Tag Archives: Commander

On the Tabletop

2 Guys Game LotR Commander

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Introduction

I mentioned once or twice over this most recent iteration of the page that I more or less made it into an online journal for myself with some ambition of still trying to find like minded gamers. It humbles me to say that even with my new focus on maintaining a presence through the book club and YouTube series that second goal still eludes me. But, as it is a minor secondary goal, I don’t feel too bad about it. In the interest of the first goal, I present 2 Guys Game LotR commander.

Before that, though, I need to remark that Chris and I talked a couple of times about bringing back the main podcast. He mentioned it again at the end of our gaming session the other day. Our other companion, Jason, said, “You have a podcast?” I remarked, somewhat tongue in cheek, “Well, I have a podcast.” Then, Chris explained that we recorded a few episodes many years ago. I replied that I thought about abandoning the page until I saw that next year is our 10th anniversary. Something to be said for keeping it alive that long.

The Set Up

Chris and I planned to get together before our Germany trip. Something came up and we cancelled again, but promised one another that as soon as we got back, we’d make plans again. Actually true to our word this time, we made plans to play some video games and Magic the Gathering last Friday.

First, some more background. During the time that Quinn and Liam practiced for Willy Wonka, I threw a bit of a fit in the group chat with Chris and Jason. Things got awkward and the chat went silent for a bit. I saw a card in spoilers and wanted to share. Braving the land that I razed, I shared the card in the group chat. Jason and Chris both responded. He accepted my apology and Chris invited him to our game night. He accepted. So, while not inaccurate, the title doesn’t tell the whole story.

The card that repair burned bridges.

The First Match (2 Guys Game LotR commander)

So, how did I, your intrepid author, end up playing cards I talked a bit of smack about only mere months ago? Well, (a) I never claim to be above hypocrisy especially of the gaming variety and (b) Chris and Jason bought the cards and wanted to play. So, when Chris suggested that we try the LotR precon commander decks, I figured, “Why the heck not?”

He gave me the choice of decks. I picked Galadriel because she matched my color scheme that I always get when I play, “What MTG colors are you?” He and Jason flipped for the other deck. Dang. I thought I might want to write an article, but never took notes, so I can’t remember which deck Jason played. I know Chris played Sauron, but swapped out Saruman because of possible mana restrictions. Oh, I just looked them up on Amazon. Jason played Eowyn.

As I looked through the deck and then played, I saw that (probably predictably) the Galadriel deck did elf things. It makes 1/1s, buffs them, and eventually attacks for the win. However, as Chris discovered, the blue mana serves a purpose, too. “It doesn’t matter what deck you get,” he complained when he tried to cast into open blue, “you always get those control cards.”

Nevertheless, in a tale as old as time, I misplayed several turns and ended up with a wiped board and only 6 health. While nobody actually swung against me for lethal, I saw the writing on the wall and scooped. Jason beat Chris, or he scooped, too. In any case, Jason took the win. As Chris later said, “I’m sick of losing to that guy.”

The Intermission

Jason ordered and went to get food for dinner. I ate before leaving and Chris had pizza. So, when he left, Chris fired up one of the EA Sports NHL games. I don’t know the actual number. He and I played one period of hockey (I won 8-4 or something along those lines) while Jason ate. After the game, we contemplated what to do next. More commander, of course? But, LotR again? Or, one of our other decks?

The Second Match

I picked my landfall deck. It’s the most well tuned and the one I play the most, so I stood the best chance at possibly winning. Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor commands that deck. Chris went with Prossh, Skyraider of Kher. Jason picked his dragons over zombies. So, he chose Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients as his commander.

As usual, I raced out to a pretty good head start. I triggered landfall a few times, drew Wrenn and Six, and a sac land. However, again, I realized too late that I misplayed against Chris’s strategy and ran out of gas pretty early. Then again, a Felidar retreat at any point or Emeria Angel earlier in the game put me in a better position to win. That’s just sour grapes, though, because I drew cards to wait out the sacrifice combo that Chris put together for a few turns. So, Jason overran Chris with Dragon Spirits and I died with a possible winning combo in hand.

