The Backstory.

Unfortunately, due to recent current events, I have lost a majority of the cards I have. This includes a binder I had in which I put all of my rares and legendary cards in. The only cards I do have of right now is mostly standard decks and stand-alone commander cards that I bought one by one. 

It is certainly devastating to lose such a huge part of your collection all at once, the details of which I'm not really willing to discuss publicly. To have been playing the game for more than a decade, and amass all sorts of cards and to be so attached to them, is certainly something. I would like to say that the reason I feel such tremendous loss is because I will never get to play with those cards again. Yes, I can replace them easily one by one given the appropriate budget constraints, but it's more than that. It's nostalgia and the connection a player feels when handling the cards. I wish I was feeling this way because of the sunk costs, but it's just not the case. 

I am now currently looking forward to building a new collection. That is the only practical move to do. The sadness will wain in time, but I will never forget all the adventures I've had with all those cards. It's a good thing I still have most of the Licia and Prosh and Marath decks, but it still would have been nice to have the entire collection with me. 

The New Collection. 

The new collection will consist of hand-picked cards moving from 2013 onward. That would be Theros block and beyond, minus Ixalan (This is only for personal and subjective reasons; I do not like the Ixalan expansion thematically, except for some very specific cards.). Non-standard cards will be used for Commander play, and the rest will be for modern constructed and standard constructed. 

For very old cards, the ones I deem that won't fetch any value in the current and future markets, will become playmats. Bad Boy Gaming has a very nice video on how to make playmats, which I think you'll also find useful for yourself, link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF593nPLVJg. 

This new collection will also be segregated more strictly this time, and be kept in proper organization constantly, so as to avoid the ruckus of having to go through different binders when finding a specific card. I will also apply a new system of keeping track of the collection physically and digitally, so as to sort through the collection faster and more efficiently. 

It would certainly be a difficult step to reboot one's collection almost from the ground up, but it is a necessary one that all of us have to take one way or another.

The Next Step. 

For now, I would just be highlighting the Commander decks I do have, and some of the remaining good cards that I do have., 

Thanks for reading. See you next time. 

In line with my reboot of Commander Adventures, I am also making a new series called Commander Highlights, which will focus on individual commanders and their decks, show off a few practice battles, feature a deck list, possible flexibilities, and a few other things here and there.

I'm thinking it would serve as both a guide to new players of commander, some sort of insight to experienced players, and just an all-around journal of commanders for myself.

Let's see where we can go!

See you soon.

Honestly, I've been pretty inactive with XBMTG. Like really, really ianctive. But all of that's about to change. I am rebooting the series which I like the most, because it's going to give me the most motivation to do so: Commander Adventures. It's actually gone pretty far since my Prosh and Marrath versus fights, and now there's a new rivalry in town. 

It's never too late to play Magic: The Gathering once more. 

So, to not give everything away at once, the new commander I will be spotlighting soon is:

Licia, Sanguine Tribune

Legendary Creature - Vampire Soldier

Just a quick overview, Licia, Sanguine Tribune, is an 8-drop that costs 5RWB. has first strike and lifelink, and costs 1 less to cast for each 1 life you gain for a turn. Not to mention, that she can have you pay 5 life to give her 3 +1/+1 counters once per turn.

See you soon. 

I'll be going to the prerelease tomorrow! Very excited for the new cards, especially playing around delirium and madness. Will update as games progress.

So I've been so busy with my other blog and school that at the time I spend without doing anything, the time I sent just resting, my mind wondered. It occurred to me that I have deviated from the path that I wished to take when I first created xBMTG. I aimed only to post stuff that I encountered and the things that I found funny and interesting. I guess I've become too entangled with all the other MTG blogs that do official giveaways and spoilers and up-to-date news, such that I've forgotten the original theme of the blog: scrap the complexity, just stick to the basics. 

That's why I've decided to only update the blog once a week, or at most once every two weeks, to keep myself and you guys updated on the small stuff, the fun and interesting stuff that follows the basic casual player. I've been thinking about it for some time now, that if I did ever devote myself to doing these current-news things, that I'd need to do some major redesigning and restructuring. But all that just sounds too busy to concern myself with. 

