COLOR SHIFTED COMMANDER?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 16, 2019, 8:51 p.m. by Last_Laugh
I've had an ongoing thought and I'm after people's opinions on 2 different possibilities.
I want to take a commanders' primary color and replace it with another. I.e. Animar, Soul of Elements but Green replaces Black and it's protections would become Pro White and Green (colors it isn't which is easy to track).
I've also considered trying to color shift the abilities to reflect it's new color identity... but this may be a bit much, opinions? This would obviously require a proxy of some sort.
An example of a color shifted Animar:
Decimar, Life of Decay
Legendary Creature: Elemental
Protection From White and Green
Whenever a creature you control dies, put a +1+1 counter on Decimar.
Non-Creature spells you cast cost less for each +1+1 counter on Decimar.
1/1
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #3
I'd consider a different name; life and decay are both words that bring green to mind, or green/black together.
The trick you're going to run into is that unlike original Animar, the abilities you've got don't synergize. The first one cares about you controlling creatures, so it wants you to run a lot of creatures in the deck. The second rewards you for playing non-creature spells, so you'd want a lot of those in the deck. Where Animar encourages creature-heavy builds, your version is caught in between two worlds.
If you want to emphasize the non-creature aspect (which is a strong suit of grixis colors), you could consider hybridizing Kess, Dissident Mage with Mizzix of the Izmagnus - reduce costs for +1/+1 counters, while gaining counters for non-creature spells that are cast from graveyard, or maybe an ability that allows you to cast spells from the graveyard if they cost less than then number of counters on Decimar, rather than reducing cost paired with an ability that adds a counter for each spell cast from hand.
Perhaps something like "Every time you draw a card, you lose one life and put one +1/+1 counter on Decimar" and "You may cast non-creature spells in your graveyard with CMC less than Decimar's power." That would still mirror Animar's abilities somewhat, while feeling on theme for Grixis's strong suit (which is not typically creatures).
November 17, 2019 2:38 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #4
PhotogenicParasympathetic - I tried to make the counters tougher to get so this wouldn't just turn into extraturns.dec that starts spamming extra turns on like turn 3-4... that's Narset's job lol. I tried to make this guy a challenge to build around but the reward is there and worth it.
The 2 abilities requiring both creatures and non-creatures means you gotta think outside the box for your counters and creatures. Tokens, Unspeakable Symbol (probably breaks this), Drana, Liberator of Malakir , etc.
TypicalTimmy - I went counters when your stuff dies in order to balance this card a bit and keep it from being easily (or more accurately, quickly) broken. I like the -1-1 counter thing (I'd want your version in BUG colors) but I don't think it should get the counters off non-creature spells or on 'cast'.
That's pretty scary when the payoff is going to be non-creature spells. This would be especially true if the deck were made competitively thanks to cards like Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, etc. that dig and replace themselves coupled with extra turns and a reduction on instant speed answers to back it up.
Would a reduction on 'Non-Creature Permanent Spells' be a better way to balance this in your guys' opinions? I don't think I like it as much but it's an option...
November 17, 2019 10:10 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #5
I feel like this got derailed a bit from what I was after and I know what I did wrong. I was talking about color shifting as a generalization not the specific version of Animar I just posted as an example.
What are people's thoughts on someone wanting to swap a color in a Commander's identity? Would you let them do it? What restrictions?
and alternatively
Thoughts on trying to color shift the abilities (like the example) on top of the color swap?
November 19, 2019 9:57 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
My thoughts on it are:
1: The color swap MUST be a Commander's PRIMARY color i.e. Green w/ Animar, Black w/ either Marchesa, etc. (playgroup vote in the case of no clear primary color). This prevents you from just adding a few cards and forces a big change up.
2: Playgroup Votes before you even attempt the change. You won't get away with something degenerate like adding green to Marchesa, the Black Rose .
3: A little honesty goes a long way. Explain your planned deck strategy and if you've noticed a card that would be too OP... offer to not run it or let them know you'll drop it immediately if it turns out to be too OP (i.e. W/U Sisay I'd offer to omit Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage )
November 19, 2019 10:10 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #7
In the case of color shifting abilities:
Same as above, except...
1: I would discuss the ability changes with the most rules/competitive/cardpool knowledgeable people I had access to.
2: We'd discuss the wording VERY specifically to make it the fairest wording possible.
3: Then we'd collectively try to break the card to make sure things stay within reason and ensure it's competitive but not broken.
Last_Laugh says... #2
Main reason I'd want something like this is the deckbuilding challenge. The above example I'd want to run as a Grave Pact / Tokens / Superfriends list with some extra turns thrown in. It'd be a blast to build and pilot.
November 16, 2019 8:58 p.m.