With commander fast approaching, MaRo has fielded a question on blogatog that I found the answer curious to. When asked why the team felt like four color could be done, MaRo mentioned the design team had "solved" it, or something to that effect. Solved was definitely his exact word.
Now while I imagine the face card to these decks will be a genuine 4 color creature, I find it very curious that the product info says we're getting four new commanders for each deck. That's a lot for design space they didn't want to mess with before. It makes me wonder what that solution is, and I have a far fetched idea I want to put out there, so if this hail mary works out I can say I "called it".
I think maybe two of those commanders will be "paired" dual color commanders with a mechanic that says they can share the command zone with another card with said mechanic, something like:
Cooperation(This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
I feel like this is a novel solution, since it'd create a situation where they can be paired up differently for different four-color options, or even three colored options. Obviously there'd be lots of comp rules backend stuff, but I don't see anything stopping this from being doable.
Each deck would have two the synergize really well and feed into the deck's overarching theme, and they could also try to create cross synergies and make effects open ended enough to pair well with the other cooperation generals from other decks. Examples:
WUBR
Nikitia, Whirler Mentor WR
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Advisor {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
Whenever Nikitia, Whirler Mentor or another non-artifact creature enters the battlefield under you control, you may pay 1. If you do, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
2/1
Raheem, Hulksmith Prodigy 2UB
Legendary Creature - Aetherborn Artificer {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander) XUB, T, Sacrifice an artifact: Create an X/X colorless Construct creature token with Hexproof and Menace.
2/5
----
BRGW
Tarik, Child of the Swarm 1RG
Legendary Creature - Elf {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
Trample, Haste
Tarik, Child of the Swarm gets +1/+1 for each creature token you control.
0/1
Tche'kia, Festering Mother 4WB
Legendary Creature - Insect {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander) 1WB: Create a 1/1 black and white Insect creature token. WB, Sacrifice a creature: Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain your choice of flying, lifelink, or deathtouch until end of turn.
This is the "Co-Commander" concept I've been talking about over on Rumor Mill. I personally would try to make each legend cost 3 mana or less so they can also be played in Tiny Leaders, but the greater priority is simply giving Commander mix-and-match legends that allow you to play any three or four-color combination.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Some people were bashing on Partner as an ability and saying it was lazy. I for one think it's really cool. Not only is it a unique addition to the crazy format of EDH, but it's also adds a wild amount of variety to the new commanders people can use. With just the fifteen partners they're creating, they said there's 105 different combinations of partner generals you can make with them, offering a ton of new inspiration!
Now while I imagine the face card to these decks will be a genuine 4 color creature, I find it very curious that the product info says we're getting four new commanders for each deck. That's a lot for design space they didn't want to mess with before. It makes me wonder what that solution is, and I have a far fetched idea I want to put out there, so if this hail mary works out I can say I "called it".
I think maybe two of those commanders will be "paired" dual color commanders with a mechanic that says they can share the command zone with another card with said mechanic, something like:
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
I feel like this is a novel solution, since it'd create a situation where they can be paired up differently for different four-color options, or even three colored options. Obviously there'd be lots of comp rules backend stuff, but I don't see anything stopping this from being doable.
Each deck would have two the synergize really well and feed into the deck's overarching theme, and they could also try to create cross synergies and make effects open ended enough to pair well with the other cooperation generals from other decks. Examples:
WUBR
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Advisor {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
Whenever Nikitia, Whirler Mentor or another non-artifact creature enters the battlefield under you control, you may pay 1. If you do, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
Legendary Creature - Aetherborn Artificer {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
XUB, T, Sacrifice an artifact: Create an X/X colorless Construct creature token with Hexproof and Menace.
----
BRGW
Legendary Creature - Elf {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
Trample, Haste
Tarik, Child of the Swarm gets +1/+1 for each creature token you control.
Legendary Creature - Insect {M}
Cooperation (This creature and one other legendary creature with cooperation can both be your commander)
1WB: Create a 1/1 black and white Insect creature token.
WB, Sacrifice a creature: Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain your choice of flying, lifelink, or deathtouch until end of turn.
Thoughts,criticisms, and novel designs welcome.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
By that I mean, are you a Wizards of the Coast employee? Holy hell, good guess, buddy.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/commander-2016-mechanics-2016-10-24
Some people were bashing on Partner as an ability and saying it was lazy. I for one think it's really cool. Not only is it a unique addition to the crazy format of EDH, but it's also adds a wild amount of variety to the new commanders people can use. With just the fifteen partners they're creating, they said there's 105 different combinations of partner generals you can make with them, offering a ton of new inspiration!
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries