Fun list. I was excited and surprised to see this card's design when it was spoiled. Besides the fun of playing with a Fungus Pirate, Xavier looks remarkably like Ghave, except swapping white for blue is at least interesting sidegrade, and depending on the interactions you're looking for, maybe eve...

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023; Doom Whisperer Doom Whisperer When this was previewed I remember my and many other player's heads exploding at the insane rate. I thought this would be a Standard all-star and I thought this would be an EDH Staple in every deck - such a huge body at the cost, and no dra...

I'm not the biggest fan of Vedalken Orrery and I'd still run it over Winding Canyons. Besides, we're getting enough utility critters with built in flash as is anyways. This is a good point - I too find that effect a bit overrated. Once upon a time, Canyons was the "budget" alternative to ...

It's interesting to think about colorless utility lands. I tend to find I prefer nabbing Reliquary Tower (I love to draw and hate to discard), Arcane Lighthouse (a nice insurance policy), Scavenger Grounds (in 2023, you need to have a plan for GYs or your plan is to lose to GY decks) as generically ...

Xavier Sal, Infested Captain is an oddity - a commander released in 2024 that doesn't tell you exactly what to do with him in big flaming neon letters. As a result, I find myself totally captivated by the possibilities with him. He's a bit like Ghave, Guru of Spores although he seems much more open...

This is one of those cards like Compost or Carpet of Flowers that is probably incredible against "The Meta", but in practice tends to feel too swingy and unreliable. I might consider this in a deck that cared about enchantments or devotion just because the ceiling is so high and that helps...

This is the 2nd most played curse after Curse of Opulence and that doesn't make a ton of sense to me. Opulence is strong at its MV. This is pretty pricey at 3 mana, and you need to be fairly sure everyone else is playing decks with creatures and they'll agree to the archenemy bet for it to pay for i...

Pretty good set for us overall. As discussed I'm pretty high on Get Lost - Absence is a bit borderline but this is much stronger hitting enchantments and giving back a much, much weaker resource in maps versus a clue. Also no discussion yet on Confounding Riddle ? Supreme Will has been a decent spel...

I like Generous Gift , Stroke of Midnight , and Excise the Imperfect more than Get Lost since they hit artifacts. I never used Fateful Absence . I also haven't felt compelled to nab a Fateful Absence and generally like that spell less than the first two you listed. I think this is much better than ...

I can't quite decide on if Matzalantli, the Great Door is incredible and is immediately going into several of my decks (Daretti, Gitrog, Quintorius) or if it's totally garbage. I'll note that the front side only counts permanent types, so it's stricter than delirium. Not impossible, but I wouldn't ...

I can't quite decide on if Matzalantli, the Great Door is incredible and is immediately going into several of my decks (Daretti, Gitrog, Quintorius) or if it's totally garbage. Colorless looting isn't a bad deal at this mana value, and in those three aforementioned decks this should be mana positive...

Format alternative that ignores UB stuff (including D&D) when? There's already PrEDH, which is everything from Alpha to New Phyrexia with the banlist from that time. If you wanted to play with a bit more of Modern Magic, I'd say another clean breakpoint (not that I have a catchy name for it yet...

I gotta say, this caught me off guard. I knew MTG was gunning for a super hero UB, but I thought Marvel Snap existing plus Disney having Lorcana would have prevented this collaboration. I was sure that DC was going to be the superhero UB of choice because of those reasons. Guess Wotc pulled out a g...

How weird is it that WotC got into bed with Bethesda and we got Fallout instead of Elder Scrolls? None of the cards interest me very much thus far. Deathclaw is alright but I'm not that psyched for play 6 for a single-target sorcery-speed removal spell, and GB aren't major blink colors or anything,...

For more casual decks, I've found myself preferring Manifold Key to Voltaic Key . Rare is it that you need to untap Voltaic (it can matter for certain ability-copying combos), and the option to make threats unblockable matters. In general though, I'm cool on these even in dedicated artifact builds t...

Looks like the missing thing from Samwise's potato feast was Nuka-Cola Vending Machine. Man that deck just keeps getting better and better with age, very much unlike potatoes.

If I can intrude, I played my Samwise deck vs Atraxa, Praetors' Voice , Imodane, the Pyrohammer , and , The Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan out of the box. One of the all Stars was Sergeant John Benton , digging until he bit it. Elesh Norn // The Argent Etchings was also pretty good, making comba...

I'm more and more down on tap lands every day. I used to think they were more acceptable in a higher-MV deck, but have actually swung back around that they're just as bad if not worse than taplands in lower-MV decks, as having a tapland on turn 6 when you already haven't done much of anything this g...

I've seen most of the revival series - all of 9, all but the last few episodes for 10, all for 11, all for 12, and 13's first season + the premier of her second. I think I've seen like one original episode, and I've interacted not at all with the vast WhoNiverse of radio dramas and audio stories. I ...

Yeah I acted cool on it, but "the 10th best single target removal spell available to us" still probably makes the cut in most lists since we want so many. Other Esper or Grixis control decks likely skip this given the wealth of removal they can run and their target being 7-12 removal spell...

I'm surprised to hear The Gaffer has been underwhelming. Might need a couple more games to shine, but it reads like a shoe-in for this deck since we can get triggers on other players turn like Bennie Bracks. It just rarely feels worth cracking food for life + cards at 2 mana a pop, and to draw on e...

Yeah, was super hyped about Cyber Conversion at first blush since it is better at screwing with commanders especially against a deck without sacrifice outlets. But for us, I think it's generally worse than: - Swords to Plowshares - Stroke of Midnight - Beast Within - Generous Gift - Pongify - Rapid ...

I know some of them can be expensive depending on the card, but have you looked into some of the other life gain payoff cards? The ones that draw cards or make flying creatures? With your excess food tokens, cracking one or two here and there for extra cards and attackers might be a good backup pla...

I think you need to think in terms of politics and power balancing games when building around 12th Doc. Who gets the copy? Make deals. Play cards that can effect players who are getting out of hand by directing 3 spells at them (opponent made to cooperate first). Glorious End kills an opponent. Bec...

The Master, Multiplied is an interesting design. I'm sure there's a way to break him. Seems fun to make a kiki deck with this general. Splinter twin on a praetor maybe? Lots of cool things. As far as breaking things go I would look at what Sundial of the Infinite might enable. I am curious what bre...