Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves | Art by Rudy Siswanto

A tried and true protection piece in Commander is Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves, but I've found myself cutting this card from decks more and more often.

It's for a combination of reasons that I'll explore with you all. I'm curious if I'm the only one. Read and let me know.

The Beauty of Lightning Greaves

Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves was printed in 2003 in Mirrodin. This is long after Commander had been going around as a fan-format and only about eight years before it was an official format. I put this card in context of Commander, because that's how I understand it. It is one of Commander's staples, lauded as a must-include in any Commander deck like the likes of Arcane SignetArcane Signet and Sol RingSol Ring.

Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves costs only to cast. It's a colorless spell so it can go into any deck. Its equip cost is and gives a creature haste. Creatures with a tap ability can use it the turn it enters. It's the card we all dread to see against a commander with a powerful attack trigger, or with a very powerful ability.

A commander that draws in removal like a magnet like Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast is so powerful with a pair Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves. It's a permanent that gives shroud continuously for . This is leagues above a card like AsceticismAsceticism, which is a whopping , or Mother of RunesMother of Runes which can't tap for its ability the turn it comes out and can only apply its ability until end of turn.

It might even be better than having to use instants repeatedly, trading multiple cards, to protect the same piece.

Standard Removal

Getting rid of something underneath Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves is a one-two-punch, wombo-combo, type of removal strategy. It's the sort of thing you ask the table to help with. "I can remove the Greaves. Can someone get the AzulaAzula?"

But it's very doable. We see it all the time. You slap a Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves on anything scary and the whole table turns against you. I'm not sure this is the sort of attention you want. Most colors have a way to get rid of Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves long enough for a kill spell — well, except Black — without being really creative.

Being removable doesn't completely disqualify anything as being a good piece. Removal is starting to become more and more rare in casual play. Players keeps their limited interaction very close to the vest, so burning it on some Greaves is debatable.

It's not my only complaint though.

The Golden Window of Removal

The second problem I have with Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves is how vulnerable casting and equipping this card is. It takes a considerable amount of resources to stop this from happening, yes, but depending on the deck, it might be relevant. I've rarely seen Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves countered, but I'll mention briefly it is something to keep in mind as one of its weaknesses.

If I were up against a Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast deck, I would absolutely counter the Lightning Greaves, depending on who is the most threatening at the table.

The Golden Window, after which I titled this section, is its biggest and most relevant vulnerability. It is when someone activates the Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves's equip ability, targeting a creature. You have a round of priority to get rid of that creature before it has shroud.

This is such a fragile time because you've telegraphed your intentions to the whole table. "This is my most important thing." This gives the table a chance to get rid of it. I get blown out this way a lot.

Recasting your commander — if that's what gets removed — isn't always too much of a big deal, but in certain decks it can be a problem, especially if you're in a color combination like Grixis that struggles to ramp. I'm looking at you, Fire Lord AzulaFire Lord Azula.

Bello, Bard of the BramblesBello, Bard of the Brambles is a magnet for removal too, but Bello decks really struggle to ramp. Both decks I would argue need something that Lightning Greaves cannot offer alone. That brings me into my next point: how much protection should we run?

Do You Need All That Protection?

The real reason I stopped running Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves is because unless you're running a lot of protection, it's not really worth it. It has some vulnerabilities, and it one card in the 99. I'd rather see something that is going to win the game, rather than maybe protect my commander when no one is necessarily after it.

I categorize decks as either needing a strong protection package or not needing one. I'd categorize decks like Fire Lord Azula and Bello as ones that need strong packages because decks heavily reliant on the commander to function — not just run, but do anything — get completely stopped by removal. Granted, those decks also get completely out of hand fast too, drawing a lot of attention.

Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves is a great addition to a fully fleshed-out package of protection alongside things like Slip Out the BackSlip Out the Back or Mother of RunesMother of Runes.

