurm and can be discarded at instant speed as a little Bonecrusher Giant-esque surprise removal spell that gets around indestructible, placing the card in the graveyard for repeatable use. Of all the colors available, black is certainly the one best equipped to squeeze out every iota of value from Harvester of Misery; it makes a fine addition to most line-ups. And, not for nothing, it’s demonstrating particular excellence in my Henzie/Umori deck. Harvester of Misery is starting to appear across formats, as well, currently posting up in Standard in a few decks and as a strong Legacy Scam target when Archon of Cruelty is nowhere to be found.

If Harvester was simply in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, the card might hold a cheaper price for the long haul, but it appears as part of Outlaws of Thunder Junction: The Big Score—a small posse of cards dusted infrequently throughout normal booster packs that hold inflated values as a result of forced scarcity. In the base set, for example, the highest priced cards are Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and Terror of the Peaks, hovering around $20, while Vaultborn Tyrant and Sword of Wealth and Power from The Big Score have leveled out at $32 and $22, respectively (plus, I expect Sword to rise, given it’s part of a cycle that Equipment decks will likely seek out for the rest of time). That’s not too much of a discrepancy, but over time, it’s likely to continue widening.

Harvester of Misery has the adaptability of a chase Commander card and the cache of a rising multi-format player. For $3, the card is a gem, but grab one before its price achieves diamond level.

STATUS: Black reanimation staple-adjacent

Harvester of Misery
Harvester of Misery (Extended Art)
Harvester of Misery (Showcase)

Satoru, the Infiltrator

Some cards hit differently depending on the tools available for their extended abuse. In Standard, Satoru, the Infiltrator is not much of a player, owing to the lack of repeatable reanimation and blink engines or zero-mana creatures. Widen to Modern, and the story changes drastically—in fact, notable YouTuber and competitive player Aspiring Spike has been experimenting with a number of Modern Horizons 3-powered builds with Satoru at their center, and cards have been drawn en masse. In Commander, you’d be hard pressed not to abuse Satoru, the Infiltrator, even accidentally, as the card comes down quite early and doesn’t paint itself as an immediate target.

Now’s the time to grab Satoru. Its price is running around $3 and the entire Outlaws of Thunder Junction set, save a few top players, is on a downward trend. In these cases, the calculus often adjusts itself to elevate standout, previously overlooked cards settling into homes but mostly sailing under-the-radar. Satoru is most definitely one of those cards. In Modern alongside Evoke elementals like Solitude and their accompanying shenanigans, like Ephemerate, the card is Up the Beanstalk and Guardian Project in one. It may take longer to demonstrate as much of an impact in Commander, but its inevitable price increase waits for no one.

STATUS: Incoming Dimir staple

Satoru, the Infiltrator
Satoru, the Infiltrator (Showcase)

Thunderclap Drake

The Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander decks were all pretty strong, but the value wasn’t quite there, especially for new cards. Most of the Commander decks’ top performers are reprints of staples like Oracle of Mul Daya, Command Beacon, and Ancient Greenwarden.

Nestled between them, though, is Thunderclap Drake, an unassuming little blue body that offers a formidable toolbox of abilities at only two mana. It serves as a cost-reducer that can sac itself to copy a spell—numerous copies when done later in the game—when the time is right. Sadly, its ability targets the next spell you cast, so the cost reduction will not apply, but the option to copy anything, at all, is a huge upside to a Baral, Chief of Compliance-type card offering an evasive body capable of regicide-ing many Monarchies.

At $3, Thunderclap Drake is the most expensive new card in the Commander decks and most certainly a staple in any blue decks that casts instants or sorceries (if any exist…). Commander: Outlaws of Thunder Junction will fade into distant memory pretty soon, especially with so many exciting cards in Modern Horizons 3, including Commander decks, already overshadowing anything that came before. But Thunderclap Drake will endure; if you can get a copy on the cheap, your decks will thank you.

STATUS: Blue staple

Thunderclap Drake
Thunderclap Drake (Extended Art)

Horizon Zero Dawn

Turning to MH3 again…what are your feelings on the MDFCs? Is it even worth running lands at all anymore? So many of them are, strictly speaking, better than lands—Disciple of Freyalise, Boggart Trawler, and Witch Enchanter are three of my favorites. Plus, which Modern super staples from the set do you think will have an equal impact in Commander? I’m thinking of things like Esper Sentinel and Dragon's Rage Channeler, which scaled up to Commander quite well. Share your voices!

Further Reading:

Checking in with The Big Score

 

Steve Heisler
Steve Heisler

Steve Heisler is a writer and pop culture journalist covering comedy, games, television, film and the tech industry. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, GQ, Variety, The AV Club, Fast Company and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began collecting Magic cards during Fourth Edition and plays Commander and Modern primarily. He also enjoys tennis, the Dark Souls family of video games and supporting live comedy. He lives in Chicago with his cat, Rosie.


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