Magic: The Gathering - The 10 Best Commanders In Mystery Booster 2

Summary

• Playtest cards add unique twists to Commander gameplay, but be sure to check with your play group for legality.
• Narod, The Beige Flower and Hish of the Snake Cult offer unconventional abilities that can shake up game dynamics.
• Unique commanders like Wowzer, The Aspirational and Urza, Lord High Artificer present powerful strategies for victory.

Mystery Booster 2 is a chance to jam some of your favorite Magic: The Gathering cards into one chaotic draft deck and slam weird and strange mechanics together until you squeak out a win. One of the more unique things with this set are the number of legendary creatures included in the set, a total of 39 spit across classic creatures and new playtest ones.

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Some of the Commander potential cards are not real Magic cards as you know them, they’re playtest cards of what could come to the game at some point in the future. Either way, Mystery Booster 2 has some neat cards to bust out in Commander.

Playtest cards aren’t legal so if you want to use them as a commander, make sure to have a chat with your play group. You can Rule 0 them into the game, but always make sure to have a backup just in case.

10 Narod, The Beige Flower

This Flower Means Business

Are you ready to start with a weird creature? Narod, the Beige Flower is an esper Plant Rogue with no attack power and costs only three mana to play. It comes with a single ability, making it so combat damage is assigned equal to its mana value rather than its power.

This weird ability has some odd implications for games. For instance, most tokens now don’t do any damage since generic tokens don’t have a mana value. Also, equipments and auras are mostly useless since you’re not dealing damage based on power any more. Sure, plenty of creatures will still be dealing damage, but it will be an awkward time for everyone. Narod is a twist on Doran, the Siege Tower, which is just Doran spelled backward, and the test card is even printed over a copy of Doran which is a fun little bonus.

9 Hish Of The Snake Cult

Hssssssssssss

Snakes are pretty cool in Magic but they’ve been a disjointed creature type for a while. You have Nagas, Serpents, and Snakes, all snake-like, but rarely untied under one Commander. Hush of the Snake Cult turns that around as a new Sultai Commander.

All those Snakes of yours gain three abilities with Hish out, daunt, deathtouch, and poisonous 2. Daunt is the odd one out here since it is a new keyword in Mystery Booster 2. A creature with daunt can’t be blocked by creatures with power two or less, like a modified skulk.

8 Anax and Cymede & Kynaios and Tiro

Four Commanders Is Better Than One

We’ve had partner Commanders in Magic for some time, and we’ve recently seen team up cards from March of the Machine, but it hasn’t been until the Mystery Booster 2 that we get to see the mashup of Anax and Cymede & Kynaios and Tiro.

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These two couples from Theros come together in one beefy card, uniting to make a 3/8 with first strike and vigilance, and a heroic effect that combines them both. Anytime you cast a spell that targets Anax and Cymede & Kynaios and Tiro, you get to draw a card, then everyone gets to take a land and put it into play, with those opponents who don’t draw a card. It’s a great group hug Commander that ensures everyone is having a good time.

7 Chea, Friend To Maybe Too Many

Never Too Many Friends

Grouping cards has been a popular thing in recent Magic sets, taking multiple creature or card types and uniting them under an umbrella term to easily reference them. Chea, Friend to Maybe Too Many takes that to the next level by snagging Bats, Birds, Cats, Dragons, Faeries, Foxes, Frogs, Imps, Lizards, Spiders, and any creature with the word “Familiar” in its name and grouping them under the Familiar banner.

Chea can then add X green mana to your mana pool for each Familiar you control, while also forcing your opponents to lose life equal to that number. Familiar creatures are a broad grouping, so deck design might be a little difficult at first, but since you’re in three colors you have plenty to choose from.

6 Captain Sisay

Legends Are Your Toolbox

Having access to any Legendary card in your deck is an amazing ability and having a tutor on your commander is practically unstoppable. Captain Sisay is the ultimate toolbox Commander, letting you dig for any card so long as it's legendary. Creatures, lands, artifacts, and even a few legendary sorceries are at your disposal.

This Captain Sisay comes in the Futureshifted border, the kinda clunky but nostalgic border that was originally seen in the Future Sight set. Not only that, but the artwork comes from the Vanguard set, a unique set that had oversized cards that acted a little bit like planeswalkers mixed with commanders.

5 Wowzer, The Aspirational

A New Win Condition

Having a win-condition in the Command Zone makes for a curious state for a game of Commander. On one hand, you’re going to be targeted by your opponents, making it harder to land whatever strategy you’re going for. On the other hand, running Wowzer, the Aspirational takes an incredible feat of strength and is well worth the build up.

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When you attack with Wowzer, you can win the game right then and there. However, you have to have an energy counter, a Blood, Clue, Food, Map, Powerstone, and Treasure token, you have to be the monarch, have the initiative, and also have the city’s blessing. If you have all that, and you attack with Wowzer, you win!

4 Kozilek, Compleated

Two Nightmares United

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Phyrexians got their hands on an Eldrazi? Well now you don’t have to thanks to the Mystery Booster 2 release. In this hypothetical, Kozilek has been compleated, transforming it from an organic creature to a Phyrexian one.

Kozilek gets to keep its cast trigger, something fairly unique to the Eldrazi Titans, but now you get to rip their hand apart and give them two poison counters. The crown on this monstrosity is the keyword annihinfect, which combines annihilator with infect, forcing your opponent to sacrifice permanents equal to the number of poison counters they have when Kozilek attacks.

3 Rusko, Clockmaker

An Arena Exclusive

Mystery Booster 2 took a few cards that were previously Arena exclusives and brought them to paper Magic for the first time, with some interesting consequences. Rusko, Clockmaker has a unique ability to conjure a card named Midnight Clock into play. Conjure creates a card that is not originally in your deck, but does not make a token or copy of that card.

That means you need to have a real, physical extra copy of Midnight Clock to be able to put into the battlefield when you cast Rusko. You can also still have a copy of Midnight Clock in your deck, giving you ways to have multiples of the same card out.

2 Urza, Lord High Artificer

Artifacts Bow To Him

One of the most powerful single commanders in Magic, Urza, Lord High Artificer is an incredible commander to play, creating an immense amount of mana while also helping you dig through your deck for free spells. Decks with Urza leading them are incredibly efficient, since the mana creation combined with the Mind’s Desire effect can grant you all sorts of free spells.

Like Captain Sisay, Urza uses the futureshifted border with the Vanguard artwork, making for a truly unique card unlike any other in Magic. Seeing how Vanguard cards haven’t been printed since the late 90s, copies of this Urza will be coveted by collectors for years.

1 Kenrith, The Returned King

A True Monarch

The ultimate five-color commander, Kenrith, the Returned King does everything you’d want a five-color commander to do. While naturally costing just white mana, Kenrith has five abilities, each one with a different mana cost and color commitment, to help give you an advantage in your game. You can do anything from give your creatures haste with the red ability, to reanimating a creature from any graveyard directly to the battlefield.

This iteration of Kenrith comes in a very derisive white border, something that Magic brought back in Mystery Booster 2. The last time we saw white border cards was in Ninth Edition, with a surprise release for an April Fools Secret Lair.

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