The Verdict

Jason mentioned during clean up that he had no idea how his deck might fare against “real people”. Chris bristled at the comment, so he clarified it as “competitive” people. Chris again protested, but I owned it. When it comes to Magic, I just want to play and have fun. Win or lose, that almost always happens. So, while Chris and Jason get into a potential arms race, I’m content to just cast my silly elves and plant tokens.

Oh, I want a Craterhoof for my Galadriel deck, though. I hope you enjoyed what might become a series, 2 Guys Game LotR commander.

On the Tabletop

Bant EDH Update #1: Cards I Love

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Introduction

I first leaked my plans to build a new Commander deck in my MTGONE Esper Cards article. I continued to refer to the deck in each one of the other articles of the series. Ever since then, I planned to release a Bant Commander update article during this week. However, instead of the planned big reveal of the deck, I can only reveal my commander (or commanders…that’s what we call a tease in the biz, folks) and some other strategery and deck talk. So, this Bant Commander EDH #1 comes in with slightly less fanfare than anticipated.

Now that I chose my commander and theme, deck building should go relatively quickly. Then, once I buy the cards and play against Chris and Jason, I write an assessment. If necessary, I tweak the deck for maximum efficiency or, more likely, maximum fun. Look for those updates in the coming months. For now, join me as I talk about cards.

The Genesis of the Deck

Mondrak, Glory Dominus

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The first cards that caught my eye was Mondrak, Glory Dominus. I considered building around him as the commander. That meant I could include Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines and even swap her in as commander if I wanted. Then, I saw Tekthal, Inquiry Dominus, and everything changed. I needed a UW commander, got less utility from swapping commanders out, and maybe weakened my deck overall. But, you know me. If it ain’t jank, then jank it. Further research showed me that most of the UW commanders weren’t good for the overall token and counters (not counterspell) theme. Enter, green.

Your power is…GREEEEEEN.

Green practically swims in counters of all types. In fact, writing this article reminded me of another card that I used to build a tiny leader deck. Yisan, the Wanderer Bard with proliferate can cheat out all sorts of stupid stuff. Into the 99 you go, Sir.

Bant EDH Update #1: Honorable Mention

Slurrk, All-Ingesting

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In order to find my perfect commander, I searched the Google machine. Initially, I looked for strictly proliferate/token decks, but found few. Either I am on the cutting edge here or I just janked myself into a continued losing streak. Whatever the result, I consider it a win. Then, I just searched Bant commanders and it took me to this page. Kros, Defense Contractor first caught my eye. Being fun police makes me irrationally happy, as you know. The added bonus of giving potential boons to my opponents makes it just the right amount of jank.

Alas, I abandoned the cat for the Angel. Jenara just makes +1/+1 counters ripe for proliferating. But, wait, there’s more! As I scrolled, the page reminded me of partner commanders. First, the Ojutai card and Slurrk also just make +1/+1 counters, but they also fit the jank quota. Second, the Ojutai card and the golem maker fit everything that my deck tries to do. So, it’s settled? Well, not quite.

Bant Partner Commanders I Love

Alharu gives me the +1/+1 counters and tokens that I want. Thrasios gives me card draw and possible ramp. Partner lets me sing Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” whenever I get a chance to cast them both onto the battlefield together. Really, what more can I ask for from a commander deck?

The Verdict

I overpromised a bit with this Bant EDH Update #1. I think I under delivered a bit, too, but that’s okay. It doesn’t happen often enough around here that once in a while is okay. Now that I picked my commanders, though, the rest of the process will take no time to finish. I already got some ideas of cards to include in the deck. I think the next step after building will be to play around with the deck in xMage to get a feel for it. Be on the lookout for that.

