Not every update needs to become a headline.
The goal is to surface material that is worth a player's time, not simply to publish more of it.
About The ManaForge
Built for players who want more from Magic.
The ManaForge is an independent Magic: The Gathering project built around original content, curated news and practical tools. What started as a place to share a passion for the game has grown into a platform for deckbuilding, Commander discovery, Magic news, articles, videos and more.
What we build
Different ways into the same game.
The ManaForge combines editorial content with tools and formats that are meant to be useful before, during and after a game night.
01
Original Content
Articles, deck techs, analysis and ideas shaped by actually building and playing Magic decks.
Read articles 02Magic Digest
Selected Magic news from trusted sources, condensed and given context without turning every update into noise.
Open Magic Digest 03Tools
Practical tools such as Find Your Commander, card search and trackers built to solve real player questions.
Explore tools 04Video
Deck techs, pack openings, Shorts and other Magic content from The ManaForge video channel.
Watch videos
Behind the Forge
Built and run by Ferdi Schaapman.
Founder · Developer · Writer · Content creator
The ManaForge is primarily a one-person project. Ferdi builds and maintains the website, develops its tools and features, and creates the content published across the platform.
Magic started as another hobby alongside gaming, but quickly turned into something larger: Commander decks to build, interactions to explore, ideas worth writing about and, eventually, tools worth building. The ManaForge grew out of that combination of playing Magic and enjoying the process of creating something useful around it.
The people around the table help make Magic worth talking about; the site itself is built and maintained by Ferdi.
How we approach content
Useful first. Context included.
What happened is only half the story.
Magic Digest aims to make clear why a development may matter, while linking back to the original source.
The table is part of the design process.
Deckbuilding, Commander tools and much of the original content grow out of real games, questions and discussions.
Around the table
The playgroup behind the game nights.
The ManaForge may be built by one person, but Magic is rarely a solo game. These are some of the people regularly found around the table, testing decks, arguing over interactions and making carefully constructed plans fall apart.
Playgroup
Steven Grauwels
Radiologist, regular opponent and owner of a reliably cryptic sense of humor. His decks tend to be easier to read than his jokes — but only slightly.
Playgroup
Eline Langius-Wiffen
Radiologist, gamer and a familiar face at the table. She brings a competitive streak to Magic without losing sight of the fun of the game.
Playgroup
Max Kronborg Wiffen
The Danish voice of experience in the group, with a sharp eye for lines of play and a suitably dry delivery when someone misses one.
Playgroup
Kiran Rajan
Commander player with an appreciation for pressure, politics and making life totals matter. Kambal has been known to help with that.
Keep exploring
See what The ManaForge is forging.
Browse curated news, dive into original content or find a Commander that fits the way you want to play.