Hello Everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel Show, and today we're looking at the upcoming card from Final Fantasy X: the big bad Sin, Spira's Punishment. As Final Fantasy X is my favorite video game of all time, I was thrilled to see this character come to Magic in such a creative design. Rather than a full deck tech today, we're going to analyze Sin as a card, explore what type of deck it might fit into, and highlight ten cards that could be massive hits for a Sin, Spira's Punishment deck. Let's begin with the commander.

We've seen a solid amount of graveyard effects in the Sultai color combination over the past few years, and with our upcoming return to Tarkir in Tarkir: Dragonstorm we'll likely see even more. However, we haven't had a commander quite like this. Exiling cards is a bit of an anti-synergy for traditional graveyard decks since something like Fleshbag Marauder can't be looped repeatedly, but generating tokens that can potentially be copied opens up some very interesting interactions. Additionally, Sin is a 7/7 flyer, so combat damage is definitely a viable plan B.

Sin thrives in a deck that can carefully curate its graveyard to maximize the enter/attack ability. Pulling permanents out of the graveyard for free provides an immense value boost, bringing in powerhouses like Praetors, Planeswalkers, or even Eldrazi. This deck is bound to tell some incredible stories, and I'm excited to see the lists people come up with. Now, onto the list of cards that will be strong considerations for any Sin build. As usual, we'll start with an honorable mention.

Honorable Mention) Entomb/Buried Alive

This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Entomb, Buried Alive, and other graveyard tutors are excellent for setting up an early-game threat in the Sin reanimation process. Imagine ramping into Sin, then using Entomb to put an It That Betrays into your graveyard. That kind of effect can be absolutely devastating if your opponents aren't prepared.

10) Shriekmaw

While not the strongest card for a Sin deck, it offers neat synergy. Shriekmaw's evoke cost lets you cast it for cheap, immediately triggering its ETB ability to destroy a non-Black creature before it dies. Since it hits the graveyard, Sin can bring it back, allowing you to reuse the effect. Similar cards like Grief could also be considered.

9) Polluted Delta and Other Fetch Lands

This is where the deck could get really interesting. Sin's ability states that if it brings back a land, the effect repeats. Running fetchlands ensures they can be used twice, once when sacrificed and again when brought back. This recursive ramp helps mitigate the increasing commander tax as Sin gets removed throughout the game.

8) Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Given Sin's randomness, it's good to have some level of consistency. Muldrotha allows you to play one card of each type from your graveyard per turn, ensuring you can get key pieces into play while increasing the odds of Sin bringing back desirable targets with its attack trigger.

7) Portal to Phyrexia

This is brutal on cast and just as punishing when reanimated. Forcing opponents to sacrifice three creatures can devastate non-token decks, while the reanimation ability lets you either reclaim value from your own graveyard or steal something useful from an opponent's.

6) Six

Similar to Muldrotha, this card helps get maximum value from the graveyard. Its retrace ability lets you recast spells by discarding lands, which synergizes perfectly with Sin since those lands can be brought back. The self-mill effect further ensures a steady supply of reanimation targets.

5) Strionic Resonator

What's better than triggering your commander's ability once? Doing it twice! For just two mana, Strionic Resonator can copy Sin's ability, doubling the value it generates each turn.

4) Parallel Lives

Since this deck revolves around tokens, why not double them? There are plenty of similar effects, but I chose Parallel Lives because enchantments are harder to remove than creatures like Adrix and Nev. Plus, since it isn't legendary, you can potentially make copies of it.

3) Ripples of Undeath

Back on the mill train! Every turn, this card mills three cards, and you can pay mana and life to take one into your hand. This keeps Sin's engine running by ensuring a steady flow of graveyard targets while providing additional card advantage.

2) Molt Tender

A new addition from Aetherdrift, this mana dork fills the graveyard while also helping cast spells. Its ability to exile unnecessary cards ensures your graveyard stays optimized. It may fly under the radar, but over time, it puts in a lot of work.

1) Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Finally, we have Agatha's Soul Cauldron. This card enables combos by exiling creatures with activated abilities, allowing Sin to gain new effects. Whether you're setting up infinite combos (like with Ioreth of the Healing House) or simply granting buffs, this two-mana artifact is a powerful inclusion. It also puts +1/+1 counters on your creatures while refining your graveyard, making it a perfect fit for Sin.

And there you have it! I think this commander will inspire plenty of brews. The engine itself is straightforward, but the stories the deck creates will be anything but. I expect to see many of these decks at local game stores, especially after the initial hype for Cloud, Tidus, and other Final Fantasy favorites dies down. If you're looking to pick up any of these cards for your collection before Final Fantasy's release, check out CoolStuffInc. Until next time, happy gaming!