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35 Best Underplayed Magic: The Gathering White Commander Cards


Today we are taking a look at the most underrated and underused white Commander cards in Magic: The Gathering. White is well known for silver bullet catch-all cards that are some of the most powerful answers in Magic. Abilities like exiling creatures, preventing damage, and removing graveyards, allow white to stop game-winning strategies to be executed by opponents. Most of this colors powerful cards are well known and often played, but there's a lot that are overlooked and forgotten.

 

For underplayed Magic: The Gathering Blue Commander Cards, click here!

For underplayed Magic: The Gathering Red Commander Cards, click here!

For underplayed Magic: The Gathering Green Commander Cards, click here!

 

In no particular order, here are 35 of the best underplayed Magic: The Gathering white Commander cards that you should consider for your white deck:

  1. Righteous Aura

    Righteous Aura is a powerful tool for any white deck. For one white mana, a single source of damage will only result in the loss of 2 life. Also, this card does not use the word target. That means you can prevent damage from a creature with Hexproof or Shroud.

  2. Pariah

    I've been using Pariah for years. I love popping this on my own Stuffy Doll or a creature with Indestructible. Pariah acts like a pacifism with benefits. It also has some political advantages. A player will think twice about attacking you if they know the damage will be redirected to another creature instead.

  3. Tithe

    Gift of Estates is played in many white Commander decks, but it's older cousin, Tithe is just as good. Instant speed is your friend and you can play this at the end of your opponent's turn to ensure you get two Plains instead of one. Cutting a single Plains from your deck for Tithe will add consistency. As a side note, the old school art on this card is quite beautiful.

  4. Lapse of Certainty

    Lapse is good because it breaks the color pie. White has very few counterspells, but this is one of the best. When your opponent taps out to cast a spell, Lapsing essentially turns into a Time Walk, as they are forced to draw that card again.

  5. Jotun Grunt

    Four power and toughness is exceptional for 2 mana. Not only that, the "ability" meant to make it worse, actually makes it better. In a Commander game with multiple players (or versus a graveyard recursion deck), Jotun lets you counteract graveyard synergies.

  6. Dust to Dust

    Everyone knows Return to Dust, which is almost universally played. Dust to Dust is an older card and has a mana cost of 3 instead of 4. The only downside is you have to have 2 legal targets for this to resolve and it's a sorcery. If you find opponent's getting too far ahead by turn 3 on artifacts, Dust to Dust may be a better choice for you.

  7. Selfless Squire

    Selfless Squire is a newer card that hasn't caught on yet. Imagine your opponent swinging at you for 10. Rather than block, you cast this to prevent all that damage and get an 11/11 in the process. Squire can save you games and win you games. What more can you ask for from a four mana card?

  8. Crackdown

    I've been running Crackdown for a long time. Except for the bad luck of a mono-white matchup and a few vigilant creatures, it's been incredibly strong in slowing down the beats. You can combo with many of white's cards that affect creatures with "power four or greater". It also combos well with cards like Blind Authority that cause your opponent's creatures to enter the battlefield tapped.

  9. Dawn Charm

    Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are staple white instants that deserve a slot in almost every white deck. In the same regard, Dawn Charm is a card you should consider including as well. In every game, you're likely going to want to regenerate a creature, fog a turn, or counter a spell that targets you. Dawn Charms looks innocuous, but its usefulness in versatility is its strength. Test it out! I think you'll like it.

  10. Debt of Loyalty

    The Oracle text reads, "Regenerate target creature. You gain control of that creature if it regenerates this way." That's right, white has a 3 mana Mind Control card! This is especially useful in multiplayer games when you can take your pick during various combat steps. You can also use this to regenerate your own creature if needed.

  11. Dimensional Breach

    Dimensional breach is one of the most powerful removal spells in the game. Not only does it exile creatures, artifacts, and enchantments, it also exiles lands. If you had enchantments in play like Pariah, you can bring them back at your upkeep in response to an opponent choosing a threat to return to play. Dimensional Breach can buy you a lot of extra turns and set the field into a more leveled playing position. It also permanently deals with tokens. Think of it as white's seven mana Cyclonic Rift, but in exchange for downgrading to Sorcery speed, you get to exile lands.

