<h6 style="text-align: right;">Header Photo provided by Wizards of the Coast</h6>
<p>LAS VEGAS -- Most Early Bird badges are currently available for MagicCon: Las Vegas, but if you needed a little extra incentive, how does a party sound?</p>
<p>Event organizers for the June event announced today a one-night-only "<a href="https://mcvegas.mtgfestivals.com/en-us/experience/magiccon-presents-party-at-the-edge-of-eternity.html?querytoken=rXaS%20JQNHccILjyHALrrnfzhRc1vgCdunoj3mxMd4fElW3NsrsbHOJ9NhJ2jZojeVuJCQSv6bNFzbroi2OtaUw%3D%3D">Party at the Edge of Eternity</a>" featuring DJ Elliot and Grumgully taking place Friday, June 20 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.</p>
<p>Held at AREA15 approximately 15 minutes from MagicCon's location at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the event promises to "help celebrate the first night of Summer" and "launch your weekend into the stratosphere." Event organizers laud karaoke as a primary draw for the evening's festivities in addition to the socializing.</p>
<p>Early Bird General Admission tickets for the event are $40 for a limited time, ending April 18 or while supplies last, before raising to the standard price of $50. A ticket includes entry into both areas of the party: The "Portal" and The "Wall." The event is limited to attendees age 21+ and a valid MagicCon badge is required to purchase a Party at the Edge of Eternity ticket.</p>
<p>MagicCon: Las Vegas is slated for June 20-22. Tickets are <a href="https://checkout.conventions.leapevent.tech/eh/wlherwuptsywmagiclvvzqylhzcvhjt">on sale now</a>. A full schedule of events and ticketed play is <a href="https://mcvegas.mtgfestivals.com/en-us/magic-play/ticketed-play-schedule.html">available here</a>.</p>


Early Bird Tickets Available for Official MagicCon Party

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Flicker Deck

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/castaguer">Manuel Castañón</a>)</h6>
<h1>Technically Playable - <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Technically Playable</em>, where our mission statement is "Every commander is <em>Technically</em> playable" (the best kind of playable).</p>
<p>The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!</p>
<p>This week's random commander is <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr"></div></div></p>
<p>This version of Katilda is another one of those Commanders that feels really split between what it wants. On the one hand, you want some Spirit synergies, but on the other, you want to load up on as many enchantments as you can.</p>
<p>And while they both buff Katilda you don't want to split yourself too much on the synergies between them. No one wants a handful of Spirits with only enchantment payoffs.</p>
<h2>In the Spirit of the game</h2>
<p>Spirits are inherently a fairly aggressive creature type. Since a lot of them fly, they get around the issue that some other, lower to the ground, creature types like Goblins and Soldiers struggle with.</p>
<p>Spirits still gain the lords that other types get in the form of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (which also provides hexproof, completely bonkers) and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Supreme Phantom" href="#" target="_blank">Supreme Phantom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> while getting cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selfless Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Selfless Spirit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to keep their board healthy and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shacklegeist" href="#" target="_blank">Shacklegeist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which helps to lock down boards that threaten you like Dragons and Demons.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Katilda is only white, so we're not able to run a lot of the good cards in the same way a deck like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Millicent, Restless Revenant" href="#" target="_blank">Millicent, Restless Revenant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranar the Ever-Watchful" href="#" target="_blank">Ranar the Ever-Watchful</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might, so we need to find other ways to make our Spirits dangerous in the same way.</p>
<p>Luckily, there are now 6,802 white cards legal in Commander (of which 163 are Spirits), so we have some to work with.</p>
<p>With only 143 decks of their own <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens" href="#" target="_blank">Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> may seem like a weak card, being a 3/6 for seven mana, but let's be honest.</p>
<p>In Commander, you often have seven mana by turn four or five, even in white, and Oyobi is incredibly powerful in any deck that cares about Spirits, and doubly so with a card like Katilda that needs as many Spirits as possible.</p>
<p>Effectively, what Oyobi does is make each Spirit you cast double up the power and toughness that it gives to Katilda while also creating a sizeable flying body that can help to keep you alive while you keep the pressure on with Katilda's commander damage.</p>
<p>Mono-white Spirits don't get cheap lords like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but that doesn't mean they get no lords at all. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gallows Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Gallows Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spirit of the Spires" href="#" target="_blank">Spirit of the Spires</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are both half a lord, only buffing toughness while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Long-Forgotten Gohei" href="#" target="_blank">Long-Forgotten Gohei</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Celestial Crusader" href="#" target="_blank">Celestial Crusader</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> act as lords closer to the kinds you expect in a kindred deck like this.</p>
<p>Additionally, white also gets <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Reinforcements" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Reinforcements</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. While not a traditional lord, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drogskol Reinforcements" href="#" target="_blank">Drogskol Reinforcements</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives all of your Spirits melee, which allows each one to get a max of +3/+3 as long as you are consistently aggressive, something this deck wants to be doing anyway.</p>
<p>And, of course, you need to be able to close out games. Chipping down your opponents with an array of cheap fliers often gets you there, and even though it isn't a Spirit, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Priest of the Blessed Graf" href="#" target="_blank">Priest of the Blessed Graf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does give you access to a consistently large board in part thanks to the lack of ramp that often plagues mono-white decks.</p>
<p>Being able to make a lot of flying threats works perfectly with the deck's best finisher (and it's not even really close either) <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonshaker Cavalry" href="#" target="_blank">Moonshaker Cavalry</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Often heralded as the mono-white <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and for good reason. Giving all of your 1/1 fliers +x/+x for each creature you control and also give any non-fliers the evasive keyword as well will very often be enough to close out a game, even against the most resilient board states.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drogskol Reinforcements"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Priest of the Blessed Graf"></div></div>
