MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

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Grantholomeu
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MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by Grantholomeu » Sun Nov 14, 2021 5:21 am

Just throwing the feelers out there, but I've read about this format called Oathbreaker that seems like fun. I don't have a deck ready or anything, but if there was interest I would definitely be down to put one together and play some games a month or two from now at our games day.

Oathbreaker is similar to Commander, but instead of a legendary creature, you choose a planeswalker to be your "oathbreaker." Additionally, you choose a "signature spell" that matches your oathbreaker's color identity. Your signature spell must be an instant or sorcery. Both of them start in the command zone just like commander, but you can only play your signature spell when your oathbreaker is on the battlefield. The same rules as commander apply where you can play your oathbreaker and signature spell any number of times, but the mana cost goes up by 2 generic mana every time you cast them.

Oathbreaker is played with 60-card singleton decks that match your oathbreaker's color identity.

Full rules here:
https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Oathbreaker
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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by me_in_japan » Sun Nov 14, 2021 1:12 pm

I...could be persuaded to play Oathbreaker. I looked into it a little when it first debuted, but never really took it any further. My concern (which may be needless) is that shenanigans could get out of hand real fast with access to both a commander and a spell. Like, turn 2 game over, fast. Is there any opinion in the community regarding this?

As an addendum to the previous: What benefits does it have over plain ol' commander?

But despite the above, if folks are interested, then yeah, I could play :)
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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by Grantholomeu » Sun Nov 14, 2021 10:51 pm

I don't know if it's better than Commander rather than just something different. I think games could be faster. As a matter of fact, I think that's one of the points that interested me. In Commander, you can often get away with taking your time to set up your board, but Oathbreaker is much more hostile from the get-go. Kind of a different dynamic to think about when deck-building. Also from a financial standpoint, 40 fewer cards in a deck, so that's nice. I think 1-on-1 could be similar to normal constructed 60 speed honestly. I'm interested to see how a 4-player game would play out.

And suspecting combo shenanigans, I was seriously thinking of making a deck with my signature spell being Counterspell :lol:
Or now that I'm thinking more about it... could you run Force of Will and avoid the +2 mana cost per cast? I feel like it'd have to end up being "exile 1 blue card from hand, pay 1 life, AND +2 generic mana per cast."
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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by me_in_japan » Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:43 pm

If Oathbreaker follows Commander rules for commander tax (and I’m pretty sure it does), there’s no getting around it. It’s always: pay cost of card, and add 2 colourless mana to said cost, even if said cost is “zero”.

Fwiw, I was eyeing Aminatou and vampiric tutor, so we may be on the same page here 😆

Ashiok and reanimate also appeals 😁
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Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...

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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by Grantholomeu » Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:32 am

I was thinking Ashiok mill. :D

On another note, unfortunately Shahrazad is banned, so no infinite games of Magic.
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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by me_in_japan » Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:11 pm

kinda idly wondering, but would there be any interest in Oathbreaker over spelltable? I could certainly manage it, with enough notice to build a deck and whatnot. Any takers? Not necessarily now, or even soon, but just as a general idea?
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Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...

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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by Grantholomeu » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:31 pm

I don't think I would have the space or technology to play with an overhead camera.

We could try Cockatrice if that's still going strong. It's a database with all the cards in it, and you can make lobbies and have friends join etc. It's all free and digital. And it's quite free with the movement of cards and whatnot. No hard coded, "Select your target now. Go to combat. Etc." They expect you to be talking with your opponent and simply moving the cards where they're supposed to go. I used it years ago and the simplicity was really nice.
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Re: MtG Any Interest in Oathbreaker?

Post by me_in_japan » Thu Nov 18, 2021 3:31 am

I suppose cockatrice is a possibility, or Tabletop Simulator, if you have that? (I’ve played magic on the latter, but am unfamiliar with the former).

That said, I found spelltable to be extremely simple to set up. I just lay my phone (camera pointing down) slightly overhanging a pile of books id put at the back of my table, to give it some height. When you set up/join a spelltable game there’s a wee code thingy you scan with your phone that automatically connects it to “you” in the game. After that it’s just like a normal game of magic, except you can click on your oppo’s cards and it’ll give you pop up info on the card like updated gatherer rules etc. it’s very clever. I guess I also kinda want to actually use the cards I’ve painstakingly collected over the years, y’know?

I’m not totally against cockatrice, don’t get me wrong. I just figure spelltable might be nicer? 🤷🏻‍♂️ I dunno. I’m open to counter arguments 😊
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things

Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...

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