fantasy versions of commanders

[folding_music]

Thread for parallel reality versions of commanders I look at. feel free to bump with yr own or make it game format with a "next" prompt, or to break the game format and post greedily. Warning: my entries might be too good, or might be so misaligned with reality that the cards don't do anything. Don't know yet!

[folding_music]

Colfenor, Who Outlasts You 2wbg
Legendary Creature - Treefolk Shaman
Vigilance, reach
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, you may exile it. If you do, return up to one other creature card with lesser toughness from your graveyard to your hand. Each opponent discards a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
b, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Colfenor, Who Outlasts You gains indestructible until end of turn.
2/7

Slightly quicker to get in play, much harder to abuse with tokens and op 0/0s ie. Hangarback Walker, does what I wanna do with Colfenor already - play every version of Yarok's Fenlurker, lol. prevents you building a board which culminates in you casting Colfenor and then immediately winning, which becomes easier to do the more money you put into a Colfenor deck and the more linearly you stack Blood Artists, afaik, and plays more like a stubborn old ent and wins with inevitability, generally more customizable as a slow casual commander <3

[folding_music]

Magnus, the Diviner (as in Lord Magnus) wwwg
Legendary Creature - Druid
Creatures lose all landwalk abilities while they're attacking you.
When Magnus, the Diviner attacks, choose one:
- Put a dowse counter on up to one target nonbasic land. It becomes a Plains Forest as long as that counter remains.
- Other attacking creatures you control gain plainswalk and get +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the number of dowse counters on permanents you don't control.
3/3

greatly extending this boy's militant-stewardship-of-the-land theme (which I just assume is there cos he is a Combat Druid without flavour text...) utility-wise, his Dowse ability acts like Lush Growth which robs the card of its previous abilities and returns it to nature, so he can mess with your opponents over-powered lands ie Field of the Dead in a way that's reminiscent of the similarly ancient Gaea's Liege, + the counters seem hard to get rid of and eventually lead to huge anthem turns. I think the combination of utility and very soft inevitability here'd be fun to build a signature deck around. thought it'd be fun if the casting cost was even more severe, like a sign he takes a dim view of progress interrupting all his lovely fields and meadows :3 deliberately too slow to be fearsome, i know his land meddling would be a groaner if the card came out quicker or was easier to cast & he isn't in Isshin's colours so I think this is all safe

[Venedrex]

Neat! I like Magnus a lot, hosing problem lands and encouraging landwalk. Two birds, one stone.

[folding_music]

^ :D i love the idea of those old Legends and making them mechanically more unique!

unrelatedly,
Ormulos, the Book Worm (after Ormos, Archive Keeper)
Legendary Creature - Worm
Menace
Whenever you draw a card, exile the top five cards of your library.
: Exile defending player's library. Play only if at least fifty cards you own are in exile.
6/8

giggle. There's no UB commander with this high a CMC so it needs a ridiculous ability, and I always prefer an attacking win to a Thassa's Oracle "oopsy-daisy the game is over" finish if the commander allows <3

[folding_music]

cos there's lots of minotaur commanders and no goats =P ability one: knocking mountain climbers back down the mountain by headbutting them; ability two: eating stuff at random and going manic. pretty encapsulated imo giggle

edit: of course you need to imagine goats appearing in black red where they shouldve been all along >:)

[folding_music]

Brimaz, Alley Cat
Legendary Creature - Cat Peasant
Ward
Whenever you're attacked, if attacking player controls more land than you, you may pay 1w. If you do, exile Brimaz, Alley Cat. Return him to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever Brimaz, Alley Cat leaves the battlefield, create a white 1/1 Cat Peasant creature token with Ward .
1/1

Narfi the Shivering
Legendary Snow Creature - Zombie
At the beginning of your upkeep, add ub. This mana can be spent only to pay for cumulative upkeep or to activate the abilities of snow permanents.
0/1

Grunn the Infatuated
Legendary Creature - Ape Warrior
Soulbond (Reminder text epic goes here.)
Whenever Grunn and paired creature both attack and no other creatures do, they both gain menace and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to defending player, destroy target artifact or enchantment with mana value 2 or less that player controls." until end of turn.
1/1

just felt like deposing some kings :3 i love one CMC creatures and making commanders out of them is hard

alternatively...