<h2>An enchanting alternative</h2>
<p>But Katilda doesn't just care about Spirits, it also cares about the number of enchantments that you have. This version of the deck focuses much more on getting an evasive or a hard-to-kill threat, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Geist of Saint Traft" href="#" target="_blank">Geist of Saint Traft</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and using that to close out games.</p>
<p>Katilda is one part of this strategy but you can only enchant its disturb side once it's already died. Instead, we want to use cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ethereal Armor" href="#" target="_blank">Ethereal Armor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to emulate the effect without the keyword.</p>
<p>The main issue with these Aura style decks is that you can easily run out of gas because they are so cheap to cast, and if you stack them onto one creature that then dies, you quickly lose them all.</p>
<p>To get around this we can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mesa Enchantress" href="#" target="_blank">Mesa Enchantress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sram, Senior Edificer" href="#" target="_blank">Sram, Senior Edificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and the new(ish) <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enduring Innocence" href="#" target="_blank">Enduring Innocence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to keep our hand full and then you can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mantle of the Ancients" href="#" target="_blank">Mantle of the Ancients</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to return any Auras should your creatures die.</p>
<p>We can also quickly stack up our enchantment count in other ways. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ondu Spiritdancer" href="#" target="_blank">Ondu Spiritdancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a really powerful option that allows you to copy the first enchantment you cast each turn.</p>
<p>This can very quickly get out of hand by copying something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to fill the board with angels or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soaring Lightbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Soaring Lightbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to make a ton of enchantment birds every time you attack.</p>
<p>You can also use this defensively by making copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Prison" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Prison</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphere of Safety" href="#" target="_blank">Sphere of Safety</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to keep you alive until you can meet the critical mass of enchantments needed to either lock down the board or make Katilda into a one-shot machine.</p>
<p>If you decide to go down the Aura route, you can also run <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light-Paws, Emperor&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Light-Paws, Emperor&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor" href="#" target="_blank">Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Both of these cards have amazing synergy with Auras by giving you either card advantage in the form of raw card draw or the ability to search for silver bullet Auras, as well as (in the case of Pearl-Ear) making all of your enchantments cheaper.</p>
<p>This can lead to some really powerful turns by giving you access to cheap versions of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eldrazi Conscription" href="#" target="_blank">Eldrazi Conscription</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mammoth Umbra" href="#" target="_blank">Mammoth Umbra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempest Technique" href="#" target="_blank">Tempest Technique</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to finish a turn off after casting a ton of cheap Auras.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ethereal Armor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enduring Innocence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ondu Spiritdancer"></div></div>
<h2>Por que no los dos?</h2>
<p>But of course, you don't need to just go for one <em>or </em>the other. There are plenty of Spirits and enchantments to go around, and surprisingly, a lot of them synergize really well with each other.</p>
<p>One of the effects that seems to be very prevalent is creating Spirit tokens based on the number of enchantments you have. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was one of the earlier cards to do this and remains one of the more powerful.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> plays similarly to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> by giving you creatures whenever you play enchantments. The main difference here is that each of these Spirits is a mini <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that grows based on your number of enchantments.</p>
<p>If you can play this on turn four and then play six more enchantments, you end up with six 7/7s, each with flying and vigilance, a board that <em>needs</em> to be wiped.</p>
<p>In a similar vein, <em>Duskmourn</em> gave us <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Dancers" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Dancers</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> an enchantment specific <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eternal Witness" href="#" target="_blank">Eternal Witness</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that also gives you a 3/1 flier every time an enchantment enters the battlefield.</p>
<p>This important part here is that unlike <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hallowed Haunting" href="#" target="_blank">Hallowed Haunting</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Empty Throne" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Empty Throne</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> it says <em>enters</em> instead of <em>cast</em><em> </em> meaning if you run it alongside anything that makes enchantment tokens like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soaring Lightbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Soaring Lightbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> you can make a huge board very quickly.</p>
<p>There are also some Spirits that double up as enchantments. A lot of the bestow cards are Spirits, this means you can benefit from both the Spirit and enchantment synergies. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indebted Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Indebted Spirit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives you a really cheap option to bestow as well as having afterlife, creating another Spirit when it dies.</p>
