In General: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something Blue. And no, this is not a wedding announcement.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I know I am. I am Grandpa Growth. This column is In General, where we talk about basically anything at least loosely related to the game of Magic.

Many of you may be asking: "Grandpa, where were you last week? Are you, in fact, dead?" No, loyal reader, I am not. I missed my first posting in two years. A record which I held firmly for many months and, based on the work ethic of these other characters on the blog, one that will stand in monolithic infamy.

I have been moving. And while I had an article planned for last week, I did not have the internet access that is so critically important to being an internet author. Now I am back though, so prepare yourself.

Although a lot has happened in my personal life over the last two weeks, even more has happened in the Magic world. There was a Pro Tour. An awesome and exciting tournament to celebrate the release of a set which is also both of those things. In light of that I am going to be pushing that previous article in favor of one that relates specifically to current events.

I want to focus on one particular bit of  news from the weekend: spoilers. With preview cards from Khans of Tarkir, Speed vs. Cunning, and of course Commander 2014, there is a ton of new stuff. Obviously, I don't care much about the Duel Decks series, since those are all collectors edition reprints of cards I already own and usually don't play. What is important to the content of this blog is Commander.

The Commander 2014 product is going to be a similar to the previous installments, but it will be mono color pre-constructed decks. This is awesome news to people who like the format, because we have already seen the wedge colors and shard colors get the full Wizards treatment. However, it is bittersweet for those of us who have been fans of Wizard's official Commander products...

It gets me thinking, what could the next hook be? We have seen all combinations of three colors and are now going to see the single color edition. What is left to do? I am going to rule out the possibility of a five color or four color deck release because, even if they do this at some point, it will just be a shallow cash grab and is unlikely to contribute to the format in a way which is significant AND positive.

There is a definitely possibility of two color decks, but that feels obvious even to me and I would like to think that they have a team of professionals who can be more creative than just one man.

For now though, we got a super sweet spoiler. Check this out:

Let's address some obvious concerns.

• The +1 is very similar to the latest iteration of Jace (just better), however that doesn't really matter because they are never going to appear in the same deck. Teferi isn't going to be Standard legal and Jace the Living Guildpact is so weak it won't get played in Commander. 
• It is indeed strange that Wizards decided to print a card specifically meant for use as a Commander, especially when it would break the normal rules for doing so. I don't think THIS CARD is a problem. It won't upset the format. However, the fact that Wizards thinks it can and should print cards specifically for use in Commander and no other format rubs me the wrong way. They didn't make it, they don't need to act like you're helping when you aren't.
• Speaking of not upsetting the format, this card really isn't very powerful. The ultimate is something that we have all dreamed about before, but it is definitely not going to win you the game on the spot. Something that a six mana planeswalker absolutely should be able to do. So that is one crucial benchmark failed. It also has no way to protect itself from removal or attackers. That is two down. The third and final check: does it generate value while ticking up, is a huge yes. The -1 definitely has potential to let you go big on certain boards, but I would imagine that, at this price tag, you should be expecting some serious competition.
• My final question is one of time. A tricky subject for a character that we know has traveled through it. I have heard tell that this is supposed to represent Teferi before he lost his spark repairing Dominaria. What I want to know is, how can we decipher the timeline? How do we know what events happened when? Are major set releases now coming out in chronological order? There seems to be a story, but it never seems to last long. We know how the Chandra, Jace, Gideon, Nissa storyline goes, and where it stands now. We know that Liliana, Garruk, and Sorin interacted during Innistrad block. Also that Sorin was present on Zendikar at some point. So if we ask him maybe we will be able to piece everything together.

Well that is all for today. Did you enjoy the Pro Tour? Excited for the new spoilers? Let us know what you liked most in the comments and tell us what you want to see next!

-GG