Commander is becoming the biggest organized format in Magic: The Gathering. The 100-card casual format exploded in recent years to the point where Wizards of the Coast dubbed 2020 as “the year of Commander.”
With the release of Commander Legends, a draftable Commander set, and legendary creatures increasingly being designed for the format, it’s clear Wizards sees how popular the format is.
Commander is different than more competitive formats like Standard and Modern. Commander is as much about style and the social experience as it is winning in a competitive environment. For that reason, Commander players might enjoy different gifts due to the casual nature of the format.
Here are some of the best gifts to get for the Commander player in your life. Many of these products are available at a local game store.
Commander Legends booster box
Wizards brought a new experience to Magic this year with Commander Legends. The special set is meant to be played as a Limited Commander experience. By all accounts, Wizards provided a fun Limited environment and plenty of Commander Legends cards are powerful constructed pieces.
Whether it’s for drafting or adding to established decks, the cards in Commander Legends are an exciting addition to any player’s collection. A $139.99 box will give 24 booster packs of Commander Legends, which supports a six-player Draft pod or a three-player Sealed pod.
Channel Fireball Magic gift box
Commander pulls cards from every set in Magic’s history. Channel Fireball has an interesting holiday gift box that contains 24 booster packs from the past decade of Magic. This is a great way to find some hidden gems by cracking packs and pick up some legendary creatures to build decks around. The gift box also includes some cool promo cards, a playmat, and sleeves. This is a solid option at $129.99 to cover all the bases of Commander with style and substance.
Inked Gaming playmat
Playmats are an excellent gift for Commander players due to the tabletop-centric nature of the format. While more players are turning to Arena and Online for the majority of their Magic experience, Commander is crucially tied to the social aspect of Magic. A great way to showcase personality and start a conversation is a playmat.
Inked Gaming is known for custom art playmats but offers quality playmats with a diverse range of art styles. Whether a funny or ornate playmat works, at $24.99 for a playmat, Inked Gaming is a great resource to find the perfect gift.
Ultimate Guard – Twin Flip’n’Tray deck case
Commander players have a lot of cards to carry around. Each deck is 100 cards, not including tokens. This is what makes a Twin Flip’n’Tray deck case a great gift. The case holds two sleeved Commander decks with an additional tray for dice or counters. The utility of the case is solid, but it’s the style that enhances this gift. The XenoSkin outside provides solid grip and generally feels nice. The case is also resilient and should last through many trips to the game store for $39.99.
Dragon Shield card sleeves
Players have to protect their cards. There are plenty of card sleeves on the market, but Dragon Shield matte sleeves are a specific favorite after years of use. These durable and easy-to-shuffle sleeves will protect cards and tangibly improve the gameplay experience. There’s a wide range of colors available in the matte lineup. Depending on where the sleeves are bought, they can be found for around $10. Dragon Shield offers art sleeves, but they can be unwieldy for the first few months because of how slick they are.
Chessex dice set
Having dice is incredibly important to the tabletop Magic experience. Particularly in Commander, where board states can get almost incomprehensibly complicated, it’s great to have dice to keep track of counters, tokens, or upkeep triggers. Chessex dice can be found in almost any local game store, making them easy to find for an excellent stocking stuffer. There’s a huge array of colors and designs with most sets coming in at $10.
