Commander of the Month

StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
in Just for Fun Contests
Each month (or at least as often as I am able to get around to it) I'll pick a real life Magic Card that is an underplayed commander.  Your task is to design a card that would help bring it out of obscurity, a card with so much synergy and potential that if it were printed, the featured commander would see a massive price spike and sell out on every major card buying site, a card that fits so nicely, it would show up at the top of EDHRec's list of synergy for that commander.  That, or just design a card you'd like to include in the 99 if you built the commander.  This is really just to get some creative juices flowing.  Have fun!
«1

Comments

  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch


    And, to kick things off, we're fighting ourselves with Hans Eriksson as the featured commander for April.
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    Nice!
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    I'm already thinking of ways to work with that last clause of fighting yourself...Why is this not more played? This is such an interesting commander build.
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC

  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    My thought with this card is that it's possible to be able to either bounce this card back to your hand or shuffle it into your library in order to get the trigger multiple times. Just a thought though.
  • JadefireJadefire
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/balomora-fervor-of-the-wild


    Had to give the first ability to prevent stupidity with Ephemerate and other blink effects, but since the majority of them are in white and blue, Gruul seemed the best colour combination to antagonize that.  It's really only the second part of the second ability that synergizes with Hans Eriksson, but once I put focus on ETB during the combat phase, paying attention to the beginning phase and ending phase (a la Clocknapper) seemed only natural.  Of course the P/T had to be set to stalemate with Hans in case it got revealed by Hans.

    As a standalone card, this is a "Flash lord" as it incentivizes playing creatures that can be cast outside of the main phase, and not solely during combat on your opponent's turn or at the end of their turn.
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    wow this is really cool. So much more though out than mine  :D
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    edited March 29
    Nice touch @Jadefire!
    @Mellow_MC yours is also a decent card and pairs well with the Commander!
  • JadefireJadefire
    Thanks :)   I wanted to make the card worth playing even without the card it was designed to combo with.
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    That's almost always the best way!
  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    Oooh that looks like a really good solution to the fight clause. It also can put a really big body onto the ground that allows you to overwhelming stampede, maybe draw cards from things like Garruks uprising, or give trample and deal damage. Overall really good design for such a simple rule text!
  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo
    Thank you. Really wanted to execute an idea of a big monster appearing dangerous at first but would not actually eat Hans when he finds it.
  • JadefireJadefire
    edited March 31
    But then your opponent can also chump block it indefinitely with a 1/1.  Maybe something more narrow along the lines of legendary creatures have protection from it or something.
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    I like the protection thing, but I'd just give it trample, so a 1/1 can't chump.  Love the design, though.  It would be an auto-include in a Hans deck.
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    We are officially halfway through the month and have three great cards, but I think we need a few more for Hans to really become the go-to Gruul deck.  Tag a cardsmith (or more) that you think could design a perfect card and I'll go favorite a card from both you and the tagged cardsmith(s)!
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    @Jadefire I just reread Balomora, and realized that instead of haste, you should have the creature enter tapped and attacking, so it can still be an attacking creature even if entering after the "declare attackers" step.
  • jpastorjpastor

  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    are we allowed to submit multiple cards?
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    @Mellow_MC Of course!  This is just for fun.  I'm trying to inspire creativity by building around a specific theme.  If you're inspired to make a card, that's great.  If you're inspired to make 10 cards, that's even better!
  • JadefireJadefire
    @StuffnSuch Good point, that would make the effect less narrow than only allowing an attack if you can make the creature enter during the declare attackers step.  At the same time, if you put the creature onto the battlefield tapped and attacking after blockers have been declared, what does that mean?  Is the attacker functionally unblockable, since the chance to declare blockers has already passed?  Combining that with the double strike could be quite powerful.  I wouldn't want to see that as the player playing against Balomora.
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    @Jadefire That's exactly right.  That's how ninjutsu works.  If you ninjutsu in a creature before the declare blocker's step, it's still able to be blocked.  If you ninjutsu in a creature after the declare blocker's step, it can't be.  The real fun one is that if you ninjutsu in a creature after first strike damage, it still does regular combat damage.  Ninjutsu, however, is definitely a little better balanced, because you give your opponent the chance to block first, which Balomora doesn't necessarily do, so it might be too powerful, as it essentially reads, "creatures you control with flash can't be blocked the first time they attack", but, it could still work either way.  It certainly works better with Hans if the creatures enter attacking, but it probably is better balanced and works better as it's own thing the way you formatted it.
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    funny fact; I saw Han's Eriksson in the most recent episode of Extra Turns.
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    @Stuffnsuch is it okay if I post a new commander considering it is a new month?
  • JadefireJadefire
    @StuffnSuch ; Thanks for your feedback.  Actually, Ninjutsu can only be activated after blockers are declared.  A creature is neither a blocked nor an unblocked creature until after the opponent has had a chance to decide that in the declare blockers step.  Therefore, you can't activate Ninjutsu abilities until that time as you won't be controlling any unblocked attackers.

    The way Balomora currently works does give your opponent the chance to block, because the creature can only attack if it enters during the beginning of combat step.  It then has to be declared as an attacker and go through each other step of the combat phase, including declare blockers.
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    @Mellow_MC I've already got several commanders I'm considering for May, but I'm going to wait until the last day or two of April to post next month's commander.  If you have a commander you'd like considered, you can message me, and I'll look at adding it to the waiting list.

    @Jadefire You're right, I didn't realize there is a rules distinction between not being blocked and unblocked, which means, though creatures are generally not being blocked, they are only considered unblocked during the combat phase after blockers are declared.  Good catch.
  • Mellow_MCMellow_MC
    @Stuffnsuch okay!
  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    New Commander coming next week!

    But, we're not done with Hans Eriksson quite yet.  I think we're pretty close to making Hans a much more popular commander, so I'm gonna throw my hat into the ring and share a card that I think should be a lot of fun regardless, combos with a lot of interesting cards, and, of course, is essentially an auto-include card for any Hans Eriksson deck.

    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/goblin-mercenaries-6




  • StuffnSuchStuffnSuch
    Happy May! (Well, we're a couple days early, but close enough)

    Here's your commander to break this month:

    Thada Adel Acquisitor
  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo

Sign In or Register to comment.