Sheldon Menery Has Passed

Rest in peace Sheldon Menery, a titan of the Magic community and the Godfather of its greatest format, Commander.

Sheldon Menery passed away yesterday after a seven-year-long battle with cancer. His wife, Gretchyn Melde shared the news on Facebook last night: "Sheldon's body could no longer fight. He passed away peacefully last night (September 7, 2023). I know Sheldon touched many lives, and I can't put into words how much he will be missed."

We at Commander's Herald are heartbroken. Sheldon took a novel way of playing Magic from kitchen tables in Anchorage to the front stage of Magic's 30th anniversary in Las Vegas. His tireless commitment to a format that emphasised the fun and community of Magic made it the most successful in the game's history, a fact that shows zero signs of changing.

To say that Commander's Herald owes its existence to Sheldon Menery would be an understatement. We wouldn't be here without him. Some of us knew him personally, others by acquaintance and many not at all. But his influence on the game was inescapable and there wasn't one of us who didn't feel it.

The Commander community he leaves in his wake is poorer for his absence. We've lost a titan, the man largely responsible for the game we hold dear. But Commander will endure. Because Commander was never Sheldon's game. He went to great lengths to make that clear. The beauty of Commander is that it was, and always will be, our game.

Sheldon just made it possible.

Thank you, Sheldon Menery.