After Najeela's recent reveal, I was inspired to design this card depicting Pia Nalaar as the new Consul of Allocation.
Pia, Consul of Allocation2R
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Whenever an artifact or Artificer enters the battlefield under your control, you get E(an energy counter).
Pay EEEEE: Add WUBRG or five mana in any combination of colors. Activate this ability only once each turn.
2/2
The mana generating ability may sound strange, but there's a couple reasons it's worded the way it is:
It allows Pia to support cards with heavy color weight, such as Whir of Invention.
It allows Pia to function as a WUBRG commander for artifact and Artificer decks.
In the past I'd worked with the idea of Pia being RWU as I feel WU are her next two most influential colors; she believes in progress, she cares about the good of her community, and she accepts responsibility. But with this set up, she can also work with black and green cards, such as Sly Requisitioner and Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter.
Yeah, her abilities don't directly tie in to her two previouscards, but I think it could be argued that's part of the story, Pia letting go of the past conflict now that she's won and embracing her new role as a more reasonable authority figure in Kaladesh.
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.
While I fully understand and appreciate why the activated ability is worded that way, it is awful to look at. It reads like there is some trick I'm not getting. For the sake of elegance I would suggests giving up on one of the paths you've taken. I'm also fairly concerned with how much mana she can pump out, I would add the same restriction as Ramos "Activate this ability only once each turn." as opposed to require tapping. While she produces less mana each time she doesn't have to stack the resource on herself so she can hit the field and immediately get to work. That or change how easily she produces energy. Though I can't think of a viable switch for her energy production.
"Once each turn" seems like a reasonable limitation. If I had to remove one half of the mana production ability, I'd remove the "any combination" part as it's less integral to the card's design.
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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.
After Najeela's recent reveal, I was inspired to design this card depicting Pia Nalaar as the new Consul of Allocation.
Pia, Consul of Allocation2R
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Whenever an artifact or Artificer enters the battlefield under your control, you get E(an energy counter).
Pay EEEEE: Add WUBRG or five mana in any combination of colors. Activate this ability only once each turn.
2/2
The mana generating ability may sound strange, but there's a couple reasons it's worded the way it is:
It allows Pia to support cards with heavy color weight, such as Whir of Invention.
It allows Pia to function as a WUBRG commander for artifact and Artificer decks.
Back in Alara Reborn they decided to make all cards gold cards and considered whether it would be cheating to e. g. make land cards and give them abilities that make them multicolored and decided it would be cheating.
You are cheating. You are changing the wording to something stupid just to use a loophole. You are aware of your cheating. You can explain your cheating, but you cannot justify it.
I don't see a strong reason to favor one of the two halves of the mana ability over the other - by your stated original intention you should keep the mana symbols. But if you think that's a worse design in general, maybe you should go with the other half and keep the card well-designed in a vacuum.
There are other ways to tackle the color identity problems of tribes.
I'd keep the mana symbols as well though. They are pretty and create no optimization paralysis - that often is just unnecessary.
Kill the WUBRG commander feature imo. It's a very silly motivation for a wording that is unforgivable.
That misses the entire point of the card. This is supposed to be a WUBRG commander for an artifacts and Artificers deck. And "unforgivable"? That's being way overdramatic. It's an experimental wording designed to provide flexibility which, as I have already said, I'd be willing to cut if necessary. But the WUBRG stays.
Back in Alara Reborn they decided to make all cards gold cards and considered whether it would be cheating to e. g. make land cards and give them abilities that make them multicolored and decided it would be cheating.
You are cheating. You are changing the wording to something stupid just to use a loophole. You are aware of your cheating. You can explain your cheating, but you cannot justify it.
I don't see a strong reason to favor one of the two halves of the mana ability over the other - by your stated original intention you should keep the mana symbols. But if you think that's a worse design in general, maybe you should go with the other half and keep the card well-designed in a vacuum.
There are other ways to tackle the color identity problems of tribes.
I'd keep the mana symbols as well though. They are pretty and create no optimization paralysis - that often is just unnecessary.
I disagree with the cheating part as the "any combination" is merely an extension of the WUBRG production ability. However, I will acknowledge your point about optimization paralysis; there is such a thing as too many choices, so again, I'd be willing to cut that part as long as the WUBRG stays.
Yeah OP pick one of the mana creation options and cut the other, because the current card looks odd. I say keep WUBRG.
My exact recommendation. If you wanna play Whir of Invention with her, use filtering artifacts, there are plenty. *shrug*
Otherwise, pretty good.
