Benjamin Macready

My name is Ben, and I am a Gold Standard NCTJ certified journalist. I specialise in pieces about gaming and the culture surrounding it. I believe that games, whether they are played digitally or on a tabletop, are unambiguously art. Games can tell branching stories that wouldn’t be possible in other mediums. I aim to document and critique them on their own terms.

Marvel Legendary - Weapon X Expansion Review - Card Gamer

All images courtesy of Upper Deck Entertainment
Before Logan was Wolverine, he was Weapon X, a test subject whose bones were coated in adamantium, resulting in his jaded attitude and his signature metal claws. The latest Marvel Legendary expansion, from Upper Deck, focuses on Wolverine’s backstory, and the stories of the other Weapon experiments.
This review will analyze all the new cards introduced in the Weapon X expansion, and if Legendary‘s latest expansion is a smash hit like X-Men: Days...

Under the Radar - Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher | EDHREC

From SliversSlivers to SerpentsSerpents, Magic is filled with all sorts of different creature types.If you're determined enough you can build a deck focused on any kind of creatures that you want, no matter how niche.Every once in a while, Wizards of the Coast print a brand new commander to support a creature type that they have never shown an interest in before. Baru, WurmspeakerBaru, Wurmspeaker gave Wurms some long-awaited love back in 2022, Gallia of the Endless DanceGallia of the Endless Da...

Ranking How Safe MTG Aetherdrift's Vehicles Are

Aetherdrift is the next Magic: the Gathering set scheduled for release. It tells the story of a massive multiversal grand prix. The contestants in this interplanar race ride a bewildering array of different vehicles. There are monster trucks, Tron-inspired light cycles and acid spewing cocoon cars. This video will tier all of the different vehicles in Aetherdrift, separating the decent designs from the deathtraps.

You can find the final tier list here: https://imgur.com/a/jrzqWrP

For more from me, check out my fortnightly column "Under the Radar" on EDHREC: https://edhrec.com/articles/author/ben-macready

I also write articles about video games for Superjump Magazine: https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/author/benjaminmacready/

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://twitter.com/panley01

All of the music in this video was sourced from the Ovani Sound Electronic Pack: https://ovanisound.com/

2024 Games of the Year

Welcome to SUPERJUMP's annual Games of the Year celebration. As always, I like to introduce these awards by expressing gratitude for the year gone by.

Thank you game developers. You are creating marvels of art and science - important cultural artifacts - under increasingly difficult circumstances. Whether you work for a large studio or you're a solo developer: thank you. We are all living in an increasingly dangerous and intolerant world, where the moral pendulum appears to be swinging in a vio...

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Via A Card From Every Set 20: Karlov Manor - Foundations

In the twentieth episode of this series, we explore the standard legal sets of 2024. 2024 had some soaring highs and some deep lows. Murders at Karlov Manor financially underperformed and layed its theme on just a smidge too strong. The long-awaited Wild West set arrived in the form of Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Bloomburrow, an adorable animal world, was immediately followed up by Duskmorun, a nightmarish realm of horror. Finally we got a new take on core sets with Foundations. Let's talk about 2024.

For more from me, check out my fortnightly column "Under the Radar" on EDHREC: https://edhrec.com/articles/author/ben-macready

I also write articles about video games for Superjump Magazine: https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/author/benjaminmacready/

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://twitter.com/panley01

Bibliography
Joe Parlock, TheGamer, Murders At Karlov Manor Is Magic: The Gathering's Worst-Performing Set "In Many Years".
https://www.thegamer.com/murders-at-karlov-manor-magic-the-gathering-mtg-worst-selling-set/

Tolarian Community College, Why Karlov Manor Failed And Thunder Junction Succeeded As Magic: The Gathering Sets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHttQZRP-FA&t=1s&ab_channel=TolarianCommunityCollege

Mark Rosewater, The Rabiah Scale Part 2.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/rabiah-scale-part-2-2018-11-26

Mark Rosewater, Drive to Work 1106: Murders at Karlov Manor Design.
https://audio.transistor.fm/m/shows/21454/3bebe36a5db343b4e790ab0a35c6ccbf.mp3

Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor Decklists.
https://magic.gg/news/pro-tour-murders-at-karlov-manor-pioneer-decklists

Dan Musser and Dave Finseth, August 26 2024, Banned and Restricted Announcement.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/august-26-2024-banned-and-restricted-announcement

Wizards of the Coast, MTG Arena Banned and Restricted Announcement – October 22, 2024.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/mtg-arena-banned-and-restricted-announcement-october-22-2024

Wizards of the Coast, First Look at Magic: the Gathering Foundations
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/announcing-magic-the-gathering-foundations

Contents
00:00 - Introduction
00:41 - Murders at Karlov Manor
07:12 - Outlaws of Thunder Junction
11:26 - Bloomburrow
14:55 - Duskmourn: House of Horror
18:40 - Foundations
23:07 - Conclusion

Marvel Legendary – Core Set Mastermind and Villain Review - Card Gamer

Today we’re talking about the masterminds and villains that debuted in Marvel Legendary‘s Core Set. We’ll explore how difficult they are to take down, and how fun they are as opponents. The game’s power level has increased significantly over time, so many of these old villains pale in comparison to the bad guys from more recent expansions.
If you enjoy this, we also have an article assessing the heroes from the Core Set.
Red Skull, what have they done to you? This game does Red Skull dirty; you’...

