Before I begin, I should introduce myself. I’m David Rowell, formerly SolemnParty over at WinTargetGame, where I began the Commanding Opinion series a few years ago and never quite got to where I wanted to with it. A couple of months ago, the site finally closed down for good. While some of my old articles…
Read More
Imagine for a moment that your commander is an actual living being someplace out in the Magic multiverse. He, she, or it wants something. Can you say what that something is? Does she want to grab a sword and slice someone open? Does he want to make it impossible for his enemies to cast a…
Read More
Hey, everyone! I’m going to take a moment and assume that not all of you reading this article have been playing for longer than a year. For those who are unaware of what the title of this article is referring to, let me give you a brief refresher: [card]Nekusar, the Mindrazer[/card], was one of the…
Read More
Hey, everyone, I’m here to bring you a brand-new article series to help newer players get into Commander. I’m planning on covering all the new decks over the course of a few articles, and today I’m going to start with the green one, Guided by Nature. The first thing I’m going to do is break…
Read More
No time to chit-chat, we’ve got a lot to get to. What are you doing?! Go to the next paragraph, hurry! FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS I’ve lived through a lot of changes to Organized Play. I saw the fall of the Junior Super Series, the old States, Regionals, Player Rewards (I’ll mention these again later!), and…
Read More
What kind of deck do you really want to build? This question is at the starting point of every Commander deck, isn’t it? There’s no sense in building a deck that won’t be fun to pilot. So EDH players need to start with this question and then continually revisit it to make sure that the…
Read More
We’ve already spilled quite a bit of digital ink discussing the first two elements of the Unified Theory of Commander: mana and draw. Over the last four articles in this series, we learned why to make mana production a priority during deck construction and how to utilize card draw to create options that help our decks succeed….
Read More
Welcome back to C+C Magic Factory. It’s been a hot minute since I picked up the [card]Bloodletter Quill[/card] as end-of-year job duties caught up with me, but now that we are in the warm relaxation of the summer, it’s time once again to talk some EDH. In part one of this now three-part mini series…
Read More
There are ways around just about every rule ever made by mankind. We’ve all learned to push the boundaries and discover which rules really apply and which ones are not fully enforced. Kids learn which parent to ask to get that extra TV show before bed. Students figure out which teachers are pushovers that let…
Read More
Let’s continue our discussion of the Unified Theory of Commander with a simple question. Would you generally rather be the player at the table with zero cards in hand or the player with a full hand of seven cards? No, this isn’t a trick question. It’s a thought exercise to make sure you are in…
Read More
It’s not that I’m a pessimist. It’s true that I recommend you mulligan like one when you play Commander, but I’m actually a positive person in general. I look forward to every new Magic set release. I pay attention to spoilers and get excited about cards that might fit into one of my EDH decks…
Read More
I advised my readers in my previous article that acquiring mana was a big deal in Commander. As it turns out, it’s such a big deal that I wasn’t able to contain it all in one post. After we published the first piece, so many comments, questions, and (gasp!) criticisms came pouring in that I felt like…
Read More
Play more spot removal. Play less spot removal. Play enchantment removal, some of which must exile or tuck. Play counters. Play mana ramp. Play wraths. Play enough threats. Don’t dilute your game plan. Play artifact removal. Play board wipes. Play enough lands (seriously, play enough lands.) Deckbuilding mantras for EDH come at us constantly. If we…
Read More
Playing the biggest, splashiest, and most ridiculous spells in Magic is one of Commander’s best selling points. EDH isn’t called “Battlecruiser Magic” for nothing. But these format-defining spells won’t ever create incredible moments of gameplay if you don’t have the mana necessary to cast them. Having your favorite cards stuck in hand is no fun….
Read More
I recently moved about 200 miles from my previous local game store and wanted to find another place to play Commander. In early March 2014, I scouted online for pictures of different nearby shops to gauge size, cleanliness, and player feedback. My search dug up Cybertek Games near Louisville, KY. The store looked nice and…
Read More
Commander is a complicated game. Despite being a “casual” format, the massive pool of playable cards, multiplayer politics, and varied expectations of what constitutes the “Spirit of Commander” can make trying EDH for the first time quite intimidating. The trouble finding sound advice on how to build and play a deck online doesn’t help the…
Read More
Sweeper effects have been a long-lasting staple in Magic. These effects make aggro players cry and control players gleam. They can make or break a game and trigger the same “ooooh’s” and “ahhhhh’s” Wizards of the Coast (WotC) tried to accomplish with the Miracle mechanic from Avacyn Restored. These game-changers will continue to be…
Read More
This article is the final part in the Funning For Your Playgroup series, which explores silver-bordered cards appropriate for Commander. Un- cards offer a lot to a casual Commander playgroup with a strong social contract. Unfortunately, there is only one multicolored card suitable for a rules update in the Un- sets. There are quite a…
Read More
This article is the third part in the Funning For Your Playgroup series, which explores silver-bordered cards appropriate for Commander. Like with previous colors, red and green Un- cards offer a lot to a casual Commander playgroup with a strong social contract. Red [card]Blast from the Past[/card] 2R Instant Madness R, cycling 1R, kicker 2R, flashback 3R,…
Read More
This article is the second part in the Funning For Your Playgroup series, which explores silver-bordered cards appropriate for Commander. Like white, blue and black Un- cards offer a lot to a casual Commander playgroup with a strong social contract. Blue [card]Carnivorous Death-Parrot[/card] 1U Creature — Bird Flying 2/2 [card]Checks and Balances[/card] 2U Enchantment…
Read More
In an interview on CommanderCast #137, during a rapid-fire question-and-answer session, the hosts asked Sheldon Menery, “Would [the Rules Committee] ever consider making the Un- sets legal?” Sheldon’s answer was an expectedly simple, “No.” Sheldon’s justification behind the answer was not explored, but it can be easily intuited. Mainly, many of the silver-bordered cards require…
Read More
Author’s note: Since this article series was started, Born of the Gods has been released. Its addition altered the Dimir, Simic, and Gruul decks enough to warrant a revision of the example deck lists. For the Standard Commander format including Return to Ravnica block and Theros block, the addition of the Born of the Gods…
Read More
For the third installment of C+C, we’ll be reviewing the Eternal Bargain preconstructed deck, looking at the impact of new cards and notable reprints for Cube and Commander. The first two installments can be found here and here. Here’s a review of the grading system we’ll be using. I’m switching it up to match the…
Read More
Author’s note: Since this article series was started, Born of the Gods has been released. Its addition alters the Dimir, Simic, and Gruul decks enough to warrant a revision of the example deck lists. Those lists will be included in part two of this article. For a Standard Commander format, Gatecrash guilds are going to…
Read More
Welcome to the second installment of C+C Magic Factory, where we’ll be reviewing the Mind Seize Commander 2013 deck with regards to its impact on the Cube and Commander formats. So let’s get to it! Here’s a review of the grading system we’ll be using. The first grade for each card is a Commander grade,…
Read More