Among the numerous new Magic: The Gathering cards revealed by Wizards of the Coast on Oct. 19 was one particularly evil legendary creature who deserves a special mention. Caesar, Legion’s Emperor, is the new MTG commander inspired by one of the most tyrannical characters of the entire Fallout franchise.
The deck promises to be aggressive by casting low-cost creatures and generating tons of tokens ready to attack the opposition on the battlefield. The Mardu color combination (red, white, and black) is infamous for this type of strategy.
Looking back on recent MTG history, several commander decks have a similar game plan, but none are as versatile as Caesar.
Caesar, Legion’s Emperor
- Mana Cost: 1RWB
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Soldier
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Ability: Whenever you attack, you may sacrifice another creature. When you do, choose two –
Create two 1/1 red and white Soldiers creature tokens with haste that are tapped and attacking. You draw a card and you lose one life. Caesar, Leagion’s Emperor deals damage equal to the number of creature tokens you control to target opponent.
Caesar is the main antagonist in the acclaimed Fallout: New Vegas game. His brutality and complete disregard for human life are mirrored in his ability clause. To trigger his on-attack ability, the player needs to first sacrifice another creature. Caesar’s brute strength and cunningness are reflected in his impressive stats as a 4/4 human creature and the fact he can choose two abilities out of the three each time he attacks.
The strategy seeks to go wide by creating a multitude of soldier tokens that enter the battlefield, tapped and attacking. The player can then deal damage equal to the number of tokens they control, which at the moment of triggering the ability is a minimum of two damage.
Alternatively, the player can lose one life and draw one card, or any combination of all three. All three are strong and allow room for more thoughtful strategies.
Squad Mechanic
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Creature – Human Citizen
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Ability: Squad 2 (As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may pay 2 any number of times. When this creature enters the battlefield, create that many tokens that are copies of it.) Whenever Gary Clone attacks, each creature you control named Gary Clones gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
The Squad mechanic introduces a thrilling twist to the MTG battlefield. By investing extra mana during casting, players can amplify a creature’s entrance, essentially echoing its presence by creating identical tokens for each additional cost paid. With enough mana, a card such as our friend Gary Clone can create an army singlehandedly. The squad mechanic fits like a glove in Mardu decks whose aim is a go-wide strategy.
Players can play the Hail, Caesar preconstructed Commander deck in a few months, with the MTG Universes Beyond Fallout set scheduled to release on March 8.
