Enemy-Colored Commands
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Nov. 22, 2015, 9:18 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Dragons of Tarkir contained a cycle of allied-colored commands, modeled after the cycle of commands from Lorwyn, so I now am creating a cycle of enemy-colored commands, and they are seen, below.
Aurelia's Command Show
Jarad's Command Show
Niv-Mizzet's Command Show
Teysa's Command Show
Zegana's Command Show
Since there are no enemy-colored dragon lords on Tarkir (a very regrettable fact, in my mind), I named these cards in honor of the enemy-colored guild leaders of Ravnica; I know that Teysa is not actually the guild leader of the Orzhov guild, but she is my favorite character from that plane, the Obzedat already has Merciless Eviction, which is practically a command of its own, to honor it, and I predict that Teysa will one day become the leader of the Orzhov guild.
I made the commands instants, since the allied-colored ones are, and each command has two modes for each of its colors, although some modes may blur the line between the colors, and they all have similar mana costs. Originally, I was going to give Aurelia's command both parts of Lightning Helix as two of its modes, but I felt that that would be too predictable and too similar to the modes of Teysa's command, as well as not leaving room for combat tricks. I also was planning to have the command cost only 2 mana, since two of the commands from Tarkir cost only 2 mana, but I decided that that would have made it too powerful, so I increased the cost to 3 mana. Jarad's command costs 5 mana, because I feel that its effects are slightly more powerful than those of the other commands.
What does everyone else say about these cards? How well did I do with them?
Aurelia's Command Tapping down the enemy's creatures is a 
thing, you can see some cards here. I stopped before I even got 1/3rd of the way through that list but here are some examples.
Akroan Jailer
Akroan Mastiff
Alaborn Cavalier
Angelic Benediction
Avacynian Priest
Aysen Bureaucrats
Ballynock Trapper
Benalish Trapper
Blinding Beam
Blinding Mage
One thing I will say though is I like how for every other command there are multiple combinations that are all great together. Like Jarad is deathtouch and then the +1/+1 and trample. Niv MIzzix is Copy a spell and change target or change target and draw (so it even works against Abrupt Decay!). Aurelia's Command just seems lacking.
November 22, 2015 10:09 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #4
Both Zegana and Teysa are broken. Others look fine.
November 22, 2015 10:11 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #5
@kengiczar All of your examples tap a single target, which does fit white's color. However, tapping all creatures isn't something that white can normally do. That is much more of a blue ability.
November 22, 2015 10:17 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
What about making Teysa's command a sorcery? Upon further consideration, I see no reason for which that card needs to be an instant.
As for Aurelia's command, what if I changed the "tap all creatures" mode to "creatures that you opponents control cannot block this turn?" Would that work better?
November 22, 2015 10:26 p.m.
Teysa's Command needs to be an instant because it's the new Unburial Rites : P
But really, the difference is as an instant it's good and as a sorcery it's bad.
November 22, 2015 10:42 p.m.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #8
Overall, these seem balanced. However, I have a few changes that I would make. Firstly, in the DTK and Lorwyn commands, all of the modes target things OR all of the modes don't target things, so that you can't counter the non-targeted mode by removing the target for the targeted ability. I would fix that before anything else.
For Aurelia's Command, the last two abilities interact poorly with each other. While this isn't a bad thing, I would personally prefer that I could choose any two modes at random and still have an OK card.
With Jarad's Command, the last two abilities are too powerful in combination, because the +1/+1 adds the extra damage for the creatures to assign lethal damage to a blocking creature, essentially reading "blocked creatures you control destroy their blockers and deal damage to the defending player equal to their power." I would change both of those abilites to target creatures.
The last ability on Teysa's Command would be more balanced if it was a creature with power or CMC less than some number.
That's all I've got.
November 22, 2015 11:06 p.m.
@ ABadMagicPlayer100 - While I prefer the last option for Tesya's Command not to be limited if it is limited it should be chosen based off "what do you not want 
, 
and 
to reanimate turn 4?". In other words "What creatures are to good to be allowed to be cheated in on turn 4?"
I just threw what feels like 30-40 minutes into making these lists to cover as many angles as possible concerning Tasysa's Command in modern.
Colorless (Any deck) Show
6 Drops Only Show
7 Drops Only Show
I thnk for 6 drops all of them are fine, nothing OP. (Bloom Titan is alreadya thing and it's T2 remember?)
For 7 drops I also have no qualms. Really this is the only way that Avenger of Zendikar will do work in an Abzan list.
For the 8 drops it's important to not freak out and to see what is available to stop them once Taysa's Command resolves bringing back fatty!
Hardest to stop once resolved Show
Options to prevent/escape Taysa's Command strategies Show
As you can see EVERY color has options to play around Taysa's Command, even if it's instant, and even if it can reanimate any creature.
While I could see limiting it to creatures with CMC 7 or less as an instant speed spell for modern I would also happily play both with and against it if people had a shot at reanimating Griselbrand, Akromas, and Jin Gitaxus.
Also I want to note that Vengevine strategies would absolutely CRUSH these bigger reanimation strategies because can play Ground Seal and get back Vengevine, Bloodghast, and Gravecrawler.
Also abzan could take a Rally the Ancestors approach and still use Ground Seal while winning pretty damned hard.
November 23, 2015 12:24 a.m.
