Hello happy folks! I hope your day is going super mega well! Today I wanted to look at my favorite Group Hug support cards for Commander brews, these are not my choices for best leaders overall, just support stuff. I just built a Bant Commander Group Hug Meets Crimes brew, and this stuff was in my mind, around crimes, which you can check out here. Group Hug decks are all about giving everyone an advantage and then either building around it to best prepare or to make nice so no one wants to attack them.

Let's turn to my list:

Honorable Mention #1. (#8. Overall) - Upwelling

The four-drop rare enchantment that lets folks keep the mana in their pools! This thing is great at letting all players tap their lands EOT and then save that mana for future use. The rampier you are, the more mana you can make each turn and this will let you do something each turn with that Cabal Coffers or Nykthos to save it for a later X spell. Get it, run it, love it!

Honorable Mention #2 (#7. Overall) - Veteran Explorer

One of my favorite cards for multiplayer ever is this humble one-drop 1/1 in Green. It's got a death trigger to have everyone ramp two basics tapped. It used to be a Five Color essential, and you can really help mana screwed or color screwed folks out by giving them two lands. It'll make many friends, and sped up the game into the mid-game fast.

Honorable Mention #3. (#6. Overall) - Ghirapur Orrery

This fun four-drop artifact is next! Everyone can ramp another land, so it's like an Exploration for everyone, and then if they have dumped their hand they draw three in their upkeep so it's card flow and ramp for everyone. It also encourages people to use their cards in their turn rather than hold onto them so the game will move faster.

#5. The Second Doctor AND Folio of Fancies

Next are this pair of Azorius colored permanents that encourage folks not to destroy by keeping them from discarding. The four-drop 2/4 blocker has an EOT trigger for you to have everyone draw a card, and if a foe does, they cannot swing your way to keep you safe a round. Then the Blue artifact will tap for double X, and everyone will draw X. Then you can tap this with three to make all foes mill equal to their hand size. Since they'll be drawing tons, this could kill them easily.

#4. Free Mana for All

The next category are free mana that's given to everyone, often in their first main phase. The classic here is the Vineyard from Tempest that gave everyone two Green mana, and then it was played in Standard since mana burn was a thing to kill those who couldn't use it. Now it's just nice. It was remade into Magus of the... series from Time Spiral Block as a 1/1 one-drop. Then a legendary lady will do it in the upkeep, and it doesn't drain.

#3. Mana Flares

Ever since the first set, we've had enchantments that increase the mana made by lands for everyone by one mana each. They were initially Red and run with X burn spells, firebreathing like Shivan Dragon and Fireball or Rock Hydra, and your foes would often hit mana burn. Then it was color shifted to Green and was played in Standard too. It was beloved then and now and really works well with Upwelling above.

#2. Howling Mines

In the same Alpha set as Mana Flare was Howling Mine that together define the Group Hug era. For two mana, everyone draws another card in their draw step. If untapped...which led to shenanigans with Icy Manipulator and Relic Barrier. We have tons of variants on this over the years, but check out the everyone Exploration of Rites of Flourishing or the planeswalker of Jace Beleren that no one wants to kill or Font of Mythos for two cards. Howling Mines define this genre, what could be higher?

#1. Win Cons

Sure, you want people to like your gifts and not swing, but ultimately, you need to win. Enter this section of alternate win cons. The best is seven cost sorcery that the first time it resolves you gain a life buffer of 7, and then load it seventh from the top, and then the next time it resolves you win. We mentioned above that decking can happen easily, why not turn that from a loss to a win with Laboratory Maniac. Or you can mill with recursive stuff like landfall into mills Ruin Crab. Win!

And there we go! I hope that you enjoyed my looksee at the Top Support Cards for Commander's Group Hug theme! Enjoy!