The guys announce the new show! Find it at http://highlandersmtg.com! Subscribe right now by pointing your podcast feed reader at http://highlandersmtg.com/feed The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 65 – A Special Message! appeared first on The Five …

The guys talk Value Green cards and share fun news for 2016! www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 64 – Value Green Cards and 2016 News! appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

KC and Dan play a couple of games of Commander 2015, with commentary about the gameplay and analysis between. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 63 – KC and Dan Play Commander 2015 appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

A 4 player game with Commander 2015 and a review along the way. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 62 – Commander 2015 Live Gameplay Review appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys talk about Commander 2015. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 61 – Commander 2015 Preview appeared first on The Five Commanders™.By The Five Commanders

The guys talk about the play habits that have helped them along the way. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 60 – Developing Good Play Habits appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys talk about their Halloween themed decks and an idea they had for a Co-Op Commander Variant.. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 59 – Halloween Themed Decks appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys talk about building new decks based on commanders from Battle for Zendikar. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 58 – Building for Battle for Zendikar appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys talk about keeping the game friendly when you find your decks are far outmatching your opponents. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 57 – Keeping It Friendly appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys go through the MTG Salvation thread "Statistical Breakdown of the Commander Metagame" (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/204274-statistical-breakdown-of-the-commander-metagame), discussing the top 50 cards used by commander players. Part 2 - The top 25! www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel…

The guys talk about their first impressions of the latest set, Battle For Zendikar. Say what they like, they all preordered some boxes! www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 55 – Battle for Zendikar First Impressions appeare…

The guys go through the MTG Salvation thread "Statistical Breakdown of the Commander Metagame" (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/204274-statistical-breakdown-of-the-commander-metagame), discussing the top 50 cards used by commander players. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, D…

In this episode, everyone surprises themselves with how much there genuinely is to talk about everyone's most derided card type - auras! www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 53 – Auras appeared first on The Five Commanders™…

The guys talk about what they are playing and a little Commander 2015 speculation. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 52 – What Are You Playing / Commander 2015 Speculation appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

K.C., Ben and Dan continue to work on the patient, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. Ben talks through different solutions, while Dan contemplates leaving the patient on the operating table. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 51 –…

Dan and Ben continue to take a massive hit for the audience by continuing the Commander for Beginners pub series at a Tavern. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 50 – Pubisode – Evolving Your Precon appeared first on The F…

The guys dive into Dan's blue and black deck based around Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. In Part 1, they analyze the deck, talk about fun matchups with it and identify the issues it has. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 49 – …

The guys review Magic Origins, and talk about their favorite cards from the new set. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders™ are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 48 – Magic Origins appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys dive back from a long hiatus and pick up the Value series with the volatile color Red. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh Copyright 2015 The Five Commanders LLC The post Episode 47 – Value Red appeared first on The Five Commanders™.…

The guys welcome Sheldon Menery back to talk about the tuck rule change announced on Monday, March 23rd. Tucking is when a spell or effect sends a card back into your library, effectively removing it for the rest of the game. That rule change standardizes the tuck rule with that of "destroy" and "exile" effects for a commander. www.thefivecommander…

The guys discuss cards from Dragons of Tarkir. Saying these are their "favorites" is a bit much, though. Great debates await our faithful listeners. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2015 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLu…

Three of the commanders take on a special deck building exercise they called the "Junk Rare Challenge" with friend John Zarco along for the ride. In the junk rare challenge, the guys and John bought no more than $40 in rares at a local swap meet from a single vendor's "junk rare" box. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, …

The guys talk about the first week of Dragons of Tarkir #MTGDTK spoilers and get really, really, silly, focusing on the key- and ability words in the block. They also talk a little about the Magic Panel at PAX East. Watch: the PAX East 2015 Magic: the Gathering panel here. the Dragons of Tarkir trailer here. the Battle for Zendikar teaser here. www…

The guys take a look at K.C.'s Melek deck and suggest ways he can make it more effective. We start with a decent shell and take a surprise twist near the end. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2015 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh,…

The guys have a conversation about how the aggro strategy works in Commander/EDH. They talk about how the strategy is different from the way it plays in other formats. Check out Jeff Cunningham's article about deck archetypes on the mothership, "Aggro, Combo, and Control." Please read Douglas Buel's article on the Geek, "What I Know About Magic: th…

The guys talk about the black cards that provide them the most value in EDH. The list is long... like we play black a lot or something... We also talk about Sheldon Menery's podcast, our upcoming league, and Magic: Origins. We mention Sheldon's podcast "In Command," which you should listen to if you can download it. Visit Sheldon on Facebook, Twitt…

The guys welcome Sheldon Menery for a mind-blowing interview. We might have asked him to drink wine. Visit Sheldon on Facebook, Twitter, his food & wine blog, and his podcast (which drops Thursday 12 FEB). Visit the website of the Martinelli Winery & Vineyards. Visit the website of the Cougar's Leap Winery. Listen to the Sawbones podcast. www.thefi…

The guys talk about The Five Commanders EDH league we're starting on MARCH 1st with and at Emerald Knights, our special guest coming up (you'll have to listen!), and the meta rules we've adopted to keep our games sane. We also discuss some of the meta rules our listeners sent in, and wish we had a drinking game that covered when certain listeners a…

