<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of Fire and Ice" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of Fire and Ice</a> | art by <a href="https://www.rahnart.com/">Chris Rahn</a></h6>
Hello, data enthusiasts, and welcome to this overview of the math behind the new Fire and Ice data articles. In this series, we'll we dive into the recent card-playing trends within a given commander and identify the biggest movers as defined as:
Cards that are either significantly increasing or decreasing in usage with a given commander relative to other cards played with that commander over the most recent six months.
This article will provide an overview of the math behind identifying these "fiery" (trending up) and "icy" (trending down) cards.
Why a given card might be fiery or icy, however, is up to interpretation, and we look forward to speculating wildly in our Fire and Ice series!
<h2>Overview of the Math</h2>
We start by looking at all cards that are played with each commander aside from those that are very rare (&lt;2.5% of decks) or very ubiquitous (&gt; 97.5% of decks). 
We calculate the weekly usage of these cards as a percentage of all decks for each given commander for the past six months. 
Then, we determine the average change from week to week and summarize the data with a single "extremeness" score (also known as a z-score) as follows:
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/latex_z_score-2.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-158164" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/latex_z_score-2-300x41.png" alt="" width="300" height="41" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/latex_z_score-2-300x41.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/latex_z_score-2-768x105.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/latex_z_score-2.png 990w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>
where x = average weekly change in card usage (% of decks for this commander)
We currently identify those cards with extremeness &gt; 2 as "fiery", or having a high Fire Score, and those with extremeness &lt; -2 as "icy", or having a low Ice Score.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Omnath, Locus of Rage"></div></div>
Using these extremeness scores allows us to control for the unique deck-building behavior of each commander rather than using a fixed threshold of average change to identify big movers.
For example, a commander that has been around for a while that has fairly predictable deck-building (e.g. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a>) will see very little movement in the usage of each card over time compared to a commander that has more flexibility in its play (e.g. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omnath, Locus of Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Omnath, Locus of Rage</a>).
This might mean a relatively small uptick for a card played with The Ur-Dragon will have the same Fire score as a card with a large uptick with Omnath.
<h2>An Example</h2>
Let's take a look at card usage in <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Lord High Artificer" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Lord High Artificer</a> decks over the six month period from December 24, 2024 to June 24, 2025.
 This plot shows a time series of the weekly usage of all 378 qualifying cards across this commander's decks. 
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-158181" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM-1024x574.png" alt="" width="767" height="430" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM-1024x574.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM-300x168.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM-768x430.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM-1536x861.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.24 PM.png 2016w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px" /></a>
Another way we can look at the data is relative to the start of the time period.
Here, we see certain cards emerge more clearly as "big movers".
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-158182" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM-1024x561.png" alt="" width="761" height="417" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM-1024x561.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM-300x164.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM-768x421.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM-1536x842.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-12.41.12 PM.png 2026w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px" /></a>
If we calculate the average weekly change for each card and look at the distribution across all qualifying Urza cards, we see roughly a bell curve with some extreme values that get flagged as being fiery or icy:
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-12.54.42 PM.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-158713" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-12.54.42 PM.png" alt="" width="729" height="381" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-12.54.42 PM.png 848w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-12.54.42 PM-300x157.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-12.54.42 PM-768x401.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px" /></a>
Let's once again plot the relative time series graph, this time highlighting the identified fiery and icy cards. 
We can see that these cards clearly have exhibited more extreme changes over the time period than the cards identified as stable:
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-158187" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM.png" alt="" width="891" height="411" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM.png 2284w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM-300x138.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM-1024x473.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM-768x354.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM-1536x709.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-07-at-1.02.44 PM-2048x945.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 891px) 100vw, 891px" /></a>
The following table shows which cards were identified as fiery and icy, along with their average weekly changes, extremeness score, and the number of decks they were played in over the six month time period.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Repurposing Bay" href="#" target="_blank">Repurposing Bay</a> takes the cake for fieriest card, with a Fire score of 5.85, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Etherium Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Etherium Sculptor</a> as the iciest card, with an Ice score of -3.54.
The top four fieriest cards (<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Repurposing Bay" href="#" target="_blank">Repurposing Bay</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistrise Village" href="#" target="_blank">Mistrise Village</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unstoppable Plan" href="#" target="_blank">Unstoppable Plan</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ugin, Eye of the Storms" href="#" target="_blank">Ugin, Eye of the Storms</a>) were released in the examined six-month period and were able to achieve high Fire Scores largely due to starting at 0% usage.
