General (CLB) Magic: The Gathering: Commander Legends: Dungeons and Dragons: Battle for Baldur's Gate Previews. Even the NAME is long this time!

TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

We're getting a set that is a combination of my two least favorite sets of the last couple of years!

WOTC is giving us: More variance!
ancientbrassdragon.jpg

More difficult templating!
wandofwonder.jpg

And more words!!
elderbrain.jpg


Despite the fact that some of these initial previews look like clear misses for Cube, there are a couple of nice things in here. First, Bolt is getting a pair of reprints, including one with the cool retro DM's guidebook art:
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...And we're going to be able to go for the eyes with a brand new Planeswalker ( @Onderzeeboot )...
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Borderless Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes



Plus, there are some valuable reprints:
Bountiful Promenade
Luxury Suite
Morphic Pool

Sea of Clouds
Spire Garden
Reflecting Pool


All in all, what this preview has shown as far as new content is concerned doesn't make me particularly excited for this set for Cube. However, there are likely going to be some quality reprints in here. In addition, the original Commander Legends looked like a lot of fun to sit down and play in paper. This set might be fun as a standalone experience too, since it's combining some of the fun social mechanics of DnD with the multiplayer setup of Commander. Part of the reason why Adventures in the Forgotten Realms didn't work was that it was trying to carry mechanics from a casual, heavily multiplayer experience into a competitive two-player format. This set doesn't have that issue, because it's fundamentally designed for multiplayer play. While this may come at the cost of cleanly-templated, Cubeworthy cards, I think this will actually provide a better Dungeons and Dragons meets Magic the Gathering experience than its predecessor. Likewise, WOTC has hopefully learned how to better balance a Commander draft format after the original Commander Legends. Some of the issues that plagued CMR, such as cluttered board states and a lack of mass removal or reasonable spot removal, should be addressed here.

While I don't have high hopes for this set, I'm optimistic that it will be able to improve upon its predecessors. While it sucks that the design trends from both Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Commander Legends appear to have carried over to here, likely meaning a lack of new cubables, I think this looks like it could be an interesting standalone experience.

On an unrelated note, I hope the rest of the Ancient Dragon cycle has some sort of ETB value. I really want some more Mulldrifter-y dragons for my Cube, and this set could provide that in theory.
 
LadyMapi

LadyMapi

I mean, what's happening there is that Minsc is throwing Boo. And he's probably shouting "Go for the eyes, Boo!" while he does it.
 
sigh

sigh

Yeah, see, he's only sacrificing "the ability to pet Boo", temporarily. Boo comes back after a session of eye-ripping the next turn.
 
MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

Mildly excited for this set. I'm entirely agnostic to D&D aesthetics, characters, and abilities, but Commander Legends was cool. Actually, looking it up...the only card I'm still playing from CMR was Hullbreacher, and it looks like I'm not alone.

Originally read Ancient Brass Dragon as though it had that effect on ETB, which would've made it my favorite 7-drop in cube. The dice rolling effect on that one seems super fun, actually -- a d20 to determine the MV of your reanimation targets seems fair, and I like a high ACS with room for critical failures that it provides. Attack triggers on a 7-drop though? I will very sadly pass.

Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes continues the long trend of Gruul's best cards for cube being stuck at 4 MV, but I think this may be the best one yet from a strict power-level standpoint? They're basically a Ulvenwald Oddity that leaves behind a planeswalker with 4 loyalty, and also lets you cash out your creatures for burn spells, and also cash your hamsters for both burn and cards?

It doesn't really feel like a planeswalker in its play patterns and also may be too oppressive to deal with in my environment (nice job using a 2 or 3 MV spell to kill my 4 MV walker, I still have a 4/4 trampling ham-ham) but it'd also be a great opportunity to make custom tokens from this little guy, so who can truly say if it is good or bad?

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Mown

Mown

Armix, Filigree Thrasher and Krark, the Thumbless are I think the most common cube considerations from commander legends for riptide-esque cubes. I have Juri of the Revue in my RB section as a sort of equipment/+1 counter/sacrifice role-player, but outside of Hullbreacher as probably the most powerful card I think Dawnglade Regent is worth a mention for reanimator/natural order decks, although the card does give a window of interaction. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist can also be a powerful way to cheat on mana in equipment decks.
 
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Sheltem

Sheltem

Stupid question: What happens if you use Wand of Wonder on an opponent and it fails to find?
Do the cards stay in exile?
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Sheltem said:
Stupid question: What happens if you use Wand of Wonder on an opponent and it fails to find?
Do the cards stay in exile?
Click to expand...
If it fails to find, the opponent shuffles the rest of the cards they exiled into their library, which just so happens to be every card they exiled in this case.
 
MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

Lots of leaks out, here's some of my favorites so far. Please excuse the photo quality here, I've written down the text as well for everyone's sake.

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Gut, True Soul Zealot {2}{R}

Legendary Creature — Human Shaman

Whenever you attack, you may sacrifice another creature or artifact. If you do, create a 4/1 black Skeleton creature token with menace that’s tapped and attacking.

Choose a Background

2/2
Click to expand...

What I like most about Gut is that he doesn’t have to attack himself to get the attack trigger going. A 4/1 menace is significant threat that’s likely to trade up in most circumstances, and that it comes in attacking means that you can start hitting in hard as early as turn 3. You can even sacrifice the creature you’re attacking in with if you didn’t have a good opening to being with!

I like sacrifice enablers and aristocrats strategies a lot in Cube to begin with, and this one aligns quite well with the token archetype I support in red as well. Red’s 3 MV creatures is amongst the most competitive slots in Cube, and this guy is a bit flimsy on his own, but anything to get me closer to justifying Experimental Synthesizer at my power level is a clear win.

