Commander Legends

Commander Legends is the first-ever Magic: The Gathering Commander set that is designed to be drafted. It was the Innovation product for 2020 and was released on November 20, 2020. Due to production delays, the planned release date of this set was pushed back from November 6 to November 20.
==Set details==
Commander Legends is larger than a normal set, with both oft-asked-for Commander reprints and new cards. There are 165 new cards, including 71 legendary creatures and planeswalkers. The cards are legal in Eternal formats like Legacy, Pauper, Vintage and Commander. The set contains 361 regular cards and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all these cards. There are no basic lands in the main set. The six new Commander deck cards are numbered #362-367, and the Commander Deck reprints are numbered #368-504. Basic lands are #504-511. Cards with alternate card frames have another collector number than the original version. The two borderless planeswalkers are #512 and #513, foil-etched cards are numbered #514-614 and extended artwork cards are numbered #615-716. Both regular and foil versions of the borderless and extended art cards may be found in the Collector Boosters (there are no variants for the foil-etched cards). The cards with numbers #717-720 do not exist; these were going to be extended-art versions of the new Commander deck cards, but they were cut from the set (at too late a point for renumbering to occur). The Buy-a-Box is #721 and the prerelease promo is #722. 
The set is designed to play Limited Commander: you can play Draft or Sealed with it. It will also be available and draftable on Magic Online.
===Drafting rules=== 
The Commander Legends draft uses three draft boosters per player. For every pick, players take two cards at a time. This is to ensure coherency of decks, as players will need to conform to the color identities of their eventual commanders, and for speed. 
After the draft, players build a 60-card deck — much like how a traditional deck of Magic is 60 cards and a traditional draft is 40, here it's 60 to Commander's 100. All other Commander rules apply with one exception: the Singleton rule does not apply. You may play as many copies of a card as you draft of it, though given the set size compared to how many cards players get, it's not very likely to get more than 1 copy of a card. Players may always use one or more as a commander, even if they didn't draft one.
===Storyline===
The set features many known planes and characters as well as new ones. These cards can be from anywhere in space and time in the Multiverse: from Lorwyn to Alara, from the tales of the original Weatherlight Crew to present day.
===Marketing===
Commander Legends was sold in 20-card Draft booster packs. Each booster pack contains a non-legendary rare or mythic rare, a foil, and two legendary creatures (which may also be rare or higher). A 21st card is a Marketing card. The set is available in English, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. The set is also sold in 15-card Collector Boosters. Both of these types of boosters' booster boxes contain 24 booster packs. The Draft Boosters feature Jeska key art; the Collector Boosters feature art from <c>Prossh, Skyraider of Kher</c>.
The set introduced "foil-etched" cards, which use a brand-new foiling process that looks different from previous foils and has a special card frame. 32 popular legendary creature reprints exclusively appear in this frame. Foil-etched cards appeared in both Draft and Collector Boosters, with a greater frequency in Collector Boosters.
The set was not a fixed print run, and thus was printed on demand. Boosters were more expensive than normal booster products but less expensive than Masters series boosters. Booster boxes are being sold for around $125.
====Events====
*At-Home and In-Store Prerelease: November 13, 2020.
*Magic Online release: November 19, 2020.
====Promotional cards====
*Prerelease: alternate art by Pete Venters.
**Only given out to players who have a Wizards Account (available via the Magic Companion app). 
*Buy-a-Box: foil alternate art .
====Tokens and markers==== 
Commander Legends comes with fourteen tokens and markers. Tokens and markers appear in the marketing card slot. 
==Themes and mechanics==
The set of course features many legendary creatures and planeswalkers to use as commanders, many of which are uncommon. There is also one legendary creature (<c>The Prismatic Piper</c>) that is printed at the new "special" rarity, replacing a common in about 1 in 6 draft packs. 
In addition, Commander Legends has three returning non-evergreen mechanics and one new mechanic.
*Encore is the new mechanic, appearing only on creatures. You can pay a creature's encore cost and exile it from your graveyard to create several token copies of it for each opponent. Each of those tokens has haste, must attack that opponent, and is sacrificed during the end step.
