The Pre-Game Podcast by WZKD-

What does solving a tough Magic problem have in common with figuring out your next move in life?

Adam Holmes of F6 Supplies joins Craig Mack for Episode 20 of the Pregame Podcast for a conversation about problem-solving in Magic: The Gathering, business, and life beyond the table.

We talk Magic, cEDH, and the story behind F6, one of my favorite stops at any tournament. From the lightbox to the playmats and accessories, Adam brings a lot to this community. And those charging banks? I own two. My phone gets more backup plans than my deck does.

Plus, we break down the weekend’s cEDH results from Pamplona and Fort Wayne, with Arcum Dagsson and Krark/Thrasios taking home the wins. Then it’s Tournaments You Should Be At, featuring Houston, Yapsgiving, Decatur, and Tacoma.

What’s one lesson from Magic you’ve actually used outside the game? Let us know in the comments.

Like, subscribe, and share this episode with your tournament travel buddy. Your support helps us keep bringing great people and great conversations to the Pregame.

F6 SUPPLIES
https://shopf6.com/

TABLE READY CARDS
https://tablereadycards.com/

SUPPORT THE SHOW
WZKD Games Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/c/WZKDGAMES

ALL OUR LINKS
Craig Mack’s socials, content, and more:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

WZKD Games:
https://wzkdgames.com/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@WZKDGAMES

cEDH coaching with Andrei Blanton:
[email protected]

TOURNAMENT RESULTS & WINNING DECKLISTS

CEDH Norte: Pamplona
https://topdeck.gg/event/cedh-norte-bilbao-zaragoza-pamplona

Sendoa Cardiel’s Arcum Dagsson:
https://topdeck.gg/deck/cedh-norte-bilbao-zaragoza-pamplona/egYwSEzhLIhHbw0OZnZg9kx0dBj2

Perfect Storm: Tabernacle 10K
https://topdeck.gg/event/perfect-storm-comins-games-tabernacle-10k

Ethan / Pickle_poltergeist’s Krark & Thrasios:
https://topdeck.gg/deck/perfect-storm-comins-games-tabernacle-10k/F7oWrpk8MANUVKbpgzidjrj3Ia93

TOURNAMENTS YOU SHOULD BE AT

Houston CCS Qualifier | October 24–25, 2026
https://topdeck.gg/event/css-20000-cedh-invitational-qualifier-6

Yapsgiving | November 7–8, 2026
https://topdeck.gg/event/yapsgiving-10k

Decatur Deathmatch | November 7–8, 2026
https://topdeck.gg/event/the-decatur-deathmatch

Brainstorm, Tacoma | November 21–22, 2026
https://topdeck.gg/event/brainstorm-tacomas-cedh-open-10k

Check each organizer’s current registration, venue, prize details, and proxy policy before making plans.

#cEDH #MTG #Commander

We have Storm-Kiln Artist at home. Apparently, we also have tournament wins.

I recently won a LandGO Qualifier with Vraska, Soul of Stone—and in this Pregame Podcast deck tech, I’m breaking down the list, the mulligans, and how all those Treasures turn into wins.

From the top down, it looks like Rog/Ishai. Behind the wheel, it’s a midrange control deck that builds draw engines, fights over the stack, and saves up for an explosive turn.

We’re covering:

🍔 Why Vraska is our “Storm-Kiln Artist at home”

💰 Treasure engines, haste enablers, Academy Manufactor, and Xorn

🤫 Silence effects and choosing your window to win

🔥 Underworld Breach and the secret Magda plan

🐉 Niv-Mizzet, Hullbreaker Horror, and alternate finishes

🃏 Draw engines, clones, and what makes an opening hand worth keeping

And yes—we’re talking about the game where I tutor-chained into a Breach line DURING a stack battle with Niv-Mizzet already on the battlefield.

You should have seen their faces. Priceless.

