Way of the ParadoxWay of the Paradox | art by Josh Hass

Many new set reviews dig into the minutiae of the cards and which ones in particular stand out. In this column I'm going to take a more holistic look at the Reality Fracture sets overall and judge how good they are for Commander fans.

I've been playing multiplayer Magic since 1994 and EDH/Commander specifically since 2007, so I'm drawing from decades of experience in my evaluation. I will emphasize that I very much favor the social aspect of Commander over the competitive end of the Commander Brackets, and my takes are coming from that perspective. Let's dig in and see what gifts Jace's machinations might have given Commander fans!

Reprint Value - Base Set

First, I like to take a look at the Commander relevant reprints. Magic is an incredibly expensive hobby, so reprints can help bring down the cost of building your dream deck and go a long way towards my set evaluation. From the base set there aren't too many reprints of note, but TarmogoyfTarmogoyf is certainly one to catch the eye. The card used to be incredibly expensive, but it's been reprinted a fair amount over the years, and this new printing brings it below $5. If you've been thinking about building a Disa the RestlessDisa the Restless deck, saving some bucks on an actual TarmogoyfTarmogoyf card for the deck is welcome.

I really love the color-fixing this cycle of lands provide for lower power Commander decks, so having more copies of Shipwreck MarshShipwreck Marsh, Haunted RidgeHaunted Ridge, Deserted BeachDeserted Beach, and the other allied color pairs are excellent to see.

Reprint Value - Commander Precon

Archfiend of DespairArchfiend of Despair, Archon of CrueltyArchon of Cruelty, and Serra's EmissarySerra's Emissary are all very powerful and scary reanimation targets but have been historically quite expensive to pick up, so it's nice to see them reprinted in the Commander precon.

Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver is an incredibly powerful way to protect your Commander and the rest of your creatures from destroy effects, so it's awesome to have more of these available. I had no idea that Secure the WastesSecure the Wastes had crept up in price, but it's now much more affordable for one of the best instant-speed token creature spells.

Reflecting PoolReflecting Pool is such a fantastic way to help fix mana for color-intensive decks, and while it has been reprinted quite a few times, the price was still quite high, so here's hoping this reprint will put downward pressure on the cost.

Fabled PassageFabled Passage is a great color-fixer for basic lands, I'm glad that this has been reprinted enough now to be sub-$1 so anyone who wants to put it in their deck can afford it. Bravo, Wizards!

Reprint Value - Special Guests

The Special Guests didn't really have too many notable reprints. Eye of UginEye of Ugin is powerful in any Eldrazi deck and is quite expensive, so it'll be interesting to see if the reprint will be cheaper or if the overall price will be driven down. Flesh DuplicateFlesh Duplicate is a very cheap CloneClone variant that's only been printed in Doctor Who before, so hopefully the new version will be cheaper.

Splinter TwinSplinter Twin is a part of a lot of different combos and can also do value things if you're not looking to immediately kill the table, so it's nice to get another version in circulation. Root MazeRoot Maze is a rather obscure card that many players may not have ever seen before; it was originally printed in Tempest and has had only one prior reprint in Tenth Edition. If you're a fan of Stax effects in Commander, this card might be of interest to you.

Is Reality Fracture Fun?

If you've been playing Magic for any length of time, you're going to find the characters with Echoverse versions pretty fun, especially if any of those characters are among your favorites, and if you've been playing Magic for a long time, there are a bunch of nostalgic callbacks that you'll appreciate.

We haven't seen Garruk for a while, so it's awesome that we get two new versions. Both Garruk, Curse BreakerGarruk, Curse Breaker and Garruk, Veiled ButcherGarruk, Veiled Butcher have an incredible pile of abilities, like drawing cards and making 4/4 Beast tokens, among other things.

There are a ton of other planeswalkers and legends with mirrored image versions to dig into, so for my editor's sanity I won't pile them all in this article.

If you're a fan of Jace, Reality Fracture is going to be your absolute jam. The Theorist, Jace BelerenThe Theorist, Jace Beleren is an incredible draw engine in multiplayer Magic, while Jace, Reality SculptorJace, Reality Sculptor has a game-breaking ultimate that is going to be worth the considerable effort for people looking to end the game in such a way. Empower Jace is a wild new mechanic that creates a Jace planeswalker token that is on all sorts of cards in the set, with Theorist's SanctumTheorist's Sanctum a good representation of it. Oh, it's an IslandIsland, too, so you can use fetchlands, like Polluted DeltaPolluted Delta, to search it up!

There are really cool cards that can support planeswalker decks outside of just All Jaces All the Time. Jace's MachinationsJace's Machinations is a wild thing to cast: if an opponent is attacking one of your planeswalkers and it would otherwise be taken out, you can squeeze out an extra activation at instant speed. I'm definitely slotting this into my Estrid, the Masked deck! Sanctum LurkerSanctum Lurker has a really wild static ability where your planeswalkers aren't put into the graveyard for having zero life. There is a cycle of legendary enchantments, like Way of the PyromancerWay of the Pyromancer, that empower Jace and then have a static ability that enhances the ability choices of your planeswalkers.

