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MTG guides
Plain-English guides to buying and playing Magic: The Gathering — Commander staples on a budget, lands, deck themes, card condition and the newest sets. Written by the shop, updated as things change.
39 guides · a new one every few days
New to Commander? Start here
Three guides, in order, from the rules to a deck that works.
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Commander staplesNEW
The Commander Game Changers list
Every card on the Commander Game Changers list, grouped by what it does — fast mana, tutors, engines, free spells, stax — and how the list decides a deck's bracket.
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SetsNEW
Reality Fracture: set guide, mechanics and best cards
What's in Magic: The Gathering's Reality Fracture set: Jace's Echoverse, echoed pairs, the Empower Jace mechanic, the Commander decks, the special card treatments, and the cards worth picking up for Commander.
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Commander staplesNEW
Commander brackets explained
The five Commander brackets in plain English — what each one allows, how Game Changers decide where a deck lands, and how to use brackets to get better games.
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Deck themesNEW
Building a zombie Commander deck on a budget
How to build zombie tribal in Commander cheaply — the token makers, the drain payoffs that win without attacking, and the recursion that makes a board wipe barely matter.
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Deck themesNEW
Building a merfolk Commander deck on a budget
Merfolk is the cheapest competitive tribe in Commander — the lords, the token engine and the unblockable finish, and why almost the whole deck costs under a dollar a card.
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Deck themesNEW
Building a dragon Commander deck on a budget
How to build dragon tribal in Commander without the price tag — the cost reducers that make the curve work, the cheap dragons worth playing, and the payoffs that win on the turn they land.
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Deck themesNEW
Building an angel Commander deck on a budget
How to build angel tribal in Commander cheaply — the lords and anthems worth running, which expensive angels to skip, and the ramp that makes a five-drop tribe playable.
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MTG card condition grading explained
How Magic: The Gathering singles are graded — Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played, Damaged — against our own published grading standard, and what each condition means.
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Deck themesNEW
Mill in MTG: how it works, and the best mill cards
What milling means in Magic: The Gathering, how you win by emptying an opponent's library, the best mill cards to build around, and how to put a mill deck together.
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Deck themesNEW
Building a dinosaur Commander deck on a budget
How to build dinosaur tribal in Commander without overspending — the ramp that makes the curve work, the cheap fatties worth playing, and the trample enablers that turn big into lethal.
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Deck themes
Building a vampire Commander deck on a budget
How to build a vampire tribal Commander deck cheaply — the lords that matter, the drain engines that actually win, and why the tribe is one of the most affordable in the format.
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Deck themes
Budget aristocrats: sacrifice decks for Commander
How to build an aristocrats sacrifice deck cheaply — the free sacrifice outlets, the drain payoffs, and the token generators that give you something to sacrifice every turn.
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Deck themes
Budget landfall payoffs for Commander
How to build landfall on a budget — the cheap payoffs worth playing, the extra-land-drop effects that double your triggers, and the fetch-land substitutes that cost pennies.
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Deck themes
Treasure tokens in Commander, on a budget
How treasure tokens work in Commander and the cheap cards that make them — the budget treasure producers, the payoffs that turn them into wins, and why treasure is the most flexible ramp in the format.
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Deck themes
Building a budget Voltron commander deck
How to build a Voltron Commander deck cheaply — the budget equipment and auras that matter, the protection you cannot skip, and how to actually connect for lethal commander damage.
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Commander staples
Cheap card draw for Commander
The inexpensive card draw every Commander deck should run — repeatable engines, cheap refills, and the colour-by-colour options that keep you from running out of gas.
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Getting started
Commander color identity, explained
What color identity means in Commander (EDH), how it is different from a card's mana cost, which cards it quietly excludes from your deck, and what each colour actually brings to the table.
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What to buy a Magic: The Gathering player
A gift guide for Magic players, by budget — what to get someone who already owns cards, what to avoid, and how to buy a single card as a present without knowing their deck.
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Lands
Budget utility lands worth the slot
The cheap non-basic lands that earn a place in almost any Commander deck — fixing, graveyard hate, card draw and evasion — plus how many you can safely play before your mana stops working.
