What Happens in Aetherdrift

What Happens in Aetherdrift?

Jacob LacknerCommunity

Aetherdrift releases on February 14th. Its story follows the events of the Ghirapur Grand Prix, an incredibly dangerous multi-planar race. This race was made possible by the opening of the Omenpaths following the events of the Phyrexian invasion. These portals allow anyone – and not just planeswalkers – to travel between planes. Many characters old and new are competing in …

5 Underrated Vehicles in Commander

5 Underrated Vehicles for Commander

Jacob LacknerCommander

The release of Aetherdrift is right around the corner, arriving on February 1st (you can preorder now!). Well, I should probably say it’s “just down the road,” because Aetherdrift’s setting is a multiplanar race. That means we should expect to see a whole lot of vehicles. In fact, as I’m writing this we’ve already seen a few. In Magic’s more …

2024's Best Draft Build-Arounds

2024’s Best Draft Build-Arounds

Jacob LacknerLimited

In Limited Magic a build-around card is one that needs the right cards around it in order for it to pan out as an effective card in your deck. In other words, you usually have to “build-around” it.  Typically, this term gets used for cards that ask for some type of synergy that isn’t one of the main themes in …

Recapping the Innistrad Story

Recapping The Innistrad Story

Jacob LacknerCommunity

Innistrad Remastered releases on January 24th, 2025. It’s going to feature cards from our various visits to the plane, including in original Innistrad Block, Shadows Over Innistrad Block, and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow. To get you prepared for a return to one of the most popular planes, I’m going to recap the Innistrad story. INNISTRAD: THE PLANE OF …

5 Underrated Commanders That Were Printed in 2024

Jacob LacknerCommander

As we near the end of 2024, we can look back on the year and see that there were several powerful, popular Commanders printed during our most recent trip around the sun. For example, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave and The Wise Mothman are ranked 48th and 58th respectively on EDHRec, despite being printed so recently. While these Commanders certainly …

5 Underrated Commander Cards From Invasion

5 Underrated Commander Cards from Invasion

Jacob LacknerCommander

Invasion is one of the most important sets in Magic history. Released in 2000, it represents both a very important moment in the history of Magic design, and an equally important moment in Magic lore. In the story, Invasion and its Block (the subsequent sets Planeshift and Apocalypse) was the culmination of several years of Magic story. The Phyrexian invasion …

5 Underrated Commander Cards from Forgotten Realms

5 Underrated Cards From Adventures in the Forgotten Realm

Jacob LacknerCommander

As you probably know, it was recently announced that we’re going to be getting a whole lot of Universes Beyond sets in 2025, and they’re all going to be legal in Standard. These are sets that are based on an IP other than Magic: the Gathering. This got me thinking about our first Standard-legal Universes Beyond set – 2021’s Dungeons …

Is Foundations Actually a Good Set For New Players?

Is Foundations A Good Set For Beginners?

Jacob LacknerDesign

A few weeks ago I wrote about Foundations and the history of core sets more broadly. There, I discussed the fact that they are intended to be beginner products that help introduce new players to the Standard format, especially. This is often achieved by more simplified designs that help introduce players to the game’s basic mechanics and themes. For the …