Formatting Question: Companions?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on April 10, 2020, 5:15 p.m. by kgmf
Where are people putting companions (ex: Kaheera, the Orphanguard) in the layout of their decks? I just added it as a commander. Will there be an added section?
Suns_Champion says... #3
I think they mean in a T/O decklist, in which case I think using the commander tag is perfectly fine.
April 10, 2020 5:37 p.m.
TypicalTimmy In the official rules of Commander there is no sideboard. That is definitely just a house rule thing. They are allowing Companion to work in Commander as a 101st card. Afaik they're basically creating a new "Companion Zone" for it to sit in until it is cast.
Tagging it as a second Commander or throwing it in the sideboard are probably both fine ideas for showing a companion on here.
April 11, 2020 9:07 p.m.
All companion cards should be banned in commander tbh, the precedent they set for the format warps the entire format to a crazy degree. Hopefully the correct choice is made to blanket ban the companion mechanic, in which case the cards could be used within the deck’s 100, but not used from outside the game.
April 12, 2020 2:41 p.m.
triproberts12 says... #7
jaymc1130. I disagree. We've had other, limited ventures into cards that break the command zone. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic gave people conniptions, and then they gave us a whole cycle of Eminence cards. Partner is way more broken than Companion, but the community adjusted. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim did a tapdance on color-identity's grave, and Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
is an archetype. I think we'll be okay.
April 18, 2020 10:15 p.m.
Altering the affect the command zone has on the game is entirely different than giving decks access to a 101st card that is essentially always in hand. It’s not a change in the way the command zone works, it’s adding an additional command zone that doesn’t dilute deck space and increases deck consistency. The companion mechanic is fundamentally busted in the way it interacts with the format and it’s a good thing the official commander rules prevent this mechanics abuse by not having a sideboard or “outside the game” stockpile of tools.
The cards with the companion mechanic themselves might be fine as part of the 100 and not warp the format in any abusable fashion, but as an additional 101st the entire format becomes massively warped around their existence as companions would become a requirement to run in competitive circumstances and a point of major contention in casual circumstances.
So no, companion cards are nothing like anything else ever printed in terms of the way they could potentially affect the EDH format.
April 18, 2020 11:20 p.m.
triproberts12 says... #9
@jamc1130 Not a particularly convincing arugment, tbh.
April 19, 2020 10:52 a.m.
So the grounds of the mechanic being format warping to a degree unheard of isn’t convincing?
Rightyio then.
April 19, 2020 5:13 p.m.
triproberts12 says... #11
It's the premise that I disagree with. I don't think you'll be warping any formats with one of the 8 legal cards I'm aware of, but if you wanna attempt pubstomping with your all-artifact tribal deck, be my guest.
April 19, 2020 7:15 p.m.
EDH doesn't have a sideboard or additional "cards from outside the game" by default for a reason mate. A very specific reason. Because that addition warps the format massively and skews power to the cards that would occupy those card slots. This is all well known fact, it's why cards like Cunning Wish aren't played in EDH. The power level of such cards should the format be altered to allow them to reach their potential is exorbitantly high, the consistency they offer decks is too great. EDH needs to remain a format where such types of mechanics are not allowed, either by technicality as they are prohibited now, or by outright illegality to preserve the health of the format overall from both casual and competitive standpoints.
You can disagree with this premise as much as you would like, but facts are facts and the rules are the way they are for the reasons illustrated above. The health of the format overall takes precedence over whatever opinion you might hold.
April 19, 2020 9:44 p.m.
TypicalTimmy - Just a couple minutes ago, the RC changed how Rule 11 was worded so it takes Companion into account. When I saw it, I remembered you made a post regarding it and figured I'd pass the new language along:
11: Abilities which bring other card(s) you own from outside the game into the game (such as Living Wish; Spawnsire of Ulamog; Karn, the Great Creator) do not function in Commander. Emphasis in original.
multimedia says... #2
Hey, Wizards says it goes in the sideboard and counts as one of the 10 cards you're allowed to have in a sideboard for Commander.
A companion card doesn't count towards the 100 card limit you can have for a Commander deck. This is one reason there's so much talk about them not being able to be part of the format since they give you a 101 card in a Commander deck.
April 10, 2020 5:29 p.m.