Nowadays they may not. My Gold Charge and MRCC are unconditionally free, independent of Plat Charge. I was not using them at all when I was abroad for a few years, no annual fees or anything.
It was a long time ago (about 6-7 years ago) when they were offering these cards as LTF once in a while. I got Platinum charge and Platinum Travel about 6 months ago.
If your friend has magnus and is booking through travel edge at 5x, he should not use atlas. Magnus will be better even if he has completed the 1L milestone
Thats exactly why I am seeking suggestions here right. To try and narrow down the search to a few cards that are generally decent to have and then finally decide based on need.