Commander: Spike’s Format

In a world where we strive to become the better version of ourselves a large majority of society seems to think that gaming is a child thing and that it will never amount to anything in your life, therefore, by such arbitrary standards, you will never be the better of yourself as long as you keep gaming. However, as gamers that may have a family, thrive in our workplace, and may become pillars of our community, we see gaming as part of keeping our work and personal life at a balance. In a perfect conformist society there are spreadsheets, to-do lists, and emails. In our imperfect non-conformist world, in our world, in our gaming society, there’s Magic: Gathering (MTG).

Now, imagine that MTG is an early 1990’s  school movie, or an anime school, you pick. The purpose of said school is to play Commander because in our gaming society we become the better versions of ourselves through Commander.  Let us meet some of the kids during recess at the school’s playground.

 

In MTG one of our friends is Timmy. Timmy, for the purpose of this narrative, is the little kid in the playground who has the imagination to create a battle pitting Dinosaurs Vs. a gang of rat bikers from a Japanese inspired cyberpunk land. Timmy, absolutely, loves Commander because it's the format that lets you create a narrative. It can be from a short story to a 10 volume novel series. The sky is the limit. Timmy’s favorite commander: Gishath, Sun's Avatar. 

Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Then we have Johnny, junior.  He is in the mathlympics team, and specializes in engineered focused math, if that’s even a thing. He loves Commander because having a 100 card limit is the perfect size to create a combo that works with every card on the deck, including the basic lands. Johnny’s favorite commander: Karametra, God of Harvests.

Karametra, God of Harvests

Then there’s Spike, everyone knows Spike, he is THE cool kid, a senior at the school. He is the MTG School MTG Team Captain. Commander is his favorite format, through this format he hones his skills, he has a deep understanding of how game mechanics work in the most efficient way to win a game, he plays to win, and never misses a trigger. His commander’s are: Tymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus.

 

Tymna the Weaver

Kraum, Ludevic's Opus

Commander is what us, MTG players, make of it. This is the format where you make an epic story where the main characters are dinosaurs, create the most convoluted and outrageous combo to do one specific thing that may or may not win you the game,  and destroy the health points or win by alternate conditions. Commander is the first format we think of when a new card is revealed just by saying “everything is good in Commander” just for the meme of it or because that Doctor Who theme deck hasn’t been updated since Matt Smith left the show. Is the format, Commander, that might get you more games because competitive paper magic is dead. Commander is for Timmy. Commander is for Johnny. Commander is for Spike.

 

This format makes us the better version of ourselves as MTG players. It lets us be ourselves whether it might be as the creative, or the technician, or the Spike. We express ourselves through it and it allows us to express ourselves through it. Through it I get to know myself better. I understand my flaws and how to correct them. I show myself to the world as I am: Me.

 

Love yourself, express it through Commander.