A draftable Commander set set in Baldur's Gate, with Backgrounds, the initiative, and five decks built for multiplayer politics.
A creature with choose a Background can have a Background enchantment as its second commander. The set printed dozens of both halves, so the number of legal commander pairs is enormous.
Taking the initiative puts you in the Undercity dungeon and gives you a room trigger each upkeep. Opponents can take it from you by dealing combat damage, so it doubles as a target on your back.
When a creature with myriad attacks, it makes attacking token copies against every other opponent. Built for four player games and nearly useless in a duel.
A goaded creature must attack, and it cannot attack you. The Izzet deck turns that into a full strategy rather than a one off political tool.
Battle for Baldur's Gate is the second draftable Commander set, and its lasting contribution is Backgrounds. Pairing a legend with a Background enchantment gives you two halves to mix, which is why so many decks in the format still start from a card printed here.
The initiative is the other big idea. It gives whoever holds it a free trigger every upkeep and paints them as the table target, so the mechanic manages itself. Taking it back requires combat damage, which means the initiative quietly turns a durdling table into an attacking one.
Myriad is the mechanic that dates these decks in the best way. Attacking every opponent at once with token copies is a design that only exists because the set assumed four players, and it is why several cards from this product read as unplayable in a duel and excellent in a pod.
Five decks came out of this release rather than the usual four, and they cover an unusually wide spread of play patterns: politics, mill, exile value, typal payoffs and control. If you want a single 2022 product to sample the format from, this is a reasonable one.
Draconic Dissent is the best deck at a four player table and the funniest to pilot. Mind Flayarrrs is the one to avoid if your pod dislikes mill.
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator
An Izzet dragon and goading deck led by Firkraag, Cunning Instigator, goad your opponents' creatures into attacking each other, draw cards off those forced attacks, and win with a dragon army backed by Niv-Mizzet's ping engine.
Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
A Gruul exile-matters deck from Baldur's Gate. Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald turns every card cast from exile into a Wolf token and lets you impulse-draw off the top for extra bodies each turn.
Captain N'ghathrod · Zellix, Sanity Flayer
A Dimir mill and horror tribal deck led by Captain N'ghathrod, mill opponents into nothing, steal their creatures as they fall into graveyards, and win through an army of horror creatures and stolen threats.
Nalia de'Arnise · Burakos, Party Leader
An Orzhov party and changeling deck led by Nalia de'Arnise, assemble a full party of Warriors, Rogues, Clerics, and Wizards to drain opponents, pump your whole team, and generate overwhelming value from every creature type in the deck.