Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Exploring the Unknown: Green Commanders that Maximize its Effect
Enter the Unknown is a spell that wears its heart on its sleeve: for a single green mana you get to target a creature you control and set it on a mini-adventure. The spell’s Explore trigger reveals the top card of your library and either puts a land into your hand (if it is a land) or places a +1/+1 counter on your creature and lets you choose to keep the revealed card on top or ship it to the graveyard. Best of all for EDH players, you may play an additional land this turn. In a format built around big turns, mana ramps, and board presence, Enter the Unknown is a versatile tool that rewards thoughtful commander choices and deck design. 🧙♂️🔥💎
Green decks in Commander thrive on accelerating into powerful turns, smuggling extra land drops into the equation, and turning small advantages into durable board states. The Explore clause gives you a guaranteed upside even when the top card isn’t a land, because a +1/+1 counter on your creature can turn a modest TWO-CARD EXPANSION into a lethal threat over two or three activations. The card’s uncommon rarity and its Rivals of Ixalan roots make it feel both classic and fresh at the table, and its flexible text invites creative pairings with legendary commanders that lean on growth, card draw, and land economy. 🧩🎲
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice — Counter-clad growth and proliferation
For players who love +1/+1 counters and a little interplanar flair, Atraxa brings a perfect storm of synergy to Enter the Unknown. When you target a creature you control and it eats a top-deck surprise, the counter you place on that creature can become a seed for proliferate-powered snowballing later in the game. Atraxa’s four-color control shell—white, blue, black, and green—gives you the flexibility to protect, reanimate, and proliferate counters across your board. The Explore outcome can feed Atraxa’s board state by turning a single creature into a nexus for growth, while the extra land drop accelerates you toward critical mana, enabling more casts per turn. The card design sense here is elegant: a green spell that rewards tempo, while Atraxa rewards planning, synergy, and late-game inevitability. ✨ 🎲
“Sometimes the fastest way to win is to let your creatures grow while you outpace your opponents on the land.”
Practical tip: With Atraxa, you can lean into +1/+1 counters and proliferate to push a single attacker into a game-ending flush of marks. Build around a core of proliferators and token generators, and use Enter the Unknown to both ramp and diversify your counter-base. The mental image is satisfying: every turn, your board scales while your library reveals answers or threats you can handle. 🧙♂️⚔️
Tatyova, Benthic Druid — Draw, landfall, repeat
If you’re chasing a long game where every land drop becomes a card in your hand, Tatyova is a natural partner. The Explore effect of Enter the Unknown will almost always deliver a land into your hand when the top card is a land, and even when it isn’t, the counter on your creature helps you stay aggressive while you climb toward your next draw step. Tatyova’s landfall-driven engine thrives on extra land plays, and Enter the Unknown hands you a second land drop this turn—an acceleration booster that often translates into multiple draws and a constant pressure on opponents. In a green-blue shell, you’ll find a rhythm where you reveal lands, refill hands, and keep your commander wisely untapped for further top-deck magic. 🌿 💧
Karametra, Goddess of Harvest — Ramp that never stops
Ramp is the magic sauce of green commanders, and Karametra embodies it with a storyteller’s cadence. As the lead planner for additional land plays, Karametra neatly aligns with Enter the Unknown’s land-drop bonus. You target a creature, you explore, and you momentarily accelerate your mana base by allowing another land to hit the battlefield this turn. The synergy is clean: you press your advantage with big, leafy turns that cast your commander’s spells, slam more threats into play, and keep your land-count large enough to fuel future wins. It’s a satisfyingly straightforward path to tournament-grade consistency in casual and competitive EDH alike. ⚔️
Omnath, Locus of Mana — Multicolor land amplification
Omnath is the quintessential “land matters” commander, and Enter the Unknown plays nicely into that identity. The Explore clause pushes you toward land-heavy turns, and Omnath’s power scales with the intensity of your land drops. Extra lands from Enter the Unknown feed Omnath’s loyalty to the board—yet you don’t have to be all-in on pure ramp to benefit. The creature you target can become a formidable threat, especially when you pair Omnath’s multicolor reach with the proper mana base and synergy spells. Expect lush, explosive turns where a single green spell cascades into a cascade of colors, lands, and life totals that swing the game in your favor. 💎 🌲
Ghave, Guru of Spores — Counters, saprolings, and incremental value
Ghave is a stalwart in +1/+1 counter decks who loves to turn small advantages into a thriving ecosystem. Enter the Unknown can place a +1/+1 counter on the chosen creature, which in a Have-backed shell is not just a stat line—it’s a resource. The added land this turn helps you fuel green mana engines and token generation, while Have’s ability to sacrifice and recoup adds a layer of resilience. Pair this with token producers and evergreen ramp to convert the Explore into a steady stream of value. It’s not flashy at first glance, but the symmetry between counters, tokens, and additional land plays yields a hard-to-stop game plan. 🌱 🪓
Whichever commander you choose, Enter the Unknown invites you to lean into the heart of green: growth, tempo, and a little mischief at the top of your library. The card’s design feels like a bridge between Ixalan’s adventurous spirit and the timeless green imperative to play more lands, cast bigger spells, and watch your creatures grow into legends. And yes, you’ll probably produce some glorious, chaotic turns that leave your playgroup smiling or groaning—either way, you’ll be remembered for the moment you explored and then claimed the board. 🧙♂️🎨🎲
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