Author | Lightnews

Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 1d

the best card in the new Avatar Set... is maybe Gran-Gran? 👀

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 1d

ok so what are everyone's new halloweens resolutions

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 2d

That’s why we start games with “hey we play with no sol rings. If you draw it, just remove it and draw again. Cool?”

That way when you play with folks who ain’t cool you can still have it

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 2d

Happy Halloween!

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 3d

People forget, or want to keep it for when they play against heathens.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 3d

This is the way

In the pods I play in. If someone draws a sol ring, they immediately exile it and replace it with something else. Because c’mon.

Rachel Weeks @wachelreeks.com · 3d

Might fuck around and take Sol Ring out of my decks.

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Reposted by Ben Brode

Brian Kibler @bmkibler.bsky.social · 4d

Your friendly neighborhood @benbrode.bsky.social is back, taking his Spiders-Man up against the villainous @covertgoblue.bsky.social!

Will the costumed commander damage hater take the day? Or will the Fluid Felon steal the show?

LIVE: youtu.be/53s-5RKAdGE

Ben Brode's heroic Spiders-Man take on the villainous CovertGoBlue | Commander at Home Episode 80

YouTube video by Commander At Home

youtu.be

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 4d

no, you're right. It's why i've taken out most board wipes and put in more win conditions. But most decks aren't winning with Commander damage even after 2 hours anyway. :-/

Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 4d

autospotters are game changers

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

But difference for difference sake doesn't feel quite right to me. I think each difference bears some cognitive load and we should analyze each one to decide if it's worth its cost. Hybrid Mana doesn't cross that line for me personally, regardless of where the right place on the spectrum is.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

And to date, as it has removed rules to make it more similar to the rest of Magic, it has grown in popularity. Remember when you couldn't generate mana outside your color identity?

We could continue to differentiate it - I have long been a proponent of a Life Cap, for instance.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

i often like to think about these things as a gradient. Is Commander better if it is less unique and different? Should it be more unique and different? What are the chances that it is exactly at the perfect point on that spectrum right now?

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

I’m not saying that’s good or bad. I’m just saying that this isn’t actually the wall we get to use to influence what cards they make or don’t make. Because they drive tanks.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

I agree working within limitations is fun. But as designers it’s good to analyze whether these are the right ones, or would other ones be better. I think the rule that you couldn’t generate mana outside your identity was an example of a not great imitation. The removal didn’t hurt Commander.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

I mean, they can brute force it if they want like with “this card can be your commander.”

They can make hybrid cards that say “can be used in decks with any color identity”

I don’t think Commander Committee has the power it used to.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

wait what? every color can tutor

moxfield.com/decks/gcH0ru...

Tutors - Colorless - None

A deck created using Moxfield.

moxfield.com

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 10d

how do you feel about colorless mana? it's the least restrictive of the mana symbols. If you don't like hybrid (which is designed to be OR), do you also not like colorless (which is designed to be ALL)?

Do you think designers should only be able to design AND and ANY cards but no OR cards?

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

Feels like they addressed these in the article

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

You’re thinking from the rules you already know. What you said isn’t weird at all from the broad perspective of MtG

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

Also this affects mostly mono color decks and maaaaybe 1-2 cards in those decks. It’s not gonna have much of an impact besides making it easier to understand and reducing the barrier to learn.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

It was very weird to me that a card that is designed to be played in a mono color deck and is playable in a mono color deck in every other format suddenly couldn’t go in a mono color deck.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

This was the most confusing part of the format for me because it works so differently than the rest of Magic. My brain just couldn’t parse why a card that only costs white mana can’t be in a white deck

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 12d

Feels like great changes! Also the way hybrid mana currently works was one of the most confusing things about the format when I first started playing it. Definitely feels like a good thing to change.

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · 26d

Hell naw

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Ben Brode @benbrode.bsky.social · Oct 3

Indeed, sir! And damn! Next time!

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