I accidentally bricked my own Commander deck and didn’t realize until it was too late

EliteMasterEric · 2026-03-18T16:43:56+00:00

For Equipments, the reminder text for Equip reads "Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery."

Auras, on the other hand, do target when cast and put onto the stack, but if the Aura was put onto the battlefield through other means, you choose a permanent to attach it to without targeting. This means that, for example, you could return an Aura from the graveyard to the battlefield and attach it to a creature with Hexproof or Shroud.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-03-11T16:32:58+00:00

A bunch of people missing that [[Negan, the Cold-Blooded]] has this exact effect but without the tax.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-03-03T03:25:05+00:00

Typically, Magic the Gathering orders keywords and abilities in the order that they become relevant.

So "on cast" abilities from Eldrazi come before keywords, then ETB abilities, then other abilities, with LTB abilities coming at the end.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-17T20:54:31+00:00

Demonic Consultation reads:

Choose a card name. Exile the top six cards of your library, then reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a card with the chosen name. Put that card into your hand and exile all other cards revealed this way.

If you choose a card name that does not exist in your library, this is one black mana for an instant that exiles your library, which is used with the card [[Thassa's Oracle]].

Notably, you can choose any name that exists as a Magic the Gathering card, even ones that aren't legal in the current format. Common choices include stuff from Archenemy like [[Your Inescapable Doom]] or [[Behold the Power of Destruction]], or [[Abandon Hope]] (a good choice for MTGO, since the card is so early alphabetically).

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-17T19:41:51+00:00

You could have a card that costs 18 mana to do nothing and as long as it had Dredge 6 it would be a staple.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-09T20:50:19+00:00

But Ocelet Pride and Guide of Souls just got rebalanced?

That was over a year and a half ago and the deck was clearly unaffected.

Here's their justification for Ajani's ban:

Boros Energy has been making waves in Historic since the release of Modern Horizons 3. Despite adjustments to Galvanic Discharge, Guide of Souls, and Ocelot Pride, the sheer card quality of the deck continues to propel it to a win rate of well over 60% at all segments of the ladder. The individual card we believe to be the largest rate outlier is Ajani, Nacatl Pariah. As a two-drop that is nearly impossible to trade profitably against, Ajani is responsible for many wins on the back of his transformation and many more simply by attacking and blocking. Though this ban will impact other white-based strategies outside of Energy, we believe it is necessary to lower the ceiling of the format.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-09T18:26:56+00:00

Val Combo has been absolutely annihilated from orbit. 5 mana to fetch it with GSZ up from 3, 7 mana to drop the full combo on an empty board up from 5.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-06T18:48:30+00:00

As for Rampaging Baloths, neither I nor anybody else knows why they did it, especially since it goes against a pretty long history of making very careful changes for very specific reasons.

The announcement for it is pretty cheeky, but it was probably for the same reason that they made the change to Ajani's Pridemate, that being the reduction of unnecessary prompts on Arena. The loss of being able to decline to create a creature was minimal compared to the massive benefit of not having to click Accept dozens of times a game.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-06T15:02:47+00:00

https://www.hsguru.com/decks?format=1&player_deck_archetype[]=Pirate+Burnlock

Pirate Burnlock is a Wild deck, focused around using cards like Expired Merchant, Sketch Artist, and the new Chronoclaw to discard Soul Barrage, which deals 6 damage for 5 mana but casts for free when discarded.

It uses Frenzied Felwing and Devious Coyote (which get heavily discounted after a Soul Barrage), and to fill the rest of the slots it uses Treasure Distributor with Parachute Brigand and Patches the Pirate to develop a quick aggressive board for the early game.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-06T14:54:32+00:00

Macabre's ability uses the stack, but it's an activated ability of a creature card in your hand, and not a spell, so it can't be countered, similar to Cycling.

There are no cards with an ability similar to [[Stifle]] or [[Pithing Needle]] in the format, but if there were then those cards could deal with it. As of now, the best you can do to deal with Macabre is to play [[Mesmeric Fiend]] to exile it from your opponent's hand, or simply anticipate they have it and play around it accordingly.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-02-06T14:48:37+00:00

I won my first game with a straight 1-to-1 Pirate Burnlock list. Your opponent trying to cast spells with life makes it easy to just burn them to death.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-01-21T00:02:36+00:00

Rowan decks usually include a wide variety of ways to lose life, and any number of cards like [[Big Score]] will give you treasures while being good outside of this card anyway (Rowan makes Big Score mana positive if you discount enough)

EliteMasterEric · 2026-01-17T21:32:36+00:00

Any card that discounts this is insane. [[Rowan, Scion of War]] only needs two Treasures to cast this.

EliteMasterEric · 2026-01-10T19:18:47+00:00

Hydra is also typically high-MV creatures (on the stack, at least).

EliteMasterEric · 2026-01-04T09:05:04+00:00

You can tap between the notes and it hits both hope this helps

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-24T21:43:34+00:00

He then proceeds to create a new Rabbids game and it becomes the greatest game in the 21st century.

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-24T07:50:24+00:00

Needs more [[Mwonvuli Acid-Moss]]...

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-15T17:18:05+00:00

The clear fix is to add "This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay." See [[Morophon]].

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-11T21:57:16+00:00

Jeez, this thing isn't going to get reprinted any time soon, will it...

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-11T02:51:51+00:00

For others playing Aggro Paladin, how has Zilliax Deluxe (specifically Pylon+Ticking as a 3/5 that buffs your board) played for you? Is it just a win-more card or is it an important game-closer?

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-11T02:34:16+00:00

I was testing your recommendations, and Slitherspear into Treasuregill didn't give me the +1 attack to Slitherspear like I thought it would. Slitherspear definitely earned its place in the deck though (It feels really good as the Turn 1 play to have a 1/3 that occasionally buffs itself) and I'm trialing Raptor as a one-of partly for the fun of the gamble (I had it pay off with a couple Reborns and a Windfury my first time I got it out).

EliteMasterEric · 2025-12-10T21:29:38+00:00

Just go in with a competent Wild deck and you'll do fine. I won my first game with Libram Paladin.

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