New rule:Once each game you may promote an elite nontoken permanent you own to additional commander.
Example:
Big Boo
Elite Creature - Spirit
Flying
~ can't block.
Whenever a commander creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that player discards a card.
2/3
Notes:
This use of the supertype elite is meant for custom cards first and foremost. As such this is a opt-in mechanic.
When using these a commander can be added to a game that original started without commanders e. g. if you put Big Boo into your otherwise 60-card deck.
As a commander a promoted elite creature deals commander damage and optionally goes to the command zone when leaving the battlefield and can be recast with commander tax. Track those separately from pre-existing commanders as you would for partners.
Command Tower now can produce mana in formats where both it and elite creatures are legal - but still wouldn't be exactly a premier choice.
To make sure your commander is tracked correctly in formats that are not singleton I have devised multiple options. Here is one I am currently happy with: When you promote a creature to commender you use a reminder card (similar looking to a token/emblem/checklist/morph overlay/monarch card) that says "Commander" and place it similar to an Aura/Equipment behind the card. The reminder card should be sleeved the same as your deck/needs a normal Magic card back. If you commander goes to any zone other than the command zone (especially a hidden zone e. g. library) you place the actual elite permanent card in the command zone and instead move the reminder card as a placeholder to that zone. This way you can keep the promted elite distinct from other copies of the same card (e. g. when drawing them later).
While this mechanic uses commander rules heavily it was not created with commander in mind. It instead is created top-down from the idea that an "elite" minion might be something like a video game mid-boss where the first appearance of an enemy makes a boss-fight in e. g. level 1, but becomes a normal mook in e. g. level 4. Once I devised rules to achieve such a feeling they were so close to making the card a commander that I decided it would be easiest to explain and understand if I just did that.
I am primarily concerned with viability: Would players want to be able to do something like this in the first place? Which formats would like this? Are the decisions meaningful? How vast is the projected design space? Am I undercutting other options/design space?
I am aware that copy effects can turn a Clone into a commander. I see no problem with that.
-Assuming there is even one of these that are Legacy playable, it feels automatic to just promote the first one you cast, as you certainly won't have multiple, different "Elite" creatures. This isn't necessarily bad, but there is basically no decision tree here and I have a distaste for cards and mechanics that offer a decision, but that decision is nearly always prechosen for you.
-I am a firm believer that adding a supertype needs to be a last resort when designing mechanics, as there is usually a better work somewhere else. For example, using a keyword here seems possible.
Promote (Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player you may promote this creature to a commander)
The above mechanic encourages proactive gameplay, makes you work a bit for the payoff, and most importantly doesn't carry the baggage of a supertype. Obviously, a combat damage trigger isn't the only route, this was simply the first thing that popped into my head.
-I am a firm believer that adding a supertype needs to be a last resort when designing mechanics, as there is usually a better work somewhere else. For example, using a keyword here seems possible.
Elite is already a supertype. I had no hand in that decision. I have no problem rewriting the design as a keyword mechanic rather than a supertype with attached rules but for me this is intended to create flavor-fitting rules for a pre-existing aspect of the game that feels... misused.
Using combat damage as a prerequisite to a promotion is an idea a can get behind. It would need to be made certain that the damage is correctly calculated in for commander damage when laying out the rules.
---
Regarding Legacy: I don't assume any cards made this way will be of special interest to Legacy, but I don't take it into consideration when asking whether a mechanic plays as intended.
-I am a firm believer that adding a supertype needs to be a last resort when designing mechanics, as there is usually a better work somewhere else. For example, using a keyword here seems possible.
Elite is already a supertype. I had no hand in that decision. I have no problem rewriting the design as a keyword mechanic rather than a supertype with attached rules but for me this is intended to create flavor-fitting rules for a pre-existing aspect of the game that feels... misused.
Elite is not an existing supertype, it is not defined as a valid supertype by the supertype rule 205.4:
205.4. Supertypes
205.4a A card can also have one or more supertypes. These are printed directly before its card types. The supertypes are basic, legendary, ongoing, snow, and world.
205.4b An object’s supertype is independent of its card type and subtype, even though some supertypes are closely identified with specific card types. Changing an object’s card types or subtypes won’t change its supertypes. Changing an object’s supertypes won’t change its card types or subtypes. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it had.
Example: An ability reads, “All lands are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.” If any of the affected lands were legendary, they are still legendary.
205.4c Any land with the supertype “basic” is a basic land. Any land that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonbasic land, even if it has a basic land type.:: Cards printed in sets prior to the Eighth Edition core set didn’t use the word “basic” to indicate a basic land. Cards from those sets with the following names are basic lands and have received errata in the Oracle card reference accordingly: Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp, Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Mountain, Snow-Covered Plains, and Snow-Covered Swamp.
205.4d Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based action for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 704.5k).
205.4e Any permanent with the supertype “world” is subject to the state-based action for world permanents, also called the “world rule” (see rule 704.5m).
205.4f Any permanent with the supertype “snow” is a snow permanent. Any permanent that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonsnow permanent, regardless of its name.
205.4g Any scheme card with the supertype “ongoing” is exempt from the state-based action for schemes (see rule 704.5w).
Elite was only used on hydra heads in the hydra event game, these are not legal Magic cards and there are no rules governing them or the Elite supertype in the Comprehensive Rules. Face The Hydra is part of a different game with its own rules called Hero's Path, played using both Magic cards and Hero's Path cards, and using much of the rules of Magic in addition to its own rules.
Hero is not a valid card type in Magic either, it exists in the Hero's Path game, and there are no rules governing it.
If you want to adopt Elite into the main game's rules, that's your prerogative, but it's an addition to the Magic rules, not an edit of them.
there are no rules governing them or the Elite supertype in the Comprehensive Rules.
That's why I added them. I only assert that it is already a supertype. If you decide to be pedantic enough to say Hero's Path is a separate game rather than a format not added to the comprehensive rules, then I can be pedantic enought to point out that it is a supertype in a game and I never insisted that game is Magic.
If you want to adopt Elite into the main game's rules, that's your prerogative, but it's an addition to the Magic rules, not an edit of them.
And pedantic enough to note that any addition is an alteration - which is an edit.
...
So what I am asking is... do you have a point? Do you want to tell me anything you think I do not know and relevant to a topic that in its first line asserts that it would alter the rules?
p. s.: You must have been telling a lot of people they weren't playing Magic while they were playing EDH before the Commander rules were added to the comprehensive rules. Are you still sometimes picking on players playing Horde Magic?
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
My point being, you were defending your decision to use a supertype to implement your concept by saying that it is an existing supertype, which it is not according to the official rules.
I am not opposed to using a supertype to implement a concept that is difficult or complex to write into the card text. Let's shift back to the topic of your mechanic proposal, I don't want to descend further into an argument bout what does or doesn't constitute real Magic, I'm sorry for starting it. I'm not trying to be antagonistic.
I like the concept in principle, allowing a flexible second commander in Commander, and allowing for the adoption of that mechanic into non-Commander formats. I like the use of a non-text-box means to define the mechanic in this case, as I think it would be confusing to link the condition of being a Commander to a text ability that might be removed or countered; not that it wouldn't work as a text ability. Given that subtypes are not allowed to carry special rules, and adding card types is a hugely complex process, a supertype would be the next logical place to go.
As for viability. I feel like it would play much the way that creatures with self-reanimating abilities do, in that they persistently come back, and that would be primary draw to players. If the environment was stocked with abilities that improved Commanders, then it might be possible to build a deck that utilizes them with more purpose, but then those cards would be useless or underpowered in cases where a player is not using a commander, and a glut of them in a set together would force players to go for the Elite deck theme, or feel bad about the set. In this scenario, I would want to put as many Elites in my deck as possible to ensure that I can capitalize on the Commander-boosting abilities, and if those abilities are attached to the Elites themselves, that would further encourage me to include many of them. But for flavor reasons, Elites should not be frequent, and a deck should not consist primarily of them, they're supposed to be the 'mini-boss' after all, not the whole army. It would be important to balance this out to encourage the use of some elites but not all elites, but still make them distinct from just being kind of clunky Phoenixes.
