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I am really liking the new Commander 2020 products and similar to my previous article on Gavi, Nest Warden I will continue to focus on one of the new commanders. This week it is Zaxara the Exemplary.
Warning Commander 2020 Spoilers ahead!
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We have already seen two price spikes because of this new commander.
While both spikes occurred because of Zaxara, they likely occurred from different groups.
Pemmin's Aura allows Zaxara to generate infinite mana AND it also can protect Zaxara from spells and abilities. This is the type of auto-include in any competitive build of Zaxara. Our first speculation target would go in the same type of deck.
This is another enchantment that allows Zaxara to generate infinite mana. While Pemmin's Aura is an uncommon with a single printing back in 2003. Freed from the Real was originally printed as a common back in 2005 and had a single reprint in Masters 25 as an uncommon. This would imply that the price ceiling for this spec is certainly lower than that of Pemmin's Aura, but thanks to the singleton aspect of Commander, "worse" versions of cards are still desirable.
Pemmin's Aura is sitting at around $10 as of me typing this up, so it's fair to imagine that a card like Freed from the Real could easily be a $3-$5 card thanks to being a "worse" version and having more copies in the supply.
Currently, copies are sitting at around $1.50 and we are down to less than 12 pages of sellers on TCGPlayer, which thanks to COVID-19 is one of the few marketplaces people still have available to purchase cards from. This seems like a pretty easy "double-up" type of card. Full disclosure I did buy 13 more copies of this card after Zaxara was spoiled.
A search of the gatherer doesn't appear to have any other similar effects in Sultai colors that can be used repeatedly and for less than 2 mana.
There are a lot more options if you're willing to go to 3 cards for infinite mana. If you have something that increases the mana production of Zaxara in play like Mana Reflection or Nyxbloom Ancient, then you can use cards like;
and
Sword of the Paruns is nice because it provides a buff to your other creatures as well as an infinite mana engine. Crab Umbra gives your commander a totem armor so it can survive a wrath or targeted kill spell. I do view these types of options much lower than Freed from the Real and Pemmin's Aura because 3 card combos are a lot more effort to pull off than 2 card combos.
Now let's look at the other half of Zaxara, the part that caused the Unbound Flourishing spike.
Hydras seem to occupy an interesting niche market in the Magic community. We can look at a card like Khalni Hydra which was $4 or less during it's time in Standard and is now sitting at $12+ dollars despite not being in any competitive format decks and listed in only 893 decks on EDHRec.
Casual players just love Hydras and they are an important group in the MTG finance realm. So let's look at some interesting specs that players who want to focus on the bottom half of Zaxara would likely want in their decks.
Genesis Wave is actually a card that would likely be included in either Zaxara build thanks to it being extremely powerful game over card when you get infinite mana, but also playing really well with Zaxara's second ability too. There have only been 2 printings, the original Scars of Mirrodin and an Iconic Masters printing. Scars is old enough that we have seen significant growth in the playerbase since the set's printing and masters sets tend to add less into the supply than many actually think.
TCGPlayer has only 3 pages if you set it to 50 sellers per page and many on page 3 are foil copies. It also helps that this card occasionally breaks out in janky modern decks. It's current $4 price tag could easily double to $8 should Zaxara prove a desirable commander, which I think it will.
So normally I avoid standard legal cards when looking at Commander specs, however, Steelbane Hydra is an interesting option because it doesn't come from standard Throne of Eldraine packs. It was included in the Wild Bounty Brawl deck and I believe can be found in collectors edition packs, so there are likely fewer copies floating around, again setting sellers to 50 per page nets 3 pages of total sellers on TCGPlayer. Copies are in the sub $2 category so the buy-in is pretty low.
This is actually a card I spec'd on back in 2016 when I looked at Conspiracy: Take the Crown potential specs. Back then it was a $1.5 card. Now it was reprinted in Commander Anthology, but honestly that adds very little to the supply. The card is already sitting in the $4+ range and is another card that could easily hit $7+ should it be high on the "auto-include" list for Zaxara.
A card so powerful it's still banned in Modern, when it was first released it helped create the Maverick archetype in Legacy, by providing incredible consistency. Not surprisingly, Commander is another format that likes consistency and repeatable tutors are quite valuable. Now this one has a buy-in that is honestly higher than I typically prefer for non-reserved list specs with most copies in the $7-$9 range. I have to think this is an easy auto-include in any version of Zaxara because like Green Sun's Zenith it plays well with both Zaxara's abilities.
Conclusion
One important thing to keep in mind with speculating on any of the cards on this list, especially the green ones, is that 2020 is not only the year the world falls apart, but also the year of Commander according to WoTC. I could easily see some of these green specs being potential inclusions in the specialty green-based Commander supplemental product and/or could be included in the draftable Commander product. To me that's the biggest risk for any of them, I feel like any cards on this list that do dodge both those products will likely see solid growth in the coming year.
