EDH, Spawnsire of Ulamog, and Emrakul
Asked by Phaetion 8 years ago
Yesterday, I was playing in a 5-man pod, with one of the players piloting an Eldrazi based deck using Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. He plays Spawnsire of Ulamog, and I joke that he can't cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn because he's banned.
However, he (and another player) counter my joke by saying that he can be cast through Spawnsire's second ability, stating it goes beyond the rules of the format. I immediately got rid of it, thinking it was true, but the ruling still plagues me.
Is it legal to cast Emrakul through Spawnsire's second ability, even though the former's banned?
If I remember correctly, from a tournament standpoint, any wish card targets must be pulled out from the sideboard. EDH does have a 10 card sideboard that you can use to metagame after everyone reveals their commanders but before the game starts. If you were wanting to go strictly by the rules, the Eldrazi would have to come from that 10 card sideboard. (Most people I know don't even bother making a sideboard though). And like Epochalyptik said above me, if its banned, it can't go in that sideboard, which is where he should be casting it from.
February 8, 2016 9:53 a.m.
TheRedMage says... Accepted answer #3
Reaxetion: Even the 10-card sideboard is a rule variant, not really something necessary. For example, if you play a sanctioned EDH game (EDH 4-player free-for-all games are pretty common as side events at, say GPs and SCG Opens) that is not something you will be allowed to have most of the time.
I am just going to quote the official commander website on how these cards work:
13: Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.
So basically you just have to come to an agreement with your playgroup about how these cards work if you want to play with them. Without such agreement, they just don't.
February 9, 2016 5:12 a.m.
Ok. Thanks guys; I was confused about the whole issue because no one told me about Emrakul being castable from Spawnsire's effect.
Epochalyptik says... #1
From a strict interpretation of the rules, banned means banned.
That said, the scope of wish effects is agreed upon by players pipe to the start of the game. You may agree to allow these effects to find cards that are illegal in the format if you so choose, but that isn't the way the rules generally operate.
February 8, 2016 9:48 a.m.