Under the Radar - Hurska Sweet-Tooth | EDHREC

Welcome back to Under the Radar, the series where we discuss brewing around niche commanders that haven't gotten enough love from the community. Supplemental products are great sources of unconventional commander. From Ravnica: Clue Edition to the Fallout cards, there are plenty of products that never went into standard and are loaded full of great commanders. The commander that we'll be talking about today comes from Foundations Jumpstart.Foundations was the final physical Magic set released in...

Marvel Legendary - Core Set Hero Review - Card Gamer

Marvel Legendary is a fantastic deck building game from Upper Deck. We’ve already published a guide on how to play, but while knowing the rules is one thing, knowing the right heroes to pick is another.  The game’s Core Set came out in 2012; some of these heroes have stood the test of time and are still going strong today, others haven’t aged well at all. Let’s dive right in and review the heroes from Marvel Legendary’s Core Set.
   
   
Black Widow is the most powerful hero in the Core Set, and...

Under the Radar - Old One Eye | EDHREC

The universe of Warhammer 40,000 may be a grim fascistic dystopia, but it did give us some pretty iconic commanders. There's Trazyn the Infinite who enables all kinds of graveyard/artifact synergies, Be'lakor, the Dark Master a staple Demon commander, and of course Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph who leads more than 15,000 wacky pinger decks.
Not every legendary creature from these precons rose to the top though. Old One Eye, the subject of our article today, leads only 225 decks (as of 12/23/2024), m...

How to Play Marvel Legendary - Card Gamer

Marvel Legendary, from Upper Deck, is one of the greatest deck building games of all time. The game first released in 2012, and even now, 12 years later, several new expansions are still released for it every year. If you’re looking to learn how to play one of Marvel’s most popular games, here’s a handy guide to get you started.
The Marvel Legendary core set contains the following cards:
Here’s how you set everything up so that you’re ready for your first game.

Shuffle these cards together to...

Dungeon Inn Review

Inns in RPGs are truly miraculous.  However bruised and battered your adventuring party may be, if they rest up for the night at an inn then they will emerge the next day fully healed and ready for more.  Dungeons, meanwhile, serve the opposite purpose. A fresh and ready adventuring party delves down into a dungeon and emerges exhausted and beaten, but hopefully with huge loads of loot.

Dungeon Inn is a game all about running an RPG inn of your very own, located conveniently at the entrance to...

Under the Radar - Sauron, the Lidless Eye - EDHREC

December 16, 2024 by
Ben Macready
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
There are lots of commanders that you may want to try.
There's Uglúk, Mauhúr and other Uruk-hai.
But today we'll look at Sauron, the Lidless Eye.
Only 416 people have built around this big bad guy.
But he's an awesome card, and now I'll show you why...
There may only be one Ring, but Magic: the Gathering features four different printings of Sauron.
The most popular is Sauron, the Dark Lord who currently lead...

Under the Radar - The Wandering Rescuer - EDHREC

December 2, 2024 by
Ben Macready
Duskmourn: House of Horrors may no longer be the newest set in Standard, but we can still look back on it fondly as an expansion that provided us with plenty of terrifying commanders to choose from. Both Valgavoth, Terror Eater and Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls demonstrate their right to rule the plane by being Elder Demons with brutally strong effects. The Mindskinner possesses a formidably frontloaded 10/1 stat line for a cost of only and the less sai...

Under the Radar - Captain Ripley Vance - EDHREC

November 18, 2024 by
Ben Macready
The Modern Horizons sets contain some of the strongest cards of all time, and they have given us all sorts of powerful commanders. Back in 2019, Modern Horizons 1 gave us Urza, Lord High Artificer. Urza, Lord High Artificer is, currently, the 47th most popular commander of all time, at the head of more than 12,500 decks.
Modern Horizons 2 in 2021 gave us Chatterfang, Squirrel General who is the 18th most popular commander in the game, and leads more th...

