2024 is almost over, having flown by in a haze of 80's horror and Rabbit tokens.

A weird and wild ride, indeed.

With the general busyness of life, combined an onslaught of Magicproduct releases, plenty of interesting new cards fall through the cracks. This holds especially true of new cards in Commander decks. You might crack a few from Play Boosters, but the majority will be out of your hands unless you purchase the deck, itself. Once singles hit the market, the obvious powerhouses (Pollywog Prodigy, Trouble in Pairs) get expensive, but there's a whole ocean of other Commander cards that get overlooked once the hype dies down. A new set will release soon after, at what seems an alarmingly-increasing rate, drawing spotlight elsewhere. Our attention spans can only handle so much.

Mindmoil by Alex Horley-Orlandelli

I feel ya, dude.

Cards might be falling through the cracks, but there's potential gold in said cracks. The overlooked nature of these cards often renders them highly affordable, even for those on a budget. That's our mission for today: Locate and shine the spotlight on 2024's Commander Cards that deserve more attention and (thankfully) go easy on the wallet. All of the cards discussed are under five dollars. Hell, many are under one dollar.

We'll take things set-by-set, highlighting underrated and overlooked cards in order of 2024's release schedule. Hopefully, you'll find some cool tech in the jumble. The goal is to focus on cards that'll make for fun, interesting Commander scenarios. I'm a big fan of politics, so expect many an oddball card that affects multiple players.

So bust open that bottle of champagne, 'cause we're about to celebrate the underrated Commander cards of 2024!

Murders at Markov Manor

Murders at Markov Manor got a lot of flack upon release. I totally get it - they went overboard on the detective shtick - but there are some really solid cards in the set. In true Ravnica fashion, we got an excellent fetchable land cycle across all ten colors (Elegant Parlor, Lush Portico, etc.), powerful Mythics like Vein Ripper and Delney, Streetwise Lookout, and even a valuable common in Slime Against Humanity. Honestly, it's one of those sets I can see growing more appreciated over time, fedoras be damned.

Chandra's Ignition is a well-known sweeper in Commander, and odds are if you're running it, Showstopping Surprise will be just as appealing, but a fraction of the price. Yes, you lose the ability to hit players with the blast wave. But larger creatures will still 'wrath the board of most threats, ideally leaving you with the sole trooper on the battlefield. I think most people looked at this card, saw the "turn face up" portion, and assumed it was only for Morph/Disguise/Manifest Dread-style decks. But Showstopping Surprise doesn't require its creature to be face-down. Turning it face-up is just a nice bonus for those running such strategies. For the most part, you'll be using this card as another sweeper in Red's arsenal, especially if you're fond of strategies like Enrage (Polyraptor, Wrathful Raptors) or spell-slinging (Feather the Redeemed, Mizzix of the Izmagnus).

Take one look at this card, and you just know there's some sort of illicit, high-stakes poker tournament going on in there. At minimum, you're getting a Barter in Blood-effect that specifically avoids tokens, so opponents can't sacrifice 1/1 fodder to mitigate the effect. True, sinking this boat will cause exiled creatures to return to the battlefield, but Foreboding Steamboat has a way to get around this. With a high toughness and low Crew cost, the steamboat can attack frequently, helping you deposit the most dangerous exiled creatures into their owner's graveyard one combat phase at a time. Along the way, you'll be gaining card advantage in the form of Clue tokens. Immediate board impact followed by continual card advantage? Sounds like a winning Commander combination to me.

Fallout

I know little of Fallout lore, but I do know there were some damn useful cards in the set. I'll avoid specific archetypes like Energy and Rad counters in favor of cards that'll fit into a larger variety of decks.

Proliferate is an incredibly powerful mechanic, especially when you get access to it every turn. Recon Craft Theta not only enables this via attack, but goes the extra distance to actually provide its own pilot. At least once said alien gets an additional +1/+1 counter, so the only work involved is ensuring the vessel is initially driven by another creature. Having a single 2-power creature hanging around is not a tall ask for the potential reward. Once the Alien token gets proliferated up to a 2/2, it'll take over for subsequent attacks. At least until it gets large enough to start attacking as a threat, itself. Pretty sweet deal for any deck that cares about +1/+1 counters, Poison, Planeswalkers, or other Proliferate targets.

