Chromatic LanternChromatic Lantern | Illustrated by David Alvarez

Magic Presents: Pride happened this past weekend, and it was a dazzling success in many ways.

Wizards of the Coast was busy with their attendance at Seattle Pride, showing their support of the LGBTQIA+ community while keeping consistent with their company goals. While this was happening, many Magic players attended the Magic Presents event.

A lot of players came to show their support and solidarity with the community, while others showed up for the awesome Chromatic LanternChromatic Lantern promo. Regardless of the reason, the event was generally a rousing success.

I went to Magic Presents: Pride this past Sunday, and here's how it went for me!

The Games

Playing a variant of Commander is usually a great time for all involved. After all, we're all willingly entering into a social contract by agreeing to new or variant rules. Heck, we're all entering a social contract by playing Commander, Magic, or most any game at all.

This variant for Magic Presents: Pride allows each player to have two commanders as though they had the partner mechanic.

Magic Presents: Pride - Game 1

I got to play two full games before I had to leave, and here's how the layout of the partner commanders went for Game 1:

• Player 1 had Clive, Ifrit's DominantClive, Ifrit's Dominant, with Ojer Axonil, Deepest MightOjer Axonil, Deepest Might. His game plan here was to draw cards for value, pitch lands if necessary, and provide an aggressive strategy overall.
• Player 2 had Aisha of Sparks and SmokeAisha of Sparks and Smoke, with Vikya, Scorching StalwartVikya, Scorching Stalwart. This player's overall intent was a Voltron-style strategy with Aisha/Ken, but in a partner variant, Vikya/Ryu also put in much work here.
• Player 3 ran their first deck with Yorvo, Lord of GarenbrigYorvo, Lord of Garenbrig and Goreclaw, Terror of Qal SismaGoreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma. This deck was generally one that plays large creatures, makes Yorvo even larger, and does what green does best: stomp face.
• I ran Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER with Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain. My deck was a run-of-the-mill Aristocrats build, which wanted to slowly drain the life from my opponents.

Notably, the gameplay for the first game lacked any blue involvement. The Clive deck ran very smoothly, drawing upwards of seventeen cards upon Clive hitting the battlefield.

After this, Player 1 managed to spit almost every card he drew onto the field, as well as Ojer Axonil. He did what he had to do, and was content with that when I defeated him with a ton of Aristocrat-based damage off of Sephiroth and his emblem. I mainly had tob on account of his Sunspine LynxSunspine Lynx, which was keeping me off of lifegain for the majority of that game.

After this, I was taken down by Player 2, and Player 3 followed suit. It turns out, Ken and Ryu are very potent partners both in Magic and the Street Fighter series! And while I lost handily, it was a great game to play under the partner variant rules for Pride.

Magic Presents: Pride - Game 2

Our second game saw a couple of changes to decks, my own included:

• Player 1 shifted over to a Jolrael, Voice of ZhalfirJolrael, Voice of Zhalfir deck with Zimone, Quandrix ProdigyZimone, Quandrix Prodigy as her partner. This deck focused on animating lands with Jolrael while putting a ton of pressure on the table through these flying lands attacking most every turn.
• Player 2 kept his game plan the same. Aisha and Vikya proved invaluable to Player 2 and he still needed to figure out a few shifts he needed to eventually make to the deck.
• Player 3 shifted decks to a Glarb, Calamity's AugurGlarb, Calamity's Augur build with Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking as his partner. This deck was a Sultai () value pile, also focusing on land ramp like the Jolrael deck.
• Ever true to form, I shifted to my Kefka, Court MageKefka, Court Mage deck. You can see the exact list for this deck by clicking here. My partner was Chainer, Nightmare AdeptChainer, Nightmare Adept, chosen to give Kefka haste when he hit the battlefield. The game plan here is largely the same as in my deck tech. But, giving Kefka haste was a great plan as well, and went quite smoothly for the most part.

Kefka did a lot for the majority of the game, but struggled to keep up in the end. I kept Players 2 and 3 from gaining life with a Screaming NemesisScreaming Nemesis before trying to lock down hands with Words of WasteWords of Waste and Waste NotWaste Not. However, by then my opponents managed to have a big enough board to keep the pressure on me until I lost.

I did manage to cast Disrupt DecorumDisrupt Decorum before going down, which changed the pacing of the endgame, but it proved fruitless as Jolrael's land creatures weren't affected.

At the end of the game, Glarb and Azusa came out on top. I predicted that Aisha and Vikya could have ended things, but alas, it wasn't to be.

The Good

I appreciated how everyone got to do their thing in these games. I am certain that other pods in the optional event also saw similar success in that vein. It was fun to see the Clive/Ojer Axonil deck pop off before being summarily extinguished.

I didn't get to do everything I wanted with Sephiroth, but that game was a great one nonetheless. Additionally, in Game 2, I got to do a lot of what Kefka typically wants to do (partly thanks to Chainer curving into Kefka), so I was content with being taken down as well.

The Glarb/Azusa deck was terrifying and completely deserved the win it got, even if it was also running the Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle/Demonic ConsultationDemonic Consultation combo.

These were amazingly fun games of Commander. The partner mechanic on all manner of combinations was a real sight to behold and it was great to see so many different kinds of decks spawn from the variant. However...

The Less-Good

We ran into a few issues tracking commander damage. The main problem came from Player 2 having both Aisha and Vikya leading a Voltron deck; both could have easily led the deck without the partner variant. There was a bit of confusion as to which commander was doing what damage in this case, namely, in the second game. However, this was quickly discerned soon thereafter, and for the most part, that was all fine afterwards.

Other than that, the event went without a hitch for us. The issue of commander damage tracking is why I'm glad this event happens once a year, give or take other special occasions. I wasn't a huge fan of having to track multiple commanders whose damage mattered as much as it did. However, I'm more than happy to attend future events like this!

Just, please, maybe reconsider the double-Voltron strategy next time.

Conclusion

If you find yourself in a position where you can attend Magic Presents: Pride in the future, please attend! It's a great event and a good chance to connect to people you otherwise might not know. Also, you're supporting an important and marginalized group of people by attending this event, by way of solidarity. The event is fully optional, but if you do these events, you could also claim a promotional card.

No matter what, I am happy to attend this event in the future as well. But let's open the floor to you, dear readers. Did you attend the event this past weekend? What partner commanders did you run? Sound off below!