Strixhaven: School of Mages and the five new Commander 2021 pre-constructed decks offer a bunch of brand new legendary creatures and spells players can use in their fan-favorite casual format, Commander. While there are no rules changes, the Commander Rules Committee have explained how a couple of mechanics from the upcoming set interact with the Commander rules.
In a recent blog post, the Commander RC’s Toby Elliott highlighted how the Commander rules interact with Modal Double-Faced Cards (MDFC) cards that have a legendary side, and the new Lesson/Learn mechanic.
MDFCs with Legendary Front
Strixhaven: School of Mages features several MDFCs with a legendary front. Cards like the five legendary Deans shown above as well as Mila, Crafty Companion // Lukka, Wayward Bonder, and Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost all have legendary fronts, but how do they work in Commander?
“Any card that has a legendary creature on its front face can be your commander, but in the case of Modal Double-Face Cards, you can cast either side,” Elliott explained. “Both sides are subject to the same Commander Tax; it looks at how many times you have cast the card, regardless of which side you chose to cast. Strixhaven introduces Legendary creatures with sorceries on the back side. For example, you may cast Search for Blex, but it’ll cost two more mana if you cast Blex, Vexing Pest earlier in the game. Perhaps you shouldn’t have lost him the first time!”
Lesson and Learn Mechanic
The magical school-themed set also features cards that instruct you to Learn; this mechanic gives players the option to do one of these three choices:
- You can discard a card then draw a card.
- You can reveal a Lesson card from outside the game.
- Do nothing.
Sadly, in Commander, you won’t be able to retrieve a Lesson card when you play a Learn card.
“We are not interested in introducing sideboards into Commander, and are not comfortable with defining outside the game as all cards you own (it was defined this way years ago and led to a lot of problems and arguments.),” Elliott said. “However, the alternate mode of discard and draw works fine, as the restriction is limited to the part of the card the looks for a Lesson. Playgroups that want to make Lessons work are encouraged to define a set of rules that works for them.”
Related:
Strixhaven: School of Mages is set to release for tabletop on April 23, and it will be released on Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Online on April 15. Check out the important dates here.
