Should Casual EDH Decks Be Optimized? | Commander Sphere Presents A Magic: The Gathering Video Essay

Sol Ring, one of the most ubiquitous cards in Commander is also among its most powerful. Commander is one of the very few formats where mana-positive rocks (artifacts that create more mana than they cost to cast) are legal and unrestricted. As the format’s power level increases, so does the speed of the average Commander game. As that speed increases, more and more players are feeling the push to optimize or be left behind. Is this good for the format? Is this good for the players? In this essay, I discuss how optimization of an inherently casual format can flatten some of its most interesting parts while also acknowledging that power creep is a Pandora’s Box that isn’t closing anytime soon. Enjoy. Also, this episode features some light Elden Ring spoilers. 00:10 - Intro - Get Mana, Draw Cards 04:40 - I Promise This Is About Commander (But right now it’s about Elden Ring) 08:21 - Seriously, This Is About Commander (But right now it’s about the price of cards) 12:30 - I Told You This Was About Commander (And it is!) 14:49 - Actually, It’s About You (Oh my god.) 21:14 - Conclusion - 22:36 - Credits & Shoutouts 24:47 - The Cube 25:51 - A Word From Parmesan The Cat . . . . . . Support the show on Patreon for early access to episodes, Discord access, and more: Check out the decklists referenced in this episode on Moxfield: The Dominaria Cube lists can be found here On Twitter, you can find Jake @FakeJakeBrowne and you can find me @ItsDanSheehan For literally anything else, we have a LinkTree: #magicthegathering #commander #edh