They say crime doesn't pay, but to the denizens of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, it certainly does.

Committing Crimes in Magic with Outlaws of Thunder Junction

"Committing a crime" is a label given to a specific set of game actions within Magic: the Gathering. It doesn't add anything new to the game other than a name (and its corresponding Triggered Ability), but it groups some actions into a category. Those actions are:

• Targeting an opponent
• Targeting a spell or ability an opponent controls
• Targeting a permanent an opponent controls
• Targeting a card in an opponent's Graveyard

Another way to put it: messing with someone or their stuff. From now on, any time we do any of those things - "target player draws a card" (and we choose an opponent), "destroy target Planeswalker" (that's someone's!), "counter target spell" (that's a spell an opponent controls, probably), "exile target card in an opponent's Graveyard" - we have committed a crime, whether we want to or not.

Note spells or abilities which don't target ("each opponent sacrifices a Creature", "Exile all Graveyards from the game", that sort of thing) do not constitute committing a crime - you have to target for it to count.

Also, you have committed the crime once you do the thing which targets. What happens upon resolution doesn't change whether you've committed the crime, so if you cast Counterspell in response to someone's Farewell, and they respond with a Negate targeting your Counterspell, you've still committed the crime of targeting one of their spells. Of course, they did too.

Finally, you commit a crime even when you target an opponent or their stuff with a triggered ability. Something which says "at the beginning of your Upkeep, target opponent loses three life" counts as committing a crime.

This is important because there are several cards in Outlaws of Thunder Junction that care about committing crimes! They're mostly in Grixis but there's one Artifact and a couple of Green Creatures. Most of the cards limit their abilities to once per turn, like Vadmir, New Blood.

A few of them don't limit to a single trigger per turn, but are often limited in some other way, like Intimidation Campaign. You can, of course, return the Enchantment to your hand as many times as you can commit crimes, but you're limited by how many times you can cast it in a single turn. Alternatively, something like Overzealous Muscle can trigger as many times as you'd like, but getting Indestructible more than once isn't really relevant, so there's no need for the "once per turn" rider.

None of the abilities are backbreaking, but they can be great bonus abilities for doing things you're likely already doing - targeting your opponents and their stuff.

Limited implications

This sort of thing is exactly what you're looking for in a limited environment, as long as the card already works within your deck. You probably don't want to try to build a "crime" deck, because the payoffs aren't strong enough, but running a Hardbristle Bandit because you want the fixing or a Duelist of the Mind because a three-toughness flier for two mana is a good thing to have in a deck is a great idea. Then, if you happen to trigger their crime ability, you get bonus stuff! This is great.

Be careful with cards like Intimidation Campaign, though. Three mana is a lot to pay for a 2-life swing and a single card (not even card advantage, because you wind up with the same number of cards you started with) when you're left with something that mostly doesn't matter. (An Enchantment can't block or attack, of course, so once it's out, it just... sits there, doing nothing.) Most of the cards which care about crimes are Creatures, though, and reasonably decent ones at that. Forsaken Miner can't block, of course, but it can keep putting pressure on an opponent, turn after turn.

Commander implications

There are six Legendary Creatures which care about crimes:

• Lazav, Familiar Stranger
• Marchesa, Dealer of Death
• Kaervek, the Punisher
• Magda, the Hoardmaster
• Gisa, the Hellraiser
• Vadmir, New Blood

All will encourage effects which count as crimes to allow you to activate their abilities a lot. Lazav is always a fun guy to build around, and if you can make sure opponents are putting their best stuff in their 'yards for him to become (I'm looking at you, Life's Finale) there could be a nifty deck there. Marchesa churning through a Library and putting choice items in Hand or 'yard is also quite strong, even with a small cost, and Grixis is likely to be targeting.

Kaervek could be an interesting Graveyard/Self Mill build, where you dump great stuff into your 'yard and get the copies by committing crimes. Keep in mind, though, you have to pay for the copies you cast, so it's more an extension of your Hand than cheating things into play - you still have to pay for the giant Demon in your Graveyard. Gisa seems more like a Zombie Kindred build where our targets just dump more Zombies, but I'm also interested in seeing if she could fit into my Rogues Kindred deck. Vadmir certainly is a decent possibility for a Voltron build, getting him to four counters quickly and having a cheap, evasive Commander early in the game. Sticking a Lost Jitte on him is a decent way to get him those counters quickly, plus if you make it so one of your opponents' Creatures can't block, you've committed a crime and will get the counter!

I can see running Magda, the Hoardmaster in a deck which already targets a lot and might want the mana (like Yasova Dragonclaw, for example), or in a deck which makes a lot of Treasures and is looking for a win condition.

She'd also be decent in the Command Zone in a Treasures deck, precisely because she comes with her own win con which could get out of hand pretty quickly. Figure out a way to make 21 Treasures and sacrifice them all to make seven Dragons, then attack with them that turn? Seems decent.

One card in particular worth mentioning is Forsaken Miner, because it enables a number of combos. With Pitiless Plunderer and Blasting Station on the 'field, for example, you can sacrifice the Miner to the Blasting Station, dealing a damage. Because you did damage, you committed a crime, so now you can pay a mana and return the Miner to the Battlefield. You then use the Treasure from the Plunderer to pay the cost, which untaps Blasting Station, and you can kill the table. Similar things happen with Phyrexian Arena, so keep that in mind if you need a game-winning combo!