Hello and welcome back. Magic Con Vegas has come and gone, along with its peaks at the sets coming in the next few months and some art and card reveals. However, what I want to talk about today is the change to Commander that was made, specifically for the command zone.
Legendary vehicles and the new artifact type starship (legendary) can now be your commander. From what I’ve seen so far, this change is widely celebrated. Gavin Verhey explained the change in a video he posted on Youtube and I’ll break some of that down in this article, as well as give my thoughts.
LOADING CARGO
Gavin, in his video, says that this change to make legendary vehicles and starships has been in the works for a while, even before the dissolution of the Rules Committee and the creation of the Commander Panel. Overall, the RC was enthusiastic about the change. However, the RC did stipulate that they preferred that it only applied to artifacts that could become creatures on their own.
Generally, if an artifact has a power and toughness box on the face (front) side, and is legendary, it can be a commander and lead a deck. Initially, this was supposed to be in the rules announcement in September last year and in time for Aetherdrift, but was pushed back. It was then derailed again when the RC made their infamous ban announcement and certain sections of the community lost their ever (redacted and expletive filled) minds about it.
When the fallout was over and the Commander Panel was formed in the aftermath, Gavin explained the idea to the new group fairly early on. Most of the members also like the idea, and it was decided the rules would be changed with Edge of Eternities.
Gavin also stated that one of the reasons for the video is that he and they didn’t want us to think this was done in haste, and I would consider that to explain away any accusations of money grabbing by Wizards with the new set coming out that would explicitied benefit from the announcement. I choose to believe them and the timing for excitement is right even if I’m always an initial pessimist about these things.
IGNITE THE BOOSTER
So, what does this mean for the format? Well, not much really. It does give players more options for commanders even with the glut of them we already have. Something like the Belligerent or the Weatherlight might make the best initial impression outside of any new vehicles or artifacts from Edge of Eternities. I’ve heard people mention The Speed Demon and the Parhelion II as possible commanders as well.
I do think this will make some artifacts along these types more powerful over time. Not all of them, but I think the baseline of Shorikai is a good place to start thinking about the power level of these potential new commanders. I think the card’s name as the Genesis Engine, even if untrue about the idea behind this, is also a nice foreshadowing.
There is some concern about the ability to interact with these cards. Being a creature only some of the time or part of the game does give them some extra resilience. However, they can’t always utilize protection like Lightning Greaves or Swords of X and Y, so there may be a distinct tradeoff here that helps equalize anything gained with anything lost.
ANOMALY DETECTED
Where I think this is a double edge sword is in flavor. On one hand you can picture the Parhelion II breaking through that cloud bank and imagine the relief of the forces on the ground during the War of the Spark when reinforcements had arrived. It wasn’t any particular angel, legionnaire or perhaps even guild at that point that was providing that relief. It was the sight of the Parhelion, in its grandeur and formidability, coming to aid the fight against the Dreadhorde.
Something like that can be legendary in experience, mechanics aside. Some vehicles at the moment don’t really live up to that. An empty chariot or car doesn’t really lend itself to leading armies and summoning arcane magics. Shorikai gets a pass on the lore since there is a spirit in there, but Esika’s Chariot? Maybe the cats are well known.
Despite that, however, a good portion of vehicles that are legendary invoke the same feeling of the Parhelion, like the Weatherlight or Belligerent. Each is a symbol of a crew and history of their respective planes, and sighting them could bring a surge of relief or fear to any who encounter them. While an empty shell doesn’t lead legions, it can rally those forces and its presence can shift even reality.
YMMV
The change isn’t for everyone but I think it’s a positive change. Certainly I build my decks to fit how I want to play and have gone through probably hundreds of legends by now to find the few I like. Still, there are always some strategies that have yet to find a champion in Commander to lead it. Perhaps between the legendary beings and legendary machines, you’ll find yours?
Until next time, continue reaching ever further to the stars.
