Benjamin Macready

EDHREC • 10th June 2025

The Emperor of Palamecia - Self-Mill Commander Deck Tech | EDHREC

The Emperor of PalameciaThe Emperor of Palamecia | Art by Heonhwa ChoeThe Emperor of PalameciaThe Emperor of Palamecia is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy II. While he undoubtedly has drip (just look at all of those beads, and the golden kneecaps carved to look like dragon faces) he also has a bit of a branding problem. The Emperor has never really been able to elevate himself into the higher tiers of Final Fantasy villainy. He doesn't have much in the way of motivation beyond being an evil...

Card Gamer • 2nd June 2025

3 Exciting, Upcoming Small Press Card Games From UK Games Expo 2025 - Card Gamer

At the end of May every year, tabletop gamers from across the world gather in Birmingham. Britain’s second-largest city has played host to the UK Games Expo for 18 years now, running the convention since it was established in 2007. This three day long exhibition celebrates the best that tabletop gaming has to offer. Board game companies, big and small, demo their games, indie designers bring along self-published zines and adventure modules, and there are more prints, T-shirts, and accessories th...

EDHREC • 26th May 2025

The Dragons Approach, With Garland, Knight of Cornelia | EDHREC

Garland, Knight of CorneliaGarland, Knight of Cornelia | Art by Billy ChristianFinal Fantasy has many iconic lines and meme-worthy moments. From Tellah calling Edward a spoony bard in Final Fantasy IV, to Vaan running announcing to the whole of Ivalice that he's Basch Von Rosenburg in Final Fantasy XII, to the infamous laughing scene in Final Fantasy X. But none of these lines can hold a candle to the original, the historic meme line from Final Fantasy I.Early in their quest, the warriors of lig...

Macready Musings • 23rd May 2025

Garland, Knight of Cornelia Deck Tech

Garland may not be the most memorable Final Fantasy character, but he's honestly a pretty great commander for a specific niche strategy. Let's talk about it.
You can support me on Ko-Fi here: https://ko-fi.com/macreadymusings

Deck list: https://archidekt.com/decks/13039600/garlands_approach
EDHREC Article: https://edhrec.com/articles/the-dragons-approach-with-garland-knight-of-cornelia

You can find my writing portfolio here: https://benjaminmacready.journoportfolio.com/

You can follow me on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/macreadymusings.bsky.social

The Macready Musings logo and Banner were designed by Panley, whose work you can find here: https://bsky.app/profile/panley.blue

Music used in this video
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Prelude
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Battle Theme
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Victory Fanfare
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Matoya's Cave
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Mount Gulg
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Town Theme
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Main Theme
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - Shop Theme

Other Material Used
Garland Dissidia 012 Ex Burst Sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4nsh8q0jVo&ab_channel=ForgottenFighter

Sound effects provided by Oviono Sounds

Contents
00:00 - Introduction
01:41 - Explaining the Strategy
03:17 - Breaking Down the Deck
07:42 - Upgrades
09:39 - Conclusion

Card Gamer • 21st May 2025

The Surprising Inspiration Behind 5 Yu-Gi-Oh! Archetypes - Card Gamer

One thing that sets Yu-Gi-Oh! apart from other card games is the varied and imaginative archetypes that it employs. These cards contain multitudes and draw from a bewilderingly huge range of sources. You can build a deck based around anything from Dante’s Inferno, to 90s era comic book antiheroes, to Dragons that are also Maids for some reason. In today’s article, we’ll go over five archetypes that draw their inspiration from truly unexpected sources. Let’s get digging.

If you’ve ever eaten sus...

EDHREC • 15th May 2025

Under the Radar - Kurkesh Onakke Ancient

Anyone looking to slot an Ogre into their command zone isn't exactly spoiled for choice. There are 12 options to choose from and three of them are just differentdifferent variantsvariants of HidetsuguHidetsugu. While sadly there aren't any great Ogre typal options, at least not until we inevitably get Universes Beyond: Shrek, there are Ogres that incentivize a wide variety of novel strategies.Today we'll be looking at the 2nd least p...

SUPERJUMP • 14th May 2025

TTRPGs Can Help Build Positive Communities

Tabletop RPG characters are constantly thrust into dangerous situations. Whether they’re vanquishing a dragon, navigating a dungeon, or dethroning a tyrant, the lives of the characters that we dream up are always fraught with risk. But that danger should always be restricted to the realms of our imagination, and everyone gathered around the table has the right to feel secure and comfortable while they play. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. The internet is rife with horror stories about...

