Warning, this is a long one, a really, really long one.
So, a few days ago I had a really, and I mean really, stupid idea to challenge myself and bide my time until I can afford to purchase the last couple of parts to fix my computers last issues, what if I made a bunch of commander decks tied to an old set. And when I say old, I mean really, really old. Of course I went with Legends (because duh). And boy was I in for a challenge.
For this project I set some basic rules for myself.
1. I have to respect the reserved list, that means a lot of the good stuff from back then is off the table.
2. No reprints except from the set itself (legends) or earlier sets.
3. Because Legends was a large set, I need to make five decks.
4. I need to make 81 new cards to be distributed evenly between the decks.
5. For these new cards I have access to all currently evergreen mechanics if need be, as well as the mechanics in the game at the time (Banding, Rampage, and Regeneration being the big three), but no other mechanics. (I'll skip Bands with Other because it is terrible).
6. Any new cards must follow current design philosophy, that means no color breaks.
As you can see, this is quite the challenge I've set for myself. Rule 2 means that I do not have access to any of the commander staples, including Command Tower and its ilk, and thanks to rule 1, I have very limited mana options for the decks when done. That means a decent part of the 81 new cards I am allowed will be taken up by lands.
As I'm forced to make five decks (instead of just two), the logical solution was to go with the OG Elder dragons: Arcades Sabboth (), Chromium (), Nicol Bolas (), Vaevictis Asmadi (), and Palladia-Mors (), this gives me the most options when it came to each card pool, and as a bonus, each of the three mana combinations came with an additional Legend from the set that were not on the reserved list. Several of which had not been reprinted since Chronicles (Short of Rubinia Soulsinger that WotC really likes reprinting for some reason, just an observation, not a complaint, as she is actually pretty good). However, since rule 1. stops me from using the dual lands, and I can't use the usual mana fixers (short of Sol Ring), I had to get creative. I started with the common shared between the five decks, and came up with this:
Elder Compass
Artifact (C)
: Add .
, Sacrifice Elder Compass: Search your library for a Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle.
As you can see, this is a fairly powerful card as it can find any land with those land types, however I think the fairly steep cost (six mana total to fetch a land that comes into play tapped) makes up for it being able to find nonbasics with either of those land types. I also decided to go with the newer wording for the shuffle part. I contemplated putting the land on top of the library instead, thus eating a draw, but it coming into play tapped is a sufficient drawback. I wanted a card that would see play in the commander format.
That brings me to the lands, the lack of duals and with only access to one land that could tap for multiple colors, I really didn't have many options other than basics, and nothing but basics and one City of Brass would quickly become really boring. Fortunately, WotC provided a solution that I could co-opt and modify for my needs: Come into play tapped dual lands. Thanks to Kaldheim we now know that WotC considers coming into play tapped is sufficient of a drawback that they are willing to print nonrare dual lands with basic land types at rarities other than rare, provided the lands come into the play tapped. Which brings me to the following:
Bonestrewn Crest
Land - Swamp Mountain (U)
(: Add or .)
Bonestrewn Crest enters the battlefield tapped.
I created a total of 10 of these, one for each two color combination, and to keep the numbers equal put two in each deck. One ally, and one enemy. I gave them all setting neutral names to ensure that they are reusable in the future should I so chose. In addition to the Bonestrewn Crest above, they're Cliffside Reef (), Cypress Bog (), Fertile Veldt (), Flourishing Isle (), Haunted Shipwreck (), Heather Moorland (), Highland Meadow (), Sylvan Ridge (), and Tidal Plain (). They are almost functionally the same as the common snow duals other than not being snow. The reason I decided to only put two in each deck was a simple one, putting three in each deck with make the ally colored ones twice as common as the enemy colored ones, and I really loathe unequal cycles in sets. Lol.
But two additional lands in each deck really isn't enough so, the next logical solution would be to add a tri-land to each, which is where I hit my first snag. How do I create a non-rare tri-land that doesn't feel like something that has come before? I mean, I could just let them come into play tapped and then be done with it, but that would make them functionally identical to the Alara lands. I could make them lairs that bounce a land when they hit the battlefield, but that is just the Planeshift lairs all over again (although the thought of having lairs for each of the Elder Dragons is appealing, just renaming the Planeshift lairs is not.)
So far, what I have is:
Arcades' Fortress
Land - Lair (U)
Arcades' Fortress enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add , , or .
But I am really not happy with this solution. It, quite frankly, sucks. It's just the Alara lands with a new name and the Lair subtype. I want to make them mechanically distinct, yet playable.
I have more cards (including a cycle of five cards, three of which will go in each deck), but this has gone on for long enough so far. But I really need help with the tri-lands. I've been wracking my brain for two days with them trying to find a solution I would be happy with, and I am at my wits end.
So, as always, Comments, Critiques, and Constructive Criticism is welcome.
