A Second Chance at Commentary Part 1/2
Here’s the commentary for all our entries for the Second Chance to be Legendary contest!
Due to popular request, this will be a longpost with the commentary directly under each entry.
Momir Vig, Perfect Evolution by @aethernalstars This was a great idea that’s a little oddly costed. A 5-mana 2/2 with a biomancer effect that only triggers once you’ve payed another 6 mana is really steep. That being said, a biomancer that also gifts keyword counters is really cool. A great idea that didn’t quite hit the mark.
Pianna of the Order by @antediluvian-microchip I get where you were going with this card, but I think this really needed something to make it stand out. It's not really doing anything we haven't seen before, and I wish you would have taken a bit more of a chance. A good idea, if a little safe.
Daxos, Forgotten by the Sun by @big-think This entry surprised me, considering Daxos has two fantastic commanders with Daxos the Returned being one of the powerful experience counter commanders, and Daxos, Blessed by the Sun being a very powerful soul sisters-esque commander. As for the design itself, having to pay 3 each trigger for an enchantment-specific Yarok trigger is really exspensive, and this card not being in green means we miss out on the vast majority of enchantress effects.
Torsten, Winged Cavelier by @dimestoretajic This was a solid design that just didn’t stand out. Torsten’s two abilities means you can focus on either going wide or going tall, which is a godsend for token decks, but unfortunately he’s competing against other incredible token commanders that just do things Torsten just doesn't. Good design that just missed the mark.
Dakkon, Blacksmith by @driftingthroughthecosmos This design is... busy. The first ability is trademark Dakkon, but the second ability being a universal artifact tutor that re-triggers itself makes it very easy to abuse, and the third is just... woof. I would be very surprised if anyone using this just dumps a whole hand worth of artifacts just to ramp impossibly hard, then using the new boatload of mana to recur those artifacts to either keep abusing the third ability or to start pumping absurd amounts of mana into the second ability.
Malfegor, the Devourer by @emmypupcake
When looking at designs this week, I had two criteria I couldn’t ignore as a commander player: The designs should be fun to play with, and play against. This entry violates the second criteria. 3 mana to force a sacrifice is both incredibly powerful, and incredibly unfun, especially considering the first ability is prompting players to build a death and taxes style deck that forces sacrifices out of your opponents.
Crovax Windgrace// Crovax, Compleated Tyrant by @fractured-infinity I love, love, LOVE this design, but it had a single fatal flaw that let it down. 2 mana for a repeatable fling effect is far too cheap. This was a fantastic design, and you should be proud of it, but it just crosses the line in terms of power for cost.
Thalia, Veteran of Thraben by @gollumni While I’ll always champion for white to get card draw, this is very commander-unfriendly. While not a bad idea, I’d argue that it’s basically just a legendary white Rhystic study without the pay mana option, as I can’t imagine any scenario where an opponent doesn't just let you draw the card rather than have their spell countered.
Karametra, of Bountiful Harvest by @hypexion I’m not quite sure why you chose Karametra, a uniquely land and creature spell based commander, to make another generic green/white token commander. This design is rather on the safe side, and doesnt do much to make itself stand out from the massive pool of green/white token commanders.
Ixidor, Maddened by Despair by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes This was a really cool idea (with very squicky art) that was let down by a single detractor: 3 mana to turn an opponents creature into a 2/2 with no abilities in insanely powerful, considering your deck is likely to be full to the brim with morphs. You can also target an already face-down creature you control, as a face-up creature is not part of the targeting conditions.
Hythonia the Wicked by @ignorantturtlegaming While I love the idea of a commander-worthy Hythonia that isnt just “Haha boardwipes go brrr”, I’m not quite sure what you were aiming for with her first ability. Is she supposed to be turning herself to stone to protect herself? Also, a 4/3 with deathtouch isn’t going to be able to leverage that deathouch very well.
Phage, Avatar of Death by @illharg-the-rave-boar While I love the idea of a playable Phage commander, and I understand that she had to be expensive for her multi-quietus spike ability, 9 mana is far too expensive for a mono black commander without investing in a lot of blacks sparse and/or expensive mana generation. This is a kill-on-sight commander, and she’ll very quickly become too expensive to cast reliably. A great design, but maybe not designed perfectly well for commander.
Norin, Fearful Tactician by @ishouldgetatumbler I’m not quite sure what you were going for here. This is literally just Norin with +1/+1. The addition of the blocks trigger is pointless because Norin will exile himself whenever a creature attacks anyway, and any deck built around this card will be the exact same gimmicky Norin deck that already exists. If anything, this design is worse because original Norin trigger himself when he attacked.
Ludevic, Grave Stitcher by @karkatvantasticvantas While this isn’t a bad design, I’m not sure why you’ve made the Blue/Red Ludevic into a Blue/Black card. This feels more like a Geralf card with the stitcher-like focus.
Temmet, Vizier of Ruins by @kavinika I really love the idea of a blue/white zombie commander after Amonkhet’s fantastic zombies, but this design was let down by how incredibly powerful the third ability is. A repeatable reanimation effect that fuels itself and that can lift creatures out of any opponents graveyard is far to strong not to require either mana or a tap of Temmet Himself.
Rakka Mar, Hate Summoner by @koth-of-the-hammerpants I’m so glad someone tried to give Rakka Mar a second chance. Unfortunately, this otherwise fantastic design is let down by turning the tap of any creature with haste into a lightning bolt is incredibly powerful, which is then amplified by the fact that the creatures themselves do the damage, making the 2-mana 3/1s that Rakka makes into repeatable Dreadbores, that also let you loot off Rakka’s second ability. All in all, this effect is far too strong for just 4 mana.