Top 5 Best MTG Color Hosers You Should Play in Commander

Want to metagame your Commander pod? Here’s how.

Magic: The Gathering’s five colors are a unique aspect of the game and a differentiator from other collectible trading card games. Playing one or more colors in a deck offers players many card choices, strategies, and deck-building decisions. However, not all colors in magic fully complement each other. Magic’s two-color pairings fall into either allied colors or enemy colors. The enemy color combinations in Magic are Orzhov (White/Black), Simic (Green/Blue), Golgari (Black/Green), Boros (White/Red), and Izzet (Blue/Red).

It may not seem apparent that Golgari or Boros are enemy colors in terms of gameplay. Golgari aligns with graveyard interaction and recursion to win games, while Boros is known for aggressive creature strategies. While enemy colors can and do form game-winning strategies, they can also be at odds.

Magic contains “color hoser” cards that focus on destroying, countering, or hindering cards of a particular color. For instance, Flashfires and Boil are Red spells that destroy all Plains or Islands. Players with Boros or Izzet-colored decks would likely avoid playing Flashfire or Boil as it may destroy their lands more than those controlled by an opponent.

Color hosers can also come in the form of creatures and enchantments. Order of the Sacred Torch and Eastern Paladin are creatures with abilities to target spells and creatures of specific colors. Longtime players may be familiar with Choke, a Green enchantment that prevents Islands from untapping during their controllers’ untap step. Chill is another enchantment that makes red spells cost two more colorless mana. While many color hoser cards released throughout Magic’s history were well before the creation of the Commander format, several are Commander playable. Let’s discuss five color hosers that are worth playing in Commander.

Kormus Bell

Revised Edition, Rare

One colorless color hoser is Kormus Bell, a four-mana artifact that turns all Swamps into 1/1 Black creatures. Turning Swamps into 1/1 Black creatures may seem niche, considering the possibility of your opponents running nonblack Commander decks.

Nonetheless, with Kormus Bell and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth under your control, all lands in play turn into Swamps and 1/1 Black creatures. Next, you can ply Toxrill, the Corrosive, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Suffocating Fumes, or End the Festivites to destroy all of your opponent’s lands. Instead of destroying lands, consider casting Linvala, Keeper of Silence, or Drana and Linvala to prevent your opponents’ lands from tapping for mana.

Pyroblast / Red Elemental Blast

Red Elemental Blast

Masters 25, Uncommon

Initially printed in Alpha, Red Elemental Blast has been part of Magic since the beginning. Red Elemental Blast counters a Blue spell or destroys a Blue permanent for only one Red mana. Countering and destroying cards of a specific, highly played color is a potent effect worth considering for the ninety-nine. Sometime after printing Red Elemental Blast, Wizards of the Coast thought Magic needed another similar Blue hoser.

Ice Age’s Pyroblast is a Red instant that either counters a spell or destroys a permanent if it is Blue. Although Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast appear to be the same card, they are, in fact, slightly different. Unlike Red Elemental Blast, Pyroblast can still target a spell or permanent if it is not Blue.

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Blue is a dominant color in Commander and represents the color identity of many format staples like Cyclonic Rift, Mystic Remora, and Rhystic Study. Countering any of those blue cards (or destroying them if applicable) for one Red mana is a bargain. Slotting Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast in a Red deck for added firepower against Blue is a good idea, especially if you are familiar with your playgroup or want to defeat several of the most-played Commanders. If Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast is a dead card in your hand, you can pitch it away with Faithless Looting, Thrill of Possibility, or through another discard outlet.

Furthermore, Blue Elemental Blast and Hydroblast are the Blue variants that can quell Red spells, and could be worth adding to a Commander deck if there’s a high representation of Red in a regular Commander pod.

Mogg Salvage

Modern Horizons 2

Previously reprinted in Modern Horizons 2, Mogg Salvage is another Blue hoser consideration for Red Commander decks. Mogg Salvage is a three-mana instant that destroys an artifact. However, you may cast Mogg Salvage without paying its mana cost if an opponent controls an Island and you control a Mountain. In a four-player Commander game, the odds are much higher that at least one of your opponents controls an Island instead of a single opponent. Moreover, the artifact you want to destroy does not have to be controlled by the opponent with an Island.

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Destroying a Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, or Mox Opal without paying Mogg Salvage’s casting cost is ideal. Competitive Commander players likely have their choice of viable targets for Mogg Salvage, as fast-mana artifacts can slot into most decks. Even still, Commander players will come across a Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Swiftfoot Boots in any given game.

Submerge

Nemesis, Uncommon

Submerge is a Blue instant with only one printing in Nemesis. Submerge puts a creature on top of its owner’s library for five mana. Alternatively, you may cast Submerge without paying its mana cost if an opponent controls a Forest and you control an Island. Casting Submerge for free is likely in a game of Commander, as Green is an integral color for mana fixing and identifies with some of the more popular Commander choices.

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Removing threats and blockers with Submerge can benefit a handful of commanders. Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces Spellslinger builds can utilize Krark, the Thumbless’ ability to copy Submerge. Clearing the battlefield of Drannith Magistrate, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Orcish Bowmasters, and other hindrances can open a path to victory. Submerge can also lead Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow and Zethi, Arcane Blademaster to victory by bouncing blockers. Excitingly, Zethi’s ability can cast a copy of Submerge each time they attack.

Elephant Grass

Visions, Uncommon

Elephant Grass is an intriguing one-mana Green enchantment with an ability usually found on White and Blue cards. With Elephant Grass on the battlefield, Black creatures can’t attack you. Furthermore, non-black creatures cannot attack you unless their controller pays two mana for each creature they control that is attacking you. The only drawback of playing Elephant Grass is its cumulative upkeep of one mana.

Preventing Black creatures from attacking you, along with a Ghostly Prison effect for one mana, is outstanding. Even with a cumulative upkeep, you should be able to maintain Elephant Grass for a few turns. If Elephant Grass becomes too much mana to keep, you can cast it again from the graveyard with Muldrotha, the Gravetide or Conduit of Worlds.

Elephant Grass can buy time for Green Commanders to execute their game plan. Enchantment-focused commanders such as Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, Sythis, Harvest’s Hand, and Tuvasa the Sunlit can maximize Elephant Grass and generate added value. Your opponents may be surprised when their Black Army, Zombie, or Vampire creatures cannot attack through an unusual Green enchantment.