Welcome to a surprise installment of Intellectual Offering. This is not only a surprise for you, dear reader, but also for me. Lately I’ve been suffering a some Commander nihilism. I’ve felt like whatever I brewed was unoriginal, uninspired, and ultimately not worth building. Little did I know that Commander 2018 would have the cure […]
Intellectual Offering - Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
August 23, 2018 by
Sam Alpert 
Intellectual Offering — Admiral Beckett Brass
January 18, 2018 by
Sam Alpert
Hello and welcome back to Intellectual Offering. Sorry for the short hiatus, but the end of the school year was a bit more busy than I expected, and I needed the time to focus on crushing my exams. Now, though, it is time to focus on crushing my opponents. Last set we achieved this literally […]
#admiral beckett brass, #arcane adaption, #black, #blue, #captivating crew, #conspiracy, #copy, #deadeye quartermaster, #dire fleet daredevil, #grixis, #mindclaw shaman, #molten primordial, #pirates, #red, #revel in riches, #sower of temptation, #steal, #treachery, #trophy mage, #xenograft Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Kess, Dissident Mage
November 24, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
This week in Sam vs. The Internet I take on a deck that pushing up the popularity charts week in and week out since its release. Kess, Dissident Mage is not normally the kind of commander I like to write about as she doesn’t facilitate a specific strategy and instead supports generic “goodstuff” style control […]
#black, #blue, #grixis, #kess dissident mage, #mystic confluence, #rakdos charm, #red, #spellslinger Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Tymna and Sidar
October 19, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
It’s that time again. This week on Intellectual Offering we are going back to IO's roots and examining a deck on a card-for-card basis. Ok, that’s a small lie. This week we examine a couple of decks that are all actually one. This week I’m looking at Tymna the Weaver and Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa, […]
#abzan, #average, #bygone bishop, #c16, #dawn to dusk, #hatebears, #hushwing gryff, #mentor of the meek, #partner, #proclamation of rebirth, #razaketh the foulblooded, #reveillark, #shadowborn apostle, #sidar kondo of jamuraa, #sirei shizo's caretaker, #tymna the weaver Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Gishath, Sun's Avatar
September 21, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
Welcome back to Intellectual Offering. This week I’m excited to let my inner Timmy ROAR and talk a little about Gishath, Sun’s Avatar. In case you haven’t had a chance to drink this beauty in here it is in all it’s glory: That thing is HUGE. Ok so it’s not Titanosaur huge: But I mean […]
#aura shards, #c17, #cream of the crop, #deathgorge scavenger, #dinosaur, #enrage, #gishath sun's avatar, #green, #Ixilan, #Kindred Boon, #kinjalli's sunwing, #marshals anthem, #naya, #noxious revival, #pygmy allosaurus, #rampaging ferocidon, #ranging raptors, #red, #ripjaw raptor, #scroll rack, #tribal, #volcanic fallout, #warstorm surge, #white, #XLN Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Mathas, Fiend Seeker
August 17, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
This week I’m dropping the flavorful approach in favor of a more direct contribution. It was a fun experiment and may come back in the future, but for now I just want to talk unhindered about a sweet new card from Commander 2017 (C17). A Brief Aside But first just a couple thoughts on the […]
#cruel reality, #curse of deaths hold, #curse of misfortunes, #curse of opulence, #curses, #disrupt decorum, #enchantments, #enchantress, #mardu, #mathas fiend seeker, #pillowfort, #searing meditation Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Titania, Protector of Argoth
July 20, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
In the myriad of planes I traverse, I am afforded the singular opportunity to see the full range of approaches that the different colors of magic take to similar strategies. While green mages have the greatest affinity for finding new lands, using their resources, reviving the land, and repeating the process, some red mages and […]
#deserts, #endless dunes, #lands, #lotus cobra, #mono green, #Ramunap Excavator, #reclamation sage, #Scavenger Grounds, #song of the dryads, #titania protector of argoth, #two crucibles Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Ghoulcaller Gisa
June 15, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
After a close encounter with Queen Marchesa’s thugs last week I decided to travel somewhere a little less politically charged. As dropping in unannounced is always considered rude I wrote ahead to a friend I’d met on a plane known as Innistrad. My Dearest Gisa, How long has it been since we last connected? It […]
#ashnods altar, #ghoulcaller gisa, #lashwrithe, #mono black, #risen executioner, #tribal, #zombies Read More »
Intellectual Offering - Queen Marchesa
May 18, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
While the new commanders have started taking off, I don’t feel compelled right yet to make them an offering. With people becoming more and more aware of this wonderful site they’re also becoming better at building around new commanders as they come out. People have nailed the important stuff for Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, with […]
#approach of the second sun, #black, #boros, #boros charm, #conspiracy, #gideon of the trials, #marchesa's decree, #mardu, #oketra the true, #orzhov, #pillowfort, #queen marchesa, #rakdos, #red, #release the gremlins, #white Read More »
Intellectual Offering — Amonkhet Edition
April 20, 2017 by
Sam Alpert
With the release of a new set there comes the inevitable scramble to brew with the latest legendary creatures. For me though, that hype just isn’t there. It takes me a little longer to warm up to the latest and greatest. What I do really enjoy is finding the new cards that go into old […]