Reality Fracture Over/Under, Part 1: The Uncommons

How Fun Are The Hobbit Commanders?

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mikey &amp; Mona, Mutant Sitters" href="#" target="_blank">Mikey &amp; Mona, Mutant Sitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://vargasni.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randy Vargas</a></em></p>
<p>I've done a lot of research for most of my articles. It's important to me that what I say here has a deep understanding of the meta—of what players and commenters in the field think about a problem. I spend a decent amount of time talking to players and reading articles online trying to do this. This particular topic was very difficult to research. It's a wave concern that washes in every two years or so. It's not an explosion of delving into the topic like hybrid mana potentially changing or Sol Ring being considered a <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changer</a>.</p>
<p>I say this because I want you understand that the information I've learned about this isn't as terribly detailed and specific as I'd like. Not from a lack of looking, but from a lack of real meat and nuance surrounding the topic.</p>
<p>Which topic are we talking about today? We're looking at the overabundance of legendary creatures, and whether it's good or bad for <em>Magic</em>.</p>
<p>There are two clearly defined sides, with their two or so talking points. My goal isn't to choose a side, as it often isn't in my articles, but to explore the <em>nuance</em>— or as much as is possible for this topic—for you all to decide on your own.</p>
<h2>The Raw Stats on Legendary Creatures</h2>
<p>I found a great article from <a href="https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2026/03/tracking-title-inflation-in-legendary-creatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hipsters of the Coast by Ryan Carroll</a>. This article is time stamped at March 12, 2026 for reference. You should give it a read, but I'll be using it as a starting point on the statistics of this problem. I'm trusting Carroll's work here.</p>
<h3>Legendary Creatures Per Set</h3>
<p>Carroll tracks the amount of legendary creatures through the use of commas—knowing that not all legendary creatures use the comma. The comma is a general trend, so I feel it works pretty well at determining the rough amount of named legendary creatures over the course of the game. They found:</p>
<ul>
<li>"Since 1996, only two years have seen the commas-to-creatures ratio drop below 50%"</li>
<li>"2020 saw the highest ratio of commas to legendary creatures...in a single full year"
<ul>
<li>"188 to 215, or about 87%!"</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>"In 2025, Wizards printed the most comma-modifier titles yet: 372"</li>
<li>"Although only two sets have been printed in 2026, 122 of the 129 new legendary creatures...include commas."
<ul>
<li>"that’s a stunning 94%"</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aragorn, the Uniter"></div></div>
<h3>Characters That Repeat</h3>
<p>Carroll makes a distinction then about the amount of characters that have repeating names. They state:</p>
<ul>
<li>"There are an average 1.75 legendary cards per character in <em>Lord of the Rings</em> and <em>Lord of the Rings Commander</em>"
<ul>
<li>"78 cards feature characters that appear more than once"</li>
<li>"[This] represents about 62% of the combined sets’ legendary creature cards and 20% of all new cards"</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>"In <em>Final Fantasy</em> and <em>Final Fantasy Commander</em>, the ratio is 1.16"
<ul>
<li>"52 cards feature characters that appear more than once"</li>
<li>"[This] represent[s] 30% of the combined sets’ legendary creature cards and 18% of all new cards."</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>"In TMT and TMC, that average is a whopping 3.12 legendary cards per character"
<ul>
<li>"88 creature cards feature characters that appear more than once"</li>
<li>"[This] represent[s] 85% of the combined set’s legendary creatures and 33% of all new cards."</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER"></div></div>
<p>There is no denying those statistics. There has not only been an increase in the amount of legendary creatures but an increase of named—and thus legendary—creatures having multiple cards. This is a fact that we can all agree on, but the question here is whether or not this a problem for the design space for <em>Magic</em>.</p>
<p>Mark Rosewater, the head designer for <em>Magic,</em> when <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/811466191931637760/common-legendary-creatures-in-ub-sets-so-far-have" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked about this concern</a> said, "It’s not a small set issue. It’s something we’re exploring." This doesn't seem like a complete enough answer, though.</p>
<p>From my research, both sides of this issue can agree this increase is some kind of a problem, but the solutions are different. There in lies the disconnect.</p>
<p>Lets talk about the two sides.</p>
<h2>The Rosewater Approach</h2>
<p>Rosewater has spoken about this problem at length on <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his tumblr called "Blogatog."</a> When asked about the idea of <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/793140480350306304/approximately-one-half-of-all-legendary-creatures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">too many legendary creatures</a> he's said, "I’m curious why having a lot is an issue. Can I ask what problem does that create? What is the downside of having a lot of named characters? The upside is more choice for people that enjoy playing with them. And to save some posts, as you all know, I’m not a fan of the legendary supertype being a downside, so yes, that’s the one issue I have. That’s why I’d like to remove the downside."</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, Game Master"></div></div>