If you're in Boros, odds are you want to be attacking every turn. Ideally with the largest army possible. Craig Boone, Novac Guard rewards you for doing what you're already intent on. Though he takes a while to get going, and his ability to shoot down enemy creatures depends on whether an opponent is willing to take the damage themselves, it doesn't take long before those quest counters pile up. 2- or 4- damage might not sting badly in Commander, but once Craig hits 6 or more Quest counters, opponents will hesitate to take the bullet. One overlooked aspect is how Craig Boone, Novac Guard also has Lifelink, meaning those increasing bursts of damage are effectively a scaling Lightning Helix. Don't forget you can also target your own creatures with his ability. Say, for example, you ran a token deck with Darien, King of Kjeldor in the '99. Send Craig's damage your way, and not only will the Lifelink completely offset it, but you'll also starting making tons of 1/1 Soldiers.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Throw some Christmas lights on that cactus, cause' we're heading to the wild West. As with Fallout, I'll avoid cards with specific synergy to set-specific mechanics (Outlaws, Deserts, etc.) in favor of more universal tools.

Avoiding the Commander tax is a tasty proposition. We Ride at Dawn doesn't fully negate it, but in a creature- or token- centric strategy, it'll go a long way towards ensuring your general doesn't stay in the Command zone for long. Commanders that make a lot of creature tokens (Caesar, Legion's Emperor, Cadira, Caller of the Small) or simply want a metric ton of creatures onboard (Jetmir, Nexus of Revels, Arabella, Abandoned Doll) will have an easy time getting fallen generals back into play. Even better, each time your Commander attacks, you'll receive a 1/1 Mercenary token for future Convoking. Alternatively, if your deck features a Legendary-theme (Jodah, the Unifier, Kethis, the Hidden Hand), the Convoke bonus extends across much of the '99. Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary is especially potent in this strategy, producing 2/2 Cat tokens with each Legend cast, ensuring you've plenty more troops to use for convoke. Who needs lands when you've got an army?

Dream-Theif's Bandana opens up a world of card advantage for any deck that can consistently deal damage in the Red Zone. Sure, Commanders like Tasha, the Witch Queen and Don Andes, the Renegade are natural fits for a card that steals enemy spells, but really any deck that regularly attacks stands to benefit. At a cheap casting and Equip cost, Dream-Thief's Bandana comes down quickly to immediately start 'drawing' you cards, just off the top of your opponent's deck. It even smoothes out the color requirements, allowing you to cast pilfered spells for mana of any type. Stolen cards are also exiled face-down, meaning opponents will have no idea what you took until you play it. Do you have a removal spell? A counterspell to nix the next play? That's for you to know and them to find out. Finally, note how Dream-Thief's Bandana says 'play' rather than cast. This means you're able to play enemy lands, an option not available on similar cards like Thief of Sanity, which only allow exiled spells to be cast.

Modern Horizons 3

Modern Horizon sets tend to push the power level, and Mark 3 is no exception. It brought back the notoriously-powerful Energy mechanic (Amped Raptor), provided the Ally-color fetchlands (Polluted Delta, etc.) a much-needed reprint, provided some nasty new Eldrazi (Glaring Fleshraker, Ulamog, the Defiler), and even gave us a 1-drop to rival Ragavan in Ocelot Pride. Let's see if those powerful offerings extend to Commander.

On first impression, Gluttonous Hellkite reads like a creature with Devour, only it gobbles up enemy creatures rather than yours. That's pretty good, but you've got to pour a ton of mana into it to really impact the board, right? Well, not really. At five mana, the Hellkite will cause your opponents to sacrifice one creature each, giving the dragon six +1/+1 counters. That means you get a 9/9 flyer with Trample for only 5 mana. One that killed a few enemy creatures along the way. That's an excellent rate, and it's only the base level. At seven mana, provided there are enough creatures to eat, the Hellkite grows to an Eldrazi-sized 15/15! And seeing as your in Jund, mana acceleration shouldn't be an issue, so even higher mana costs shouldn't be an issue once your deck gets going.

