Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
The General Across Formats: Cross-Format Effectiveness Correlation
MTG fans are experts at spotting cross-format threads that connect seemingly disparate experiences. A card like The General, hailing from Born of the Gods Hero's Path, is a perfect case study in how a single, self-contained mechanic can ripple through multiple play environments—yet land with very different resonance depending on the format you’re chasing. This 0-mana, colorless little hero with an exile-and-buff clause embodies the tension between flash and planning, tempo and inevitability. 🧙♂️🔥💎
Card snapshot: what this card actually does
- Name: The General
- Set: THP2 — Born of the Gods Hero's Path (memorabilia)
- Type: Hero
- Rarity: Common
- Mana cost: 0
- Colors: Colorless
- Oracle text: Exile The General: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap them.
- Artist: Chuck Lukacs
- Legalities: Standard: not legal; Modern: not legal; Commander: not legal; Pauper: not legal (paper only in this memorabilia release)
- Prices (as reference): USD 0.49, EUR 0.69
- Notes: The card is marked with a hero watermark and sits in a niche that’s beloved by collectors and nostalgia-driven players, even if it never graces tournament tables the way flagship commons do.
What stands out here is the concise, one-shot effect: exile this card to give your entire board a temporary boost and then untap those creatures. It’s a classic tempo lever—a moment to surge, swing, and press the advantage before the opponent recovers. The lack of color and mana cost means it fits into the flavor of a “you make your board scary for one turn” moment, a tiny dramatic gesture in a big game. 🎨⚔️
Format-by-format lens: where the power actually lands
Limited formats (Draft/Sealed)
In limited play, a 0-mana, one-shot buff is a rare gem. The General arrives as a surprise tempo swing—exile it to pump your team, untap those attackers, and push through chunk damage when your board already looks hungry for a double strike of momentum. The risk is real: you exile your only copy, which means the buff is ephemeral and the card leaves the battlefield. Still, the window it creates can define a game’s turning point, especially when you’re leveraging a swarm of small creatures. It’s not a grindy value engine; it’s a sprinting spark. 🧙♂️🔥
Standard, Modern, Pioneer, etc.
Here’s where the correlation gets interesting: The General isn’t legal in these formats (as the official legality list shows), so its direct impact is non-existent on the tournament stage. But the broader design principle—a self-contained exile ability that grants a temporary buff while untapping your team—presents a familiar template used in countless formats. For players who enjoy homebrew or cube environments, a similar card could slot into a space that rewards tactical timing and board pulses without creating a long-term lock on the battlefield. In that sense, the correlation across formats is less about the card’s presence in a format and more about recognizing where a one-turn power spike can shape decisions and pacing. ⚔️🎲
Casual and cube experiences
In a casual or cube setting, where homebrew rules and flexible power levels exist, a card like The General can shine as a thematic centerpiece. A cube that embraces chaos and tempo could easily incorporate an exile-for-buff moment as a recurring thrill—provided the design allows a nonstandard card to live in the collection. The art’s dynamic energy, the rarity’s common status, and the hypothetical “what if” of unlimited play all feed into a nostalgic mood that MTG fans love to chase. The cross-format appeal here isn’t about raw competitiveness; it’s about the fun of an audacious play where a single, self-contained effect redefines what your board can accomplish in a single turn. 🎲💎
Design, lore, and collector flavor
Chuck Lukacs brings the character to life with a bold, confident illustration that feels like a rallying cry on the battlefield. The “Hero’s Path” watermark hints at a broader narrative thread—one where legendary deeds and memorable moments arise from the willingness to push for a decisive turn. While this card may be a modest, common print, its identity lives on in the memories of players who drafted it, traded for it, or admired its art in a binder full of fan-favorites. The rarity and the memorabilia designation emphasize collectible value over tournament dominance, a reminder that MTG is as much about the stories we tell as the games we win. 🎨🧙♂️
Practical cross-format takeaway
When you study cross-format correlations, The General serves as a compact case study: a zero-cost activation that exiles itself to magnify a moment, with a tempo-oriented payoff that’s best felt in fast, board-centric play. In formats where it’s not legally playable, the value shifts toward inspiration—how designers balance risk and reward, how exiling as a cost can unlock powerful tempo plays, and how art and lore enrich the card’s aura. For collectors, its status as a common from a memorabilia set, paired with a modest price, makes it an approachable entry point into the broader Hero’s Path subtheme—a little treasure you’re glad to flip through between matches. 🧙♂️🔥💎