Feldon of the Third PathFeldon of the Third Path | Art by Chase Stone

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Magma GiantMagma Giant is the only mono-red creature that can deal damage to each creature upon entering that won't do enough damage to kill Feldon of the Third PathFeldon of the Third Path?)

An oldy, but a goody, Feldon of the Third PathFeldon of the Third Path is still a space we don't get to play in very often: Mono-Red Reanimator.

Except, not quite? ReanimatorReanimator strategies return a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield, whereas Feldon simply makes a copy of said creature. Even more notably, in doing so he leaves the creature in your graveyard, allowing you to continue to make copies of it. This has led to some high-powered Feldon brews you can get a decent idea of by visiting his Commander Spellbook page.

But where's the fun in a high-powered mono-red brew when you could instead do something... worse?

I'd love to give you more information on this all old-bordered deck, but all I have to go off of is this strange scrap of rural poetry I found lying around the internet.

Still, let's play around with it some, shall we?

Top 10 Old-Bordered Mono-Red Creatures That Cost Six or More

Criteria: Creatures within the mono-red color identity that are available in an old-bordered printing that cost six or more mana. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Platinum AngelPlatinum Angel

(87.1K Inclusions, 0.91% of 9.56M Decks)

Right off the bat, we've got a miss. While it might seem fun to flash in Platinum AngelPlatinum Angel with FeldonFeldon, when it just dies at the next end step, it turns out that it doesn't actually do a whole lot. Instead of dying when everyone else does, you'll just carry your negative life total or lack of a library a little longer before you inevitably die anyway. There is one unique state where this might not be the case, however: if you have a lot of mana and an ability to repeatedly untap Feldon, then you could set up a game state where, in response to the sacrifice trigger, you make another copy of Platinum Angel to tide you over until the next end step, where you just then make another copy in response to the trigger. That is a lot of effort to just have a Platinum Angel, however, and you still have the same issue where it can just be removed.

9. Metalwork ColossusMetalwork Colossus

(90.7K Inclusions, 0.95% of 9.56M Decks)

I'm torn on Metalwork ColossusMetalwork Colossus in Feldon. It's not an amazing reanimator target, as it's really just a vanilla 10/10 once it's on the board. On the other hand, you're making all sorts of artifact creatures with Feldon, which you can then sacrifice with Colossus to bring it back to your hand. Ultimately, however, since your creature artifacts don't count toward its "affinity", I'm not sure this one is worth it.

8. Ulamog, the DefilerUlamog, the Defiler

(Helms 1,563 Decks, Rank #1,263; 95.5K Inclusions, 1.00% of 9.56M Decks)

First off, can I just state that I hate the colorless "old border" treatment? I get what they were trying to do here, but it doesn't feel old, and it's extremely unpleasing aesthetically. I honestly thought about removing these cards from the list out of spite. It's that bad.

Anyway, as for how Ulamog, the DefilerUlamog, the Defiler is as a reanimator target: it's the usual mixed bag the Eldrazi present. You don't get Ulamog's cast trigger when you make a copy of it with Feldon, but you still get a huge Eldrazi with all the nonsense mixed in. So, does that make Ulamog good enough? It depends on what's been exiled in the present game you're in. Chances are good that may include your graveyard, which was bound to have a bunch of huge creatures in it when someone plopped down a Bojuka BogBojuka Bog. It's also likely that someone will have been impulse drawing and found something along the way that they couldn't cast. In the old days, I honestly would've called this a risky proposition, but thinking on it, I don't remember the last game of Commander I played that didn't have at least a small pile of exiled cards. With that in mind, then, I would actually recommend Ulamog on a non-aesthetic basis, as even a two-mana spell in exile will mean swinging in with a 9/9 with Annihilator 2, which is pretty huge.

Of course, isn't the whole point of this aesthetics?

7. Utvara HellkiteUtvara Hellkite

(101K Inclusions, 2.12% of 4.76M Decks)

Why stop at one 6/6 flier when you could have two? Utvara HellkiteUtvara Hellkite is more than a little pricey to cast on its own, but if you manage the discount with Feldon, it immediately swings in for six and makes another 6/6 Dragon that sticks around. Honestly, though? I'm not sure that feels like enough on its own. If we have enough Dragons in the deck that we could fairly regularly guarantee two tokens, then this feels like it's doing enough work. If not? Then I think this should honestly stay on the sidelines for more immediately impactful bombs.

6. Balefire DragonBalefire Dragon

(117K Inclusions, 2.47% of 4.76M Decks)

Oh hey, look, another impactful Dragon. A one-player board wipe leaves the job only two-thirds done, but then again, doing this to the most problematic player each turn is going to eventually win you a game. Even better, if you can manage to make Balefire DragonBalefire Dragon nonsense happen multiple times on the same turn, say with Seize the DaySeize the Day, Relentless AssaultRelentless Assault, or Cursed MirrorCursed Mirror, then you are just getting a one-sided board wipe and tons of damage through the air.

