Double-Faced Cards Commander
Asked by DarkInvoker 2 years ago
Just wondering how modal double-faced cards can work as a commander. "Esika, God of the Tree" is a legendary creature qualifying her to be a commander. However, the other side is an Enchantment called "The Prismatic Bridge" and has an ability I would like to have at the forefront of every game I play.
Since modal double-faced cards allow the player to choose which side they want to play, I was wondering if I could play my commander as "The Prismatic Bridge" instead regardless of the fact it isn't a legendary creature.
I would argue that you can have Esika, God of the Tree Flip as a commander but the flip slide; The Prismatic Bridge Flip, cannot be cast as it is a non creature thus barring it from commander status. A commander must be a legendary creature and can be casted from the command zone.
On [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Esika%2C%20God%20of%20the%20Tree]
Under rulings:
2/5/2021
To determine whether it is legal to play a modal double-faced card, consider only the characteristics of the face you're playing and ignore the other face's characteristics.
On [https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/]
under rules 1 and 6
1.Players choose a legendary creature as the commander for their deck.
6.Commanders begin the game in the Command Zone. While a commander is in the command zone, it may be cast, subject to the normal timing restrictions for casting creatures...
On [https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats/commander]
under rules/modifiers header
...In this casual, multiplayer format, you choose a legendary creature to serve as your commander...
under command zone header
...At the start of the game, each player puts their commander face up into the command zone. A commander can be cast from the command zone for its normal costs...
I interpret this as: if you play the enchantment The Prismatic Bridge Flip, you ignore the fact that it is attached to the spell Esika, God of the Tree Flip, which makes the player cast a non creature/non commander spell from the command zone which is an illegal action through virtue of the mtg official site's stated rules.
Full disclosure: I played against this commander last night and was curious as to the rulings regarding dual sided legendary creatures. It could very well be bias on my part against this card in my interpretation as we were decimated by the player.
June 24, 2023 3:54 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
You needed to continue reading to rule 8 on https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/ and consult 712.8a in the comprehensive rules.
"8. Being a commander is not a characteristic [MTG CR109.3], it is a property of the card and tied directly to the physical card. As such, “commander-ness” cannot be copied or overwritten by continuous effects. The card retains it’s commander-ness through any status changes, and is still a commander even when controlled by another player."
712.8a While a double-faced card is outside the game or in a zone other than the battlefield or stack, it has only the characteristics of its front face.
The physical card that is The Prismatic Bridge Flip is still the same physical card that was Esika, God of the Tree Flip and was chosen as the commander during deck construction when only the characteristics of the front face were considered. The Gatherer ruling you quoted is in reference to casting Revel in Silence Flip or Beyeen Veil Flipat instant speed despite their other sides not being able to be played at instant speed; or playing Tergrid, God of Fright Flip with a Archon of Valor's Reach out naming artifacts.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
You can use double square brackets around a card's name to create a reference link: Esika, God of the Tree Flip
Yes, you can get what you want out of this. If a double-faced card has a legendary creature on the front face, it can be a commander. Any time you play a modal double-faced card, you can choose which side to play, including when you're casting the commander from the command zone. This means if your commander is Esika, you can cast the card as Prismatic Bridge from the command zone. The card is always your commander, so you can send the Bridge back to the command zone if it dies, gets exiled, etc. (while in the command zone, it will go back to showing the front face).
The color identity rules for commander consider both sides of a double-faced card, so if Esika is your commander then you can build a deck.
April 19, 2022 2:49 p.m.