Cards that are surprisingly effective

[Guardman]

A card that has been really effective for me is Cinder Cloud in any mono-red deck. It is an unique effect for red that I've gotten a ton of great use out of since a lot of times mono-red has trouble dealing with large creatures.

I like it, though, how do you feel about Fissure or Aftershock? Not that I think those cards are a ton better (sometimes the direct damage is super relevant, especially if it's something like Zacama, Primal Calamity or The Ur-Dragon)...

I've thought about Fissure, but like you pointed out the damage can be very relevant sometimes. I've actually won a game thanks to the damage. It's a little bit do you value flexibility or upside. There is enough ways to deal with problematic lands in red that I prefer the upside.

As for Aftershock it's a card I really want to like. It just has so much flexibility. But the fact it is a four mana sorcery hurts so much.

[Hawk]

Pithing Needle / Sorcerous Spyglass / Suppression Field / Cursed Totem / Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Stopping people from activating their commanders has been HUGE for me lately. It seems really odd and probably a little meta dependent but ohhhhhhh boy I hate Kenrith / Azami / Yawgmoth / Urza sooooooooooooo much. I think its a bit worse given how many of these legends I mentioned released in the last year.

This is a good call out for sure actually. I have always wanted a Trinket Mage package and so when I built Sai, I included it (I had tried it in Yuriko but it was super awkward). It made sense to me, since Skullclamp was going to be the best card in my deck and it would also hit Stonecoil Serpent as a finisher or fix/ramp mana by hitting Sol Ring or Seat of the Synod, but I also included Needle and it's been sick every time I've drawn it as well as been a more common tutor target. Especially nowadays, there's some commanders in my meta like Atla Palani, Nest Tender and Ghave, Guru of Spores that it stops cold, and it is also definitely noticeable and helpful versus Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Varina, Lich Queen, and any number of other commanders. Even against decks where it doesn't brick their commander (which are farther and fewer between nowadays), it can be a huge deal to shut off a problematic artifact or enchantment. Needle is an auto-include if you have a Trinket package and deserves the accolades, but I'm tempted now to sneak it into decks like Daretti or Alela since it just generally seems really good at hosing generals.

[MeowZeDung]

Randomly thought of four cards that have massively over-performed in my kitchen table games lately and figured it was worth bumping this thread to share them: Imprisoned in the Moon, Frogify, Kasmina's Transmutation, and Mystic Subdual. These are great ways to deal with problematic commanders, especially if you're in mono blue and stuck running stuff like Reality Shift and not much else for your creature removal. Obviously they are better/worse depending on the meta, but the number of commanders with a triggered or activated ability is stupid high, so these are great.

[onering]

Blue also has Pongify and Rapid Hyrbidization, but for commanders enchantment based removal that leaves them on the field but washes their abilities like you listed is better. Blue actually has really solid spot creature removal. 2 one Mana instant universal removal spells with minor downside and one instant speed 2 Mana exile spell with minor downside is close to what white has with path and swords, and generally better than what black brings to the table. Imprisoned in the moon is awesome. Blue is behind only white in terms of spot removal for creatures, and it's close.

[MeowZeDung]

Blue also has Pongify and Rapid Hyrbidization, but for commanders enchantment based removal that leaves them on the field but washes their abilities like you listed is better. Blue actually has really solid spot creature removal. 2 one Mana instant universal removal spells with minor downside and one instant speed 2 Mana exile spell with minor downside is close to what white has with path and swords, and generally better than what black brings to the table. Imprisoned in the moon is awesome. Blue is behind only white in terms of spot removal for creatures, and it's close.

I think the "destroy" aspect of Pongify and Rapid Hybridization is a bigger deal than it often seems. I run them in anything Mono blue, and probably most 2 color blue decks. They're great, and will almost always have a threat to remove at an awesome rate. It's just that indestructible creatures and recursion effects run pretty rampant these days. I've said it many times before, but the Theros gods really changed the way I look at spot removal (and wipes to be honest). Getting rid of one of those things can often be the difference between winning or losing, which is why for my money Forsake the Worldly > Disenchant, Unravel the Aether > Nature's Claim, Defile > any Doom Blade effect, Chaos Warp > any burn, Reality Shift > Pongify, at least in most cases. The blue enchantments that get rid of abilities are amazing for this same reason. If you catch an opponent running a strategy overly reliant on the commander and you nail it with one of these while they don't have access to enchantment removal, you can sometimes effectively remove a player for , which is stellar.

