Hello awesome Commander fans! Do you play staples in your decks without checking the deck's needs? You shouldn't! There are tons of great ways to really flesh out a deck that many folks don't do. Or staples that aren't! In order to make my list, they have to be a top played card over at EDHREC, and all numbers cited are from their site.

Ready?

Honorable Mention #1 (#13 Overall) - Mortify AND Putrefy

14% and 18% of decks, respectively - these are both heavily played in their colors despite better options being available. I can feel Putrefy since at least artifacts and critters are commonly played and it stops regeneration.

Yet each will have at least 14% of decks with both colors frumping around. Consider the case of Mortify. I would rather run the sorcery speed Vindicate that hits everything even lands at the same cost, but it's in fewer decks. I'd rather run the four-mana instant Utter End that costs one more but hits nonlands and exiles them.

Now consider Putrefy, killing a dork for three mana, or something else that is at the kitchen table is pretty common in Black like Hero's Downfall that takes out planeswalkers or creatures instead of artifacts and dorks, and I can see a Golgari deck running this since at least those two type are heavily played, but, for the same price you can get Maelstrom Pulse that's sorcery but hits any nonland for destruction and also randomly hurts all others with that name, so you can destroy all Treasures, all Zombie tokens and all Sol Rings or all Skullclamps, etc.

#2. Honorable Mention (#12 Overall) - Sun Titan

This is the eighth most-played mono-White card in the format. Really, I'm serious, that's not a typo. When it ETBs or attacks, you recur a permanent from your graveyard to the battlefield that costs 3 or less. The reason it's on my Honorable Mention is that is recurs lands too. Without that it would be Top Five easy. But recurring cheaper dorks, planeswalkers, enchantments and artifacts is okay, but pretty specific to builds, and I doubt that 15% of all White decks no matter their color have that specific need, people often just toss it in and call it a deck.

But they shouldn't - six mana is a lot in the format today. It needs cheap recursion with things like self-sacrifice such as Commander's Sphere and Mind Stone, Kami of False Hope or Font of Vigor; there has to be something special worth recurring for all that mana. Next is another mythic rare six mana 6/6 in a cycle, but what?

Honorable Mention #3 - (#11 Overall) - Etali, Primal Storm

A strong 10% of Red decks and the 10th most-played card in the color, so that's pretty strong usage. When this swings, you exile the top card of each library and cast all spells that were exile for free, free card casts are great, and it should be run in some decks, ones with high casting stuff like Izzet's Jhoira of the Ghitu which gives your stuff all suspend.

Most Izzet decks are Spellslinger. The problem is that, unlike the Titan, this is only an attack trigger. Since it lacks haste, you have to wait until your next turn to collect the free cards. Now, you are in the color of haste in Red so that's not hard, but's that's work to get what Sun Titan just gave you naturally on arrival to the battlefield, and your foes have a round of sorcery speed answers like Wraths.

Since most of the free card casts are your foes', you cannot build around it and you only know one cast per turn and most things that you want to run are cheap outside of a deck built around the expensive stuff, and you have to wait a turn and it's a six-cost so you really have to wait to cast it and more. Next is another gold instant and this is our first Blue spell!

#10. Growth Spiral

At 22%, Growth Spiral is the 15th most-played instant in the game! I get it, it's seductive. You draw and drop a land untapped ready to be used at instant speed. I like in in one genre that really dominates Simic: Ramp with a leader like Tatyova with her landfall trigger at instant speed. Lands matter? It's a Top Ten archetype.

I also super secretly like it in another Archetype - Cantrips since it just costs two and replaces itself. That's the 21st Archetype, not exactly huge numbers, so why is this so played when so many others are running around and breaking new ground? Outside of cantrips, land and landfill, this just isn't that good. I'd rather my two-spot in ramp in general stuff be Rampant Growth that ramp me the mana I need from my library guaranteed rather than just drop one from my hand. Farseek and Nature's Lore can get two with dual lands and three types with the Triome cycle. This shouldn't get the play it does, but it does.

