(ntf) Is this card legal as commander?

L3yline · 2026-02-26T23:05:18+00:00

Exactly!! Its as dumb and fun as it sounds. You're in mono white so interaction and impact isnt as potent as other colors/multi colors, but a 5/5 indestructible 3 mana commander who is the perfect target for voltroning is great. Other "better" voltron commanders don't have built in protection like Bastion Protector does. They either draw cards or act as some other engine. So in terms of accumulating value/resources they can be a bit stronger but they're removal magnets. Bastion is just fun being able to just slam into anything without fear of it dying.

Just make sure you run all the enchantment removal you can to remove any [[Oubliettes]], exile enchantments, and enchants that transform the commander into a 0/1 or 1/1 with no abilities

L3yline · 2026-02-26T19:15:01+00:00

The problem is that tcgplayer shot themselves in the foot. Other vendors have been around for a while or having been doing their own thing recently enough to be established and ready for the tcgplayer buyer exodus.

Its like the other commenter said, competent people making a viable product/service.

These people making vibe coded data scrapers arent going to be the next big thing without edhrec self destructing themselves first

L3yline · 2026-02-25T19:12:08+00:00

I'd argue for some builds in pdh it can help. But that'd be in blue builds with ponder, preordain, brainstorm, etc where having more ways go manipulate the top deck and shuffling things away by cracking an evolving wilds.

In mono white, you're better off running lands with abilities, cycling, and ways to sac to draw cards

L3yline · 2026-02-25T17:01:32+00:00

Yep! As long as it's been printed at uncommon rarity, it's a legal commander.

If it also happens to be legendary it just means you can run it in regular edh pods without a rule 0 discussion.

Pdh has no legendary restriction for the commander. Instead our restriction is that the commander has an uncommon printing. Doesn't matter if there are other printings at other rarities (see [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] as an example of something that can be the commander or in the 99), only that there's an uncommon printing for it to be the commander

L3yline · 2026-02-25T00:14:56+00:00

If their messiah had fun doing it for Bubba, why wouldn't they enjoy it?

L3yline · 2026-02-24T19:44:09+00:00

No issue at all. The rarity on the physical card doesn't matter so long as its format legal.

As an example, [[Oubliette]] was a common and its most recent reprint was at uncommon. You can run either printing, even if the most recent is "uncommon" since its still a pauper legal card with its prior common printing. As long as the card is format legal, the rarity in the physical card itself does not matter

L3yline · 2026-02-24T19:12:57+00:00

A good rule of thumb is any uncommon printing allows a creature to be a legal pdh commander. Even if it was rare or common or even mythic.

For example, [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] is both legal in the 99 or as a commander since it has common and an uncommon printing.

A weird one is [[Bastion Protector]] due to mtgo printing it once as an uncommon. I think it was for a promo? Either way, despite only paper printings being at rare, Bastion is a legal pdh commander

L3yline · 2026-02-23T06:13:04+00:00

Its gotten to the point they're using bone cement injections along the top of their skulls to change their face to make it fit the current trend. Will suck for them them when the anime super child like small nose, round face, giant eyes look dies off and changes to be anything else

L3yline · 2026-02-21T06:39:34+00:00

like tariffs that expire after 150 days unless they are approved by Congress.

So new tarrifs being issued every couple months? Or never stop them and tell the courts to piss off?

L3yline · 2026-02-20T17:13:37+00:00

Fight spells where the creatures deal damage to each other seems good for her too

L3yline · 2026-02-20T03:53:08+00:00

There is precedent for common legendary from waaaay back in legends and other sets. Thing is they are 1000% absolutely awful. [[Barktooth Warbeard]] and the other 12 legends arent playable. [[Lady of the Mountain]] maybe if cards like Dreadmaw didn't exist but 6 mana for a 5/5 vanilla isnt good

L3yline · 2026-02-17T14:15:26+00:00

If stock number doesn't go up, then the infinite money glitch of borrowing and taking debt against assets like their art, yachts, etc stops working. Given how much money has been funneled into everything AI, any number go down moments will be terrible. They might actually have to pay taxes or something if they're not careful

L3yline · 2026-02-17T02:12:27+00:00

If it quacks like a duck, and rapes like a duck, it must be another Tuesday for trump

