Magic: The Gathering's Commander format is forever interesting because every new card added to the old trading card game creates the potential for devastating interactions with cards released decades ago. Wizards of the Coast cannot balance a format containing more than 29,000 cards, so Commander is often a battle of whose deck is the most broken.
Sudden resurgence of long-forgotten cards following the reveal of a new card has become common in the format, and it happened once again after the latest spoiler for Lorwyn Eclipsed, a set to be released at the end of January (thanks, Wargamer).
A lot of elves
A forgotten card is Flourishing Defense, a card released with Shadowmoor in 2008. This card is a five-mana enchantment with the text, “Whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on a creature, you may play a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token.” This card has seen very little play over the years because creating a limited number of 1/1 tokens for five mana is an expensive prospect.
However, Lorwyn Eclipse will feature the legendary creature (Commander) High Perfect Morcant. This four-mana creature has card text that reads, “Whenever High Perfect Morcant or another Elf you control enters, each opponent inflicts 1 blight (they each put a -1/-1 counter on a creature they control.”
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The combo is already obvious to you. With Flourishing Defense and High Perfect Morcant, every Elf in play forces every opponent in play to put a -1/-1 counter on a creature of their choice. Once this counter is placed, a 1/1 Elf token is created by Flourishing Defenses, which retriggers Morcant and starts the cycle anew. This continues until every opposing creature dies, guaranteeing an army of 1/1 Elves depending on when the combo starts.
This combo is so powerful that the value of Flourishing Defense has increased dramatically in preparation for the release of High Perfect Morcant. According to TCGPlayer metrics, Flourishing Defenses was selling for $0.35 before Morcant's revelation. Then, the average price of the card quickly jumped to $14, with a couple selling for as high as $24.
I would say, get ready to see some elves.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original release date
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August 5, 1993
- Count the players
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2+