Well, it would be nice if the player didn't have to cram their deck full of Sigils and rainbow rocks like always happens, but the optimization paralysis brought up by SecretInfiltrator above is a legit reason to consider trimming the "any combination" part. As long as Pia can still produce WUBRG or otherwise involve WUBRG on her card, all's well that ends well.
Personally, I feel kneejerk reactions have distorted judgment here, but in the interest of research and development, I'll take into account the significance of a strongly negative initial response.
Pia, Consul of Allocation2R
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Whenever an artifact or Artificer enters the battlefield under your control, you get E(an energy counter).
Pay EEEEE: Add WUBRG. Activate this ability only once each turn.
2/2
My biggest concern now is that, since Pia encourages Artificer tribal, that makes it a bit difficult to work with non-Artificer creatures that use energy. Sure, you have creatures with Fabricate and other artifact token-makers, but I feel that being a WUBRG energy-matters legend is the main focus here. Should I drop the Artificer tribal part and just make it "artifact or creature"? Though the current ETB trigger does allow Pia to work nicely with her first two cards, is there another good choice for an energy-generating effect? How about "Whenever you cast a spell"? Or should she get something like "1, T: You get E"?
Maybe I'm overthinking it. After all, a focus like tribal does help push deck building in certain directions, while something generic would just say "throw all the energy-related cards you have into this deck". Pia's an Artificer, she wants to encourage Artificers to create, and of course she likes artifacts. The first ability represents who she is and what she cares about most, while the second ability represents what she does.
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.
I guess the better question is, why does "one mana of any color" (and other similar text) not preclude it being in a non-five color deck (or allow a five color deck in the case of it being a commander.) Why should City of Brass be allowed in any commander deck, while Arcane Sanctum and co. are not?
What functional difference is there between "add five mana in any combination of colors." and "add five mana in any combination of , , , , and/or ." aside from commander deck-building constraints?
I guess the better question is, why does "one mana of any color" (and other similar text) not preclude it being in a non-five color deck (or allow a five color deck in the case of it being a commander.) Why should City of Brass be allowed in any commander deck, while Arcane Sanctum and co. are not?
What functional difference is there between "add five mana in any combination of colors." and "add five mana in any combination of , , , , and/or ." aside from commander deck-building constraints?
QFT
I've always thought this way. Surely many other do as well.
The EDH Rules committee use the presence of pips to establish deckbuilding colour identity. It's kinda dumb because it means hybrid cards have multicolour id, but it is a consistent system.
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():
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“Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.” Esmeralda Santiago Art is life itself.
I guess the better question is, why does "one mana of any color" (and other similar text) not preclude it being in a non-five color deck (or allow a five color deck in the case of it being a commander.) Why should City of Brass be allowed in any commander deck, while Arcane Sanctum and co. are not?
What functional difference is there between "add five mana in any combination of colors." and "add five mana in any combination of , , , , and/or ." aside from commander deck-building constraints?
True, but the EDH color identity rules have little to do with how the rules actually define color. The alternative would be either much more restrictive, as cards that add any color would only be able to be used in 5-color decks, or much harder to understand, if players had to consider the context of where the colored mana symbols appear beyond the rules/reminder text split. Remember when all legendary creatures with an off-color activated or triggered ability were banned as commanders? The current system balances those concerns the best, even if it is inconsistent.
I guess the better question is, why does "one mana of any color" (and other similar text) not preclude it being in a non-five color deck (or allow a five color deck in the case of it being a commander.) Why should City of Brass be allowed in any commander deck, while Arcane Sanctum and co. are not?
What functional difference is there between "add five mana in any combination of colors." and "add five mana in any combination of , , , , and/or ." aside from commander deck-building constraints?
I personally always felt that color identity should only involve costs. This would automatically solve the problem of a lack of colorless basic lands and even make an all-colorless sunburst deck less of a hassle etc.
I really wish there was a clean way to just ignore anything but the color for the actual 99, but that would create a weird loophole that kinda undermines the spirit of the system. Though I forgot how they changed the rules regarding producing off-colored mana after OGW - depending on how they handled that there is an easy answer that makes everyone happy (who doesn't mind that hybrid is not yet fixed).
I personally have somewhere a custom card that you can add to your command zone to straight up change the color restrictions in exchange for other restrictions (e. g. one that allows you to ignore color restrictions on creatures that share a subtype with your commander, but you can't have creatures that don't - potentially banned with then answer to several trivia questions).
