Commander Social

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Now displaying: October, 2020

Commander Social is a podcast about the Magic: the Gathering variant, Commander! Your hosts Ryan, and Zack attempt to entertain you with interesting anecdotes about the game of Magic, including their experience running a Commander league.

Check Us Out on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/commandersocial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commandersocial/

Contact us on Twitter @commandersocial
Ryan - @greenegeek
Zack - @z4ck38

Email: cast@commandersocial.com

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling Budget Deck Tech - Ep 69 0

Oct 28, 2020

Patreon
1. Patron of the Week - Mike McAbee
2. Patreon Contest - What is your favorite non Magic hobby! Three Packs of Zendikar Rising
3. New! We’re streaming with patrons most Thursdays now, so watch out for the message on slack to sign up to be eligible for that week.
1. Ryan - @greenegeek
2. Zack - @z4ck38
3. Together - @commandersocial
You can find us on Twitter
1. Mike Condon for audio engineering and Microsoft Zune
Thanks
1. https://store.mothershipatx.com
2. SOCIALSHIP - free shipping on orders of $50 or more
3. SOCIAL10 - 10% off in stock MTG singles
  1. spelltable.com
  2. https://discord.gg/MMXQJqf
4. Thursday nights come play at mothership!
Our LGS has setup an online store!
1. @jumbocommander - 0:08, 11:19, 51:01
2. @ManaCurves - 3:06
3. @SpellTable - 10:22, 13:37
4. @GingerJ0E - 12:39
5. @MothershipGames - 9:55, 56:45
Ep 69 Community Spotlight:
1. Disclaimer: This deck tech was inspired by DJ of Jumbo Commander
2. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqRu2q2BaUM
  1. Explain what we mean by budget, no card over $5, save for Thassa herself
  2. $87.09 - https://scryfall.com/@z4ck38/decks/6b668ea6-4282-4324-a0cb-04ce597a6032
3. Budget Style
  1. Talk about some of the experiences in playing with the deck, and what pushed you over the edge to build it
4. Why is this deck cool?
  1. Blinking is pretty much the best, and us Commander players love to get our value
  2. Fblthp, the Lost
  3. Master of Waves (explain how during the flicker no one gets priority, so when state-based actions are checked, master is alive and well, and protecting their flock of elementals)
  4. Watcher for Tomorrow
  5. Mulldrifter
  6. Frost Titan
  7. Meteor Golem
  8. Pondering Mage
  9. Cunning Evasion
  10. Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
5. Blink and you might miss it
  1. Rishadan Cutpurse
  2. Rishadan Footpad
  3. Rishadan Brigand
6. Here there be Pirates, yarr!
  1. Note: Thassa is worded as follows: “At the beginning of your end step, exile up to one other target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control.” This means that you get to keep anything you blink
  2. Overtaker
  3. Chamber of Manipulation
  4. Agent of Treachery
  5. Sower of Temptation (repeatable with Thassa, given enough turns)
7. Blatant Thievery
  1. Crystal Shard
  2. Conjurer’s Closet
  3. Ghostly Flicker + Archeomancer
  4. Displace
8. Department of Commander Redundancy Department
  1. Verity Circle (Might even be awesome against mana dorks)
  2. Dismiss into Dream
  3. Willbreaker
  4. Gadwick, the Wizened
9. Just give it a little tappy
  1. Here is the original decklist from DJ: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/thassa-blinks-the-best/
    1. Spellseaker
    2. Glen Elendra Archmage
    3. Vendilion Clique
    4. Venser, Shaper Savant
    5. Keeper of Keys
    6. Vedalken Shackles
    7. Panharmonicon
    8. Cyclonic Rift
    9. Temporal Manipulation
    10. Time Warp
    11. Ancient Tomb
    12. Homeward Path
    13. Miren, the Moaning Well
  2. Some notable cards cut for costs
    1. Training Grounds (Only works when Thassa is a creature)
    2. Hearthstone (Same caveat as Training Grounds)
    3. Erratic Portal
  3. Notable non-budget cards not in the original list
10. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider (If you have the means, we highly recommend picking these up)
Main Topic - Thassa, Dwelling in the Deep
1. Thassa is the Sea’s Knees! What do you think about this deck? Have you played against Thassa? Is this the kind of deck you would like to play? Did you like the fact that we did some budget content?
Summary
Keep it Social!
1. Komiku - Battle of Pogs
2. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Zack Gets it Together Theme
1. Consider becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/commandersocial
2. You can check us out at commandersocial.com
3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/CommanderSocial
4. You can email us directly at cast@commandersocial.com
5. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commandersocial
6. On twitter @commandersocial
  1. twitch.tv/greenegeek
7. Ryan individually @greenegeek
8. Zack individually @z4ck38
Contact Info
© Copyright 2020 Leaky Dinghy, LLC

