Commander Theory

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 Pa...

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...

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 Za...

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...

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 fo...

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 han...

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...

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, ou...

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 reser...

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 settin...

You might notice that this episode is pretty short. Well, you're right! and you should head over to the Wizard Staff podcas t 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. Wha...

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 th...

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...

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 as...

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 ho...

Kaldheim brought a lot of stuff with it when those longboats landed on the shore. Standard was shaken up and very importantly Brawl and Historic Brawl were rocked pretty hard. What decks are you gonna see the most in this new world? What are some key cards and strategies for success? Nick and Zak dive into their experiences and favorite decks so far, now that the Vikings are here to stay. Historic...

On the 25th of February, we got a pretty large announcement, and a lot of the Magic community was up in arms over it. Crossover IP's? In Magic: The Gathering? But what does Universe's Beyond really mean for the future of Magic. Nick and Zak take a deep look now that the dust has settled.  Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr , Twitter . Our YouTube has videos for even more Commander content...

What if I told you that tutor commanders might have a place in this world? What if I told you that the gameplay doesn't have to be repetitive and tiring? Well do we have some news for you! The phenomenon of "Secret Commanders" ie a card inside of your deck that you build around instead of the commander you picked, has many opponents and fans. But what are the benefits? Can you make...

Faster than the flick of a wand! Quicker than uttering a true name! Strixhaven is already showing off some of what makes it tick! In this episode, Nick and Zak get into the lore, style, possible mechanics, pretty much everything there is so far released about Strixhaven and what it could mean for Magic moving forward. Oh, and there are some new preview cards too! Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr...

If there's one thing people have been led to believe it's that the Magic: The Gathering color pie is confusing. In this episode, Nick gets down into the weeds about Blue and Magic design in general with Ethan Fleischer: Blue Mana Guru on the Council of Colors, winner of the Great Designer Search 2, and all-around great guy!  What blue cards shouldn't have been printed in recent sets...

Feeling like Kaldheim left you out in the cold in regards to some tribal rewards? Well some creative friends and listeners try to remedy that on this episode! Nick and Zak look at some tribal designs that could have been left on the cutting room floor for Kaldheim propper, and go into other designs that were just too cool not to talk about as well! If you work for wizards skip this one, otherwise,...

Tribal is a big component of design in Magic. Good tribal mechanics can make or break limited environments, and tribal legends almost always facilitate new decks in Commander. But what happens when your tribe gets pushed aside? Replaced by little green babies and grape jelly men? In this episode, Nick and Zak talk about how and why changelings can push out members of a tribe from their own tribal...

We made it everyone! Made it through this turbulent spoiler season that is! In this episode Nick and Zak get into the final commanders and main deck cards before going deep on what this set and its design means for the future of Commander. There are also predictions for what will see the most play, and a look into how we did with Commander Legends predictions. There's a lot to glean, tears to...

Another week, another MASSIVE amount of spoilers! Kaldheim is here, and so is snow, some boasting, and a whole mess of other commanders. In this episode, Nick and Zak really get into the legends and dive straight through the maindeck cards and the various possibilities they might have. If you have any cool ideas let us know in the links down below! DECKLISTS: Nick and Zak's Cosima // Omenkeel...

IT'S TIME The first week of spoilers has come (and gone) and Nick and Zak had to process A LOT of information. This episode is what was thought based on what the community knew this weekend, before more spoilers have been revealed. So enjoy our speculation and musings on some topics that have since been revealed. And enjoy the builds and discussions on broader topics, like what's the tie...