These Elementals fit in perfectly with some of my favorite cards from the Time Spiral block that came right before it: Riftwing CloudskateRiftwing Cloudskate, Venser, Shaper SavantVenser, Shaper Savant, and Momentary BlinkMomentary Blink. I remember reading early on about the evoke-blink synergy allowing you to evoke a creature like MulldrifterMulldrifter at a discount, get multiple enters triggers, and then still keep your Elemental on the battlefield (or "in play," as it was called back then).

Later on that year, the copies of MulldrifterMulldrifter and ShriekmawShriekmaw I had collected made it into one of my first Standard decks, a wild 5-color pile of Vivid lands, Time Spiral staples like Wall of RootsWall of Roots, Momentary BlinkMomentary Blink, Mystical TeachingsMystical Teachings, and another cool evoke Elemental from the new set, CloudthresherCloudthresher.

All this to say, when I started seeing news about the new Lorwyn Eclipsed set, my mind immediately went back to my first time opening up packs with these iconic Elementals. I know I had a lot of fun playing cards like MulldrifterMulldrifter and ShriekmawShriekmaw in Standard, but how have players been making use of these cards in Commander?

Lorwyn's Elementals – Where Are They Now?

Lift – A Brand-New EDHREC Feature

Released last month, Lift is a new EDHREC tool that measures whether cards are often seen together in Commander deck data. It is an improvement on Synergy scores because staples that are played in almost every deck don't count towards Lift.

This means that while most cards in the same color identities had a high Synergy score with cards like Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares and CounterspellCounterspell, they will not have a high Lift score with these cards.

If you're interested in learning more about Lift, check out this recent EDHREC episode and article, both featuring EDHREC's Duchess of Data, Julia Maddalena!

With that being said, let's test out this new tool on some classic Lorwyn block Elementals to see what we find! I won't show every highest Lift card, but I will try to capture a variety of the top themes that arrive for each one.

ReveillarkReveillark

Depending on which colors it's paired with, this Elemental has the potential to be used for grindy value or be part of game-ending combos.

White

The first two make a lot of sense and highlight this Elemental's ability to create tons of value with low-power creatures combined with a sacrifice outlet. Karmic GuideKarmic Guide and the unique free, repeatable mono-white sac enabler Fanatical DevotionFanatical Devotion actually go infinite with ReveillarkReveillark, which explains why these two have the highest Lift with this card.

Other high-Lift ideas include blink like the classic CloudshiftCloudshift or EphemerateEphemerate to take full advantage of Reveillark's leaves-the-battlefield effect.

Blue

The blue enchantments might not make a ton of sense at first – but we can visit their own pages to find out which decks are including them alongside ReveillarkReveillark.

For Reality AcidReality Acid, we can see its top Commanders are all Blink strategies – it's in half of all Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal decks and in over a third of Abdel AdrianAbdel Adrian/Candlekeep SageCandlekeep Sage and Yorion, Sky NomadYorion, Sky Nomad lists.

For Dungeon DelverDungeon Delver, Sefris of the Hidden WaysSefris of the Hidden Ways – a Commander that cares about creatures hitting the graveyard and dungeons – is the missing piece of the puzzle.

Black

These are much more straightforward than the blue cards: a creature with two power and an enters effect and two cards that fit in decks sacrificing their own creatures. Let's move on to red!

Red

Red is when we first see some kindred Elemental decks coming through into the Lift scores. The other two cards are the red versions of Karmic GuideKarmic Guide and Fanatical DevotionFanatical Devotion – just combine them with Reveillark and you get infinite all sorts of stuff!

Green

For a color known for playing big creatures and attacking, green is surprisingly very combo-centric when paired with the 'lark. Small self-mill creatures can fill up your graveyard with potential recursion targets and get bought back themselves.

With access to enough colors, Protean HulkProtean Hulk and Birthing PodBirthing Pod can help assemble any number of infinite combos using the high Lift cards we've already seen, like Karmic GuideKarmic Guide, Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerKiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

MulldrifterMulldrifter

Drawing extra cards is an important part of most Commander decks, and this classic blue flier can fit almost anywhere.