<p>Rosewater turns to the legend rule changing as a potential solution. Saffron Olive, from MTGGoldfish, stated, "I think it might be time to drop the legend rule as a gameplay mechanic. It has already changed many times, each making it less meaningful. Seems like the next step is to drop it all together and just use legendary to mean 'legal as commander' and 'important to the story,'" which I found screenshotted in <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/do-we-still-need-the-legend-rule-in-magic-the-gathering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this article</a>.</p>
<p>This sentiment of turning on the legend rule is the crux of the Rosewater sentiment. Keep the amount of legendary creatures increasing, but do something about the ruling.</p>
<p>The struggles around the topic of common legendary creatures and multiple-named-legendary creatures is best explained by <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/sneak-into-design-with-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Engelhard's article</a> called, "Sneak Into Design with Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, Improviser"></div></div>
<p>Engelhard said the problem is two-fold: "The legendary supertype is really three completely separate things that have coalesced in a single item across <i>Magic</i>'s history without intentional planning," and, "removing the legendary status of some characters who aren’t the focus of their universe and using as many generic creature concepts as possible was the way the majority of R&amp;D wanted to handle the issue. And they have good points too!"</p>
<p>The three things that happened without planning are:</p>
<ol>
<li>You can only have one of a legendary creature on the battlefield at a time.</li>
<li>Named characters must be legendary</li>
<li>Legendary creatures are the build-around for Commander decks.</li>
</ol>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, Mutant BFF"></div></div>
<p>These problems arising separately means there isn't an easy, thought out way to finagle how these rules impact each other. Engelhard said, "Mark Rosewater and I have argued for some kind of adjustment to be made," but the solutions weren't so simple. Some of the dissenting points to changing the legend rule were:</p>
<ul>
<li>They can make common legendary creatures slightly more powerful because of the legend rule balancing them in gameplay.</li>
<li>The existing system is familiar and working well enough.</li>
<li>Re-educating players if there was a change created another big hurdle.</li>
</ul>
<p>Rosewater has always been fairly flexible about <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/814829010120048640/hey-i-noticed-that-there-have-been-over-twice-as" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Magic</em>'s choices to increase the amount of legendary creatures</a>, saying, "Magic is a game constantly in flux that moves towards what the players, en masse, most desire. The rise of legendary creatures is tied to the wild popularity of Commander and Universes Beyond. I’ve learn to respect Magic’s fluid nature, so I’m fine with it."</p>
<p>I don't know if everyone agrees with this, or necessarily has to disagree with this to solve the issue or have a dissenting opinion.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, On the Scene"></div></div>
<h2>The Alternative to Rosewater</h2>
<p>It was tough to gather the dissenting opinion into one defined perspective. It's a bit more nuanced than Mark Rosewater's perspective. First, let's look at what The Trinket Mage said: "I've seen some talk about removing the legendary rule. We should <em>not</em> do that. It's a game mechanic for a reason. You can make cards with abilities that stack in multiples and not have to worry about it being too strong. This is a tool for card design and we should not remove it."</p>
<p>They posted that alongside a picture of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia, Guardian of Thraben" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia, Guardian of Thraben</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. These concerns are big ones.</p>
<p>From this perspective, we can't get rid of the legendary rule, but there is definitely a disagreement about the amount of legends being printed. Nathan Ball, in their article "MTG Designers <a href="https://mtgrocks.com/mtg-common-legendary-creatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defend Common Legendary Creatures</a> Amid Controversy" states, "The biggest issue with MTG printing legendary creatures at common is the mechanical awkwardness it causes. At a common rarity, it’s extremely easy for players to unavoidably pick up multiple copies of the same legend in Draft and Sealed. This means players are more likely to run afoul of the legend rule, creating clunky Limited experiences."</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, the Heart"></div></div>
<p>The community doesn't have a cohesion when faced with this problem. There isn't one solution. Some are in favor of printing fewer legendary creatures and others favor Engelhard's sentiment of, "put[ting] a common Leonardo in a set and have him not be legendary, as the commons generally don't make for exciting commanders anyway... or creating a new term or symbol that means 'I'm a specific character and can lead a Commander deck, but I don't trigger the legend rule.'"</p>
<p>There are some hurdles to these approach though. <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/811114757331550208/im-often-very-empathetic-to-issues-with-magic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When confronted with this important concern</a> Rosewater replied, "The goal of <em>Magic</em> design is to give players what they fundamentally want. When you turn a property into a <em>Magic</em> set, the fans of that property want to see the things they most emotionally connect to. For most properties, that’s the characters. Saying we should only do properties more about environment than characters (because that’s what <em>Magic</em> does) would be cutting off a lot of very popular properties. And we’ll make a lot of sets without common legendary creatures, because we can. But if we fundamentally aren’t delivering what players really want, we’re just making sub-optimal design choices."</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11"></div></div>