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What does it take for YOU to build a deck? - Ep 68 0

Oct 21, 2020

Patreon
1. Patron of the Week - MoneyMoo (you can find him whooping Zack’s butt in games of Magic)
2. Patreon Contest - What is your favorite non Magic hobby! Three Packs of Zendikar Rising
1. Ryan - @greenegeek
2. Zack - @z4ck38
3. Together - @commandersocial
You can find us on Twitter
1. Mike Condon for audio engineering and Werther's Original Caramel Popcorn
Thanks
1. https://store.mothershipatx.com
2. SOCIALSHIP - free shipping on orders of $50 or more
3. SOCIAL10 - 10% off in stock MTG singles
  1. spelltable.com
  2. https://discord.gg/MMXQJqf
4. Thursday nights come play at mothership!
Our LGS has setup an online store!
1. @LennyWooley - 2:02
2. @MothershipGames - 9:09
3. @SpellTable - 9:09
4. @tappedout - 12:18, 54:33
5. @archidekt - 12:18
6. @edhrec - 12:18
7. @scryfall - 13:44
8. @TheKristenEmily - 19:05
9. @chrisvondoom1 - 19:05
10. @jumbocommander - 20:22, 59:03
11. @CommandersBrew - 25:09
12. @blairwitchgreen - 43:23
13. @HenryStukenborg - 52:02
Ep 68 Community Spotlight:
1. Brewing and Building are separate
2. 1. Many people brew decks all the time, but never actually put them together. For some folks it’s almost a thought experiment. We’re interested in figuring out what exactly pushes us over the edge, to turn one of those thought experiments into reality.
  2. 1. I used to do this all the time, when I was a kid, scrawling notes/decklists into the margins of notes I was taking in class. This is one of the coolest things about Magic, the fact that there’s so much meta knowledge to explore. Also, having access to card databases, and the internet, in our pockets really makes this easy
    2. I totally did this too. I remember building shells of decks and just thinking about cards to fill other slots. I had a notebook and everything.
    1. I actually do both of these! I wonder how many folks out there do both? Is it like a 50/50 split, or do most folks out there build one way like 90% of the time? Let us know on Social Media!
    2. I do both as well. I’ll get something laid out online and then once i have all the cards in front of me I build the deck and it’s never exactly the same.
      1. There’s something that makes this feel like old-school Magic, where you just kinda build with what you have
      2. I just go through good stuff boxes and look for things, ie my kenrith deck.
    3. We’ve even talked about “Found Decks” on the show before.
  3. Conversely, some people don’t even actually brew until they have all the cards in front of them. I’ve definitely done this both ways
  4. What percentage of decks that you brew do you actually build in paper? I think it might be interesting to see who out there are the dreamers/brewers. I know for me this varies wildly over time, and depends on my mood/life situation.
  1. Is it when a new Commander gets previewed during preview season?
  2. Is it when you read an article, listen to a podcast, or watch a youtube video?
  3. Do you sometimes just flip through cards, and get inspiration?
  4. Did you get inspired while playing a game of commander?
  5. Maybe it’s been so many months since you last built a deck?
  6. Maybe you get inspired while taking one of your old decks apart?
  7. A fever dream late at night?
  8. Got 50$ burning a hole in your pocket? Or maybe you got a giftcard to your LGS?
  9. Maybe you need some content for your podcast?
3. We wanted to explore what exactly it takes for us to go over the threshold, and physically build a new deck in paper
  1. Maybe some folks have a lot more time, because they are stuck at home?
  2. The economy has been hit really hard, so maybe folks don’t have the resources to buy cards for new decks
  3. Tangent: How many new physical paper card players do you think we’ve gotten during the pandemic?
    1. Ryan’s New Decks
    2. 1. Winota, Joiner of Forces
      2. Inspired by an episode that we recorded: “Decks outside our comfort zone - ep 49”
        
        I think this one was born out of playing on Arena, or rather, that’s the final thing that nudged me over the edge.
      3. Rielle, the Everwise
        
