It’s no secret that Wizards of the Coast has made some mistakes over Magic’s 30+ years of history. Between the countless controversies, banned cards, and myriad missprints, MTG has definitely had a spotty past. These mistakes, however, pale in comparison to the mechanic so broken that it had to get a major errata: Companion.
Released in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, this mechanic played with deck construction and was absolutely busted upon release. Since the required deckbuilding conditions weren’t hard to fulfill, Companion essentially provided an eighth starting card with no extra cost. While the errata added an extra fee to this mechanic, many of these cards are still dominant competitive powerhouses.
Due to this Companion has long been considered one of the worst mechanics in MTG. This makes it incredibly surprising to hear that Wizards is once again experimenting with the Companion design space. In a new article, Wizards has revealed that Lorwyn Eclipsed almost had a unique spin on this mechanic.
Companion 2: Electric Boogaloo
In the Vision Design Handoff Document for Lowyn Eclipsed, Wizards revealed the scrapped Leader mechanic. At its core, this mechanic is a new offshoot of the Companion design space, allowing you to play cards from outside of the game. According to Wizards, this mechanic was designed for eight rare cards in the set, none of which ultimately saw print.
“Leader – 1B, Tap any number of untapped Faeries you control with total power 6 or more: Put this card into your hand from outside the game. Activate only one leader ability each game and only as a sorcery.”
Wizards of the Coast
For better or worse, Wizards of the Coast didn’t show off any of the planned cards with Leader while revealing the mechanic. Due to this, it’s difficult to assess just how powerful this mechanic would have been if it had made it to MTG. That being said, it definitely looks like a significantly powered-down version of Companion.
Unlike the original Companion cards, basically every guard rail Wizards could put up is here for Leader. There’s a casting cost, to start with, and a somewhat steep Typal-focused hoop that you have to jump through. On top of this, the one Leader per game limit and Sorcery speed restriction would have prevented the mechanic from snowballing out of control.
Of all these drawbacks, the typal restriction would have likely been the most damning. According to Wizards, this was meant to be “primarily for Constructed,” yet typal decks aren’t big in most formats. Even with the somewhat one-sided new support from Lorwyn Eclipsed, we’re unlikely to see a typal deck ruling the meta anytime soon.
Since Wizards planned for one Leader for each Lorwyn creature type, it’s unlikely this scrapped mechanic would have changed things. Unless the once-planned cards were insane silver bullets or monstrous bombs, it seems this hypothetical mechanic was destined to flop.
Dangerous Design Space?
Considering how many problems Companions caused upon release, and even post-errata, Leader being significantly toned down isn’t at all surprising. What is a surprise, however, is the fact that Wizards is touching this design space at all. Leader might not have made it to print in Lorwyn Eclipsed, but clearly the Companion concept isn’t totally off limits.
According to the design handoff document, Wizards even conceptualized how this mechanic wouldn’t be totally useless in Commander. If it made print, Leader would supposedly arrive alongside a “buddy” category, which “includes both companion and leader as subcategories.” This system would allow Commander players to have one Buddy per deck, if they wished.
Given the ongoing controversy over adding sideboards to Commander, this buddy system seems like a safe workaround. Potentially, it may be something we end up seeing in the future, should Leader ever be attempted again. With reactions online appearing to be mixed at the moment, there’s no telling which way things will go.
Personally, the Compaion/Leader design space does feel incredibly interesting; however, balancing is obviously a concern. We’ve seen how it can go wrong before, yet equally, we don’t want this mechanic to create useless, unplayable cards. Given past precedent and the Commander potential, the latter feels a lot more likely.
Even if Wizards did nail the balance, this mechanic could do more harm than good in the long run. If popular, Wizards might feel the need to make more and more Leader cards, redefining what it means to be a legendary creature. This, in turn, could turn multiple competitive formats, or Standard at the very least, into weird Commander hybrids.
Don’t Hold Your Breath
Realistically, I wouldn’t expect that we’re going to see Leader, or Companion for that matter, anytime soon. Even though the design space is interesting, there’s too much potential for over- or underpowered cards. Due to this, it’s little wonder that Wizards of the Coast ended up scrapping this mechanic for now.
Ultimately, while a mechanic being scrapped doesn’t mean it’ll never see the light of day, it’s not good news either. Maybe, in the future, Wizards will end up finding the right balance within the Companion design space, but we’re not there yet.
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