Is Ixidron good in Commander?

Ixidron

Creature — Illusion

As this creature enters, turn all other nontoken creatures face down. (They're 2/2 creatures.)
Ixidron's power and toughness are each equal to the number of face-down creatures on the battlefield.

CMC: 5
Mana cost
Color identity: U
Rarity: rare
Set: Commander 2019
Price: $0.38
EDHREC rank: #7517

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Ixidron enters and flips every other nontoken creature on the battlefield face-down — opponents lose commanders, combo pieces, and utility creatures in one swing, and those creatures lose all abilities while face-down. The catch is symmetry: your own board gets hit too, which is why Ixidron is best in decks that either run few creatures or actively want things face-down, like Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer, where flipping Rattleclaw Mystic face-down just sets up another free card draw.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

80.7% of decks · synergy 0.79

Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer draws a card the first time a face-down creature is cast each turn, so Ixidron loading the battlefield with face-down creatures is pure fuel — every morph you flip up after becomes a free card. Running Ixidron here isn't a board wipe with a cost; it's a board wipe that sets up the next several turns of advantage.

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma

36.3% of decks · synergy 0.35

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma cares about creatures being face-down and manipulating hidden information, so Ixidron's mass face-down effect aligns directly with what the deck is trying to do. The disruption Ixidron provides doubles as setup for Vannifar's own triggered abilities.

Missy

23.4% of decks · synergy 0.23

Missy generates value from creatures being disguised or face-down, making Ixidron's enter-the-battlefield wipe a way to simultaneously reset the board and restock the pool of face-down permanents to exploit. The symmetry hurts less when your commander rewards you for every face-down creature in play.

Etrata, Deadly Fugitive

18.8% of decks · synergy 0.18

Etrata, Deadly Fugitive wants creatures to be disguised and benefits from face-down synergies, so Ixidron serves as both a reset and a refuel. Flipping opposing threats face-down also strips them of abilities, buying the time Etrata needs to set up her win condition.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

Format	Verdict
commander	legal
legacy	legal
modern	legal
pioneer	not legal
standard	not legal
vintage	legal
pauper	not legal
oathbreaker	legal

Commander is where Ixidron does its best work — six mana is acceptable in a format where the average curve runs high, and wiping every opponent's commander off its face is a tempo swing that scales with the number of players at the table. In 1v1 formats like Legacy and Vintage, Ixidron is legal but essentially unplayable: six mana for a symmetrical effect that doesn't immediately win the game is too slow against the threats those formats produce. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander multiplayer format where Ixidron could see fringe play in a face-down-matters shell, but the card pool is narrow enough that dedicated morph/manifest strategies rarely come together there.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

1 decks