<p>While it does synergise well <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indebted Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Indebted Spirit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is, however, pretty low on the power level of these kinds of effects. For this deck in particular, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eidolon of Countless Battles" href="#" target="_blank">Eidolon of Countless Battles</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> really pulls double duty by effectively being a second Katilda that you can equip to it if needed to halve the number of creatures and enchantments needed to get to that magical 21 commander damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hallowed Haunting"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Dancers"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Eidolon of Countless Battles"></div></div>
<p>As with all <em>Technically Playable</em> articles, this was a very quick look at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a commander and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Katilda as the commander tick.</p>
<p>Let me know in the comments below if you play <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, if you want to build a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr" href="#" target="_blank">Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!</p>


Technically Playable - Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr

<h6 style="text-align: right;">The art for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art copyright Wizards of the Coast</h6>
<p>A few days ago, seven prolific members of the <em>Magic</em> community announced that they had received invitations to reveal cards from a <a href="https://secretlair.wizards.com/us"><em>Secret Lair</em></a> Commander Deck. With absolutely no idea what those cards could be, they finally revealed them on Wednesday, April 9th. What were those cards, and what could they reveal about the deck? At the time of writing the deck isn't fully revealed yet. So, let's look into what these streamers received within the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck!</p>
<h2>TaaliaVess's Reveal</h2>
<p>According to sources on social media, streamer <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/taaliavess">TaaliaVess</a></strong> received a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Morophon, the Boundless" href="#" target="_blank">Morophon, the Boundless</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Morophon seems to be the commander of this deck. It also implies that the deck is a Kindred-matters deck.</p>
<div id="attachment_148301" style="width: 501px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148301" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148301" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg" alt="An image of TaaliaVess's reveal of Morophon, the Boundless from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast" width="491" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg 640w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless-263x300.jpg 263w" sizes="(max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148301" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/taaliavess">TaaliaVess</a>'s reveal of Morophon, the Boundless from the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and TaaliaVess</p></div>
<h2>ZBexx's Reveal</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/zbexx">ZBexx</a></strong> received another card from "Everyone's Invited". This time, it was a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This doesn't tell us a ton about the contents of the deck, since most preconstructed decks contain a Sol Ring anyway. However, the card is stunning and its art is featured on the advertisement on the <em>Secret Lair</em> website.</p>
<div id="attachment_148302" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148302" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148302" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png" alt="An image of ZBexx's reveal of Sol Ring from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Zbexx" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png 436w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring-191x300.png 191w" sizes="(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148302" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/zbexx">ZBexx</a>'s reveal of Sol Ring from the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Zbexx</p></div>
<h2>Voxy's Reveal</h2>
<p>Next, we look at <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/voxy">Voxy</a></strong>'s stream, where she revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avenger of Zendikar" href="#" target="_blank">Avenger of Zendikar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Because Plants are such a niche creature type, this implies that "Everyone's Invited" probably features a <em>very</em> broad Kindred-matters theme. At this point, things are getting interesting for sure.</p>
<div id="attachment_148303" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148303" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148303" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png" alt="An image of Voxy's reveal of Avenger of Zendikar. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Voxy" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png 371w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar-191x300.png 191w" sizes="(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148303" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/voxy">Voxy</a>'s reveal of Avenger of Zendikar. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Voxy</p></div>
<h2>Amazonian's Reveal</h2>
<p>We next turn our attention to <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/amazonian">Amazonian</a></strong>'s stream, where she revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Taurean Mauler" href="#" target="_blank">Taurean Mauler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. A creature with changeling like Morophon, Taurean Mauler may mean that multiple cards will also cover many of the creature types buffed by the deck's cards.</p>
<div id="attachment_148304" style="width: 430px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148304" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148304" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg" alt="An image of Amazonian's reveal of Taurean Mauler. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Amazonian" width="420" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg 1501w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-225x300.jpg 225w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-769x1024.jpg 769w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-768x1023.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-1153x1536.jpg 1153w" sizes="(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148304" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/amazonian">Amazonian</a>'s reveal of Taurean Mauler. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Amazonian</p></div>
<h2>ManaCurves' Reveal</h2>
<p>Streamer <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/manacurves"><strong>ManaCurves</strong></a> also revealed a card from "Everyone's Invited"! The card they revealed was <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bitterblossom" href="#" target="_blank">Bitterblossom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a kindred card for Faerie decks. This shows us that kindred spells will show up in the deck, though the extent is currently unknown. However, if this is indeed a kindred-kindred deck, one could imagine there may be a fair few of them therein.</p>
