Scaled Wurm is awesome!

Do you want to play a game of Commander where Scaled Wurm is a strong card? What about Whiptail Wurm? How crazily cool would that be?

I created this variant for Commander that would enable creatures, pump, and cards that have a classic newbie feel. Do you remember when you first started playing? I’m sure not everyone’s experience was the same, but didn’t many of you care more about the size of a creature than its stupid abilities? Man, look at that crazy beefy Wurm! It’s much better than this silly ol’ 4/4 Genesis. That thing’s no bigger than a few Boars! (Like Durkwood Boars for example.)

I welcomed cards like Craw Wurm. But no one plays them anymore. Commander, the format of the casual world, often embraces expensive threats with potent game-smashing abilities, like the now banned Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial.

Therefore this Commander variant is intentionally kept simple in order to give it the sort of fresh perspective that can probably work once every so often as a break in the normal Commander arms race. Relax, take a step back, and build your deck around Whiptail Wurm and Serra Angel rather than Terastodon and Avacyn, Angel of Hope.

Say hello to Vanilla Commander! When the world of Commander ice cream is a bit too Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for your tastes, just have some vanilla. It’s the sorbet that cleanses the palette.

The goal of this format is to play creatures that qualify as either vanilla or French vanilla. What’s that? A creature is vanilla if it has no abilities. So Grizzly Bears is totally into vanilla. On the other hand, if a creature has just keywords and no other text, than its French vanilla, a special kind. As an example, consider Razortooth Rats. It simply possesses fear, a keyword ability. Therefore, although a bit French, it is still exclusively vanilla.

You can only play creatures that are vanilla or French vanilla. If a card has anything in its rules text other than keywords, it’s not a French vanilla creature and is disallowed. Consider the Case of the Canopy Dragon. It’s a 4/4 creature with trample. French vanilla right? But nope, it has an activation that gives it flying (and removes trample). It has added some mint chips to its bowl, so it’s no longer French Vanilla.

This is also true for cards that have abilities that are not technically keywords, such as regeneration. Uthden Troll is not French enough—too much cinnamon in the mix.

I also wanted artifacts and enchantments as well as specific Auras and Equipment in the format. But they needed to fit the theme. If a generic enchantment or artifact just grants keywords, pumps to power/toughness and has no other abilities at all, it’s fine. Examples include Knighthood and Collective Blessing. Similarly, Auras and Equipment are acceptable if they just grant keywords and pump. So Darksteel Axe is fine, as it grants pump and has a keyword. Fleetfeather Sandals gives a pair of keywords, so it works. Take Epic Proportions, which is perfectly acceptable with flash as a keyword. It grants trample and a big bonus, so everything is fine.

I also don’t mind if an artifact or enchantment has an activated ability that grants a keyword or bonus. I’ll be a little less strict there. So feel free to run Jabari’s Banner. Also note that Fires of Yavimaya suits us well since it gives haste and can sacrifice to pump a dude by two. It’s suitably French.

I thought about creatures that do the same and decided against it. No Master of the Pearl Trident or Icatian Scout.

You can play any sorcery, instant, or nonbasic you want as long as it does not violate the spirit of these rules. So feel free to run Celestial Colonnade, which turns into a 4/4 flyer, or Crush of Wurms, which makes vanilla tokens. But don’t run them if they make/turn into something that violates our French vanilla format (such as Eldrazi tokens).

No planeswalkers though—they have way to much syrup to count as properly vanilla!

So in summation, the only permanents you can play are lands, vanilla or French vanilla creatures, and artifacts or enchantments that just give or have keywords and nothing else.

Now in order to keep the spirit of the Vanilla Commander format, I think it may be necessary to require that two-thirds of the nonland cards be creatures, artifacts, or enchantments. I don’t want people to run virtually creatureless decks! So let’s add that.

And we’ll call it a format! Let me hit up the rules in a cute list, and then I’ll build a sample Vanilla commander deck.

Vanilla Commander

You may only play the following cards:

1) Creatures that are completely vanilla.

2) Creatures that have no rules text other than keywords.

3) Artifact creatures that meet the above restrictions.

4) Artifacts and enchantments that only grant or have keywords or bonuses to power/toughness to creatures.

5) Auras and Equipment that only give bonuses to power/toughness and keywords.

6) You may also play any sorcery, nonbasic land, or instant that you wish.

6a). Any sorcery/instant/nonbasic land that makes a creature token or turns into a creature may only make creature tokens that have no abilities or just keyword abilities.

At least two-thirds of your nonlands must be permanents that meet rules 1-5.

