Notes from Command Fest online Commander product panel hosted by Gavin

[WWolfe]

Stream is now finished

Excuse any errors in spelling or grammar, was trying to keep up as best I could with stream. 

Commander Collection: Green
* 8 cards
* All have new art, most with an omage to a legendary creature
* Non-foil version & foil version
* Cards are:
 
 (chat went crazy not understanding Sol Ring & Command Tower being included)
* teased to watch Zendikar for possibly something else going on with Omnath

White in Commander- things they've been looking at for white:
* Giving white Card Draw unique to white
* Several experiments with Card Draw in next few years
* Persistent/recurring threats
* Protecting/reusing permanents
* Win Conditions
* Ramp
* Some of these will be shifts in the color pie
* Some will be in Commander Legends

Commander Legends
* New cards & reprints
Gavin's three notes about the product
* Set's flavor can pull from any place and any time
* it isn't mechanically "Commander Horizons" (four non-evergreen mechanics included)
* it's Commander meets Draft
How to draft in Commander Legends
* Draft Three 20-card packs (two legends & a foil per pack)
* Recommended group of 8 (draft then play two four player pods)
* Draft Two cards per pick
Building in draft
* 60 card deck
* Singleton rule does not apply
* all other Commander rules apply for gameplay
Solving Legendary Problem
* Partner returns with mono colored partners that can partner with anything else with Partner

Preview Card

* Special art for event card

Preview Cards


* What happens if you finish drafting and you don't have a commander?
- The Prismatic Piper

1 in about ever 6 packs

* 71 total new Legends in the draft booster
* 41 monocolored partners (including Piper)
* 30 non-partner two or three color legends

* chat was asking about price, Gavin said no MSRP but more than normal boosters

Preview Card


* Extended Art in product and will be expanded upon

* Unique frame & treatment for legendary cards
* Prossh reprint shown in new treatment

* 32 reprint etched foil legends- only appear in etched foil
* every new legend in the draft booster can appear in etched foil

* Etched foil appear in draft boosters & collector boosters
* Extended art cards appear only in collector boosters

Q & A session answers

* At least 1 Kithkin
* Sealed is a little harder than draft, may want to add additional booster packs for this
* Part of reason set took so long to come out is they play-tested partners majorly to make sure they were balanced
* Some things down shifted and will fit into Pauper now
* new characters along with old favorites and characters who haven't had cards before
* draft & game takes around 2 hours on average
* power level of draft decks "feel" less than pre-cons
* all mono-colored commanders have partner
* all commanders two or more colors are stand alone (without partner)
- note: the chat scrolled for about 30 seconds with everyone asking about Fetchlands and the question was never acknowledged

One more thing
* Battlebond land cycle completed




COMMANDER LEGENDS RELEASE DATE IS NOVEMBER 6TH!

[Xaarvaxus]

While not a bad collection of reprints, I'm not sure that this was exactly the group of cards I was expecting.  Worldly Tutor is certainly badly in need of a reprint considering how much the price has spiked with the rise in popularity of cEDH and their greater desire for tutors.  But I think I was more expecting bling-y versions of Farseek, Kodama's Reach, Llanowar Elves, et al.  I was still holding out hope that what ended up as Muse was going to be another reprint of Oracle of Mul Daya [yeah, 99% sure it was Muse but I can dream].  So much for that.

And I'll add my own surprise to the inclusion of Command Tower and Sol Ring in what everyone was assuming would be a mono-green offering.  While I like having a potential foil printing of both, my excitement for them is tempered until I know where the price-point ends up falling on each version.  I would have thought they'd save both for a colorless or un-colored theme collection of EDH staples that could be used in all decks: the tower, ring, Arcane Signet, Commander's Sphere, etc. 

EDIT:  Didn't realize that this post had Commander Legends stuff that would be going into it, comments were just about Commander Green collection.

[Maxix]

To add a bit to what WWolfe summed bit, I believe Gavin said that the price of Commander Legends would be more than normal boosters, but also less than Masters products.

[WWolfe]

To add a bit to what WWolfe summed bit, I believe Gavin said that the price of Commander Legends would be more than normal boosters, but also less than Masters products.

Thanks!

I thought he said that second part but I lagged right at that point for a few seconds and wasn't sure so I didn't want to put it and it be wrong.

[Morganator 2.0]

[WizardSpartan]

What. The. Fuck. Is. That. Green. Collection. Do we have any idea how expensive it will be? I know the Planeswalker-based Collections were in the $20-40 range (I believe) but there's no way that this Collection can be anywhere near that, right?

