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I’m a Miami-based photographer + brand strategist focused on defying the odds and telling the dopest stories for clients who are interested in doing the same.
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034 AI is Just Another Game Changer (And That’s Okay)
DOC 09—13-25
Curiosity: What if you can understand AI by playing a Trading Card Game? Category: Sidebar
I was playing MTG Commander last night at my local game store when it hit me: AI is like GCs. Suddenly, I felt better about the technology.
If you play Commander, you know about the new bracket system from Wizards of the Coast. Your deck can be considered Bracket 1 if it has:
No two-card infinite combos
No extra turns or land denial
Few tutors (cards that fetch other cards)
And no GCs — game changers
All the way up to Bracket 5, where there are no restrictions other than avoiding banned cards. That means you can pack in as many GCs as you want.
Bracket 5 decks are usually considered cEDH level because you’re often winning the game within the first three turns. GCs, or game changers, help you do that. A GC dramatically alters the game in a way that gives a player an advantage that temporarily sidesteps the traditional rules.
For example, in Commander the rules say you can draw only one card per turn, in your draw step. Sounds fair, right?
Now imagine you can draw that card and then draw another every time someone else plays a card — unless they pay you for it.
That’s what the card Rhystic Study does. For two and a blue, you can play this enchantment. Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may draw a card unless that opponent pays one mana.
In a traditional Commander pod, you’re playing against three other players. Chances are, each is playing one or two cards to advance their board. So while they’re drawing one card per turn, you’re drawing at least four.
That clearly changes the game in your favor.
This card advantage mirrors exactly what AI does in the professional world.
AI dramatically changes the game for anyone using it. Have an idea you need to flesh out? AI can help. Want to build an app? There are AI platforms that can do it in minutes. Need to create graphics, videos, or websites? There’s an AI company for that, with varying degrees of effectiveness.
The thing about game changers, though, is that they reveal things about you, your skills, and your philosophy about the game.
Some players enter Commander and immediately fill their decks with game changers, thinking: If I can stack as many unfair advantages as possible, winning is inevitable. Rules? Who cares. I can draw cards whenever someone else draws a card. I can play cards with my life total instead of mana. I can automatically win if I have one land of every color. I can fetch any card from my deck and put it in my hand. Load me up.
That way of thinking works — until they try to find groups to play with and realize most people don’t actually enjoy higher brackets like 4 or 5. Those decks are predictable, and the games become so competitive that playing feels more like a performance than fun.
Relying on game changers for their outside advantages also stunts your skills as a player and deck builder. What happens if you don’t draw that Rhystic Study and can only draw one card per turn? What if you never pull your Demonic Tutor, so there’s no fetching any card you want? What if you try to play your Smothering Tithe to create a huge amount of mana you need, but someone uses a cheap counterspell, and now you’re stuck?
What happens when you actually have to play the game?
It’s not that game changers are bad. They’re only as useful as the person playing them — a very “know the rules to break the rules” kind of thing. A player with a poorly built deck and no understanding of how to maximize their commander or the pod’s play dynamic can play Rhystic Study, draw all the cards they want and still lose to someone who bought a preconstructed Bracket 2 commander deck with no game changers and actually knows how to play.
AI is the same way. A team that uses the best combination of AI software to create a brand campaign but has no understanding of its audience or how to tell a story can get crushed — and for far more money — by a team that does.
With all the news and posturing around AI, it’s easy to get caught up in viewing it through the lens of “good” and “evil.” But that’s a foolish way to see it. It would be just as foolish to refuse to add a game changer or two to your deck simply because some people wield that power poorly and ruin the play experience.
The MTG Commander community learned this lesson through countless games: the most successful players aren't those with the most game changers, but those who understand when and how to deploy them strategically, if at all. For brands and creators, the same principle applies. The teams thriving with AI aren't the ones using it for as many things as they can. Those teams mastered the fundamentals first, understanding their audience, crafting compelling narratives, and building genuine expertise.
They use AI as a force multiplier, not a replacement for skill or a way to cut corners to win.
So build your 'deck' thoughtfully. Add your AI game changers, but make sure you can still win without them.
Use your ChatGPTs.
Use your Rhystic Studies.
Just remember: The point of playing isn’t to use as many game changers as possible.
Unless that’s your thing. But if it is, you probably won’t have much fun or many people to play with. And if that’s the case, you’ve got about a six-month to one-year window before you quit and move on to something else.
Yu-Gi-Oh, maybe.
What do you think? Let me know your thoughts here.
And if you're feeling this, share it with someone who needs to read it.
More coming soon.
(And if you play commander and want to talk shop, I’m here for it.)