Common Sense Sorcery Podcast

What should competitive Sorcery: Contested Realm look like in 2027? Sorcery has a passionate community and enormous competitive potential. But if we want the competitive scene to grow, we need more than a handful of major tournament weekends. We need a connected ecosystem of local events, independent organizers, regional competition, and major tournaments that give players something to work toward...

www.patreon.com/EternaldurdlesALKEM GEAR BAGS!https://www.alkemgear.com/?ref=qhbtohkfChannel Art Assets by: https://www.instagram.com/jonthetallone/ TCGPLAYER AFFILIATE LINK:https://partner.tcgplayer.com/OexAAnPlay Sorcery Online is quickly becoming a major hub for the Sorcery: Contested Realm community. But what makes it different from Tabletop Simulator, and why are so many players choosing it f...

www.patreon.com/EternaldurdlesALKEM GEAR BAGS!https://www.alkemgear.com/?ref=qhbtohkfChannel Art Assets by: https://www.instagram.com/jonthetallone/ TCGPLAYER AFFILIATE LINK:https://partner.tcgplayer.com/OexAAnPlay Sorcery Online is quickly becoming a major hub for the Sorcery: Contested Realm community. But what makes it different from Tabletop Simulator, and why are so many players choosing it f...

Mock Court may have fundamentally changed how Sorcery: Contested Realm decks need to be built. In this late-night brewing session, Force of Phil breaks down the evolution of his Immortal Throne Magician deck and explains why Mock Court represents a new kind of “universal guardrail” for deck construction. The previous version of Magician leaned heavily on Frog synergies, Sunken Treasure, Deep Sea M...

Mock Court may have fundamentally changed how Sorcery: Contested Realm decks need to be built. In this late-night brewing session, Force of Phil breaks down the evolution of his Immortal Throne Magician deck and explains why Mock Court represents a new kind of “universal guardrail” for deck construction. The previous version of Magician leaned heavily on Frog synergies, Sunken Treasure, Deep Sea M...

What exactly is a guardrail card , and what happens when one becomes universal? In this Sorcery: Contested Realm theory episode, Zac and Phil break down the concept of guardrail cards and why they believe Mock Court may be the first true universal guardrail in Sorcery. The distinction is important. Cards like Garden of Eden and Mismanaged Mortuary act as specific guardrails. Garden of Eden forces...

What exactly is a guardrail card , and what happens when one becomes universal? In this Sorcery: Contested Realm theory episode, Zac and Phil break down the concept of guardrail cards and why they believe Mock Court may be the first true universal guardrail in Sorcery. The distinction is important. Cards like Garden of Eden and Mismanaged Mortuary act as specific guardrails. Garden of Eden forces...

I took Enchantress to Grand Contest Baltimore and finished 12th with a 5-2 record — and honestly, I think I left Top 8 on the table. This is a full breakdown of my Enchantress list, my tournament run, the matchups I faced, and the two mistakes that ultimately cost me my final two losses. This is the same “Dankest Enchantress” list that won the Cornerstone about a month earlier, built around a resi...

I took Enchantress to Grand Contest Baltimore and finished 12th with a 5-2 record — and honestly, I think I left Top 8 on the table. This is a full breakdown of my Enchantress list, my tournament run, the matchups I faced, and the two mistakes that ultimately cost me my final two losses. This is the same “Dankest Enchantress” list that won the Cornerstone about a month earlier, built around a resi...

Grand Contest Baltimore delivered one of the most diverse Top 8s we've seen in Sorcery: Contested Realm — and Imposter finally took down a major tournament. Christian piloted Imposter to the championship after an incredible run through the Top 8, including a dramatic final against Gideon's Necromancer. We break down every deck in the Top 8, including Imposter, Necromancer, Elementalist, So...

Grand Contest Baltimore delivered one of the most diverse Top 8s we've seen in Sorcery: Contested Realm — and Imposter finally took down a major tournament. Christian piloted Imposter to the championship after an incredible run through the Top 8, including a dramatic final against Gideon's Necromancer. We break down every deck in the Top 8, including Imposter, Necromancer, Elementalist, So...

Sorcery: Contested Realm's next set may be taking us on a very different kind of adventure. Captain Baldasar has appeared again, and that has us asking a much bigger question: is Sorcery finally beginning to develop an ongoing narrative? Zac and Phil break down the first hints about the next Sorcery set, including the possibility of a pirate-themed adventure, exploration, recurring characters,...