Given that Big Boo is our only example if implementation, I'll discuss how I would use it.
In draft it would be a decent pick, a modest Specter with the option to recur it later in the game is quite good, and if it were an uncommon, the possibility of picking up a duplicate would be appealing; as a rare, less so but still a decent pick based on the ability to recur it. For constructed, I can't see using it much, Abyssal Specter is not generally constructed viable, and recurring it for 4BB is not very appealing, let alone the increases beyond that. And with multiples, I'd actually prefer Abyssal Specter, since each one would need to be blocked to stop the discards, where Big Boo lumps them all onto just the one that got to be the Commander for easy blocking. In EDH, I would happily run Big Boo alongside another commander, as he could buff the real commander and still function on his own.
So the lessons I would take from that are: if you want the Elite to be constructed viable, it needs to be playable on its own, assuming that it will not be the one that got promoted.
So I would alter Big Boo to be:
Big Boo2BB
Elite Creature - Spirit Specter
Flying
Big Boo can't block
When Big Boo or another Commander creature you control deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
3/2
This design boosts the threat of Big Boo slightly (3/2 rather than 2/3), and rewards you for finding the copies in your deck without making the worth of the copies dependent entirely on having the Commander version active.
I would prefer this to be a keyword (like Partner) rather than a supertype (like legendary) because it's hard enough to explain why legendary doesn't boost my tarmogoyf.
The Once-per-game thing really doesn't feel good in magic; if you're not promoting someone to commander you're losing out - just like not playing an ace trainer or using a GX attack.
Also, I'm not sure how this would work in a normal format. Does this mean that I can have commanders and a command zone in standard? That seems rather distasteful since only Elites can be commanders in standard, rather than legendaries.
I could see a rule or mechanic that let you select a commander from your hand to put into the command zone and that would, from then on, act as a normal commander. But to do this, you'd want to get rid of the "21 damage" rule/commander clock since it'd really make standard confusing.
Also the Standard->Commander Mechanic would want to be practically free, since the 2nd time you use it, it would be useless. Indeed, the first time you use it all you're doing is getting it out of your hand and giving it "convoluted commander regeneration."
However, this would be a neat way to introduce "cares about commander" mechanics into standard. Print all legendaries at rare (some with partner?), print some uncommons with "Promote a guy from [place] to Commander" (or whatever the keyworded thing would be), and print some mechanics that care about your commander's color, type, etc. In standard, "Commandering" would be a boost to these subtypes. I might try to make a thread on this concept later.
I'm going to ignore your card and focus on the proposed mechanic.
Using a supertype seems the best solution for what you want to do and Elite sounds fitting. Though as proposed it is a little clunky in that you haven't specified a time when you would decide to do this 'promotion'. The logical assumption is that it has to be on the field. However that furthers the awkwardness of this rule, you are making a choice but not having a visible effect. So I can see two opportunities for the 'promotion' outside of the battlefield, both would place the new commander in the command zone. First, from your hand, during your mainphase, while the stack is empty; you would move the Elite to the command zone making them your commander with no starting tax. Or when they move from anywhere to the graveyard you can instead move them to command zone and start their tax at 1. The first seems much better.
The once per game is the strangest part of the rules and while it hurts commander it might be better to change it to "If you don't have a commander you may promote an Elite to commander"
My point being, you were defending your decision to use a supertype to implement your concept by saying that it is an existing supertype, which it is not according to the official rules.
Just to clarify: This is actually a design that starts from the elite supertype interprets this as "somewhere between legendary and nonlegendary" (hence "mini-boss") and tries to find a spot in there that:
adds something mechanically to a creature (i. e. is not just a marker mechanic like a subtype/tribal)
works in Standard/Limited (i. e. not just Hero's Path or even a Commander supplemental product)
feels like the creature is more special than a normal creature but less special than a unique legendary
is justified being a supertype rather than a keyword mechanic
I have turned several attempts at this in keyword mechanics posted here and there (e. g. in the UB keyword mechanic thread). With that in mind I am happy the mechanic feels like a supertype. The thoughts you articulate went into the design.
