Arguably the best thing about Magic is the sheer variety of ways to play it. Even ignoring the growing range of officially-supported formats, Magic’s “rules engine” and massive card pool make perfect building blocks for inventing all sorts of wacky new scenarios! That’s just what a player named “Perodequeso” was up to back in 2016 when he invented Wacky Races. …
With WotC’s surprise adoption of Oathbreaker last week, we’ve entered a boom time for experimentation and brewing in the Planeswalker-centric format. But what possible playstyles does the format offer – and how should you decide on your first deck to start figuring it out? The easiest thing to latch onto is the Oathbreakers themselves, the Planeswalker-commanders which go a long …
What makes a particular combat trick special? Must it create a blowout or just maximize the efficiency these cards are known for? Or is a great combat trick one that exceeds our expectations, generating additional resources or utility beyond its combat application? These questions make it difficult to identify the best combat tricks in Commander. One thing you notice trying …
Commander is about self-expression; playing with your favorite cards and mechanics with the best possible support from across Magic history. But what if your favorite cards in Commander are combat tricks? Single-target creature pump spells can be gamewinners in Limited or 1v1 Constructed, but it takes some special effort to help them scale up to the 40 life multiplayer metagame. …
Magic is designed today with Commander right at the forefront, alongside Limited and other constructed formats, which means the game is partially balanced around free-for-all multiplayer. That’s quite a recent change relative to the game’s history, and Wizards of the Coast is still in somewhat early days when it comes to creating new multiplayer-focused mechanics. The Initiative, Goad, Myriad and …
Welcome to Card Kingdom’s 1-oh-ONE Draft guide for the newly-released Phyrexia: All Will Be One set! If you skipped out on the spoiler season or you just want a one-stop cheat sheet to help you through your early Limited runs, read on: I’ll explain all the most important picks and tricks you need to look for. Shape of the Format …
Phyrexia: All Will Be One has shown us that New Phyrexia’s armies are filled with endless ranks of destructive, living weapons — but its most dangerous power remains its most simple: Phyrexian mana costs. Introduced in 2011’s New Phyrexia, at the culmination of the Phyrexian invasion of Mirrodin, Phyrexian mana allowed players to pay for spells with chunks of life …
While the full extent of Elesh Norn’s plans have yet to be previewed, Phyrexia: All Will Be One looks primed to give Standard a huge shot in the arm (don’t ask what kind). As always when Phyrexia is involved, most of the new cards are pushing the absolute limits of game balance while also breaking new mechanical ground in various …
The Commander format has one really fundamental problem: it’s explosive. And it’s only getting worse as time ticks on. I don’t just mean that the community discourse is liable to blow up at the slightest provocation (although, true). I mean that multiplayer Magic, especially with the card pool and ruleset present in this format, naturally trends toward explosive play patterns …
There’s a lot on the horizon for Magic in 2023, and Tom is here to take a look at what all the different moving parts may mean! It’s a new year for Magic just as it is for you and me – and 2023 in particular stands as a tense cliffhanger moment in the game’s proud history. The narrative stands …