<div id="attachment_148305" style="width: 396px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148305" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148305" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png" alt="An image of ManaCurves' reveal of Bitterblossom. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and ManaCurves" width="386" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png 467w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00-207x300.png 207w" sizes="(max-width: 386px) 100vw, 386px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148305" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/manacurves">ManaCurves</a>' reveal of Bitterblossom. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and ManaCurves</p></div>
<h2>CovertGoBlue's Reveal</h2>
<p>After this, we must look to <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue"><strong>CovertGoBlue</strong></a>, who, according to sources, revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raise the Palisade" href="#" target="_blank">Raise the Palisade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card, previously unreprinted since its initial printing in <em>Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth</em>, is also a kindred-matters card. It goes especially well with creatures with changeling. This tells us that the deck will most likely have payoffs for running them.</p>
<div id="attachment_148306" style="width: 434px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148306" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148306" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg" alt="An image of CovertGoBlue's reveal of Raise the Palisade. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and CovertGoBlue" width="424" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg 819w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-228x300.jpg 228w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-777x1024.jpg 777w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-768x1013.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148306" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue">CovertGoBlue</a>'s reveal of Raise the Palisade. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and CovertGoBlue</p></div>
<h2>Anna Margaret's Reveal</h2>
<p>Finally, we have <strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/itsannamargaret.com/post/3lmffkbpnnk2c">Anna Margaret</a></strong>'s reveal on BlueSky. She revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tendershoot Dryad" href="#" target="_blank">Tendershoot Dryad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card that historically pumps Saprolings. Luckily, changeling creatures are <em>also</em> Saprolings! This is one of many presumed payoffs in "Everyone's Invited".</p>
<div id="attachment_148307" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148307" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-148307" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png" alt="An image of Anna Margaret's reveal of Tendershoot Dryad from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Anna Margaret" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png 427w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad-191x300.png 191w" sizes="(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148307" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/itsannamargaret.com/post/3lmffkbpnnk2c">Anna Margaret</a>'s reveal of Tendershoot Dryad from the "Everyone's Invited" Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Anna Margaret</p></div>
<h2>What Have We Learned About This <em>Secret Lair</em>?</h2>
<p>"Everyone's Invited" appears to be a deck that cares not just about one creature type, but many. The deck features multiple cards that provide many creature types as well as many payoffs for <em>having</em> multiple creature types. Because Commander decks from <em>Secret Lair</em> tend to have alternate art for their intended commanders, Morophon appears to lead the deck.</p>
<p>When will we find out more? We don't have a launch date yet, but the answer is "probably soon"! Keep your eyes peeled for more information as it becomes available.</p>


Secret Lair Commander Deck: "Everyone's Invited" Revealed

Jank No More - The Legendary Power of Vanilla

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Final Fantasy set cards | art copyright Wizards of the Coast</h6>
<p>With <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy"><em>Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy</em></a> less than ten weeks away, teams at Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix are gearing up for the launch of an ambitious collaboration.</p>
<p>An interview between one outlet and two major figures at Wizards gives us more insights into the process behind this collaboration and hints of what the future may bring.</p>
<p>According to the interview with <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/magic-the-gatherings-final-fantasy-set-is-an-expansion-four-years-in-the-making/1100-6529866/">Gamespot</a>, Lead <em>Magic</em> Designer <strong>Gavin Verhey</strong> and Wizards Franchise Vice President <strong>Rebecca Shepard</strong> gave a few interesting anecdotes about this titanic team-up. Here are a few of the major points we gleaned:</p>
<h2>A <em>Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy</em> Collaboration Effort</h2>
<p><em>Final Fantasy</em> producer <strong>Shoichi Ichikawa</strong> is a big fan of <em>Magic</em>, as are many members of Square Enix Japan's team. According to Verhey, the team at Square Enix are die-hard <em>Magic</em> players. "[...] One of the team members over there owns a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. These are serious Magic players." Shepard corroborated this and added, "Almost every relationship we've had has been that way; Bethesda, for example, has weekly games." Naturally, Square Enix's team was thrilled to work with Wizards of the Coast.</p>
<p>During the team-up, weekly, occasionally more frequent, mid-lockdown Zoom calls allowed Wizards and Square Enix to foster their rapport. As it stands, Square Enix Japan's love of <em>Magic</em> seems to echo Wizards of the Coast's love of <em>Final Fantasy</em>.</p>
<h2>On In-Set Representation</h2>
<p>All sixteen <em>Final Fantasy</em> games have "plenty of" in-set representation, albeit with a ton of work needed to calibrate this, according to Verhey. Shepard added, "In [Square Enix's] eyes, no one installment is more important than the other."</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jumbo Cactuar"></div></div>
<p>This proved a challenge regarding the newest Square Enix installment, <a href="https://na.finalfantasyxvi.com/"><em>Final Fantasy XVI</em></a>. <em>FFXVI</em> was going through active development simultaneously with <em>Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy</em>, and designers had to make promises not to give each other plot spoilers.</p>
<p>Said Verhey, "When [<em>FFXVI</em>] finally launched, there was a week when the four main designers agreed we wouldn't spoil anything for each other, but we'd post what was happening in our chat as we're going saying, 'This should be a card!'"</p>
<p>For the game attributions on the credit lines of cards, Verhey explains</p>
<blockquote><p>"We then realized that this is another fun storytelling moment--where a player can say, 'I know this, let me tell you where it's from'--and a little indicator on the card that tells you what game it's from can inspire someone to go and look up what was happening there. We thought it was a great little touch; here's the game the card is from, go find out more or ask a friend about it."</p></blockquote>
