Commander Theory

There comes a time in every review cycle when the two hosts of a podcast make time to get together and look at every new card in the Lord of the Rings, Tales of Middle Earth Commander Decklists. For Nick and Zak, that time was last weekend. What are the deck themes, and which themes do the two hosts like the best? What cards are the coolest for the command zone and in the 99? Well, there's a lot here so listen in and tell us your favorite cards too! Decklists:Beregond of the Guard The Gaffer Treebeard, Gracious Host Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

There are a LOT of options for cards to play in Commander (basically all of them!), but that doesn't mean all cards get the love they deserve! On this episode Nick and Zak are joined once again by Valerio, better known as Golgariguy on Twitter, to discuss cards that have played incredibly well, but see play in 1% or less of decks on EDHREC.  There are a lot of hidden gems in this episode, but also some straight-up surprises, so listen in, and let us know your favorite underplayed cards as well! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

What's middle earth bringing to the 111th birthday this year? Well, a whole lot of new Magic cards! Nick and Zak dive straight into the nitty-gritty of the new set, talking about all the cards they think could have a splash in Commander.  What's blue look like in a more casual set? How does mono-brown card draw fair in a world where white can, well, just draw cards on its own? And how many legends will we bring up from the last episode in this one? Listen in and find out! Also want to say thank you for your patience. It's a lot prepping, recording, and editing these episodes so we thank you for being ok with this one coming out a little late. Enjoy, and as always, let us know what you think! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening

It's finally here! Nick and Zak get into the legends from the set that are poised to make a splash and there are a lot of them! If you don't hear us talking about your favorite new commander from the main set let us know! We'd love to hear about what you'd do to build them. Decklists:Gandalf, The White Gandalf, White Rider (yes there's two white Gandalfs!)Goldberry, River-Daughter submitted by DionaeaErekbrand, Lord of Westfold Fanghorn, Tree Shepherd  Radagast the Brown Arwen, Mortal Queen King of the Oathbreakers Shelob, Child of Ungoliant Smeagle, Helpful Guide Galadriel of Lothlorien Shadowfax, Lord of Horses Sauron, The Dark Lord Tom Bombadill Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by E

Oh Boy! Our very first in the series before we knew we'd be doing it more! Due to some conflicts, this week will be a rerun episode, but we wanted to look back to an episode we really liked and to name it officially as part of the series. The Dark will always be a special set to both of us, and we hope you can hear that in this episode too. Next week is the beginning of Lord Of The Rings, so get ready! We're not going to be able to cover every legend in the set, but we're gonna do our best! See you all then! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

Nick and Zak are busy, which means more time away from the game table and friends. So how do they cope? Historic Brawl! The cohosts have sung the praises of the format before, but in this episode the two talk about what could be done to improve the format. What are queues like and how can you game them? Is that they best way things could be? Wether you play the format or not, there's some card discussion and meta-analysis of player experiences that you might find interesting, so listen in and let us know how you feel about historic brawl too! Sorry for the late episode this week! Some mix-ups in queues meant the episode was delayed, but we'll be back this week with regularly scheduled content. Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening th

There are so many new cards, maybe you'd appreciate a blast from the past? This episode looks back at Portal, one of the first supplemental products for Magic: The Gathering that was intended as an on-ramp for new players. But did it work? What did they do differently? And what was the set's lasting impact on commander? Join Nick and Zak as they look back and talk about some stories of their favorite cards from Portal, and let us know if you have any favorites too! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

So you saw a cool legend on the backside of a battle and were wishing you could play it as a commander, huh? Well, Nick and Zak look back at not just battles, but a lot of cards that are part legendary creature, just not in the way you can helm a deck with them. The "Flip" commanders! Whether it's MDFC or actual "flip cards" from Kamigawa block, we hope you might be inspired to play a commander that might not be a commander most of the time. Decklists:Caetus, Sea Tyrant of Segovia Marchesa, Resolute Monarch Ephara, Ever-Sheltering Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

Does it count as lying if you didn't know it wasn't going to be true in a week? Nick and Zak have one last (we mean it!) spoiler episode for this cycle, and it's some of the most notable cards from March of the Machine: Aftermath! This set is interesting for a lot of reasons. It has 5/6 card boosters, a 50-ish card set (don't look at the variants), and some rad new commanders! Every mythic and some rares are new legendary creatures! So let's get into it, and let us know what your favorite (or least favorite!) things are in the set! Nissa, Resurgent AnimistOb Nixilis, Captive KingpinCalix, Guided by FaithSigarda, Font of BlessingsJirina, Dauntless GeneralTyvar the BellicoseJolrael, Voice of ZhalfirKiora, Sovereign of the DeepSarkhan, Soul AflameNahiri, Forged in FuryNiv-Mizzet, SupremeKarn, Legacy ReforgedSupport the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with T

Nick and Zak try to stay on top of what people tend to want to play from sets as a thermometer on the format, so predictions are here! What happened with All Will Be One? Did the two co-hosts hit the mark? And what do they think will be popular this time? The co-hosts get in the weeds about specific cards and reasons people might like them, so if you're into some nitty-gritty card analysis this is a great episode for you! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

