Commander color identity & hybrid mana

Asked by TyroMaven 7 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 ?

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.

GearNoir says... Accepted answer #2

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.

TyroMaven says... #3

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.

TyroMaven says... #4

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.

TyroMaven says... #5

Thanks for your help.

April 16, 2016 11:53 p.m.

GearNoir says... #6

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.

TyroMaven says... #7

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.

TyroMaven says... #8

--er, the Kin-Guard, that is.

April 17, 2016 12:13 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.

TyroMaven says... #10

...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.

April 17, 2016 2:07 a.m.

This discussion has been closed