New Typal Artifact Rockets to Commander Staple Status

Last updated on February 12, 2026

Chronicle of Victory | Illustration by Aldo Dominguez

Chronicle of Victory has become the third-most played card from Lorwyn Eclipsed in Commander, and it’s one of the most expensive from the set. With a market price of $20-23 dollars on TCGPlayer, it's competing with the likes of Wistfulness and Hexing Squelcher.

But is it worth the hype?

Chronicle of Victory vs. Other Typal Payoffs

Chronicle of Victory starts with a huge edge over many, many typal payoffs: It’s colorless, so any deck can run it. The same can’t be said for Realmwalker, Distant Melody, Selfless Safewright, etc.

Those other cards have benefits, namely in mana cost. 6 mana is a lot. But the consistent card draw and the huge anthem are worth the investment, in most cases. Compression is also useful; this one card serves as a finisher due to the anthem and a resource engine due to the card draw.

The most obvious comparison is Vanquisher's Banner, a card from Ixalan that’s practically the same effect. In truth, a deck that wants one can probably play both; because they draw cards independently, they don’t have diminishing returns. But, if you must choose one, Chronicle of Victory wins due to first strike. The extra point of power and toughness is nice, sure, but most supported types have lords, even if they need to borrow them with Adaptive Automaton. But teamwide first strike and trample, in an archetype that broadly cares about filling the board?

That’s nasty.

What Decks Don’t Want It?

Baneslayer Angel | Illustration by Greg Staples

Chronicle of Victory is a good card, but does every typal deck want it?

No. Three broad categories of decks are disinterested. I won’t say they should never run it, but you should at least be skeptical of Chronicle if your deck meets any of the following criteria.

First up are typal decks whose goal isn’t met by an expensive artifact. The marquee examples are faerie decks, with payoffs that encourage casting spells on your opponents’ turns, like Alela, Cunning Conqueror (the most popular faerie commander), Nymris, Oona's Trickster, and Voracious Tome-Skimmer. These cards are worse when you tap out for a whole turn instead of casting a counterspell or draw spell. For 6 mana, you could probably cast multiple spells.

The second category, are typal decks built around big, expensive cards. Think angels, demons, dragons, dinosaurs, etc. The Chronicle runs into a few issues here. First and foremost, you don’t want it competing with cards of your chosen type. You don’t want to follow Pantlaza or Miirym with an artifact, you want to cast a dino or dragon, plus you risk overloading the curve.

The anthem also becomes less impressive with bigger creatures. A 9/9 doesn’t win that much faster than a 7/7. While the card draw is still valuable, Chronicle of Victory is far from the only card draw engine available. These decks should devote cheaper slots to set-up like ramp and card draw to prepare for the big threats instead of adding more expensive cards.

The last category is green, which already has similar effects. You want a finisher? Overrun and Craterhoof Behemoth have infinite variants. Consistent card draw? Realmwalker, Beast Whisperer, Elemental Bond, The Great Henge.

Green decks can play it. There’s value in a card that’s like Beast Whisperer and Craterhoof rolled into one. But green already has the tools to perform the same game actions at cheaper rates, like the Whisperer, or with more impact, like Craterhoof. Green decks are more likely to want Chronicle than the above categories, but the alternatives are worth considering.

What Typal Decks Want Chronicle of Victory?

Krenko's Command | Illustration by Lucas Graciano

Most typal decks outside the above categories want Chronicle of Victory. It performs best in decks that focus on cheap creatures that go wide, with some token creation dashed in. Cheap creatures are useful because the more cheap spells you can cast, the more cards you draw. Imagine the turn you play Skirk Prospector, Hexing Squelcher, and Conspicious Snoop, drawing cards all the while.

They, and the tokens, also make the anthem stronger. Anthems work best in decks that go wide to maximize the power they add. If you control one goblin, you get two and additional power and toughness. But if you control five, it provides ten power and toughness. This also ties into it being weaker with expensive creatures; if you play one creature every turn instead of two or three, you don’t get the full value.

Goblins really want it; other types that could use it include humans, allies, vampires, soldiers, zombies, and slivers.