The Dragons are here, and they are making their presence known. It's the release weekend of Dragons of Tarkir, and that means a new Standard format, new Elder Dragons for Commander, and all kinds of exciting new stories and interactions to explore. That's not the only exciting piece of news. We also have awesome new promos, new rules for Commander, and plenty more. With this much awesome packed into one week, we can't wait to share our favorite content this week had to offer.

Picks of the Week: March 29, 2015

Carlos Gutierrez is an Associate Editor for Gathering Magic, an engineer-in-training, and a Commander and Pauper enthusiast. By day, he works as a STEM educator, but he spends his weekends hitting all his land drops and trying new board games, puzzles, and video games. You can find all of him sharing Commander craziness, baked goods on Twitter, and complaints about graduate school at @cag5383.

 

This was an exciting week for Magic. Not only do we get a sweet new set packed full of exciting cards to play with, the rules of Commander were also shaken up. As of the most recent update to the banned list for the format, "tuck" effects like Oblation and Chaos Warp no longer shuffle Commanders into players' libraries. Instead, players will have the opportunity to retain access to their Commander by sending it to the Command zone.

Social media exploded in the wake of this announcement. There have been multiple articles and forum posts ranging from polling responses to the rules change, railing against the change, and even pushing for disbanding the Rules Committee in its current form. The price of Skullbriar, the Walking Grave has even jumped from $5 to $20 in the last few days in response to this change. My immediate response to all of this?

Meh.

Commander is a busted format. Mana Crypt and Sol Ring are legal. There are all manner of resilient infinite combos that are easy enough to assemble, as well as an assortment of fast mana and tutors to give you consistent access to whatever effects you want. It's not hard to break the format if that's what you're looking to do. Given that that's the case, I don't know that I'm especially worried about denying people access to their Commanders. Isn't that what the format is about in the first place?

Are we really worried about four-mana do nothings like Purphoros, God of the Forge and Erebos, God of the Dead? Are there really no other ways to interact with Uril, the Miststalker? Are there really any decks that you absolutely cannot beat if you can't deny them access to their Commander? In my experience, that just hasn't been the case. I haven't played games where I never felt like I was in it. I don't try to do particularly busted things. I just want to sit down and see what kind of cool things people have brewed up, and I think this opens up a lot of opportunities for that.

In practice, my experience with the tuck has been largely negative. Whenever it happened, someone ended up having a bad experience. I've had my Commander tucked many times; it's unfortunate, but life goes on. The thing is that I'm well-entrenched in the format, and have played enough good games that I can put that experience behind me and learn how to build or play my deck better. Newer players or more casual players may not have that perspective, and I've seen many people turned off of the format because their Commander was proactively tucked "just in case".

Not every deck featuring Zur the Enchanter, Purphoros, or other gods is going to be super degenerate. If it is, maybe the answer is just asking that player to tone their deck down? Maybe it means adding sweepers or deathtouch creatures to fight through hexproof, or consistent access to lifegain. There are always new answers and interactions to explore, and I think that leaning on tuck, Meddling Mage, and Declaration of Naught effects runs counter to the experience that most people expect when they sit down: to play with the Commander they built their deck around.

Do I think this change was necessary? No. Tuck rules almost never came up in any of my games, and I can't remember ever wanting access to a tuck effect. Do I think the explanation was especially clear or compelling? Not really. But I do think that this is a positive change for the format. The rules are more intuitive and, I think, more in line with the experience that people expect when they sleeve up a Commander deck.

Are some Commanders going to get a little more busted? Absolutely. If you don't want to play degenerate games, just don't play them. Realistically though, cards like Uril and Skullbriar are just creatures that attack and block; gods from Theros are just four mana value engines. If those are the biggest things we have to worry about, I think the format is doing just fine.

Thalia's New Look

This week we got a sneak peek at the World Magic Cup Qualifier promo for 2015, and I couldn't be more excited. The promo in question? Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. This card is the antithesis of what I look for in a Magic card. I like casting spells over creatures, preferably cheap, interactive ones. Thalia prevents that in a big way, all while dominating combat in the early turns. I still love this card, and will be trying to get my hands on one as soon as possible. The reason? Just look at it.

Steve Argyle has illustrated a ton of my favorite cards. This might be a new favorite, especially because of his description of what went in to the piece on his blog. Thalia was an awesome character. This is a spectacular piece of art with incredible detail and story. I can't wait to get one signed.

Magic. Marriage. Madness.

Alex Ullman is an awesome human being, and not just because we have such similar tastes in Commander decks. He is enormously passionate about the things that he cares about and relentless in making them the best they can be. He is one of the biggest reasons I got into Pauper on Magic Online about three years ago, and I've played the format off and on ever since. I've bounced a lot of terrible ideas off of Alex, only to have them end up being completely reasonable as a result of his attention to efficiency and resiliency. Needless to say, when Alex has something to say about a card, deck, or format, I sit up and listen.

I didn't know that I'd feel that way about his advice regarding relationships as well. This week, Alex wrote about Magic and marriage. A combination of two all-consuming commitments. Magic is a game that demands relentless commitment of time, energy, and enthusiasm. Relationships require similar investments of emotion and attention. As a consequence, it can be difficult to balance these things. It's easy to find yourself giving up the things that mean so much to you to make time for the people that are important to you. It's also easy to take those closest to you for granted and fail to be there for them when it matters. In this, as in all things, balance is the key.

As he takes this step forward in life, Alex shared his advice for maintaining a healthy long-term relationship as well as connection to the things that you care about. It's all about communication and managing your independence. It's healthy for people to have their own activities. It's important for their partner to recognize the importance of those activities; what they give you that nothing else does and why they make you happy. It's important that to support one another in your pursuits of activities that are meaningful, even if you don't quite get it. It's equally important to know where the line is, and to communicate about how much time is appropriate and when it can happen without interfering with other commitments.

It's a tough line to walk, and communications is key. Alex does a great job of breaking down what kind of communication and understanding is important and illustrating these examples with personal experiences. Take a few minutes and learn from his reflections. I know I did.