📋 FULL DECKLIST:

https://moxfield.com/decks/iLagAXcOXnScboVvDDLv5Q

Would you sleeve up Vraska? Drop your questions and card suggestions in the comments, and subscribe to The Pregame Podcast for more cEDH deck techs, tournament talk, and interviews.

Clown on the commander if you want. You’re about to Vraska ’round and find out.

#cEDH #MTG #Vraska

What separates a great cEDH player from someone with a powerful deck? Jordan and Lily Drake of Drake Academy and Team Monolith join Craig Mack and Andrei to talk coaching, tournament preparation, threat assessment, and the future of competitive Commander.

Also: what happens when the person standing between you and the top cut is the person you married?

On Episode 19 of the Pregame Podcast, we get into the decisions, practice habits, and honest feedback that help players improve—and why being competitive doesn’t mean making everyone at the table miserable.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The mistakes Jordan and Lily see when coaching cEDH players
• Mulligans, threat assessment, and trusting your decisions
• How Team Monolith practices, reviews games, and develops players
• Competing against your spouse—and surviving the ride home
• Teamwork, tournament integrity, and the line between preparation and collusion
• What cEDH needs from tournament rules, qualification, and championship events
• The weekend’s tournament report and Events You Should Be At

And yes, Craig may need professional help learning to win before turn eight. Fortunately, this time we mean coaching.

👇 What’s holding YOUR cEDH game back: mulligans, threat assessment, table politics, or knowing when to go for the win? Tell us in the comments.

Subscribe to the Pregame Podcast for cEDH interviews, tournament reports, deck discussions, and more Magic: The Gathering.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SUPPORT & FOLLOW THE PREGAME
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WZKD Games Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/WZKDGAMES

Craig Mack — all socials, content & links:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

WZKD Games:
https://wzkdgames.com

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
cEDH COACHING WITH ANDREI BLANTON
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Want help tuning your deck, improving your decisions, or preparing for your next tournament?

Coaching inquiries: [email protected]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
TABLE READY CARDS
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Check out Table Ready Cards:
https://tablereadycards.com/password

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
DRAKE ACADEMY — JORDAN & LILY
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Watch Drake Academy on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlFNc9TrgcE

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/drakeacademymtg/

X:
https://x.com/DrakeAcademyMTG

Discord:
https://discord.gg/F8DsU3UUsU

Jordan’s Moxfield:
https://moxfield.com/users/JordanDrakeAcademy

Lily’s Moxfield:
https://moxfield.com/users/HellaLily

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
TEAM MONOLITH
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Website:
https://monolithmtg.gg/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@MonolithMTG

X:
https://x.com/Monolith_MTG

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
PRISMARI DECKLIST
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

View the Prismari deck on Moxfield:
https://moxfield.com/decks/zC5McfdD0EWpvKa8agS9bA

#cEDH #MTG #Commander

Six mana. One commander. Anybody have a response?

Dack Fayden, Helping Hand brings BIG DACK ENERGY to cEDH—a mono-white combo deck built to turn its commander into a game-ending chain of creature loops and dungeon triggers.

This is the deck Etali, Ang, and Gyruda wish they could be. With the combo pieces available and the loop protected, we’re skipping the suspense and getting straight to your opponents picking up their cards.

🔗 DECKLIST ON MOXFIELD:
https://moxfield.com/decks/1QmhAfnYGnurqbK_6yKB7w

🔗 ALL OUR LINKS — SOCIALS, CONTENT & WAYS TO SUPPORT:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

In this Pregame Podcast deck tech, we break down:
• How Dack’s creature package builds the winning loop
• Fast mana and explosive turn-one and turn-two possibilities
• Setting up a turn-three win attempt
• Stax pieces and creature removal that buy you time
• Silence effects and protecting your combo
• Which opening hands to keep—and when to mulligan
• The counters, bounce spells, and disruption you need to respect

Mono-white. An extremely direct game plan. The confidence of a guy blasting Creed in a modified Camaro.