5. Steel HellkiteSteel Hellkite

(129K Inclusions, 1.35% of 9.56M Decks)

Speaking of one-sided Dragon board wipes, it's Steel HellkiteSteel Hellkite! Except, is that what Steel Hellkite actually is? While I love Powder KegPowder Keg effects and think they're woefully underplayed, I'm not sure that means we should be playing six-mana versions of them that require more mana, combat damage, and only affect one player. Sure, sure, we're getting a discount with Feldon, in all likelihood, but I'd rather be using that reanimation to get something worthwhile.

4. Wurmcoil EngineWurmcoil Engine

(140K Inclusions, 1.47% of 9.56M Decks)

Wurmcoil EngineWurmcoil Engine's prime is most certainly in the past, and under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be recommending this card at all anymore. With Feldon specifically, however, Wurmcoil is still doing quite a bit of work. It'll come down, swing in, deal six and gain you six, then shuffle off and leave you two 3/3s with relevant keywords... All so you can do it again next turn. That's precisely what non-combo Feldon is looking for, and this card absolutely slaps in the deck.

3. Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere

(156K Inclusions, 1.64% of 9.56M Decks)

Same goes for Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere. While I tend to be a little bit less "auto-include" about this card than most, four Myr that then deal direct damage to the player on attack is a heck of a deal, to say nothing of the 4/7 that then becomes an 8/7. Put all that together, and you're dealing 12 damage if Battlesphere goes unblocked on turn one, then 20 on turn two, then 28 on turn three, and that's all without outside shenanigans, outside of Feldon himself. Those kinds of numbers end games, period.

2. Hellkite TyrantHellkite Tyrant

(172K Inclusions, 3.62% of 4.76M Decks)

Speaking of winning games, Hellkite TyrantHellkite Tyrant gives you an option to do so outside of combat, and it's a trigger that this deck can absolutely win with. In similar fashion to Balefire DragonBalefire Dragon, multiple instances of Hellkite's combat damage trigger will result in you owning every artifact on the board, which should add up to 20 more often than not.

As for winning the game, there's a slight catch: you have to own a Hellkite Tyrant at the beginning of your upkeep. For those that have ever messed around in this step, it's difficult to fake. Creating a copy of Hellkite Tyrant with Feldon once you receive priority in your upkeep will mean that the beginning of your upkeep has already passed, and the copy won't put a trigger on the stack. So instead, if you've counted to 20 and you're looking to win? Wait until the beginning of end step has passed in the turn of the player before you, then create a copy of Hellkite that won't die until your own end step. That will allow you to own a copy that exists at the beginning of your upkeep, winning you the game. Neat and tidy!

1. Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm

(Helms 2,319 Decks, Rank #991; 374K Inclusions, 7.87% of 4.76M Decks)

It's not a surprise to see Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm at the top of this list, if you've ever played against a Feldon deck. This card does absolute work with Feldon, raining down attack triggers each turn that, if they don't always find a bomb off of your deck, will absolutely find removal and value off of everyone else's. While it may not have the raw numbers that Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere has, or the straight "win the game" ability of Hellkite TyrantHellkite Tyrant, Etali will nonetheless win you games when you see it, and it's cheap enough that it may not even be Feldon making you do so the first time around.

Honorable Mentions

Aside from Dragon MageDragon Mage, we hit more or less all of the huge, impactful, old-bordered creatures, or at least all of the non-Eldrazi ones. So instead, what about the smaller creatures we may have missed?

Noting how many great old-bordered artifacts the deck is already playing, leaning into the artifact theme a bit seems in order. Top of that list is Scrap TrawlerScrap Trawler, which will have huge artifact creatures, like Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere, bring back artifacts when they die to Feldon's end step trigger. Right behind that is Goblin EngineerGoblin Engineer, which will search for artifact creatures to put in the graveyard both when you play it from hand and when you reanimate it with Feldon. In that second case? You can also use Engineer's ability immediately with haste, which is an excellent option as well. Finally, Audacious ReshapersAudacious Reshapers may hurt a bit but will end up getting you either a mana rock or a huge artifact, more or less, which is a gamble worth taking part in.

As for the deck? It's a fun ride that looks great, and has zero problems finishing out games as it constantly fills the graveyard and then brings nasty threats out of it. If you've never given Feldon a try, I heartily endorse it.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite thing to reanimate? Is it available in retro frame? Can Feldon play it?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the old-school wood-and-metal folding table, once we get it set up. Man, these things weigh a ton!