5 Tricks Commander Players Don’t Use Enough

[@ethanglaeser9239]

"Someone has to sacrifice themselves for the good of the table, but that doesn't really happen" I will always be that person. I played a game where someone said "If anyone attacks me, I can kill them", so I untapped and attacked immediately, and got killed. I will always make you have it, even if I lose. I do not negotiate with terrorists, I just lose to them.

[@con747]

Same, last game I killed the archenemy by flinging my entire board at him. I died next, but it was funny.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I have definitely been that guy too 💔

[@natelagrassa9337]

I’m always the arch enemy on the board and they always leave my board empty until other people take a foothold… then I get my engine going in a turn or two and take over the game and win outta no where! 🤣🤣

[@timple89]

That's something that triggers me, some people sit on the table and they think they can manipulate you with "if you do anything to me, I will destroy your board" or "If you attack me I will make sure I kill you on my next turn". That makes my life so much easier, I always go against them straight away without thinking too much. Bullies have to go first, and if you run enough interaction they probably won't be able to do to you what they are saying they'll do.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

Well that's just being stupid. It's not like someone is stopping you from playing, the person said "if you harass me I can retort with maximum power". You did it and got killed, there was no terrorism lmao. Just dig for an answer.

[@mfitkin]

One of the reasons I’ve always loved your channel is the willingness to put forward differing opinions and then compare contrast. That was one thing I really liked about the Joe Cherries dynamic with Beezy. Not that I think Mia just always agrees or anything like that, but I think this video is the most clear picture I’ve seen so far about how your play styles are different and what makes them both good in different ways.

[@crazenighthaze2857]

Missing Joe

[@crawdaddy2004]

2:34 Going off of this point, I think it’s really important to, OCCASIONALLY, acknowledge your board is the threat.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yeah every once in a while it's good to score some honesty points

[@MC-Juggernaut]

BONUS Tip: Add more Grave Titan

[@NitpickingNerds]

What does that card do again?

[@jamesoakley9333]

I'm think it reads :make 2 zombies and cry because people are laughing at you..

[@lorenzomarquez9122]

Grave titan is cool. It combos with nim death mantle and asnods altar so it has to be good

[@infinitedaryl2267]

The trick is to make a deck with just Grave Titan, tutors and clones….to clone Grave Titan. And recursion…to bring back Grave Titan. Sakashima as the commander…to clone Grave Titan. Who cares what the other partner is, as long as it’s black…to play Grave Titan.

[@MC-Juggernaut]

@@NitpickingNerds makes my Morophon Giants tribal more flavorful;)

[@erichunt1974]

Regarding point #5, there were certainly games where I found myself labeled "the villain of commander" because aggro decks can pop off at the tap of a creature (specifically Krenko Mob Boss). It didn't matter that I had the lowest life total by a decent bit, I had to go!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Krenko is a menace

[@jamesoakley9333]

Hes not a threat till all of a sudden... hes the threat.... no matter how many times you have removed him.

[@Dark-Pikachu1]

21:16 the thing about attacking is always go after blue player

[@NitpickingNerds]

Make em fear you

[@movieguy4245]

The 80/20 rule is such a powerful one, allowing you to gain virtual card advantage by helping players with triggers maybe leading to deals with those players. Admitting you are the threat and pointing out what is giving you value shows you are there for fun and not just to win. The 80/20 rule shows your intention not to pub stomp a game or decieve opponents with what is clearly visible triggers.

[@Swampe84]

I like the life tiebreaker because it doesn't make it "personal". If someone is constantly nibbeling on my life, that's the one I'm going for if I have the chance. Yes, I'm petty and hold a grudge. If someone attacks me because I have the most life I go like "Yeah, that's fair"

[@jaredcross897]

Beezy out here telling us how to kill frogs

[@NitpickingNerds]

“They don’t know I know this one trick”

[@jaredcross897]

@@NitpickingNerds tip 5.5 boil a frog in front of your opponents to psyche them out

[@Exile559]

​@@jaredcross897tip 5.6 reanimated the frog to establish dominance.

[@DBanner16]

"Holding people hostage" is a great one because I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone cast a boardwipe into somebody else's Syr Konrad

[@deeterful]

Couldn’t agree with point #5 more. I’m constantly trying to hammer this home with my play group, but to no avail. To their credit they think I’m trying to 80/20 them, in this group we always assume the worst in each other’s intentions.

[@aner_bda]

I used to run a lot of decks that focused on combat damage to win. I recently built a deck that more about interaction through Instants and Flash. When I did that, I had to really learn to just be patient. It's definitely quite the shift in the mentality in a game, but it's so awesome when it pays off and you pick the right thing to interact with.

[@grillburgerdaq5121]

I never let people hold me hostage. If you can kill me and you want to, then do it. But I’ve seen so many games devolve into “doing favors” for the winning player so they don’t kill them. And to me that’s unfair to the table who now has an insurmountable about of adversity to deal with. It’s a good strategy but I never cut deals with the arch enemy.

