Commander Theory

The top 20 Commanders over the last two years is one of the most interesting features on EDHREC. It's interesting to see it change over time and to see what commanders have the go-get-'em attitude needed to break into the top spots, but what can it teach us about design? In this episode, Nick and Zak look at the top 20 commanders on EDHREC and try to analyze what makes them popular? Why...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! On this very special episode, Nick and Zak have the red mana guru -Jules Robins - on to talk about, what else, but the color red in Commander! Jules was lead set designer for Commander Legends amongst so many other things and enlightens us: what red can and can't do, where might red go mechanically, what experiments has WotC tried, and so much more! This is a great conversat...

Happy Holidays! Nick and Zak's gift to you all is this nice little (maybe not so little) episode talking about what we know about Kaldheim! Wizards was kind enough to spoil cards from their Set and Theme boosters, as well as the face commanders for the two Commander preconstructed decks the will release as part of Kaldheim. There's a lot to take in, hopes, fears, treasure, changelings, a...

Life and the holidays might have gotten in the way of finishing some new stuff, but Nick and Zak have been talking about this episode a lot lately and figured it was worth a relisten! Zak for sure gets the episode number wrong in the intro so don't mind that.  But we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane as we continue to work on other content for the future! Follow Commander Theory on Tu...

On this very special episode, Nick and Zak have a special guest, Ari Nieh! Great Designer Search 3 winner and the current White Mana Guru on the Council of Colors within Wizards R&D. He discusses what it means to be on the Council of Colors, what it means to be the White Mana Guru, and what's going on with White's slice of the color pie, in commander and beyond. This is an excellent...

Sometimes a deck is just not quite in the right spot for a fun gameplay experience. Sometimes another color exists that might handle it better. On this episode, Nick and Zak get into what a world would look like if some popular (and not popular) commanders were shifted into a different color identity, much as commander legends did with Blim. How could lead to better or new gameplay experiences? Is...

On this episode Nick and Zak get into some tech that's so secret, EDHREC doesn't even list them on the commander's page! They discuss the cards themselves, why they're uniquely good, and what this means about how people are building their decks. Thank you to Alex Whiteclay, Mark Churchwell, and Kevin Kelley, for dusting some of these bad boys off and starting a series we'r...

RE-REUN We apologize for the "heat" of the recording here. This was recorded a while ago with older equipment. The gain is pretty high(spicy even), but the conversation is relevant to what Nick and Zak, and the community at large have been having in the last few weeks due to CMR and the topic of white in general. Buckle up, enjoy, and we'll be back next week with a new episode just...

The second half! Nick and Zak finish off the legends and some notable main-deck cards. But stay tuned, because there's set and color analysis as well as a look at what the two of them think this set's design means for Commander at the end! (Honestly, it's pretty interesting and it starts around 2:14:30 !!) There's also a look at what Nick and Zak guessed right and wrong about t...

Get ready to hit that times 1.5 speed, this episode is a doozy! Nick and Zak get through the first batch of spoils for Commander Legends, talking about tech, color pairs for partners, cards that maybe shouldn't exist, and more! Also, there are decklists! Keleth and Reyhan Malcolm and Vial Smasher Jeska and Dargo Krark and Tymna Kodama and Thrasios Blim Obeka Ghen Colfenor We'll have EVEN...

The zeitgeist in the Commander sphere of the internet has been alight with cries of "power-creep" and "acceleration" and "arms-races," but is this forever? Commander is a non-rotating, eternal format for Magic: The Gathering players, but can we reverse course? In this episode Nick and Zak get into the nitty-gritty of why the format is faster, and ways to slow down tha...

Nick and Zak were hard at work on SECRET FUTURE PROJECTS and couldn't finish an episode this week. So please, enjoy this fun re-run and next week there'll be more new content!!  Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr , Twitter , and YouTube for more Commander content! If you like our podcast, please support us on Patreon ! If you're planning on shopping with TCGPlayer, you can support th...

