Cycles are an important part of Magic’s story and gameplay, and they show different situations from different perspectives of MTG’s color pie. Designers use cycles to show how different colors like red, black, and green see and feel the same...
Read moreSacrificing creatures for value is a time-honored tradition hailing back to the very first days of Magic as a core tenet of black’s desperate bids for power, regardless of the rites and costs associated.
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 moreBurn is a decidedly red effect, with red cards like Lightning Bolt and Fireball defining red’s identity in Magic’s very first set, Alpha. Burn spells aren’t just for burn decks, and many burn cards find their home outside of them.
Read moreArtifacts are perfect for diverse deckbuilding, as their lack of color identity means they aren’t tied to any particular theme. Today, I’ll highlight some of the weirdest and funniest artifacts that’ll leave your opponents saying “It does what?”...
Read moreThe whirlwind of collecting Magic cards, building decks, and grinding out matches can sometimes feel quite delirious. Well, I’m here to hopefully help break up your restless mind with some delirium commanders.
Read moreMagic has so, so many great cards. But there’s a dark side to Magic full of awful, putrid, rotten card designs. Ready to see how the worst cards in the game rank?
Read moreOne of the first things I do whenever I build a new Commander deck is look for potential combos or cards I can run that synergize perfectly with the strategy. Of course, there are millions of combinations already that you can use, but not all...
Read moreInfect. Some players love the mechanic as others hate it. Craig Blanchette, also known as Mr. Infect, who appears regularly on the Command Zone podcast and their Game Knights specials, loves to play with infect cards! Where do you fall into the...
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 moreExtra turn spells might be some of the most hated effects in Commander since they impact the sociality of the game by letting one player play more Magic than the others, on top of being busted. But they have a time and place.
Read more
