Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Strategy”
Extort is a triggered ability that appears on permanents. Whenever you cast a spell (any spell), you may pay a single white or black mana. If you do, each opponent loses one life and you gain a life equal to the total life lost this way. And…yeah. That’s it. A few small notes: You can only pay for the draining …
Evolve is a triggered ability that appears on creatures, and it means that whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it has greater power or toughness than the creature with Evolve, you put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with Evolve. And that’s the basics! As long as the new creature’s power is greater than the Evolve …
This week, I’m taking a break from my “This Day in Magic History” series. Instead, I’m going to give my picks for the spookiest planes in the Magic multiverse! In Magic, planes are self-contained universes that serve as the settings for each set. These are the five planes you least want to be trapped on because they are home to …
Even as a social game, Commander doesn’t ask everyone playing to take up much responsibility. Knowing the basic rules of Magic and generally being a friendly person are the main baselines, but there is one more skill every Commander player should develop to keep games as enjoyable for everyone as possible: threat assessment. For those newer to the game, threat …
Cipher is a little strange, and appears on instants and sorceries. When you cast a spell with Cipher, if you are casting the actual card (more on this weird clause in a minute), you may exile the card encoded on a creature you control. When a card with Cipher is encoded on a creature and that creature deals combat damage …
One of the sure fire ways to win a game of Commander is to take explosive turns. Kristen is here this week to refocus your deckbuilding on either taking or stopping explosive turns. Among the easiest and most stylish ways to win a game of Commander, taking an explosive turn is something all players strive for and enjoy. It’s thrilling …
Unleash appears solely on creature cards, and gives you a choice when a creature with it enters the batlefield. As the creature enters the battlefield, you may have it enter with a +1/+1 counter on it. As long as the creature has a +1/+1 counter on it, it cannot block. Easy! A simple choice: have a bigger creature that can’t …
One of the most contentious sets in Magic history releases on Friday: Unfinity! While un-sets are historically just full of fun joke cards with cool basic lands thrown in, Unfinity is something more. The reason? About 40% of the cards in Unfinity are legal in Legacy and Commander! This is unprecedented, and it has caused a lot of hand wringing about …
At the beginning of what I call the New Modern era (Modern Horizons and forward), Rhinos decks centered around cascading into Crashing Footfalls burst onto the scene and remained a top tier deck for some time. But at some point, Modern adjusted and Rhinos fell out of favor — replaced by Living End and Glimpse combo. However, Leyline Binding seems …
Most creature based graveyard mechanics (like Unearth, for example) tend to revolve around somehow getting that creature back on the battlefield, but scavenge is different. It appears only on creatures, and can only be activated when that card is in the graveyard. At sorcery speed (on your turn in your main phase with nothing else on the stack), you may …
