Last updated on August 3, 2026

Tsagan, Raider Warlord | Illustration by Brian Valeza
Gen Con held the first Mystery Booster: Commander Edition draft yesterday, with a group of random Con attendees and content creators given a chance to draft the set, which contains 59 new-to-commander cards. When packs are cracked photos are uploaded, so we got a taste of the upcoming commandersโmany of which have fascinating designs. Here are seven of the most novel, and you can see all of them on Draftsimโs spoiler page.
#6. Uugguu, the Omniplasm
Ooze doesnโt get much love as a creature type; while there are strong ooze commanders like The Mimeoplasm, the type has long been without a typal commander. I am biased here; I was entranced by Mitotic Slime back in the day. Transporting a similar ability to Uugguu, the Omniplasm, especially for a creature type that loves copying itself already (Biowaste Blob, Uchuulon) gives your opponents endless trouble. And we canโt forget Arcane Adaptationโฆ.
#5. Grizzlegom, Hurloon Hero
Domain is tricky to build around in Commander. The few existing domain cards are generally Limited chaff and the 3 legendary creatures with the mechanic lack enough colors to properly utilize it. Grizzlegom, Hurloon Hero uses rulebreaker to fix this.
I love that is scales off each instance of the basic land types because that gives the pilot lots of options. Itโs not just assemble domain ASAP; you can choose to lean Plains and Forests for tokens and lifegain, maximize Mountains and Swamps for Voltron, and so on.
#4. The Unluckiest Planeswalker
Treasure players likely recognize The Unluckiest Planeswalker from Curse of Opulence, the most enduring of a cycle of curses from Commander 2017 featuring the unnamed traveler as the unfortunate center of attention. Heโs returned, with art suggesting a visit to Duskmourn went poorly as any other and a rulebreaker ability that allows forโฆmono-red (ish) enchantress?
You lose out on the obvious enchantress synergies, like the actual enchantresses, but the downtick might be enough to make up for them. You even get mana fixing in the command zone, which is vital as basic alone canโt fix a 5-color mana base. My first thought it to lean on ramp enchantments to capitalize on the card draw from the downtick or power out the biggest auras like Overwhelming Splendor and Cruel Reality.
#3. Homer, the Hermit
Most Magic players are familiar with the sea creature archetype, the grouping of krakens, leviathan, octopus, and serpent often referenced on the same typal card, such as Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep.
Well, itโs time for the sea critters with Homer, the Hermit also serving as lord to a bevy of sea creatures, except this time theyโre the little guys. You know, crabs and lobsters and starfish. Itโs also a new mill commander in while; I canโt wait to use Scapeshift and Reshape the Earth to kill the table. Oh, and itโs a 3-mana 0/9 in Assault Formation colors! This has a surprising number of potential builds.
#2. The Muckslinger Gang
Buffing creatures serves many combat-related uses. You kill your opponent faster, trade harder, block better. The Muckslinger Gangโฆtotally ignores this by only buffing your creatures when they arenโt in combat, or on the stack. Its buff to creatures in the graveyard, hand, and exile reads like an Alchemy card, in the most interesting way.
There are many ways to use a non-combat buff. Practically every creature you run enables 4-power matters stuff, like Garruk's Uprising, Cactus Sureshot, and so on. Vehicles and spacecraft benefit handsomely from it, as do cards like Fling and Greater Good. The more I ponder the muck the less I consider this gang a meme.
#1. Ashayaโs Enduring Bond
Coolest, oddest, whatever-est commanders canโt be topped by anything other than the commander that shirks every idea of what a commander can be: Ashaya's Enduring Bond, a legendary sorcery that can be your commander. Itโsโฆnot as unpalatable as I considered at first glance. Scaling the discover value with the amount of mana spent interacts with the command zone meaningfully, and imagining an army rallying being a great work of magic really isnโt that different than rallying behind a great work of artifice or technology.
As a commander, itโs pretty tame. You need to cast it twice before it becomes a serious threat, but green ramp supports that well enough. Toss in redโs cast from exile synergies and you end up with a respectable commander with a meme factor, which surely matters to some players.
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