Kolaghan's Command from Dragons of Tarkir - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

by  ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

When I first looked at the red/black Command, I was mostly underwhelmed. But after doing some research and discussing it with a couple of players, I can see why people might like this card. Let's see what are the four modes for this card, of which you can choose two from:

• Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Target player discards a card.
• Destroy target artifact.
• Kolaghan's Command deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
  
  

Getting a creature back to your hand is nice but rarely used outside of limited and commander. Forced discard is fine, but as half this card it doesn't feel like a strong option. Destroy target artifact is fine, but more of a sideboard card ability. And 2 damage to creature or player is OK.

I think one non-traditional place this card could work well is in the newest Commander variant, Tiny Leaders. Getting a creature back in a format where you run so few creatures already in a 50-card deck is good. Discard is good with Blightning and other great discard spells CMC 3 or less making that strategy work. There are enough artifact effects, too. Plus many Tiny Leaders have 2 or less toughness, so it's an easy Commander kill, plus value most of the time. Of course, there are currently only a few niche decks in Tiny Leaders that could play it.  

Kolaghan's Command has great value in Limited for pretty much the same reasons that it's good in Tiny Leaders: it’s really never going to be a bad draw. Artifacts are more prevalent in Limited due to the fact that they work in any color. Discard is especially far more valuable, as is getting back a creature from the graveyard. Adding a Shock effect to that is quite good. So it’s a very strong Limited card.

In Constructed, I see it as a useful sideboard play in Grixis (Red/Black/Blue) control decks, especially in Modern where getting back certain creatures is even more valuable. The artifact destruction is very relevant in Modern, as well, and 2 damage kills Noble Hierarch and Snapcaster Mages.

As far as Standard play is concerned, how much mainboard play this card will see depends on how the meta shapes up. The Shock effect kills Morph creatures and Elvish Mythics and adds a bit extra value on top of that. In a Control type deck, three mana seems worth it for what the card can do and it’s a card that is still useful later in the game. It’s not my favorite of the Command cards, but it’s solid.

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