<p>On Monday, September 15th, the staff for Commander Sealed, a charity-fundraising Commander event in Rochester, NY, announced that this year's event raised over $100,000! A co-organizer of the event and the owner of Just Games Rochester, Matt Vercant, made the announcement earlier that morning, stating that the event had officially raised $104,677.</p>
<p>According to the stats found on Commander Sealed's official event website, this year the event raised $37,428 for <a href="https://translifeline.org/">Trans Lifeline</a> and $66,629 for <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/">The Trevor Project</a>. Commander Sealed billed The Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline as "dueling charities" for this event for the third consecutive year. Many content creators also worked to raise funds for these charities outside of the event proper, and Commander Sealed includes those funds in their final fundraising total.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://commandersealed.com/commander-sealed-raises-over-104000/">the full announcement</a> on Commander Sealed's website:</p>
<blockquote><p>THANK YOU to everyone who made last weekend’s Commander Sealed 2025 fundraising event for The Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline a huge success! This year we raised over $104,000!</p>
<p>Trans Lifeline Fundraising Total: $37,428*<br />
Trevor Project Fundraising Total: $66,629*</p>
<p class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">GRAND TOTAL FUNDRAISING</p>
<p class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">$104,677</p>
<p>That is more than double our impact from 2024, and over 600% more fundraising impact than we had in 2022, our first year of 200+ players. Crucial timing of our donations to take advantage of Pride Month and Back to School matches on Trevor Project also helped our community maximize the total impact of our cash fundraising this year in ways we’ve never done before.</p>
<p><em>*Includes matched donations made by our Content Creation community during The Trevor Project’s 5:1 Pride Month matching offer and their September 1:1 back to school match, as well as funds pledged, proceeds from the auction, and all donations recorded on the respective charities Commander Sealed fundraising page.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The announcement went on to thank many sponsors, artists, and content creators for their part in making this event possible. For full disclosure, we here at EDHREC have sponsored Commander Sealed for quite a few years at this point, and were among those thanked in the announcement.</p>
<p>Naturally, we are so thrilled that Commander Sealed reached such a momentous goal this year! We hope the momentum can continue to heighten in the future. Way to go!</p>


