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James McCormick
James McCormick

5 Followers

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Aug 26, 2021

No job is worth a commute.

I’ve been getting a LOT of job openings lately. One thing they have in common is that they expect IT workers like me to return to the office at least part time. The answer is no. I will never take a job that requires me to commute again. Why? Commuting is unpaid labor. In…

7 min read

7 min read


Feb 26, 2021

An End to Power Level Discussions in EDH

For years, we’ve all obsessed over power levels in EDH. We’ve tried to give our decks power scores to try to seek out “even” matchups. However, we’ve all been in a situation where someone’s 6 turns out to be a 9 to you. …

Magic The Gathering

11 min read

Magic The Gathering

11 min read


Aug 14, 2020

That One Poor Sod

As a software engineer, there are times when you look at something and think, “There has to be only one poor sod out there who needs this.” Once upon a time, Sun Microsystems provided a serial communications library in their distribution of Java for a few platforms (notably Solaris on…

4 min read

4 min read


Jul 28, 2020

On 7’s in Commander

Everybody thinks they have a 7. You (probably) don’t. The 1–10 Power Scale Most Commander players are familiar with The Command Zone podcast. In it, Josh and Jimmy talk about a power scale, where 1 is the weakest and 10 is the most powerful. …

Magic The Gathering

7 min read

Magic The Gathering

7 min read


Jan 28, 2020

Building a Commander Deck, part 6: Building an Orthogonal Deck

We’ve talked about useful decks. But now, it’s time to discuss when to throw the rules away entirely because it gets in the way of something that you deem more important. What makes an Orthogonal Deck? An orthogonal deck is not trying to win the game. Period. It may be able to, if things go…

Magic The Gathering

8 min read

Magic The Gathering

8 min read


Jan 22, 2020

Building a Commander Deck, Part 5: Building a Mechanical Commander Deck

Finally, we get to the lowest power level of playable Commander decks: the Mechanical deck. These decks usually lack a focus or a good commander. Perhaps you’re playing an unsupported tribe. Perhaps you really like Manifest and jammed as many Manifest cards as you could find into a deck (there…

Magic The Gathering

9 min read

Magic The Gathering

9 min read


Jan 13, 2020

Building a Commander Deck Part 4: Building a Focused Commander Deck

Let us begin with a decklist. Unusually for this series, I even have gameplay video of this deck, featuring its author, Graham Stark of Loading Ready Run. He explains the backstory of the deck in the video quite nicely. In fact, that video is the reason I chose this deck…

Magic The Gathering

10 min read

Magic The Gathering

10 min read


Jan 6, 2020

Building a Commander Deck, part 3: Building a Tuned Commander Deck

Once again, we’re going to start with a decklist. This is a bit more of a classical deck tech than previous articles, because this time that’s warranted. We’re starting to apply lessons already. …

Magic The Gathering

13 min read

Magic The Gathering

13 min read


Dec 18, 2019

Building a Commander Deck, Part 2: Building an Optimized Deck

Before, I begin, I want to start by sharing the decklist that will be the core of this article. I have this deck. But to start with, an Alton Brown quote: The only unitasker allowed in my kitchen is a fire extinguisher. Our Optimized Deck This is where I’d usually provide a summary…

Magic The Gathering

12 min read

Magic The Gathering

12 min read


Dec 9, 2019

Building a Commander Deck, Part 1: What do you want to do?

I’m not a name in the Magic: the Gathering community. I don’t create content. I don’t stream. You wouldn’t recognize me from some rando at your LGS. In fact, if you play in the suburbs of Dallas, I probably am some rando at your LGS. …

Magic The Gathering

5 min read

Magic The Gathering

5 min read

James McCormick

James McCormick

5 Followers

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