Magic: The Gathering
Wizards of the Coast's flagship TCG. Commander, Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Pauper, and Limited coverage — deck guides, card evaluations, set reviews, and format primers.
July 2026
2 posts
Best Cantrips in MTG, Ranked: Cheap Card Selection
A cantrip replaces itself and fixes your next few draws for one mana. That is the quiet engine under every consistent blue deck. Here are the best cantrips in Magic, ranked — and the trap of running them in a deck that does not want them.
Best Voltron Equipment in MTG Commander, Ranked
Voltron does not care about your board. It stacks equipment on one commander and swings for the 21 commander damage that ends a player on the spot. Here is the best Voltron gear in Commander, ranked — plus the protection that keeps your threat alive.
June 2026
40 posts
Best Reanimation Spells in MTG Commander, Ranked
One mana. That is what it costs to put a ten-mana creature onto the battlefield with Reanimate. Reanimation is the most efficient cheat in Commander, and here are the spells that do it best, ranked, with the enablers that make them live.
Best Fast Mana in MTG Commander, Ranked
Ramp builds you a bigger engine. Fast mana just hands you the mana, right now, and lets you spend it before anyone can react. Here is the best legal burst mana in Commander, ranked — and yes, we cover the cards that just got banned.
Best MTG Protection Spells, Ranked
You spent the whole game assembling a winning board, then someone untapped and Cyclonic Rift'd everything. A single protection spell prevents that. Here are the best ones in Magic, ranked, plus the trap of running too many.
Best MTG Stax Pieces for Commander, Ranked
Stax is the most hated archetype in Commander and the most misunderstood. Done right, it slows everyone but you. Here are the best resource-denial pieces, ranked, and the asymmetry rule that separates a winning lock from a salt mine.
Best Clone & Copy Effects in MTG Commander, Ranked
A clone is the best card in your deck on the right turn and a 0/0 in the graveyard on the wrong one. Here are the best clones and copy effects in Commander, ranked, with the flexibility and combo lines that actually decide which one earns the slot.
MTG Two-Headed Giant Format Guide: Rules and Strategy
Two-Headed Giant is the best way to play Magic with a friend instead of against everyone. Shared life, shared turns, one game plan between two players. Here are the real rules and the strategy that actually wins 2v2 games.
Best Lifegain Payoffs in MTG Commander, Ranked
Lifegain doesn't win games. Lifegain payoffs win games. Here are the best lifegain-matters cards in Commander — the payoffs that turn a high life total into damage, counters, or a hard kill, plus the enablers that feed them — ranked, with the combos that actually close.
Best Extra-Turn Spells in MTG, Ranked
An extra turn is the most powerful thing five mana can buy — and the fastest way to make a table hate you. Here are the best extra-turn spells in Magic, ranked, with the one rule that separates a winning Time Warp from a pointless durdle: an extra turn is only worth taking if you do something with it.
Magic: The Gathering Vintage Format Guide: The Power Nine, the Restricted List, and How to Actually Play It
Vintage is the only format where a turn-one win is a fair expectation and a $20,000 deck is a normal deck. Here is what Vintage actually is — the Power Nine, the restricted list, the proxy reality — and how a sane person gets in without selling a kidney.
Best Flicker & Blink Cards in MTG Commander, Ranked
Flicker decks turn 'enters the battlefield' triggers into a value engine that never stops. Here are the best blink enablers in Commander — ranked — plus the ETB payoffs that turn flicker from cute into oppressive.
MTG Oathbreaker Format Guide: Where to Start
Oathbreaker is what you get when you take Commander, swap the legendary creature for a planeswalker, and bolt on a signature spell you can only cast while that planeswalker is alive. Here is how the format works, how to build your first deck, and which oathbreakers actually win.
Best Aristocrats & Sacrifice Payoffs in Commander, Ranked
Aristocrats decks don't win by attacking — they win by turning your own creatures into a death machine. Here are the best sacrifice outlets and death-trigger payoffs in Commander, ranked, with the engine logic that tells you which pieces your deck actually needs.
MTG Brawl Format Guide: Standard Brawl vs Historic Brawl
Brawl is singleton Commander squeezed into a one-on-one Arena format that doesn't take forty minutes a game. Here's what Brawl is, how Standard Brawl and Historic Brawl differ, how to pick a commander, and how to build your first deck.
Best Token Generators in MTG Commander, Ranked
A board of forty 1/1s does nothing until you point it at someone. Here are the best token generators in Commander — ranked, with the doublers and payoffs that turn a pile of tokens into a one-turn kill.
Best Graveyard Recursion Spells in Commander, Ranked
Your graveyard is a second hand you already paid for. In a 40-life format, the deck that keeps buying its best cards back wins the long game. Here is the best graveyard recursion in Commander, ranked, with the color and cost that decides whether it belongs in your deck.
Magic: The Gathering Standard Format Guide: Where to Start
Standard is the format Wizards balances the hardest and the one new players actually have a shot in. Here is what Standard is, how rotation works, the archetypes that define it, and how to build your first deck without setting money on fire.
