Pauper Commander enthusiast Richard Brandon unveiled his new tattoo last Tuesday. According to uncomfortable sources now distancing themselves from Brandon, his tattoo commemorates his favorite aspect of Pauper EDH, the rule zero discussion.
“The discussion prior to any game of commander, often referred to as “rule 0″, is one the greatest aspects of the format. Magic: The Gathering can be played in many ways, but commander is the only one that allows players to tweak the rules to suit themselves. It’s one of the most understated and remarkable aspects of the game that, in my opinion, deserves more love and attention. That’s why I got this sick new tattoo. It’s already working too, I can tell. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who couldn’t take their eyes off of it when I went to the beach. One dad was staring too long, so I figured he knew what it meant, so I smiled and said ‘lets talk about it!’ while pointing at my tattoo.”
Brandon went on to illustrate the importance of the discussion and how it can make or break a night of commander.
“Perhaps it’s just my playgroup, but our rule 0 discussions can be long and heavily debated,” Brandon continued. “Rather than start fresh every Friday night, I decided to start keeping track of the details of our discussions and the rules we set into place. That way we can call back on rules that worked and get rid of the ones that don’t. At least I thought it was a good idea, but the rest of the playgroup always groans whenever I say we should check with the PEDH0 File.”
Brandon’s next tattoo will commemorate his favorite color to play in pauper EDH: white.
“People always say that white is the weakest color and has the worst commanders. Honestly, I don’t mind if people underestimate my mono-white decks since that can be an advantage when playing EDH. You can get away with a lot so long as the rest of the table doesn’t see you as a threat. I saw a sweet “red power” tattoo the other day from someone at FNM so I think I’m going to get something really similar, but showing my love of white.”
Sources report that Brandon’s attempt at his latest body art to promote his favorite card game were thwarted when friends smacked the tattoo gun away before he was able to get “13+” added next to his Pauper EDH rule 0 tattoo in order to, in Brandon’s words, ‘remind people this is a game for almost any age’ after he noticed parents pulling their children away from him.