The Join Forces mechanic made its debut in the Commander 2011 Precons. The 5 card cycle made a solid attempt to add a symmetrical effect to the Commander Format. Whether it be land ramp, mill or card draw the cards allow everyone at the table to contribute mana to a spell and everyone gets to the benefit. They are the perfect litmus test for politicking in your play group. Can you convince the other players that perhaps a single target is the threat and needs to be removed? Let's take a look at each card and have a quick discussion about them!

Alliance of Arms

Alliance of Arms makes tokens, and it's pretty good at it. Its return on investment is 1 1/1 Soldier for each mana contributed. Now, symmetrical effects are hardly symmetrical when it comes to Magic so there is a very good chance we're playing a token doubler like Anointed Procession in our deck to get extra benefit from Alliance of Arms. With a more recent mechanic, goad, we can ensure that these tokens never attack us as well. There is nothing wrong with filling the board early and often.

Minds Aglow

Minds Aglow is likely the most powerful card in the cycle. The table gets the benefit of drawing a card for each mana sunk into the spell. "Draw a card" will always be the 3 best words in a game of MTG. A difficult thing to explain to new players is the tempo of a Commander game. If people are low on resources the game could drag. It's better for the tempo of the game if all players are actively participating and Minds Aglow can make that happen. Everyone having more cards means more people get to participate. There is no universe where player participation makes a bad game.

Shared Trauma

Shared Trauma fills graveyards, but it has the potential to do so much more. Let's say one player is very far ahead and they've rearranged the top of their library. We can interrupt that with Shared Trauma. If one of our opponents tried to save their pesky Sensei's Divining Top from a board wipe. Shared Trauma handles that too. Shared Trauma does double or even triple duty as a card that mills our opponents, messes with top decks and fills our yard for fancy graveyard shenanigans.

Mana-Charged Dragon

Mana-Charged Dragon is the only card on the list where you really need to be a political master or one person has to be an arch enemy level threat. At its worst, the dragon is a 5/5 with trample and flying for six mana. At its best, it's an atomic monster that the whole table can use to blow someone off of the map. There really isn't an in-between here. If you're being attacked, it's very likely you won't contribute mana to it. Mana-Charged Dragon is likely the weakest card with Joins Forces.

Collective Voyage

When discussing game play patterns, Collective Voyage is a tempo monster. It has the potential to accelerate the whole table into the mid to late game. The fatal flaw of this card is that the caster doesn't get to take advantage of the first big tempo swing. Unless we play a card like Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking our lands are going to come in tapped and there will be a turn cycle ahead of us for everyone else to take full advantage of. Collective Voyage is still the second most powerful card on this list.

Join Forces gives a unique play style to an otherwise individually minded game. The cards don't see tons of play but they have the potential to change the way games turn out. They generate large tempo swings, fill players hands, disrupt future plays and can even knock someone out of the game. Given their ability to overperform, perhaps they should be considered for a spot in the 99? Thanks for reading!