MTG: Put on your Game Face – Top Five Shapeshifter Commanders
Normally, saying someone is two-faced is an insult. For these Commanders, they’re insulted you think they only have two faces.
Welcome Planeswalkers and Praetors to our ongoing series about the best casual experience in Magic: Commander.
This series has been focused on playing typal decks, so most of the decks have been the same creature type. However, what if you wanted to play everything typal? Well, luckily, you can! Shapeshifters are every creature type all the time, so you can play whatever you want and still get all the fun benefits. You might lose out against more focused Commanders, but you’ll be able to benefit from every trick in the game.
Voja, Jaws of the Conclave
Voja sits at the top of the Shapeshifter pool, and it’s really no surprise. He tore up the cEDH scene for a while after his release, and he’s just a massive power piece. Even without his special ability, he’s a 5/5 with vigilance, trample, and ward 3 for five. However, the main draw for this murder wolf is his secondary.
Whenever Voja attacks, you get +1/+1 counters on all your creatures equal to the number of Elves you control, and you can draw cards equal to the number of Wolves you control. In a standard typal deck, that’s cool enough, but imagine if all your creatures were both types! Once Voja hits the field with an army of Shapeshifters, it’s basically GG.
Reaper King
A good way to lose actual friends at the EDH table, Reaper King is one of the only ways to play “destroy typal”. It’s a 6/6 for anywhere from five to ten mana, depending on how many colors you’re playing. While it’s on the field, it has an anthem effect for all your other Scarecrows, and whenever a Scarecrow hits the field, you get to destroy a permanent. Since every creature in your deck will be a Scarecrow, you can wipe the board one piece at a time. Just be careful; the ability isn’t a may, so if your opponent has nothing, you’ll have to blow up your own stuff.
The Ur-Dragon
No surprises here, especially since the Ur-Dragon is still one of the nastiest Commanders. With all your Shapeshifters being Dragons, you get all the benefits of a Dragon typal deck with the benefit of having lower drops. With all the awesome abilities Shapeshifters have combined with the powerhouse Dragon effects that exist out there, you’ll have a war crime in no time.
Morophon the Boundless
It wouldn’t be a Shapeshifter list without the OG goop lord, Morophon. Like the other Shapeshifters, he’s every creature type. Since everything in your deck is, too, you’ll get Morophon’s anthem effect AND his cost reduction effect for your entire deck. Just make sure you’re playing enough colored pips to make it worthwhile.
Moritte of the Frost
Moritte is an interesting Commander but a fun one. It enters the battlefield as a copy of anything you control, but it gains the snow type and is legendary. That’s helpful if you need snow mana for an ability, but its real power comes from its creature effect. If you copy a creature, it gets two +1/+1 counters, letting you take your best nonlegendary critter and make it even better.
What do you think of these Commanders?
What is Magic the Gathering Commander?
For the uninitiated, Commander is a semi-casual format for Magic: the Gathering. You use a deck of 100 cards led by a legendary creature, aka, your Commander.
Aside from basic lands, you are only allowed one copy of each card in the deck. Moreover, you can only include cards in your Commander’s “color identity” or artifacts. Each color and color combo has a unique playstyle and a wealth of mighty generals to lead your deck to victory. EDHRec.com is an excellent source for Commander info and can give you ideas on how to build your next Commander deck or tune an existing one.