The guys talk about the Selesnya Conclave guild strategies and cards to use in the Commander format. We talk about the commanders we use, would suggest, and which to avoid. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2015 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollu…

This episode is a continuation of our Fate Reforged 5x5 set review. Take a quick trip over to part 1 if you haven't heard it yet. The guys talk about Fate Reforged from a Commander's perspective and put many cards under the microscope. Hear surprise opinions about cards you love and learn the Five Commanders' dark secret about playing Magic. www.th…

The guys talk about Fate Reforged from a Commander's perspective and put several cards under the microscope. This is a whopper of a topic, and we divided the episode into two parts. This, as you might imagine, is the first part. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca C…

The guys talk about what they've been playing, then dive into a first look at Fate Reforged mechanics and discuss a few cards. This is our first time together in a while, so we take a very conversational approach. The more you know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3rhQc666Sg www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton A…

The guys (Dan and Ben) try something new and bring you this week's episode from a pub! They talk about Commander for beginners, though these two Spike/Johnnies can't help but get into the nitty-gritty of Commander strategy. We recorded this in November, but have been saving it for just the end of the year - for the new players joining us in this wo…

The guys talk about how they modified two of the Commander 2014 decks - Phil tweaked Green with Titania as the commander, and Brenton overhauled White and kept Nahiri as commander. Download them and try them out, then let us know in the comments or on Facebook/Twitter what you thought of the decks. Fancy hybrid mana symbol by no-wing: http://smg.ph…

The guys talk about the blue cards a budget-conscious EDH/Commander player might consider adding to his or her deck. We left out the really expensive cards, but included quite a few you might not have heard about. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 B…

The guys (Phil and Brenton) talk about using planeswalkers as commanders, as well as some of the reasons Wizards of the Coast and the Commander Rules Committee probably didn't want to do that from the beginning. We also do a card-by-card analysis of a few planeswalkers and talk about how bah-roken some of them would be as your commander. www.thefiv…

This is a special re-release and remaster of Episode 4, Apps and Accessories. The guys talk about a special invitation one of them received, a few spoilers, and have a conversation about applications, web sites, dice, playmats, and other accessories and resources they use while playing. After the music, Phil and Brenton post updates. Links to Apps …

The guys give everyone a sneak peek of their "second impressions" of the C14 pre-constructed decks, then answer the best questions from the best listeners on the Internet - ours! www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan M…

The guys talk about tournaments in general, and walk through some rules for EDH/Commander tournaments. They acknowledge this is controversial and believe the rules support the spirit of EDH and why we all love it so much. Also, K.C. is tiring of playing Narset one on one - it's just too good. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben D…

The guys share their first impressions of the Commander 2014 product. They discuss the metagame impacts of a set designed with cards pushed to be more effective for their favorite format, Commander. You will be surprised by some of their opinions. For after the episode: a special thanks to openboosters for the fine audio: https://www.youtube.com/wa…

This episode is from the vault - the guys talk about a few M15 cards and dive into a roiling discussion about politics. Classically, they disagree about the nature of and what constitutes EDH politics! Find out one of the things Ben always says. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Mar…

The guys talk about the Izzet guild (blue red color combination) and its strengths and weaknesses in EDH. Among other topics, enjoy the discussion about sorceries being the slower cousins of instants. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 Ben Doeckel, B…

The guys discuss budget staple cards in White, sharing their top picks under $10 and their honorable mentions over that. They try to keep their list aimed at a new EDH player operating on a decent-but-not-unlimited card budget, but they get into a few of the rare power cards, too. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Bren…

The guys talk about EDH decks they made that didn't turn out so well and what it was about them that didn't work. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca The post Episode 22 – Failed Dec…

The guys do a Deck Doctoring session with Phil's Athreos, God of Passage EDH deck. In part 2, Brenton shares some EDH rule changes then weighs in on what tweaks he would make to Phil's Athreos deck. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 Ben Doeckel, Bre…

The guys do a 5x5 review of Kahns of Tarkir reviewing the set mechanics, new commanders and their 5 favorite cards from the set. The show finishes with some speculation on where the story of the block is taking us. Will we see the Eldrazi again? www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Mar…

The guys do a "Deck Doctoring" session with Phil's Athreos, God of Passage deck. In this part 1 of 2 episodes, Phil breaks down his deck for us and shows us what considerations went into his current build while answering questions and taking feedback. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.…

The guys muse about the future of the Khans of Tarkir block from a Commander perspective then get into a discussion about banning cards vs. banning players from your playgroup and how we all feel both about banning and difficult players/situations. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. …

The guys discuss card evaluation for Commander. After a brief description of how they rate cards during set reviews they delve into contextual evaluation of cards. www.thefivecommanders.com The Five Commanders are: Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. Marsh, Phil DeLuca Copyright 2014 Ben Doeckel, Brenton Anderson, Dan McCollum, K.C. M…

In this episode, K.C., Dan, Brenton and Ben discussed how and when to become a "problem" in your game of Commander. The guys defined when you are the Problem Maker - i.e. running a really strong deck that will draw and deal with hate from other players immediately, and when you are the Problem Solver, i.e. prepared to deal with everything going on …