Akroma, Vision of Ixidor – Commander Legends MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

Commander Legends is well named, in my opinion. It clearly takes inspiration from the long-ago expansion known simply as Legends, and not just because it also has kobolds and Ramirez DePietro. It offers glimpses of colorful characters you want to learn more about, exotic places you want to visit, and powerful spells you want to cast. I can only hope that Wizards of the Coast will keep this level of interest up when the time comes to visit Archelos’ lagoon or Lathiel’s mysterious grove. (And mark my words: people will be displeased unless we visit Archelos’ lagoon and Lathiel’s grove, or any of the other hinted places, someday.)

But our first consideration of the set will be a character who is well known in Magic lore: Akroma. It’s kind of ironic that this version gives the biggest boosts to other versions of Akroma, though I wouldn’t hold that against her too much, as there are plenty of creatures with one or two keywords and stats that are just on the verge of being combat-breaking. With her out, that’s exactly what they become. Seven mana is quite a lot for constructed formats, especially since this version is easier to target and remove than the older versions, but it’s just about the point in a Commander game where you can start doing absurd things immediately after you cast her. And partner makes sure you can get access to as many delicious keywords as you want (though you can get a pretty good payoff even with just Akroma, Angel of Wrath!).

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5

Note: Commander Legends does have a Limited format associated with it, so I’ll give cards a Limited score. The new cards’ legality in other formats is limited to Legacy and Vintage, so Constructed scores will reflect those formats.

The third iteration of Akroma, back to her mono-white ways, is an interesting beast of a creature. A strong set of keywords helps her beat over any creature in combat, and she also buffs other creatures with plenty of keywords. Fourteen different keywords to give buffs for is pretty impressive in all, and it’s possible for this Akroma to make battles really ugly in short order. That said, she notably lacks protection among her keywords (which the other Akromas did not omit), and while she’s nasty if she gets the chance to do battle, it’s possible that she might not ever get to that point (and seven mana is pretty expensive). She’s still threatening if you can give her support, though, and she’s definitely a big threat (and can even pair well with lots of other commanders to give her the support she needs).

Constructed: 1.25 (the other Akromas see no Constructed play, and this one is arguably worse than the others)
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.75 (good luck beating her in combat)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 4 (partner gives her a lot more flexibility in what decks she can go into)