Ghyrson Starn, KelermorphGhyrson Starn, Kelermorph | Art by Aaron J. Riley

Hey, everyone! I'm still on a mission to bring you the most played Commander cards from past sets. Last week was all about The Brothers' War. This week is another foray into Universes Beyond with Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K). This collab with another wildly popular tabletop strategy game consisted of four preconstructed decks and a total of 168 new cards. Which cards made the top 10? Let's dive in and find out!

10. Blood for the Blood God!Blood for the Blood God! - 46,619 decks

I know next to nothing about the Warhammer universe, but this has to be one of the coolest card names ever. It even gets bonus points — in my book, at least — for having an exclamation point in there. It's also pretty frequently played for an eleven-drop; it made my most played Rakdos () cards list from two years ago and the number of decks it's played in has only gone up.

The joke is, you're never casting this for full price. The color pair is incredibly well-suited to getting its cost down to three, thanks to plentiful targeted removal, sacrifice effects, and sweepers at its disposal. You can flip it off the top of your deck and cast it for free with The Infamous CruelclawThe Infamous Cruelclaw. In Magar of the Magic StringsMagar of the Magic Strings, you can double-dip by hitting them with the face-down, 3/3 version of this. At worst, they'll spend a removal spell on it, and you'll have drawn nine cards instead of eight. And, The Lord of PainThe Lord of Pain turns the mana value into a bonus, letting you dome an opponent for 11 (assuming it's your first spell of the turn) after already dealing eight damage to each opponent.

9. Canoptek SpyderCanoptek Spyder - 46,971 decks

Wow, you really do either die a hero (with reach) or live long enough to see yourself become the flying Spider villain. In fact, this Spyder doesn't really even creep into the types of kindred decks most commonly led by Shelob, Child of UngoliantShelob, Child of Ungoliant. Instead, it's a fantastic card advantage engine for an artifact deck like its precon masters, Szarekh, the Silent KingSzarekh, the Silent King and Imotekh the StormlordImotekh the Stormlord, or Aloy, Savior of MeridianAloy, Savior of Meridian.

It even triggers off Vehicles, meaning you can fuel-inject a bit of value into streamlined builds of Greasefang, Okiba BossGreasefang, Okiba Boss.

8. Keeper of SecretsKeeper of Secrets - 48,309 decks

I'm gutted I can't slot this into a Frodo BagginsFrodo Baggins deck for flavor reasons, but all right, then. Instead, I'll use this to end games in Yidris, Maelstrom WielderYidris, Maelstrom Wielder, Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound, and other decks that prefer to use any other zone instead of the hand. And, speaking of Blood for the Blood God!Blood for the Blood God!, I will be hoping I have this in play every time I get to trigger The Infamous CruelclawThe Infamous Cruelclaw.

Sure, six mana for a creature with no built-in protection or stickiness is risky, but Bolt BendBolt Bend and Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat exist and the payoff is absolutely worthwhile. I love it when a threat just asks you to play the game the way your deck is built to.

7. Reaver TitanReaver Titan - 50,164 decks

Greasefang, Okiba BossGreasefang, Okiba Boss and Shorikai, Genesis EngineShorikai, Genesis Engine sure got some love from Warhammer 40,000!

In spite of its fairly recent debut to Magic: The Gathering, Titan has already broken into the top 15 most-played Vehicles in the format, alongside the likes of Skysovereign, Consul FlagshipSkysovereign, Consul Flagship, Hedge ShredderHedge Shredder, and Parhelion IIParhelion II. While it doesn't generate extra resources on your end like the latter two options, it actually mows down higher-toughness creatures than the Boat. The protection also makes it sticky and annoying to deal with, so all in all it's a great addition to decks that love to go vrooom!

6. Exalted Flamer of TzeentchExalted Flamer of Tzeentch - 50,281 decks

Now this is a card name! It doesn't have the exalted ability, which is a bit of a flavor miss, to be honest, but it does flame your opponents for one every time you cast an instant or sorcery spell, making it a Firebrand ArcherFirebrand Archer that also packs a bit of card advantage and graveyard recursion. That's a fantastic deal, even if it does cost four mana, and it even forms a two-card infinite combo with Time WarpTime Warp and other extra turn variants, as long as it's the only spell in your 'yard:

This value proposition makes it attractive for pretty much any spellslinger commander, from Ghyrson Starn, KelermorphGhyrson Starn, Kelermorph, also of this Warhammer parish, to Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun.

