Magic Is Officially Reprinting a Treasured Card with the Perfect '80s Throwback

Some of the most popular staples in Magic: The Gathering’s Commander game format can get quite expensive. Take Rhystic Study, for instance, a blue common released as part of 2000’s Prophecy set. It wasn’t all that useful in regular 1v1 game formats yet became hugely powerful with four players at the table. Even the cheapest copies cost around $60. Yet arguably the Commander staple, Command Tower, costs less than $1 because of how often Wizards of the Coast has reprinted it across various Commander precons and Secret Lair Drops.

The coolest Command Tower ever, however, is now on its way. Wizards announced a new Secret Lair Superdrop on Monday focused on Masters of the Universe. “The Most Powerful Superdrop in the Universe brings together He-Man, Skeletor, She-Ra, the forces of good and evil, and the unmistakable fantasy action of Masters of the Universe through all-new artwork inspired by the franchise’s classic packaging, animation, and larger-than-life characters,” a press release about the new Secret Lair reads.

Of the dozens of cards included across five separate Drops, perhaps none is a more perfect marriage of Magic and Masters of the Universe than Command Tower. The new full-art treatment depicts Castle Grayskull, the memorable skull-faced fortress from the franchise that's instantly recognizable. Located on the planet Eternia, the castle serves as the source of He-Man's power.

Better yet: The Castle Grayskull Command Tower is double-sided. Flip it over, and there's Snake Mountain, Skeletor’s stronghold. That's a fun little way for players to choose whether they want to rep good or evil, depending on their Commander.

Command Tower can tap for one mana of any color in your Commander's color identity — and it doesn't enter tapped. In other words, if you have a Commander deck with two or more colors, Command Tower is basically a necessity. So it really comes down to which printing of the card has the best flavor for your deck. It first appeared in 2011's original Commander decks and has since been reprinted so many times that most copies cost mere pocket change. For once, the appeal of a Secret Lair reprint has almost nothing to do with making an expensive card cheaper. It's just an exceptionally cool version of a card millions of players already use.

Command Tower is part of the "Sold Separately" Drop alongside several other Masters of the Universe reskins. Fortune, Loyal Steed is being reprinted as Battle Cat, The Gitrog. Ravenous Ride becomes Panthor. Throne of the God-Pharaoh is the Bone Throne. Most fittingly, Sword of War and Peace has been transformed into He-Man's Sword of Power. The five-card drop will cost $29.99 in nonfoil or $39.99 in foil when the Superdrop goes on sale Sept. 14.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

Most of the other cards have only middling value, with the standout being Sakashima the Impostor as Man-E-Faces. It’s a solid copy card that goes for $14 in its cheapest printings. Other highlights include Emiel the Blessed as Swift Wind ($14), Konda's Banner as Battle Harness ($12), Breach the Multiverse ($11), and Necrogen Mists ($11)

None of these individual cards approaches Rhystic Study territory, but taken together, they make this more than a collection of cheap cards dressed up in expensive licensed artwork. Several of these are meaningful reprints of cards that can otherwise cost $10 or more, and the art is a delightful mix of classic cartoon shots and original illustrations.

At the end of the day, you’re going to put Command Tower in most of your Commander decks anyway, so why not have it be a cool skull fortress?