<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Unagi of Kyoshi Island" href="#" target="_blank">The Unagi of Kyoshi Island</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMiho+Midorikawa%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art">Miho Midorikawa</a>
Competitive Commander (cEDH) these days is dominated by one kind of effect more than any other: card advantage engines.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Esper Sentinel" href="#" target="_blank">Esper Sentinel</a>: these are the cards that define cEDH. That said, there are a ton more engines out there other than these three. So, if you want to run more than Rhystic and its clones, where should you start? Let's take a look.
<h2 class="md-p">#5 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Compost" href="#" target="_blank">Compost</a></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Compost"></div></div>
Kicking things off with the narrowest card on our list, we have <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Compost" href="#" target="_blank">Compost</a>. For , this enchantment lets you draw a card whenever a black card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere. That's a pretty low floor, sure, but also an incredibly high ceiling considering players are routinely chaining black tutors, rituals, and all sorts of format staples.
To top it off, Compost also does some insane work when a black player tries to pop off with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brain Freeze" href="#" target="_blank">Brain Freeze</a>. Each black card they mill while targeting themselves with Brain Freeze copies is another card you can draw to try to stop them — or win over top.
<h2 class="md-p">#4 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smuggler&#039;s Share"></div></div>
Next up is a white card that has always been hovering around the edge of cEDH playability: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a>.
For , <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a> is an enchantment that, at the beginning of each end step, lets you draw a card for each opponent who drew two or more cards that turn, then create a Treasure token for each opponent who had two or more lands enter the battlefield under their control that turn.
That is a clunky chunk of text, but the core idea is pretty simple: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a> punishes your opponents for doing things cEDH decks naturally do anyway. Players draw extra cards constantly in this format. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>, Tymna triggers, cantrips, wheels, value creatures; it all adds up. The Treasure mode is less reliable, but it is far from flavor text. Playing and cracking a fetch land in a single turn is enough to trigger Smuggler's Share, and any extra mana is always welcome in cEDH.
The knock against <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a> has always been speed. It doesn’t pay you back immediately, and three-mana enchantments are competing with, well, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>. That criticism is fair, but in a slower meta, “doesn’t pay you back immediately” is less of a death sentence than it used to be. If the game is going to go another turn cycle or two, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smuggler&#039;s Share" href="#" target="_blank">Smuggler&#039;s Share</a> starts looking a lot more respectable.
<h2 class="md-p">#3 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sylvan Library"></div></div>
Our third pick is probably the least surprising card on this list, but nonetheless worth discussing again: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a>.
For , <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a> lets you — at the beginning of your draw step — draw two additional cards, then choose two cards drawn this turn and either put them back on top of your library or pay four life for each one you keep.
Even if you never spend a point of life, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a> is one of the best card selection engines green has ever gotten. It smooths draws, fixes awkward openers, helps you dig toward interaction, and makes it much easier to keep sketchier hands that rely on finding one or two specific pieces.
<h2 class="md-p">#2 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Unagi of Kyoshi Island" href="#" target="_blank">The Unagi of Kyoshi Island</a></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Unagi of Kyoshi Island"></div></div>
At number two is the newest card on this list, and that's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Unagi of Kyoshi Island" href="#" target="_blank">The Unagi of Kyoshi Island</a>.
For , <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Unagi of Kyoshi Island" href="#" target="_blank">The Unagi of Kyoshi Island</a> is a 5/5 legendary Serpent with flash, ward — waterbend , and “Whenever an opponent draws their second card each turn, you draw two cards.”
Let's start with arguably the most important part — flash. Because Unagi has flash, you do not have to tap out on your own turn and pray that you'll live long enough to reap the rewards of any cards you draw. You can hold up interaction, wait for the right window, and deploy it when a Tymna trigger, cantrip, Rhystic exchange, or anything else is about to turn it on. That makes this five-mana behemoth all the more castable.
Moving to the actual trigger, drawing two cards in a turn is a pretty common feat in cEDH — I mean, just look at how popular <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faerie Mastermind" href="#" target="_blank">Faerie Mastermind</a> is. In the wrong pod, this can still be clunky, sure, but slower pods are all the more common these days, so anything Simic should probably be testing this card out.
<h2 class="md-p">#1 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trouble in Pairs" href="#" target="_blank">Trouble in Pairs</a></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Trouble in Pairs"></div></div>
Taking the top spot is the card on this list that I think most cleanly rewards the current shape of cEDH: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trouble in Pairs" href="#" target="_blank">Trouble in Pairs</a>.
For , <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trouble in Pairs" href="#" target="_blank">Trouble in Pairs</a> is an enchantment that says if an opponent would begin an extra turn, that player skips that turn instead — basically a dead line of text, save for shutting off the occasional <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Final Fortune" href="#" target="_blank">Final Fortune</a>. More importantly, it also says that whenever an opponent attacks you with two or more creatures, draws their second card each turn, or casts their second spell each turn, you draw a card.
All in all, that is an absurd amount of coverage — and that's why it’s number one. Some engines on this list are pod-dependent. Some ask you to be in a particular shell. Some need the table to line up just right. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trouble in Pairs" href="#" target="_blank">Trouble in Pairs</a> is much broader than that. If you resolve it and untap with it, there’s a very good chance it starts snowballing almost immediately. Four mana, especially , is a lot, that's for sure, but cEDH still has plenty of lower-color, midrange strategies that will love this card.
<h2 class="md-p">Wrap Up</h2>
Not every value engine suddenly becomes playable just because cEDH has slowed down a touch. Plenty of cards are still too clunky, too conditional, or too low-impact to matter. But the threshold has moved, and I think that’s worth paying attention to. Keep an eye on these cards — you never know which one might be the diamond in the rough.