Show

Hide

Macar the Beggar b
Legendary Creature - Human Peasant (U)
Deathtouch
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Macar this turn dies, create a Gold token.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control a permanent that's rare or mythic, tap Macar. You can't play the abilities of tokens this turn.
Any luxury at all is judged too much for the poor.
1/1

this sort of thing's relegated to unglued but I feel like it could be commander-set-only companion space too:

Silvos of the Pits
Legendary Creature - Elemental (U)
Companion -- No card in your starting deck may be rare or mythic.
Whenever Silvos deals excess damage to a rare or mythic creature, you may have him deal the remaining damage to another target rare or mythic creature. (Repeat this process until there's no excess damage.)
: Silvos gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Spend only mana generated by basic land this way.
5/5

elementals behaving in elementary ways! i like shoving firebreathing/shade pumping on everything, especially when paired with a damage matters ability. definitely one of the cool abilities from the beginning of the game that no longer appears as much as it could

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Phylath, Junglebog Gardener
3bgu
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M)
When Phylath, Junglebog Gardener enters the battlefield, create a number of 0/1 green Plant creature tokens equal to the number of differently named lands you control.
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put four +1/+1 counters on target Plant you control. If that land is a Forest, that Plant gains trample until end of turn. If that land is an Island, you may tap target creature. If that land is a Swamp, that Plant gains deathtouch until end of turn.
5/5

Oh Phylath, World Sculptor, why couldn't you be BGU instead of RG?

[folding_music]

giggle I love that alt-frame Phylath and often wanna build the deck on the strength of how good the card looks. but the creature itself's kinda anonymous and if you wanna do RG LAND stuff there's Mina and Denn or Omnath which look so much more tempting. I approve of recoloring him & the Field of the Dedication.

a more ridiculous version:
Phylath, Grain Collector 4wg
Legendary Creature - Elemental Scarecrow
Sweep -- When Phylath, Grain Collector enters the battlefield, you may return any number of Plains and/or Forests you control to their owner's hand. Create twice that many 0/1 green Plant creature tokens.
Landfall -- Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on target Plant for each card in your hand.
5/5

edit: the squad, lol

[duducrash]

Here's a commander I would run

Lutri, the spellchaser 1UR
Legendary Creature - Elemental Otter- rare

Flash

When Lutri, the spellchaser enters the battlefield, if you cast it, copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy

3/2

[folding_music]

:3 Free Lutri! i agree that casual's about expression and I think a playgroup can very easily unban-as-commander Lutri if you wanna play as them. it'd be weird and strict not to

[folding_music]

library restocking in each colour:

Oriss, Museum Keeper 1ww
Legendary Creature - Curator (which isn't a creature type, but I'd like it to be. if not, Cleric)
When Oriss, Museum Keeper enters the battlefield, shuffle any number of cards from your hand and/or graveyard into your library, then scry X, where X is the number of artifact cards that entered your library this way.
, Reveal an artifact card from your hand: Prevent the next X damage this turn to any target. X is the revealed card's mana value.
1/3

I really like Ingenious Smith as a card and wanted to make a healer version. let's just say in this parallel universe, Orim gets really attached to cataloguing her needles and threads =P a healer of our view of the past as well as of the flesh, kinda thing

Linessa, Zephyr Rider 2uu
Legendary Creature - Knight
Flying
When Linessa, Zephyr Rider deals combat damage to an opponent, you may pay uu. If you do, return target nonland permanent that opponent controls to its owner's hand. You and defending player shuffle every card from your respective graveyards that share a type with that permanent into their owner's libraries.
uu, Discard a card: Return Linessa, Zephyr Rider to owner's hand.
4/2

this ability is probably worded really clunkily :3 imagine Alexi on a tiny jet-airship-bike with a big jetstream that sweeps away stuff in its wake? kinda pseudo Dromar, controllish but combat-reliant and mana-hungry. blue has a million billion commanders already and they could at least be more aggressive. i don't really like the Knight creature type but I appreciated the Mirage-ish way that Eldraine placed them in all colors and that's to be embraced

Korlash the Reaper 3bb
Legendary Creature - Zombie Druid
Whenever a permanent enters a graveyard, count the black mana symbols in its mana cost. If there are none, exile that card. If there's at least one, its owner may put that card on the bottom of their library. If there are two or more, that permanent's controller may draw a card.
Korlash's power and toughness are equal to your devotion to black.
*/*

(Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth are too good and cost too much money and) I like this alternate Korlash as someone sensitive to what sinks into his swamps rather than someone who lays direct claim to them. love chroma and devotion and this is the kinda lad i'd love to see printed. is also a faintly broken Planar Void into the bargain <3

Tarox Raggedwing 4rrr
Legendary Creature - Dragon
Flying, haste, trample
The legend rule doesn't apply to Dragon creatures.
When Tarox Raggedwing enters the battlefield, target opponent chooses a card type (without looking at your graveyard? is that at all templatable? lol). You may shuffle two cards of that type from your graveyard into your library. If you do, create a token that's a copy of Tarox Raggedwing.
7/5

big. mill yourself in mono-red miniquest (/ play a balanced library in mono-red impossible miniquest) worthless in short games, high-powered commander that ends quickly is probably not the home of this card x3 rorix never had any personality based on the cards he got. costed him assuming his ability will fire once, half the time.