Card Gamer • 7th May 2025

The 10 Most Expensive Quarter Century Stampede Cards - Card Gamer

Image courtesy of KONAMI
Yu-Gi-Oh! has been celebrating its 25th anniversary for several years now. The anniversary kicked off with the release of the 25th Anniversary: Legendary Collection in April of 2023. Since then we’ve been getting a steady stream of Quarter Century Secret Rare cards. These cards have shining golden names, a special foiling treatment covering them from top to bottom, and a 25th anniversary watermark that comes into view when their text box is viewed from the right angle.
Q...

Card Gamer • 30th April 2025

StarVaders Review - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of Pengonauts
Invaders are attacking the earth, invaders from beyond the stars. StarVaders, if you will. Using mech and a deck you’ll fight to save the world in this deckbuilding robo-roguelike, from Pengonauts.
Slay the Spire has inspired countless successors, and players are spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing a new roguelike deck builder these days. Does StarVaders blast open a niche for itself, or will it end up engulfed in a swarm of similar titles? Does it rise to...

EDHREC • 29th April 2025

Under the Radar - Silumgar, the Drifting Death | EDHREC

Tarkir: Dragonstorm has given us some beefy new Dragons. Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue serves as a brutal reminder of the power of the delve mechanic, Ureni of the UnwrittenUreni of the Unwritten can fill the sky with Dragons alarmingly quickly, and Betor, Kin to AllBetor, Kin to All can do some truly busted things if you gather together enough high-toughness creatures, but if there's one lesson that the time-warped plane of Tarkir teaches us, it's that we should never forget...

Card Gamer • 16th April 2025

Unpacking the Yu-Gi-Oh! April 7th 2025 Banlist Update - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
On April 6th, 2025, the latest update to the Yu-Gi-Oh! banlist was announced at YCS Houston. This list then went into effect the next day, on April 7th. There’ve been some seismic changes here, impacting a total of 30 cards. Some in the community are celebrating explosive archetypes getting reigned in, while others are mourning the ban hammer smashing down on their favorite decks.

Let’s go through all of these bans, and talk about what’s changed, and how the meta might...

EDHREC • 16th April 2025

Under the Radar - Sita Varma, Masked Racer | EDHREC

Now that Tarkir: Dragonstorm has burst over the horizon, let's look back at Aetherdrift. Magic's speediest set may not have had the greatest Limited format, but it gave us a collection of cool kart-driving commanders, from the artifact-amassing Mendicant Core, GuidelightMendicant Core, Guidelight, to the cycling Shark Captain Howler, Sea ScourgeCaptain Howler, Sea Scourge, to the undead Esper Wizard Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist. Of course, not every racer can make it into pole...

EDHREC • 3rd April 2025

Under the Radar - Niambi, Esteemed Speaker | EDHREC

When we think of reanimator decks, typically we think of commanders with black somewhere in their color identity. Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide, Karador, Ghost ChieftainKarador, Ghost Chieftain, and Sedris, the Traitor KingSedris, the Traitor King are all great at taking creatures from the graveyard and slamming them straight into play.But what if you want to build a reanimator commander, without using the game's best reanimation color?Let's say you want to build a reanimation...

Card Gamer • 2nd April 2025

7 Yu-Gi-Oh! Archetypes Getting Support in Maze of the Master - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
We’ve had a few weeks to enjoy the new cards from Maze of the Master now. This set hasn’t done much to shake up a meta dominated by ever-present Ryzeal and Maliss decks. Nevertheless, Maze of the Master provides support for a wide range of archetypes from the game’s past. It also introduced a brand new set of “Odion” cards, based on the deck of Marik’s favorite minion.
Let’s take a look at the archetypes supported in Maze of the Master, and weigh how impactful these new...

SUPERJUMP • 20th March 2025

An Interview with the Developers of Microtopia

An interview with Cordyceps Collective on how real insect behaviour inspired their design and much more

There is more overlap between video games and insects than you might expect. Satoshi Tajiri was inspired to create Pokémon by his time hunting bugs as a child. Hollow Knight shows us that insects can be as central to a Metroidvania game as vampires and space parasites, and Animal Crossing would just feel incomplete without the trusty bug-catching net.

Cordyceps Collective are a Netherlands-...

Card Gamer • 19th March 2025

The New Odion Archetype in Maze of the Master - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
Maze of the Master is Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s latest booster set. These 112 cards cover a variety of different archetypes: there’s a new Ancient Gear card, some new Trickstars, and a thoroughly bizarre attempt at integrating Red Nova Dragon and the Earthbound Immortals. The big focus of the set, though, is on Odion’s cards.
Odion was a character from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. He was the adoptive brother, loyal henchman, and only friend of Marik Ishtar, the antagon...

