How the game has changed
Shortly after Magic the Gathering took the gaming world by storm in the mid 90s. People who played the game were divided into two groups, casual or competitive. That was it. Now granted some people preferred multiplayer over 1 vs 1 but within each format you still had casual or competitive players. Things are different today. As the game has grown and aged, more formats have been developed, and the information age has almost eliminated individual deck design. It isn’t just about whether you are a casual or competitive player anymore. At the beginning of the new millennium whenever I went to a new card store to play a game. The only question I’d ask my opponent was whether they played casually or competitively? I always kept a few different decks on me to suit either type of player. Walk into any gaming store now and listen to the questions being asked. “Do you want to play Magic?” “Which format – Standard – Modern?” “I have a Commander deck together if you are ok with playing Commander?” Then depending on their opponents answers there can be even more questions. Quite often I’ve seen two people unable to play against each other because they don’t have decks that share a format.
A return to form
It’s happened slowly over time, but there is one format that could become the way most everyone plays Magic once again. What was once considered to be a casual escape from playing competitive games of Standard, Modern, or Vintage, is now a fully recognized format that soon anyone can play. That format is Commander. The 100 card deck with no more than 1 of any card except basic land is already the format of choice at most gaming stores. The reason for this is very easy to understand. Building a Commander deck is relatively inexpensive because you don’t require 4 of every key card like you do in the other formats. Competitive and Casual players can play against each other because the number of variables in a 100 card deck with only 1 of each card create a situation where luck can play a huge factor. The element of surprise (something Magic the Gathering hasn’t had for years) is always there because you never know what your opponent might play next. It doesn’t matter if you have only been playing for a few years or twenty, you can build a fun deck that could win from any of the cards you’ve collected. Unlike the other formats, you have a reason to peruse some of the older set binders at your local store for interesting cards to include in your deck. In other words, Commander is actually fun!
It’s here to stay
Over the years there have been many different formats that have come and gone. I can promise you that Commander is here to stay. Every previous iteration of interesting format lacked that one key ingredient – fun. Now what if you are brand new to the game? Fortunately for you Wizards of the Coast does a far better job of set design, and cohesiveness these days. In fact they have already recognized the switch to Commander becoming the popular format so a variation of that format for new players has been developed. If you are unfamiliar with the new Brawl format, it’s similar to Commander except it only uses a 60 card deck comprising of cards from the Standard legal card pool, and you are allowed to select a Planeswalker as your Commander. This format allows brand new Players the opportunity to play a version of Commander that’s similar enough to get a feel for the game. It also allows them to eventually expand their Brawl deck into a Commander deck once they’ve collected enough cards.
It’s time to revisit an old favourite
If you had been put off by how the game of Magic the Gathering progressed over the years like I had? It could be time to crack open the old binders, and find some of those old favourites, and throw together a deck that’s finally fun to play once more. Imagine the look on another players face when Abyss hits the table, or you drop a second turn Serendib Efreet! Welcome back to the Golden age of collectible card games!