#mtgstarter

[mtg-battlebond]

Partner Commanders

If you couldn't tell from my URL, Battlebond is my favourite set in Magic history. A large part of that is because of the Partner Commanders, which were fun, flavourful, and allowed for a fun synergy both in and outside of Commander.

Ikoria's Commander product sees a return to Partner Commanders, this time showing Bonders with their animal companions.

Brallin and Shabraz, the Jeskai commanders, are in the cycling deck. Brallin gives you value off of discarding, Shabraz gives you value off of drawing. Pretty simple, right? There are so many great synergies with these cards, and a love for extra value off of drawing was sparked for me back when Teferi, Hero of Dominaria was released.

I really appreciate WOTC embracing some lighthearted, ridiculous fun here with a Shark Bird. It's really not something I expected them to do.

The Sultai partners are Cazur and Ukkima, and they are from the Mutate deck. These two share a fun aesthetic, and have a cute synergy, but Cazur's ability seems a little too clunky for a powerful +1/+1 counter build. This might be fun with Ninjitsu effects, however, since Ukkima is unblockable, or perhaps a Voltron build with the extra oomph of Ukkima's trigger.

This Temur pair mirrors the Chakram Slinger and Chakram Retriever pair from Battlebond, a personal favourite of mine. They're found in the Instants deck, and while they might not synergize with that theme specifically, they're still dripping with flavour. With both of them out, you can exile cards off the top of everybody's libraries and cast them whenever you want - like a more powerful, 3-colour version of Etali, Primal Storm. Maybe some Fateseal effects would be fun in this deck!

The flavour behind this Mardu pairing is a little worrisome - Trynn appears to set unsuspecting Humans "free" for Silvar to devour at their whim. This is a despicable pairing, and isn't all that surprising given the negative disposition Humans have in this plane. Besides that, this pair is difficult to build around - Trynn's token generating is clunky and hard to guarantee, and Silvar appears to be a nerfed Yahenni. I suppose if you like Yahenni, but wanted more than just mono-black, these guys might be for you.

Last but not least, we have an Abzan pairing from the "counters matter" deck that I've affectionately dubbed "Keyword Soup". These two do have a few interesting mechanics between them - Yannik can distribute a ton of counters around, and Nikara can give you extra value when your creatures die. Between the two of them, there are plenty of good synergies - Yannik's effect can be abused pretty easily with cards like Ephemerate, and I'm sure there's some hidden combo with them and a card like Felidar Guardian. Nikara is great because she gives you card draw from the command zone, meaning you don't need as much in your deck, allowing more slots for interaction or what-have you.

Well, thank you for reading this overview of the new partner commanders! I just get so excited about mechanics like these that I can't help but share my love for them.

[messagemarissa]

If you think you’re having a day, know I just spent 2 hours serving my former biology teacher cosmos mid-day in an empty bar while he relived his entire divorce in excruciating detail, waterworks and all. He then proceeded to play Every Rose Has It’s Throne on the jukebox over and over again, singing alone at full belt. All in which, I had to endure sober because the owner was supposed to around and technically we can’t party on the clock. If this isn’t setting the tone for a warm welcome back to Lima, Ohio - I don’t know what would.

[messagedavekarofsky]

I wasn’t really expecting to see so many familiar faces on here. But I guess this whole thing is a pretty good idea, and it sure beats just scrolling through an endless Facebook feed after a pretty wild day on campus. It’s harder than I thought to get a bunch of college kids back into wanting to train after they’ve had break. If anyone’s got any good tips on how to get their heads back in the game, I’ll take ‘em. 

[messagebrittanypierce]

I hope everyone had the BEST Valentines day! But remember that Valentines day shouldn’t end there. Sometimes people just deserve chocolates, or a rose filled bath on any old Tuesday. The romance is real, people.. Even with just friends. Also sidenote.. Does anyone want a kitten? I may have accidentally adopted a few at the shelter because I wanted to give them a gift for Valentines but I couldn’t bring them home. Lord Tubs is a bully and doesn’t want anyone stealing his woman.

[messagejanehayward]

I’m dreading having to try and catch up on all of this work that I’m going to be missing now that my parents have guilted me into come back to Lima to visit because someone decided to tell my mother that he was visiting which means she was wondering why I wasn’t planning on visiting too. So here i am, with packets of pre-work assignments from my professors and a splitting headache. Being back in town will be nice though, and I suppose seeing my parents will be really nice. But if I do end up crashing and burning make sure to speak praises of me while they take me to the mad house.

[messageryderlynn]

The new Fast and the Furious trailer dropped at the weekend which means that work has been stupidly busy this week. Like there have been nine films and apparently people still haven’t learned that trying to do burnouts in your beat up Corolla that you haven’t serviced in three years is only going to end badly. And who watches that trailer and decides that copying any of it is a good idea in the first place? You know you live in a dive town when I feel like the one with common sense.

[messagemasonmccarthy]

Requesting off to visit my parents has been the hashtag weirdest thing I’ve ever done. I had to tell my director that no one’s dying, it’s just because I didn’t get to see them over the holidays or anything, he seemed to take it well. Especially that classes are about to start back up, I just want to see them-- even if they don’t necessarily want to see me. Now if only I could order my tea in the morning this confidently, we’d be going some places, guys.

[messageblaineanderson]

After having to find out through facebook that my parents are dating again, I think it’s safe to say that my account has officially been abandoned. Why are parents and social media such an awkward combination? Anyway -- I’m going to give this thing a try instead, as it seems like there’s a lot of familiar faces here. I know I haven’t exactly been the best at keeping up with social media lately, thanks to my busy schedule, but I’m planning on changing that soon. So, how is everyone else doing?