We hope you're ready to put your Magic: The Gathering knowledge to the test.
Spellify, the Hangman-inspired Magic trivia game, <a href="https://edhrec.com/games/spellify" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is now proudly hosted by EDHREC</a>.
Formerly a feature of Commander's Herald, the game's been a hit with fans since it debuted in March of 2024.
For the uninitiated, Spellify tasks players with figuring out the name of a random Magic card with the text, art, and mana cost obscured. The color of the card and the typeline remain.
Players guess letters, numbers, and symbols to fill in the blanks and provide more information, and if the guess is correct, the corresponding symbol will appear in its rightful place on the card. Only 13 guesses are allowed, so be careful!
And if all that sounds too easy, there's also a Hard Mode that further obscures the card, removing clues such as the card's color and type.
Coming soon, players will be able to tie their EDHREC accounts to the game, allowing for progress and statistics to be tracked - all the proof you need that you know Magic better than your friends. Be sure to share your results on social media, and happy guessing!

Spellify Launches on EDHREC

<h1>Tribes, Themes, Colors</h1>
EDHREC recently added some new functionality to the tribes, themes, and colors pages, so to start off the new year, we'd like to give you a quick rundown on how to best use these new features!
First, we'll talk about the "Related Info" block that cross-references popular combinations for decks that focus on more than one of these qualities. Second, we reorganized the main Themes page to make it easier to navigate the large number of themes we use to classify decks. To introduce these features, let's walk through some examples on how to use them.
<hr />
<h2>Setting the Example</h2>
Suppose that we want to build a deck for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alela, Artful Provocateur" href="#" target="_blank">Alela, Artful Provocateur</a>. (Side note, "Alela" is also one of the few legendary creatures with a palindromic name, meaning her name is spelled the same way when written backwards, so bonus points for that. Can you think of another palindromic legendary creature before reading to the end of this article? Let's find out, together.) 
<a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/alela-artful-provocateur"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42914 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/alela-panels.png" alt="" width="529" height="613" /></a> 
Looking at <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/alela-artful-provocateur">Alela's commander page</a>, we can see which themes are already popular for Alela decks, as seen above in the section between "View" and "Budget". <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/enchantments">Enchantments</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/artifacts">Artifacts</a> each make sense, since both of those words literally appear in Alela's rules text in a beneficial way. Likewise, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tribes/faeries">Faerie (Tribal)</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/flying">Flying</a> also make good things happen in Alela's text box. <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/auras">Auras</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/equipment">Equipment</a> make sense since they are subtypes of the aforementioned permanents, and the <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/cantrips">Cantrips</a> theme tends to show up for commanders who have the words "Whenever you cast" in their text. <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/stax">Stax</a> is... a choice that some deckbuilders make sometimes, especially in Esper colors, and we'll leave it at that.
<hr />
<h2>Related Info</h2>
Now suppose we want to make an Alela deck that uses different themes and/or tribes than the popular builds. One way to approach this is to consider which tribes and/or themes are strong in Alela's colors, but haven't received much popular attention in Alela decks. We can find this information by using the navigation bar at the top of the page and selecting Commanders, 3 Color, and Esper, like so:
<a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/wub"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42910 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/navbar-esper.png" alt="" width="664" height="457" /></a>
This will take us to the Esper page which features popular commanders and cards used in Esper decks.
<a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/wub">edhrec.com/commanders/wub</a>
Near the top of this page, there should be a button saying "Related Info (Click to expand)". If we click it, we get to see what tribes and themes are well-established in the chosen colors, like so:
<a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/wub"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-42905 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/related-commanders-wub.png" alt="" width="256" height="568" /></a>
From these lists, for the sake of an example, let's look into building Esper Zombie Tribal with Esper Curses.
If we click Zombies from that list, it will bring us to a page of Zombie Tribal decks in the specific white/blue/black colors we want, without having to visually sift out the green and red cards, like picking the broccoli and chili peppers out of your blueberry squid ink pasta. The Esper Zombie Tribal page has its own relevant information:
<a href="https://edhrec.com/tribes/zombies/wub">edhrec.com/tribes/zombies/wub</a>
<a href="https://edhrec.com/tribes/zombies/wub"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42903 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/related-zombies.png" alt="" width="257" height="379" /></a>
If you wanted to know which other color combinations have more than one commander making Zombie Tribal decks, there they are. If you wanted to know which themes are popular with Zombie Tribal decks, that information is also there.
Let's look at a theme page now: Curses!
<a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/curses/wub">edhrec.com/themes/curses/wub</a> 
