Initiative

Initiative
Mechanic
Introduced	Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Last Used	Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Reminder Text	Whenever one or more creatures a player controls deals combat damage to you, that player takes the initiative. Whenever you take initiative and at the beginning of your upkeep, venture into Undercity. (If you’re in a dungeon, advance to the next room. If you’re not, enter Undercity. You can take the initaitve even if you already have it.)
Statistics	6 cards 0% 50% 16.7% 0% 0% 16.7% 16.7%
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oracle:"Initiative"

Initiative is a player's designation, similar to Monarch, introduced in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and is the only way to interact with the Undercity dungeon.

Description

Initiative marker

Only one player at a time can has the Initiative. The Initiative has the following ability: "Whenever you take initiative and at the beginning of your upkeep, venture into Undercity." In addition, several cards in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate get better or have an additional ability if you have the Initiative.

A special marker was included in booster packs of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate that can be used to indicate which player has the Initiative. This can be placed on the battlefield or in the command zone, but is not a token (because it doesn't represent a permanent) or emblem but rather a status.

Taking the Initiative

At the start of the game, no player has the Initiative. The Initiative status only enters the game through a card's ability that causes a player to take the Initiative.

Once a player has the Initiative, they retain the Initiative until another player's creature deals combat damage to them, at which point that creature's controller takes the initiative.

Comparison to Monarch

Initiative shares a number of attributes with the Monarch designation. They both:

• provide a continuing advantage as long as the designation is maintained,
• apply to one player at a time,
• start the game applying to nobody,
• are granted explicitly by card abilities,
• are printed in one or more supplemental sets,
• synergize with several cards in those sets,
• are narrow, directly interacting only with cards that mention them explicitly.