Burrowed and Confused: Best Bloomburrow Deck
The best Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow Commander isn't as glaringly obvious as it is during some set releases - Wizards of the Coast has done a particularly excellent job with this wave of preconstructed (precon) decks, such that each one has some appeal as a potent strategy while no clear favorite has emerged. The newly released Bloomburrow Commander decks all feature a cohesive theme that feels distinct to the others and plays well off their animal inspirations; for instance, the Bello, Bard of the Brambles deck (Animated Army) takes its raccoon leader and spins out an entire "one person's trash is another person's treasure" story through its card selection and archetype. Anyway, after a deep analysis, Family Matters could be the best one.
Summary
- Zinnia stands out as the best Bloomburrow Commander deck, thanks to their unique abilities and strong synergy.
- Zinnia's deck provides players with a powerful two-in-one strategy.
- Enhancing Zinnia's deck with Bird subtype cards or focusing on maximizing enter-the-battlefield effects can significantly improve gameplay.
Family Matters Is The Best MTG Bloomburrow Commander Deck
Zinnia stands out as the best Bloomburrow Commander deck, thanks to their unique abilities and strong synergy.
The best Bloomburrow Commander is Zinnia, Valley's Voice, a Jeskai (WUR) card that offers much more than it initially appears. With a cost of WUR for a 1/3 flier, Zinnia's stats might seem underwhelming, but they make up for it with two incredible abilities. These abilities not only tie the deck's strategy together but also provide a surprising win condition through Zinnia themself.
Let's break down what makes Zinnia so incredible as an out-of-the-box, precon Commander. Their first ability reads like this:
Zinnia, Valley's Voice gets +X/+0, where X is the number of other creatures you control with base power 1.
In a deck filled with one-power creatures - 10 of its 35 creatures have a base power of one - Zinnia can quickly become a three- or four-power flier once they hit the battlefield, making them far more formidable than its 1/3 base stats suggest. However, this ability truly shines when combined with Zinnia's other text lines:
Creature spells you cast have offspring 2. (You may pay an additional 2 as you cast a creature spell. If you do, when that creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.)
Offspring is a new mechanic introduced in Bloomburrow that is already making waves as a potential Commander build-around thanks to Zinnia.
The Family Matters deck also features a control sub-theme, providing it with strong staying power.
Now, for just two extra mana, every creature in the Family Matters deck will create a copy of itself, and that copy will also boost Zinnia's power. This synergy is beneficial, but the real advantage lies in getting two enter-the-battlefield effects for the cost of one card and a bit of extra mana. Family Matters includes powerful cards like Inferno Titan, which, for eight mana with Zinnia in play, can divide six damage as desired. Additionally, cards like Junk Winder allow players to stun permanents on the battlefield when a token enters under their control; creating a copy of Junk Winder means this effect is triggered twice.
How to Upgrade Zinnia, Valley's Voice Decks
A Simple Bloomburrow Commander to Upgrade
One way to enhance the Bloomburrow Family Matters precon is to delve deeply into its Bird-type sub-theme and flood the battlefield with fliers that boast strong abilities—and, with Zinnia's effect, double the impact. There are several obvious choices for this strategy, along with a few that might be unexpected. To kick off your upgrade, here’s a quick list of Bird suggestions for improving a Zinnia, Valley's Voice deck:
- Empyrean Eagle: This 2/3 flying Bird Spirit boosts all other flying creatures with +1/+1. Simple but effective, it can rapidly escalate the board's power, especially with Zinnia's ability to create copies.
- Jubilant Skybonder: Although a 2/2 flying Human Wizard, Jubilant Skybonder offers excellent synergy with Birds by giving them Ward 2, protecting them from being easily targeted.
- Soulcatcher Aerie: This lesser-known two-mana enchantment places a counter on itself whenever a Bird dies. It then gives each Bird you control +1/+1 for each counter on the Aerie, making it a powerful boost to your flying army.
- Ledger Shredder: A popular choice, this two-mana 1/3 Bird triggers Connive whenever a player casts their second spell in a turn. In Commander, this can be frequent, helping you dig for more cards and grow Ledger Shredder’s power simultaneously.
The Bird creature subtype features numerous cards from older sets that could become highly relevant with Zinnia. It’s definitely worth exploring resources like Gatherer to uncover these potential gems!
Of course, Birds aren't the only way to enhance Family Matters effectively. You can also build a Zinnia Commander deck to focus on maximizing enter-the-battlefield effects. Here are a few cards to help you get started:
- Panharmonicon: This four-mana artifact has a static ability that makes any creature or artifact entering the battlefield trigger its ability twice instead of once. With Zinnia’s offspring ability doubling these triggers, Panharmonicon amplifies them to four triggers, significantly boosting their impact.
- Mulldrifter: A Commander staple, this five-mana 2/2 flier has an evoke cost of three mana, allowing it to enter the battlefield, draw two cards, and then be sacrificed. With Zinnia in play, paying the offspring cost would result in drawing four cards for five mana—a solid value in Commander.
- Molten Gatekeeper: This three-mana 2/3 deals one damage to each opponent whenever another creature enters under your control. With Zinnia’s offspring ability, this damage effect is doubled to two, offering an alternate win condition in longer games. Its unearth ability also lets it return to provide this effect for an additional turn when most needed.