Pattern Recognition #234 - Commander Summit Responses

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

7 April 2022

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Hello everyone! This is Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series as written by myself, berryjon. I am something of an Old Fogey who has been around the block quite a few times where Magic is concerned, as as such, I use this series to talk about the various aspects of this game, be it deck design, card construction, mechanics chat, in-universe characters and history. Or whatever happens to cross my mind this week. Please, feel free to dissent in the comments below the article, add suggestions or just plain correct me! I am a Smart Ass, so I can take it.

Nearly two years ago, our friends at TheComandZone put out an open call for content creators to submit answers to questions they posed. Sadly, the project for that year fell through and I've been sitting on this video since then. So I decided to dust it off, and give you all what my responses were for those questions two years ago. Of I'll probably come back to these at some point in the near future just to show off how my answers have changed since then, or perhaps they will start another Commander's Summit this year, and I can submit again!

Anyway, onto the questions.

TOPIC 1

note: Question 1 was about the recent bannings and unbannings in Commander.

Paradox Engine

The banning of Paradox Engine was a good call for several reasons. But the most important reason to me is that it represented a fundamental break in the way resources are handled in Commander. At a four player table, the ability to act and react must be more measured than with a two-player game, and as such a card that effectively makes all your cards lose their opportunity and resource costs is a bad one.

To whit, Paradox Engine's sole drawback, that of not untapping lands, is completely irrelevant if the triggering spell was cast without lands in the first place, such as with the plethora of Rocks in the game, or on the more green side, mana dorks. This leads - and I have seen this myself in the local Commander scene - to cases where Paradox Engine simply existing means that the game is over in favour of that player as they can do what they want, when they want, and nothing can stop them because they have infinite renewable resources whereas everyone else is still limited.

The Engine needed to go, and go it went.

Iona, Shield of Emeria

For Iona, her banning was part of a two-step process involving Painter's Servant, an interaction that I believe our hosts will have already covered. Addressing her ability, to simply lock out a single color from the game for as long as she exists, is one of the pinnacles of oppressive control. She can effectively target a single player and tell them "You're not playing the game anymore", and forcing a player to sit at the table twiddling their thumbs because a third, a half or even the whole of their deck is now literally unplayable is one of the definitions of unfun, and at its heart, Commander is supposed to be fun and social. Iona kills that.

In addition, the only real counterplay for decks is to run colourless removal. And I don't see cards like Universal Solvent or All is Dust in deck lists all that often, save for fringe cases where Dust is used under an Eldrazi Commander as their boardwipe. Forcing dedicated counterplay to a card like Iona is format warping and thus something had to go, and Iona's ban is what happened.

Flash

The Flash Ban is an example of one of the issues that comes from having a game as old as Magic in a format that allows for old cards to be played. Flash, if used as intended, allows you to make a creature cheaper as well as allowing you to play it at Instant speed at the cost of a Card and 1U. This isn't a bad thing, and I think it can work so long as the cards in question are more in line with Scout's Warning from Future Sight. Pay a cost, cast with Flash.

But the real issue with Flash was the sacrifice effect, and when combined with Protean Hulk, broke any sort of balance that may have come from simply granting Flash (the mechanic) to a creature. One of the fundamental conceits behind Commander, the Singleton format, is made a joke when people can simply fetch a card again and again using any of a variety of cards to do so. That Hulk is so open ended in its fetching and recursion just makes for more games that run the same as when Hulk dies, it goes for the same enabling cards!

Are Flash and Hulk a problem together and separate? Well, there's no real good solution to that combo. Hulk has other sac outlets to get it off the board, and Flash will find other creatures to enter then sac on the cheap. The choice to ban Flash is the result of trying to remove the single instant speed enabler over the lethal followup. And only time will tell if it was the better choice.

Lutri, the Spellchaser

BANNED! And for good reason! Lutri, the Spellchaser represents a known development bias over at Wizards, in that they design their cards for Draft and Standard almost exclusively. Now, this is reasonable. There's only so many man-hours you can put into testing cards, and it would not surprise me at all that more play is done with cards in the week leading up to prerelease by the general public checking out the previews than is done in the whole design and development stage. The difference in scale in terms of people with different viewpoints and biases is colossal!

Lutri works in the formats that it was intended for. Draft and Standard. Being premptively axed in Commander was the right call, and I will stand by the decision for it to be the fastest banning in Magic's history. There was absolutely no reason to draw aggro or ire from the Commander playerbase as they realized what the RC already knew. Lutri was all upside and no downside.

