Is Roaming Throne Affecting Commander Deckbuilding?

Roaming Throne | Art by Cristi Balanescu

I was driving home from games of Commander recently and something was on my mind. I'd lost a few games, won a few, but there was a card that had appeared as the pivotal piece in a lot of these games: Roaming Throne.

I got to thinking about my articles, Is Optimization Ruining Commander Deck Building? and Is Playing Spark Double a Must in Blue? Little old Roaming Throne has been appearing with more and more frequency in games, and even my own decks. I've been wondering if it begs the same question: is this card run in decks so ubiquitously that it's ruining deckbuilding?

History of Additional Triggered Abilities

Of course it starts with Kaladesh. So many boundaries had been pushed with this set. The first card to say something along the lines of, "If [x] causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time," was Panharmonicon at . It's a card that has been printed a few times now and has become a staple for enters-the-battlefield (ETB) commanders. It's such a powerful effect that remains powerful to this day.

I wanted to walk through the history of cards that do this particular effect, to get a feeling of how they've become more efficient. Well, the history until it comes up to Roaming Throne.

The next card with this effect is Dominaria's Naban, Dean of Iteration giving an additional Wizard-enters trigger for . It's safer. Its effect is more specific, but cheaper to play. I'm not sure if this is too much of a power creep.

Then, in Ravnica Allegiance, we get Teysa Karlov at giving an additional death trigger. It's an incredible new staple for Aristocrats decks playing Orzhov. Powerful, but for the specificity, it is similar to Panharmonicon. This effect being stapled on a legendary creature is notable though. There can be a whole deck surrounding this powerful effect. I'd say this is a creep in power.

In Core Set 2020, Wizards of the Coast made a Panharmonicon that could be your commander: Yarok, the Desecrated at . There is a bump up in the mana cost because the hoop of a creature entering might be a little easier than dying, but they also gave us access to three colors, one more than Teysa's two.

From there, the archetype that didn't need more support, Landfall, gets Ancient Greenwarden for from Zendikar Rising. It gives an additional land entering trigger and allows you to play lands from your graveyard. It's a little more of a mana investment and isn't a legendary creature, which balances it slightly. Landfall decks have no trouble ramping into a card like this though, especially when it gives access to the graveyard as well.

In Commander 2021 comes Veyran, Voice of Duality, giving an additional trigger for casting and copying instant and sorcery spells that trigger a permanent you control. Veyran doing this at and being a legendary creature is when these kinds of cards start to get a little out of hand. While these effects were previously powerful even at their respective costs, they seemed tame, stagnant-ish in power creep. This particular card felt like a slight spike in power. Its flexibility in a Spellslinger deck is felt. Double dipping on every cast or copy effect is huge. It makes your spells go much farther.

Harmonic Prodigy is introduced quickly after this at in Modern Horizons 2, giving an additional trigger for any triggered ability of a Shaman or Wizard. It's not legendary, which helps, but the fact that it's not specific to enters, casting instant or sorceries, or even dying, makes it such a versatile and powerful card. The creep continues, but mainly from archetypes that are typically Spellslinger-y. I don't know what the meta for Spellslinger was back then. Maybe they needed this kind of support.

Seeing Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker in such a niche additional trigger category after this at is confusing, but maybe a balancing of things. There isn't a lot of support for dungeons, so seeing this card in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms seems sensible even when attached to a low cost legendary creature. In the same set we get Wulfgar of Icewind Dale at , giving an additional attack trigger to creatures. For something as mundane as attacking, it's good to see five mana for this effect and only with access to two colors. It's a little less powerful than Yarok in a lot of ways.

Two sets later, in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, we get Isshin, Two Heavens as One at , giving an additional attack trigger for any permanent you control. Curse of Opulence is an attack trigger. Good grief. It's such a powerful, inexpensive, flexible card. This becomes the peak of power creep with additional triggers for a while.

We get some additional triggers in Phyrexia: All Will Be One with Drivnod, Carnage Dominus and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, which are both powerful, but more sensible than Isshin. We get a Gandalf the White in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, giving an additional trigger to legendary permanents and artifacts entering or leaving the battlefield. This is really powerful, but being locked to mono-white and being to cast makes it dubious if it power creeps Isshin. This is especially true when we see how many decks are made of those two respective commanders.

Rushing through, we get Virtue of Knowledge in Wilds of Eldraine giving an additional trigger for permanents entering, but it a enchantment. Then in Doctor Who, we get Clara Oswald at , who can contribute to other Doctors' colors, capable of being any color herself, giving an additional trigger to Doctors. The mana cost and the niche situation it plays in makes it feel like less of power creep.

Lastly, we have Wayta, Trainer Prodigy at from Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander which only gives an additional trigger to creatures you control being dealt damage. It's so niche and specific that even though this is a legendary creature and as low cost as Isshin, doesn't make it a creep of power. That catches us up to the purpose of this article: Roaming Throne. It came out in the main set Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

Roaming Throne's Strength

Roaming Throne is a nonlegendary creature at . It has ward and as it enters the battlefield, you choose a creature type. Roaming Throne become the chosen type in addition to its other types. "If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time."

This is a card that can securely fit itself into any niche strategy for typal decks, becoming a double trigger for Dragons, Angels, or even Elves. It gets buffed by all typal effects, because it is that type in addition to its other types. Its colorless to cast so it's not limited by a particular color identity. It's a 4/4, so fairly good stats for four mana. It has ward , so it has protection built in.

That's not even the most insidious thing. It can even just act as an additional trigger for your commander, naming just your commander type, even in a nontypal deck. Similar to how Spark Double previously did for blue, it becomes a second commander. I play Roaming Throne in Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep and its trigger, naming Merfolk, means one underwater critter cast gets me two free spells. Commanders' abilities are usually very powerful. It's why we build around them, and getting that busted ability to trigger again is insane.

Roaming Throne Is In Every Deck

Currently, Roaming Throne is logged in 586,000 decks on EDHREC.

If I could say there was a perfect card designed as a staple for Commander, I'd say it is Roaming Throne. Because of its power, it has become this unspoken must-include in decks. It's the way Veyran had been for Spellslinger decks before it. It was the same with Isshin becoming the attack trigger deck, leaving Wulfgar in the dust. If it weren't for its price, I would even consider it inefficient deckbuilding not to include it in every deck.

I feel so much resistance to this concept, like how I felt considering Spark Double as a staple for every blue Commander deck. When a card becomes so good that it warps expectations of your deck, pushes its ability so far into the stratosphere that not running it becomes irresponsible, I get nervous.

Even when we look at these kinds of additional trigger effects, in locked colors over the years, they have affected ubiquity in specific archetypes. It's power creep, yes, but this is very different because it creates a ubiquity and strength to any deck.

I wonder why I don't feel this way about Sol Ring, though. I don't feel this way about the perfect turn-two mana rock, Arcane Signet either. What about this amount of power on a creature gives me pause?

Maybe I should consider how I feel about Arcane Signet and Sol Ring. Maybe this kind of power, this kind of acceleration, is problematic on everything. Or on the other hand, maybe it's all fine. Maybe power is good when it's accessible and 1-of-99. I'm not sure. Let me know what you think! I'm @strixhavendropout on everything.