Let’s Brew: Arcades, the Strategist

Aaron DurbinCommander

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Let’s Brew! Much like Magic Origins, Core Set 2019 is once again taking up the narrative gauntlet as we learn the history of bad ol’ Bolas and his Elder Dragon brethren in a not-quite Dominaria follow-up. Today, we’re going to build a deck around another value-driven, two-bird-killing stone that is sure to be a …

Captain Jhoira’s Combos

Aaron DurbinCommander

As new captain of Sisay’s old ship, the Weatherlight, Jhoira is drawing one of the most nostalgia-inducing parallels in our long-awaited return to Magic’s home plane. Connecting history with a storied crew and the stories of old has put her at the center of the new era of Dominaria – but what does Jhoira look like at the helm of …

Let’s Brew: Evra, Halcyon Witness

Aaron DurbinCommander

With a whole crew of new legendary creatures coming in Dominaria, Commander players everywhere have a massive metagame shift to look forward to at the end of the month. In preparation, I’ve started brewing again, and I hope you are too! Today, we’re going to check out a list built around Dominaria’s Serra Avatar extraordinaire: Evra, Halcyon Witness. WHY EVRA? …

Colorless Real Estate

Aaron DurbinCommander

Welcome back! We’ve all heard that the best ventures involve buying low and selling high, so after calling for the evisceration of all lands a few weeks ago, it’s time to invest! Today, we’ll be talking about some of our most colorless manabase buddies: lands with no color identity, which can fit into any deck. The goal here is to …

The Case for Land Destruction

Aaron DurbinCommander

Greetings readers, and defenders of the Commander Social Contract! People have many reasons for playing Commander, and it is our prerogative as players to seek differing viewpoints to understand other players’ idea of fun – for understanding’s sake, and also become better Magic-playing humans. To this end, I’ve done my best to prepare the most logical argument on behalf of …

Partner Up!

Aaron DurbinCommander

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of significant others, we’re going to be analyzing a few of Commander’s most popular partners, as well as a few of Magic’s most interesting character couplings and the decks we build around them. TIBOR AND LUMIA The “High School Sweethearts” of Commander, Tibor and Lumia have always brought a warm, youthful spirit to the casual-competitive …

Energy in Commander

Aaron DurbinCommander

Every so often, I like to take the “best” deck in Standard and see how it’d fare in Commander, and building an Energy Commander deck was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. The Energy archetype had been on my radar for a while, but hadn’t heard of or seen any lists that were successful. With the most popular deck in …

Ludevic & Tymna & Treasure

Aaron DurbinCommander

Since the release of Ixalan last fall, Admiral Beckett Brass and her Dire Fleet have been fulfilling their most dire needs in Commander: pillaging, plundering, and getting tons of Treasure. While pirate decks have been out in full force these past few months, I’ve been much more interested in the unsung story of Revel in Riches and how it combos …

Unstable Commanders

Aaron DurbinCommander

Dreaming of commanders that aren’t legal is a thought experiment as old as the format itself. We’ve speculated about “shoulda-been-legends” like Preacher or Uncle Istvan, and many of us tried out four-color decks in the pre-Commander 2016 world with the Guildpact Nephilim. The release of Unstable will once again beg us to ask what kinds of cards we should allow in …

Five-Color One-Drops!

Aaron DurbinCommander

For all the deckbuilding, winning, or not winning that we do, the biggest reason we should love Commander is not just for the achievements we unlock ourselves, but also for the ability to excite and inspire others. One of the deck archetypes that has inspired me most over the years has been Five-Color One-Drops. Five (completely coincidental number) years ago, …