Crystalline Resonance – Commander 2020 MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

This card brings a smile to my face, because it’s the kind of card where you’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen when the game starts. You can build a deck that reliably has it become a copy of other things in your deck, but it’s probably more fun if you try and copy whatever your opponent is doing. It has a lot more versatility than many copy effects, as it has no limit in what it can copy – someone who thinks it’s clever to play Yawgmoth’s Bargain in Commander might think twice when you can do this. Despite its requirement to include cycling cards, there’s always a high demand for these effects in Commander, where they really help budget-minded decks keep up with the format’s staples.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5

Being able to temporarily copy other permanents is a nice party trick, and triggering off of cycling is just as fun. Crystalline Resonance is a nice payoff for decks that are in on the mechanic, especially if you have ways to make cycling costs even lower (like New Perspectives or Fluctuator). Street Wraith also makes this live immediately, which is cute.

Admittedly, I think Crystalline Resonance is probably not the strongest payoff card, but it is a nice one. If you can surprise someone with a blocker out of nowhere (or an attacker), you’ve got it made. (It doesn’t really work with planeswalkers unless you can move loyalty counters onto it otherwise, so don’t get excited.) It’s a flexible tool that you can even shapeshift out of danger, and I feel like it’s a “fun” weapon for any cycling deck worth their salt.

Constructed: 2.5 (cycling.dec is too slow for Legacy, but this would be fun if it were in other formats)
Casual: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander: 3.75