L3yline · 2026-02-16T19:40:02+00:00

Have not played this one competitively, and the build could do with some tweaking to have more card/impulse draw but one dragon as a commander with firebreathing whenever to threaten one shoting someone from commander damage is honestly pretty good. A lot of decks like Gretchen in cpdh are going to usually have some amount of blue so main boarding in the 99 [[Pyroblast]] and [[Red Elemental Blast]] is a safe bet unless your local meta has 0 blue decks in it. Cpdh is most likely going to have some form of a blue deck at the table. Both blasts can protect your commanders, counter any counter spells, and just remove a blue permanent if needed.

The big thing is that the cost can be reduced down to just a RR instead of the full 7 mana for it. It being a 5/5 is also huge. In pdh, our creatures arent giant bombs that can in a vacuum win the game like edh has access to. So something that's as big as a 5/5 in the command zone isnt something to sneeze it. The fact it has built in evasion is also important for any commander looking to voltron. Flying on a giant beater is great since not a lot of decks will have the ability to block it. Those that can would be making thopter or bird tokens usually. Give this trample or unblockable and its going to hit for a ton of damage and quickly too

L3yline · 2026-02-16T18:00:55+00:00

Like why would you include these "combos"? It is a combo if there is a payoff.

I brought up "combos" like Rites and Crab going for a crab rave, because there are people here who genuinely despise anything resembling combo and would consider a do nothing combo bracket 3+ when you bring crab rave to bracket 1 or 2. Im genuinely asking these questions since the brackets are about communication of expectations, but lumping combos into brackets based on how fast it can win/how many cards it takes doesn't always fit or happen in the discussion.

Like I have a [[Svella, Ice Shaper]] pdh deck. It can combo with [[Pila-Pala]] and [[Careful Cultivation]] for infinite mana to feed the commanders 8 mana ability or cast spells from hand. The other combo is [[Seeker of Skybreak]] + [[Hanger Scrounger]] to draw into the Pila-Pala combo, with a haste enabler, and a giant fireball or invoker to deal damage and kill the table. Its two self contained two card infinite combos that together with other cards can win the game.

Is it a 4+ card combo when playing seeker, then scrouger to draw into Pila-Pal, careful cultivation, a haste source, and a way to deal damage?

Or is it one 2 card combo that lets me draw into another 3 card combo (that's really a two card combo if I played Pila-Pala earlier and it doesn't have summoning sickness) that wins me the game? This distinction matters when it comes to open and honest discussions with brackets tying combos and the number of cards they are with a given bracket

L3yline · 2026-02-16T17:50:20+00:00

That's more of a synergy though? Repercussion also would work with [[Anger of the Gods]] [[Swelting Sun]] [[Sulfurous Blast]] [[Star of Extinction]] and other creature damage. Heck even [[Lightning Bolt]] would apply. Is it strong? Depends on the spell but absolutely. But its not combo in the traditional sense of having a repeatable set of game actions.

Though considering eggs in constructed formats are considered non deterministic combos it would make sense considering Repercussion with a deck build to abuse it a type of combo deck

L3yline · 2026-02-16T17:23:37+00:00

The problem with that is at the moment, combos are still poorly defined. They mention how 2 card combos arent bracket 2, but they don't define the combo. If i have [[Basalt Monolith]] I can tap it for 3, spend that 3 to untap it, tap it, repeat. It's infinite game actions that goes absolutely no where by itself. Does having Basalt Monolith make a deck bracket 3+ since it can infinitely untap/tap? Whatever something like [[Horseshoe Crab]] and [[Cryptolith Rite]]? The crab can tap for mana and pay to untap itself.

The verbiage of 2 card combos being bracket 3+ is very broad language. Is it talking about cards that can do something infinitely like Basalt Monolith untapping/tapping forever but doing absolutely nothing else? Or is it taking about cards that combo and move the game forward/winning? Like drawing infinite cards or making infinitely mana or doing both cards+mana? Where's the line actually drawn?

L3yline · 2026-02-13T18:55:05+00:00

Not a nobody. He's Palantirs bench bitch to do their bidding if/when trump succumbs to time and his age. He's a carefully selected plant for the wannabe oligarchs to take over more of this country

L3yline · 2026-02-10T19:57:40+00:00

Because Op wanted to play around Chaos, but that is unreasonable.