You're right though. The "drawback" is barely a thing on Pong/Hybrid, and they do put blue up there in terms of spot removal for creatures. I think I just tend to opt for less removal in my decks, but what I do include needs to cover a lot of bases and do it really well.

[onering]

Yea, but outside of white there aren't exactly a lot of exile effects for cheap (reality shift being one of the best). Black has some but they cost too much for spot removal. I'll run swords and path over pongify and rapid every time, but if I'm not in white they're some of the best removal going. Terminate beats them but is limited to BRx, Beast Within is better because it hits anything, and Reality Shift is better because it exiles. Otherwise, outside of white, these are top 5, and nothing they compete with is strictly better because of how cheap they are.

[pokken]

I never, ever run creature-only removal that targets and destroys. It's just dead too much of the time and loses to too much stuff. Getting blown out by Yavimaya Hollow is no way to go through life.

For me to run targeted removal that destroys a creature it needs to have some other value add, like Hero's Downfall or Putrefy or similar.

[Mr_Webman]

Pithing Needle / Sorcerous Spyglass / Suppression Field / Cursed Totem / Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Stopping people from activating their commanders has been HUGE for me lately. It seems really odd and probably a little meta dependent but ohhhhhhh boy I hate Kenrith / Azami / Yawgmoth / Urza sooooooooooooo much. I think its a bit worse given how many of these legends I mentioned released in the last year.

Add Golos, Tireless Pilgrim to that list for me. I absolutely despise how easy it is for him to just run away with the game. I slot Linvala, Keeper of Silence in Derevi occasionally just for him.

[JWK]

Some good choices here.

For me, Teferi's Ageless Insight has been even better than I'd guessed it would be. Obviously you have to play it in the right deck, but there are so many decks these days that provide lots of card draw for doing what the commander does that there are an awful lot of "right decks." For me, it's been insane with Jhoira 2 and in Kess, which includes a lot of cantrips and small draw effects. I can't wait to have it and Teferi, Master of Time in play at the same time.

[toctheyounger]

Some good choices here.

For me, Teferi's Ageless Insight has been even better than I'd guessed it would be. Obviously you have to play it in the right deck, but there are so many decks these days that provide lots of card draw for doing what the commander does that there are an awful lot of "right decks." For me, it's been insane with Jhoira 2 and in Kess, which includes a lot of cantrips and small draw effects. I can't wait to have it and Teferi, Master of Time in play at the same time.

+1 for this, it's been monstrously good in my Varina deck too. I run Alhammarret's Archive too and it's sort of a KOS target, but the enchantment version curves in nicely to casting my commander and when I'd usually start digging into my deck, so it's a little less critical that it sticks for long periods of time.

Every time I've had it in play I've run away with the game fairly easily.

[Dunharrow]

TAI is also very strong in Niv-Mizzet, Parun decks. thinking of throwing it into Zedruu too.

[JWK]

Yeah, any version of Niv would love TAI. I run Parun in my Jhoira list, and that is part of what makes TAI so bonkers there, along with Jhoira triggers, Padeem triggers, Vedalken Archmage triggers, Thopter Spy Network and Daretti triggers, plus doubling the effects of various card draw spells.

[Serenade]

I've always wanted to use it with cycling, but I haven't drawn it or AArchive yet. That deck has a lot of other problems, though.

[cheonice]

Promise of Power is a real lategame bomb I always like to see. Drawing 5 cards for 5 mana is just great.

Thorn Mammoth does a lot of work in my Brawl deck, should work great in EDH, too!

Dance of the Manse is WAY better than I ever imagined. Recurring more than one artifact/enchantmant at a time and/or making them into a threatening army? Count me in! This card wins games, especially because people typically don't play more than one or two massremovals for these permanent types.

