Bring to LightBring to Light | Art by Jonas De Ro

A couple weeks ago, I brought you the top 10 most played prowess cards in Commander, because Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS) is right around the corner, and Strixhaven is all about noncreature spells. Well, we've recently learned that the converge mechanic is coming back when SOS comes out on April 24. It's going to be interesting to see how heavily the mechanic will be supported and whether we'll get to jam a bunch of multicolor Spellslinger decks in Limited.

But we're on a Commander website, so let's see which of the 19 converge cards from Magic: The Gathering's history (as of this writing) have made the biggest made the biggest splash in the format.

10. Skyrider ElfSkyrider Elf - 592 decks

One of the most useful ways to evaluate a converge card in Commander is to consider how powerful it is when you pay all five colors of mana for it. Skyrider ElfSkyrider Elf comes down as a 5/5 flier for seven mana. That's awful in the format, but its Ally creature type is its 0ne saving grace. It means you could put it in Ally kindred decks led by General TazriGeneral Tazri and Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless.

As a Warrior, meanwhile, it meets the minimum height requirement to get on the Najeela, the Blade-BlossomNajeela, the Blade-Blossom theme park ride.

9. Woodland WandererWoodland Wanderer - 614 decks

If you didn't like a 5/5 flier, how do you feel about a 6/6 that costs just four mana? The stats are a lot better, but that doesn't solve the problem of Woodland WandererWoodland Wanderer not doing anything in play other than be monstrously large. Like Skyrider Elf, we have to look to its creature type, Elemental.

In Omnath, Locus of the RoilOmnath, Locus of the Roil, it's a body that counts towards their first ability and it carries additional counters pretty well, thanks to trample. And, no matter how big the counters make it, it' still a 2/2 at heart, which justifies its wandering into Duskana, the Rage MotherDuskana, the Rage Mother lists.

Don't forget to run rainbow lands like Mana ConfluenceMana Confluence to produce the fourth color of mana needed to fully beef this up.

8. Sweep the SkiesSweep the Skies - 1,308 decks

Let's apply the five-color test. You only need X to be four here since you've already got blue covered. That means Sweep the SkiesSweep the Skies produces five flying artifact tokens for six mana.

In Limited, that would be a bomb, but in Commander, we're going to need the Thopters to be useful for something besides attacking. That's surely why almost half of the decks its played in are led by Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper. You get four bodies most of the time — five with the rainbow land or Chromatic LanternChromatic Lantern — that are the perfect fodder for her abilities. 

By the way, and this applies to all the cards, Jodah, Archmage EternalJodah, Archmage Eternal gets you max value from all these converge cards, should you want to run them. On the other hand, Jodah is probably better suited to casting busted, expensive spells for a steep discount, but it's nice to know there's some synergy you can take advantage of.

7. Radiant FlamesRadiant Flames - 1,426 decks

I quite like Radiant FlamesRadiant Flames in Commander, for the same reason I loved it in Standard and during the periods where it was playable in older formats as a sideboard card. You can pay three colors of mana to get the full effect, but you don't have to. This comes up when you're board is dominated by mid-sized creatures and when opponents have a bunch of tokens or utility critters in play.

It takes a lot of maneuvering, but this could conceivably become a Plague WindPlague Wind under the right circumstances, if you really want it to happen, and if you squint just the right way at a certain time of day.

While I'm rattling off rules tricks, did you know that you can unlock the secret fourth damage from this card by having Thalia, Guardian of ThrabenThalia, Guardian of Thraben or Sphere of ResistanceSphere of Resistance in play? This also works with other converge cards that cost less than five, like the next one on this list.

6. Unified FrontUnified Front - 1,695 decks

Even when you aren't using the Comprehensive Rules to create five tokens instead of four, this is actually pretty good in General Tazri. The Ally kindred commander accounts for more than half of Unified Front's decks on EDHREC, because getting four Kazandu BlademasterKazandu Blademaster triggers at once is pretty sweet.

