Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on March 25, 2022, 4:31 p.m. by Coward_Token
My thoughts Show
Coward_Token says... #2
TypicalTimmy: you mean Raised By Giants (commander is a 10/10) not Master Chef (commander is Renata, Called to the Hunt)
May 21, 2022 3:49 p.m.
I'm still just psyched about the Wand of Wonder the more I look at it the more I will slap it in various redsplash decks. wyll's reversal makes me happy as well. As much as I hate counterspells I actually love redirects. I love that the set has an obligatory punisher in descent into Avernus AND it has upside (which is also a bizarre downside). I think punishers often have to have an upside nowadays to keep up with the rest of the boardstate developing players in the multiplayer game. Wyll himself is pretty good considering you can splash another color, though I'm not sure we are yet at a good critical mass of dual-colored dice roll spells yet... in good time
May 22, 2022 12:08 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #4
Nine-Finger Keene: Only three colors, but let's hope that enough Gates are added so that you can get up to not just nine but ten for Maze's End
Legion Loyalty: yeah involve pretty much any ETB and this gets out of hand, but when you're paying 8 mana you should be able to win within a turn or two me thinks
May 23, 2022 3:48 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #5
Nine-Finger Keene is awesome and a candidate for my favorite legend of the set. That being said, three colors is quite the restriction as we only have 6 gates in those colors currently (including the 2 noew ones spoiled from this set). This set really needs to go gate crazy if Keene is going to work. Should've been 4 colors at least.
Legion Loyalty: I want to love this card. It's ability is very cool, but at 8 mana, you want your cards to be game ending or catapult you very far ahead on it's own. This requires you to already have a board state of creatures able to attack, and it gets perpetually worse the fewer opponents you have. The card should've been 5-6 mana.
Arhivist of Oghama, new white staple incoming. An excellent little value/tax piece.
Pact Weapon seems deceptively strong for an equipment. It's a Platinum Angel, Dark Confidant, and madness enabler all in one package.
Ascend from Avernus is an awesome mass reanimation spell and probably the best in white.
The various Orbs of Dragonkind are quite nice. Since dragons are costly, giving one haste (red orb) or hexproof until your next turn (green orb) are really nice effects. The blue orb is nice for value, but not on the same level as the red and green ones.
Displacer Kitten is going to be a problem, calling it now.
Campfire seems like a great card for all of those high cmc commanders. Phage the Untouchable especially likes it.
May 23, 2022 10:37 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #6
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor yeah very good call on Legion Loyalty being bad as people drop out of the game. If you draw it too early, it's just going to sit in your hand. If you draw it too late, it's going to be entirely useless. Feels like WotC is too conservative with the wrong stuff
May 24, 2022 12:34 a.m.
Agreed on the Legion Loyalty It is weird when MtG is over-conservative on the wrong things. Just look at how much easier Blade of Selves gives you Myriad without a color restriction. In addition to paying all that mana, the card doesn't do anything on its' own, you will need some sort of ETB/leave the battlefield creatures out in addition. The timing restrictions are a good call as well. Too bad. It will be a Timmie pet-chantment for some people, I'm sure.
May 24, 2022 8:06 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #8
Beckoning Will-o'-Wisp: Feels more of a red card, especially flavorfully but w/e. If the RC gave in on hybrid color identity legality I would have been happy with this costing
Ravenloft Adventurer: Ooo, I like that they're commiting to hit counters as a tribal theme
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm: Lathliss is not happy! (Also, it's kinda depressing that Ganax, Astral Hunter would probably be a better mono-red tribal commander than her even without a Background option.)
Gnoll War Band: AFR squandered the opportunity to lay the groundwork for hyena tribal.
May 24, 2022 12:20 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #9
Funnily enough, for mono-red Dragons I wonder if Ganax isn't better off going for Guild Artisan rather than Dragon Cultist; curves much better and pays for pricy Dragons, even if the Cultist token do give him one Treasure. (Also, note that the Cultist trigger requires the damage to come from a single source.)
May 24, 2022 12:41 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #10
Intet, the Dreamer, your service for all these years has been admirable and greatly appreciated, buttttt holy hell is Miirym awesome. 100% taking over for Intet as my dragon tribal commander.
Wrathful Red dragon is just a bigger, meaner Thunderbreak Regent and I am all for it.
I've heard that Ancient Brass Dragon is an absolute flavor fail, but with that said, the Ancient "insert metal alloy" Dragon cycle seems pretty cool. Not sure if the red or blue ones are worth taking up a slot over other dragons in my Temur list, but definitely interesting. I am curious as to what the green and white ones will do.