*Partner, originally from Commander 2016. To facilitate deckbuilding, the set features 40 mono-color legendary creatures with a partner (and one colorless partner). A player may have two commanders if each of them has the partner keyword, with the two partners together combining their color identities for the deck. <c>The Prismatic Piper</c> is intended to be used as a failsafe, providing an additional color for a deck when the player isn't able to draft the right commanders.
*Monarch, returning from Conspiracy: Take the Crown, specifically to facilitate multiplayer play.New Commander Legends spoilers from an eBay listing. Reddit. Only one player at a time can be designated <c>the monarch</c>. At the beginning of the monarch's end step, they draw a card; and whenever someone deals combat damage to the monarch, they become the new monarch.
*Cascade, originally from Alara Reborn. When a spell with cascade is cast, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a nonland card that costs less, and may then cast it without paying its mana cost.
Commander Legends features the following limited archetypes:
*: Flying
*: Self-mill and encore
*: Sacrifice
*: "Power matters"
*: +1/+1 counters
*: Tokens
*: Pirate tribal
*: Elf tribal
*: Equipment and Auras
*: Cascade and "CMC 6+ matters"
===Card types===
Commander Legends introduces the Szat and Jeska planeswalker types.
===Counter types===
The set introduces Aegis counters.
==Cycles==
Commander Legends has seventeen cycles.
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Mythic partners 	 	 	 	 	
Mythic partners 	Five mythic rare legendary creatures or planeswalkers with partner. 	Five mythic rare legendary creatures or planeswalkers with partner. 	Five mythic rare legendary creatures or planeswalkers with partner. 	Five mythic rare legendary creatures or planeswalkers with partner. 	Five mythic rare legendary creatures or planeswalkers with partner.
Mythic sorceries 	 	 	 	 	
Mythic sorceries 	Five powerful mythic rare sorceries, each costing and three mana of one color. 	Five powerful mythic rare sorceries, each costing and three mana of one color. 	Five powerful mythic rare sorceries, each costing and three mana of one color. 	Five powerful mythic rare sorceries, each costing and three mana of one color. 	Five powerful mythic rare sorceries, each costing and three mana of one color.
Rare partners 	 	 	 	 	
Rare partners 	Five rare legendary creatures with partner. 	Five rare legendary creatures with partner. 	Five rare legendary creatures with partner. 	Five rare legendary creatures with partner. 	Five rare legendary creatures with partner.
Courts 	 	 	 	 	
Courts 	Five rare enchantments. Each makes you the monarch when they enter the battlefield and has a triggered ability on your upkeep that gets more powerful if you're the monarch. 	Five rare enchantments. Each makes you the monarch when they enter the battlefield and has a triggered ability on your upkeep that gets more powerful if you're the monarch. 	Five rare enchantments. Each makes you the monarch when they enter the battlefield and has a triggered ability on your upkeep that gets more powerful if you're the monarch. 	Five rare enchantments. Each makes you the monarch when they enter the battlefield and has a triggered ability on your upkeep that gets more powerful if you're the monarch. 	Five rare enchantments. Each makes you the monarch when they enter the battlefield and has a triggered ability on your upkeep that gets more powerful if you're the monarch.
Wills 	 	 	 	 	
Wills 	Five rare modal spells, each having two modes and letting you pick both if you control a commander. Each one is named after the mythic partner of their respective color. 	Five rare modal spells, each having two modes and letting you pick both if you control a commander. Each one is named after the mythic partner of their respective color. 	Five rare modal spells, each having two modes and letting you pick both if you control a commander. Each one is named after the mythic partner of their respective color. 	Five rare modal spells, each having two modes and letting you pick both if you control a commander. Each one is named after the mythic partner of their respective color. 	Five rare modal spells, each having two modes and letting you pick both if you control a commander. Each one is named after the mythic partner of their respective color.
Familiars 	 	 	 	 	
Familiars 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner. Each has an ability that affects commanders you control. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner. Each has an ability that affects commanders you control. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner. Each has an ability that affects commanders you control. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner. Each has an ability that affects commanders you control. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner. Each has an ability that affects commanders you control.