#9. Triumph of the Hordes

There are 67,089 decks with this alternate win con out of nowhere. Since poison in Commander kills at 10 counters just like in 20 life formats instead of doubling it to 20, many people play poison counter kills out of nowhere like this four-cost uncommon sorcery. The problem with this as a win con giving your stuff trample, infect and a power boost in one spell is that you can often get a kill in one hit of your team against every foe at the multiplayer table. And you didn't play like a normal infect deck letting folks know ahead of time to play around it by blocking stuff early like Glistener Elf even if you lose your stuff. They aren't playing fair but just winning out of nowhere from an adequate place. Also, this is harder to stop since multiplayer Commander games can often tend to lead to folks keeping beaters out since they cannot be threat at 40 life and then you die in one turn. If poison counter kill was upped to 20 then this wouldn't make my list, but no one wants to lose to a Hordes poison kill out of nowhere that no one could play around. Wanna play poison with toxic or infect? Do it naturally. Our next card is a Black absolute uncommon two-drop staple!

#8. Blood Artist

This is in 12% of all Black decks. Why? This only drains life from one target player! The idea here is to run it in a popular archetype like Aristocrats to win the game in one turn. If you control a Zombie commander, the Artist, Phyrexian Altar and Gravecrawler, you can sacrifice the 'crawler to the Altar, cast it from your graveyard, recast, trigger the artist for the win.

That's what it's supposed to do ideally, but the issue is that it only works on one foe at a time. Consider Zulaport Cutthroat. It also costs 2, has a power of one, it drains from all foes not just the targeted one. It's in thousands less, but I'd rather have it. The Artist targets, so a foe with hexproof can be saved but not with the Cutthroat. I'd rather run other stuff like Syr Konrad, the Grim or that can swing or have more synergy with things. Next an iconic card that's rough to deal with at instant speed.

#7. Cyclonic Rift

A massive 420,000+ decks use this. Nasty! After overloading to bounce everything, your foes will likely have to discard a few cards and spend turns recasting and it's really hard to answer. It's also pricey on the secondary market because of how critical it is. The seven-mana overload is not too difficult to deal with when you are combined with Green in Simic with ramp or Black in Dimir with Cabal Coffers or Red with Treasures. That overload with those can happen instantly and then untap and draw and attack a newly opened board.

It is the legal Upheaval of the format but is rarely appreciated by opponents, so run another mass bounce answer like Evacuation that hurts you or Aetherize that only bounces attackers from one player to keep down the feel-bads.

#6. Smothering Tithe

A whopping 26% of White decks have this, making it the third most-played White card out there after Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile. Nasty stuff, and like the Rift above, it's pricey on the secondary market since most people won't pay to prevent your Treasure.

This triggers for each card drawn, not the first, so that's a lot of triggers in a multiplayer game where everyone is always drawing. This is nasty against mass draw like Brainstorm or Sylvan Library that draws three times. You are going to be making all of the Treasures, but as you can see, that's a rough rampy ask, you could easily get 5 or 7 Treasures each round in a 4-player game to break things. And this is on a hard-to-answer enchantment. It's also a fast win-con in Orzhov deck with 10 Treasures. That's why it's my top card outside of the Top Five, but there is another enchantment that hits the 5 spot, but which one?

#5. Rhystic Study

This three-drop Blue enchantment is in 29% of Blue decks and is the third highest behind Counterspell and the Rift. This also taxes like the Tithe, but it taxes casts instead of draws. Unlike most taxes, this works on anything, not just non-creatures or instants or sorceries. If your foe casts a spell, then they have to spend one mana or else you'll draw a card. Decks that usually just cast one spell per round of turns will just wait a turn and cast, like midrange casting it's Mulldrifter or Ravenous Chupacabra or planeswalker decks.

For decks that tend to drop multiple spells per turn like Aggro's dorks or Spellslinger's cheap instants and sorceries to trigger Guttersnipe, this is a nightmare. It's also pricey on the secondary market even printed as a common initially. Great common. It's just way too annoying and game changing on a hard to answer three-drop enchantment. And you cannot build around it in your metagame since it affects all opposing stuff cast, rather than just one type of spells. It's just unfair for most players to deal with. This is the penultimate scoring tax effect like the Tithe above. Next is our final tax effect, but which one?

#4. Esper Sentinel

He is the only creature played in more White decks than Sun Titan and he's also expensive on the secondary market. For one White mana you get a 1/1 that taxes opposing noncreature spells and just their first one, so it's nicer than the Study above. Then they have to spend mana equal to its power to stop you from drawing a card, so one initially and more if you increase its power with anything.

Early, you'll just play around it by just dropping one noncreature spell per turn with one mana taxed slowing you a turn, or any number of creatures. But in decks that build up its power really, this is rough, so you are likely not to pay a 3 or 5 mana tax for one spell to force the draw of cards or wait a turn either.

