A game changer inMagic: The Gatheringis something exclusive to the Commander format. These are cards that are very powerful and can often boost up the power of a deck significantly, which can lead to weaker decks falling behind.
In the Commander Bracket system, game changers are only unrestricted at the higher level brackets, with only three allowed in the third bracket and none in the first two. As the name implies, these cards can change the game if they resolve, with some being stronger than others. There are only 40 game changers in total; the number is kept small to maintain simplicity.
10Jeska’s Will
The Will For Two Effects
Jeska’s Will is a card you’ll always be playing with your commander on the battlefield, letting you use both effects. The effect of adding red mana often refunds Jeska’s Will’s mana cost and then some, especially if an opponent has a ton of cards in their hand because they don’t have a hand-size limit.
The impulse draw effect to exile three cards is a useful way to have more action during your turn and ways to dump the mana you generated. Overall, Jeska’s Will is one of red’s best cards, so it is no surprise that it is a game-changer.
9Urza, Lord High Artificer
Mono Blue’s Best
The number of commanders on the game changer list was purposefully left low, andUrza, Lord High Artificer, was one of the few to make the cut. While mono colored commanders are nerfed in only being able to play one color, Urza has no problem with this restriction and is one of the best commanders in general.
Turns with Urza can be explosive, and even a “weaker” Urza deck is still stronger than a lot of decks. It can swarm the battlefield with Urza’s effect and turn all your artifacts into mana dorks to pay for both Urza and various spells easily.
8Drannith Magistrate
Lock Out Commanders
Drannith Magistrate’s effect is one of the most annoying ones to deal with, as it prevents all opponents from casting spells that aren’t in their hand. A commander is in the command zone, meaning if Drannith Magistrate is on the battlefield, you won’t be able to cast it until you take care of it.
While you may remove Drannith Magistrate, that requires you to actually draw a removal spell (in a 99-card deck), and its controller can’t have a way to counter that removal. It’s a one-sided stax piece, so the controller has no restrictions while everyone else is locked out of casting the star of their deck.
7Smothering Tithe
White’s Best Ramp
White decks that don’t have access to green struggle a lot with ramp. That’s where Smothering Tithe often comes in, as unless your opponent is willing to spend two mana, you’ll be making a Treasure token.
Smothering Tithe triggers whenever an opponent draws a card, including when they draw their card when their turn starts. There’s no real way around Smothering Tithe, and two mana is a lot to pay, so more often you’ll be constantly getting Treasure tokens since your opponents won’t want to pay for it if they want to cast any spells.
6Cyclonic Rift
One-Sided Board Wipe
Cyclonic Rift is one of the best board wipes in Commander as it’s not only one-sided but can be cast for just two mana if you just need to cut an opponent off of a combo piece.
What makes Cyclonic Rift so good is that it doesn’t justtake care of creatures but all nonland permanents your opponents control. In the later stages of the game, your opponents won’t have mana to re-cast anything most of the time, forcing them to discard much of their newly bounced cards to the graveyard and lose access to them.
5The One Ring
Colorless Draw Engine
The One Ring is the bestcard draw engine in Commander, largely because it’s colorless. That means that no matter who your commander is, you can play it in your deck. The number of cards drawn rapidly grows at the cost of losing more life.
While the burn damage isn’t ideal, you start with so much life in Commander that this is hardly a downside. The protection can save you if you draw The One Ring late in the game and guarantees you have one free turn. You don’t have to worry about anything happening to you to recover your spent mana.
4Gaea’s Cradle
The Best Land For Creature Decks
Gaea’s Cradle isone of the best lands ever printed, and if you’re playing a creature deck, you want it inside of it (assuming you can afford it since it is a Reserved List card). So long as you have at least two creatures on the battlefield, Gaea’s Cradle will generate more mana to most lands in the game.
Decks playing Gaea’s Cradle are generally ones playing a ton of creatures, so it’ll often generate enough mana to be able to cast your entire hand in just one turn. The green mana can be used for anything, letting you cast your noncreature spells, too, if you have any of those.
3Thassa’s Oracle
The Bane Of cEDH
If you’re an avid competitive Commander player, you will bevery familiar with this Merfolk. Thassa’s Oracle is often the win condition for the best Commander decks, being paired with a card like Demonic Consultation that mills your entire deck with one card so that Thassa’s Oracle will automatically win you the game when it enters the battlefield.
The combo is incredibly easy to pull off, and that is why Thassa’s Oracle is so good. On its own, it’s nothing too special, but it enables so much Thassa’s Oracle is one of the best cards in Commander and on the game changers list.
2Rhystic Study
Do You Pay The One?
Rhystic Study is often one of the most annoying cards to play against as you constantly hear ‘do you pay the one?’ in your ear. While it is better to pay the one mana most of the time, sometimes you just can’t if you want to make any kind of progress on your board state.
Rhystic Study triggers off of every spell being cast, so the more you try to do, the more cardsthe controller of Rhystic Study draws. If you cast a Rhystic Study, you get to your win conditions and answers quicker, all while barely spending much mana to actually cast it. It’s a little investment with a high reward.
1Vampiric Tutor
The Best Tutor
There are a lot of different tutors on the game changers list, butVampiric Tutor stands as the best of the best. Other cards similar to it can only tutor for specific types of cards, but Vampiric Tutor lets you put any card you want to the top of your deck. Creature, land, artifact, you name it, Vampiric Tutor can get it, and get a win condition, board wipe, or anything else you might need given the current game state.
You can cast Vampiric Tutor after your untap step but before you draw a card, letting you draw whatever you want at the cost of one mana and two life. Alternatively, you can use it during an opponent’s turn if you want to have full access to your mana pool.
