Welcome back, readers, and welcome new ones. I write a column about a thing I made up and reviews have been mixed. Not about the column, the column is superlative, I mean the thing I made up. Have you heard of 75% deck-building? You may have. This is about that, and if you heard conflicting definitions, here's a good resource to peruse before you read my set review. I am not talking here about cards that are per se "good" or "bad" in Commander but rather cards that I think will help existing 75% decks or contribute to the creation of new ones.

To keep myself from rambling on forever, I'm going to confine this article to the Top 10 cards in the set for 75% decks. This means in addition to selecting the cards, I'm going to rank them because it seems like that has value. Keep in mind as you go through that this is not a power level ranking - you don't need me for that. We have a fantastic Commander staff here and they all do a phenomenal job of talking about the format more broadly. I'm picking the cards on the basis of how well they align with the deck-building ethos and will help me do 75% things. I promise this will make sense, so without further ado, let's get going.

10. Escape to the Wilds

Escape makes the list because it is pseudo card draw in colors that don't always get it while also allowing you to break the rules and play an extra land. This is nowhere near as good as Urban Evolution most of the time, unfortunately, but it's also not in Blue. I have plenty of decks that aren't Temur and they want this. Remember, you can play those cards until the end of your next turn, which means you don't whiff if there is more than one land there and since you just tapped five mana, you are likely to be a little short this turn.

My 75% Omnath, Locus of Rage deck, though it no longer exists as a Gruul deck, would love this.

9. The Cauldron of Eternity

Twelve mana makes me want to take the Dark Confidant out of my decks and replace it with this, but you won't ever pay 12 mana. What you will do is get a lot of value out of creatures when you bring them back from the dead, permanently. Whip of Erebos sees quite a bit of play in Commander and this is better than Whip in a lot of situations because the creature sticks around. Plenty of my Black decks sac a lot of creatures and while once this comes down you won't be able to churn them anymore, slamming this with a full yard and buying back all of your dead creatures will likely win you the game. A lot of Golgari players are wondering why they would play this in Meren or Karador, but this is an Orzhov card if you ask me. Teysa doesn't have the ability to bring creatures back as cleanly and sacs them very greedily and this gives you a lot of reach. Decks that are more concerned with death triggers than they are with bringing creatures back from the dead would like this. Think less Meren, more Mazirek, in my view.

8. Archon of Absolution

White has quite a few entries in our Top 10 and Blue has fewer than I'd expected at the outset, but this set is full of surprises. What I like about Archon is that it dodges quite a bit of removal (though it opens itself up to some) in Commander and can block annoying creatures like Sun Titan in ways that Ghostly Prison cannot. Not every deck wants a ton of Enchantments but everyone likes to not get attacked. Also, Archon specifically references protecting your Planeswalkers and Ghostly Prison does not, meaning this is perfect for Superfriends builds.

7. Emry, Lurker of the Loch

Emry is one of the more exciting commanders in the set for the simple reason that she encourages self-mill more than any other commander in a long time. Instead of being linear and somewhat toxic like Arcum Daggson had a tendency to be, Emry is far more luck-based and I like that. When you pack your deck full of powerful spells but don't always know exactly what you're going to get, things get very interesting very quickly. When I started this project, I stated that I liked the chaotic nature of a commander like Maelstrom Wanderer because you could crank the power level high because the consistency was lower. High power and medium-to-low consistency is, in my view, an excellent way to build 75% because you're not stuck playing bad cards. You will need luck to win but you need luck to win at any table, so high power gives you the capability of beating better decks when things go your way. Emry seems optimized for Commander, reducing her tax the more of a board you establish which encourages you to sac her to Ashnod's Altar and mill yourself greedily. I plan to brew with this card first because it's easily the most exciting. Strange women lying in ponds and distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, but she seems like a damn fine basis for my next deck.

