Commander Theory

How well did Nick and Zak do on their Dominaria United predictions? What made the top ten? And what's on the co-hosts lists for most played in BRO? But honestly, what were YOUR favorite cards from BRO? Let us know!  The BRO content ends with some discussions of individual cards. Later this week will be a Season's Past, and then even more NON-SPOILER CONTENT. Thank you all for listening t...

AND NOW we return to the Brother's War! This time closing out the set with Maindeck cards. What caught Nick and Zak's interest and what looked like cool cards for specific decks? Listen in and find out!  There will be one more BRO episode, looking at predictions and the overall set, and then WE'RE FREE BABY HELL YEAH. We have some cool episodes planned, notably something with Charlo...

Hi! Hello! Took a little unintended break, but we're back! And no, we didn't forget about BRO. Brother's War maindeck cards will be releasing next week! This episode was short, sweet, and more timely so Nick and Zak just kinda... did it. So... yeah! Jumpstart!  This set followed the lead of the original jumpstart, introducing new commanders and supporting archtypes that haven't...

Time for the Legends of Brother's War! In this episode, Nick and Zak go over the many legendary creatures you can pick up in Brother's War packs. Which version of Urza is the strongest? Did Mono-White get shafted again? Was Wizard's listening to our last podcast?!? (probably not) It's all here! So listen in and tell us which is your favorite legendary creature too!  Decklists:...

WELL WELL WELL, if it isn't the perpetual hype machine coming to roost.  In this episode Nick and Zak review the new cards from the two Brother's War commander decklists. What's really hitting the mark this time? Are there common design themes the deck creators were leaning on? What do I do with these counters?!?! (The answer is Skullbriar) It's all here! So listen in and be su...

Typal is a well you can come back to over and over because, well, it's fun! And there are infinite possibilities! So in this episode Nick and Zak dive into which types have the highest ranking members on EDHREC, and compare that to what the type overall is ranked to see where the biggest delta of power is. What's the difference between "how often played" and "how often pla...

We asked our patrons for some episodes you might want to hear before ENDLESS HYPE started up and one of the topics was our decks! We try to keep Commander Theory free of deck techs for the most part (If you want them they're out there!) so instead, we looked at some of our decks we love or made recently and the lessons they taught us about deck building, card selection, gameplay, all of it! E...

Another spoiler episode? Would it be modern magic if it wasn't? Irrelevant! In this episode, Nick and Zak talk about the surprise cards you can find in BRO set and collector boosters: TRANSFORMERS. Every card has two sides and converts (yes, not the other word) back and forth! Pretty cool idea! But what do the decks look like? And what Transformer card is your favorite? Use the socials below...

Better late than never! (for this podcast and the set at hand!) Nick and Zak split this one up a little differently, first the Non-Acron Stamped legends and main deck cards, THEN the Acorn cards. We highly recommend you stay for the acorn section, because (no spoilers) the eternal-legal cards might leave you with a negative taste in your mouth if you're anything like the two hosts. And Nick d...

In a violently long episode (sorry!) Nick and Zak dig pretty deep into the new commanders and cards of the Warhammer 40K Universes Beyond Commander Decks. There is A LOT going on, so best to just dig in and prey to your appropriate void entity for a swift victory! Next week we will be taking a break, so you'll see a re-run in the feed, then UNFINITY EPISODES. So see y'all soon! Last thin...

BONUS: Well Disney is jumping into the TCG market full steam ahead with Ravensburger as the developer. What do the few cards we've seen look like? Can we guess the mechanics? Nick and Zak have thoughts and figured, why not a bonus episode?! And we would love to hear your thoughts too by reaching out with the links below! You can reach us on Twitter or Tumblr , and our YouTube has videos for e...

PREDICTIONS TIME. Nick and Zak check their work from Baldur's Gate and did pretty good! With some notable surprises... Then the hosts compile a list of what cards are gonna be bangers in DMU. Is there a card you think will be big we didn't mention? Let us know with the links down below! You can reach us on Twitter or Tumblr , and our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content! Yo...

