The Best Commander Cards From... Antiquities
Ashnod's Altar by Anson Maddocks
Welcome back to The Best Commander Cards From..., a series focusing on the most powerful EDH cards from across Magic: the Gathering's thirty-year history. Today's focus is Antiquities, the second expansion set ever created. Although only a couple of weeks bridged the gap between the December release of the previous expansion set, Arabian Nights, and Unlimited Edition, it wouldn't be until March that Antiquities would reach the hands of eager players. At that time, Magic was certainly booming, and there's a number of cards from this set that are still widely popular today.
Oops, All Artifacts
Well, the set wasn't actually all artifacts. Rather, every single card referenced artifacts in some way if it wasn't an artifact. The only exceptions to this rule were lands that produced colorless mana but didn't explicitly mention artifacts in any other way, since casting artifacts was somewhat implied. By today's standards, this would be relatively simple to accomplish within red, blue, and even green, but somewhat more difficult otherwise. Somehow, they managed it, although I'd guess that the set only featuring 85 cards might have made the burden of designing within these constraints a bit easier. The result is certainly something special.
Setting Records
Notably, Antiquities featured the first art variations for any given card excluding basic lands. You'll see later which cards those were, if you can't already guess. Additionally, after a great deal of changes later down the line, the release of Antiquities marked a total of 100 creature types in Magic!
Without any further discussion, let's get right into the most exciting cards from this set!
Ashnod's Altar
Widely considered to be one of the best sacrifice outlets in the format, this card enables all manner of combos in a variety of archetypes and color combinations. Despite seeing a number of reprints, it retains a healthy amount of value. Phyrexian Altar creates mana of any color, but it was printed many years later. For best results, combine with creature tokens from cards like Bitterblossom, Skrelv's Hive, or Scute Swarm.
Candelabra of Tawnos
This card was only ever printed once, and for that very reason fetches an absurd price. Of course, it's also part of a few niche combos in eternal formats due to its unique effect. Combining the Candelabra with cards like High Tide or lands that produce extra mana, like Dimir Aqueduct, is the best way to use it. Sadly, the price point alone means that it'll probably never see much EDH play. Even so, it remains one of the more mechanically unique and powerful cards from this set.
Energy Flux
Make no mistake, Energy Flux is about as close as you can get to mono-blue artifact destruction without Smelt costing blue mana. Since even the artifacts that produce mana can scarcely pay for themselves, much less profit on mana, this can demolish artifact-reliant strategies. It gets even worse if someone is playing artifact lands, which are not immune to the effect. I've been on the receiving end of this card, and it's about as backbreaking as you can imagine.
Gate to Phyrexia
Not to be confused with Portal to Phyrexia. Artifact removal in black is pretty uncommon, but this is one of the few cards to do it. Usually you'll need roundabout effects like Torment of Hailfire, but if you've got a lot of extra creatures laying around, this will get the job done. Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, Bitterblossom, and other token-producers get the best results, but it's still no replacement for cards like Vandalblast. Of course, if you're in mono-black, you won't get much better.
Mishra's Factory
On the surface, this might not seem like an especially powerful card at first glance. Make no mistake, though, Mishra's Factory walked so that Mutavault could run. While it does become an artifact creature and it is a pretty way to clean up planeswalkers after a board wipe, the primary strength of Mishra's Factory is that it comes in untapped and can be played in colorless decks. I've tried many times to build various colorless decks, especially Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, and utility lands are one of the backbones of those decks. I think this should see more play since the opportunity cost for many decks is rather low.
Mishra's Workshop
Vintage and Vintage Cube all-star Mishra's Workshop needs no introduction for those familiar with those formats. Even in a singleton format like EDH, the power of lands that produce extra mana cannot be understated. In spite of the drawbacks and limitations of this card, it still commands an exceptionally steep price thanks to seeing extensive Vintage play. It's also banned in Legacy, which is a testament to its power level. I think the restriction and power level are pretty neat in a 100-card format, and I wish the price point was lower.
Ornithopter
To many, Ornithopter is hardly imposing, but it's been a staple of various combo decks for a very long time. Almost any artifact deck can find some way to make use of this card. Its best quality is that it's an artifact that costs nothing to play. This is a perfect example of a card that's an enabler. Having flying is also a pretty big boon, since suiting this little guy up with some Equipment or +1/+1 counters is not too uncommon. Whether you're drawing a card with it using Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, getting an extra trigger with Winota, Joiner of Forces, or trying to cheat Ninjas into play, Ornithopter is surprisingly useful.
Power Artifact
Another artifact support card, Power Artifact can do exactly what it says it does: power up an artifact. It can make otherwise prohibitive activations costs a lot more reasonable, and when paired with the right mana rock, quite unreasonable outcomes. It's not an uncommon sight in cEDH where it can turn either Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith into infinite mana.
Strip Mine
This is simply premium land removal that fits into any deck. I've had this card ruin my plans more times than I'd like to admit. It's restricted in Vintage, banned in Legacy, and by far the most versatile land destruction that's across every color. Despite being reprinted extensively in Fourth Edition, it still commands a decently high price. It's certainly worth picking up if you keep seeing pesky lands like Glacial Chasm across the table.
Transmute Artifact
With Tinker banned, this card is next in line as one of the most efficient artifact tutors. Of course, it'll cost you a pretty penny. There's hardly a better way to dump artifacts straight into play from your deck. One of the standout exceptions is Arcum Dagsson. Whir of Invention is also worth mentioning as an option to consider. If you're not concerned about paying the full price for the artifact, you can pair this card with Goblin Welder for easy value.
The Urza "Tron" Lands
Rather strangely, all of these lands have a land subtype that is the same as their card name. Collectively, you'll make seven mana with all of these in play, which in formats like Modern is enough to play cards like Karn Liberated. In EDH it's much more difficult to get them all into play, but it's certainly possible. Tempt with Discovery is one of the cleanest ways, although you're reliant upon your opponents. Once you have all this mana, the floodgates are open for you to cast huge threats like Portal to Phyrexia or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon quite easily.
That's All, Folks
Antiquities will always be one of the more peculiar sets in Magic history. Even so, it's still pretty fun to me. From the overwhelming drawbacks to the parasitic mechanics, it's a blast to look through old designs like these. I hope you learned something new about these cards, and I hope you'll tune in again. I'm Luka "Robot" Sharaska, and I'll catch you next time.
