How To Get Into Commander | The Command Zone 452 | Magic: The Gathering EDH

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Show Notes:

Commander can seem as intimidating to get into as it is fun to play! But don't worry: this episode Jimmy and JLK break down the best first steps you can take to start your Commander journey. From choosing your deck to finding a solid playgroup, we've got the advice and expertise to help you jump in and start experiencing this amazing format for yourself as easily as possible.

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COMMAND ZONE LIVE:
We’re teaming up with Wizards of the Coast to produce a series of live podcast episodes! That means you can interact with us and join the discussion IN REAL TIME as we tackle some of the most hot-button Commander topics. The first episode is on March 29th @ 12noon PST and we’ll be talking about “The Worst Mistakes Commander Players Make”. You definitely don’t wanna miss it.

Follow this link for more info on how to attend:

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FACTOR:

BETTERHELP:

INDEED:

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The Command Zone is brought to you by CHANNEL FIREBALL!

Find UltraPro:

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Relevant Links:

Vinny Truong:
Twitter: @MTGVincent

Craig Blanchette:
Twitter: @CraigBlanchette
Instagram: @MrInfectMTG

Henry Cavil (Actor):

Command Zone Live:

Tolarian Community College (Youtube):

How to Play Magic: The Gathering:

Game Knights #29 - Commander 2019 with The Professor & Ladee Danger

Game Knights #51 - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty w/ Post Malone!

CZ308 - Uro – Game Knights Deck Tech

CZ379 - The NEW Commander Deck Building Template

CZ400 - How to Play Commander

CZ426 - Decks We Built...But Hated

CZ446 - "Upgrades Unleashed" Budget Upgrade Guide

CZ448 - “Buckle Up” Budget Upgrade Guide:

The Commander's Quarters (Youtube):

Commanders Brew (Youtube):

EDHREC:

MTGGoldfish (Youtube):

Favorite Legendary Creature (Reddit):

Ebay:

Goodwill:

Playing with Power (Youtube):

Play to Win (Youtube):

MTGMuddstah (Youtube):

Commander’s Herald:

Atlas (Karn Cosplay)
Twitter: @AtlasCrafts

Spelltable:

In N Out (Restaurant):

TappedOut:

Thor Ragnarok (Movie):

Avengers Endgame (Movie):

Skyrim (Game):

Elden Ring (Game):

League of Legends (Game):

Starcraft (Game):

Avatar the Last Airbender (Show):

Street Fighter (Game):

MTGO (Game):

Warhammer (Game):

Superman Movies:

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Commander Rules and Ban List:

[valerian]

I have a friend who just started MTG and she likes it. I told her about Commander and she likes the concept, so when I found that video I thought "hey, this is great, I'll send this to her!" I decided to watch it first to make sure it's good and because I'm fairly new to commander as well and I realized: "oh, she won't know what Grixis is. Oh, she won't know what Temur is. Oh, she won't know what FNM is...."

I think the guys got carried in the moment a bit and forgot that a good chunk of the target audience for this video is very new to MTG and will not understand a lot of the lingo in there. If I had one feedback to give about this specific video, it would be to add little annotations for all of these terms that might fly over the head of newer players. I know when they say Grixis or whatever, it's not essential to understand that to get their point, but a new player might think they need too and be intimidated by that.

[kendrasnead]

My boyfriend taught me modern in 2017 and commander in 2019. Playing commander is a key way we bond.

[boosterofwonder]

The legend says if you shout "Buy singles!" three times, you summon the Prof. Also works with shouting three times "Reprints!"

[TomLouvat]

Buying precons is actually a super smart way to have a huge collection fast, and certain of these you can just mash together and get a very strong deck very fast (I did that with the 2018 Estrid Precon and the 2021 Galea one, and bam : super strong tuvasa enchantress deck ready to go !)

[miaschwartz]

46:35 As someone who works at a game store, nothing makes me happier than when someone comes up to me and says, "I like my deck, how can I make it better?" because it both not only show us that you value our opinion but it also shows us that you value what we say and listen to everything regardless of if you agree or now which has happened to me

[UWPQwert]

I live in a town of 2500 people and was talking to my friend at the gym about magic. A stranger came up and asked if we were talking about magic. He then joined our play group and he is one of my best friends.

[DrOmnipotent]

I recently played in a new lgs in my neighborhood, and on my first pod was a new player. They sighted this video and your content for helping them finally make the leap into commander.

Big ups fam. Every new head is homie.

[flamingwolf]

I first started playing commanders with a friend who used to play in tournaments, buy he said it wasn't fun so he would only make decks he thought was fun. Even though he was better than me and my other friends he nerfed himself to make sure we were having fun, and that's what made me fall in love with the format.