This one is a wait-and-watch card. At the moment, there are only three Locus-centric cards (I'm not counting Swarm of Locus), so it's nearly impossible to build a Commander deck around the theme. However, like with dual-faced artifacts and dice-rolling cards, strategies with interesting synergies, but few pieces, are ripe for future set themes. And once a set features the Locus land type as a central mechanic, or even sub-theme, we'll get a whole bunch more Locus lands. When that sort of thing happens, it's not uncommon for older cards of that theme to spike in price, and of the pre-existing Locus lands, Trenchpost is the only Rare one, making its supply far more limited than the likes of Glimmerpost and Cloudpost. At a current price of only fifteen-cents, picking up a few Trenchposts now is an incredibly low-risk investment.

Bloomburrow

Cute n' cuddly proved more dangerous than we all though, as little Mice went on to define the Standard format (Heartfire Hero, Manifold Mouse, Emberheart Challenger) and token synergies got some real gems (Caretaker's Talent, Fountainport). Let's see what Bloomburrow's Commander offerings have in store:

The Hideaway ability tempts Magic players with that most tantalizing of propositions: Free Spells! Everyone loves casting their cards for nothing, and Evercoat Ursine lets you do it twice. All this Elemental Bear asks is to taste the blood of your enemies, made easy via Trample and 6-power. Each time Evercoat Ursine is able to connect with an opponent, you'll get to cast one of your hidden cards for free. This incentivizes you to both provide him evasion (Canopy Cover, protection (Snakeskin Veil), or both (Wshipersilk Cloak). Evercoat Ursine also makes for a fantastic target for Blink-Commanders (Emiel the Blessed, Roon of the Hidden Realms), as you'll get both Hideaway triggers each time he enters play.

There's Group-Hug, and then there's group hug with eight arms. Or should I say tentacles? Octomancer's ability to copy tokens can be potent on its own, depending on what decks you come up against. But the Frog Druid can also enable itself, provided you're willing to introduce a friend to the wonderful world of marine biology. Gifting an 8/8 Octopus is no small token (both literally and figuratively), but if you can keep your frog alive until the end of the turn he comes into play, you'll be rewarded with an octopus of your own. This opens political shenanigans, allowing you to make temporary alliances. Most Commander games see at least one player fall behind. Maybe they didn't draw the correct lands they needed to set up an early board state. Octomancer lets you give them a hand...eight of them...and in return, you could get an 8/8 of your own. Remember, Octomancer needs to survive until your endstep, so keep protective spells onhand. Or politely ask your new ally if they can help keep your him safe from removal.

Duskmourn: House of Horror

Let's end things with a nightmare. Before Christmas. What's this, what's this? There's monsters everywhere. What's this? Everyone's got 80's hair. What's this? There's a crazy cultist chant, a great big demon on the rant, the odds of escape are scant! What's this?

Yuck.

While the implications of Convert to Slime are grisly, the card's impact is undeniably strong. Yes, it costs five mana and only runs at Sorcery speed, but most of the time you'll pick up a 3-for-1. Most decks already run Artifacts in the form of mana rocks, 99% of all Commanders are already creatures, and enchantments make up some of the most powerful cards in Commander (Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithe, etc.), so it's not uncommon for all three of these permanent types to be in play simultaneously. Especially against three opponents. But even if you are only able to get a 2-for-1 out of Covert to Slime, you're still aiming at the biggest threat(s) on the board. What's more, if you've got Delirium online, you're further rewarded with a potentially gigantic Ooze token, meaning that when all modes are active, you hit the jackpot with a 4-for-1!

Consistent sources of damage to all opponents are valuable, especially when you can scale that damage for extra punishment. Gleeful Arsonist may not seem too threatening at first, but it doesn't take much to really make opponents hesitate to cast noncreature spells. In Equipment and Volton-themed decks, which already run plenty of power-boosting effects, this fiery gal can start dealing massive hits of damage in response to even the most humble mana rock. Even if opponents are able to remove Gleeful Arsonist, Undying ensures she'll immediately return from the graveyard, and with an extra power to boot. For a small investment of only three mana, this card can deal out massive swaths of damage. It may start as only chip damage, but with a little extra support, it grows to scary proportions.

Last-Minute Chopping by Marta Nael

I hope today's adventure has given you some new ideas for deck tech or extra pieces to add to the '99. It's always fun digging through the archives and seeing what cards have flown under the radar. Not only are they largely affordable, but they set up that most wonderful Commander experience where you play a card and you're opponents collectively respond "Wait, what the heck is that card?!".

Thanks for reading, and may your 2025 be bright!

-Matt-

@Intrepid_Tautog