Not all newly released cards will show up as fiery if they aren't an obviously good fit for the given commander, but it is a good thing to be aware of.
Icy cards are often less explicable as we often see Commander staples showing up icy; this may be due to potential replacements coming on the scene or any of a number of other reasons. 
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-158717" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM.png" alt="" width="1041" height="316" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM.png 1226w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM-300x91.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM-1024x311.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-10-at-1.45.05 PM-768x233.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px" /></a>
<h2>What to Expect in the Fire and Ice Series</h2>
In Fire and Ice, we'll highlight commanders with intriguing fiery and icy cards and comment on why we believe each card is trending up or down. 
We will also provide the Fire and Ice score of each card discussed along with graphs of the relative weekly usage of each card over the specified time period.
Starting today, you'll find brand new Fire and Ice articles out every Friday on EDHREC!

Introducing the Math Behind EDHREC's Fire and Ice Series

Get out your lifepads everyone, because it's time for a math test! The topic is imaginary numbers. You remember those from high school don't you? No? You probably didn't care. Well know this: your math teacher was very excited the day he or she got to show you a number that isn't real; the imaginary unit, i. With an introduction like the beginning of a mystery novel: "So there's this magical number such that when it's squared it is equal to negative 1." It's an educator's dream for a student to be so moved that they yell out, "Impossible! This is some BULL$#*%!!", and perhaps even flip over a desk, or start singing "I'm Real" and get the room yearning for a time when Ja Rule passed for a backup singer. Alas, complex numbers made up of both real and imaginary parts wash over with disinterest, too far removed from their world-changing origin in the halls of history. Standing on the shoulders of giants, right?
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4219 aligncenter" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Oloro-Ageless-Ascetic.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" />
<h2>Reclining to Reach My Full Potential</h2>
This time in the Burning Inquiry series we imagine a world where my Oloro "Over Here Just Doin' Math" deck is allowed to perform as intended. I built this list with a singular goal in mind: spend the entire game doing arithmetic. Regardless of a game's outcome, as long as I didn't miss any lifegain triggers, I want to feel as if I fulfilled my rubric's success criteria. However, what I came to realize after playing the deck was that it was fun creating insane trigger-laden board states, but my playgroup suffered through my non-interactive life-tracking calculations.
Hence, we'll do what all the mathematicians in movies do: confine ourselves in isolation while we imagine numbers swirling around our face.
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Oloro Math Test" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Soul Warden
*1 Soul&#039;s Attendant
*1 Deathgreeter
*1 Leonin Elder
*1 Planar Guide
*1 Viscera Seer
*1 Children of Korlis
*1 Kami of False Hope
*1 Kalastria Healer
*1 Ondu Cleric
*1 Gilded Drake
*1 Baleful Strix
*1 Wall of Omens
*1 Oreskos Explorer
*1 Phantasmal Image
*1 Mistmeadow Witch
*1 Auriok Champion
*1 Anointer Priest
*1 Suture Priest
*1 Blood Artist
*1 Zulaport Cutthroat
*1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
*1 Karlov of the Ghost Council
*1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
*1 Recruiter of the Guard
*1 Eldrazi Displacer
*1 Filigree Familiar
*1 Pilgrim&#039;s Eye
*1 Flickerwisp
*1 Pious Evangel
*1 Rhox Faithmender
*1 Palace Jailer
*1 Ranger of Eos
*1 Arcum Dagsson
*1 Duskmantle Seer
*1 Kor Cartographer
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Stonehorn Dignitary
*1 Phyrexian Metamorph
*1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
*1 Glimmerpost Stag
*1 Felidar Guardian
*1 Faerie Artisans
*1 Phyrexian Delver
*1 Karmic Guide
*1 Reveillark
*1 Body Double
*1 Shriekmaw
*1 Mulldrifter
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Genesis Chamber
*1 Sun Droplet
*1 Panharmonicon
*1 Aetherflux Reservoir
*1 Alhammarret&#039;s Archive
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Authority of the Consuls
*1 Phyrexian Reclamation
*1 Rhystic Study
*1 Pure Reflection
*1 Boon Reflection
*1 Infinite Reflection
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Mirrorweave
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Tempt with Reflections
*1 Rite of Replication
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*8 Plains
*1 Island
*3 Swamp
*1 Forbidden Orchard
*1 Command Tower
*1 Hallowed Fountain
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Watery Grave
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Glacial Fortress
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Grand Coliseum
*1 Tarnished Citadel
*1 Underground River
*1 Adarkar Wastes
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Nimbus Maze
*1 Tainted Field
*1 Tainted Isle
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Warped Landscape
*1 Terminal Moraine
*1 Esper Panorama
*1 Westvale Abbey
[/Lands]"></div>