On the Tabletop

MTGONE Esper Edition Cards I Love

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Introduction

We last wrote Magic the Gathering content in December when we named it the card game of the year for last year. Before that, I questioned my commitment to the game, changing my mind in the process of writing the article. I bought new product for the two most recent sets and recommitted myself (not to the nut house, though I appreciate your concern for me) to the game. Now, a new set looms and I actually find myself researching Commander decks to bring to our next play session. I even mention some of those cards in this MTGONE Esper Edition article.

Since our last preview article came all the way back during the Forgotten Realms set, let me explain the process. I break the set into three subsets. As you can see from this article, I first review white, blue, and black cards. On Wednesday, the Gruul edition brings red and green cards. Then, to finish on Friday, I pick up all of the miscellany. Join me now for MTGONE Esper Edition.

White Honorable Mention (Elesh Norn, the White Sun, and Vindicator)

White Suns Twilight

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Vindicator finally gives us a white “brother” to Obliterator. I hate that card. While Vindicator seems less annoying, it still gives you another way to stonewall your opponents and/or ping off their threats.

I just texted Chris to talk about some investment strategies. Since I also have this article open at the same time, I mentioned to him about the Bant counters/tokens deck I plan to build. White Sun’s Twilight works perfectly with that strategy. Plus, poison really tilts Chris, so I get that added bonus from the card.

I love the original Elesh Norn. I draft the card every time I see it and splash white, if necessary to play it in my deck. People say that this one breaks Magic in fundamental ways, so I want a chance to play it before the ban hammer inevitably comes down.

MTGONE Card I Love (Mondrak, Glory Dominus)

This card immediately caught my eye when I first saw the spoiler. I think I even texted Chris and Jason and said that I wanted to build around this card. Then, I saw a blue card that doubles proliferate and I researched UW options for proliferate. Not finding many, I branched out into green, too. Green is lousy with counter generators. And that’s the story of how my first non net decked Commander deck is coming into shape.

MTGONE Blue Honorable Mention (A Drake, A Mermaid, and Jace Walk Into A Bar)

Jace, The Perfected Mind

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Jace got leaked before being spoiled as we now seem to have leak season (that sounds messy) and official spoiler season now with Magic the Gathering. Initially, I thought Jace might be nice, but not my favorite iteration of the character. I might put one in my deck as an alternate win condition. However, milling 100 cards takes a while.

The drake can get out of hand pretty quickly with the right combination of counters and proliferate cards. The mermaid gives me the opportunity for all kinds of silly blue shenanigans that no doubt will have my opponent flipping the table at some point in the game.

Blue Card I Love (Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus)

Here’s the card I mentioned earlier that put me on UW and eventually Bant for my new deck. With this, Mondrak, and Elesh Norn alone, win conditions abound in the deck. I need to get onto xMage and start building this deck. The new cards aren’t implemented yet, but I can at least start to get the shell of the deck and add the new cards when they release on the program.

MTGONE Black Honorable Mention (Feed the Infection, Sheoldred has an Edict, and the Black Sun)

sheoldredsedict

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Since black no longer fits the theme of the new deck, I looked for cards that I might include in my UB control deck that I build on MTGA. Black Sun’s Zenith might take the place of flunk because of the added ability to bring things back from the graveyard. Edict is just a good removal card with versatility. I’m not 100% sure that Feed the Infection fits. I like the draw card I already have in there, but maybe I will test 2/2 or 3/1 to see which I like better.

MTGONE Black Card I Love (Not Really. Rats Piss Me Off)

I featured this one because as soon as I saw it, I thought, I’m going to start seeing this stupid card in those rat decks that people sometimes run. Way back when they released the Sanctum cycle, I wrote about a jank deck using all of them. Periodically, I see that deck and wonder if it just entered the zeitgeist or if I inspired it. The first opponent to play this stupid thing will have me thinking the same.

The Verdict

MTGONE Esper edition inspired me to plan and build my first non net decked Commander deck. Be on the lookout for the update posts over the next few weeks. As soon as I press schedule on this article, I plan to open xMage and start building the shell. See you on Wednesday, when I release the Gruul edition of the set!

Card Images taken from Mythic Spoiler. Banner image from Hipsters of the Coast.

Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Top 5 January 2022: A Look Ahead

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Introduction

This Top 5 January 2022 article comes about a week late. We here at 2 Guys Gaming consider that a victory after disappearing for two whole months at the end of last year. Also, unless I come up with something else while writing the article, this top 5 January 2022 might be only a top 4.

Will I make it to 5? Stay tuned to find out.

Top 5 January 2022

Well, that wasn’t at all suspenseful, was it? I learned over the last few years from people that I love who suffer from anxiety that suspense is overrated.

5. Geocaching – I will talk about this more on my other page. However, it became such a part of my life over the last 3rd of last year, I’d be doing a disservice by not mentioning it here, too. I currently have two goals for the year. Finish out my 365/366 consecutive days of caching and finding 1000 caches in the calendar year. Check out the other page to keep tabs.

4. Homebrew Games – I recently hooked up my Atari 2600 emulator to the downstairs TV again. I only played a few minutes of Frostbite and Circus Convoy. The latter reminded me how much I enjoyed the other homebrew games I purchased at the beginning of last year. So, I found myself on the Atari homebrew page again thinking about what new games I want for a 50 year old video game system.

3. New Games – I actually put together a Christmas list for the first time in years. On the list, I asked for a few new games. I saw Chess Ultra at Walmart for 13 bucks and Chris recommended Hades. I also asked for the new Metroid game before realizing it cost 60 bucks. But, I got Hades and Chess. I played through a few minutes of Hades, texting Chris the whole time and can’t wait to play more. Plus, Chess is always a winner.

2. Dungeons and Dragons Duels – I talked about this in my previous article wrapping up my favorites of last year. Quinn and I never got a chance to sit down and have a session. But I remain committed to making it happen. We have the same February vacation this year. Expect an update after that.

1. MtG Commander – I also wrote about this in my year end wrap among other articles. Unlike Duels, though, Chris and I actually got to play some Commander while watching Alabama eviscerate Georgia in the SEC Championship. As it turns out, Georgia gave Bama the rope a dope in that game and turned the tide (ha ha) earlier this week. I’d have lost my house if I didn’t think the line was super fishy. But, alas, back to the point. More Commander not this weekend, but next.

The Verdict

Our top 5 January 2022 seems less intriguing than our preview last year. However, it is far more sustainable over the long run since I’m not promising to play 75 games that I’ll never even speak of again as long as we live. Also, honestly, I’m not sure what else to write this week, so it might be a bit of a dry stretch until we play Commander again next week. Plus, there will be at least three of us there! See you then.

On the Tabletop

2021 Tabletop Game of the Year

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Introduction

Previously, we picked Magic the Gathering Arena as our PC/Mobile Game of the Year. As promised, this time we pick our 2021 Tabletop Game of the Year. If you paid attention to the previous article, this choice will come as no surprise. As with our PC/Mobile game, we really only played this game, so the choice is more or less by default. Nevertheless, the choice is genuine. We very much enjoy this game, especially lately.

Drum roll, please. Pause for effect.

This year, we the esteemed creators and chairmen of this very web site, 2 Guys Gaming, of sound body and mind, do so delcare with enthusism and without question (is this run on sentence with a parenthetical ridiculous enough yet? Because I’m running out of steam.) that we choose Magic the Gathering as our Tabletop game of the year. Other than the fact that we consistently (well, as consistent s we get) publish content about Magic the Gathering, we have other reasons for choosing the game.

The Cons (Always Start with the Bad News)

Cons? How can the 2021 Tabletop Game of the Year have cons? Well, there are always two sides to the story. Besides, the cons aren’t game breaking and easily remedied.

