Let's say the next Commander product is a cycle of five WUBRG decks, each centered around a particular tribe and dominated by the color most appropriate for that tribe. Each deck gets a General Tazri-esque mononolor legend with a WUBRG ability as the face card, as well as a pair of partner legends with off-color hybrid abilities akin to FRF's Khans. Would you rather those decks be centered around races, classes, or a mix of the two? In this opening post I present the pros and cons for each choice as well as explain my reasons for the specifications I outlined.
Tribal is one of the easiest ways to distinguish five color decks from one another. By choosing a tribe most often concentrated in a particular color, you justify centering each deck around a single color while still featuring the other colors as support. You could thus write the deck's color identities out as Wubrg, wUbrg, wuBrg, and so forth. For color symbol representation, you could type them out as (R/W)(G/W)(W/U)(W/B) and so forth. On the packaging, they would likely emphasize the lead color.
In contrast to traditional WUBRG legends, Tazri-style legends offer a few benefits. First off, they help emphasize the lead color of their deck; for example, a deck lead by General Tazri would most strongly be associated with white. Secondly, they present less strain on the mana curve as getting all five colors together isn't necessary to even play the legend in the first place. Such Tazri legends lean toward having mana costs of 4M to help encourage the five-color theme.
The biggest drawback to Tazri legends is that the WUBRG part has to be carried by the rules text, which restricts the range of reasonable designs you can make. Being technically monocolor cards also means if they have any ability besides the WUBRG ability (and they should), it has to be something their primary color can do by itself.
Personally I would make the monocolor ability care about the tribe and the WUBRG ability care about the number of colors among permanents you control. Why? Because this helps you to care about both tribal and five color, which is the whole point of these legends in the first place. Unlike Tazri herself, these legends wouldn't necessarily care about their tribe in the WUBRG ability. This is because for some tribes, there simply aren't enough instances of certain colors among creatures of that tribe to realistically support the five color theme (Merfolk would be hard-pressed to support red as Jori En, Ruin Diver and Razorfin Hunter are the only existing red Merfolk at the time of this writing). Relaxing the tribal theme a little and allowing the WUBRG ability to care about colors among all permanents you control allows for greater flexibility in deckbuilding (the wUbrg Merfolk deck can still run red enchantments).
The face cards could be from planes we haven't visited before, but they could also be from known worlds or even be known characters. Most likely they wouldn't feature any fancy returning mechanics as they already have a lot on their plate between the tribal monocolor ability and the color-matters WUBRG ability.
Commander 2016 introduced legendary creatures with the keyword Partner which provided four color decks with new options for deck construction; now you could build three or four-color decks using a pair of dual-color legends with Partner, provided the two legends have enough different colors between them to cover the trio or quad. Obviously five-color decks will want to make use of the same technology, but with a few tweaks, some necessary, some optional:
Necessary
At least one of the legends needs to have at least three colors in their color identity. For the sake of symmetry and simplicity, let's assume that both partners have tricolor identities which include the deck's primary color.
The legends need to involve the featured tribe, ideally by being of that tribe themselves.
Optional
The legends don't have to be hard gold; in fact, much like the face card they can be monocolor with off-color symbols in their rules text. I personally am fond of the FRF Khans' approach to tricolor; each Khan is monocolor in their Clan's central color but features two hybrid symbols of their Clan's accompanying pair in their rules text (Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is red, the Mardu Horde's central color, and features (W/B) in her rules text, meaning she has a RWB color identity for commander purposes). This allows for greater flexibility in deck building (these partner legends would allow for decks of any color combination ranging from two to five).
While the face cards should care about the deck's featured tribe, the partner legends don't necessarily have to mention the tribe specifically. This is to expand the deckbuilding options for these partner legends; the U(R/G) Merfolk partner can play well in a Merfolk tribal deck, but needs not be focused specifically on Merfolk. This also allows for greater flexibility in flavor and mechanics, not to mention allows you to play partner legends in one deck with those in other decks, including from C16.
The partners can each feature a notable mechanic from their plane. For example, if the U(R/G) Merfolk was from Zendikar, they could feature Landfall. Commander 2016 had a few legends with returning mechanics (Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa has Flanking, Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder has Cascade, and Atraxa, Praetors' Voice has Proliferate), but I would be happy to see this subtheme pushed for WUBRG tribal.
Races
Races would be geared towards popular tribes like Merfolk and Goblins, most of which do not yet have a full five-color legend option.
Pros
+ Easily the most recognizable tribes in the game
Cons
- Poor selection in certain colors, requiring support cards like enchantments to help support colors matter themes (see the earlier point about red Merfolk)
- White doesn't really have a characteristic race at this time; Kaladesh has introduced Dwarves to white, but it will be some time before Dwarves have an appreciable presence; Humans are at this time the most viable option for white's characteristic race
Classes
Like Races, Classes would be chosen based on popularity and color availability. Some of the more popular classes are Soldier, Warrior, Knight, Cleric, Wizard, Shaman, Druid, and Rogue.