Best Mana Dorks in Commander, Ranked
A turn-one mana dork is the fastest ramp Magic has — until someone fires a board wipe and your whole acceleration plan dies in one card. Here are the dorks worth running, ranked, and when to play one over a rock.
MTG Commander Brackets Explained (The Power-Level System)
"What's your power level?" used to be the most useless question in Commander. WotC's official Bracket system finally gives it real numbers. Here's what Brackets 1 through 5 actually mean and how to use them so nobody gets stomped.
Best Commander Staples Every Deck Wants, Ranked
There's a short list of cards that show up in basically every Commander deck regardless of theme — the silent 25 that make the splashy 75 work. Here are the staples worth a slot in almost any list, sorted by the job they do, with the legality double-checked.
MTG Two-Color Guild Guide: Every Color Pair Explained
Magic players don't say 'white-blue,' they say Azorius — and the ten guild names carry real meaning about how each color pair plays. Here's every two-color combination, what it's actually good at, and the gameplan it pushes you toward.
Best Two-Card Combos in Commander, Ranked
A two-card combo wins the game the turn it assembles — no board state, no combat math, just two cards and an empty stack. Here are the most reliable and iconic ones in Commander, ranked, with the legality traps that get people game-loss'd.
MTG Deckbuilding Guide: Land and Spell Ratios
Most decks lose to their own mana, not their opponent. Here are the land counts that actually work by format, the spell skeleton every deck needs, and how to read a mana curve before you sleeve it up.
Best Artifacts in Magic: The Gathering, Ranked
The One Ring draws you out of any hole and Skullclamp turns one mana into an engine. Here are the best non-mana-rock artifacts in Magic, ranked by what they actually do, with current format legality on every card.
MTG Sideboarding Guide: How to Win Games 2 and 3
Most players build a 75-card deck and only ever think about 60 of them. The 15-card sideboard is where matches are actually won — here is how to build one and how to side correctly in games 2 and 3.
Magic: The Gathering Legacy Format Guide: Where to Start
Legacy is the format where almost every card ever printed is legal and a single land can cost more than a console. Here is what Legacy actually is, the archetypes that define it, and how a new player gets in without selling a kidney.
MTG Keyword Abilities Explained: From Flying to Ward
Magic packs whole rules into single words. Flying, trample, deathtouch, ward — each keyword is shorthand for a specific effect, and knowing them is the difference between reading a card and understanding it. Here is every common keyword, grouped and explained.
How the Stack and Priority Work in Magic: The Gathering
The stack is the single rules concept that decides whether you actually understand Magic or just play the cards. Here is how it resolves, when you get priority, how to respond to a spell, and the timing rulings that trip up every new player.
MTG Mana Base Guide: How to Build Your Lands
The fastest way to lose a game of Magic is a mana base you eyeballed. Too few lands and you stumble; the wrong colors and your hand bricks. Here is how to count lands, count pips, and pick the right duals, fetches, and shocks for the deck you actually have.
Best Enchantments in Magic: The Gathering, Ranked
Enchantments are the cards opponents forget to kill — quiet permanents that bury you in value one turn at a time. Here are the best enchantments in Magic, ranked, with the color, cost, and legality on each one verified.
How Combat Works in Magic: The Gathering, Explained
Combat is where most Magic games are won, and it is also where most new players misplay. Here is the combat phase broken down step by step — attackers, blockers, damage, and the keywords like first strike, trample, and deathtouch that bend the rules.
Best Equipment in Magic: The Gathering, Ranked
Skullclamp turns one mana into a card-draw engine and Umezawa’s Jitte can win a game by itself. Here are the best Equipment cards in Magic, ranked for Commander, with what each one actually does and where it shines.
The MTG Color Pie, Explained: What Each Color Does
Every card in Magic belongs to a color, and each color has a personality, a set of strengths, and things it flat-out can't do. Here's what White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green each stand for, why the color pie exists, and how to pick yours.
Best Board Wipes in Magic: The Gathering, Ranked
A board wipe is the reset button you press when the table got out of hand and it's your fault for not pressing it sooner. Here are the best mass removal spells in MTG, ranked, with the format context and the trap of running too few.
Magic: The Gathering Modern Format Guide: Where to Start
Modern is the deepest 60-card format Magic has, and it is the one where your old cards never rotate out. Here is what Modern actually is, the archetypes that define it, and how a new player gets in without lighting a paycheck on fire.
Magic: The Gathering Pioneer Format Guide: Where to Start
Pioneer is the format for people who want a deep, non-rotating card pool without the Modern Horizons arms race. Here is what Pioneer actually is, the archetypes that define it, and how a newcomer gets in without overpaying.
Best Card Draw Spells in Commander, Ranked
In a 40-life format, the deck that draws the most cards usually wins — it is that simple. Here is the best repeatable and burst card draw in Commander, ranked, with the color and downside that decides whether it belongs in your deck.
Best Ramp Spells in Commander, Ranked
Green doesn't get to be the best color in Commander by accident — it gets there by playing turn-three spells on turn two. Here is the ramp worth running, ranked, with the difference between a ramp spell, a rock, and a dork made clear.
