Assemble the PlayersAssemble the Players | Art by Evyn Fong

We don't get a lot of Magic events in the UK. In fact, Europe didn't even get a MagicCon this year. So I always feel like it's really important to highlight the work of the companies that run UK events, especially Commander ones.

This year's CommandFest was run by Axion Now, who have done a few in the last couple of years and have got a pretty good model at this point with both Commander events with unique spins, like Assassin Commander where you're given a random player to knock out of the game and when you do you win, or Commander Sealed, a spin on limited where you are given a box of bulk cards, some sealed product, and a few legends to build a deck out of.

I always try to take these events as an opportunity to jam games of Commander outside of my usual playgroup so that I can get a better idea of what the Commander landscape is like outside of our little bubble. Another thing I like to do at these events is to take advantage of any fun, limited formats that I want to try out. Last year, it was Time Spiral Remastered and a Collector's Booster draft. This year, I was all in on Mystery Booster 2 drafts in an attempt to get one of those gorgeous Time Spiral bordered Sol RingSol Rings.

CommandFest UK Day 1

After queuing up, having our bags checked, and registering, we had about 20 minutes before our first event, so we headed straight to the prize wall. As part of the package our ticket came, in we got 80 prize tickets. I figured since I never normally open packs, I'd grab a Dragonstorm and Aftermath Collectors booster. As usual, opening packs is fun, but I have infamously bad luck opening them, and this was no different. I got a foil Calix, Guided by FateCalix, Guided by Fate, but that was about it - nothing else to write home about.

The first event I took part in was Two-Headed Giant with my brother. We opened a pretty good pool with Kozilek, CompleatedKozilek, Compleated, Meren of Clan Nel TothMeren of Clan Nel Toth, and Assemble the LegionAssemble the Legion as some of our top bombs. We decided to go with one green/black midrange deck with a good mix of creatures and removal, and a red/white "control" deck where we stuck the majority of our good removal (including two copies of PlanequakePlanequake) and focused on getting to Assemble the LegionAssemble the Legion. We had a pretty bad run when we finally got around to landing Assemble the LegionAssemble the Legion; we got hit by a Breath of LifeBreath of Life and Silverchase FoxSilverchase Fox.

I do love Two-Headed Giant, but there's a reason why it's done as a best-of-one format: the amount of removal in two decks on one makes almost every round about 45 minutes. By the time we were done with our Two-Headed Giant games, it was time for lunch, so we grabbed something to eat at the event and then headed to get rid of some of the cards that had been taking up space in my house.

After selling a bunch of cards, I grabbed a few for my new Riku of Many PathsRiku of Many Paths deck, including Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking and ExplorationExploration to make use of all of the spare lands that he exiles, and Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite and Jaheira, Friend of the ForestJaheira, Friend of the Forest to turn the birds into mana. I also grabbed some payoffs for my Kadena, Slinking SorcererKadena, Slinking Sorcerer manifest deck, including Agent of TreacheryAgent of Treachery and Jin-Gitaxias, Progress TyrantJin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

My next goal, as I do at every event, was to grab an artist proof for my Daretti, Scrap SavantDaretti, Scrap Savant deck. None of the artists had official pricing for sketches on proofs, so I had a chat with Leon Tukker, who was amazingly easy to talk to and super personable. He said he wasn't a fan of doing on-the-spot commissions, but we agreed on a price, and I gave him free rein to do whatever he wanted as long as it was "Goblin-y". He told me that he's not a big fan of sketching, but he had some paints in his bag, so he would use those instead

He said he wasn't very good at characters, and that landscapes were his preference, and honestly, it came out amazingly.

