(Wirewood Lodge | Anthony S. Waters)

Elvish Evaluation

In February 2006, the now-disbanded Rules Committee made a new rule for a very young format. Heartless Hidetsugu, Kaervek the Merciless, and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, were all banned as commanders only.

While they could not lead your deck, you could still play them in the 99. Different legendary creatures went on and off this list, as the years passed.

After three years, in February 2014, the "banned only as commander" rule was eliminated, and Braids, Cabal Minion, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary became banned in the format, and so far, they have stayed there.

I wonder if they have remained for too long.

Currently, there are ten legendary creatures banned in the format. I want to examine whether any of them should be the reason for bringing back the "banned only as commander" rule.

Should they stay or go, or maybe some current creatures should be added to the list?

My name is Nick; this is Myth Realized - Should We Bring Back Banned Only As Commander?

Second Only To Dragons

Elves are the second most built deck in terms of kindred deck strategies, and Lathril, Blade of the Elves, is the fifth most built commander in the format.

Most commonly played Elf commanders like Ezuri, Renegade Leader or Voja, Jaws of the Conclave capitalize on playing a massive number of cheap and small creatures and then winning the games with a big combat step.

However strange it might be, there are only two Elves banned in the format, and out of the 120 legal Elf legends, they both happen to be emissaries.

One can make mana on a scale only seen by Gaea's Cradle. The other was one of the most oppressive commanders seen at a table.

Unlike the first article discussing Griselbrand, I will tell you right now that both cards are safe to bring back into the format as long as they are in the 99.

Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires

Let's start with Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. This card can make obscene amounts of mana, and going from two to four mana on turn two, it can turn a deck's game plan up to 11.

The easiest place to put a Rofellos would be in an Elf deck. It works with all the inherent synergies between the creatures, such as getting pumped by Elvish Archdruid or being untapped for another burst of mana by some "honorary Elves," Scryb Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote.

Once you get all this mana, the next step is deciding what to use it for. If you stay in mono-green, then Craterhoof Behemoth is the go-to, but maybe a big eldritch horror such as Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is more up your alley.

I would try to live in the most incredible magical Christmas land and ramp out an early Apex Devastator.

Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary can even be considered flexible since you do not need to run Elves explicitly; you must have forests.

So, any deck that can run green and gets a Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth out can enjoy all the benefits the card offers. So, if casting cards that cost eight to ten mana as soon as TURN THREE, why should this card come back?

Because You Have To Find It

The card would be banned as your commander, so you must try to find it within the 99 to get it. Some commonly played green cards can help you do this very quickly.

But, and I cannot stress this enough, the card will not be in the command zone. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary is the direct opposite example of a card like Griselbrand. The first is better if it can always be accessible thanks to the command zone, while the latter is better when you leave it within the other 99 cards of the deck.

There will undoubtedly be a game you take part in, or someone tells you about where someone casts a high-cost creature or impactful spell well before the table can handle it, thanks to Rofellos. And that will feel not good when you lose to it.

But losing to something like Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Edgar Markov, or The First Sliver can feel just as bad, if not worse. On the flip side, if you are the person getting to do the awesome thing that people tell a story about afterward, that can feel pretty good.

Bad-beat stories are just as much a part of playing the game as drawing cards, tapping lands, and speaking of bad beats.

If This Is Their Emissary, I Don't Ever Want To Meet This Trest Person

Most Magic: The Gathering players like to draw cards. Everyone who has ever had a Leovold, Emissary of Trest deck when they were legal liked it so much that they decided no one else at a table gets to draw cards except for them.

From personal experience, this card was extremely disheartening to play against. It is so easy to lock out an entire table and leave them with no options to fight out from underneath many Stax pieces.

Realistically, all you need to do is stick Leovold and a Teferi's Puzzle Box, and the game is mainly wrapped up right then and there.

On top of this, if someone can find an answer and cast it on something you control, you get to draw a card. This is to say that this card is OK to return as long as it is banned only as your commander.

Corporate Wants You To Find The Difference

These cards are legal, playable, and good in Leovold decks. Playing an Arcane Laboratory will hurt you just as much as your opponents. Still, you could always cut it and play one of the many-wheel cards instead. The top two are Dark Deal and an entrant on the top 100 most played cards, Windfall.

Much like the first entrant in the series Griselbrand, Leovold, Emissary of Trest thrives while you can have constant access to it. Unlike Griselbrand or Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary Leovold happens to be Sultai, the best three-color combination in the format.

Leovold was even on the salt list in 2019, two years after it was banned. So this card has everything going for it. It is powerful, inside the best three-color combination, and even has playable backup effects to deny your opponent cards. Why should this card ever be allowed back? The card is a three-color Elf.

Elves tend to stay mono-green or two-colors but thrive in three-colors as long as you add white. Sultai Elves' decks have 398 entries on EDHREC.

But they are not really "Elf" decks. Sultai is often played because of the combination of access to tutors in black, countermagic in blue, and impactful creatures in green.

So a creature that has no synergy with other creatures of its type, Elf Advisor, a restrictive three-color mana cost , and a place on the salt list during its short time of legality combine to make a card that will work itself out of the format.

Most of the cards on the salt list do not see heavy play. This even stands true when you take out banned cards and cards that are not accessible due to factors such as price.

After being played enough to get a measurable amount of reactions, saltier cards tend to work themselves out of players' decks or live inside a deck that gets pulled out for the first or last game of the night with acceptance by fellow players.

Forest Through The Trees

After reviewing it all, I favor bringing back the "banned only as commander" rule, and I believe both Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary and Leovold, Emissary of Trest should join that list.

I do not believe either card will lead to more "unenjoyable" games than any other disliked card currently playable. It is up to the opinions of the other players in a pod featuring these cards.

Inside of the 99, I like Rofellos more since it fits better into defined strategies and green ramp, and I believe I would be a more powerful card in the format.

Neither card does anything new compared to what we can play with now, but Leovold has key cards and play patterns that will tip off more seasoned players who will be hitting the battlefield soon.

Both of these card's power is heavily diminished when forced to stay in the 99, and that added balance tips the scale, for me, believing they are safe to come back.

What do you think, dear reader? Have you ever played with or against a turbo ramp deck featuring Rofellos? Have you ever been locked out by Leovold during the short time when it was legal?

Let me know here, or find me on social media @nicnax96. Stay tuned for more articles asking: Should We Bring Back Banned Only As Commander?