Commander color identity & hybrid mana
Asked by TyroMaven 9 years ago
Let's say I wanted to put a Marisi's Twinclaws in an EDH deck in which Surrak Dragonclaw is the Commander.
Would it be invalid, or would I merely be restricted to casting the creature spell for 
?
For rule reference from http://mtgcommander.net/rules.php:
Deck Construction Rules - #3:
A card's colour identity is its colour plus the colour of any mana symbols in the card's rules text. A card's colour identity is established before the game begins, and cannot be changed by game effects.
Lands whose type includes swamp, island, plains, forest and/or mountain (e.g.: basic lands, shocklands, dual lands, Shadowmoor special-basics, etc) also have the corresponding colour identity. As such, they may not appear in a deck unless the Commander is also of the appropriate identity.
While hybrid mana symbols may be played with either colour mana, they contribute both colours to the card's colour identity. Therefore they may only be played with a Commander whose identity includes ALL of the hybrid symbols' colours.
Basic land words (swamp, forest, etc) in the text box of a card do NOT represent a coloured mana symbol. They are not restricted to a Commander of the same colour identity.
Reminder text is not included in the colour identity of a card.
The back face of a double-faced card is included when determining a card's colour identity.
Cards in a deck may not have any colours in their color identity which are not shared with the commander of the deck. (The identity of each card in the deck must be a subset of the Commander's)
April 16, 2016 11:44 p.m.
Does that also include activated/triggered abilities of creatures? Say Abzan Kin-Guard or Veteran Cathar are being considered for the same deck. Are one or both of them illegal in the deck?
April 16, 2016 11:47 p.m.
Ah, OK, so Veteran Cathar is definitely out. The Abzan Kin-Guard would just be useless since its rule text couldn't ever be fulfilled.
April 16, 2016 11:49 p.m.
You bet!
Yes Veteran would be illegal do to the 
symbol, you are correct.
As for Kin-Guard...that's up to you. I suppose you could steal your opponent's white or black creature lol.
April 16, 2016 11:56 p.m.
I'm definitely adding Yasova Dragonclaw, but that combo would be a little bit overcomplicated to justify adding Veteran. lol
April 17, 2016 12:12 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
Havengul Runebinder, Notorious Throng, Penumbra Bobcat, Penumbra Kavu, Penumbra Spider, Penumbra Wurm, Rise from the Tides, Undead Alchemist, Guardian of Cloverdell, Ulvenwald Mysteries are all legal ways in a Temur commander deck to have Abzan Kin-Guard have lifelink. It really isn't worth running any of those cards, including the Kin-Guard, but they are legal.
April 17, 2016 12:43 a.m.
...Whoa, Gidgetimer, that's some thorough searching. O_O
Like I said, though, the card was just an example. I don't think lifelink in a Temur deck fits very well.
GearNoir says... #1
It would be an illegal card in your deck.
Only cards carrying the symbols
, 
, or 
can be used. Since Marisi has the optional 
payment and 
is outside of Surrak's color identity, it cannot be used in the deck.
April 16, 2016 11:31 p.m.