Jeskai Striker Precon Guide - Tarkir: Dragonstorm

<p>Florida's 6th congressional district is up for grabs.</p>
<p>On the state's Atlantic coast, the district is situated between Saint Augustine and Daytona Beach, stretching inland to the outskirts of Ocala and Leesburg. The former representative for the district, Michael Waltz, vacated that role in January to accept a position in the current presidential administration as U.S. National Security Advisor. That triggered a need for a special election, scheduled for April 1. Whoever wins that seat will represent the district's roughly 800,000 residents.</p>
<p>Josh Weil wants to be that person.</p>
<p>Weil, who earned his candidacy on Jan. 28 by winning the Democratic primary election, is looking to break the 6th district's streak of electing Republican representation dating back to 1989.</p>
<p>He'll face off with Randy Fine (R) at the polls, as well as third party/unaffiliated candidates Andrew Parrott, Randall Terry and Chuck Sheridan.</p>
<p>Voters in the district, in researching their candidates, might have taken a look at Weil's website, on which it lists some personal details about the career teacher: single dad to two boys, he's got a cat named Chatterbox, he loves the Marvel Cinematic Universe.</p>
<p>And there's another detail too, which will answer the question readers are likely asking themselves about this particular content on EDHREC: he's a huge <em>Magic </em>player.</p>
<p>We spoke to Weil about that very fact, as well as the reason he's willing to throw his hat into the ring to represent the people of Florida's 6th district.</p>
<p><strong><em>Nick Wolf: I'd love for you to elaborate a bit on how engaged you are with Magic: The Gathering. How'd you start, and when?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Josh Weil:</strong> I started playing in middle school, and discovered it at my local comic shop. <i>Fourth Edition </i>was out, but they still had some <em>Revised</em>, in those old wax packs. I played through <em>Ice Age</em> block, <em>Mirage</em> block, and into <em>Fifth Edition</em>, up until the LCS closed. As an adult, I got back into it when a friend invited me out to play during the <em>Scars of Mirrodin</em> block, and I was all in, again.</p>
<p><strong><em>What's your preferred format?</em></strong></p>
<p>We play casually with friends a lot, but my boys love EDH, so we play that a lot when it’s just us at home. My favorite is probably booster drafts, though. I love the whole extra aspect of deck building, and knowing that budget is a level playing field.</p>
<div id="attachment_146554" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-146554" class="wp-image-146554 size-medium" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler-300x176.webp" alt="" width="300" height="176" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler-300x176.webp 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler-1024x602.webp 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler-768x451.webp 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/playmat-serra-angel-signed-douglas-shuler.webp 1445w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-146554" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Serra Angel, by Doug Shuler</strong></span></p></div>
<p><strong><em>Favorite card? Memorable gameplay story?</em></strong></p>
<p>My favorite card art is the OG <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Serra Angel|LEA|39" href="#" target="_blank">Serra Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I absolutely love that art by Douglas Shuler. I love playing tribal (kindred) and working tribal boosts, so my favorite in gameplay right now is probably either <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Door of Destinies" href="#" target="_blank">Door of Destinies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or working off of proliferate (one of my favorite mechanics), <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flux Channeler" href="#" target="_blank">Flux Channeler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Door of Destinies"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flux Channeler"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>Do you have an example deck list that you enjoy playing?</em></strong></p>
<p>Recently, I’ve had a lot of fun playing with a 60 card Bant deck. It really plays more like a mini-EDH with a ton of singletons. It produces a lot of +1/+1 counters, does a lot of Proliferating – I told you, I <i>love </i>Flux Channeler – and even has some gimmicks for sacrificing lands and bringing them back and forth from the graveyard to play with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="World Shaper" href="#" target="_blank">World Shaper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Splendid Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Splendid Reclamation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zuran Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Zuran Orb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Copper-Leaf Angel" href="#" target="_blank">Copper-Leaf Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Titania, Protector of Argoth" href="#" target="_blank">Titania, Protector of Argoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I also put <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="A Killer Among Us" href="#" target="_blank">A Killer Among Us</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <i>Murders at Karlov Manor </i>in there because it’s just silly fun.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Copper-Leaf Angel"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zuran Orb"></div></div>
