EDH: Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Asked by TypicalTimmy 8 years ago
My buddy brought this up last night, so I figured it'd be a good discussion topic.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip is a Legendary Creature (Commander appropriate), but when you flip him he becomes Jace, Telepath Unbound Flip.
We all know Planeswalkers are not Creatures, much less Legendary ones. Jace, TU also does not have the text stating: "Jace, Telepath Unbound can be your commander."
So if Jace, VP is your Commander, and you flip him, do you effectively "lose" your Commander? Is be simply banned in EDH? Are you allowed to play Jace, VP but you are not allowed to play Jace, TU? Or is this one of those rare instances where you get to bend the rules and Jace, TU is allowed as a Commander?
TheNextRedDude says... #2
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip is a perfectly legal commander. Since Jace's front side is a legendary creature, he is legal. When he flips, he does not lose his "commander-ness" because the property of being a commander is part of the card itself.
October 22, 2015 8:09 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #4
The fact that only the front face is considered to determine whether a card can be eligible as a commander has been in place since innistrad, when it was introduced to prevent Elbrus, the Binding Blade Flip from being a commander.
(similarly, only the "unflipped" version of a kamigawa flip card counts, so Bushi Tenderfoot cannot be a commander)
So yeah, for the purpose of determine whether a card can or cannot be a commander, you can ignore the back of the card. On the front side Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip is a legendary creature and as such gets to be a commander.
After all, Jace isn't even the only commander that is not a creature all the time. Even without considering the Commander 2014 walkers, the Theros gods are just enchantments most of the time in most decks.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
The card, not the permanent, is your commander. The card is a legal commander if it is a legendary creature in its default state. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip is indeed a legendary creature in its default state, so the physical card will be your commander regardless of what its characteristics are at any given time. Jace, Telepath Unbound Flip doesn't even exist anywhere except on the battlefield while Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip is transformed (not flipped).
October 22, 2015 8:09 p.m.