  1. Expensive – As with the digital formats, Magic the Gathering cards can be expensive. Unlike the digital (except MTGO), the actual cards have a secondary market that drives the cost up on many cards. Thankfully, I’m not one to keep up with the Joneses and refuse to give in to the temptation to spend stupid amounts of money on cards. That doesn’t mean that I don’t take advantage, as evidenced by the Griseldaddy and Chandra I sold for almost 100 each.
  2. Hard to Get Together – This mostly applies just to us and our playgroup. Chris and I texted several times before we were finally able to get together for some Commander on the night of the SEC Championship. Inspired by that, he tried to get us together with some of his buddies that we’ve played before, but that fell apart, too. But, we planned to get together after the new year.
Hmm, draw 7 cards or two tanks of gas? I could also feed my family for a week. Tough choice, but I’m not signing on that dotted line in blood any time soon, Griseldaddy.

Pros (Preciesely Chosed to Counter the Cons)

  1. Proxies – I checked before I ordered. Okay, I checked soon after I ordered. But, I couched the question with an assumed affirmative. “We allow proxies, right?” I knew Chris would say yes. I wasn’t sure about the other guys. But, I got a yes and ordered the cards I needed to upgrade my Naya landfall Commander deck. Too bad I read the small print too late and just recently saw they’re coming from Spain. That’s gonna sit in customs for a while.
  2. Face to Face Always Better – Even when I’m losing to some stupid Paradise Mantle combo or Chris is beating my brains out in Commander, I still have more fun against actual people. My paranoid side always sees my opponent’s draw in Magic the Gathering Arena as tailored specifically to beat my deck or draw. Harder to make that claim against a non computer opponent
  3. Commander – I already went over this several times so I won’t rehash it again here. Just know that it remains my favorite format.

The Verdict

I think we made a clear case why, in spite of the fact that it was basically by default, that Magic the Gathering is our 2021 Tabletop Game of the Year. Join us again in a couple of days as we choose the console game of the year. If you thought this one was ridiculous, wait until you see the justification for that. But, don’t let that scare you off. Be sure to come back. It’ll be fun.

On the Tabletop

Commander: Top 5 Reasons It’s My New Favorite Format

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Introduction

I often said that I’m a Commander player who never played Commander. Well, I can’t say that anymore. I played Commander. In person. Against a real live boy. Insomuch as you belive that Chris is an actual human and not some figment of my imagination. After watching “A Beautiful Mind”, I neither confirm nor deny the existence of anyone. However, I’m 95% sure that Chris is a real person because my wife and children have all seen him. So, either they are all fake or he’s real. While still not confirmation, it’s more likely that he’s real than I’ve constructed this elaborate lie to keep myself as sane as possible given that I probably died about a decade ago and this is Hell.

Just how far down does this Matrix go? Is it too late to pick blue?

Whether Chris actually exists or not, I played a few games against him. We watched Alabama absolutely eviscerate Georgia, we ate pizza, and we played Magic the Gathering. Okay, even I admit, this is sounding less and less plausible as an evening in the life of a 46 year old father of three. Nevertheless, let’s pretend it’s all real. I present to you the top 5 reasons that it’s my new favorite format. Granted, I had no favorite format before, except maybe Legacy or Vintage. But, I never in a milliion years, made enough money to even put together a proxy deck in either of those formats, so EDH it is.

Number 5 – Low Money Threshold

Precon decks are cheap. They are also terrible. However, I discovered that many players wrote extensive upgrade articles to take them from terrible to slightly less terrible for less than 100 dollars (as long as you and your playgroup are willing to tolerate proxies). Take this page for example. Or, this one. For about 150 bucks, I got 2 playable decks and a stupid combo deck. Not bad all things considered.

Number 4 – Popularity

Partially because of the low barrier economically, many many people play this format. I know becaue (a) of the plethora of articles mentioned in the last section and (b) anytime I mention to another human being there seems to be a (completely made up statistic) 72.5% chance that they tell me they at least have a precon deck redy to play

Get yours today!

Number 3 – Variety of Strategies

One of the things that keeps us coming back to Magic the Gathering is the ever evolving strategy of the game. Within that changing metagame, certain things remain universal. Life gain. Tribal. Ramp. Prison. Mill. Plus, many more. Find your playstyle today. Unless you play mill. In that case, I invite you to go straight to hell.

And, of course, I open MTGA and the first game is opened with this play, FFS.

