In case you hadn’t heard, November is an important month for Magic: The Gathering.
Commander Legends, the first-ever set designed to be booster drafted in the singleton format, lands in stores in just a few weeks from now and, as if it needed stating, the expansion is packed with some exceptionally powerful cards for all kinds of pre-existing and new, yet-to-be-discovered archetypes. While there’s still plenty more to come in terms of reveals, though, one specific card – an artifact, in this case – is making waves on social media and among Magic communities for what’s being perceived by many as an incredibly powerful, borderline game-breaking addition.
The contentious piece of cardboard in question this time around is Jeweled Lotus, a 0-cost artifact with an effect that fans of Vintage formats will be immediately familiar with. Before we get into the hows and whys of this particular controversy, though, be sure to check out the Mythic rare for yourself below.
Traditionally speaking, mana ramp (i.e. gaining multiple temporary mana from a single card) has proven to be an incredibly potent mechanic in Magic. At face value, then, Jeweled Lotus conferring three mana of any one color for the low cost of absolutely nothing seems absurd, but there are a few caveats worth noting. First and foremost, as a Commander-only card, only one copy of Jeweled Lotus can be inserted into a deck and has no direct means of being tutored (pulled from the deck from anywhere).
Second, unlike the infamous Black Lotus, its jewelled variant can only be sacrificed for the specific purposes of casting a deck’s commander, drastically reducing its flexibility. Despite these drawbacks, however, many fans have jumped straight to labelling this new addition to the format as an auto-include requiring no strategy, to which Magic designer Gavin Verhey has responded by defending its creation.
I’d go as far to say that Arcane Signet is significantly better than Jeweled Lotus in a majority of decks. In Commander, cards like Dark Ritual – trading a card for quick mana boost – are traditionally not very good. There will be decks where this is strong, but in many it won’t.
Agree with Verhey, or are you of the opinion that Jeweled Lotus will be first in line when it comes to Wizards of the Coast dishing out card bans following the launch of Magic: The Gathering – Commander Legends? Let us know in the usual place below!
