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Final Top Ten of Five Color Classics to Consider for Commander!

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Hello happy folks I hope your day is going swimmingly well! Today I want to finish with my final top ten for the default format of the day before Commander took over called Five Color, a 300 card, 25 cards of each color format with its own list! Note I was on the Five Color ruling council and wrote loads about it. These are not for classics that have moved over like Mind's Eye or Nevinyrral's Disk or Fact or Fiction, nor is it for ones that dominated but no more like Spite // Malice. These are cards that dominated either casual or tournament play and then should still be great today!

You can find my first article here. And last week's article is here.

Ready?

Honorable Mention #1. (#15. Overall) - Stormscape Battlemage

Stormscape Battlemage

The worst of the Battlemage cycle is first here. These cost three for a 2/2 body with the kickers of the other colors by side. They were popular since the kickers were splashable and you didn't have to use them if they didn't impact the board or you were missing the mana. This mono-Blue with White one mana kicker to gain some life or three Black mana to Doom Blade an opposing dork. Doom Blade is great, sure, but this doesn't have the card advantage abilities of the rest of the cycle. I do like this in Esper life gain as a four-mana way to gain life with a backup removal baked in. Note these are kickers and cannot be flickered or Reanimated, they have to be bounced or Raise Deaded. Love this loads!

Honorable Mention #2. (#14. Overall) - Hystrodon

Hystrodon

The morph was brilliant at getting played on the third turn no matter your mana so they were heavily played. This 3/4 trampler for five mana normally, three mana to unmorph on the next turn was amazing and my iconic morph. Whenever I morphed up something, at least half of the time it was this combat damage into card draw. This was the first time this ability was added to Green, and on a trampling morph you drew tons of cards. Draw tons more today!

Honorable Mention #3. (#13. Overall) - Magus of the Disk

Magus of the Disk

The next best in the Magus 15-card cycle is this four-drop take on Nevinyrral's Disk like last week's Magus of the Jar take on Memory Jar. Mass removal on the board that changes how people play is always great, from Pernicious Deed to Oblivion Stone! This also ETBs tapped, taps with one to destroy everything that's a dork, enchantment or artifact too! Then this is easier to recur as a dork like in color Karmic Guide. Try it out and see if you like it too!

Honorable Mention #4. (#12. Overall) - Nostalgic Dreams

Nostalgic Dreams

Next is this fun two drop in the Dreams cycle that let you discard to get an effect. You can spend two mana to discard and Regrowth that many cards! You can use extra lands or uncastable stuff for powerhouses. Since you are discarding you can also discard flashback, jump-start, dorks to be reanimated, for threshold and many more! This is so powerful in Five color it's restricted, what about you and now in Commander!

Honorable Mention #5. (#11. Overall) - Voidmage Prodigy

Voidmage Prodigy

Another morph this time one reprinted in Time Spiral. This on curve 2/1 could sac a Wizard to counter something. That was during Wizard matters block and he was played in loads of places in loads of formats. You can sac him to himself he doesn't say other. Get him, run him, love him!

#10. Honden of Seeing Winds

Honden of Seeing Winds

This was so good that you didn't need to run other Shrines, just itself as a one card draw each upkeep. We didn't run with them either!

#9. Bringer of the Green Dawn

Bringer of the Green Dawn

Our lowest scoring bringer is this one! With a nine-mana body base and then one of each mana here as an alternate cost is this trampling 5/5 3/3 dork maker each upkeep of you! Make all of the dorks all day long! Note this color identity means only in 5C Commander brews.

#8. Nantuko Vigilante

Nantuko Vigilante

Another morph this time in Green is next. Its morph trigger is for just two mana and then Naturalizes. Note that this is common for Pauper and Pauper Commander! Do you love it too? Yuppers puppers!

#7. Nightscape Battlemage

Nightscape Battlemage

Our second Battlemage on today's list and fourth overall is next! This costs three base in Black and has three mana kickers in the next colors. This has the most powerful kickers in the cycle, but it's the cost that drops it here. The Blue one will bounce two non-Black dorks and then the red one will Stone Rain. If you do both you can really push the battlefield in your direction with two bounces and one removal spell. It's just hard to get to nine mana. In modern Commander this is a great mana sink for Grixis all but two mana coming from Black and generic mana like Cabal Coffers tied with Urborg. Can you turn the tables with this?

#6. Mischievous Quanar

Mischievous Quanar

When this is morphed up you can get a free copy of an instant or sorcery, not just yours, but anyone's! That will trigger magecraft too by the by. Then you can turn it back down for more copying fun times with five mana. Despite how amazing this is in Spellslinger and other copy decks that win with spells. Run it and love it all up and down.

#5. Ordered Migration

Ordered Migration

Our top card was domain and from the same set and block is this uncommon Azorius colored five cost sorcery. Most domain stuff the first time around needed four basics to be even with established stuff or slightly better (Tribal Flames, Evasive Action, Worldly Counsel). This sorcery makes 1/1 flyers equal to your basic land count. You would cast it then and then often get four or five beaters to kill in a few hits or keep you alive or block attacks on your planeswalkers. I love it in loads of places. It's also great for your 4 or 5 color brews in Commander as with tri and duals you can really get this high. Or Birds or Flyers too. Try it out and see. I think you'll like it!

#4. Root Elemental

Root Elemental

Our second-highest charting morph and best game winning morph is this morph seven cost 6/5 base body (note there is no evasion here like trample) with the ability to drop a free dork from your hand to the battlefield. That's where the game winning comes in, just drop a nasty thing. You can also do it when attacked to drop something that'll kill an attacker. People won't expect it at all! He's also broken in Type Four too, by the by, as well as formats, and that morph flip is a great mana sink in the color of ramp! Ready?

#3. Chromeshell Crab

Chromeshell Crab

Our highest scoring morph and Top Three entrant is this fun morph for five mana in Blue and then you'll swap dorks with a foe, usually this since it's just a 3/3 body with no keywords. I adore doing this in combat and then taking out an attacker to Fog it or steal a blocker or EOT to steal something to attack with on your turn. Love it loads!

#2. Draco

Draco

Our top scoring domain card in this list is this 16-cost 9/9 flying win con! Its cost and upkeep are each reduced by two generic mana for each basic you control! Then you can deal 16 damage with this with things like Erratic Explosion which was in Standard. Nasty alternate win con!

#1. Bringer of the Red Dawn

Bringer of the Red Dawn

Hello Bringer fans! Our top scoring card in my final list is the last Bringer! This will also rock 5/5 trampling body for an on curve five color and mana body! Then in your upkeep you'll steal a dork for free for the turn with haste, like a repeatable Act of Treason. You will steal all of the stuff in all of the battlefields for winning all of the games! I suspect you'll love this little thing loads. Amiright? I'm right!

There we are! I hope that you enjoyed this look at 42 cards that were great in Five Color and could be too in modern Commander! Did you know that these existed? Which are you trying out? Just me know!

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