This is a TOP PICK in Lorwyn booster draft, also
very good in Lorwyn sealed deck. I haven’t
played Profane Command in constructed yet, but I
think it fits well enough in mono black, slow
control decks like blue/black and perhaps more
aggressive red/black control decks. The rare
command cards from Lorwyn are all pretty
interesting, upping the ante on all other multi
purpose cards ever printed. Profane may be the
best since all four of its abilities can make a
really big difference in your game. Last night,
I had this card in my Lorwyn draft deck, and I
won every game when I played it, usually on the
turn when I played it. I played it four times
throughout a three round tournament, once making
my opponent lose 4 life while giving his best
creature -4/-4, another time I made my opponent
lose 3 life while returning a crucial three
casting cost creature from the graveyard to
play, two other times I played Profane Command
to make my opponent lose life while giving my
creatures Fear so that I could attack for the
win. While all four abilities are quite good, I
think the pattern that emerges from my own
experience is that you almost always want your
opponent to lose X life! This card is literally
my number one pick in Lorwyn draft period!
"Target player loses X life" makes this playable
right away. The other three have various uses at
various times, but the fact that one of the
modes is straight burn to the opponent's face
means this card will never be dead in your hand
(unless you can't produce BB of course). That
said, the other three modes are all solid enough
that if you pick two of them, you'll never feel
like you wasted a mode.
Constructed- 4
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.5
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Profane Command
My Timmy side likes the Commands because they're
so big and swingy, but to the card designer in
me it kind of looks like they just took several
existing spells from the relevant color and
jammed them onto one card. Regardless of which
view you take, Profane Command has a good case
for being the second best of them all. Generally
this should be the last spell you play in a
game, and because of the massive effect it has
on the game state, it almost always will be.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Arcane
Profane Command
Constructed: This is quite probably my favorite
card in all of Lorwyn and it’s not hard to see
why when you look at the power and versatility
of the card. Being the only scaling command it’s
power gets higher and higher the longer the game
goes. Lose X life is ridiculous and though you
don’t gain any life like you would off Consume
Spirit, the ability to spend any color man on X
opens the card up to a wide range of decks and
still retain its power. The zombify effect (or
stir the grave more accurately) is quite good as
well as wouldn’t be nearly as good if X had to
be the exact cost of the creature you’re trying
to animate, and some of my favorite plays in the
last Provincials involved draining for 6 and
reanimating a Goyf. -X/-X is a great all around
killer of creatures letting you clear out some
pesky black or artifact creatures cards like
Terror and Shriekmaw can’t touch in standard
right now (and when you don’t want to lose your
own men to a damnation). Finally giving fear to
a team is the other half of the “I win” combo on
this card. One part drain for 7-8, other part,
my whole team is nigh-unblockable and it’s hard
for your opponent to not be extending the hand.
Late game the number of creatures that have to
swing and the value of the drain is much lower
meaning you can get away with a small drain for
3 and giving a few creatures fear that should be
enough.
Casual: Reminds me of the song “How many people
want to kick some (colloquial noun for behind)?”
Having answers and threats for any situation
makes any card great in multiplayer and the
sheer number of combination that can be derived
from this card make it very easy to see how well
it can define games. Point a black blaze at one
opponents head while swinging with a team past
another’s defenses is a hard thing to say no to.
The minus/minus effect helps take care of pesky
indestructible creatures, and reanimating is a
good way of coming back from crippling board
clearers while getting a little something extra
(more points if you combo with a 187 creature).
Limited: Power bomb, plain and simple. The
double black might seem unwieldy to fit into a
deck but remember that it will probably make the
most impact on the late game and with lands like
the Vivids and Shimmering Grotto the splash
isn’t that unthinkable. Black is extremely deep
in removal with other cards like Final Revels,
Eyeblights Ending and Nameless Inversion, but I
find it’s creature pool to not be that great
(aside from shriekmaw) so it’s better suited as
a secondary color. Just snag some good creatures
and let Profane Command and the other spot
removal take care of your problems. The drain
makes it all worthwhile and the rest of the
effects seem to be just icing on the cake
(though the fear is probably going to be your
default secondary mode).
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 5
PsychoAnime
#1
Magic Noob in Canada since 2002
Profane Command
3 great abilities and 1 not so great ability.
It's still pretty good though even without the
last ability. The life loss is a powerful
finisher, especially if you used Profane Command
to revive a decently powerful creature as well.
The -X/-X ability is removal, and that also
works well with the revival ability. It clears
out a blocker or perhaps something that can stop
the revived creature. Definitely playable in
constructed, and in casual and in limited too.
It's really good in limited, combining removal
and the opportunity to reuse a powerful
creature.