Hence, just sticking to the stuff that's basic and easy. Because hey, after all, this is bmtg.

I'd actually thought Prossh would be able to do some sort of counterattack this time But it turned out that Marath is just too damn fast. 

Both players mulligan down to 6. Marath keeps a Mosswort Bridge (which can Hideaway) and a Rakeclaw Gargantuan. Prossh keeps Fell Shepherd and a Scarland Thrinax. Prossh goes first. The first few turns are just land drops. Marath's first draw was Voyaging Satyr, and first land drop was the Mosswort Brige, which hideaways a Behemoth Sledge ( remember this for later).

By, turn 3, Marath is summoned, just on-curve. Prossh summons a Scarland Thrinax, even though that would just be easily burned by Marath. Figured it'd be better than taking 3 commander damage and still have Marath on the field. By turn 4, instead of sacrificing Marath to the Thrinax, a Spellbreaker Behemoth is summoned instead.

Prossh's next few turns were unpleasant. He was stuck at five lands, so he could not summon Prossh. The Fell Shepherd and Spine of Ish Nah both cost 7, so they weren't useful either. Passing the turn to an ever-growing Marath was dangerous. Dangerous indeed: for if only Prossh was on curve, he could've had a fighting chance. 

By turn 7, Curse of the Forsaken has been cast, and Marath gained 4 life by attacking Prossh last turn with the Spellbreaker Behemoth. Life totals are now 44-28, in favor of Marath. This turn Marath is returned, deals 2 damage to Prossh's Huan Tuo, attacks for 6 and gains 3 life. Marath is gaining life as Prossh is helpless against the onslaught. Curse of the Forsaken's life gain would also become significant, later on.

Before that, on Prossh's turn,  he didn't draw the land he needed, but he did draw something that could tilt the scales to his favor. He drew a Vile Requiem, the only thing within reach that can deal with Marath. Prossh also summons Huan Tuo, but that was destroyed come Marath's next turn. So after that, and after casting Curse of the Forsaken, Prossh sacrifices the Vile and destroys the Spellbreaker Behemoth and Marath. That clears the board a bit, however Marath has enough mana to revive himself beyond Prossh's capacity to kill him.

Now, I should tell that a few turns back a 0/1 Plant Token was summoned from a land (forgot the name), and after Marath is played, the remaining 1 mana is used to make the 0/1 become a 1/2. That token and the elemental spawned by Marath attack for 2, gaining 2 life from the Curse. The next turn brought the Opal Palace to Prossh, making him able to summon his commander, along with the 6 tokens. Unfortunately, all mana was spent, and so a turn was passed almost easily. 

Marath draws an unbelievable card at this point in the game. The Darksteel Mutation that locked Prossh down during the first match. He casts it along with Savage Twister, where x = 1, clearing Prossh's board ( and turning Marath's Plant Token 1/2 to a 1/1), and unfortunately, since the Mutation makes Prossh invulnerable, he is still on the field. With enough mana left, the Hideaway card is cast for free: the Behemoth Sledge is now on the field. 

Prossh casts Goblin Bombardment and Fecundity, sacrificing Prossh and draws a Llanowar Reborn. To answer, the Sledge is equipped to Marath, boosting the token, Marath and the 3/4 plant attacks for 10. A fireball is cast for 5 damage, dealing 15 in total.

Prossh concedes with a 54-2, as summoning on the 11th turn is not an option, and the Spine of Ish Nah will deal with Marath, but the Plant Token is still a 3/4 and can still directly attack.

So I've recently played with my Marath Commander Deck against the Prossh Commander deck ( only a bit  of tweaks and alterations made, not really much that changed the deck), and the latest match was certainly an eyeopener. Not only was I surprised at the result, but the path taken to that result was really, really, amazing. 

Here's what went down.

