Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Commander”
The best quality you can have in any community is inspiration. The ability to inspire others is infectious, challenging your community to create for the sake of excitement and bettering what we can accomplish. In Commander, I’ve found inspiration is the best quality amongst the playgroups I’ve seen or participated in. Developing a close-knit group that encourages you to bring …
As I mentioned in last week’s article, Ixalan has done a lot to change the way Magic players approach creature tribes. This week, we’re going to explore not only the power of our new Pirates, but the possibilities of combining them with additional tribal support as we look at the emergence of an up-and-coming Commander archetype, “Creature Type Matters.” WHY …
Somewhere in Ixalan’s never-ending, Neverland-esque Pirate-Dinosaur skirmish, our imagination, childhood, and hearts were smitten with the possibilities of some of the most refreshing designs to date. And boy, they didn’t disappoint! While most have been taken with the overabundance of new creature types, the biggest win for me is a long-standing theory I’ve held about creatures and the color pie: …
Some say we should save the best for last. I don’t know if we’ve done that, but I can definitely say, without a doubt, that we’ve saved the strangest. With Inalla and Mairsill keeping most brewers busy, our last installment of Let’s Brew for Commander 2017 has taken a dip away from the new-hotness holding everyone’s attention to do something …
Welcome back to Let’s Brew: a weekly deckbuilding mini-series exploring legendary creatures from Commander 2017. We’ve already given Nazahn some toys to play with and assembled a legion of Licia’s soldiers, and today, we’re going to build a home for one of C17’s most colorful legends: O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami. WHY O-KAGACHI? Any one reason will do, but we have a …
Of the many places we begin when we build decks, one of my favorites is inspiring artwork. As a writer and storyteller, the ability to understand, appreciate, and communicate what is compelling has become very important to me, and its influence is paramount in most of my favorite deck designs. As Magic has grown in popularity, we have become increasingly …
Deckbuilding, for me, is a struggle between crafting both great gameplay and compelling narrative. Having built upwards of 200 different decks, this task can be frustrating, as it is not just about being creative, but also about doing something different – something that will not only surprise and challenge my friends, but also to keep me wanting to improve on …
What makes a great deck? What makes a deck someone’s favorite? The answer is narrative. Of all the things that make Magic magic, it is the stories we create that establish connections. Loving the cards we play and playing the game we love isn’t just about how good the cards are or how well we play; it is our force, …
(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in August 2017, in the lead-up to the release of Commander 2017. It has been updated on July 7, 2020 to reference the newest card with phasing — Teferi, Master of Time — released in Core Set 2021.) Core Set 2021 just released (which, incidentally, you can order here), and players are already …
Over the years, one of the things I’ve heard a lot is that Mono-White is “just a support color,” or “not good enough” to hang in Commander – a format where Green, Blue, and Black have taken over with game-breaking card advantage. However, things seem to be looking up, as the last two years of Magic releases have provided Mono-White decks …
