The viability of adventure cards in Duel commander
Since their introduction back in 2019 with the first set on the plane of Eldraine. Adventures have been a powerful mechanic and cards with it have seen play in a ton of formats and duel commander is no different. In this article I want to look at the history of these powerful cards and meaby even look at the future of it in duel commander.
The beggining of adventures
Throne of Eldraine was one of the most powerful sets ever printed in magic's history. Cards like Oko, Thief of Crowns, Once Upon a Time and many others ended up being banned in a lot of formats. After these bans, adventure decks dominated the standard metagame.
Edgewall Inkeeper was the most feared one-drop at that time and gave you card advantage for playing already good adventure cards. Lucky Clover was also one of the most powerful cards and was also banned.
Adventures weren't as dominant in other formats but you can still some of them seeing play. Cards like Brazen Borrower or Bonecrusher Giant are popular in modern, pioneer and even legacy.
Adventure cards in Duel commander
The most powerful from among the adventure cards also made an impact on duel commander. Nowadays, they are staples in many different decks and it would be hard not including atleast one of these cards in your next decklist. The usual cards like Brazen Borrower are powerful inclusions in pretty much any style of deck, whether it's aggro, control or tempo.
Brazen Borrower is probably the most powerful adventure card so far as it allows you to both temporarily deal with oppossing permanents and develop a solid flying attacker on instant speed. He has earned his spot in many blue decks over the years. Nowadays he sees play in tempo decks like Aragorn and Raffine but also more slower decks like Ertai or Leovold.
Bonecrucher Giant is also quite popular. Having a solid burn spell along with a pretty chonky creature is really powerful. Pretty much all aggresive decks in the format that are able to include it, do so. It's a staple of Feldon decks and you can also find it in Aragorn, Yoshimaru and even Ghyrson Starn.
Other solid cards include Murderous Rider, Lovestruck Beast or Giant Killer which aren't played as much but you can still find them in some decks from time to time.
The future of adventures and Wilds of Eldraine?
Wilds of Eldraine is magic's next set and it marks the return of adventures. These cards don't seem as powerful as those from the past but some of them could have a fair shot at seeing some play in duel commander. A few of these cards stand out to me and are in my opinion worth trying out.
Mosswood Dreadknight - Probably the best adventure card from this set. It gives you a solid aggresive body and a weaker draw spell on a single card. It can also replay itself if it's sacrificed or otherwise killed. This could make it a pretty good inclusion in Grist decks and any other similar deck in the future.
Cheeky House- Mouse: This is yet another card for aggresive strategies. On top of being a solid turn 1 play, it allows you to buff your attackers and make them sometimes unblockable. None of these are that great by themselves but together they could make a good choice for decks like Isamaru or Skrelv. It's also a mouse so there's that... :)
Scalding Viper: This is the last card I will mention here. May be run in Ghyrson Starn decks as it heavily punishes your opponent for playing cheap spells. It deals 3 damage to the opponent in combination with Ghyrson for every cheap spell cast which can add up quite quickly. Having the option to remove a troublesome permanent for atleast a while is also a nice option.
Author: Tomas Solovic
Date: August 24th, 2023