Can Samut, the Tested be a commander? (EDH)
Asked by phrosen63 4 years ago
Can I use Samut, the Tested as a commander?
I think I heard somewhere that any Planeswalker can be played as a commander, but I became unsure when there are "Planeswalker" and "Legendary Planeswalker", Samut not being Legendary.
Estrid, the Masked is an example of a new planeswalker, printed as legendary, that still has the "can be your commander" text, as evidence that even with the new printing the text is still required. What you may have heard about any planeswalker being a commander could be in reference to the brawl format, which uses a 60 card deck of standard legal cards in which any legendary creature or planeswalker can be your commander.
May 4, 2019 11:37 a.m.
You may also be thinking about Oathbreaker format, which is a variant on Commander where instead of a legendary creature, you use a planeswalker, and then choose a signature spell. This format allows any planeswalker to be your commander.
Regular Commander/EDH does not allow planeswalkers unless they specifically say so on their card face, or unless your group uses a house rule to allow it.
May 4, 2019 4:28 p.m.
In the future, please remember to hit the "Mark as Answer" button once your question has been resolved. Not only does this signal to other users that you have no follow-up questions, but it also helps keep the unanswered questions list clear of resolved questions and helps future users quickly identify the correct answer.
As this has been resolved for several days, I have gone ahead and marked an answer on your behalf.
nobu_the_bard says... Accepted answer #1
Samut, the Tested cannot be a commander.
Only legendary creatures and other cards that say "CARDNAME can be your commander" can be your commander.
For example, Mayael the Anima or Samut, Voice of Dissent can be your commander. So can Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath - note the text at the bottom declaring he can be your commander. Only a small subset of Planeswalkers can be commanders.
Some playgroups use a variation of the rules to allow any Planeswalker to be a commander, or play a Commander variant that otherwise allows this, but it's not part of the common ruleset.
Regarding another detail here..
All planeswalkers are legendary now. There was a rules change awhile back to make it so, and at the same time it removed the "planeswalker uniqueness rule" so you can have multiple planeswalker cards depicting the same character, as long as they are not the exact same one.
For example you can control Ob Nixilis Reignited and Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath at the same time without having to put one into a graveyard, even though neither of those has the Legendary printed on the most recent edition of the card, it is something all planeswalkers have now. If you get a second copy of Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath into play, you must choose one to keep due to the Legendary rule.
May 4, 2019 9:13 a.m.