Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mid-Week Update: December 30

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS 
The mid-week update strikes again, slaying that hunger for EDH content! For our final update of the year, I'm going solo with another CommanderCast Short; this edition covers drawing cards. Also this week, we've made some small additions to the website. In our links on the left, I've added a Content Index so you can instantly find anything we've ever published here at CommanderCast without having to trawl the hilariously bad archive system. Jeremiah was also added to the personnel roster as one of our regular contributors. You can certainly look forward to more from him in the future.

Things have been a bit crazy around here for the holidays but you can look forward to some big things from our site in the new year. As always, we're really looking for suggestions and ideas and taking them to heart, so if you have something you want to see, we want to hear it! CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com is where you hook us up. If you have something you'd like us to showcase, work you want me to put up here, or maybe want to appear on the show, we're always looking for people.

Here's the video I was talking about:





Finally, to leave you, here's some of the 'in-progress' images from Sandreline of the cards she's having altered (these are for me personally). I'll keep you guys posted on them as she sends in the progress pics!


I'm having Wrexial altered to have no borders and rock a top hat like in the banner for the podcast.
Jaya is my favourite card in Magic. My alteration will have the image frame and rules text being burned away.
The Stoutarm should have a little more 'pop' on the guy being throw out of the picture, and I wanted the borders taken out. I don't really like textless cards as I tend to forget the exact wording all the time, and I also like being able to show new people exactly what my cards do.

Monday, December 27, 2010

CommanderCast 09: Welcoming Our New Overlords

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
 We don't take breaks for holidays, and proving this, we're on point with another edition. CommanderCast 9 is dominated by a Community topic which deviates slightly from the original focus but provides an interesting discussion all EDH players no doubt ave an opinion on. Of course, we're also bringing some Strategy (which expands on my video from earlier) and and a little Technology. We're looking at the new generals the December rules update legalized and providing some ideas on deck construction, cards to include, and the like.


As always, we're interested in what you have to say so get a hold of us using the contact information below. Show notes and links are below. Enjoy.



SHOW NOTES

00:00 to 02:59: Intro: Your three hosts introduce themselves. Andy discusses the mid-week update.

03:14 to 08:39: Community: Free-For-All Roundtable: SERIOUS BUSINESS: Is EDH serious business? This week we pull knives, guns, and lead pipes over whether there's any validity in taking EDH as a 'serious' format.

08:52 to 38:16: Community: I'm Awesome At Beating Up Kids: We begin on topic talking about how tables can handle having players of varying skill, card pool, and experience sitting together. How can everyone have a good time? How do you integrate new EDH players to your group? How can you keep one dominant player from ruining everyone's fun? This topic deviates significantly into a discussion on the roles of players in a metagame sense in maintaining the balance of fun at a game.

38:28 to 50:02: Strategy: Building Your Manabase: An extension of my YouTube video, we look at the pros and cons of artifact mana, how many mana sources to include in your deck, and land selection.

50:20 to 68:51: Technology: Welcoming Our New Overlords: We break down the new Commanders legalized by the December rules update.  Each of us have specific Legends to examine, though it seems we talk more about the ones we aren't assigned:

Adam: Thelon of Havenwood
Andy: Daughter of Autumn and Bosh, Iron Golem
Jeremiah: Rhys, the Exiled

We all briefly discuss Memnarch but more or less gloss it over, since it's already been talked to death in other environments. 

69:12 to closing: Outtro.

PERTINENT LINKS
CONTACT INFORMATION
  • General show contact: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Andy: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com 
  • To E-Mail Jeremiah: jeremiah(at)s1group(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Adam: adnelso(at)gmail(dot)com

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mid-Week Update: December 23

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
 Some people take breaks over these so-called 'holidays'. But there's no time for 'festivity' for CommanderCast, and we're still cranking out content at full-tilt, as evidenced by the mid-week update!

For your Festivus season Byron has another installment of his vlog and Andy has a two-piece Thursday update: a Deckbuilder's Spotlight featuring Jeremiah aka ShivesMcShivers and his Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer deck and a comprehensive rundown of the $30 Wrexial deck that was born on CommanderCast's very first episode. And don't worry about the podcast; we pre-recorded that sucker, so it'll be available as always on Monday.


