I'm confused why it's legendary. Just for balance in Standard I guess?
But as a commander it has a neat niche in monogreen of having both vigilance and deathtouch, alongside some decent evasion. And even Atraxa doesn't have haste.
Manabarbs, Pyrohemia, and Ferocidon stand out as particularly spammy damage sources. Since Torbran isn't symmetrical they hurt you a lot less than your opponents.
Jaya, Venerated Fire Mage is also a solid pick, as are probably a few other otherwise underrated 'walkers that burn something for 1.
I enjoy any commander game where everyone is playing decks at the same level. Degenerate combo-control is totally fine by me as long as you didn't shrug and say 'sure' to that new kid who asked to join the table because they wanted to test out their precon for the first time. Counterspell wars are honestly awesome as long as everyone can participate. Because, as has been pointed out before, it feels like there's a buildup to it. Every spell counts and every slight grievance against you is a white-knuckle choice of "do I retaliate, or do I let it slide in case I need to stop a win?" Every previous choice matters.
But if you've allowed someone playing red-green minotaur tribal into that game, you've basically graciously allowed them to waste two to three hours of their life either not understanding why they don't get to have fun or else understanding it perfectly well and being too polite to walk away. It's a similar case for the inverse situation where everyone is having fun with their battlecruiser jank, and then you cut in with a counter-supported combo just before the game could reach its glorious finale.
A fun ante format for people with a single consistent playgroup who all like to play cheap jank cards, created based off of a format I saw other people playing at a LGS back when I was a kid...
The format uses vintage-legal cards, plus all ante cards.
There are four rules; earlier (i.e. lower-numbered) rules take precedence if two rules conflict.
1: At the start of each game, each player antes the top card of their library. When another player wins, you sign your name on the card you've ante'd (over top of previous signatures, if necessary) and the winner adds it to their deck.
2: You can never remove a signed card from your deck (that is, a card you won as an ante through rule 1).
3: Your deck must contain two of each non-waste basic land card, signed or not.
4: Your deck must contain exactly 60 cards. If you play multiple games in quick succession, don't worry about immediately replacing cards lost to ante.
I don't know that these are the exact rules they'd used; I never thought to ask at the time. There's a good chance I'm re-inventing a format that already exists and which I just haven't heard of. But the intent is the same: to end up with a mish-mash of random janky cards, and have a good time laughing at how horrible these decks eventually become.
I wouldn't call her a Mary Sue per se, but that's not to say there isn't a good deal of bad writing surrounding her.
What irks me the most is that this centuries-old planeswalker and master of black magic wouldn't figure out that the all-important contract for her soul defaults to Nicky when she kills all her demons. It's supposed to make Nicol Bolas look more clever and devious than her, but honestly it just makes her look stupid and incompetent instead.
That's my main problem with the whole Nicol Bolas arc. At every turn, WotC's idea of making Nicol Bolas seem like a mastermind is to just make everyone opposing him an idiot. I'm mostly okay with that being the case for the rest of the Gatewatch, since they're all relatively new at this whole planeswalker thing. But it ends up making Liliana a very unbelievable and short-sighted character that just doesn't gel with her own lore. And then she's just overpowered instead to try to make it look like she knows what she's doing.
This and Flux Channeler at uncommon make me so happy. I was hoping they'd bring back proliferate as Simic's mechanic, but this works just as well (and is even in the same colors!)
Since there seems to be some confusion on this; you *do* win the game if you use his ult with fewer than 7 cards left.
What happens is...
Jace is at 8, you have, say, 5 cards left.
You ultimate Jace, his ability goes on the stack. He dies as a state-based effect when you next receive priority.
Priorities are passed and the ability begins resolving. You complete all of the instructions on the ability before receiving priority again: you draw seven cards (but can't, so you only draw five. You try to draw a sixth, but can't, so next time you would receive priority, you lose instead.). But for now you keep going. Next sentence: "If your library has no cards in it (it doesn't), you win the game". So, complete those instructions. You win the game.
Boom, game over, you win. Go get yourself a victory soda.
You never actually lose because you won first, before you would have received priority again. Note that this also does not count as losing and winning at the same time; in this specific case you win immediately before you would otherwise lose.
Yrrej8611 above goes into more detail about the actual MTG comprehensive rules that determine all of this.
tl;dr: his ult is confusing because it wins you the game immediately, whereas 'decking' yourself out doesn't actually cause you to lose until after you've done everything the ability says (not just the first sentence).
Quite a far cry from Ayara, First of Locthwain. At such a restrictive mana cost (and legendary and rare), I'd expect something a little more impactful.
