#the8x8theory

[the8x8theory]

Commander Ban Update - 01/12/17

With all the negativity happening at the moment, the opportunity to experience something pleasant and goofy is wonderful. So too, it is fitting that The Commander Commity have revealed their decision to temporarily allow all Silver Board cards in Commander. Well, not all. But in principle, silver boarder cards are officially legal.

Although this will only last until their next Ban List Announcement (Jan 15 2018) this opportunity is nothing to be ignored. Silver boarder insanity will be something many communities will be testing out, and allowing this makes that testing grounds more easily workable.

But take this with a grain of salt. Some cards have faced official bans right from the get go. Their justification is such that it will avoid problems with single game rounds, nightmare scenarios to do with rules interactions, and already banned cards. So, unfortunately, you will not be able to force an opponent to get you a drink with Ashnod’s Coupon.

The official additions to the ban list are

Ashnod's Coupon

Double Cross

Double Deal

Double Dip

Double Play

Double Take

Enter the Dungeon

Magical Hacker

Mox Lotus

Once More With Feeling

R&Ds Secret Lair

Richard Garfield

Staying Power

Time Machine

As found on their official forum post, linked at the top of the post.

Additionally, if you choose to play with Contraptions, as with Limited, they will comprise a seperate deck with at least 15 different cards. And this does not contribute to the 99 cards of your regular deck. 

So here it is. Magic as it was never intended, but has always hoped. Get ready to play out your decks with Incoming!. Get ready to fling your Slaying Mantis across the room. And get ready to cast Rules Lawyer onto a poor poor, unsuspecting player who has no idea what a Sate-Based Action even is.

---Max, @commandtower-solring-go​

#mtg #magic #edh #commander #the8x8theory #8x8theory #rules update #silver boarder #unstable #unhinged #unglued

[iheardyoulikeurlsoiputurlinmyurl]

It’s not quite 8x8 (theres a group group of 2 4s) and the commmander goes in the 7. I’d love to know if there’s anything I may have forgotten? 

(if it’s an obvious staple such as top, I just don’t own any yet)

#the8x8theory #edh #commander #mtg #magic the gathering #singleton #100 card singleton #Wrexial #Wrexial EDH #edh/commander

[island-delver-go]

Hey there. I'm fairly new to Magic the Gathering, and I was wondering if you had any recommendations to building a Commander Deck with Elesh Norn (I love her so much) Thanks so much!

Hi! I'm not terribly well versed with Commander as I haven't played in years but I do know of several resources that could help.

@commandertheory posts a lot about commander and @the8x8theory discusses a good deck building guide. The basic gist is that you pick 8 effects, find 8 copies of each effect and then build your mana base.

Edhrec.com will show you the most commonly used cards with a commander. You don't have to follow it but it can help you find some good cards you might have missed.

If I were building Elesh Norn, I would probably lean into token and/or prison strategies (often called stax based on Smokestack).

Best of luck!

[brawltalk]

36 It - Packaging a Brawl Deck

Props to @the8x8theory for their signature method of building a commander deck using 8 focused packages of 8 cards. Luckily we can piggyback off of them and use a similar method to build a Brawl deck. We’ve got a smaller deck though so we’re using fewer packages and fewer cards in each package. Instead of 8x8, we’re going 6x6 which will give us a deck with 36 cards. Throw in our commander and that leaves space for 23 lands*. Then we’re off to the races.

While this is a constructed format, in some ways it can play like a more powerful and streamlined limited environment. With that in mind, let’s start by looking at a common acronym used to guide limited deck building: BREAD. Bread means you focus on Bombs, Removal, Evasion/Efficient spells, Aggro, and Dregs. BRE is pretty useful. Aggro isn’t every deck’s MO but we’ll let this be a reminder that we do want to have some things we can do in the first few turns of the game, so don’t go too high on your mana curve. Dregs are something we don’t need to concern ourselves with since this is constructed--if you’re building a deck with cards you don’t want, you’re doing it wrong.

*Consider your deck’s mana curve and strategy. You may need more than 23 lands, in which case you will cut one of these 6 card packages down to fit them in.

With that in mind, let’s focus on BRE and build our first three packages. Each of these packages should default to 6 cards.