As always, if you have anything to say to us about our content or just want to say hi, hit me up at CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com!

Here's a >>> LINK <<< to the Wrexial rundown.





Monday, December 20, 2010

CommanderCast 08: A Farewell to Emrakuls

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
Exploding fourth from the cold, loveless void of the internet, it's CommanderCast episode 8! This week we're keeping it extra real with Jeremiah on the mic. It's been an exciting couple months for Commander players everywhere between Wizard's announcement, the rampant speculation leading to and the actual December Rules Committee banlist addition, and the introduction of Colour Identity! Listen in to hear out thoughts and let us know what you think, as always, by hitting us up at CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com! 

We're also still soliciting help in the form of articles, guest hosts, topic ideas, and so on, so if you have something to say I'm definitely willing to provide a platform for you. Get in touch with me and let's make something happen.

Show notes and links below. Enjoy.



SHOW NOTES

00:00 to 06:05: Intro: Meet Jeremiah. I run down the mailbag, and shout outs to those who take the time to interact with us.


06:11 to 12:00: Community: December Rules Committee Update: We discuss the rules updates we speculated on last week. Welcome Colour Identity, bye-bye Emrakul.

12:13 to 26:14: Community: Listener Question: This week we took a suggested topic from Levi: "Is part of the EDH experience debating with other players what is and isn't OK to do? Or should it be defined by the rules like other sanctioned formats?"

26:21 to 44:48: Strategy: Under the Radar. We speak on the time-honoured multiplayer strategy of hanging back and letting your opponents beat one another to death. How can you maintain that stealth that lets you swoop in and win games? How do you spot opponents trying to do the same?


45:16 to 63:58: Secret Tech: Jeremiah Edition.
Common: Night Soil, Faerie Trickery, Elvish Skysweeper
Uncommon: Vedalken Plotter, Sterling Grove, Guardian Beast
Rare: Ward of Bones, Seht's Tiger, River Kelpie

64:04 to 77:36: Technology: Retro Cycle Review: Ascendants. Jeremiah and I are running down the Ascendant creatures from Saviors of Kamigawa, ranking them from best to worst in an EDH context and explaining the rationale.

Jeremiah's Order: Kuon, Rune-Tail, Sasaya, Homura, Erayo
Andy's Order: Homura, Kuon, Sasaya, Rune-Tail, Erayo

77:49 to closing: Outtro.

PERTINENT LINKS
CONTACT INFORMATION
  • General show contact: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Andy: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com 
  • To E-Mail Jeremiah:jeremiah(at)s1group(dot)com

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Mid-Week Update: December 16

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
The mid-week update is back to feed your Commander-related needs! But before that, be sure that you have the latest in rulings from the Rules Committee, everyone. The December Update is upon us. Have any thoughts on the subject? Send them on in, we'd love to hear from you!

That aside, this week Andy is taking you back to Magic 101 with a video on Land Drops; Byron is discussing the Bosh Rule and Colour Identity; and Stephen is back with his most explosive article yet. Also, be sure to check out our new super-ghetto gallery of entries into the Generals Remixed contest! And finally, we still want to hear from YOU: should Emrakul be banned or not? Vote in our poll in the upper-left sidebar of the page.

That's all for now! This Monday we'll be back with another bone-crushing podcast.








Hippo Genocide 03 -- No Witty Title
By Stephen aka Astray Penguin
 Welcome to Hippo Genocide #3 : The hippos didn't have a witty title.

Combo players in EDH are assholes.

I shall repeat: combo players in EDH are assholes.

If you're playing EDH you know it's a broken format, it's full of the most powerful cards and it's easy to abuse them, so easy that unless a card is destructive to the format, it is just left alone to run havoc (drawing 6 cards off Skullclamp in one turn comes to mind). This is fine and dandy until you come up against that guy who is running nothing but tutors and combo pieces.