Would you bring Dack to a tournament—or are you already holding up interaction? Tell us below.

Subscribe to Pregame Podcast for more cEDH deck techs, tournament reports, and competitive Commander conversations.

#cEDH #MTG #DackFayden

Is your deck holding you back—or is it how you’re playing it? Logan from CriticalEDH joins Craig Mack to talk cEDH strategy, threat assessment, better practice, and turning tournament experience into better decisions.

Welcome to Episode 18 of the Pregame Podcast! We’re getting into competitive Commander, the community that keeps us coming back, and why “just get more reps” isn’t the whole answer.

I played 141 games of cEDH in one month. That’s a number you say proudly to your playgroup—and very quietly to your wife.

Logan and I discuss how the Crit League helped get me hooked, what players can learn from established meta decks, and when loyalty to your favorite commander becomes staying together for the sleeves.

IN THIS EPISODE:
• Meaningful practice, online leagues, and improving at cEDH
• Threat assessment, table politics, and when to spend interaction
• Mastering one deck versus learning multiple strategies
• Off-meta brewing and understanding why the best decks work
• Logan’s Even Flow Krark–Thrasios brew
• Welcoming new players and growing the cEDH community
• Tournament standards, transparency, and honest prize support
• Baked Ziti 4 and Mulligan Championship Series tournament reports
• BIG DACK ENERGY: our Dack Fayden deck tech
• Sunshine Showdown: last call for October 10–11, 2026

Logan has opinions. I have follow-up questions. Neither of us knows how to leave it at “yeah, fair enough.”

👇 What improved YOUR game the most: mastering one deck, trying different decks, coaching, or reviewing your mistakes?

PREGAME PODCAST — FOLLOW & SUPPORT

All our links, socials, and content:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/WZKDGAMES

CRITICAL EDH — FOLLOW, PLAY & SUPPORT

Official links, YouTube, socials, and league information:
https://linktr.ee/CriticalEDH

Join the CriticalEDH Discord:
https://discord.gg/rkrJsqy8HD

CriticalEDH Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/CriticalEDH

Ad Naus — cEDH community discussions:
https://adnaus.gg

cEDH coaching directory:
https://pregame.gg

BIG DACK ENERGY — DACK FAYDEN cEDH DECK TECH

Watch the full deck tech:
https://youtu.be/nanBy6ZBnv4

My decklist on Moxfield:
https://moxfield.com/decks/1QmhAfnYGnurqbK_6yKB7w

TOURNAMENT REPORTS

Baked Ziti 4:
https://edhtop16.com/tournament/baked-ziti-4-goldsabertooths-ny-cedh

Mulligan Championship Series:
https://edhtop16.com/tournament/mulligan-championship-series-october-w-guaranteed

EVENTS YOU SHOULD BE AT

Sunshine Showdown — October 10–11, 2026
Coconut Creek, Florida
Event details and registration:
https://topdeck.gg/event/sunshine-showdown-cedh-tournament

Subscribe to Pregame Podcast for cEDH interviews, tournament reports, deck techs, and conversations about the future of competitive Commander.

