Last week, we covered a mechanic from the upcoming set Commander Legends, and today, we’re back for an encore.
No, seriously — we’re here to tell you about the newest mechanic in Commander Legends, encore.
Encore is already getting a standing ovation from Commander fans for its simplicity and utility. But if you want to make sure you understand this new ability before you play your first Commander Legends game, read on!
What is Encore?
Encore is an ability that allows creatures in your graveyard to come back for another round. When you pay a creature’s encore cost, you exile that creature from your graveyard and create a token copy of it for each opponent you have. The tokens gain haste and must attack that opponent if they’re able to. If any tokens survive combat, you must sacrifice them at the beginning of your next end step.
Encore was designed for Commander, and it gets better and better the more opponents you have. For example, if you pay Amphin Mutineer’s encore cost, you get to put three 3/3 tokens with haste onto the battlefield and replace up to three of your opponents’ creatures with 4/3 salamander warriors. Not bad for just six mana!
You can only activate a creature’s encore ability if it’s in your graveyard, and like many graveyard-related effects, you an only activate an encore ability at sorcery speed. It’ll often be best to activate your creature’s encore ability on your first main phase so you can attack with it, but there may be situations where the encore is best saved for after combat.
Finer Details
A few additional notes on encore:
- When you activate a creature’s encore ability, it will be exiled from your graveyard regardless of whether the encore ability resolves. So, if your opponent Stifles your encore, you won’t get to try again later.
- If one of your opponents has an effect that prevents a token from attacking them, you can then use that token to attack a different opponent or planeswalker.
LEARN MORE!
Check out the rest of our keyword ability primers:
Banding
Companion
Cycling
Deathtouch
Enchant
Equip
First Strike & Double Strike
Flash
Flying & Reach
Haste
Hexproof
Indestructible
Kicker
Lifelink
Menace
Mill
Mutate
Partner
Phasing
Prowess
Prowl
Trample
Vigilance