Every time I run into one of these people I ask myself, "why are they even playing?" Are they so desperate to win they have to play 59 tutors.dec and then feel smug because they ruined everyone's game? Is it even worth calling it a game at that point? Surely a guy who just plays his combo out to win the game isn't playing a game, he's just goldfishing. I've sat in games where I've comboed off in constructed decks (Extended Elves when it was the biggest deck in Extended), the look on people's face isn't a pretty one. They think you're a prick and in that case I was being a prick and proceeded to enjoy it.

Now I want to point out I am a combo player, in Extended I play combo decks. I love going off with combos and watching someone tap out turn 3 so I can drop a Pestermite and win next turn. To me that's the fun of constructed, I find control mirrors boring and aggro gets stale fast, so it's combo or mid-range.

My problem comes from the EDH format being a 'beer and pretzels' format. You're not looking to win some packs or get a pro tour invite, so why is your objective to make the game as little of a game as you can? Surely if your only objective is to instantly win the game as early as possible you could do that by never starting the game in the first place.

Combo is an important part of Magic and has a place, but that doesn't mean it fits into every format. In the eternal formats it's balanced by things like Force of Will, whereas in EDH you can't expect to counter every tutor and combo possible, even more so if two people are playing combo in the same game. So next time you're thinking of sleeving up a combo deck, consider why you're playing the game at all; surely if your only objective is to combo off you should just sit in the corner and play Magic by yourself.

For those who want to be smart asses and say “regulate your group”, I would like to point out I play on MTGO, I have done so now for over a year and enjoy it more than paper Magic (blasphemy I know), it is impossible to regulate a playgroup when you're playing with random strangers and you can't block someone out of a game they're already in. Now that Wizards are starting to give official support to Commander as a format (And hopefully we will get four colour commanders. Is it really so hard to make a WRUB1 6/6 Legendary creature with protection from green?”), people are going to start pushing the competitive side even more and start to encourage this sort of gameplay. I would not be shocked to see Commander become as cut throat as Standard is on MTGO within the next 6 months and it's up to you guys as the community to say no to this and keep games about playing, not winning.

That's all this week folks, I wanted to rant and I didn't have an article come to mind. If you have any feedback or thoughts send them to hippogenocide@gmail.com or drop me a line on MTGO where my username is Astray_Penguin. I hope to hear from all two of you soon.

Monday, December 13, 2010

CommanderCast Episode 07: Gossip, Sideburns, and Home Invasions

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS for the second time
Welp this hunk of garbage ate my well-composed show notes and IMMEDIATELY auto-saved a blank page, so you'll have to excuse me if these are a bit clipped

This week's episode of CommanderCast is arriving as usual, but accompanied by a special bonus podcast covering the decision of the winner of the Generals Remixed contest! It's available seperately for both streaming and MP3 download as you please. Check it out and see who our grand champion (and winner of the sweet-ass-sweet custom card by Sandreline) is!

Also, coming off the Free-for-all Roundtable, be sure to vote in our first poll! You can find it in the upper-left side of the blog's sidebar.

Show notes and links below. Enjoy!


SHOW NOTES

00:00 to 05:18: Intro: Meet Ben, Adam is announced as our third commentator, and Andy solicits your help to improve CommanderCast.

05:32 to 11:10: Community: Free-for-all Roundtable: Emrakul: In this edition of the Roundtable,we discuss perhaps the most hotly debated card in EDH; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Does the format benefit from it's inclusion, or does it deserve the banhammer? This week we want you to weigh in with our first half-assed poll! You can find it in the upper-left side of the blog's sidebar.



11:22 to 29:36: Community: Rumourmongering: We gossip like bratty junior high girls about the upcoming December update from the Rules Committee. What changes can we expect to see in the future of Commander? Sheldon Menery is dropping hints in a StarCityGames article and we overanalyze them just like everyone else interested. If you're looking for real substance, sorry, we got nothing.

29:45 to 31:24: Community: Generals Remixed Winner!: Three weeks came and went faster than I was like "Man those were three fast weeks" and we have a winner for Generals Remixed! To find out, check out our special CommanderCast extra where our contributors vote and debate our entries. Things come down to a nail-biting tiebreaker... ultimately, a shadowy council of CommanderCast personnel step fourth from their chambers to declare the ultimate winner!



