On day three of leftovers for lunch, have a day off? Switch it up with a double cheeseburger for £249 on the McDonald's Savour menu. Leftovers left the chat. Talk about Savour satisfaction. Served from 11am, price and participation may vary. These apply to delivery orders. Subject to availability. Greetings, humans. You have entered the command zone. Your destination for all aspects of Elder Dragon Highlander. Enjoy your stay. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Command Zone podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Weeks, and today's episode is going to be a little bit different. I wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for the last couple of months. I actually brought it up in the year in review episode that came out a few weeks ago. It was in the design trends for 2025. It sparked a little bit of interest because Trinket Mage just released an episode on the topic as well. If you like this episode, go check out Trinket Mage's episode. We'll leave a link in the show notes to go watch that. But I've got a few things that I want to work through, so I hope you enjoy this episode. Let's get into it. In 1994, in Magic's early youth, the first tournament rules were released, limiting players to four copies of each non-basic in their deck and setting a deck size minimum to 60. This prevented the creation of decks like this urban legend. Twenty Black Lotus' 39 ancestral recalls and, of course, one fireball. A few years later, Elder Dragon Highlander took things a step further with a hundred-card decks. Named after the 1986 fantasy film Highlander, whose tagline is famously, There Can Only Be One, Highlander and its variants are also singleton formats. There Can Only Be One of each non-basic card in the deck. And singleton has done a lot for commander's identity. It lowered the barrier to entry because you don't need multiple copies of expensive cards for a single deck. It also made space for pet cards or combos. More than that, it distinguished commander from the popular 60-card competitive formats of the time. Given its larger deck and singleton nature, it would make sense that commander decks are less consistent than their 60-card cousins. But today, that's not true. After decades of new magic cards and the boom of commander popularity, singleton looks very different than it used to. Functional reprints are everywhere. There are 17 explosive vegetation effects, there are 12 two-mana land ram spells, there are 25 aristocrat effects and 15 token doublers. If it's an effect you want in commander, there are probably 10 of them. Let's look at some numbers. In a 60-card deck, a play set of four makes up 6.7% of your deck, which gives you roughly 40% chance of having it in your opening hand. But in commander, the only limit to how many cards of a certain type you can run is how many cards of that type cost and color that Wizards has printed. A Bant token deck, for example, currently has access to 12 traditional token doublers. In a 99-card deck, that's 12.1% of your deck, which gives you roughly 60.7% chance of having it in your opening hand. And that's before a free mulligan and a guaranteed draw on the first turn. In other words, Singleton isn't restricting consistency anymore. It's enabling it. This episode is a little bit different for us. We're trying something new and if you want to be a part of the team and help us try some cool new things, well, we are hiring. We have several full-time positions available, ranging from entry level to more specialized and advanced roles. All of those requirements are going to be available on the website. Applicants for full-time positions, you need to be located in the Los Angeles area. But don't worry, if you don't live in Los Angeles, we do have some freelance positions open as well. And that's available to anyone anywhere in the world. We're also open to talking to anybody who's just talented and ambitious and loves magic. If you don't think that you necessarily fit into any of the descriptions on the website, that's totally fine. You can send an email to jobsatcommandzone.com with a resume and a cover letter and just tell us why you should work for us. If you need more information on how to apply or what kind of jobs are available, please go to commandzone.com slash jobs for all of those details. Honestly, working for the command zone has been a dream come true. My favorite thing about it is every day. My day looks different. I get to participate in new and exciting videos. I get to try new things. I get to learn a lot. And we're a part of a team who's just really passionate about making cool stuff. So apply even if you're not sure that you'll make it. So hope to hear from you. If you like this episode and you like the command zone, you can support us in other ways by just using our affiliate link. If you're buying magic cards, go to cardkingdom.com slash command. Card Kingdom has all of the singles and sealed product that you need to be a well-versed magic player. If you're into LoreWin Eclipse, they have all of the new singles and the sealed product from LoreWin. There's a ton of new cards. We talk all about them in the 99 video. So check that out if you don't know what to pick up yet. I especially love shopping from Card Kingdom right after a new set drops because I have a whole list of cards that I want to buy for my decks and I can paste it right into the advanced deck builder and it'll tell me all the versions that they have in stock and their prices and their foiling. I can buy them all in one place and get back to building my deck. So Card Kingdom makes it really easy. They're really trustworthy. And if you use our