The creatures themselves aren't that jaw-dropping. Rather, I think they'll prove popular because of the strength of companion itself. To understand the gravity of introducing a commander element into other constructed formats, it has helped me to think about the mechanic's costs and benefits.
Companions allow Modern players to start every game with an extra card. Since the card never changes, consistency is also added. Have you ever played a friendly game and mulled to five, only to have your buddy allow you to draw back up to seven, only to draw two more blanks and have to mulligan anyway? With companion, the extra card is always the same one, easing requirements of openers 
First up is Jegantha, the Wellspring, which already has an obvious home: 5-Color Niv Mizzet. These decks aim to keep opponents at bay with splashy spells until they can resolve their namesake dragon, draw plenty of cards, and leverage their newfound card advantage into a win. Jegantha looks like it will be very comfortable in the sideboard, from where it provides an attractive Plan B in lieu of Niv Mizzet Reborn, or even to bait out countermagic before going for the Dragon.
Next is Kaheera, the Orphanguard. While its condition is easily met in any tribal deck centered around Cats, Elementals, Nightmares, Dinosaurs, or Beasts, none of those tribal decks exist in Modern, and I doubt any are on the precipice of a breakthrough. But Kaheera's most interesting aspect lies in what isn't explicitly stated on the card: a deck without any creatures also fulfills its companion condition. In other words, any creatureless deck so inclined can run a Kaheera in the sideboard and run it out at their leisure.
Yorion, Sky Nomad asks a steep price of its players: they are to run 80 or more cards if they want the Bird Serpent as a companion. While many Magic players may balk at the idea, to me, running 80 cards seems like a small price to pay for the effect at hand.
A key break from Ghostway is that Yorion blinks not just creatures, but permanents—including one of Modern's 
Another companion I think will see immediate play is Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Modern is home to a top-tier deck that almost fulfills its companion requirement: Traverse Shadow. The deck's only permanent exceeding CMC 2 is Liliana of the Veil, generally played as a two-of. So the question becomes: is it worth trimming those two Lilianas to run a Lurrus in the sideboard? Or, put another way, to start every game with access to Lurrus as an additional card in hand?
Since Lurrus can be cast from the sideboard, though, it already comes with an extra draw attached—that Liliana would have taken up a slot in the opener or as a turn draw. I think this aspect may be overlooked by some players, but Lurrus indeed provides a burst of value by sheer virtue of the companion mechanic. Let's say it comes down for three mana, recurs Mishra's Bauble, and immediately eats a Lightning Bolt. That's a huge exchange for the Shadow player: Lurrus traded for Bolt, and Bauble put the pilot ahead by a card. But since Lurrus came from the sideboard and not the hand, it was also free in terms of card economy, making the play a plus two... like Treasure Cruise!
Last on our list is Zirda, the Dawnwaker. Zirda is a walking Training Grounds, but in different colors. And while Training Grounds was annoying for being tough to find, Zirda is always available thanks to companion!
isn't countered because it was always a creature, not an aura, and can still resolve to the best of its ability. If the mutation successfully resolves, the card is placed over or beneath the target. The overall creature is the top card plus all the abilities of the bottom cards as well as any counters or actual auras it had before it mutated. It's the same creature, just with new abilities. If it dies, everything attached also dies.
successfully mutate, and that could be a tall order. I think that the mana cost to power ratios of the known cards, coupled with the risks of mutation, will keep all but the most aggressive cards out of Modern.
The natural home for Sprite is an Izzet Phoenix style deck. However, Izzet Phoenix itself has basically disappeared since Faithless Looting was banned. Lacking the ability to dump two Arclight Phoenix into the graveyard turn one has been effectively fatal. Still, mono-red Prowess had been doing 
While on the subject of Izzet cards, Rielle, the Everwise strikes me as a card with combo potential. The intended fair usage of a high-power threat that makes up for Wizards's insistence that blue can only filter cards, not draw them, is not good enough at three mana. However, for a more combo-oriented deck, she looks like a strong boost of card advantage. It will only work once per turn, so it would need to be a big one to be worthwhile. Resolving Wheel of Fate and drawing 14 cards sounds absurd. However, I have no idea what such a deck would look like, and I'm not sure that any Izzet combo would want a three-mana do-nothing-on-its-own card like Rielle. I am certain, however, that someone will try to make it work. The upside is too high.
However, much like Archfiend, the new beasties are not going to make Living End good again. All the currently spoiled monsters that are at least as good as current options are actually worse because their cycling cost is higher. To make the deck good, Living End must cycle multiple creatures a turn, explaining its preference for the one-mana cyclers from Alara block. It matters little how powerful the creatures actually are; the key to the deck is lots of above-averagely sized creatures and drawing through the deck to find the cascade cards. Thus, the cycling cost puts a damper on playability.
each time it is cycled, making it more likely to find another Yidaro. Once Yidaro has cycled four times, that velocity cantrip suddenly turns into an 8/8 trampling haste creature. And it will continue happening until every Yidaro is dead.
