In EDH, some of the coolest Commanders offer a variety of ways to build around them. Legends that combine multiple themes offer flexibility, making them exciting and powerful options. Syr Vondam, Sunstar Exemplar fits the mold perfectly, rewarding you as a value and combo engine on multiple different axes.
MTG Syr Vondam, Sunstar Exemplar
Thanks to its elite efficiency, Syr Vondam threatens to drop early and start racking up counters fast when your other creatures die or get exiled. While this triggered ability naturally happens when your opponents go to remove your threats, it’s in your best interest to get things rolling yourself.
Since Syr Vondam cares about exiling, Blink effects like Ephemerate
EphemerateExile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.) and Gilraen, Dunedain Protector trigger your Commander without removing your creatures. Cards that exile multiple creatures at once, like Another Round and Morningtide’s Light, can put an absurd number of counters on Syr Vondam if you have a wide board.
Of course, once Syr Vondam has four power, you can always blink your Commander to blow up problematic permanents. Buff effects like Flowering of the White Tree and Hero’s Blade help your Commander maintain four power, making it a consistent, premium blink target.
Notably, though, there are other avenues that work to repeatedly trigger Syr Vondam, including sacrificing recursive threats like Bloodghast
BloodghastThis creature can't block.
This creature has haste as long as an opponent has 10 or less life.
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, you may return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield.. To make all your creatures recursive, Luminous Broodmoth helps you maximize sacrifice outlets like Phyrexian Altar without falling behind on board.
If you’d rather go wide than recur your creatures, temporary token mechanics like Mobilize and Myriad also work with Syr Vondam, making Dalkovan Packbeasts and Ironwill Forger elite inclusions. Even Warping Haliya, Guided by Light, or Timeline Culler can do the job.
No matter which theme you lean into most, it’s worth adding payoffs to generate even more value. Preston, the Vanisher is an incredible reward for blinking, for example, letting you flood the board with Illusions. All the while, your token production from Preston and your Mobilize and Myriad cards fuel go-wide payoffs like Cathar’s Crusade.
If you want to focus more on sacrifice synergies, adding Blood Artist effects goes a long way towards killing your opponents. Throw in Morbid Opportunist for extra card advantage and Teysa Karlov for double death triggers, and you’ll generate tons of value in no time.
Interestingly, Syr Vondam’s triggers even support life gain and +1/+1 counters themes. Tools like Archangel of Thune
Archangel of ThuneFlying
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. and Heliod, Sun-Crowned threaten to add a ton of extra power to the board, making it easier to close games. Similarly, The Ozolith lets you store counters whenever you blink your Commander, then add them all at once to potentially threaten lethal Commander damage in one hit.
Infinite Counters, Life, and Mana
Beyond its impact at face value, Syr Vondam also enables a handful of potent combos. When paired with Animation Module
Animation ModuleWhenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a permanent you control, you may pay {1}. If you do, create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token.
{3}, {T}: Choose a counter on target permanent or player. Give that permanent or player another counter of that kind. and a mana-generating sacrifice outlet like Ashnod’s Altar, making infinite mana is trivial.
To get started, trigger Syr Vondam’s first ability once. Once the counter is added to the Human Knight, Module triggers, and you can pay 1 mana to net a token. From there, sacrifice the token to Altar for two mana, retriggering Syr Vondam in the process. This will create an infinite loop.
Obviously, any infinite mana payoff like Walking Ballista ends the game afterward, as well as any Blood Artist effect. By gaining infinite life, Sanguine Bond and similar life-drain cards end the game, too.
You can also create infinite death and life gain triggers by landing Gravecrawler and Warren Soultrader alongside your Commander. With all three creatures in play, you just have to sacrifice Gravecrawler to Soultrader, netting a Treasure. Because Syr Vondam’s trigger offsets the life you pay to activate this ability, you can recast and sacrifice Gravecrawler as many times as you wish.
Cheap in More Ways Than One
Ultimately, getting all of this upside for the low price of two mana is quite impressive. Considering how many directions you can take the archetype, too, it’s a bit surprising Syr Vondam barely leads over 5,000 Commander decks, according to EDHREC.
Luckily, as a recently printed rare with minimal demand, this legend sits at just $0.38. As such, Syr Vondam is a low-risk, high-reward Commander option, and we highly recommend trying it at your next Commander Night.
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