Best Commanders for Beginners, Ranked
The fastest way to bounce off Commander is to pick a five-color combo deck as your first build and lose fourteen games in a row. Here are the legends that teach the format, ranked, with the mana base you'll actually be able to cast.
Magic: The Gathering Pauper Format Guide: Where to Start
Pauper is real Magic for the price of a pizza — every card is a common, and the games are still cutthroat. Here is what Pauper actually is, the pillars of the meta, and how a newcomer gets in for almost nothing.
Best Tutors in Commander, Ranked
A tutor turns your 100-card singleton deck into a deck that draws the right card on cue. Here are the best tutors in Commander, ranked by power and flexibility — and the difference between a tutor that wins games and one that just digs.
May 2026
19 posts
How to Draft: An MTG Limited Guide for Beginners
Your first draft goes badly because you pick the coolest card instead of the best card, and you stay open into three colors when you should have committed by pick five. Here is the fundamentals course that fixes both.
Best Counterspells in Magic: The Gathering, Ranked
The best counterspell is the one that's still in your hand when the opponent tries to win. Here are the strongest counters across Commander, Legacy, and Modern — ranked, with the format context that decides which one belongs in your deck.
Best Mana Rocks in Commander (2026) — The Ramp Artifacts Every EDH Deck Wants
Sol Ring is in your opening hand or it isn't, and the game usually goes the way that coin flips. Here are the mana rocks worth running, ranked by what they actually do for your deck.
Best Planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — A Cross-Format Tier List
Planeswalkers promised to be the most powerful card type ever printed. Most of them flopped. The handful that didn't bend entire formats around themselves. Here's the tier list.
MTG Mulligan Guide (2026) — How the London Mulligan Works and When to Take It
More games are lost to bad keeps than to bad draws. The mulligan is the most important decision you make all game, and most players punt it. Here's how to stop.
Best Removal Spells in MTG (2026) — Every Color Ranked
Removal is the most underbuilt category in casual Commander decks, and it is the cheapest way to win a game. Here are the best removal spells in every color, plus board wipes and budget picks.
MTG Deck Archetypes Explained — Aggro, Midrange, Control & Combo
Every Magic deck ever built is a variation on four ideas. Here is what aggro, midrange, control, and combo actually do, when each one wins, and how to find the archetype that matches the way you like to play.
How to Build a Commander Deck — The 10/10/10 Template
Most bad Commander decks fail on category balance, not card choice. Here is the 10/10/10 skeleton that fixes ramp, draw, removal, and lands in one move.
Best Lands in MTG Commander (2026) — Fixing, Utility, and How Many to Run
A Commander deck's mana base loses or wins more games than its spells do. Most new players run 33 lands and wonder why they keep getting screwed. Here are the staples, the budget swaps, and the right land count for every archetype.
MTG Commander Format Guide — How to Start Playing EDH (2026)
Commander is the most-played MTG format on the planet and the easiest one for new players to start in. The rules look intimidating on paper. They are not. Here is the full beginner guide.
Best Budget Commander Decks Under $100 (2026) — 7 Lists That Actually Win
A $100 Commander deck beats a half-built premium deck most nights. The premium cost lives in the mana base, not the wincons. Here are seven $100-or-under builds that actually win games.
Best White Cards in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — Commander Staples & Format Standouts
White spent a decade as the punching bag of Commander color rankings. Esper Sentinel, Smothering Tithe, and Farewell ended that argument. Here are the white cards worth building around in 2026.
Best Blue Cards in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — Counterspells, Card Draw & Control Staples
Blue's deal is simple. The best counterspell is the one you don't have to cast, and the best card-draw engine is the one your opponents help fuel. Here are the blue cards that still set the bar in 2026.
Best Black Cards in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — Tutors, Removal & Commander Staples
Black's whole identity is paying a cost to break a rule. Demonic Tutor finds anything. Necropotence draws everything. Here are the staples that have defined the color for 20+ years.
Best Red Cards in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — Burn, Wheels & Commander Staples
Red has the best one-mana spell in MTG history, the best draw-7 in MTG history, and one of the best banned cards in MTG history. Building red in 2026 is mostly about which of those traditions you are leaning into.
Best Green Cards in Magic: The Gathering (2026) — Ramp, Big Creatures & Commander Staples
Green is the only color that can plop a 16/16 trampler on turn 5 in Commander without doing anything clever. Here are the staples that make it happen.
Standard After the May 2026 Ban Wave — What to Brew Now That Cori-Steel Is Gone
Ten cards banned in a single swing. Izzet Prowess is dead, Mono-Red is gutted, and Azorius Omniscience lost its engine. Here is what is actually playable now.
How Nathan Steuer Won Pro Tour Strixhaven With Selesnya Landfall
Nathan Steuer brought Selesnya Landfall to a Pro Tour where 49% of the field was Izzet. Then he won the mirror in the finals. Here is how the deck actually works and how to build it now that the bans hit.
Secrets of Strixhaven Tier List — 20 Cards That Actually Matter
Secrets of Strixhaven shipped 270 cards. Most will never see Standard play. Here are the 20 that actually matter, the hype mythics that flopped, and what the May 18 bans changed.