The world premiere of Commander Masters has arrived, giving players a first look at some of the powerful cards to help take your Commander deck to the next level. Blake Rasmussen was joined by Commander mastermind Gavin Verhey to discuss some of the philosophy behind the set and what players can expect to find in it.
Most of the cards in Commander Masters will look familiar—that’s because it is almost entirely a reprint set, meaning every card in packs are reprints from various sets across Magic’s history, some as far back as the beginning of the game. The four pre-constructed Commander decks will each include 10 brand new, never-before-seen cards, which will be revealed later next week.
For a quick look at the Commander Masters pre-constructed decks, check out our coverage of MagicCon Minneapolis where these cards and their Commanders were first revealed.
The main focus of the set, aside from making plenty of powerful Commander cards more accessible to players, is drafting. With special rules and exceptions for drafting this set, Commander Masters promises a unique and even playing field for all players.
Commander Staples and Reprints
It is just the first day of reveals but the initial wave of revealed cards has a healthy mix of fun draft cards and essential Commander staples that haven’t been seen in years. The most exciting initial reveal might be the Tempest Medallions— Emerald Medallion, Jet Medallion, Pearl Medallion, Ruby Medallion, and Sapphire Medallion—return to the game. They will be getting their first ever foil printing in Commander Masters.
Other highlights include borderless treatments for Commander staples like Sol Ring, Command Tower, Path of Ancestry, and Arcane Signet:
We also got to see more creatures in the new Profile Borderless card style that is debuting with Commander Masters, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Maelstrom Wanderer, and Kozilek, the Great Distortion:
Plus the return of a few classics: Land Tax, Evacuation, Spellseeker, and Chainer, Dementia Master:
Another super exciting reveal is the return of retro frame basic lands…with art from Rebecca Guay, Alayna Danner, and Mark Poole!
Commander Masters basic lands by Rebecca Guay.
Commander Masters basic lands by Alayna Danner.
Commander Masters basic lands by Mark Poole.
More previews are coming out today from content creators and other Magic related websites so make sure to check back regularly to see more updates as they are revealed.
Several cards have been downshifted in rarity due to necessity. One example is Extinguish all Hope, a powerful but very narrow board wipe. Verhey promised that Pauper players will have some fun with plenty of newly downshifted cards so keep an eye out for each card’s rarity as more cards are revealed. Some legendary creatures will be making a shift down in rarity, as well, though Verhey did not say which.
Build Your Own Partners in Commander Masters
In Commander Masters limited—and only during limited events like Draft or Sealed—you can pair two mono-color or zero-color Commanders together as if they had partner. This means if a legendary creature has two or more colors they’re excluded from this special rule.
For example, if you have two mono-Blue Commanders that don’t normally have partner, you can mash them together in the Command Zone in Commander Masters limited. Same goes if you have one mono-Green Commander and one mono-Red Commander, etc.
An important note on this rule: you can partner the same Commander with itself for your draft deck. So if you happen to luck into two copies of Krenko, Mob Boss, you can use both of them as your partner Commanders, swapping back and forth between them to delay commander tax increases.
Another neat draft event rules difference from typical Commander games: if you happen to draft multiple copies of a single card, you can play all of them. The normal singleton rule does not apply to Draft decks.
Draft Archetypes
As with any set intended for drafting, there various archetypes built into the set to help you build
Bule-White: Artfacts
Blue-Black: Graveyard
Black-Red: Sacrifice
Red-Green: Power matters
Green-White: Go wide tokens and counters
White-Black: Go wide token sacrifice
Black-Green: Slow tokens
Green-Blue: Ramp
Blue-Red: Spellslinger
Red-White: Equipment
Make sure you follow Hipsters of the Coast for more Commander Masters reveals and details about the set.