hard-to-color custom commanders

[folding_music]

Malma Kalmallak (2)
Legendary Creature - Eldrazi Drone
Bestow (4)
Devoid
Ingest
Enchanted creature has devoid and ingest.
Malma Kalmallak has all activated abilities of attacking creatures if it's a creature. Otherwise, enchanted creature has all activated abilities of attacking creatures.
0/1
("has all" has a blue feeling about it, but not in this situation)

Avhou, the Sensate (4)
Legendary Creature - Lizard Bard
: Each opponent chooses a different number between one and six. Put any number of enchantment cards with mana value equal to any of those numbers from your hand on to the battlefield, then discard your hand.
2/5
(definitely red, but what else? does merely having the word "enchantment" on a legend enable you to immediately say Wow! This is Naya?)

how would you argue these cards (or your cards, or existing cards) should be a particular color, or not be that color? when you're aiming at EDH it's nice to sneak extra colours into a legend's casting cost to make 'em more flexible or to align them blatantly with a tribe (ie. Beckett Brass lol) but it's something I can't find any consistency in, and maybe there shouldn't be

[void_nothing]

Malma Kalmallak - I'd argue that blue should be in there somewhere, but in reality, mimicking activated abilities is a highly unusual ability - it just happens that blue has done it most. Other types of ability sharing are white, and white is strong on bestow. But given how this card functions a logical second color would be any one with a lot of pump activated abilities, since the (intended) point of the card seems to be to attack as well. GU would seem to work here - those colors can share characteristics of their creatures and have it feel logical. And, green gets Eldrazi consistently.

Note that the CompRules don't technically require it, but player expectations would warrant this being an enchantment creature. That would be one cramped typeline, but so it goes.

Avhou - RG - you could probably put white in there if you wanted, but the fact that it is dropping permanents onto the battlefield, noncreature ones at that, and not temporarily makes green necessary. This card would at least be a bend in mono-red.

[user_938036]

Malma, looking at precedent, the way of sharing/stealing abilities matters to the color of the card. So I would mandate white or red on this card for the attack trigger as they are the most combat focused. As for extra colors, I could see a reasonable argument for anything but black.

Avhou, the ability is primary green with no real secondary. However, for such a splashy ability you can justify any "extra" colors as long as they fit either the plane's theme or traditional magic theme for the effect so white is shoe in and depending on the plane any other color could be argued.

Extra colors are added for two main reasons. As an argument for increased power ir reduced mana cost. And to fit in theme either historically or for the set. The Admiral is pushed into those three colors because the theme of the set is pirate in those three colors. Sometimes set theme fights historical theme and usually set theme wins out.

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

The "attacking creatures" skews Malma towards red, I think, while the bestow is most prominent in white, then in black. Finally, the fact it is an Eldrazi makes me want to put some colorless pips as well. I would argue for base boros - it has Zirda, the Dawnwaker already pointing into activated abilities tribal - and then maybe add a third color via bestow ability? Probably green or blue, because it really asks for another untapping color besides white.

For Avhou on the other hand I will flippantly say that it should stay mono-red. It will allow to dust off the less used enchantments in red and deckbuilding for something like this sounds like a fun challange; that is to say, I am not sure about the balance of that card - it has riders preventing degeneracy, but at the same time every instance of cost-cheating might prove bakcbreaking. If there should be any other color, then I would propose black, since it would be the best color to utilize the drawback of discarding your hand.

As for the last paragraph, I would say that since we are here in custom designs, where we do not have to care to make a proper draft experience for multitude of sets each year, assigning color should depend on the intent of particular card: you want to capture some idea or an archetype, try to fit it in a current color pie; you want to experiment and push envelops - try to look at what existing effect resembles yours the most.

[void_nothing]

As for the last paragraph, I would say that since we are here in custom designs, where we do not have to care to make a proper draft experience for multitude of sets each year, assigning color should depend on the intent of particular card: you want to capture some idea or an archetype, try to fit it in a current color pie; you want to experiment and push envelops - try to look at what existing effect resembles yours the most.

Yup, I would say it's case-by-case. Of course, if making a full custom set, it pays to keep Limited in mind.