In the vein of artifacts that could stand to see more play in EDH, this week’s Cryptic Commander pays homage to a card that I feel could stand to see more play. First, let me tell you a little about my favorite type of deck to play in EDH. I love to flicker things. My Roon of the Hidden Realm deck is my prized Magic possession and casting Eerie Interlude in response to a board wipe is my jam. I have a second flicker deck, this one , based around Triad of Fates and I have a Brago, King Eternal deck on the back burner. Full disclosure, exiling and bouncing my permanents for value is my favorite way to play Magic. With that out of the way, let me introduce you to the subject of today’s article so you can be just as excited as I am.

I apologize for the references to the Indiana Jones movie that shall not be named (any more than it already has).

But, yes! Crystal Shard, and all the wonderful shenanigans it enables, is our topic of discussion today . . . what was that Erratic Portal? You want to be included too? Oh, alright. Get in here, you.

Ooooh. I’m getting excited just thinking about the possibilities these beautiful artifacts present. Let’s dig in! First and foremost, I will note a slight distinction between the two cards that will affect how they play. Crystal Shard has a Blue mana symbol in its textbox, as one of two ways to pay for the ability, which means it can only be played with Commanders that have Blue in their color identity. This narrows the scope of decks Crystal Shard can be played in, but it also means Blue decks get access to a second copy of the effect. Otherwise, the two cards play very similarly, with some small trade-offs in Crystal Shard specifically requiring Blue mana be spent if you want to activate it on the cheap as opposed to Erratic Portal which only asks that you pay one generic mana. Small differences to be sure, but they are worth mentioning. Now, on to the good stuff.

Let me be clear when I say Crystal Shard is not meant for bouncing your opponents creatures. The circumstances in which it will even be possible to bounce one of your opponent’s creatures are few and far between (unless they forget to play around it, which is entirely possible). There is some merit to making them pay one more mana than they want to in order to keep their creature in play. Sometimes one mana is enough to completely throw off someone’s game winning play, so be vigilant for those moments, but don’t count on them occurring. It’s like leaving up mana for Force Spike hoping someone will forget to play around it. Focus on the things Crystal Shard can do for you rather than what it can do to your opponents.

Crystal Shard is very good at generating value from ETB triggers and protecting important creatures from being removed. For example: Passing the turn with an untapped Crystal Shard and Coiling Oracle in play. Bounce the Coiling Oracle at the end of the turn or after blocking an opponent’s creature. Replay the Coiling Oracle for an additional ETB trigger. Do it again. And again. And again. Ad nauseam. Think of all the value you can accrue with something as simple as a Coiling Oracle. Replace Coiling Oracle with a Mulldrifter. You can even bounce the Mulldrifter after evoking it in order to get an extra Divination from your flying fish. Seems like good value to me. And if there’s one thing I love in Commander, it’s value.

Of course, Crystal Shard could also just bounce something like Craterhoof Behemoth so you can recast it and win the game if you somehow didn’t win the game the first time you cast it. You can reset your Clones if something better has entered the battlefield since you cast it. After all, the only thing better than recurring your ETB effects is cloning your opponents’ creatures and recurring their ETB effects.

Protecting your creatures from targeted removal or board wipes is a positive side effect from having a Crystal Shard in play. Sometimes opponents will fail to take the shard into account when they try to point a Path to Exile at your key creatures. Leaving a Crystal Shard activation up is like having an emergency escape button. Want your Brago, King Eternal to survive an assassination attempt? Bounce it with Crystal Shard. Want to make sure you hold on to your most important beater when someone wipes the board? Bounce it with Crystal Shard. An opponent tries to steal your creature with a Treachery or other form of Mind Control effect? Bounce it with Crystal Shard. We’re beginning to see a pattern here. Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal present you with so many options to react to what your opponents are doing. Leaving one Blue or generic mana open in order to activate the shard or portal doesn’t ask much of you, and the dividends can add up over the course of a game of Commander. That incidental value can end up being the thing that wins you the game if you play your cards right (pun completely intended).

It’s entirely possible this article should have focused on Erratic Portal instead of Crystal Shard, given the ability to play Erratic Portal in non-blue decks, but I wouldn’t have gotten to make jokes about terrible reboots of cherished movie franchises if I didn’t focus on the shard. And what’s more important, color flexibility or the opportunity for dated pop culture references?

That’s what I thought.

And that wraps up another week of Cryptic Commander! I hope this article has been enlightening, or entertaining at the very least. So, what do you think of Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal? Did today’s article make you want to see what ETB shenanigans are possible in your decks? Talk to me about it, and talk to each other! Until then, see you all next week!

Robert Burrows