Throughout the 32 years that MTG has been around, no mechanic has been as controversial as Companions. Sure, Dredge, Evoke, and Delve have utterly broken formats, but these overpowered menaces still don’t come close. Companions were so bad, that the entire mechanic required an errata to make it more balanced.
Even after the balancing errata, five of the ten Companions are banned in at least one format. With this in mind, you might think that Wizards of the Coast has sworn off the mechanic, vowing never to return. Given it’s at a nine on the Storm Scale, this is somewhat true; however, it’s surprisingly not entirely dead. In fact, thanks to a new poll set up by MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, there’s a non-zero chance Companions could return.
A Perplexing Poll
Mark Rosewater: Should we make more Companions?
Via: Blogatog
- Yes: 55.6%
- No: 36.3%
- I Would Rather Not Answer: 8.1%
Currently, Mark Rosewater’s latest poll is still ongoing, but the results are already evident. Out of the 800+ results submitted so far, a clear majority want more Companions in MTG. Given the mechanics’ difficult history, this is definitely a surprising turnaround, as no companion has been well-received.
At best, you can fit the existing ten Companions into three distinct categories. They’re either too powerful, too weak to be playable, or too average and homogeneous. While overpowered cards can be fun for a time, none of these categories are good for MTG players. Due to this, Companions are often rightfully seen as a failure.
Despite their infamous history, the Companion mechanic itself does have an immense amount of potential. If Wizards of the Coast can find the right balance, creating unique and correctly powered cards, they’d be genuinely incredible. Unfortunately, while this mechanic has a great deal of potential, realizing that isn’t easy.
Problem Problems Problems
In Magical Christmas Land, you might think that the best way to do Companions is to have an intense restriction and a powerful upside. If executed correctly, this would require strict deckbuilding for a compelling, potentially even game-winning, reward. Balancing this, however, is the issue, as Lurrus of the Dream-Den demonstrates. Despite fitting the brief in theory, Lurrus’ downside isn’t nearly restritive enough, making it a broken, and bannable, powerhouse.
Potentially, the right answer is to just severely underpower Companions so the risk of Lurrus Two: Electric Boogaloo isn’t there. This might seem to defeat their purpose somewhat; however, uncommon Companions could excel in Limited. As several players in the poll’s comments noted, Companions were amazing build arounds in limited that made Ikoria incredibly memorable.
Sadly, while lower rarity and power Companions could be a sensible solution, balancing is still an issue. Due to the strength of having a guaranteed extra card in your hand, even for three mana, Companions can’t be too generic. This is what led to Jegantha, the Wellspring being banned in Modern and Pioneer, after all.
At the same time, any new Companion also can’t be overly strict or powerful. Getting the balance wrong here either creates unplayable duds or future game-breaking problems after all. Realistically, Wizards would just need to get the balance right on new Companions, but saying that’s as helpful as saying “git gud.”
With this in mind, it’s probably better that Wizards of the Coast stays well clear of Companions. The risk of creating a format breaking threat is just too high, and the reward isn’t really worth it. That said, there might be an unusual avenue that could make these cards playable.
Companions Without Borders
In the comments of Rosewater’s poll, a few players suggested that Un-Set Companions could work. As Silver Bordered/Acron cards, balance wouldn’t be nearly as much of a concern. Instead, these cards could simply be designed for unique Limited shenanigans, which is what Companions are best for.
Sadly, as fun as this idea sounds in theory, it would require us getting another Un-Set, which is incredibly unlikely. With only three slots for Magic Multiverse sets each year now, there’s realy no room for Un-Sets anymore. As if this weren’t damning enough, Un-Sets have never really made enough money, especially compared to Horizons or Masters sets.
Thankfully, there is another alternative solution that might just work. Thanks to its potential for card rebalancing on the fly, Alchemy could hold the answer. Whether they’re completely broken or underpowered upon release, Alchemy Companions could easily be rebalanced into a sensible spot. Doing this would even keep new companions out of Standard and Modern, which should keep paper purists happy.
Ultimately, while Alchemy does seem like the one viable solution, there’s still no telling when new Compansions could get created. There’s a chance we might get them if we return to Ikoria, but outside of that, direct-to-Modern sets feel like the only option. Sadly, much like Masters sets, these releases are currently shelved, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.
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