White and Blue

Just like with ReveillarkReveillark, Mulldrifter is a great addition to Blink strategies, and most of cards with highest Lift scores in these colors reflect this.

Black

While we do see some creatures that care about entering in many of the top Lift slots, there is also a surveil subtheme – but why?

Searching for Commanders that make sense, we land on Mirko, Obsessive TheoristMirko, Obsessive Theorist – a combination of precon bias and the fact that even upgraded versions of this list won't have any reason to cut this goofy card advantage fish.

Red

Again following Reveillark, is the first color where we see Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions decks come through into the data, with a healthy number of other Elementals appearing before any other cards.

After that, we see some enchantments that pair well with creatures that do stuff when they enter.

Green

The two blinkable creatures make sense, but what about Seal of PrimordiumSeal of Primordium? We see high numbers of both MulldrifterMulldrifter and this green enchantment showing up in decks led by the highly popular Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide.

ShriekmawShriekmaw

White

It looks like WispmareWispmare, with a gigantic Lift score of over 80, is showing up alongside ShriekmawShriekmaw all the time in Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions lists.

Blue

The themes are starting to take shape and we can identify Mirko, Sefris, and Muldrotha as the respective Commanders behind these high Lift scores.

Black

In Shriekmaw's own color, we see one of black's specialties: sacrifice matters. These high Lift numbers are probably a combination of mono-black strategies like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim alongside Meren of Clan Nel TothMeren of Clan Nel Toth and, of course, Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide.

Red

Introducing to the mix again first yields several Elementals, followed by sacrifice-matters creatures that show up in decks with commanders like Rakdos, the MuscleRakdos, the Muscle.

Green

These creatures have Meren and Muldrotha written all over them! Foundation BreakerFoundation Breaker claims the top slot because it also shows up in Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions lists.

VigorVigor

Ok that was a lot of evoke Elementals, so let's take things in a different direction with this final card. VigorVigor cares about fighting, +1/+1 counters, and forced blocking – and there's plenty of this to be found in Commander decks.

White and Blue

There aren't any tremendously high Lift scores in these color combinations – just some synergies with multicolored +1/+1 counter strategies like Hamza, Guardian of ArashinHamza, Guardian of Arashin, Shalai and HallarShalai and Hallar, and Falco Spara, PactweaverFalco Spara, Pactweaver.

Black and Red

At first glance, it would seem fellow Elemental DreadDread is showing up because of Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions, but the primary reason is actually Thantis, the WarweaverThantis, the Warweaver. When every creature in play is swinging every turn, effects like DreadDread and VigorVigor both make combat miserable for your opponents and they will want to leave you alone.

Duskfang MentorDuskfang Mentor and other black cards that provide unique counters, like Daring FiendbonderDaring Fiendbonder, are perfect inclusions for Skullbriar, the Walking GraveSkullbriar, the Walking Grave – a commander that also appreciates all the counters VigorVigor provides.

Finally, Shalai and HallarShalai and Hallar is the commander connecting VigorVigor with impactful enchantments like Uncivil UnrestUncivil Unrest and All Will Be OneAll Will Be One.

Green

For VigorVigor's own color identity, we see a theme of +1/+1 counters matter and making creatures absolutely massive.

Bonus: Colorless

Wait a second, wouldn't this card have anti-synergy with VigorVigor? Why are they being played in the same decks together? As it turns out, if we have both of these on the battlefield on the same time, we can choose to have one or the other replace damage, so the Gate won't prevent us from gaining +1/+1 counters.

The primary commander connecting this card with the Elemental Incarnation is Anzrag, the Quake-MoleAnzrag, the Quake-Mole, a strategy focused on forced blocking.

Conclusion

So there you go! I hope you enjoyed this blend of 2000s nostalgia, a celebration of Elementals, and an exploration into Lift scores! Are there any other Commanders you know of that might explain some of these less clear Lift correlations? Let the EDHREC community know in the comments below. Until next time.