Commander Sealed Raises Over $100k for its Dueling Charities

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doubling Cube" href="#" target="_blank">Doubling Cube</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Illustrated by <a href="http://www.marktedin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Tedin</a></em></p>
<p>Yesterday, we covered <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edge-of-eternities-two-new-commander-formats-announced/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Commander Box League</a>, an event that <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> is spearheading for <em>Edge of Eternities</em>. Many players seem to find some issues with it.</p>
<p>Because it's a sanctioned event format, there's not a lot that players can do to change the policies of this event series. However, with this article, I'd like to introduce a way to augment your next Sealed Box league for Commander play that may revolutionize the way you play it.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>For a few years, I've tried to make the Commander Boxing League work. I started my first foray into it with <em>Zendikar Rising</em>, and that ended rather poorly with no actual games conducted. The idea simply petered out amongst my playgroup.</p>
<p>The next booster Commander Boxing League saw me with a booster box of <em>Bloomburrow</em>. This posed its own set of distinct issues despite games firing with more ease. My playgroup had great commanders but not necessarily the needed tools to make a deck work smoothly.</p>
<p>I mulled this idea over for the better part of a year, and, with <em>Final Fantasy</em>, finally got to enact a means to make a Commander Booster Box League fire on all cylinders for myself and two other eager playtesters.</p>
<p>Enter: The Booster Box Buffer Kit.</p>
<h2>What Is the Booster Box Buffer Kit?</h2>
<p>Simply put, this kit is a 70-strong singleton kit of cards that each player in your Commander Sealed Box event should have ready and open access to that augments one of the most major aspects of any Commander deck: mana smoothing. The kit contains 13 artifacts and 57 lands, in its current iteration.</p>
<p>Furthermore, these cards assist with mana production, fixing, land fetching, and even a little bit of card advantage.</p>
<p>Notably, all of the cards in the Buffer Kit are easy to fit in many single players' given budgets, at about $41 for the full kit. They're all geared towards generic usefulness in Commander and augment your experience for a much smoother game. In turn, this allows you to focus on putting more of your cool cards from your booster box proper into the deck.</p>
<h2>Positives to the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>According to one player who playtested this with me during the <em>Final Fantasy</em> prerelease:</p>
<blockquote><p>The supplemental material is very helpful at helping players feel like they can still play on curve even when their box cards aren’t “ready” to go in an opening hand. Having something to play every turn helps keep games competitive through midgame. The question is in picking the right dual lands or staples. Maybe some decks really want a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="City of Brass" href="#" target="_blank">City of Brass</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-like card instead of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Command Tower" href="#" target="_blank">Command Tower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for instance. It adds a selection mini-game to break up the initial overwhelming excitement for new, unplayed cards.</p></blockquote>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="City of Brass"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Command Tower"></div></div>
<p>As my playtester points out, the potential for mutability from set to set is one positive aspect of this kit. What works in a lands-matter set like <em>Zendikar Rising</em> won't always work for a set like <em>Edge of Eternities</em> or <em>Bloomburrow</em>. As such, cards can be added or removed to shore up any glaring issues with a given set, be they mana fixing, land fetching, or pretty much any other general aspect of the Commander play experience.</p>
<p>Fortunately, my other playtester noted how smoothly the games we played went. Mana fixing was so easy to draw into. Because of this, we all had an easy experience getting to our needed land drops. In turn, this allowed us all to secure mana on time for our more impactful plays to be made in an even measure.</p>
<p>Furthermore, this kind of buffer to a booster box's Sealed pool enables players to more easily use their cards in a manner more befitting the actual rules of Commander. Singleton decks with 100 total cards are much easier to make with this kit. They'll also be able to adhere well to color identity rules as Commander as a format dictates.</p>
<h2>Potential Shortcomings of the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>My other playtester for the Booster Box Buffer Kit praised it highly. That said, they pointed out one possible issue with it. Being a 70-card list, it may be a bit too much for the average player to amass four times over. Shortening the list may be a necessity for some playgroups.</p>
<p>However, my colleague also remarked that doing so may limit options too much. As such, adding or replacing options will almost always feel better than simply removing them.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Azorius Chancery"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tranquil Cove"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thriving Heath"></div></div>
<p>To this end, I can agree with my colleague. If you want to cut some amount of cards from this list, I would advise you cut one to two full cycles of dual lands, such as the Ravnica Karoo cycle (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Azorius Chancery" href="#" target="_blank">Azorius Chancery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and friends) the lifegain duals (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tranquil Cove" href="#" target="_blank">Tranquil Cove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, etc.), or the "Thriving" land cycle (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thriving Heath" href="#" target="_blank">Thriving Heath</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, etc.).</p>
<p>This in turn will cut down on some options while keeping similar options open, if you cut no more than two of these aforementioned cycles. Remember, your playgroup will want equal treatment here so you'll want three or four of each card in the Kit as you see fit to add them.</p>
<h2>Buffer Kit List</h2>
<p>This list focuses on my personal iteration of the Buffer Kit. Feel free to make your own additions and subtractions from it to enhance your experience.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Booster Box Buffer Kit" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Lands]
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Azorius Chancery
*1 Bloodfell Caves
*1 Blossoming Sands
*1 Boros Garrison
*1 Bountiful Landscape
*1 Command Tower
*1 Contaminated Landscape
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Deceptive Landscape
*1 Dimir Aqueduct
*1 Dismal Backwater
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Foreboding Landscape
*1 Frontier Bivouac
*1 Golgari Rot Farm
*1 Gruul Turf
*1 Izzet Boilerworks
*1 Jungle Hollow
*1 Jungle Shrine
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Mystic Monastery
*1 Nomad Outpost
*1 Opal Palace
*1 Opulent Palace
*1 Orzhov Basilica
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Perilous Landscape
*1 Rakdos Carnarium
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rugged Highlands
*1 Rupture Spire
*1 Sandsteppe Citadel
*1 Savage Lands
*1 Scoured Barrens
*1 Seaside Citadel
*1 Seething Landscape
*1 Selesnya Sanctuary
*1 Shattered Landscape
*1 Sheltering Landscape
*1 Shimmering Grotto
*1 Simic Growth Chamber
*1 Swiftwater Cliffs
*1 Temple of the False God
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Thornwood Falls
*1 Thriving Bluff
*1 Thriving Grove
*1 Thriving Heath
*1 Thriving Isle
*1 Thriving Moor
*1 Tranquil Cove
*1 Tranquil Landscape
*1 Twisted Landscape
*1 Wind-Scarred Crag
[/Lands]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Chromatic Star
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Prismatic Lens
*1 Prophetic Prism
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
*1 World Map
[/Artifacts]"></span></div>
<h2>The Future of the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>I'm sure I'll make adjustments to the experience. As sets come out and their themes are made more apparent, I may remove certain cards from the Kit list. Even so, I'll work to retain a majority of the core of this experience. Feel free to try this out at your next Sealed Commander Booster Box event!</p>
<p>And now, I'd really like to hear from the readership of this article. Do you think this idea will make Sealed Commander Box Leagues better for players? What do you think about the possibility of using this kit in the future? Finally, does it appeal to you more than the previously-announced Commander Box League, for example? Sound off below!</p>