<a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/curses/wub"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42936 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/related-curses.png" alt="" width="290" height="258" /></a>
Likewise, the theme pages have their own color-specific filters as long as enough decks were built with those constraints. If there were particular tribes that specialized in Curses, they would also be listed, but there aren't, because those decks haven't been built yet; we can't show you data that doesn't exist, but we can show you the Enchantments theme, which illustrates an existing Tribal example:
<a href="http://edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/wub">edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/wub</a> 
<a href="http://edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/wub"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42904 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/related-enchantment.png" alt="" width="344" height="395" /></a>
It turns out that God Tribal decks enjoy playing enchantment-heavy builds from time to time. Since the old-timey Theros-block Gods were enchantment creatures, themselves (<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xenagos, God of Revels" href="#" target="_blank">Xenagos, God of Revels</a>, for example), this also makes sense. If we click on "Gods" here, then we go to a page of card statistics for the precise overlap of decks that are both enchantment themed and God Tribal.
<a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/gods">edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/gods</a> 
<a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/enchantments/gods"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-42957 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/related-ench-gods.png" alt="" width="342" height="279" /></a>
Hopefully these info blocks will help you with building and brainstorming in the colors you want, bringing easier access to related ideas, and showing tribes and themes that synergize with whatever strategy you are attempting.
<hr />
<h2>Main Theme Hub</h2>
In addition to Related Info, <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes">the main Themes page</a> has also been reorganized. Instead of a solid wall of card pictures, the big list of themes has been organized into smaller appropriate categories.
<ul>
<li>By Card Type - themes that are based on information in the card's type line</li>
<li>By Card Name - themes based around a specific named card</li>
<li>For Creatures - themes that require or imply a significant number of creatures</li>
<li>For The Library - themes defined by cards going into or out of the library</li>
<li>For The Hand - themes defined by cards going into or out of the hand</li>
<li>For The Field - themes defined by cards going into or out of the battlefield</li>
<li>For The Graveyard - themes defined by cards going into or out of the graveyard</li>
<li>By Strategy - themes that don't quite fit into the above categories</li>
</ul>
Some themes appear in more than one category. For example, Aristocrats involves sacrificing creatures, which implies creatures, cards leaving the field, and cards entering the graveyard, so it will appear in "For Creatures", "For The Field", and "For The Graveyard". This is intentional.
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<h2>A Silly Alela Deck</h2>
For your entertainment, here's a pile of a deck based on picking fun artifacts and enchantments from <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/lifegain/wub">Esper Lifegain</a>, <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/curses/wub">Esper Curses</a>, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tribes/sphinges/wub">Esper Sphinges</a>, <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/treasure/wubr">Yore-Tiller Treasure</a>, and <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/sydri-galvanic-genius-vehicles-theme">Sydri Vehicles</a>. Enjoy!
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Alela Cursed Lifegain Treasure Vehicle Sphinges" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
1 Alela, Artful Provocateur
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Baleful Strix
1 Adaptive Automaton
1 Junk Diver
1 Crashing Drawbridge
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Perplexing Chimera
1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Enigma Sphinx
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
1 Idol of Oblivion
1 Arcane Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Hierarchy
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Heraldic Banner
1 Treasure Map
1 Prying Blade
1 Blackblade Reforged
1 Mace of the Valiant
1 Konda&#039;s Banner
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Sigil of Valor
1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
1 Coat of Arms
1 Smuggler&#039;s Copter
1 Weatherlight
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1 Parhelion II
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
1 Curse of Disturbance
1 Curse of Verbosity
1 Curse of Exhaustion
1 Torment of Scarabs
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Revel in Riches
1 Mechanized Production
1 Anointed Procession
1 All That Glitters
1 Edge of the Divinity
1 Octopus Umbra
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Authority of the Consuls
1 Blind Obedience
1 Back to Basics
1 Thopter Spy Network
1 Etchings of the Chosen
1 Intangible Virtue
1 Favorable Winds
1 Sleeper&#039;s Guile
1 Mirrormade
1 Bereavement
1 Flooded Woodlands
1 Absolute Law
1 High Seas
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
12 Island
12 Plains
12 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
[/Lands]"></div>
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<h3>PS: The Palindrome Answer</h3>
Did you guess what the other legendary palindrome commanders were?
*<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun" href="#" target="_blank">Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun</a>. Temmet = temmeT. Palindrome! 
**Also, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nin, the Pain Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Nin, the Pain Artist</a>. Nin = niN!

new edhrec feature

Spellify Launches on EDHREC

New EDHREC Features - Tribes, Themes, & Colors Update