Blade of Selves and Kindred Discovery are fantastic reprints.
I absolutely love the artwork on Rescuing Chwinga. No idea what those little spirits are or do in D&D, but that is some cool art.
CloudKill is exactly the type of card EDH needs more of: cards that reward one for playing higher CMC commanders. The format has skewed towards lower cmc, hyper-efficient, value based commanders, which is perfectly fine, but it's also nice to see rewards for playing those more expensive commanders.
Contraband Livestock is another excellent removal spell for white.
Balor is just cool. I want it for my Rionya, Fire Dancer deck, as attacking with multiples of this is gross. Also, it's pretty rare for us to have a mono-red demon. I guess it must be a D&D flavor thing?
May 24, 2022 3:17 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #11
Haha they're flower sized, that's adorable
I like commander MV-scaling effects too, but when would paying six mana for Cloudkill be better than a good old fashioned Damnation? Or Toxic Deluge if you really want to selectively kill stuff?
dnd Demons feel like they should be red-black, and the Devils white-black
May 24, 2022 4:28 p.m.
Miirym seems insane and might end up being the most popular commander from this set. It appeals to multiple types of players and just the temur dragon legend we've always wanted/needed.
I also think the new gods all seem pretty cool. Really like the one that turns dead creatures into enchantments.
May 24, 2022 5:11 p.m.
I love the Balor. Interesting that DnD "demons" are actually chaotic evil & are more in line with
The Ancient Silver dragon (the one seems ridiculous) d20 card draw & no max hand size seems a bit oppressive if it ever can be allowed to happen
May 24, 2022 7:26 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #14
It took too long but I realized that Jon's abilities is a reference to him inserting a mole into your party
May 25, 2022 12:43 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #15
Oh and I really hate green Stifle effects, so up yours Emerald Dragon
May 25, 2022 1:26 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #16
The fact they have Elemental Dragon in place of another metallic Dragon for the green mythic really bothers me. They could have done Cobalt
- The Cobalt Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons) is a type of dragon in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. It is a metallic dragon. Grim and sullen in demeanor, the fierce cobalt dragons measure success by the territories they rule and the lesser creatures they subjugate. They suffer no traveler to pass through their lands without bending knee and acknowledging their power, and anyone who refuses quickly comes to regret that error. Most cobalts rule over barbaric tribes or small, remote settlements, exacting instant obedience through claw, fang, and icy breath.
Ancient Cobalt Dragon
Creature - Elder Dragon (Mythic)
Flying
Whenever Ancient Cobalt Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, roll a d20. Then, create a number of 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens equal to the result.
6/6
Sure it's similar to the Ancient Brass Dragon, but two things:
- Black shouldn't be Brass
- Brass shouldn't be doing mass reanimation
Someone really dropped the ball on this cycle.
May 25, 2022 1:46 a.m. Edited.
DemonDragonJ says... #17
There are some nice reprints in this set, but I would rather not have MtG and D&D crossover, despite their similarities. It is nice to finally have new artwork on Mind Stone and to finally be able to have a foil version of Skullwinder, and Bramble Sovereign has become quite expensive, so it will be nice to have a reprint of it, as well.
It also is nice to finally have a card of Elminster, but his card is very underwhelming. He certainly is not weak, but, in the lore of the Forgotten Realms, he is one of the most powerful mortal magic users who ever lived, so a card of him should be much more powerful than that.
May 26, 2022 8:31 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #18
Go figure they showcase Ancient Bronze Dragon and Ancient Gold Dragon the very next day... Ugh
May 26, 2022 9:08 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #19
Ancient Gold Dragon is pretty sweet. It's nice to see white get one of the strongest iterations in the cycle. I think the black one is still the best though.
Ancient Bronze Dragon is a bit underwhelming, but green having the weakest of the cycle is good for once.
Wild Magic Surge will be Chaos Warp v2.0. This is an instant staple in all mono-red decks, as well as probably Rakdos and Izzet decks. Not sure G or W aligned red decks will want it since they can already deal with most permanent types. The card definitely has a higher worst-case-scenario probability than Chaos Warp does, but I think it's flexibility will outweigh the negatives.
I really like Vexing Puzzlebox. It's a nice payoff for dice rolling decks that isn't too powerful.
