In Commander, instants are often overlooked (okay, maybe this is just my pod's behavior) in favor of splashy permanents that sit around affecting the battlefield continuously. Yet some of this year's best gameplay moments came because someone held up two mana, pretended they were doing nothing, and then revealed the tactical nuke (a.k.a an instant) in their hand.

This list highlights the instants that stood out the most this year. Some protect boards, some sculpt game plans, and some are Cloud Strife swinging his sword at an army of Shinra peons. All of them deliver real utility and real game winning potential.

Cloud's Limit Break

Let's set the record first: all three tiered modes on this spell are useful. If you pay for Omnislash, you also get Cross Slash and Blade Beam for free... because you're destroying everything. That means your two mana instant becomes a three part finisher: kill a tapped creature, destroy any number of tapped creatures with different controllers, or wipe all tapped creatures entirely. If you time this right, someone's combat step becomes a tragic character arc.

Works well with

• Assassin Gauntlet - taps all creatures an opponent controls and sets 'em up for the kill
• Breaking Wave - taps all creatures BUT also untapped tapped ones... perfect after you attack
• Cryptic Command - taps all creatures ALL opponents control

Double Trouble

Red combat tricks rarely feel elegant, but this one does. Doubling the power of your entire board at instant speed creates unexpected one sided combat wins or even an win from out of nowhere. It plays like a smaller Overrun without needing Green mana.

Works well with

• Jetmir, Nexus of Revels - his multi tier buff plus doubled power hits absurd numbers
• Spider-Punk - makes all damage unpreventable
• Gruul Charm - helps your team get through a gummed up boardstate

Duty Beyond Death

White gets a protective instant that feels tailor made for aristocrats or +1/+1 counters decks. You sacrifice a creature (which most of these decks want anyway), your whole board becomes indestructible, and everybody gets a +1/+1 counter. This is the kind of spell that turns a losing position into an instant "oh wait, never mind, I'm winning now" moment.

Works well with

• Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim - sacrificing something fuels your drain engine
• Ghave, Guru of Spores - full disclosure, I have this in my Ghave deck and it ROCKS
• All Will Be One - lets you throw back some pain at your aggressors after you save your board

Scour for Scrap

Blue artifact decks love efficiency, and this instant gives them everything they like. You can tutor an artifact, recur an artifact, or do both for a luxurious instant speed two for one. It smooths early turns, rebuilds mid game, and refreshes win conditions late.

Works well with

• Urza, Lord High Artificer - come on, you always have a busted artifact to find
• Saheeli, the Gifted - recursion fuels big mana setups
• Mishra, Eminent One - returning artifacts gives you better token copies

Heritage Reclamation

Green gets another flexible, efficient instant. Whoopee! Two mana to destroy an artifact, destroy an enchantment, or exile a card from a graveyard and draw a card. That last line makes this spell feel like premium glue for any deck that wants to handle problems without losing tempo.

Works well with

• Songcrafter Mage - lets you cast this again (a.k.a value)
• Kalamax, the Stormsire - this dino-beasty loves a good instant
• Eternal Witness - honestly, this is just a good instant to throw in any Green deck, and E.Wit just gets it back

Consult the Star Charts

This is some smooth card selection in Blue for such a low cost of 2 or 4 (if you kick it). Looking at X cards where X equals your lands means the spell scales through every stage of a Commander game. The scaling doesn't stop there because at its base cost of 2 mana, you get to keep a card... but with its kicker cost of an additional 2 mana you get an additional card! Early game filtering. Mid game sculpting.

Works well with

• Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait - more lands equals deeper digging and more triggers
• Fire Lord Azula - a strong Commander for spellslinging shenanigans fresh from Avatar: the Last Airbender
• Alania, Divergent Storm - a spellslinging copy machine from Bloomburrow that lets you copy Consult the Star Charts for the measly cost of giving your bestie in the pod a card

An Instantaneous Advantage

2025 is a year full of bangers for the Commander format. From my point of view, instants don't get as much love from most EDH players because of their perceived temporary effect but, as you've seen through the list above, they can be gamemaking in a lot of instances. Don't make the mistake of underestimating when your opponents pass with open mana... because sometimes, they're not only holding mana up for permission spells - they could also be holding up mana to blow a hole through your gameplan.