There are many ways to quantify and express what type of Magic players we are! Just in case you haven’t heard of these ways here is an article by Mark Rosewater about the three original types of Magic players and here is a link to an MTGwiki for the current ideas! The creative aspect of deck building and piloting those decks makes Commander my favorite format!

That being said I have identified myself as a Timmy/Tammy with a dash of Johnny/Jenny and a complete lack of Spike! But everyone is different and that’s what makes things interesting! So are there ways to play Group Hug no matter what type of player you are? You bet!

Here are in broad strokes what I feel are the three main types of political deck.

The pure group hug deck: these decks will have very little chance of winning but enough perks for the table that second place is very likely. I always add at least one win con into every deck even if it’s really tough to pull off. Kami of the Crescent Moon makes a great pure hug commander!

Political / Hug: This is the type I usually build, there are group hug elements in it but there are multiple wind conditions and a lot of fun with engine building. I run a few pieces of counter magic but just to keep my engine safe. Kwain makes a great Commander for this since the combination blue and white offer plenty of chances to be sneaky in the late game to swoop in for a win!

The third category would be group slug or political control: These are the decks that give gifts to the table but mostly they do it just to benefit themselves and to lock up the board. Braids, Conjurer Adept makes a great commander for this type of deck! Also my Timmy/Tammy really gets to shine! That sounded dirtier than I meant it to…

I have tried all three types of political decks! The beauty of Commander being a singleton 100 card format is that you can build elements of each into a single deck and just see what happens!

One of the things I like most about playing political decks is that I can focus on the engine of the deck without too much worry about winning the game. This appeals to my Johnny/Jenny side! For instance I learned to play a flicker deck by putting in all the etb permanents that help the table. It was fun to see what kind of value I could produce for the table each turn!

That’s all for this week!

What type of Magic player are you and what type of Group Hug appeals to you? Let me know on Twitter @marksquare_! I wish you big creatures, combo pieces or big wins this week depending on what type of player you are!

-marksquare