(I didn't want to overburden the OP with too much of the design history; "elite" is my personal variant of "assemble a contraption".)
As for viability. I feel like it would play much the way that creatures with self-reanimating abilities do, in that they persistently come back, and that would be primary draw to players. If the environment was stocked with abilities that improved Commanders, then it might be possible to build a deck that utilizes them with more purpose, but then those cards would be useless or underpowered in cases where a player is not using a commander, and a glut of them in a set together would force players to go for the Elite deck theme, or feel bad about the set.
I imagine that a product created for Limited would make sure to vary the abilities and make the bonus of an elite commander something more linear e. g. a tribal bonus - giving you a secondary axis to built around. Elite creatures would be uncommon enough (and generally spread over all colors equally) because the supertype actually doesn't play inherently well with others due to diminishing returns. Elite creatures can be built-around cards, but I don't imagine it as a built-around type.
recurring it for 4BB is not very appealing, let alone the increases beyond that.
Clarification: Commander tax counts only the times you cast it from the command zone so the first time you replay it after (presumably) casting it from your hand you get to pay the normal casting cost without any tax added.
So the lessons I would take from that are: if you want the Elite to be constructed viable, it needs to be playable on its own, assuming that it will not be the one that got promoted.
While I want elite creatures to be 60-card viable I am not aiming to make every card viable for 60-card Constructed. I actually considered both alterations you propose and decided to go for an example that is toned down to acknowledge the value a recurrable evasive creature already has by itself and because I imagine there are more worthy designs to be pushed for 60-card Constructed (which is a term I use to differentiate from Commander Constructed which this would go into without an issue).
Changing the ability though seems like a decent idea in retrospect.
I would prefer this to be a keyword (like Partner) rather than a supertype (like legendary) because it's hard enough to explain why legendary doesn't boost my tarmogoyf.
The Once-per-game thing really doesn't feel good in magic; if you're not promoting someone to commander you're losing out - just like not playing an ace trainer or using a GX attack.
Also, I'm not sure how this would work in a normal format. Does this mean that I can have commanders and a command zone in standard? That seems rather distasteful since only Elites can be commanders in standard, rather than legendaries.
a) the command zone is already in Standard thanks to emblems. You don't need to know any more about the zone than you need for emblems: It's not exile and the stuff inside it cannot (easily?) be interacted with.
b) I do not take Tarmogoyf into account. Any complexity that comes from discerning supertypes, card types and subtypes rests solely on its shoulders. I will not provide a non-eternal format with both elite cards and Tarmogoyf and if someone decides to play a format that contains Tarmogoyf then that's either Casual (containing Elkin Lair) or something they bring upon themselves.
BTW: While the elite promotion rule is the only player inherent ability to get a commander duruing the game and I wouldn't start throwing this effect around haphazardly just because it exist, there is nothing really keeping the promotion mechanic restricted to elite in the long run. It's certainly something I have considered but the design space is... restricted.
I could see a rule or mechanic that let you select a commander from your hand to put into the command zone and that would, from then on, act as a normal commander. But to do this, you'd want to get rid of the "21 damage" rule/commander clock since it'd really make standard confusing.
Whether the commander damage rule should be inherent to the commander designation in any format or specific to the Commander format is an open decision for me. I'll go with the expectations of my playtesters.
I might try to make a thread on this concept later.
Using a supertype seems the best solution for what you want to do and Elite sounds fitting. Though as proposed it is a little clunky in that you haven't specified a time when you would decide to do this 'promotion'. The logical assumption is that it has to be on the field. However that furthers the awkwardness of this rule, you are making a choice but not having a visible effect.
Clarification: The first line of the first post is deliberately in line with the wording you would find on a card describing what you can promote. A permanent is a permanent only on the battlefield - it's a permanent spell on the stack, and a permanent card anywhere else. It is my intent to promote only a permanent/creature. I am not set on this functionality but it is one of the cleaner solutions.
Further sidenote on timing (since it's come up): Promoting is a special action and hence follows the timing rules of e. g. morph (any time you have priority, doesn't use the stack etc.)
