In-Game Gamification
Ever since achievements became a part of video games, players world-wide have had a way to track not just their progress, but also to claim certain rewards for doing this in style. Recently, fellow Dutchman Frank Karsten wrote an article about achievements to unlock in Theros Beyond Death Limited, and it got me thinking about creating an achievement system for Commander.
One of the great aspects of Commander is that it's a format of stories and experiences. The nature of the format allows for plays that you wouldn't really see in any other format. Often you get to create ridiculous situations that players will remember for a long time.
Bragging Rights
There is no need to treat the following as direct objectives in a Commander game. Rather it's a list of fun acts or lines that you made happen along way. Every item on this list gives you points, and you can choose to keep track of these points over the course of every Commander game you plan to play in the near future.
These achievements are not to be confused with the Commander League, a different way to play Commander that subtracts or rewards you with points for performing certain actions during a game. They are just to keep track of crazy things that happened in your playgroup.
Easy Achievements (5 Points)
These achievements require some work, but are also likely to happen in the course of a normal four-player Commander game, depending on the deck you are playing.
It's Free Real Estate (5 Points)
Have more than 45 permanents in play at the same time.
IT'S OVER 90!!! (5 points)
Deal more than 90 damage to a single player in one turn.
End This. What I Seek is Far Greater (5 Points)
Use a foil mass removal spell that destroys only nonfoil permanents and at least three of them.
These Boots Are Made for Walking (5 points)
Have both
Oof (5 Points)
Have more than 40 cards in exile.
The Reward of Progress (5 Points)
Have more than fifteen different nonbasic lands in play at the same time.
Guess Who's Back? (5 Points)
Cast your commander at least five times in a single game.
The Power of X (5 Points)
Cast an X spell with X more than 25.
Taking the Good out of Good Game (5 Points)
Kill another player during the first five turns.
You Are Your Own Worst Enemy (5 Points)
Destroy or exile a legendary creature or planeswalker using a spell or ability that has that same legendary creature or planeswalker in the artwork. For example, use
Kruphix Would Be Proud (5 Points)
Control a
Drawing Cards Is the Best Thing in Magic (5 Points)
Force an opponent to lose the game by having them draw the remaining cards in their library.
What Happened? (5 Points)
Start the turn with at least five cards in your hand and end the turn with zero cards in your hand while having played at least three spells that turn.
It's Definitely Personal (5 Points)
Deal 30 noncombat damage to a single player in one turn.
My Favorite Flavor (5 Points)
Play a vanilla creature. (A vanilla creature is a creature without any keywords or abilities.)
I Am Timmy, Hear Me Roar (5 Points)
Control a creature with 30 or more power.
A Little Late to the Party (5 Points)
Resolve a
Talk About a Dramatic Entrance (5 Points)
Use a mass reanimation spell such as
Back to the Drawing Board (5 Points)
Crack a fetch land or play a ramp spell and fail to find.
I'd Like a Moment of Your Time to Tell You About New Phyrexia (5 points)
Kill a player with combat damage from either
Crushed by Titans (5 Points)
Kill a player with combat damage from either one of the Eldrazi Titans.
Big, Bigger, Huge (5 Points)
Control a creature that has at least twenty +1/+1 counters on it.
This Card S*cks (5 Points)
Die to your own
Medium Achievements (10 Points)
These achievements require a bit more work and won't just happen in the course of a regular game. But, with a bit of effort and the right circumstances, it should still be possible to accomplish the following goals.
Just as Garfield Intended (10 Points)
Cast ten or more creatures in a single turn.
Ceaseless Hunger (10 Points)
Sacrifice more than fifteen permanents in a single turn.
Et Tu, Commander? (10 Points)
Deal 21 commander damage to a player using another player's commander.
Last Word (10 Points)
Resolve a counterspell when there are at least four other spells on the stack.
Close, but No Cigar (10 Points)
Win the game at 1 life.
I Would Prefer You Didn't (10 Points)
Kill a player who has a winning spell on the stack.
Now I Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds (10 Points)
Deal at least 25 damage to each creature on the battlefield.
I Thought Leovold Was Banned (10 Points)
Play a
The Friend of My Enemy Is My Friend? (10 Points)
Steal a planeswalker that has enough loyalty to ultimate, then ultimate that planeswalker.
More Like Craternope, Am I Right? (10 Points)
Have an opponent resolve
Explosive Rampant Cultivation (10 points)
Put ten or more lands into play in a single turn.
For We Are Many (10 Points)
Control at least fifteen creatures with different names that share a creature type.
Can Touch This (10 Points)
Attack a player that makes you pay at least 2 mana for every such creature with at least seven creatures.
Nothing to Be Seen Here (10 Points)
Have a
They Paid (10 Points)
Have a
The Ultimate Scheme (10 Points)
Ultimate two different Nicol Bolas planeswalker cards in the same game.
Hard Achievements (15 Points)
These achievements are very difficult to accomplish and require you to make at least some deck building choices beforehand. But getting one of these surely earns you massive bragging rights and leaves you with a great story to tell.
Gatewatch's Oath (15 Points)
Control one of each of the following planeswalker types: Nissa, Chandra, Liliana, Jace, while having a Gideon planeswalker in your graveyard.
It's the Little Things … (15 Points)
Kill a player with a 1/1 creature. If there are cards in play or abilities in effect that modify the creature's power and/or toughness, it's no longer considered a 1/1.
But First, We Feast (15 Points)
Prevent yourself from dying by sacrificing a Food token.
Lucky Number (15 Points)
Win a game with exactly seven cards left in your library.
The End of Evolution (15 Points)
Control a creature that has each of the following keywords: deathtouch, double strike, flying, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, trample, and vigilance.
Untouchable (15 Points)
Win the game without losing a single point of life.
No Kill Like Overkill (15 Points)
Resolve both
Master and Commander (15 Points)
Control your own commander and three commander creatures from other players at the same time.
Your Commander Privileges Have Been Revoked (15 points)
Place enough −1/−1 counters on a
This Card Is Amazing (15 Points)
Play a turn one
Achievement Hunting
While I'm sure there are plenty of other achievements, these are the ones that I could think of and found interesting enough for you to try. Collect points and compare with your friends or playgroup. While I tried to keep the challenges as balanced as possible, some are hard (or impossible) to achieve with certain decks. That said, I wouldn't build decks specifically to unlock all of them. Rather keep playing with the decks that you already have, and once you feel like you're nearing one of these goals, go for it.
Did I miss any important achievements? What achievements would you come up with? Did you already manage to get some of these? Let me know in the comments, I look forward to reading your stories. As always, thanks for reading. Until next time!
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