Captivating Glance ~ notice it says an opponent; slap it on that indestructible trampler and make a truce with a completely different guy that whoever wins it will swing it at the original owner. Also, the effect is a triggered ability, so just like with Dominate it won't go back to the previous owner if the enchantment gets destroyed or if you move it to something new.
The oracle ruling on It that betrays only refers to instant-speed removal from a graveyard, which is different from a replacement effect like Anafenza's.
Sacrifice triggers don't require the permanent to actually go to the graveyard even if that is clearly the assumption, as evidenced by the fact that I can still sacrifice a creature to pay a cost when my opponent has an Anafenza.
Importantly, the return clause doesn't specify which zone it must be returned from, meaning It that betrays should even be able to steal sacrificed commanders.
I'm honestly not worried at all. There is no better design space to create four-colored creatures than a format where literally any card is legal outside of a short balance-enforcing banlist. They have a staggering array of keywords and effects that they can cherry-pick from without worrying about using too many different ones. Proliferate is a prime example of one such keyword: it has color associations with three different colors already (just add a fourth!), exists in a block that would make it inaccessible to any other format in the near future, is highly regarded by most people I've met in terms of fun value, and is decidedly balanced for how much of a 'johnny' mechanic it is.
One thing I would like to see return is shadow. Something like...
~~~
Dream-Realm Nephilim
WUBG
If a creature without shadow would be destroyed, regenerate that creature instead and put a +1/+1 counter on it (or -1/-1 counter, or dream counter, or whatever).
Each creature with a {blank} counter has shadow.
When Dream-Realm Nephilim leaves play, exile each other creature with shadow.
~~~
Just as an example of how a four-color commander can feel on-color without resorting to "everything but this color".
I for one would also enjoy a morphling-style commander (but only one). Cromat is quite frankly outdated in power compared to newer creatures.
Another fun possibility would be if they could find an eloquent and non-confusing way to say "this creature has/gains all keyword abilities of each other creature in/on the wherever" instead of the block o' text style of cards like Cairn Wanderer and Odric, Lunarch Marshal which inevitably become outdated. I would love any card that could gain phasing, even if only indirectly.
I've seen a lot of fairly effective decks helmed by Rakdos, Lord of Riots himself. The problem I have with those decks are that they are almost all eldrazi bombfests which either get Rakdos to stick and then explode with rediculous threats or else sit around uselessly. I have seen at least one decent Lyzolda, the Blood Witch deck that plays for the late game.
I would like to see both mono-blue and mono-black commanders with heroic.
Hexproof generals are typically lame. That much value and limited interaction? Ugh
Fine remove the hexproof. It still would be really fun and give junk some interesting stack interactions.
It wouldn't be fun because it'd still be way too good. It's an enchantress that can be your commander for a casting cost that's barely harder to pay than existing enchatresses, so that's already very playable, and that's the fairest part of the card. It gives you free, repeatable value out of the command zone which was arguably too strong already at a rate of two life a turn, and creatures are worth more than 2 life, especially when you get them for free by playing anthems; you never have to cast this general and it can win by token swarm. The graveyard option is even more busted. You laugh at "destroy all enchantments" since you just storm them back out of your graveyard. You go machinegun mode with a bunch of stuff: "Seal of doom, regrow seal of cleansing. Seal of cleansing, regrow seal of doom..." And a ton of games will inevitably turn into "hey table! Wanna watch me cycle back and forth between Sterling Grove and Pernicious Deed?"
Any one of those three parts alone would justify it as the best commander for an enchantment deck, but having all three is nuts, and adding the Derevi ability to pick which mode you want is insane overkill. You could pick 60 junk colored enchantments completely at random, add a functioning mana base, and likely compete with the average deck given this as the commander.
Sorry to be a big jerk about it, but you really went with the "and the kitchen sink" approach to designing that thing.
While I agree that'd be a silly card, this is meant to be more of a "I want a commander that does this general thing" thread than a "This is the specific commander I would design" thread. I don't think proposed cards should need a lot of thought on balance and polish.
I like playing against blue aggro-control, specifically not running combos. There's a very fun Tromokratis deck in my local group that I enjoy playing with. The thing I like about playing against those is that they don't get blown out by field wipe as easily. I always hate when poorly-built R/W decks play out their hand, dominate the game for a few turns, and then just become non-players after the first boardwipe hits. I like multiplayer and that sort of thing tends to ruin the point.
A GWU or GW enchantress commander. (It doesn't absolutely have to be a draw trigger on casting an enchantment spell, but something at along those lines would be ideal.)
A WUBRG Spirit commander.