31:37 to 50:15: Strategy: Hated Out: Combo. This week in a new strategy segment, we hate it out when it comes to combo. After venting about what we don't like (some are more civil than others), the whole team lays out a less-emotional discussion on why they work, how to play it without offending everyone, and other aspects of playing this widely-hated archetype in Commander.

50:40 to 58:33: Technology: Secret Tech: Ben Edition. Ben gives you his Secret Tech in a shorter-than usual segment consisting of only three cards.
Uncommon: Harmonize
Rare: Venser's Journal

58:40 to 67:54: Technology: Wrexial Update: THE BEAST IS UNLEASHED! Andy has finished his $30 Wrexial deck! He discusses it's performance (so far), the key cards, and how to play it. Check out the complete decklist and discussion here!


68:28 to 85:49: Technology: Wish It Was Legendary: In Carlos' suggested topic, each host provides three examples of things that would make awesome Commanders if they were legendary. Here are the picks:
Adam: Wee Dragonauts, Dominus of Fealty, Evershrike
Carlos: Mindwrack Liege, each of the Guildpact Nephilim, Stormtide Leviathian
Andy: Cephalid Constable, Preacher, Caller of the Claw

86:06 to closing: Outtro.

PERTINENT LINKS
CONTACT INFORMATION
  • General show contact: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Andy: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com 
  • To E-Mail Adam: adnelso(at)gmail(dot)co
  • To E-Mail Ben: nergalmaverick(at)gmail(dot)com

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mid-Week Update: December 9

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
 We're back with another mid-week update to push on Commander fiends everywhere. This week, Andy has your man Carlos back and giving you the dish on his Child of Alara deck in Deckbuilder's Spotlight Episode 3. Then, head over to Byron's vlog to get a direct pipeline to untapped veins of EDH secret tech. To finish things out, cleanse your palette of all this deck and tech talk with an article from Stephen on group hug decks and why he feels they negatively influence games, and how you can help reverse that trend.

Next week we are announcing the winner of the Generals Remixed contest, so BRACE YOURSELF!



>>>>> If you want to see Carlos' decklist, here it is in a Google document. <<<<<




Hippo Genocide 02: If Only They Had Hugged God
By STEPHEN aka ASTRAY PENGUIN
Everybody loves group hug decks, drawing extra cards, having extra tokens or a million other freebie effects. But have you ever considered what your group hug deck is really doing? 

Welcome to Hippo Genocide: If only they had hugged God.

Many people like the idea of having some group hug cards like Howling Mine or Gate to the Aether which helps out everyone on the table and is a good way to speed up the game. But these cards only make the game even more imbalanced towards people running the high end ultra competitive decks, so is it really a good idea to be including them in your decks?

EDH is a multiplayer format and encourages people with new and old collections to play together. So you're likely to see everything from Tarmogoyf to Goblin Outlander on the same battlefield. Some people may find this the fun of the format and get to explore lots of weird card interactions and those limited bombs they fell in love with get some table time. But when you start to add group hug effects to the mix you take the imbalanced nature of people's decks to the extreme. If you've got Howling Mine on the 'field and one guy is drawing Fact or Fiction and the other is drawing Terra Stomper, is it really an equal hug to everyone at the table, or just giving people running the “tournament quality” deck an even bigger advantage?

When you decide to put group hug cards into a game you have a responsibility to the group to deal with the imbalance you're creating or you're just going to ruin the weaker guy's entire games. You are going to need counters, enchantment/artifact removal and a good land destruction package, just to deal with the mess you're creating. But when you get to that point you're no longer playing your own game and you're just putting yourself in an infinite loop of having to deal with the damage you're doing by being there.

So the solution to this is simple. Pick your group hug cards to help weaker decks, cards such as Infernal Genesis or Jester's Mask are good for this. They both do very powerful things but in the case of Infernal Genesis give a larger bonus to creature decks. It allows you to shut off some of the most played tutors and give the creature based decks some extra dudes to beat down with. Combo decks tend to be running cheap 1-5 mana cards with broken effects, as opposed to creature based decks which will often have guys all the way up to the 10 mana mark and beyond, giving them far more dudes to break through the combo players “free dudes”, but also giving them larger pay offs for Overrun effects to win games.

