Drawing a piece of equipment when you don’t have any creatures on board can sometimes be a bit of a letdown, as while you can get the equipment on the board, it can’t really help you out right away. Living Weapon from Scars of Mirrodin Block solves that potential problem. When you cast an Equipment with Living Weapon, as it …
Seven Decks Every Commander Player Should Own
Commander is, perhaps, the largest sandbox environment in gaming. There are countless commanders, cards and archetypes available — to the point where it’s impossible to build every combination. Many Commander players can struggle with this extreme level of choice, and decision paralysis is something I personally experience often when deciding on decks to build. However, there is a sort of …
Examining Efficiency in Modern Magic
Magic has such a wide vocabulary associated with it that words begin to mean different things to different people. “Efficiency” is one such word, and its meaning has changed over the lifespan of Modern. The technical definition of efficiency is, “the ratio of the useful work performed by a machine or in a process to the total energy expended or …
Battle Cry – MTG Keywords Explained
Battle Cry is a combat mechanic that appears solely on creatures, and is a little unique in that it’s an attack-encouraging mechanic that affects every attacking creature except for the one that has it. When a creature with Battle Cry attacks, each other attacking creature gets +1/+0 until the end of the turn. This means that if you have multiple …
Building a More Interesting Deck in Commander, Part 2
Everyone wants to feel unique when playing Commander. Building a Commander deck that is unlike any other lets you stand by your creation with pride. However, this can be quite difficult given the sheer volume of players and decks out there. To give some perspective, EDHREC alone has data on over a million decks — so finding a unique take …
Modern Deck Guide: Temur Creativity
Indomitable Creativity has shown up a few times, in a few different versions, during the last year or so of Modern’s history. The shells change, but the core game plan has stayed the same: control the board, then use Indomitable Creativity to generate a huge mana advantage. Previous versions of Creativity chose Serra’s Emissary and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as …
Infect – MTG Keywords Explained
All right. This is a pretty divisive mechanic, but for now, we’ll just stick with how it works. So: Infect is a static ability that can appear on any card type, and modifies the manner in which it deals damage. To wit: damage dealt by a source with Infect does not cause a play to lost life, but rather gives …
Building a More Interesting Deck in Commander
Deck Building can be tricky in Commander. There’s no one way to construct a list, but it can be all too easy to end up with a brew that’s full of the most efficient and popular cards for the format. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, the result can sometimes feel like the deck lacks its own, …
Magic Draft Format Basics
Booster Drafts have been one of the most popular ways to play Magic: The Gathering since the game’s inception. Played everywhere from the most casual of kitchen tables all the way to the Magic World Championship, draft is a format that really does have something for everyone. However, it’s not quite as simple as picking up some cards and playing …
How Much Does Going Last in EDH Suck?
Going last in EDH can feel pretty miserable – especially if more than one of your opponents get a speedy start. But just how bad is it to go last? Is it blown out of proportion? Kristen entertains some of the arguments. Going last in Commander: it’s something we all pray to never happen, and when it happens consecutively, it …