#cEDH #MTG #Commander

Seven straight wins. A Breach the Bay 2 Open victory. And yes… Lurking Predators.Craig Mack sits down with Andrei Blanton to break down Witherbloom, the Balancer—a Golgari cEDH deck built around creature engines, instant-speed combos, and some absolutely BASED card choices.Andrei explains the strategy behind his tournament-winning build, the changes he’s made since, and how this deck turns an innocent-looking board into a table-ending problem. From Corpse Dance loops to Sprout Swarm combos, we walk through how the pieces work—and when to go for the win.IN THIS DECK TECH:• Why Andrei chose midrange over turbo• How to build your board and when to cast Witherbloom• Corpse Dance, Entomb, and Eternal Witness combo lines• Sprout Swarm combos and their different outlets• Razaketh and Hoarding Broodlord tutor chains• Why Lurking Predators earned its slot• K’rrik, Chatterfang, Yawgmoth, and Warren Soultrader synergies• Removal, table politics, and winning at instant speedDECKLIST + PRIMERhttps://moxfield.com/decks/05oZVnIK4EOL5O3A6osldQQUESTIONS & cEDH COACHINGWant help piloting Witherbloom or taking your cEDH game to the next level? Reach out to Andrei Blanton for deck questions and coaching:[email protected] CRAIG MACK / WZKD GAMESFind our socials, streams, and more:https://linktr.ee/CraigmackCHAPTERS00:00 Meet the Breach the Bay 2-winning deck01:53 From abandoned brew to tournament winner06:21 The Beledros Witherbloom origins10:55 Witherbloom, the Balancer explained15:30 Token engines and creature synergies19:11 Lurking Predators is absolutely BASED23:48 When should you cast your commander?26:57 Braids, card advantage, and table politics32:34 Disruptive creatures and stax34:10 K’rrik and Corpse Dance synergies39:04 Chatterfang and Warren Soultrader41:00 Opposition Agent and Wandering Archaic44:00 Tutors and sorcery choices50:26 Removal and the interaction package59:09 How the deck wins1:00:07 Corpse Dance combo walkthrough1:04:43 Sprout Swarm combos1:09:17 Hoarding Broodlord combo walkthrough1:12:20 Razaketh ties it all together1:13:08 Strengths of the deck1:15:26 Coaching and closing thoughtsWhat’s the most BASED card in this list—and would you sleeve up Witherbloom? Let us know in the comments.Like the video and subscribe for more cEDH deck techs, tournament breakdowns, and the Pregame Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/@WZKDGAMES#cEDH #Witherbloom #MTG

Evan Pierce of MTG Basics joins Pregame Podcast to talk winning at cEDH, his approach to Kinnan, tournament mindset, and the future of competitive Commander. He’s my pick for the best player in the world, a good friend, and apparently incapable of letting me win at foosball.

MTG Basics is one of my favorite channels, and this conversation shows why. Evan makes you think differently about the game—between opportunities to make fun of me.

In Episode 17, we get into:
• Evan’s life outside Magic and how he found cEDH
• Tournament preparation, mulligans, and playing without letting results get in your head
• Table politics, threat assessment, and making deals that actually make sense
• Kinnan’s place in the meta and the “little flips” build
• Rhystic Study, Samut, and where the format goes next
• F6 Supply and Evan’s projects outside the command zone

PLUS: Tournament Report returns with results from the CCS Invitational Qualifier and Ohio cEDH: Highlander 3—meta share, Top 16 conversion rates, Top 4 pilots, and my patented HAT TIP to the winners.

And our Dumpster of the Week? Kinnan. Fifteen entries across both events. Zero Top 16s. We invite Evan on to explain why the deck is good, and the deck immediately requests legal representation.

We also cover Events You Should Be At, including the Black Lotus Invitational qualifier I’m hosting at WZKD Games and why you should get involved with Land Go’s Commander Invitational series. I went to the Invitational in Nashville and loved it. It’s cEDH MagicCon—and I want more players and stores to be part of it.

What’s the best piece of cEDH advice you’ve ever received? Drop it in the comments.

EVAN PIERCE & MTG BASICS
Subscribe to MTG Basics
Shop F6 Supply

cEDH COACHING WITH ANDREI BLANTON
Want to sharpen your game? Contact Andrei for cEDH coaching:
[email protected]

SUPPORT & JOIN THE PREGAME COMMUNITY
Patreon
Join our Discord
Craig Mack’s Linktree

EVENTS YOU SHOULD BE AT
WZKD Games Black Lotus Invitational Qualifier — come play, I’m hosting!
Land Go Events — learn about the series, find qualifiers, and get your store involved

TOURNAMENT RESULTS
CCS Invitational Qualifier
Ohio cEDH: Highlander 3

Subscribe to Pregame Podcast for cEDH interviews, tournament reports, deck talk, and questionable jokes delivered with unreasonable confidence.