Jester's Mask, on the other hand, serves 2 purposes and has a nice rattlesnake effect while also having a group hug effect for those times when you're sitting in a game where one guy is clearly frustrated after drawing 0 lands in 8 turns. If a guy is clearly about to combo off you can make his hand entirely Ravnica bounce lands, or go find that other guy Hivemind so when the infinite turn combo goes off everyone is getting infinite turns and keeping it nice and fair again. This is where group hug can be played in a responsible way, instead of the usual “Everyone draws 15” kind of way we often see.

On the other hand you could always go with the good old trick of trying to make a game as random as possible. Drop something like Timesifter, play a couple of Wheel of Fate effects and laugh manically as you watch the game dissolve into such a mess of random card draw and turns that by the end of it make the hardcore EDH player ready to throw his 30 combos deck out the window. Then again maybe you're not into that stuff as much as me and you're not wishing Dragon Mage was a Blue/Red legendary creature so you could build a deck around him like I am.

The article is a bit shorter and no where near as focused as I'd like this week due to real life getting in the way, hopefully next week I can be less informative and more pointless rant for your reading pleasure. If you have any feedback or thoughts send them to hippogenocide@gmail.com or drop me a line on MTGO where my username is Astray_Penguin. I hope to hear from all two of you soon.

Monday, December 6, 2010

CommanderCast 06: The Sky Is NOT Falling

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
Here at CommanderCast it's going DOWN as usual! It's been an exciting week for EDH and we're here to give you our thoughts on the breaking news, as well as covering our usual pillars of Community, Strategy, and Technology. This week Carlos (one of our first listeners) is joining me though the miracle of the intertron to back me up as the discussion roams from news to politics and, back by popular demand, the return of Secret Tech. 

Also coinciding with the release of this podcast is the conclusion of our Generals Remixed contest. Huge thanks to everyone for their submissions, we got a ton of very exciting entries! This week, the whole CommanderCast team will be picking though the submissions before deciding our winner, who will be the recipient of a Legendary Creature of their choice with altered art by the very talented Sandreline.

 Show notes and links below. Enjoy.






SHOW NOTES

00:00 to 05:34: Intro: Meet Carlos, mail responses, shout outs, and Andy announces the closing of the Generals Remixed competition.

05:55 to 29:38: Community Segment: WotC's Commander Announcement: Andy and Carlos give a rundown of their thoughts on Wizard's big EDH announcement. A bit of news, a bit of speculation, a bit of hype. What can this mean for the future of the format? What about the upcoming product releases? IS EDH DOOMED? Probably not.


30:03 to 48:15: Strategy Segment: Political Plays. Politics in multiplayer Magic has been controversial since the days of chump blocking Craw Wurms with your Mons's Goblin Raiders. In EDH, politics are an ever-present force. To some, they are a toxic element that ruins games; to others, they are another fascinating axis of strategy; and some people like to manipulate others both in and out of game. We're giving our views on politics in Commander; when it's cool and when it's crossing the line.

48:27 to 68:22: Technology: Secret Tech: Carlos Edition. Carlos is dropping jewels all over the place in Secret Tech. CHECK IT:
Rare: Nim Deathmantle, Hall of the Bandit Lord, Vesuva

68:29 to closing: Outtro.

PERTINENT LINKS
CONTACT INFORMATION
  •  General show contact: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Andy: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com 
  • To E-Mail Byron: surgingchaos19(at)gmail(dot)com

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Mid-Week Update: December 2

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
CommanderCast UP-TO-THE-SECOND News!
The update from Wizards of the Coast mentioned in Byron's latest vlog is now available. Some wicked-sweet announcements have been made by Wizards. We won't insult your intelligence by providing a list of what you have already read or can easily read at it's source. Instead just follow our link to the announcement! Also check out the related Arcana page!


We'll be giving you the skinny on what we think in Monday's podcast. What we do what to hear about are your reactions to WotC's EDH news. As always, leave a comment or e-mail me at CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com!


I will, however, give you a brief glimpse into my views with the following:
Ballllllllllllllllllin'!