I am not certain what you mean with "not having a visible effect". I specifically mention that this mechanic would come with a visual aid and how to use it.
The once per game is the strangest part of the rules and while it hurts commander it might be better to change it to "If you don't have a commander you may promote an Elite to commander"
This would make the type inherently worse in the format most likely wanting to play around with these - and wouldn't contribute to a functional improvement. I see no reason to do this.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Using a supertype seems the best solution for what you want to do and Elite sounds fitting. Though as proposed it is a little clunky in that you haven't specified a time when you would decide to do this 'promotion'. The logical assumption is that it has to be on the field. However that furthers the awkwardness of this rule, you are making a choice but not having a visible effect.
Clarification: The first line of the first post is deliberately in line with the wording you would find on a card describing what you can promote. A permanent is a permanent only on the battlefield - it's a permanent spell on the stack, and a permanent card anywhere else. It is my intent to promote only a permanent/creature. I am not set on this functionality but it is one of the cleaner solutions.
Further sidenote on timing (since it's come up): Promoting is a special action and hence follows the timing rules of e. g. morph (any time you have priority, doesn't use the stack etc.)
I am not certain what you mean with "not having a visible effect". I specifically mention that this mechanic would come with a visual aid and how to use it.
My point wasn't that you didn't specify that only a permanent promotes but that you didn't give a timing for it. Making it a morph like special action is dangerous. It gives the player more options but it has the awkward moments of "I Doom Blade" "In response I make it my commander." While there is no rules problems, giving a player that much leeway in deciding if and when they want to use the ability is dangerous. Being a special action is necessary because you don't want creatures to be removed 'in response' but it should be like a land drop so you actively have to make the decision rather than getting to wait and see.
About no visible effect, yes you've said that there should be a overlay card but you can't assume that these will always be present and you can't force people to use these, just like you can't force them to use checklist cards or physical tokens. So there is no necessary visible change.
I agree that making the promotion to Commander a special action is dangerous, and would restrict the design options.
Imagine this: I'm playing some elites, I have say three Big Boos (as the example) in play. My opponent has two blockers. I attack, my opponent chooses blockers, at which time I declare that the unblocked one is my commander. Opponent discards three cards and had no way to block that from happening. That's a very feel bad moment for the opponent, makes for unfun games.
I feel that the timing for promotion should be quite restrictive rather than open-ended. I would say that you have to designate it as a Commander when you first cast it, that gives every color the chance to deal with you playing your commander.
About no visible effect, yes you've said that there should be a overlay card but you can't assume that these will always be present and you can't force people to use these, just like you can't force them to use checklist cards or physical tokens. So there is no necessary visible change.
You can present players with some options and force them to choose among them. Checklists were created for DFCs because Wizards felt they couldn't force players to purchase supplementary third party materials (sleeves) in order to play their game. But that's still only three options: either you play with opaque sleeves or you use checklists, or you don't get to use DFCs, effectively players are forced to use the provided supplement cards unless they can provide their own effective alternative. The Commander stand-in token for putting into the hand or library would fall into that level. There would need to be some way for players to distinguish which copy of a card is the Commander without compromising its anonymity when face-down. If players can provide their own means to make that distinction (Sharpie a mustache on the commander?), they would be free to use it, otherwise they must use the supplement card.
The overlay is more akin to a token, morph card, or special counter. Its a quality of life reminder item rather than a necessity.
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Example:
Big Boo
Elite Creature - Spirit
Flying
~ can't block.
Whenever a commander creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that player discards a card.
2/3
Notes:
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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-Assuming there is even one of these that are Legacy playable, it feels automatic to just promote the first one you cast, as you certainly won't have multiple, different "Elite" creatures. This isn't necessarily bad, but there is basically no decision tree here and I have a distaste for cards and mechanics that offer a decision, but that decision is nearly always prechosen for you.
-I am a firm believer that adding a supertype needs to be a last resort when designing mechanics, as there is usually a better work somewhere else. For example, using a keyword here seems possible.
