Commander 2016 = 5x 4-color decks.
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on May 16, 2016, 10:45 a.m. by Rayenous
Confirmed that the C2016 will be 4-color.
Link: Here
This is one of many product announcements being made today. - Link for the rest: Here
I am honestly shocked they went with 4 colors instead of allied pairs. This means three things:
1: There will finally be real 4-color commanders
2: The decks wont have a third, reprint commander like every other commander set
3: The amount of dual lands will be off the charts
May 16, 2016 10:55 a.m.
Ostrichman01 says... #4
most likely nephlim reprints. and they dont count as a reprint commansder!! :D
May 16, 2016 11:22 a.m.
Will we have names for the 4 color combos now you think?
4 color lands perhaps? "When best freaking land ever enters the battlefield sever your right hand (in real life) or beat freaking land ever enters the battlefield tapped.
May 16, 2016 11:26 a.m.
Well they have quite a few cheap cycles that help with mana fixing for the 4-color decks: Meandering River-Cycle, Tranquil Cove-Cycle, Azorius Chancery-Cycle, among others. So I doubt we'll be seeing the best mana base ever.
May 16, 2016 11:29 a.m.
I would expect the Vivid Marsh cycle... definitely some Evolving Wilds/Warped Landscape type effects... Unknown Shores effects... and maybe a variety of 'mana of any color' lands like Mana Confluence/City of Brass/Forbidden Orchard (only 1 per deck, where it's in proper 'flavour' for that deck theme)
May 16, 2016 11:36 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #9
I'm hoping that they reprint the nephilim either with errata text "~ can be your commander" (like on Nahiri, the Lithomancer cycle) or as legendary creatures. I also hope we get a multicolor-matters commander just cause.
May 16, 2016 11:40 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #10
It's far likelier that you'll just get several of the omnilands (can tap for one of any color) rather than dedicated 4-color lands (especially since the mana rule change allows us to make off-color mana).
My guess is some Evolving Wilds, Rupture Spire, Manalith reprints and maybe some taplands here and there.
I also think the decks will be heavily commander-oriented because there are far fewer ways to tie 4-color decks together. You have a large number of options with that kind of breadth, so there isn't the same kind of common theme that defines two- or three-color decks.
May 16, 2016 11:41 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
Also, errata is not meant to change the basic functionality of cards. It's unlikely that the Nephilim will receive errata. They would probably be included in the 99, but I expect actual commanders, perhaps based on the Nephilim to some extent.
May 16, 2016 11:42 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
I am very surprised that WotC did this; why would they skip over allied colors?
I am less excited about this set than I am about the previous Commander sets, since I am not interested in four-color cards, but I shall be hoping for some nice reprints in it, and I believe that it is safe to say that the nephilim shall be in these decks.
May 16, 2016 11:50 a.m.
This is awesome, I wish November wasn't so far away!
Any of the 
/x/x/x decks will be a good idea, as green provides the best mana fixing options. I'll probably go for one of the /
/x/x decks, myself.
I can't wait to see some of the crazy abilities they come up with! Gahhhh
May 16, 2016 3:04 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #18
If 
is as busted as Yore-Tiller Nephilim is, I know what colors I'm playing.
May 16, 2016 3:17 p.m.
I would put money on these cards not being true 4-color like the nephilim but following the model of Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and General Tazri of using an off-color activation to add the 4th color.
May 16, 2016 3:26 p.m.
I'm riding the hype train right now I want to build B/W/G/R and just smash blue players.
May 16, 2016 3:31 p.m.
I'm hoping Grixis + for mana fixing will be good...
for me.
(Though I'm very likely to buy one of each)
May 16, 2016 3:37 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #23
I wonder if they'll use the converge mechanic. Seems like a good place for it.
May 16, 2016 3:57 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #28
JWiley129, I sure hope so! I remember back when I was designing four colored commanders using colors as part of the design without making it a four colored legend, from using phyrexian mana, to both kinds of hybrid mana, to mana symbols in costs or effects for activated abilities or in the text for a triggered ability. There are really unique ways to design cool legends like that!
May 16, 2016 4:25 p.m.
With an MSRP of $35 I wouldn't expect to see any fancy lands like shocks or filters. Just the six shocks alone is worth ~$70
May 16, 2016 4:28 p.m. Edited.
I hope they do some legendary creatures with a cost akin to 
so we can have 4 color tiny leaders decks.
Hey, shut up, some people play it!
May 16, 2016 5:39 p.m. Edited.
yay!! As I hoped for (and been speculating about for the last year or so, to the dismay of some)
May 17, 2016 9:24 a.m.
Topdeckermtg2016 says... #33
Could not be happier to hear this series announced... This will really shake up commander and the way people think about color combinations and how they interact with each other. and very excited for.
Lets see some sick creature type combinations and mechanics!
