If you're tired of talking about Companions and what they mean for Commander (or Standard or Modern or Legacy or Pioneer or Vintage), I regret to inform you that yes, we are indeed still talking about it. And with good reason - these ten cards are impacting every format on a scale unlike anything we've seen out of a new mechanic since... Energy? Maybe. Man, remember Kaladesh block? Seems like a hundred years ago.

Last week I began my look at the debate around Companions in Commander by examining the pros. Now it's time to look at this divisive debate from the other side, and by the end, you'll know exactly where I stand. Come, be my Companion on this journey. (I'll see myself out.)

Identity Crisis

One of the strongest arguments against Companions in Commander is also the simplest and most straightforward: They break the rules. In multiple ways, as a matter of fact.

Commander decks have 100 cards. Not 99, not 101. Like every other format, your opening hand cannot contain more than seven cards. And spells and abilities that bring things in from outside the game do not function in Commander. Therefore I can't dismiss the argument that, on their faces, the Companions don't belong here. If you have one, it's card #101. Because you can cast it freely once you can pay its mana cost, it's functionally the eighth card in your opening hand, and it lives in its own "outside the game" zone.

[[Show: Living Wish + Coax from the Blind Eternities + Vivien, Arkbow Ranger + Lurrus of the Dream Den]]

One of these things is not like the others...

It's fair to argue whether or not the rules about deck sizes and wish abilities should change. That's not what we're arguing here. As they are today, Commander's rules don't allow players to do what Companions allow them to do, and yet all but one of the Companions are legal in the format. If the rules are being bent for Companions, why not change them to allow for Coax from the Blind Eternities and Vivien, Arkbow Ranger and all those other cards that grab things from outside the game? If it's permissible in one context, then it's logical to conclude that it should be permissible in all contexts.

Commander's rules may change, and someday we may be able to coax Eldrazi titans from the Blind Eternities. But right now, today, the rules say Companions shouldn't work.

Thanks But No Thanks

As I discussed last week, building decks under various restrictions has been going on for as long as Commander has been a thing. There are myriad cards from throughout Magic's history that reward us for committing to the bit, as it were. Take Umori, the Collector:

The benefit for "paying" Umori's deck-building "cost" is a one-mana discount on spells of a given type. Obviously effects like that are not new, and the three cards show above represent a fraction of the ways we can make various types of spells cheaper. So is it really worth it to build a deck that is, for example, all lands and creatures, with no instants or sorceries or noncreature enchantments and artifacts? For a meager one-mana discount? I can't imagine it is, at least not for me. I could build a deck with the same restrictions and without Umori and likely notice no appreciable difference.

Now let's try another example: Obosh, the Preypiercer:

Compared to Umori, Obosh's "cost" - only using cards with odd converted mana costs - feels far less restrictive, while its benefit - double damage - feels markedly better. Obosh seems like it could be very, very powerful as a Companion in Commander. It seems like it would be a great Companion for a deck piloted by... hmm... Judith, the Scourge Diva perhaps.

I recently got an Obosh out of an Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths pack on MTG Arena, and Judith was the immediate choice for a commander with which to pair it for a fun Brawl deck. Wait, you're saying, Brawl?! Yes, Brawl! I, like many of you, have been filling some of my Quaran-time with Brawl on MTG Arena, and I thought this would be a nice opportunity to cross the streams a bit, as it were.

Yo Angela!| Brawl | Dave Kosin

• Commander (1)
• 1 Judith, the Scourge Diva

• Companion (1)
• 1 Obosh, the Preypiercer

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Blisterspit Gremlin
• 1 Cavern Whisperer
• 1 Cloudpiercer
• 1 Crystalline Giant
• 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 1 Footlight Fiend
• 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1 Grimdancer
• 1 Gruesome Scourger
• 1 Knight of the Ebon Legion
• 1 Mayhem Devil
• 1 Murderous Rider
• 1 Nightsquad Commando
• 1 Scorch Spitter
• 1 Serrated Scorpion
• 1 Syr Carah, the Bold
• 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Jaya, Venerated Firemage
• 1 Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted
• 1 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator

