AI Summary
5 min readIn this episode of The Command Zone, Rachel Weeks and Josh "Murph" Murphy swap decklists and give each other 10-card upgrades, focusing on the psychology of deckbuilding and the difficulty of improving someone else's personal creation. Rachel takes on Murph's Dakkon Blackblade, an Esper lands-matters Voltron deck, while Murph tackles Rachel's Lord of Tressorhorn, a Grixis Voltron deck with a punishing enters-the-battlefield trigger. The conversation reveals how a deck's identity, its builder's preferences, and the tension between synergy and raw power shape every card choice.
The Dakkon Blackblade Upgrade: Ramping Without Green
Murph's Dakkon Blackblade deck is a puzzle: a six-mana commander whose power equals the number of lands you control, but in Esper—a color combination with poor land ramp. Rachel observed that the deck had "weird tangles" and "relics from past versions," including a reliance on artifact ramp that actually makes Dakkon smaller. Her upgrades focused on two key problems: getting lands into play efficiently and giving Dakkon alternative ways to win.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:41) **Introduction & Deck-Building Philosophies** - Rachel and Murph introduce the episode's premise: each will upgrade the other's deck by adding and removing 10 cards.
- 2 (04:35) **Deck Selection & Ground Rules** - Rachel and Murph pick each other's decks and set the upgrade philosophy.
- 3 (13:05) **Rachel's Analysis of Dakon Blackblade - The Puzzle** - Rachel identifies the core tension in Murph's deck and her guiding principles for upgrades.
- 4 (18:40) **Rachel's Adds for Dakon Blackblade: Early Ramp & New Tech** - Rachel introduces new ramp options that solve the deck's early-game problems.
- 5 (24:44) **Rachel's Adds for Dakon Blackblade: Synergistic Removal & Utility** - Rachel adds removal that fuels the deck's catch-up mechanics and powerful utility pieces.
- 6 (38:44) **Rachel's Cuts for Dakon Blackblade** - Rachel justifies her 10 cuts, focusing on efficiency and redundancy.
- 7 (50:19) **Murph's Analysis of Lord of Tresserhorn - The Scattered Deck** - Murph diagnoses the main problem with Rachel's deck.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Collaborate and conquer! This episode we’ll prove two heads are better than one by upgrading each other’s decks. Rachel and Murph each take one of the other’s brews and make 10 changes to bring it up to snuff. How will Murph’s obscure old-school sensibilities mesh with Rachel’s efficient and analytical deckbuilding? Our guess is quite well, but tune in and find out!
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