<h2>Inquiry #1: Simple Math Processes</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4249" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Leonin-Elder.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4250" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Faerie-Artisans.png" alt="" width="223" height="311" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4248" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Genesis-Chamber.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" />
<blockquote>What's going to be on the test?</blockquote>
We get our first mathematical model for the deck based on the commander himself. Oloro asks us to recall each upkeep that he has a simple lifegain triggered ability, thus I constructed the deck to function on simple lifegain additions that trigger continuously. My exemplars here are <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul&#039;s Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Soul&#039;s Attendant</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Auriok Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Auriok Champion</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leonin Arbiter" href="#" target="_blank">Leonin Arbiter</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anointer Priest" href="#" target="_blank">Anointer Priest</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Suture Priest" href="#" target="_blank">Suture Priest</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deathgreeter" href="#" target="_blank">Deathgreeter</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zulaport Cutthroat" href="#" target="_blank">Zulaport Cutthroat</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kambal, Consul of Allocation" href="#" target="_blank">Kambal, Consul of Allocation</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Authority of the Consuls" href="#" target="_blank">Authority of the Consuls</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sun Droplet" href="#" target="_blank">Sun Droplet</a>. Another thing that's going to keep us busy are cards that increase the magnitude of these triggers such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faerie Artisans" href="#" target="_blank">Faerie Artisans</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Genesis Chamber" href="#" target="_blank">Genesis Chamber</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pure Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Pure Reflection</a>, and of course <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Panharmonicon" href="#" target="_blank">Panharmonicon</a>.
While this seems like basic addition, this is the fundamental attention our test requires. Imagine this scenario: We've got a Soul Warden, a Suture Priest, and a Genesis Chamber on board, and our opponent has a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fiend Hunter" href="#" target="_blank">Fiend Hunter</a> hiding our shiny new Anointer Priest. If we then cast <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flickerwisp" href="#" target="_blank">Flickerwisp</a>, of our four triggers we can resolve the exile trigger on Fiend Hunter first, get our Anointer Priest back, which then re-triggers our original three cards as well. We'll end up creating two Myr, gaining 1 life twice from Anointer Priest, four times from Soul Warden, and four times from Suture Priest. Then when the Fiend Hunter returns to play, the opponent can exile a new creature, but first they get a Myr, lose 1 life twice from Suture Priest while we gain 1 life twice from Soul Warden. Now, if we simply add a Faerie Artisans to this scenario, then when the Fiend Hunter comes back we also get a Fiend Hunter, which gains us 1 life from three of our sources while exiling say... our own Flickerwisp to add more shenanigans. Do you feel tested yet? Well, let's add Panharmonicon to this...
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4238 aligncenter" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/tenor.gif" alt="" width="498" height="280" />
Don't underestimate the skill required in simply attending to precision. This is actually <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/">Common Core Mathematical Practice Six</a>, so at a minimum we know we hit our standards here. (Please, consider this an opportunity to vent about common core, and post a picture of your kid's terrible math homework in the comments section below.)
<h2> Inquiry #2: Further Math Processes</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4254" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Phyrexian-Metamorph.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4253" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Body-Double.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4252" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Reveillark.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" />
<blockquote>If I fail, will there be a retake? Is there any extra credit?</blockquote>
These questions are inevitable in a classroom filled with insecure young minds, and you may have noticed we sort of rely on a critical mass of fragile elements to come together. So what happens when we're inevitably disrupted? Perhaps we're not in a good place for the test, shaken by something that happened earlier out in the quad; a bullying episode where some <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marath, Will of the Wild" href="#" target="_blank">Marath, Will of the Wild</a> Bro called our toughness into question for hanging around a bunch of weak clerics. Why can't people just leave us alone and let us focus on our math! Well, worry not. It gets better. These are formative times where we must exhibit perseverance in problems solving (<a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/">CCSS.Math.Practice.MP1</a>).