Windshaper Planetar is interesting. On one hand, it's a better Portal Mage/Illusionist's Gambit, on the other hand, it costs 5 mana. Not sure how to rate this one yet.
Barroom Brawl is freaking hilarious and I love the card. Probably not terribly strong, but I think it creates a fairly entertaining play pattern.
I think Earthquake Dragon is going to be really strong in certain decks. This will reliably be a 3-5 cmc 10/10 with Flample in dragon tribal decks.
Eldritch Pact seems cool. My Balthor the Defiled deck may want this for mass card draw late game. It's also a decent finisher for mill decks after a Traumatize is fired off.
A few more decent reprints like Nature's Lore and Traverse the Outlands are trickling in, but I really hope they spoil a few more tomorrow.
I am pretty sure I know the answer to this already, but I'd like some quick clarification on Acolyte of Bahamut. Your commander has to be on the battlefield for the ability to take effect correct? So if it were paired with Ganax, Astral Hunter, it couldn't actually be used to reduce the cost of Ganax correct?
May 27, 2022 1:27 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #20
Fraying Line is pretty good, pretty much colorless Divine Reckoning. Not bad for nonwhite voltron decks
May 27, 2022 11:29 a.m.
Color me surprised that there's no five-color commander in this set just to let someone try to challenge mode a draft.
May 27, 2022 12:04 p.m.
I'm surprised there is no chase mythic WUBRG thing as well. It seems like those can be pretty big money grabs. Just think of how much people spend on the WUBRG mana base alone!
May 27, 2022 1:14 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #23
So the first time I read "Gray Slaad" I read it as "Gray Salad", and that is the name that I will forever call it.
I am a little sad that we didn't get anymore major reprints today (though Deadly Dispute is nice as it is surprisingly expensive). I can't complain too much though since the Battle Bond lands and Reflecting Pool are amazing reprints.
"Cut a deal" feels very reminiscent of Syphon Mind, just white aligned. Seems like a good card draw spell for white in more casual settings.
Run Away Together was arguably the best removal spell in Commander Legends limited so it's nice to see it again here.
I am surprised that "Tavern Brawler" is at common. It seems much more powerful than most of the higher rarity Backgrounds. Same with "Candlekeep Sage".
Now that the main set is spoiled, my opinion is that the set looks fun for limited, yet powered down enough to protect the larger EDH environment. I am a fan.
May 27, 2022 5:28 p.m.
I like that there are a few good slug/punisher cards in this set. For those of us out there that like slug & aggression, we usually can count good punishers without our hands (because 0 fingers are needed). They also must have seen cornercase feedback that Shiny Impetus is quite solid & thusly they put it in a mainset to make it a little more widespread - as it deserves to be. To me it looks like a solid attempt at also making "commander draft" experiences really unique... I'm not a draft guy, but I do think with the combo of backgrounds & tons of commanders, the experience will be pretty unique.
May 27, 2022 8:15 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #25
Decanter of endless water is a welcome addition to the family of inexpensive but very useful mana-generating artifacts, and I will have no objection to using it in my decks, but it may not automatically replace Thought Vessel in every situation, since it is more expensive. One mana may not be a major difference, but it could be crucial, in certain situations, and the decanter also faces competition from both Commander's Sphere and Chromatic Lantern at 3 mana, so I do not wish to say that it shall be useless, but it does have strong competition. However, another efficiently-costed mana rock with a useful secondary ability is always a good thing, so I shall not immediately dismiss it.
May 28, 2022 12:52 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #26
Nimbleclaw Adept: kinda late to start worrying about inifinitive untap combos, WotC
The Illithid's design on Run Away Together together is great, and I hope that they keep making new funny romantic pairs for the art
Ingenious Artilerist: Mostly worse than Reckless Fireweaver (costs more), but it does synergize with e.g. Pain Magnification for bigger groups of artifacts
Wild Magic Surge: Note that if the target gets indestructible, the controller still gets to cheat in a permanent.
Altar of Bhaal: Question to D&D people: why isn't this Myrkul-flavored?
May 28, 2022 4:11 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #27
I had entirely forgotten that this had commander decks in addition to commander draft...
Aboleth Spawn: lol, legal in the 99 for Yarok, the Desecrated
Spectaclar Showdown: Overload? Yes, yes yes
May 28, 2022 6:52 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #28
So, was Passionate Archaeologist not a real card... or...? Because it was taken off of Mythic Spoiler with the rest of the 361 cards?
May 28, 2022 7:02 p.m. Edited.
