As one of the most anticipated new mechanics in years, mutate has some high expectations to live up to. Wizards R&D has repeatedly tried to get a “combine your creatures” mechanic right, and after the success of host/augment in Unstable, it seemed they were getting close. The announcement of Ikoria as the “make your own monster” set, featuring “one of …
Hello, fellow Planeswalkers! I’m writing to you this week from my Fortress of Solitude, a position which I suspect many of you can also empathize with! The COVID-19 pandemic has settled over most of the world by now, and Magic has been disrupted along with almost every other part of our daily routines. You wouldn’t necessarily think that card games …
Greetings, adventurers! Last week, you may have read how I made the case for Dungeons & Dragons fans to pick up Magic: The Gathering. I argued that Commander is much closer to a tabletop RPG session than most people realize, and that roleplayers should experiment with building a Commander deck to represent their favorite PC. But just how do you …
Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons are two of the most popular and well-known tabletop games around. With histories spanning decades, global fan communities, and entire genres of imitators around them, it’s likely that anyone with a geeky bone in their body has tried at least one of them. D&D and Magic have also both been owned by the …
Greetings, fellow magicians – this week, we’re doing something a little different. I often use this space to tackle broader Magic strategy or design theory. That’s fun, but so is doing something a little more grounded and direct from time to time. This week sees the much-hyped retail release of the Mystery Booster set, complete with a special list of …
Quick poll for you, readers! How many of you out there are still regularly drafting Theros Beyond Death? And, if you are still drafting it, are you enjoying it as much as you did in the first week or two? It’s very common that the shine starts to come off of booster draft formats over time, no matter how well-received …
I don’t know about you, readers, but for me, one of the reasons Magic is such an enduring hobby is because it’s actually many similar hobbies/games stuffed into a trenchcoat. Even if I get tired of Standard, I can play some Legacy for a completely refreshing yet familiar play experience. Or Commander, or Booster Draft, or mental Magic if my …
Pioneer was the hot new thing at the end of 2019, and now we’re living through its first big test as a format. As tuned, consistent combo lists like UB Inverter and Lotus Breach take a firm grip on the metagame, many players seem to feel the format is losing the creative spirit that its name evoked. But even with …
Hello, Magic players! We find ourselves a few weeks deep into Theros Beyond Death, and players have a lot of positive things to say about the set’s Limited environment. I’m one of those upbeat voices — Draft in particular has been great fun for me, both on MTGA and in paper. I also think that a HUGE part of that …
“This is the story of the Hurricane… and it won’t be over ‘til he wins a game…” Magic is an amazing creative outlet, which is a big part of how the game has found success over the past few decades. Casual players love formats like Commander for the freedom it grants to play whatever cards or archetypes they can think …
