Alpha to Zendikar - Alpha/Beta/Unlimited

The Alpha to Zendikar series is where I review each and every set for the Commander format from the very beginning.  My goal is to find the top 10 percent of cards from each set and find out how we may use them to make our decks awesome, looking for cool interactions, combos, tribal all-stars, and the most efficient removal spells available.  I'll also be listing at the bottom each deck that I am building and the various cards that I will eventually want to look at including.

So first off, is the Magic original Alpha (Beta and Unlimited are essentially the same set).  I look at the progression of Magic sets in very much the same way as the technological evolution of mankind.  Each block and/or set is equivalent to an age or epoch, and several anlogies and metaphors become applicable to the evolution of Magic.  Alpha is representative of the Antlantean Age: a time in the beginning where poeple had seemingly great knowledge to pull off unimaginable feats of creation, planting the seeds of everythingthat was to come afterward.  Alpha pretty much every created every card concept and provided the roots for almost every deck archetype that has ever existed.  Alpha is also notorious for its overpowered cards, easily producing the largest number of banned spells in the game. 

The set has essentially 287 cards (Alpha had 285 plus 10 basic lands, Beta and unlimited had 287 plus 15 basic lands).  Alpha was released in August of 1993, with Beta being released shortly after.  Beta included some corrections, including rectifying the omission of Circle of Protection: Black and Volcanic Island from the Alpha set.  Unlimited was released in December 1993 after Alpha and Beta sold out so fast.  So for our list we are looking for the top 29 cards to make our Top 10%.

1) The Dual Lands (Badlands, Bayou, Plateau, Savannah, Scrubland, Taiga, Tropical Island, Tundra, Underground Sea, Volcanic Island):  I know I'm starting off on the wrong foot by cheating a little bit, but it seemed silly to write these up as 1-10 individually.  On top of that, the ABU dual lands are kind of a category all on their own, and I will probably be doing large cycles of cards like this in the future (making them count as a single card as far as my rankings go).

Having good mana is always at a premium, and your mana doesn't get any better than the orignal Dual Lands.  Every two-color deck should be running the appropraite one, and every three-color deck should be running the appropriate three.  I would highly suggest that any player serious about the Commander format own at least one of each, and I suspect that if availability and cost weren't as big a factor that everyone would put in as many as they could.

2) Sol Ring:  There is always talk about how differently games play out when one player has an early Sol Ring, and probably even more talk about how it basically goes into every deck.  All this talk is warranted because it is just that powerful and good enough to be in every deck ever.  There are arguments for not including Sol Ring in some very niche situations, but it has to be a really good reason for me to not include this.

3) Demonic Tutor:  Whatever you need that card to be, it will be for the low cost of only two mana.  Almost all tutors are playable in Commander, but none are as good or efficient as the original.

4) Wrath of God:  There is a reason why we call these kinds of cards "Wrath effects", as very few do it as well or as efficiently as the original.  The format is typically filled with Wrath effects, and this card is almost always the first Wrath effect included.

5) Nevinyrral's Disk:  Sometimes, just destroying all creatures isn't enough, and when those time come up you'll want something like Nevinyrral's Disk as a nice little reset button on the game.  The beauty of the Disk lies not only in its ability to destroy pretty much anything, but also that its colorless so it can go into any deck.

6) Counterspell:  It is a well-known imbalance of the game that blue has a near monopoly on spells that counter spells, and Counterspell is the one taht started it all.  For its cost relative to the things it counters it is usually a tempo blowout in Commander and one of the huge reasons that people are drawn to blue to begin with.

7) Swords to Plowshares:  It's amazing to think that even at Alpha we have the seeds of the Exile Zone already planted and that Richard Garfield saw the value of having a creature go somewhere other than the graveyard.  In Commander, creatures are always getting recurred from teh graveyard and effects that exile them are at a premium.

8) Basalt Monolith:  For the longest time, Basalt Monolith languished as a fairly unusable card due to eratta that didn't let you untap Basalt Monolith with mana made from it.  That eratta is now gone thanks to the removal of power-level eratta in 2006, so combos with Power Artifact, Mana Reflection, and Rings of Brighthearth can all produce infinite colorless mana.  You can also tap/untap itself as many times as you want to trigger an ability that will trigger from doing so (such as Mesmeric Orb or Wake Thrasher).  Basalt Monolith rides the fine line of "useless unless you are abusing it", but I always remind myself that infinite mana can't win you the game on its own.

9) Mana Vault:  Often paired with Voltaic Key, sometimes you just want or need a mana boost.

10) Armageddon:  There is an ever ongoing debate as to whether mass land destruction is good for the commander format, and to a certain extent Armageddon is its poster-child.  I understand both sides of the argument, and the way I see it is that its part of the game so be prepared for it.  Peopple in general do not like having their lands being blown up, so consider yourself warned that if people know you are packing Armageddon or any of its similar incarnations then you will likely be seen as a big threat no matter what your board presence is.

11) Wheel of Fortune:  Red needs help drawing cards and it typcially has to rely on its various "Wheel" effects in order to do so.  Seeing that many decks usually keep a large hand (and thanks to cards like Reliquary Tower, sometimes a massive hand), you can usaully net some significant card advantage whenever you fire this off.

