Missing Lynx
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.
Bloomburrow leaned heavily into typal synergies while still managing to print some staples for Commander writ large. It’s an impressive feat, and one that I love to see in the interest of growing the format without regularly breaking it. Here are a few cards you may find in specific strategies, with a little potential to venture outside of them.
Burn isn’t usually a viable strategy in Commander, outside of very focused decks like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might that rely heavily on their commanders to elevate piddly pokes into major slaps. The tide seems to be shifting towards cards that can stand their own ground in a variety of 99s, with Sunspire Lynx as one of the best. Most red decks, regardless of strategy, will like its first two abilities, and the third one punishes greedy mana bases in a way that won’t incur the salt wrath of land destruction or Blood Moon-ification.
The Lynx is only $1 and arrives after a string of high-profile reprints of extra-pricy red staples. Fiery Emancipation fell from $28 to $5 after appearing in Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales, Terror of the Peaks is descending from $40 since appearing in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and it’s down to $17. Purphoros, God of the Forge was reprinted in Commander Masters and its price dropped from $25 to $15. When you start building that spicy new burn brew, you’ll want to throw Sunspire Lynx in the mix, as well.
STATUS: Direct damage staple
| Sunspine Lynx | | |
| Sunspine Lynx (Borderless) | | |
Flicker decks didn’t need much help extracting value from their permanents, but they got it anyway in Bloomburrow. Dour Port-Mage is aggressively costed and fuels itself without any restrictions on the number of times in a turn its ability pops off. This card doesn’t belong in every deck, but in the ones it does, it’s likely one of the best.
Dour Port-Mage joins a slate of two-mana blue creatures that repeatedly draw cards: Faerie Mastermind, Ghostly Pilferer, and the new Pollywog Prodigy. It’s a worthy addition to the crew for less than $1, which is quite the cheap price per card drawn.
STATUS: Blink staple
| Dour Port-Mage | | |
| Dour Port-Mage (Showcase) | | |
The problem with most of the tempting offer cards, like Tempt with Vengeance and Tempt with Discovery, is that opponents have wised up and know if they don’t take the bait, you wind up paying a lot of mana for an underwhelming effect. Though I will say, on a purely anecdotal level, players seem more likely to opt-in if the game is happening in person. I suppose it’s easier to lay it on pretty thick when you can bat those eyelashes and flare those gams.
Tempt With Bunnies, from the Commander: Bloomburrow precons, makes the most attractive offer to date—or, at least the floor has been raised a bit. Three mana for a body and a card is modest, nothing to write home about, and it won’t set you too far back at a casual table if the offer doesn’t elicit any takers. All it takes is one opponent who wants their own card, and it’s likely the others will follow suit, because missing out on card draw feels worse than, say, some tokens or +1/+1 counters (bunnies like to multiply, after all).
The card is a lot of fun and well worth $1. Be sure to pick up some adorable bunny tokens to further make the case in-person.
STATUS: Not a staple, but certainly a goofy political card with decent upside
| Tempt with Bunnies | | |
| Tempt with Bunnies (Extended Art) | | |
Polly Want a Card?
Pollywog Prodigy has been identified as a potential cEDH powerhouse, and has a $20 price to match. Meanwhile, I’ve cast it a few times in lower-power games, and it has produced very limited results. I think, over the course of a few games, I’ve drawn one card total. Has anyone else had experience with the card? What did you think?
Further Reading:
Great Cards to Pick Up with Recent Magic Sets