A Human, Angel, or some such WGR commander. Hazezon Tamar is great, but out of print and expensive.
Any and all instants/sorceries-matters commanders that don't have that Izzet technomagic flavor. Think aesthetics like Mystical Tutor, Overmaster, and Twincast instead.
I would love to see another 5-color commander who isn't tribal, although I agree that Kamigawa-block spiritcraft spirits need a 5-color commander, since there's not enough good ones for fewer colors than that.
The only good non-tribal 5-color commanders I know of are Child of Alara, who must have lots of graveyard recursion in the deck, Cromat, who fits the bill but is a little outdated and way too mana-intensive after you play him, and Progenitus, who is one of the most uninteractive "of course you're going to turn it sideways" cards in magic. Chromanticore would be perfect if it were only legendary.
EDIT: Though I would particularly enjoy a commander who somehow rewards multicolor-specific stuff like sunburst and converge as opposed to generic goodstuff decks.
On a side note to the -1/-1 counter general, I would love to see a general with the proliferate mechanic. Not something like Vorel of the Hull Clade, but the actual keyword; preferably on some type of triggered ability.
I also really hope they do print a legendary werewolf in the upcoming set. I used to think they avoided it due to transform card legend rule weirdness, but the new Avacyn suggests otherwise.
Just a fun little thread - what sort of commander would you like to see in future MTG products whose role is not already filled or is filled unsatisfactorily (i.e. you don't like the current "best" option for an archetype).
Please share; maybe we can help eachother find some commanders we didn't know about yet!
I'll start with the obvious: Commanders with 4-color identities (EDIT: dreams do come true!).
If only...
EDIT: Also Endbringer's Revel or any of Squallmonger, Sailmonger, Scandalmonger (especially in a hellbent deck!), Wishmonger, or Warmonger
The oracle ruling on It that betrays only refers to instant-speed removal from a graveyard, which is different from a replacement effect like Anafenza's.
Sacrifice triggers don't require the permanent to actually go to the graveyard even if that is clearly the assumption, as evidenced by the fact that I can still sacrifice a creature to pay a cost when my opponent has an Anafenza.
Importantly, the return clause doesn't specify which zone it must be returned from, meaning It that betrays should even be able to steal sacrificed commanders.
One thing I would like to see return is shadow. Something like...
~~~
Dream-Realm Nephilim
WUBG
If a creature without shadow would be destroyed, regenerate that creature instead and put a +1/+1 counter on it (or -1/-1 counter, or dream counter, or whatever).
Each creature with a {blank} counter has shadow.
When Dream-Realm Nephilim leaves play, exile each other creature with shadow.
~~~
Just as an example of how a four-color commander can feel on-color without resorting to "everything but this color".
I for one would also enjoy a morphling-style commander (but only one). Cromat is quite frankly outdated in power compared to newer creatures.
Another fun possibility would be if they could find an eloquent and non-confusing way to say "this creature has/gains all keyword abilities of each other creature in/on the wherever" instead of the block o' text style of cards like Cairn Wanderer and Odric, Lunarch Marshal which inevitably become outdated. I would love any card that could gain phasing, even if only indirectly.
I would like to see both mono-blue and mono-black commanders with heroic.
While I agree that'd be a silly card, this is meant to be more of a "I want a commander that does this general thing" thread than a "This is the specific commander I would design" thread. I don't think proposed cards should need a lot of thought on balance and polish.
I would love to see another 5-color commander who isn't tribal, although I agree that Kamigawa-block spiritcraft spirits need a 5-color commander, since there's not enough good ones for fewer colors than that.
The only good non-tribal 5-color commanders I know of are Child of Alara, who must have lots of graveyard recursion in the deck, Cromat, who fits the bill but is a little outdated and way too mana-intensive after you play him, and Progenitus, who is one of the most uninteractive "of course you're going to turn it sideways" cards in magic. Chromanticore would be perfect if it were only legendary.
EDIT: Though I would particularly enjoy a commander who somehow rewards multicolor-specific stuff like sunburst and converge as opposed to generic goodstuff decks.
It's not quite the same, but The Mimeoplasm is close to a sultai-colored reanimator.
On a side note to the -1/-1 counter general, I would love to see a general with the proliferate mechanic. Not something like Vorel of the Hull Clade, but the actual keyword; preferably on some type of triggered ability.
I also really hope they do print a legendary werewolf in the upcoming set. I used to think they avoided it due to transform card legend rule weirdness, but the new Avacyn suggests otherwise.
Please share; maybe we can help eachother find some commanders we didn't know about yet!
I'll start with the obvious: Commanders with 4-color identities (EDIT: dreams do come true!).