[PlayingWithPowerMTG]

well, that was a surprising random shoutout to see while watching this video. thanks guys!! -Noah

[jamesgreenwood]

Perfect I’m just getting my friend into commander since he is teaching me an instrument

[hermesthenerd]

I love your color pie discussion, it really helps me solidify why I tend to lean one way or another when it comes to colors that speak to me

[rosavanopheusden]

when introducing new players, I think it would be good to avoid some of the prejudices that long-time players can hold, especially if they're really untrue, like "white can't ramp" or "green can do everything"

[olivierdebilde]

I got into MTG when I was a teenager. Friends got me into this, at first. Then, I played with other students every lunch break at High School. Back then, Commander wasn't even a thing.
Unfortunately, I eventually moved from school and city and stopped playing for more than 10 years.

Way later, I met one of the high school friends who told me about still playing MTG in a "new" format called Commander. It caught my interest so I read the rules on the net but wasn't ready to move to LGS with people I haven't met before yet.

A couple of years later, I played several board games with drafting/deck building mechanics and started to really miss MTG. I searshed about commander and found Game Knights. I watched a couple of episodes and became hyped as f...un. That also gave me a good insight of how to play the format thanks to the good formating of Game Knights and the Podcasts.

I ordered a couple of precons, since I lacked a lot of EDH staples at that time and started on that basis. That was also a "not too expensive way" to see if I like it or not.
I found out then that another High School friend was managing MTG nights at his GF's store and gave it a shot.

I really fell in love for Commander while playing it and while following your content, Commander's Quarters or Tolarian Community College and made fantastic friends in the process. Now, 3 years later, I have 20+ decks and I don't regret anything.

It looked tedious to catch up after such a long break but the youtube content is such a gold mine made by passionated people. It quickly becomes a walk in the park.

[grillburgerdaq]

I hope this personal experience of mine will help someone.

When I first tried commander, I was unaware of precons so I took apart one of my old kitchen table decks and cobbled together a commander deck to the best of my ability.

I got thrashed.

But it wasn't getting killed that discouraged me. At some point, a regular at the LGS pulled me aside and basically said to me. "You will never win with a deck like that and I want to warn you now before you go off buying a bunch of cards so you're not a hundred bucks deep with a deck that is only marginally better." I was crushed.

I gave up trying to get back into Magic and moved on. But then a year passed and I went back at it. I reimagined my old deck, watched episodes of game knights, and now I can say I have a solid grasp on the format. Eventually I earned my first win, and it felt great to reach that milestone off of building a deck completely on my own. (My first win I don't believe I deserved because things just happened to shake out where I was the last man standing. It's not like I really did anything. But it was still funny to beat a borderline CEDH deck with a terribly cobbled together mess of a commander deck in my FIRST GAME OF COMMANDER EVER. That's right. At one point I was 1 for 1 but I got thrashed every game after that.)

What I'm trying to say is don't let losing discourage you. Give yourself time to get comfortable in a pod. At first a game can be very intimidating as so much stuff can be happening at once. It's okay to lose if it meant you lost playing a deck you like. It's so cool once you realize how to express yourself through this game and it's so rewarding to do so.

Nowadays I have two decks I built myself from scratch. They're unique, fun, and do the things I like to do.

Eventually things will line up. Let other people help you. Take every stage of the game into consideration, Focus on synergy. I'm still learning every day.

[MTGDuelist]

33:56 you can tell from the look on josh's face that what jimmy said was 100% out of the blue and caught him off guard XD

[DenverEight]

How I started playing Commander was through the Command Zone.

2016 saw me immigrating to the United States and I had the blessing of having a local game store walking distance from where I was living. I had played Standard on and off a few years and being in a new space meant learning from new people. Local players got me to try out their decks and that had me curious to know more. The Command Zone taught me a whole new world of new cards and interactions.

As for how my collection for Commander started, I had a few older cards I picked up growing up. Christmas of 2016 saw me stumbling into a Breed Lethality (a highly sought after precon) at MSRP. Through the years, I got new precons to try new strategies and try out new colors. Loose packs got me to be resourceful and building with what I have. Now I buy singles but stumbling on the fortunate find always feels good.

Commander is a designer’s game. The best parts of it are always the stories you tell to others. Be it some awesome combo or how dominating a single creature was in that game. It’s never always about how you won. Sometimes you lose badly and you have to learn how to take the loss with grace. I just find it neat that I can play with cards I got when I was 11.

[GuardDogEvents]

I like the legacy/vintage rule of allowing up to 10 proxies in a deck. this way it gives you room to test cards, or play with stuff you cant normally afford because it allows people to play decks they may not be able to play.

[notmyrealnamesorry]

My brother showed me magic, we played 60 card constructed with any decks that he had. My first couple months of playing magic I used the Chulane brawl deck against an Ixalan limited dino deck and the Final adventure challenger deck.

[jamesthefront]

I think one of the best commanders to play is ‘Karador, Ghost Chieftain’.

It was my first and recommended to me by my LGS. When I was new to commander, I wanted to play everything in my deck and it was really fun being able to replay all my favourite cards at the time from the graveyard.

100% recommended if you’re new.

[ryankinross]

Used to play magic like 10 years ago and after finding your channel it's making me want to go out and get back into it.
I know o have se old cards somewhere but commander seems like the path I want to try!
You guys are great keep up the great work and thank you for lighting my magic fire 🔥