It's already been over a whole month since 2022 went sailing off into the sunset, and with it came a ton of awesome new cards for Magic. As with most recent years, the game had a strong uptick in the amount of legendary creatures, coinciding with the rise of Commander. We've gotten a ton of popular new options, such as Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, and Go-Shintai of Life's Origin. For as many great new legends as we've gotten, there's simultaneously been plenty that have landed with a colossal thud as the year wrapped up. Today, I'd like to shine a light on a handful of the lesser appreciated and more underrated options present in 2022.

For the sake of this article there's two things to take into account:

1. When I mention how well represented various commanders are, I'm referring to the amount of decklists on EDHREC.com. This helps provide a decent gauge for how utilized these commanders really are. I will mainly be focusing on commanders with a representation of 200 lists or less.
2. For the sake of my own sanity, I'm skipping over Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate because it's hard to tell how utilized any specific commander is thanks to backgrounds. Similarly, the representations on EDHREC for the Secret Lair x Stranger Things release don't display right with the friends forever pairings, so I'll be skipping those as well. Other cards from both that set and Streets of New Capenna are both well represented, so don't expect to see them in this list.

Kotose, the Silent Spider (99 Lists)

As of the time of my writing this article, Kotose is the lowest represented non-shrine, non-Myojin legend from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. I honestly find that to be a bit puzzling, as she represents a very interesting ability to steal stuff from other players. That's always been a popular way to play, as clearly seen by creatures like Gonti, Lord of Luxury (who has 940 decklists). I feel like the Cranial Extraction-esque text is what's throwing people off here, as since you can only hit one card with Kotose's effect, you can't exile multiples from libraries, graveyards, and hands. Regardless of how many cards you can hit, though, you're always going to be able to cast something.

While she'd probably be a bit better if you could activate her ability on attacking, or something like that, there're ways to make her work for you. Given how she's from Kamigawa, it's clear she wants you to utilize her with various ninja cards, making her a good ninjutsu commander in the process. With stiff competition from Yuriko and Satoru Umezawa, it's not hard to see how she could be overlooked. With plenty of ninjas, unblockable effects, and cards like Erratic Portal and Conjurer's Closet, though, there're plenty of ways to make some serious use of her as a Commander. Definitely one you should try out sometime - especially if you're a fan of Gonti.

Heiko Yamazaki, the General (122 Lists) and Mishra, Excavation Prodigy (45 Lists)

Both of these artifact-focused commanders having such incredibly low representation is somewhat baffling to me. I remember when Neon Dynasty was coming out, Heiko Yamazaki was on my short list for commanders to write about but I never got to it. There's quite a bit of artifact synergy out there where you can easily use either of these in conjunction with sacrificed artifacts and cards like Goblin Welder and Scrap Mastery to loop them. Mishra does this especially well, ramping up your artifacts while simultaneously sifting through your deck. There was even some discussion of possible combo potential when he came out, so it's even more surprising that there's only 45 lists at the moment. It may be because he's just an uncommon and from a newer set, but even as an uncommon, he's still clearly quite strong and has plenty of utility. Both make for excellent artifact decks and are great choices if you're looking to build something a little different on a budget.

Aron, Benalia's Ruin (113 Lists)

Like Heiko and Mishra above, I'm convinced that the lower popularity of a card like Aron has to do with the fact that it's an uncommon. Most players tend to gravitate to the big flashy rares, and Aron is a little more simplistic in his approach. Unlike a commander such as Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut or Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava who can't work well due to the limits of domain, Aron has a ton of play potential. Simply put, sacrifice decks are always a fun and popular niche, as are go-wide strategies. Aron brings them together in a nice, neat package and is a ton of fun to play, which is a reason he was arguably one of the better uncommons you could utilize in Dominaria United Limited - and a favorite of mine. With some token generators, reanimation, and cards like Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton, he can be an absolute force to be reckoned with.

Tura Kennerud, Skyknight (118 Lists)

You know what's been an extremely popular card for the last ten years? Good old Young Pyromancer, of course! Yes, it has been that long, and yes, we're all getting old as dirt. But the constant love and play of good ol' Young Peezy shows just how much appeal casting spells and making tokens has. So, it's baffling to me that Tura Kennerud (and to a lesser extent Baird, Argivian Recruiter - who only has 115 lists on EDHREC) has such a small representation. Cast a cantrip? Make a token. Counter a spell? Make a token. Loop a Ghostly Flicker? Make a token. This is a great token maker and in a color pair that also gives you access to the likes of Monastery Mentor, Murmuring Mystic, and Talrand, Sky Summoner to make even more tokens as you cast spells. I'm a big fan of this one, so it's definitely one you should check out if you like to go wide!

Danitha, Benalia's Hope (169 Lists)

By now, there's truly no shortage of equipment commanders. I think there's a pretty strong argument that there're quite a few better out there than Danitha (Wyleth, Kemba, Koll), but this one does something most of the others don't: cheat stuff into play. Granted, at five mana, there aren't a lot of ways to really benefit from this. In fact, when working on an article on the card a few months ago, the options proved pretty limited outside of cards like Eldrazi Conscription and Argentum Armor. Really, though, sometimes that's all you need. Even if you only put in some smaller cards, getting down some equipment and then flickering (which, I might add, Sword of Hearth and Home does on its own), it's really easy to get the ball rolling. That makes this Danitha stand out very nicely amongst the competition and is a great addition to your repertoire.