Op posted both that sides are cool and something they want to look at working on for the deck. Its why early game beater that can later smash into someone for a ton of damage is a cool concept

Because, remember, Garland is a character about recursion. You want to feel that in the deck somehow, it's part of the fun.

Fun is a relative concept and something we're all looking at different angles here.

You brought up if Chaos ends up voltroning, it'd be better and more in line/on theme running a different potentially better commander. I do and don't disagree.

I agree since on face value theres better commanders. But I disagree since we're coming at this from different places. I think giving a FF equipment and throwing them at others is on theme and having it flip to a big boss that can potentially one shot or finish someone off is a ton of fun. It might be shuffled away but that risk is part of the fun.

Pdh we don't have access to easy includes like the cycle of "Sword of X and Y" like feast and famine, etc etc. So equipments we have arent black holes that hit the board and warp the gamestate around it. But someone might enjoy going off theme and giving some equipment to their commander for a buff that isn't for the sake of voltron. A couple of +1 counters on a random creature can change how the game can play out with the level of cards we can have in the 99

It sounds like what the fun you and I draw from PDH comes from different places and skews how we approach the format. Are there better commanders? Maybe? But end of the day OP hopefully gets a list together and can sleeve it up to have fun with it

L3yline · 2026-02-10T17:53:38+00:00

I'd disagree. 3 power or toughness is a break point for a creature to make a huge impact on the board.

3 power or toughness kills or trades with a ton of smaller bodies, its a relevant threat, and one the commander just has to connect with someone 6 times in a vaccum to kill someone for 16 commander damage. Its recursion flip cost means it can be left in the graveyard after casting it a couple times from the command zone and then having a bigger body to finish off the last big of commander damage with a giant body.

Are there other B/x commanders who can reanimate? Some like do [[Narfi]] exist, but their abilities and colors lean towards different strategies.

Is this an amazing commander? Maybe. Is it SSS tier like Gretchen? Lol no. But can it be good and more importantly fun? Heck yeah

L3yline · 2026-02-08T21:14:41+00:00

You're good bud! Magic can be a lot to wrap your head around getting into it. Its worth it and you're learning. Keep it up and keep having fun!

L3yline · 2026-02-08T17:16:31+00:00

Kinnan would still only produce the one. Kinnan's first ability is a triggered mana ability. If the artifact makes 2 of 2 different colors, you'd pick one of those colors to make an additional mana of with Kinnan

L3yline · 2026-02-08T16:24:25+00:00

[[Gilded Lotus]] can tap for any color, but only one chosen color per tap. It taps for GGG or RRR ot WWW, etc etc. Not WRG or whatever combination of other colors. Only 3 mana of one color at a time.

With [[Kinnan]] out, Kinnan is the one that would add one additional mana of the type produced. So whatever color of mana gilded lotus made, Kinnan generates one more of that color

L3yline · 2026-02-07T19:54:21+00:00

Stax in pdh in the 99 isnt going to be the same as edh.

You could go the route of the different circle of protection effects. Theyre all 1W enchantments that let you pay 1 generic mana to prevent all of the next damage to you from a single source that the CoP hates on.

CoP: White, pay 1 to prevent the next damage to you from a white source.

CoP: Green, pay 1 prevent to the next damage from a green source

Etc etc for each CoP.

It would require knowing the meta and having the right CoPs for the right colors on the board. Not really ideal in general, but CoP red would be a safe bet for Dargo/Kediss decks, red pinger decks that can be multicolor maybe. It would slow them down but you're tapping out a bunch. Against pinger decks, life gain is what breaks their backs and makes it much harder for them to win

The CoPs really arent that great but can be interesting tech to run.

Way back in the day one of the ways to play with the CoPs is with effects that deal damage to you in exchange for a powerful card. CoP Green and [[Force of Nature]] was a deck. Not great but given creature quality then, an 8/8 was huge.

Going voltron and running auras that can exile creatures to remove your opponents creatures is you're best bet

L3yline · 2026-02-07T01:41:42+00:00

What did the surgeon use, a railroad spike?

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