  12. Equipoise

    The Oracle text for Equipoise reads, "At the beginning of your upkeep, for each land target player controls in excess of the number you control, choose a land that player controls, then the chosen permanents phase out. Repeat this process for artifacts and creatures. (While they’re phased out, they’re treated as though they don’t exist. They phase in before that player untaps during their next untap step.)"

    Equipoise is a great way to get your hits in or cut off potential counter mana (you get to choose which permanents phase out). For only three mana, this can put in a lot of work over the course of a game. Because the phased out permanents don't phase in until that players turn, this allows multiple players to get in free hits against a dominating player seated to your right.

  13. Exile

    Exile is a valuable consideration for your spot removal suite. Exiling a creature will deal with everything but hexproof and shroud. Swords and Path are still the better card because they can target white creatures and non-attackers and cost less mana. The life gain from Exile can screw up combat math to your advantage.

  14. Change of Heart

    I'm slowly starting to see Change of Heart pop-up in Commander lists, and for good reason! In 1 v 1 games, Change of Heart is particularly useful. For four mana, you can shut down their commander attacks every turn until the end of time. Its usefulness is narrow, but it can help stall you out of dead draws and provides a useful outlet for extra mana.

  15. Global Ruin

    Armageddon is quite popular in white. Just like decks run both Swords and Path, you should consider running Global Ruin in your Armageddon deck. It has the fringe benefit of getting indestructible lands into the graveyard since they are sacrificed rather than destroyed. If you run more basics than opponent's this can be a mostly one-sided Armageddon.

  16. Hallowed Burial

    Hallowed Burial is a well-known card, but very underplayed. In a world with graveyard recursion and indestructibility, Wrath of God sometimes doesn't get the job done. For the small price of one more mana, Hallowed Burial deals with a much wider range of threats. You can consider Terminus instead if you have library manipulation cards.

  17. Null Chamber

    Gideon's Intervention is better in 1 v 1, but in a multiplayer match, Null Chamber can take two powerful Commanders out of contention (if you and your target opponent can come to an agreement). If you really want to hate out Commanders, you can run this alongside Intervention.

  18. Porphyry Nodes

    Porphyry Nodes is one of the most powerful 1 mana white cards in the game. It's actually a color-shifted version of Drop of Honey. Play this card on a field with at least 1 creature on the battlefield and you are guaranteed a one for one. It has the added benefit of delaying your opponent's creature deployment, as they will try to prevent Porphyry from hitting more than one of their creatures. On a stalled battlefield, this enchantment will slowly make an impact. It also has some political advantages as well. If multiple creatures are tied for lowest power, players are keenly aware of incoming retribution when your upkeep begins.

  19. Planar Birth

    In a deck that uses many basic lands, Planar Birth is an extremely powerful card. Consider using this against decks that run land destruction, or in your own land destruction deck. In a world where many opponent's run dual lands, casting Armageddon followed by Planar Birth is a sure path to victory.

  20. Peacekeeper

    For the low cost of 3 mana and 2 additional mana on each upkeep, creatures can't attack. Against decks like Elves that run few removal cards, Peacekeeper is a major obstacle that can buy you a lot of time. Against control decks, it doesn't do much at all.

  21. Rhystic Circle

    Rhystic Circle is a great way to see who your friends (and enemies are) in a Commander match. You can essentially prevent all damage to yourself, unless that player wants to spend a matching amount of mana to push it through. This makes you an unattractive target. Politically, opponent's might be hesitant to spend their mana to let opponents damage you, unless you're a big threat.

  22. Scout's Warning

    Scout's Warning is Quicken for creatures. The fact that it cantrips makes this an easy card to include in creature based decks. Do you want a better chance for your creature to resolve? Cast that creature right before your turn begins. Do you want to leave mana open to stop an attacker or to play a surprise blocker? Scout's Warning has plenty of useful interactions and costs you very little to include in your deck.