12) Gauntlet of Might:  There are lots of cards out there that fall under the category of "Mana Doublers", and Gauntlet of might is the original.  Especially when building a mono-red deck, you must weight the upside of any non-Mountain land in the deck versus its usefulness when cards like this, Gauntlet of Power, and Caged Sun are possible inclusions.

13) Winter Orb:  "Stax" type decks love this kind of effect, and even though the combo with Icy Manipulator no longer works to turn the effect "off" its still a pwerful tool to slow the game down and let your various sacrifice effects take the game over.

14) Verduran Enchantress:  There are now many cards that emulate what Verduran Enchantress does and entire decks have been made centered on her ability.  We will be keeping a close eye on all of these various effects and using them where we can take the best advantage of them.

15) Timetwister:  As with Wheel of Fortune, Timetwister has the magical phrase "Draw 7 cards" on it.  The reasons that Wheel effects are more popular are that blue has plenty of other options to draw cards and can rarely take advantage of it, and that reshuffling the cards from the graveyard into your library is sometimes less desirable than just pitching them into the graveyard wher ethey can be regrown, recurred, or reanimated.

16) Animate Dead:  One of the original Reanimation spells, Animate Dead is nice because it is really cheap and has minimal drawbacks.  The infinite combo of using this with Worldgorger Dragon should also be pointed out here.

17) Resurrection:  I always find it interesting when I find older cards that seem outside the current color-pie restrictions, but it is good to note that black is the second best color at Reanimation after black.  Resurrection is one of the better options in any color.

18) Copy Artifact:  In a "Highlander" format, being able to copy stuff can be especially good.  Copy Artifact allows you to get double duty out of some of the most powerful cards in the game for the low, low cost of only 2 mana.

19) Hurricane:  Hurricane does a few things that green really needs.  First off, it gives you an X-spell with which to finish off multiple opponents and dump all that mana into that green is notorious for being able to generate.  Second, green is light on creatures with Flying and being able to clear the board of them can be very good. 

20) Clone:  Kills opposing Commanders and other Legendary creatures plus has several ways to be recurred and combo'd with other cards.

21) Earthquake:  Sometimes you need to sweep the board and sometimes you need to deal a bunch of damage to all of your opponents.  Earthquake does both rather nicely.

22/23) Crusade/Bad Moon:  With several ways to generate tons of tokens in both colors, it often comes down to being able to make those tokens do more damage through various "Crusade effects".

24) Braingeyser:  When you have access to lots of mana, Braingeyser can be one of the best draw spells in the game.

25) Nether Shadow:  When you need access to a recurring creature to sacrifice, Nether Shadow helps a ton.

26) Regrowth:  There are now tons of Regrowth effects in the game, but they all owe their existence to the original.  With the printing of Eternal Witness and other creature-based Regrowth effects and straight reanimation being a more efficient and powerful option, Regrowth is often passed up for otehr options.

27) Berserk:  Any deck that runs green and is attempting to kill people through Commander damage should look hard at Berserk.  You should also take note that the effect destroys the creatuer at end of turn and the that creature is not sacrificed.  This makes Berserk perfect for decks that already run Shield of the Oversoul or Indestructibility to protect their commanders.

28) Ankh of Mishra:  I don't ever see Ankh of Mishra played very often, but it should be,  Players are often complaining about "the ramp guy" getting out of control by putting tons of lands into play, and yet they don't want to resort to mass land destruction as an answer.  Try dropping this instead.  It also helps against all the various Fetchlands people play.

29) Black Vise:  Again, I often hear complaints from players about the guy who is sitting on 20+ cards in hand after Playing Praetor's Counsel or Reliquary Tower.  Well drop this into play and choose that player and watch them squirm.  It only target a single opponent, which can be good otr bad depending o nthe situation.

Honorable Mention
Control Magic, Demonic Hordes, Dingus Egg, Forcefield, Fork, Howling Mine, Icy Manipulator,  Instill Energy, Island Sanctuary, Lightning Bolt, Manabarbs, Mana Flare, Meekstone, Mind Twist, Pestilence, Reverse Damage, Stasis, Steal Artifact, Word of Command

Tribal All-Stars
Goblin King, Llanowar Elves, Lord of Atlantis, Zombie Master

Other Top Removal Cards
Blue Elemental Blast, Tranquility, Red Elemental Blast

Best Color Hosers
Blue Elemental Blast, Circles of Protection, Conversion, Death Grip, Flashfires, Gloom, Karma, Lifeforce, Magical Hack, Northern Paladin, Red Elemental Blast, Sleight of Mind, Tsunami, Volcanic Eruption

Cards That Don't Translate Well to Commander
Birds of Paradise:  With all the color fixing available in artifact, land, or spell form Birds become more of a liability that anything else.

Dark Ritual:  Trading a card for the boost of speed is often not a worthwhile trade in a format where speed and tempo gains are so easily neutralized.

Disenchant:  Once a staple in every deck, there are just better options that are not as narrow or have more upside.