Another set another bunch of precons! What's that? This set is special and concludes a years-long, multi-set storyline about the Phyrexian invasion of the multiverse? Huh! In this episode Nick and Zak discuss the new cards you can find in the newest planechase release, I mean 5 pre-constructed decks for the MOM commander set. There's a ton of stuff to talk about, so listen in and let us know how you felt about this set of commander decks! Decklists: Evil Brimaz Sidar Jabari of ZhalfirKasla, The Broken HaloSupport the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

Not much to say here! Nick and Zak get into the main deck cards they thought were notable and talk a whole lot of shop. Listen in and let us know what your favorite cards from the set were! Did you like incubate? Hit us up! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

That time again! With a huge swath of 33(!?!) new commanders, Nick and Zak get right to it! Digging into what decks might look like, what cards are really great within the decks, and the general designs they like and don't like. A standard CT approach to a very not standard set! So listen in and let us know what new legendary creature you like the most (or hate the most! Hating is fun too sometimes!) DECKLISTS: Jin-Gitaxias Urabra... I mean Birgi?? Surrak and Goreclaw Errant and Giada Heliod, The Radiant Dawn Inga and Esika Quintorius, Loremaster Slimefoot and Squee Zurgo and Ojutai Zimone and Dina Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

Much like the MOM story, we had problems too! While recording we didn't realize Zak's mic was being bypassed by the laptop mic (weird!) so please forgive the less-than-optimal quality on this bonus episode. THAT SAID, Nick had a lot of thoughts about Phyrexia and this "event set", so we recorded this episode about it! This is a MASSIVELY spoiler-heavy episode, so if you haven't read the story yet and would like to, I'd skip it for now. But if you are interested in some lore discussion, listen in, and tell us how you felt too! We'd love to hear your takes! This is a bonus episode this week, due to being outside of our normal wheelhouse, but also for the quality issues, so thank you for listening! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money

With the release of the Dungeons and Dragons movie comes a new Secret Lair Drop, complete with commanders for each main character from the movie, and one... large one! Did Wizards do a good job representing the characters on the cards? Are they too pushed? Not pushed enough? All this and more in this short little episode for y'all this week! Decklist: Themberchaud Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

What would your favorite non-Magic characters look like as a magic card? We asked and patrons and other followers responded with some rad designs! In this episode, Nick is joined by Andy from the Legendary Creature Podcast to talk about some cards that don't exist! They dig into what new design space exists, what the new commanders could do, and how fun they'd be to play. It's an interesting look into what might be, and Andy brings some great energy, so listen in and let us know what you think of the new cards too! We will have another custom commanders episode in about 6 months, so if you want to be featured or have yet to be featured, please don't worry! We would love to see your designs and can't wait to talk about them on the show! If you want more of Andy (because we know you do!) Give the LC pod a listen by clicking the link above! Great content, cool decks, great guys, and a good compliment to our little podcast imo (says Zak)Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email

Today's episode highlights community member, CT friend and fan Jason Belk, who is back again for an episode about brewing better! Sometimes a deck concept sits in your mind for a bit too long. Sometimes you buy cards you want to play with, but they end up just sitting there. Well, Jason is here to help! From concept to construction to destruction, Nick and Zak join Jason as he discusses his process and how it helped him take his deck building to the next level. Listen in and let us know what you think too! We'd love to hear your processes when it comes to deck building as we're all serial brewers here at Commander Theory HQ! Manabase Builder SpreadsheetSupport the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entroph

Ever feel targeted because someone at the table didn't like that you were milling them? Ever get irrationally angry when you see someone play a plague stinger? Well, this episode might be for you! In this episode, Nick and Zak are doing a collab with Valerio, Twitter's very own GolgariGuy! Valerio uses the Golgariguy Twitter account to run polls and talk about cards and topics in commander that he loves. This episode is full of insights he was kind enough to bring to the table involving threat assessment at the table when people see things they can't help but have strong feelings for. The three talk about why that is, what parallels to other formats might exist, and what people can do to feel better and play better when it's all going down. And if you have any feel-bads you want us to know about feel free to let us know too! Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on

The hype train keeps rolling, and with March of the Machines looming on the horizon Nick and Zak wanted to take a look at some decks they liked from the last few months that ended up being budget options! Some of these commanders you might have glossed over, but all of them offer unique gameplay experiences the cohosts think you'll enjoy! Decklists:Braids, Arisen Nightmare Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor Ramirez DePietro, Pillager Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard The Archimandrite Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earns money for the show!The opening theme is Lincoln Continental by Entrophy (now Nic Cage on Soundcloud)

New sets this, product fatigue that, all these commanders you've never heard of before. Isn't there any hope for a Magic boomer around here?! Well, the answer is, unsurprisingly, yes! So Nick and Zak had friend-of-the-show and CAG member Charlotte Sable on to discuss a format she's been getting into this year: PreDH. The general gist is that it's Commander, except you're only allowed to put cards in your deck that existed before the 2011 Commander decks were released.  What are the quirks of the format? Does it live up to the battle-cruiser hype? Why might this format survive when others variants have fallen? Listen to this very conversational episode, and let us know what you think about those questions! Charlotte's PreDH Deck: Uril The Mist StalkerSupport the showYou can reach me on Twitter or email me hereIf you like the podcast, please support it on Patreon! Now with ad-free episodes!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our aff