Number 2 – We got a playgroup together (Sort of)

You may remember from the early days of 2 Guys Gaming that Chris and I went to a guy’s house to play some sealed for one of the sets. After the sealed game, we played something or another. I don’t remember the exact format. I simply remember watching another game and making a snarky comment similar to the one I just made about not actually playing Magic the Gathering as my opponent combo’d off on turn 3.

The point of this story is that those same players contacted Chris a couple of weeks ago about getting together to play Magic again. We were supposed to get together last weekend, but it fell apart due to scheduling conflicts of adults. However, we made a commitment to try again next month. So, progress!

Number 1 – Singleton Decks

Chris and I texted back and forth several times about our get together and the quirky nature of singleton decks. I said something along the lines of, “It’s funny how you can play the deck so many times and still be surprised when you learn that a card is in the deck because you’ve never seen it once.” He replied with, “Yeah, the one copy of each card makes for an interesting strategy.” I got a glimpse of it with Tiny Leaders, but doubling the card count provides a whole new level of strategy for sure.

Commander: A Great Format or the Greatest?

In addition to everything already said, playing against Chris inspired me to order counters, tokens, and a satchel to carry my decks. I know we get inspired to do things around here (like update the web page regularly) only to see that motivation wane to the point that nothing is done for months at a time. However, this interest in Commander seems to have a staying power. Stay tuned in January to see if that’s true.

On the Tabletop

Commander Legends: Cards I Love

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Introduction

Commander Legends? Aren’t all commanders legendary? I am the first to admit that I have not played Commander at all. But, even I know that much. Okay, requisite dorky dad joke out of the way, let’s get to the actual introduction.

After all, I am a dorky dad and I have the photos to prove it.

As we often do, Chris and I texted about each new card that we found interesting or fun. I’m not sure who started the text chain this time, but I’ll be honest, I never expected it to persist for as long as it did. Mainly, we haven’t gotten together to play in almost a year (maybe even over a year) due to Covid.

As a result, I’ve seen Chris’s passion for the game die. I’ve been able to keep mine mostly alive by playing a game against the boys. Also, xMage and Arena have kept me going. So, I was more than a little surprise that Chris said that he ordered a box of cards. I followed suit by buying a Commander gift box from Channel Fireball that included two Commander decks. So, after years of saying that I’m a Commander player who never played Commander, we are both suddenly Commander Legends.

White

Commanders I’d Play

Both of these have similar effects. Akroma is just straight stupid with a card like Zetalpa, Primal Dawn that is keyword soup. Prava has the added bonus of being a tiny leader in addition to a possible commander. You could build one heck of a nasty token deck around that card. If Chris gets a copy, I might just buy or trade for it.

Other Cards of Note

Austere Command is just a ridiculously versatile control card that I would run 2 of in pretty much any deck that had white. Sure, it is expensive. But, all of the effects are devastating. In addition to just learning Commander, I have also learned about the Monarch, which was introduced in the Conspiracy set a few years ago. It’s a cool mechanic that introduces new strategies to the game. Akroma’s will works well with Akroma. Not surprising, but my eyes bugged when I saw the card.

Blue

Commanders I’d Play

Turning scry into draw is a seemingly powerful effect. Heck, I just got tricked into picking this card because of that effect. Now that I think about it, though, I wish that the effect was “may” or “scry and then draw”. The second effect might be too powerful. I picked the second because of the partner effect. Unfortunately, I can’t partner the card with my Kira because the CMC has to be below 4 cumulatively. Nevertheless, if both are in play at the same time, good luck casting any removal.

Other Cards of Note

WotC is just trolling us at this point with blue cards that are 5 CMC and have “Force” in the title. Sakashima’s Will is just a cool card. I noticed a card with a similar “choose” effect when I was looking through white, but I wasn’t impressed with the card. This one is a lot of fun. I texted Chris about Body of Knowledge as soon as I saw it. Look at this dumb card, I said. Not sure it is good, but it certainly is dumb. Just my kind of card.