TypicalTimmy says... #29
I just finished making the skeleton of a deck for Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and playtested it. Created 96 treasure tokens in a single turn because I had out Parallel Lives with my Commander. Ended up getting Miirym to be an 8/8 thanks to Jade Orb of Dragonkind and Rhythm of the Wild. A few turns later, I dropped Old Gnawbone who got me not only the one token from Miirym, but the second from Parallel Lives. Since Miirym makes the token non-Legendary, State Based Actions do not apply to the token Parallel Lives creates. Old Gnawbone was also an 8/8 thanks to Jade Orb of Dragonkind but I decided to give him Haste rather than the +1/+1 counter from Rhythm of the Wild.
When I attacked with Miirym, as well as Old Gnawbone, I created 16 treasure tokens upon combat damage. Or, at least, I would have.
For you see, I had THREE Old Gnawbone in play. So that 16 quickly became 48. Then, Parallel Lives kicked in and doubled it to 96.
Ended up playing an enormous swath of my deck immediately afterwards because of Garruk's Uprising. Every single Dragon I cast, which were unable to be countered thanks to Rhythm of the Wild, ETB and drew me three cards - Once for the creature and two more for the tokens created by Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and Parallel Lives.
Eventually I got even more draw online, with Kindred Discovery as well as Temur Ascendancy.
Ended up closing out the game with copious amounts of choice ETB damage effects, such as Purphoros, God of the Forge and Dragon Tempest.
That would have been a Turn 8 win.
And that, my friends, is how a Timmy plays Magic >:3
Dragonforce - Through the Fire and Flames
Commander / EDH
1 VIEW | IN 1 FOLDER
May 29, 2022 3:26 a.m. Edited.
Coward_Token says... #30
Black Market Connections: decent upgrade over Phyrexian Arena in life gain decks; drawing a card and making a Treasure for 3 life ain't bad. Note you're forced to pick at least one mode
May 29, 2022 6:54 a.m.
golgarigirl says... #31
My biggest disappointment this set (maybe it's carryover from AFR, but I just noticed it now darnit!): Why are dragonborn dragons, but tiefling are their own thing? My demon/devil tribal could have used way more help than dragons ever could...
May 29, 2022 10:33 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #32
Coward_Token, why does black market connections give players the option of choosing multiple modes? When will a player never not wish to use all three modes (other than when they have a minuscule amount of life remaining)?
May 29, 2022 12:31 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #33
golgarigirl, because, per lore, Tieflings are not demons nor devils. They are Humans with bloodline mutations.
It's, complicated. But genetically and (mostly) physiologically, they are indeed Humans.
My biggest gripe is that we got 40 Dragons and 1 dungeon. I was hoping for another 3 dungeons. We got - ONE. :(
May 29, 2022 1:05 p.m. Edited.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #34
DemonDragonJ - If it didn't give you the option of choosing then you are losing 6 life a turn. If you have ever played Sylvan Library, that life loss adds up real quick. In reality, most of the time you are choosing the first two modes. The third is nice if you need a creature in a pinch or a token deck, but overall I would rarely use the third mode.
May 29, 2022 1:12 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #36
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor, I have never used Sylvan Library, since I am not willing to spend that much money on a single card, but one of my friends has an EDH deck with Ruric Thar, the Unbowed as the general, so I know very well how continuous damage can accumulate over time.
What I meant was that most cards of that nature allow a player to choose only one option, so it is very generous that that card allows a player to choose all three options.
May 29, 2022 3:06 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #37
So this is the new look for my Intet, the Dreamer dragon tribal deck. It's your standard ramp, play big dragons deck, but Ganax is actually quite insane at ramping you.
Gruul Scaly Bois
Commander / EDH
1 VIEW | IN 1 FOLDER
May 30, 2022 1:47 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #38
it wouldn't be exactly the same, but for Uchuulon you'd think they'd just template it to say
Uchuulon's power is equal to the number of creatures you control that share one or more creature types with it.
Way cleaner than the tripple tribal it got going on right now (yes, I know somehow giving it changeling will power it up but who cares?)
May 31, 2022 12:41 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #39
Death Kiss could have been a Vampire Beholder
The DnD reflavored versions of e.g. Guiltfeeder are cute
May 31, 2022 12:44 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #40
Given how Beholders are "born", and how Death Tyrants are made, I am very sad to see Ghastly Death Tyrant is but a lowly Common.
May 31, 2022 12:49 a.m.