Torsten, Founder of Benalia (167 Lists)

One of the cooler aspects of Dominaria United was the Legends Retold subset of cards that made entirely new versions of the bland and boring original legends of, well, Legends. There were several excellent standouts, but at the same time, there were a few that felt a little bit forgotten. Torsten is a great example of this, a dull vanilla legend given new life. There's not a lot of synergy, making this not the most exciting card to build around, but it presents so much value it can make for an exceptionally fun "cards I own" or good stuff style deck with ease. He deserves a place in a fun casual deck, that's for sure.

The Red Terror (111 Lists)

Surprisingly or otherwise, many of the Warhammer 40,000 legends are seeing quite a bit of love. Maybe that has to do with the property behind them or simply that the decks were considered some of the best precons of all time. Whatever the case, there were a few that were understandably left in the dust. The Red Terror stood out to me, as it's one of those cards that can appear to be a bit boring and simply aggro heavy, often feeling like a glorified vanilla that gets bigger. But it's a creature that encourages you to dish out damage, keeping the game going. It's even got a sick infinite combo now thanks to the likes of All Will Be One, which can end the game on the spot. It might look a little basic, but there's lots of fun to be had with this commander.

Unfinity (the whole thing) [Captain Rex Nebula, Ambassador Blorpityblorpboop, and Vorthos, Steward of Myth]

For all the love and momentum that Unstable had back in 2017 and continuing into 2018, Unfinity kind of feels like it just came and went with little to no fanfare. It could be that it came out in such close proximity to other sets or that it had elements that players weren't a fan of (stickers and black-border legality, namely). Whatever the case, only a few months removed from Unfinity and it feels like practically everyone forgot it. I stopped hearing almost any mention of it at all on social media within a few weeks and given that I constantly have my ear to the ground with the game, that felt really strange. If anything, it feels like more people were interested in the Warhammer 40,000 decks that dropped at the same exact time.

What is surprising is how few are seeing any play. Only three legends have more than 200 lists on EDHREC: Magar of the Magic Strings, Myra the Magnificent, and The Most Dangerous Gamer. A lot of the legends are fairly niche or else bear the dreaded legality-warping acorn symbol. However, most play groups won't really mind this and just want a good, fun game of Magic. As such, many of these cards - several of which have only single digit representation - almost certainly have more room for play. Give some of them a try sometime and see if any of them catch your interest or provide a new dynamic to your local playgroups.

Game Night: Free-for-All (Imaryll, Elfhame Elite; Nogi, Draco-Zealot; and Zamriel, Seraph of Steel)

Game Night: Free-for-All really feels like a product that came and went with almost no fanfare. I personally was a big fan of these decks, as they seemed to offer far more substantial depth than the previous Game Night products. Whereas I wasn't very interested in the older ones (to the point that when my brother's friends learned the game off this, I handed them Commander precons instead) this one really grabbed my attention.

A big reason for that was the solid reprints in the mix, but certainly also was the new legendary face cards. Admittedly, each of these is probably a bit shallow, but they have some solid play to them nonetheless. Given this is very much a product aimed at new players and that Commander is a popular way for players to get into the game, it's surprising that more people wouldn't take these legends and make decks around them. Immaryll, Elfhame Elite is the most represented with a whopping 120 lists going down from there to Zamriel, Seraph of Steel with a meager 23 lists. There's definitely a lot of fun to be had here, and I think plenty of these - especially Zamriel - have a lot more potential than these numbers would have you believe.

Transformers (Goldbug, Humanity's Ally; Blaster, Combat DJ; Cyclonus, the Saboteur)

For all the love and hate with Universes Beyond, I think it's pretty safe to say it's generally been a runaway hit. A quick run through the Secret Lair Drop set on EDHREC will reveal that most of these legends are quite popular, and only the Stranger Things ones look low - likely due to the pairings not displaying right. Almost all of them are getting some amount of love because there's a lot of people out there who love properties like The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Street Fighter, and Warhammer 40,000 so much that they're really drawn to building these decks. It's a bit odd, then, that so many of the Transformers legends have such a low representation.

Now, make no mistake, there's certainly some amount of love going on here. However, it's largely tied up in the big names you'd recognize, such as Megatron and Optimus Prime commanding the top two slots. Roughly two thirds of the legends, however, have 250 or less lists to their names. There's a lot of cool cards and great build-arounds that can be utilized well! Goldbug, Humanity's Ally makes for a great Humans deck, while Blaster, Combat DJ is a unique modular-matters commander that begs you to use Hardened Scales strategies. All told, it feels like there's a lot of untapped potential with these commanders. That may be by virtue of them still being a bit new, but I definitely think more players should be willing to give them a chance.

Loran, Disciple of History (28 Lists)

Here's another commander that focuses heavily on artifact synergies, but unlike Heiko and Mishra above, this one focuses on a different way of handling the artifacts. Yes, you're still doing a lot of cycling through sacrificial artifact silliness, but there's much more of a focus on the legends aspect as well. Loran practically demands that you play more legends, making for a very different feeling deck than the aforementioned Red legends. You can also utilize Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle to provide ways of getting your creatures back off of your artifacts, making for an interesting dual commander build. With such an astoundingly low representation - the lowest in The Brothers' War - it's clear this one is just begging to find some more love, so check her out and give it a whirl!

For as long as this list might seem, this is only a smattering of the less-loved commanders from the past year. There're many more that are still tremendously under-utilized compared to the bigger and flashier options of the most noteworthy headliner choices. I highly recommend not only going through this last year but the couple years prior to that as well and look for legends with lower representation and give them some love. Even if they don't stand out quite as much as others, I think you'll be surprised and impressed with the quality of hidden gems out there just waiting to be discovered.

Paige Smith

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