The Most Played Commons of 2024 - Bulk Up!
Well, 2024 is in the books, and what a year it has been! From the mythics all the way down to the commons, we've seen a lot of instant classics. So, since flashy cards like Three Tree City and Enduring Vitality always seem to steal the spotlight, I'm here to put those commonly overlooked bulk cards center stage!
I'm Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, and here's a list of the most played commons of 2024! For clarity, these entries are based off of statistics from EDHREC; on top of that, the cards had to be brand new (so no reprints.) With that out of the way, let's see what dominated our decklists this year!
#1 - Demand Answers
While Murders at Karlov Manor was one of the least liked sets in recent memory, it did contain the most played common of the whole year. Demand Answers is a two-mana instant that has a similar effect to Thrill of Possibility; however, this time around you can sacrifice an artifact instead of discarding a card.
Turning an unused Clue or Food into two new cards just shows why this spell became so popular. Couple that with the fact that Demand Answers can still assist in graveyard-centric decks, just makes it an all-around staple for Commander.
Who loves artifacts and graveyards more than Osgir, the Reconstructor? No one, that's who! Using Demand Answers to fill your hand as well as your graveyard with an artifact that you can then reanimate with Osgir sounds like a match made in Lorehold to me.
#2 - Accursed Marauder
Cards from Modern Horizons 3 will be featured several times on this list, and already at #2 we have Accursed Marauder. Move over Fleshbag Marauder, because there's a new Zombie Warrior on the block, and it's one mana cheaper. Not only that, but it also solves one of the issues with older versions of this type of effect.
Accursed Marauder makes each player sacrifice a nontoken creature, and that small tweak makes a big difference. It ensures that when you cast this spell, it's going to hit someone's real creature, not just a random Soldier token. The lowered cost, and the more specific removal this new card brings, has placed it in over sixty thousand decks on EDHREC.
Sefris of the Hidden Ways would be an interesting home, since it has synergy with both parts of the commander. Sacrificing a creature card would allow you to venture into the dungeon, and when you eventually finish a dungeon, you could possibly recur Accursed Marauder to get its effect all over again.
#3 - Escape Tunnel
Look out Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds, we have another common fetch land that fits with any color identity. What Escape Tunnel brings to the table is that it can also be sacrificed to make a creature with power two or less unblockable for a turn.
Since most decks need help with color fixing, the fetching portion of this land makes it easy to slot into most decks. Adding an evasion effect to the card takes it to the next level, because some commander games are decided by safe and evasive attacks.
A deck that's all about avoiding blockers is of course Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. While decks built around her are filled with ways to make your creatures evasive, having another one stapled to a land will ensure you get those ninjas through to your opponents.
#4 - Evolution Witness
So far in this list, we've seen a lot of new takes on older cards. When it comes to Evolution Witness, many players probably see the similarities it has with Eternal Witness. However, this time around, you're able to regrow a permanent every time this elf gets a +1/+1 counter.
While I wouldn't throw this creature in any generic deck, it is an absolute house in a +1/+1 counter-based strategy. If you have a commander that would trigger this over and over again, your game plan would almost never run out of gas. Sounds like an instant staple to me!
A deck that would synergize with Evolution Witness both in creature type and ability is Galadriel, Light of Valinor. Playing a creature, putting a counter on your team, triggering the Witness, getting a permanent from your graveyard, and then casting more creatures will just snowball out of control!
#5 - Molten Gatekeeper
Another addition to this list that rhymes with a staple in the format! Molten Gatekeeper follows in the footsteps of Impact Tremors by letting you turn your creatures' ETBs into damage. Since it also has unearth for one red, you could always bring it back during a turn where you're about to pop off by creating a big board of tokens.
This spell being a creature as well as an artifact helps it synergize with a lot of different archetypes out there. Whether your deck is built around tokens, artifacts, recursion, burn, or even Golem kindred: Molten Gatekeeper fits right in!
Did you pick up the Endless Punishment Precon from Duskmourn: House of Horror? If so throw this card in your Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls deck! Throwing damage around is the name of the game for that deck, then drawing a card and getting a counter on your commander is just icing on the painful cake.
#6 - The MH3 Landscape Cycle
Yes, Modern Horizons 3 has dominated this list so far, but the Scryfall stats don't lie! Up next we are talking about the ten common landscapes from that set, using Twisted Landscape as the example since it's the most played one of the cycle.
They don't enter tapped, they can tap for colorless right away, they can fetch you a basic land out of three types, and they have cycling. That makes them great in the early game to color fix, amazing late game when you just need a land and color doesn't matter, or you can throw these away to see another card from your library.
As for a deck these should go in, here's my advice: any three-color deck! That's right, I'm saying if you have a Jund deck, put Twisted Landscape in it and it'll will make a difference. These lands are only niche because of their color identity, outside of that one limitation they are some of the best cards printed this year.
Honorable Mention - Helpful Hunter
Going for a change of pace here with the last card on the list. Foundations was released on November 15th of this year and Helpful Hunter is already in close to ten thousand decks on EDHREC. That's a huge number for a card that's been out for less than two months!
This little Cat is a two-drop that draws you a card when it enters the battlefield, and even though it's not the flashiest creature we've seen this year, it does fit into plenty of popular archetypes. While a Cat deck seems like the obvious choice for this cute hunter, it can also find a home in decks based around small utility creatures, and even blink strategies!
With strong entering abilities in mind, I would suggest you throw this in a deck built around The Jolly Balloon Man. Making a copy of Helpful Hunter multiple times throughout a game will ensure that your hand doesn't get too thin. Plus, who doesn't love a Cat balloon?! (Try not to think about what those balloons are made of, okay?)
The Wrap Up!
So, what have we learned today? Well, from looking at this list, new cards that share similar effects with established staples tend to rise to the top. Also, in the case of the lands I mentioned, if you jam as many strong effects onto a card as possible, they tend to get played!
With that in mind: when spoiler season starts for each upcoming set in 2025, be on the lookout for cards in your bulk with those qualities. If you're able to spot some diamonds in the rough, maybe this time next year you'll be ahead of the trends!