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Commander staples
Cheap Commander removal that actually works
The inexpensive removal spells every Commander deck should own — the best answers in each colour, when to play a board wipe instead, and how many to run in a 100-card deck.
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Commander staples
Best budget mana rocks for Commander
The cheap artifact mana that actually earns its slot in a Commander deck — which rocks to play at two, three and five mana, which colours need them most, and which popular ones to skip.
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Commander staples
Budget Commander staples: the cards every deck wants
The inexpensive Commander (EDH) staples that improve almost any deck — ramp, mana rocks, card draw, removal, protection, and utility lands — most of them commons and uncommons under a few dollars.
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Commander staples
How to upgrade a Commander precon on a budget
A pre-constructed Commander deck is the best on-ramp to EDH — here's how to make it noticeably better with 10 to 15 cheap, high-impact swaps: more ramp, card draw, removal, and a smoother mana base.
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Deck themes
MTG Slivers: the tribe and how to build them
What Slivers are in Magic: The Gathering, how their shared-ability hive mind works, the key Slivers to know, and how to build a five-colour Slivers deck.
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Getting started
MTG mythic rares explained
What a mythic rare is in Magic: The Gathering, how often they appear, what kinds of cards earn the mythic slot, and why rarity doesn't equal price.
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Getting started
Pauper explained: commons-only Magic
What the Pauper format is in Magic: The Gathering — constructed decks built entirely from commons — why it's so affordable, its popular archetypes, and how to start.
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Buying MTG singles in Canada without overpaying
How to buy Magic: The Gathering singles in Canada — why the delivered price in CAD matters more than the card price, matching the exact printing and condition, and building an order that ships cheaply.
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Getting started
MTG deck-building basics: lands, mana curve and card ratios
The fundamentals of building a Magic: The Gathering deck that works — how many lands to run, what a mana curve is, and the rough ratios of creatures, removal and card draw.
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Getting started
How to read a Magic card: card anatomy explained
Every part of a Magic: The Gathering card explained — mana cost, type line, rules text, power/toughness, rarity, set symbol and collector number — a beginner's map.
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How to store and protect your MTG cards
How to keep Magic: The Gathering cards in top condition — sleeves, top-loaders, binders, deck boxes, and the humidity and sunlight mistakes that quietly ruin cards.
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Getting started
What is Commander (EDH)? A beginner's guide
A plain-English introduction to Commander, Magic: The Gathering's most popular format — the rules, the 100-card singleton deck, colour identity, and how to get started.
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How to spot a fake or proxy MTG card
A practical checklist for telling a real Magic: The Gathering card from a counterfeit or proxy — the light test, the bend test, the rosette test, and what to check before you buy.
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Special foils explained: galaxy, surge, textured and more
What galaxy, surge, textured and oil-slick foils are in Magic: The Gathering, where each one debuted, how they differ from regular foil, and how to tell which one you have.
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Why MTG card prices vary
Why can the same MTG card cost pennies or hundreds? What sets a single's price: supply and reprints, rarity, condition, finish, and format demand.
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How to identify a Magic card's printing
Two printings of one card can be worth very different amounts. How to spot the exact version you have: set symbol, set code, collector number, finish, and language.
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Getting started
MTG formats explained
A plain-English guide to the main Magic: The Gathering formats — Commander, Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and Pauper — how each one's card pool works, and which is right for you.
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Getting started
Understanding MTG card rarity
What the common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare rarities mean in Magic: The Gathering, how to tell them apart by set symbol colour, and whether rarity actually affects a card's power and price.
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Foil vs etched foil vs non-foil
Etched foil, traditional foil, or non-foil? How each MTG finish looks, why foils cost more, and which to buy for playing vs collecting.
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Getting started
Building your first Commander deck on a budget
A beginner's guide to building your first Commander (EDH) deck without overspending — the deck-building rules, a simple skeleton, cheap staples worth owning, and where to start.
Read a guide, then price the list
Paste any decklist into the Deck Builder and see what we have in stock, printing by printing.