It's a balancing act.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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]
The color identity system is dumb anyway and I think the best possible thing to do is ignore it and hope it goes away.
So every commander deck ever just becomes "Shove all the goodstuff you possibly can into this deck"? Restrictions breed creativity. By removing color identity, you open the doors to every deck just being a WUBRG goodstuff fest.
Yes, there exist WUBRG legends designed to allow WUBRG decks to be played, but those legends almost always incorporate some manner of strategic focus to build around (when they aren't boring beatsticks). Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is a great example, using one color as the focus, emphasizing where that color overlaps with the other colors, and using a specific monocolor effect to help inform the deck's strategy (in Najeela's case, Warrior-tribal aggro). From there you look at how the other colors all support that.
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.
What makes, say, Aurelia more of a goodstuff target than any other random choice if you eliminate the CI deckbuild rule? Afaict, no one has explained this in a sensible way. I assume that you want to cast your commander (that's why it's in your special always-available deckslot) so you should be building for commander reliability and commander synergy anyway.
The color identity system is dumb anyway and I think the best possible thing to do is ignore it and hope it goes away.
And what exactly would you propose to replace it? Considering a lot of Commander is built with color identity in mind, and color identity itself is referred to in a number of Commander-specific cards like Command Tower, how practical do you think that it going away actually is?
I was just suggesting that cards that reference producing mana of any color sans restrictions actually be treated as five-color cards.
And my point was that the current system provides the best balance of accessibility and sensibility. Color identity is a core element of commander, and, as such, shouldn't be done away with lightly, as willows has suggested, but it is also by far the format's most complex element because it isn't a typical in-game characteristic. Players already have to consider a card's actual color, including mana cost and color indicator/CDA, and hunt for mana symbols in the text box, but your suggestion is even more complicated than that.
You suggest making the likes of Birds of Paradise a five-color card because it can produce any color all of the time, but to keep your rule from idiotically blocking usage of Command Tower, you allow cards that produce any color some of the time like Mox Amber and Corrupted Grafstone to stay colorless. On top of that, you have cards like Mox Opal which has a "some of the time" restriction on top of an "all of the time" ability. It's maddening, and it compounds the issues of an already imperfect system.
Pia, Consul of Allocation 2R
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Whenever an artifact or Artificer enters the battlefield under your control, you get E (an energy counter).
Pay EEEEE: Add WUBRG or five mana in any combination of colors. Activate this ability only once each turn.
2/2
The mana generating ability may sound strange, but there's a couple reasons it's worded the way it is:
In the past I'd worked with the idea of Pia being RWU as I feel WU are her next two most influential colors; she believes in progress, she cares about the good of her community, and she accepts responsibility. But with this set up, she can also work with black and green cards, such as Sly Requisitioner and Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter.
Yeah, her abilities don't directly tie in to her two previous cards, but I think it could be argued that's part of the story, Pia letting go of the past conflict now that she's won and embracing her new role as a more reasonable authority figure in Kaladesh.
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.
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.
Back in Alara Reborn they decided to make all cards gold cards and considered whether it would be cheating to e. g. make land cards and give them abilities that make them multicolored and decided it would be cheating.
You are cheating. You are changing the wording to something stupid just to use a loophole. You are aware of your cheating. You can explain your cheating, but you cannot justify it.
I don't see a strong reason to favor one of the two halves of the mana ability over the other - by your stated original intention you should keep the mana symbols. But if you think that's a worse design in general, maybe you should go with the other half and keep the card well-designed in a vacuum.
There are other ways to tackle the color identity problems of tribes.
I'd keep the mana symbols as well though. They are pretty and create no optimization paralysis - that often is just unnecessary.
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
Art is life itself.
My exact recommendation. If you wanna play Whir of Invention with her, use filtering artifacts, there are plenty. *shrug*
Otherwise, pretty good.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
That misses the entire point of the card. This is supposed to be a WUBRG commander for an artifacts and Artificers deck. And "unforgivable"? That's being way overdramatic. It's an experimental wording designed to provide flexibility which, as I have already said, I'd be willing to cut if necessary. But the WUBRG stays.
I disagree with the cheating part as the "any combination" is merely an extension of the WUBRG production ability. However, I will acknowledge your point about optimization paralysis; there is such a thing as too many choices, so again, I'd be willing to cut that part as long as the WUBRG stays.
