One of the most anticipated sets in Magic: The Gathering is almost here, so it’s time to see what are the best cards for the Commander/EDH format. Dubbed Guilds of Ravnica, this set is the third return to this plane and revolves around five guilds.
When selecting these cards we focused on ones that offer strong versatility for a wide range of decks. While there are numerous cards that are great for very specific strategies, we are looking for ones that can work with a variety of decks. Additionally, we will be looking at some potential Commanders since Guilds of Ravnica has quite a few cool leaders for your deck.
Here are our picks for the top 10 Commander cards in Guilds for Ravnica:
(This list is in no particular order)
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1. Doom Whisperer
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Let’s start our list off with probably one of the best cards in the entire set. Doom Whisper by itself has a great body with the added benefits of Flying and Trample. This alone makes him troublesome, but where he really shines is his ability to filter through your deck. For just two life you will gain the ability to Surveil 2.
Given how powerful and plentiful graveyard decks are, Doom Whisperer is a great enabler for a number of strategies. Even if you aren’t focused on bringing cards back from the graveyard, Doom Whisperer is a solid card for any mono-black “good stuff” deck. This will certainly become a staple in the format, so make sure to grab yours.
2. Mnemonic Betrayal
This card is bonkers. There are a lot of crazy cards that get played in Commander and Mnemonic Betrayal will give you access to everything your opponents have cast. While the card does get exiled after is resolves, Mnemonic Betrayal is great for answering any threat on the board. Depending on what’s in the graveyard, Mnemonic Betrayal can be a win condition by itself.
Great for mill, control, or even Voltron decks, Mnemonic Betrayal is a fantastic addition regardless of your strategy. Keep in mind, Mnemonic Betrayal says “cards,” meaning you can play anything from artifacts to enchantments to creatures. Good in the early game and amazing in the late, Mnemonic Betrayal is an insane card.
3. Niv-Mizzit, Parun
The face of the Izzet League, Niv-Mizzit, Parun is everything a red and blue deck wants. Despite the tricky casting cost, Niv-Mizzit packs a wallop once you actually cast him. Being invulnerable to counterspells ensures your investment sticks, which is important given you may only get him out once or twice a game.
What’s great is that Niv-Mizzit works for a variety of decks and can even be a win condition by himself. With cards such as Opportunity, it’s easy to instantly kill a player out of nowhere with minimal risk. Plus, anything instant or sorcery they use to kill Niv-Mizzit will let you draw a card. He’s also an auto-include in storm decks since he will enable you to rapidly filter through your entire library.
While he won’t be the most popular choice for an Izzet Commander, he is certainly worth playing.
4. Assassin’s Trophy
Perhaps the single best card in Guilds of Ravnica, Assassin’s Trophy will see play in almost every format. For just a green and a black, you can destroy any target permanent your opponent controls. Giving an opponent a basic land really isn’t that big of a deal in Commander, so there’s virtually no reason not to use Assassin’s Trophy.
It fits in every deck and is easily better than the other staple Golgari removal spell, Putrify. We highly recommend grabbing one or two before the price spikes.
5. Vraska, Golgari Queen
Planeswalkers have always been a controversial topic when it comes to Commander. While these cards can be exceedingly powerful, they typically need to offer strong abilities beyond their ultimates. This is why Vraska, Golgari Queen is such a potent Planeswalker, as it offers both removal and draw.
For four mana, players can blow up any nonland permanent with a mana cost of 3 or less or sacrifice a creature to draw a card. This is everything a green/black deck wants to do, making her a valuable toolbox Planeswalker that can synergize with the rest of your deck. Plus her ultimate can wins games all by itself, which will force your opponents to waste resources removing her from the board.
6. Mausoleum Secrets
Tutor effects have always been potent in Commander so any new card that lets us pull something from our deck will see play in this format. Even though Mausoleum Secrets solely revolves around black creatures, it’s a fairly flexible tutor. Virtually any type of black deck can effectively run this card.
Creatures will always make their way into the graveyard, so you should have no problem meeting the additional requirements to search your deck. This isn’t the best black tutor around, but it’s a serviceable one that will be a nice budget option for those who cannot afford a Demonic or Vampiric Tutor.
7. Divine Visitation
Tokens are a very popular strategy in Commander, which makes Divine Visitation such a terrifying card. For every token you make, if this card is on the field you’ll get that many 4/4 Angels. This buffs all your token generators, allowing you to construct a large army for a minimal amount of mana. Divine Visitation will be a staple in every token deck with the color white, so make sure to snap one up.
8. Omnispell Adept
Omnispell Adept may not be the flashiest or even most efficient card in Commander, but it has a ton of potential. Cheating out cards at a reduced cost is quite strong and for only three mana you can put out a card like Enter The Infinite.
If you can find a way to give Haste, this wizard can turn entire games around. Given Magic: The Gathering has a long list of powerful, high mana cost cards, Omnispell Adept allows us to take advantage of all of them. You won’t see this card show up- in any highly competitive games, but Omnispell Adept will find a place in the casual scene.
9. Beast Whisperer
Sometimes the best Commander cards are the ones with the simplest effects. Beast Whisperer allows you to draw a card whenever you cast a creature spell, regardless of its mana cost, power, toughness, or color. This is a generally solid card that should be included in any green deck that has a good amount of creatures. Decks such as Animar, Edric, Ezuri, and Yisan can gain a lot of value from Beast Whisperer.
10. Mission Briefing
We firmly believe that Snapcaster Mage would be one of the most played cards in Commander if it wasn’t so expensive. Enter Mission Briefing, this budget alternative is just as powerful and it even lets you dig through your deck via the Surveil mechanic.
Letting you recast an instant or sorcery from your graveyard is a powerful tool and can easily pull you ahead of your opponents. Mission Briefing is a very flexible spell and will become a staple in any control deck.