Big green fans are eating good in Reality Fracture. Hexhaven InvigoratorHexhaven Invigorator has gotten a lot of justified hype, a sizeable 6/6 for with a powerful triggered ability that is going to get your opponents' attention for as long as it's on the battlefield. Verdant KrakenVerdant Kraken is a wild card that triggers during each player's upkeep, making sizeable token creatures that also can tap for green mana. Then there's green's answer to Valakut, the Molten PinnacleValakut, the Molten Pinnacle with Roiling CanopyRoiling Canopy that can do some great work in the later game if you have enough ForestForests.

If you're a fan of expensive and scary colorless creatures you've got great new toys with Emrakul, the Exigent DoomEmrakul, the Exigent Doom, Darksteel AngelDarksteel Angel, and Memnarch, the WardenMemnarch, the Warden.

There are a handful of funhouse versions of old classics, such as Enlightened ConfidantEnlightened Confidant, white's version of Dark ConfidantDark Confidant; Stingcaster MageStingcaster Mage is red's version of Snapcaster MageSnapcaster Mage; and Flickering HoundFlickering Hound is white's version of Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten.

The cycle of Elder Sphinxes offer up some powerful build around choices. Denzilore FateholdDenzilore Fatehold can lead a bunch of creatures along with scry or surveil effects, and Aerid KonstrariAerid Konstrari can lean into Gruul's () artifact strategies, with an activated ability that can quickly kill with commander damage. For more on the others be sure to check out my link to the Best Commanders in Reality Fracture at the bottom of this article.

Fans of prepared spells get some juicy new options with cards like Bloodline RecollectorBloodline Recollector and Variable ChaserVariable Chaser both having powerful card drawing spells. There's even Codie, Ravenous CodexCodie, Ravenous Codex that can lead a five-color prepared deck if you're so inclined!

Food strategies get an exciting new card with Ginger, Queen of SweetsGinger, Queen of Sweets, which makes you the monarch when it enters, and each upkeep where you're the monarch you get to make a Food token, specifically a GingerbruteGingerbrute token that can often become unblockable to steal back the monarch if you need it too.

How Many Legends Are in Reality Fracture?

Reality Fracture bring us a whopping 86 brand new commander cards, with a pretty good distribution along the mana curve; three is the most populated, but I like seeing a bunch higher up the curve, so if you like fast or slow commanders, you've got a bunch of options.

There are a ton of uncommon commanders available if you like budget builds and lower power Commander decks, and many of them are surprisingly good.

Color Combos Among the Legends

Among the mono-color commanders (including colorless), white leads the way with nearly 21% of the total. Green comes in last among the actual colors.

Among the two-color commanders? Boros, Golgari, Simic, and Orzhov have two options each, while the other combinations have just one.

In addition there's an Esper () legend, a Jeskai () legend, a Five-Color () option, and two "Not-Green" () choices. Not matter your color preferences, there are options to consider in Reality Fracture.

Cards for Underexplored Themes

We're getting more cards that have the phrase "scry or surveil" in the text box, such as Diviner of VictoryDiviner of Victory, Saheeli, Consul of OversightSaheeli, Consul of Oversight, and (sort of) Surveillance PhantasmSurveillance Phantasm, so if you enjoy building decks around scry, surveil, or both you've got new toys.

Self-mill strategies have a powerful new one-mana spell in Dark Matter ManipulatorDark Matter Manipulator, while decks that care about delirium are sure to enjoy a few more double-type creatures in Hungering PuppetbeastHungering Puppetbeast and Craftwork CrusherCraftwork Crusher.

If you enjoy animating artifacts (particularly indestructible ones, like Darksteel CitadelDarksteel Citadel), you've got a new effect now in green with Puppet CraftingPuppet Crafting, which has the ability to bring itself back from the graveyard if it gets destroyed or finds itself put there another way. This card can even animate non-Aura enchantments which is an interesting angle.

Lastly, if you like Sphinxes in Magic: The Gathering you've got to be excited about The Ur-SphinxThe Ur-Sphinx, with its powerful eminence ability to discount Sphinx spells to speed up the early game, and once you cast it the attack trigger can be quite exciting.

Then there's Sphinx's ApproachSphinx's Approach, one of those cards that breaks the singleton rules of Commander and does very cool things. Thankfully it's a common, so if you want to get a bunch of them for your deck they hopefully won't cost you a wing and a leg.

Overall Set Complexity and Strength

The heavy focus on planeswalkers pushes complexity of Reality Fracture up quite a bit. The prepared mechanic is fun but also a bit complicated. It feels like a solid strength set, with a good number of powerful cards across a lot of different strategies, but few of them feel overpowered and game-warping without also costing a lot of mana.

Conclusion: Grade B+

With lots of excellent new commanders that look fun to build decks around, and a good number of wild cards and puzzles to pepper into old and new decks, Reality Fracture is very good set for Commander fans. I ding it just a bit for its complexity being a steeper climb for new players, but established players will find tons to be excited about. Well done!

Which cards from Reality Fracture are you most excited about playing with?

Read more:

Best New Commanders from Reality Fracture

Commander Deck Tech: Kwia Vigorbloom