Thinking about how we evaluate cards
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 13, 2026, 5:36 p.m. by hyalopterouslemur
So, I've been thinking a lot about how cards are evaluated. Specifically it comes down to two cards: Regrowth and Eternal Witness.
I've also been watching a lot of Magic YouTUbe, and there's a hipster movement to hate on Eternal Witness, among other EDH mainstays. Supposedly Regrowth is better, and I want to talk about that, and the two ways to evaluate cards.
First, Regrowth. In a vacuum, Regrowth is better. It costs , in contrast to Eternal Witness's . That's one mana less. The 2/1 body is unimpressive in combat. This is all true.
But then you look at Eternal Witness. She's a creature, meaning Cryptolith Rite or Earthcraft turns her into a mana dork. Meaning you get two cards back with Panharmonicon. Meaning you get to trigger Cathars' Crusade or Aura Shards. Meaning her death triggers Dictate of Erebos. Meaning she can be blinked or bounced. Meaning cards that count creatures (e.g., Shamanic Revelation, Pennon Blade, Gaea's Cradle) count her. Meaning she can attack, triggering Hellrider, even if she's likely to just be blocked and killed. Meaning her entering triggers Purphoros, God of the Forge and Warleader's Call and related cards. Meaning Yeva, Nature's Herald gives her flash, which opens up other forms of abuse. (Seedborn Muse, anyone?) Meaning you can bring her 2/1 self back with Smile at Death. And no one's playing either card on turn 2 anyway.
Which one you pick says a lot about your personality, though neither choice takes away your Spike card, and there is no wrong answer. I tend to favor instants over creatures where applicable, for instance. And this doesn't make, e.g., Silverglade Elemental, good in most decks; mana cost still matters.
In reality, both are good cards, and you should probably play both if you can. but it depends on what you're trying to do. But which card you choose if you must choose one is far more complicated than simple rox/sux arguments.
Different card types, different uses. As you say, for more you get a ton of utility. Even without other synergistic effects, you're effectively getting a 2/1 creature for with no extra card opportunity cost, which is far from a bad deal. I would call Eternal Witness a side-grade of Regrowth, and let the context of the deck determine which to use. It's not like green has problems producing extra mana or using creatures.
January 14, 2026 3:45 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #4
You can't Chord of Calling or Green Sun's Zenith for a Regrowth. Most green decks are built to leverage The Great Henge more than, say, Whirlwind of Thought. That's why Eternal Witness has become massively more popular in EDH than Regrowth ever could. You can Ephemerate, Reanimate, Heat Shimmer or Clone your Eternal Witness, while Regrowth has a lot less ubiquitous synergy pieces.
Weirdly enough, Snapcaster Mage
never became as popular, even though the utility is very similar; a 2/1 human creature that grabs something from your graveyard to reuse. I think if Snapcaster were more popular, Regrowth would be as well.
January 14, 2026 4:25 a.m.
theNeroTurtle says... #5
I also want to totally point out that deck synergy matters the most. For example, Hater is terrible if you are running a deck that focuses on dumping your life as a resource. Regrowth is good, but what does it do for the deck outside of what the card itself does on its own really does matter. Playing good cards that do things for the build is better than just playing good cards.
January 14, 2026 6:44 p.m.
If you get sweaty and run Noxious Revival you can pay no mana to have even more versatility (you can give someone ELSE back something instead, which can be huge). If you've built a really strong deck the idea of paying 3 mana to get a single card back (at sorcery speed!) is laughable, that's pretty much giving up your whole turn without committing something important to the board (like Rhystic Study) or attempting a win (Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation is also 3 mana). That's why Noxious Revival is the best option in the eyes of many very competitive players, so I think it applies to most Bracket 4 and 5 decks, where pure card quality is so important. If you're playing in Bracket 3 and under what you want are card synergies, you need bad cards that become powerful when used together IMHO. Personally I try to avoid running recursion effects that are one dimensional at this point, power creep has given us better options in a lot of cases, if you're in Black something like Lively Dirge can get back creatures, but it can also tutor one up if you don't have anything to get back.
All that said there is a plurality of creature decks out there, and in those lists Eternal Witness can make a lot more sense.
I'm also a tad curious why Skullwinder isn't one of the options, it's bad if you usually have worse cards than your opponents (if you get back a Grizzly Bears and they get Questing Beast you'd have been better off with E-Wit), but the ceiling is very high on it if you can make a deal with an opponent (this is also a great example of recursion with added upside that makes it more versatile). I think in a lower power game Skullwinder plays pretty well, it's even easier to cast if your mana base is janky. I've heard some people really hate Skullwinder, has anyone ever tried using it and can give some salient reasons why they didn't like it?
January 15, 2026 9:23 a.m.
hyalopterouslemur says... #7
Well, my point was originally that what matters depends on your deck. (I forgot Birthing Pod shenanigans.) And that YouTubers need to understand, you can't just say this card rox/this card sux.
Re: Skullwinder, it's because it's not really card advantage, I'd imagine. Neither is Regrowth, but there's just a prejudice against giving opponents options. (Group hug does nothing but enable combo degeneracy.)
theNeroTurtle says... #2
Eternal Witness is more effect in that it has more synergy with other "types" of cards. That is my vote. I am pretty sure I only run it in one deck, though. I am not a big fan of repeat with particular card types.
January 13, 2026 8:03 p.m. Edited.