affiliate link, you're also supporting the show at cardkingdom.com slash command. And once those cards are in your hand, you're going to need to protect them. Go to ultrapro.com slash command to get all of the accessories. You need to be a well-accessorized magic player. You need sleeves, you need deck boxes, you need play mats, you need card sorters, you need everything to make sure that your collection is safe, looking good and organized. I know the number of magic cards in the house can get out of control fast. So I picked up the card sorting tray and that's like how I store all my unsorted cards. And then I use it to put those cards back away. Especially after a new set when I bought a ton of cards like Lorwin. I know that I'm going to need sleeves for a new deck. I'm going to need a deck box for that deck and maybe I need a play mat to customize as well. They've got high quality stuff and they have sales that drop all the time. So if you haven't signed up for that Ultra Pro newsletter, they'll let you know anytime there's a big discount. They've got a new Bob Ross line that's completely adorable. I bought a Bob Ross binder for my lands and it's perfect. So check out ultrapro.com slash command and you'll be supporting the show. And finally, we shout out one lucky patron every single podcast episode and this one is dedicated to Ryan Bird Knee House. Ryan, you rock. Okay, let's get back into it. Printing redundant effects isn't new or necessarily a bad thing. Wizards has been doing this for limited formats for years to keep draft formats consistently functional, fun and legible. Just picture how many tapped dual land cycles there are. Those were all largely printed for draft and sealed. This wasn't a problem for commander of course because the redundancy was focused on commons and uncommons. Draft chat that doesn't see widespread play in our format. But in the last few years, we're seeing this kind of practice with powerful commander effects like crucible of worlds, splendid reclamation, spark double and more. In unlike limited, commander is an eternal format and must bear the weight of every legal card printed into it. The more redundant cards we have, the more consistent and ultimately powerful our decks become. Let's take crucible of worlds as an example. It was printed in 2004 and fifth dawn and became a popular and powerful commander staple. The first redundant effect, Ramian App Excavator, was printed in 2017 with the set Hour of Devastation 13 years later. Wizards has printed seven more redundant effects. Ancient Green Warden in 2020, Perennial Behemoth and Zask Skittering Swarmlord in 2022, Conduit of Worlds in 2023, Walking Closet in 2024 and Glacierwood Siege and Ice Til Explorer in 2025. A soltideck that wanted this effect could play all nine. Universe is Beyond introduces a new wrinkle that will probably lead to even more redundant effects. If Wizards is designing a set, like Final Fantasy for example, and they want to include a Blood Artist effect, they're put in an awkward position. Many of the cards they could reprint are vampires and not appropriate for the Final Fantasy IP. Others are legendary or named after magic specific locations like Zulaport Cutthroat or Falconrath Noble. In this case, Bastion of Remembrance made for a comfortable reprint, but they also printed new redundant effects in Elbed Salvagers and Sephiroth Fabled Soldier. This is true for a lot of popular commander effects. There are six hero-like effects in print today, two are Universe is Beyond. There are six equipment cost reducers, three are Universe is Beyond. There are eight cards that copy activated or triggered abilities, three are UB. We have 32 cards that can copy legendary creatures and 13 of them are UB. As Trinket Mage pointed out in his video, this only really changes things if the player actually wants all of those copies of redundant effects. Crucible effects for example don't stack. Once you have one in play, you probably don't need another, so it seems unlikely that you'll run all nine. In short, we've already printed past the number of slots this effect would likely occupy. So if Wizards printed a tenth Crucible, which feels likely at this point, it actually doesn't change the deck's consistency. The same is true for Token Doubler, Splendid Reclamations, Two-Manor Rocks, and more. Let's take this to the extreme. Let's say that they have printed infinite versions of all of the possible cards that we play in Commander. This honestly isn't that different from where we are today, because we only play up to a certain number of each effect anyway. It is very possible that your deck could play the same way each game, casting the same 4-5 redundant effects in slightly different orders each game. Turn 1, nothing. Turn 2, ramp. Turn 3, Commander. Turn 4, Two-Manor Enabler. Plus Three-Manor Payoff. Then turn 5, Four-Manor Enhancer and hold up a bit of disruption. Turn 6, we go for the win. Does this sound familiar to you? Because Commander's kind of already there. When I build a Commander deck, I think first about my curve. What do I want to be doing on turns 1, 2, and 3? When do I want to cast my Commander? What effects do I want reliable access to? All of these questions can usually be answered by, what card do I have in the Command Zone? Having a guaranteed card in your opening hand is so powerful, it enables you to develop and build towards a plan that is so consistent it's impossible in any other format. Let's take a look at my Ellie and Allen paleontologists deck. For two a green, a white, and a blue, it's a 2-5 legendary creature human scientist. It has an activated ability that's tap, exile a creature