As a card that could have gone into a format where the Companion limitation wasn't a limitation but a rule, then adding in the copy-effect from outside the game meant that Izzet players received a massive boost at no cost, save the three mana.

But, that being said, the recent change to the Companion Rule from Wizards means that Lutri should be reevaluated. Yes, it's still a Dualcaster Mage that has the advantage of being paid for with U instead, but now it goes into the hand at sorcery speed, which means that it's now a known and more interactive quantity, something less broken than a Copy effect from nowhere. Let's give Lutri a chance with the new rules, and see if the banning needs to be upheld. Is it a problem with the card, or the mechanic? Players? Decide!

Painter's Servant:

The unbanning of Painter's Servant and the banning of Iona represent two halves to a whole, a single combo that allowed a white player to simply tell everyone else at the table to stop playing the game. As it was Iona that sealed the deal, while Painter's Servant simply was the setup, the reversal in bannings is something I can get behind.

Painter's Servant is, at its heart, a card designed to help most of all. Perhaps this is my Old Fogey-ness talking, but White is the colour that cares most about colour. From the classic Circles of Protection, to Iona, to Gods Willing - reprinted in Core 2020 - White cares about the colour the most.

And because of this, this ability to set all colours to one, even if it doesn't really change the game, allows white the opportunity to focus their defenses. I've run a deck centered around Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, and her ability to protect from anything. But let me tell you, having a passive effect that means I can save 1 mana for each activation is something that adds up over time. Only need to run a single Circle, rather than five frees up space in the deck better used to win the game, rather than draw it out.

Unbanning the Servant should help White in the long run while the concurrent banning of Iona helped prevent this help from becoming game breaking and unfun. Unfun being the worst possible outcome.

TOPIC 2

How would you judge the performance of the Rules Committee in the past year? In your opinion, are they leading the format in the right direction?

Thank you, Rules Committee. You have volunteered to do a thankless and stressful job, one that has seen its share of ups and downs. I'm sure that in a perfect word, you could all say "All is well! Nothing must be done, for the game is perfectly balanced and all may have fun!"

But every time new cards come out, you have to worry. "Is this the card that breaks the format? Is this the new Flash? Or the new Leovold, Emissary of Trest?" That is something that you have chosen to take upon yourselves as a service to the community and to the format. You worry so we don't have to. You suffer so that the rest of us can enjoy the game.

So again, thank you. I love you all. You've done a good job,

TOPIC 3

The Commander Advisory Group has been around for just over a year. How would you judge their performance so far? What should an ideal CAG do?

I think you're doing a good job so far as an extension of the Rules Committee. You've taken on many of the same responsibilities as the RC, and by helping share the research and review load, you're making it easier and smoother to come to conclusions designed to help Commander as a format and as a game.

But remember, your job is to provide opinions and advice. So if I have one request of you, something I would like to see from you all in an ideal world, is to be the Loyal Opposition. That is, be the people who love the game as much as everyone else, who want to see it succeed as much as everyone else. But don't be a Yes Man. Don't be that person who agrees with a thing because everyone else says so. Choose to object. Plant your feet and dissent. Force discussion and reason to be the hallmarks of your existence and not to be a rubber stamp on the RC or to be a voice for the latest fad.

Think, and stand your ground, even if you know you're wrong, so that the resulting decisions are stronger for it.

TOPIC 4

How would you judge WotC’s performance in relation to how they handle the Commander format?

Embracing Commander, and to a lesser extent Brawl, is a good move by Wizards, make no mistake about that. Encouraging the format helps raise both the players and the company up. But Wizards must also be careful of overeach. Playtesting new cards in Standard sets for Commander is a massive commitment, and even the slightest misstep can have devastating consequences, such as with the preemptive banning of Lutri.

But you're doing good. Commander precons are an excellent way to introduce new players to the format, and while I appreciate the experiment of tying this years decks to Ikoria and its mechanics, I'm not sure that it's something that you should keep trying. On the other hand, if you were to do the same for the Brawl decks? That is a choice I can get behind as it will help bridge the player-side development between the two.

But the real overreach? Commander Legends. Draft and Commander have so little overlap that trying to meld the two into a viable format is something that I have tried to wrap my head around again and again to no avail. On paper, I think this is a misstep. Yes, I know. Draft sells packs, and packs mean boxes which means an improvement to your bottom line. But by forcing every set you put out to be draft viable takes away from other formats, like, say, everything constructed.

