Commander without the Legendary Rule

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on March 9, 2022, 3:10 p.m. by _Moonie_

A fun and interesting thought popped into my head earlier and felt it might make for a good conversation...

If EDH didn't require a commander to be a Legendary creature, are there any non-Legendary creatures that you would love to play with and build a deck around. I immediately thought about Drogskol Captain and Corpsejack Menace being some fun choices but I'm interested to hear who others might choose.

TypicalTimmy says... #2

March 9, 2022 3:15 p.m.

Ashdust says... #3

Pretty much any of the Nephilims, Ink-Treader most of all.

Yore-Tiller Nephilim

Glint-Eye Nephilim

Dune-Brood Nephilim

Ink-Treader Nephilim

Witch-Maw Nephilim

March 9, 2022 4:04 p.m.

Necrosis24 says... #4

There are probably a bunch that I can’t think of as there has been many times while building decks that I have thought “If only this card was legendary”. Off the top of my head tho:

March 9, 2022 8:45 p.m.

I agree that Drogskol Captain is a solid non-legendary commander. Along those lines, I’ve wondered how a deck built around Lord of the Unreal would play.

Other fun build arounds would be:

Lorescale Coatl

Vizkopa Guildmage

Creeping Trailblazer

Side question: I know Pauper EDH is a fairly popular format, but is there some format that allows both commons and uncommons in the 99 and you’re only allowed a single rare (as the commander)? Would it be called something like “Merchant EDH” or “Peasant EDH?”

March 9, 2022 9:23 p.m.

JANKYARD_DOG says... #6

Gloryscale Viashino was one I was interested in for Pauper EDH, but just can't get enough gas with just commons.

March 10, 2022 12:55 a.m.

Dreamshaper Shaman

And I just imagined how weirdly hilarious Kashi-Tribe Elite would be as a commander.

March 10, 2022 1:27 a.m.

legendofa says... #8

I'm going to go with, as always, Alara. TypicalTimmy already mentioned Godsire and Maelstrom Archangel, and I'm going to add Prince of Thralls, Hellkite Overlord, Blood Tyrant, and Magister Sphinx.

(For the curious, Empyrial Archangel and Sphinx Sovereign are the other two cards in the MNNO cycle. Either of them would work as well, I just don't find them quite as interesting.)

March 10, 2022 1:50 a.m.

_Moonie_ says... #9

I'll be honest, a lot of good fun choices from everyone, many of the cards I'd never even known about or seen before.

Ashdust, yea I recall it being said that the creators regretted not making the Nephilims into Legendary creature at the time of their creation.

March 10, 2022 10:27 a.m.

_Moonie_ says... #10

VensersJournalist as far as your side question, I can't answer. I've only ever messed with Standard, Modern, and Commander so I don't know any of the rules for other formats

March 10, 2022 10:32 a.m.

Guerric says... #11

Ditto TypicalTimmy's suggestion of Maelstrom Archangel. We still lack a good five-color option for angels tribal, which the ultimate angel commander should be. Some have even built around it anyway and and use rule zero discussions to allow it in their play group, but most of us don't want to invest in a deck where that is our approach.

March 10, 2022 11:32 a.m.

wolfhead says... #12

Drogskol Reaver for sure

Monastery Mentor if they had partner

Mantis Rider for fun.

Orcish Lumberjack for even more fun.

If there's already strict upgrades actually out there then I'll just claim it's for nostalgia's sake,

But also let me know what they are haha

March 10, 2022 4:21 p.m.

There are some awesome classic cards that would be great for theme, too, like Cosmic Horror, Island Fish Jasconius, Stone Spirit, and Force of Nature.

March 10, 2022 4:22 p.m.

TypicalTimmy says... #14

I've also build a Brutal Hordechief deck online before. That was a lot of fun.

Captivating Vampire can be loads of fun if you enjoy losing friends.

Chromanticore is one I've always wanted to build. Maybe a Mutate / Aura deck. I've tried that in the past with Surgeon General Commander, but I couldn't get it to work.

March 10, 2022 5:08 p.m.

gavriel1136 says... #15

Tamanoa would be interesting

March 10, 2022 6:58 p.m.

Ziusdra says... #16

March 11, 2022 10:43 a.m.

wolfhead says... #17

gavriel1136: tamanoa!! I love that card, I've recently been trying to make her work in modern again

Ziusdra: lol I was thinking about if Invisible Stalker would have to be banned in this scenario. But would Bogle be even better? Access to green sounds huge

March 11, 2022 9:51 p.m.

Ziusdra says... #18

It would be a new era of edh voltron. I honestly think it would be too quick to be fun to play against.

March 11, 2022 11:18 p.m.

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