Sonic the Hedgehog was created by SEGA back in 1991 to compete with Nintendo's favorite plumber, Mario. Since then, Sonic has been the star of countless video games, multiple TV adaptations, and even three live action movies. Whether he is inside a pinball machine or kart racing, everyone can't seem to get enough of the little blue hedgehog. Now, he makes his debut in Magic through a secret lair coming July 14th. Let's see what Sonic and his friends have in store!

Sonic the Hedgehog

Of course we have to start with the main attraction, Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog introduces a brand new creature type, Hedgehog. Sonic is a four mana Jeskai Commander that cares about flash and haste creatures. He also has the extremely flavorful ability to create tapped treasures whenever one of our hasty or flashy creatures is dealt damage. If you have ever played a game in the franchise, you know the pain of losing lots of rings when getting damaged. Now, instead of a dreaded downside, you are granted with Treasure tokens.

There are lots of ways to take advantage of this treasure making ability. Giving all of your creatures haste is extremely easy in Red. You could just play lots of creatures with haste or flash, but as I have done a little brewing into Sonic myself, they don't seem to be overly impactful. Pinging your own creatures with a Pyrohemia can create you massive amounts of Treasure tokens. Since we happen to be in Red, we can play cards like Reckless Fireweaver to take advantage of all of these artifacts constantly hitting the field. Sonic adds a very unique twist to the Jeskai lineup of options for Commander. Let's speed on over to our next character.

Miles "Tails" Prower

Sonic is known for having lots of companions. The first friend to come alongside our hero is Tails. Miles "Tails" Prower is an Azorius fox artificer with flash and flying. Tails is best known for making and tinkering with all kinds of aircraft. His ability reflects that perfectly. Tails will draw you a card each time you play a vehicle with flying or will turn any vehicle into a flying one. This ability is very unique for vehicles and also comes at a very opportune time because we had Aetherdrift earlier this year and Edge of Eternities is on the way. There are lots of vehicles to choose from.

I think this Commander would be fun to brew, just to look over all the vehicles we have at our fingertips. Shorikai, Genesis Engine is a four mana 8/8 that helps create pilot tokens for our vehicles and it would also enter with a flying counter thanks to Tails! The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o is one of my favorite vehicles. It's a card draw engine if it gets in for combat damage. Thanks to Tails it will have an easier time dealing damage. If you are looking for a fresh new look on Azorius artifacts, look no further than Tails.

Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles completes the Sonic trio. Knuckles the Echidna is a Red echidna warrior that reads very similar to a Professional Facebreaker, except he can also win the game. Once we have acquired 30 artifacts, we will claim victory on our upkeep. This is quite a feat seeing as Revel in Riches doesn't see very much play. Knuckles is unique since we can have 30 of any artifact and not any specific type.

Knuckles could be a very fun mono red artifact build utilizing cards that create lots of artifacts in bursts. Bottle-Cap Blast is a removal spell that will create us some tokens. Unexpected Windfall is a card draw spell that makes some extra treasures. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer will make two treasures when he connects for damage now thanks to Knuckles! Knuckles seems to be best suited in the 99 of an artifact build that might have more than one color to support him, but there's nothing wrong with trying to assemble the master emerald all on your own!

Amy Rose

Amy Rose is known for having a massive hammer and following after Sonic. Since she is in Boros, she could be supporting our hero, but she could also be a formidable Commander all on her own. Amy Rose will cheat equip costs and buff up one of our other creatures when she attacks. This makes her an excellent choice for a Voltron strategy deck or a deck that wants to try and go wide with a handful of creatures.

Bloodthirster comes to mind immediately. Bloodthirster gets additional combat steps and will grow in power the first combat when Amy attacks. This combination will put our opponents on an immediate clock. Armored Skyhunter has an attack trigger that will help fetch some useful equipment to our hand and also has flying, a perfect target for Amy's ability. Prosperous Bandit also comes to mind as having an excellent damage trigger. This creature will create us lots of treasure tokens if Amy's power is high enough. Do not underestimate the power of Amy Rose's hammer!

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog might be the strongest legendary creature we have seen this year so far! Shadow gives us a card each time one of our creatures with haste dies. We can cast low to the ground haste creatures and sacrifice them for cards or play something like Mass Hysteria to give all of our creatures haste. Shadow also gives each spell we cast split second, as long as we used a mana from an artifact source. This ability is incredibly powerful. This makes lots of spells straight up uncounterable in Rakdos!

There are lots of spells that we want to cast with split second. Shadow may even see cEDH play just for the fact you can throw out a Necropotence or Ad Nauseam that can't be countered. Shadow is a powerful card in the 99 of a Commander like Dihada, Binder of Wills. Dihada creates treasure tokens and puts Shadow into our hand with her ability. I also really like leaning into tokens with this deck. Casting a Crashing Drawbridge and sacrificing your creatures for massive amounts of cards is awesome. Shadow has lots of potential!

Dr. Eggman

The last legendary creature is none other Dr. Eggman. Dr. Eggman is extremely flavorful. Dr. Eggman is a Grixis Commander that forces our opponents to take a Villainous Choice in our end step. Our opponents have the choice to either discard a card or allow us to throw out a robot minion onto the field for free. How can we take advantage of this new legend?

Unfortunately, we do not have a Mean Bean Machine to cheat into play, but we do have lots of other options. The first couple cards that jump out are the gearhulks. Whether the new cycle from Aetherdrift or the originals from Kaladesh all of these cards have very impactful enters triggers that we want. Cityscape Leveler is probably the strongest construct we can put into play. Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern will almost force our opponents to choose for us to put a robot into play. The Valeyard is also a must have so we can make our opponents drown in our villany!

Super State

The final card we are getting in this selection of cards is Super State. This card ends games in Voltron strategies or decks that are leaning hard into the combat step. This card gives so many keywords, makes the creature a 9/9, and deals damage to each opponent. This card reminds me heavily of Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar, and that card tends to end games quickly without giving your creature a buff. Super State is such a powerful card and I cannot wait to test it in my Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful list!

That does it for all the new cards coming to Magic out of this Secret Lair! Are you planning on picking this one up? Being the massive Sonic fan that I am, I have to grab it. Just remember when getting into those virtual lines, you gotta go fast!

See you on the battlefield!

-Nigel