I'm happier than I should be to see Circle of the Land Druid be a Gnome Druid. Favorite race, favorite class. Of course, my current D&D character is a tiefling barbarian, so I should consider something with Karlach, Fury of Avernus and... Haunted One, I guess. Just an ordinary person until bad stuff started happening to and around him. (He's a dark and edgy character for a grimdark setting. Very FromSoftware-inspired.)
I feel like Wrathful Red Dragon shouldn't be able to target a player with Form of the Dragon, based on flavor alone.
May 31, 2022 5:45 a.m.
Also, as far as flavor, Jan Jansen is way off. He's a thief/mage who shoots stun balls out of a crossbow. In magic it might be something like who can tap to do one damage to a creature, tap that creature, it doesn't untap during it's owner's next untap.
I mean, it's okay if the designers didn't play the older games, but definitely consult someone about it. These games have huge fan bases and the flavor of the older ones is so, honestly, bad. Jan creates constructs and treasure? Really? He is, as the line goes, a mobile turnip peddler. Honestly, I just wish they had talked to a fan about the cards while they were in development.
May 31, 2022 1:41 p.m.
They really latched onto an Illithid deep dive it seems. Being an old school DnD player I guess I just shrug about that.
May 31, 2022 1:51 p.m.
Gleeock I do agree, illithids are a fun creature type, but it's not one that you see in DnD very often (or in baldur's gate very often) The ancient dragons are pretty cool to see as big threats that are highly variable but always good, but yeah, it's a lot of squid-people. The more I look at the set the more it's kinda meh, and I was super hyped for it. Tis unfortunate
May 31, 2022 2:38 p.m.
I think what they expanded on well was dice-rolling cards.. basically really solid variance while still benefitting the player at the floor. But yeah, I wasn't super Baldur's Gate involved (Planescape Torment was my jam & I still think was the better DnD based game). I also didn't know if they included a majority of the Illithid variants like this set seems to be... No doubt DnD is a good setting to expand upon horrors in MtG - they just really embraced the Illithids while doing so.
May 31, 2022 2:59 p.m.
Planescape Torment was such an awesome game : ) I think it was the better game, but I just like the Baldur's Gate characters better. Still though, such a classic rpg that's great today.
But yeah, illithids were not in BG1, were basically a quest in BG2 and were in more of BG3. Maybe it's that the new set is very BG3 focused with a little fanservice to the older games. And maybe that's where I go wrong with it. When someone says, Baldur's Gate, I think of the memories of the old ones, like if someone says Dragon Age, I think the first one, but maybe a lot of players are just into the newer ones, which are okay, but not the same. It's kind of like a band who's first album took them like 10 years to write and it came out so good, then they put out the next one in a year and it was just not the same.
Heh, sorry, I'm ranting on this : ) It's fine...It's fine
May 31, 2022 5:37 p.m.
Planescape Torment was just so wild & ran outside the usual DnD faire of min-max-class pumping. It was unusual that stats like Wisdom or Intelligence allowed so much exploration in that game & those stats were your base building blocks for a mighty character. It was alot more puzzle-based & thoughtful like combining DnD & MYST. I also loved that your riddle response to that night-hag shaped so much of the late game. I had a strange bittersweet satisfaction when my main character walks over that hill in the end & surveys endless forces of Devils & Demons fighting a neverending battle & picks up the nearest weapon & strolls right into it.
May 31, 2022 5:57 p.m.
Yep : ) It was such a unique take on the DnD system. Planescape is like the setting that your DM always wished they thought up. And yeah, the fact that everything was relative in the story. Outside of Planescape, so much of it would make no sense, but in Planescape, the choices and divergent paths just fits so well.
Thanks for reminding me of this one today : ) Such a good game.
May 31, 2022 6:11 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #50
Honestly, these pre-cons seem pretty well constructed, though I am not sure I am really energized to play any of them. O.k reprints as well, but they could obviously still do more. I might pick up the W/B simply because I think a fair number of the new cards in that deck will hold $$ value, but I am not sure yet.
Not really sure if I'll be building any new decks out of this set (besides upgrading my dragon tribal list to a new commander). If I were to build a new deck it would certainly center around either Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer or Zellix, Sanity Flayer.
I am pretty disappointed to hear that this set won't be draftable or even on MTGO besides some treasure chest crap. That is kind of rough for those who can't play in person. Plus it will make these cards crazy expensive on that platform.
legendofa says... #1
Coward_Token Thanks for the info and the link.
May 21, 2022 2:19 p.m.