Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Commander questions

  1. #1

    Commander questions

    If this is not the correct place to be submitting these questions, please direct me to the right place.

    My question is: Since the Commander variant is not "officially" Magic the Gathering rules, to whom do we talk to about Commander specific rulings? Players argue about Commander specific game rules and/or abilities.

    Eminence, for example, how is that not a game breaking mechanic? Since the Commander in the Command Zone cannot be targeted, there is no way to stop the Eminence ability unless you use an Instant that counter target triggered ability, for example (since you are targeting the ability on the Stack). But beyond that? The only thing comparable is Planeswalker Emblems. But Planeswalkers have to be built up in Loyalty counters to the point where you have enough Loyalty counters to PLAY that Emblem. The Emblem does start the game in the Command Zone.

    The other issue is Commander Ninjitsu. This allows the player to cast the Commander from the Command Zone rather than from the hand (as with normal Ninjitsu) if an unblocked creature does damage to a player. But because it is an activated ability, the argument is that the cost stays the same.

    So my Commander costs 1 to cast. My opponent's Ninjitsu Commander costs 1UB but has a Ninjitsu cost of UB. Both are on the battlefield and both are destroyed and returned to the Command Zone three times. So in order to cast MY Commander a fourth time, it will cost me 7 (1+2+2+2). But the Ninjitsu Commander still only costs UB? Why does the Ninjitsu cost not go up? Because it is an activated ability? How is that fair? Yes, Ninjitsu is an activated ability. But because it is the Commander, would that not alter the ability?

  2. #2
    GrimGrin and Glissa are in a boat...

    Join Date

    Jan 2013
    Location

    French Riviera
    Posts

    1,209

    Re: Commander questions

    Hello dean,

    Perhaps you should post your thread in the dedicated sub-forum (EDH).

    On topic: All your questions have been already asked by the french comitee of 1vs1 EDH. And their answer is that it is not fair. most prevalent Eminence (or similar ability) commanders are banned i think in that format (Oloro / Derevi / Edgar markov).
    For Ninjutsu it's somehow the same problem but at least this ability has a real cost of having an unblock creature and losing tempo. But yes, it seems unfair :)

    If you play in multiplayer, casually, then talk with your fellow players and set a local rule to not play unfair commanders.
    But to be honest, I don't think that in mutliplayer, the eminence generals are that degenerated (and multiplayer is more about politics than deck potential anyway).

  3. #3
    plays Mountains
    Ace/Homebrew's Avatar
    Join Date

    Mar 2011
    Location

    Philadelphia Area
    Posts

    2,257

    Re: Commander questions

    Quote Originally Posted by dean View Post
    Since the Commander variant is not "officially" Magic the Gathering rules, to whom do we talk to about Commander specific rulings?
    Actually...

    Quote Originally Posted by Comprehensive Rules
    207.2c An ability word appears in italics at the beginning of some abilities. Ability words are
    similar to keywords in that they tie together cards that have similar functionality, but they have
    no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules. The ability
    words are battalion, bloodrush, channel, chroma, cohort, constellation, converge, council’s
    dilemma, delirium, domain, eminence, enrage, fateful hour, ferocious, formidable, grandeur,
    hellbent, heroic, imprint, inspired, join forces, kinship, landfall, lieutenant, metalcraft, morbid,
    parley, radiance, raid, rally, revolt, spell mastery, strive, sweep, tempting offer, threshold, and
    will of the council.
    Building on what Tylert said, while very strong those cards are not a problem if you're playing in a 4-player pod. And if a group of 3 immediately gang up on a Derevi (or whoever) player every game, they may be persuaded to use a less offensive commander.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)