Summary
The bestMagic: The GatheringBloomburrowCommander isn’t as glaringly obvious as it is during some set releases - Wizards of the Coast has done a particularly excellent job with this wave of preconstructed (precon) decks, such that each one has some appeal as a potent strategy while no clear favorite has emerged. Thenewly releasedBloomburrowCommander decksall feature a cohesive theme that feels distinct to the others and plays well off their animal inspirations; for instance, the Bello, Bard of the Brambles deck takes its raccoon leader and spins out an entire “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” story through its card selection and archetype.
For those unfamiliar,Magic: The Gathering’s Commander formatis by far its most popular offering. It’s a multiplayer format that sees four players construct 100 card decks (including their Commander), with no repeat cards allowed besides basic lands. These decks then battle for supremacy and use their Commanders to glue their strategy together, as they sit in the Command Zone and are thus available each game without needing to draw them. It’s a chaotic format, full of unbelievable combos and political discussions at the table, and it’s often an hours-long endeavor that never quite plays out the same.
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Family Matters Is The Best MTG Bloomburrow Commander Deck
Zinnia, Valley’s Voice Offers A Powerful Two-In-One Strategy
The bestBloomburrowCommander is Zinnia, Valley’s Voice, a Jeskai (WUR) card that is far more than meets the eye when first looking at it. At a WUR cost for a 1/3 flier, the stats on Zinnia are underwhelming at best, but that’s complemented by two incredible abilities that tie the deck’s strategy together while simultaneously offering a surprise win condition through Zinnia itself.
Let’s break down what makes Zinnia so incredible as an out-of-the-box, precon Commander. Its first ability reads like this:
Zinnia, Valley’s Voice gets +X/+0, where X is the number of other creatures you control with base power 1.
In a deck filled with one-power creatures - 10 of its 35 creatures have base power one - Zinnia can often be a three- or four-power flier by the time it sticks on the battlefield, immediately making it much more desirable than its 1/3 base stats would suggest. But this ability really becomes a haymaker once Zinnia’s other text lines are considered:
Creature spells you cast have offspring 2. (You may pay an additional 2 as you cast a creature spell. If you do, when that creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.)
Offspring is a new mechanic introduced in Bloomburrow that is already making waves as a potential Commander build-around thanks to Zinnia.
Now, for just two extra mana, every creature in the Family Matters deck will create a copy of itself, and that copy will also boost Zinnia’s power.That synergy is nice, but the real benefit is simply getting two enters effects for the cost of one card and a bit of extra mana.Family Matters has cards like Inferno Titan in it, which, for eight mana with Zinnia in play, is able to divide six damage as a player wishes. There are cards like Junk Winder, which allows players to stun permanents on the battlefield when a token enters under their control; making an offspring of that card now means that effect is triggered twice.
The Family Matters deck also has a control sub-theme to it that gives it strong staying power.
The Family Matters deck also has a control sub-theme to it that gives it strong staying power. It has great single-target removal spells like Path to Exile as well as a few sweepers like Time Wipe, and conditional cards like Dusk//Dawn that help preserve a player’s battlefield while wiping out an opponent’s or two. Really,one of the best assets the Family Matters deck offers prospective purchasers is its flexibility, especially if everyone is playing precons - the ability to pivot from swarming the battlefield to using a select few creatures to trigger powerful enters abilities, and to recoup a lost game by using powerful wrath effects, makes it excellent at all stages of the game.
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How To Upgrade Zinnia, Valley’s Voice Decks
An Easy Bloomburrow Commander To Improve On
One way to upgrade theBloomburrowFamily Matters precon is to really dive deep into its Bird-type sub-theme and swarm the battlefield with fliers that have strong abilities (and, with offspring, twice the impact). For that, there are a few cards that are obvious inclusions, and a few that might be surprising. For a quick list of Bird suggestions for a Zinnia, Valley’s Voice upgrade, here’s a good place to start:
The Bird creature subtype has plenty of cards from older sets that might suddenly matter more with Zinnia - it’s worth looking through resources like Gatherer to find them!
Of course, birds aren’t the only way to build out Family Matters in a potent direction. It’s also possible to build a Zinnia Commander deck to maximize enter effects, and here’s a few cards to help begin that process:
Clearly, Zinnia’s deck is a little all over the place, but that flexibility means it is easy to upgrade in different directions.There’s plenty of room for experimentation with this powerful card, which is our pick for the bestMTG BloomburrowCommander.
