Underplayed Cycling Cards in Commander
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Cycling is an activated ability that typically involves a player discarding a card and either drawing or searching for a new one. However, this ability can have a ton of utility tacked on through additional abilities like
This same utility and versatility can be found in these underplayed spells for, in most cases, pennies.
Lull
Sometimes you need a break from your opponents swinging in, and sometimes you need Lull to stop your opponents from knocking you out of the game. Lull, just like
If your opponents have little to no creatures, or creatures you know are more utility than threats, you may gain more by cycling the card for something that could advance your board state.
| Lull | ||
| Lull (Retro Frame) |
Spectacular Pileup
Apart from exiling, there are few ways most board wipes are able to get around indestructible when clearing the battlefield. Fortunately, Spectacular Pileup is able to do so while staying comparatively on par with most board wipes at five mana. In addition to creatures, you can also remove Vehicles, which in most cases won’t matter but may come in handy when your opponent has a
Like most of the cards on this list, Spectacular Pileups' ability to cycle is simply a versatility tool to make sure that you're not stuck with non-impactful cards in hand if you don’t need them. If your opponents are still building their board states and don’t have any major threats that need to be removed, it might be better to cycle for something you can use now, especially if you're in need of lands.
You may also need to cycle if you're on the verge of winning and may not want to even the playing field. Or if the game is going on for two hours and a board wipe now would destroy game night.
| Spectacular Pileup | ||
| Spectacular Pileup (Extended Art) | ||
| Spectacular Pileup (First-Place Foil) | ||
| Spectacular Pileup (Showcase) |
Agonasaur Rex
An interesting new cycling card from
This can work great as a protection spell since cycling is an activated ability, making it harder for most counterspells, apart from
| Agonasaur Rex | ||
| Agonasaur Rex (First-Place Foil) | ||
| Agonasaur Rex (Borderless) (First-Place Foil) | ||
| Agonasaur Rex (Borderless) |
Grave Upheaval
Some of the best recursion spells in the game, like
On top of this, one of the most powerful versions of cycling out there is basic landcycling, which allows you to search your library for a land and put it into hand. Grave Upheaval then is not just a recursion spell for the best creature in all graveyards, but a great spell that can keep your land drops on curve in a pinch.
| Grave Upheaval |
Rhet-Tomb Mystic
There are a ton of commanders that love it when you put creatures into the graveyard, and Rhet-Tomb Mystic is a great way to continue your game plan while also keeping your hand fresh with spells or more creatures to cycle.
With Rhet-Tomb Mystic in play you can
No matter what the payoff is, this card is sure to be a valuable piece to any deck that needs to fill the graveyard.
| Rhet-Tomb Mystic | ||
| Rhet-Tomb Mystic (Extended Art) |
Hush
Sometimes your green stompy deck will come across a player that likes to burden you with questions like “Do you pay the one?” Hush will silence these questions, and a lot more, by destroying all enchantments, allowing you to swing away with your creatures without having to worry about
But you might find yourself in a situation where you don’t want to get rid of your enchantments, or your opponents may not have any threatening enchantments that need to be wiped. In that case, you can cycle Hush and draw a card in search of more creatures (or other spells too, I guess).
| Hush |
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Further Reading
Hidden Gems for Teval, the Balanced Scale
Commander Collections and Signature Spellbooks - What Happened?
Kaspar Renken
Kaspar Renken is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, and has been playing Magic since War of the Spark. He began playing Standard for a short time before finding EDH and the friendships that come from multiplayer formats. When he’s not playing or building decks, he can probably be found working on his Mustang.