• Instants (6)
• 1 Bedevil
• 1 Carnival // Carnage
• 1 Flame Spill
• 1 Murder
• 1 Shock
• 1 Slaying Fire

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Bone Splinters
• 1 Mutual Destruction
• 1 Skewer the Critics
• 1 Sundering Stroke
• 1 Vicious Rumors

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Bastion of Remembrance
• 1 Theater of Horrors

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Retributive Wand
• 1 Traveler's Amulet

• Lands (24)
• 9 Mountain
• 9 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodfell Caves
• 1 Castle Locthwain
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Rakdos Guildgate
• 1 Witch's Cottage

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(Note: This deck is titled "Yo Angela!" because, you see, Judith Light portrayed Angela in the classic sitcom Who's the Boss, and ever since Judith, the Scourge Diva was spoiled I have referred to her as "Judith Light", and since Judith is the commander of this deck it is, in fact, she who is the boss. I'll see myself out again.)

The goal here is pretty simple. Pray that we make our land drops, get Judith and Obosh out together, start dealing damage and killing things and sacrificing things and, before long, burn our opponent's face off. I've found that getting Obosh, Judith and Syr Konrad, the Grim on the battlefield at the same time gets really gross really quickly.

And like all Brawl decks, it's easy to see how this could be adapted for Commander.

These are just a few of the cards with odd converted mana costs that would synergize disgustingly well with Obosh's ability. We can also add things like Annihilating Fire, Blightning, Wild Slash, Chandra's Fury, and Flame Wave, among many others. The potential is limitless.

But from the moment I made this Brawl deck, it made me think about Commander, and how being able to play Obosh as early as turn three - given Commander's expanded access to ramp and mana rocks - feels... wrong. It's not the card itself; I don't think the ability is unfair or overpowered or broken by any means. Nothing at all feels wrong about having Obosh as my commander or in the 99. The fact that utilizing Companion gives me guaranteed access to the card as early as I can afford is what I can't shake.

That leads me to perhaps the most prevalent argument I've seen in online discussions of Companions in Commander, and the one I wholeheartedly espouse.

Turn It Off! Turn It Off!

For me, the solution couldn't be more clear-cut. The Companion mechanic simply should not function in Commander. The cards themselves are fine and should all be legal as both commanders and cards in the 99, including Lutri, the Spellchaser. But for all the reasons outlined above (and more), Companion as a mechanic should just be turned off.

As I said last week, it feels very much as though the Rules Committee is testing the waters with Companion, waiting to see whether and to what extent the mechanic messes with the format. It's entirely possible Companions won't have a dramatic or ubiquitous impact on Commander writ large. Also, frankly, I don't care.

The mechanic is antithetical to fundamental aspects of the format. It has the potential, when combined with the vast catalog of ramp spells and mana rocks in the format, to give players access to the Companions' powerful effects much more quickly than is reasonable. If I were to build the Judith/Obosh deck for Commander, I could easily see Obosh hitting the board by turn three if not sooner. My opponents would hate it and, I gotta be honest, I'd hate it myself.

Another big reason I wish the Rules Committee would turn off the Companion mechanic now, with just this first batch from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths in play, is that I wouldn't at all be shocked to see more Companions come down the pike - perhaps as soon as Zendikar Rising, given that plane's history of sub-themes related to the connection between sentient beings and nature. If I were a betting man, I'd bet a treasure token or two that not only will Companions be back sooner rather than later, but also that the next group will be more powerful - and, therefore, more potentially problematic for Commander - than the first. If I were on the Rules Committee, I'd want badly to disable the mechanic now rather than let the division and discontent fester only to have the same debate all over again whenever the mechanic returns.

Commander is great because it can be exactly what each of us wants it to be. If Companions are ever banned, or the mechanic disabled, Rule 0 will allow playgroups to have fun with them if they so choose. But I can't shake the feeling that, Rule 0 notwithstanding, Companion represents a threat to some of the most foundational aspects of the format. It's my strong belief that threats of such an existential nature must be extinguished.

Cards with Companion can stay. The Companion mechanic needs to go.

Dave is a Commander player currently residing in Reno, NV. When he's not badly misplaying his decks, he works as a personal trainer. You can bother him on Twitter and check out his Twitch channel.