Vindication- Counterpunch Review Posted to TCGPlayer Main Page

Hey guys, just got my Counterpunch deck review posted on front page of TCGplayer.  I took down the one i posted on here to avoid any issues.  Go to the article and comment on it, let them know that people are interested in Commander!

The article- Counterpunch on TCGplayer

Shiny Shiny- Black Premium Deck "Graveborn" due for 11-18-11

Not much is known yet, but the red "Fire and Lightning" deck had a lot of cool rare cards in it. 

Commander Pre-Cons- Which is Best and Why?

When most Magic: The Gathering players hear the word “pre-constructed”, they can’t help but laugh a little.  Not only are the pre-constructed decks rarely any good, but the rares provided in said decks are often cards that have no chance of being desirable in any meta game.  With that said, I was elated still at the announcement of the commander pre-constructed decks that will contain NEW cards, never before seen, alongside a plethora of presumably useful cards in the format.  Boy was I not disappointed.

TCG Player Submission- What is Commander and Why Should I Play It?

 I submitted this to TCGPlayer.com when I asked them about writing a regular Commander column on their website.  Wish me luck!

Greetings all, my name is Cassidy and I will be your content provider for the next 1500 or so words.  I have been playing Magic on and off since the release of Alliance though I was never as engaged by the game as much as when I played my first game of EDH, which has now been officially re-monikered as Commander.  With the imminent release of the Commander preconstructed decks, there will be many questions floating around the MTG Community.  Whether you are a seasoned veteran new to the format or if you are just a plain old newbie, a serious gamer or a kitchen table card flopper, the Commander format has plenty to offer any personality and preference.  To this end, I will explain what Commander is and why you should play it, facilitating the discussion by breaking it down into pre and post deck construction considerations of the rules, strategies, and social aspects that make commander unique in the MTG universe.

So what is Commander, and why should you be playing it?

           

Commander is primarily a multiplayer format, though it can be played as a one versus one duel.  With that said, the primary motivation for a player engaged in Commander is meeting new people and having a good time.  The tone of the format is overtly casual, even going so far as to have a “suggested” set of banned cards instead of a hard banned list, though the suggested list is often followed implicitly.  Social policing of offensive cards is encouraged within each meta-game and in essence, Commander operates on a sort of Rousseauian social contract.  Cards and strategies will be discouraged on a local level, and if a player threatens or breaks this social contract through anti-social behavior, a reactive social response will often ensue, including but not limited to forcing a player off the table or even overt shunning if necessary.  This leads to a phenomenon known as “group expectation,” examples of which would be the expectation that games will last long or the expectation that mass land destruction will not be employed.  The group expectation is really the most important aspect of the Commander Social Contract.  The social considerations on deck building is obvious then- some cards will garner more anger than others, and the reaction of other players to your cards and actions is more important than actually winning the game.  In further articles, I will give each card a “hate rate” depending on socially acceptable a card will be.  I encourage readers to voice their opinion.

Say you go to a store you have never been to before for an FNM fix but the draft/standard round doesn’t start for another half an hour.  If you see some random people about to sit down to a game of Commander, you may ask to join.  If you play a commander, card or combo that reduces the fun of everyone else at the table, there is less of a chance that this same group will want to play with you again.  Seeing their displeasure, you can either A) remove the offending cards or change the strategy to keep games fun and interesting, or B) alienate yourself from the group and probably everyone else in the store by continuing with the obnoxious antics. 

Many pre-deck construction factors set the Commander format apart from the other formats, the most prevalent of which is the unique ruleset on which it operates.  Before deck construction, a player must choose a single legendary creature as the “Commander” of their deck.  Any colored mana in the commander’s casting cost and text create what is called the “Color Identity” of the commander.  Only cards sharing a color identity with the commander are allowed in the deck; for instance, the “Dawn Bringer” cycle from Fifth Dawn all have a five color identity despite being mono-colored creatures themselves.  Similarly, split cards, split mana cards, and the phyrexian mana cards cannot be packed in the deck if they have a mana color on them that is not in the commander’s color identity.

