I am planning on getting to all of the big commanders in Final Fantasy, but the ones designed for Commander are the ones that are most likely to get a lot of the attention and the money. We don’t know all the legendaries that will be printed in the set, but we know four of the ‘face’ commanders and one of the backups.

Let’s get to Y’shtola first, as between the mana cost, effects, and character, this promises to be a very powerful and popular commander. I plan to get to each of the commanders in their own time, but my expectations are highest for the Cat Warlock.  

Before we get to the cards, there’s two big hurdles for these specs to get there: 1) Y’shtola has to be popular. I think that won’t be a big problem, but with the sheer amount of new legends we’re getting, so many fan-favorite characters, there’s a decent chance that all the attention splinters. 2) For any Commander, there’s staples, must-haves, cards which are too good to leave out. Sad truth is that decks could be 150 cards and still feel like there’s not enough space. These are cards that I would at least try in the decks, and we’ll see if that’s enough to get the prices to jump.

She wants you to cast spells and drain, and rewards you every turn for doing these things. Therefore we’ll want to maximize what we’re doing on other turns, or finding repeatable ways of inflicting life loss. I talked about how good buyback cards are for Y’shtola before, so none of those are on this list. For each of these, I’m going to call out what version I think is worth buying and what their current price is.

Foil Intimidation Campaign – bulk – There’s an awful lot of these around, but it’s exactly what the deck wants, a repeated way to cast a noncreature spell of cost 3 or more. Sadly, there’s no promo or foil-etched, I just feel that this is something worth doing in the deck. 

Bloodchief Ascension – borderless CMM foil $20 – The etched foil should be watched too, there’s a lot of people who like that matte look. The card doesn’t directly combo with the commander, but they do go together awfully nicely. Once it’s online, which shouldn’t take long, every kill spell you fire off ends up costing someone 4 life, 2 from the commander trigger and 2 from the Ascension. Repeat as needed.

Faerie Tauntings – pack foil $12 – Perhaps the card I love most for this deck, you’ll be casting a lot of instants and now they all come with a bonus drain. Very low supply, only one printing, this might hit some very high value if the hive mind notices the synergies. 

Bontu’s Monument – pack foil $22 – There’s no special version of this yet but if you want to build a creature version of Y’shtola, this will help the triggering a lot. 

Gixian Puppeteer – FEA $2 – Seems pretty easy to draw a second card on a turn, and the life loss will lead to more card draw. The recursion isn’t as important as the life loss, but this chaining is what you’re looking for. 

Keen Duelist – SLD Foil $2.50 – When you get to make someone lose life, for no mana, that’s going to be a win for you. It’s also handy that this can happen before you put Y’shtola into play, and you’ll still get the draw trigger at the end. 

Loyal Subordinate – CMM foil is bulk-priced – This will get you most of the way there for her trigger, and all for no extra mana. This is just a great card with the exact synergies you want. 

Rusko, Clockmaker – $90 MB2 foil – As one of the Alchemy/Arena cards to be brought to the real world in foil only, this is already pricey thanks to players who love Commander flavors of UB Control. It’s obnoxiously easy for this to get out of hand, and given such a tiny supply, this could get crazy expensive!

Subversion – NM pack foils are $40, but LP can be had at $20 – It’s expensive at five mana but the free trigger is super helpful, especially if added to other such effects. This has had one mild reprint in the Battle Royale but as a rare in Urza’s Legacy, the first foiled set, there are so few of these out there. 

Twilight Prophet – Etched Foil $9 – This is a case where the Etched Foil is the only one that looks notably different, even though there’s a Secret Lair it’s got the regular frame to go with new art. Go with the most unique frame. The card itself requires a turn cycle to work its magic, but will synergize beautifully with what the deck is trying to do. 

Will of the Abzan – EA nonfoil $6 – Really, the perfect card if Y’shtola is in play. You get to have the trigger for life loss, they lose a creature, they lose more life, you get a creature back, and then at end of turn you get something good back from your yard! It’s a recent card, so the price hasn’t fallen far, but this is a card worth keeping an eye on. Usually with Commander-only cards like this the regular frame rises more (there’s less in circulation) but with the EA cheaper that’s where I want to start. 

Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the co-host of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.