Commander is unique among MTG formats in that it features a substantial list of unwritten rules. Land destruction cards like Armageddon are perfectly legal in the format, but most playgroups frown upon their inclusion. The same is often true for Stax effects, infinite combos, and even just individual powerful cards like Dockside Extortionist. For newer players, it’s a web that can be tricky to navigate. Another big no-no are cards that steal or disable your opponents’ Commanders, since doing so can totally stonewall a lot of decks. In open defiance of that MTG social convention, Duskmourn is giving players a new way to steal Commanders in Come Back Wrong.
Come Back Wrong MTG
- Mana Value: 2B
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: Destroy target creature. If a creature card is put into a graveyard this way, return it to the battlefield under your control. Sacrifice it at the beginning of your next end step.
At first glance, it’s not obvious that this interaction is even possible. You would assume that, since Come Back Wrong sends the creature it targets to the graveyard before it brings it back, a Commander could simply return to the command zone instead. That isn’t the case, however, as many players are learning on social media right now.
Across multiple threads on MTG Twitter and Facebook, debate raged as to whether Come Back Wrong would indeed be able to steal Commanders. Turns out it can, because of how state-based actions in Magic work. The rule that lets you send your Commander back to the command zone when it changes zones is a state-based action, which means it occurs as soon as the player who owns the Commander gains priority. In most cases, this means that you can put your Commander back in the command zone whenever it leaves play.
Because Come Back Wrong destroys a creature and then does other things, however, it prevents state-based actions from occurring until it fully resolves. So your opponent’s Commander will go to the graveyard, thus changing zones. But they won’t have priority to change that until after Come Back Wrong’s other effect goes off. At which point their Commander will be in play under your control.
Of course, you will still need to sacrifice the stolen Commander at end of turn, at which point your opponent can send it to the command zone. But you can have some fun with it for a turn. You can even keep it permanently using flicker effects like Conjurer’s Closet.
The Opposite Of Fun
While Come Back Wrong is a comparatively mild example, Commander-stealing effects like these have historically been very unpopular in MTG. In the past, you could put your Commander into the command zone if it was destroyed or exiled, but not if it was shuffled into your deck. That meant cards like Chaos Warp and Spell Crumple could, essentially, take an opposing Commander out of the game for good.
This was certainly a strong interaction, and great counterplay against decks that relied too heavily on their Commander to function. As the format grew in popularity and became more casual-leaning, however, it became a bit of an issue. Players chose their Commanders precisely because they wanted to play with them a lot. Tucking them away, as was the parlance, like this was no fun at all in many cases. For this reason, a new rule was introduced in 2015 that lets a Commander return to the command zone whenever it changes zones in any way.
Chaos Warp, Spell Crumple, and the like have fallen off a lot in the format as a result. Overall, though, this change was likely for the best. Nowadays, Commander removal takes different, more interactive forms. Rather than banishing your Commander to the deck forever, it will instead transform them into a useless form. Cards like Imprisoned in the Moon and Oko, Thief of Crowns are great examples of this. Crucially, these cards can be interacted with on-board, and are therefore more interesting than the old tuck options.
So, looking at the overall picture, it’s clear that Come Back Wrong likely won’t be an issue in Commander when it’s released. It will lead to some very interesting turns, however, and could be an absolute salt mine in flicker-based decks.
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