Under the Radar - Zareth San, the Trickster - EDHREC

October 28, 2024 by
Ben Macready
Today on Under the Radar, we'll be looking at Zareth San, the Trickster. This Merfolk likes loot, but isn't a Merfolk Looter. Currently (as of 10/19/2024), he only has 162 decks built around him. Zareth San is an amphibious thief who wants you to mill your opponents until their graveyards are populated with a plethora of powerful permanents for him to plunder. Without further ado, let's get to reviewing this Rogue...
The Rogue creature type and mill dec...

Under the Radar - Orca, Siege Demon - EDHREC

October 14, 2024 by
Ben Macready
Today's Under the Radar will evaluate Orca, Siege Demon, a Dominarian that likes it when other creatures die. With only 178 decks currently built around her (as of 10/04/2024) Orca, Siege Demon comfortably qualifies to be explored in this series. She's a sacrifice-themed commander who uses the deaths of other creatures as a means to grow bigger and bigger. Once she's grown big enough, Orca will trample over your opponents' creatures and pummel them unti...

Under the Radar - The Odd Acorn Gang - EDHREC

September 30, 2024 by
Ben Macready
So, we're leaving behind the cozy, pleasant plane of Bloomburrow to head out to the horrifying eldritch doom world of Duskmourn. Let's wave Bloomburrow goodbye by analyzing a Commander from that plane who slipped Under The Radar with fewer than 500 players building a deck around them so far. The Odd Acorn Gang is the backup commander from the Squirreled Away precon. This troublesome gang of forest fighters offers up a pretty unique take on Squirrel ty...

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Embraces Silliness

There’s a single moment, roughly a quarter of the way through Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the game. The party is delving into a mystical forest dungeon called the Proving Grounds. An enigmatic cloaked bandit known as Hurstwine cuts through the murky woods ahead of them, the heroes in hot pursuit.

Both the player characters and Hurstwine are seeking a primal lens, an ancient and powerful artifact that lies at the heart of the dungeon. It’s a race...

Under the Radar - Apothecary White - EDHREC

September 9, 2024 by
Ben Macready
The clock has just struck midnight. A body has been discovered hastily concealed beneath the dining room table and the musty scent of cigarette smoke hangs in the air. It's time to gather all of the suspects together in the foyer for this edition of Under The Radar. In this series, we look at underplayed commanders with less than 500 decks to their name.
We investigate the strategies they encourage and examine the average decklist that EDHREC generates...

Under the Radar - Breeches, the Blastmaker - EDHREC

August 28, 2024 by
Ben Macready
In today's edition of Under the Radar, we're looking at another commander with under 500 decks to their name. Our second goblin in a row, Breeches, the Blastmaker is an Ixalani Pirate, who decided to take an extra-planar road trip out to Thunder Junction to play around with all of the exciting dynamite and explosives that the wild west themed world had to offer. We're going to analyze the strategies that Breeches incentivizes while digging into the card'...

Under the Radar - Pashalik Mons - EDHREC

August 19, 2024 by
Ben Macready
Goblins are one of the most popular creature types in the game. Some players love the rapid ramping and mana generation that Elf decks provide. Others crave the reanimating recursion that Zombie decks offer, or the unmatched power of a deck that can fill the sky with Dragons. Yet, although it's a simple strategy, there is arguably no matching the thrill of coating the table in a thick layer of 1/1 Goblin tokens and then turning them all sideways for mass...

Richard Garfield to Replace Chris Pratt in Sequel to Garfield Movie | Commander's Herald

The Garfield Movie was released to harsh critical condemnation in May of 2024. Hoping to change course, and find an actor capable of more fully embodying the character, Sony Pictures have recast Chris Pratt's role in the film's sequel.

With Andrew Garfield no longer taking any calls from the studio, and James A. Garfield having been assassinated in 1881, notable game designer Richard Garfield was chosen to play the iconic orange cat.

Richard Garfield is the designer of many celebrated games, i...

Under the Radar - Feather, Radiant Arbiter - EDHREC

July 30, 2024 by
Ben Macready
Welcome back to Under the Radar, the series where we take obscure commanders who lead fewer than 500 decks and show off their hidden strengths. Today we'll be talking about Feather, Radiant Arbiter, a Boros Angel who, for a small fee, duplicates any spells her controller casts that target her. Today we will compare Feather to a few other commanders to see what makes her unique, look at her average deck list and make some modifications to it.
Just like the...

Under the Radar - Aragorn, Company Leader - EDHREC

There are all sorts of commanders in Magic: The Gathering. As I write this article, the game contains more than 2,000 legendary creatures to brew around in millions of different creative ways. Yet for every Atraxa, Praetors' Voice soaking up the limelight, dozens of forgotten commanders have fallen to the wayside. Cards like Jiwari, the Earth Aflame, Syr Faren, the Hengehammer, and Hythonia the Cruel have hugely exciting depths of untapped deckbuilding pote...
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