Saskia, and the rest of the four-color legends
from the Commander 2016 supplement, represent a
major evolution of that format. In a
certain sense they are redundant - you could
always use a five-color legend and just omit one
color from the rest of your deck. But were you
to do so, the chances were that the legend in
question wouldn't fit the theme of your deck
very well, and you'd always be tempted to
include things that worked with it rather than
the rest of your deck. Now, it is finally
possible to find a commander for literally every
color combination, and one that provides a theme
or motivation for the deck.
I must admit I didn't realize that the idea with
these legends was that they are about the
exclusion of the fifth color until it was
specifically pointed out to me. Kynaios and Tiro,
for example, have no black mana in their casting
cost, so their game effect is the most unselfish
one possible. Saskia has no blue mana in her
casting cost, and since blue is the least
aggressive color, she is one of the most
aggressive creatures ever printed, not so much
in the sense of pure efficiency but in the sense
of being able to win a multiplayer game by
attacking in the conventional manner for
creature decks. That aura of uniqueness alone
would have put her and the other four-color
legends high in the top ten list, and combined
with the historical milestone, it puts them
deservedly on top.
Yes, I left the card that
took top honors off my list. I don't regret it.
The issue with Saskia is,
while she allows you to split your attention
between two opponents (or go for the kill on
one), she's trying to be a combat-oriented
commander for a format where stops to combat are
common. She's not great at bailing you out of a
bad position, serving better as a "win more".
And she's not great outside of Commander, thanks
to her awkward color demands and not being blue,
the best color in Legacy and Vintage.
Saskia is competent in
Commander, and she's scary to face off against
(especially if they picked you). As far as "best
card of the year", though, I'm going to have to
respectfully disagree.