Well, it would be nice if the player didn't have to cram their deck full of Sigils and rainbow rocks like always happens, but the optimization paralysis brought up by SecretInfiltrator above is a legit reason to consider trimming the "any combination" part. As long as Pia can still produce WUBRG or otherwise involve WUBRG on her card, all's well that ends well.
Personally, I feel kneejerk reactions have distorted judgment here, but in the interest of research and development, I'll take into account the significance of a strongly negative initial response.
Pia, Consul of Allocation 2R
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Whenever an artifact or Artificer enters the battlefield under your control, you get E (an energy counter).
Pay EEEEE: Add WUBRG. Activate this ability only once each turn.
2/2
My biggest concern now is that, since Pia encourages Artificer tribal, that makes it a bit difficult to work with non-Artificer creatures that use energy. Sure, you have creatures with Fabricate and other artifact token-makers, but I feel that being a WUBRG energy-matters legend is the main focus here. Should I drop the Artificer tribal part and just make it "artifact or creature"? Though the current ETB trigger does allow Pia to work nicely with her first two cards, is there another good choice for an energy-generating effect? How about "Whenever you cast a spell"? Or should she get something like "1, T: You get E"?
Maybe I'm overthinking it. After all, a focus like tribal does help push deck building in certain directions, while something generic would just say "throw all the energy-related cards you have into this deck". Pia's an Artificer, she wants to encourage Artificers to create, and of course she likes artifacts. The first ability represents who she is and what she cares about most, while the second ability represents what she does.
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.
What functional difference is there between "add five mana in any combination of colors." and "add five mana in any combination of , , , , and/or ." aside from commander deck-building constraints?
QFT
I've always thought this way. Surely many other do as well.
Art is life itself.
True, but the EDH color identity rules have little to do with how the rules actually define color. The alternative would be either much more restrictive, as cards that add any color would only be able to be used in 5-color decks, or much harder to understand, if players had to consider the context of where the colored mana symbols appear beyond the rules/reminder text split. Remember when all legendary creatures with an off-color activated or triggered ability were banned as commanders? The current system balances those concerns the best, even if it is inconsistent.
I personally always felt that color identity should only involve costs. This would automatically solve the problem of a lack of colorless basic lands and even make an all-colorless sunburst deck less of a hassle etc.
I really wish there was a clean way to just ignore anything but the color for the actual 99, but that would create a weird loophole that kinda undermines the spirit of the system. Though I forgot how they changed the rules regarding producing off-colored mana after OGW - depending on how they handled that there is an easy answer that makes everyone happy (who doesn't mind that hybrid is not yet fixed).
I personally have somewhere a custom card that you can add to your command zone to straight up change the color restrictions in exchange for other restrictions (e. g. one that allows you to ignore color restrictions on creatures that share a subtype with your commander, but you can't have creatures that don't - potentially banned with then answer to several trivia questions).
It's a balancing act.
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
So every commander deck ever just becomes "Shove all the goodstuff you possibly can into this deck"? Restrictions breed creativity. By removing color identity, you open the doors to every deck just being a WUBRG goodstuff fest.
Yes, there exist WUBRG legends designed to allow WUBRG decks to be played, but those legends almost always incorporate some manner of strategic focus to build around (when they aren't boring beatsticks). Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is a great example, using one color as the focus, emphasizing where that color overlaps with the other colors, and using a specific monocolor effect to help inform the deck's strategy (in Najeela's case, Warrior-tribal aggro). From there you look at how the other colors all support that.
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.
And what exactly would you propose to replace it? Considering a lot of Commander is built with color identity in mind, and color identity itself is referred to in a number of Commander-specific cards like Command Tower, how practical do you think that it going away actually is?
And my point was that the current system provides the best balance of accessibility and sensibility. Color identity is a core element of commander, and, as such, shouldn't be done away with lightly, as willows has suggested, but it is also by far the format's most complex element because it isn't a typical in-game characteristic. Players already have to consider a card's actual color, including mana cost and color indicator/CDA, and hunt for mana symbols in the text box, but your suggestion is even more complicated than that.
You suggest making the likes of Birds of Paradise a five-color card because it can produce any color all of the time, but to keep your rule from idiotically blocking usage of Command Tower, you allow cards that produce any color some of the time like Mox Amber and Corrupted Grafstone to stay colorless. On top of that, you have cards like Mox Opal which has a "some of the time" restriction on top of an "all of the time" ability. It's maddening, and it compounds the issues of an already imperfect system.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