May 17, 2016 11:30 a.m.
Information gathered from the WPN site for Commander 2016:
Decks will have 15 new cards (this has been the norm for a while now)
Decks will have one oversized foil
Decks will contain 4 premium Legendary Commander cards
10 Double-Sided tokens
All found here.
May 17, 2016 11:53 a.m.
They're actually going to include regular size foils? Is that what they mean by "premium"? If so, that's certainly a first.
May 17, 2016 12:18 p.m.
miracleHat says... #36
I am excited for anything with blue and green in the same color combo (g/u/r/w | g/u/w/b/ | g/u/r/b)
May 17, 2016 12:49 p.m.
it would be fairly reasonable for each deck to have one shock and one filter. 4 color needs as much mana fixing as possible
May 17, 2016 1:36 p.m.
I think they skipped over allied colours because of the sheer amount of options in all of the allied colours, in comparison to enemy colours. Before C15, GU only had 6 options (the 4 Ravnica guild legendaries, Edric and Kruphix). GB was slightly better off with 11 (exc Gitrog), WB and WR had 9, while RU had 8.
So understandably, they would skip allied over colour combinations that have NO viable commanders.
May 17, 2016 1:38 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #39
Is there really that great of a demand for four-colored cards? The reason that WotC has never printed such cards before, with the exception of the nephilim, is that such cards are far too difficult to design, so I do not understand why they are such a great deal.
May 17, 2016 2:56 p.m.
miracleHat says... #40
@DemonDragonJ: there are a surprisng amount of EDH players that create 5 color edh decks, but only use 4/5 of the colors (normally subbing out red or blue). This is highly inefficient, and the inclusion of 4 colored generals allows more creativity within the format.
You bring up difficult to design cards: I am going to point out that The Mimeoplasm was 'difficult to design'. The only difficult about designing a 4-color card is having none of the abilities conflict with each other (how outside cards won't be as big as a problem compared to whatever abilities the general has scribbled onto it).
May 17, 2016 3:22 p.m.
Deckologist says... #41
DemonDragonJ they're a big deal because now you can play the best colors in magic without having to worry about red. is pretty much the way to go. Although to offset its power and popularity (combining sultai esper and abzan is just silly) I'm sure we will see a less than desirable Legendary in those colors.
May 17, 2016 3:27 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #42
Maro has mentioned on his blog, the specific reason they're difficult to design is that they are defined by negative design space (ie. what they lack) rather than positive design space (ie. what they are) which is harder to make exciting. Or, that's what I took away from his posts describing the challenge.
However, Maro gets asked about these constantly. They probably took the hint at least two years ago and have been playtesting ideas for this for a long while now. Just because they're hard to design doesn't mean they won't do it. It probably just means it's been in development a long time.
May 17, 2016 3:44 p.m.
This would be the set to print legendary ABURs in without wrecking standard and modern. Fingers crossed :)
May 17, 2016 3:50 p.m.
miracleHat says... #44
@Deckologist: by that reasoning are you implying that the R/U/W/B general is going to be stronger than all of the others printed? The lack of green automatically makes this deck clunkier: so if the best color scheme general is going to get nerfed, will the worst color scheme be overly powerful?
May 17, 2016 3:52 p.m.
Deckologist says... #45
miracleHat all im saying is it would surprise me. My guess is it will be a zombie knight that reanimates. Im only guessing that because thats what I dont want it to be. But alas...my luck.
May 17, 2016 4:05 p.m.
McSleuthburger says... #46
Im kinda curious though about the other legendary creatures that are not the starting commander. Like in a W/G/B/U deck is what are the other legendary creature colors going to be? Im guessing there might be a W/U legend, a G/B legend, and maybe a 3 color legend.
May 17, 2016 5:43 p.m.
I have to see a decklist before I make up my mind. 4C commanders is something I've wanted to see for a while, but precons aren't how I would've introduced them because the lack of other 4 color commanders harshly locked into your commander.
This is significantly less "crack it to power up other decks" and more "play it as is or with minor tweaks." I would feel a lot better about this if they had backup commanders, also in the same 4C wheels. At the very least I think there should be a 3 color backup commander they can fall into without much effort.
May 17, 2016 6:39 p.m.
Yoshi400x7 says... #48
I'm just hoping we get 4 four color legends in each deck. The endless possibilities!
May 17, 2016 6:49 p.m.
I think we will get those 4 four color legends what else can they print? There's usually 3 possible commanders for each deck in the past and only recently have they started just reprinting commanders from other sets
May 17, 2016 8:22 p.m.
I really hope that people start re-popularizing the nephilim names for 4c decks. Nonred is Witch-maw, nonblue is dune-brood, nonwhite is glint-eye, nongreen is yore-tiller, nonblack is ink-treader.
snotice says... #2
Interesting
May 16, 2016 10:47 a.m.