#commandertheory

[commandertheory]

The Creative Team clearly had a lot of fun with the Simic creatures.

[commandertheory]

Will need to do some testing to see exactly how good this is, but it seems like sweet value.

[commandermanifesto]

Commander Manifesto is a Guest on the Commander Theory Podcast

I’d like to give a big thank you to the wonderful and enterprising minds over at Commander Theory for having me on the latest episode of their podcast! It was a privilege to hear Nick and Zak apply their expertise to a theoretical shake-up to the format.

You can find Commander Theory at https://commandertheory.com/; the episode can be found at https://open.spotify.com/episode/1eH1agLORZDn9oIddkWUa5

[the-burnished-hart]

Feature Friday: Five More Blogs You Should (Already) Be Following

Welcome back to Feature Friday! Long-time followers will know this is the series in which I highlight a certain Magic blog here on Tumblr and explore in-depth some of the original content that blog puts out every so often. Sometimes, I’ll even do an interview, like I did for @flavoracle and @magicjudge. This week, since I didn’t get a chance to ask anyone in particular, I’m gonna be highlighting another five Magic: The Gathering blogs you should (already) be following.

1. @commandertheory

Rings of Brighthearth | Art by Howard Lyon

“A blog dedicated to improving the quality of thought surrounding the Commander format,” @commandertheory is indeed the most legitimate place to get your Spike on for EDH. Packed with tons of decklists, articles, and advice, this blog explores many of the popular commanders and color-combinations to crank out highly competitive decks which often eschew budget and being “nice” to people. If you are looking to win more at Commander, there is no doubt you should already be following this blog.

2. @isharton

I am so excited for tomorrow!!!  #protourMTGSOI | Art by @isharton

A.Lundell is a non-gender comic artist who uploads adorable doodles to Tumblr from time to time. They’ve created a few fanwalkers and drawn a good number of comic strips that have garnered a lot of attention over the past couple of months. You should definitely check out their drawing stream when they go live, because they’ll take requests for Magic-related doodles. Furthermore, be sure to visit their Patreon to “support more MTG related stuff!”

3. @imakethecard

Feedback Bolt | Art by Ron Spencer

@john-cena-boros-bruiser actually suggested this blog to me last night. Basically, if you make custom Magic cards here on Tumblr, there’s a likely chance that @imakethecard already follows you (funny how I say that in an article about blogs you should follow). What they do is collect custom Magic designs from all around Tumblr and give commentary on some of those designs. Just tag your posts with “Custom Magic Card”, and @imakethecard will come bolting around the corner to give you feedback!

4. @zeecommanders

Zee Commanders is a comic strip drawn by Vincent Bernhardt that takes on the current events and lifestyles of Magic with humor and straight lines. Even though there are currently only eleven installments of this comic strip, reading through them will no doubt give you at least a chuckle and at most a howl. If we get more people to follow him, maybe we can encourage Bernhardt to make more!

Click here to reblog the above comic strip to show Emrakul some love!

5. @tnielsenproject

Descendants’ Path | Art by Terese Nielsen

Terese Nielsen’s geometric lines and soft lighting style is among the most highly recognized throughout Magic history, and this blog has taken up the task to collect her artwork and bring them to Tumblr for all to enjoy. I also just remembered that @tnielsenproject was the first person to reblog my very first post here on The Burnished Hart with a comment, so it was about time I gave back to them with a little attention.

Click here to check out the previous Feature Friday article: Interview with Magic Judge! If you have suggestions for future Feature Fridays, we would love to hear from you! Thank you so much for reading!

[shm128iii]

... Good job, @commandertheory

[thelovelymedusa]

Commandertheory’s Challenge: The Black Plague

Recently, I asked commandertheory to give me a challenge, and they graciously provided a few. The one I’ve done for today is to create a deck representing The Black Plague.

General:

Plague. Disease. Affliction. I think the choice here should be obvious. Pharika, the God of Affliction is a general that I don’t think enough people really give credit to. I very much like her, however, and I’ve gone ahead and used her here.

+Pharika, God of Affliction

Carriers:

The Plague was transmitted via rats. Or, more accurately, the fleas on those rats. Unfortunately, there aren’t any flea cards that I’m aware of, but I put in some suitably disgusting insects that I think fit the theme well.

+Pack Rat

+Crypt Rats

+Diseased Vermin

+Rotting Rats

+Stronghold Rats

+Bane of the Living

+Brain Maggot

+Nantuko Husk

+Scute Mob

Effects of the Plague:

The Black Plague is thought to have killed 30-60% of Europe’s total population, and it took Europe’s Population 150 years to recover. In magic terms, this means stuff that kills things, preferably en masse!

+Pestilence

+Necrotic Plague

+Decree of Pain

+Nettlevine Blight

+Spreading Plague

+Traveling Plague

+Plague Boiler

+Undercity Plague

The Infected:

Diseased people usually bring to mind images of zombies nowadays, so I went with some zombies and zombie-like creatures to help out here! There’s not too much of a zombie tribal theme here, but Cemetery Reaper is a great card on its own, and probably the better option if we want to exile something from an opponent’s graveyard.

+Midnight Banshee

+Corrosive Mentor

+Plagued Rusalka

+Phyrexian Plaguelord

+Blood Artist

+Cemetery Reaper

+Plaguebearer

+Pontiff of Blight

+Carrion Feeder

+Stronghold Assassin

Plague Doctors:

I wasn’t quite sure what to use for Plague Doctors. I ended up going with various creatures that either recur, or somehow protect your creatures.

+Eternal Witness

+Pharika’s Mender

+Vigor

+Entomber Exarch

Avatars of Death:

The Black Death was so terrifying and virulent, that many attributed it to the supernatural. Some believed it was God’s punishment. The creatures featured here are a little less than godly, but no one can deny their great power and affinity to death.

+Graveborn Muse

+Grave Titan

+Massacre Wurm

+Doomwake Giant

+Vulturous Zombie

Others:

The rest of the deck can be filled out using Commandertheory’s Top Cards in Commander list, or can be filled in at your own judgment. 

I hope you enjoyed this challenge! Thank you to Commandertheory :D I’ve been meaning to build a Pharika deck for a bit now.

[commandertheory]

Hi there, I absolutely love your blog. I have recently made a Nekusar deck and I have used yours as a sort of frame, obviously I'm not going to copy it exactly plus I'm working on a budget which restricts what cards I can actually afford to put in the deck. My question is, what is your opinion on Rogue's Gloves from M15? It does the same thing as Curiosity but not as good since by the time it hits the field and equips it's cost 4 mana as opposed to Curiosity's 1. Is it worth running?

For reference, here’s the original Nekusar article and the follow-up articles.

Unlike Curiosity, Rogue’s Gloves only triggers on combat damage. It’s comparable to Mask of Memory. Nekusar doesn’t particularly like attacking, so I wouldn’t recommend running Rogue’s Gloves. If you are looking for more effects like Curiosity, check out Helm of the Ghastlord and Ophidian Eye.

Thanks for the question and good luck on your deck!

-Jstache

[commandertheory]

Hey quick question, I can't seem to find a official ruling on the Gisela/pyromania supposed synergy and was wondering if you know any rulings on it. Does Gisela prevent all of the one damage (.5 rounded up) or as some have said, does it not work that way? My friend says magic only uses whole numbers thus Gisela can't prevent the one damage... I feel like a noob for having to ask this and I apologize, but with both sides screaming in my ear and not knowing the official ruling I need help.

Gisela prevents all damage from sources that only deal 1 damage. There’s nothing in the card text that would cause it to round down if the source only deals 1 damage.

-Jstache