 Mid-Week Update Content Begins Here

The CommanderCast mid-week update arrives without any of the resistance met by our fifth podcast. It almost feels... too easy. Regardless, this week we have something new for you; our first editorial contributed by Stephen aka Astray Penguin for his new series, "Hippo Genocide". In his editorials, Astray will provide us with his thoughts on a variety of subjects EDH-related. Check out his first column, "Where the Hippos Died", and let us know what you think of it. Also this week, Byron's vlog returns with a brief discussion of the upcoming EDH announcement and I have a Deckbuilder's Spotlight with none other than Adam aka Fugu.

We have plans to introduce more written content in the coming weeks to accompany our video and podcast material. The plan now is to move into a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update scheme, providing two articles a week alongside our flagship podcast, Byron weekly vlog and my own videos. We're interested in what other kinds of content our listeners are interested in; drop us a line at CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com so we can make sure you get it.
 



Hippo Genocide 01: Where the Hippos Died
By Stephen aka Astray Penguin
Welcome to Hippo Genocide. This is the first in hopefully many pointless articles on Magic the Gathering and the EDH format. The purpose of these articles won't be to teach you to play Magic better or improve your DCI rating, but just things about Magic or the Magic community that have got on my nerves or amused me. If you think of them as five minutes entertainment, you will be on the same track as me.
 
So firstly I need to introduce myself. I've been playing Magic since Shadowmoor and starting playing Magic Online (MTGO/MODO from here on out) with the release of Alara Reborn. My preferred formats are Limited and EDH, but when I play Constructed I tend to be a combo player and enjoy the Extended format. In EDH my favourite general is Phelddagrif and I'm generally running good stuff decks. I rarely play decks without white mana symbols due to my preference for answers and the fact that White has answers to everything under the sun. I play Commander several times a week on MTGO and currently it's the main way I play Magic and by far my favourite.
 
So with that crap is out the way it's time to get to the content. This week I shall be rambling on land in decks, or to be more exact, the type of art on lands in decks. This topic is completely anal and nitpicky but I may as well start as I mean to go on by complaining about pointless things.
 
There are four types of basic land in Magic: Old border, New border, White border and Full art. Each of these lands has a character to them, when you see someone playing them it brings forth an emotional reaction. I've found it is usually along these lines.
  • Old border is cool, it's now been long enough that it became non-standard that the novelty is there and if you get ones with good art people really dig them.
  • New border. It's the standard, no one’s impressed unless it's a promo one.
  • White border. Cheap and nasty. Why would you ever use these things?
  • Full art. Most people consider these the greatest of all lands, since Zendikar we see everybody using them. In my opinion using full art lands at this point is less impressive than just a new bordered one. It's so over done it's like saying WASSSSUP or quoting Austin Powers a few years back.
When putting together a deck most people just grab whatever land they have laying around and jam it in there, but I'm saying why not consider what lands you're using and use matching art and even art that matches the theme of your deck?
 
Decks with matching lands look better on the table. They seem more cared about, neater and just generally all round better. Below is a picture of the exact same amount of lands in the exact same deck, one is using my old bordered Swamps and one is using a random selection of lands.
The left pile is more organized and like your deck is better planned. If you're still looking for some helpful tips to becoming a better magic player and winning more then here is the closest you will get. If you take the time to put all the same art on your lands in a deck you seem more professional and dedicated, it's not much but it could be a slight edge on being intimating to a newer player, on the other hand using disorganized land in a high level event could give the rogue deck an edge as you may come across as just some lucky scrub. But if you're going to put that much effort into metagaming, you may as well just put the time into playing more games and getting more familiar with your deck.
 
Below you can see 3 different Blue generals, with a matching land. Wydwen has a very soft pallet of blues and purples, so the Shadowmoor island fits nicely with her, Wrexial has prominent colours similar to the Time Spiral land and in Isperia's case the sky is similar in tone but also the feel of the Sphinx suits a classic border more than a new one. Older Generals tend to suit classic bordered land as well, it just feels right.

