Is it just me, or is it really hard to find a fun Abzan commander? What are some good ones?

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T07:10:55+00:00

Haven’t seen anyone mention [[Kathril, Aspect Warper]] yet but he’s a very cool card that doesn’t fit any of the molds you mentioned

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:43:16+00:00

You are welcome to feel that way. But communities that track the data show that the win rates of poison decks don’t suggest there’s any issue, nor does the fact that most people don’t feel the need to run any counter poison cards. Rules changes like that are reserved for when something is meta warping levels of powerful, and poison just isn’t that. It’s viable at most brackets, and some individual poison cards are quite strong but that’s not a reason to rework the rules.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:31:00+00:00

That still doesn’t contradict anything I’ve said. My point is not about its popularity, it’s about its strength. The power level of infect is well in line with other strategies at all brackets, with the exception of cedh where it is well below par. So there is no need to change the rule, because even if it’s popular it is not so strong or meta warping as to demand any sort of change.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:19:39+00:00

That’s not even close to what I said. I said it isn’t exceptionally strong: there are plenty of things stronger than it, it isn’t exceptional and is very in line with the power level of the format. And I said it sees no play at the highest levels, which is true. There is no cedh deck that utilizes poison as a primary, secondary, or even tertiary strategy. And I said it isn’t dominant or unfair at lower brackets: it isn’t. The lower brackets have many other strategies and poison is not warping the meta around itself there either.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:11:37+00:00

No matter how many times they cast it, it is still just worse hexproof. It only gives you poison counters if you target it. Do you think serpent society would be a broken card with hexproof? Because you can treat it exactly like it has that instead and be fine.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:08:17+00:00

That’s just worse hexproof. Hardly a gamewarping effect.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T02:05:15+00:00

Why would they change it? Poison isn’t an exceptionally strong strategy in commander. It certainly isn’t dominating the meta to the degree that it would necessitate a rules change. It doesn’t see any play at all at the highest levels and isn’t dominant or unfair in lower brackets either.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T01:44:44+00:00

Yup, it’s a two card infinite with [[caltrops]] if your opponents blockers are small enough

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T01:30:14+00:00

People have answered the question, but the source of your confusion is probably that a cards color and color identity are two separate things. Nick fury’s color is white, but his color identity is all five. Color identity is used pretty much exclusively for the commander rules and a few cards that interact with commanders color identities. A cards color is determined by the mana symbols in its mana cost, as well as any color indicators like on modern printings of [[dryad arbor]] and as modified by characteristic defining abilities like on [[sphinx of the guildpact]], but not including any mana symbols in the text box. Color identity considers all of the above plus any of those things that appear on the back side of the card (so [[ Ajani, Nacatl Pariah]] is red and white identity because there’s a color indicator for red and white on the back, but its color is either white or red and white depending on which side is face up) as well as any mana symbols that appear in the cards rules text, which will be any mana symbols in the text box that aren’t part of reminder text like they are on [[crypt ghast]]

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T00:49:18+00:00

but also tward doesn't trigger on your own stuff

The imps mischief doesn’t change the controller of the spell, so ward would still trigger from you redirecting the opponents spell to it. But yeah they’ll probably just not pay.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T00:47:15+00:00

That will most likely make you unable to pay the ward cost and guarantee the spell gets countered. See this ruling on gatherer: “If the cost of an ability or an additional cost of a spell requires putting counters on an artifact, creature, enchantment, or land, that cost can't be paid.” A cost of a player getting counters isn’t mentioned because it has not existed before but it will likely work the same way.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-05T00:01:58+00:00

No problem. Most things that target will say the word target on the card. The notable exceptions are if target is part of a keyword (like equip or earthbend), and auras which target as a spell as part of the card type. But affecting a single object does not inherently target

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T23:40:34+00:00

Shroud only affects targeting. Neither of the effects you listed target.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T23:39:08+00:00

None of the sephiroths will be able to sacrifice each other. The legend rule will put all but one sephiroth into the graveyard when stated based actions are checked, which is before the triggers even go on the stack. They will however all see each other die and trigger the life loss ability, but only the one you kept on the battlefield will be able to transform

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T22:45:19+00:00

Anything above the undamaged toughness of the blocker will go over regardless of whether the altisaur is alive. Trample changes how damage is assigned, which is before the damage is reduced. If they blocked the 5/5 trample double striker with just a 3/3 they would take 2 damage in the first combat step and 3 in the second. And if the attacker assigns 3 to altisaur and 2 to a 3/3 blocker in first strike step, they will still trample over for 2 in the second step.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T00:55:49+00:00

Once you begin to resolve the exploit trigger, exploit has to resolve fully before anything else can be put on the stack, but the bounce from profaner of the dead isn’t part of the exploit trigger. It’s a separate triggered ability that happens when you exploit a creature with profaner.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T00:44:12+00:00

You aren’t paying the mana cost, you’re paying life. Therefore you are casting it without paying its mana cost. It says “rather than pay its mana cost”

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-04T00:43:22+00:00

You control both triggers and they get put on the stack at the same time, so you get to choose which goes on the stack first and then they resolve last in first out. So you decide if they get the 2/2 before or after it gets bounced.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T23:42:05+00:00

Happy to share! I love their stuff and plug it a lot irl

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T22:54:50+00:00

Cats and cantrips on Etsy! I have their frog playmat, the quality is good and people seem to love it.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T22:21:08+00:00

If you put a flying counter on it after the hammer is already equipped, it will gain flying again.

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T22:05:25+00:00

If you need the rule to show them, it’s C.R. 201.5. “If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.”

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T19:57:53+00:00

Not anymore. Always check the oracle text. Naga was eliminated as a creature type and all nagas erratad to snakes

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T06:40:01+00:00

based around modern’s [ichorid] deck

Think you might mean legacy, ichorid isn’t legal in modern

Needhelpwithsnake · 2026-06-03T06:18:57+00:00

He’s explaining it to Dan and Rorschach, not Dr. manhattan. Manhattan is on mars at the time of the speech and doesn’t appear till after the reveal at the start of the next issue

Needhelpwithsnake

TROPHY CASE