Next was the first of two Mystery Booster 2 drafts I did during the weekend. This is another one of those sets that's designed for draft but just feels like another Commander Masters set in disguise. Ignoring all of the sweet Future Sight and white bordered cards, there are even some commons and uncommons that feel perfect for Commander. I even grabbed a newly dubbed Game Changer in a foil Future Sight bordered Natural OrderNatural Order. I was skeptical about these, but in person, they look great

I lost my first round to Ruin CrabRuin Crab with Ghost TownGhost Town, a land that is in 0.23% of decks but feels incredibly powerful in any deck that even remotely cares about landfall triggers. I'll have to try it out in an Omnath, Locus of RageOmnath, Locus of Rage deck to try to satisfy my need to play Lightning BoltLightning Bolt without having to play Modern.

There isn't much else to say about this round. I got destroyed.

My second round was against someone who got Uro, Titan of Nature's WrathUro, Titan of Nature's Wrath. It was powerful, but I got The Heron MoonThe Heron Moon and managed to win one round through a combination of them drawing too many cards and me being able to exile a ton from their deck too. Sadly, I wasn't able to get the Emrakul, the Promised EndEmrakul, the Promised End but maybe my playgroup will let me play it in my Tekuthal, Inquiry DominusTekuthal, Inquiry Dominus deck... The round went 2-1 with me managing to scrape a win by kicking Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication on an Ice-Fang CoatlIce-Fang Coatl for the win. I will say that in the game that I managed to win through mill, Snake PitSnake Pit (another card that feels weirdly powerful in multiplayer games but is only in 0.14% of decks) came in handy, giving me a ton of creatures to block with and keep me alive.

In my third round, I also got absolutely trashed (it was not my weekend for packs or games, it would seem). In game one, I had a hand of spells and lands of the opposite color, and in game two, it was flipped. I did hold out a while in both of the games, but eventually lost to Soltari TrooperSoltari Trooper because I couldn't apply any pressure with the wrong colored lands. While it wasn't my best showing in a limited event, it was still really fun, and I'd say the same as I did about Mystery Booster 1, and that's to take every opportunity you get to draft Mystery Booster 2.

After that event, I was exhausted. My brother and I grabbed some snacks from a local supermarket and headed straight back to the hotel. We tweaked our decks with cards we had bought that day and played a couple of 1v1 games. My brain was completely shot from playing Limited all day, so I played Xenagos, God of RevelsXenagos, God of Revels, truly my deck that requires the least brain power. My brother was on Elsha, Threefold MasterElsha, Threefold Master, and gave me a brutal prowess-flavored beating

CommandFest UK Day 2

After a very deep sleep, we got up for Day 2 of the event.

Our first event was at 11 am instead of 10 am like the day before, so we got a bit of a lie-in and got some more time to chill out before our first games. I looked through the bulk boxes at some of the vendors. I picked up a few bits like Under the SkinUnder the Skin for Kadena and a Cosmium ConfluenceCosmium Confluence for Riku. This card seems really good in that Riku deck but I don't know which Caves to run (if any). If you know anything about which Caves are actually worth running, let me know in the comments.

The first event of the day was another Mystery Booster 2 draft. I decided to pass on a Jace BelerenJace Beleren in my first pack in exchange for a Wrath of LeknifWrath of Leknif, solidifying myself in blue-white control. And by the way, a Wrath of GodWrath of God that also untaps lands? Not cool, Wizards, not cool. I ended up with what looked like an amazing deck on paper. A wrath, powerful card draw from cards like Treasure CruiseTreasure Cruise, and even some powerful bombs in the form of Spined MegalodonSpined Megalodon and Blatant ThieveryBlatant Thievery. Well, if I'm saying how good my deck looked, you can probably tell how my games went.

Round 1 was effectively a mirror match against blue-black control with Psychic CorrosionPsychic Corrosion. I had a really good mill answer with Echo of EonsEcho of Eons, but because of the way Psychic CorrosionPsychic Corrosion works, I just ended up re-milling myself after shuffling my cards back in. I thought I had the win in the first game by stealing Psychic CorrosionPsychic Corrosion, but I ran face first into a Pact of NegationPact of Negation.

