The Command Zone

Joshua Murphy, a Magic: The Gathering commentator and Commander creator, beams in to upgrade the Star Trek “Landing Party” precon. He and Rachel Weeks compare Spock and Kirk, assess the deck’s reprints and weaknesses, then reveal 10 budget-friendly additions and cuts. Expect stronger landfall, ramp, top-deck control, blink synergies, and clever ways to close games while keeping the Star Trek flavor.

Star Trek’s legendary captains and spacecraft beam into Commander deckbuilding. Explore Captain Kirk’s landfall engine, Sisko’s dilemma control, Picard’s officer-fueled fleet, Troi’s political spell-copying, Spock’s zero-mana storm, and more. From graveyard recursion to colorless sneak attacks, discover standout strategies, wild synergies, and the commanders most likely to dominate your next table.

Jake Boss, a Magic: The Gathering content creator and Commander enthusiast, joins the discussion of Star Trek’s Jeskai Federation Fleet precon. They examine Picard and Janeway’s political, second-card strategy, assess valuable reprints, and reveal 10 upgrades plus 10 cuts. They also explore instant-speed draw, timing, piloting under the radar, explosive Tom Paris finishes, and approachable Star Trek starting points.

Five Foundations Commander precons get a complete tune-up. Explore Angel counters and recursion, Sai’s Thopter-fueled artifact engine, Gisa’s zombie sacrifice synergies, Lathliss’s explosive Dragon turns, and Galta’s trampling power. The discussion covers standout upgrades, powerful reprints, smoother mana, stronger card draw, and which decks are ready to battle straight out of the box.

A marathon tour through more than 150 Commander precons reveals the standout cards hiding in each box. From early staples like Command Tower and Toxic Deluge to modern powerhouses such as Fierce Guardianship, Broadside Bombardiers, and Ulalek, the discussion tracks evolving mechanics, iconic commanders, Universes Beyond releases, and favorite precons across Magic’s history.

Murph, a Magic: The Gathering rules-focused commentator, dives into the game’s strangest interactions. Explore why tokens aren’t cards, copying a spell isn’t always casting it, and “tapped and attacking” doesn’t count as attacking. The discussion gets deeper with alternate costs, casting mechanics, last-known information, enters-the-battlefield effects, and bizarre mutate piles.

Commander deckbuilding is full of costly traps, from unfocused strategies and tangled multi-step plans to redundant cards and awkward mana curves. Explore smarter ways to balance enablers, ramp, lands, interaction, and card advantage, plus how to use EDHREC wisely, playtest before buying, and tailor your deck to your playgroup.

Reality Fracture brings a multiverse of Commander possibilities, from explosive mana engines and recurring land creatures to mass reanimation, tribal sweepers, and artifact finishers. The discussion explores blink combos, planeswalker tools, graveyard value, split-second pressure, and dangerous copy effects before ranking the set’s biggest standouts and sleeper staples.

Bad news: Jace has broken the multiverse.  Good news: That means YOU get some broken new Commanders to play with!  That’s right, this episode we’re going over the most powerful new legends from MTG’s latest in-universe set, Reality Fracture. We’ll lay out everything you need to know to start crafting around these cool color-swapped characters, so you can turn YOUR universe into one where you have a sweet new deck. Come watch! -------- JOIN OUR PATREON: Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more! https://www.patreon.com/commandzone -------- SHOPIFY: Power your business with Shopify. Start your FREE trial today by going to: https://www.shopify.com/tcz BROOKLYN BEDDING: Ready to upgrade your sleep? Brooklyn Bedding has you covered! Get 30% off sitewide when you use promo code COMMAND at https://Brooklynbedding.com RAYCON: Go to https://buyraycon.com/command to get 20% off. Thanks to Raycon for sponsoring! -------- CARD KINGDOM: The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today! ULTRA PRO: Huge thanks to Ultra PRO for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their amazing APEX sleeves and super classy MANA 8 product line. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command -------- Relevant Links: Matt Mercer: X: https://x.com/matthewmercer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewmercervo/ Gavin Verhey: X: https://x.com/GavinVerhey Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gavinverhey Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gavinverhey.bsky.social We Upgrade Each Other’s Decks w/ Murph | The Command Zone 760: https://youtu.be/hokDxT8sc78?si=zZ6emc2zTt0JCUVf -------- Follow us on TikTok: @thecommandzone Follow us on Instagram: @CommandCast Follow us on Bluesky: @commandcast.bsky.social Follow us on Twitter: @CommandCast @JoshLeeKwai @jfwong @wachelreeks Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commandcast/ Email us: [email protected] -------- Commander Rules and Ban List: https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jace’s four-color Reality Fracture precon gets a $50 makeover. Explore its polymorph engine, token strategy, landfall alternative, standout reprints, and structural weaknesses. Then see which 10 cards join the upgrade, which 10 are cut, and how pillow-fort defenses and massive creatures turn the deck into a game-winning machine.