Commander Theory

WE ARE BACK! It's 2022 and we're kicking things off with a wonderful interview with Chris Mooney! GDS3 competitor and full-time Magic designer since 2019, working on wonderful sets you might have heard of like Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow! In this interview, we talk about Chris's old job as the Colorless Council Member, their new job as the White Counsel Membe...

As you've probably heard by now, the sky is falling! Oh wait, there are more digital-only cards! And a... new format? What does this have to do with Commander? And what does this mean for design in the future? Join Nick and Zak as they lament some changes to the easiest way to pick up games of magic, talk about what they do like about the changes, Historic Brawl, and in general T H E  F U T R...

Back so soon? You hardly finished your first few MID drafts. But that's alright, because on this episode Nick and Zak look at some preliminary numbers for their Innistrad Midnight Hunt predictions! The two take some guesses as to what's gonna be the top 10 most popular cards from Innistrad Crimson Vow! What's different this time around? Can we see anything about the general design p...

A new installment, a new series! Now officially named Seasons Past! Where we look back at old designs to see how we got to where we are today. In this episode, Nick and Zak get friend-of-the-show Charlotte Sable - CAG member and excellent writer of magic knowledge - to look back at one of her favorite sets: Alliances! What cards stuck with us? How did they end up designing the "final" se...

In a short and sweet episode, Nick and Zak talk about, well, what it was like at MTG Las Vegas! We got to go and meet a ton of new people, some old friends, play a ton of Magic, and generally get a good look at what the future might hold for the Commander Community! (We're playing a game while recording so there's a little bit of that happening too) In the future we plan to go to as many...

Watch out! Behind you! It's the two Crimson Vow commander preconstructed decks! And they have dozens of new cards to brew with! In this episode Nick and Zak get into, you guessed it! The new cards from the Innistrad: Crimson Vow commander decks. We look at what's cool, what's new and inventive, and if reanimation needs more... reanimation spells? It's all here! So listen in, an...

Time again so soon - Grab your finest cloak and gown, stow your weapons at the door, and help yourself to the... blood fountain? Because Crimson Vow is upon us! And with it, a bevy of Magic: The Gathering cards to build around and with! In this episode, Nick and Zak get into the nitty-gritty of the legendary creatures! What cards do they want? What do they remind us of? And even.... why does this...

In 2017 Mark Rosewater released an article/resource for Magic: The Gathering fans and home designers called the Mechanical Color Pie. The article includes TONS of drop-down menus and various ways in which every mechanic used on a magic card at the time was sorted into color, by color, and in alphabetical order.  It was a HUGE undertaking, and incredibly helpful to passionate fans like CT hosts Nic...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! For this week Nick and Zak get back to the original set to bring horror to the MTG universe! Not Innistrad in 2011, but The Dark! Originally released in 1994 the cards have left lasting impressions on the two hosts for a long time! So for this spooky weekend take a trip down memory lane to see the set that made mana rocks the way they are and top-down sets possible. For each color...

Best friends and mindflayers and clues, oh my! SLD Stranger Things features a bunch of new commanders and a special but familiar new mechanic. So Nick and Zak dig into builds, preferences, and what this means for design in the future! Because ethics aside, the designs are pretty interesting! It is a proto Universes Beyond deal after all! We also are almost done with some research, digging deeper b...

BONUS EPISODE: After every set review we check in to see what cards players are adopting from the previous sets, and Innistrad, Midnight Hunt is no exception! After a flood of content for MID we finally got it out! Nick and Zak invited their friend and collaborator Alex Whiteclay to join rounding out the set review. Together they look at what was most popular from Modern Horizons 2 and Adventures...

How much space is there left for new commander designs really? A WHOLE LOT. On this episode of Commander Theory, Nick and Zak solicited designs from you, the listeners, and you didn't let us down! There's a ton of custom commanders that open up new spaces in the format, and frankly, we're sad they're not real! So if you like theory crafting, if you would like a glimpse into a f...

Midnight hunt wasn't the only boon for commander players this fall. With each Innistrad set we get this fall, there are an additional two new Commander Preconstructed decks with new cards! So Nick and Zak get into the two decks from Midnight Hunt - Zombies and Coven - with their friend and collaborator Alex Whiteclay to see what looks strong, what looks cool, what looks novel, what looks not...

MID is here! The newest Magic: The Gathering set -  Innistrad Midnight Hunt - is here with a deluge of new commanders and a torrent of new main deck cards. Nick and Zak invite their good friend and collaborator Alex Whiteclay on to discuss all the new goodness, what they're excited about, set mechanics, the whole thing! All of it! Wierd card interactions, cards we're excited about, promi...

In a startling turn of events, GOLOS HAS BEEN BANNED IN COMMANDER and Worldfire has been unbanned in commander! (Also  rule 11 is rule 10 now) This caught Nick and Zak by surprise, as well as many in the community, so friend of the show Charlotte Sable came on to help explain the thoughts and discussions the RC and CAG had to highlight the goals behind the changes. The three share thoughts, opinio...

Jumpstart Historic Horizons hit MTG Arena and it brought with it dozens of new to the format cards and commanders! Even digital-only cards! What does this mean for historic brawl moving forawrd, especially now that we're in the age of 100 cards? What have we Nick and Zak liked, and what do they think could make it better? Could there be... trouble in the program? Listen in and find out! Our Y...

We had some record-breaking years for Magic in 2019, 2020, and 2021 which is almost over (!!!) And now we get to see what's on the horizon for 2022! The Magic showcase was set to announce most of what 2022 has in store, so Nick and Zak invited a friend and friend of the show Charlotte Sable (of the CAG and writer for Commander's Herald) to come and talk about hopes, expectations, and jus...

Today is the release of Jumpstart Historic Horisons! Which honestly doesn't mean too much to commander players, but Nick and Zak liked some of the cards and thought you would too! The thing is, even after a rule zero discussion where everyone says you can play with proxied digital cards, how can you? Is it possible to play with these cards made to be too complex for physical space? Listen in...

Almost every Magic: The Gathering set has a cycle of rare lands to help you cast your spells, and most have at least one utility land that does something either the set wants, or the standard environment wanted.  Over the years this has really added up! Every deck wants to cast spells, but what decks want a lot of utility lands? Are there any decks that want really funny mana bases on purpose? May...

Part 2 of this series has Nick and Zak looking even further into cards they look out for in each release. Weird ramp? Enchantments dying? What about things that combo with... Allies? It's all here in this episode of cards that don't quite have enough members to... just work every game. So listen in and let us know what you think! Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content! If...

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...

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 th...

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...

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 Hidde...

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 Fiddlebender Grazilaxx Barrowin Volo, Guide to Monsters  Acererak Our YouTube has videos fo...