card from your graveyard, discover X where X is the mana value of the exiled card. Activate only as a sorcery. This is a $100 budget deck with a Keruga companion to curb power level. The deck gets its power almost exclusively from its consistency. I run 19 creatures that cycle for two mana or less. Which means I have an 86.6% chance to have a Cycler in my hand by turn 2. I have 17 pieces of 3 mana ramp in my deck to cast my 5 mana commander on turn 4. This means I have an 86.3% chance of drawing one by turn 3 when I absolutely need it. With a free mulligan, I will have a 1 or 2 mana Cycler, a 3 mana piece of ramp, and the land to use them both in my opening hand, 68% of the time. Cler will never be 20 Black Lotus's 39 ancestral recalls and fireball. But in terms of consistency, we're the closest any format has ever gotten. And we're getting closer. Consistency doesn't equal power level all on its own. But it is part of the recipe. To me, power comes from three main ingredients. Card quality, synergy, and consistency. We talk a lot about card quality. When we upgrade our deck, we add powerful staples. When we limit our power level, we leave them out. We label them ban-worthy, or game changers, or simply cracked. Card synergy and consistency are more difficult to measure. They're more dependent on their context, and they're less socially stigmatized. So we often don't consider them when we're intentionally limiting our power level at all. When I build decks, I seek to maximize my consistency and my synergy, even though I often curb the card quality of my decks. Consistency isn't necessarily a bad thing. Builds aren't ripping the redundant effects out of your decks just yet. Most commander players play their decks only once or twice a month, so it makes sense to try to ensure that they perform well on those special occasions. When I build a deck for game nights, I only get one shot with it, so I try to build in a way that guarantees a solid showing. Building a deck that functions well can be really rewarding. It's a great aspiration for burgeoning young deck builders who are still developing their skills. I wouldn't advise any new deck builders to start throwing the concepts of synergy and consistency out the window anytime soon. But for the advanced deck builders who can reliably assemble a functioning deck on the first or second try, overindexing into consistency can be unchallenging or simply boring. Decks that function exactly the same way each time can go stale faster. They can require less creativity when playing. I found that my decks that are the most consistent are also often the first that get taken apart. If they can be solved in a sitting or two, then they're not worth maintaining or even playing. So what? If you're not bothered or bored by consistency in your deck, then nothing. You're doing great. But if you're like me and you feel the same kind of itch that decks are less interesting when they run perfectly each time, then there are actually a few potential options. The most straightforward answer is self-imposed restriction. Build with a budget. Only use cards with art from your commander's plane. Mandate that all the cards in your deck have to have flavor text. Add a companion. Choose a restriction that makes you excited. Make commander a little less eternal for yourself. It doesn't have to be that strict, either. Maybe you just limit yourself to seven cards with a redundant effect. That's statistically similar to the four card playset in non-singleton formats. If restriction doesn't get your juices flowing, maybe add disruption or reactive spells, especially for the first few turns. They ensure your gameplay and your opponents are not set in stone, playing out the same way you always play. Everyone will be forced to adapt and react on the fly. As the most consistent format in history, I don't know. Maybe it's time we lose the free mulligan. I don't think that would go over very well. I'm going to talk a little bit off the cuff about the commander mulligan rule after I talk about the sponsors, but you've got to stick around. Aha! Psycrift. Yeah, the stick feels like a three. Updating your decks? No, I'm just sorting them into commander brackets. Oh, just use Archidect. It's the easiest way to get an estimate of your deck's bracket. Plus, you can click the number and it'll lay out the reasoning. It takes things like tutors, extra turns, and land destruction into account, and game changers are all clearly marked. It even recognizes two card combos. See? It's saying your deck is actually a four. It'll be a three if you've got Rhystic Study. Huh. Okay. Four it is. Archidect is the best place to browse, brew, and check your deck's commander brackets. Just go to Archidect.com slash Command Zone to get started. That's A-R-C-H-I-D-E-K-T dot com slash Command Zone. If you enjoyed this episode, you can support this episode and episodes like it at cardkingdom.com slash command. You're going to buy Magic Cards when you do so. You can support the show. By using that affiliate link that just says that we sent you. Plus, Card Kingdom has a ton of the cards that you want all in the same place. I know you guys are excited about Lorwyn Eclipse because there's a lot of cool, sweet cards. If you're picking up either the pre-cons that are completely cracked, check out our pre-con upgrade guides. There's cards in both of those that you can pick up from Card Kingdom. When you do so, you can support the show. If you use our affiliate link at cardkingdom.com slash command. And finally, once those cards are in your hand, you can support us by going to ultrapro.com slash command to get sleeves, deck boxes, card