If you’re a fan of both Commander and Drafting, the Commander Legends series is a product designed to satisfy those needs! Battle for Baldur’s Gate will be the second of the Legends series following on from the self-titled Commander Legends set in 2020.
We may have had to wait two whole years for a new product in the series but it looks like it was well worth the suspense!
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate Release Date
Commander Legends, Battle for Baldur’s Gate released on Friday, 10 June 2022. The set initially did not have a very well-received reception because of the use of the Commander Legends label. The original Commander Legends offered much more powerful cards than this set did, leaving Baldur’s Gate feeling like something that promised the world and did not deliver.
That said, as Baldur’s Gate continued to age, players realized just how useful many of the cards are. Initiative, a mechanic that originated from this set intended for Commander ended up completely ruining the Legacy and Pauper formats for a period of time. After appropriate ban adjustments were made, that is no longer the case, and White Plume Adventurer is now considered to be one of the best creatures of all time.
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Baldur’s Gate Mechanics
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate introduced a variety of new mechanics meant to truly bring the aesthetics of Dungeons and Dragons into the MTG world in unique ways. Here are some of the mechanics that appear in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate
Initiative is the most impactful of the mechanics that appeared in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate. The Initiative is a spinoff mechanic that combines aspects from the Monarch from Conspiracy and Venturing the Dungeon from Adventures of the Forgotten Realms. The Initiative is passed around similarily to The Monarch, but rewards players an opportunity to Venture into Undercity. You are rewarded this when you gain the Initiative through combat damage to the player who currently has it or when you trigger it with an effect. Otherwise, if you have the Initiative on your upkeep, you also get to Venture into Undercity. More about this mechanic can be found by clicking on ‘Initiative’ above.
Backgrounds are a new type of enchantment that grant your Commanders additional abilities. These can either be run as enchantments in your 99s in Commander, or can be run as a Commander as an addition to Commanders that have the ‘Choose a Background’ text.
Myriad is a combat-centric ability that triggers on attack. When a creature with Myriad attacks, its owner can choose to create token copies equal to the number of opponents they have – with exception to the one being attacked by the Myriad creature. Each of these tokens must attack a different opponent. At the end step, they are sacrificed. While this exists as a way to spread damage around the table, there are ways to abuse it. You can read more about it by clicking on ‘Myriad’ above.
Goad is a mechanic that forces a creature to attack. Goaded creatures must attack, and cannot attack the player who Goaded them unless they have no choice but to do so. Some creatures can get around this by using abilities that require them to tap but if they are able when combat comes around, you must attack with a Goaded creature.
Adventure cards host both a permanent and an instant or sorcery on the same card. Outside of your hand, Adventures are considered their permanent side.
When casting the Adventure instant or sorcery is legal, you may do so. After resolution, a card with an Adventure goes to exile instead of to the graveyard. You can then cast the permanent portion of the Adventure from exile, but only if it goes to exile this way. Otherwise, you can simply cast the permanent side of Adventure from your hand.
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