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
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
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
Who loves artifacts and graveyards more than Osgir, the Reconstructor
#2 - Accursed Marauder
Cards from Modern Horizons 3 will be featured several times on this list, and already at #2 we have Accursed Marauder
Accursed Marauder
Sefris of the Hidden Ways
#3 - Escape Tunnel
Look out Terramorphic Expanse
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
#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
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
#5 - Molten Gatekeeper
Another addition to this list that rhymes with a staple in the format! Molten Gatekeeper
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
Did you pick up the Endless Punishment Precon from Duskmourn: House of Horror? If so throw this card in your Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
#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
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
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
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
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!