<h3>Revenge of the Math Nerds</h3>
There are a few ways we maintain our mathematical mindset. For one, we padded our grade with extra credit. This comes in the form of our blink-protection suite: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Planar Guide" href="#" target="_blank">Planar Guide</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistmeadow Witch" href="#" target="_blank">Mistmeadow Witch</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eldrazi Displacer" href="#" target="_blank">Eldrazi Displacer</a>. Note that this package not only buffers us against certain removal, it also provides us an additional set of triggers to do math! These cards also synergize well with our other test taking strategy: ETB value from cards that replace themselves such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Recruiter of the Guard" href="#" target="_blank">Recruiter of the Guard</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranger of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Ranger of Eos</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baleful Strix" href="#" target="_blank">Baleful Strix</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wall of Omens" href="#" target="_blank">Wall of Omens</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mulldrifter" href="#" target="_blank">Mulldrifter</a>. Another way to keep the math party going is the bevy of recursion these colors offer. We run <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Delver" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Delver</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karmic Guide" href="#" target="_blank">Karmic Guide</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reveillark" href="#" target="_blank">Reveillark</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Body Double" href="#" target="_blank">Body Double</a>. Pairing several of these cards with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Viscera Seer" href="#" target="_blank">Viscera Seer</a> is almost like taking out a cheat sheet during the test. As you've likely seen this classic combo before, you know how the rest of the scene plays out...
Marath Bro:
I'll activate Marath to kill your board.
Oloro:
In response, I'll activate Viscera Seer several times, sacrifice my board myself, get everything back. Triggers...
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4232 aligncenter" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Rain-Man.gif" alt="" width="500" height="214" />
(doing math)
Just remember, though you may have the power to go infinite, don't do it! That would mean you don't get to do math anymore, and if you can't do math anymore, what has this all been for? Math is BAE.
<h2>Inquiry #3: Future Math Processes</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4256" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Tempt-with-Reflection.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4257" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Mirrorweave.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4255" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Infinite-Reflections.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="310" />
<blockquote>What will we be learning next?</blockquote>
Recently, I had a student write on a report that as part of their analysis they conducted "FUTURE" math processes. Needless to say, having witnessed mathematics from the future, I'm having a hard time teaching boring, present day arithmetic. Silly, but perhaps she was onto something. It's got me thinking, can we create board states that change the trajectory of math for the rest of the game? Sure <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhox Faithmender" href="#" target="_blank">Rhox Faithmender</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Boon Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Boon Reflection</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alhammarret&#039;s Archive" href="#" target="_blank">Alhammarret&#039;s Archive</a> sort of do that, but people have been doing that math for years. No what I'm taking about are effects that take my math to another dimension. Stranger Things status.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4293 aligncenter" src="http://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Winona-Math.gif" alt="" width="374" height="230" />
Imagine <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempt with Reflections" href="#" target="_blank">Tempt with Reflections</a> targeting an Auriok Champion. Who doesn't want an Auriok Champion (that card is like thirty dollars)? And suddenly we get to do math for everyone! Several turns of diligent life-tallying later, now for some reason our opponent wants to cast <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a>, and after a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirrorweave" href="#" target="_blank">Mirrorweave</a> we're left asking, "Why would you do such thing to so many lovely Blood Artists?" The arts are always the first things to get cut, but there's such a strong relation to core subjects like mathematics. Finally, the real dream of this deck is to wrap an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ondu Cleric" href="#" target="_blank">Ondu Cleric</a> with an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infinite Reflection" href="#" target="_blank">Infinite Reflection</a>. All my math people out there probably know that in a sense we define this as "countably infinite," but... is it really?
<h2>Final Reflection</h2>
If you choose to bring a math test to your next EDH pod rather than just imagining it, remember that people are going to project their mathematical baggage onto you. When you tell them you do math for a living, they'll feign being impressed saying things like, "I was never good at math," or they'll possibly even be combative and claim, "Math is just so boring. I've never used the Pythagorean Theorem in the real world." At this point, look up from your lifepad to tell them that mathematics, like the heavenly voice of Ja Rule, is both real and magical at the same time, and you're excited to discuss this with them... right after you finish adding up all these triggers.
Cheers to the brewers!
Mr. Walter

math

Introducing the Math Behind EDHREC's Fire and Ice Series

Burning Inquiry — Imaginary Numbers with Oloro