Is moving to the Command Zone always optional?
Asked by DaddyRabbit78 8 years ago
My apologies if this has been asked before.
I'm curious about cards like Hallowed Burial, Terminus, and Jotun Grunt. As I was taught (I'm only a few months into Magic), whenever a commander changes zones, it always has the option to go to the command zone instead and new Commander rules make forced tucking totally optional for the targeted commander/player.
But, as I'm looking at decklists and discussions, I'm reading that these are great cards to get rid of commanders over cards like Wrath of God as they "specifically deal with commanders".
Can you site official rules in your answer(s)?
DaddyRabbit78 says... #2
So, Hallowed Burial, Terminus, and Jotun Grunt will only move the commander to the bottom of the owner's library if it's owner CHOOSES for it to. Got it.
Thanks!
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
The command zone replacement effect has always been optional. You can still choose to move your commander to exile, your library, or your hand if you don't want to put it into the command zone for whatever reason.
The only thing that changed is the scope of the replacement effect. Originally, you could only choose to return your commander to the command zone if it would otherwise go to your graveyard or to exile. Because this version of the rule didn't affect zone changes that would move a commander to a player's hand or library, effects that put the commander into the library ("tuck effects") were a way to get rid of a commander for a while.
This changed in 2015 when the Rules Committee reworked the replacement effect to be more universal. Source
Rule #9 from the Commander website:
If a Commander would be put into a library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead. Details
August 1, 2016 12:23 p.m.