Commander Social

Episode 24 - Art of the Group Game

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Art of the Group Game  
  1. Today we're going to talk about how to bring your A-game for the group game.  Group games in MTG can range from silly and casual to cutthroat and political.  The Commander format lends itself to a more casual atmosphere since the decks are usually slower off the block, but getting knocked out first always sucks so we're going to talk about what it takes to thrive and survive in a multi-hour game against your closest geeks.  But before we get to the Art of the Group Game…
  2. Community Spotlight:
    1. Mad Hatter - 00:04:40
    2. @z4ck38 - 00:13:54
  3. Thanks
    1. Mike Condon for the music and editing
    2. Tiffany for the logo/icon
    3. Special Thanks to Dylan Hicks for the use of their Thunder Clap sound in the episode: http://www.flashkit.com/soundfx/Nature/Storm/Lightnin-Dylan_Hi-8584/index.php
  4. Main Topic - Art of the Group Game
    1. Overview of what a group game is
      1. Touch on some of the group game types
        1. Kitchen Table Magic
        2. Emperor / Two Headed Giant
        3. Arch-Enemy
        4. Commander
      2. Talk about finding the right number of players per table
        1. I like 4. Lee made a table
      3. Review the specifics of the Commander group rules
        1. Command Zone
        2. 21 points to kill with commander
    2. Powerful  Mechanics
      1. Talk about what types of card mechanics are powerful in group games
        1. Targeting all opponents
          1. Extort - Blind Obedience
        2. Targeting all players
          1. Pestilence / Pyrohemia
        3. Abilities that scale with opponents
          1. Syphon Mind
          2. Syphon Soul
          3. Syphon Flesh
    3. Un-fun Mechanics
      1. Things that make the game too slow
        1. Staxy cards - Winter Orb
        2. Meekstone
      2. Things that kill the pace of the game
        1. Wipes
        2. Mass LD (Armageddon)
      3. Things that make players feel left out or bored or lose control
        1. Long combos
        2. Shared Fate
        3. Possibility Storm
    4. Fun Cards
      1. Talk about our favorite group cards
        1. Ryan
          1. Spike Weaver
          2. Boundless Realms
          3. Supplant Form
        2. Lee
          1. Pestilence
          2. Crown of Doom
          3. Syphon cards (see links above)
    5. Politics
      1. Tricks for manipulating the table
        1. Fake Favors
        2. Threat naming
        3. Round Table Beats
      2. Grudges
        1. Linger threats
      3. Sequential game strategies
        1. When you are going to lose you can set up some good karma for the next match
        2. Make joke alliances before games, and then do something beneficial to the partner… the implications are binding.
  5. Signoff
    1. Lee, where can people find you online? Please don’t
    2. You can check us out at brotherswarcast.com
    1. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDqS_bKvsjalCoDFozWiK_w
    1. You can email us directly at [email protected]
    2. On twitter @brotherswarcast
    3. Ryan individually @greenegeek
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Commander SocialBy Ryan Greene & Zack Taylor
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