        Inspired by an article by (@blairwitchgreen)
        
        https://articles.starcitygames.com/premium/commander-top-10-ashaya-soul-of-the-wild/
      4. Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
      1. Braid-drazi
      2. Build from the ashes of emry
        
        Brokkos just wasn’t doing it for me.
      3. Kinnan Infect
    3. Zack’s New Decks
  4. I thought it might be interesting to talk about what got us to build each of the decks we’ve built during the pandemic.
    1. Ryan
    2. 1. Sisay Shrines
      2. Mina and Denn Gruul Planeswalkers
      1. Moist Naya Omnath
      2. Greven, Predator Captain
    3. Zack
  5. Decks we brewed but didn’t build:
    1. Ryan’s Stable Decks
    2. 1. Gonti, Lord of Luxury
      2. Inspired by playing against someone (Henry Stukenborg)
        
        Inspired by a random thought: “Could I build a mono-red, OPC deck? Which commander would I use? Grenzo exists?!?! Let’s do this!”
      3. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
        
        Definitely inspired by preview season (and my love for the morph mechanic)
      4. Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer
        
        Inspired by watching Jumbo Commander content
      5. Braids, Conjurer Adept
        
        Inspired by art, had lots of Chandras in the deck
        
        Article about Planeswalker Uniqueness rule going away (August 28, 2017)
        
        https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/ixalan-mechanics
        
        Original built in 2015, the deck got a shot in the arm mid 2017
      6. Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
      1. Niv-Mizzet
      2. Built in the fall of 2018 when Guilds of Ravnica came out.
        
        It started as a fun spell slinger brawl deck, but when I realized the potential in full on EDH I built it and the rest is history.
        
        Built in the fall of 2019 after m20 came out.
        
        Inspired by my Muldrotha found deck that had a lot of cool etb effects and my love of landfall.
      3. Yarock
        
        Built in June 2019 when Modern Horizons came out.
        
        I’ve always been all about phyrexia, so i figured I’d build it for fun.
        
        Also my first mono colored deck.
      4. Yawgmoth
        
        Built earlier this year around Jan or Feb
        
        I had always wanted to build a five color commander.
        
        When I built it, I used only what I had which were “good stuff boxes” and ended up packing it full of cards that didn’t really fit elsewhere.
        
        Now it’s kind of the junk draw of my collection.
      5. Kenrith
      6. There are other decks, but they are currently being revamped.
    3. Zack’s Stable Decks
  6. Might also be interesting to go through each deck in our stables, to see what pushed us over the edge to build them
4. Is it harder to get motivated to build a deck during a pandemic?
  1. Biding your time - I tried to play Yarok to set up a play for the next turn, but the board got wiped. If I had waited two turns I could have played Palichron and Yarok in the same turn to get infinite mana to Villainous Wealth.
5. Zack Gets It Together
  1. We always find it interesting to reflect inwards, and see what is truly motivating our choices. Do folks out there enjoy episodes like this? How many decks have you physically built during the pandemic? What percentage of decks that you brew see the light of day?
6. Summary
Main Topic - What does it take for YOU to build a deck?
Keep it Social!
1. Komiku - Battle of Pogs
2. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Zack Gets it Together Theme
1. Consider becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/commandersocial
2. You can check us out at commandersocial.com
3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/CommanderSocial
4. You can email us directly at cast@commandersocial.com
5. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commandersocial
6. On twitter @commandersocial
  1. twitch.tv/greenegeek
7. Ryan individually @greenegeek
8. Zack individually @z4ck38
Contact Info
© Copyright 2020 Leaky Dinghy, LLC

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Ashaya, Soul of the Wild Deck Tech - Ep 67 0