Since my Cube doesn’t support Commander, the “Choose a Background” text is unfortunate trinket text that I’ll probably try to obscure with a custom-printed perfect fit if I do decide to run him, since it’s not immediately clear that it’s a Commander/EDH-specific thing on any of the cards we’ve seen so far.




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Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy {2}{U}

Legendary Creature — Human Wizard

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery from your hand, you may cast up to one target card of the other type from your graveyard. If a spell cast from your graveyard this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.

Choose a Background

1/3
Click to expand...


A spells-matter enabler of the best kind! If Gale were one mana cheaper, he’d be a slam dunk, but he’s like half of a Kess, Dissident Mage and only one of the colors. Would you rather draw one card on ETB, bounce a creature, or enable graveyard/spells-matter shenanigans with your 3 MV blue creatures? I think I’m in the last category.

I wish he let you cast sorceries at instant speed, though. And didn’t have the “Background” trinket text. And cost 1 less. Admittedly, he’s a marginal pick, but I like what he opens up.


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Wilson, Refined Grizzly {1}{G}

Legendary Creature — Bear Warrior

This spell can’t be countered. Vigilance, reach, trample, ward 2.

Choose a background.

2/2
Click to expand...

Keyword soup cards have come a long way since Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Vampire Nighthawk, and Aerial Responder. Questing Beast’s little brother Wilson has an impressive selection of abilities, but ultimately…he’s still a bear. He kicks ass with any modifications, and seems like a novel card to cube with, so even though he doesn’t provide as much value or synergy as other green two-drops….if I put him in my Cube, he’ll be drafted quite highly, I imagine.

Like with the last Commander Legends set, don't imagine there will be too much for me since there's a bizarre and misguided insistence on Commander cards explicitly referencing the format and tropes rather than making players feel smart by putting it together themselves, but I like the more "out there" designs all the same.
 
MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

blacksmithy said:
i am kind of thinking about squadroning 1-2 of the background commanders with their background as a companion style card? am i crazy?
Click to expand...

You may not be crazy...but that idea kinda is. That's a lot of explanation you need to do beforehand, and then again during the draft explaining what the paired background is. It's a lot of complication for not too much upside, as neat as it would be.
 
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TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

I like the idea of background cards in a Commander Cube (they seem good in the 99 (59?) and good as "commanders"), but I don't think I would want to jump through the hoops to make them work in a normal environment.
 
Velrun

Velrun

blacksmithy said:
i am kind of thinking about squadroning 1-2 of the background commanders with their background as a companion style card? am i crazy?
Click to expand...
If your cube is running Commanders with the normal Commander rules (Command zone, may cast again and again by paying an additional {2}) then I say go for it. But it would probably be even better if they were drafted like Learn Lessons as A+B.

If you want it as a gimick, then I would say no. This is not the coolest idea Wizards had in my personal opinion. For gimicks I always prefer Planechase The Eternities Map. But you need a large table to play on for that to work :p
 
B

blacksmithy

Velrun said:
If your cube is running Commanders with the normal Commander rules (Command zone, may cast again and again by paying an additional {2}) then I say go for it. But it would probably be even better if they were drafted like Learn Lessons as A+B.

If you want it as a gimick, then I would say no. This is not the coolest idea Wizards had in my personal opinion. For gimicks I always prefer Planechase The Eternities Map. But you need a large table to play on for that to work :p
Click to expand...
it’s funny you say this, because as of my latest update it’s possible to draft Fractured Powerstone from a spellbook and start rolling the planar die. thankfully there’s a website out there somewhere that acts as a virtual deck of plane cards for when this comes up!
 
Velrun

Velrun

blacksmithy said:
it’s funny you say this, because as of my latest update it’s possible to draft Fractured Powerstone from a spellbook and start rolling the planar die. thankfully there’s a website out there somewhere that acts as a virtual deck of plane cards for when this comes up!
Click to expand...
We have the planes. But do you mind sharing the link to that webpage? It would be interestering to see how they do it.
Do they support The Eternities Map?
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

gorionwisementor.jpg

I'm glad this card exists. Adventure is such a great mechanic and getting more adventure enablers is really nice.

I wish this particular design came with either Ward 2 or an ETB scry so that it doesn't get blown out by Murder effects, but the body is pretty reasonable in its own right. Not dying to bolt is pretty big.
 
Velrun

Velrun

TrainmasterGT said:
I think if a card is 3 colors it can come with a little bit of a stats boost. Getting this thing into play on time is not going to be a trivial task.
Click to expand...

Yeah true. But when it comes down on turn 3, which I suspect will be 85 % of the time in constructed decks, it will have stats that are very modern and not very Velrun-friendly.

I would personally prefer a 2/3 with Ward 2 or something.

In cube it will be much more difficult to get it down on turn 3 though. So you’re definitely right.
 
MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

Well, I gotta say, I'm really not a fan in the slightest of the design sensibilities of this set so far (even ignoring Cube), but I found one card I do like:

Screen Shot 2022-05-17 at 9.44.35 AM.png

Ignoring the third ability (which is neat but serves a similar role to a PW ultimate imo) this is a cool midrange card that compares well with the respected General Kudro of Drannith.

Personally, even though Kudro's ability affects more cards in my cube, I like Nalia's much more. She affects 68 cards in my cube, which accounts for about half of the black and blue creatures in my list.

Looking at the top of the library has proven very popular with my cube group, and this is a single-card archetype spawner is along the type of cards I really enjoy having in my gold sections.
 
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