On the thematic flipside, there are Ikoria's humans. Wizards appears to be aware of the tribe's risks, given 
Instead, the Ikoria humans make an argument for an entirely new deck. With the printing of General Kudro of Drannith, I count Humans having two traditional lords, and a third including Thalia's Lieutenant. Mayor of Avabruck has seen Modern play before, but he doesn't fit into the 5-Color Humans attack plan. Kudro, Mayor, and Lieutenant make a compelling case for a more traditional Human tribal beatdown deck. Given Kudro's Reprisal ability, it would make sense to play token makers in such a deck. This points to a midrange value-beatdown deck, which is appropriate given other cards like Dire Tactics.
There is one expection: Drannith Magistrate could easily find a home in 5-C Humans. Many lists have run Yixlid Jailer against graveyard combo and Dredge before. Magistrate isn't as directly hateful as Jailer, but it has far more applications.
The obvious cost to name is "odd," because all Modern's best spot removal is odd. Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Path to Exile, Reflector Mage, Deputy of Detention, and Teferi, Time Raveler would all be negated. Death's Shadow dreads this card. Also, Venturer could swing through Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, or block it eternally. This safety comes at the cost of never being able to carry a Sword of Fire and Ice.
The first card to get my gears whirring was Sprite Dragon. Dragon brings a number of existing designs to the limit, combining Quirion Dryad and Stormchaser Mage into one pushed beatstick. Dryad was never menacing the turn it resolved, which Sprite patches up with haste; Stormchaser required multiple mini-combo turns from its pilots to output damage consistently, a requirement relaxed by Sprite's using +1/+1 counters.
UR Sprite is far from novel, or fancy, in its approach. The idea is to land a cheap threat early and pick at opponents while disrupting them. With cards like Manamorphose and Vapor Snag backing up Monastery Swiftspear, it's decidedly more aggressive than the Delver decks I tend to favor, which aim more to set up a resilient threat and win over a series of attacks. Sprite Dragon encourages this faster plan, as making it Bolt-proof as quickly as possible inherently lends itself to the more combo-oriented nature of aggro decks like Mono-Red Prowess.
Our best proactive card, though, is Manamorphose. The instant flips Delver, grows Swiftspear and Sprite, and helps us rush out Bedlam Reveler. While it's sometimes advantageous to sandbag Manamorphose until a benefitting threat comes along, I've found it useful in the early game to just chain them into each other. Reveler is so forgiving with its draw-3 that haemorrhaging resources along the way doesn't matter so much.
I enjoyed Sprite Dragon's ability to put a flying, attacking Goyf on the field out of nowhere during the mid-game. But more often, the creature was pricey enough that I'd wait until later to cast it, and by then had little to grow it with. As far as following up a deceased one-drop, the plan only excelled when opponents lacked a second removal spell, making Sprite worse than Goyf in that role.
It took the spoiling of Footfall Crater for me to turn my attention fully to Tarmogoyf. For years, I've been awaiting an easy-to-bin enchantment to help in my unending quest to 
Flayer and Goyf are great with haste and trample. Goyf is bigger, but Flayer's ability to hit and then set up our second-main-phase cantrip draw, thin the deck of lands with Wrenn out, or pseudo-tutor by finding and dumping Uro makes the deck's sleeper MVP.
We end up being okay against most other graveyard hate. While Grafdigger's Cage and Surgical Extraction deal with Uro, they do nothing in the face of Flayer or Goyf; similarly, Nihil Spellbomb and Tormod's Crypt can shrink our beaters, but a single Thought Scour is enough to get us back on track.
Grafdigger's Cage isn't really an option for us since we're also an Uro deck. So I 
Nonetheless, I think this shell is okay. I think pretty much any Uro-Astrolabe shell is okay. It's probably wiser to 
In this specific case, I do sympathize. Snow carries a lower opportunity cost than 
Consider this game that I observed a bit over a month ago. The Jund player, who I shall call Edward to prevent public humiliation (though not private; he knows what he did), was playing against Bant online, and despite having multiple opportunities to win the game, failed to do so. His opponent didn't do much better on that front, and was in some ways worse about sealing the deal. It didn't matter because Edward's deck punished him, where the opponent's was forgiving. The culprit: cantrips healing all wounds.
other card, but one side gets to draw an extra one, they're going to come out on top. Lightning Bolt trades favorably on mana with Coatl, but in this context, only cards matter.
However, 
Jund is a deck that many players aspire to because it feels awesome to just 
As I 
