Wrecking Ball ArmWrecking Ball Arm | Art by Norikatsu Miyoshi 

Aside from Sagas, Equipment are perhaps the card subtype getting the biggest boon from the Universes Beyond shift. Fantasy stories are uniquely predisposed to showing off cool weapons, and that’s especially the case when it’s a video game property where weapons and gear are part of the power-up progression experience.

Across 16 games, there are plenty of iconic and cool weapons to pull from, and Final Fantasy has delivered us 33 brand new Equipment (plus 14 reprints with gorgeous art). Let’s talk about the best new Equipment cards of the set!

The Honorable Mentions

First up, let’s talk about why the set had so much Equipment: job select. This is the newest in a line of living weapon-style Equipment, which creates a creature token on entry to immediately equip to. There's one minute difference between living weapon and job select, which is that the job select all add a creature type to the equipped creature in addition to normal Equipment effects. There are 19 Equipment in the set with the job select mechanic, and they're mostly intended for limited or casual constructed. 

The hard and fast rule is that if you’re running a deck that cares about the creature type and wants to be able to make more of them, it might be worth sleeving up. The red and white ones are going to have an edge due to Equipment theme decks wanting to keep a balance between their Equipment and creatures. Otherwise, they’re mostly too low impact or too niche to have an impact in Commander. Mostly. There are three to talk about here.

Machinist's ArsenalMachinist's Arsenal hits an easy spot. It's an artifact that cares about artifacts. It slots into Equipment decks, Treasure decks, or just general artifact decks. How gross is this with a Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe on the field? It’s going to compete for space with NettlecystNettlecyst and Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool for sure, but +2/+2 is a much faster clock.

Dancer's ChakramsDancer's Chakrams is another in a line of Bastion ProtectorBastion Protector effects, one which grants lifelink. This is a deceptively useful keyword, and it being more resilient than the typical creature version makes it effective. 

Finally, Black Mage's RodBlack Mage's Rod gives black decks more ways to interact with noncreature spells, relevant for artifact decks or spellslingers alike. The one-damage pings can add up quickly, and like Dancer's ChakramsDancer's Chakrams, this can survive normal creature wipes and go back “online” pretty quickly. 

Those are my quick thoughts on these, for a better overview of the job select Equipment, check out Nicholas Lucchesi's take here.

Alright, let’s talk about the best Equipment from the set overall. Out of the 14 remaining Equipment, what makes the Top 5, based on how powerful they are and how many decks want them? Let’s start with…

Excalibur II

I had to think about it for a bit, because Aettir and PriwenAettir and Priwen is a crazy card. Ultimately, I went with Excalibur IIExcalibur II because it’s four mana to cast and equip, while the other is an eye-watering 11. There is a legit argument for Aettir and PriwenAettir and Priwen being better, since it’s still really good even if you draw it late. There won’t be many games where you get to cast Excalibur IIExcalibur II on turn one, but it’ll still give lifegain decks a sizable threat when cast in the mid-game. 

Not sure how many lifegain decks also cross over with proliferate or charge counter shenanigans, but it's notable that this Equipment does synergize with those. Still, while the card can give raw stats, that’s all it manages, which is why it’s at the bottom of the top. These commanders will be sure to draw Excalibur’s sequel:

Now for...

The Masamune

Teysa KarlovTeysa Karlov currently helms over 16,000 decks and runs in the 99 of 66,000. The MasamuneThe Masamune has a slightly more narrow version of her primary line of text, emblem rider nonwithstanding, but has the advantage of being run in even monocolor aristocrats strategies. (Indeed, this card was designed for Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, a monoblack aristocrat.) For the pure versatility of enabling aristocrats strategies, I’d rank this highly, but it does have some extra juice.

The “first strike” and “must be blocked” riders make for an incredibly interesting Equipment in the toolbox. First strike makes combat a nightmare to deal with. Adding in the “must be blocked” rider means this is all but guaranteed to take out a creature every turn if you’re strategic. This feeds back into the “death triggers” strategy the Equipment wants to be a part of.

Basically, if you’re playing a commander that likes to watch creatures die, this’ll be gas.

