Best Commander cards for less than three mana?

Zordrath
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Post by Zordrath » 4 years ago

Whenever I'm building a new deck, I find that there's tons of staples I want to run that cost three mana, but I have a much harder time getting in enough good cards for one and two mana so the deck reliably does something the first few turns. There are some staples like Skullclamp or the humble Sakura-Tribe Elder, but not as many as for the crowded three mana slots - and quite a few aren't exactly budget-friendly (like Land Tax, Sylvan Library or Mana Vault). So I was wondering, what are your favorite cards at lower mana costs that help you keep the mana curve in check and can still do good work throughout a game of Commander?


Zordrath
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Post by Zordrath » 4 years ago

Huh. Never knew there was a way to filter cards of specific criteria like mana costs by EDHrec rank, that's immensely helpful! Thanks for the tip!

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darrenhabib
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Post by darrenhabib » 4 years ago

This is a very complicated question. I mean you'll find that the most competitive decks are made up of all 0-3 cmc cards. So to help you with this question, who is your commander and what are you wanting to achieve?


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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 4 years ago

Zordrath wrote:
4 years ago
Whenever I'm building a new deck, I find that there's tons of staples I want to run that cost three mana, but I have a much harder time getting in enough good cards for one and two mana so the deck reliably does something the first few turns.
It depends on what you want to do. This is something that came up for me recently when I built Niv-Mizzet Reborn as a midrange deck; Niv-Mizzet would flood my hand, and having cheap cards became kind of a priority.

Most of the time, ramp, and removal will fill these slots, but, I've developed a fondness for a few of the guild charms (namely, Rakdos Charm, Boros Charm, Golgari Charm and Simic Charm), narrow-ish counterspells (like Negate, Countersquall and now, Drown in the Loch), and 1-for-1 removal spells.

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Serenade
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Post by Serenade » 4 years ago

Last edited by Serenade 4 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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Mookie
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Post by Mookie » 4 years ago

Going over the one-mana card in each of my decks I most want to see in my opening hand (other than Sol Ring)....
Thada: Aquitect's Will
Sharuum: Codex Shredder
Tasigur: Exploration
Animar: Hardened Scales
Samut: Mother of Runes, but Quirion Ranger is close
Teysa: Skullclamp
Zedruu: Mystic Remora... or Meekstone
Kess: Mental Note / Thought Scour
Mizzix: Gitaxian Probe

....there are a lot of very good one mana cards, depending on what your deck wants to do.

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Post by Sheldon » 4 years ago

Some nice lists. The longer ones might be more useful if they were sorted alphabetically. Happy to see Coiling Oracle on Primeval's list. Wonder why it's not followed up by bigger, better cousin Risen Reef.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

Sheldon wrote:
4 years ago
Wonder why it's not followed up by bigger, better cousin Risen Reef.
Most likely because it has CMC 3. :hmm:
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Sheldon
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Post by Sheldon » 4 years ago

void_nothing wrote:
4 years ago
Sheldon wrote:
4 years ago
Wonder why it's not followed up by bigger, better cousin Risen Reef.
Most likely because it has CMC 3. :hmm:
Sorry. I was thinking "three or less." Guess I should RTFP. I stand corrected.

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Skello496
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Post by Skello496 » 4 years ago

Honestly, Sword of the Animist is one of the best. Then there is also a personal favorite of mine, Skirk Prospector.
On further thought:
Serra Ascendant
Phyrexian Reclamation
Sign in Blood
Young Pyromancer
Pact of Negation (slightly cheaty for this, but hey... it says 0)
Obviously all legal Moxen
Weathered Wayfarer
Land Tax
Winter Orb (just for you, Sheldon)
Static Orb
EDH:
Krenko, Goblin Stampeder
Nylea, God of Hydra Counters G
Mahadi, Emporium Master rb
Feather, Catrips Redeemed wr
Ghired, The Tokened gwr
Hakbal, Merfolk Massacre UG
Ten and Clara, Suspended uwr

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Hawk
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Post by Hawk » 4 years ago

Mookie wrote:
4 years ago
Going over the one-mana card in each of my decks I most want to see in my opening hand (other than Sol Ring)....
Thada: Aquitect's Will
Sharuum: Codex Shredder
Tasigur: Exploration
Animar: Hardened Scales
Samut: Mother of Runes, but Quirion Ranger is close
Teysa: Skullclamp
Zedruu: Mystic Remora... or Meekstone
Kess: Mental Note / Thought Scour
Mizzix: Gitaxian Probe

....there are a lot of very good one mana cards, depending on what your deck wants to do.
I like the way you think. A similar list for my decks - what 1 and 2 CMC stuff am I super duper pumped to have in my opener other than The Ring? I'll also exlude mana ramp cards as it goes without saying that I am always super, super excited to see Birds of Paradise, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Farseek, Mind Stone, etc, in the opener.

Doran: Slagwurm Armor is a huge beating. Treefolk Harbinger is a nice enabler and modest beater. Deathrite Shaman is ridiculous.

Daretti: Codex Shredder and Faithless Looting are great for early filtering. Curse of Opulence is surprisingly effective. Dockside Extortionist and Goblin Welder are less surprisingly busted, and not necessarily budget-friendly.

The Gitrog Monster: Life from the Loam is the best card in the 99. I'm also thrilled to open on Exploration, Grisly Salvage, or Satyr Wayfinder as early enablers. Sylvan Safekeeper is a not-so-secret MVP. Deathrite Shaman does good work again.

Darigaaz: This is an "old school" deck so most of the lower curve is just ramp or cheap removal (a la Terminate and Terror and Naturalize), but Wall of Blossoms is also surprisingly crucial as a speedbump or repeated draw engine alongside graveyard shenanigans.

Yuriko: Is weird in that most of the deck is under 3 CMC - flying men are good when you have ninjas and Conspiracy.

Gahiji: Outside of removal and ramp, there isn't a ton here. This is a silly group huggy deck so I do run Forcemage Advocate and Howling Mine which are often quite funny.

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 4 years ago

I just wanted to throw one in: Abrade. It's cheap, and it will mess up a Hermit Druid or many early game commanders. Also crushes Sol Rings and other mana rocks.

As a 1-for-1 with only two modes, it does both pretty well.

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