The idea of having a card that gives you multiple options is one that has become increasingly popular at wizards of the coast and for good reason. Trying to create spells that do the same thing but that you can charge more for is nearly impossible because even if the old cards are unavailable in modern formats players still remember. That is in large part why I so rarely play white as it is no longer anywhere near as powerful as I remember in the days of balance, Armageddon, swords to plowshares and land tax. But cards that give you the choice of any one of three different abilities can be more because people like to have the option.

The command cards of the Lorwyn expansion set take this one step farther, costing a bit more you get to choose two of four possible abilities making for a great many different ways to use the card.

Primal Command is a rare sorcery from the Lorwyn expansion set of magic the gathering. It costs two green and three colorless to put into play and reads "Choose two - Target player gains 7 life; or put target noncreature permanent on top of its owner's library; or target player shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library; or search your library for a creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library."

Each of these four abilities on their own are not worth five mana, in fact it is unlikely that you would pay five mana for a card that had any two of these abilities without the other two. But having four options is very valuable in large part because of the ways they can be combine.

The first of these abilities is the most basic, and used largely as a fill in ability for when you don't need the others. This is gaining seven life and it will always be useful.

The second ability is one that is a plausible way to get rid of something but in general it will come back quickly, but stopping a draw at a crucial time can be useful too.

Third has three values. One is to stop a player who is using his own graveyard and when you need this it can be vital, the second is to keep yourself from being decked or put cards back into your deck, and the third is to force an opponent to shuffle his deck, most likely after using the second ability or before the forth.

Finally is the most powerful of the abilities. This allows you to search your deck for any creature and put it into you hand. Combining this with the ability to shuffle your graveyard into your deck can get you pretty much any creature you want and this can often change games.

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