I've been toying with an idea for an alternative variant commander style: Captain + Commander (CapCom)
This variant is similar to one of the many lieutenant variants I've seen floating around, in that you select a second legendary creature for your deck to serve as the commander's subordinate. This 'captain' may possess a colour identity of any combination within your commander's colour identity (i.e. A selesnya commander could have a selesnya, mono-green or mono-white captain), but must have a CMC equal to or less than that of your commander. The captain resides in the command zone with the commander, and incurs a 1 mana penalty in casting cost following each cast.
CapCom Specific Rules:
Your Captain must be within the colour identity of your Commander, with an equal or lower CMC. Casting your Captain from the command zone incurs a cumulative 1 mana penalty on recasting from the command zone.
Before your commander can be cast for the first time during each match, your captain must have been cast at least once.
I'd suggest bringing it up with your local playgroup to test it out, it's an interesting variant to play. Similar to the new Partner mechanic, except that the captain doesn't deal any "commander damage", so it keeps the commander as the main identity of the deck.
But seriously, I'm pretty sure some broken nonsense would happen here. There is definitely at least one infinite combo you can cast entirely from the command zone in this format.
I could see this as an actual keyword mechanic, like Partner. A commander set where each deck has one two-color 'Boss' and then two monocolor 'Captains' to choose between. But I think people would rather just have more partners.
What If the Commander Tax in this Variant requires the caster to pay life equal to the total CMC of both the Captain and Commander? Perhaps maybe change the deck size from 98 plus the Captain and Commander to 58 plus the Captain and Commander to help make games go by faster? Would there be a change in starting life totals or would it be 40 like in traditional EDH / Commander?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
This variant is similar to one of the many lieutenant variants I've seen floating around, in that you select a second legendary creature for your deck to serve as the commander's subordinate. This 'captain' may possess a colour identity of any combination within your commander's colour identity (i.e. A selesnya commander could have a selesnya, mono-green or mono-white captain), but must have a CMC equal to or less than that of your commander. The captain resides in the command zone with the commander, and incurs a 1 mana penalty in casting cost following each cast.
CapCom Specific Rules:
Thoughts? Ideas?
With the new Partner mechanic coming out now. This could be a good time to discuss similar variants and ideas.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/360-bitterblossom-and-mistbind-clique-looking-to-trade
Zurgo Bellstriker!
... A boy and his dog!
But seriously, I'm pretty sure some broken nonsense would happen here. There is definitely at least one infinite combo you can cast entirely from the command zone in this format.
I could see this as an actual keyword mechanic, like Partner. A commander set where each deck has one two-color 'Boss' and then two monocolor 'Captains' to choose between. But I think people would rather just have more partners.
- Rabid Wombat
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta