Commander Clash S2 Episode 25: Origins
Hello and welcome to Commander Clash, a video series where several MTGGoldfish contributors battle in a four player Commander game for fun and bragging rights. This week we're sharing what we first loved about Magic: the Gathering by filling our decks with cards that captured our interest back when we first started playing. Here's what we're bringing:
- Tom busts out his favorite cards when he first started playing Commander back during the format's inception with Jareth, Leonine Titan
- Seth recreates his janky Ion Storm deck in Commander, full of +1/+1 and charge counter synergies led by Bosh, Iron Golem
- Richard shows off coolest Black cards from the '90s led by the most badass vampire of them all, Baron Sengir
- Tomer surprises no one by bringing a Blue deck that is all about drawing cards, countering stuff, and flying around with Arcanis the Omnipotent
Kick back, relax, and listen to the stories of our origins over a janky game of Commander! But first, quick reminder: if you like Commander Clash and other video content here on MTGGoldfish, make sure to subscribe to the MTGGoldfish Youtube Channel to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Tom's Deck (Jareth)
Seth's Deck (Bosh)
Richard's Deck (Sengir)
Tomer's Deck (Arcanis)
Post-Game Thoughts
It was really neat hearing about how everybody got into Magic and how their old favorites are reflected in their current playstyles. You could see how Seth's love of janky combos back in Mirrodin block eventually led him to his Against the Odds series, and how Tom's long love of Commander (all the way back to Shadowmoor block!) has made him so knowledgable of the ins and outs of the format.
For those interested in me rambling about myself, here's a bit more detail on how I started playing: began as a wee lad with my older brother around the time Ice Age was out. My brother built for me a Mono Green deck, but unfortunately my Llanowar Elves and Ironroot Treefolk were no match for his Shivan Dragon and Fireball. I ended up crafting my own Mono Blue deck out of his shoebox of junk cards, a Merfolk list that used a playset of Lord of Atlantis to make my crappy Merfolk of the Pearl Trident into a fighting force. I finally had answers to my brother's better cards with the cheap Counterspell and Unsummon. That's how I discovered my love of Blue and how cheap inexpensive answers can stop big pricey threats if played correctly.
I stopped playing when my brother lost interest in the game, but then joined again during Mercadian Masques, where a magazine that was half Magic half Pokemon (literally split in half) sparked my interest again by opening me up to the competitive scene. I started winning FNMs with my dirt cheap Blue Skies lists that managed to race my opponent's more expensive top tier lists. I remember being fascinated by Jon Finkel's Tinker deck (which one with Masticore), and the new top deck called Trix, an absurdly silly deck that won by Donate'ing Illusions of Grandeur to opponents.
My interest in the game waned until Shards of Alara, when my friends and I picked up some preconstructed decks and slowly upgraded them with boosters. I left the game again shortly after, but joined once more during Innistrad and have been playing ever since!
The things I first loved about Magic are still the things I love the most about the game now. At my core, I'm a person that likes beating expensive meta decks with cheap rogue decks, I like small sneaky creatures over big flashy ones, Tempo / Combo / Control are preferred over Midrange or Burn, and Blue/Red are certainly my favorite colors. Oh yeah: and I love to draw cards!
Next Week: Aether Revolt!
Aether Revolt has finally arrived on Magic Online, so we're showing off the new cards by building decks around the legendary creatures from the set! Can you guess what each of us will be playing? As always, we love to hear from you guys! Tell us what you like to see, what you don't like, any ideas that we can put forward for future videos, or anything else you'd like to tell us! You can reach us in the comments section below or tweet me @BudgetCommander.
