Ghave, Guru of Spores
An Abzan token and +1/+1 counters deck from the original Commander set, led by Ghave, Guru of Spores, spend mana to convert counters to tokens and back, building an infinite engine with Ashnod's Altar and Cathars' Crusade.
# set · CMD · 5 decks
The first official Commander product. Five shard decks, the first cards printed specifically for the format, and the debut of a mechanic aimed at the whole table.
- Colors
Mechanics
Join forces
A join forces spell lets every player pay mana into it, and the effect scales with the total. It only makes sense at a multiplayer table and it was the clearest sign that Wizards was designing for Commander rather than adapting to it.
Radiance
Radiance effects hit the target and everything sharing a color with it. Wide, symmetrical and awkward to aim, which fits the era.
Shard color identities
The five decks cover the five shards, a color and its two allies. It is the release that gave many three color identities their first purpose built commanders.
Cycling and kicker
Both appear across the batch as the mana sinks. Old mechanics, used to keep the late game from stalling.
The set
Commander 2011 is where the format stopped being a fan project with a house rules document and became an official product. Fifty one cards were printed here specifically for it, and several of them are still fixtures.
Kaalia of the Vast came out of this box and remains one of the most feared commanders in casual play, because putting an Angel, Demon or Dragon straight onto the battlefield attacking skips several turns of setup. The five Praetor style legends and the cycle of enemy color hosers from this release also went straight into the format vocabulary.
By modern standards these decks are slow, expensive to cast and full of cards that would never be printed now. They are still worth knowing about, because a lot of what the format takes for granted started here.
Where to start
Heavenly Inferno if you want to see why people still talk about Kaalia. Counterpunch if you would rather build something that turns into a combo deck over time.
The decks 5
The Mimeoplasm
A Sultai graveyard reanimation deck from the original Commander set, led by The Mimeoplasm, exile two creatures from any graveyards to enter as a copy of one plus counters from the other, combining the best creatures from multiple libraries.
Kaalia of the Vast
A Mardu angel, demon, and dragon cheat deck from the original Commander set, led by Kaalia of the Vast, attack and put any angel, demon, or dragon directly onto the battlefield tapped and attacking without paying its mana cost.
Riku of Two Reflections
A Temur copy and double deck from the original Commander set, led by Riku of Two Reflections, pay two mana to copy any instant or sorcery, or pay three mana to copy any creature entering the battlefield.
Zedruu the Greathearted
A Jeskai politics deck from the original Commander set, led by Zedruu the Greathearted, give your opponents your worst permanents and get paid in cards and life for every one they take.
Other sets
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