1. Bombs

What are your 6 most powerful cards? The 6 cards you’d want to see every game? The cards that put you ahead on the board, give big card advantage, and/or either push you toward securing the win or else bring you back from the brink of defeat? Those go here.

2. Removal

This is a multiplayer format so when you consider removal, consider both targeted and mass removal. Depending on your deck’s strategy, you may want two removal packages to help you control the game. This is one where you especially want to consider the meta. You don’t want to draw into a Naturalize a lot of the time, but if your opponent has Pacifism on your Dragon Mage then it could be the difference between a W and an L. In Brawl I tend to value more versatile removal over the most efficient removal. Thrashing Brontodon is a great option with that in mind. But of course what you’ll want most of is powerful creature removal. Never underestimate a well-timed and well-targeted Vraska’s Contempt.

3. Evasion/Efficient Spells

Boards can get really cluttered in a multiplayer game. If you can’t remove your opponents’ creatures, then you want to get around them. Big trampling creatures, fliers, and other evasion are the cards of the day here. This becomes even more true as players are eliminated and it’s down to you and one (hopefully weakened) opponent.

Efficient spells come at a good rate and can two-for-one or better for you. Corpse Knight is a fine creature in a 1-on-1 game. In a 4 person brawl it does three times more for you at the same rate! Arena is getting 1-v-1 Brawl support later this year, and you’ll want to build with that in mind. But when you have three opponents, pay extra attention to spells that say “each player” and especially to those that say “each opponent.”

4. Commander-Specific

This is why you’re playing Brawl. It’s not just to shove your deck full of bombs, but to build something that is fun to pilot with a specific commander and the cards that best synergize with that commander. I always try to include at least one full package of cards that I’d only ever play specifically with that commander. I’ll make exceptions here depending on what’s available, but for me this is where the deck really comes into its own and becomes something special.

Two More For the Road

Altogether that gives us four packages for 24 cards. For our last two packages I’d do the following:

a. A meta-specific package for cards that answer weaknesses in your deck, things which aren’t total dead draws but which are much stronger against specific decks (and honestly maybe one dead draw that can save the day if an opponent has a specific card that does see decent play), and otherwise just very niche cards you’d normally sideboard (since you don’t have a sideboard in Brawl)

b. Double up on any of the above packages. Add more removal, more bombs, or more toys that will really make your commander shine

Brawl is a constructed format, but the singleton nature means your available effects can be quite limited. You should expect to see a lot more bombs and removal than you’d ever see in limited. You should expect decks to be much more synergistic than you’d ever see in limited. But it plays like a limited environment in that players don’t often have more than one copy of a card--I say don’t often with regard to Brawl because being able to recur threats and spells is powerful and something most decks should seek to do.

Once you weather a threat, there is a decent chance it’s just gone from that game. This allows us to view Brawl from a different vantage than other formats. When coupled with building decks using packages, it gives us a quick and easy way to make sure a deck is sufficiently saturated with threats, removal, and support cards. At least enough to get things started and see what works and what doesn’t.

If you enjoyed this article, follow this blog to see more! Talk to me about Brawl through reblogs, replies, and asks. Have you built a deck with this method? Tell me about it!

#mtg brawl #deck building #advice #commander

[horde-of-impressions]

Alright, it’s Mowu take two.

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/10-04-19-green-counters/?cb=1558378356

Once again, gonna ask for deckbuilding advice from anyone who wants to help me make this deck better. 

Tagging people who helped out last time: @commandtowersolringgo,  @eugene-thespiritdragon @dailymtgflavortext, as well as others who might help: @yeens-human, @legendaryedhplays, @the8x8theory, @lands-mater, and @edh-spice​

Many thanks

#mtg #mtg edh #mtg commander

[magusofthefork]

I’ve never uploaded any constructed decks to this blog before so I thought I’d start doing that. Here is one of my favourite casual EDH decks that I constructed using @the8x8theory. Let me know what you guys think of the deck.

#MtG #magic the gathering #edh #commander #mtg commander

[edh-a-to-z]

I normally do decks following a theme and I usually end up overcommitting, running little removal interaction or card advantage. With few oportinities to test the decks and being so hard knowing what to cut or not from the decklist/goldfish (with removal being dead card unless you have opponents and such). I was wondering if you have any advice on the subject.

