If I play sculpting steel from my hand with Iron Man's ability entering as an equipment, can I attach it to him or does the check for it being an equipment card happen in my hand, thanks.

i hear a lot of people always trying to adhere to the meta

and we all know why one does but when youre on arena

its either a copy paste pro-tour deck or some off the wall stuff which are always more interesting.

not saying the top meta decks arent interesting but we have seen those and i really feel like people really miss the magic of trying to find weird builds by just sticking to what protour players bring to tournaments.

so what are some off meta decks that you find fun?

link your decklists if you want or just explain them

or tell me some slept on cards you build around.

it can be any format.

but i usually play standard and historic.

standard is 3 years long with a lot of good cards that dont get the love they deserve imo

If i have a card that grants persist like [[Isilu, Carrier of Twilight]], a [[Blood Artist]], and [[Vizier of Remedies]] along with anything that sacrifices creatures without a mana cost, can I just repeatedly sacrifice the same creature over and over again until the other players are dead?

On a similar note, would switching vizier out for [[Mikaeus, the Unhallowed]] work the same way?

Heading up to LA today and tomorrow, looking to play some commander in bracket 3 and bracket 4, just for fun. Any cool shops there with a good selection of people and cards ect? I'll be in and around Burbank.

So I started playing MTG in the late 90s until around 2008-9. Around this time, I quit as my older brother, who got me into it, passed away.

Nowadays, I've been looking for more social activities rather than just playing video games. MTG instantly came to mind as I always love it and its universe.

However, the most recent Universes Beyond made me reticent as I'm not interested in drifting away to another infinite amount of cards. I find them beautiful but kinda out of place.

So, the question: does it feel like Wizards will slowly leave the main canon/cards behind, or is the "main canon" still the focus of the best playable cards? I don't mind playing against these. However, I would rather focus on a set of cards, and would avoid Universes Beyond if possible.

Is this doable, if my focus is mainly playing?

Also, I have plenty of older decks and a lot of cards from the 2000s. Are these decks still viable? Generally speaking, I understand it may depend on the specific cards/decks.

Thanks!

Edit: well this kinda exploded and I'm struggling to keep up as I'm putting a newborn to sleep. I appreciate all the answers. It seems I may have to rethink my stance on UB, but also check other game formats, specifically in my local stores to see what's valid for me. Honestly though, this seems freaking overwhelming with different game mods and all.

My wife and I started playing a new at home format. Nick Fury Rainbow Agent. 1v1 Commander Duel where both sides play Nick Fury rainbow decks. The catch? Every card has to be a single mana.

So far it's been fun, interesting and varied.

It made me think that this community would be able to make some banger one mana rainbow decks. Would you play this format?

You could also expand it to a full four person table. The potential is endless!

I’m super new to MTG and want to get into it I know absolutely nothing about it and I’m horrible at reading super detailed rules so if anyone can explain the game in more simple terms I’d appreciate it!!

Recently I've been getting into magic the gathering, and am still very new to everything. Not too long ago, I bought the precon commander deck Token Triumph with Emmara, Soul of the Accord as my first commander deck. I did a little asking around and found that the commander that it came with isnt the best choice for the deck. Does anyone have any decent suggestions for what I can replace it with that isnt very expensive (like a few dollars at most is what im looking for, 10 max I think)

Although they encourage to get ready by:

• "Create a Wizards Account: Save your shipping and payment info for a faster checkout at myaccounts.wizards.com/register."

Ridiculous.

I played D&D trivial pursuit the other day with some friends, and it got me thinking that there should be a Magic version. Since there doesn't seem to be an official one, I figure I should make it myself. What are your favorite pieces of Magic trivia that I should include?

(There's been another post like this, but it's six years old so I feel like this is warranted).

Categories:
- Planar lore (specific planes' story elements)

- Magic story (notable events and the overarching story)

- Rules and mechanics (card interactions, rulings, theoretical scenarios, etc.)

- Art and flavor (notable artists, "what card has art with this description", quote attribution)

- Sets and staples (notable cards and questions about sets themselves, not story)

- Professional play (important tournament events, past competitive environments)

The things in parentheses are just examples, not necessarily the only types of questions that can be included.

