March of the Machine brings five new Commander decks toMagic: The Gathering, each showcasing the massive invasion of New Phyrexia on the Multiverse. Despite the overwhelming might that bears down on them, some, like the honorable Knight creatures of the Multiverse, resist the influence of New Phyrexia.
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Knight creatures are on full display with the Cavalry’s Charge commander deck, filled with all sorts of new and returning Knights, as well as a whole slew of powerful new spells to assist them. Let’s take a look at the best cards you’ll want to keep an eye on for your Knight-themed decks.
10Promise Of Loyalty
This surprising board wipe doesn’t just clear the way for your creatures to come through but also protects from oncoming attacks. Promise of Loyalty lets each player pick one creature they control and forces them to sacrifice the rest, putting a vow counter on the one creature they choose to save.
Any creature with one of these vow counters cannot attack you but is free to attack any other player in the game. Promise of Loyalty has a lot of potential outside the Cavalry Charge deck too, taking a new approach to board wipes that doesn’t fully set back your opponents while still protecting you from attacks.
9Conjurer’s Mantle
At just two mana to cast and only one to equip, Conjurer’s Mantle is a very cheap piece of equipment that has a potent ability attached to it. When equipped, the creature gains +1/+1 and vigilance, which is fine for keeping a creature alive but the real power is in its ability.
When your equipped creature attacks you get to look at the top six cards of your deck and pick a card that shares a creature type with the equipped creature. The card you pick goes directly to your hand, helping to keep your hand full of relevant cards.
8Silverwing Squadron
With both flying and vigilance, Silverwing Squadron is a creature that can hit hard while keeping up the defense. It sits at a hefty six mana, making it one of the more expensive creatures in the deck.
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In exchange for the higher cost, you have a Knight that creates a 2/2 Knight token for each opponent you have. In one attack you can get up to three Knight tokens in exchange. Plus, Silverwing Squadron’s power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures you control, so it is constantly growing the more you attack.
7Corpse Knight
Creating creature tokensis a big part of the Cavalry Charge Commander deck and with Corpse Knight you can punish your opponents with all your creature generation. When another creature enters the battlefield under your control, token or otherwise, each opponent loses a life with Corpse Knight in play.
With more ways to generate tons of tokens at a time, you may very quickly drain your opponent’s life from this enter-the-battlefield trigger. Combine it with any type of token doubler like Doubling Season or Anointed Procession, and you’ll have a deadly combo without even having to attack.
6Chivalric Alliance
This two-mana enchantment creates all sorts of value for very little cost. When you attack using two or more creatures with Chivalric Alliance in play, you get to draw a card. With the number of tokens you’ll be generating in the Cavalry Charge deck it will be very easy to repeatedly trigger this effect turn after turn.
If you find yourself running low on creatures, you can pay two mana and discard a card tocreate a 2/2 Knight token with vigilance. Since you can do this at instant speed, you can discard one or more cards at the end of your last opponent’s turn and then have two creatures ready to go.
5Hero Of Bladehold
Similar to Silverwing Squadron, the Hero of Bladehold is a fantastic token generator that comes down several turns earlier and acts like a mini-anthem effect when it attacks. Every time you attack with Hero of Bladehold, you get to create two 1/1 Soldier tokens that are also tapped and attacking.
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Those tokens and every other creature you control also get a boost to their power when Hero of Bladehold attacks. Its battle cry ability gives each other attacking creatures +1/+0 for the turn, rewarding a very aggressive strategy against your opponents.
4Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
One of themost powerful attackers in the deck, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is only as strong as your current board state. Thankfully, she can easily establish a wide creature base after only a few attacks.
Any time you attack using any creature, you create a 1/1 Human token for each opponent. Those tokens enter the battlefield tapped and attack either an opponent or a planeswalker they control. Generating up to three tokens a turn can catch your opponents by surprise and with any sort of enter the battlefield trigger Adeline will trigger it multiple times.
3Sidar Jabari Of Zhalfir
One of only a few cards ever printed with the Eminence, Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir is a powerhouse of a card. So long as Sidar is in play or in the command zone you get a free loot effect whenever you attack with a Knight creature, digging through your deck until you find the cards you need.
Sidar can trigger itself when it attacks too and with its second ability you get to return a Knight creature from your graveyard to the battlefield when Sidar deals combat damage to an opponent. This gives you a sort of safety net to discard Knight creatures earlier in the match to bring them back later in the game for free.
2Herald Of Hoofbeats
One of the wildest cards from the Cavalry Charge Commander deck is Herald of Hoofbeats since it dusts off a more than twenty-year hiatus mechanic, horsemanship. Herald of Hoofbeats only gives your Knight creatures horsemanship, which balances out the power of this card a bit but it is still a very strong card that has the potential to see some wider play.
Functionally, horsemanship is just the flying mechanic under a different name. The difficulty around it is that while flying has thousands of cards with it or the reach mechanic, there are only 38 cards that have or grant horsemanship to another card, making it incredibly one-sided in the majority of games.
1Elenda And Azor
The alternate commander for the Cavalry Charge Commander deck with an absolutely wild creature typing, Elenda and Azor brings together a Vampire Knight and a Sphinx to one card. Elenda and Azor have a built-in Sphinx’s Revelation to the card, letting you pay X and Esper mana to draw as many cards as you have spare mana for.
Then triggering at the beginning of each player’s end step, Elenda and Azor let you pay four life to create X 1/1 Vampire Knight tokens with lifelink equal to the number of cards you’ve drawn this turn.
Any sort of instant speed draw spells can help you establish a board during your opponent’s turn, or even after an opponent has forced you to draw cards through effects like Windfall or Wheel of Fortune.
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