Five More Card Advantage Engines for cEDH

Do Your Worst - Gruul Mill

<h2 style="text-align: center;">I see a red door and I want it painted black</h2>
Welcome to Superior Numbers, where I try to do numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using slightly more math and slightly less snark than in my usual column.
Slightly.
Let's take a look back at Magic's earliest days, a distant time when it seemed like a good idea to design cards that functioned based on the colors your opponent chose to play. Hey, it was a long time ago. We were young in those simpler times, lining up at the theater to watch Keanu Reeves blast random dudes with hand cannons. Times have changed, and we've grown beyond that. Now when we line up at the theater to watch Keanu Reeves blast random dudes with hand cannons he does so with a beard. Clearly we've learned from those past mistakes.
Still, those cards are Commander legal even if it's a design space the game no longer visits, and by virtue of EDH being a multiplayer format, it's way less likely you'll get burned by an opponent's color choice. You have three, four, or sometimes even five times more opponents, which means five times greater likelihood that one of your opponents will be playing a color that boosts the strength of your cards.
For the next few Superior Numbers articles, I'll be taking a look at some of these more popular cards that hate on or care about other colors. For this first installment, we'll be starting with the color black.
Note: All statistics presented are as of 03/17/2019.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">No colors any more, I want them to turn black</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Absolute Grace"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elephant Grass"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Light of Day"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Absolute Grace" href="#" target="_blank">Absolute Grace</a> gives all creatures protection from black, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elephant Grass" href="#" target="_blank">Elephant Grass</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light of Day" href="#" target="_blank">Light of Day</a> alter combat for black creatures. If you're not playing black, that isn't much of a downside for you, but what's the upside?
<ul>
<li>Commanders
<ul>
<li>7 of the top 10 and 13 of the top 20 commanders of <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">all time</a> are black</li>
<li>4 of the top 5 and 15 of the top 20 commanders in the last month are black</li>
<li>4 of the top 5 and 16 of the top 20 commanders in the last week are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Creatures
<ul>
<li>2 of the top 20 are black</li>
<li>27 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
One note that is relevant here is that the top 20 creatures list tends to be dominated by broadly useful utility creatures and mana dorks. In other words, creatures that don't really present combat threats. When we pull up a level and look at the top 100 creatures, the numbers are less dominated by those types of utility creatures. We also see that black, which represents 20% of the color pie (or less, if you count colorless) takes up 27% of the creature slots.
These stats are also useful for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleanse" href="#" target="_blank">Cleanse</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Reclamation</a>.
The following numbers are also important for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Absolute Grace" href="#" target="_blank">Absolute Grace</a>:
<ul>
<li>Instants
<ul>
<li>3 of the top 5 targeted instant removal spells are black</li>
<li>7 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/instants">top 15</a> targeted instant removal spells are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sorceries
<ul>
<li>2 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/sorceries">top 5</a> targeted sorcery removal spells are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
I should also note these things are somewhat meta-dependent as well. If you're playing in a small, tight group with predictable color matches, the value of these cards is fairly easy to gauge. If, however, you are playing in a much more volatile environment, hopefully these stats will help you better judge just how game viable these cards may be. In general, I'm not sure these particular cards warrant the cut for their specific color-hosing potential. Let's look at a few more, though.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">I see a line of cars and they're all painted black</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Compost"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lifeforce"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reap"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Compost" href="#" target="_blank">Compost</a> cares out cards being put into graveyards. Unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Absolute Grace" href="#" target="_blank">Absolute Grace</a>, where we only counted targeted spells, here we primarily want to look at the flat amount of instant and sorcery spells that are black, as they're the type of spells mostly likely to wind up in a graveyard without any added interaction.
