Commanders with Color Identity Based On Abilities
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 13, 2014, 4:47 p.m. by sirleonard
I want to find a list of Commanders who have color identities based on their casting cost and abilities. Things like Bosh who can be a red commander, Memnarch who can be blue, and Rhys the Exiled who can be a green and black commander are what I'm talking about. I haven't been able to find a solid list and I don't feel like browsing through hundreds of legendary creatures to find them. If anyone has a link to all the possible commanders like this or can make a list here I'd appreciate it :)
scopesightzx says... #3
I know that in fate reforged, they'll be doing more design like this with the Khans from the past (for example, the Temur khan is 2G, but has an activated ability with 1 and two blue/red hybrid mana (3 total, I don't know how to make the hybrid symbol))
November 13, 2014 5:15 p.m.
BlindJoker says... #4
Aside from the ones you listed, these are the only ones I've found, using a query on magiccards.info
November 13, 2014 5:16 p.m.
So if bosh is your commander you can put red cards in your deck?
November 13, 2014 7:18 p.m.
If Bosh, Iron Golem is your Commander, you can only put 
and colorless in the deck. If there hasn't been enough clarification, any activated mana symbol in the rules text box below the art counts as a color.
Rhys the Exiled is a 
Commander.
November 13, 2014 7:33 p.m.
sirleonard says... #7
I know Bosh isn't and Memnarch isn't blue, I didn't mean to word it that way lol Also, I know about Yasova Dragonclaw, that's part of where my interest in this comes from. I already actually knew about Rhys, Bosh, Memnarch, Felon, and Daughter of Autumn. I just couldn't find anymore so I'm guessing those might be the only ones at the moment.
November 13, 2014 7:39 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
I said that they are, not that they *aren't."
Bosh, Iron Golem's color identity is red.
Memnarch's color identity is blue.
Rhys the Exiled's color identity is green black.
@Osang: There's no such thing as an "activated mana symbol," so I'm not really sure what you mean there.
Color identity includes all mana symbols on the card except those in reminder text (e.g. extort). It also includes color indicators and characteristic-defining abilities.
November 13, 2014 8:18 p.m.
he meant activated abilities that contain mana symbols.
November 13, 2014 8:29 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
It goes beyond that though. The symbols don't have to be in activated abilities (which itself is a vague requirement, as there's no difference in color identity between Avacyn's Pilgrim and Godtoucher). Thornscape Battlemage has the same color identity as Mayael the Anima or Cylian Sunsinger.
As long as the symbol appears anywhere in the card's mana cost or text (except for in reminder text), then it influences color identity.
November 13, 2014 8:36 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #12
Which is why extort can be mono black or mono white somehow.
November 13, 2014 8:48 p.m.
Extort doesn't affect color identity because it's in the reminder text. Syndic of Tithes is white, Syndicate Enforcer is black, and Kingpin's Pet is B/W according to the color identity rules.
November 13, 2014 8:57 p.m.
sirleonard says... #14
I decided to go ahead and look through all the legendary creatures to see if there were more like this and there aren't lolThe only legendary creatures like this are:Bosh, Iron GolemMemnarchRhys the ExiledThelon of Havenwoodand Daughter of Autumn.
November 13, 2014 9:44 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #15
So I think something very interesting to note is that there are lots of creatures that let you not play all of their colors. These creatures, hybrid creatures (like Rhys the Redeemed), and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic are all the creatures that don't have to be played in all of their colors.
If you don't like blue, you can run Yasova Dragonclaw as a gruul commander. I hope some people are more creative with these types of cards.
November 14, 2014 8:56 a.m.
OP_Magikarp says... #16
Same goes for land. If you're running a 
deck you can't have any other lands that produce colors other than . So no tri- colored lands are allowed
Epochalyptik says... #2
It's not that Bosh, Iron Golem can be red, Memnarch can be blue, and Rhys the Exiled can be green and black. They are, according to the rules about color identity.
I don't know of a card search engine that lists cards according to this quality. Your best bet might be searching for a manually-curated list on MTGS or something.
November 13, 2014 4:50 p.m.