What An Amazing Game

You know how you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

This is my 100th post to Aye Commander. And this game never ceases to amaze me.

I woke up on Saturday feeling like I was pushed under water for a few minutes. Everyone at work has been dropping like flies, so it's fitting that I would make it to the weekend before the sickness caught up with me. My family and I moved a few months ago, even further from my friendly local gaming store, and between weekend projects and unpacking I haven't made it out to my regular Saturday Commander "tournament" at the shop. But I was really looking forward to getting out there again and slinging some spells, so I powered down some coffee, took a hot shower, and make the trek. I'm glad I did.

During my hiatus (moving!), the FLGS took the opportunity to do some remodeling. They actually opened the store up, big time. Supposedly, 150 players can be tapping lands for mana simultaneously now. They were running a grand prix qualifier but we still had enough people for a couple of tables running Commander. It was on.



I got matched up with Jhoira, Azusa, and Riku. I was playing demons with Nefarox at the helm. It was a good match all the way through. Even though Riku was running the Kiki-Jiki / Zealous Conscripts combo, he didn't entwine a Tooth and Nail until well into the game for it. And guess what? Azusa actually stopped the combo with a Beast Within! It was an up and down sort of game, with power switching all around the table throughout the match. I managed to flip Elbrus - only the second time ever. Jhoira ended up winning on the back of a suspended Artisan of Kozilek with Pathrazer of Ulamog in the graveyard, then casting Obliterate. There was no recovering from Annihilator 5 every turn. All in all, maybe the best game of Commander I've ever played, though.

But that's not what amazes me about Magic the Gathering.



I'm running three main Commander decks right now. Demons (Nefarox), Big Beats (Braids), and Bolas Is Behind It All! I keep track of my decks at TappedOut.net. What amazes me is that even after all these years, after all these individual games, my "maybe board" just keeps growing. I still want to rip apart decks and build them back up. I still want to switch out cards just to see if I can change how my deck plays. I still find new card combos and synergies. I still want to keep playing.