Oct 14, 2020

Patreon
1. Patron of the Week - Dylan Wood
2. Patreon Contest - What is your favorite non Magic hobby! Three Packs of Zendikar Rising
1. Ryan - @greenegeek
2. Zack - @z4ck38
3. Together - @commandersocial
You can find us on Twitter
1. Mike Condon for audio engineering and Sherpa Lined Slipper Socks
Thanks
1. https://store.mothershipatx.com
2. SOCIALSHIP - free shipping on orders of $50 or more
3. SOCIAL10 - 10% off in stock MTG singles
  1. spelltable.com
  2. https://discord.gg/MMXQJqf
4. Thursday nights come play at mothership!
Our LGS has setup an online store!
1. @TRayburn - 1:58, 9:07
2. @case_vickers - 1:58
3. twitch.tv/10sley - 1:58
4. @MothershipGames - 6:05, 52:09
5. @SpellTable - 6:05
6. @blairwitchgreen - 8:33, 10:38, 17:29, 37:37, 43:51, 51:32
7. @CraigBlanchette - 9:07
8. @edhrec - 10:01
Ep 67 Community Spotlight:
1. NOTE: I got Oblivion Stone wrong, it sacrifices itself, the Karn trick does work with Boompile though.
2. Read Ashaya
  1. https://articles.starcitygames.com/premium/commander-top-10-ashaya-soul-of-the-wild/
3. I was inspired to build this by an article Bennie Smith wrote for Star City games (@blairwitchgreen)
  1. Disclaimer: My list is very much untuned. I’ve played it exactly once, and haven’t made any changes to it.
  2. https://scryfall.com/@greenegeek/decks/2594bc20-fa13-4abf-80c0-d4f37d7957c8
4. My list:
  1. I have a mono-colored deck of every other color and had been toying around with the idea of a mono-green deck, my previous thought had been a Pir, Imaginative Rascal, Super Friends deck. So, I was pretty much primed to build a mono-green deck.
  2. I had Titania, Protector of Argoth, and it was good, but people didn’t much like playing against it (and it was pretty linear).
  3. I also had a Yeva, Nature’s Herald deck (because OF COURSE I did). It was fine too, pretty much a good stuff deck, but I didn’t really enjoy playing it that much.
5. I have been wanting to build a mono-green deck for some time now.
  1. Let’s talk for a few minutes about how awesome mono-colored decks are.
  2. 1. So much room for utility lands!
    2. 1. I’m running 7 Utility lands that do NOT tap for green.
    3. Restrictions breed creativity. There’s just a lot of things you can’t do in a mono-colored deck (although Green is one of the better ones I think).
    4. Lots of basics, and lots of ways to fetch basics!
  3. Ashaya does something new/unique. I remember when the card was spoiled, people were like “Yeah, now I don’t care about my opponents playing Cyclonic Rift.” I remembered agreeing with that point, but also noting that they probably just wouldn’t play it, or would deal with Ashaya first. I hadn’t thought about the other side of this coin, but we’ll get to that later.
  4. It’s really fun just thinking about all of the crazy things you can do in this deck, and imagining all of your creatures as lands.
6. Why is this deck awesome/something listeners would want to play?
  1. Average CMC 3.56 (I might try to bring this down some)
  2. 8 Mythic
  3. 44 Rare
  4. 18 Uncommon
  5. 7 Common
  6. ---
  7. 37 Creatures
  8. 1 Planeswalker
  9. 8 Artifacts
  10. 5 Enchantments
  11. 5 Instants
  12. 4 Sorceries
  13. 39 Lands
7. Stats
  1. Greater Good (Oh man this card was NUTS when I played the deck. Along with Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar)
  2. Return of the Wildspeaker
  3. Great Henge
  4. Guardian Project
  5. Rishkar’s Expertise
  6. Beast Whisperer
8. Card Draw
  1. Early creatures are super good because they give you a chance to “setup” for the turn when you play your Commander.
  2. Arbor Elf
  3. Beanstalk Giant
  4. Wood Elves
  5. Harvest Season - Imagine the MCL of having 3 early creatures, say Wall of Blossoms, Wood Elves, and Elvish Reclaimer out. Casting your Commander on Turn 4 (thanks Wood Elves!) and then tapping your 3 creatures to cast Harvest Season, and fetching up 3 Lands. I’m not sure this card is great in here (Might be better in a token deck), but I’ve always wanted to try it out.
  6. Green Sun’s Zenith to go get Dryad Arbor (This was great with Guardian Project in play!)
9. Ramp
  1. Magus of the Candelabra
10. Untapping lands (especially more than one at a time)
  1. Oblivion Stone
  2. Boompile
  3. Sword of Feast and Famine
11. Take advantage of all your creatures being lands (this is the other side of the Cyclonic Rift, that I hadn’t considered, running these in your deck, and being proactive with the effect)
  1. Titania, Protector of Argoth - Hard to wrath if this AND your commander are out.
  2. Gaea’s Liege - I’ve always loved this card, and you can do some broken stuff with it and Leyweaver
  3. Sylvan Safekeeper is a creature sac outlet in this deck. It’s super good in here!
  4. Sylvan Advocate is a 2 mana 4 / 5 that double anthems your whole team!
    1. Quirion Ranger - Imagine Bouncing your Eternal Witness to Untap your Gaea’s Liege. Or your Wall of Blossoms to untap your Ulvenwald Tracker
    2. Scryb Ranger
    3. Temur Sabertooth
  5. Reusing Enters the Battlefield triggers
  6. Cloning your creatures with Vesuva! I did the fun thing, I cast Ulvenwald Hydra, got a Vesuva to copy the Hydra, and then with the hydra-copy, fetched up Reliquary tower (because I had Greater Good in play)
12. Fun stuff
  1. So what do you think about this deck? Does it sound fun? Are there any spicy cards you would include? Let us know!
13. Summary
Main Topic - Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
Keep it Social!
1. Komiku - Battle of Pogs
2. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Zack Gets it Together Theme
1. Consider becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/commandersocial
2. You can check us out at commandersocial.com
3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/CommanderSocial
4. You can email us directly at cast@commandersocial.com
5. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commandersocial
6. On twitter @commandersocial
  1. twitch.tv/greenegeek
7. Ryan individually @greenegeek
8. Zack individually @z4ck38
Contact Info