Another spoiler season, another card-by-card analysis with your two hosts, Nick and Zak! This one is pretty short all things considered! The off-color kicker costs narrow the availability of many cards so the two hosts get through their favorites and most powerful spells fairly quickly! Listen in and let us know what you like from the set too! Once again, a huge thank you to our friend Alex Whitec...

HOOBOY. Studio X did not make this one easy! But in this episode, Nick and Zak get through every Legendary Creature in Dominaria United, including the boxtoppers! What do they like? what don't they like? are there any trends they see? The crew get through 65!(?!?) legends this episode, so listen in and tell us what you think too! and if we missed any tech (we definitely missed some tech) then...

It's time again! The spoils phase back into view as Nick and Zak get into the two new Commander decks that release with Dominaria United! What do they like? What don't they like? Was it necessary to have planeswalker face commanders? Listen in and tell us your favorite cards too! DECKLISTS: Shanid Sleepers' Scourge Zeriam, Golden Wind Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant You can reach us on...

THE BIG 200! Nick and Zak cannot thank you enough for all you've done for them. In this special #200 episode, the two hosts take a note from Maro's book and look back at some of their favorite episodes from the last 100 episodes. We look at why we liked them, why you guys might have liked them, and what we're proud of. Let us know your favorites too! Thank you for everything, throug...

We looked at quantifying the color pie back in 2019, and one of the things we found was data to back up Mono-white (and white in general) was being underplayed in commander. Well, white's been the main topic of discussion next to treasure for a bit now! So what's white looking like now? Is white "fixed" do they need to stop with all of the juice they've been pumping into t...

A week later and Nick and Zak had some time to rest! But first, an interview on the floor with Gavin Verhey! Senior Magic: The Gathering designer at Wizards! And one of the people responsible for many of the products you see at your local game stores! We caught him just after his panel discussing the new Casual Play Design team within Studio X, and had a few more questions for him (You can hear th...

Commander Theory is working with Pastimes Events to bring you this panel of Wizards of the Coast employees who you've probably heard of before: Sara Mox who's director of personnel for the casual play design team, Mellisa DeTora Who is leading casual play design, and Gavin Verhey, senior Magic: The Gathering designer.  From CommandFest Bellevue 2022, this panel hones in on designing in a...

Commander Theory is working with Pastimes Events to bring you this panel of content creators from CommandFest Bellevue 2022. This panel focused on being a Magic: The Gathering content creator and getting started in content creation. The panelists answered a host of separate questions from audience members.  Panel Members: Cedric Phillips Anna Margaret PowrDragn Commander Cookout Special Thanks to...

There's a ton of tribal in magic, and always room for more, but are there any creature types that actively make the game worse? Nick and Zak have some hot takes and in this episode, they talk about the creature types that they think have been bad for the game overall. Some creature types got screwed over by old Wizards policies, and some got the Star Trek alien treatment. Some creature types...

A blast from the past! Nick and Zak get into Tempest and its HUGE contributions to Commander, and Magic as a whole. The designs were amazing and the staples have stuck with us for over two decades! So what can we learn? What cards were most impactful, and what cards do the two hosts like the most? More importantly, what cards do YOU like the most from Tempest? Listen in, and let us know with the l...

Mark Rosewater always says, "restrictions breed creativity," so in this episode Nick and Zak look at some themed ideas that restrict your card choices but still let you get some good games in with your friends. These decks are definitely not budget though! So be warned if you're looking to buy! (and if you are please use the affiliate link down below!) And as always, let us know abo...

We made a lot of deck lists for the CLB set reviews, and Nick noticed something about them: Baldur's gate leads you to playing with cheap cards!! So in this episode, without trying too hard, Nick and Zak show off some of the cooler builds that ended up working out throughout the episode. Some of the builds are basically $100!! Decklists: Lae'zel Flicker Jon Irenicus (meme) Jon Irenicus (...

To mimic a famous, modern philosopher, "What's the deal with Commander Theory?!" Well in this episode Nick and Zak tell you! It's been a long time since the two of them ever talked about the actual "theory" Commander Theory stands for. Why do the two of them like or dislike certain cards, etc? So this time the two go over some broad categories that really make up the...