MTG Salvation

Ojutai's Command has always seem very powerful to me because it can reanimate at instant speed and the other modes are very relevant

Creatures that this can reanimate:

Snapcaster Mage
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Tarmogoyf
Meddling Mage
Spellskite
Wall of Omens
Young Pyromancer
Thing in the Ice
Scavenging Ooze
Voice of Resurgence
SpellStutter Sprite

Based on the available modern playable cards, Bant seems like the strongest color to use with Command. There has been some UW jace decks doing well with it online but I wanted to expand this conversation since Tamiyo, Field Researcher got printed a month ago.

While the card is versatile I think it's a tad too slow in modern.

1. Incidental GY hate hits reanimate on targets, you need something g in the GY to begin with, and your opponent has to lack an answer she. It comes back. Yeah a surprise goyf as a blocker is brutal, but that's magical Christmas land sometimes. Scooze, relic of Progenitus, rest in peace, and leyline of the void are already heavily entrenched in the format as sideboard staples. With dredge doin so well at the recent SCG open this may see even more hate.
2. The life gain is irrvelevant on certain match ups. If it helps you turn the corner great, but some decks just don't care about a life total very much if at all. TRON, infect, heavily wide large damage decks like elves or merfolk.
3. The creature counter is useful but honestly you need this to be hitting cmc 1-3 dudes and hopefully you're not going against a tribal deck with cavern of souls. Decks like storm make this even worse as electromancer is your only target if they're on him.
4. Drawing a card is great but there are plenty of other cards in color that just do it better, sooner, with more perks sometimes. I'd rather have think twice if I'm using this more often.

The prospect of the card is its versatility for sure, but I don't know if the various applications are broad enough for a 4 drop to see play.

Quote from mapccu »

While the card is versatile I think it's a tad too slow in modern.

1. Incidental GY hate hits reanimate on targets, you need something g in the GY to begin with, and your opponent has to lack an answer she. It comes back. Yeah a surprise goyf as a blocker is brutal, but that's magical Christmas land sometimes. Scooze, relic of Progenitus, rest in peace, and leyline of the void are already heavily entrenched in the format as sideboard staples. With dredge doin so well at the recent SCG open this may see even more hate.
2. The life gain is irrvelevant on certain match ups. If it helps you turn the corner great, but some decks just don't care about a life total very much if at all. TRON, infect, heavily wide large damage decks like elves or merfolk.
3. The creature counter is useful but honestly you need this to be hitting cmc 1-3 dudes and hopefully you're not going against a tribal deck with cavern of souls. Decks like storm make this even worse as electromancer is your only target if they're on him.
4. Drawing a card is great but there are plenty of other cards in color that just do it better, sooner, with more perks sometimes. I'd rather have think twice if I'm using this more often.

The prospect of the card is its versatility for sure, but I don't know if the various applications are broad enough for a 4 drop to see play.

This card has had some results online (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=12924&d=275212&f=MO) and on paper (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=13079&d=276403&f=MO), (http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/119453),(http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/118468), (http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/118689) While these aren't enough results to get it to tier 2, it definitely has potential to be better. Definatley not unplayable.

If "incidental graveyard hate" were a reason to not play a card, then why are people not trading their Snapcaster Mages for a set of strictly better Ambush Vipers?

I'm not saying the card is unplayable, I just don't think it's optimal. The modes really are extremely good with the right environment, but that can be said for a variety of cards. That being said, the format has been known as a T4 format for years.

If I want life gain, a way to deal with creatures, or card draw there are cards that do it straight up better (cryptic command and blessed alliance come to mind if you want modal spell examples.) 4 mana is a rough hurdle for some decks when you're squatting waiting to haymaker someone with a counter your kalitas/recur my goyf or whatever crazy play you want to insert here your opponent may be applying the soft/hard lock their deck is built for. It is a huge tempo loss for the opposition if you fire it off on juicy targets, so how do you capitalize on it is the question. How do you leverage its unique recursion mode to a game win...

If I'm recurring a JVP I want strong instants/sorceries but I want to fully utilize my resources and not -3 for just any reason, If I'm recurring a snap I need more than 4 mana. If I'm recurring an abbot of keral keep I need more than 4 mana. If I'm recurring a dark confidant then 4 cmc spells better be sparse in my deck otherwise I'm playing with fire, if I'm recurring a goyf then chances are some form of GY hate is coming in for games 2/3 where I've built into obvious GY synergies that will likely show up in game 1. These are all super powerful two drops, but I'm not excited to recur many of them until I'm sitting at 5+ mana. That is potentially quite far into some games of magic. Father than some decks will even see.