Examples of cards that meet these restrictions:

1) Isamaru, Hound of Konda; Watchwolf; Merfolk of the Pearl Trident

2) Akroma, Angel of Wrath; Air Elemental; Jolrael’s Centaur

3) Stone Golem, Alpha Myr, Yotian Soldier

4) Fervor, Akroma’s Memorial, Glorious Anthem

5) Holy Strength, Messenger’s Speed, Loxodon Warhammer

6) Anything, yay!

6b) Grizzly Fate, Darksteel Brute, Blinkmoth Nexus

So you can’t run things like Mind’s Eye, Rhystic Study, Control Magic, and Rancor. The only non-Aura, non-Equipment cards have to meet the rules of number four above. Every Aura/Equipment must likewise meet the rule of five. (Note that technically you can run Darksteel Relic. I think it’s the only non-Equipment, non-Creature pumping artifact that just has keywords itself. If there are any others, those are legal too.)

I also did a bit of research for you in order to make things a bit easier. In the Appendix are lists of most keywords as well as the legendaries I uncovered that fit. There certainly could be more of both, so I wouldn’t take either list as exhaustive.

All right, time to build a deck and take this format for a spin!

Ramirez DePietro

Abe Sargent

Test deck on 03-24-2014

Commander

Creatures (28)

Lands (28)

Spells (44)

Note that indestructible was recently made a keyword, but abilities like unblockable have not. So I was able to push a few indestructible creatures (and Fated Return) into the deck. We also have cycling and basic landcycling. Twisted Abomination can’t be run because of its regeneration ability, but the other two (Jhessian Zombies and Shoreline Ranger) are fine. I also added basic cycling just to give us some additional options. This deck has 40 lands, 40 nonland permanents, and 20 spells, thus exactly the two-thirds rule for nonland permanents.

Some classic Commander all-stars are included, such as Lightning Greaves. Pants up your people!

I thought about adding in a rule that would enable you to run mana rocks outside of your one-third, two-third rule. That would allow Sol Ring, Darksteel ingot, Everflowing Chalice, and such. Right now I want to playtest the format, and then if needed I can add that.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed a little vanilla trip around the world. Remember to grab your Scaled Wurms, and let’s have some fun!

The following words are listed in section 702 of the rules under keywords.

Appendix A: List Of Keywords

Deathtouch
Defender
Double Strike
Enchant
Equip
First Strike
Flash
Flying
Haste
Hexproof
Indestructible
Intimidate
Landwalk
Lifelink
Protection
Reach
Shroud
Trample
Vigilance
Banding
Rampage
Cumulative Upkeep
Flanking
Phasing
Shadow
Cycling
Echo
Horsemanship
Fading
Kicker
Flashback
Madness
Fear
Morph
Amplify
Provoke
Storm
Affinity
Entwine
Modular
Sunburst
Bushido
Soulshift
Splice
Offering
Ninjutsu
Epic
Convoke
Dredge
Transmute
Bloodthirst
Haunt
Graft
Recover
Ripple
Split Second
Suspend
Vanishing
Absorb
Aura Swap
Delve
Fortify
Gravestorm
Poisonous
Transfigure
Champion
Changeling
Evoke
Prowl
Reinforce
Conspire
Persist
Wither
Retrace
Devour
Exalted
Unearth
Cascade
Annihilator
Level Up
Totem Armor
Infect
Battle Cry
Living Weapon
Undying
Miracle
Soulbond
Scavenge
Unleash
Cipher
Evolve
Extort
Bestow
Tribute

So if it’s on this list, you can play a creature with it. Note that you can’t have a trigger that uses these keywords. For example, Krosan Tusker and Bane of the Living have cycling and morph triggers. They are not allowed. But you could run Keeneye Aven and Battering Craghorn.

If you look at a card and spy an ability word in italics, don’t get overly excited! Unfortunately, these words are not keywords but instead marker words that tie together a mechanic, such as battalion or hellbent or sweep. They don’t count as keywords.

Appendix B: List Of Vanilla & French Vanilla Legendary Creatures

Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Ayumi, the Last Visitor
Barktooth Warbeard
Commander Eesha
Gallowbraid
Ihsan’s Shade
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Jasmine Boreal
Jedit Ojanen
Jerrard Of The Closed Fist
Kasimir the Lone Wolf
Kodama of the North Tree
Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
Lady Orca
Lady Zhurong, Warrior Queen
Livonya Silone
Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms
Lu Meng, Wu General
Marhault Elsdragon
Mirri, Cat Warrior
Morinfen
Ramirez DePietro
Rorix Bladewing
Sir Shandlar of Eberyn
Sivitri Scarzam
The Lady of the Mountain
Thromok the Insatiable
Tobias Andrion
Torsten Von Ursus
Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior

Note that upkeep is not a keyword, so guys like Palladia-Mors and Chromium are out. Sorry Tajic and Tarox!

This is a pretty big list, though, bigger than I think most would believe.