<ul>
<li>Instants
<ul>
<li>3 of the top 10 instants are black</li>
<li>29 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/instants">top 100 instants</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sorceries
<ul>
<li>3 of the top 10 sorceries are black</li>
<li>36 of the top <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/sorceries">100 sorceries</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lifeforce" href="#" target="_blank">Lifeforce</a> just cares about black spells, period, regardless of type, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reap" href="#" target="_blank">Reap</a> cares about black permanents in play:
<ul>
<li>Commanders
<ul>
<li>The top 7 <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">most popular commanders of all time</a> are all black</li>
<li>13 of the top 20 commanders of all time are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Creatures
<ul>
<li>28 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100 creatures spells</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Instants
<ul>
<li>29 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/instants">top 100 instants</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sorceries
<ul>
<li>36 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/sorceries">top 100 sorceries</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Artifacts
<ul>
<li>8 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/artifacts">top 100 artifacts</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Enchantments
<ul>
<li>23 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/enchantments">top 100 enchantments</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Planeswalkers
<ul>
<li>28 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/planeswalkers">top 100 planeswalkers</a> are black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
These cards look much better than the ones above; they count for any spell, and a whole lot of the categories here are dominated by an over-representation of black cards (black is just one-fifth of the color pie, for example, but takes up one-third of the most popular sorceries). We have a well-above-average chance to encounter one if not two opponents playing black in their decks, and for a large number of their spells in those decks to be black, too, which makes the cards here definitely worth consideration.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">I look inside myself and see my heart is black</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Greater Realm of Preservation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Righteous War"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Snake Pit"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greater Realm of Preservation" href="#" target="_blank">Greater Realm of Preservation</a> basically mashes together <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circle of Protection: Black" href="#" target="_blank">Circle of Protection: Black</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circle of Protection: Red" href="#" target="_blank">Circle of Protection: Red</a> into one enchantment that very few people run. Should more people run it? Well, let's look at how effective it might be:
<ul>
<li>Commanders
<ul>
<li>17 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">top 20 commanders of all time</a> are either black or red</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Creatures
<ul>
<li>40 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100 creatures of all time</a> are either black or red</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Righteous War" href="#" target="_blank">Righteous War</a> is a pet card of mine. Almost any deck that can run it (save a few exceptions like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alesha, Who Smiles at Death" href="#" target="_blank">Alesha, Who Smiles at Death</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="General Tazri" href="#" target="_blank">General Tazri</a>) feature commanders that are both black and white. This means Righteous War also gives that commander protection from both those colors, rendering it unblockable by black or white creatures, turn it into an indestructible blocker when blocking a black or white creature, and making it impervious to any black or white spell or ability. So how frequently is that important?
