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Scotty, Miracle Worker lets a Commander deck turn the graveyard into a second source of instants and sorceries. His new interaction with Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh solves a specific problem: most decks need a fresh creature to return to hand each time they cast a spell with beam me up. A deck with Rograkh in the command zone can get that creature onto the battlefield for zero mana, return it to hand to pay the cost, then cast it from hand for zero again.
Scotty has to be on the battlefield during your main phase. For a spell in your graveyard, beam me up asks for its mana cost and the return of a creature you control other than Scotty. If you use Rograkh, leave it in your hand so that replaying it is an ordinary cast from hand. Putting it back into the command zone can expose it to commander tax. You still have to pay the spell’s mana cost and obey its timing rules, and the spell is exiled when it leaves the stack. There is no loop that casts the same spell indefinitely.
That distinction matters in a deck with cheap draw spells, rituals or tutors. The first cast can move the card into the graveyard as part of normal play, and Scotty can offer a second cast later when you have the mana. Because the return is part of the cost, opponents do not get a chance to remove Rograkh in between your announcing the spell and paying that cost. They can still remove Scotty before you get that opportunity, stop Rograkh’s recast, or use graveyard hate to deny future spells. The main-phase restriction also means that the line does not let you hold up graveyard counterspells across opponents’ turns.
The application is to decks with Rograkh and a partner that supplies blue. It is a reason to test Scotty when the creature to return is already part of the deck’s plan, not a claim that he replaces existing recursion or has tournament results. Other decks can use creatures with useful enters abilities as payment, but those creatures ordinarily cost mana to replay, changing the calculation.
Scotty has to be on the battlefield during your main phase. For a spell in your graveyard, beam me up asks for its mana cost and the return of a creature you control other than Scotty. If you use Rograkh, leave it in your hand so that replaying it is an ordinary cast from hand. Putting it back into the command zone can expose it to commander tax. You still have to pay the spell’s mana cost and obey its timing rules, and the spell is exiled when it leaves the stack. There is no loop that casts the same spell indefinitely.
That distinction matters in a deck with cheap draw spells, rituals or tutors. The first cast can move the card into the graveyard as part of normal play, and Scotty can offer a second cast later when you have the mana. Because the return is part of the cost, opponents do not get a chance to remove Rograkh in between your announcing the spell and paying that cost. They can still remove Scotty before you get that opportunity, stop Rograkh’s recast, or use graveyard hate to deny future spells. The main-phase restriction also means that the line does not let you hold up graveyard counterspells across opponents’ turns.
The application is to decks with Rograkh and a partner that supplies blue. It is a reason to test Scotty when the creature to return is already part of the deck’s plan, not a claim that he replaces existing recursion or has tournament results. Other decks can use creatures with useful enters abilities as payment, but those creatures ordinarily cost mana to replay, changing the calculation.
Original source: Star Trek: A cEDH Set Review ↗EDHREC