Here's the rough prices of most of the cards, if anybody is curious:
Worldly Tutor: $30
Sylvan Library: $57
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury: $10
Omnath, Locus of Mana: $25
Seedborn Muse: $10
Bane of Progress: $8
Sol Ring: $2
Command Tower: $0.75
Total: $142.75

So many ridiculously good green cards. I desperately hope it's like $50 (or less, but I doubt it would be).

My wallet isn't going to like me by the end of this year, I already know.

P.S.: Only colorless cards can go into a deck with The Prismatic Piper as the commander, correct? Its color identity only changes once the game starts.

[ApothecaryGeist]

P.S.: Only colorless cards can go into a deck with The Prismatic Piper as the commander, correct? Its color identity only changes once the game starts.

No.  There would be no point to the ability that way.  It says that you choose a color BEFORE the game starts.  Yes, technically your deck is already built.  So you do have to choose the color you've previously built.  It's a way to get an extra color into your limited deck.  Notice it is a common.  And from the article where Gavin Verhey introduced this card, it sounds like they're treating it like a basic land.  So if you want/need one as a commander, you can just use one, even if you didn't actually draft one.

[WizardSpartan]

P.S.: Only colorless cards can go into a deck with The Prismatic Piper as the commander, correct? Its color identity only changes once the game starts.

No.  There would be no point to the ability that way.  It says that you choose a color BEFORE the game starts.  Yes, technically your deck is already built.  So you do have to choose the color you've previously built.  It's a way to get an extra color into your limited deck.  Notice it is a common.  And from the article where Gavin Verhey introduced this card, it sounds like they're treating it like a basic land.  So if you want/need one as a commander, you can just use one, even if you didn't actually draft one.

I don't know why I didn't think about it that way. Duh.

[Judaspriester]

and there is another interesting thing about the piper, at least for drafting:
he has partner (not partner with). which means you can add him to any of the other partner legends you draft in order to add another color of your coice.

I'm kinda sure the piper will be interesting for draft/sealed and pauper commander. but I doubt we will see him in regular decks.

[CleanBelwas]

I saw people on the EDH facebook group calling for piper to be banned, saying it was too busted.

"It just lets you add a colour to your favourite partner! It's too strong!".

Apparently some people missed the point of partner entirely. As if you couldn't already take your favourite partner and add at least one colour, sometimes more, while still having a second commander that actually does something.

But nope, add a colour is too strong apparently. They must have never seen a T&T deck in action.

The only credible argument I've seen for it thus far is that it's a colourless creature so there may be some hijinks with creating infinite colourless mana and casting your commander over and over with some form of advantage from it. Like, you make Jund vial smasher and just recast piper over and over until everyone is dead. Seems fun, but not busted. Vial smasher is only first spell per turn anyway, but something along those lines.

Not sure if it quite constitutes a new "staple that everyone overreacts about" for my bingo card, but the initial reactions seem pretty funny to me.

Seems sweet in draft though, and the Seb art is fantastic. It also makes me want to build mono block pauper EDH.

[Bonethor]

And I'll add my own surprise to the inclusion of Command Tower and Sol Ring in what everyone was assuming would be a mono-green offering.  While I like having a potential foil printing of both, my excitement for them is tempered until I know where the price-point ends up falling on each version.

I'm betting that all the color sets will have their own versions of sol ring and command tower with their alternate arts to draw in x color lovers.

[WWolfe]

And I'll add my own surprise to the inclusion of Command Tower and Sol Ring in what everyone was assuming would be a mono-green offering.  While I like having a potential foil printing of both, my excitement for them is tempered until I know where the price-point ends up falling on each version.

I'm betting that all the color sets will have their own versions of sol ring and command tower with their alternate arts to draw in x color lovers.

They said this was the case. I forgot to put that in the notes I guess.

ETA- Just noticed in an article (linked below) they said of the four mechanics in Commander Legends, three are returning mechanics and one is a new one.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sneak-peek-commander-legends-2020-08-22

ETA-

Commander Legends contains 165 new cards (361 cards total) and is to be expected to be “…more expensive than a normal booster, but not as expensive as Masters product.”

https://articles.starcitygames.com/news/wotc-provides-inside-look-at-commander-legends/?_ga=2.265861708.2119082551.1598196347-525678760.1590332354

[WizardSpartan]

Thanks to the dies change, your Commander triggers dies effects when it perishes. This is a card that particularly loves partners who die. There's a few I have in mind . . . but we'll have to save those for closer to the set release.

Noticed this when he was talking about the new Sengir and why Sengir has partner. I see Aristocrats commanders, I like Aristocrats commanders.