<p><strong><em>As an educator, do you see value in </em>Magic <em>as a teaching tool?</em></strong></p>
<p>Absolutely. Critical thinking is one of the hardest things to teach, helping to build those mental muscles for kids to not just succeed through memorization or following set procedures, but being able to problem solve. Watching the gears spin when my boys find new cards and start thinking of all the ways they’d make decks around them, and the balance of working towards your win condition while responding to the opponents’ gameplay, it’s invaluable.</p>
<div id="attachment_146556" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/card-EPMPJ-art_crop.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-146556" class="wp-image-146556 size-medium" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/card-EPMPJ-art_crop-300x219.webp" alt="" width="300" height="219" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/card-EPMPJ-art_crop-300x219.webp 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/card-EPMPJ-art_crop.webp 626w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-146556" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Flux Channeler, by Heonwha Choe</strong></span></p></div>
<p><strong><em>What compelled you to throw your hat into the ring in Florida? Are politics something that has always interested you or is this new?</em></strong></p>
<p>I’m a teacher and a single dad - I was compelled to launch my campaign because of my sons and my students. These kids deserve to grow up in a community that cares about each other and one that prioritizes education, health care, the environment, and their economic future. They deserve more than just “fine.” Florida’s politicians are more beholden to the special interests and wealthy donors than to us. I’m running because we can all agree that we want our families, friends, and communities to thrive and we need real solutions to address these problems.</p>
<p><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-146552 size-medium aligncenter" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1-300x238.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="238" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1-300x238.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1-1024x813.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1-768x610.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW1.jpg 1176w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<p><strong><em>How are the issues you see faced by Floridians translate to those faced by Americans at-large?</em></strong></p>
<p>In Florida, we are seeing a number of issues such as high prices in the grocery store, lack of access to affordable housing, and the defunding of public education. These are not unique to the 6th district (FL-06) – many Americans are facing these same challenges. Ultimately, if elected my priority will be FL-06 and finding bold solutions for my constituents, but hopefully we can get support on board to help communities across America. With the balance of the House so close, negotiations will be needed from both sides.</p>
<p><strong><em>What can you say about the support you've received so far?</em></strong></p>
<p>We have seen a lot of enthusiasm over the course of this short campaign. People are mad about the Trump-Musk administration and frustrated that Trump has focused more on culture wars than the cost of goods. We are not taking any money from PACs or special interests and it’s been awesome to see the significant grassroots excitement.</p>
<p><strong><em>Overall, what do you see are the most immediate issues you seek to tackle, should you be elected? How do you intend to tackle these issues?</em></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://joshweil.us/issues/">I go into detail about some of my priorities and how I plan to solve them on my website</a>. Broadly however, a few important issues that I plan to tackle first include ensuring the continued funding of public education to improve our schools, fixing our broken health care system, and resetting the economy for workers. We will need to be able to pay for this however, so I will work hard to end the handouts to the wealthy via the Trump tax cuts and make sure everyone contributes to our shared success.</p>
<p><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-146551 size-medium aligncenter" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2-300x238.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="238" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2-300x238.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2-1024x813.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2-768x610.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JW2.jpg 1176w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<p><em>Note that any political viewpoints and ideas expressed in this article may not be expressly shared or held by EDHREC and/or its affiliates, and any appearances and quotes do not denote an endorsement.</em></p>


