Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky

MTG brewer and Commander gamer, Smash Bros. player, FFXIV raider, off-beat deckbuilder. He/Him

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Recently got the itch to play some competitive Magic again.

Split the finals in back-to-back Modern RCQs with Boros Ponza 🔥🔥

Deck is a blast to play, reminds me a lot of Lantern Control. It's methodical with many micro decisions.

https://t.co/e0cSvfFY24

[DeQuan Watson @powrdragn]

The Hunter Burton Memorial Open is this weekend! It's a huge $15K tournament with tons of big prize side events all weekend. Vendors, artists, auctions and more in the good ol' DFW!

https://t.co/ZKOIqq142o

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Extremely powerful cards are fun and awesome to play with, but less so when they show up frequently in the majority of games.

** Commanders that tutor are okay, as well as tutors that are necessary to make the deck function as intended. (Rule 0 applies as usual)

10/10

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Here's how I've been playing Commander the last 5 years:

Board Game Commander
1. No extra turns
2. No "You win the game" cards or self-contained infinite combos
3. No tutors except for getting lands

Thoughts on how I got here on the philosophy behind it in replies...

1/10

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

3. No tutors except for getting lands **

This one is a bit tricky, given tutor usage varies from person to person and deck to deck, but the main goal here is to increase variety and prevent games feeling the same.

9/10

[MTGGoldfish @MTGGoldfish]

Much Abrew: How Good in Lantern Control in 2024, Actually? (Modern) https://t.co/BS60Gxgji5 #mtg #mtgo #muchabrew

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

The deck did end up doing exactly what I wanted. I got to play quickly while making calculated and efficient decisions. Several cards over-performed at helping close games quickly, such as Sigarda's Vanguard and Mirrorweave.

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Deck 2 of 11: Dragonlord Ojutai, Flash Control

https://t.co/T238lORgSM

Main theme: Mostly flash creatures/permanents
Sub theme: Eventual 1v1 finisher with a resilient commander

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Ironically, this ended up having the opposite effect, such that other players had to spend more time thinking on their turn about what potential, invisible threats I was holding up each turn-cycle.

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

The ambush element is really what got me to enjoy playing this deck over and over. It feels just right to have the wolves/werewolves wait for the right time to strike. It opened up a lot of interesting ways to plan a turn-cycle and be sneaky about it.

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

I finally got around to adding all my IRL Commander decks to @moxfieldmtg . These are decks are ones I've put a ton of love and work into building, often towards a very specific theme or gameplay pattern.

Here's Tovolar, NOT A WOLF (deck 1 of 11)

https://t.co/ZNRf6Kmff7

[Zac Elsik / utdzac.bsky @utdzac]

Ive always wanted to have a Werewolf deck since original Innistrad, but was itching for something more novel than "just werewolves."

I decided on a dual theme:
- Deathtouch + Trample to close games via combat
- Ambush (flash) to really feel like werewolves surprise attacking