Released on February 1st, 2008 - or almost exact eighteen years ago - Morningtide tried to build on what Lorwyn focused on, with mixed results in establishing its own identity and innovating off its predecessor. This was a common issue with the block model, and the innovation that Morningtide was meant to bring, i.e., the focus on "class" or "job" creature types like Warrior, Shaman, Wizard, Cleric, and Rogue over "race" or "species" creature types, was mostly forgotten in favor of the heavy hitters that tracked back to Lorwyn's Faeries, Kithkin, Treefolk, Merfolk, and Elementals.

I'm a bit down on Morningtide's design trends compared to Lorwyn's, but I can't discount any set that includes Scapeshift, Reveillark, Countryside Crusher, Vendilion Clique, and Bitterblossom. Outside of Constructed, the Lorwyn-Morningtide draft environment was notoriously rigid and complex - you had to pay attention not just to the "race" creature type, but the "class" creature type as well, and had to recall how many Kithkin Clerics you had drafted versus Kithkin Warriors or Treefolk Shamans versus Goblin Shamans. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze, and it was pretty alienating to newer players or less experienced drafters.

Morningtide's lasting effect was to turbocharge Faeries, granting the deck Bitterblossom and Vendilion Clique and locking in the best iteration of the deck. Bitterblossom turned Faeries into an absolute menace, serving as the final piece the deck needed to turn it from a valid contender to a format dominator. Cheap, difficult to interact with, and serving as an extra Faerie to turn on Secluded Glen or Mistbind Clique, Bitterblossom was absurdly overpowered for Standard. Even after seventeen years, Wizards is loath to print it into Standard (although it's now shown up twice in Standard-legal booster packs in the last two years as an Enchanting Tales/Special Guest cards), relying instead on Bitterbloom Bearer as a sidegrade. But this article isn't about Bitterblossom (although I could write a thousand or so words on Morningtide's best-remembered card). It's about the forgotten gems that lie in the weeds, waiting to be recalled and played again.

Honorable mention goes to the Kindred Equipment cycle - Cloak and Dagger, Diviner's Wand, Obsidian Battle-Axe, Thornbite Staff, and Veteran's Armaments - for one reason: they can snap onto anyone's creature. Obsidian Battle-Axe in particular goes up in value the more Warriors or creatures with Changeling show up at your table. It's somewhat niche, but you'd be amazed how many commonly-played Commander cards are Warriors that could benefit from a power boost and/or Haste, from Najeela, the Blade-Blossom to Kratos, God of War to Rhys the Redeemed to Winota, Joiner of Forces.

Deglamer

an unassuming common preprint of Unravel the Aether, Deglamer is a great backup Disenchant in metagames or formats where the graveyard tends to act as a back-up hand. If they're trying to hit Delirium or are running Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, Go-Shintai of Life's Origin, The Master of Keys, or Yuna, Hope of Spira, Deglamer is going to be better than a simple Naturalize.

Who Wants It: While any Green Commander could use a utility spell like Deglamer, the only Commander that truly wants it - albeit wants it very badly - is Ygra, Eater of All, who can now shuffle away any problematic creature for at Instant speed.

Kinsbaile Borderguard

With the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed, there are now 84 non-Changeling Kithkin in Magic, of which I would say about 20 are even close to playable - sorry, Amrou Kithkin and Kithkin Greatheart. Those aren't inspiring numbers. Yet Kinsbaile Borderguard is worth a second look as a non-Kithkin card. It may only natively get +1/+1 counters from Kithkin entering, but the second ability doesn't require Kithkin, or even +1/+1 counters. Any -1/-1 counters, Abigale, Eloquent First-Year's stack of counters, counters from Aragorn, Company Leader will do; there are numerous options in White to pile up counters onto the Borderguard and have a Kithkin army at a moment's notice.

Who Wants It:

• Brigid, Clachan's Heart
• Felise, Fang of Silverquill
• The Jolly Balloon Man
• Rosie Cotton of South Lane

Scarblade Elite

A completely forgotten card for over a decade, this Elf Assassin spiked up to over $10 a copy when Assassin's Creed was released. Part of a proud pedigree of Assassins dating back to Royal Assassin, Scarblade Elite doesn't ask questions or come with a lot of fiddly requirements; all you need is a dead Assassin in your graveyard, and the Elite will take out an opposing creature. I remember tryin, and failing, to make it work in Time Spiral-Lorwyn Standard with Nightshade Assassin and Nameless Inversion, but our Assassin options were limited back in 2008. The combination of summoning sickness and requiring Assassins in the graveyard is a tougher hurdle, but Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler helps with both aspects, and with 148 Assassins in the game (not including Changelings), you can build your deck to have enough fodder.

Who Wants It - Many of the Assassin typal Commanders actively fight against Scarblade Elite, from Altair Ibn-La'Ahad to Desmond Miles, which explains why it's dropped in price since the set released, but there are some Assassin typal Commanders who can exploit the Elite, including:

• Ramses, Assassin Lord
• Edward Kenway
• Aphelia, Viper Whisperer
• Lydia Frye
• Roshan, Hidden Magister

Sensation Gorger

There's nothing I love more in Commander than Wheels: Winds of Change, Windfall, Dark Deal, Whispering Madness, Reforge the Soul. Even without a punishing effect like Nekusar or the (lamentably but justifiably banned) Leovold, Emissary of Trest, there's something truly wonderful about disrupting your opponents' plans with the plausible deniability of "look, you have a fresh hand!" Sensation Gorger is far from the most dependable or efficient Wheel effect, but it's also repeatable, on-theme, and packs some of the finest art of its era. Crucially, Sensation Gorger is a discard Wheel, not a shuffle Wheel, and Rakdos decks can absolutely make better use of their graveyards than the average Commander deck.

Who Wants It: Sensation Gorger is possibly the most Goblin-coded card of all time, so the Commanders that can best exploit it are unsurprisingly legendary Goblins in Red or in the Rakdos pairing. Be sure to include a fair amount of top-of-library manipulation to guarantee Gorger triggers, like Mortuary, Bone Harvest/Footbottom Feast, and Haunted Crossroads.

Who Wants It:

• Grub, Storied Matriarch // Grub, Notorious Auntie
• Wort, Boggart Auntie
• Green Goblin, Nemesis
• Muxus, Goblin Grandee

Morningtide may seem to be a faded copy of its more creative predecessor - memorable mostly for a handful of cards like Standard scourge Bitterblossom and (at one point) Modern staple Vendilion Clique - but the less memorable sets in Magic's long history are often rich with underplayed and under-respected cards. Vengeful Firebrand can come out of nowhere to take out a player, Unstoppable Ash is an undeniable powerhouse in Treefolk decks, and Taurean Mauler is a classic Commander card that has fallen out of fashion but not out of total playability (I just lost to a Mauler this week in a friend's Sylvia Brightspear/Khorvath Brightflame deck).

Morningtide is more than overpowered Faeries and understatted typal cards; it's a set whose focus on Kinship and Clash stymies it, but whose inclusion of Countryside Crusher, combo bait Thornbite Staff, cult favorite Boldwyr Intimidator, and one-time Commander icons Chameleon Colossus and Taurean Mauler demonstrate that it deserves to be remembered and honored.