My main issue with this is that it comes down turn 1 before counters are online or before many have even taken their turn. However, the one saving grace that keeps it from a higher spot is that it's both a dork and an artifact, so every color has answers.

The problem is that White needs pure card drawing not card draw where multiple people draw, that's why this is heavily played! Don't be tempted by the annoying card flow, just run other stuff instead.

#3. Swan Song

We are back to cards with lots of options that are overplayed with Swan Song, the eighth-most played Blue spell. It's the 24th most-played instant of all time, and the fourth-most played counter after Counterspell, Negate and Arcane Denial.

Really, Swan Song? I don't get it. I get the first three, sure. But Swan Song? Sure, it costs one so there are some decks that would want it. But with just countering instants, sorceries or enchantments, it comes with restrictions I don't like, and it can't be used on early mana rocks.

There is An Offer You Can't Refuse that can replace the Song, and I prefer it for counter-age. I also prefer Spell Pierce for the early game without giving away Treasures or 2/2 flyers. Swan Song just isn't worth the $10 in most decks. I do like it alongside other counters, but if you have a limited counter suite, this should be far down your list. It's rare that I run this in my decks.

#2. Dockside Extortionist

A massive 18% of Red decks have this two-drop 1/2 Goblin Pirate. On arrival to the battlefield, you make Treasures equal to your foe's artifact and enchantment count, don't forget that last one many do. This staple costs more than $65 on most sites since it can make a ton of treasures early if your opponents load up on mana rocks or enchantments like Land Tax.

In a four-player game this really speeds you up. But people don't play it fairly to drop a six-drop Commander on turn 3, but instead power out combos with repeatable Blink effects, Aristocrats to make at least three Treasures to make mana and recur it, self-bounce to bring it back with three or more Treasures to win, or other unfair things. Unlike other early drops that are powerhouses, this scales up as the game goes on, not down. If you draw it on turn 8, you'll get way more stuff than on turn 2 or 3, unlike an Esper Sentinel that scales poorly as people get more mana to spend for the tax.

You cannot answer Dockside with removal after it's arrived since it's an ETB trigger, you have to counter it to stop it. And many common two-cost counters like Negate won't counter it. It's a powerhouse of Treasure-making at any point of the game and is a big feel bad moment for folks. I rarely play it in my decks unless they are Treasure builds that have to with affinity for artifact Commanders or things like that. Otherwise, it's just too much of a bad feeling.

What land hits our final spot?

#1. Reliquary Tower

It's in 27% of everything since it's colorless, and our only land in today's countdown! This land inspired this article since I said that it's played waaaaay too often. Sure, you have to take a land spot for it, and you should aim for 40, so why not? But why take a colorless land from your deck when this usually has no synergies with anything you are doing.

The more colors you have in your Commander deck, the more likely you are to need mana lands from your lands. For example, if you are running Black with other colors, then you'll often want your colorless lands to be things like Volrath's Stronghold. If you are running Black with White and Green, your land base has to be for duals and trilands from Green ramp, again no space for Tower.

So this really needs to be in mono-color decks since it taps for colorless, but even there it's hard to fit it in. How about mono-Black? Well, Cabal Coffers will count with Urborg, but you need both out. It doesn't tap for more than one mana with your mana increasers like Nirkana Revenant unless you have Urborg out, and Cabal Stronghold won't like it at all. This takes up too much room and there are always colorless tappers like Strip Mine and Dust Bowl for land removal, Rogue's Passage to win with Commander Damage, Kor Haven to prevent damage, and more.

The only place this should be played is in three decks. Firstly, when your Commander provides massive card draw. There, it has synergy. A good example of this is Izzet's burn Commander Aegar, the Freezing Flame that draws you a card for each time extra damage was dealt to a dork by spells, Wizards or Giants. That's a massive amount of cards sure, play this there.

Second are Group Hug decks where you play everyone draws cards like Howling Mine or Font of Mythos, since people often won't attack you and you can keep your extra cards drawn and your foes will have to play down to seven each turn. That's synergetic there too.

The third class of decks are colorless, since you can tap this for your color of mana. This is not as much of a lost cause there, and with card draw like Mind's Eye and Staff of Nin or Staff of Domination as a mana sink, you can load up with the cards. Love this in those types, otherwise, this is a lost cause.

And there are my top 10 Commander Staples that Shouldn't Be! I hope you enjoyed my list!

Oh, and this title should be "Top Ten Commander Staples You Shouldn't Be Playing as Much" but that's not sexy.