[@froghermit9852]

I could never intentionally leave another player alive just to keep them around for bargaining reasons. That just seems kinda weird and also why would that player go alone with what you are doing anyways. I'm not sure i understand this holding a person hostage concept at all actually like im genuinely confused as to how this can even work.

[@christophergarcia2582]

Yeah but CDR is a politics game. To me, there’s nothing wrong with politicking (including holding hostages - one of the oldest politic techniques).

[@lunarlight3131]

blue mana covering the poopsy made me bust out laughing

[@NitpickingNerds]

Our editor is top tier sometimes

[@MadMage86]

My personal modification for #4 is 'learn what things you can work around'; you need to ask yourself, "Do I really need to remove that?" more often and save removal for the game swinging threats. If the card doesn't shut you down or win them the game right now, I don't use removal - the one caveat to this is that while doing threat detection players need to rate card draw effects MUCH higher on the threat scale than they currently do.

[@kennedynguyen2251]

Basically how to be sneaky and manipulative to win games 😂. I for one like to win through overwhelming force.

[@briangill23]

The best player in our group has often said and proven “you only need 1 life to win”. So very true

[@thatguyintherain3168]

I'm not the best player in my group but I have won at 1 life on many an occasion, people were not attacking me because I had the One Ring and they thought I would just die to it if they left me alone.

[@epi1763]

We need a moxfield ad right as u announced moxfield is a sponsor

[@MattHarb]

As far as the “life total scam” in casual EDH. In super early game, using it as a reason to attack someone with slightly more life is sometimes beneficial, because it acts as a way to potentially avoid making an early grudge because you used a non-personal, commonly agreeable reason to attack them. It takes away the “why are you targeting me”. Otherwise mid to late game, you attack whoever is open or whoever is the biggest threat to you. In cEDH, then it’s totally fine to target someone because of their deck, because everyone is significantly more out for blood regardless

[@EddieSVoiceActor]

Mia blurting out “liar” gets me every time

[@protoman0027]

Also, don't flip a coin or roll a dice to see who you attack. It's lazy, use your brain and decide who is the threat.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I go “boooo” whenever that happens but I don’t think people even get why

[@biscuiteaterelliott6367]

Don't know if I fully agree with no. 4: Be Patient. Their threat could also be a value engine. I am not going to let The Gitrog Monster or Rhystic Study stay out if I can help it. Glad it works for Breezy but from my experience, my opponents only remove artifacts/enchantments...20% of the time.

[@jolteon345]

Another part of tip 5 is commander damage. If you can chip away at someone with commander damage, you don’t care if they have 30 or 90 life, but sending that commander damage at someone with less than 20 life can easily come back to haunt you late-game. I have decks where I’ll chip away at people with commander damage while using my other threats to close out the other opponents. It obviously doesn’t work with weenie commanders but the 3-5 range racks up over time while appearing very unthreatening.

[@joystickgenie]

“We’re not advocating for lying in any ways” a few minutes ago “Trick 1. Lie, but not so often people expect the dishonesty.”

[@grevedanko]

Funny thing: I always point out triggers and threats and such to my playgroup and they always believe I only do it to gain something but I rarely do it to gain something.

[@Sith-bb6tq]

honestly, I don't use life total as a tiebreaker because I don't want to attack the stronger deck, I do it because if I am consistently attacking the strongest deck at the table, they are going to set their sights on me first, and against, say, an infect deck that is really good at being 3rd because people tend to gang up on them once one player is out, I don't want to be the one that gets taken out. I guess it goes with the whole staying quiet during combat thing tho too.

[@Knightfall8]

dont forget trick #6 - tell the table "uh um looks like I can't win this turn"

[@NitpickingNerds]

"I don't see a line to win here"

[@Knightfall8]

@@NitpickingNerds ooh one more: trick #7 is to convince your friends that grave titan "is REALLY good, and I really mean it this time!" In the hopes that one of them builds suboptimally for your next game with them :p

[@AimbotBrandon]

ARE YOU GUYS IN THE NEWEST DANCE GAVIN DANCE VIDEO OR AM I DREAMING

[@NitpickingNerds]

We are!