Niv-Mizzet's Command can deal infinite damage if you can cast two of them in one turn. You cast the first Niv-Mizzet's Command in response to an opponent's instant or sorcery and chose the first and last options. With that spell on the stack, you cast a second Niv-Mizzet's Command choosing to copy the first one on the stack and to draw two cards. The second Niv-Mizzet's Command resolves, putting a copy of the first one on the stack, which you use to copy the first Niv-Mizzet's Command again while dealing damage to an opponent. Rinse and repeat until all opponents are dead.
November 23, 2015 1:11 a.m.
@ SaberTech - So what you're saying is there would finally be a worthwhile reason to run Reverberate in modern/commander? Sounds awesome. But maybe to good...
Perhaps change the copy portion to "Spell you don't control".
This would allow somebody to reverberate my Niv-Mizzet's Command and kill me outright but then we have a reason to run Mindbreak Trap! So I cast NM's Command, you reverberate. When you get to your third copy I cast Mindbreak Trap. Now even ify you Reverberate my Mind Break Trap everything will still stop...
I feel sorry for whoever casts Niv-Mizzet's first. I have to doubt infinites are whas intended XD
Still, I think the spell is so good that it's worth having the risk of a total blowout in my opponent's favor when I run it : )
November 23, 2015 2:39 a.m.
Yeah, making it so that you could only copy an opponent's spell would be the easiest fix.
The opponent could only kill you with a Reverberate if you chose the first and fourth modes on NM Command, since the copies would have the same modes that were selected on the original spell. If you chose the first and third modes they would be able to draw their deck (and end up decking themselves unless there was a different spell on the stack to copy).
Seriously though, even if you just chose the second and third modes for NM Command, you would be able to redirect an opponent's kill spell to kill one of their creatures and then put a card in your hand. You get to cantrip and put an opponent down by two cards at instant speed for four mana. That's pretty nuts, especially since the third mode lets you dig two cards deep.
November 23, 2015 3:20 a.m.
For Taysa's Command the first two abilities need to be merged...
- Each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
Your Aurelia's Command needs to have non-basic land destruction. Just saying. Opponent about to deal lethal with Creeping Tar Pit? That damned Inkmoth Nexus about to get you? Stupid faeries deck killing you with Blinkmoth Nexus after you got of a well timed Volcanic Fallout? Luckily your legion of angels has a plan for that! Think Ghost Quarter @ instant speed without giving up a land drop, except this spell can be hit by all kinds of counters and removal.
Here's what I would do:
- Destroy target nonbasic land.
- Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
- Creatures you control gain First Strike until end of turn.
- Tap all creatures your opponent's control.
Looking at it though the last two abilities are redundant. If you tap down all of your opponent's creatures at their End of Turn first strike is irrelevant, especially with the spell being Ghost Quarter 2.0.
I would change the third ability as well then, but I'm not sure what it should be. For now I think either across the board damage or target limited direct damage would be best. No matter what though this spell needs to stay at 
:
- Destroy target nonbasic land.
- Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
- Aurelia's Charm deals 4 damage to target opponent. (Not really sure)
- Tap all creatures your opponent's control.
November 23, 2015 4:02 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #14
Wow, so much feedback!
I am very sorry to say that I do not have much time to edit these cards, today, but I hope to work on them over the several days that I am not working for Thanksgiving, and perhaps have new versions of them during the weekend.
SaberTech: I definitely do not want that to happen, so I shall need to think of a way to alter the card to prevent that, but not too drastically, to keep the same basic idea.
kengiczar: I also wish to avoid these commands being too similar to the guild charms, so having Aurelia's command deal 4 damage would make it too similar to Boros Charm.
November 23, 2015 9:52 p.m.
@ DemonDragonJ - Understandable about not having Aurelia's Command resemble Boros Charm too much. Still I think the 1st and 4th abilities as below are perfect. This one is pretty tricky but here's some info to help you decide. (I promise there aren't wall of texts hiding under the spoilers!)
Abilities: Show
Abilities Show
Most Unique effects Show
Aurelia's Command, All Unique abilities Show
Aurelia's Command, 2 Unique + 1 Shared + 1 Combined Show
Aurelia's Command, 2 Unique + 2 Shared Show
You do have the opportunity here to sort of combine spells like Act on Impulse or Outpost Siege with Endless Horizons. If not for this Command keep it in mind for your future endeavors.
November 23, 2015 11:50 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #16
I have made some changes to the charms: I altered the final mode of Aurelia's command to be one that works well with the third mode; I altered the final mode of Jarad's command (as a side note, I feel that the first two abilities of that card should not be usable at instant speed, but the second two abilities definitely need to be, so the entire card is an instant); I altered the first mode of Niv-Mizzet's command so that it cannot copy itself; I made Teysa's Command a sorcery and also put X in its mana cost; and I increased the cost of Zegana's command to hopefully make it more balanced.
Those are quick and simple changes that I made in only several minutes' worth of time, so, for any more significant changes, I shall need more time to deliberate the matter.
lemmingllama says... #2
Aurelia's Command's last ability isn't a red or white thing. Making them unable to block creatures would be a red thing though.
Jarad's Command and Niv-Mizzet's Command seem fairly ok.
Teysa's Command is utterly nuts. Exile a creature and reanimate a creature at instant speed is way too good. You could drop the other modes and this card would still be amazing. I really think that the reanimation ability needs to be reworked.
Zegana's Command is also utterly bonkers. Counter a spell and draw between 2 and 6 cards is really powerful. Even without the counterspell part, drawing that many cards is just too good.
November 22, 2015 9:45 p.m.