I spent longer than I’d like to admit trying to come up with a snappier title for this article. I decided to move on, not out of an admission of defeat but rather because I was eager to launch right into it this week. Eldritch Moon is a very Commander set and a lot of those cards will translate to 75% decks right away. Without further ado, let’s get right to it: the 75% Eldritch Moon set review extravaganza!

Please try and match my enthusiasm, I feel insane otherwise.

Decimator of the Provinces

This is an Overrun with feet. It’s not quite at the power level of Craterhoof Behemoth (few cards are) but this can be cast for so I feel like we can do a lot of work with this card. I like this as an alternative or redundant Overrun effect because not everyone likes to run/can afford Craterhoof. This could also be cast sooner than Craterhoof and end games more quickly, especially combined with a pile of tokens and something like Beastmaster Ascension.

Elder Deep-Fiend

I skipped Distended Mindbender because that feels more like a 1v1 sort of card. This guy can tap 4 permanents, though, which can solve some problems caused by multiple players. This isn’t in the best “sac a creature” colors, but I still bet someone will find a way to turn even the cost associated with the Emerge ability into a positive. I like this card a lot.

Emrakul, the Promised End

It’s a little anticlimactic how a pretty underpowered Liliana Planeswalker helps to banish Emrakul, but there’s nothing anticlimactic about your commander being a Mindslaver. People are already using cards like Ugin's Nexus to make sure your opponent doesn’t get that extra turn. Combine this with cards like Cloudstone Curio to re-buy her or jam her in the 99 of decks that like to take control of opponents’ turns. This card promises to make up for being underpowered relative to the other Emrakul by being fun and/or not banned.

Eternal Scourge

This is an infinite mana combo with Food Chain and, unlike Misthollow Griffin, doesn’t have to be in a Blue deck. I expect this to see more play than the Griffin did in EDH, and maybe speculation about this card’s impact on that silly combo could push Food Chain up a bit in price. That’s something to get ahead of.

Bruna, the Fading Light

I brewed a deck with Bruna two weeks ago and I still like it, especially if you build around her and jam a bunch of angels and humans with sac outlets or lots of wrath effects. This is a fun build-around and forming Brisela never sucks.

Collective Effort

Wow. This is quite the removal spell. Tapping a few dudes to make your Disenchant super-kicked seems well worth it. You can even buff opponents’ creatures making this a card ripe with political potential. It’s very solid, and likely to be underplayed in Standard and therefore affordable.

Courageous Outsider

This seems plenty useful in a deck where you’re built around humans.

Deploy the Gatewatch

You’re going to whiff a lot with this, unless you use cards like Sylvan Library, Mirri's Guile, Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top, etc to see the future and make sure you’re going to cast this for full value. Getting 10-14 mana worth of Planeswalker for 6 CMC is the dream, and Superfriends decks have no reason not to at least try this. I think this card is a lot of fun.

Gisela, the Broken Blade

I like anything that comes close to Baneslayer Angel and this could be a good build-around commander in its own right. Building Brisela is just gravy.

Ironclad Slayer

I like unique effects and a creature that scoops something out of the trash will always be useful.

Long Road Home

Otherworldly Journey effects are popular with “flicker” decks that rebuy enter-the-battlefield triggers on creatures. This is just another copy and I think it’s useful.

Providence

Have you ever wanted to lose 14 life? I’m just messing around, you don’t want this in Commander, usually since so many cards can reset your life to 40. I just think it’s hilarious that I saw a lot of people dismiss this card as “EDH trash” when it was first revealed.

Repel the Abominable

I like Fog effects and I like “Fog for their creatures but not mine” effects even more. This could be a blowout in combat in the right deck.

Sigarda's Aid

I feel like the lack of equipment and auras in Standard means they could print this card without making it mythic. This is so, so good in the right deck.

Subjugator Angel

They WOULD put this in the same color as Eldrazi Displacer, wouldn’t they?

Thalia, Heretic Cathar

I talked a few weeks ago about why I like this card, especially in a hatebears deck like Gaddock Teeg or Hokori, Dust Drinker. Hokori isn’t very 75% because we don’t like to prevent our opponents from doing anything and Hokori can do that sometimes. Still, a Kismet with feet that makes their fetchlands terrible seems OK to me.

Thalia's Lancers

This has so much potential that I don’t even feel weird endorsing a tutor like this because you can grab so many cards that were hard to tutor for before, it does it face-up, it costs a lot of mana and it’s flickerable. Use this for good, not evil.

Coax from the Blind Eternities

I’m not sure how every playgroup wants to handle this card, but I imagine it’s going to be pretty useful to some people.

Curious Homunculus//Voracious Reader

Mizzix of the Izmagnus decks and the like can make good use of this effect and having a source of mana until you can flip it never sucks.