Say your commander is Omnath, Locus of Mana.  He is two colorless and one green mana to cast, and has no other mana symbols in his text, making his color identity mono-green.  This Omnath deck cannot contain any other mana symbols, basically limiting the arsenal to green, artifact, and green/colorless producing land cards.  Cards such as Kitchen Finks or Phyrexian Metamorph, despite the fact that they could technically be played by an Omnath player with only green mana to spend, do not share ‘Nath’s color identity so cannot be placed in the deck.  If you switched to a WUG general such as Angus Mackenzie, either card will be legal.

Further impacting deck construction is the Highlander/Singleton format on which Commander is based.  Highlander style decks have only a single copy of any non-basic land cards, totaling to an exact card count of one hundred including the commander, from any of the available Magic sets besides the “Un-“ expansions (though as mentioned, local custom can overturn even this rule.)  Because of this highlander base, building a good Commander deck can be as simple or complex as desired.  With each deck consisting of at least seventy different cards with no overlap, there is a lot more room for pet cards and different strategies to shine. 

This unique deck building ruleset necessarily creates strategies distinct to Commander.  As we will discuss in a bit, the chosen commander is almost always available for the player to cast, making it a prime starting point to build a deck around.  A good example of this is Rhys the Redeemed, who will lead a strong token creature centered deck.  On the other hand, a specific commander can be chosen for their unique color identity, especially the Planar Chaos wedge Elder Dragon cycle such as Vorosh, the Hunter or Intet, the Dreamer who were the sole legendary creatures in their colors, in this case BUG and RUG, until the unique cards in the Commander pre-constructed decks were printed.  Not that a commander deck needs to be built upon a commander- some players use key-word/mechanic themes such as land destruction/resource denial or haste and choose a commander who will fit in with the theme; one can even build a deck based on the knowledge that the games will be multiplayer and capitalize on this fact, creating what is commonly known as a “group hug” deck, usually commanded by Pheldagriff or another legend that can create goodwill towards men/women.  Due to the casual nature of Commander, a player can even choose their commander based on how hilarious the card is, whether or not it is “good.”  While not overtly powerful in conception, a five color Atogatog deck will be very fun if for no other reason than you are playing a freaking Atogatog.  Atogatogatogatogatogatog.

After the deck has been constructed, the commander has another unique role in the deck- your commander is always available for play providing you have the mana, making it the most reliable card in your deck and the natural focal point for strategic planning.  When any game starts, players place their commanders in the ‘command zone’ where they will remain as long as they are not in play or ‘tucked’ back into the deck via certain spells and abilities.  A player may cast their commander from the command zone by paying its mana cost as normal at anytime they could normally cast a creature.  Once a commander dies or is exiled, instead of going to the graveyard or into exile, the commander is returned to the command zone with a counter marking the death.  A player may play the general again, at a cost of two extra colorless mana for each death counter.  

Following the previous example, Omnath has been cast from the command zone after his player taps three forests.  Unfortunately, an opponent taps their two swamps and sends a terror ‘Nath’s way.  Omnath goes back to the command zone with a death counter.  If ‘Nath’s player would like to cast him again, the player must pay four colorless and one green mana.  If he dies again, it will increase to six colorless, and so on.

Commander’s last distinctive trait is the life total and the corresponding ‘commander damage.’  Each player’s life total starts at a whopping forty (40), double that of traditional formats.  To balance this bountiful vitality, a player loses if they take up to twenty one (21) damage from a commander, including their own. 

“Fine, Commander is obviously very unique, but why should I play?”

            As a primarily multiplayer format, Commander lends itself to friendly games, possibly around the kitchen table, possibly to fill time before a tournament.  On the other hand, the interaction between cards can become quite intense and games can become cut throat as players accumulate cards and their decks become fine tuned killing machines.  You can play a game of aggressive domination or a game of political bargaining.  You can play an extremely goofy commander, such as the previously mentioned Atogatog or a no nonsense commander like Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.  You can play a game that lasts four turns where a player combos off and wins the game with cards like Exsanguinate, or games that last for hours as the players build their forces, poised for an epic showdown.   In other words, whatever kind of game you want to play, Commander is like All State- there for you.

            For those that have played Magic for years, Commander is a great place to put all those unused cards that are awesome but have long since rotated out in other formats.  As a bonus, these old cards will interact with newer cards in strange and hilarious ways, breathing new life into your collection.  Elder cards such as Seedborn Muse, Future Sight, and even Strip Mine all take on new dimensions in a Commander deck.  