A Conversation with Florida Congressional Hopeful Josh Weil

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Header Image: Palinchron, Illus. <a href="https://x.com/mattwilsonprime?lang=en">Matthew D. Wilson</a></h6>
<h2>Time to cast your vote!</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Squirrel Nest" href="#" target="_blank">Squirrel Nest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is not a Game Changer. Neither is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Earthcraft" href="#" target="_blank">Earthcraft</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>But what happens when both these cards are present in a Commander deck?</p>
<p>One of the classic two-card infinite combos, Squirel Nest + Earthcraft is easy to assemble (outside of the financial cost of one of those two cards, of course), can be added to any green deck, and can almost instantly win any game. How do you assess your deck's bracket in this case?</p>
<p>That's for us to find out, with the Commander Bracket Combo Vote.</p>
<p>EDHREC is introducing today a way for the Commander community to work together to determine what effect two-card combos have on your deck's bracket placement.</p>
<h2><strong>Everyone's invited to head <a href="https://edhrec.com/combo-vote">over here</a> and start participating.</strong></h2>
<hr />
<h2>How does it work?</h2>
<p>Utilizing combo data from EDHREC's sister site <a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/">Commander Spellbook</a>, voters are presented with a two-card combo and are asked three questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong> Can this combo be reasonably executed in the first six or so turns?</strong></li>
<li><strong>Are the prerequisites (ignoring mana) easy enough that you'd still call this a two-card combo?</strong></li>
<li><strong>Is it easy to leverage this combo into a win?</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Based on the data acquired through the vote, EDHREC will be able to display on the site which brackets the community thinks these individual combos might fit, as well as give a more accurate bracket estimate for decks on Archidekt.</p>
<p>Each question is designed to assess how impactful each of these combos are in an average game of Commander, as there currently is no "official list" related to brackets for two-card infinite (or near-infinite) combos.</p>
<p>The data generated by the voting also won't be "official," but it will be made available to members of the Commander Format Panel as they continue to tweak the Bracket System for widespread use in the community.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the voting will help identify in which bracket players might expect to find individual two-card combos, therefore allowing them to make more informed decisions when assessing their own deck's bracket.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cephalid Aristocrat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reconnaissance"></div></div>
<p>On the voting page, each voter will be presented with a two-card combo as identified by Commander Spellbook.</p>
<p>They'll be asked to assess the combo using the above three questions with either a "yes," indicating that they agree with the question in relation to the combo, or "no," indicating that they do not agree.</p>
<p>Based on the voter's answers, they'll be presented with an opportunity to submit a vote for the lowest-powered bracket in which the combo is safe to play.</p>
<h3>When can I vote?</h3>
<p><strong>Voting will be live from Wednesday, March 19 through Sunday, March 23.</strong></p>
<hr />
<h2>How will it help?</h2>
<p>For a quick refresher into the methodology of the Bracket System, <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/introducing-commander-brackets-beta">this article from Wizards of the Coast's Gavin Verhey</a> will get you up to speed. In short, however, every Commander deck will fit into one of five brackets based on a number of criteria related to that deck's power level, card inclusions and intent.</p>
<p>The "Exhibition" Bracket, or Bracket 1, contains decks that "just focus on fun" and are usually based on a theme — in other words, "ultra-casual." Next up is Core, or "the average current preconstructed deck," followed by "Upgraded" and "Optimized."</p>
<p>According to Verhey and other Commander Format Panel (CFP) members, most decks fall into those two latter categories. Lastly, there's the "cEDH" Bracket, which is exactly what it says on the tin.</p>
<p>Commander Spellbook is host to more than 40,000 combos, including dozens of clear two-card combos.</p>
<p>However, many of these combos fall into a bit of a "gray area" due to either the prerequisites required to initiate their effect, or the effect itself possibly not being game-ending on its own. That's covered in the latter two questions with which voters will be prompted.</p>
<p>As for the first question, Verhey defines in the above article "early game" as in the first six-or-so turns, which is why the question is worded in this way.</p>
<p>If a two-card combo can be reasonably executed in the early game, that has relevance when determining which bracket a deck might belong to.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Curiosity"></div></div>
<p>This week's voting is just an initial run, followed by persistent voting of two-card combos continually present on the "<a href="https://edhrec.com/combos">Combos</a>" tab on EDHREC.</p>
<p>While the Commander Bracket Combo Vote bears a lot of similarity to EDHREC's annual Salt Score voting, you won't have to wait for voting to open once a year to have your say.</p>
<p>Because of this, combos created by newly released cards can be assessed for their bracket placement much more quickly.</p>
<p>And if due to a two-card combo in your deck you've been placed in Bracket 4, for example, you'll be able to express your opinion via voting if you feel like that's not quite right.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bigger on the Inside"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Staff of Domination"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>Where will the data go?</h2>
<p>The information generated from the Commander Bracket Combo Vote will be used in a variety of ways, but first and foremost it'll be available for public viewing on EDHREC in the weeks following the end of the initial voting period.</p>
<p>The primary goal behind the Commander Bracket Combo Vote is to provide players with more tools with which to assess their decks through the lens of the Bracket System.</p>
<p>To that end, deck-building site <a href="https://archidekt.com/">Archidekt</a> will also be provided the data to allow the site to provide a more accurate estimate of a deck's bracket.</p>
<p>White the Commander Bracket Combo Vote is not conducted in association with Wizards of the Coast, the data generated by the voting, like everything else on EDHREC, is thanks purely to the community at-large.</p>
<p>And since it's community-generated data about Commander, it's possible that the two-card combo data may impact the Bracket System in an official capacity in the future.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Palinchron"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deadeye Navigator"></div></div>
<hr />
<h2>What's next?</h2>
<p>Nothing! Other than voting, that is. <a href="https://edhrec.com/combo-vote">Let's get to it!</a></p>
<p>The Commander Bracket Combo Vote is now live, and the only thing left to do is lend your Commander expertise to it.</p>
<p>As always, thanks for reading, and happy voting!</p>


Nick Wolf

Nick Wolf

Jeskai Striker Precon Guide - Tarkir: Dragonstorm

A Conversation with Florida Congressional Hopeful Josh Weil

Introducing the Commander Bracket Combo Vote