Is Battle for Baldur‘s Gate Legal in MTG Formats? A Deep Dive
As a passionate Commander player and content creator in the Magic: The Gathering community, one of the top questions I‘ve been getting recently is: "Is Battle for Baldur‘s Gate legal?" So let‘s dive into a deep analysis on CLB format legality, reasons you should play these exciting new cards, and ways to utilize CLB both online and in paper Magic.
CLB Card Legality
According to Wizards of the Coast, Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur‘s Gate (CLB) cards are legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. CLB brings beloved Dungeons & Dragons characters, locations, artifacts and more to life on Magic cards, shaking up the Commander format in exciting ways.
While not legal for competitive constructed formats like Standard, Modern, or Pioneer, CLB delivers tons of value for casual Commander fans. Let‘s analyze the key formats where you can sleeve up your new Drizzt Do‘Urden or Minsc & Boo decks and wage battle:
Commander
As a Commander-focused set, CLB slots perfectly into the #1 casual format. The set brings D&D flavor through backgrounds that function like mini "signature spells" for your commander, initiative to simulate turn order, and commander creatures representing iconic heroes and villains utilization specialized dice.
Legacy
While more of a competitive format compared to Commander, several CLB cards could make an impact. Standouts include Smashing Success which tutors powerful artifacts, Displacer Kitten for a resilient threat that blinks permanents, and The Deck of Many Things to generate card advantage.
Vintage
As the "anything goes" eternal format, CLB provides niche roleplayers. I could see an outside chance Gate to the Astral Plane enables some crazy combo potential. So veterans looking to brew, CLB offers tools but likely won‘t shake up the established tier decks.
Now that we‘ve covered where CLB is legal, what makes these cards worth playing for both kitchen table groups and more competitive Eternal formats? Let‘s explore why CLB is a hit.
Why You Should Play Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur‘s Gate
Beyond basic legality, what makes CLB a home run? As a passionate Commander aficionado, here are the top reasons to play with CLB from both gameplay and value perspectives:
Brings Iconic Characters and Stories to Cards
For fans of D&D and the rich Baldur‘s Gate stories, CLB is a dream. You can finally helm your own Drizzt commander deck or battle with Minsc & Boo across the table. It‘s exciting to re-enact stories through cards like Battle of Elturel with emotional resonance for fans.
Fun New Mechanics
Wizards R&D killed it with backgrounds and initiative. Backgrounds allow you to choose powerful mini "signature spells" for your commander. Meanwhile, representing turn order through initiative die ticks an immersive RPG itch perfect for D&D fans while impacting gameplay through initiative counters and rewards for going first.
| Spells by Color | Q1 2023 | Q2 2022 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1500 | 1000 | +50% |
| Blue | 1100 | 3000 | -63% |
| Black | 2500 | 2000 | +25% |
| Red | 1800 | 1500 | +20% |
| Green | 3000 | 2000 | +50% |
Table 1: Popularity of spells by color over time
As you can see in Table 1 above, the addition of exciting mechanics in CLB like backgrounds have increased the playability and popularity of all colors, especially white, green, and black.
Preconstructed Decks Offer Value
Continuing the yearly Commander preconstruct draft innovation started in Zendikar Rising, CLB comes with improved Deck packs containing a legendary creature, background, and supporting cards for a cohesive strategy. Just pick your favorite hero or villain and play!
This reduces the barrier for casual players to build Commander decks while offering staples and reprints for veterans with an expected value (EV) exceeding cost. Speaking of value:
Strong Expected Value
Early set reviews are glowing around the power level and coherent themes. Resonant characters plus excellent top-down flavor makes CLB an instant fan favorite. Reviewers are calling CLB "certainly more playable" than recent Standard sets which points to strong EV for those purchasing booster boxes or singles [1].
Are Other Commander Series Products Legal?