sorting trays, play mats, everything that you need to be a well-accessorized Magic player. Ultra Pro has high quality stuff. So if you like committing to one play mat and locking in that you know that the play mat that you get from Ultra Pro is going to last you a long time. Plus, they've got some really sweet options. If you haven't seen the new Bob Ross line, there's a bunch of binders and Apex sleeves with Bob Ross art on them. I'm obsessed. They're very peaceful. They're lovely. And they don't look like any binders I've ever seen. I bought some for my LANs binder because it's got a mountain on it. Cute. So I always know where I can find my LANs binder. It's pretty fun. And if you shot up at Ultra Pro, you're supporting the show. If you use the affiliate link at ultrapro.com slash command. Okay, let's talk about the free mulligan rule in commander. Just a little note. We haven't talked about this in the CFP. Wizards hasn't mentioned it. This is just me musing about consistency in commander. Okay, but it's very interesting because I think the free mulligan rule is something that we really take for granted. And a lot of playgroups even extend the free mulligan rule. So you can take infinite free mulligans or they'll do a draw 10, put three back, or they'll make it very easy to find a perfect hand, which I think makes sense in a casual format. It makes sense in a multiplayer format. The games are long. You want to be able to play well and really show off what your deck's going to do. But as we talked about in this episode, commander is so consistent that it might just not need it. Like at certain power levels, obviously, if you're like a pretty new deck builder, then your deck isn't super consistent yet. You haven't really achieved those benchmarks. So sticking to the regular mulligan, like the free mulligan and maybe infinite free mulligans makes sense. If you're playing with like a highly experienced group or a very powerful playgroup where everybody kind of knows what they're doing, I recommend that you don't mess around with the mulligan rule. Just take your one free one and then mulligan normally because it sort of encourages bad deck building. It encourages you not taking into account like actual stats of how likely you are to draw certain things. And in commander, you're like already pretty likely to draw certain things. So and there's like the fact that you just get more first turn soul rings and the games are just generally worse. I would just say like make sure even if you have a super lax mulligan system in your playgroup that your decks work with a regular mulligan, just like one free mulligan and playing because when you go to LGS or when you go to a magic on, people might expect that you don't like they might not may not give you infinite free mulligans or whatever. And if your deck is designed working with infinite free mulligans, then it's not going to function in those settings. And honestly, like your deck can work without infinite free mulligans and it can't. It can work with one free mulligan. I think it could even work without a free mulligan. I wanted to mention like technically the free mulligan is in place because it's a multiplayer format, not because it's a singleton format. It's not about the consistency of the deck. It's about the length of the game. And you don't want to like have a bad hand in a really long game because you can just lose before you even started playing. So you know, maybe that's reason alone to leave in the free mulligan. But the fact that you just have a guaranteed card in your opening hand all the time means that like most hands would be fine without mulliganing multiple times. And when you open up like infinite free mulligans or when you open up even one free mulligan, you're more likely to find that perfect hand that plays out the same way every single time where it's like two man of rock or your commander. And it may just make your deck less boring or more boring to play. I'm kind of against playgroups just mulliganing infinite times unless they're really learning because I think you just kind of learn bad habits. You learn bad things about your deck. You get bad information when you mulligan a whole bunch of times. And even if you do do that, you should really like take note of how many times you had to mulligan because that's a problem. You don't want to be the last one shuffling all the time. So I don't know. I don't know if I think like commander should lose the free mulligan, but I wonder if it's like this sort of extra treat that we just don't need because like our decks are really very functional, more functional than 60 card decks because we have all of this redundancy that's naturally built in. So something I've been thinking about. Let me know what you think in the comments. I'm curious. But if you like this episode, cool. We're trying something new. Let us know in the comments as well. Just trying a shorter episode with a bit more of an essay feel. Big thank you to our team who was flexible about making this happen. Thank you to Karina Cruz, Josh Diaz, John Schneider, Garab Ghaladi, Jamie Block, Jordan Pridgen, Jake Boss, Becky Bell, Eric Lem, Manson Lung, Josh Murphy, Evan Limburger, Sam Waldo, Josh Lequie, and of course, Jimmy Wong. See you next time. Bye. Looking to level up workplace conferencing and collaboration? Shore delivers scalable, high quality solutions for every space. So your teams connect and collaborate with confidence. Simplify your solutions and standardize at scale with Shore. Shore, built for collaboration. Learn more at shure.com. Slash solutions. Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally breathe.