Ooh boy, testing EDH decks in a vacuum is hard.

In an ideal world, we have buddies with a wide range of personalities (for in game politics), deck types, and power levels to fully field test our decks.

 But we don’t. So we need to come up with options. We need to research.

Curiosu Homunculus; by Filip Burburan

(1) Theory

Every EDH deck starts in your head with an idea. Maybe building around a commander, or strategy, or card, and growing from there. We need to here focus on what we’re doing. What is our strategy -

- What it does

- How do we get it going

- Adding redundancies to do the above

We make a deck of 70-80 cards (don’t worry about size yet) and do some testing. So before ever worrying about enemy action, we wanna know what we’re doing. Here is where goldfishing comes in. 

If your plan isn’t working against an empty board (pick X number of turns to have), you need to revisit the drawing board. Trust the Scientific Method and repeat repeat repeat. Make sure you can do the thing before moving on.

(2) Building

So your theory is sound. You made a deck, you can get the combo going, and you can do it. Your combo/strategy/commander Can do the Thing by Turn X. It seems promising.

Next we need more rigorous testing. Try the Horde. It’s a self-piloting pile of spells and tokens that can give you some basic interactions.

- How can I respond to swarms (crowd control, board wipes, removal)

- How can I respond to Spells (interruption)

The Horde not attacking early is similar to the defensive nature of EDH - while the game is bigger and has bigger and badder creatures, there’s less actual combat in EDH. Much like Conspiracy, no one want’s to attack into one player, being left vulnerable to counterattack.

With the lessons you learn from this, maybe you find your deck needs a board wipe, or a draw/tutor spell to work better. Maybe the deck needs more or less redundancies.

(3) Clone Yourself

Clone; by Julie Baroh

The most useful thing I’ve done is play 4 decks against each other at the same time. It’s time consuming. Remembering all the triggers and things the deck can do is hard. And playing with each hand open makes it very imperfect.

But playing against a multiplayer field is really useful. It gives you a benchmark for how a deck performs against other decks (granted, decks you have made, so those should be nominally good). 

On the other hand, if you can divorce your goals by deck, favoring none over the other, you can do a pretty good approximation of a Multiplayer EDH deck. Picture it: You’re testing your new Voltron deck. You pit it against your Combo/Control deck, your Spellslinger/Good Stuff deck, and a Go-Wide Token deck. Now you’ve got four decks competeing to win. You can learn how your new deck can deal with these problems.

And here we learn

- What doesn’t your deck cover (it’s okay not to do everything - a Mardu Voltron deck can’t be expected to counter spells or draw a ton, but should be able to GY hate) and if you can rectify that

- What strategies/decks are your predator/play (Go Wide decks lose to board control, GY strats lose to GY hate - learn the cycle of life for your deck.)

- How does your deck stack up in terms of power/draw/options to a random deck (more of a barometer, if your deck is seriously lacking in Killing power, add a backup win-con)

(4) Consider the 8x8 Theory by @the8x8theory

In conjuntion with the above, the 8x8 Theory has revolutionized how I make my decks. It’s a simple and elegant deck plan which lets you do multiple things and still leave plenty of rooms for options and pet cards. From an initial iteration of an 8x8 deck you can tweak to fit your playstyle and meta.

They’re one of the inspirations for my blog, and any EDH player should check them out!

So that’s how my decks get build. Granted, all of this stems from the fact I’m used to playing EDH and my Meta - combo heavy, so pack some disruption and counterspells, or plan to go under them, hard and fast.

No thought experiment can replace actual play, be it online, multiplayer or duel, casual or competitive. Have a good time, learn with others. EDH decks are big and singleton - you can play dozens of games and have a million interactions, and not see every card in your deck.

Variance is native to the format, and it can’t be removed, only planned and compensated for. 

Have fun out there campers!