You all have been busy cooking up some really spicy custom commanders and sending them in, and Nick and Zak finally get to talk about them! We get to look at gaps in the format, what makes a commander "good" or "fun", and of course, talk about cool tech for these custom cards. We highly recommend giving these cards a try if you hear one you like. They're all incredibly int...

In this episode, Nick and Zak talk 'em dead with guest and friend of the show, Charlotte Sable (CAG, Magic Judge Tumblr). We go over what the Rules Committee decided to do about the Secret Lair Drop: The Walking Dead, and what that means moving forward. The discussions we have are part of a greater effort to heal and move forward, and we hope you listen and start positive discussions in your...

We can't meet up for Commander, and that standard environment post Zendikar Rising has been controversial for standard... SO LETS BRAWL!! In this episode, Nick and Zak talk about The format as a whole, what new cards you should be playing, and what cards have gotten better and worse post rotation. Got any cool decks or secret tech? Let us know! We'd love to hear it.  Follow Commander The...

What's so cool about lifelink? Is indestructible its own reward? WHAT COLORS SHOULD A TRAMPLE COMMANDER BE!? Nick and Zak discuss all of this and more, looking at what design room is left open for future "evergreen keyword lords" like we saw in Ikoria. Much like before, this episode doesn't feature any decklists, but we would love it if listeners submitted custom commanders for...

The other half! But more like the last few cards and some extrapolation. This set has been crazy, and on this episode Nick and Zak finish their reviews, dig into the Zendikar Commander Precons, and see how right they were about what cards were most played from M21. If you've ever wondered what to do with a giant crab, or you're interested in some new tech come and listen! Decklists: Akir...

Historic Brawl has turned into a great format with all the recent additions. Being that we're all stuck at home, Nick and Zak wanted to take a little bit closer look at the format as a whole. There's a lot of cards to try, and a lot of rewards for trying, so why not look at some new tribal builds? Lists are bellow so try not to look if you don't want any spoilers! Kumena General Kud...

IT IS TIME. That's a lot of spoils! In this massive episode Nick and Zak get into what Zendikar Rising will mean for Commander, and what individual cards could slot into your deck. This is a long one so hit that 2 times speed and enjoy. Decklists: Moraug Zagras Phylath Orah Omnath 4.0 Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr , Twitter , and YouTube for more Commander content! If you like our podcast...

Ever wonder what it's like to have infinite mana? Ever realize your deck was full of combos and none of them were intentional? Are you afraid of combos or think that they're too antisocial? Well this episode is for you! Nick and Zak get into some of their favorite combos with multiple, redundant pieces so you're never at the whim of a discard spell. You'll learn about how to pl...

On this episode, Nick and Zak talk about the flood of information about Commander Legends. Commander Legends will be a draftable commander-like experience with a whole 71 new legends, 41 of which have partner(!!!) What does that mean?!? What will the format be like after this set, and what are we hoping the set can deliver? Listen and find out! Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr , Twitter , and You...

You might have noticed it's kind of hard to play magic in person in the US right now. Nick and Zak did too! So what is there to do? How about some Historic Brawl on Arena! Aggro was easy, control had all the right tools, but combo was harder to piece together... So in this episode, they get pretty deep on some combo lists! We got mill, mana, cheating permanents into play, the works! Featured...

On this episode Nick and Zak dive into table politics! There's more to a game of commander than just technical skill and knowing the cards. You have a few other players who can be resources all on their own too! So how do you make a deal that sticks? If I blow up this Gilded Lotus will you attack someone else next turn? This episode gets right into it!   Follow Commander Theory on Tumblr , Tw...

This week was the SDCC 2020 at Home panel for Magic presented by Mark Rosewater , head designer of Magic. There weren't any cards spoiled, but there was a lot of content that has a very large impact on how we will consume magic in the future spoiled! Also some first looks at the return of Zendikar Rising releasing this fall. There's a lot going on, and Nick and Zak make some predictions...

We made it to triple digits! Thank you everyone for your support and for listening! In this episode, we're joined by friend of the show, Alex Whiteclay of Commander Manifesto to dig into trends we've seen in the format. What has the RC and CAG done right, and where could they grow? What are players feeling about the state of commander, and what could the community and leadership do to ma...