[Ertai Planeswalker]

A shout out to Verity Circle. This card is so nuts. It's efficiency is a little dependent on the commanders you face but at least for me, this draws me 2, 3 cards per turn rotation which often outperforms even Rhystic Study since opponents have no way to prevent your draw trigger. Not that blue lacks any way of tapping creatures... I just love cards like this that generate value without needing any additional investment.

[toctheyounger]

Thorn Mammoth does a lot of work in my Brawl deck, should work great in EDH, too!

Can confirm. Nissa and Glissa both enjoy, and it's nice that it has an 'up to one' clause in it's ability so that you don't have to lose your fight-mammoth in case of more than one ETB.

[JWK]

Canyon Jerboa. This little mouse is absolutely nuts in limited, but it also helped me win a game in my new landfall deck. Very solid card.

I don't know if anyone would say the next one is exactly surprising, but I can confirm that Felidar Retreat is extremely good. Pick them up now, because it is going to be a staple in +1/+1 counter and token decks.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Pernicious Deed is probably the most innocuous card with whose efficacy I am always impressed. It's not subtle, it's not complicated, but one dirty Deed can time walk three players with ease. I also tend toward higher cmc generals, so usually they survive a deed for 4 or 5, which I love.

You can play it early and let it instill some passive fear, you can play it late and crack it immediately to reset. It's one of the best incentives to play GBx IMHO.

[Toshi]

I think Mercadia's Downfall is massively underplayed! With the amount of nonbasics in the format and being an instant, this card has done so many great things for me in the past...

I can only speak for my Meta, but Abrade gets a lot more creatures than expected. Rarely a dead card.

It's just absurd how efficient Argivian Find is.

Bile Blight and Echoing Truth should be options for you, if you run into token decks often.

Ethereal Haze not only works as a Holy Day but stops Purphoros, God of the Forge, Niv-Mizzet, Parun and others from triggering as well.

+1 on my behalf for the aforementioned Mirage Mirror, Palace Jailer, Winds of Change, Keep Watch and especially Tragic Arrogance - likely my favorite board wipe.

As for the Pithing Needle variants, a big advantage is that it limts our "beloved" Derevi, Empyrial Tactician to the command zone and being hard cast.

[BaronCappuccino]

Liliana's Standard Bearer has effectively been Wheel of Fortune #6 in my Judith, the Scourge Diva deck. I can't praise it enough.

[toctheyounger]

Liliana's Standard Bearer has effectively been Wheel of Fortune #6 in my Judith, the Scourge Diva deck. I can't praise it enough.

It's done brilliant things for me in Varina, Lich Queen too. Really, really strong card.

[onering]

I think that being a surprise gives it a lot more viability than it would otherwise have, since similar cards like Grim Haruspex or Midnight Rider can be answered before a sweeper or a bunch of things die in combat. Lacking the nontoken clause is even more important though.

[toctheyounger]

I guess it might not be a huge surprise, but Rankle, Master of Pranks has been great in the 99 for me. I've found him a really good political tool that can smooth things out nicely for you. Draw per turn is great, he can put stuff in the yard for you to recur and edicts too. He can be griefy, but it's up to you how far you take it. It's a gift you can give and take away.

Also haste is one of the handiest keywords.

[bobthefunny]

Ethereal Haze not only works as a Holy Day but stops Purphoros, God of the Forge, Niv-Mizzet, Parun and others from triggering as well.

You have convinced me to give Ethereal Haze a try. I've also noticed that Obscuring Haze has this templating as well, which makes it much more than just a free fog. That's really quite impressive.

[not-a-cube]

I guess it might not be a huge surprise, but Rankle, Master of Pranks has been great in the 99 for me. I've found him a really good political tool that can smooth things out nicely for you. Draw per turn is great, he can put stuff in the yard for you to recur and edicts too. He can be griefy, but it's up to you how far you take it. It's a gift you can give and take away.

Also haste is one of the handiest keywords.

Might give it a go in one of my black decks, in which deck has it worked well for you?