My Pet Staples in Commander

Non-staple cards that you run in many decks can in-essence exemplify your playstyle and play-patterns. These cards are a big part of what sets you apart from other commander players.

Now onto mine:

---Fog---

---Holy Day---

---Moment's Peace---

As a fan of the green sligh concept employed by 1999 world champion Matt Linde, I have a strong history with Fog and other Fog-like cards.

I employ it in many decks, particularly my $5 mono green legacy deck. With commander becoming an ever increasingly creature aggressive format, cards like Fog are easier to slot in than ever before to the point that it could arguably be considered a staple now.

---Defense of the Heart---

Almost any deck has two creatures that combo with each other or two massive threats and even in cases where they don't, there are countless situational answers such as Eternal Witness or Shaman of Forgotten Ways. Even just grabbing Nyxbloom Ancient is a massive payoff.

I get that many see this as 4-mana removal bait, but I think most underestimate how often this card actually gets to pop in real-life scenarios rather than "On paper" so long as the timing is right and "as soon as I have four mana" is rarely ever the right timing. You want to hold this as a contingency in the mid to late game after most of the removal slinging has run its course.

---Shaman of Forgotten Ways---

I lost to Biorhythm enough times as a teenager that I appreciate what this card does. The fact alone that Biorhythm is a banned 8-drop sorcery alludes to how powerful this kind of effect really is in commander.

The problem with it though, is that it's now an 11 mana ability stapled to an easily removable 3-drop creature that has summoning sickness.

Despite that, my view on it is that, at worst, it is still a decent mana dork with the potential to be a game-ender if not dealt with.

---Vigor---

No one would argue against the fact that what this card does is obviously ridiculous. What makes it not a staple for most is that, like Defense of the Heart, it is often just really expensive removal bait.

However, I don't think enough players appreciate how effective this card can be in decks where mana is almost no object. I have a habit of going crazy on ramp in any deck that runs green or just running commanders like Goreclaw, Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and Raggadragga. Dropping 6 mana on something mid-game is nothing to these decks, whether the investment is a good trade for my opponents' removal or not.

Cards like this and Stormtide Leviathan are haymakers. It isn't so much that you shouldn't run them at all in your decks, but moreso that you shouldn't run too many. There are lots of things in this world that are only great in moderation. That's my take on the "Dies to removal" topic anyway.

---Arachnogenesis---

I almost lumped this one into the Fog category, because it effectively is a 3-mana Fog with extra steps.

The obvious added benefit is that you can stand to get a big boardstate gain for that 3 mana at the same time and those spiders may even manage to remove some attackers as well.

I feel like the only reason this card isn't a staple to many yet is that it used to be a $40 card until more recently. It currently sits at $4, but I think once it catches on, it will become a staple and the price will swell again.

---Elvish Spirit Guide---

---Simian Spirit Guide---

In Magic, I have coined a dichotomy of players that I call Sharks vs Whales. Sharks like to open with the fastest hard-hitting plays to get a win in before other players are able to answer them, while whales make a concerted effort to not make their best plays too soon.

I am such a shark and I can't help it. That said, the fact that, like Lotus Petal, these cards allow me to make my big plays a turn sooner is all that needs to be said.

---Elven Farsight---

This is simply just an example of an underrated card in my opinion. How many decks running green wouldn't benefit from this cantrip each and every time it graces your hand? I love cards that are just about never a dead-draw. It's basically a green Opt and that's awesome.

---Exsanguinate---

Like I said earlier, I have a nasty habit of going overboard with ramp, so a card that turns that into a wincon is a clear winner to me. It's nuts that if all you pour into it is 8 mana, you still stand to deal 6 to each player AND gain 18-30 life.

Decks like Mahadi that can easily amass treasure tokens straight up win games with this just as easily as with Revel in Riches.

There have been many games where I was in position to be eliminated well into a long game only to win abruptly with this.

---Pestilence---

---Rakdos Charm---

---Stronghold Discipline---

There is only one reason I run these in so many decks: The prevalence of token spam in my playgroup for which they are a brutal heavy-handed answer to.

