What counts as “janky” in MTG? Looking at the origins of the word in African American slang, most dictionary etymologies guess it’s a version of “junky” from the ‘80s, but an interesting deeper dive suggests it might have started as a version of...
Read moreProduct fatigue. Universes Beyond fatigue. Just plain old fatigue. It happens. If you long for a simpler time, the Old School format might just be for you.
Read moreI first started really getting into uncommons as commanders when I opened Slimefoot, the Stowaway in a Dominaria pack, and it’s been a bit of a collector obsession of mine since. If you share my interest in what can feel a bit like hipster...
Read moreThe most well-known iteration of a trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield in Magic is landfall, but there are equivalents that aren’t keyworded. There’s “creaturefall” on The Great Henge, “enchantmentfall” on Verduran Enchantress...
Read morePegasus is a creature type that first appeared in Alpha with Mesa Pegasus, and primarily shows up in white. Since we’re ranking all pegasi in MTG, the bottom of the list is going to be rough, but we’re gonna have a good time here.
Read moreEnergy keeps creeping back into Commander. Does moving to a Temur commander with Living Energy simplify things? How are we going to use green, one of the star colors of the Kaladesh block, to add to the winning formula?
Read moreChanging the text of a card in Alchemy has proven unpopular, and oracle text adjustments remain grump-inducing, but when a card lets us do that as part of Magic, we love it! It feels like cheating, but in a totally safe way.
Read moreWarriors are more fun. Soldiers are organized and disciplined and part of a hierarchy, working together toward a common goal that dwarfs each person’s significance. Still, there are some really interesting soldier decks and soldier commanders in...
Read more“Magic was too scary,” was something I heard a number of times in my game design classes from students when I asked them about their earliest experience with TCGs. Not because of the rules, but because MTG’s wide ranging use of disturbing art...
Read moreRed has the worst card draw of any color. The other four have creatures that enter and draw a card, or have card draw as a passive effect, or have an activated card drawing ability. But red? No dice.
Read moreAlthough card draw is theoretically only a secondary part of black’s color pie, there are enough powerful black card draw effects to make it into your Commander deck. Let’s delve into the dark depths of black card draw and find the missing...
Read moreGhost movies are, for me, the scariest subgenre of horror. At the same time, ghosts are the least scary import from horror into the fantasy genre of all the monsters. Maybe it’s because a haunting is most scary when you’re alone, and that can’t...
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