#mtg #edh #edhatoz #commander #Deck Tech

[gitblog-monster]

So I don’t have much of a decklist together, but... Tibor and Lumia? Initial thoughts?

w“(stuff I have only) Frostburn Weird, Steam Augury, Etherium-Horn Sorcerer, Shrewd Hatchling, Mercurial Geists, Cunning Strike, Stormchaser Chimera, Zephyr Charge, Venser's Journal, Howling Mine, Psychosis Crawler, Temple Bell, Keening Stone, Enigma Drake, Kraum from C16, Unspeakable Combo, Firemind's Foresight, Bloodwater Entity, Docent of Perfection, Niv Mizzet Firemind, and Izzet Signet. Thinking Fevered Visions as well. Anything else?“

I’m assuming you’re the same Anon. Tibor and Lumia can be built a couple ways, depending on how you want to take advantage of the abilities. 

I would build your deck using the approach taken by @the8x8theory. Build your deck (to start) with 35 lands, and 8 “packages” of 8 cards. Each package with a theme. There are a could standard packages, and I’ll recommend which ones you should try out past that.

A card draw package: Temple Bell, Howling Mine, Steam Augery, and the spells of the Unspeakable Combo. A ramp package: Izzet signet and any mana rocks you can get your hands on; Mana Geyser is good for this too. Removal package: Cunning Strike is the only one you have listed, but counterspells and burn fit well.

I recommend having two packages to take advantage of the first ability: one of creatures that can hit hard when you cast spells and give them evasion with flying. Mercurial Geists, Stormchaser Chimera, Enigma Drake, Kraum, Bloodwater Entity. For the second package, cards like Slip Through Space and Brute Strength are good to pump up your hitters when they can get through.

I would also recommend two packages to take advantage of the second ability. One having mainly red cards with some kind of burn and direct damage to keep the board clear and burn out your opponent’s face. The second would be creatures and permanents that have a similar “mass damag” effect: Niv Mizzet Firemind, Psychosis Crawler and Fevered Visions.

There’s an eighth package that is for your personal choices. Eight cards to do what you want, for cards you like but don’t fit the other packages. All the cards you listed look like they would work in this deck!

Your next steps, once the deck is together, is to playtest it! Play some games and get a feel for what you like. Once you start playing and adjusting it, feel free to move outside of the packages of eight cards. Take out cards that aren’t working and replace them with cards you feel like would be a better fit.

Let me know if you have any questions about this ramble of a post. I recommend taking a look at the packages made by @the8x8theory and edhrec for more ideas!

#Anonymous

[lurking-chupacabra]

Am I doing it right?

@the8x8theory

[towel-guy]

Hi, this is my very janky build (first draft) for O-Kagachi kamis and arcane magic. I don’t really now the cards from Kamigawa that well and just wanted to keep a theme. If you have any advice it’s appreciated.

I’ll tag some people I think could be interested: @shunthehexmage , @yeens-human , @the8x8theory (did you guys had a spirit matter package?)

[the8x8theory]

Top 5 Cards for EDH from Ixilan

Ixilan, the land of dinosaurs, pirates and amazing elevator pitches is finally with us. With it, as with every new set, comes an influx of new and incredible deck pieces for EDH. Mythics that will never see play elsewhere, and rares that will absolutely destroy every format the touch. All of it can be found here on Ixilan, and I would be remiss to say I’m not excited for what is in store; what we haven’t noticed yet. 

And with the prerelease having just happened, many people will likely be wanting to fill out their EDH decks with the cards they picked up from their sealed pools. As such, I’ve pushed back my planned piece to talk about a few of my favourite picks. That is, my Top 5 cards from Ixilan for EDH. Now, EDH is a deeply subjective format, and so my picks will only be my picks. You may have already found your favourite goofy, or powerful card that I may miss. Which is okay! I would love to heard what you already love from the format. But in terms of overall pliability, I’ve picked 5 cards I think will see a lot of play.  

Note: Card sizes will be weird. As of writing this, none of Ixilan is on Gatherer yet. 

5. Revel in Riches

Alternative win condition cards are almost always a mainstay in EDH. As is the nature of the format. Just dealing 40 damage multiplied by how many players there are, it isn’t always realistic. As such, finding a way to circumvent the traditional win conditions, is something players strive for. And Revel in Riches is more than just an alternative win condition. Unlike previous cards like Hedron Alignment, or Biovisionary, which were either impossible or very difficult, Revel in Riches is self sustaining. As with the death off an opponent’s creature, it gets ever closer to winning. Additionally, it helps produce you mana. This turns it only only into a win condition, but a genuinely playable card despite that. Sure, 1 mana for each dead creature isn’t much, but in a format built on the back on wrath effects, it won’t be shockingly hard to get value. Suddenly a Bontu’s Last Reckoning isn’t too back breaking. 