<h2>Are All The Concepts Present?</h2>
<p>The answer to the question " Will everyone be present in the set?" comes with some disclosure-based baggage at this time. "I'm not going to say who is or isn't there, but it's pretty safe to guess that if you're a major hero or antagonist from a game, there's a good chance you have a spot in the set," said Verhey when asked about what characters would show up. However, the set doesn't necessarily have all the series' party members.</p>
<p>That said, many super-obvious nods will likely be in <em>MTGFIN</em>. Triple Triad (the in-universe collectible card game) is unconfirmed, but Verhey has mentioned his team's awareness of its popularity.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Shiva"></div></div>
<p>Summons, a major <em>Final Fantasy</em> series conceptual staple, proved less of a challenge to the design team. Summon spells were originally designed with vanishing, but were later turned into Sagas with the team's unanimous agreement.</p>
<p>Five double-faced "Sidequest" cards exist within the set, according to the interview.</p>
<h2>On Further Design Innovations</h2>
<p>Wizards of the Coast also spoke on their "Through The Ages" subset of cards. This is comprised of all reprints from Magic's history. Beyond this, the subset will depict concept art and scenes from Final Fantasy's history. Square Enix personally provided these concept images to Wizards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Copper Dragon|FCA|12"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow|FCA|60"></div></div>
<p>Another major win for the set came in the form of <strong>Yoshitaka Amano</strong> and <strong>Tetsuya Nomura</strong>'s involvement. The two were even involved with this set's creation, according to Gamespot.</p>
<p>However, those involvements will largely remain a surprise for now. Amano did the art for Dragon of Mount Gulg (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Copper Dragon|FCA|12" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Copper Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) while Nomura did the art for Yuffie Kisaragi (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow|FCA|60" href="#" target="_blank">Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>).</p>
<h2>What Does The Future Hold?</h2>
<p>As for the future, Square Enix collaborations may indeed happen. This may be the first time the two sides have collaborated, but it may not be the last.</p>
<p><em>Universes Beyond</em> partnerships can be upwards of seven years long. "Universes Beyond partnerships can be five-, six-, sometimes seven-year relationships depending on the pipeline," according to Shepard. With the two teams just four years in, we may get even more Square Enix <em>Universes Beyond</em> cards in <em>Magic</em>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, does this mean we are getting something like a <a href="https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_US/games/chrono-trigger"><em>Chrono Trigger</em></a> or <a href="https://dragonquest.square-enix-games.com/"><em>Dragon Quest</em></a> set? We couldn't possibly say. However, with the way Shepard spoke on the collaborative effort, it doesn't appear to be out of the question.</p>
<p>So, these are the main points we've learned from Gavin Verhey and Rebecca Shepard's interview with Gamespot. As it stands currently, <em>Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy</em> is shaping up to be one heck of a cool set. Hopefully, players will be able to be just as hyped for it when it launches on June 13th!</p>


Final Fantasy Set A Four-Year Endeavor. Is There More To Come?

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.cynthia-sheppard.com/">Cynthia Sheppard</a>)</h6>
<h1>One card that sends me into a blood-rage is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</h1>
<p>It's not because it's part of a two card combo. My combo rage is reserved for anything using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peregrine Drake" href="#" target="_blank">Peregrine Drake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Food Chain" href="#" target="_blank">Food Chain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div id="690-3966" style="width: 100%; position: relative; overflow: visible; display: flex; justify-content: center;"><img decoding="async" id="csbLoad" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/images/gear.svg" alt="csb logo" width="300" /><br />
<script id="690-3966" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/embed.js?v=1&uses=%5B%22Exquisite%20Blood%22%2C%22Sanguine%20Bond%22%5D&requires=%5B%5D&produces=%5B%22Infinite%20lifegain%20triggers%22%2C%22Infinite%20lifeloss%22%2C%22Infinite%20lifegain%22%5D&id=690-3966&color=B&extraRequirementCount=1"></script></div>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="." width="0" height="0"></iframe><br />
I fly into a rage when I see <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> because it is a very political card. I love a little politics in my games, like a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempt with Discovery" href="#" target="_blank">Tempt with Discovery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but the reason I can't handle the politics of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is because most of my opponents don't recognize it's a political card.</p>
<p>Even if someone utters, "I'm not running the combo," it's a card that reads, "Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life." That means when any of my opponents attack each other, a huge life advantage will be given to the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> player.</p>
<p>We all should know what that means. We have to to eliminate the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or the player. This shift might not be noticed early enough, making that player gain too much life by their next turn.</p>
<p>If they are running <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, they likely are running life as a resource cards, which could be very bad for us. Waiting for a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Generous Gift" href="#" target="_blank">Generous Gift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beast Within" href="#" target="_blank">Beast Within</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to remove the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might be tough even though according to EDHREC <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Generous Gift" href="#" target="_blank">Generous Gift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in 637,047 of decks and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beast Within" href="#" target="_blank">Beast Within</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in 975,995.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Generous Gift"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beast Within"></div></div>
<p>The easier, most relevant game action might actually be player removal. No player, no <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, no player with the combined life of your opponents after you eliminate them.</p>
<h2>The Etiquette of Player Removal</h2>
<p>When is it socially acceptable to remove a player? Some things I've noted, talking with other players:</p>
<ul>
