Commander: Top 10 Cards from Streets of New Capenna

As the season of spoilers has finally come to an end, the new set is closer to its release - and nothing better for Commander players than knowing the cards that can be fun and interesting in Streets of New Capenna.

Also remembering that, as this set is focused on Standard, normally the new cards don't have such a balanced power level for Commander, which has several powerful cards. However, this set is packed with cards from characters that have appeared before in Magic stories and sets, as well as interesting cards.

In this Top 10 + honorable mentions are not only the Standard cards, but also the ones contained in the Streets of New Capenna Commander deck lists.

The cards I defined for honorable mentions and for the top 10 themselves are not just for power, but also for feasibility, for doing new things in colors or enabling different strategies.

"Fetch Lands"

These Lands will be included in many budget lists, precisely because they are fetch lands that give some extra life. They no longer have the tap to sacrifice ability that old lands had, and is now an ETB trigger.

Overall, they are here as an honorable mention precisely because of this, they will probably be in most decks because they are common, and shouldn't reach expensive prices.

Triomes

Like the lands I mentioned earlier, Triomes are efficient ways to filter mana, as they generate mana of up to 3 colors. In addition, they have basic land type, which can be searched — but beware: as they are not basic lands, they are not suitable for ramps that specify basic in their text, like the fetchs above.

In addition, another thing that contributes to their utilization is that, if you don't need the land for mana, you can use its cycling ability.

10 — Void Rend

This is a good, but specific card. Even though it has a cost of 3 colors, I see it as a way to remove a nonland permanent, with the safety of the opponent not being able to counter the spell. Also, normally removing non-land permanents that don't deliver resources to the opponent would already cost 3 mana, and at most it would be at instant speed.

The fact that it can't be countered gives you greater security to remove a troublesome threat. Void Rend was ranked 10th because it needed an Esper deck, or more colors, to see play.

9 — Body Count

Black is filled with cards that interact with creature death triggers or give you more resources for losing more creatures. There are already 3 mana cards that give you cards in your hand for creatures that died, like Grim Haruspex or Liliana's Standard Bearer, but none that can be cast for less than 3 mana without external effects.

This card is very interesting because it has Spectate for one mana — of course, it's still a condition, but it's not that complicatedto achieve in a black-based deck.

8 — Luxior, Giada's Gift

A colorless piece of equipment that turns your Planeswalkers into creatures is something almost entirely new. We already had some planeswalkers that turned creatures, but it was an ability mostly present in Gideon.

Also, with this sword, your planeswalker can't be attacked by opponents' creatures — but will be affected by creature removals. By having +1/+1 equivalent to the number of counters, Luxior, Giada's Gift enables voltrons with planeswalkers as commanders.

This card brings a range of possibilities to decks, and that's why it's in this Top 10: this equipment is a great gift for Commander players.

7 — Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer

This is a Naya legend that I don't see as much of a commander, but I'll admit that with a deck that likes to put huge creatures in play at the right time, it could be interesting.

Unfortunately, Rocco searches for creatures by looking only at the X value. It also doesn't get bigger, and it doesn't even have convoke to look like Chord of Calling.

However, even with all these flaws, Rocco is still an excellent Naya creature to search for any creature and put it into play. I still have some doubts about its usefulness, but I can't deny he allows semi-infinite possibilities.

You can build a deck full of creatures that will disrupt your opponents, using Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer to put them in play exactly when your opponent would do something important. It is also possible to use it with other elves, generating tons of mana and casting Rocco to fetch a Craterhoof Behemoth.

It all depends on how you like to play - Rocco will always find the right card for you.

6 — Mari, the Killing Quill

Ever since I started playing, I've always wanted to make an Etrata, the Silencer deck, but I always thought the deck wouldn't be able to go forward — because Etrata gets shuffled into the deck, it effectively goes into the command zone, becoming steeper to cast again, and to kill your opponents you would have to cast it.

With Mari, the Killing Quill, we have a much more viable way to apply these counters to opponents, as your assassins, mercenaries and rogues will apply these counters along with Etrata, and she won't need to leave the battlefield for you to win the game.

But Mari isn't just for that — if playing Etrata isn't your idea, she also lets you remove those counters to draw a card and make two treasures.

5 — Halo Fountain

The excitement in the revelation of this card was massive: generates tokens, untaps creatures, draws cards, wins the game, what else does it need to be good?

