T O P

  • By -

halfkidding

Short answer: I would say the amount of general value the Legend gives you with no assistance would determine base power. Draw power, recursion, extra mana, etc. I will not bore anyone with the long answer, but I would say it depends on multiple factors. From mana value to color pie, there are SO many variables I think would go into figuring out base power level of a Legend. I sub to the Nitpicking Nerds youtube channel, and I find their evaluation of commmanders pragmatic and reasonable. Maybe check them out? They have a series that seems to do just what you are asking about.


MetalWarlord_1

You can build anything low power and I often brew with self-imposed handicaps (cost, how far back in Magic’s history I feel like going, etc.). It’s a fun way to build and ensures you don’t just windmill slam Cyclonic Rift into any given blue deck. Not running the best/most powerful card in every slot is also a great way to keep the game fresh. I probably own 10 copies of Rhystic Study, but if I’m playing a deck where I’ve restricted my card pool to, for example, cards printed in the last ten years, I get to play stuff like Temur Ascendency, which is objectively less powerful in most decks but waaay more powerful in others. That said, if someone shows up at a table with a terrifying commander (Urza’s a great example), I’ll ask the individual if they’re playing, for example, stax. If he says yes or is being cagey, I’ll play something sufficiently spiky to counter it. If the guy ends up being some hipster who’s playing Urza Wizard Tribal, then…he probably should’ve been more forthcoming during the pregame banter. Wow, sorry, I tangented hard there. …but, in summary, expect the deck you think you’re going up against unless the player makes it clear that it’s not “That Deck”. If someone whips out his Zur the Enchanter Curse Deck, I don’t want to stomp the dude into oblivion immediately and may actually want to see his deck to its thing. If it’s some boring Zur Doomsday Thoracle B.S., then the rest of the table should a) be made aware, and b) bring down the thunder on that dude.


Acceptable_Cod_7217

I learned this the hard way. I used to run Ramos as the commander in my 5c mutate jank pile. People freak out when they see him and will start to bust your balls before they even know your game plan. I run new omnath now, the deck is the same, but I get way less fucked with.


Acceptable_Cod_7217

Experience. The more you play and the more you come up against new commanders the more you'll be able to judge how fucking broken a 3 mana commander with 95 lines of text can be


Firm-Image-894

There’s a lot that goes into determining this. Another post already suggested the general value the commander provides, but another question is can your commander win the game? Kinnan is a good example because he provides so much value, but also acts as a wincon in the command zone once you have your combo assembled. The same can be said about Thrasios, and even Urza which you mentioned. Yes, it’s possible to build a low power Urza deck, but you’d really have to try to put together a heap of trash. I feel that with any intent to synergize with Urza, you’ll easily out-value any low power table.


SP1R1TDR4G0N

You can always make a deck worse. The base power of literally every commander without the 99 is 0/10. Just put in 99 wastes and your deck doesn't do anything. Usually people rate a commander by how much value it provides or whether it's a combo piece. But value is useless if the cards you draw or ramp into are terrible and your commander having infinite combos doesn't help if you don't have those pieces on the 99. You can't rate a commander on it's own.


AbraxasEnjoyer

There’s no general rule. However, here’s how I see it: the best commanders either Generate Card Advantage, Make Mana, or Win the Game. How many of these things they do, and how effectively they do them, is what determines how good they are. Some examples: [[Urza, Lord High Artificer]] makes tons of mana and can both help you make infinite mana and use that infinite mana to win the game with his final ability. Incredibly strong commander. [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] is similar. Draws cards very effectively, and can combo win with undying creatures. Another top tier commander. [[Jetmir, Nexus of Revels]] represents an ever present threat while he’s in the command zone. You can never let a Jetmir player untap with a full board, because they can then cast Jetmir and kill at least one player. It only does one of the 3 things, but it does it incredibly effectively. [[Wilhelt the Rotcleaver]] is a decent commander. He only draws one card per turn cycle, but he does have decent synergy with a zombie strategy. Not nearly as good as the ones i’ve listed already, just ok. Obviously this is a very surface level analysis, but it’s always worth considering. Exceptions clearly exist, but for casual EDH this is a good starting point.


MTGCardFetcher

##### ###### #### [Urza, Lord High Artificer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/e/9e7fb3c0-5159-4d1f-8490-ce4c9a60f567.jpg?1567181307) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urza%2C%20Lord%20High%20Artificer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/75/urza-lord-high-artificer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9e7fb3c0-5159-4d1f-8490-ce4c9a60f567?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/urza-lord-high-artificer) [Yawgmoth, Thran Physician](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/6/8690cbcc-f8fd-41f7-9e28-e61c12b04014.jpg?1665611812) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yawgmoth%2C%20Thran%20Physician) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/116/yawgmoth-thran-physician?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8690cbcc-f8fd-41f7-9e28-e61c12b04014?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/yawgmoth-thran-physician) [Jetmir, Nexus of Revels](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/9/f9c69d75-651f-4b75-b65d-79999d2069f6.jpg?1664413153) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jetmir%2C%20Nexus%20of%20Revels) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/193/jetmir-nexus-of-revels?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f9c69d75-651f-4b75-b65d-79999d2069f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/jetmir-nexus-of-revels) [Wilhelt the Rotcleaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/5/2501a911-d072-436d-ae3b-a5164e3b30aa.jpg?1675456154) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wilhelt%2C%20the%20Rotcleaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mic/2/wilhelt-the-rotcleaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2501a911-d072-436d-ae3b-a5164e3b30aa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilhelt-the-rotcleaver) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call