<li>How long a game of Commander is and how long the eliminated player will have to wait for the next game?</li>
<li>How it feels to be removed from a game before you're able to to do "the thing."</li>
<li>What is optimal for those on the back foot in a game versus the archenemy?</li>
<li>Isn't Commander supposed to be casual and fun?</li>
</ul>
<p>This is by far no the most exhaustive list. Let us know if you've personally encountered any others.</p>
<h3>Early Elimination</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Farewell"></div></div>
<p>We all know it feels bad to get mana screwed or mana flooded in a game of Commander and have to basically take zero to one game actions before passing the turn.</p>
<p>On average, a game of "healthy" Commander is between 1 hour to 2 hours. The only thing worst than zero to 1 game actions is getting removed from the game before a board wipe like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farewell" href="#" target="_blank">Farewell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>You play for maybe 40 minutes, you lose gloriously, and then have to play on your phone or spectate a game for another hour or so while players rebuild after a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farewell" href="#" target="_blank">Farewell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm not arguing that it doesn't suck. It does, but this probably divides players into two categories: Win-at-any-cost players and Fun-at-any-cost players. Some players when left with the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> player's necessary removal will choose to remove them, while others won't for the overall enjoyment of the table.</p>
<p>I'm not sure which I personally prefer, but there has to be some kind of middle ground, right? The sneaky thing about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is that every piece of damage you deal to another player become double duty, you'll have to deal that damage again to the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> player.</p>
<p>Any ounce of compassion you show, you'll pay back double.</p>
<h3>Before Archenemy Status</h3>
<p>It's doubly rough to remove a player when they become a threat before they become archenemy. I played a game where someone played an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to just keep their life total up while attacking their their three or four creature cards. They'd mentioned they'd stopped playing <em>Magic</em> because of how hostile and mean players could be.</p>
<p>They talked about the subtle bullying in the game. This put me in a pickle because I needed to eliminate the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and I'd used the only removal I had already (Pro-tip: don't use your removal as early as I used to, which is to say before turn five).</p>
<p>So I swung into them ruthlessly. They started to get a little salty, understandably, and my partner had to tell me to chill out. I sighed and agreed. It does feel like bullying to swing out everything I have on one player that isn't going to win next turn cycle. Unfortunately, other players felt the same.</p>
<p>We all swung at each other, putting the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exquisite Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Exquisite Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> player from a manageable 9 life to 50. It's tough. How do I win over that kind of emotional pressure?</p>
<p>If you're wondering what I'd do, I'd remove the the player. If you don't want to get targeted in a game of Commander, don't play a card that puts a huge target on your back with huge obvious advantage.</p>
<p>This might seem harsh, but with no choice in a format with a winner, it might be the only option for a win. However, my mind and heart are at odds. Sometimes I will be compassionate, and let that player live, like in my example above.</p>
<p>I <em>ALWAYS</em> lose and regret it, but having a soft heart makes me a more fun player to have in a pod, I like to think. Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.</p>
<h3>Timing of Removal</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stella Lee, Wild Card"></div></div>
<p>It also comes down to something that I don't think we talk about enough, and that's timing/context. If someone is playing a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stella Lee, Wild Card" href="#" target="_blank">Stella Lee, Wild Card</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck and goes from a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ponder" href="#" target="_blank">Ponder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, holding priority to a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystical Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Mystical Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you have to remove Stella Lee on the stack.</p>
<p>The next card cast is going to be <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Twisted Fealty" href="#" target="_blank">Twisted Fealty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and that's going to be game. Threat Assessment tinglies should be telling you to remove or counter. It's weird though because imagine if this is the fourth time you've removed Stella Lee, imagine it's in the wake of the third board wipe.</p>
<p>What do we do? This is where the etiquette gets weird. We want the game to be over, but we still want to win. Do we remove the Stella Lee, do we counter the Tutor?</p>
<p>If you're asking what I'd do? If I can win, I'm going to try to stop Stella Lee, but if it's just removal for the sake of potentially digging into my deck for a win, then I'm not removing it. I'll shuffle up and play another, hopefully, less miserable game. Like so many players have echoed, Commander is meant to be fun.</p>
<p>It's not fun after tons of board wipes, extended gameplay, and a miserable crawl to win, at least for me. I don't know if casual is the right word for the game anymore even on Bracket 3-4, though.</p>
<p>There is a deep desire for competition even at those levels. Players fight for their wins, with optimal cards, threat assessment, politics, and interaction.</p>
<h2>Etiquette of Targeted Removal in Commander</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kaalia of the Vast"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaalia of the Vast" href="#" target="_blank">Kaalia of the Vast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Yeah. 23,955 decks on EDHREC. 8th most popular commander right now. They all know, after reading the title of this section, the question I'm going to ask. How many times can I remove <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaalia of the Vast" href="#" target="_blank">Kaalia of the Vast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> before I'm the mean one. Turn 4 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avacyn, Angel of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Avacyn, Angel of Hope</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Turn 5 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Master of Cruelties" href="#" target="_blank">Master of Cruelties</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? I know the trigger doesn't go off with Kaalia putting it into play, but oh how are you going to remove it with Avacyn on board? You can't counter it entering. I know I'm basically ranting at this point, but the point is right there. How many times is it socially acceptable to targeted remove Kaalia before I'm the bully?</p>
