The Best Commander Cards From... Nemesis
Welcome back to The Best Commander Cards From..., a series focusing on the most powerful EDH cards from across Magic: The Gathering's rich thirty-year-long history. Today's focus is Nemesis, the nineteenth expansion set, which was released in February of 2000, and is the second set in the Masques block.
Nemesis Mechanics
Most of the themes and mechanics from Mercadian Masques returned for Nemesis. This is great news if you like the alternate casting costs, Spellshapers, and Mercenary-/Rebel-enablers and payoffs from the first set. If you're looking for something new, fading is all you'll get. With little else to mention about this small set, it's time to get right into the cards.
Skyshroud Claim
Being able to get nonbasics often makes this preferable to cards like Circuitous Route and Explosive Vegetation. Skyshroud Claim is also the most popular card in the set by a huge margin, owing that popularity to some combination of high-cost and lands-matter commanders. It ain't much, but it's honest work.
Tangle Wire
If you've never faced down a Tangle Wire in the early turns of a game, I can tell you that it's pretty oppressive at times. As an added bonus, you get to tap the Tangle Wire as part of its ability, so it hits you a little less hard than everyone else. If you're dumping out your hand early or proliferating often, consider this underplayed stax piece.
Submerge
Like I always say, it's hard to beat free. You'll see Submerge most often alongside Krark, the Thumbless and any blue partner commander, where you're not really concerned about it getting returned to your hand. You can even occasionally disrupt Thassa's Oracle, a neat little trick I learned from a Jake FitzSimons article!
Blinding Angel
Cards that can repeatedly skip opposing phases are very few and far between. In fact, Fatespinner is the only one that immediately comes to mind. If your opponents are looking to turn creatures sideways, this can hamstring those strategies pretty hard.
Daze
While Daze might not seem like an ideal choice for casual Commander, almost any free counter has the potential to do something in cEDH. I've personally lost to this card far too many times in Vintage Cube, and I can tell you from experience that it excels in any format where every bit of mana counts.
The Seal Cycle
Seal of Doom
One of the bigger disadvantages to playing interaction is that you often need to have it available as soon as a threat presents itself, rather than when you untap. The Seals, especially Seal of Doom, Seal of Cleansing, and Seal of Fire, all give you the option of paying a slight premium now to have better flexibility later. As a bonus, you don't choose a target until you activate these, so they play pretty well against counters.
Terrain Generator
Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and Tatyova, Benthic Druid might pop into your head when you think of Terrain Generator, but it's actually Moraug, Fury of Akoum that takes the top slot when it comes to including this utility land. Second place, inexplicably, goes to Firkraag, Cunning Instigator.
Divining Witch
This reusable Demonic Consultation is as powerful as it is risky. If you're willing to gamble a bit, the risk might very well be worth the reward. Of course, it still works with Thassa's Oracle and Laboratory Maniac, both fetching out and enabling them. If you accidentally exile your named card from the top six, it'll at least be very funny.
Moggcatcher
Alongside Seahunter and Skyshroud Poacher, Moggcatcher finishes this incomplete cycle of creatures that fetch out a specific creature type. It might be a large mana investment, but tutoring out a Muxus, Goblin Grandee or any number of Goblin staples seems well worth it to me.
Sivvi's Ruse
The best application of Sivvi's Ruse is saving your board from a Blasphemous Act, one of the most widely played spells in the entire format, and a premier sweeper, for free. Of course, you can win combat with it, but the Blasphemous Act blowout is the real goal.
Mogg Salvage
Friends, if you're playing at a table with zero Islands, you'll be so happy that you won't care about having to pay full price for Mogg Salvage. Also, you don't even have to target something controlled by the opponent with an Island, meaning that this is often just free artifact destruction in the early game.
Reverent Silence
Admittedly, Reverent Silence is a bit narrow. After all, only hitting enchantments for free is sometimes going to be worse than paying some mana to have the flexibility of hitting other card types. Even so, I'm still interested in a free way to rid the table of Rhystic Study, Authority of the Consuls, Black Market, Sylvan Library, and the many other enchantments that I regularly see.
Kor Haven
You'll find Kor Haven most prominently featured alongside Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, where it both polices the board and pumps the legendary pup. If you're not sure whether to run this or Maze of Ith, remember that Kor Haven can actually tap for mana and doesn't protect the target from damage itself.
Massacre
Once again, the noteworthy part of this card is that you can often cast it for free. -2/-2 will get rid of many of the most popular creatures, from Grand Abolisher and Opposition Agent to Llanowar Elves and Dauthi Voidwalker. Entire legions of Goblins and giant piles of Scute Swarm tokens will fall to Massacre. Notably, it won't be enough to finish off Drannith Magistrate, or almost any of the most popular commanders, so be warned.
Parallax Dementia
I first found Parallax Dementia while digging up cards for Braids, Arisen Nightmare, where it plays like a Doom Blade that draws three cards. Since then, I've been looking for all sorts of ways to bounce and flicker it, including Riptide Chimera, Floodtide Serpent, and Shimmerwing Chimera. I promise you, this one is just waiting for a few more enablers in the command zone.
Mind Slash
It shouldn't be a surprise that Mind Slash combos quite well with a few commanders, including The Raven Man, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, and Tergrid, God of Fright. Yes, it costs a ton of black mana, and quite a few expendable creatures, but the effect is undeniable. I've seen Mind Slash take over games, and it shouldn't be underestimated at casual tables.
The Parallax Cycle
Alongside Parallax Tide and Parallax Nexus, Parallax Wave finishes this cycle of enchantments that temporarily exile a particular card type and have fading 5. Much like Parallax Dementia, you really want to return these to your hand or sacrifice them to get the best value. In particular, using all five counters and then sacrificing/returning these with the exile abilities on the stack will keep the targets exiled forever.
That's all I've got for you today. Few cards from Nemesis can really be considered staples, with most of the high-power cards serving as auto-includes for a few specific commanders. I'm okay with that! Give me Parallax Dementia in one deck over Infernal Grasp in all my decks any day of the week.
We've heard enough about my favorites from this set, but what are yours? Let me know in the comments. As always, I've been Luka "Robot" Sharaska, and I hope you'll come back next time when we cover Prophecy.