6. Hushbringer

It's good to see that the background from my Deviantart profile from 2008 finally made it to a Magic card. This could have gone a little higher on the list - this and the next few cards are all pretty close. The thing that I like about Hushbringer is that it can participate in combat credibly. There are fewer fliers than you think early on and a few swings with a creature with lifelink, especially if you have some equipment, can add up. Hushbringer is a Torpor Orb that also stops graveyard shenanigans which makes Hushbringer one of the nastiest hatebears in Commander. This is a card I'd hate to have played against me but which I think hatebears or 75% pseudostax decks can get a lot of mileage out of this. What a card.

5. Deafening Silence

A very important rule in 75% that I established early on was that it wasn't ideal to prevent our opponents from being able to do anything. Cards like that that severely hamper combo decks but allow more fair decks to go relatively unscathed are ideal for a 75% stax approach. This lets us play as many creatures as we want, which means we can slam Thalia, Gaddock Teeg and Collector Ouphe in the same turn and our combo opponent to the left is severely hampered while the Dinosaur tribal player to the right can still play two creatures. Deafening Silence isn't the ideal stax card, but it is what we want to be doing in a 75% deck where we punish a deck more the less fair it is and this is better than Rule of Law in a lot of instances. Too bad I'm absolutely jamming both.

4. Robber of the Rich

This is what I like. This would be higher, but in most decks, you can't only cast the card on a turn you attacked with Robber of the Rich specifically, which definitely hurts it. Rogue decks are real and they're fun but they are also almost always Dimir and there's no real good way to get this into the deck. There are some 75% Rogues that could see more play and which you may want to consider pairing with him in a sort of Rogue "Steal your stuff" deck like Aladdin, Chandler, Master Thief or Treasure Nabber. Lots of Rogues are unblockable like Blighted Agent or Invisible Stalker and some Rogues should see more play on the basis of their inherent card advantage like Keeper of Keys or Notion Thief. I'm not suggesting Rogue tribal at all, but I am playing and attacking with Thada Adel, Acquisitor in a ton of my decks already and some of those decks have Red. I don't currently have a deck for this, but I kind of almost want to build some sort of Grixis Rogues deck that benefits from this.

3. Piper of the Swarm

This is a narrow card to be sure but it's relatively high on the list because all of the Rat decks I have seen are mono-Black and they lack ways to steal creatures. This is expensive to activate but it's very likely to be worth it, and considering how easy it is to make rats with Ogre Slumlord or Plague of Vermin, you should have no trouble coughing up a few expendables to lure their creatures out of their beds and onto your side of the board. Making rat tokens and giving them an ability are honestly just gravy on a card that lets Mono-Black Rat decks do something they normally struggle with.

2. Covetous Urge

Said Grixis Rogues deck would surely pack a copy of this monster card. Casting their spells is dandy, and being able to choose between their hand and yard is new and wonderful. If it's in their hand, there is a decent chance they were waiting for the mana to cast it and now you can wait for the mana to cast it instead. Part Thoughtseize, part Spelltwine, all 75%. This is a bit expensive just to strip a card out of their hand, so try and get something you can use, but since you can pick their graveyard or hand, chances are you will, even if it's merely a card draw spell or some removal. Casting their spells is as 75% as it gets and this is a great way to do it.

1. Mirrormade

Not being able to copy creatures hurts this a bit, but not enough to keep it out of the #1 spot. There is always a very good target for this, even if it's one of your cards like Rhystic Study or Gilded Lotus. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so flatter them with an imitation of their best Artifact or Enchantment. You won't have a Smothering Tithe unless they do, and that means they're in no position to complain about someone playing a Smothering Tithe. This is the perfect way to scale your deck to theirs, and don't forget that Phyrexian Metamorph is a card that can go in the same deck. I like this a ton for my Estrid deck which can even tutor for this in a pinch with Sterling Grove. While I'm at it, the Estrid deck likely tests Dance of the Manse, too, but that card is a little narrow for this article.

Since I have your attention, I'll leave you with my opinion that Arcane Signet was a huge mistake and I think it's our punishment for not adopting Brawl sooner.

On that note, what did I miss? Is there a card in the set you think is a good inclusion in a 75% deck? Did I mention something you think violates one of our deck-building axioms? Are you building your own 75% deck from this set? Leave it for me in the comments, or just argue with me because I don't like the art on Hushbringer. Until next time!