Hidden Gems - Man! I Feel Like a Zombie!

Welcome to another edition of Hidden Gems—the place where we Commander players stick to the format’s roots and intentionally try to play bulk rares.

Today we’re diving into Magic’s history to find the best underappreciated cards that will soon find a new home in the upcoming Commander Masters precon, Enduring Enchantments.

The face of the deck is Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, the long-awaited Abzan enchantment commander. Brewers are already hard at work on EDHREC in anticipation of Commander Masters, releasing August 4th.

I’ve picked two cards that I feel brewers are currently overlooking, and two other cards that I wanted to highlight as especially good choices. Get them now before demand goes up and takes their prices with it.

Remove Enchantments

Warning: reading the printed version of this card from Legends might make your eyes roll back into your brain and explode. If you don’t want to look up the oracle text, know this—it’s a one mana “press in case of emergency” button for enchantment decks. Anikthea and her army of twinkly Zombies will make you play a lot of enchantments. Unfortunately, that leaves her vulnerable to mass enchantment removal—particularly exile effects like Farewell.

It’s no Teferi's Protection, but it’s only one mana and it saves your nontoken enchantments from exile by bouncing them to your hand. Plus, if your hand gets too full and you wind up discarding some, Anikthea can come back and start reanimating them right away. Not bad for a single white pip.

Baneful Omen

If you’re cheating Zombie versions of expensive enchantments into play, your deck is already gravitating towards a higher mana value. This little treasure will fit right in, giving you an extra win con and reanimation target. Use your Sensei's Divining Top to make the most of it—or, better yet, the more on-theme version, Mirri's Guile.

Song of the Worldsoul

I’m not sure which song the Song of the Worldsoul is, but I’m imagining something like Shania Twain’s 1997 chart-topper, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” This song is hand-made for Erebos’s hand, Anikthea. I’m also not sure how a hand sings a song, unless Anikthea is also a ventriloquist.

No matter. The zombified song (can you sing with no lips and half a lung?) can copy itself each time you play a spell—snowballing until you have an entire chorus singing in unison. Menacing, indeed.

Oriq Loremage

Maximizing Ani as a commander requires putting cards in graveyards. There are plenty of spells that can mill you that fit right into the deck (Deadbridge Chant, anyone?), but Oriq Loremage is Ani’s version of Demonic Tutor. Tap it every turn to find the right silver bullet for every situation. Need removal? Tap for Exclusion Ritual. Need protection? Tap for Privileged Position. It does everything!

Remove Enchantments	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $2.26
Baneful Omen	CardKingdom $0.59	TCGPlayer $0.86
Song of the Worldsoul	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $7.77
Oriq Loremage	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $0.67

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