Commander 2019 spoilers: New Populate, Flashback, Morph, & Madness

Magic: The Gathering Commander 2019 spoiler season has just kicked off, and we already have all the lead generals! The leaks were true from earlier last month based on them. Let’s talk about Ghired, Conclave Exile; Sevinne, the Chronoclasm; Anje Falkenrath; and Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer.

Ghired, Conclave Exile

For 5 mana in Naya colors, Ghired, Conclave Exile is a 2/5 Human Shaman. When he enters he immediately makes a 4/4 Rhino with trample. That’s already a good rate on its own, but his bonus ability makes him even better. Every time you attack, you get to populate. Immediately this makes me want to shove as many extra combat spells into my deck as possible. Thankfully, Ghired has red so this makes it easy. Relentless Assault and Savage Beating are both easy ways to hit hard and keep the tokens coming!

Sevinne, the Chronoclasm

For 5 mana in Jeskai, Sevinne, the Chronoclasm is a 2/2 Legendary Wizard that can’t take damage at all. Every time you cast a spell from your graveyard for the first time, Sevinne copies that spell. This works incredibly well with cards that have Flashback or Retrace. Flashback a Think Twice and you get to draw an extra card. Snapcaster a Time Stretch and suddenly you’re taking four extra turns. The value is insane on this one.

Anje Falkenrath

The only 2-color commander, Anje Falkenrath is made to make madness decks work — and work hard. She’s a 1/3 Vampire with haste that taps to discard and draw. You get to use her as soon as you cast her, and if you use her to cast a Madness spell, you untap her immediately. Insane turns of just chaining Madness cards together could make her an incredible threat. Not to mention you’re going to draw so many cards. Pair it with a sick enabler like Alhammarret’s Archive and suddenly she’s incredibly scary. Thank goodness Paradox Engine is banned or she’d easily go pseudo-infinite with it.

Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

Our last commander is Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer. He’s a 3/3 Naga Wizard and he makes your morphs cost nothing to cast. That’s right, a free morph every turn. Give your stuff flash with something like Leyline of Anticipation and suddenly you get four free creatures every turn. That would’ve been powerful on its own, but he also draws you cards for flipping your creatures. Card draw, mana cheating — Kadena has it all!

Verdict

The new commanders all seem powerful, but nothing insanely broken as we’ve had in the past. Some people might call them “safe,” but I’d rather think of them as good starting points. These commanders make building around them easy and fun. They’re powerful but balanced. If the rest of the set is about on this power level, I’ll be extremely satisfied.

What do you think of the new commanders in Magic: The Gathering Commander 2019? Are you already brewing around one of them? Let us know down in the comments below!