How To Choose a Protection Spell for Commander

Kristen GregoryCommander

Protection spells come in many varieties, with nuanced differences between them. How do you choose which one is best for your deck? Kristen has some tips to share. Ah, protection spells. The favored  tool of those who run creature heavy combat decks to protect from boardwipes, and a great option in the toolbox of combo decks too. They can protect …

Is Gifting a Card in Commander Meaningless?!

Is Bloomburrow’s Gifting a Card a Balanced Design?

Kristen GregoryCommander, Design

The Gift mechanic debuted in Bloomburrow. Whether it was gifting a tapped fish or gifting a card, the options for interesting decision points on ostensibly modal cards is a nice way of repackaging Kicker. But is it balanced? And for what formats?  THE GIFTS OF BLOOMBURROW Today I want to determine the most “costly” of the gift effects, and then …

Salty Commander Cards that are Healthy for the Format

Salty Commander Cards that are Healthy for the Format

Kristen GregoryCommander

It’s easy to get salty when playing Commander if you let yourself. While there are plenty of cards that everyone can agree are hyper salt-inducing, Kristen argues that some cards that make opponents salty aren’t actually that bad – and may even be good for the format.  In Commander in 2024, the format has never been faster. Still, playing hatebears …

Five Underrated Commanders From Zendikar

Five Underrated Commanders From Zendikar

Kristen GregoryCommander

Zendikar is one of our favorite Magic: the Gathering planes here at the Card Kingdom Blog, and this week we’re diving into five underrated Commanders that hail from Zendikar.  Last time we covered five underrated Commanders from Strixhaven, but when you go further back in time, there are fewer Legendary Creatures. So, this time, rather than looking at just one …

Bloomburrow Commander Set Review

Bloomburrow Commander Set Review

Kristen GregoryCommander

It’s Bloomburrow Commander Set Review time, baby! If you love all things fauna, with lashings of Beatrix Potter and Redwall homage, then Bloomburrow is for you. You can find other recent Commander set reviews here: Like usual, we’re not concerned with niche picks for typal decks. We’re analyzing how good these cards are more broadly, for brewing and collecting. Let’s …

Bloomburrow Commander Precon Highlights

Bloomburrow Commander Precon Highlights

Kristen GregoryCommander

Bloomburrow releases on July 26, and with it comes four new Precon Commander decks: Animated Army, Family Matters, Peace Offering and Squirreled Away. What are the highlight cards from the precons? What new cards are worth checking out?  EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY TO BLOOMBURROW It seems fitting we start with Flubs, the Fool, the Buy-a-Box promo for Bloomburrow. Flubs is …

Family Matter Bloomburrow Commander Precon Upgrade Guide

Family Matters Bloomburrow Commander Precon Upgrade Guide

Kristen GregoryCommander

Family Matters is the Jeskai Commander Precon from Bloomburrow. It features the main set mechanic Offspring, and encourages you to go deep on tokens while growing your Commander. Find out how to bolster this build with our $50 Budget Upgrade Guide. Bloomburrow Commander has four Commander decks: Animated Army, Family Matters, Peace Offering and Squirreled Away. Today we’re going to …

Commander Staples Aren't Always The Right Cards

Commander Staples Aren’t Always The Right Cards

Kristen GregoryCommander

Commander Staples are staples for a reason: they’re widely played, powerful and are a good choice for the average deck. They aren’t necessarily best-in-slot for your deck, though. Kristen shares some tips and truths about how to refine your decks further. What if I told you that you don’t actually want to be running Swords to Plowshares in your build? …