Ultimately, I expect it to see a fair amount of play across Black decks. It may seem like a 5 mana do nothing enchantment, but the value it creatures, plus the threat of an easy victory, is enough to make it more than playable.

4. Vraska’s Contempt

The long search for good spot removal in EDH is always going to be a tricky battle. Unconditional removal is not only expensive, but often slow. And conditional removal is often subject to EDH’s unpredictability, despite how cheap it can be. What’s more, simply killing a creature is very rarely enough. I believe, then, Vraska’s Contempt pushes the envelop as much as possible, in terms of creating a playable 4 mana piece of spot removal. It’s better than Hero’s Downfall by 2 relevant factors, that make it worth the 1 extra mana. Alternatives that come close, are typically in Orzhov, and so are ultimately limited in non-white decks. I truly think this is the premiere 4 mana mono-black piece of spot removal. Exile is very different to simply destroying. And that 2 life is a small, but relevant detail. 

Sure, in decks that can run Utter End, you’d rather run Utter End, but as a mono black alternative, I truly believe this is the powerful option.

3. Vance’s Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion

Red is often at the mercy of other colours due to it’s lack of reach. Often burning out quickly, and unable to close the gap as other player’s board states develop later in the game. But with Wizard’s push for more inventive solutions to this Vance’s Blasting Cannons and (more importantly) Spitfire Bastion are created. These are both one card, but it’s the second half of it is what matters to me. A land that lets you Open Fire every turn, as well as tap for {R}. Even the first side, though understated, offers an easy method of flipping itself. All you need to do is cast 3 spells. With a low curve, and fast mana, this isn’t hard. And suddenly you have the consistent removal to deal with small threats, or the power to consistently deal 3 damage to a player. Failing all that, it’s a land that taps for red. 

A red enchantment that’s easy to flip in EDH, that helps itself get flipped. After that it’s a land that lets you cast Open Fire every turn. Powerful removal, but a game closer. 

2. Axis of Morality

There are a lot of control cards in magic. Very many are reactive to a degree where you never quite have control of the game, as much as you are untouched by the game. But a few cards come up that really do give you control of the nature of the game. And Axis of Morality is exactly that. If, by some miracle, it can live until your upkeep, you are able to exchange life totals, as your discretion. Swap your own with the highest life total. Take a huge blow at the end of last turn, and suddenly punish that player. Or even, ensure that the easiest player to attack is on the Throne. This card runs deeper than just as it reads, as that kind of control is back breaking. And as an enchantment, it’s much harder to remove than any old creature. 

A powerful enchantment that truly lives up to the title ‘Control’. You now control life totals, and what you do with that power is yours.

1. Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun

Perhaps the hype has gotten to me. Perhaps my wallet is singing that I can finally play a Gaea’s Cradle that doesn’t cost me $300 for a legal copy. In fact, this is even better than Gaea’s Cradle, in terms of raw abilities on it’s land side. Being able to tap for {G} without a creature may make a difference in the end. However, even it’s front side offers an advantage, and criteria that isn’t hard to meet. Looking at the top 4 cards of your library, and either filtering them out, or getting a creature. Then, flipping with only 4 or more creatures. This is made all the easier by triggering that your end step, as you don’t need to cycle through 3 or 4 other turns before finally seeing the Cradle. Running the risk of wrath effects, or sorcery removal. This all going without even talking about the power of a land adding {G} for each creature you control. That fact stands on it’s own, truly. In wide creature strategies, it’s exceptional, but even without that, it may just be an untapped land that taps for {G}{G}. Which, alone, is nothing to sneer at.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc is an enchantment that generates advantage, without being hard to flip. And once it does flip, it shows us the power of one of magic’s most power cards, now “fixed”. A untapped land that taps for more than 1 mana. Is it truly a fixed alternative? Or is it just as busted as it always was. It is hard to say, however I hold true that it deserves to be my most anticipated card of Ixilan. 

