Well, it's finally happened; I'm officially obsessed with Dominaria.
First of all, it's a great return to Magic's early days that fills new players in on the history while also bringing older players back to their early days of playing. Second, it's an amazing draft format - maybe my favourite of all time. (I've only been playing since RTR) Third, it's a Commander player's absolute dream. Well designed and with very playable legendary creatures at uncommon, not to mention the wealth of amazing generals at rare and above too.
All of these reasons add up to Dominaria being my favourite overall set in my own personal Magic history.
But I haven't even mentioned my absolute favourite thing about Dominaria. My favourite thing about this set is that it contains Helm of the Host.
Helm of the Host is a full on cheat of the Legendary rule, and I couldn't be happier. As Commander players, we've always been vaguely aware of the Legendary tribal deck, featuring things like Captain Sisay and Mirror Gallery. But Helm of the Host truly completes the possibilities of such a deck.
But make no mistake, Helm of the Host does not need a legendary theme to be good. This equipment is a welcome addition in many EDH decks, regardless of play style or what your budget looks like. It even makes sense as a competitive card with certain commanders. So, with that being said let's take a look at some of the absolute best (AND some underrated) commanders for my favourite equipment.
First off, there are two commanders that will automatically just win you the game if equipped with Helm of the Host equipped and allowed to attack.
Aurelia, the Warleader and Godo, Bandit Warlord
Aurelia and Godo both grant additional combat phases, which is a mechanic that goes infinite with Helm of the Host, and an attack trigger from the created tokens. You simply win if your opponents can't interact with the combo. Godo gets additional bonus points here because including him as your commander will tutor for the Helm when he's cast.
Slapping a Helm on Medomai means free turns. Thanks to the wording on Medomai, however, this is not an infinite combo. But, if left to create a token or two it can result in a backbreaking amount of extra turns when you attack with three or four Medomais on your first turn.
I don't know about you, but when I first laid eyes on Helm of the Host Trostani was the commander that immediately jumped to my mind. Populating un-legendary copies of herself and gaining way too much life? YES PLEASE.
Oh brother, you like drawing cards and casting free spells? Wait 'till you have a few Rashmis out on the battlefield.
One of the more underrated aspects of the Helm is that it creates the token creature on combat and gives it haste. It'd be crazy enough if it just made the tokens normally, but the addition of haste is just too much. Swing with a couple Etalis and you probably don't need to do anything else the entire game.
You are not supposed to have more than one Tromokratis. I don't know how many people out there have Tromokratis commander decks, but make no mistake if you have more than one of these guys, it's gets very ugly for your opponents very quickly.
Equipping Saskia with a Helm of the Host is just too much. Can you imagine? THERE'S A REASON THE LEGENDARY RULE EXISTS, PEOPLE.
No. Come on, that's not fair.
PLEASE. STAHP.
By now you might have put together the idea that just about any commander seems broken when wearing a Helm of the Host. Want another infinite combo? How about Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker? Sure, that combo needs a Purphoros or a Goblin Bombardment, but still.
Want some other nonsense thing to do? What about throwing it on The Ur-Dragon or an Edgar Markov? I haven't even touched on how completely out of control this card gets with Experience counter commanders. Ezuri, Claw of Progress or Meren of Clan Nel Toth just get absolutely bonkers when existing in multiples. Just make sure you keep up some Counterspell mana, or at least a Rootborn Defenses for those incoming board wipes.
When cards in Magic break the rules of Magic, they are by nature very powerful and Helm of the Host is no different. It is my humble opinion that you should get many copies of this card and run them in your favourite decks and just see what shenanigans you can get up to abusing the rule-breaking nature of this card. Then please tweet me at @andyhullbone and @commandersbrew and show me the insane results! In the meantime, I have some Atraxas to multiply. Or wait, maybe some Elesh Norns? Can't decide, too many commanders!
See everyone next week!
