The next Magic: The Gathering set, Commander Legends: Baldur’s Gate has been fully revealed. Packed with all-new legendary creatures, mechanics, and potent spells, there are a ton of awesome cards to use in the Commander/EDH format. Because of this, I decided to highlight ten of my favorite cards in the set. Now, this doesn’t mean the rest are bad or won’t work for your deck. Far from it, as Commander Legends: Baldur’s Gate offers a plethora of fantastic cards you can make use of. However, these are the ten that caught my eye and ones you should consider picking up. I am also focusing on new cards, so don’t expect any reprints to appear on this list!
10 Best Commander Legends Baldur’s Gate Cards
Jon Inrenicus, Shattered One
Jon Inrenicus, Shattered One is, without question, my favorite card in this entire set. While Commander Legends: Baldur’s Gate is already stacked with incredible legendary creatures, this is one of the most creative. Goad has always been a strong mechanic, but what separates Jon from the rest is that any creature that he goads has that keyword for the rest of the game. This means your opponents are stuck with that monster, forced to attack others at the table regardless if it’s advantageous or not. Couple this with the pump effect it gets and the fact you draw cards when that creature attacks to get one of the best Dimir control commanders in the format. Seriously, Jon is nuts and I cannot wait to build around him.
Dynaheir, Invoker Adept
There are a lot of amazing creatures with activated abilites in this format, so having a creature that gives them all pseudo haste is strong by itself. What takes Dynaheir to the next level is her activated ability: which copies others, allowing you to get an immense amount of value for only a little mana. Given her ability costs nothing to activate, Dynaheir is superb support card that can either slot into the 99 of a deck or lead one herself. Her open-ended design is what makes her terrific, because you can go so many different directions with this commander. Tokens, stax, control, combo, artifacts, all of these are viable options with the right creature cards in the deck. It’s a flexibility that’s rare in this format and one that will easily make her a top picked legendary creature from this set.
Monster Manual
Sometimes the best cards are the simplest. Monster Manual is one of those cards. For three mana you can cast this spell as a sorcery to mill give cards and return a creature card to your hand. This is a decent spell that works well in graveyard decks that want to fill up this zone with as many creatures and cards as possible. Where Monster Manual really shines is if you cast it as an artifact, which just lets you put a creature from your hand onto the battlefield for two mana. That’s it, no strings attached. Sure the monster doesn’t get haste, but you also don’t lose it at the end of your turn. Imagine casting a Worldspine Wurm or Blightsteel Colossus for just two mana! Monster Manual works with almost any deck, making it a future green staple that Commander players will grow very familiar with.
Mahadi, Emporium Master
I’m really not trying to give Mahadi the “Best in Set” award, but he’s really making a strong case for himself. Making an abundance of Treasure tokens has always been broken in this format, as cards like Smothering Tithe, Prosper Tome-Bound, and Pitiless Plunderer have become hugely popular among players. Considering it doesn’t matter how or even which player’s creature dies, you can gain a ton of value for essentially doing nothing. It’s exceptionally powerful, to the point where I suspect it will become a mainstay in most sacrifice-themed decks. Seriously, make sure to pick one up if you play a lot of Red/Black!
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
Commander Legends: Baldur’s Gate is packed with dragons, but Miirym is definitely my favorite. This flying behemoth not only has Flying and Ward, but it allows you to make token copies of any dragon that enters the battlefield under your control. Notably, Miirym says “enters” and not “cast,” meaning you can bounce and flicker your dragons for extra value. You also don’t need to worry about the legendary clause since it just remove the keyword legendary from any creature it copies. It’s exceptionally powerful — especially given all of the terrific dragons you can use throughout Magic’s history.
Archivist of Oghma
Card draw in white has always been a bit tricky, as the color rarely supports consistent draw spells that allow you to quickly fill up your hand. While there have been some solid draw spells added over the past few years, they’ve rarely been as simple and potentially dangerous as Archivist of Oghma. Players are always searching their libraries in EDH. Whether it’s for a land or a card they’re tutoring, you can always expect someone to be looking through their deck. That being said, this is one of those cards that gets better when you’re with more competitive players since they will typically run a lot of search effects. It’s nice to see mono-White get more cards to to make their archetypes viable.
Elminster
It might be my bias as a control player, but I really like Elminster. Unlike some of the other legendary creatures on this list, Elminster isn’t going to win the game by himself. Instead, he acts as an engine, allowing you constantly refill your hand and reduce the cost of your spells. Keep in mind, this effect is not limited to once a turn so you can, theoretically, keep reducing the cost of spells if you use nothing but cantrips. Alternatively, you can use Elminster’s ability to reduce the cost of bigger, flashier spells that you can use to win the game or strengthen your position. Plus, Elminster can make a bunch of blockers quickly if you need to stop an attack or finish off an enemy.
Ancient Copper Dragon
This set introduced a cycle of dragons that have different effects when you roll a d20 and Ancient Copper Dragon is the strongest of the group. With a moderate mana cost of four generic and two Red, you can get a flying 6/5 dragon that can make upwards of 20 Treasure tokens in a single swing. Yes, you will probably not roll a natural 20, but just making anywhere from 7-14 Treasure Tokens is comically good. Ancient Copper Dragon is also Red, meaning there are all manner of ways to give this creature haste or sneak it in for a quick attack. I fully expect this to be one of the most played cards in the set due to the sheer amount of value it provides.
Displacer Kitten
Look, flicker decks have always been strong in Commander due to the sheer amount of enter-the-battlefield (ETB) options available to them. While there’s no shortage of ETB effects, Displacer Kitten might be one of the strongest enablers in Blue. Every time you cast a noncreature spell you get to exile and return one of your permanents to the battlefield under your control. This happens instantly, meaning you don’t need to wait until the end of the turn — and you can do it as many times as you want each turn. This gives you a ton of flexibility about when you flicker your creatures, since every noncreature spell triggers Displacer Kitten. You also aren’t limited to doing this only on your turn, meaning you can get extra value from instants or spells with Flash.
This wouldn’t be a Commander list if I didn’t include at least one extremely expensive, flashy spell. I love Legion Loyalty, simply because it can win an entire game by itself. Granting every creature you control Myraid is terrifying, regardless of what type of deck your building. Even though you exile the tokens at the end of combat, you can still utterly overwhelm your foes, since you are making a copy for each opponent in the game. This turns one creature into four, letting you swiftly overrun your foes and kill them instantly.
Yeah the spell can be utterly impractical and expensive, but who cares if you’re potentially quadrupling the size of your army in one combat step.