#cEDH #MagicTheGathering #Commander

What does cEDH need to change heading into 2027? This week on the Pregame Podcast, Craig Mack sits down with Josh Welder ZE from CriticalEDH to talk Tayam, tournament structure, the future of competitive Commander, and how we keep growing cEDH.

Josh has become one of the players most associated with Tayam, Luminous Enigma, so naturally we make him answer for what he has done to innocent cEDH tables everywhere.

We talk about:

• Why Josh chose Tayam and why he definitely does NOT recommend you play it
• CriticalEDH and Keeping Tabs on cEDH
• The future of cEDH tournaments in 2027
• Random pairings, blind standings and alternative scoring systems
• Top 16 vs larger Top Cuts
• Better coordination between tournament organizers
• Judging and tournament consistency
• What players can do to help cEDH continue growing
• Whether cEDH should ever have its own ban list
• And somehow... the possibility of UNBANNING FLASH

Then Andrei returns for cEDH and life coaching as we break down cards from Reality Fracture and talk about which ones could actually have an impact on competitive Commander.

And yes...

We have to talk about Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun.

Split second.

No response.

Literally.

Relax. The sky isn't falling.

Your win rate might be.

In the Tournament Report, we look at two neighboring cEDH communities doing something I think more regions should be doing: CIRCUITS.

We break down the Colorado Summer Circuit Invitational and the Legends of the Stack New Mexico Invitational, including their metas, conversion rates and Top 4 finishes.

And somehow...

Craig won New Mexico.

After 16 episodes of giving tournament advice, we finally have limited statistical evidence that some of it might actually work.

We also talk about why local circuits, leaderboards and Invitationals can be incredible tools for growing competitive Commander communities and keeping players engaged.

Finally, Events You Should Be At:

Baked Ziti 4 - Goldsabertooth's NY cEDH
https://topdeck.gg/event/baked-ziti-4-goldsabertooths-ny-cedh

Competitive cEDH, Grim Monoliths, potentially Mox Diamonds, and enough Italian food to make scrubbing out feel significantly better.

MagicCon: Atlanta - November 13-15, 2026
https://www.magic.gg/news/magiccon-atlanta-2026-gather-for-the-multiverse

Craig will be at MagicCon Atlanta as a creator all weekend, slinging cards in the Creator Space and recording live content from the Wizards table Friday at 11 AM.

If you've never been to a MagicCon, come experience it.

The games.
The artists.
The vendors.
The previews.
LobbyCon at 2 AM.

Because the best part of Magic: The Gathering has always been the Gathering.

Support the Pregame Podcast on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/WZKDGAMES

Craig Mack:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

CriticalEDH:
https://linktr.ee/CriticalEDH

cEDH Coaching with Andrei Blanton:
Moxfield: BingeyLongtooth
Email: [email protected]

Want help tuning a list, improving your tournament game, or building something completely ridiculous that somehow still wins? Reach out to Andrei for cEDH coaching.

Check out CriticalEDH and Keeping Tabs on cEDH and show Josh some love!

If you enjoy the show, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and help us grow cEDH one degenerate at a time.

Drop a comment below:

If you could change ONE thing about cEDH tournaments heading into 2027, what would it be?

#cEDH #CompetitiveCommander #MTG #MagicTheGathering #Commander #EDH #RealityFracture

Comedian MTG joins the Pregame Podcast for our biggest interview yet.

Ian is one of the most accomplished and creative brewers in cEDH, with successful lists across an absurd number of commanders — and apparently 1,435 decks sitting in his Moxfield account. We talk about how he evaluates unconventional commanders, how he knows when a deck is actually good, why some brews fail, and what separates a good cEDH pilot from someone simply playing powerful cards.