Adding Buffers to a Commander Booster Box League

<p>The Commander Sealed event in Rochester, NY, is quickly becoming a highlight for <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> players in the region. This year's event takes place from September 13th to the 15th at the RIT Inn and Convention Center. The event draws fans of the Commander format who crave a new and unique twist on Sealed. This event challenges participants to construct their Commander decks from a limited pool of Sealed booster packs. This gets players pushing their strategic thinking and creativity to the limit.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sealed Fate"></div></div></p>
<p>The <em>Magic</em> community has even begun to embrace this innovative format. It created an atmosphere of excitement and camaraderie where players face off and open packs. Every card pulled can dramatically shift the direction a deck is built. This event not only showcases the diversity of the Commander format but the social aspect of the format.</p>
<h2>The Format</h2>
<p>One thing that makes Commander Sealed such a unique event is the format itself. Players are still are using 98-99 cards plus a command zone as it gets filled and follow the color identity restrictions. Where the format diverges from traditional constructed Commander is the card pool. Participants at Commander Sealed are given 14 semi-randomized packs which they open and build there card pool from. Another factor with this pushing the boundary further is the continuous construction of the decks. This unique rule lets players freely exchange cards from their pool with others within their pods to assist with their own decks and their pod mates. Once the deck construction phase is complete cards can still be swapped between mainboard and side board in between rounds as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coordinated Assault"></div></div></p>
<p>Now, say that you're attending the event and you happen to open a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hullbreacher" href="#" target="_blank">Hullbreacher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a pack. This is normally a round of bad news as it is banned for play in Commander. Thankfully, at Commander Sealed you're able to play all cards that you open in your packs. If you happen to be a fan of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Primeval Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Primeval Titan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> this is the event for you! If you want a more detailed breakdown of the format and have more questions, check out the<a href="https://commandersealed.com/primer/"> format primer</a> for more information.</p>
<h2>The Weekend</h2>
<p>Commander Sealed even offers a huge, fun-packed weekend of <em>Magic</em> for those not playing in the main event. Whether you want to grind side events for value or check out the artist alley, everyone will have something to do. The event kicks off Friday with a welcome party, gaming, and a comedy show featuring <a href="https://x.com/mikecarrozza">Mike Carrozza</a>. Mike is the host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AmITheBolcast"><em>Am I the Bolcast?</em></a> and a professional comedian so make sure to show up early! Saturday also features a full day of side events to match the main event. Finally, Sunday will wrap up with VIP events and meet and greets for many of your favorite creators. Among these events will also be a live show from the entire <em>Am I the Bolcast </em>crew!</p>
<p>For a full listing of all the side events and weekend activities make sure to check out the official <a href="https://commandersealed.com/schedule/">weekend calendar</a>.</p>
<h2>The Cause</h2>
<p>One of the reasons Commander Sealed has taken off like it has also comes down to its purpose. Commander Sealed started as a fundraiser and continues to raise money for Trans Lifeline and The Trevor Project. All of the proceeds from the event after production costs are then donated to the two charities. This makes the event one of the few where you can have a great time supporting an even better cause.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Benevolent Offering"></div></div></p>
<p>If you are in the New England and upstate New York area and need to get your fix for a weekend full of Commander, mark your calendars. Every year has slowly grown and added more to experience and this year's event will be no different. Check out the <a href="https://commandersealed.com/">Commander Sealed website</a> for more details on the full weekend including specials guests and artists. I hope to see you there!</p>


commander sealed

Commander Sealed Raises Over $100k for its Dueling Charities

Adding Buffers to a Commander Booster Box League

Commander Sealed 2024 - Playing Commander for a Cause

Commander Sealed 2022