I look forward to the set. You had me sold on the BARON'S BACK BABY! But I'm not going to draft it. I just don't believe in it.

TOPIC 5

1) What is your opinion on the 2019 and/or the 2020 Commander products? Price, new card design, reprints – what did you like/dislike?

I liked them! The idea that I have to remind people of on occasion is that the Commander Precons are not the be-all, end-all in terms of a deck, but rather a jumping off point, or enabler for newer players to start building their own decks with a core of viable cards or for older players to see reprints or new unique cards that they want. I buy them for both ends, as my article series shows off how I play in the local Slow Grow League, and my inevitable crash and burn in each. :)

2) Which legendary creature printed in the past year do you think was best designed?

As for the best cards? Well, I want to say the Partners of Brallin and Shabraz. But in the end, I have to stick with Elsha of the Infinite. This Jeskai commander from last year does what I think is best for new and old players of the format, and that is simple. Elsha doesn't tell you the way you have to play your deck or your game. Elsha doesn't pidgeonhole you into the "One True Path" to play with that Commander. Rather, Elsha is a global enabler. She makes what your deck does just a little better. Does she have drawbacks? Yes. Of course she does. She encourages certain styles of play, but she does so in a way that doesn't force you down a narrow path.

3) Which one was most problematic?

On the other side, you get Gavi, Nest Warden. A card whose entire gimmick boils down to "Cycle on your turn, or you're doing it wrong". Yes, I know there's a bit of fun synergy with Eldraine and the cards that benefit when you draw your second card on the turn, but that sort of Commander isn't an enabler. It's a limiter.

At least the Dino-Cats she makes are cute.

TOPIC 6

There’s been a lot of chatter in the community recently about the relative power levels of the colors in the format, with many complaining about how White has been consistently falling behind, while Green seems to get the most powerful cards in each set.

Do you agree or disagree with this premise? If you don’t agree with the specific colors named, which colors (or groupings) do you think are unbalanced? Do you believe Wizards needs to do something about it? If so, what should they do? If you think everything is fine, make your case.

Balance is not a linear thing, but rather a cyclical thing. Do I think that is on the upswing? Sure. Do I think it's displaced as the best commander colour? No, of course not. You have to recall that there are a lot of things that are powerful in all colours that we simply take for granted. It's the new cards that draw attention, and because Green is getting the new toys, there is a faulty bias in thinking that the colour is being deliberately ratcheted up in comparison to White.

On the flipside, White. There's not enough time to break down the issues, but White has been getting more toys. They're just not splashy killers. They're Approach of the Second Sun. They're Dawn of Hope. They're cards that play to White's strengths: Patience and the Slow Game. That, and whenever White so much as sneezes, the whole board goes boom and everyone is back to square one. Every new set they get a boardwipe of some stripe and careful use of those can lead to a white deck gaining an advantage over everyone else. You just have to be smart about it and don't expect everyone to get the same splashy effects all the time.

And to those who want more toys for White, I have two questions for you: What do you want White to do that doesn't muddle the colour pie any more, and second, are you going to be patient? Because no solution comes easy or quick. Not in Commander.

TOPIC 7

(COMPANION) has caused problems in several formats but how do you feel about it specifically in Commander? Do you like/dislike companions? Do you think they were a good design idea?

Companion is something I see as trying to bring the idea of Commander into constructed formats in a way that Brawl can't or doesn't. But in terms of Commander itself? Aside from the justifiable pre-banning of Lutri before the rules change, I think that Commander as a format is already resilient enough to survive the Companions. They offer utility for the most part, and there really is nothing there that isn't already in the format. For example, Zidra is Training Grounds, Umori is a Cloud Key. This mechanic just makes getting these effects more viable and reliably.

I don't see them coming to dominate the format, especially after the rules change. I do see Commander players taking to them for a while to find what works and what doesn't, then decide for themselves if it's worth it or not. I, for one, am looking forward to trying out a deck starring Kaervek the Merciless with Obosh as a companion. Because I am willing to give the mechanic a chance in this format. They're something Wizards wanted to try, and trying is inherently a good idea.

Just because the execution fell flat doesn't mean that there aren't pieces we can pick up and use.

TOPIC 8

Hybrid Mana

I don't get the problem with Hybrid Mana. Well, OK, I do, but it's on an intellectual level, not a deckbuilding level. I get that cards that are Hybrid are supposed to exist in the narrow junctions between two slices of the pie, being a logical "Either/Or" statement when applied to colours. That this is a a card that could exist in exclusively one or the other, or uniquely in both. But that this card has two colours in its casting cost somehow means that only one should apply?

