The Best Commander Cards From... Scourge
Welcome back to The Best Commander Cards From..., a series looking at the most powerful Commander cards from across Magic: The Gathering's rich thirty-year-long history. Today's focus is Scourge, the twenty-ninth expansion set, which was released in May of 2003 and is the final set in the Onslaught block.
Scourge Lore
Like Legions before it, Scourge has an accompanying novel. I can't vouch for how good any of these books are, but rabid Magic fans will probably still enjoy it. As far as the story as told by the cards, we get to see the aftermath of Kamahl's encounter with Phage and Akroma, how the Mirari warps more of the landscape and its populace, and how all of those problems are solved. For now, at least.
Scourge Mechanics
There is supposedly a Dragon theme in Scourge, and although there's a lot of cards with the word Dragon in their name, there's only four actual Dragons in the set, and they're all rare. In spite of this, the Scourge set symbol is somehow a Dragon skull. If you're a fan of storm, it made its first appearance here! Other themes and mechanics include a focus on kindred strategies and a 'mana value 6 or greater' theme. With all that said, let's get into the cards.
Daru Warchief
Soldiers haven't enjoyed the kindred support that a lot of other creature types have, and Daru Warchief is a great example of this. Costing four mana and boosting toughness more than power are both big hits to the playability of this card, but if you're playing Soldiers, this is, indeed, a lord.
Decree of Justice
There was a time when Decree of Justice was a wildly powerful card that could make an army on command. Unfortunately, that time has passed. These days, Decree of Justice is mostly noteworthy for its cycling synergies, although decks looking to create a lot of tokens can obviously still play it.
Dimensional Breach
Playability aside, I have a theory that this was, at one point during development, an enchantment. I would wager playtests revealed that getting to destroy Dimensional Breach, thus preventing the return of any of the cards it exiles, created some feel-bads. Instead, we have this clunky templating on a sorcery that requires all players to think about it for a bunch of turns. All that said, I think Dimensional Breach is really cool.
Wing Shards
You do rely a bit upon the aggressiveness and spellcasting of opponents to make Wing Shards work, but I've seen this function as a power-crept Settle the Wreckage in the right circumstances. In particular, Wing Shards works wonders against Voltron-style decks that tap out to play Auras and Equipment before attacking with their suited-up monsters.
Brain Freeze
The printing of Underworld Breach saw Brain Freeze gain a second life as a combo-enabler, and since that day Brain Freeze has been a cEDH staple. Outside of Commander, I'm familiar with Brain Freeze as an old-school storm win condition in Cube decks before Underworld Breach and an integral piece of the puzzle after it.
Decree of Silence
I think of Decree of Silence as a beautiful disaster. Don't get me wrong, I'm the kind of sick and twisted person that loves combining this with Solemnity. That said, which person on the design team thought it was fun to just lock your opponent out of the game for a while? Worst of all, it doesn't even stop storm cards very well, since storm is a cast trigger.
Long-Term Plans
Sure, Long-Term Plans is no Demonic Tutor or Mystical Tutor, but it has its upsides. Manipulating the top of your deck is usually quite strong, and there's no shortage of commanders that pay you off for it. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, Narset, Enlightened Master, and Elminster are foremost among them.
Mind's Desire
If you've ever wished that your storm payoff wasn't really a payoff but a way to just get a bunch of free stuff, Mind's Desire is the card for you. Unfortunately, it also makes you shuffle your deck that many times, which I suppose is a necessary stopgap to prevent you from just stacking the top of your deck beforehand. It might look clunky at six mana, but be assured, this usually only sees play in decks where it may as well cost nothing.
Mistform Warchief
Cost reduction for any creature type, in blue? That's a pretty neat ability from a color that's usually just focused on reducing costs for instants and sorceries. Sadly, mono-blue seems to mostly be centered around Wizards, Merfolk, and Octopodes, which either don't have the best positioning in Commander or have a support color that makes a card like Mistform Warchief less valuable.
