I spent three days trying to figure out what to write this week. I wanted to be timely, so I figured I'd tie it into the smorgasbord of new products we have coming at us right now between Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Commander 2020. You'd think it'd be easy to pick something to write about given the sheer volume of options.

Turns out it wasn't! And I suspect you may be experiencing a similar phenomenon right now as we all try to wrap our brains around what to do with the hundreds of new cards flooding our format.

Decision paralysis, choice paralysis, analysis paralysis - these are real things, backed by science. We can find ourselves completely bumfuzzled because there are so many options, or because we want to think through every potential outcome and ramification before acting.

I've experienced this many times as a Magic player. At any given time I have 17 different ideas for new decks and dozens of possibilities to upgrade or overhaul my existing decks all kicking around inside my head. More often than not, I'm so spoiled by choice that I can't even decide what to tackle first and end up doing none of them. Once I actually sit down with my cards, the actual process of building a deck is easy. Getting to that point is hard.

I think a lot of us are experiencing that right now. We've never before had a Standard set and a batch of five new Commander precons all drop on us at once. Remember when the Commander products would arrive in the dead period of the summer between the core set and Standard rotation? Dr. McCoy remembers.

Watch out! Here comes May 15th! 5 precons and a Standard set!

We're heading into the meaty part of the "Year of Commander" now, the part that will test us on multiple fronts. How much bandwidth do we have in our minds to sort through all the new cards, mechanics and archetypes? How many of those cards will fit into our veteran pet decks, if any? Which new legends do we want to build around? Are we going to give Companion a try, maybe see if we can make Mutate a thing?

Oh, and...how much of this new stuff can we afford?

It's a lot to parse. Where do we even start? Let's examine two possibilities.

Option 1: ALL IN

If he played Magic, Jeopardy James would absolutely tutor for his wincon on turn one.

If you've got the time, money and mental energy you can easily dive into the sprawling pool of new toys head-first. That's always fun! Some of my best Magic memories involve my friends and me sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the living room floor, ripping through boosters and precons like we're crushing an all-you-can-eat buffet.

So, one way to conquer a brewer's block... just brew everything.

There's a lot to be said for this approach. I can't deny the sheer joy that comes from rifling through a stack of new cards and saying, "This one goes in Riku," and "This one goes in Horseyman", and "These four are all gonna be new decks". We're like kids on our birthdays, opening present after present, unable to figure out which toy to play with first so we just play with them all.

This, however, is not my preferred approach.

Option 2: Make This Go On Forever

"Make This Go On Forever" is an excellent track from Snow Patrol's EXCELLENT album Eyes Open.

What's the rush?

Ikoria will be in Standard for a long time, meaning singles and sealed product alike will be plentiful and (hopefully) affordable for more than a year to come. I'll admit Commander 2020 is a slightly different story. History tells us that supply can dry up fairly quickly when it comes to Commander precons, and the notable new and reprinted cards contained within have a nasty habit of getting pricey in a hurry; I'm looking at you, Teferi's Protection.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to splurge on one or more complete sets of precons and/or get enough copies of the singles you want to fill all your decks, new and otherwise, then this dilemma solves itself. If you're like me, though, grabbing everything in one fell swoop may not be practical. In that case we have to triage.

For my money, though, the two easiest windmill slams for Riku are Genesis Ultimatum and Twinning Staff. Imagine casting that Ultimating and copying it, say, three or four or five times thanks to Riku, Twinning Staff, Thousand-Year Storm and Ral, Storm Conduit among others. I'm salivating.

But of all my decks, the one that stands to benefit most from these new cards is arguably Daxos, Blessed by the Sun. Luminous Broodmoth is perhaps the biggest no-brainer. We play - and lose - a lot of creatures in this deck, but Luminous Broodmoth could give them a second chance at life. Trynn, Champion of Freedom will get us more value from attacking, Avenging Huntbonder doles out double strike counters like they're candy, and Flawless Maneuver has the potential to be a game-breaking combat trick. The most curious case here is Drannith Magistrate. I like the fact that it can give White a leg up on decks that rely heavily on casting things from graveyards, exile and libraries... but if I'm being totally honest, the fact that the Magistrate also prevents my opponents from casting their commanders really gives me pause. If I'm playing in a more competitive environment, sure; Hot Daxos is purposely designed to be a non-competitive deck, and "you don't get to play your deck" is the antithesis of non-competitive Commander for me. I'm still mulling that one over.

Those things just scratch the surface. I need more time to pore over the new cards before I hone in on exactly which ones are sliding into my decks, and taking that time will help me pace myself and not allow the onslaught of new cards to overwhelm me. Then, down the road, we can move onto the next step - building around a new commander.

I'll take on that challenge next week. I'll meet you right back here! In the meantime, my good friend Carson has gotten a head start with this early draft of a Zaxara, the Exemplary deck. It looks gross and I love it:

Zaxara, the Exemplary | IKO Standard | Carson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Zaxara, the Exemplary

• Creatures (22)
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Capricopian
• 1 Corpsejack Menace
• 1 Deepglow Skate
• 1 Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1 Feral Hydra
• 1 Gargos, Vicious Watcher
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Hydroid Krasis
• 1 Incubation Druid
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
• 1 Lifeblood Hydra
• 1 Magus of the Coffers
• 1 Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Protean Hydra
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1 Voracious Hydra
• 1 Walking Ballista

• Instants (5)
• 1 Chord of Calling
• 1 Inspiring Call
• 1 Narset's Reversal
• 1 Strength of the Tajuru
• 1 Tribal Unity

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Animist's Awakening
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Curse of the Swine
• 1 Distant Melody
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Finale of Revelation
• 1 Gelatinous Genesis
• 1 Hurricane
• 1 Killing Wave
• 1 Kindred Dominance
• 1 Mass Manipulation
• 1 Mind Grind
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Villainous Wealth

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Doubling Season
• 1 Freed from the Real
• 1 Hadana's Climb
• 1 Hydra's Growth
• 1 Pemmin's Aura
• 1 Simic Ascendancy
• 1 Steely Resolve
• 1 Unbound Flourishing

• Artifacts (11)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Astral Cornucopia
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Curiosity
• 1 Talisman of Dominance
• 1 Talisman of Resilience
• 1 The Great Henge
• 1 Vanquisher's Banner

• Lands (36)
• 10 Forest
• 10 Island
• 10 Swamp
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

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Dave is a Commander player currently residing in Reno, NV. When he's not badly misplaying his decks, he works as a personal trainer. You can bother him on Twitter and check out his Twitch channel.