5. BiophagusBiophagus - 52,919 decks

If we're looking at the best mana generator options for +1/+1 counters decks, it's hard to beat Kami of Whispered HopesKami of Whispered Hopes as both a payoff and an enabler, but we don't have to hold all our utility creatures to such high standards. This is perfectly fine as a ramp creature that also gets the counter party started, allowing classic archetype powerhouses like Hardened ScalesHardened Scales to work their magic.

If you're looking to be more of the beatdown than the counter-accumulator, you can check out Josh Nelson's Edge of Eternities-inspired deck tech featuring Sovereign Okinec Ahau that utilizes Biophagus to great effect.

4. Celestine, the Living SaintCelestine, the Living Saint - 51,612 decks, 1,940 as commander

The decks you put this in are going to be built to gain a ton of life on any given turn, making Celestine closer to a discounted Debtors' KnellDebtors' Knell or Virtue of PersistenceVirtue of Persistence than anything else, and one that works the turn you cast it, too!

Sure, being a creature rather than an enchantment does make her easier to get off the board, but her greatest weakness can also be her greatest strength. We can simply Reanimate the reanimator! You can also introduce her to Rodolf DuskbringerRodolf Duskbringer and watch them provide each other some much-appreciated redundancy in Bilbo, Birthday CelebrantBilbo, Birthday Celebrant or Liesa, Shroud of DuskLiesa, Shroud of Dusk.

3. CryptothrallCryptothrall - 54,027 decks

This is a remarkably clean, straightforward card, something that is almost surprising to see in these wordy, power-crept times. That's not a slight on this 3/3 at all; in fact, it's great that artifact deckbuilders can always turn to this to keep opposing removal spells in its thrall. It's especially tasty in decks where your commander is also an artifact creature, like Karn, Legacy ReforgedKarn, Legacy Reforged, Rendmaw, Creaking NestRendmaw, Creaking Nest, or Graaz, Unstoppable JuggernautGraaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut.

Playing this also introduces something of a mini-game to the table: can your opponents kill this before you CloneClone it, give both copies hexproof, and blank all their targeted removal?

2. BloodthirsterBloodthirster - 59,817 decks

Extra combat cards like Hellkite ChargerHellkite Charger and Combat CelebrantCombat Celebrant are trivially easy to assemble combos with, and this is no different: Rionya, Fire DancerRionya, Fire Dancer makes copies of this before you attack to lock your opponents into a thirst trap.

Other interactions are available, including many involving Port RazerPort Razer, so if you're interested in making this infinite combats your primary game plan, I recommend checking out Nicholas Lucchesi's Muddle, the Ever-Changing deck tech. Even without going infinite, this can get you an additional attack for each opponent you have, making haste-granters like Xenagos, God of RevelsXenagos, God of Revels very attractive. If you had a way to untap Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast, you could also go to town that way, potentially emptying your hand of monsters in the process. Fun!

1. Sceptre of Eternal GlorySceptre of Eternal Glory - 65,900 decks

It's a strong name for a list topper, I'll give the Sceptre that, and it's also an exceptionally powerful tool for monocolor decks that want to cast expensive cards. You might get away with running this in a two-color deck, but I think that there are enough mana rocks available that you're safe just playing this alongside a bunch of basic lands to power out Valgavoth, Terror EaterValgavoth, Terror Eater, Anti-Venom, Horrifying HealerAnti-Venom, Horrifying Healer, or Clive, Ifrit's DominantClive, Ifrit's Dominant.

War Is a Dance. And They're Looking for PartnersWar Is a Dance. And They're Looking for Partners

I know this may be immersion-breaking and a turn-off for some, but I do love seeing how these Warhammer 40,000 cards have broken containment, so to speak, and found their way into so many decks led by non-Universes Beyond commanders. It really reinforces what Head Designer Mark Rosewater has said in his column on Magic: The Gathering's website: "Magic is not a single game but rather a game system that shares a set of rules and game components (mainly cards)." It's this awesome system that can make concepts and characters from disparate, well, universes play seamlessly together in one deck.

The quote also explains why the Commander experience can be so different from, say, Booster Draft, yet still feel cozy and familiar. Anyway, what's your favorite 40K card that didn't make the list? Let us know! Finally, I'll see you next week for a time jump back into the present for Secrets of Strixhaven's most played cards.