No. I think hybrid Mana needs to stay as a case of the card counting as all relevant colours. Not because of the casting cost itself, but how would you deal with activated abilities that include Hybrid mana, such as with Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest? Or with cards that have a certain colour in them, then something else that's Hybrid, like, oh, say, Bant Sureblade. Is it White/Blue? Is it White/Green?

No, Hybrid mana has to stay at all colours, lest you wind up with confusion about what is what in the deck, and what can or cannot go into it. Either as the Commander or in the 99. And hey, all the Companions are Hybrid mana too, so there's that to consider as well! Can you imagine Lurris as one of the 99 or as the Companion in a Daxos deck? I've seen that in Standard, and it isn't pretty.

Keep Hybrid all relevant colours, please.

TOPIC 9

Planeswalkers as Commanders

On the issue of Planeswalkers as Commanders, I think that Brawl is a good place to start looking at them, but from my experience, it's not something that should be done. The rules for the format were designed with Legendary creatures in mind. Even something as simple as Commander Damage gets tossed out the window when the only Commanders who can do it are a couple of the Sarkhans or Gideon.

But what really concerns me about Walkers as Commanders, aside from those that are designed as such, is the scale of what they bring to the table reliably. Yes, Kenrith has five abilities compared to most 'Walker's three, but Walkers are inherently more protectable and less targetable than creatures, which means that they tend to do more for the same amount of effort.

And don't get me stared on walkers like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God! Grixis control backed up by a Planeswalker like him that keeps coming back again and again? No thank you! Sure, there would be counterplay, but in the end, Planeswalkers on the whole do bad things as the Commander rather than part of the 99. And I sincerely doubt that the RC or the CAG want to go through each 'walker individually to make a "This can or cannot be your Commander" list. I wouldn't wish that headache on anyone.

TOPIC 10

You have just been appointed as the sole person in charge of the Commander format.
1) What (if any) rule would you add/subtract/change?
2) What would you ban or unban?

PANIC! Oh god, I would be horrible at this job! But since you asked, I do have two things I would like to do. And these are personal choices, as a result of my own experiences.

First, change how Poison works from being a flat 10 to a more global rule. That being "A Player loses the game when they have Poison counters equal to or greater than half their initial life total (rounded up)." This brings it in like with two-headed giant, and is open-ended enough to address Commander and the damage discrepancy between 40 or 21 and 10. And can be applied to things like Two-Headed Commander, or Vanguard Commander.

Second, and this is definitely me being petty here, I would ban Triumph of the Hordes. Because Infect is bad, and this card giving Infect to all creatures is worse. I've been on the receiving end of a table-wipe thanks to this card and it just sticks in my craw that such a thing was printed at uncommon, let alone printed at all.

I mean, it's not like I, given my godlike powers over the format at this point, simply point and command: "BAN NEW PHYREXIA!" I do not, and cannot alienate the Spikes in the game. That's wrong and leads to bad games and bad game design. I cannot and Must Not act on my personal preferences.

I'd still tie Poison to the starting life total rather than an arbitrary number. Makes Infect work a little harder and put them in the same league as Commander damage. Or so I hope.

TOPIC 11

By all indications, Commander has become the most popular format in all of Magic. Certainly it is more popular than it’s ever been. But popularity isn’t everything. How do you feel about the current state of the format? As you look into the future, what are the biggest challenges facing its continued growth?

Commander is in a good place. It's not devouring any other formats like Modern devoured Extended, nor is it being strangled by other ways to play the game. I appreciate that Wizards is allowing and encouraging the format, going so far as to change how cars are worded to allow for more multiplayer formats. I like that we're getting cards for us as a way to help ease new players into the format.

But much like my dad's BBQ, too much of a good thing can hurt as well. It's OK to celebrate the Year of Commander as 2020 is turning out to be, but this has to be tempered by the expectations that we the players have on the format as well as what Wizards feels comfortable in putting out.

But too much of a good thing? We don't want to inundate players with a flood of cards. Commander is not a format that is as easy to dip into as others like Standard or Pioneer. And trying too hard can put people off from it. I work in retail. You don't push something. You promote it. And the line between the two is narrow and fraught with peril. Treat the format with respect, and be rewarded. Abuse it and watch it burn.

So Long Live Commander!

And that's that. I hope you enjoyed my two year old opinions. Join me next week when I reveal the results of the Slow Grow League and my prizes! Woo!

Until then please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!