Promote (Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player you may promote this creature to a commander)
The above mechanic encourages proactive gameplay, makes you work a bit for the payoff, and most importantly doesn't carry the baggage of a supertype. Obviously, a combat damage trigger isn't the only route, this was simply the first thing that popped into my head.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Elite is already a supertype. I had no hand in that decision. I have no problem rewriting the design as a keyword mechanic rather than a supertype with attached rules but for me this is intended to create flavor-fitting rules for a pre-existing aspect of the game that feels... misused.
Using combat damage as a prerequisite to a promotion is an idea a can get behind. It would need to be made certain that the damage is correctly calculated in for commander damage when laying out the rules.
---
Regarding Legacy: I don't assume any cards made this way will be of special interest to Legacy, but I don't take it into consideration when asking whether a mechanic plays as intended.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
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Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
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Legends: The Elder Dragons
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Elite is not an existing supertype, it is not defined as a valid supertype by the supertype rule 205.4:
205.4. Supertypes
205.4a A card can also have one or more supertypes. These are printed directly before its card types. The supertypes are basic, legendary, ongoing, snow, and world.
205.4b An object’s supertype is independent of its card type and subtype, even though some supertypes are closely identified with specific card types. Changing an object’s card types or subtypes won’t change its supertypes. Changing an object’s supertypes won’t change its card types or subtypes. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it had.
Example: An ability reads, “All lands are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.” If any of the affected lands were legendary, they are still legendary.
205.4c Any land with the supertype “basic” is a basic land. Any land that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonbasic land, even if it has a basic land type.:: Cards printed in sets prior to the Eighth Edition core set didn’t use the word “basic” to indicate a basic land. Cards from those sets with the following names are basic lands and have received errata in the Oracle card reference accordingly: Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp, Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Mountain, Snow-Covered Plains, and Snow-Covered Swamp.
205.4d Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based action for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 704.5k).
205.4e Any permanent with the supertype “world” is subject to the state-based action for world permanents, also called the “world rule” (see rule 704.5m).
205.4f Any permanent with the supertype “snow” is a snow permanent. Any permanent that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonsnow permanent, regardless of its name.
205.4g Any scheme card with the supertype “ongoing” is exempt from the state-based action for schemes (see rule 704.5w).
Elite was only used on hydra heads in the hydra event game, these are not legal Magic cards and there are no rules governing them or the Elite supertype in the Comprehensive Rules. Face The Hydra is part of a different game with its own rules called Hero's Path, played using both Magic cards and Hero's Path cards, and using much of the rules of Magic in addition to its own rules.
Hero is not a valid card type in Magic either, it exists in the Hero's Path game, and there are no rules governing it.
If you want to adopt Elite into the main game's rules, that's your prerogative, but it's an addition to the Magic rules, not an edit of them.
That's why I added them. I only assert that it is already a supertype. If you decide to be pedantic enough to say Hero's Path is a separate game rather than a format not added to the comprehensive rules, then I can be pedantic enought to point out that it is a supertype in a game and I never insisted that game is Magic.
And pedantic enough to note that any addition is an alteration - which is an edit.
...
So what I am asking is... do you have a point? Do you want to tell me anything you think I do not know and relevant to a topic that in its first line asserts that it would alter the rules?
p. s.: You must have been telling a lot of people they weren't playing Magic while they were playing EDH before the Commander rules were added to the comprehensive rules. Are you still sometimes picking on players playing Horde Magic?
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
I am not opposed to using a supertype to implement a concept that is difficult or complex to write into the card text. Let's shift back to the topic of your mechanic proposal, I don't want to descend further into an argument bout what does or doesn't constitute real Magic, I'm sorry for starting it. I'm not trying to be antagonistic.
I like the concept in principle, allowing a flexible second commander in Commander, and allowing for the adoption of that mechanic into non-Commander formats. I like the use of a non-text-box means to define the mechanic in this case, as I think it would be confusing to link the condition of being a Commander to a text ability that might be removed or countered; not that it wouldn't work as a text ability. Given that subtypes are not allowed to carry special rules, and adding card types is a hugely complex process, a supertype would be the next logical place to go.