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Omnath, Locus of Creation Deck Tech - Ep 66 0

Oct 7, 2020

Patreon
1. Patron of the Week - Sebastian Tinsley
2. 1. twitch.tv/10sley
  2. Played some games with Sebastian and Case last night
3. Patreon Contest - What is your favorite non Magic hobby! Three Packs of Zendikar Rising
1. Ryan - @greenegeek
2. Zack - @z4ck38
3. Together - @commandersocial
You can find us on Twitter
1. Mike Condon for audio engineering and Softalk Antibacterial Landline telephone shoulder rest
Thanks
1. https://store.mothershipatx.com
2. SOCIALSHIP - free shipping on orders of $50 or more
3. SOCIAL10 - 10% off in stock MTG singles
  1. spelltable.com
  2. https://discord.gg/MMXQJqf
4. Thursday nights come play at mothership!
Our LGS has set up an online store!
1. twitch.tv/10sley - 1:32
2. @case_vickers - 1:46
3. @MothershipGames - 8:52, 58:10
Ep 66 Community Spotlight:
1. https://archidekt.com/decks/788821#Omnath_Landfall
  1. https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Fetch_land
  2. 1. Onslaught/Zendikar fetch lands
    2. Mirage fetch lands
    3. Shards of Alara panoramas
    4. Miscellaneous fetch lands
    5. https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Bounce_land
    6. Undiscovered Paradise
    7. Might be worth running “Amulet of Vigor”
2. Talk about landfall
  1. Ramp
  2. 1. The Usual Package - Cultivate, Explosive Vegetation, etc...
    2. Azusa, Lost but Seeking
    3. Ramunap Excavator
    4. Wayward Swordtooth
    5. Exploration
    6. Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
    1. Path to Exile
    2. Krosan Grip
    3. Chaos Warp
    4. Beast Within
  3. Removal
    1. Roil Elemental
    2. Emeria Shepherd
    3. Zendikar's Roil
    4. Moraug, Fury of Akoum
    5. Phylath, World Sculptor
    6. Valakut Exploration
  4. Landfall
    1. Karametra, God of Harvests
    2. Radha, Heart of Keld
    3. Shalai, Voice of Plenty
    4. Tatyova, Benthic Druid
    5. Zacama, Primal Calamity
    6. Scute Swarm
  5. Dope Creatures
    1. Scapeshift
    2. Splendid Reclamation
    3. Nahiri’s Lithoforming
    4. World Shaper
    5. Life Gift
    6. Searing Meditation
  6. Ryan’s Top “3” Inclusions for the Deck
3. Slots
  1. So what do you think about this deck? Does it sound fun? Are there any spicy cards you would include? Let us know!
4. Summary
  1. Torment of Hellfire for 37 (potential 111 damage)
  2. Cadaverous Bloom
5. Zack Get’s it Together
Main Topic - Omnath, Locust of Creation
Keep it Social!
1. Komiku - Battle of Pogs
2. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Zack Gets it Together Theme
1. Consider becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/commandersocial
2. You can check us out at commandersocial.com
3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/CommanderSocial
4. You can email us directly at cast@commandersocial.com
5. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commandersocial
6. On twitter @commandersocial
  1. twitch.tv/greenegeek
7. Ryan individually @greenegeek
8. Zack individually @z4ck38
Contact Info

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