If you're running a big package of protection spells, and expect to see two to three per game, then adding Lightning Greaves is a good idea, and a must-include. In just any other deck, it seems like a wasted spot. It's a 1-in-99 likelihood to see something that could protect your commander (can't forget good old Fleshbag MarauderFleshbag Marauder and other sacrifice-based removal), if it even needed protecting.

Yes, most strategies surround our commanders, but usually our decks can function without them to some extent. Do your opponents want to burn one of their five removal spells on your Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound when you're not even storming off yet? How impactful is that? It might slow us down a little. Would I have even seen the Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves in the majority of games to have protected him? A Bello deck cannot function without Bello, if you get what I mean. We know what it means to remove Bello.

Granted, I do know the meta of your play group impacts a big portion in this sentiment.

I like to think the people I play with have a pretty levelheaded threat assessment, not a particularly spiteful or wonky assessment of who is the biggest threat. They're softhearted about bad feelings, but understanding that sometimes we have to remove someone's commander five times though.

If your meta is trying to remove your commander just because you win a lot, maybe run a protection package with Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves. I used to run a Reanimator package for my Prosper deck because I couldn't get it to stick around in other pods. In my current list, I don't even run Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves.

Either way, run a full package or leave the Greaves on the shelf.

The Instant-Speed Sucker Punch

The last thing I wanted to talk about in relationship to what I sometimes run instead of Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves, is instant-speed protection or redirection spells. I talked earlier about my thoughts about the difference between instant speed and permanent interaction when it comes to protection. I find it's harder for opponents to plan around concealed information.

Protecting something at instant speed gives you a higher advantage of keeping it. Yes, you only gain that advantage temporarily, and getting ganged up on is rough. But like I've said, removal is so limited in recent ecosystems that I doubt many people are going deep into the stack with removal spells.

There are instants like Clever ConcealmentClever Concealment, Dawn's TruceDawn's Truce, or Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention that are good ways to protect at instant speed, too. Board wipes could turn into advantage at the right time. Even if you don't see them, they will always serve your game plan when you do.

Gaining the lead is a dangerous thing in Commander. These spells protect that lead when someone eventually tries to take it. Usually, you're running more than one of these spells as well for insurance so they won't just be one in the 99.

In decks running red, Redirect LightningRedirect Lightning, Bolt BendBolt Bend, Untimely MalfunctionUntimely Malfunction, and Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat are all ways to turn your opponents' targeted removal into your targeted removal. Granted, with cards like this you have to go card-for-card with situational advantage, hoping not to get ganged up on, but secret information is always better.

Conclusion

I hadn't realized how much I'd bounced off of Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves until I built my Raph & Mikey, TroublemakersRaph & Mikey, Troublemakers deck.

It's a commander that is extremely fragile, vulnerable to any removal, and with a very powerful effect. In my first iteration of this deck I put in a protection package. It slowed down the deck considerably.

Raph & Mikey having haste meant that using Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves gave my opponents the same Golden Window to pop them that they would have if I had gone to combat without the Greaves.

I tried running Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat and Bolt BendBolt Bend and ended up drawing them instead of ramp spells — something this deck needs desperately — which slowed down the game plan. And when I needed the protection, I never saw them.

This deck needed to win quickly. It was a cannon, eliminating players fast, and it couldn't slow down with some of the chunkiness that a protection package offered. I have to mulligan aggressively to rush Raph & Mikey out so card advantage was the first to go. I had no space for anything else.

I took out all the redirect spells and put in more ramp. If someone removed Raph and Mikey, I'd cast a ramp spell the following turn and cast them again the turn after. My opponents will eventually run out of removal spells. It's been working spectacularly for me. It's not a perfect system, but it's what has worked for this particular deck.

As for my other decks, I have maybe 12, and I think I run Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves in two of them now. Most of my deck's commanders don't need a protection package or I prefer to just ramp instead of stop players from removing my commander. Or they have ward 3.

Are you still a Lightning Greaves player, or have you been cutting the card in your decks? Let me know below.