About the Author
Ben Guilfoyle started playing Magic in 2015. They love to research the design of Magic. Why was this card banned? Could this silver border card actually see play? Cards that push the limits of design is what excites them. You can usually find them playing cube. This ties into their second passion: numbers. With a background in physics and statistics, they love to get in the weeds when building decks. Crunching numbers is their specialty.
More Articles by Ben Guilfoyle
Secrets of Strixhaven Set Review
Secrets of Strixhaven looks like a sequel that actually levels up. Prepared creatures let you “store” spells for later, while Paradigm turns one cast into a free spell every turn. Add Mystical Archive reprints, five tuned precons, and meaningful land upgrades, and SOS feels like an instant Commander staple set.
Gates in Commander
Gates aren’t just budget taplands anymore. With 23 total Gates and modern payoffs, they can form a surprisingly smooth mana base that quietly threatens with Maze’s End without warping your deck. Keep the package lean, prioritize land tutors, and let opponents sweat a second win axis.
Mana Rocks
Mana rocks aren’t just “Sol Ring plus Signets.” This guide shows how to evaluate rocks by floor, ceiling, and average, then match them to your curve, colors, commander, and bracket. Go beyond safe picks with fast bursts, utility engines, and big-mana enablers.
An Introduction to Premodern
Ben introduces us to Premodern: A 1v1, 60-card format spanning from Fourth Edition through Scourge that recreates 1995 - 2003 Magic without Power Nine or original Duals. Modern reprints are allowed, but a dedicated banlist avoids “Legacy-lite.” The metagame favors interactive, instant-speed staples, basic-heavy fetch manabases, and classic archetypes from aggro to combo-control.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles First Look
Ben summarizes early TMNT previews, letting players assess themes early. He highlights Sneak, a ninjutsu-like ability and maps colors to Turtle themes: counters, artifacts, aristocrats, wheels, cheating, plus team-ups and utility.
White Interaction
Ben Guilfoyle charts white removal’s evolution: from Alpha’s Swords/Disenchant to catch-all O-Ring effects and modern three-mana answers, plus tools like Path and Prismatic Ending. He notes blind spots (selective land kill, stack interaction) and offers picks and a Moxfield package.
Lorwyn Eclipsed Set Review
Ben Guilfoyle previews Lorwyn Eclipsed: products (Play/Collector Boosters, Bundles, Draft Night, Prerelease), headline mechanics (Kindred, Evoke, transforming DFCs, Blight, Vivid), supporting tech (Persist, Convoke, Behold), Commander reprints and precons (Elementals, Blight), new fetchable duals, plus early chase cards for brewers.
The Reserved List
Ben Guilfoyle surveys Magic’s Reserved List as a Commander toolbox beyond the usual headlines, spotlighting underplayed legends, versatile utility lands, early color-pie outliers, quirky build-arounds, and potent engines. He emphasizes tradeoffs, synergy with land and graveyard themes, and bracket-aware inclusion, urging deckbuilding while balancing budget, table expectations, consistency, and commander fit.
Building for Every Bracket
Ben explains the Magic: The Gathering Commander bracket system (1–5) as shared language for power and intent. He adds definitions of game changers and shows how tutors, redundancy, and commanders shape consistency and placement.
Gift Ideas For The Magic Player In Your Life [2025]
Stressing out about finding the best present for your MTG nerd? Let our author Ben Guilfoyle do the heavy lifting for you and show you the best Magic gifts currently available! You don't know much about Magic: The Gathering or are you on a budget? Don't worry, Ben has the right gift for everyone!
Forgetful Fish
Ben Guilfoyle explains how to play Forgetful Fish, a shared-deck, mono-blue mini-format from 1997 where players draw from one 80-card deck and race with ten Dandâns. Islands matter; stack battles and top-deck manipulation define play. He also goes over the Secret Lair version which tweaks lands, counters, and cantrips. Customization, variants, and upgrade tips abound.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review
Ben Guilfoyle explores the new Avatar: The Last Airbender Magic: The Gathering set by building his very own Commander Precons! One is themed around Earthbending, another around Avatar Aang and another around Lessons. It highlights new mechanics like Bending and returns to old mechanics like Experience counters and Allies!
A Casual Guide to CEDH
Ben explores CEDH, a competitive take on Commander where high-power decks, fast combos, and efficient interaction define the format. With Vintage-level cards, CEDH demands strategic play and deckbuilding. Ben highlights archetypes, brewing tips, and budget advice, showing how this intense, rewarding format elevates gameplay while remaining rooted in Commander’s multiplayer fun.
