Croaking CounterpartCroaking Counterpart | Art by Yeong Hao Han

Hey, everyone! Last week, I delivered on my vow to bring you the most played Commander cards from the last Innistrad set. Today, I'm capping off that double-header of spooky 2021 releases by covering Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. Whereas Crimson Vow was billed as a Vampire-focused set, MID was supposed to highlight the plane's transforming Werewolves. Unfortunately, that set code aptly describes how well that theme came through on the cards. On the other hand, Zombies and the type's colors and were really strong, so I have a feeling this list is going to be a little biased toward one or both of these colors. Let's dive right in and find out if that's the case!

10. Saryth, the Viper's FangSaryth, the Viper's Fang - 122,327 decks

A creature that protects your team while also giving attackers a boost is quite the card, and Saryth even gives you additional value in form of letting you reuse mana abilities or other useful effects that require tapping as a cost. Various decks can make use of the whole package, from Helga, Skittish SeerHelga, Skittish Seer wanting untap effects to Fynn, the FangbearerFynn, the Fangbearer giving your attacking deathtouchers more of a boost.

9. Augur of AutumnAugur of Autumn - 134,403 decks

The hybrid card advantage/mana ramp ability you get on Oracle of Mul DayaOracle of Mul Daya and Augur is incredibly powerful in Commander, and it's even more bonkers when you staple a Vizier of the MenagerieVizier of the Menagerie to that, too.

Fulfilling the coven requirement of assembling three or more creatures with different powers isn't that difficult to achieve in this format, where G decks tend to run 0-power Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise and other 1-power mana creatures like Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves, meaning you can be most or all of the way there by the time you cast this. Of course, keeping this alive can be a challenge, let alone maintaining coven when opponents are wise to your mini-game. Thankfully, is the color of Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention and Snakeskin VeilSnakeskin Veil.

8. Vanquish the HordeVanquish the Horde - 175,413 decks

Hey, it's the Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act, without combo potential but with the ability to kill The Walls of Ba Sing SeThe Walls of Ba Sing Se! Kidding aside, the best part of this card is that it's a Day of JudgmentDay of Judgment for just two white pips a lot of the time. That's a deal even aggressive and/or creature-oriented decks like Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope or Cloud, Ex-SOLDIERCloud, Ex-SOLDIER will be happy to take up.

7. The Meathook MassacreThe Meathook Massacre - 252,515 decks

When you're not trying to destroy The Walls of Ba Sing Se, Blasphemous Act is generally going to be better than Vanquish the Horde, as evidenced by the fact that it's in nearly 1.7 million EDHREC decks. However, I could also attribute that to having worse board clear options overall. Perhaps the lesson here is actually that sweepers are especially great when they can also kill your opponents. Enter this enchantment, which has the potential to get you over the line to victory in a game where you have a bunch of creatures in play and your adversaries are at a sufficiently low life total.

More realistically, though, you're going to cast this in the midgame, reset the board, and have this deal chip damage while affording you a life buffer over the course of a long game. I love cards that shine in a grindy game, and this feature is one I'm happy to sit down and enjoy time and time again. Just no one talk about how the sequel wasn't as good.sequel wasn't as good.

6. Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar - 254,145 decks

Pretty much any aggressive deck with in its color identity will want a token generator that also threatens to win the game single-handedly. Adeline is popular in Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One, where her ability is even more efficient, while Zurgo StormrenderZurgo Stormrender, Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor, and Arabella, Abandoned DollArabella, Abandoned Doll squeeze extra value out of the 1/1s you create. Instead of fussing about with sacrifice your Humans, you could also just upgrade them with Kyler, Sigardian EmissaryKyler, Sigardian Emissary or Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's SecondJinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second.

5. Unnatural GrowthUnnatural Growth - 277,542 decks

Getting a super-pseudo-OverrunOverrun every combat — including those where you're on defense — is huge upside, and you can unlock even more of Growth's power by doling out trample and other evasion keywords. Tovolar, Dire OverlordTovolar, Dire Overlord's transformed side, Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge, and Garruk's UprisingGarruk's Uprising are just two examples of effects that get the job done. But, you don't even need to be attacking to get value out of this. We talked about Blasphemous Act earlier, and this can turn the sorcery into Plague WindPlague Wind if you have 7-toughness creatures in play (not that hard to do in green), while this makes it really easy to get max value out of Betor, Kin to AllBetor, Kin to All and Ziatora, the IncineratorZiatora, the Incinerator.

4. ConsiderConsider - 309,809 decks

For just one blue mana, you get not only a bit of card filtering, but also a cantrip. You trigger the multitude of spell payoffs like Third Path IconoclastThird Path Iconoclast for cheap and you can put a creature you want to ReanimateReanimate in the graveyard, effectively drawing two cards. I could go on about how Consider is better than OptOpt most of the time and worse than Thought ScourThought Scour in a lot of decks, but it really doesn't matter. Decks that really want to run one of these effects will probably play many of them.

3. Infernal GraspInfernal Grasp - 394,227 decks

In Standard, I would hesitate to run the full four copies of this, because you could easily find yourself in a spot where killing an important creature also costs you the game. Paying two life is comparably immaterial in Commander, where you start with double the life total and where it's more important to have flexible answers. It doesn't get much more unconditional than Grasp, and there are even decks that pay you for losing life, like Rowan, Scion of WarRowan, Scion of War and Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood.

2. Morbid OpportunistMorbid Opportunist - 410,730 decks

Variants like Grim HaruspexGrim Haruspex and Midnight ReaperMidnight Reaper are very popular, both seeing play in over 100,000 decks. Yet, while they're not gated to just one trigger per turn, they only draw you cards when your stuff dies. They're fantastic in sacrifice decks but may not be as good in grindy or controlling builds like Valgavoth, Harrower of SoulsValgavoth, Harrower of Souls and Terra, Herald of HopeTerra, Herald of Hope. That's what makes Opportunist so busted. It's pretty easy to draw four extra cards per turn cycle off this, and you don't even have to bin any of your own creatures!

Still, this is most popular in those sac decks, because they tend to want multiple payoffs that can keep the cards flowing.

1. The Rare Land Cycle

Half of this cycle already topped the Innistrad: Crimson Vow list, and now these rare lands are back for more, like a movie murderer who just won't die. They'll pretty much always enter untapped on turn three and beyond, and you're hoping to keep a hand that either doesn't have to play one of these on the first two turns, or that doesn't mind taking a turn off. The issue is when you do draw a hand that looks good, save for one of these that will ruin your day by entering tapped on turn 2. This drawback will rarely bite you, but when it does, it's taking a The Gitrog MonsterThe Gitrog Monster-sized chomp out of your win rate. Not every land cycle can be Shocklands or Pathways, but that's what makes deckbuilding interesting, y'know?

The Legacy of Evil Lives onThe Legacy of Evil Lives on

And so does my quest to write about the most played cards from virtually every set in Commander. I enjoyed this quick jaunt into Innistrad, and I know I'll be back sooner or later, when we get to Shadows over Innistrad. In the meantime, what's your favorite card from Midnight Hunt that didn't make the list? Let us know.

Finally, about next week, something's been bothering me, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like there's some sort of important realm I've forgotten about....