At its most fundamental level, Commander is a format that prides itself on being social. Whether it's hanging out with friends, meeting new people, or experiencing novel strategies. Some cards though, are less interested in making friends and more interested in making lifelong enemies. Some so frustrating to play against that many players would prefer losing the game on the spot rather than continuing a game where they appear. Today I'm breaking down my personal list of the most annoying cards to face in Commander in hopes that people will feel bad about using them against me.

5 - Tergrid, God of Fright

Tergrid, God of Fright lives in infamy in the world of Commander. Whenever an opponent sacrifices or discards a permanent card while Tergrid is out, that card is put onto the Tergrid player's battlefield. The problem isn't even necessarily Tergrid herself, rather, it's the kind of deck that Tergrid often encourages you to build. Discard and removal act not only as a way to inhibit other players' options in this deck, they also become an advantage engine. This means that the optimal strategy is often to cram as much sacrifice and discard as possible into the 99, leading to an absolutely brutal game for 3 of the 4 players. The alternative, of course, is that the Tergrid player needs to be (rightfully) removed from the game as quickly as humanly possible, meaning at the end of most games with Tergrid, somebody walks away upset.

*Oh yeah, Tergrid has an entire other card on the backside (Tergrid's Lantern) but honestly, that part is fine.

4 - Humility

Humility slows games to a miserable crawl. Creatures are unsurprisingly a huge part of the format even when you don't take the titular Commander into account and Humility makes all creatures functionally useless. As someone who often uses creatures for removal, card draw, and ramp, Humility is especially well-positioned to ruin most of the game plans for my personal decks. Whether you play Kindred decks, combo decks, big Green stompy or some kind of control deck, chances are Humility hitting the table will turn off a massive segment of your 100 cards. The saving grace is that Humility affects all players, meaning the person playing the card has to build their deck very specifically not to get hosed by it as well.

3 - Opposition Agent

Nothing can prepare you for the first time you get blown out by an Opposition Agent. Many see the ability to prevent your opponent from tutoring as a necessary evil. Some even see it as justice against those trying to ruin the novelty of 100-card singleton. The thing is, Opposition Agent isn't just shutting down powerful tutors like Demonic Tutor or Vampiric Tutor, it's also shutting down ramp spells like Nature's Lore and Sakura-Tribe Elder, Fetch Lands, Situational tutors like Fabricate and a host of other spells and abilities that commonly appear in decks. In addition to ruining your plans, this card also rubs your face in it by allowing your opponent to tutor a card that they can use instead. Spikes will be quick to remind you as well that, since you control the player as they(you?) tutor, they even get to look at your hand as a little free bonus.

2 - Drannith Magistrate

If Drannith Magistrate has no haters then I am dead. This card not only locks other players out of casting their Commander (You know ... the whole point of the format) it simply locks them out of casting anything that is not in their hand, spitting in the face of Flashback, Graveyard Strategies, Impulse Draw, Rebound, you name it. The most insulting part of all is that this effect is not symmetrical, meaning the person playing Drannith Magistrate is completely unaffected by its lockout. The fact is, casting Drannith Magistrate will make you archenemy on the spot. As long as this card is out, you cannot Commander in Commander.

1 - All those "Messing With My Mana" cards

Yes, this is a cop-out answer but I stand by it. There are many many salty cards in Commander but at the end of the day, it is a borderline 20-way tie between a bunch of cards that simply ruin your ability to pay for mana costs. This includes cards like Jokulhaups destroying your lands, Winter Orb and Stasis preventing your lands from untapping, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV making your spells cost more, or Blood Moon ruining your colors. Stax pieces are salty in nature and cards that inhibit your ability to even try to remove them feel the worst of all.

So that's my list of the saltiest cards. If my number one pick made you salty at least we can consider that a thematic win! Thanks for reading, lay off the sodium, and have a great day!

"Be you, Be Free, Live Happily"

@MullDrifterStan