Pros
+ Better color selection than races
+ More variety in creature size and selection
Cons
- Less popular than races
- Harder to choose for certain colors ("Should the red deck be focused on Shamans or Warriors?")
Race or Class
This would be a mixture of race and class decks. For example: Soldier, Merfolk, Zombie, Goblin, Elf.
Pros
+ More choices than just race or class (the white deck could easily be a Soldier deck)
Cons
- Less cohesion than just one or the other
Race and Class
Each deck features both a signature race and a signature class (reminiscent of Lorwyn/Morningtide/s Race/Class theme). One partner represents the race and the other the class.
Pros
+ Better options and more diversity than just race or class
Cons
- More complex than just one or the other
- Some classes compete for the same color (Shamans and Warriors both want red and green)
Two classes
Each deck features two signature classes. The partner legends each can represent one of the classes.
Pros
+ Wider selection of classes
Cons
- Still more complex than just one race or class
Race + 2 Classes
This takes the somewhat unwieldy option of featuring a signature race and two classes with which that race frequently overlaps (Merfolk Rogues and Merfolk Wizards, for example). The face card would likely care about the race while the two partners represent the classes.
Pros
+ More flexibility than previous options
Cons
- As already stated, rather unwieldy especially in tandem with the WUBRG theme; most Commander precons choose two primary themes, and in this case those would be a single tribe and WUBRG
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.
Two or three color decks seem far more likely to me. A five color deck may be two powerful, and it can be hard to make the different tribal decks have unique themes when they span all five colors. Also, certain tribes are unlikely to contain particular colors due to flavor reasons. For example, it would be hard to design a warrior tribe when you use colors like blue, or a spirit tribe with green or red. Granted, these things can happen, but they would have to find flavorful reasons to do this. Allied color pairs are far more likely to me.
I think 5 color tribal decks should at least be built around 5 color tribes instead of adding weird splashes to tribes that only consist of 2-3 colors. I don't need to run Razorfin Hunter in my goblin tribal decks, thank you very much. General Tazri only got a 5 color activated ability because allies are in 5 colors in the first place, so slapping something like that on an elf or goblin wouldn't fit at all. In addition to allies, Dragons, Slivers, Elementals, Scarecrows, and, um, Atogs already have at least one 5 color tribal lord, which would make them good places to start, and other 5 color tribes, such as humans and gods, could also receive a new lord.
Still, I really don't think it's going to happen. The 4 color decks at least had distinct themes, but tribal decks play similarly enough to each other that it would be insufficient to make that many 5 color decks feel unique. I could see Wizards releasing a single 5 color Commander precon, but not five decks for five tribes.
I think 5 color tribal decks should at least be built around 5 color tribes instead of adding weird splashes to tribes that only consist of 2-3 colors. I don't need to run Razorfin Hunter in my goblin tribal decks, thank you very much. General Tazri only got a 5 color activated ability because allies are in 5 colors in the first place, so slapping something like that on an elf or goblin wouldn't fit at all. In addition to allies, Dragons, Slivers, Elementals, Scarecrows, and, um, Atogs already have at least one 5 color tribal lord, which would make them good places to start, and other 5 color tribes, such as humans and gods, could also receive a new lord.
Still, I really don't think it's going to happen. The 4 color decks at least had distinct themes, but tribal decks play similarly enough to each other that it would be insufficient to make that many 5 color decks feel unique. I could see Wizards releasing a single 5 color Commander precon, but not five decks for five tribes.
I don't see why each tribe has to play similarly; I figure each tribe has their own mechanical identity. Humans/Soldiers have wide army aggro, Merfolk have control, Zombies have graveyard shenanigans, Goblins have suicide aggro, and Elves have ramp. Sure, they all generally build up creatures and smash the opponent, but that's true of most Commander decks; what helps them stand out is how they build up and smash the opponent.
And again, each deck is dominated by a particular color, so no two decks in the cycle are going to feel the same. They're almost like monocolor decks splashing other colors.
As for established five color tribes, as you said they already have WUBRG legends. Allies, Dragons, Elementals, Scarecrows, and Slivers are all accounted for. Atogs don't feel like a widespread enough tribe to build a deck around; there are currently 12 not counting Changelings. Eldrazi and Changeling WUBRGs would be interesting, but they don't really have a central color to serve as the director of their decks.
Commander decks as far as we know are released in cycles of five, so if you want a WUBRG Commander precon, it makes sense to design five of them with different color preferences. And creating WUBRG legends for particular tribes that currently don't have one gives players new options. There very well could be a player out there who always wanted to build a WUBRG Elves deck, but lacked a commander with adequate color coverage to do so.
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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.
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The biggest drawback to Tazri legends is that the WUBRG part has to be carried by the rules text, which restricts the range of reasonable designs you can make. Being technically monocolor cards also means if they have any ability besides the WUBRG ability (and they should), it has to be something their primary color can do by itself.