But this conversation goes well beyond deckbuilding.

We get into the current state of politicking in competitive EDH, when persuasion crosses the line into gaslighting, the responsibility established players and creators have toward newer players, tournament behavior, draws, coaching, building better cEDH communities, and why Ian believes you can compete at the highest level without making everyone at the table miserable.

Then we break down recent tournament results and finish with Events You Should Be At, featuring two upcoming cEDH weekends worth putting on your calendar.

SUPPORT THE PREGAME PODCAST
WZKD GAMES Patreon:
https://patreon.com/WZKDGAMES

FOLLOW CRAIG MACK / WZKD GAMES
Craig Mack Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

FOLLOW COMEDIAN MTG
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@ComedIanMTG

Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/comedianmtg

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Comedianmtg

EVENTS YOU SHOULD BE AT

Yapsgiving — cEDH 10K
November 7–8 • Provo, Utah
Presented by Salt City Gaming Events.

Registration & event info:
https://topdeck.gg/event/yapsgiving-10k

The Atrium 2
November 21–22 • Claremont, California
Hosted by BFF cEDH and Lost Levels Card Shop, with the official LobbyCon on November 20.

Registration & event info:
https://topdeck.gg/event/the-atrium-2-1

If you enjoy the show, LIKE the video, SUBSCRIBE, and tell us in the comments:

Where is the line between good cEDH politicking and going too far?

PREGAME PODCAST | WZKD GAMES

#cEDH #MTG #Commander #MagicTheGathering #CompetitiveEDH #ComedianMTG #EDH

Can a toxic player kill an entire local cEDH community? And is it finally time to BAN Rhystic Study?

On Pregame Podcast Episode 14, I sit down with longtime cEDH player, brewer, Krark/Sakashima sicko, and one of the people most responsible for building the competitive Commander community here in Santa Fe: Ken Bauman.

Find all my links, socials, streams and more here:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

Ken and I get into what it actually takes to build and sustain a local cEDH scene, how experienced players should treat newcomers, why being a good human can genuinely make you a better political player, and the behaviors that can absolutely destroy a community.

We also talk about:

• How Ken found cEDH and helped grow the Santa Fe scene
• How to introduce new players to competitive Commander
• Why established players need to actively welcome new players
• Teaching cEDH without overwhelming people
• Politicking without turning yourself into the table enemy
• Why losing, learning, and laughing matter
• Why you shouldn’t immediately dismiss fringe decks and brews
• The story behind Too Deep
• Krark/Sakashima and roughly 1,500 games worth of coin flips
• Why Krark may still be seriously underplayed
• Ken’s cEDH Mount Rushmore
• And finally… Ken gets the microphone and makes his case for why RHYSTIC STUDY SHOULD BE BANNED.

And because apparently one giant cEDH conversation wasn’t enough, we’ve also got some very cool decks this week, including Thor, Ms. Bumbleflower, and everybody’s favorite beautiful idiot: Flubs the Fool.

Then in EVENTS YOU SHOULD BE AT, we’re looking at two more cEDH tournaments worth putting on your calendar:

SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN
October 10–11 — Coconut Creek, Florida
https://topdeck.gg/event/sunshine-showdown-cedh-tournament

I’m going to try to make this one myself… God willing.

ROCKET CITY LIFTOFF
November 7 — Huntsville, Alabama
https://topdeck.gg/event/rocket-city-liftoff

If you enjoy competitive Commander, tournament cEDH, deckbuilding, brewing, politics, or just listening to two grown men talk far too seriously about flipping coins and paying for Rhystic Study triggers, you’re in the right place.

Subscribe to PREGAME PODCAST for weekly cEDH conversations, tournament coverage, deck discussions, interviews, events you should be at, and whatever else happens to break our brains that week.

ALL LINKS:
https://linktr.ee/Craigmack

cEDH ON TOP.