Gemstone Mine
Episode
E097 -- The Commander Curve
January 18, 2023
A common pitfall in deckbuilding is to try to make the conventional wisdom with ramp fit into every deck you build. I mean, isn't 2-mana ramp good ...
Episode
E096 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Mastering the Stack
January 11, 2023
Priority. The Stack. Active Player / Nonactive Player. When you hear the judges at your local events throwing around these words, they sound big, i...
Episode
E095 -- Laelia, the Blade Reforged -- Polishing Gems
January 4, 2023
There can be a lot to learn from how different players with different perspectives build their decks. Someone else's preferences for a Commander yo...
Episode
E093 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Anatomy of a cEDH Deck
December 21, 2022
It's time for the big question, one that a lot of curious players find themselves asking: what makes a deck into a cEDH deck? Is it the dual lands?...
Episode
E092 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Responsible Removal
December 21, 2022
A common mistake that less-experienced players make is to spend their removal on the first target which presents itself, firing off a counterspell ...
Episode
E091 -- Okotoberfest 2022 Tournament Report
November 30, 2022
What happens when you bring a fringe deck 2-color deck with a Commander-centric combo to the largest in-person paper cEDH tournament in US history?...
Episode
E090 -- Tutors & Card Access Pt. 3 -- Lessons from cEDH
November 23, 2022
Closing out our series on Tutors and Card Access, we finally get to the higher-color decks: shards, wedges, four-color and five-color! There are so...
Episode
E089 -- Tutors & Card Access (part 2) -- Lessons from cEDH
November 16, 2022
Now we get to the fun stuff: how multicolored decks in Commander can make use of tutors! Each color's suite of tutors plays into other colors' tuto...
Episode
E088 -- Tutors & Card Access (part 1) -- Lessons from cEDH
November 9, 2022
They always have it. How do they always have it? How come *you* never get to have it? Certain colors and color-identities in Commander gel better w...
Episode
E087 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Bad Matchups
October 26, 2022
If you play this format long enough, you find some decks which are really difficult for some of your favorite decks to play against. Sometimes you ...
Episode
E086 -- How to Brew a Casual Deck
October 12, 2022
Many cEDH players ask the question, "How do I brew a casual deck again?" It can seem like a major challenge to "unlearn" all the efficiencies and c...
Episode
E085 -- Instant Brew -- Celestine, Living Saint
October 5, 2022
There's a new quartet of Commander decks coming out, and some Commanders are getting more hype than others. As usual, John wants to look at one of ...
Episode
E084 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Flexibility, Synergy and Layering
September 21, 2022
"Play more flexible cards! Pick more synergistic pieces! Don't forget to layer your wincons!" All useful advice, but just what do people mean when ...
Episode
E083 -- 5 Lessons from Tournament Commander
September 14, 2022
John went into a cEDH tournament and he's learned a few things from his crushing defeat. They might help *you* avoid a similar fate if you're plann...
Episode
E082 -- Lessons from cEDH -- Getting Ready with Mulligans
August 31, 2022
The Getting Ready stage of a game of Commander can be a bit boring, but mastering the art of the Mulligan can help you get through it in better pos...
Episode
E081 -- Lessons from cEDH -- How to Play Commander like Survivor
August 24, 2022
Is it possible we could learn more about how to be successful at a game of Commander by watching reality television than watching Legacy or Modern ...
Episode
E080 -- 5 Political Lessons from vEDH
August 10, 2022
Politics can play a big role in your success or failure at a Commander table, and not always in the sense of making "I scratch your back and you sc...
Episode
E079 -- Deck Primer -- Simic Vhal Untap Combo
August 3, 2022
We've got a deck we're excited to share! Fresh out of Commander Legends 2: Battle for Baldur's Gate comes a combo deck that can grind value and hol...
Episode
E078 -- Lessons from cEDH -- How I'd Tap That
July 20, 2022
Games can be won or lost simply because of how players tap their mana. There's a world of potential difference between a passing the turn with 2 an...
Episode
E077 -- Multifaceted -- Raffine, Scheming Seer
July 13, 2022
We've talked about what makes a good commander before, and this week, we're taking a Multifaceted look at Raffine, Scheming Seer! One of the powerh...