That's right, this card can turn the tables— unfortunately, not alone. At the slightest threat of you growing your board while it's in play, it should be enough for an opponent to remove it.

I see it as a card advantage engine, guaranteeing you an extra draw per turn, which would already be excellent, since card advantage is something difficult to have playing white. In addition to a drawing tool, Halo Fountain creates tokens and untaps creatures for you, and for extremely affordable costs.

Other than the fact that it draws attention to your table in a thunderous way, I don't see any reason not to use it in any creature decks with access to white. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician and Chulane, Teller of Tales are great commanders to use with this card.

4 — Professional Face-Breaker

This card is a lot of fun, first for its name, which is spectacular, and second for its effect, which gives you Treasures for dealing combat damage to an opponent, granting you one to three treasures for doing something you would normally do.

In addition, Professional Face-Breaker allows you to sacrifice a treasure to exile the card on top of the deck, so you can play it this turn, generating a kind of card advantage.

It can also be a good addition to combat decks, not necessarily for warriors or humans tribal, but decks that like to hit their opponents to draw cards or trigger some effect, like Winota, Joiner of Forces.

3 — Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

I always like to include cards that allow for new strategies, and this card is the first Legendary Phoenix in the game.

Syrix seems to me to be a great commander for a phoenix tribal. Since they already have this interaction with reanimation, nothing better than being in the Rakdos combination, this way you mix creatures that reanimate with a color that does this job well and generates value with it.

Unfortunately, there are only 26 phoenixes left in the black and red, but having a tribe commander is a big step in consolidating this deck.

2 — Ob Nixilis, the Adversary

There's no way not to talk about him. Ob Nixilis is probably the most powerful card in this set, including a clone that could be even bigger than him. He gets stronger and stronger as time goes on, as the more your available mana increases, the bigger the tokens you put in play, and the bigger the Ob Nixilis you put in next.

Ob Nixilis is a good addition for Rakdos decks in general, in addition to Jund decks, which are usually tied to this sacrifice and value mechanic must also like this guy — You can even sac Darigaaz Reincarnated, Gyrus, Waker of Corpses or a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King to draw 7 cards with the planeswalker's ultimate.

Any deck that uses the strategy to reanimate creatures, or to grow creatures without paying mana, will want this card on their list. Everything else in these molds will like it a lot too, as Ob Nixilis doesn't rely on these strategies per se to be good, they only make him better.

1 — The Crime Lords

All of Capenna's crime lords are good. Some are leaned towards Standard, like Raffine, Scheming Seer, but it still feels pretty strong for a creature-based Esper deck. Even though it doesn't grant you card advantage with its effect, it does allow you to choose which cards will be in your hand while increasing its power.

Falco Spara, Pactweaver is pretty cool, with this idea of ​​having more information than your opponents and expanding your hand at the cost of removing a counter from a creature you own. These counters can be the shield counters from the brokers mechanic, or any other counter that is on a creature you control.

Everything Lord Xander, the Collector does have a negative impact on opponents. It also gives you card advantage - by discarding half of each opponent's hand, you will have more cards than them. Also, Lord Xander is a threat as long as he is in play and also a threat when he leaves, much like a 7 mana commander in his colors should be.

Ziatora, the Incinerator is a great commander for decks that reanimate creatures, having a built-in Fling that gives you 3 treasures. With that, it seems pretty strong to control the table and eliminate players.

Unfortunately, it doesn't create tokens to sacrifice, if it created a small creature, it would be good enough, so it wouldn't depend on another way to fill the board - but it's not like black, green and red can't create tokens or return creatures to the board.

Jetmir, Nexus of Revels is the leader I found the most fun. He is strong in decks of many creatures, making them even more powerful just by being in play, in addition to being one of the strongest Cat commanders.

The leaders are together here because they represent their respective families very well while also synergizing with their color combinations.

Because they are part of a cycle, you will hardly not see one of them as a good commander or piece for your decks, as they fit into different strategies and aren't extremely dependent on other cards to impact the board and are quite fun, especially for those who are controlling them.

Conclusion

That was my pick of the best cards in this set for Commander. Clearly, other cards also caught my eye, but during the cut I defined these for the new possibilities and fun.

Stay tuned for more articles and news from this release. We'll also bring you upgrade guides for each preconstructed deck!