As I come to realize that social media is sapping my creative energy, I have decided to stop posting to the damn thing so much and instead try to put my short form thoughts on this space, which belongs to me. And yes, I realize the irony of the pushing this to social media to reach an audience.
Today I want to talk about balancing Nostalgia and Novelty. Reality Fracture looks to be an awesome set that is full of call backs to Magic‘s past, not unlike Time Spiral Block, Commander Legends, and the various iterations of Modern Horizons. Part of that allure, at least to me, is seeing cards I recognize, but with the mirror universe goatee treatment.
It’s cool.
But it still taps into the part of my brain that remembers what it was like to see cards for the first time. And as I get older and I am more selective in my investment in new cards I keep looking back into my history playing Commander in an attempt to hone in on what I love, and then build towards that.
If you follow me you will have no doubt seen me post about Baru, Fist of Krosan quite a bit recently. This was my first attempt at a mono green deck well over a decade ago. I thought the card was cool and the idea of going wide and just punching people on the mouth appealed to me. I think I played it once, heads up, against a Sliver deck, and decided that it was not good enough to keep together. But I never got rid of the card. And recently I decided to give it another go, albeit with ten additional years of experience and technology.
And you know what? I’m having fun. I see this card that is, on the surface, at least a step behind what other available legends are doing today. But part of what I love about Commander is bridging the generations in a way the modern workplace never could. I get to take a card that is old enough to make poor choices and pair it with new options that cheer it on from the end of the bar.
Bristly Bill is Baru that has been eating his broccoli. It isn’t better in every aspect, but it is cheaper and has a lasting impact in the form of counters. And yet to me this does not scratch the same itch that Baru does. I see the card with a hint of patina is a project; as something I can polish into a statement piece. There’s nothing wrong with people who play Bristly Bill and enjoy it but the card just does not resonate with me the same way the one from two decades ago does.
To me this gets to a crux of what puzzles me about the current state of Commander. When I started playing it was a format to look backwards for cards that lacked a home and give them a place to shine. It is well documented that today’s landscape dictates that Commander be a place for the new, but that does not mean we have to completely abandon the old. Baru does not ask much – just that you play Forests. Every year you can look for the cards that care about something similar (yes I have my eye on Roiling Canopy) and blend what brings a smile to your face with what reduces your opponents’ life totals to zero.
I want to take a moment to thank all my Patrons. I am going to do my level best to keep providing you with the kind of content that brought you here in the first place. If you are interested in supporting my work, you can sign up for my Patreon starting at just $1.
Can’t make a commitment to Patreon? I have a Ko-Fi where you can make a one time contribution.
NerdtotheCore 