Sorcery: Contested Realm's next set may be taking us on a very different kind of adventure. Captain Baldasar has appeared again, and that has us asking a much bigger question: is Sorcery finally beginning to develop an ongoing narrative? Zac and Phil break down the first hints about the next Sorcery set, including the possibility of a pirate-themed adventure, exploration, recurring characters,...

When should you actually play Cores in Sorcery: Contested Realm? Cores give you a powerful mana advantage, but that acceleration comes with a cost: you're putting a card into your deck that becomes dramatically worse as the game goes long. So when is that trade actually worth making? In this episode, Zac and Phil break down the deck-building theory behind Cores and identify the kinds of avatar...

When should you actually play Cores in Sorcery: Contested Realm? Cores give you a powerful mana advantage, but that acceleration comes with a cost: you're putting a card into your deck that becomes dramatically worse as the game goes long. So when is that trade actually worth making? In this episode, Zac and Phil break down the deck-building theory behind Cores and identify the kinds of avatar...

The Persecutor might be one of the most underrated avatars from Gothic — and this budget build shows exactly why. For around $100 , this aggressive Persecutor deck turns one simple ability into an entire strategy: once per turn, Persecutor can step toward the closest enemy and brand them as evil . Suddenly, cards like Accusation , Be Gone , Holy Water , and Peacemaker Arbalist become dramatically...

The Persecutor might be one of the most underrated avatars from Gothic — and this budget build shows exactly why. For around $100 , this aggressive Persecutor deck turns one simple ability into an entire strategy: once per turn, Persecutor can step toward the closest enemy and brand them as evil . Suddenly, cards like Accusation , Be Gone , Holy Water , and Peacemaker Arbalist become dramatically...

Is Earth Enchantress finally ready to make its move? Zac sits down with Lauren to talk about one of Sorcery's strangest and most rewarding avatars: Enchantress . We start by breaking down the Earth auras available to Enchantress—including Entangled Terrain, Homecoming, Mortal Soil, Rest in Peace, and Wall of Brambles—and quickly discover the fundamental problem: there just aren't enough go...

Is Earth Enchantress finally ready to make its move? Zac sits down with Lauren to talk about one of Sorcery's strangest and most rewarding avatars: Enchantress . We start by breaking down the Earth auras available to Enchantress—including Entangled Terrain, Homecoming, Mortal Soil, Rest in Peace, and Wall of Brambles—and quickly discover the fundamental problem: there just aren't enough go...

We finally have a window for Sorcery's next set. The new Frostmage vs. Lavemancer announcement gives us our first real look at what's coming—and it gives us a LOT to speculate about. Zac and Phil break down the new Frostmage and Lavemancer cards, including Frostmage, Shatter, Arya Wraith, White Death , and Lavemancer itself. We also look at the new packaging, the 60-card spellbooks, 30-car...

We finally have a window for Sorcery's next set. The new Frostmage vs. Lavemancer announcement gives us our first real look at what's coming—and it gives us a LOT to speculate about. Zac and Phil break down the new Frostmage and Lavemancer cards, including Frostmage, Shatter, Arya Wraith, White Death , and Lavemancer itself. We also look at the new packaging, the 60-card spellbooks, 30-car...

Zac is the Cornerstone Champion AGAIN. After winning Top Deck Cornerstone in 2025, Zac returned in 2026 with Enchantress and went 8-0, undefeated , taking the tournament down for a second consecutive year. In this episode, Zac and Phil break down what made the Enchantress build so successful—and, more importantly, the process behind the deck's construction and mulligan decisions . The biggest...

Zac is the Cornerstone Champion AGAIN. After winning Top Deck Cornerstone in 2025, Zac returned in 2026 with Enchantress and went 8-0, undefeated , taking the tournament down for a second consecutive year. In this episode, Zac and Phil break down what made the Enchantress build so successful—and, more importantly, the process behind the deck's construction and mulligan decisions . The biggest...

Gen Con is over, the results are in, and now we get to see what the post-Gen Con Sorcery: Contested Realm metagame actually looks like. Zac and Phil break down all 124 decks from Gen Con, starting with the distribution of the four elements before diving into the Top 8 decklists. What does the data tell us? Fire and Earth remain major foundations of the format, while Water and Air appear to be conv...

Gen Con is over, the results are in, and now we get to see what the post-Gen Con Sorcery: Contested Realm metagame actually looks like. Zac and Phil break down all 124 decks from Gen Con, starting with the distribution of the four elements before diving into the Top 8 decklists. What does the data tell us? Fire and Earth remain major foundations of the format, while Water and Air appear to be conv...