Go Tuck Yourself!

A hot debate raging between Commander playgroups regards a certain type of effect nicknamed "tucking". Tucking is the act of placing a card into the library (not usually on top, as it's hardly "tucked away" then). It's a highly effective tactic to use on cards you don't want to see again, because if a card is on the bottom of the library, it's as good as gone - cards deep in the library are often much harder to access than cards in the graveyard or the command zone. The commonly used rules for Commander found on the official rules committee website only allow a commander to be moved to the command zone if it is placed in the graveyard or exiled - tucking the commander actually does not allow you to move it there, so tuck effects can severely cripple decks that rely heavily on the commander to win. Of course, you can always modify the rules in your own playgroup if you feel this hinders the fun too greatly, but be careful if you intend to play Commander with players outside your group! The committee's official rules are widely accepted and your opponents might not agree with the change as there are some very solid arguments to be made for allowing tuck effects to function properly.

In case you can't read English, this
is a Japanese tuck effect.

Before I get into the arguments, it might be helpful to get a list down of the most common tuck effects. These are the cards you are most likely to run into if you are worried - or the ones you should consider if you are looking to add some!

• Condemn
• Oblation
• Hinder
• Proteus Staff
• Spell Crumple
• Spin into Myth
• Chaos Warp
• Warp World

Some of these have recently been reprinted in the Commander preconstructed decks, and Chaos Warp and Spell Crumple are actually new cards made specifically for the format. So though it doesn't mean a whole lot, it does show that the people in charge of building the precons were aware of and supportive of the existence of tuck effects.

The biggest issue facing tuck cards is that many players dislike when they are prevented from doing something. This is the same reason that land destruction cards and counterspells are currently at a low in power level and/or population - a certain group of players just can't stand when they can't do something. They would mind casting their Commander again and again when it gets hit with destroy effects, but when you Spell Crumple it, it's like you gained an emblem that says, "Timmy Everynerd can't cast his commander". I can certainly understand the frustration, but I feel Timmy should consider his options before getting upset. I have a simple acronym for dealing with problems in Commander (or any casual format): CAR.

• Change: Change your deck so that you don't lose to one type of effect. If losing your commander kills you, change your commander or change the deck so it can stand on its own.
• Adapt: Modify your deck with cards that deal with the effects that are good against it. Against tuck effects, try including more search effects or protective spells.
• Reshuffle: Lose the game, shuffle up, and play again. It's a 100 card format, so even with all the tutors in the world your opponent won't always have the tuck spell, and if all he or she is doing is trying to tuck your commander, use that knowledge to modify how you play to try to win the next game. The great thing about casual formats is that nothing is ever on the line - you can always shuffle up and try again.

Now, of course, the argument from Timmy's side is: Why should I change my deck to deal with your unfair effects? As I stressed in my post on competitive-casual playing, someone  has to change their deck at some point if two players are going to get along and play nice. If both refuse to do so, the only option is to find a new playgroup. So either you have to take the tuck effects out of your deck to play with him, or he's got to find a way around them. So who is right? Let's look at the effects of both options. (The option to modify the rules for tucking commanders so that they may be put into the command zone has roughly the same effect as simply taking the tuck effects out of your deck for the purpose of this discussion.)

Not so enchanting when he's on
the opposite side of the table.

If tuck effects are removed...

Without tuck effects, Timmy is certainly free to cast and recast his commander as much as he pleases. However, Spike McPhearson to your right is playing Zur the Enchanter, and he also is free to recast Zur as much as he wants - until he wins. Anyone playing notoriously powerful commander decks will enjoy the freedom of not having to force their deck to work for them when their commander gets Hindered or Chaos Warped. So while Timmy gets to have fun casting his commander, your chances of winning against Spike are much lower now. So use CAR, right? Well, Adapt is out - Timmy won't play if we modify the deck to deal with Zur permanently. So we can either Reshuffle and try again - which against a "Tier 1" commander deck tends to feel pretty hopeless, but if winning doesn't matter and you just want to cast spells, maybe that's for you. Last, we can Change the deck - but the problem isn't spells that deal with our deck, it's the opponent's deck winning by playing solitaire. So can we play a deck that wins faster? I guess we're playing a Tier 1 deck now too!

If Timmy changes his deck...

Now Timmy's added Time of Need, Planar Portal, and Worldly Tutor to his deck. If we Spell Crumple his commander, he has a few ways to search it out. If we're playing with Spike too, we can still deal with Zur or Azami or whoever he's playing today. Nobody had to change decks, Timmy simply added a few already good cards to his deck so he can always cast Silvos when he really wants to. And he really, really wants to.

Interestingly enough, though, if we were playing with Timmy and Spike from the beginning, it's very likely that Timmy would've never dealt with the Spell Crumple at all because all eyes were watching Zur. Multiplayer formats already have a built in mechanism to deal with "unfair" effects, and it's effect is magnified in Commander where you only have one of each card in your deck. That mechanism is threat level - Zur was so much more threatening than Silvos that, if we even drew Spell Crumple, we'd be saving it to hit Zur unless Timmy played an entwined Tooth and Nail or something equally or more threatening. Since we've only got one Spell Crumple, as soon as we hit Zur with it, Timmy can let down his guard a bit because that's one tuck effect already gone. What it comes down to is this - unless you are playing a commander that needs tucking to exist to balance him, tucking probably won't affect you anyway! 

Tucking shouldn't be such a nuisance if your playgroup knows what they are doing. You can play a less powerful commander and worry about it less, or you can play a more powerful commander and deal with it. And as a side benefit, the existence of checks to powerful commanders means we keep the banned list smaller, because with no way to permanently deal with Zur and Azami they could go the way of Rofellos, leaving many players with useless Commander decks. So keep this in mind next time your commander gets Spell Crumpled (or Scrumpled, as I prefer to say), and never forget that you can always shuffle up and play again.

Until next time,
Day 2 Dan