2
But as a commander it has a neat niche in monogreen of having both vigilance and deathtouch, alongside some decent evasion. And even Atraxa doesn't have haste.
Evolve it into its final form with Bladed Pinions!
Power Matrix also works well.
2
Manabarbs, Pyrohemia, and Ferocidon stand out as particularly spammy damage sources. Since Torbran isn't symmetrical they hurt you a lot less than your opponents.
Jaya, Venerated Fire Mage is also a solid pick, as are probably a few other otherwise underrated 'walkers that burn something for 1.
All in all I know who my next burn commander is.
EDIT: Goblin Sharpshooter, Glint-Horn Buccaneer, Firebrand Archer, Thermo-Alchemist, Electrostatic Field, Close Quarters, Circle of Flame, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Burning Earth, Battle Strain, Heat of Battle, Ashmouth Hound, Ornery Goblin, Kessig Forgemaster, Outpost Siege, Leyline of Lightning, Scorch Spitter, Goblin Bombardment, and good old Purphoros, God of the Forge.
And, y'know, anything that makes a whole bunch of small tokens like Hordeling Outburst, Tempt with Vengeance, Lightning Coils, or Firecat Blitz
1
But if you've allowed someone playing red-green minotaur tribal into that game, you've basically graciously allowed them to waste two to three hours of their life either not understanding why they don't get to have fun or else understanding it perfectly well and being too polite to walk away. It's a similar case for the inverse situation where everyone is having fun with their battlecruiser jank, and then you cut in with a counter-supported combo just before the game could reach its glorious finale.
3
I mean...
She gets hit by CoCo, I guess?
... Half of this set is just going to be for commander, isn't it?
I'm not disappointed.
3
A+ design, 10/10, magnifico
1
The format uses vintage-legal cards, plus all ante cards.
There are four rules; earlier (i.e. lower-numbered) rules take precedence if two rules conflict.
1: At the start of each game, each player antes the top card of their library. When another player wins, you sign your name on the card you've ante'd (over top of previous signatures, if necessary) and the winner adds it to their deck.
2: You can never remove a signed card from your deck (that is, a card you won as an ante through rule 1).
3: Your deck must contain two of each non-waste basic land card, signed or not.
4: Your deck must contain exactly 60 cards. If you play multiple games in quick succession, don't worry about immediately replacing cards lost to ante.
I don't know that these are the exact rules they'd used; I never thought to ask at the time. There's a good chance I'm re-inventing a format that already exists and which I just haven't heard of. But the intent is the same: to end up with a mish-mash of random janky cards, and have a good time laughing at how horrible these decks eventually become.
2
What irks me the most is that this centuries-old planeswalker and master of black magic wouldn't figure out that the all-important contract for her soul defaults to Nicky when she kills all her demons. It's supposed to make Nicol Bolas look more clever and devious than her, but honestly it just makes her look stupid and incompetent instead.
That's my main problem with the whole Nicol Bolas arc. At every turn, WotC's idea of making Nicol Bolas seem like a mastermind is to just make everyone opposing him an idiot. I'm mostly okay with that being the case for the rest of the Gatewatch, since they're all relatively new at this whole planeswalker thing. But it ends up making Liliana a very unbelievable and short-sighted character that just doesn't gel with her own lore. And then she's just overpowered instead to try to make it look like she knows what she's doing.
1
I also find Recurring Insight to be very impactful if it doesn't get countered.
Painful Truths is very efficient if you're running three colors.
And Pain's Reward is hands-down the most fun.
Of course there's always Cruel Bargain and Infernal Contract; you only need 1 life to win, right?
2
2
What happens is...
Jace is at 8, you have, say, 5 cards left.
You ultimate Jace, his ability goes on the stack. He dies as a state-based effect when you next receive priority.
Priorities are passed and the ability begins resolving. You complete all of the instructions on the ability before receiving priority again: you draw seven cards (but can't, so you only draw five. You try to draw a sixth, but can't, so next time you would receive priority, you lose instead.). But for now you keep going. Next sentence: "If your library has no cards in it (it doesn't), you win the game". So, complete those instructions. You win the game.
Boom, game over, you win. Go get yourself a victory soda.
You never actually lose because you won first, before you would have received priority again. Note that this also does not count as losing and winning at the same time; in this specific case you win immediately before you would otherwise lose.
Yrrej8611 above goes into more detail about the actual MTG comprehensive rules that determine all of this.
tl;dr: his ult is confusing because it wins you the game immediately, whereas 'decking' yourself out doesn't actually cause you to lose until after you've done everything the ability says (not just the first sentence).