  23. Soul Snare

    In a 1 v 1 match, Soul Snare is a useful card but a bit worse than Swords and Path. In multiplayer it can be better! Snare acts as a visible deterrent to attacks. Who would want to attack you knowing you can pop it at any time for 1 mana?

  24. Surprise Deployment

    Surprise Deployment is way better than it looks. First, it lets you cheat huge creatures into play for blocks. Secondly, it works great with creatures that have ETB effects. Imagine playing this with cards like Kederekt Leviathan which reads "When Kederekt Leviathan enters the battlefield, return all other nonland permanents to their owners' hands.".

  25. Tariff

    Tariff is an extremely low curve answer to big curve creatures. Even voltron Lightning Greaves Indestructible creatures die to Tariff, unless their controller can muster up enough mana.

  26. Voidstone Gargoyle

    Voidstone Gargoyle stops a Commander and deals with many pesky permanents. A solid consideration alongside Gideon's Intervention, Runed Halo, and Null Chamber. A 3/3 flyer doesn't hurt either, although it's more susceptible to removal than enchantments.

  27. Rebuff the Wicked

    It's pretty much guaranteed one of your permanents is going to be targeted during a Commander game. It's also almost guaranteed that your opponent will cast a removal spell at some point that costs 2 mana or greater. Rebuff the Wicked is a great tempo trade in that respect (1 mana vs their 2+). Since you are in white, it might also come as a surprise that can gum up opponent's plans.

  28. Reconnaissance

    You need to run Reconnaissance in your creature based decks. It's so good! Once you start testing this, you'll begin to wonder how you played Commander without it. Are you worried about attacking because of blocks? Eh, who cares? Just attack with everything! For 0 mana, you can just untap any and all of your creatures and remove them from combat. I can't believe all the white aggro decks haven't discovered this yet. It's amazing!

  29. Reverence

    It's not Moat or Humility, but it's good. As part of your defensive white deck, Reverence is worth a slot in your toolkit. It also stops the majority of token-based strategies. Play this alongside the beforementioned Crackdown for a nice synergy.

  30. Death or Glory

    Four mana typically brings back one creature of your choice from your graveyard to play. Five mana to return 50% of the weakest creatures from your graveyard to play seems pretty powerful. Late game, this card can be a game changer in turning the tides of war, especially in a creature heavy build.

  31. Abeyance

    Against control builds in 1 v 1 Commander, this card can be a Time Walk. The downsides are negligible, since under worst-case scenarios you still get to draw a card. This can even be good against creature builds, preventing opponents from using cards like Priest of Titania from being used to cast non-instant speed level cards for a turn.

  32. Cleansing Meditation

    If you run any enchantments in your deck (which is likely the case in white), Cleansing Meditation is the best 3 mana "destroy all enchantments" card. As long as you have Threshold, all of your enchantments are returned to play after being destroyed. If any of those enchantments were Auras, you can attach them to any creature in play. It doesn't have to be the same creature they were previously enchanting.

  33. Aurification

    Aurification is one of my favorite deterrence and stall cards. Limiting your opponent's creatures to 1 attack slows down the game tremendously. It also doesn't target, so it hits everything.

  34. Cho-Manno's Blessing

    Cho-Manno's Blessing is a way for white to counter any colored spot removal card. Not only will it counter it, it also provides the benefit of additional turns of protection for that creature. Also, Protection means opponents can't block it if all their creatures are the chosen color.

  35. Devoted Caretaker

    A turn 1 Devoted Caretaker can put in a lot of work over the course of a game. One mana to counter up to one spot removal spell per turn is pretty good. This doesn't just protect creatures. It can also save your lands, artifacts, and enchantments. Devoted Caretaker + Mother of Runes makes a nice one mana defensive creature package.

    That's it! Do you know any underrated or underplayed white Commander cards? Leave us a comment below and let us know!

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