Fogwalker

I don’t know if this is worth trifling with in a blink deck when you could be blinking Man-o'-War, but this effect is worth noting.

Identity Thief

On the subject of blink decks, this is an excellent way to get enter-the-battlefield triggers and it’s very 75% since it can scale into your opponents’ best creatures, no matter how good or bad those are.

Imprisoned in the Moon

Song of the Dryads is so much fun that every color should have one.

Mausoleum Wanderer

If Judge's Familiar sees play, this can see play. I like this card a ton.

Mind's Dilation

This is one of the most 75% cards ever created. Wow. What if Lurking Predators scaled to the power level of your opponents’ decks instead of your own? What if you were likely to get 3 triggers per turn cycle? I can’t overstate what a good card for 75% commander decks this card is. This is an exciting set.

Summary Dismissal

I don’t like to devote a ton of slots to countermagic, and the ones I do play I like to be very narrow like Hindering Light or very broad like Desertion which I can use to counter an Insurrection or swipe a dude. This is a good card to run because you can either save it to counter a game-winning spell or you can shut down an oppressive ability on the stack. I don’t like Forbid or a lot of countermagic, but spells like this are very good in a 75% deck.

Wharf Infiltrator

I like cards that require you to hit them and this having skulk and a few good triggered abilities is solid. Lots of Blue, especially Dimir decks love to loot, and this is a great looter.

Cryptbreaker

As if Commander didn’t already have a ton of saucy zombie lords. This card is amazing.

Oath of Liliana

Superfriends decks might run this, but this seems scaled for Standard. Still, each opponent having to sacrifice a creature paired with giving you chumps is not the worst card ever. If nothing else, players will want to run the whole cycle.

Tree of Perdition

This deals a healthy opponent 7 damage in Standard. It deals 27 in Commander. This is a card that can block all but the biggest creatures until you’re ready to Magister Sphinx someone with it. Enjoy killing them with Triskaidekaphobia or Tragic Slip.

Collective Defiance

Nothing feels better than dealing them a ton with Nekusar, the Mindrazer and getting some extra damage or removal on top of it.

Harmless Offering

Nothing harmless about dealing your opponent a Transcendence, is there? We’ve been donating stuff in Commander for a long time and having more tools never hurts.

Mirrorwing Dragon

In my opinion, this is what a mythic should be. Sometimes they’re not great, but this is just a big, durdly EDH monster that happens to have a great ability and one we already have in Zada, Hedron Grinder meaning now we have more ways to spread those spells around.

Crop Sigil

This is a very useful card and can mitigate your dredging with abandon midgame while enabling it early. Solid.

Eldritch Evolution

As much as I worry sometimes about tutors, Birthing Pod effects do not worry me. This card is very good, helps Green do what it does best which is play ramp and toolbox decks, and this does both for one card. There’s an awful lot to love, here.

Grapple with the Past

This is just a solid, playable card. Play it in your decks.

Ishkanah, Grafwidow

I built around this bad boy last week and it feels like this set’s The Gitrog Monster. Maybe some other colors would like some sweet new commanders. How about it, R&D?

Permeating Mass

Give this first strike and watch the fun.

Splendid Reclamation

Wow. This card is ridiculous. Titania, Protector of Argoth, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, The Gitrog Monster. I may as well order a playset and confuse everyone at CoolStuffInc into thinking I want these for Standard.

Ulvenwald Observer

This can easily be built around. I wish this had been revealed last week when I built the Ishkanah deck.

Gisa and Geralf

Solid. This is as good in the 99 as it is in the Command Zone.

Mercurial Geists

I brewed a Tibor and Lumia deck a while back and this sort of card would be pretty perfect for it. +3/+0 is pretty formidable, especially in a deck where you copy, reduce the cost of and benefit a lot from your spells.

Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Well, damn.

Ulrich of the Krallenhorde

Wizards R&D giving us the card we asked for but not the card we needed.

Soul Separator

Love it! This is a seriously cool card.

Geier Reach Sanitarium

This reminds me a lot of Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, a very expensive card. If you’re set up to benefit from looting and they aren’t, this is even better. Nekusar wants dis.

Hanweir Battlements

I think this is playable on its own. If you really want to run the militia, fine, but this is pretty good on its own.

Nephalia Academy

With Reliquary Tower and Terrain Generator and so many other cool utility lands and limited space, this may not make the cut, but if you’re sick of getting blown out by discard, especially if you want to keep combo pieces around, this isn’t a bad choice.

Ultimately, I think there is a very high density of solid Commander goodies in every color but Red, predictably. This set is a lot of fun, has a lot of goodies and there will be even more cards tested than I listed here. What are you brewing with? How is testing going? Do you disagree with one of my inclusions or exclusions? Leave it in the comments section. Until next week!