---Blood Pet---

---Basal Thrull---

---Bog Witch---

Again, these are shark cards and I am a sucker for ramp that gets my commander into action as soon as possible.

---Morbid Opportunist---

Even if this card only draws me one card during each turn cycle, it has pulled its weight, but oftentimes I am getting to draw 3-4 cards per turn cycle due to the prevalence of removal and sac strategies in my playgroup. It's almost as much of a no-brainer as Blood Artist.

---Supernatural Stamina---

---Undying Malice---

There are a few other cards like these that I run, but these are the two that I run the most. I play lots of commanders that are lightning rods for removal such as Tergrid, K'rrik, The Scarab God, Zurgo Helmsmasher, Mahadi & Juri. That said, I have definitely won games thanks to answering attempts to remove my commander with these.

Common criticism I see is that people seem to think evasion equipment or auras like Swiftfoot Boots, Indestructibility, Darksteel Plate, etc are better, but I disagree.

What sets these apart is that you get to "play your hand against your chest". Short of being Duress'd or Thoughtseize'd, your opponents don't know whether or not their removal is going to stick, so they will tend to "shoot first; find out later" whereas with eq/aura evasion, they know it won't and will know to get around it first (And they always do) before slinging their removal. It is simply delaying the inevitable. 

It's in the same vein as why Fog is generally better than Spore Frog. The only reason this isn't entirely true is because Spore Frog can more easily be abused by recursion.

---Reins of Power---

I already mentioned that my group is token-happy, but this card also plays into my playstyle well too. That is that many of my non-green decks focus on quality rather than quantity of creatures. That said, I am often in a position where my opponents' boardstates are much more lethal than mine and this card can turn that scenario into a win.

True Story:

A friend in my group was sitting on a lethal boardstate of angels with Avacyn, Angel of Hope equipped with Lightning Greaves.

Him: You are top-decking, just scoop.

Me: I cast Reins of Power. Any answers? No? Good game.

Him: Wtaftjh

---Rite of Replication---

Need I even attempt to list cards that would end games if you could have five or six of them? The neckhairs of the Timmy  in me bristle at the thought of so much win-more. My favorite targets tend to be Roil Elemental, Stormtide Leviathan, Blightsteel Colossus, and Blood Artist. The result is most often my opponents' immediately boardwiping, though (Which is why Blood Artist is such a good choice).

---Stormtide Leviathan---

I don't think I have a single deck running blue that doesn't run Stormtide Leviathan. To serve as both a stax piece AND wincon at the same time is crazy good value for six mana.

---Polymorphist's Jest--

As a fan of Fog, I just love cards that take advantage of a false sense of security and nothing does that quite like shutting off every creature ability your opponent has while reducing their hulking threats to 1/1's at instant speed (That means you can wait until AFTER blockers have been declared). It's easily as table-flipping as Reins of Power at times.

---Fog Bank---

This card by itself often keeps voltron decks at bay until it is removed. Then you have stuff like Managorger Hydra, Vorosh, Skullbriar, etc. The power of having something to chump block any one creature every single turn can not be easily overstated.

---Fade Away---

Another flat-out underrated card. I feel as though many view this card as symmetrical, but it mostly isn't if you time it well. As you cast this during your turn, you are the one with all of your mana (But the 3 paid for this) untapped. If your opponent's are tapped-out or nearly tapped out, they have lots of creatures, and you have a few or less, this card becomes devastatingly one-sided.

---Diplomatic Immunity---

As a fan of the Lethal Weapon movies, this might be the only card that I run at least partly for flavor. I have been waiting for a friend to counter it so that I can say "Has just been revoked".

Flavor aside, this is also just a great way to protect a commander in the vein of Lightning Greaves and it is far harder to remove than Lightning Greaves, which dies to Naturalize.

The biggest downside, of course, is that it's shroud and not hexproof, meaning it doesn't play well with Voltron. With greaves, the free equip means you can circumvent the shroud, making it more Voltron-friendly. This is easily a case of "Why not both?" for me though.