Black

Commanders I’d Play

I have an “Empires” deck that I put together that was the throne, crown, and scepter of empires. Of course, I built a blue deck around them. I was thinking that I could adjust the deck to build around Armix. The only problem is that if I make it Tiny Leaders, I can’t run the crown because it is 4 CMC. Tevesh Szat is just a Commander that you run if you don’t ever want to play a game of Commander. He puts a huge target on you.

Other Cards of Note

Profane Transfusion reminds me of the card from one of the Phyrexia sets. Phyrexian Rebirth. Once upon a time I had the ridiculous idea to build a token deck around that card. Maybe with the Cat Leader from above, I finally can. As I was looking through the black cards, I noticed an elf theme. As elves are usually green, I found that interesting. Rakshasa Debaser is just one of those ridiculous cards that I get in my head will somehow work exactly the way I hope. Yet, it never does.

Red

Commanders I’d Play

I texted Chris about Rograkh, too. I think my exact question was, “exactly how broken is this stupid card?” Actually, that wasn’t my exact question. I think I said something about “speaking of stupid” and he replied with something along the lines of “Dear God”. Looks like we can Alena, then the next turn cast Rograkh and a ton of cheap enhance spells, get a bunch of mana and then cast fireball. GG no re.

Other Cards of Note

Wheel of Misfortune and Explosion of Riches just seems like dumb Hearthstone cards. I simultaneously hate the RNG nature of that game and love the RNG nature of that game. These two cards just feel like they’d end up with half of the table laughing and the other half crying. I texted Chris about Blasphemous Act, “When you absolutely, positively don’t want any friends.”

Green

Commanders I’d Play

(a) Did somebody say elves? I noticed an elf theme in black earlier. I surely would have been disappointed if green did not have a similar theme. Time to brew a GB elf deck of doom. (b) Cascade from hand?! That seems like crazy combo possibility with some of the green cards out there. I’m sure Chris has some ideas.

Other Cards of Note

We heard you like ramp, so we put some ramp in your ramp in Reshape the Earth. That’s crazy expensive and if you have 9 lands on the battlefield, I’m not sure what you’d do with twice that. Then again, I’m not a green mage. Court of Bounty is another interesting monarch card that gives some versatility. And not only does Apex Devastator cascade four times, but if combined with Kodama, you get a creature from hand.

Multicolor

There are only Legendary creatures in the multicolor pool for this set. Therefore, I’ll pick more than the two I had been picking for each color.

Commanders I’d Play

In my research about Commander, I learned about group hug strategy. I don’t entirely understand it. But, from what I gather, that bunny looks like a group hug type of guy. I picked the Boros guy simply for all you players out there who like to take notes. He tells you to do so in the text box. I texted Chris about Yurlok because he brings back mana burn. We joked about him scaring off the noobs with old school rules.

Averna let’s you ramp when you cascade. That’s a neat addition. That abomination is going in my mythical GB elves deck. And, that brings us to Nevinyrral. I texted Chris about this one because I recognized the name from the old disk card. This guy has the same effect with a sizeable body.

Colorless

I joked earlier that WotC likes trolling us with almost Force of Will cards. They have done the same with Lotus cards throughout the years. This one is the closest almost Lotus that we’ve ever had. It very well could see a banning in Commander and especially Tiny Leaders. I could put the Staff of Domination in my terrible Armix deck. And, there is a cycle of diamonds in this set. I just picked this one because it’s not Mox Diamond, it’s Moss Diamond. LOL. *ahem* Colorless sucks in this set. What do you want from me?

The Verdict (Commander Legends cards are fun)

Commander Legends offers some fun stuff for players of the format. Even someone like me who has only fancied himself a Commander player who doesn’t have a playgroup can find something in this set. I have to say that there might even be better cards in here than some of the other more recent standard sets. I mean, I have been having fun with MTGA, but the Zendikar Rising cards are mostly just annoying to play against. So, I commend Chris on his decision to grab a box of Commander Legends. He won’t be let down.