Artifact partners	 	 	 	 	
Artifact partners	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner that each synergize with artifacts, as to account for the higher as-fan of artifacts in draft. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner that each synergize with artifacts, as to account for the higher as-fan of artifacts in draft. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner that each synergize with artifacts, as to account for the higher as-fan of artifacts in draft. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner that each synergize with artifacts, as to account for the higher as-fan of artifacts in draft. 	Five uncommon legendary creatures with partner that each synergize with artifacts, as to account for the higher as-fan of artifacts in draft.
Vows 	 	 	 	 	
Vows 	Five uncommon auras that give a creature a power/toughness bonus, an evergreen keyword, and stop it from attacking the controller of the aura or a planeswalker that the player controls. Four were first printed in Commander: the last from the cycle, , used the now-obsolete keyword intimidate and thus wouldn't be reprinted.	Five uncommon auras that give a creature a power/toughness bonus, an evergreen keyword, and stop it from attacking the controller of the aura or a planeswalker that the player controls. Four were first printed in Commander: the last from the cycle, , used the now-obsolete keyword intimidate and thus wouldn't be reprinted.	Five uncommon auras that give a creature a power/toughness bonus, an evergreen keyword, and stop it from attacking the controller of the aura or a planeswalker that the player controls. Four were first printed in Commander: the last from the cycle, , used the now-obsolete keyword intimidate and thus wouldn't be reprinted.	Five uncommon auras that give a creature a power/toughness bonus, an evergreen keyword, and stop it from attacking the controller of the aura or a planeswalker that the player controls. Four were first printed in Commander: the last from the cycle, , used the now-obsolete keyword intimidate and thus wouldn't be reprinted.	Five uncommon auras that give a creature a power/toughness bonus, an evergreen keyword, and stop it from attacking the controller of the aura or a planeswalker that the player controls. Four were first printed in Commander: the last from the cycle, , used the now-obsolete keyword intimidate and thus wouldn't be reprinted.
Diamonds 	 	 	 	 	
Diamonds 	Five common artifacts that each cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. First printed in Mirage. 	Five common artifacts that each cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. First printed in Mirage. 	Five common artifacts that each cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. First printed in Mirage. 	Five common artifacts that each cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. First printed in Mirage. 	Five common artifacts that each cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. First printed in Mirage.
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Crowd lands 	 	 	 	 	
Crowd lands 	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, completing a cycle started in Battlebond. 	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, completing a cycle started in Battlebond. 	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, completing a cycle started in Battlebond. 	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, completing a cycle started in Battlebond. 	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, completing a cycle started in Battlebond.
===Six card cycles===
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	 	
Monarch creatures	 	 	 	 	 	
Monarch creatures	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.	Six common creatures that, on entering the battlefield, make their controller the monarch. Three were first printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown.
===Double cycles===
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Gold rares 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Gold rares 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures.
Gold signposts 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Gold signposts 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype. 	Ten uncommon dual-colored legendary creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype.
Uncommon pairs 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Uncommon pairs 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Uncommon pairs 	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.	Ten pairs of uncommon monocolored legendary creatures with partner, each together making a signpost for a draft archetype.
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Tricolor legends	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Tricolor legends	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures. 	Ten rare tri-colored legendary creatures.
===Mini-cycles===
Cycle name 	 	 	
Rare cascade creatures	 	 	
Rare cascade creatures	Three rare 4MM creatures with cascade. They have powerful abilities that add more worth to playing the costly creatures with cascade.	Three rare 4MM creatures with cascade. They have powerful abilities that add more worth to playing the costly creatures with cascade.	Three rare 4MM creatures with cascade. They have powerful abilities that add more worth to playing the costly creatures with cascade.