EDHREC • 17th March 2025

Under the Radar - Deekah, Fractal Theorist | EDHREC

Today's Under the Radar column marks a fun milestone. Back in August of last year, we analyzed Pashalik MonsPashalik Mons, an underloved mono-red Goblin who has lived his whole life in Krenko'sKrenko's shadow.A month later, we assessed Apothecary WhiteApothecary White, a mono-white Food commander, who is maybe more of a chef than an apothecary, but is still pretty great.At the start of 2025, we took a look at Old One EyeOld One Eye, a monstrous mono-green Tyranid. A fortnight ago, we reviewed Dr...

Card Gamer • 5th March 2025

Every Summoning Method in Yu-Gi-Oh! Explained - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
One of the most daunting hurdles facing any new Yu-Gi-Oh! player is learning about all of the different ways of Summoning monsters. From Synchro Summoning to XYZ Summoning, there are a multitude of different ways to get monsters into play. This handy guide will outline all of the different Summoning methods in the game, and explain how they all work.

Normal Summoning a monster card means playing it from your hand into one of your five main monster zones. A Normal Summo...

EDHREC • 4th March 2025

Under the Radar - Drana, Liberator of Malakir | EDHREC

Magic: The Gathering is full of Vampires. On Innistrad, we have Sorin MarkovSorin Markov, his old man EdgarEdgar, and Olivia VoldarenOlivia Voldaren who had maybe the bloodiest wedding this side of Game of Thrones.On Ixalan we have the saint Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose, the sinner Vona, Butcher of MaganVona, Butcher of Magan, and Amalia Benavides AguirreAmalia Benavides Aguirre who's neither as holy as Elenda, or as cruel as Vona, but is more capable than either of them of comboin...

Card Gamer • 27th February 2025

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection Review - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection, which releases today, is a compilation of 14 different Yu-Gi-Oh! games from the late 1990s and early 2000s. KONAMI is making a clear appeal to nostalgia here. This collection puts the original Duel Monsters anime in the spotlight, embracing the game as it was before the modern complexities of Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, and Link summoning.
The duels you’ll play here will be clashes of old cards like Ocubeam and Uraby. There are some grea...

Card Gamer • 19th February 2025

5 Big Changes In Yu-Gi-Oh! Since You Used To Play - Card Gamer

Images credited to KONAMI
With the Yu-Gi-Oh! EARLY DAYS COLLECTION set for release on the 27th of February, there are plenty of lapsed Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players looking to return to the game. But the Yu-Gi-Oh! of today is very different from the game that Kaiba, Joey, and Yugi used to play back on Nick Toons in the early 2000s. There are a huge number of new types of monsters, plenty of new ways of playing, and the power level of the game has risen dramatically.
So if you’re looking to get back in...

EDHREC • 18th February 2025

Under the Radar - Anya, Merciless Angel | EDHREC

Today on Under the Radar we'll be looking at a commander who came out a decade ago. 2015 was a crazy year, Inside Out was in theatres, Undertale had just come out, and everyone was trying to guess the color of a dress.In the world of Magic: The Gathering players were getting their hands on another set of commander precons. The theme for the 2015 decks was experience counters.The commanders of these decks would gain experience counters and grow stronger as the game progressed. This gave us severa...

EDHREC • 15th February 2025

Aetherdrift Set Review - Enemy & Wedge | EDHREC

Today we'll be racing through all of the notable enemy color cards from Aetherdrift.All sorts of wacky racers have signed up for Ghirapur Grand-Prix, there are Shark PiratesShark Pirates, BikersBikers that look like they've stepped straight out of Tron, and even a fewfew GodsGods have turned up.Let's charge right in and have a look at the best racers that the multiverse has to offer. Magic: The Gathering's answer to Pikachu is back again in Aetherdrift in what may be his most powerful appearance...

Card Gamer • 14th February 2025

Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Birmingham Meta Breakdown - Card Gamer

Images courtesy of KONAMI
Almost 2,500 Duelists came from all over the world to attend the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Birmingham (YCS) last weekend.
Heading into the YCS, it was anticipated that the story of the tournament would be the clash between Ryzeal and Maliss. These two meta-defining archetypes both made their Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG debut in December 2024’s Crossover Breakers. Ryzeal is an XYZ archetype, capable of rushing out their threats and detonating the opponent’s cards. Maliss, meanwhil...