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Commander Nexus
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  3. Bill Potts

Command zone

Bill Potts

Bill Potts

Legendary Creature — Human

Bill Potts wants a deck that casts lots of instant and sorcery spells. It can share the lead with a Doctor as a second commander.

  • Mana cost3 genericred
  • Red ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 4
  • RarityRare

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Bill Potts or activate an ability that targets only Bill Potts, copy that spell or ability. You may choose new targets for the copy. This ability triggers only once each turn.

Doctor's companion (You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.)

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Archetypes
Themes
  • Humans

Cards That Fit Bill Potts

Picked for what they do in Bill Potts's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Bill Potts's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Bill Potts

explain how Bill Potts works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

Although Doctor's companion is a new variant of the partner ability, the rules for partner have not otherwise changed. Notably, Time Lord Doctors and cards with Doctor's companion do not interact with cards which have another partner ability.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

If the spell or ability that's copied has an X whose value was determined as it was cast, the copy will have the same value of X.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

If the spell or ability that's copied is modal (that is, it says "Choose one —" or the like), the copy will have the same mode or modes. You can't choose different ones.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders' combined color identities.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won't have to pay an additional {2} the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

The copy made by Bill's triggered ability is created on the stack, so it's not "cast" or "activated."

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

The copy will have the same targets as the spell or ability it's copying unless you choose new ones. You may change any number of the targets, including all of them or none of them. The new targets must be legal.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

The Doctor's companion ability allows you to have two commanders if one has the ability and the other is a legendary creature that is a Time Lord Doctor and has no other creature types. Creatures with the changeling ability, for example, can't be a second commander this way.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

The first ability of Bill Potts will trigger as long as it is the only target of that spell or ability, even if that spell or ability could target multiple permanents.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

You can't choose to pay any additional costs for the copy. However, effects based on any additional costs that were paid for the original spell are copied as though those same costs were paid for the copy too.

13 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Bill Potts, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryRPlayers write colors as letters: R for red.SpellslingerSpellslinger decks cast lots of instants and sorceries, one-time spells, and play creatures that reward every spell you cast. Instants and sorceries take effect once and then go to your graveyard, and an instant can even be cast during another player's turn.Open the Spellslinger pageAikido / RedirectionTurns an opponent's own spell, ability or damage back on them. It changes the spell's target, copies it, or sends the damage somewhere else. Aikido is the community's name for it, borrowed from the martial art. Deflecting Swat, Narset's ReversalOpen the Aikido / Redirection pageSpell CopyingCopies a spell or an ability. The copy is not cast, so it costs nothing extra and does not set off cards that care about casting a spell. Reverberate, Storm-Kiln ArtistOpen the Spell Copying pageControlControl decks answer what everyone else plays, stopping spells and removing dangerous cards, then win slowly once they are in charge. Expect lots of removal, spells that cancel other spells, and extra card draw.Open the Control pageStack InteractionActs while a spell is waiting to take effect: countering it, changing what it targets, or copying it. When someone casts a spell it waits on the stack, and every player gets priority, a chance to respond, before it happens. Counterspell, NegateOpen the Stack Interaction pageSpellslingerRewards you for casting instants and sorceries, usually triggering each time you cast one. Storm-Kiln Artist, GuttersnipeOpen the Spellslinger page