WOAH, somehow its Friday again my friends! It definitely snuck up on me – I feel like I was just writing last week’s article just yesterday…

It’s probably because we’ve been getting so excited about today’s Commander 2018 release!!! Dane and I have been hard at work prepping for today – check out our release video/opening below, and if you’re a local be sure to come check out the release event today! We’ll be assigning random tables and decks, allowing players some time to trade for their preferred deck, and then launching the pods! It’s going to be a blast. I hope to see you there!

Before we dig into this week’s winner, I’m sure you want to know who won the Adaptive Enchantment Commander Deck! Congratulations Preston Roe, you’ll be winning the very one we opened in our video above! Come on in to claim it any time (or if you aren’t local hit us up on Facebook and we can arrange the shipping details).

Of course, instead of just giving away a copy of Aminatou, the Fateshifter, this week we’ll be giving away a copy of the entire Subjective Reality Commander Deck! All you have to do is go to our Facebook, and:

• like the ABU Games Facebook Page
• like the post announcing the giveaway
• comment on said post with either what changes you’ll make to the deck if you win it or just why you’re excited for the deck in general!

This week, as promised, we had the other two commander planeswalkers face off. It looked close during the beginning of the week, but Aminatou, the Fateshifter overtook Lord Windgrace and managed to snag 64% of the votes! Sorry Panthra, but the scary Esper gal is just too cool for school I guess!

History:

While this is Aminatou’s first time on a card, it looks like her history is rich (and still kind of in development). I highly recommend you read Alison Luhrs’ article on The Fateshifter where she discusses Aminatou’s background, the inspiration behind her creation, and what we could possibly see for this precocious little girl’s future.

I’ll give you the cliff notes though:

• She’s only eight years old and chose to ignite her spark early because she foresaw that it would happen in the future.
• She can “perceive the matrix of fate and foresee the destinies of others.”
• Her magic is expressed through those crazy moths, and when one of those wisps land on a person, she can nudge their destiny in any way she chooses.
• Basically, she’s fantastic and probably my new favorite planeswalker (at least lore-wise)

Seriously though, do yourself a favor and go read Luhrs’ breakdown. We’ll end the history section of this week’s FFF with Luhrs’ parting words:

Aminatou is in perfect control of her destiny, and although she is a child, knows that change is a part of being alive. Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from Aminatou and embrace her philosophy on life; the future is never set in stone.

What makes this card so cool?

Aminatou is all about manipulating cards, and I dig it! She starts at three loyalty and her plus one lets you draw a card, then put a card from your hand on top of your library. This doesn’t scream “AWESOME” at me right away, but I think there are plenty of ways this could be useful… at the very least, it allows you to dodge some targeted discard right?

Her second ability, the minus one, lets you exile another target permanent you control and then return it to the battlefield under your control. Who doesn’t love abusing enter the battlefield effects? I like this ability a lot.

Aminatou’s ultimate is kind of weird, but also an effect that sounds hilarious to me in a multiplayer format. For minus six, you get to choose either left or right. Then, “each player gains control of all nonland permanents other than Aminatou, the Fateshifter controlled by the next player in the chosen direction.” That sounds just, super chaotic and awesome to me (and if you ask my playgroup you’ll find that’s just my style when it comes to multiplayer!) I’m sure a better strategist than I could use this to an actual competitive advantage instead of just messing everything up though.

What formats is this card played in?

Well, Commander obviously! Now that she’s released, I’m already seeing people sitting down to play her here in the shop. If I get a chance to play in the event tonight, I know that I’m going to try to trade into Aminatou!

There are also rumors of her being sweet in Legacy!

Chris O’Berry, ABU Teammate and Buylist crewguy, had this to say about Aminatou in Legacy:

I am so excited to try this card out in an Esper Stoneblade or Miracles list! Her first ability offers a repeatable source of top deck manipulation a turn earlier than Jace, the Mind Sculptor and the second ability allows you to bounce Vendillion Clique, Stoneforge Mystic, or Snapcaster Mage for extra value!

In Conclusion

I feel like most of my ‘In Conclusion’ sections have been ending this way lately, but… I’m super pumped! Aminatou’s lore is right up my alley, the card is awesome, and I hope we get to see more from her in the future!

How about ya’ll? Are you pumped for Aminatou? How about any of the other commanders? Let me know in the comments below! Have a good week, and I hope to see you local commander players at the event tonight!

Take care of yourselves.