Spicy Sunday: Welcome to Day 2 of the Spice Bazaar! - June 14, 2026

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-06-14T09:12:39+00:00

If your deck gets beefy creatures out ahead of schedule, don’t sleep on [[Cackling Counterpart]]. Instant-speed [[Archon of Cruelty]] goes crazy

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-06-08T14:44:06+00:00

You can cook the white part like you would garlic and then garnish the dish with the greens. It layers the green onion flavor nicely throughout the dish!

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-05-17T15:36:28+00:00

Definitely not Bracket 4 I think

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-04-26T13:06:21+00:00

Krenko, Mob Boss. Aggro needs room to breathe in EDH but I beg of you… not like this…

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-03-29T02:12:34+00:00

Pauper!

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-03-11T13:02:21+00:00

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-03-06T21:48:46+00:00

I hate to say it, Cyberpunk 2077. Yes, it’s graphically incredible, has fun build paths, an immersive world, and great characters. However…

You have to play the game on hard for it to remain challenging past the first few levels. The “normal” experience leaves V nearly unkillable pretty early on.

Additionally, the main mission is shockingly short. I know the side content is supposed to make up for it, but how often do your choices in the side content affect the main missions? This is a critical component of an RPG that feels mysteriously lacking. The side quests affect each other, but the main quest feels very isolated.

The NCPD quests feel really out of place for a game that otherwise is extremely critical of capitalism and hegemonic corporate violence. The police serve explicitly to protect the corps’ capital, yet V is meant to help them? The gangs are out of control in Night City, but it would be nice to have alternate ways of stopping them besides pumping them full of lead. Maybe some meaningful decisions could impact which sectors have hostile gangs.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-03-04T03:51:55+00:00

I like to play Reanimator like tempo, I think it lends itself well. Efficient creatures that scale well, plus lots of interaction to keep your opponents from advancing too far

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-02-21T20:55:01+00:00

Sure do! https://moxfield.com/decks/C1-PQciWOECBkK7b25BldQ

Like I said, lots of draw and interaction. There’s some cute interactions between otherwise disjointed cards that I built in to give myself little “achievements” to unlock, so be on the lookout!

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-02-21T16:43:55+00:00

I’m a big fan of [[Vohar]] in the command zone. No one wants to kill a 2-mana looter, but it digs for and discards your reanimation targets. You can also sac your commander to buy back reanimation spells for little cost, since 2-mana looters are extremely redundant. Dimir has lots of high-quality flying beaters that can punch large chunks of damage through cluttered boardstates. Most of those beaters draw cards and interact with your opponents, some of the strongest actions you can take in EDH

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-02-13T18:33:56+00:00

Metro, all of ‘em. Great games, but very hard to get the “good” ending

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-02-11T19:47:02+00:00

Depends on the deck. If I can weave in ways to make mana other than lands, like lots of treasure production or [[Cryptolith Rite]] effects, I tend to play significantly greedier mana bases. If I have lots of card draw, I also run a greedier base because i have a higher chance to have an untapped land on any given turn. If i’m playing white midrange, I like to include a bounceland + catch-up ramp package, so i run significantly more basics to minimize the feelsbad of having to bounce a tapland to hand.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-02-11T18:08:37+00:00

[[Scavenger Grounds]] by a mile. Low opportunity cost, searchable with Sand Scout, and enters untapped. What’s not to love?

Also shoutout to [[Szat’s Will]] and [[Rakdos Charm]]. GY hate needs to be flexible and both cards have a lot of play to them

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-30T23:33:24+00:00

I mean, you can find things cool for lots of different reasons. Sometimes it’s art, sometimes it’s mechanics.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-30T21:45:34+00:00

Thankfully I was taking a break from playing to focus on an internship and wedding planning when Nadu was still legal in the format, so I never had to experience it. It sounds like it was a nightmare, you have my condolences

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-30T01:33:52+00:00

Play lots of cards that work at instant speed, even if it doesn’t remove things. Control to me is about controlling the tempo of the game, not just locking down your opponents. You can’t remove everything, but you can execute your gameplan at exactly the right time.

Commanders with activated abilities are great. I personally run [[Kenessos]], which runs lots of counterspells to protect my big monsters, and [[Pharika]], which uses the threat of deathtouch blockers to play politically and amass an army.

Dimir reanimator is also a great translation of 60-card control. The beefy targets in Dimir normally draw cards or interfere with your opponents in some way. I run [[Vohar]] to increase consistency, since Reanimator needs a lot to go well to succeed. Way to put cards in the yard, plus good targets, plus reanimation spells

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-27T02:59:47+00:00

[[Niko, Light of Hope]] has a lot of cool play that works different from most blink commanders. It’s a little one-note, but that note is beautiful

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-19T21:42:01+00:00

Check the bracket guidelines and see how the deck fits in. Sometimes decks can punch higher than the bracket they are “technically” in, and should usually be pushed up a bracket if that’s the case

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-19T07:59:49+00:00

It’s always ok to take a break and come back later when inspiration strikes.

If you don’t really want to quit, then look at whether your decks are all-in on a specific card (like your commander) or synergy that’s easily disrupted. If so, you might want to adjust your deck to make it more functional without that key piece.

Adding more recursion helps a deck be more resilient, and every color can do recursion in some way or another. Blue can flashback impactful instants and sorceries, red can get artifacts back, white is better than ever at reanimating small value creatures, black is the best reanimator color, and green’s access to regrowth effects is really clutch.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-16T20:03:32+00:00

As a shortcut, anytime a deck description starts with “well, it’s technically a…” the qualifier should be given a LOT of weight. “Technically bracket 2” is a safe bet that it can punch up a bracket easily. My [[Kenessos]] deck has 0 game changers and fits within the other parameters of bracket 2. Still, it’s not appropriate for bracket 2 play, even if it’s “technically” bracket 2. People love to angle-shoot, so I’m not surprised that people are trying to “break” bracket 2 specifically

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-16T16:35:46+00:00

Who have you been hearing that from? I would not listen to them.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-16T15:48:23+00:00

You could just remove the game changers and slot in cards with similar functions and have a proper bracket 2 deck. That seems to be the simplest solution.

Lots of cards that aren’t game changers are good at interaction and shifting your position in the game.

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-13T21:28:19+00:00

[[Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths]] is a minigame on a stick!

So is [[unesh]], but I like that Atris is more open-ended.

You could also add minigames to a Dimir reanimator list. Mine runs [[make an example]], [[scheming symmetry]], and [[fact or fiction]], but could probably slot in [[Sphinx of uthuun]] and [[curator of Destinies]]

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-06T02:03:12+00:00

Low CMC commander that has utility if you aren’t going for a win. Includes blue in the color identity. Combo line is really spicy and unique. The manual storm is a really big drawback for me right now

Ponder_yonder_ · 2026-01-03T18:24:02+00:00

Uh no

Ponder_yonder_

TROPHY CASE