Pemmin's Aura
Paying blue to untap the enchanted creature might already be setting off some combo alarm bells to folks who haven't seen this before, but those who have heard of Pemmin's Aura already know quite well. Granting the creature protection is also a very strong ability, leaving this Aura a one-card engine the revs when you put it on any creature that creates more than one mana.
Stifle
The usefulness of Stifle is predicated on you finding the best possible moment to use it. My personal favorites include using it against an opposing annihilator trigger, an opposing fetchland on turn one, and Aetherflux Reservoir.
Call to the Grave
You don't need cards like Drop of Honey or The Abyss to wreak havoc on enemy board states. Call to the Grave does a similar job at a decent rate, and somehow I hadn't seen this card before looking at this set. Somehow, this was reprinted in Magic 2012 and I missed it there, too!
Carrion Feeder
One of the classic sacrifice outlets in Commander, Carrion Feeder sometimes gets ditched in favor of Viscera Seer. As a Zombie, however, I'm sure plenty of decks still prefer Carrion Feeder. Even if you don't need Zombie synergies, redundancy is always nice. This has put Carrion Feeder in third place when it comes to popularity in this set.
Decree of Pain
I've cast Decree of Pain for full cost on several occasions, and let me tell you, it feels pretty great. Considering how many board wipes we have available these days, eight mana does feel like a really huge cost. The cycling ability might seem like a consolation prize at first, but make no mistake, many utility creatures will succumb to -2/-2.
Lethal Vapors
I like enchantments that make people at the table groan. Lethal Vapors does have a built-in off switch for players that can't play around it, but skipping your entire turn sucks. Similar enchantments include Spreading Plague and Tainted Aether.
Undead Warchief
Zombies are a beloved creature type, and I myself have played a handful of Zombie decks in Commander. Undead Warchief is a great lord for both creature tokens and nontoken creatures alike, and its price reflects its ubiquity in kindred decks.
Vengeful Dead
Another Zombie payoff, Vengeful Dead is sort of like a Zombie-specific Blood Artist that hits every player at once. The higher mana cost is a bit rough, but considering you're hitting everyone at once, it's a relatively small price to pay.
Decree of Annihilation
Blow up everything! Seriously, try it out! It's pretty fun. Notably, this doesn't exile planeswalkers, so play it in your superfriends decks. Also, the cycling end of this card is no slouch if you're ramping with artifacts and creatures. Decree of Annihilation feels powerful because it is.
Dragon Mage
I usually don't like seven-mana creatures without haste or protection, but Dragons are sometimes a special exception. Dragon Mage in particular casts Wheel of Fortune on hit, and I don't think I have to tell you that drawing seven cards feels good.
Dragonspeaker Shaman
Speaking of Dragons, Dragonspeaker Shaman is an all-star in Dragon-themed decks. Most of those huge lizards are five or more mana, so cutting those costs down to a reasonable 3-6 mana can go a long way towards making them castable. For those reasons, Dragonspeaker Shaman is in the top five when it comes to popularity in Scourge.
Dragonstorm
Costing nine mana has kept Dragonstorm from appearing in too many decks. Generally speaking, it's hard to cast more than one spell before casting something this expensive, and decks that excel at storming off usually aren't packing too many Dragons. Even so, the thought of assembling a lethal combo by storming into this card makes me want to try it out.
Form of the Dragon
I've mostly steered clear of Form of the Dragon due to not wanting my life total so very low, but the Moat effect wards off quite a bit of aggression. I think Form of the Dragon belongs in most Dragon decks, if only for the flavor, but I won't call you a coward for not trying it out. Not to your face, at least.
Goblin Warchief
Haste and cost reduction are amazing abilities for a lord to grant, and Goblin Warchief is among the most popular Goblin lords for this reason. If you've ever considered a Goblin deck, you've probably already seen this card, and it's just as good as it looks.
Grip of Chaos
The good thing about Grip of Chaos is that it's pretty hard to get rid of once it's on the battlefield, as every targeted removal spell will probably hit something else. The bad thing about Grip of Chaos is that every single removal spell has a chance of hitting your stuff, even if you weren't the intended target. I still like it, though!
