Red in Magic: The Gathering is the color of passion and freedom. It wants what it wants and will do whatever is necessary to get it. That’s why its spells are devastatingly destructive and its creatures impulsive. Red doesn’t conform to society's arbitrary rules, and so neither should you.
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate brings a slew of new and powerful spells in this color identity to add to your Commander decks. Whether you play monored or splash it your decks, there is something of value to be found in this Dungeons & Dragons crossover. It's just a matter of picking the best ones.
10 Balor, Not To Be Confused With A Balrog
A 5/5 for five mana is an efficient creature. Tack on flying and you have something slightly better than even a Serra Angel. Add multiple abilities that trigger whenever Balor attacks or dies and you have a powerhouse.
Your opponents will want to remove Balor as soon as they can. Nobody likes to discard cards, even if they’re replacing them, because it disrupts any future plays. Destroying a nontoken artifact is detrimental in a format that heavily relies on artifacts for mana, and dealing damage equal to the number of cards in hand can hurt. A lot.
9 Karlach, Fury of Avernus Gives Your Party Extra Attacks
Want to focus your Commander deck around extra turns or extra attacks? Make Karlach, Fury of Avernus your commander and go to work. If Karlach is your commander, then you get to pair her with a Background. Backgrounds are enchantments that give your commander buffs.
If you don’t want Karlach as your commander and just want her in your deck, she’s still going to make all the difference. She gives your creatures functional vigilance and first strike on your first attack phase. Then you get to attack again.
8 Wand of Wonder: Roll A Die, Cast Some Spells
Red likes to be able to cast spells for free. More importantly, it’s a fan of casting your opponents’ spells, and Wand of Wonder helps you accomplish this by paying four mana and tapping the wand. Once they have exiled an instant or sorcery, you get to roll a d20.
At worst, you only get to cast one spell. On a natural 20, though, you get to cast three exiled spells. Wand of Wonder will work better in a multiplayer game where you have lots of opponents to steal from, but you still get to cast the spells for free. That’s not that bad, even if you’re in a one-on-one match.
7 Ancient Copper Dragon Builds Up That Treasure Trove
Have a hoard of treasure? Want one? This little guy should join Goldspan Dragon in your treasure commander deck. It’s a shame Ancient Copper Dragon doesn’t have haste, but that would make it too powerful – even for Commander. If you’re able to untap with this monster of a Dragon, then you’ll be rolling in the treasure and casting all your biggest spells.
Rolling a d20 allows you the potential to gain the most Treasures from a single card this side of Dockside Extortionist. The number of possibilities and combinations of spells you can cast with all that mana in a Commander game is endless.
6 Wyll, Blade of Frontiers Gives Advantage
In Dungeons & Dragons “advantage” is when you roll two d20 dice and ignore the lowest roll, which is precisely what Wyll lets you do. Wyll, Blade of Frontiers synergizes well with Ancient Copper Dragon, or any other spell that relies on rolling dice.
Wyll is worth considering for your commander slot because he only costs two mana to cast. On top of all that he offers, his power and toughness increase each time you roll a die. If you need him to do more, you can play him along with a background, such as Sword Coast Sailor to help make him unblockable.
5 Thunderwave Is The Perfect Board Wipe For Red
Red is the color of passion and anarchy. These two aspects make red unpredictable, making Thunderwave a fitting board wipe to add to its arsenal. The amount of damage it deals is random since you rely on a d20 to dictate its effect. At worst, you’re getting rid of any mediocre threats by dealing three damage.
At best, you’re dealing six damage to only your opponents’ creatures, allowing you to keep your army. Thunderwave may require some thinking before pulling the trigger. If you cast it before attacks, you risk losing your creatures. However, if you cast it after, you could potentially only destroy your opponents' creatures and leave yours standing, which would have allowed to go in unblocked had it been cast earlier.
4 Wrathful Red Dragon Redirects Damage
A Dragon has never been as wrathful as this Dragon. Every time it or another Dragon you control receives damage, it deals that much damage to another non-Dragon target. This damage doesn’t have to go to a creature; it can go to a planeswalker or your opponent’s face.
This is an incredibly threatening ability, as it can keep your opponents from attacking if you have a Dragon tribal deck, and it it can stop them from blocking when you swing in with a Dragon. They will need a non-damage removal spell to deal with it, like a Murder or Feed the Swarm.
3 Dragon Cultist Builds A Fleet Of Dragons
Backgrounds, like Dragon Cultist, are a new type of enchantment introduced in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate. Much like partner, they’re played as a second commander from the Command Zone.
Put this in any Commander deck with Dragons, and you’ll generate an army of them in no time. Whenever you deal five or more damage each turn from a single source (such as a big Dragon), you make a 4/4 Dragon with flying. If Dragon Cultist has one flaw, it's the mana value of five, which will make it more expensive to bring back. Luckily, you're playing Commander where mana is more plentiful.
2 Elturel Survivors Divide and Conquer
Myriad is a highly beneficial mechanic for Elturel Survivors to have. This creature’s primary ability is getting an increased power based on the number of lands your opponent has in play. When you’re playing in a format like Commander, that’s going to be a fairly high number of lands.
With Elturel Survivors, you don’t have to decide which opponent to attack, because myriad allows you to attack them all. Regardless, it's likely the damage will get through because this creature and its copies have trample.
1 Lightning Bolt Is A Magic Staple
As one of the best removal spells for Modern, it makes sense that Lightning Bolt was reprinted in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate. Lightning Bolt costs a single red to deal three damage to an individual creature. For that kind of damage, you have to pay two mana these days.
Now, you might think that three damage isn’t enough to get rid of any significant threat on the field, but three damage takes care of many Commander staples. It’s especially useful against all the hatebears that find their way into the format. A hatebear is a creature (usually a smaller one, such as a 2/2) that has an ability that limits your opponents' actions. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Gaddock Teeg are a couple examples, and both die to a Lightning Bolt.
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