5 Underrated Commander Cards from Invasion

Invasion is one of the most important sets in Magic history. Released in 2000, it represents both a very important moment in the history of Magic design, and an equally important moment in Magic lore.

In the story, Invasion and its Block (the subsequent sets Planeshift and Apocalypse) was the culmination of several years of Magic story. The Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria had been looming on the horizon for a long time. 

Invasion was Magic’s first true “event set,” in that it brought together most of Magic’s major characters to fight against the Phyrexians who were invading from another plane. We’re pretty familiar with event sets these days, with the most recent example being March of the Machine – another set focused on a Phyrexian invasion. However, in this case they were after the entire multiverse. The upcoming Aetherdrift, which focuses on a multi-planar race, is also an event set.

Design-wise, Invasion marked a renewed focus on multicolored cards and legendary creatures. While 1994’s Legends had introduced both of these things and focused heavily on them, the actual execution was incredibly underwhelming.

Most of the multicolored and legendary cards in the set were very underpowered, even for 1994. The design of multicolored cards in that set almost makes it seem like they thought being multicolored was somehow upside! In the six years between Legends and Invasion the role of both multicolored and legendary cards was minimal.

So, Invasion (and Invasion block more broadly) was a renewed attempt at pursuing these legendary and multicolored themes. And it was much more successful. In particular, Invasion was focused on allied color pairs and three color shards.

While the set was incredibly important for Magic lore and design, today’s Commander players probably aren’t very familiar with the set. There are only a few Invasion cards that are seeing significant play in the format. Phyrexian Altar is one of the best ways to sacrifice creatures and generate mana, and Fact or Fiction is a powerful way to simultaneously load the graveyard and draw cards.

However, I think Invasion has some cards in it that Commander players should really give a shot. In this article, I’ll take a look at five of those cards.

UNDERRATED COMMANDER: RITH, THE AWAKENER

Every three-color shard received a Legendary Dragon in Invasion. And they really represent this focus on designing powerful multicolored legendary cards that would make everyone forget about Legends. After all, they are all 6-mana 6/6 flyers with upside – something that was unheard of in 2000.

I think Rith, the Awakener is the best of the cycle. She’s basically the Krenko of Saprolings! Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But like Krenko, she can create exponentially more and more Saprolings the more she gets to use her ability. While you do need to hit your opponent and pay some mana to do it, things can get super out of hand in just a few swings.

If you load your deck up with lots of Green cards, ways to make Saprolings, and Saproling payoffs you’ll be in business. Rith’s Naya identity is nice upside too, because unlike other Commanders who are great at generating Saproling tokens, she gives you access to cards like Impact Tremors and Purphoros, so you can really make those Saproling tokens deadly.

BREATH OF DARIGAAZ

Kicker was originally introduced in Invasion and it’s gone on to be one of the most important mechanics in the game. After all, every mechanic is Kicker, right?

Breath of Darigaaz is a very powerful Kicker card, too. Four mana to do 4 damage to all players and all creatures without flying is an excellent rate, and sometimes just doing 1 to everything can be just as impactful. This makes the Breath a sweeper that is worth considering in many Red decks.

However, it’s especially good in a deck with a Commander who likes it when you or your stuff gets damaged. That helps break up the symmetry of the Breath, since it can generate lots of additional value for you.

Indoraptor’s Enrage trigger can be pretty spicy with the Breath. You can have Indoraptor gobble up most of your board, and then cast the Breath to really turn a game on its head. Meanwhile, Auntie Blyte can grow in a big way thanks to the damage you deal to yourself.

PLANAR PORTAL

As you can see from the flavor text, this is how the Phyrexians invaded Dominaria. It’s also a repeatable way to tutor up any card you want, which is a pretty big deal.

Now, 6 mana to cast and 6 for the ability is clunky as heck, so this certainly isn’t a tutor that should slot into every Commander deck or anything like that. However, in decks that are good at generating mana and/or that have some game-winning combos to tutor up, it’s worth consideration. This is especially true if you’re using a Commander with a colorless identity, since you’re going to be Limited on tutors.

Karn, Legacy Reforged is the perfect home for the Portal. He likes high mana value artifacts and he generates tons of mana to use to cast artifacts or use their activated abilities. This can make activating the Portal every turn automatic, and that’s a good way to win the game in a hurry. 

Using Karn with the portal is a bit of a flavor fail though, since in the Invasion story he’s one of the crew of the Weatherlight who fights against the Phyrexians.

DEATH OR GLORY

I don’t think most of today’s players know that there is a whole cycle of “X or X” cards in Invasion, and all of them involve cards getting separated into piles. This is because Fact or Fiction is really the only one that has ever been relevant at all. There’s reason for that too, as most of them are pretty bad.

However, Death or Glory has a very high ceiling and a fairly unique effect for White. It can effectively be 5 mana to reanimate about half of your graveyard, and that’s a deal I would sign up for. With a little diplomacy, you may even be able to get one of your opponents to reanimate more than that.

Of course, the problem here is that White isn’t exactly good at loading the graveyard. And Commanders with White in their identity that do like the graveyard are usually also Black. However, I think it’s worth noting that Death or Glory compares favorably even with Black mass reanimation spells, which cost significantly more than 5 mana. 

Sure, Death or Glory is a little finicky, but it’s undoubtedly strong. If your Commander is Karador, Ghost Chieftain for example, you might want to think long and hard about giving Death or Glory a try.

DUELING GROUNDS

Dueling Grounds has a very nice prison effect, effectively making every combat step into a one-on-one “trial by combat” situation. While it might seem like this is hard to really abuse for a color pair like Green/White, which often likes to go really wide, there are actually many Commanders who can really abuse the Grounds.

If you have a Voltron-style deck that is really focused on buffing up a single creature in a big way, Dueling Grounds is for you. I mean, if your Commander is Rafiq or Uril, you’re really only planning on attacking with one creature anyway, so it isn’t like the downside even affects you. Meanwhile, your opponent will find it nigh-impossible to take down your huge creature with only one block.

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Invasion is a really cool set that has a lot to offer. I hope this article introduced you to some powerful cards you’ve never heard of before, and that you have fun playing them in Commander. Let me know your favorite Invasion card over on X.

Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.