You can definitely play this into a stalled board to trigger multiple payoffs at once, from Kabira EvangelKabira Evangel essentially making your team unblockable to suddenly drawing a full grip with Sea Gate LoremasterSea Gate Loremaster. Imagine how much surprise damage Hagra DiabolistHagra Diabolist can deal!

5. Uncle's MusingsUncle's Musings - 2,015 decks

I'm amused that converge made it to the Avatar: The Last Airbender set even though it hasn't pulled up any trees in Commander. It is a really cool mechanic, though, and this sorcery acts as a late-game refuel primarily in Commander decks led by legendary creatures from the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon: Avatar AangAvatar Aang, Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus, Toph, the First MetalbenderToph, the First Metalbender, and more.

In serious multicolor decks, though, this does compete with powerful recursion spells like All Suns' DawnAll Suns' Dawn, Wildest DreamsWildest Dreams, and RestockRestock, among others.

4. Prismatic EndingPrismatic Ending - 4,712 decks

Prismatic Ending suffers from the same problem as Uncle's Musings: there are just other options in its color that are either more efficient, more powerful, or both. Removal is essential, though, which is why you'll often see this in multicolor decks alongside classic options like Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares and Path to ExilePath to Exile.

Domain is a mechanic that can be similar to converge in how it rewards playing five colors, which is why Leyline BindingLeyline Binding is a decent option that will often cost one man while Ending will only get more expensive as the threats you face grow more potent.

3. Bring to LightBring to Light - 22,778 decks

We're onto the Olympic podium of converge cards: the three spells that stand head-and-shoulders above the competition. Seeing approximately four times the play of Prismatic Ending, Bring to Light plays an important role as an expensive, Simic (), and two-color card in Codie, Vociferous CodexCodie, Vociferous Codex, Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn, and Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme, respectively.

Similarly, this is also an extra copy of your best five-color card in Jenson Carthalion, Druid ExileJenson Carthalion, Druid Exile and Jared CarthalionJared Carthalion. Sure, Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor is going to be better a lot of the time, but "BtL" gets the job done and in a flashier, more fun way. I used to fetch up Siege Rhino with it in Standard and the guild-based Niv in Pioneer.

2. Crystalline CrawlerCrystalline Crawler - 41,664 decks

Is this a Pentad PrismPentad Prism on a stick or a cheaper WorkhorseWorkhorse? It's both, but better, because Crystalline CrawlerCrystalline Crawler gets to put counters on itself and it benefits from proliferate and counter synergies!

Kilo, Apogee MindKilo, Apogee Mind and Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice in particular love having access to this, because it can generate an unreasonable amount of mana paired with things like Hardened ScalesHardened Scales and Doubling SeasonDoubling Season.

It also boasts a ton of combo potential, like so:

It even made the top of DougY's list of top "remove a +1/+1 counter" cards, and list writers are never wrong.

1. Painful TruthsPainful Truths - 86,818 decks

I can't tell you how happy I am that a midrange card is the most played converge card in Commander! It's no secret that colors other than blue and green can have some difficulty generating true card advantage. That's why Painful Truths is such an effective draw spell in decks like Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast, Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One, and Olivia, Opulent OutlawOlivia, Opulent Outlaw. These decks are packed with creatures by the nature of their commander's abilities, so spells that aren't bodies, removal, or combo pieces need to pack a huge punch to make the cut.

I'd say drawing three cards for three mana fits the bill outside of the two best card drawing colors.

There Are More Sights on Zendikar Than the Eye Can SeeThere Are More Sights on Zendikar Than the Eye Can See

Converge's play rate in Commander falls off hard after Bring to Light. The simple truth is that getting five colors of mana is pretty easy nowadays, and the rainbow spells you can consistently cast as a result of all this great fixing generally do more and better things than the cards on this list. Likewise, Commander tends to reward streamlined, focused decks, so the flexibility of being able to cast these spells for between two to four colors of mana isn't a huge selling point.

Still, converge is a sweet mechanic, and I'd love to see whether Secrets of Strixhaven will bring us some powerhouses to compete with real five-color cards. What's your favorite converge card? Let us know!