Karn: Legacy & Loss
Commander Sphere
Due to his role in a number of different multiversal threats, the silver golem Karn has been the butt of jokes for years. But beneath the jokes and oversimplification lies a richly built but ultimately tragic character. Karn is trying his best to improve a broken world, all while indelibly marked by the sins of his father, Urza. While other characters have since taken the forefront of Magic's story, Karn has been a crucial part of it since the beginning and his overall arc was recently brought to what many could speculate is a conclusion (at least for the time being). Enjoy this in-depth look...
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Green.
Commander Sphere
The uniqueness and versatility of Magic's color pie is a crucial part of the game's success over the years. It's impossible to imagine the game without the constant interplay and competition between the five colors and their conflicting philosophies. But, in this humble writer's opinion, one of these colors has been given a bad deal as of late: It's Green, baby. Green is often maligned as too homogenous or too powerful. Enfranchised players often view it as too simple, or maybe even boring. But what these folks don't know is that Green is Magic's most interesting, flavorful, color. In twenty...
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The End Of Power Level: Steak & Sizzle
Commander Sphere
For about as long as Commander has been a format, power level discourse has been ubiquitous. The more the format grows, the less the standard 1-10 scale of discerning a deck's power level can be relied on. In this video, I discuss the fact that maybe it's time to we stopped trying to evaluate decks and started trying to evaluate the people piloting them. This episode looks at the different things players value and places them into two camps, not as a means of describing the power level of their decks but as a means of introspecting and learning what we as individuals want from our games. This...
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Five Minute Lore: A Guide To Magic's Phyrexian Plotlines
Commander Sphere
Excited for March of the Machine but don't have enough time to catch up on 30 years of lore? Looking for a quick brush up on the basics? Look no further! This Spring, Magic is going to be more fun if you know the story behind the cards and in just about five minutes, we'll get you caught up! Magic's lore has surrounded Phyrexia and Phyrexian influence for nearly all of its 30 year life span and looking at the totality of the stories told can be intimidating. Take a seat and get a birds eye view so that you can jump on board the lore train just in time for all the payoff!
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Scoop: The Case For Concession In Commander
Commander Sphere
Give me fifteen minutes and I'll convince you to concede more Commander games
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Juice.
Commander Sphere
Rachel says farewell to the show, the show says farewell to Rachel. We celebrate the only way we know how: being really goofy and gross.
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Then & Now: Commander Sphere's Philosophy Retrospective
Commander Sphere
As Commander Sphere comes to a close, Rachel and Dan take a look at the ways in which the game, the format, and their own philosophies about both have changed in the last three years.
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Some Big News
Commander Sphere
We have some big news! Rachel has accepted a full-time position at The Command Zone! We're incredibly excited for her to finally become a full-time content creator and we hope you'll join us in celebrating the start of this hard-earned new chapter of her career. Unfortunately, this means that Rachel can no longer host Commander Sphere. She will appear in two final episodes releasing on December 5th and 12th. After that we'll say a fond farewell to Rachel and this iteration of the show will come to a close. Dan will return after the holidays with a more detailed look at what's next for...
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Commander Sphere's Third Anniversary Thanktacular
Commander Sphere
It's been three years and it's time to thank some folks.
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Burn It All Down: The Case For Taking Apart Your Decks - A Commander Sphere Audio Essay
Commander Sphere
We're trying something new here! Dan recently released his second video essay, a discussion about the cathartic process of breaking down and rebuilding your old decks. We're making it available in audio form! This is the first in a new series of digestible 10-15 minute essays tackling topics Magic players might find interesting. We hope it makes a great companion for your commute.
info_outlineFor about as long as Commander has been a format, power level discourse has been ubiquitous. The more the format grows, the less the standard 1-10 scale of discerning a deck's power level can be relied on. In this video, I discuss the fact that maybe it's time to we stopped trying to evaluate decks and started trying to evaluate the people piloting them. This episode looks at the different things players value and places them into two camps, not as a means of describing the power level of their decks but as a means of introspecting and learning what we as individuals want from our games. This is Sizzle & Steak.