===Mega cycle===
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Sorcery magi	(<c>Balance</c>) 	(<c>Mind's Desire</c>) 	(<C>Yawgmoth's Will</C>) 	(<c>Wheel of Fortune</c>) 	(<c>Natural Order</c>)
Sorcery magi	Rare Wizards with the converted mana cost and abilities of iconic sorceries from Magic's past.	Rare Wizards with the converted mana cost and abilities of iconic sorceries from Magic's past.	Rare Wizards with the converted mana cost and abilities of iconic sorceries from Magic's past.	Rare Wizards with the converted mana cost and abilities of iconic sorceries from Magic's past.	Rare Wizards with the converted mana cost and abilities of iconic sorceries from Magic's past.
===Pairs===
Mirrored pair	Mirrored pair	Description
 	 	Two rare Avatars with a characteristic-defining ability that sets their power and toughness each to another value (life total and cards in hand, respectively).
 	 	Two rare creatures with flash and cascade that cost MM.
 	 	Two rare 3/2 creatures with flash for M that both punish the opponent for trying to get card advantage.
 	 	Two common 1/1 Elf Shamans for M with similar art but opposite effects (dies and discard vs. enters the battlefield and draw).
 	 	Two common Pirates for M. Both make the player the monarch and have an evasion ability to regain the title.
Lore pair 	Lore pair 	Description
 	 	Archelos and Kwain representing the fable of "The Tortoise and the Hare".
 	 	Glacian and Rebbec were married to each other and both part of the 28 leaders of the Thran Empire.
 	 	Alena and Halana are partners (in both work and life), who live in the depths of the dark Ulvenwald.
 	 	Breeches and Malcolm are both part of the Brazen Coalition and of Captain Vraska's crew.
==Preconstructed decks==
Commander Legends also features two preconstructed Commander decks that are released as a regular part of a set's product line. These are meant to be on-ramps to Commander, with a few new cards (three per deck) and the rest reprints. The new cards can't be found in Draft Boosters.
==Changes in rarity==
===Rare to mythic rare===
===Rare to uncommon===
===Rare to common===
*
===Uncommon to common===
*
The following are all new to Pauper.
===Common to uncommon===
==Notable cards==
*<c>Magus of the Order</c> the green card that completes the Magus Megacycle.
*<c>The Prismatic Piper</c> a Pauper Commander and the first card with the "special" rarity. It is a essentially a "basic" Commander. Like basic lands, it is always available to you, whether you drafted it or not.
* the collector number of this blue card (#61) is out of sync, being placed between (#60) and (#62). It is speculated that it was a last-minute replacement for <c>Call to Mind</c> by Terese Nielsen.
* the art of this card depicts faeries from three different planes: Dominaria, Eldraine and Lorwyn.
* the art of this card depicts several known artifacts: <c>Sensei's Divining Top</c>, <c>Behemoth Sledge</c>, <c>Sword of Light and Shadow</c>, , <c>Commander's Sphere</c>, <c>Darksteel Ingot</c>, <c>Rings of Brighthearth</c>, and the classic <c>Sol Ring</c>. Also <c>Door to Nothingness</c>, <c>Hammer of Nazahn</c>, <c>Vedalken Orrery</c>, <c>Skullclamp</c>, <c>Mana Vault</c>, and <c>Illusionary Mask</c>.
===Banned and restricted cards===
*'s design is ostensibly intended to punish players using incremental card draw for advantage but, like before it, players often used it offensively in combination with wheel effects to force opponents to discard their hands while refreshing their own. It was banned in Commander on July 12, 2021, on the same reasoning as Leovold.
* is an extremely powerful piece of mana acceleration. Like its inspiration , it essentially improves every possible deck with a commander. In the interest of reducing the power of fast mana in Commander, it was banned in that format on September 23, 2024.
===First time foil===
===Extended-art commons and uncommons===
For the first time, 33 commons and uncommons in Collector Boosters, namely format staples, are given extended-art frames. They are all either in the set proper or in the associated preconstructed theme decks.
 The regular printing of this card only appears in the precon decks, and not in draft boosters.
===Foil-etched reprints===
The following 32 legendary creature reprints are available in the new foil-etched treatment. All are upshifted to mythic rare and do not appear in the regular card frame.
==References==
==External links==
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