Reblog with the cards you are most excited to see out of Ixilan. I’m sure there are even better cards, in different formats. Or simply personal favourites that I completely looked over. Whatever they are, I would love to hear about them!

#mtg #edh #commander #Ixialn #mtgxln #the8x8theory #8x8theory #article

[ecurps]

working on a Hapatra Infect EDH deck and could use some help. if you guys are available, please help an unknowledgeable nerd out; and if others see this and are willing, I'd be more than happy for any guidance.

@goblintinkering @elspethsunschampion @the-foxwolf @the8x8theory @shorewall @isharton @the-burnished-hart @legendaryedhplays @hopelessly-vorthosian

#mtg #edh #magic the gathering #commander #hapatra #deck help #deck tech #help

[the-burnished-hart]

So @supersparagus-blog just created a tumblr! He's an MtG player, and he wants to follow the 'main' people in the community, but I've mostly unfollowed people because of all the reblogs. Who would you suggest he follows? Thanks!

It depends on what his interests are, honestly! XD

For quality memes, @sarkhan-volkswagen, @bace-jeleren, @theceaselesshunger, and @magic--the--memeing are all great sources. The first two are also major players in the community here!

For Magic-related asks, @magicjudge, @markrosewater, and @dougbeyermtg are awesome in their replies to the community.

For Magic-related articles, @sarpadianempiresvol-viii, @commandtower-solring-go, and @blogging-phelddagrif all put out great content. They are also lovely people to talk with!

For EDH/Commander specific content, check out @commandertheory, @the8x8theory, @commandollar, and @wordofcommander. They range from building on a budget to comboing out consistently with their strategies.

For Magic story and lore, @vorthosjay, @vronos, @askkrenko and @abzanascendancy all provide answers to any lore questions or summaries to the latest installments. Also, @voiceofallmtg creates dramatic readings in audio form, with voices from the Tumblr community!

For fanart and comics, @isharton, @hirfael, @chandra-nalaar, @sketchydoodles, and @cardboard-crack all create masterpieces of their own. They definitely bring life to the characters and interactions we know and love!

For an overall good time, follow @flavoracle, @bizarre-trader, @chelsea-beleren-vess, @tumblhurgoyf, and @odric-master-swagtician. They keep the community positive and uplifting.

And of course, don’t forget to follow @wizardsmagic! They’re the coolest!

If there are any blogs y’all from the community think I should have mentioned, go ahead and reblog this post with your recommendations!

[horde-of-impressions]

Hey Friends who are into EDH

I’ve never built a deck for the format before, and I’m looking for some help with a Mowu/Jiang Yanguu, Wildcrafter partner commander deck. If you could take a look and then drop me some advice, I’d really appreciate it.

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/10-04-19-green-counters/?cb=1555709593

gonna tag some people who I think could be helpful @commandtowersolringgo, @yeens-human, @legendaryedhplays, @the8x8theory, @lands-mater, and @edh-spice

Thanks y’all

#mtg #MTG EDH #mtg commander #mowu #jiang yanguu #yanguu #magic the gathering

[mtgelks]

Everyone is great

I just wanted to wish everybody a good valentine's day your all the best people I've met and your all just so gosh darn cute @actualborossoldier @accomplished-automodad @ajohnnygoldmain @bace-jeleren @bizarre-trader @baral-is-life @bestcustommtg @chandra-nalaar @commandtower-solring-go @commandertheory @dovinbanned @elspethsunschampion @flavoracle @googlyeyesonmagiccards @keranos-god-of-storm-crows @kideon @magicjudge @mtgaddicted @mtg-talk @sarpadianempiresvol-viii @sarkhan-volkswagen @sarkhan-punbroken @sketchydoodles @socialmtg @vorthosjay @the-burnished-hart @tumblhurgoyf @the8x8theory @wizardsmagic

[fieldofthedead]

Not overly important, but figured it was worth saying here. I decided to step down as Mod/writer for @the8x8theory. In all honesty I'm just a bit to competitive, I wasn't enjoying policing packages, nor did I want to push my competitive mentality on others. Plus lets face it Ol' Dimir Guildmage was never much of a writer. I had a fun run over there and if you like edh/commander you really should be following them.

#mtg #edh #commander #the8x8theory