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AuthorSheldon Menery

Magic Judge Hall of Famer Sheldon Menery was one of the most influential judges in the history of the game. He pioneered Commander and was a founding member of the Commander Rules Committee. After a seven-year battle with cancer, Sheldon passed away in 2023, leaving behind a legacy of kindness and respect, turning acquaintances into friends, and friends into family. “I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends.” - William Shakespeare, Richard II

Embracing the Chaos – Power Creep and You

Tuesday, August 17th – Iteration 6 of the Armada Games EDH League begins later this week, so before we get back into the play-by-play action, I’d like to talk about the dreaded Power Creep, how it impacts your group, and what you can do about it.

Embracing the Chaos – EDH League Final Week

The StarCityGames.com Open Series heads to Denver!
Tuesday, August 3rd – The last week of the current iteration of the Armada Games EDH League came, and I left with a whimper. In my ongoing quest to do something different in the League, I played Phelddagrif for the first time in a long time.

Embracing the Chaos – Embracing the Originals

Grand Prix GP Columbus July 30-August 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 27th – After a few weeks off from playing in the League due to travel commitments, I was back for Week 7, with some very important guests in tow, people that had an unintentional but significant impact on the EDH format…

Embracing The Chaos – The Decks I Love

Grand Prix GP Columbus July 30-August 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 20th – It’s been quite a while since I’ve listed the decks I play, so I thought it might be time (and a few voices in the forums have asked). They’ve morphed a little over the last six months or so, both due to new cards coming out and me liking to play with different things occasionally. While Rise of the Eldrazi hasn’t warped the format as Ken Nagle thought it might, it has certainly provided some material (and I’m sure an Emrakul discussion will ensue).

Embracing The Chaos – Dragons at War… Savage War

Grand Prix GP Columbus July 30-August 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 13th – I will confess a weakness for Jund colors. I’ve been playing Mythic Bant in Standard recently, and although I love the idea of attacking with 17/17 Baneslayers, I really love the savagery of BRG, so I hope you’ll understand why I keep going back to the Kresh and Karrthus wells. This week, it was Karrthus.

Embracing The Chaos – Coming Out Angry: Kresh in the EDH League

Grand Prix GP Columbus July 30-August 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 6th – I watched Italy play terribly on the morning of EDH League, so I was angry. It was really a letdown to see gli azzurri so dominated by such a lesser squad. The only deck to play angry is Kresh (okay, maybe Karrthus, but still, Kresh is much angrier). After playing a few casual games, I popped Altar of Dementia out of Karrthus and into Kresh for some serious shenanigan value…

Embracing the Chaos – Vision for the Format… and Previews!

Grand Prix GP Columbus July 30-August 1, 2010
Tuesday, June 29th – We see an EDH game as a group effort, and this is a mindset that I understand might be completely alien to otherwise competitive players. Our intention is to make things so that the primary goal isn’t ‘winning,’ as it’s traditionally defined, it’s ‘having a great time together.’ Again, I get the idea that “I came to win” is deeply engrained in the way we compete.

Embracing The Chaos – Back to Basics

The StarCityGames.com Open Series comes to St. Louis!
Tuesday, June 22nd – After the experimentation with Isperia deck, which I intend to go back to at some point, I just wanted to play “my way.” This, of course, involved getting into the Red Zone with Karrthus.

Embracing The Chaos – I Played It!

The StarCityGames.com Open Series comes to St. Louis!
Tuesday, June 15th – They built it. I played it. And it made me feel dirty. Last week I listed the Isperia deck, and this week I took it to EDH League. I made a few changes, some out of necessity, some out of desire.

Embracing The Chaos – They Built It

The StarCityGames.com Open Series comes to Seattle!
Tuesday, June 8th – I had previously mentioned that for the new iteration of the Armada Games EDH League that I wanted to build a deck with cards I hadn’t previously played or wasn’t currently playing. I started thinking about what I’d do, knowing that I’d have two weeks (the week of PT San Juan and the following) to cook up something before the League restarted. Then, just before I left for San Juan, fellow L5 Toby Elliott linked me to a thread on MTGSalvation where they a) called me a geezer and b) had decided to build a deck for me.

Embracing the Chaos – The EDH Invitational

StarCityGames.com Open Series: Philadelphia June 5th - 6th
Tuesday, June 1st – I’ve often dreamed of an EDH Invitational. Maybe someday, we will even make it a reality. Until then, we’ll play it out in our heads. For an EDH Invitational, I would invite 16 players, and play in four pods of four, probably in some kind of round-robin fashion, giving everyone the opportunity to play with as many others as possible…

Embracing The Chaos – Chthulu Chicken Dinner

read Sheldon Menery every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, May 25th – As you’re reading this, I’m on a flight to San Juan for the Pro Tour, after having finished the final week of v.4 of the Armada Games EDH League, in which Emrakul makes a turn 4 appearance at Table 1. Read on…

Embracing The Chaos – Where Beasts Lurk

Visit the StarCityGames.com booth at Grand Pris: Washington!
Tuesday, May 18th – This week, I delivered on the promise of playing the Darigaaz-turned-Karrthus deck, and it was a smashing success. In stark contrast to the philosophy of Second Best which I espoused last week, I was a frontrunner for the entirety of the first game…