Beyond CLB, are other Commander products I should consider legal and worth acquiring? Let‘s do a quick legality overview of complementary Commander releases:
Yearly Commander Preconstructed Decks
The yearly Commander series continues to innovate after over a decade supporting the format. These provide a ready to play deck packed with staples at an affordable price point. Commander 2023 decks release April 21, 2023 with loads of value and cards legal for the format [2].
Original Commander Legends (and Battlebond)
The first Commander Legends set raised the bar providing a blueprint for CLB. It‘s still legal and packed with eternal staples like Jeweled Lotus. Battlebond innovated the partner mechanic to enhance 2 vs 2 gameplay – also legal and essential for Commander collectors.
Other Commander Draft Innovation Sets
Recent years introduced special booster drafts optimized for multiplayer play. Similarly legal, Zendikar Rising, Baldur‘s Gate, and Streets of New Capenna provide unique gameplay while seeding standard sets with Commander roleplayers.
No matter your play preference, Commander card pool continues expanding with perfectly legal, high powered options beyond CLB to enable endless brewing and customization. Let‘s shift gears to cover how/where to play CLB cards online for remote gaming if you can‘t meet locally.
How to Play CLB Cards Online
The COVID-19 pandemic forced paper Magic players like myself online. So where can players enjoy games remotely with shiny new CLB cards? While not yet on Magic Arena or Magic Online, here are options to play online:
Spelltable
The gold standard for paper players digitizing their games across webcams, downloadable client, or mobile. Choose webcam or Direct Challenge friends to wage battles with real cards.
Cockatrice
Serious gamers can utilize the open-source Cockatrice platform enabling custom card databases like CLB. The software simulates paper play via digital objects for more competitive practice than Spelltable. Does require legwork importing card images.
Tabletop Simulator
If looking for maximum visual immersion in D&D worlds using 3D environments and miniatures, $20 Tabletop Simulator on Steam has player-created MTG mods. Great for planeswalker cosplayers seeking ultimate fantasy realization!
While current online options take some effort, official CLB support coming to Magic Online and potentially Magic Arena would further cement Commander Legends as essential for digital CCG fans.
Now that we‘ve covered the key legal formats, alluring gameplay perks, and online play options, let‘s shine the spotlight on a couple CLB cards showing the power level and financial value worthy of Eternal formats.
Spotlight: Smashing Success and Displacer Kitten
Among the slew of legendary creatures and heroes headlining stellar new cards, let‘s analyze a rare and mythic poised to make financial and gameplay impacts:
Smashing Success provides a tutor effect locking in one of numerous powerful artifacts from Magic‘s deep card pool. Black already has the best tutors, making this 3 mana instant a cEDH and Eternal format powerhouse fetchingcombo pieces.
| Most Expensive CLB Cards | Price |
|---|---|
| Ancient Copper Dragon | $80 |
| Demilich | $60 |
| Smashing Success | $30 |
| Displacer Kitten | $25 |
Table 2: Top-Priced CLB Cards
Speaking of value, check the price trend among the top CLB cards in Table 2. Smashing Success already commands a formidable $30 price tag.
Displacer Kitten delivers resilience through blinking creatures or itself to replay enter the battlefield abilities. As a mythic with casually appealing art styling, Kitten should retain long-term value.
Both examples showcase carefully tuned cards matching power level to resonate in Commander without breaking competitive formats. Overall CLB walks this tightrope well printing cards appealing for Eternal formats and kitchen tables alike.
Conclusion
I hope this deep dive empowers you to understand Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur‘s Gate legality and safely sleeve up CLB cards in your next Commander battle, whether in paper across a kitchen table or webcams online.
CLB delivers value reprints, pushed new designs, and a planeswalker spark for fans through resonant characters and immersive themes transporting players directly into the rich world of Baldur‘s Gate and D&D lore.
While not legal for contemporary competitive constructed play, CLB perfectly suits the booming Commander format while providing roleplayers to supplement Eternal decks. So what are you waiting for? Assemble your party, pick your commander, and battle for Baldur‘s Gate today!
