Commander Focus

Commander Focus – Zabaz, or: LA+R+BO+DU RO+MO+S

Modern Horizons 2 wasn't exactly a timeshifted set, but it wasn't exactly not timeshifted, either. A number of mechanics were revisited that haven't been used in a while, and among them was Modular. Modular hasn't really seen much use...

Commander Focus: Jorn, God of Winter

Credit: Wizards of the Coast, Magali Villaneuve Kaldheim continued a thread started in Zendikar Rising by offering new modal cards, though no longer bound to lands, giving us modal double-faced cards that instead had two spells to choose from. These...

Commander Focus: Uro, Never Not Banned Cards

Credit: Vincent Proce, Wizards of the Coast Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, is probably the stand-out card of Theros: Beyond Death. It's hard to say exactly but Simic has been at the center of a number of cards which required...

Commander Focus: Take it to the Limit (Aegar, the Freezing Flame)

Credit: Chris Rahn, Wizards of the Coast Aegar, the Freezing Flame comes out of Kaldheim as part of a strange and somewhat new tribe combination: Giant Wizards.  If you thought this wasn't threatening enough: Imagine if he was also twenty feet...

Commander Focus: Kobolds and Swords

In general, combat damage is a difficult (read: Bad) way to win games of Commander. In a normal game of Magic you have to get your opponent to zero life.  Assuming they don't interfere in some way (either gaining...

Commander Focus: 2020 in Review and What Does 2021 Hold?

2020 saw an astonishing number of releases of product for Magic: the Gathering, and as Commander is its own essentially eternal format, virtually any release of any cards whatsoever adds the possibility of new cards for the format. And...

Commander Focus: A Pirate’s Life for me, Part II: Admiral Becket Brass

Avast matey! Welcome to part two of our series on building around Pirates (you can find part 1 here). Lemme ask: Do you seek to set sail on the stormy seas with a deck with flair and a nautical...

Commander Focus: A Pirate’s Life for Me, Part 1 – Malcolm and Breeches

Credit: Ferris, Jean Leon GEROME/Private Collection/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES The distribution of power throughout the tribes of Magic: the Gathering is - at best - uneven. For most of Magic's history Elves have probably been the strongest, with the combination of cheap...

Commander Focus: Lurrus, of the Dream Den, you can Count on him

Credit: Slawomir Maniak, Wizards of the Coast Given the impinging Halloween and the strange year, I think it's important to bring up a topic that may be of much concern, and is very relevant and very serious. Who is the best...

Commander Focus: Kroxa, doesn’t want the turn to end

Credit: Wizards of the Coast, Vincent Proce There are a few cards in magic that have mechanics associated with them that essentially break the game. The way some of these cards are dealt with changes over time; sometimes they work...