By Manuel Atienza
There is no doubt thatCommanderchanged Magic as a whole. There is a clear difference in design (from the products to the mechanics) that started happening once the format was moved into the spotlight. And while opinions vary on whether this is good or bad, I think it has overall been the best thing for the game. In a way, I think it saved the spirit ofMagic and the Gatheringas a whole.
What do I mean with this? Since its inception, Magic as a game has been a place that gathered the most casual player to the most hardcore nerd. It’s competitive, it’s casual, it’s collectible, etc. It has a place for all… On paper.
But in the wild you have two kinds of ways to play:LGSand playgroups/kitchen Magic. The second is however you want to make it depending on your context. The first leans more to competitive play, events, following formats, etc. Whoever has experienced both kinds of play knows the level of incompatibility that can appear when combining them. You simply can’t bring your kitchen Magic deck to your LGS for a 1v1 casual match unless you align yourself with the player across the table. So purely casual players, those that just want to throw cardboard around and win some match or another, using whatever they can scrape around, will have a harder time finding their place there.
At least that was my experience after my friends stopped playing Magic. I had to go out there and find a new Gathering. But my LGS simply wasn’t an option. People went there mostly to play competitively, so they would either go to atournament, or stay there to trade and sell. The few people that used to go to play casually would be to playtest a deck, or would be built better than your usual casual player. And even then, what did a “casual deck” really was? There wasn’t a one size fits all description besides “it is not meta”. And even then, that would depend on the format.
Formats are great to set a baseline of what to play, but the issue is that it’s hard to keep it casual. If you follow one, it is usually to WIN. Even if it is with ameme deck, your deck needs a base or shell that can withstand other decks of the environment so they can achieve their plan. And that requires money, time, and willingness to accept the shifting realities of the format. All that without mentioning tiers, meta, etc. I abandoned the game for many years because I simply couldn’t get into that, and couldn’t find others. Because the thing with kitchen Magic is… that many times it simply stays in the kitchen. Is hard to meet players like you if you don’t have a common place to gather.
And then came Commander. The format that has it all. It can be competitive and it can be casual. Decks can be updated on each release or left to rot but still be (somewhat) playable. There’s no confusion as if your deck CAN be played at the table, only about its power level. It brought a true common ground format to the game. And that is just the start.
Here are other things that Commander does that no other format does.
Improved the value ofpre-con decks
In the past, each new set brought theme decks as entry points for players to the sets. They were good for playing against each other, and quite fun. But they weren’t competitive nor did they manage to be so after improvements, since the format meta never depended entirely on new cards. So they were kept as is, or become separated for its parts.
Then you haveChallenger decks, the competitive entry points. As such, they are designed to give battle in their respective formats but also to be improved. But the shifting nature of formats reduces the value of some of them, especially for rapidly changing formats likeStandard. Not to mention that improving them tends to cost more since competitive cards tend to cost more, specially for formats likeModern.
Commander pre-cons can stand the test of time far better and even handle themselves well among each other regardless of the set and the number of improvements on it. Even from a financial point of view, they are excellent and keep getting better and better with powerful reprints.
Best introduction todeckbuilding
You learn to play the game and now you want a deck. Since you liked Commander you grab a pre-con and presto, you’re handling yourself at your LGS or with your friends. You want to improve the deck so you search cards that would work, and guess what? You only need one of each. Price is still a factor, of course, but the legacy singleton format means that you can improve your deck progressively with far more options. If you are on a budget, you can still manage meaningful improvements with a handful of coins.
And the choices are bite-sized. One by one, without overloading your head about it. You can take your time getting to know new cards while playing matches, and understanding what is that you’re missing. And oh boy, you will get to know new cards because…
The best show-case ofMagic history
Commander is the main format where you hear “wait, it does what?”. If any card goes, then any card can appear in a match. And they often do. This means that it is the best place to meet cards, sets, mechanics, etc, through the ages.
Explosive creativity
There is no other format with the range of different types of decks that Commander has. Not only from the strategy standpoint and the means to make it happen, but from the creativity range. Theme decks, meme decks, fringe strategies, pet cards, secondary objectives, deck-building self restrictions. When you do 1v1, all the focus is on you. With 4 players at the table, everyone has a bit more time to make things happen, allowing weird decks to pop-up. So seeing your favorite unplayable card on the table, or pulling that 6 card combo is feasible. You may lose, but you’ll feel satisfied knowing that your deck pulled its “trick”.
And guess what. If you want to fill the deck withcustom tokens, inner painted sleeves, custom painted cards, etc, you perfectly can. The casual environment means it’s up to the table if that cool or not, so fill your deck with your favourite art!
Of course the format is not perfect and for many it lacks what they like the most of the game. But never before its conception existed a format capable of having the Gathering that Commander can bring.