A New Way To Play Commander - Forgotten Identity
General forum
Posted on Sept. 21, 2020, 1:08 p.m. by joe_mama_joe
Forgotten Identity is a new way to play commander, that I thought of, that is played like normal commander except that you're allowed only colors of cards that aren't in your commander's color identity.
So, for example, if you have Kiki-Jiki as your commander, instead of being allowed only cards with red or colorless color identities, you allowed only cards with nonred color identities!
Another example, if you play with Atraxa as your commander, you allowed only red and colorless cards because they aren't part of Atraxa's color identity.
You are allowed lands that share colors with your commander.
The format is fun to build decks for, and fun to play!
Try to make decks for Forgotten Identity and post them here! I'd love to see them!
SynergyBuild says... #4
shadow63 Sadly, what Boros commanders want only sultai colors? Do you think you can cast Feather in a sultai manabase? Think Winota has the right humans without white and red?
Ngl, Boros got worse here ; - ;
On the other hand, Yisan seems slick ;)
September 21, 2020 1:23 p.m. Edited.
DragonSliver9001 says... #5
kinda just seems like a way to shut down 5 and even 4 color commanders while leaving most other decks alone. for any deck not completely reliant on its commander, i imagine nothing changes as they just swap their commander and leave the 99 intact.
ironically, colorless commanders would gain access to every color, which still leaves the 5c decks.
September 21, 2020 1:33 p.m.
SynergyBuild - Zirda, the Dawnwaker comes to mind. You now have tutors, Power Artifact, counterspells, better win conditions, etc. Everything you need to take advantage of a powerful combo piece in the Command Zone.
September 21, 2020 1:33 p.m.
There would be a problem because you could not include basic lands or any lands for that matter that tap for mana in your commander's color identity. This would be a pain I think so you should make a caveat about lands. But in general, I think that this a really cool idea because it makes mono-colored and two commanders more playable than 4-5 colored commanders.
September 21, 2020 2:42 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #8
Caerwyn I like it! You can run Training Grounds and Biomancer's Familiar to combo with all the abilities you run too!
Now that you mention it, all of the companions deserve a second look as companions, as they go in wholly new decks, like Lurrus in a Thrasios deck, or a Yisan Zirda deck!
September 21, 2020 2:48 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #9
Ngl, Godo sounds busted the more I think about it...
September 21, 2020 2:51 p.m.
joe_mama_joe says... #10
SynergyBuild, Snips500, shadow63, DragonSliver9001, Caerwyn, I fixed it. You are allowed lands that share colors with your commander.
September 21, 2020 2:59 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #11
I assume that doesn't include the lands like the dual flip ones from ZNR because their faces are non land, but I do want to ask, as well how does Arcane Signet/Command Tower interact. I assume they tap for the commander's color identity, not the flipped one for the deck?
September 21, 2020 3:04 p.m.
joe_mama_joe says... #12
SynergyBuild, cards like Command Tower play normally without any changes. And no, doesn't include modal dual lands.
September 21, 2020 3:41 p.m.
Suns_Champion says... #13
shadow63 I resent that.
SynergyBuild Feather could do a lot, and I mean a LOT with green and blue. Cantrips and buff spells.
A lot of the best humans are in blue; and a lot of the beat token makers are in black. Winota would be just as busted, and better protected.
Gerrard could helm a mean Dimir artifacts/eggs/aristocrats list.
I like this idea for a format joe_mama_joe. Very cool. Reminds me of my Color Cropped style builds of commanders, only using fewer colors than the commander has in its identity.
September 21, 2020 4:50 p.m.
Sun's_champion it was just a joke lol. I plan on building a winota deck at some point and I think if wotc ever made the right boros commander for it boros stax would be a serious deck
September 21, 2020 5:19 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #15
Suns_Champion That's what I said, just didn't think it could be cast without any white or red sources, remember that wasn't allowed when I wrote that!
September 21, 2020 5:22 p.m.
joe_mama_joe You should make a primer for this format on a deck list with an example deck. Clarify all of the rules in a bit more detail and such in the description.
