Of all the colors available in Magic: The Gathering, white continues to be bottom of the pile when it comes to the collectable card game’s Commander format. It’s worth noting, of course, that regardless of how well Wizards of the Coast manages to balance the meta, there’s always going to be a ‘worst’ deck and/or color to play, but when it comes to singleton rules, the archetype has lagged far behind its fellow members of the rainbow. While there’s no individual cause for this, one major drawback for white in Commander is a lack of unconditional draw.
It goes without saying, then, that in a 100-card deck which strictly prohibits more than one copy of any individual card from being used, a near-total absence of reliable tutoring effects or hand reloading tools makes closing out a match in the user’s favor unlikely at best and borderline impossible at worst. Now, in order to address those long-standing grievances, Wizards has printed a handful of creatures and enchantments in an attempt to level the playing field, so to speak.
According to senior Magic designer Gavin Verhey, four of these, in particular, should have a noticeable impact when they arrive alongside Commander Legends later this month, and you can check them out down below.
In a lengthy Twitter post discussing the design philosophy behind each addition, Verhey singles out Keeper of the Accord specifically as a card expected to become a staple of white Commander decks, though admits that some could ultimately end up missing the mark. Regardless of their success, players should keep in mind that this initiative to turn white’s fortunes around is simply the beginning of a long-term process and should therefore not be surprised if the color still requires a bump in power and utility in future expansions.
Magic: The Gathering – Commander Legends releases November 20th for tabletop and Online. See here for previous reveals.