Personally I would make the monocolor ability care about the tribe and the WUBRG ability care about the number of colors among permanents you control. Why? Because this helps you to care about both tribal and five color, which is the whole point of these legends in the first place. Unlike Tazri herself, these legends wouldn't necessarily care about their tribe in the WUBRG ability. This is because for some tribes, there simply aren't enough instances of certain colors among creatures of that tribe to realistically support the five color theme (Merfolk would be hard-pressed to support red as Jori En, Ruin Diver and Razorfin Hunter are the only existing red Merfolk at the time of this writing). Relaxing the tribal theme a little and allowing the WUBRG ability to care about colors among all permanents you control allows for greater flexibility in deckbuilding (the wUbrg Merfolk deck can still run red enchantments).
The face cards could be from planes we haven't visited before, but they could also be from known worlds or even be known characters. Most likely they wouldn't feature any fancy returning mechanics as they already have a lot on their plate between the tribal monocolor ability and the color-matters WUBRG ability.
Necessary
Optional
Races would be geared towards popular tribes like Merfolk and Goblins, most of which do not yet have a full five-color legend option.
Pros
+ Easily the most recognizable tribes in the game
Cons
- Poor selection in certain colors, requiring support cards like enchantments to help support colors matter themes (see the earlier point about red Merfolk)
- White doesn't really have a characteristic race at this time; Kaladesh has introduced Dwarves to white, but it will be some time before Dwarves have an appreciable presence; Humans are at this time the most viable option for white's characteristic race
Classes
Like Races, Classes would be chosen based on popularity and color availability. Some of the more popular classes are Soldier, Warrior, Knight, Cleric, Wizard, Shaman, Druid, and Rogue.
Pros
+ Better color selection than races
+ More variety in creature size and selection
Cons
- Less popular than races
- Harder to choose for certain colors ("Should the red deck be focused on Shamans or Warriors?")
Race or Class
This would be a mixture of race and class decks. For example: Soldier, Merfolk, Zombie, Goblin, Elf.
Pros
+ More choices than just race or class (the white deck could easily be a Soldier deck)
Cons
- Less cohesion than just one or the other
Race and Class
Each deck features both a signature race and a signature class (reminiscent of Lorwyn/Morningtide/s Race/Class theme). One partner represents the race and the other the class.
Pros
+ Better options and more diversity than just race or class
Cons
- More complex than just one or the other
- Some classes compete for the same color (Shamans and Warriors both want red and green)
Two classes
Each deck features two signature classes. The partner legends each can represent one of the classes.
Pros
+ Wider selection of classes
Cons
- Still more complex than just one race or class
Race + 2 Classes
This takes the somewhat unwieldy option of featuring a signature race and two classes with which that race frequently overlaps (Merfolk Rogues and Merfolk Wizards, for example). The face card would likely care about the race while the two partners represent the classes.
Pros
+ More flexibility than previous options
Cons
- As already stated, rather unwieldy especially in tandem with the WUBRG theme; most Commander precons choose two primary themes, and in this case those would be a single tribe and WUBRG
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.
Still, I really don't think it's going to happen. The 4 color decks at least had distinct themes, but tribal decks play similarly enough to each other that it would be insufficient to make that many 5 color decks feel unique. I could see Wizards releasing a single 5 color Commander precon, but not five decks for five tribes.
Oh? And what about Izzet's various UR Goblins? Goblin Electromancer? Goblin Flectomancer? Mizzix of the Izmagnus? Let's not forget some fun RW Goblin cards as well: Boros Recruit, Goblin Legionnaire, Goblin Trenches, Rise of the Hobgoblins. And of course the various BR and RG Goblins available.
I don't see why each tribe has to play similarly; I figure each tribe has their own mechanical identity. Humans/Soldiers have wide army aggro, Merfolk have control, Zombies have graveyard shenanigans, Goblins have suicide aggro, and Elves have ramp. Sure, they all generally build up creatures and smash the opponent, but that's true of most Commander decks; what helps them stand out is how they build up and smash the opponent.
And again, each deck is dominated by a particular color, so no two decks in the cycle are going to feel the same. They're almost like monocolor decks splashing other colors.
As for established five color tribes, as you said they already have WUBRG legends. Allies, Dragons, Elementals, Scarecrows, and Slivers are all accounted for. Atogs don't feel like a widespread enough tribe to build a deck around; there are currently 12 not counting Changelings. Eldrazi and Changeling WUBRGs would be interesting, but they don't really have a central color to serve as the director of their decks.
Commander decks as far as we know are released in cycles of five, so if you want a WUBRG Commander precon, it makes sense to design five of them with different color preferences. And creating WUBRG legends for particular tribes that currently don't have one gives players new options. There very well could be a player out there who always wanted to build a WUBRG Elves deck, but lacked a commander with adequate color coverage to do so.
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.