The Nerves of Krosa
Legendary Creature - Mutant
Evolve (whenever creature with higher pow or tough enters on your side, +1/+1 counter me)
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is placed on The Nerves of Krosa, choose one:
- Put target land card from a graveyard on top of its owner's library.
- Mill two cards.
1/1

kamahl/baru's had so many versions that I wanted to create a new, vatgrown beginning >:) rather than being the chosen one, this time he starts from the bottom. making him 1/1 strangely underpowers him compared to making him 0/1, cos then you can't play Fyndhorn Elves next turn for the bump. as ever, making 1cmc legends is perilous

(when Odyssey hit and we saw the first Kamahl I was so into that Kev Walker art and I loved how "Barbarian Legend" felt. retemplating that as "Legendary Creature - Human Barbarian" has entirely zapped that myth-y angle in my eyes... you can call it recontextualization, or even a helpful syntactic update, but I liked the moldy old type line more!)

i think red and white need serious ways of restocking the library, already disadvantaged in a long game. I think long, clunky, janky trainwreck games are the soul of M:TG anyway, to me, and I thought Feldon's Cane was the coolest card ever back in the day <3

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Something that really bothered me was that Atarka lost her double-strike ability when she became an Elder Dragon, and that regular Atarka deals more combat damage than Elder Atarka. Like most of the time I'd prefer the double-strike granting dragon to the big 8/8 lump.

I say go all the way; she no longer grants double strike (I don't want to obsolete young Atarka), but instead herself has it permanently.

Dragonlord Atarka, the Hungering
6rg
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (M)
Flying, double strike, vigilance, trample
Dragonlord Atarka, the Hungering attacks each combat if able.
8/11

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

I always felt Rakdos, the Showstopper should have been a flashier mythic. Let's up his mana cost to compensate:

Rakdos, Who Parties Hard
3bbrr
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
When Rakdos, Who Parties Hard enters the battlefield, flip a coin for each planeswalker and each creature that isn't a Demon, Devil, or Imp. Destroy each permanent whose coin comes up tails. Gain control of each permanent whose coin comes up heads until end of turn. If it's a creature, untap it and it gains haste until end of turn.
7/6
"WOOHOOO! LET IT LOOSE BELEREN!!"

[folding_music]

:3 I love all three Rakdos cards but that one'd be extra-cute, a silly random insurrection in the command zone!

mmm imagining Rakdos as a demon you make a contract to, and the contract involves you having to feed him:

Rakdos, the Demander 1br
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
Myriad (When this attacks, a token version attacks every other opponent blah blah)
Whenever Rakdos, the Demander attacks or blocks, put a card you own from exile with a feast counter on it into your graveyard. Rakdos gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is that card's mana value. If you can't, sacrifice Rakdos, the Demander.
4/4
///MDFC///
Contract with Rakdos
Legendary Artifact (M)
, Pay 2 life: Add or . You may return Contract with Rakdos to its owner's hand.
: You may exile target nontoken permanent you control and put a feast counter on it. If you do, add . Activate this ability only once each turn.

[Pygyzy]

I'm a huge fan of Surgeon General Commander, so I'd like to see something similar. Here's one idea

Dr. Doctor Doctor, P.H.D. 4
Legendary Creature - Doctor Dinosaur Astronaut
Dr. Doctor Doctor, P.H.D. is the color or colors of clothes you're wearing as the game starts.
Creature spells you cast wearing clothes in their art that match the color of clothes you're wearing cost one less mana of that color to cast. This effect only reduces colored mana costs.
Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it's wearing clothes in it's art that match the color of another creature's clothes in it's art, draw a card.
2/4

The art depicts Old Fogey sitting behind a desk, wearing a tie dye doctor coat. The frame is tie dye.

[folding_music]

if Shessra, Death's Whisper was mythic:

Shessra, the Insinuator 2bg
Legendary Creature - Half-elf Warlock (M)
Haste
Bewitching Whispers -- Pay 2 life: Target creature must block this turn if able. If this is the first time you've played this ability this turn, and it's your turn, draw a card.
Whispers of the Grave -- At the end of your turn, sacrifice Shessra, the Insinuator if no creatures died this turn.
3/3

lol
trying to build her and the fact that her lure ability is a one-shot is a little depressing

[folding_music]

having just seen and hated the second version of Rasputin, I thought I'd try to make a one clause version of the same guy;

Rasputin (not good Rasputin or bad Rasputin, but a mysterious third Rasputin) 1wu
Legendary Creature - Illusion Wizard (M)
Rasputin enters the battlefield with three dream counters on it. Whenever you could cast an instant, you may move one of these counters onto target nonland permanent. The counter becomes your choice of a stun counter, a charge counter, a fade counter, a quest counter or a brick counter.
2/1

sets up all manner of weird decks without importing seemingly out-of-place knights vs goblins flavour. i attempted an EDH deck where his mana battery properties worked alongside Iceberg and proliferate stuff but found myself wishing for a more direct Charge Counter Putter-Onner...