I should mention first though, that both players muliganed their hands down to six. Marath's hand showed a Krosan Warchief and a Sol Ring, the ring alone enough to keep the hand. Prossh meanwhile drew a Shattergang Brothers and enough lands to get to Prossh one-land each turn, until the sixth. Both were looking good so far. Marath goes first, drops a forest then taps for a sol ring. 

The plays were pretty much normal until the fourth turn. By then Marath has already spent his first three counters for three 1/1's, and a Krosan Warchief was on the field. Prossh on the other hand had Han Tuo on his side and a Sakura Tribe Elder ( quite slow, I know!). Due to some forgotten circumstances, the three 1/1's were wiped from the board.. By the fifth turn, Marath drew Omnath, Locus of Rage, and that's where all hell broke loose.

Thanks to the Sol Ring, Marath summoned Omnath at turn 5, and by Prossh's turn, he summons his commander, along with the six tokens. By the sixth, I was supposed to summon Marath, if I hadn't drawn such a great card: the Conquering Manticore. With Omnath at the field, another land in my hand, and the Conquering Manticore, the path was set. First, play the Mountain, triggering Omnath's landfall, generating a 5/5 Elemental. Next, summon the Manticore, then take control of Prossh. Using Prossh's ability, sacrifice the new 5/5 Elemental, triggering Omnath's Bolt ability and pumping Prossh at the same time! Since all that was on Prossh's field were tokens, Han Tuo and the Tribe Elder, Omnath bolts the opponent to the face, dealing 3 damage. Prossh attacks for 6 damage, dealing 9 damage for the first combat of the match. 9 damage! 

What was more brutal was that Marath had enough mana left to cast Darksteel Mutation on Prossh, turning him into a 0/1 indestructible, rendering him unable to utilize his sacrifice-pump ability. To counter this, he summons the Shattergang Brothers on his turn, and uses that to sac Prossh. Marath sacrifices the Krosan Warchief, raising his mana cost back to 5. 

By turn seven, Marath began the onslaught. I couldn't exactly remember the details but the Omnath-Marath combo was unstoppable. Stand-alone, Marath distributed counters and just kept sending damage to Prossh's face. Omnath generated 5/5's like wildfire. The fun part was, Marath will often generate small tokens, 2/2's or 1/1's, then will either use those to block or burn them with Marath himself, triggering Omnath's Bolt ability, as the tokens created are elementals too. Before he knew it, Prossh was at a dangerous 21 life, while Marath stood firm at 40. Prossh was unable to attack because he was the only one on the field capable of defending his territory. 

As the game went on, Marath kept returning from the Command Zone, but with each return his cost rose up, so he was not able to do the burns and tokens on the same turn. Desperate for defense, Prossh casts a Vile Requiem (hoping to target Marath and or Omnath, or both), then alter a Blood Rites, to be able to use the excess 0/1 tokens. To do that successfully he needed two more turns. First for the mana to be available to sac the tokens to Blood Rites, the second to gather enough counters to take out Marath and Omnath with the Requiem. But alas, this was not to be. 

In those two turns Marath lowered Prossh's life to a very low 12 life, with the threat of 4 5/5 elementals and Omnath itself. By the second turn, Prossh had a very huge problem. Taking out Marath and Omnath would still deal 3 damage due to Omnath's self-triggered Bolt, and that would also make Marath stronger with the next return, and fighting at 6 life would be useless, as Marath could easily burn him to the face. So instead, the Vile Requiem skips Omnath and targets one elemental and Marath instead ( sadly this brings him down to 6) , so now Marath's cost was at 11. 

The Blood Rites could have been triggered twice, but there were no good targets at all, as all creatures on Marath's field had 5 toughness and higher. By my ninth turn, Prossh was basically good as dead. I could cast Marath and wait an additional turn to kill Prossh, or I could cast Xenagos, God of Revels. And that's what I did. Remember the Manticore? Well, that's still alive, and was given a +1/+1 counter by Marath early in the game. By Xenagos, it got boosted to a 12/12. With Prossh in the Command Zone, the tokens couldn't block, and so couldn't the poor Sakura Tribe Elder. 

Marath won 40-0 (Life totals, not number of games).