Ten Unusual Red Cards for Commander

Oh hey, I didn’t see you there. If you’ve been following along with my past commander articles (Black, Blue, White, and Artifact), you should be aware of how this goes. In this series I go over some strange cards that may or may not interest the Spikes, but the Timmys/Tammys and Johnnys/Jennys might have their attention piqued.

This week, I focus on red. Not the staple cards like Lightning Bolt or Wheel of Fortune, but the bargain bin/bulk rares that most folks skip over when looking for stuff to add to their 99. I do this because sometimes you are looking for a card that is acquirable, but with effects that cannot be easily replicated.

Anyways, here we go:

10. Wild Research - This (technically) three-color card is on the list because it does something with which red is not normally associated: Deck search. Plus, it searches for stuff I like to find – enchantments, sorceries, and instants. The random discard is a bit of a bother, but manageable, usually with Squee, Goblin Nabob or graveyard effects. Possibly even Library of Leng to turn the discard into something positive like tutoring every turn when you have zero or one card/s in hand.

9. Anarchy - Red has precious few enchantment removal tricks, so this old-school uncommon from Ice Age was the way red used to get rid of Circle of Protection: Red. Now it can get rid of Portable Holes, Banishing Lights, and the like. This might not affect your commander, but it might affect some other big boiz that would be really bad for foes if they were back on the board after a short exile.

8. Blood Hound - I use this in an Obeka, Brute Chronologist deck, but it is a neat card that takes advantage of being dealt damage. It you had some cards that deal yourself damage for instance (such as Orcish Artillery), you could lead off with this and buff it up before striking. Using it with lifelink effects offsets the personal damage while still triggering this little guy, so a white/red commander, or possibly Obeka (who makes the counters more-or-less permanent), have the potential to make this doge a straight beast.

7. Chaos Moon - I used this card in a chaos deck some decades back as a cheap replacement for Gauntlet of Might. When Claws of Gix came out, it was easy to maintain board state by saccing an even-numbered permanent at the end of the last guy’s turn. Or sacking it down to an odd number if I wanted to control my opponent’s dudes/mana.

6. Elkin Lair - Another reserved list card from the wispy days of yore, this gem strips a card from each players’ hands every turn and they can either play it…or lose it. Worst case scenario, it makes the game go faster (for better or worse), best case scenario: Your opponents lose a bunch of cards compared to you losing one. Heck you might even be able to make dumping a random card every turn into your yard useful or something…

5. Total War - This card is no fun for people who expect to use their creatures for effect rather than attack. It can backfire against sacrifice-heavy decks, but when combined with An-Zerrin Ruins, or Mudslide, it can keep those little weenie dudes pared down to manageable levels. If you run creatures with offset P/T ratios (such as 3/1 or 6/1), it can benefit you by making everyone attack every turn and not having too many blockers staying back. It can especially be useful in a very political game…

4. Glacial Crevasses - This card does something that is almost unheard of in red: prevent damage!?!? What was WOTC thinking? I don’t know, but in a land destruction (think Epicenter/Wildfire) build with a Crucible of Worlds or possibly Land Tax, this card has so many possibilities…

3. Omen of Fire - One thing I like about this reserved list card is that it is a dual-color-color-hoser. The other thing I like is that it is an instant! I found this to be a crazy-powerful card in commander often leading to 10-plus-to-one card exchanges by turn five! Board wipes (especially one-sided ones) are good, but this thing can smash lands too. Combine it with some land conversion cards (like Quicksilver Fountain) and it could be even better.

2. An-Zerrin Ruins - This card saw a tiny resurgence when it was released in MTGO and, as a reserved list card, it holds its value. I found it most useful when playing guys who play goblins (i.e. Muxus, Goblin Grandee or Krenko, Mob Boss). It basically locks them down until I can establish control with Repercussion or some other mean stuff. Another of my favorite cards in commander, Portcullis, works well to block this type of deck too, but as an artifact versus red (especially goblins), it has a ‘getting broken’ problem. The Ruins don’t have as big of an issue with that. Not everyone has a tribal deck in commander, but enough people do to make this a perpetual hazard. The flavor text is gold too, Old Baron Sengir was full of wisdom!

1. Mudslide - Besides being a Kahlua-based adult beverage, this is another unusual card in red - it keeps dudes tapped! As well as being a relatively inexpensive reserved list card, both in dollars and mana, it has special value when all of your creatures have flying (like most dragons do). As you may have guessed, I am more of a control player (my fave color is black), so this type of card not only excites me, but it is also positively heck on most commanders (who typically don’t fly!). Instead of removing them directly, it just sort of annoys them. It can also be used in combination with Intruder Alarm for additional untap shenanigans. The Brian Snoddy art with his intricate helmets always appealed to me as well.

Honorable Mentions

Starke of Rath - With the advent of Homeward Path, this card became a hero. Tap Starke, destroy, Tap Path (he is tapped and has summoning sickness when you lose control of him), then do it again next turn! This is not a guaranteed combo, but there are other things to consider when using this fella. First, if you’re like me and have mostly trash or no artifacts and creatures on the board, this dude is always a two-for-one! I break an opponent’s dude (or artifact), then that opponent either gets stuck with a janky 2/2 or taps it to blow up another opponent’s dude (or artifact) and so on and so forth. You also could have the option of “target a permanent with ability, then sacrifice for effect”. This option requires another card like Village Rites or some https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=517585such to use properly, but you get the idea.

Torrent of Lava - This card deals X damage to all non-flying creatures. This may not seem like a big deal, and it probably isn’t, but red does not have as many ‘board wipes’ as one would hope. Its own ability to give the affected creatures the ability to prevent one of the damage isn’t all that helpful either, especially if the creatures are tapped. This specification is particularly helpful in a deck that focuses on flying creatures…you know, like dragons?

Varchild’s War-Riders - I used this reserved list card in a repercussion build because it makes little dudes for other people, and it is a 3/4 for 2 mana that can’t really be killed right away by its nefarious creations thanks to Rampage 1! Other cards that work with this guy are Blasphemous Act, Kaervek, the Spiteful, and a host of other cards that capitalize off your opponent’s creatures dying. Plus, I just love the flavor of this guy.

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this look back at some cards that were mostly turds when they were released, but actually turned out pretty good with a few additional options. I always loved the random nature of red, especially in commander where the singleton format and larger number of opponents keep things interesting. I find that having a bunch of crappy cards keeps my opponents guessing at my goals and the players with more powerful initial drops usually get targeted first…In my old play group, that was usually me, even if I was deck-testing and didn’t have any strong plays.

“If you constantly underwhelm, they will eventually ignore you.”

Next week: Green, the color of life, love (of F.A.T creatures), and…card draw? Until then, stay cool!