Flickering HoundFlickering Hound | Art by Chris Rahn

Howdy folks, and welcome to EDHREC's cEDH breakdown of Reality Fracture — Magic's newest take a color pie-shifting world of "What Ifs." Fortunately — or perhaps unfortunately — for the cEDH players of the world, this set is shaping up to be one of the most important in a while, so let's dive straight in.

White

Flickering HoundFlickering Hound

What if white had its own Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten? Well, Flickering Hound is here to answer exactly that question — and it's just about as good a card as its blue counterpart.

For , Flickering Hound is a 2/2 Dog creature with "Whenever you cast a creature spell, exile up to one other target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control."

Immediately, this brings to mind combos with the likes of Shrieking DrakeShrieking Drake as well as a million-and-one other cards: something you want to flicker enough to win with, and something to loop the flickering.

Blue

Samut, Tyrant of NaktamunSamut, Tyrant of Naktamun

Speaking of color-shifts that are sure to wreak havoc in cEDH, let's talk about this set's all-star: Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun.

For , Samut here grants all your instants and sorceries split second — which, I can assure you, is an insane line of text. Ask any cEDH player how the average game has been ending in this current meta, and odds are that they'll tell you how stack battles bury spells under a flurry of triggers and interaction. Samut stops all of that, on every player's turn, for just two mana.

This is blue's Hexing SquelcherHexing Squelcher — a card that you should expect to see whenever you sit down to play.

Black

White got a Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten, blue got a Hexing SquelcherHexing Squelcher, Black...not so much. Better luck next time!

Red

Samut, Hazoret's ChampionSamut, Hazoret's Champion

Moving on to red and we see that even Samut's main-multiverse version has potential to stir up some trouble.

For , Samut, Hazoret's Champion is a 2/2 legendary Human Warrior Cleric creature that grants all creatures you control haste.

While the combat step doesn't tend to matter all that much in cEDH (outside of pressuring NecropotenceNecropotence and Ad NauseamAd Nauseam), the role of activated abilities is on the rise. Now, this surely isn't as good as split second, but it probably matters all the more to the likes of Sisay, Weatherlight CaptainSisay, Weatherlight Captain.

Green

Carnivorous CultivatorCarnivorous Cultivator

Our first of two cards for green is a niche-but-interesting pick for primarily the likes of Lumra, Bellow of the WoodsLumra, Bellow of the Woods and The Gitrog MonsterThe Gitrog Monster. Let's take a look at Carnivorous Cultivator.

For , this 2/3 Elf Warlock with deathtouch enters prepared and has "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, return target land card from your graveyard to your hand." That's all well and good, but what really makes this card interesting is its prepared spell, Enroot, which is a sorcery for that lets you search your library for a land card, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle.

Enroot is an incredibly specific spinoff of EntombEntomb, but — for the decks that want to put a land into their bin — that effect is probably good enough to justify the sum cost of .

Pia, Aether AsceticPia, Aether Ascetic

Next up, another tutor — albeit one that I can safely say is going to be far more ubiquitous in cEDH — and that is Pia, Aether Ascetic.

For , Pia is a 2/2 legendary Human Druid creature with "When Pia enters, you may discard a card. If you do, search your library for an enchantment card, reveal it, and put it into your hand, then shuffle."

Green can't tutor for Rhystic StudyRhystic Study. Or Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach. Or any of the other dozen-or-so broken enchantments currently defining cEDH. Well, now it can, and I've got a strong feeling that non-black cEDH decks are going to be jamming Pia for a while to come.

Multicolor

Konstrari CharmKonstrari Charm

Kicking off our two multicolor picks is another uncommon, and this one asks a pretty straightforward question: are there any Gruul decks out there that need a colorless-producing ritual? My bet is...probably.

For , Konstrari Charm is a modal instant that lets you choose between dealing 6 damage to target creature with flying, or putting two +1/+1 counters on target creature - which then gains trample until end of turn, or (and this is the most important one) adding .

Going from two mana to three mana is a pretty strong effect, regardless of what colors you're dealing with. That said, producing colorless mana at the cost of two types of mana is a pretty rough deal, which limits this to a very small bunch of decks, such as Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror.

Vraska, Soul of StoneVraska, Soul of Stone

Next up is this set's primary consideration for a potential commander, and that's Vraska, Soul of Stone.

For , Vraska, Soul of Stone is a 3/3 legendary Gorgon Wizard creature that grants artifact creatures you control vigilance. Additionally, whenever you cast a noncreature spell, Vraska has you create a 1/1 Sculpture Treasure artifact creature token with ", Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color."

Before you get all excited about the token production — which is why we'd be building Vraska anyway — it's important to remind ourselves that these Treasure tokens being created are creatures as well, which means they can't be used to make mana the turn they come into play. So, while making one per noncreature spell is a fabulous effect, this isn't so broken as to enable churning through one-mana cantrips with each Treasure token Vraska makes...at least, until these creatures have haste.

It turns out that, despite requiring a little bit of a build-around, Vraska, Soul of Stone's Treasure production is still powerful enough to warrant real consideration as a commander. Throw in the likes of Academy ManufactorAcademy Manufactor and you've got yourself a deck.

Colorless

Karn, Argent DefenderKarn, Argent Defender

Speaking of artifacts, our last nonland pick for the set is Karn, Argent DefenderKarn, Argent Defender — an artifact creature that is going to find a home in plenty of Stax decks going forward.

For , Karn is a 1/3 legendary Golem artifact creature with "Artifacts and creatures entering the battlefield don't cause abilities to trigger."

Effects like these have been a mainstay of Stax builds for essentially as long as those decks have been competing in the format; Karn's edge is that he's both a creature, thus hard to counter, and colorless, thus easy to cast anywhere.

Land

It turns out that our last nonland card of the set was also our last pick from the set overall; Reality Fracture may have some interesting tech for lower-powered builds, but nothing for cEDH.

Wrap Up

Well folks, it's safe to say that Reality Fracture is going to make waves in cEDH. From a blue pseudo-Grand AbolisherGrand Abolisher to a white pseudo-Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten and even something akin to a green EntombEntomb, Reality Fracture has brought a lot to the table.