Adding matching lands can make the deck feel more unified in this way. Instead of just your random islands or those “cool” full art lands you always play, why not consider how much better it would be to have your entire deck themed around your general instead of just your spells? At the Zendikar pre-release I opened my sealed pool and was in Esper, so when I went to the land box I picked out my land all with Esper art, it didn't make my deck any better or make me play any better, but it was a minor novelty that I found made the deck more memorable to me. Whenever I see an Esper land I always think of that pre-release and that deck, this is part of the fun having one land art can have for you, they start to become characterful in their own right. Maybe you won't use that Bant Forest any more because whenever you do you have bad luck, or maybe that Lorwyn swamp brings you luck. A lot of people have suspicions or rituals with dice, part of the fun of meeting other gamers is exchanging these stories. Why not build such stories among your friends with lands as well?
 
At this point there may be some people thinking I'm a complete idiot (and hey I am, who else would be writing articles for CommanderCast?) but if you've ever drafted Scars on MTGO I'm sure you've noticed Scars uses Zendikar lands and it makes it feel a little less special than it would be with the correct ones.
 
Obviously non-basics are fixed and unless you have the artistic skill or money to get them edited they won't fit with your general but that can't be helped and maybe you would even consider that because you just want to pimp your deck that much more. So they're just being ignored for this because who in EDH isn't going to run at least a Reliquary Tower?
 
That's all for this week, hopefully you will have found something interesting here in my rambling and will consider how your lands look on the table and how they influence the feel of your deck. If you have any feedback or thoughts send it to hippogenocide(at)gmail(dot)com or drop me a line on MTGO where my username is Astray_Penguin. I hope to hear from all three of you soon.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

CommanderCast Episode 05: Fight Against Fate!

Posted by ANDY aka GHoooSTS
This week's CommanderCast was released despite the resistance of DESTINY ITSELF. Byron? Dead. Or busy with family. Something like that. Our planned guest host, Carlos (one of our very first listeners)? Technical problems struck him down while I listened. Things were looking pretty grim. I was ready to throw in the towel when like a total 80s action hero, my man Adam aka Fugu rappelled INTO MY INTERNET and saved you all from an incredibly boring hour of me droning on by myself. Wicked awesome!

Then my computer corrupted the entire podcast we recorded. Everything was going against this podcast existing at all. However, Adam continued to be a superhero and swept in to save me, recording a second podcast less than 24 hours after the first time. He is the only reason this is being released and for that I am super grateful.

Keep in mind our Generals Remixed contest is still going on; you have until the sixth episode to get your submissions in. Let's see what you can do. We've received some very cool entries. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to design a card for us.

Show notes and links below. Enjoy.



SHOW NOTES


00:00 to 00:00: Intro. Introductions of your hosts; Andy mentions the mid-week update and Generals Remixed contest. E-mail shoutouts and Andy gives ups to the University of Toronto MtG group for inviting him to play with them.


00:00 to 00:00: Community: Hypercreatures Theory. Adam presents his theory on Hypercreatures and their impact on EDH. For examples of Hypercreatures, see Emrakul, Kokusho, Sundering Titan, and Iona. We cover the definition, effect on games, the ban list, and social regulation. This spawned from Adam's recent thread on Hypercreatures at the 'official' EDH forums.


00:00 to 00:00: Strategy: Colour Responsibilities. When you take your slices of the colour pie for a deck, you get the right to tap into it's powers... but does that come with responsibilities? We look at the concept of 'expectations' attached to the different colours and their roles, what happens when you break ranks, and the overall influence of playing by colour in a multiplayer EDH context.


00:00: to 00:00: Technology: Retro Cycle Review: Prophecy Avatars. In a new feature, we will be examining an 'old' (flexibly defined) cycle of cards from a past set and give them another look. The cycle is then ranked in terms of usefulness in EDH from best to worst be each commentator. This week, we are looking at the Prophecy Avatars of Fury, Hope, Might, Will, and Woe.


00:00 to closing: Outro. Let us know your thoughts. New content on the way! Get in touch with us with the contact information below.

PERTINENT LINKS
CONTACT INFORMATION
  •  General show contact: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com
  • To E-Mail Andy: CommanderCast(at)gmail(dot)com 
  • To E-Mail Adam: adnelso(at)gmail(dot)com