Commander Theory

A little while ago Hullbreacher was banned for crimes against the table when combined with "Wheel" effects, or cards that make each player discard their hand and draw 7 new cards. The ban was abrupt, to say the least. Putting aside if the card was too good or too bad, that the card is gone is the topic we were more interested in.  What were the thoughts behind the ban itself? So luckily Nick and Zak got friend-of-the-show and CAG member Charlotte Sable to come on after the dust has settled and discuss what the RC was thinking, the CAG's points on the matter, and generally be transparent about the whole thing. So enjoy as we have a little talk about a card that when a line too far!  You can reach Charlotte Here, and read her stuff HereOur YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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!

You win some, you lose some. In this episode, Nick and Zak look back at old reviews to see what cards they got wrong from long ago. What cards did we undervalue? What cards were we really down on? What did we hype up that turned out to be a clunker? And very importantly, what cards are the WORLD wrong about, and not us! It's all here in this episode, so listen in and find out! This is just the tip of the iceberg! Let us know if there are any cards you remember us reviewing unfavorably, or any reviews you disagree with, and why. We'd love to hear it! And definitely tell us if you liked this episode because we can dredge up more! Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)Support the showYou can reach me

There are so many Magic: The Gathering cards, and so many strategies that are supported across the thousands of options you have available to you. Every set adds a little more, and if you're lucky maybe a card for your specific archetype! So on this episode, Nick and Zak take a good, hard look at groups of cards that are very close to having a threshold of members you'll be guaranteed to see every game, but maybe need a few more cards printed to really be consistent. These are the Sub-Critical masses of cards, and they represent a ton of different styles of play! So listen in and be sure to tell us about cards you wish you could run more of too! We're also gearing up for a custom commanders episode, so feel free to send in your designs for those as well! Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you nothing and earn

Grab your friends! Grab a deck! And venture into the dungeon with Nick and Zak on this very special (and extra-long) episode where they delve into the nitty-gritty of the new Adventures in the Forgotten Realms MtG Commander decks! What commanders look awesome? What commanders look lame? Are there any accidental oops I'm too powerful staples? Listen and find out! Decklists:Sefris of the Hidden WaysMinn, Wily IllusionistVrondiss, Rage of AncientsWulfgar of Icewind DaleProsper, Tome-BoundLorcan, Warlock CollectorGalea, Kindler of HopeOur YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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 epis

This week, Nick and Zak dive into the ENTIRE Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set: the legends we hadn't seen, planeswalkers, maindeck cards, and we made sure to have a little Class... That was a bad joke, but there's so much stuff! So jump in and tell us what you think too!  DECK LISTS:Oswald FiddlebenderGrazilaxxBarrowinVolo, Guide to Monsters AcererakOur YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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 t

Our story begins with a modest showing of new cards! In this episode, Nick and Zak look over the first few cards from Adventures In The Forgotten Realms. What are the themes? How's the power level? anything standing out as of right now? What's this about dungeons? Listen and find out! Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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)

In this episode, Nick and Zak get to dive into what makes 100 card Historic Brawl FEEL like Commander, and what the format actually looks like once you put everything together. Did some decks get better? Worse? Is this a change they should make permanent? Listen and find out! And let us know what you all played for the event too!  Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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 Entr

Recently, and unexpectedly Magic: the Gathering Online got a creature type update. That update? PHYREXIA. That's right, the phyrexian creature type was retroactively added to over 200 magic cards! What does this mean for decks that already exist? What commanders get retrofitted into this new tribe? Is there any mechanical space these random cards from over 20 years have in common? Nick and Zak discuss all that and so much more on this episode! DECK LISTS:Ezuri, Claw of ProgressSkithiryx, The Blight DragonVolrath, The Shape StealerOur YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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 episo

This week Nick and Zak had a smattering of cards for Modern Horizons 2 to go over. You can also see how we did guessing what cards would be popular from Strixhaven, and our guesses with what people will play most from MH2 itself! Spoiler, this is the worst we've done in... a while... But we're able to see some patterns... So listen in and tell us what you think!  ANYWAY We forgot to put decklists for the last few episodes so we're just gonna post them all here:Thrasta, Tempests' RoarChatterfang, Squirrel GeneralLonis, CryptozoologistGeneral Ferrous RokiricSythis, Harvest's HandGolos Gonna Blow Up Your LandsThank you all for listening! Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)Support th

GET READY. In this episode, Nick and Zak discuss all the spoils from last week, and WOW is it a LOT! An accelerated preview season means we get cards faster, which is great! But in the modern age (pun intended) and in this straight to modern set, almost every card has some interaction with a deck that already exists. And that's not even getting into the dozens of new Commanders! So join us for this wild ride! There's a lot we're excited about and we can't wait for you to all be excited with us!  Next week we'll be discussing the final spoils from MH2 and some takes and predictions, then we'll be back to original content for you all. We MOST DEFINITELY miss some stuff this episode, so if there's special tech for a commander you like, a card you think is great, or a deck you've tried out, let us know with the links down below! We love hearing from you all!  Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you&

Most people, no matter how casual, like winning games. In games of Magic that's usually the goal: defeat your opponents and claim victory. Games of Commander are a little different though. You have multiple opponents, and your chance of victory - all things being equal - is only 25% in a 4 player game vs. the normal 50% in 1v1! But what if there was another way? What if you could all hold hands, sing, and fly into the sunset together? What if you could tie the game on purpose? In this episode, Nick and Zak dive into why you might want to, and ways you might not have known to tie the game using cards you probably are already playing! It might not be for everyone, but knowing these interactions exist broadens your horizons and could give you outs when there didn't seem to be any at first glance.  So listen in and see what path you might choose for yourself. Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you're planning on shopping w

