A Different Take on Commander Tax
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 29, 2016, 2:59 p.m. by Ledfeelcrank
What if there was a tax on a player's life total for reusing their commander? Not sure that would -- maybe something like losing 3x life when your commander enters the command zone where x is the number of times it has entered this game.
The thought was mostly about making the decision of whether to put your commander back into the zone or let it die/exile/tuck/etc slightly more difficult and dangerous.
What do you think? Would there be more instances of people abandoning their plan A to go with plan B? Anyone think something like this could be interesting?
EDIT: I don't mean instead of a mana tax, more of an addition. Note sure how it could work or that it's a great idea - just interesting in the thought experiment.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #3
Rewards decks that don't play their commanders, like Oloro, Ageless Ascetic waaaaaay too much. Punishes already-vulnerable voltron and other commander-dependent builds like Narset, Enlightened Master and Kaalia of the Vast, because they need their commander and people will be gunning for them as soon as they hit the field.
January 29, 2016 3:07 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
Actually it makes Voltron more powerful because it virtually eliminates the issue they have with sustaining commander availability in the face of increasing costs. One of the better ways to deal with bolt ton decks is to remove the commander and make it uneconomical or slow to bring back into action.
January 29, 2016 3:10 p.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #5
Sorry I was a bit unclear! I actually meant the tax would now also include some sort of life cost in addition to a mana one. Not sure what the balances would be, just interested in the thought experiment.
January 29, 2016 3:12 p.m.
masterosok says... #6
Are suggesting this as a replacement to the standard mana tax or in addition to the mana tax?
Either way I wouldn't feel it would improve the gameplay of the format.
I think if the suggestion is to make this an additional tax it sort of takes away from the spirit of the format. Making it harder or more penalizing to play your Commanders than it already is doesn't really suit the format very well and gives an even greater advantage to decks that do not really rely on casting the Commander. The format is based around the Commander. Why make it any tougher to cast?
As an alternative I think it would be way to easy to exploit in the format as NecroPony mention life can be gained abundantly with ease. Forcing someone with 70 life to use 12 to be able to case their commander at normal CMC for the 4th time isn't really much of a penalty.
January 29, 2016 3:25 p.m. Edited.
Deckologist says... #8
While its nice to see someone with a cool idea about commander the truth is that life in commander is a joke.
CuteSnail says... #2
It's a bad idea. Life is an overabundant resource in edh. Paying life for mana is scarce for a reason.
January 29, 2016 3:05 p.m.