Sphere of Influence: September 5, 2025

Pain for All | Illustrated by Dmitry Burmak

Welcome to Sphere of Influence, a pre-FNM look at some potential movers and shakers that are worth picking up before their prices increase.

The plethora of Spider-Man and Avatar spoilers have overshadowed Edge of Eternities, which is a shame given how many excellent cards made their way into the set. Here are a few more to keep in mind as you build your Commander decks:

Pain for All - $0.50

Even without its third line of text, this card serves a similar purpose as Chandra's Ignition in pushing damage through to opponents directly without having to deal combat damage with a swole creature. But the full text of Pain for All ensures opponents won't want to block your attacker anytime soon; alternatively, toss this card onto a Stuffy Doll and enjoy even more profit. This card isn't for everyone, but its fragility is made up for by its versatility.

Cosmogoyf - $0.50

This card is better than Tarmogoyf in Commander as the number of exile effects has grown in recent years, including using exile as payment for strong abilities, like collecting evidence. It's still pretty vanilla, but at two mana, it supplies sufficient tempo advantage. Grab some before players catch on in Modern and the card's demand spikes.

Biotech Specialist - $0.50

The floor of this card is Solemn Simulacrum... admittedly not much of a steal in a green deck, but still a playable card. The ceiling, though, is a two-mana blocker that dishes out major damage when Treasure tokens get sacrificed. The difference between one and two points of damage is significant.

Secluded Starforge - $0.25

The abilities on this card all work in concert with one another. It produces colorless mana as an untapped land, which you can use to cast artifacts to tap down and grow one of your creatures; or, in a pinch, it can create an artifact of its own. Not bad for a utility land.

Space-Time Anomaly -  $0.50

I don't think we've seen the ceiling of this card yet. Mill is not quite an effective strategy in Commander unless players go all-in, and cards like Space-Time Anomaly help in that regard. As a sorcery, it can be cast multiple times off things like Snapcaster Mage and will likely hit 20 or more cards each recursion. It may not be able to mill out an opponent from the get-go, but it will certainly mess with your opponents' strategies right away. Just watch for any stray salt; Commander players hate being milled.

Space Time

What cards from Edge of Eternities do you think are currently underrated or overlooked? Let me know!