Next up…

Wrecking Ball Arm

This is another stats Equipment, to be sure. Unlike Excalibur IIExcalibur II, it doesn’t require a specific strategy to pay off. It grants the ability to be unblockable by creatures with power two or less, which isn’t nothing. Evasion is evasion, although this is no flying. Rocketing a creature up to a 7/7 is solid, but the real reason this Equipment is going to be a hit is it having a cheap equip cost for legendary creatures. There are nearly 66,000 Legends decks, 27,000 Historic decks, and 34,000 Voltron decks on EDHREC, not to mention the 105,000 Equipment decks. That’s over 200k decks that may not definitely pick it… but will strongly consider it. Only the beefiest commanders won’t benefit from the cheap equip cost.

Turn one Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh, turn two Wrecking Ball Arm, turn three Ardenn, Intrepid ArchaeologistArdenn, Intrepid Archaeologist… Need I say more? 

Any commander who has an effect that scales with damage is going to reach for this, to be sure. Storvald, Frost Giant JarlStorvald, Frost Giant Jarl’s page will reveal quite a few options, but not all…

Be sure to take a look at Scryfall for other examples!

Buster Sword

Speaking of an ability that scales with damage, let’s talk about the Buster SwordBuster Sword. When the equipped creature deals damage, you draw a card and then can cast a card with mana value less than or equal to the damage for free. That’s a nutty effect, honestly, even if it requires you to connect. The Sword does give your creature +3/+2 (ensuring your Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise can still cast a Beast WithinBeast Within off a single hit) but no evasion. That’s less nutty. Having to already have evasive creatures to use this isn’t a tremendous ask, but it cuts out a lot more of the top 50 creatures in any given color than you might expect. 

Still, Buster Sword has a dream to fulfill, and that attracts a lot of players. It’ll slot well into three of the following archetypes:

1. Decks already full of naturally evasive creatures, most commonly flying. Think Birds, Faeries, or Dragons.
2. Decks already primed to take advantage of the “cheating a big spell” aspect of the card. Cascade or big mana decks.
3. Voltron-style decks trying to make creatures evasive, whether it’s all-in on Equipment or likes a mix and match of modified stats.

Genji Glove

My order to the list has been somewhat loose. I tried to take how narrow or wide an effect would be in addition to power level, but it’s hard to gauge. Not so much here. Genji GloveGenji Glove goes ridiculously hard. At five mana to cast and three to equip, it’s on the upper end of what I’d normally try to play, but this thing does a lot.

The first line of text gives double strike. FireshriekerFireshrieker is just 500 decks shy of 100,000. Decks without red or white are hungry for this kind of effect. Similar cards include Leyline AxeLeyline Axe and Brass KnucklesBrass Knuckles. 

There are a lot of interesting points about comparing these three Equipment against each other, but they can’t be fully compared to Genji GloveGenji Glove. This is the first colorless spell that produces an extra combat, and it’s repeatable! The majority of extra combat spells untap all your creatures (or at least your attacking creatures), but this Equipment only untaps the equipped creature. This makes it more narrow and keeps it from displacing red’s extra combat spells. But if you’re not in red? This is incredible. 

(Psst, even if you are in red, if you’re an Equipment deck, you’ll want effects generated by your preferred card type and redundancy.)

Kutzil, Malamet ExemplarKutzil, Malamet Exemplar can benefit from the double strike alone, but getting a whole extra combat step means he can draw you two extra cards by himself. Someone like the newly spoiled Ardbert, Warrior of DarknessArdbert, Warrior of Darkness can grant vigilance to your team, ensuring you get to attack with everyone again. Skithiryx, the Blight DragonSkithiryx, the Blight Dragon, Charix, the Raging IsleCharix, the Raging Isle, and Kosei, Penitent WarlordKosei, Penitent Warlord will crush most (if not all) of the table right then. This enables a lot of voltron strategies to really pop off, not just generating additional combat triggers but attack step triggers as well.

P.S. If you see the Felix Five-BootsFelix Five-Boots player drop this, pray for an AbradeAbrade.

Now Go to the Shop for Upgrades…

Final Fantasy is going to be a problem for my wallet, and as someone planning to get the Limit Break deck, these Equipment are a big reason why. The card type has come a long way, but it’s cool to see some interesting colorless Equipment again! 

If you’re running an Equipment or Voltron deck, which of these are you picking up? Even if you’re not an aggro player, are there any that catch your eye? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see y’all in the next one.