Pyrostatic Pillar
I've sat at enough tables to know that Pyrostatic Pillar is incredibly potent under the right circumstances. Lots of players like cheap spells, and even if you take some damage from this yourself, most people aren't going to play around it.
Siege-Gang Commander
While Siege-Gang Commander lacks in spectacle it makes up for in number of Goblins and damage potential. Getting a bunch of Gobbos with just one card is exactly what Goblin decks usually want, especially commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss.
Sulfuric Vortex
Damage adds up fast in a game of Commander, and what starts as just two damage quickly turns into eight to ten per player. Turning off life gain is also much more potent than it looks. I've played multiple decks where Sulfuric Vortex may as well have stopped my deck from functioning.
Alpha Status
If you've ever wished that your go-wide deck could suddenly go tall, Alpha Status does just that. Turning your five Saprolings into four Saprolings and a 9/9 beater is quite the boon to your board state, and Alpha Status can grow things much bigger.
Fierce Empath
Tutoring up huge creatures is quite strong, especially if those creatures have cost reduction or utilities beyond just being beefy. With the right number of high-cost creatures, Fierce Empath can almost function as a toolbox of sorts, picking out the best creature for the job at hand.
Forgotten Ancient
I have always loved Forgotten Ancient. I've used it to great success alongside Sage of Hours to take multiple turns, and I've dumped all the counters onto fun creatures like Serra Ascendant. Even if you're not doing some kind of counter synergy play, it's still a fantastic card on its own, growing abnormally large in a very short time frame.
One with Nature
One mana is not what I'd expect to pay for a card like this, and I'm very eager to put it on any creature I play turn one. In the right deck, I'd expect this to get at least two or three triggers before someone can reasonably take out your creature, and that's pretty strong.
Wirewood Symbiote
Elf decks in particular can use Wirewood Symbiote to great effect, as the card implies. Untapping cards, like Marwyn, the Nurturer or Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, go a long way, and returning Elves like Wood Elves and Reclamation Sage can give you extra value.
Xantid Swarm
If you need to keep your spells from getting countered, Xantid Swarm excels at making sure one player can't do that. It's a little meek, and it isn't always going to be able to attack into certain players, but if you're looking for a budget alternative to Allosaurus Shepherd, Xantid Swarm does the job pretty well.
Bladewing the Risen
What's there to say about Bladewing the Risen that others haven't said? If your five-color Dragon deck isn't jamming Bladewing to get some extra value from the graveyard, you should start doing so.
Edgewalker
Cleric decks rejoice, Edgewalker is here. Every time I see another Cleric synergy piece printed that costs exactly white and black mana, Edgewalker flashes into my brain. Even if you're only getting a one-mana discount on your spells, this is still well worth your time and mana.
Karona, False God
Unfortunately, Karona, False God doesn't have any of the built-in protection that cards like Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos and Assault Suit grant. Chances are, if you play Karona, someone's going to use removal on her or sacrifice her. Even so, slap on a goad enchantment and see how fast the life totals fly.
Sliver Overlord
Five-color Sliver piles are a rite of passage for kindred players, and Sliver Overlord is more than worthy of sitting in your command zone. Getting access to the best Slivers in your deck can make assembling your board state a breeze if you have the requisite mana, even if other legendary Slivers have a bit more appeal.
Temple of the False God
If I had a penny for every debate I've heard about how good or bad Temple of the False God is, I'd be rich enough to play cEDH without proxies. However you feel about this land, its impact on Commander can't be understated. It's been included in tons of precons, and it's widely beloved.
That's All, Folks
There were a ton of cards I had to gloss over for this list to be reasonable in size. The 'Dragon' cycle of enchantments that care about 6+ mana-value creatures and landcyclers were chief among them, but a handful of other cards also got cut. I like Scourge, mostly because I like storm and cycling, but also because it took risks. Speaking of risks, I hope you join me next time when we tackle Mirrodin!