BONUS EPISODE!! Nick and Zak got the first taste of MH2 and couldn't wait to share some early thoughts. There will be a regular episode tomorrow not related to MH2, and next week we'll begin diving into the nitty-gritty of Modern Horizons, and HOOBOY is it a lot! Legends and main-deck cards GALORE.  So lets dive in, shall we?   Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)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

On our last episode, Nick and Zak looked into what a world with no access to the reserved list looks like for casual Commander and discovered some interesting tidbits about the format. Thing is, there's one format that can't help but play with only the most efficient cards regardless of price, and they too have their own solutions for what to do about the reserved list. Enter Addison, our link to the cEDH community for this episode who's been playing since re-entering the Magic community some year back.  Addison joins us to talk about what cards are most ubiquitous, what cards would be sad to see gone, and what would happen to the format overall? All this and a lot more on this deep dive into our second hypothetical look at what no reserved list would mean for the world of Commander.  Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link

Lately, as many people have noted, the landscape of Magic has changed. There are more players than ever, and the MTG markets in the USA have been growing at an unimaginable rate.  One of these effects has been that it's simply more difficult than ever for most players to acquire Reserved List cards.  So Nick and Zak got to thinking: What would Commander look like if all the cards on the reserved list were banned? What happens to the format, and what would players do?  This is 100% just a thought experiment. We are in no way advocating for this, but the conclusions reveal a lot about what players are playing with and where the format is headed. So listen and find out! This episode is also a 2-parter. This week we get into "Traditional", casual Commander. Next week we'll have a special guest to talk about cEDH, and what might happen in that format if the cards of the Reserved List were to disappear tomorrow, so stay tuned!!  Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like

Preconstructed decks are one of the main ways Commander gets new cards and staples injected into the format. A lot of decisions are made about how the new cards are designed, what old cards get reprints, and how they play together, but is there more? There's always going to be a debate about the value for the player and reprint equity, but how do cards being delivered in a made-to-play setting shape the format itself? In this episode (recorded a while ago but being released now) Nick and Zak crunch the numbers. What cards stayed in people's builds of the commander deck commanders? What did they play with and take out? What trends can we see, and how does this affect the format as a whole? Listen, find out, and then use the links below to contact us and tell you what think!  Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support the show by using our affiliate link. It costs you n

You might notice that this episode is pretty short. Well, you're right! and you should head over to the Wizard Staff podcast to listen to their C21 review episode Nick and Zak did with them! It's a ton of fun and we can't wait for you to listen! That said, this little episode is mostly telling you to go there, and also looking at the predictions Nick and Zak had about Kaldheim. What did they get right, wrong, and what do they think will be popular in Strixhaven? Listen and find out.  One last big thanks to Blake and Guy at Wizard Staff Podcast. It was a blast doing these reviews with you. Thank you Alex Whiteclay once again for your help and input / ideas on the spoilers. And thank YOU! The listener! Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr, Twitter.Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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 maindeck cards overfloweth. On this episode Nick and Zak finish up the Strixhaven review with help from Blake and Guy from The Wizard Staff Podcast. What cards are we excited about? Is there any new tech for existing decks? What does this set mean for design moving forward? Listen to this behemoth of an episode and find out!! BIG, huge, gigantic shout out to Alex Whiteclay for all the help theory crafting, deck building, and offering opinions and takes. We love and appreciate your help. Spoiler season would not be as enjoyable without you there. You can check out some words about commander by him here. We have a review for C21, but it will be hosted by The Wizard Staff! We'll let you all know when that goes live. Yes, we get pretty drunk.  And of course, THANK YOU PATRONS!! We love you and couldn't do gargantuan episodes without your love and support. NOW LETS GET BREWING!! Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr, Twitter.Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast

It is time to pick up your quills and begin your notes, because this episode has Nick and Zak joined by Blake and Guy of the Wizard's Staff podcast to look at the legendary creatures of Strixhaven. Who do we like, what do they do, what cards work well with them? Listen and find out! This is the first of 3 episodes we'll be doing with the Wizard's Staff crew. Maindeck cards will be a separate episode, followed by a Wizard's Staff episode (on their feed) where we'll be guests with them to talk about C21! So stay tuned! There's a lot of good stuff! Also a very special thank you to Alex Whiteclay of Commander Manifesto for some rad deck submissions and help researching cards! DECKLISTS:JadziExtusTanazir (Thanks Alex!) GalazethPlargg and Augusta Shaile and Embrose Rootha (Thanks Alex!!)KillianFollow Commander Theory on Tumblr, Twitter.Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!If you're planning on shopping with T

Ken Nagle has made his mark on Magic: The Gathering whether you were aware or not.  As Co-lead and Lead on over a dozen sets to date (and some of Nick and Zak's favorite sets too), Ken has a lot of experience under his belt when it comes to design. And that can only help him now as he has donned yet another robe within wizards as the Green Guru on the Council of Colors! Nick and Zak get to ask a lot of questions. Why does Green go wide and tall? Who decided that green can draw so many cards? Why is green so fun?? Come get a glimpse into the future of green on this episode! Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr, Twitter.Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content!If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon!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)Support the showYou can reach me on Twitter or ema

Often times in press releases  Wizards of the Coast will diminish the value of the data on sites like mtgGoldfish and EDHREC.  Nick and Zak asked the question: WHY? So they did some digging, asked their friend Charlotte Sable of the CAG and Magic Judge Tumblr (and recently a writer for commander's herald) to come on, and talked about "Who" WoTC knows that we don't, why, and how could we possibly find them? It's a casual conversation with some large points made, and we hope you enjoy it! You can reach Charlotte HereSheldon Merery's State of The Format Article for 2021Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr, Twitter. Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content! If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon! 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)Support the showYou can reach