Spider-Man Review
Ben Guilfoyle explores the new Spider-Man Magic: The Gathering set by building his very own Commander Precons! One is themed around Spider-Man heroes and another around Norman Osborn villains. It highlights new mechanics like web-slinging and mayhem, and showcases key cards and synergies.
Changing the World of Limited
Ben shares his journey through the evolving world of Limited Magic, beginning with his first draft experience during Battle for Zendikar. From nostalgic roots to modern innovations, he outlines how Limited formats like Sealed, Draft, and their experimental offshoots offer deep gameplay through constraint, creativity, and adaptation.
Unsleeved Commander
Ben writes about the joy of building low-power, budget-friendly Commander decks, specifically focusing on the concept of unsleeved decks. Inspired by nostalgia and the simplicity of his early Magic experiences, he shares insights on how to build functional, fun decks within a budget using three main principles: cheap, cute, and good.
Edge of Eternities Review
Ben Guilfoyle is giving us another quick overview on what to expect from Magic: The Gathering's latest release: Edge of Eternities! Let's go over the best designs, rules changes and what this set means for Magic as a whole.
Keeping the Game Moving in EDH
Time is a precious resource, even more so than your life pool in Commander! Ben Guilfoyle has some neat tips and tricks to play quick and fun games of EDH instead of 3 hours of board wipes and cries for help.
Final Fantasy Review
Ben Guilfoyle is giving us another quick overview on what to expect from Magic: The Gathering's latest release: FINAL FANTASY! Let's go over the best designs, rules changes and what this set means for Magic as a whole.
Value Vintage
Ben Guilfoyle is continuing his quest to play Vintage on a budget! Now he stumbled upon THE Vintage budget format: Value Vintage! A small community is gathered around this $30 Vintage format, and Ben check it out for us:
Commanders That You Missed
There are a total of 2,360 legal Commanders out right now, which makes it pretty easy to miss new cool releases! Ben Guilfoyle tried to find the most overlooked ones for each Standard set. Maybe you don't know them either?
The True Cost of Vintage
You think you can't afford a Vintage deck? Think again! Ben Guilfoyle has a lot of nifty little tips and tricks on how to get started with Vintage on a budget! Did you know there is a way to turn a Proxy Black Lotus into the real deal? Ben is here to tell you how!
Tarkir Dragonstorm Preview
Dragons are spawning all over the plane of Tarkir! Good thing for us, our author Ben Guilfoyle is well-equipped to give us a quick overview on what to expect from Magic: The Gathering's latest release, Tarkir: Dragonstorm!
The History of Doomsday
Doomsday is upon us! Or at least that's what people have been screaming since 1997! Ben Guilfoyle goes through the history, formats and the different winning Doomsday piles of this unique deck. Become part of the Doomsday cult, check out this introductory article about the iconic card!
Non-Basic Lands for Commander
We all love Basic Lands, but the true power for your Commander deck hides behind Non-Basics! Ben Guilfoyle goes over all the hidden potential of Non-Basic Lands and tells you exactly which ones you should consider for your deck!
Aetherdrift Preview
Wait! Before you start your engines, let our author Ben Guilfoyle give you a quick pep talk on what to look out for in Magic: The Gathering's newest release: Aetherdrift!
Volo Jumpstart
Ben Guilfoyle takes the fantastic idea of Jumpstart and creates something even better: Commander Jumpstart! In his latest article, he goes through all necessary steps to help you build your own modular Commander deck. Bring multiple decks to game night, all while saving space in your backpack for snacks!
Gimmick Decks
After Ben Guilfoyle taught us how to build a Commander deck, he takes it a step further and shows us how to build a deck around a gimmick! Time to break out of the current meta and jump into the flavorful and mechanical world of gimmick decks!
Commander Build Guide
Ben Guilfoyle is taking YOU from zero to hero with his new Commander deck build guide! Learn how to build an original Commander deck from scratch with a structured guide! Ben suggests a few useful tips and tricks to not get lost in the 99.
Partners and Companions
Ben Guilfoyle is taking a good hard look at all the options around and about Partners, Companions and everything in between! From Battleborn to Doctor Who, Ben goes through all the options, additional rules and how you can take advantage of them!
The Secret Power of Commander
A wild new author appears: Ben Guilfoyle is now writing amazing articles about Commander for us! In his debut text, Ben takes a look at the secret power of Commander and how we can harvest banned and restricted cards from other formats. Which cards are useful for EDH, and what cards just don't make any sense in the 99?