Should Rofellos be unbanned?

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on Feb. 10, 2016, 10:25 p.m. by mtgirem

I feel like with how many other rough commanders and good multicolored spells out there, an unbanned Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary wouldn't be the end of the world.

He's mono green which severely limits how you can utilize him. He also can only come out on turn 2 unless you luck into drawing a Lotus Petal or something. Green has barely any haste enablers so it isn't like he'd be able to do anything until turn 3. He has no built in evasion and with just 1 toughness he'll die to anything.

Am I not understanding some infinite combo or something? I feel like he'd be less annoying to play against than Zur the Enchanter and the like.

yes.

February 10, 2016 10:32 p.m.

JA14732 says... #3

It's mostly because the ramp he grants is insane is the reason he was banned. There was actually a time where Rofellos was unbanned. Then ROE came out and...yeah, that went away pretty quickly. It's really easy to play him turn 1, untap, and play a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth the very next turn. Or a Blightsteel Colossus with greaves. No other card in EDH can really do this by itself. And let's not forget that he's a monster with Prismatic Omen.

I think a good way to think of Rofellos is to compare him to Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . Both of these grant large amounts of ramp, it's just that Rofellos basically does it for free.

Now, should he be unbanned? Probably. Will the RC consider even testing him? Not for a long time (looking at you, Kokusho, the Evening Star and your unwarranted multiyear ban).

February 10, 2016 10:34 p.m. Edited.

Nightdragon779 says... #4

No, he should not be unbanned. Are you serious? He essentially doubles your mana for free. With a bit of protection, (greaves maybe), he's op as fuck. Plus, unbanning it would really screw EDH up. Players all around will say, "Hey, I heard Rofellos used to be banned. That must mean he's really op." It would become one of those generals that there is at least one present of in every game you play.

February 10, 2016 10:43 p.m.

pskinn01 says... #5

nope, he combos too well with other things to make infinite mana, and he just ramps really well into eldrazi by himself. Having access to 6 mana turn 3 in every game unless your opponents are using 1-2 mana targeted removal and have them readily available before he can tap for mana. He gets stupid if the person playing him goes Forest, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Umbral Mantle. Turn two play a forest, play Rofellos. turn 3 make Rofellos 22/22 or bigger and kill someone. Next turn play forest, make infinite green mana and drop cast rest of hand. He lets green ramp way faster than it can already do. And yes, I have seen someone use him in a deck (back when he was only banned as a commander) and was dropped second turn and it became a game of let see who can remove the Rofellos.

February 10, 2016 10:43 p.m.

No.

/thread

February 10, 2016 11:06 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #7

rofellos sucks he dies to bolt....kek

February 10, 2016 11:33 p.m.

tonfer20 says... #8

Rofellos really falls under the "banned as a commander" category. I'd say he is fine as part of the 99, as I think, and don't quote me on this, most non blue/black decks with limited draw only see around 1/3rd of their deck each game. But as a commander I completely understand why he shouldn't be unbanned. It really does depend if the RC wants to separate the banned list into a "banned list" and a "banned as a commander" list, kind of like Tiny leaders

February 11, 2016 12:02 a.m.

Arvail says... #9

I mean, I think so.

But then again, my player group allows Prophet of Kruphix, Primeval Titan, Library of Alexandria, Protean Hulk, Balance, Braids, Cabal Minion, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Painter's Servant, and Panoptic Mirror. I don't think I'm representative of the majority of the playerbase by any means.

If we're talking about high-level play, he'd probably be fine. Running him essentially gives the same amount of value as a Lotus Cobra under ideal conditions - only more reliably. If you want to run him as a general, you're limited to green. That's pretty bad tbh. If your entire game plan at high-level play consists of cheating your way up to 10 mana on turn 3 and tossing out a body, that's kinda meh thb. It's easily stopped by simple countermagic and spot removal. It's already possible to just Burgeoning into a Tooth and Nail or just cast Ad Nauseam or Hermit Druid.

February 11, 2016 12:17 a.m.

dbpunk says... #10

Rofellos is easily one of the most dangerous cards for edh. Mono-green is in some ways limiting: however, it does have plenty of ways of dealing with things, several edh power cards and can already ramp quickly, whether through dumping lands or other means.

This guy could easily warp gameplay, especially with rule 4 out of the question. Think about it: if he's one of the 99, a Bribery could easily take him with a card that turns all land into forests. I could see the game devolving easily into "can I kill/steal his Rofellos before it goes infinite?"

The worse part is it can easily go infinite on turn 4 with any number of tricks.

February 11, 2016 12:40 a.m.

NarejED says... #11

No, he's far too powerful at a casual level, which is what the RC focuses on. At the highest level of play, he'd be among the best commanders without being broken, but at a typical kitchen table game, he utterly dominates.

February 11, 2016 1:21 a.m.

Aztraeuz says... #12

Infinite mana by turn 4 is ridiculous. Even without going Infinite he can absolutely decimate people. He is legitimately broken.

Also I disagree with the idea of the RC creating two separate ban lists. The RC is already an oppressive group that doesn't actually think their decisions through. I can very easily imagine the RC banning any Commanders that are considered Tier 1 today.

February 11, 2016 3:17 a.m.

MagicalHacker says... #13

Whether he is a commander or in the 99, he allows on his own (and a forest each turn) a 6-drop on turn three and an 8-drop on turn four. That is just too powerful no matter how you slice it. Want some examples?

Turn three:
- Rampaging Baloths
- Steel Hellkite
- Vigor
- Caged Sun
- Garruk, Caller of Beasts
- Lurking Predators
- Mana Reflection
- Wurmcoil Engine

Turn four:
- Karn Liberated
- Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- Terastodon
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Liege of the Tangle

(Not to mention he goes infinite with Staff of Domination, Sword of the Paruns, and Umbral Mantle.)

February 11, 2016 5:37 a.m.

GobboE says... #14

hmmm...ban / unban ...thinking

in straightforward play

or in a classic play

Other combos can also be played.

And I have not even began to discuss all the green untapping abilities of creatures, which allows you to go (near) infinite

No, please let it stay banned :) .

February 11, 2016 5:44 a.m.

This discussion has been closed