As for viability. I feel like it would play much the way that creatures with self-reanimating abilities do, in that they persistently come back, and that would be primary draw to players. If the environment was stocked with abilities that improved Commanders, then it might be possible to build a deck that utilizes them with more purpose, but then those cards would be useless or underpowered in cases where a player is not using a commander, and a glut of them in a set together would force players to go for the Elite deck theme, or feel bad about the set. In this scenario, I would want to put as many Elites in my deck as possible to ensure that I can capitalize on the Commander-boosting abilities, and if those abilities are attached to the Elites themselves, that would further encourage me to include many of them. But for flavor reasons, Elites should not be frequent, and a deck should not consist primarily of them, they're supposed to be the 'mini-boss' after all, not the whole army. It would be important to balance this out to encourage the use of some elites but not all elites, but still make them distinct from just being kind of clunky Phoenixes.
Given that Big Boo is our only example if implementation, I'll discuss how I would use it.
In draft it would be a decent pick, a modest Specter with the option to recur it later in the game is quite good, and if it were an uncommon, the possibility of picking up a duplicate would be appealing; as a rare, less so but still a decent pick based on the ability to recur it. For constructed, I can't see using it much, Abyssal Specter is not generally constructed viable, and recurring it for 4BB is not very appealing, let alone the increases beyond that. And with multiples, I'd actually prefer Abyssal Specter, since each one would need to be blocked to stop the discards, where Big Boo lumps them all onto just the one that got to be the Commander for easy blocking. In EDH, I would happily run Big Boo alongside another commander, as he could buff the real commander and still function on his own.
So the lessons I would take from that are: if you want the Elite to be constructed viable, it needs to be playable on its own, assuming that it will not be the one that got promoted.
So I would alter Big Boo to be:
Big Boo 2BB
Elite Creature - Spirit Specter
Flying
Big Boo can't block
When Big Boo or another Commander creature you control deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
3/2
This design boosts the threat of Big Boo slightly (3/2 rather than 2/3), and rewards you for finding the copies in your deck without making the worth of the copies dependent entirely on having the Commander version active.
The Once-per-game thing really doesn't feel good in magic; if you're not promoting someone to commander you're losing out - just like not playing an ace trainer or using a GX attack.
Also, I'm not sure how this would work in a normal format. Does this mean that I can have commanders and a command zone in standard? That seems rather distasteful since only Elites can be commanders in standard, rather than legendaries.
I could see a rule or mechanic that let you select a commander from your hand to put into the command zone and that would, from then on, act as a normal commander. But to do this, you'd want to get rid of the "21 damage" rule/commander clock since it'd really make standard confusing.
Also the Standard->Commander Mechanic would want to be practically free, since the 2nd time you use it, it would be useless. Indeed, the first time you use it all you're doing is getting it out of your hand and giving it "convoluted commander regeneration."
However, this would be a neat way to introduce "cares about commander" mechanics into standard. Print all legendaries at rare (some with partner?), print some uncommons with "Promote a guy from [place] to Commander" (or whatever the keyworded thing would be), and print some mechanics that care about your commander's color, type, etc. In standard, "Commandering" would be a boost to these subtypes. I might try to make a thread on this concept later.
Using a supertype seems the best solution for what you want to do and Elite sounds fitting. Though as proposed it is a little clunky in that you haven't specified a time when you would decide to do this 'promotion'. The logical assumption is that it has to be on the field. However that furthers the awkwardness of this rule, you are making a choice but not having a visible effect. So I can see two opportunities for the 'promotion' outside of the battlefield, both would place the new commander in the command zone. First, from your hand, during your mainphase, while the stack is empty; you would move the Elite to the command zone making them your commander with no starting tax. Or when they move from anywhere to the graveyard you can instead move them to command zone and start their tax at 1. The first seems much better.
The once per game is the strangest part of the rules and while it hurts commander it might be better to change it to "If you don't have a commander you may promote an Elite to commander"
Just to clarify: This is actually a design that starts from the elite supertype interprets this as "somewhere between legendary and nonlegendary" (hence "mini-boss") and tries to find a spot in there that:
(I didn't want to overburden the OP with too much of the design history; "elite" is my personal variant of "assemble a contraption".)