Illusionary Mask:  Great card to sneak stuff like Phyrexian Dreadnaught into play, but there are so many good options for cheating creatures into play that don't narrow your focus so much that Illusionary Mask often gets lost in the shuffle.

Sinkhole, Ice Storm, Stone Rain:  I may make a Wort, the Raidmother deck that seeks to copy nothing but land destruction spells, but running single-shot LD spells or effects is not a very inefficient use of your removal in a multi-player environment.

Cards Banned In This Set
Ancestral Recall, Balance, Black Lotus, Channel, Fastbond, Time Vault, Time Walk, Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire:  All banned for power reasons.

Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney:  All banned due to the removal of the rule for playing for ante.

Chaos Orb:  Banned due to the rule for manual dexterity cards being removed from the game.

Cards That Go In My Decks

Mikaeus, the Lunarch: Sol Ring, Crusade, Swords to Plowshares

Arcum Dagsson: Sol Ring, Counterspell, Basalt Monolith, Mana Vault, Copy Artifact

Azami, Lady of Scrolls: Sol Ring, Counterspell

Marrow-Gnawer: Sol Ring, Winter Orb, Nether Sahdow, Demonic Tutor

Bosh, Iron Golem: Sol Ring, Wheel of Fortune, Gauntlet of Might, Basalt Monolith, Mana Vault

Ezuri, Renegade Leader: Sol Ring, Llanowar Elves

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Sol Ring, Tundra, Wrath of God, Swords to Plowshares, Winter Orb, Stasis

Oona, Queen of the Fae: Sol Ring, Underground Sea, Basalt Monolith, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor

Wort, Boggart Auntie: Sol Ring, Badlands, Goblin King

Wort, the Raidmother: Sol Ring, Taiga, Hurricane, Regrowth, Basalth Monolith, Mana Vault, Fork

Rosheen Meanderer: Sol Ring, Taiga, Basalt Monolith, Mana Vault, Fireball, Disintegrate, Hurricane, Earthquake, Rock Hydra, Fork

Captain Sisay: Sol Ring, Savannah, Swords to Plowshares

Rhys the Redeemed: Sol Ring, Savannah, Swords to Plowshares

Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: Sol Ring, Savannah, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Reverse Damage

Brion Stoutarm: Sol Ring, Plateau, Swords to Plowsahres, Wrath of God

Experiment Kraj: Sol Ring, Tropical Island, Counterspell

Ghost Council of Orzhova: Sol Ring, Scrubland, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Demonic Tutor, Nevinyrral's Disk

Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind: Sol Ring, Tropical Island, Counterspell, Braingeyser, Wheel of Fortune, Timetwister, Earthquake, Mana Vault

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Sol Ring, Bayou, Demonic Tutor

Glissa, the Traitor: Sol Ring, Bayou, Demonic Tutor, Berserk

Sharuum the Hegemon: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Scrubland, Basalt Monolith, Mana Vault, Copy Artifact, Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Demonic Tutor

Zur the Enchanter: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Scrubland, Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Demonic Tutor

Sedris, the Traitor King: Sol Ring, Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Badlands, Zombie Master, Bad Moon, Wheel of Fortune, Demonic Tutor

Kresh, the Bloodbraided: Sol Ring, Badlands, Taiga, Bayou, Demonic Tutor, Berserk

Uril, the Miststalker: Sol Ring, Taiga, Savannah, Plateau, Verduran Enchantress, Wild Growth, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Berserk

Rafiq of the Many: Sol Ring, Tundra, Savannah, Tropical Island, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Berserk

Doran, the Siege Tower: Sol Ring, Bayou, Savannah, Scrubland, Swords to Plowshares, Demonic Tutor

Ghave, Guru of Spores: Sol Ring, Bayou, Savannah, Scrubland, Swords to Plowshares, Demonic Tutor

Karador, Ghost Chieftain: Sol Ring, Bayou, Savannah, Scrubland, Swords to Plowshares, Demonic Tutor, Animate Dead, Resurrection

Riku of Two Reflections: Sol Ring, Taiga, Tropical Island, Volcanic Island, Clone

Maelstrom Wanderer: Sol Ring, Taiga, Tropical Island, Volcanic Island

Kaalia of the Vast: Sol Ring, Scrubland, Badlands, Plateau, Demonic Tutor, Swords to Plowshares

Damia, Sage of Stone: Sol Ring, Underground Sea, Tropical Island, Bayou

Zedruu the Greathearted: Sol Ring, Tundra, Plateau, Volcanic Island, Control Magic, Steal Artifact, Raging River

Horde of Notions: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubalnd, Tropical Island, Bayou, Plateau, Volcanic Island, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor

Scion of the Ur-Dragon: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubalnd, Tropical Island, Bayou, Plateau, Volcanic Island, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor

Sliver Overlord: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubalnd, Tropical Island, Bayou, Plateau, Volcanic Island, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor

Progenitus: Sol Ring, Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubalnd, Tropical Island, Bayou, Plateau, Volcanic Island, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor

Phew!  That's 1 down and about 74 to go just to catch up by the end of 2013...