Can you control the game until that point? Sure, but I still feel like there are stronger spells (cryptic command, sweepers, nahiri, etc) at 4 cmc. Spells that if you play control and denial well enough for rounds 1-3 put your opponent in a answer or lose situation in like 2-3 turns.

The type of deck I can see this being an all star in would be something like an esper faeries or spirits build. Where you're returning a spellstutter sprite or mausoleum wanderer to counter a game breaking spell. Draw a card & counter your 3-4 drop while getting a body is the kind of play I can get behind. Even better if you run discard early on for clearer lines of play of when to fire off your spells.

I'm just giving my opinion, I know the card has popped up but it's not hitting the high tables. The truth is that the decks that are currently out there are running some seriously efficient spells that are the absolute best at what that deck wants. Finding a place for this isn't going to be easy or maybe even feasible in the current meta imo. I didn't mean to criticize it overly harshly, just realistically. What kind of pushback is this going to see and I want to evaluate a card in some of the least ideal conditions because that's where you'll find yourself sometimes.

@aparthia I agree the 2 drop slot feels lackluster if you run this out on curve. Imo goyf is the strongest target in a lot of board states. I also like the idea of spellstutter. The great news is that this will only ever get better.

@cantspeak snap is great value and tussles with a good chuck of modern playable creatures. He is sometimes just a 2 mana removal spell as a blocker as much as he is a recur my bolt for value type of creature. I mean with comments like this I could just as easily say why do people play infect when Melira was printed. It doesn't help the argument because there is no meat to the rebuttal. I was simply stating that over reliance on GY effects (which O command begs the inclusion of snap and/or JVP at the very least since they are strong and in color) could trigger a hairy game 2/3 if you aren't prepared for GY hate that seriously craps your value engine.

My comment was based on the fact that you said a downside to Command was that is relies on the graveyard. The example I gave with Snapcaster is valid because without a graveyard O's Command is a better spell that Snapcaster.

I've been really liking it in esper spirits, it's easier to cast than Cryptic since 1U1W tends to come up more readily than triple U, and w/ Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, and Mausoleum Wanderer heading to the GY the card gains a whole lot of extra utility. My testing has led me to conclude that while, generally, all of it's modes are individually weaker than some other cards, the flexibility and versatility that it can offer to a deck like spirits makes it worth running as a 1-2 of. I don't think it has the universal power of something like Cryptic but it's certainly a modern playable card that can be very good in certain decks, and has a mode that is very good against certain others.

This card can be good in either a tempo type deck or a controll deck. The problem with the tempo decks is that it is hard to find a good 2 drop to get back that could work with this 4 mana spell.

However, the print of selfless spirit will certanly make this card better. It is hard to find a shell for the card, but I think it could be good in a spirit deck.

In a controll deck on the other hand the card us much better because you can use all 4 modes in good synergi. In particular the lifegain can be good for regaining life vs agro decks. The controll deck would also need to play creatures to get back. Wall of Omens would be good. Jace would be good, maybe thing in the ice. I would play more two drops then snapcaster mage because getting him back is only good once you get an insane amount of mana.

Ojutai's Command sees play in UW Value Control/Emeria Control, where all four modes are relevant. The deck is kind of soft against Burn and Tron, but has an excellent Jund matchup, so this may actually be a good time to play it.

Quote from Richard Arschmann »

Ojutai's Command sees play in UW Value Control/Emeria Control, where all four modes are relevant. The deck is kind of soft against Burn and Tron, but has an excellent Jund matchup, so this may actually be a good time to play it.

That's what I'm saying. I have a feeling that a bant list with 4 wall, 3-4 jace, 4 goyf, 2-4 snap, and some of the new Tamiyo seems decent.

Why would it need the new Tamiyo? The whole point of Emeria Control is that all the relevant permanents cost 3 or less so you can recur the with Sun Titan and friends. Tamiyo addresses none of the awful matchups. The deck might be better off with 2 red sources- maybe a Mountain and a Sacred Foundry- so it could play Crumble to Dust or Magus of the Moon in the board for Tron. You can find the Mountain with Pilgrim's Eye.

Quote from cantspeak »

If "incidental graveyard hate" were a reason to not play a card, then why are people not trading their Snapcaster Mages for a set of strictly better Ambush Vipers?

Nice comment, worth elaborating on even more in general. If "incidental" graveyard hate were a rule to absolutely abide by, then snapcaster's etb, which is strictly graveyard based, would be irrelevant. And for Ojutai's command, even if absolute gy hate existed, it would still retain 3 of 4 modes. The evaluation of a card's power based on how it can get totally shut out is time and time again found to be inconsequential. The card isn't a bomb for other reasons.

I guess some people will prefer Ambush Viper over snap :^]