<p>I played a game against a Kaalia player a few years ago. She was up against my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcades, The Strategist" href="#" target="_blank">Arcades, The Strategist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, which stood no chance. The other player was playing a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mizzix of the Izmagnus" href="#" target="_blank">Mizzix of the Izmagnus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Control deck. You best believe Kaalia was countered, bounced, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pongify" href="#" target="_blank">Pongify</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-ed.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pongify"></div></div>
<p>The Kaalia player got so upset that he picked up his cards and went home mid-game, ranting that everyone comes to this shop for a fun time, not a "whatever this was".</p>
<p>I can understand getting upset when your commander is removed a ton of times, but maybe that's the only solution to the commander or the deck?</p>
<h3>Amount of Targets</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Druid of Purification"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Anikthea, Hand of Erebos"></div></div>
<p>Similarly, when you <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Druid of Purification" href="#" target="_blank">Druid of Purification</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, how many targets do you all, collectively, pick from one player? If I'm playing against an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anikthea, Hand of Erebos" href="#" target="_blank">Anikthea, Hand of Erebos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck or <em>ANY</em> artifact synergy deck, should we be picking down one player into oblivion?</p>
<p>How many pieces of removal should we use on one player even if they are the archenemy. I don't mean in the technical sense to secure your win. I mean, ethically. If you have tons of interaction to protect your own board state, how much of it should go into dismantling one player's board? It's tough.</p>
<p>I want to say that it has to be whichever brings you closer to your win, while holding back. You shouldn't spend all your removal on one player and not win: spread it out.</p>
<p>Don't think another player is out for the count just because they aren't going off yet. That and the table feels a little better about it. It protects against <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/salt">saltiness</a>. I'd spread it out every time, except against Anikthea or Ironman-types, but that's just me.</p>
<h2>The Last Bit of Removal</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seal of Removal"></div></div>
<p>So, I've been going on and on about how this might make others feel in a game of Commander. The ecosystem of a good friend group or pod of Commander comes down to the communal feeling of the group about these things.</p>
<p>These scenarios are conversations we should be having as we develop our play groups to see if we're a good fit for each other, or how we can better cater to our pods.</p>
<p>A compromise might be that Kaalia can only be removed a certain amount of times a game or she can only be played in high power tables that don't care about removing her (Gonna be honest, I don't know if either of those solutions solves the Kaalia problem, but I thought I'd give it a shot).</p>
<p>Either way, I'm not sure there is a one rule above all with this kind of thing, like cultural etiquette outside of card games, it depends on your playgroup to figure what's acceptable. <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/am-i-the-bolas-enforcing-the-mulligan-rules">For more of that in depth, check out Mike Carrozza's Column Am I the Bolas?</a> And let me know what you think at <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/strixhavendropout.bsky.social">@strixhavendropout</a> on Bluesky, we'll see you next time when we chat about the etiquette of conceding the game!</p>


The Etiquette of Removal in Commander

Tarkir: Dragonstorm Set Review - Green/Temur

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer" href="#" target="_blank">Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://www.chrisseamanart.com/">Chris Seaman</a></h6>
<p>Welcome back to <em>Bottom of the Barrel</em>! This is a series where we pick a theme from EDHREC and look at the “bottom of the barrel.” This means that we look at the least played color-combinations and pick a commander in those colors to brew a spicy new deck around!</p>
<p>Now I know you see the title and are probably thinking: "Rocco? The infamous combo commander? Yuck!" I understand where you're coming from, but trust me on this one. This is probably one of the most unique Rocco decks you'll see today!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer"></div></div>
<p>Today's deck is focused around a very splashy theme: energy. The "energy" theme is something that has been explored very recently, with 3 precons being released focusing on the archetype.</p>
<p>With this in mind, the most popular color combination for energy is Jeskai (white, red, and blue) with 11,000 decks in the database. Outside of Jeskai and Temur (green, red, and blue), energy isn't really played very often in commander. This is where our man Rocco comes in.</p>
<p>Comparing Naya (red, green and white) energy decks to Jeskai or Temur is staggering, as Naya only has 21 decks listed on EDHREC.</p>
<p>This is exactly the kind of thing I like to see when writing this series: the bigger the gap between most played colors and least played colors, the better!</p>
<p>Sure, you could choose any other Naya commander to helm this deck, but Rocco allows us the ability to get whatever we need whenever we need it. Speaking of which, let's talk about some of the best energy producing creatures in our deck.</p>
<h2>Category #1: Energy Producers</h2>
<p>Keen-eyed observers might notice that most energy strategies rely heavily on having blue in the deck, but if you think that'll limit our options for this deck, you're sorely mistaken. Let's get creative!</p>
<p>We have a suite of cards with precon origins for this section, starting with my personal favorite: Nissa, Worldsoul Speaker.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nissa, Worldsoul Speaker"></div></div>
<p>If you told me that Nissa was going to have a new legendary creature card, and that creature was going to have something to do with energy, I would have told you simply: "I don't believe you." It's very strange to see Nissa messing around in this design space, but the landfall ability makes sense. Getting to 8 energy might be tough, but if we ever get there, watch out!</p>
<p>The remaining energy producing creatures that I would like to highlight are as follows: Aetherstorm Roc - turns all creatures entering into energy; Synth Eradicator - grants energy or impulse draw on attack, and for some reason has a lightning bolt attached to it; Sentry Bot - feels like a fog, but definitely isn't (don't let it's interesting text box fool you); Guide of Souls - a strictly better Aetherstorm Roc (power creep is real, folks); Eddytrail Hawk - giving something flying eventually seems pretty cool, albeit a little underwhelming; Amped Rapter - the scourge of modern; Electrostatic Pummeler - welcome back Aether Revolt standard; Lightning Runner - "oops, I just took 4 combats in a row"; and Aetherwind Basker - big board? Take a million energy.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherstorm Roc"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Synth Eradicator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sentry Bot"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guide of Souls"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Eddytrail Hawk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Amped Raptor"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Electrostatic Pummeler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lightning Runner"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherwind Basker"></div></div>