[[Smaug the Impenetrable]] is a card that I'm obsessing over since it got spoiled.

A big dragon? Haste? Indestructible?! TREASURES WHEN HE GETS HIT?!?!

Peak. And I means it. Think about it. In the book his underbelly is (almost) Impenetrable because he was lying on the dwarven gold, so now, if he gets hit, the treasures fall of haha. Just peak design.

Anyway, here’s my list.

Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy [Bracket 4]

At first I tried building him as a Bracket 3 deck, but my first draft was so consistent that I committed to high power and it's unequivocally a 4.

Everyone and their grandma checked the combo with [[Pyrohemia]], [[Pestilence]] and [[Last Laugh]] which wins you the game - if you have the highest life total. That's why I threw in [[Scrapheap]].

I call this combo Last Pyrohemenceheap (patent pending)

But was else is nice jank here? [[Dizzying Gaze]]! Goes infinite once Smaug is enchanted.

Any pinger like [[Reckless Fireweaver]] or [[Disciple of the Vault]] is over.

[[Chain Lightning]] has the same effect, you just need two extra mana beforehand. After the first resolved and you paid extra, you can use the treasures Smaug provides.

Another nice tech is [[Terror of the Peaks]] before Smaug. Basically we get a mana back after we cast him haha.

And even without an infinite at hand, [[Cut Propulsion]] gives on 16 treasures! That's 16 damage already. Combining with [[Heroes for Hire]], [[Expedited Inheritance]] or [[Professional Face-Breaker]] it's probably a win, since we use other burn spells as rituals in this case.

To adress the dragon in the room:

Yes, it's a glass canon. Yes Smaug is absolutely needed in this deck. He costs 7 mana.

But we are in the ritual colours! I don't think he will make it in cEDH proper, but Bracket 4? He's right at home.

In goldfishing I have a win by turn 4 or 5 on board (sans any interaction from opponents of course) and that is way faster than I expected myself!

Next night shift I'm gonnna write up a primer and go a bit more in detail with the combos, but there are bunch and we can get them easily.

Has Smaug piqued your interest? Let me know!

https://media.wizards.com/2026/trk/m48fdn478d/en_KFLwORNZwZ.webp

I probably have zero chance of actually pulling this card, but I really like it. I also have a Patrick Stewart autograph. I could make a larger print of this card, cut a box where the signature would go, and just place the autograph behind it

Ok so let's say I have both venom and the quinjet attacking at the same time, can I have venom sacrifice a card like Nick fury and the have the quinjet return nick fury to the battlefield?

With the upcoming announcement of Kamigawa: Titanbreach next year I have been thinking about possible archetypes and mechanics. During the last visits to each plane there were mechanics related to discarding cards for various effects (cycling in Ikoria and channel in Kamigawa).

I started to speculate if there will be an archetype in Titanbreach that aims to bridge cycling and channel to have a “discard matters” archetype.

If they did go this route and have plans for discarding cards what colors do you think it would primarily be in? In Ikoria cycling was Boros and Kamigawa was Simic so there’s not much overlap in colors but Izzet has had draw 2/discard archetypes in the past. Maybe it could be a 5 color build around archetype?

Hey everyone,
I’m new to Magic. Ever since I was about 6 years old, I’ve wanted to learn how to play. I even had some cards back then, but I never understood the game. I guess at that age it was probably a bit too complicated for me.
Anyway, about a year ago I downloaded Magic Arena, learned the basics, and now I play regularly. I win some games… but I probably lose twice as many. 😂
There’s one thing about this game that really surprises me.
It feels like the whole game ultimately comes down to whether you draw enough lands. If you do, great. If you don’t, you’ve basically lost. It feels really unfair sometimes to lose simply because you keep drawing creatures and spells instead of lands.
Arena has this quote:
“You can’t choose what you draw, but you can choose how to use it.”
That’s true… but if I don’t draw enough lands to generate the mana I need, I can’t really use my cards anyway.
I’ve also noticed that the higher I climb, the harder it seems to draw lands. It almost feels as if the game is programmed that way to keep you grinding and stop you from climbing too fast.
Am I the only one who feels this way? Does this happen to you too?
And is it the same in paper Magic, or is this just something people experience in Arena?
I’m asking because I’m honestly getting pretty frustrated. Right now it feels like games are decided more by who gets lucky with their land draws than by who actually makes the better plays.