I imagine that a product created for Limited would make sure to vary the abilities and make the bonus of an elite commander something more linear e. g. a tribal bonus - giving you a secondary axis to built around. Elite creatures would be uncommon enough (and generally spread over all colors equally) because the supertype actually doesn't play inherently well with others due to diminishing returns. Elite creatures can be built-around cards, but I don't imagine it as a built-around type.
Clarification: Commander tax counts only the times you cast it from the command zone so the first time you replay it after (presumably) casting it from your hand you get to pay the normal casting cost without any tax added.
While I want elite creatures to be 60-card viable I am not aiming to make every card viable for 60-card Constructed. I actually considered both alterations you propose and decided to go for an example that is toned down to acknowledge the value a recurrable evasive creature already has by itself and because I imagine there are more worthy designs to be pushed for 60-card Constructed (which is a term I use to differentiate from Commander Constructed which this would go into without an issue).
Changing the ability though seems like a decent idea in retrospect.
The Once-per-game thing really doesn't feel good in magic; if you're not promoting someone to commander you're losing out - just like not playing an ace trainer or using a GX attack.
a) the command zone is already in Standard thanks to emblems. You don't need to know any more about the zone than you need for emblems: It's not exile and the stuff inside it cannot (easily?) be interacted with.
b) I do not take Tarmogoyf into account. Any complexity that comes from discerning supertypes, card types and subtypes rests solely on its shoulders. I will not provide a non-eternal format with both elite cards and Tarmogoyf and if someone decides to play a format that contains Tarmogoyf then that's either Casual (containing Elkin Lair) or something they bring upon themselves.
BTW: While the elite promotion rule is the only player inherent ability to get a commander duruing the game and I wouldn't start throwing this effect around haphazardly just because it exist, there is nothing really keeping the promotion mechanic restricted to elite in the long run. It's certainly something I have considered but the design space is... restricted.
Whether the commander damage rule should be inherent to the commander designation in any format or specific to the Commander format is an open decision for me. I'll go with the expectations of my playtesters.
Looking forward to reading it.
Clarification: The first line of the first post is deliberately in line with the wording you would find on a card describing what you can promote. A permanent is a permanent only on the battlefield - it's a permanent spell on the stack, and a permanent card anywhere else. It is my intent to promote only a permanent/creature. I am not set on this functionality but it is one of the cleaner solutions.
Further sidenote on timing (since it's come up): Promoting is a special action and hence follows the timing rules of e. g. morph (any time you have priority, doesn't use the stack etc.)
I am not certain what you mean with "not having a visible effect". I specifically mention that this mechanic would come with a visual aid and how to use it.
This would make the type inherently worse in the format most likely wanting to play around with these - and wouldn't contribute to a functional improvement. I see no reason to do this.
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About no visible effect, yes you've said that there should be a overlay card but you can't assume that these will always be present and you can't force people to use these, just like you can't force them to use checklist cards or physical tokens. So there is no necessary visible change.
Imagine this: I'm playing some elites, I have say three Big Boos (as the example) in play. My opponent has two blockers. I attack, my opponent chooses blockers, at which time I declare that the unblocked one is my commander. Opponent discards three cards and had no way to block that from happening. That's a very feel bad moment for the opponent, makes for unfun games.
I feel that the timing for promotion should be quite restrictive rather than open-ended. I would say that you have to designate it as a Commander when you first cast it, that gives every color the chance to deal with you playing your commander.
You can present players with some options and force them to choose among them. Checklists were created for DFCs because Wizards felt they couldn't force players to purchase supplementary third party materials (sleeves) in order to play their game. But that's still only three options: either you play with opaque sleeves or you use checklists, or you don't get to use DFCs, effectively players are forced to use the provided supplement cards unless they can provide their own effective alternative. The Commander stand-in token for putting into the hand or library would fall into that level. There would need to be some way for players to distinguish which copy of a card is the Commander without compromising its anonymity when face-down. If players can provide their own means to make that distinction (Sharpie a mustache on the commander?), they would be free to use it, otherwise they must use the supplement card.
The overlay is more akin to a token, morph card, or special counter. Its a quality of life reminder item rather than a necessity.