Horde of Notions: 5 Gems Your Opponents Won't See Coming

The Commander and What It Wants

Horde of Notions is one of those commanders that seems to scream "jam 99 Elementals and call it a build." Vigilance, trample, haste on a 5/5, plus an activated ability that lets you cast any Elemental from your graveyard for free by paying five mana of different colors. The key point is that this is an activated ability — yours to use whenever you want, at the cost of five colored mana. In a format full of ramp and color fixing, that's a monstrous value engine if you know how to fuel it.

The problem with 90% of Horde decks on EDHRec? They pack in goodstuff Elementals (Omnath, Locus of Rage, Risen Reef, the usual suspects) and forget that the real exploit of this commander lies in getting Elementals into the graveyard fast and maximizing what you get out of activating the ability at zero card cost. You're not paying the mana cost — you're paying five colored mana, which in five colors is almost always available. So you want Elementals with devastating ETBs, effects that scale, and "when you die" triggers that set the stage for the recast.

The five gems below go exactly in that direction.

5 Hidden Gems to Try

1. Spark Elemental

A 3/1 with trample and haste that sacrifices itself at end of turn. Sounds like junk. It's one of the strongest cards you can put in this deck. Why? Because it goes to the graveyard automatically every turn you play it, which means Horde recycles it the very next turn for free. Every single turn you have guaranteed 3 trample damage for five fixing mana. In the late game with Horde on the battlefield, it's a constant pressure loop your opponents can't ignore. In a mid-power bracket (powerscaling level 4–6), where games go longer, this is real value. Synergy multiplier: auto-filling graveyard + free recurable pressure.

2. Thryx, the Sudden Storm

The synergy here is technical and subtle: Thryx makes spells with CMC 5 or greater impossible to counter and reduces their cost by 2. Horde casts expensive Elementals for free from the graveyard, but often the first time you cast them you want them to resolve safely. Thryx is your shield for those moments when you're putting a 7–8 mana Elemental into play from your hand. In a more competitive bracket (7+), where counterspells are ubiquitous, this is how you protect your key pieces without wasting slots on cards like Swiftfoot Boots. Synergy multiplier: asymmetric protection for your main game plan.

3. Subterfuge

An Elemental Incarnation, so it ends up in the graveyard from the library and returns when the condition is met — but here we use it differently. Subterfuge forces an opponent's creatures to attack another opponent. In a deck with Horde that needs five colored mana every turn to activate the ability, you can't always spend mana to defend yourself. Subterfuge takes pressure off you in a politically devastating way: you're not blocking, you're redirecting. Strong ETB, cast for free with Horde from the graveyard, and works beautifully in a pod of 4 where politics is worth its weight in gold. Ideal bracket: 6–7, standard pod. Synergy multiplier: passive defense that frees up mana for the main engine.

4. Mass of Mysteries

Here it is, the most misunderstood gem on the list. Mass of Mysteries is a Legendary Elemental that lets you scry whenever an Elemental you control dies. You're not drawing — you're scrying — but in a deck where Elementals die constantly (Spark Elemental, combat, sacrifice outlets), you're essentially filtering your library on a continuous basis. Combined with Horde, which lets you recover those Elementals from the graveyard, you create a loop where every death is information. It's not about immediate card draw, but about controlling the quality of your library's top during the mid-game, and that makes an enormous difference. Synergy multiplier: synergy with the death/recursion mechanic that is central to the commander.

5. Soul of the Harvest

Six mana, 6/6 trample, and it draws you a card whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control from a non-land effect. Take a moment: every Elemental that returns from the graveyard via Horde is entering the battlefield. So every activation of Horde's ability automatically draws you a card. Soul of the Harvest turns every "play from graveyard" into +1 card, making the engine self-sufficient. It's expensive to cast the first time, but once it's in the graveyard and recovered by Horde? Unlimited draw disguised as a value creature. Ideal bracket: any, but it shines at 6 and above. Synergy multiplier: converts every commander activation into card advantage.

What NOT to Add

Maelstrom Wanderer: yes, it's an Elemental, yes, it's fun. But it costs 8 mana from hand, and its value depends on cascade — it has no ETB you want to repeat with Horde. It's a card that plays its own plan, not yours.

Kenrith, the Returned King: a classic five-color trap. It seems obvious to include for its abilities, but it's not an Elemental and doesn't contribute to Horde's engine. You'd be adding generic mana sinks where you already have a commander that is the mana sink.

Garruk's Horde: the temptation of "it has trample and it's a big creature worth recovering" is real. But seven mana for a top-reveal-and-play effect that only works with green creatures doesn't synergize with the five-color plan. You're filling a slot with an effect that the Horde engine already surpasses.

Verdict

Horde of Notions wants to be built as an active recursion engine, not a passive tribal goodstuff pile. The gems above share a common theme: they put cards into the graveyard in a controlled way, protect your key pieces, or turn every activation into added value. If you want to step outside the EDHRec template and play a deck that genuinely surprises the table, start with Spark Elemental and Soul of the Harvest as your backbone, add Thryx for protection, and watch your opponents realize they underestimated the table's "budget" five-color commander.