Conversely, for newer players, Commander is an inexpensive way to get into the game and learn the ins and outs of playing Magic in general.  Many older cards are one dollar or lower, and a decent commander is usually around two to five.  Adding to this, most expensive cards have low costing alternatives that will do in a pinch.  One could easily assemble an effective commander deck for under forty dollar, and a not so effective one for much less.  Even if you can’t afford to build a deck, go to your LGS, ask to sit in on a game or if you know how to play ask to borrow a deck from another player.  Most Commander players have multiple decks; I always carry around my Omnath, Kemba, and Captain Sisay decks that I would be more than happy to lend anyone without a deck. 

            Thus ends my primer on the Commander format, I hope its relevance was apparent.  Stay logged for future articles about Commander including deck building, strategy, and social contract.

Upcoming Pro Tourneys to Chicago Area

On June 25th, 2011, the Rosemont Horizon is hosting a Pro Tour Qualifier.

On July 2nd, 2011, Pastimes is Hosting a Grand Prix Qualifier.

I am hoping to attend at least one of these events and I will report back as to what happened. 

Fancy Footwear- Swiftfoot Boots AKA Lightning Greaves v.M12

We all know Lightning Greaves are good.  Not hard to figure out why.  Haste?  Check.  Protection?  Check.  Cheap?  Check.  Check.  And check.

Commander Spoiler- Scavenging Ooze- Acidic Slime's BFF.

Perhaps this is a familiar story to you- You are playing a one on one EDH game, your opponent is a Glissa the Traitor combo deck.  Turn two drop for Glissa- executioner's pod.  Oi vey, that card is free recursion for Glissa as long as I have creatures, and as I play mono-green I have a lot of those.  Turn five Glissa pops a demonic tutor.  Turn six, Mindslaver.  We kept playing because the round of our draft hadn't started but I had lost as soon as the 'slaver hit the table, and presumably even when he cast the tutor.  The coup de grace- I had Kamahl in hand when Mindslaver resolved, providing my opponent with as many Mindslaver recursions as I had LANDS.

Four of the Five Commander Decks Spoiled- Devour for Power calling!

The moment we have all been waiting for has finally come- four of the five decklists have been fully spoiled.  The deck lists for the most part are not terribly appealing to me, though the Devour for Power BUG deck has quite a few cards that I would use in my other EDH decks anyways, such as Solemn Similacrum and Eternal Witness.  I have wanted to make a Wrexial deck since I started listeing to Commandercast (he is their mascot) and the fact that he is present in the list makes me even happier.

Unfortunately the pre-order prices are extremely high for the commander decks ($35+?!?) and I will try to find it at retail outlets like Target before i will pay a store for their sizable usury.  The presence of Sol Ring and Lightning greaves in ALL the decks should help keep the prices down once the initial buying frenzy is over. 
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/four-of-five-commander-lists-spoiled/

More Commander Spoilers- Choke on Your Cleverness and Die

I am sure all you Commanderers are keeping a close eye on the spoilers, but if not, check out http://www.gatheringmagic.com/commander-previews-68/ 

The cards spoiled this time are pretty cool, but the main card I want to focus on is Stranglehold.  Stranglehold is a 3R enchantment that reads- Opponents can't search their libraries and if an opponent would begin an extra turn, skip it instead.  Red really needed this card and it will splash extremely well.  I expect to see this card frequently.  This card is a good omen for the rest of the unspoiled cards in the Commander boxes- it outright hoses the most abusable mechanics of the format.  Sure its not instant speed like Aven Mindcensor but as an enchantment is has less of a chance of being hated out.  It may even be a valuable political tool against a blue combo deck or an abusive Sisay build.  Monoblack builds fear this card.

I will end this post with the flavor text on Stranglehold- "The correct answer to a barbarian's riddle is to choke on your cleverness and die."

You Want the 'Nath?

Welcome to my Magic the Gathering themed blog.  This will mostly focus on Standard, Limited and EDH/Commander formats of the game as this is what I play most frequently.

My name is Cass, commonly WriterofWrongs or Casshole on the big WWW.  I have played magic since right around when Alliances came out, but put the game down for a myriad of reasons.  The most prominent reason was the state of the player base at the time, I had the worst experience at an Illinois PTQ and it soured the game for me.