<ul>
<li>Commanders
<ul>
<li>The top 8 most popular commanders of all time are either black or white.</li>
<li>15 of <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">top 20 commanders of all time</a> are either black or white</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Creatures
<ul>
<li>39 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100 creatures of all time</a> are black or white</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Targeted instant or sorcery spells
<ul>
<li>8 of the top 10 single-target <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/instants">instant</a> or <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/sorceries">sorcery</a> spells are white or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snake Pit" href="#" target="_blank">Snake Pit</a> makes a token every time one of your opponents casts a blue or black spell. It requires no input from you to do so, either.
<ul>
<li>Commanders
<ul>
<li>18 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders">top 20 commanders of all time</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Creatures
<ul>
<li>51 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/creatures">top 100 creature spells</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Instants
<ul>
<li>64 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/instants">top 100 instants</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sorceries
<ul>
<li>51 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/sorceries">top 100 sorceries</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Artifacts
<ul>
<li>13 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/artifacts">top 100 artifacts</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Enchantments
<ul>
<li>43 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/enchantments">top 100 enchantments</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Planeswalkers
<ul>
<li>55 of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/planeswalkers">top 100 planeswalkers</a> are either blue or black</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
More than half of the most commonly cast spells create a Snake. Even if your opponents in a four player game each only cast one spell per turn, you will on average create 1.5 snakes per trip around the board, at least in looking at the most popular spells in each category.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black</h2>
Thanks for reading! I’d like to leave off with a tentative decklist of mine actually running <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Compost" href="#" target="_blank">Compost</a>. This is an evolution of the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a> Petitioners deck put together on the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrecast-ep46-brew-battle-persistent-petitioners/">EDHRECast episode #46</a>. Eventually I'll hit most of the color-hosing cards that see some EDH play, and perhaps take a look at the land hosers, too, but in the interim, if you have any suggestions for other topics to cover in a future Superior Numbers, leave a note in the comments below!
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"></div>
[Creatures]
*1 Murkfiend Liege
*25 Persistent Petitioners
*1 Seedborn Muse
[/creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Chromatic Lantern 
*1 Herald's Horn 
*1 Sapphire Medallion 
*1 Sol Ring
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Aggravated Assault 
*1 Awakening 
*1 Compost 
*1 Curse of Bounty 
*1 Intruder Alarm 
*1 Leyline of the Void 
*1 Quest for Renewal
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Benefactor's Draught 
*1 Chaos Warp 
*1 Cyclonic Rift 
*1 Dramatic Reversal 
*1 Intellectual Offering 
*1 Pongify 
*1 Rapid Hybridization 
*1 Reality Shift 
*1 Savage Beating 
*1 Turnabout 
*1 Vitalize
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Breaking Wave 
*1 Doubling Chant 
*1 Farseek 
*1 Insurrection 
*1 Into the North 
*1 Mizzix's Mastery 
*1 Mob Rule 
*1 Mobilize 
*1 Nature's Lore 
*1 Pir's Whim 
*1 Rampant Growth 
*1 Traumatize
[/Sorceries]
[Land]
*1 Ancient Tomb 
*1 Ash Barrens 
*1 Breeding Pool 
*1 Cascade Bluffs 
*1 Cinder Glade 
*1 City of Brass 
*1 Command Tower 
*1 Exotic Orchard 
*1 Fire-Lit Thicket 
*1 Flooded Grove 
*1 Forbidden Orchard 
*1 Frontier Bivouac 
*1 Homeward Path 
*1 Karplusan Forest 
*1 Mana Confluence 
*1 Misty Rainforest 
*1 Mutavault 
*1 Scalding Tarn 
*1 Scavenger Grounds 
*1 Shivan Reef 
*4 Snow-Covered Forest 
*4 Snow-Covered Island 
*4 Snow-Covered Mountain 
*1 Steam Vents 
*1 Stomping Ground 
*1 Strip Mine 
*1 Tectonic Edge 
*1 Wooded Foothills 
*1 Yavimaya Coast
[/Land]
[/Deck]

compost

Five More Card Advantage Engines for cEDH

Do Your Worst - Gruul Mill

Superior Numbers - Cards Caring about Colors: Black