Round 2 seemed to be a better matchup against a more to-the-board deck but I ended up losing the first game to too many creatures since I didn't draw my board wipe and then in game two I played my StandstillStandstill incredibly poorly when my opponent had a 2/2 in play and effectively just let them hit me for eight damage before removing it and letting them draw three cards. Not my finest moment. But while I didn't win anything in that draft, it was a lot of fun and got me some cards for my Angus MackenzieAngus Mackenzie deck and an Anax and Cymede & Kynaios and TiroAnax and Cymede & Kynaios and Tiro & Chatzuk, Mighty GuitaristChatzuk, Mighty Guitarist as gifts for a couple of my friends. So, overall, the draft was a success.

I decided to grab some food and look at the vendors again, grabbing more random bulk cards for my decks and then buying an Aetherdrift prerelease pack (and then two more; don't judge me) because the stall had them for £20, which seemed like a steal. I got a few lands and some Vehicles for my Kykar's car keys deck (a Kykar, Wind's FuryKykar, Wind's Fury Vehicles deck, if that wasn't too on the nose. I also realized this weekend that you could do a Kykar voltron deck and call it "Kykar's Khakis," but that's a different article for a different day), including a Chandra, Spark HunterChandra, Spark Hunter.

All of that took a few hours, and we had a train to catch, so we decided to actually play a game of Commander at CommandFest (wild, I know) before heading home. So we took our remaining event tickets and grabbed a game of on-demand Commander, so that we got a few prize tickets at the same time. It was a fun pod with a rule zero'd Wandering MageWandering Mage deck, my Riku of Many PathsRiku of Many Paths, my brother's Elsha, Threefold MasterElsha, Threefold Master and a Silas Renn, Seeker AdeptSilas Renn, Seeker Adept & Akiri, Line-SlingerAkiri, Line-Slinger deck that looked identical to the one I've been brewing for a while now.

The game started off pretty standard for a Bracket 2 deck, nice and slow with nothing too crazy. The Wandering MageWandering Mage player ended up pulling ahead in terms of mana with Scholar of New HorizonsScholar of New Horizons and we kept Elsha and the partner deck from getting too far ahead by removing Elsha and keeping SunforgerSunforger off of anything scary. The mid-game got locked up by Mikaeus, the UnhallowedMikaeus, the Unhallowed with Sun TitanSun Titan, but it never felt too oppressive because the deck had a pretty strong Human subtheme, so Mikaeus didn't affect most of his board. I was able to keep anything too wild from happening and keep myself alive by making some Birds to block. Unfortunately a timely Junji, the Midnight SkyJunji, the Midnight Sky discard got rid of the Pinnacle MonkPinnacle Monk and Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act from my hand and a counterspell just after that on the Hugs, Grisly GuardianHugs, Grisly Guardian that I tried to cast was the final nail in my coffin. The game ended with an awesome Godo, Bandit WarlordGodo, Bandit Warlord's extra combat step synergizing amazingly with Akiri's vigilance to get rid of two players, leaving just the Elsha player with no board to lose the next turn.

With my last few prize tickets, I grabbed some Phyrexia: All Will Be One packs (they were out of Aftermath packs), I got The SeedcoreThe Seedcore in one pack, and my other one didn't have a rare in it - which seemed about right for my pack luck this weekend. All in all, while I didn't have the best of luck with my packs or my games, I did have an amazing weekend. And if nothing else, it's reminded me just how much I enjoy Limited, so I'll be trying to get down to my LGS for some more draft nights if I can.

If you've never been to one of these bigger in-person events, I highly recommend it. The opportunity to trade in those spare cards you've got lying around to get the holy grail of your collection that you've been after for so long (one day I'll get you, foil Urza's Saga Junk DiverJunk Diver; one day), the chance to play in Limited formats from years ago or even just sitting around in the open play area and jamming some games with your favorite commanders, all make these events weekends that you'll never forget.

Truly, the real magic is the gathering.