Planechase is so dumb I cannot recommend it enough.
My roommate and I got done with an insane game. We ended up in Aretopolis on Kephalai, ended up with 40 life each by the time we left, and my roommate ended up discarding like half of their library as a result of insane card draw. We ended the game in New Phyrexia, and I was too scared to leave because if you leave New Phyrexia, all of your permanents without fate counters (supplied by another action in New Phyrexia) are destroyed. I had none, and didn't want to risk leaving.
They also beat me 60 life to 0, so what can you do. I'm not an amazing Planeswalker.
How would you go about with a custom mechanic that counts the number of things in the command zone? It's the default 'holding zone' for fun effects, like the monarch, conspiracies, emblems, and of course, commanders. What scalable effects would you use for each color?
I didn’t know what to think of this prompt at first, but I thought about it my entire walk home, and the more I think about it, the more I like it.
I came up with a cycle of five monocolored cards designed around the “counting in the command zone” theme. But in order to make it work, it would have to be a “mega-cycle,” spanning across multiplayer products released over several years. (Including new Commander, Conspiracy, Archenemy, and Planechase products.)
I don’t know if black border rules can support these mechanics, but I think they can. (I wasn’t going for anything in “wacky” or silver bordered design space.)
I think I stayed fairly true to the prompt, as well as true to the color pie, and I’m quite pleased with the result. Please let me know what you think!!
Command the Loyal W Sorcery Put X loyalty counters on each planeswalker you control and each planeswalker your teammates control, where X is the number of emblems in your command zone.
Command the Cunning 1U Sorcery Scry X and draw X cards, where X is the number of conspiracies in your command zone.
Command the Vengeful 2B Sorcery Each opponent sacrifices X creatures and loses X life, where X is the number of schemes that have been played in the command zone this game.
Command the Adventurous 3R Sorcery Exile the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of planes that have been in your command zone this game. Until end of turn, you may cast any spells exiled this way without paying their casting cost.
Command the Steadfast 4G Sorcery Search your library for up to X basic lands and put them onto the battlefield tapped, where X is the total converted mana cost of all creatures in your command zone. Then shuffle your library.