<p>This line of thinking brings back the heart of the concern that dissenters have, though: "What is the downside of having a lot of named characters?" Rosewater seems to not see the downside of this influx of legends. Michael 'Wheels' Whelan speaks about these concerns in their article, "There's Way <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/theres-way-too-many-legendary-creatures-in-recent-magic-sets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Too Many Legendary Creatures in Recent Magic</a> Sets." They bring up these concerns:</p>
<ul>
<li>Influx of "Useless Legends"
<ul>
<li>"Legends that only see about five people building them as a commander and don't see play outside of Draft environments. They don't exist as legendary creatures because the designers thought they were super powerful chase cards but simply because they are named characters."</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>"Legends Matter" strategies get over boosted
<ul>
<li>"Legendary as a supertype is supposed to be a balancer. You get a card that punches above its weight, but you can only have one copy at a time. In Commander, they just punch above their weight. But you also have access to a nice big pool of cards that generically reward you for having your creatures be legendary."</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Other Formats struggle
<ul>
<li>"Weird things are happening to my beloved format of Pauper, a place where legendary creatures were effectively nonexistent save for some truly awful old cards and one more modern example from <em>Modern Horizons 3...</em>Does this set a precedent for sets to come? Is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cast Down" href="#" target="_blank">Cast Down</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> about to become a whole lot worse just because <em>Wizards</em> needed more room to cram more named characters in?"</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>"More UB Legends Means Less <em>Magic</em> Legends"
<ul>
<li>"For those with an attachment to <em>Magic</em>'s original worlds, we're also going to see less named, in-universe characters feature in the spotlight as well. The most recent set, <em>Edge of Eternities</em>, despite being a brand new setting we're to introduce ourselves to, saw a far lower number of legendary creatures. There were just 15 in total."</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mikey &amp; Don, Party Planners"></div></div>
<p>With all of these concerns in the community, can Rosewater say there isn't anything wrong with the amount of legends coming out? Heavenlyevan, in <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/811114757331550208/im-often-very-empathetic-to-issues-with-magic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a post to Blogatog</a>, said, "If a UB property can't stand on its two feet without having a dozen legendary creatures at common in the set, I feel like that UB property genuinely should not be a consideration for UB. I know obviously you disagree but I think that's what separates the strong UB properties for <em>Magic</em> versus the weaker ones." This seems like yet another concern.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Having read through a lot of information here, I'm torn with what I find is the solution to this problem. Both sides have real concerns and any change would have atomic levels of fallout.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mikey &amp; Leo, Chaos &amp; Order"></div></div>
<p>I can agree on a few points. People shouldn't focus so much on the aesthetical dislike of things. I find this is a sticking point on many <em>Magic</em> disagreements with no real resolution. Ultimately, no <em>one</em> aesthetic is going to please everyone. We must simply accept that some choices are for us and others aren't. An influx of the same characters in different designs in a set has an appeal to some players who are connected to the IP. And in the grand scheme it might be a problem for a lot of reasons—like Jennika, a beloved TMNT character getting only one playable legendary creature at common and is basically unplayable in Commander.</p>
<p>However, simply not liking so many being printed because it's gaudy shouldn't be our focus.</p>
<p>I don't like the idea of getting rid of the legend rule for The Trinket Mage's reasoning, but I agree that teaching the <em>Magic</em> community a fundamental change about the game is an incredible hurdle. We're one year into Brackets and some players still resist them or don't know about them. Imagine a rule or new distinction for all of Commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Raph &amp; Mikey, Troublemakers"></div></div>
<p>I do find that a lot of the hurdle will come out in the wash though. Most <em>Magic</em> players—especially seasoned ones—are playing some aspect of this game unknowingly wrong. It's a complicated game having us checking reddit and comprehensive rules about everything anyhow, perhaps changing a rule like this might matter in official capacities only. Commander is casual enough that the people who care about it will know about it and pass it on naturally.</p>
<p>Again, the solution isn't very clear cut and simple as "change this or that." I keep going back to what Mark Rosewater said: "If we fundamentally aren’t delivering what players really want, we’re just making sub-optimal design choices." This game should continue to be fun. I want the people running the show to consider the general happiness of the players before making changes. And they are. I don't think I can be mad about that.</p>
<p>But that's what I think. What do you think? I'm <a href="https://linktr.ee/strixhavendropout" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@strixhavendropout</a> on everything.</p>


legendary creatures

Reality Fracture Over/Under, Part 1: The Uncommons

How Fun Are The Hobbit Commanders?

Is An Overabundance of Legendary Creatures Bad?