<h2>Category #2: Proliferate</h2>
<p>If any of you read my article on boros infect, you'll know that red and white excels at finding sneaky ways to proliferate. Now we're adding green, which is a known master at multiplying different kinds of counters. This is about to get wild.</p>
<p>Evolution Sage turns our land drops each turn into more and more energy; Metastatic Evangel turns each creature that enters into more energy; Staff of Compleation is what I like to call "The Phyrexian Swiss Army Knife"; Sword of Truth and Justice, while insanely expensive these days, is just ridiculous; Contagion Clasp is a great way to turn our mana into extra energy; and Park Heights Maverick is a practically unblockable way to proliferate every turn.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Evolution Sage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Metastatic Evangel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Staff of Compleation"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Truth and Justice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Contagion Clasp"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Park Heights Maverick"></div></div>
<h2>Category #3: Benefitting from Energy</h2>
<p>Getting energy is all well and good, but what do we do with it? Luckily, there are many ways for us to leverage having energy, as well as even gaining energy, into a potential win.</p>
<p>Aetherflux Conduit is one of those cards that you really want to pull off, but it might be too crazy to happen; Aether Revolt can translate our energy into direct damage; Deadlock Trap can shut down problematic creatures on the board; Consulate Surveillance can grant us terrific protection against any unwanted aggression; and The Motherlode, Excavator can turn our energy into one huge unblockable attack.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherflux Conduit"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aether Revolt"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deadlock Trap"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Consulate Surveillance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Motherlode, Excavator"></div></div>
<h2>Category #4: The "Secret Spice"</h2>
<p>Today's "secret spice" comes in the form of a very convoluted combo involving every "module" card from the original Kaladesh set.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Decoction Module"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fabrication Module"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Animation Module"></div></div>
<p>These "modules" interact in a very interesting way. If a creature enters, Decoction Module with give us 1 energy. When we get that energy, Fabrication Module will put a +1/+1 counter on a creature we control. When we place that +1/+1 counter on a creature we control, we can pay 1 generic mana to create a 1/1 servo creature token with Animation Module. These cards combined with Ashnod's Altar create an infinite loop where we create infinite servo tokens, infinite colorless mana, and an infinitely large (power wise) board.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ashnod&#039;s Altar"></div></div>
<p>If you aren't a fan of combos, you can leave Ashnod's Altar out and still do a cool "module thing" without going infinite.</p>
<h2>Category #5: Spice so secret it needs to be talked about last...</h2>
<p>Primal Prayers.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Primal Prayers"></div></div>
<p>This card might seem innocuous, but we have several creatures that create an amount of energy that is greater than or equal to their mana cost. What does this mean? Well, if we have Cloudstone Curio on the board, we can create a near infinite amount of energy, and with something like Aether Revolt on the field, that means game over.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cloudstone Curio"></div></div>
<h2>Closing Thoughts</h2>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">This brings us to the end of our <strong>ninth</strong> edition of <em>Bottom of the Barrel</em>!! I hope you enjoyed exploring a lesser-played color-combination in the world of energy! It feels amazing to have had nine editions of this series, and I thank you all so much for checking out my wacky ideas over the past few months!</p>
<p data-slot-rendered-content="true">If you have any thoughts or ideas about this decklist, let me know in the comments below!</p>
<p>Check out my decklist below!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh">
<div>
<div id="deck_for_archidekt_scraper">
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bottom of the Barrel - Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Aether Refinery
*1 Aetherflux Conduit
*1 Aetheric Amplifier
*1 Aetherworks Marvel
*1 Animation Module
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Ashnod&#039;s Altar
*1 Automated Assembly Line
*1 Cloudstone Curio
*1 Contagion Clasp
*1 Conversion Apparatus
*1 Deadlock Trap
*1 Decoction Module
*1 Fabrication Module
*1 Panharmonicon
*1 Phyrexian Ironworks
*1 Recon Craft Theta
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Staff of Compleation
*1 Stone Idol Generator
*1 Sword of Truth and Justice
*1 Unstable Amulet
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Aether Revolt
*1 Consulate Surveillance
*1 Primal Prayers
*1 Scurry of Gremlins
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
*1 Aetherstorm Roc
*1 Aethertorch Renegade
*1 Aetherwind Basker
*1 Amped Raptor
*1 Architect of the Untamed
*1 Blaster Hulk
*1 Cankerbloom
*1 Eddytrail Hawk
*1 Electrostatic Pummeler
*1 Evolution Sage
*1 Greenbelt Rampager
*1 Guide of Souls
*1 Lae&#039;zel, Vlaakith&#039;s Champion
*1 Lightning Runner
*1 Longtusk Cub
*1 Metastatic Evangel
*1 Nissa, Worldsoul Speaker
*1 Overclocked Electromancer
*1 Park Heights Maverick
*1 Sage of Shaila&#039;s Claim
*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
*1 Salvation Colossus
*1 Sentry Bot
*1 Synth Eradicator
*1 Temur Sabertooth
*1 The Motherlode, Excavator
*1 Voltaic Brawler
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Attune with Aether
*1 Jolted Awake
*1 Localized Destruction
*1 Rampant Growth
*1 Unnatural Restoration
*1 Wheel of Potential
*1 Wrath of the Skies
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Galvanic Discharge
*1 Path to Exile
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Aether Hub
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Bountiful Promenade
*1 Brushland
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Command Tower
*1 Emergence Zone
*6 Forest
*1 HELIOS One
*1 Karn&#039;s Bastion
*1 Karplusan Forest
*1 Maze of Ith
*5 Mountain
*5 Plains
*1 Rustvale Bridge
*1 Sheltering Landscape
*1 Slagwoods Bridge
*1 Spectator Seating
*1 Spire Garden
*1 Talon Gates of Madara
*1 Temple of Abandon
*1 Temple of Plenty
*1 Temple of Triumph
*1 Thornglint Bridge
[/Lands]"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


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