September 21, 2020 7:45 p.m.
griffstick says... #19
Lol except goblins. Imagine Athreos, God of Passage as the cmdr of a Goblin deck. Temur goblins.
September 21, 2020 8:59 p.m.
griffstick says... #20
I've found one tribal cmdr that benefits greatly to this new cmdr format. Isao, Enlightened Bushi
September 21, 2020 10:05 p.m.
DragonSliver9001 says... #21
Snips500 as far as the lands are concerned, the only spell it would affect is the commander itself. you can play around this by using mana dorks and mana rocks that produce mana of any color.
September 22, 2020 1:10 a.m.
DragonSliver9001 says... #22
griffstick: tribal decks would be fine. just use any colorless commander.
September 22, 2020 1:14 a.m.
DragonSliver9001 that's true you could use things that produce mana of any color but generally when playing commander you want to be able to play your commander and there are only so many good lands/rocks/dorks that tap for mana of any color. So some games you might have trouble casting your commander, especially with a 3-5 color commander, albeit they are not as good as 1-2 color commanders. Even though you could technically still cast your commander it would just make it more fun (isnt that the point of this?) when you have lands that can cast it.
September 22, 2020 8:59 a.m.
DragonSliver9001 says... #24
Snips500: i think there would be enough ways around it you don't have to worry. the cards don't even have to say "any color". something like Utopia Sprawl would also work for the decks that can run it. and theres things like Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere. or Chromatic Lantern. any deck can run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. just gotta look.
September 22, 2020 1:21 p.m.
DragonSliver9001 yeah but what happens when someone plays a Blood Moon or Vandalblast. I still think it would be good for a casual format such as this one to have access to lands with which they can play their commander. Needing to play filtering artifacts like the ones you mentioned sometimes kinda sucks because you spend a turn sometimes doing nothing impactful just because you are dicking around trying to fix you mana in janky ways. I don't see what the problem is with just being able to play any lands you want, or at the very least play any basic land. Plus it would probably not even be that advantageous to play a basic that does not share a color with anything in the 99. It would only be good to have shocks and other dual lands that can play your commander as well as cards in the 99.
Remember the point of a new sub-format such as this is not to make the rules really strict and unfun to play. Quite the opposite you want them to be as fun as possible so people actually play it and it does not go the way of tiny leaders or the numerous other commander variants that have come and gone in recent years. So I think that being able to have access to something as simple as a land that can cast your commander is not too much to ask, after all, fun is the name of the game.
Cheers
September 22, 2020 2:17 p.m.
Also, joe_mama_joe, if you like commander variants I recommend you check out Pauper EDH. In essence, it's the same as Commander EDH other than the 99 is 100% commons (cards the have at one point or another been printed at common) and your commander is an uncommon creature. The last difference is you start games at 30 life instead of 40 and thus only 16 commander damage is required for a KO. I personaly really enjoy it. You can have the same amount of interaction and fun as you would in EDH but the most you will ever spend on a paper deck is around $100.
Here are some links if you want to check it out:
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PDH Website (off-site link)
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There is also a discord if you want to join
September 22, 2020 2:30 p.m.
DragonSliver9001 says... #27
Snips500: you can ask "what ifs" all day, but they dont really matter. the whole purpose of Blood Moon is to shut down lands. play around it the same way as any other format. also keep in mind that your idea of fun is subjective. for all you know, making it harder to cast the commander could have been the intention of the format to begin with. and if you wanted a 3+ color deck, you already have to run color fixing, just like in regular commander. so your point about "wasting a turn" just isn't valid. mana ramp and/or color fixing can have big payoffs later. just look at tron in modern. they spend their first 2 or possibly 3 turns doing absolutely nothing that impacts board state, then turn the tables with their turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
SynergyBuild says... #2
So can I ever cast my commander, and how are cards like Command Tower affected, you said I have to run cards outside my commander's identity, so is it the identity is flipped, letting my command tower tap for the colors of my deck, or of my commander, and do I need "any color" mana sources to ever cast my commander?
September 21, 2020 1:11 p.m.