---Approach of the Second Sun---

I am a big fan of one-card wincons and I consider this the daddy of them all. I often build decks that do what they do well but sometimes have trouble closing games. Having a one-card wincon really helps in decks like that. In decks with lots of draw or scry, like Thrasios, it can easily be cast twice in the same turn.

Although I no longer have the deck, my Narset, Enlightened Master deck used it to great effect as well, since her ability both can cast it for free the first time, then dig it back up quickly to hard-cast it again next turn.

---Mother of Runes---

This is one-mana removal bait at worst and a guardian angel to your commander at best. Either way, it's pretty much a white staple for me. In fact, I'm on the fence on whether or not this is a staple in general.

---Dragonmaster Outcast---

Not only is this also one-mana removal bait, but also serves as sort-of a one-card wincon as well.

One of my favorite approaches to deckbuilding is to attempt to have more threats than my opponent's have answers and this card always has a home in a deck like that.

---Wild Ricochet---

You might consider this the poor-man's Deflecting Swat until you start considering all of things you can do with it that you can't with 'Swat. Namely tutoring off the opponent's tutor and two-pronged targeted removal.

I'm attacking with a trample creature

My opponent blocks then casts an instant that boosts the blocker (Not an uncommon scenario)

I cast Wild Ricochet

Now my trampler gets twice that boost instead

I'm playing Zurgo

I drop a cheap wipe like Blasphemous Act or Chain Reaction and end turn

Two opponents cast a creature

One casts removal targeting Zurgo

I cast Wild Ricochet and kill both creatures they played that turn instead

Zurgo then has his way with them

It's glorious.

For just 1 more mana, you are getting a whole lot more.

---Staff of Domination---

---Umbral Mantle---

I have developed a penchant lately for infinite mana and nothing utilizes or enables infinite mana quite like these two.

Staff allows you to gain infinite life, draw infinite cards, tap creatures for activated abilities infinite times, tap down every single opponent's creature, and draws you infinite cards.

Both have a dual purpose as well where they also serve as infinite mana engine pieces themselves by allowing creatures that tap for 4 or 5 or more mana to go infinite. Even creatures that tap for 3 mana can infinitely boost themselves with Umbral Mantle.

---Isochron Scepter--- Fog/Holy Day/Darkness? Yes

Counterspell/Mana Drain/Mana Leak? Yes

Vampiric Tutor? Hell yeah

Orim's Chant/Silence? Deep Baritone "OHHH YEAHHHH"

----Ornithoper---

---Phyrexian Walker---

Free chump blockers or 0-drop removal bait at worst. Need I say more?

And if I'm playing these cards, you can also bet I'm running the next card as well...

---Cranial Plating---

This card and I go wayyy back to the Mirrodin RAffinity days and we are still such good friends.

An easily overlooked quality of this card is that that alternate equip cost allows it to be equipped at instant speed and if you doubt the relevance of that, you obviously haven't witnessed it inevitably being moved to unblocked attackers, Ninjutsu creatures like Yuriko, or any other creatures that enter tapped and attacking.

---Traveler's Amulet---

---Wanderer's Twig---

Hear me out. These cards are criminally underrated in the budget realm. All people see is mana-fixing that costs two mana and dismiss them.

The fact that you can split that mana up into one each turn is precisely where their unnoticed utility is. That is to say that they are "curve-fixers" too.

Novice players and experienced players alike typically open at least one of the first four turns with 1-2 wasted mana. One of these bad boys in your hand fixes that.

They mana-fix, curve-fix, ensure a land-drop, and serve as a cheap artifact for decks or cards that care about artifacts.

-In Urza, Lord High Artificer they can serve as a mana rock.

-In Juri, it gets him a counter.

-Mahadi runs lots of cards that care about artifacts

-In Tuvasa it both critically color-fixes opening hands and can add to the boost of stuff like All That Glitters and Nettlecyst

-And can I talk about Cranial Platinig again?

Twig & Amulet aren't exactly cEDH level, but if you're working in a budget under $200, they are far better options than many would give them credit.