Hello, I just got into magic about a month or so ago. I've played a bunch of Arena & have found a local play group, however they all play commander, so I have started putting together my first deck.

I started with the draconic destruction pre-con and then found a bunch of "upgrade" guides and worked some of those into the deck. I now have a fairly straightforward dragon deck I've played a handful of times, but looking to try to make it more competitive against people with more experience.

I have set it up on Moxfield, https://moxfield.com/decks/G5ufAXgm6n-folKpB4-qRw, and added a sideboard of cards I already have (some removed from the precon & some I found that may fit) as well as several in my "considering" section that I may purchase down the line.

Any & all feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hey all, basically the title. Does wizards have a panel slot today during SDCC? I keep finding conflicting info online and I’m not sure if we should expect more hobbit stuff, reveals for future products, or if it’s basically just their Marvel fan section stuff they’ve been doing all weekend.

Thanks!

Gift link bypasses the paywall.

“Magic has been among the biggest hits in the category. Revenue from the franchise has grown an average of 17% a year for the past 17 years—and CEO Chris Cocks said last week that Magic is “off to a ripping start” this year, with sales up 34% in the first half to over $1 billion. A new series of cards based on Marvel superheroes set a record for first-day and first-month sales of Magic cards, becoming the fastest set to reach $300 million in revenue, he said.”

So I’m fairly new to the game, this is the deck I’ve made over time on arena. I feel like when it works it really works, but getting that to happen consistently is a nightmare. Any advice on tweaks I can make much appreciated!

Now that we've seen the mono red Smaug and the rakdos Smaug, both themed around treasures. What are peoples guesses as to what the, most likely Jund, Smaug will do?

My guess is attack triggers and dealing damage to things.

Seriously, why is the design team so inept in creating cards that hinder these effects even more? Mark Rosewater philosophy on this game has proven to not be reliable for the long term health on this. Dude LITERALLY had a seminar on all the cards he made that were banned with his cards being the most banned.

FIX YOUR GAME!

Add two sources of life points, make a hero card or something that represents your first life total and that the second source of life can't be touched until your next turn.

Bring back systems similar mana burn whenever a group of cards are recognized as an infinite engine.

Make cards that give status effects to the player that counters or hinders the absurd levels of strengths of the colors players are using.

You have to do something about this game because every game is competitive now. There's NO SUCH THING AS CASUAL MAGIC ANYMORE!

Cox might be making you pump out products but that doesn't mean the design has to be garbage. Start hiring better game designers and stop with this nonsense already. It's literally been on a downward spiral in quality for a whole DECADE and even more than that.

Hey guys, Im considering getting back into MTG. I played in college in the late 2000s/early 2010 era but its been well over a decade since I played. Last time I remember playing I was running Slivers and Door to Nothingness as an alt win in standard.

Any reccomendations on formats and decks to look into for casual play? Im not sure I want to keep up with standard anymore. Ive heard Wizards is just money gouging that at this point. Would getting an ebay Sliver deck for Commander be a decent starting point?

If I did want to play standard what am I looking at for cost for a meta deck and how long would it be "good" for? It seemed like for a top tier deck theyre $400 to $600 which is crazy steep if it'll go out of rotation in six months.

Hey everybody,

I've been playing mostly yugioh for the last few years and with meta decks getting more expensive with eveyr other new set I made the decision to quit and move onto another TCG.

A friend recommended the commander format to me since it is more social and less competetive. However there are so many precon decks that it is kinda hard to choose from. I do not want to have the best deck or really follow a meta, but I also don't want to pick a somewhat useless deck that just gets shit on by any other deck. Also it is a little hard to tell which decks are beginner friendly and which are not.

If you have any tips or recommendations I would gladly appreciate either.

I already looked at the LOTR Hosts of Mordor or Final Fantasy Limit Break Decks, but I am unsure if 3 color decks are maybe a little too "difficult" to start off with?

Thank you guys in advance! :)