[@volosguidetomonsters3440]

On the topic of the hostage crisis, one time I was playing Anim Pakal in a 5 player game vs Subira, Goreclaw, Ghave, and Torbran. I had a fast start and did ~30 damage to the Subira player before the Torbran player wiped my board. Later that game I got to a point where I was at 3 life and he could kill me for free with his Guttersnipe. The only logical decision: "I attack [His name] for 4"

[@robertburns22]

LOVE THIS VIDEOS! Happy to see a channel educate players haha

[@NitpickingNerds]

These tricks are 100% nerds certified

[@chriscortez4729]

The reason why you get attacked beezy, when you point out a free attack is not because you made the noise but because you made it clear that “oh that would be smart so I wouldn’t be mad at you if you did that.” A lot of people do realize they have an attack and feel weird about singling someone out but the person who’s like “oh don’t miss that” This gives the green light to the attacker to go “oh good so you won’t be mad at me, for hitting you.” 😂

[@BobbyBev95]

Your last point is exactly what I DON’T want people to know when I’m playing my Octavia deck. Because I can lay low in the early game just filling my grave and answering problems, and then out of nowhere start swinging for 40 damage in the air out of nowhere

[@HonkLord]

That frog analogy was BRUTAL

[@izukukageyama7552]

It's kind of interesting that I only started playing Magic in January, and the person who got me started and the small group we play with has decided that Rule 0 is target me always. I now have 8 decks, some out-of-the-box precons and some upgraded precons and one built from scratch Mr.House Precon I just finished. Last night was MTG night and I won with Mr. House 3 times in a row and then switched to my unmodified Dogmeat precon and won again. Although to be fair, they were all 3-player games and one of the players was playing a made-from-scratch Ur Dragon deck that I'm pretty sure doesn't have nearly enough ramp or color fixing to be viable. He refuses to use Moxfield though so I can't help, lol.

[@90endo19]

Nitpicking Early Bird 👋🏻

[@NitpickingNerds]

Enjoy your nitpicking worm 🪱

[@peterryan9428]

Tip #3 just won me a game, but also don't draw attention to your own threats.... one opponent drops a Rogue's Passage, one more hit from his commander and I'm dead, I stayed silent, he tapped out.... My turn, ult Garrick with a token doubler and Warstorm Surge = 18 X 6/6s and 108 damage split between three faces for the win🎉🎉

[@HeneLv]

#5 100%. I was at 9 and the other 2 were at like 30s precombat. They got attacked over me and I proceeded to get an insane storm turn off and finished off the 2 players who got attacked and had 15 4/4s ready to win next turn through elemental eruption. Pretty sure nobody's gonna let me have any of my izzet enablers on board ever again (reduce cost and stormkiln)

[@barrychan3722]

Be a nice guy, welcome people to attack you for small damage in the early game and avoid big damage in a later turn.

[@biopnumonic4676]

I typically play in a group that doesn't necessarily care who wins. If everyone is a roughly equal threat I prefer keeping them in the game longer. Giving my opponents more targets to choose from as well. If they are a threat I'll go after them without putting life into consideration.

[@HonkLord]

On that last tip as well, just rolling a die and randomly choosing who to attack because you're unable to assess the board properly really drives me nuts. When one opponent is playing Atraxa or Winota and the other two are playing like Arcades or something equally non-threatening, rolling a die and attacking the Arcades player because you don't want to garner any bad feelings is ridiculous.

[@Zumteifl]

I'm 100% the player who sacrifices himself to a hostage situation on game nights .. like.. you have multiple counterspells and/or a way to kill someone? That's all folks. I'm forcing them to use all the ressources they have. Maybe i lose, yeah. But i'm not gonna let them dictate the outcome. That's what i learned as a control player myself. Make them have it, force it. They can't stop all of you. If you beg down, you're all f*cked.

[@ryanhefner2011]

This petty attitude is precisely why I don't care about running more than just 2 boardwipes. You're right, there's no way I can 1 for 1 against a 3 player worth of resources and expect to close a game. Let's see how that math changes when I'm using tons of unbalanced wipes.

[@DiabolicScars]

This is more "Ethics & Understanding Your Commander Table" than anything else. Still great info. Im the "Beezy" here, in that I tend to announce things that people miss, only to become the target of it.

[@AdmiralSnakbar77]

My playgroup's 80-20 rule: 80 percent of the time, I am the threat (they're right) 20 percent of the time, they attack me anyway (fair enough)

[@richardfike9339]

I built a demon deck using be'lakor I've found myself being the "villan" at the table more often than not I'm starting to like the attention lol

[@NitpickingNerds]

I am never afraid to be the villain!

[@TerryTags]

Hey! Yo, big shout out to all the "Randoms" they play with at conventions! lmao 🤣🤣🤣 (14:05)

[@NitpickingNerds]

I didn’t know what else to call it 😂 I hope that’s not a negative term!

[@sc100ott]

The corollary to #5 is to not be the one with the most life in the early game. Every time I play a soul sister in the early game, I become the target over the player that took damage from a fetchland or shockland, even though it makes no sense when I’m not a life-gain deck and their commander is clearly a greater threat.

[@Poenas]

I like picking a random turn toward the end of the game to start asking what the storm count is

[@NitpickingNerds]

Never let them know your next move

[@ZtgWolf1354]

lol these two are ridiculous in a cute way.

[@bmprosser]

11:00 last person to speak gets the aggro. Same logic, you always play rock first in Rock Paper Scissors.

[@nickmanaseri7182]

The only deck that cares about the highest life total is Marchesa, the Black Rose

[@Chimeraiam]

#5 has always baffled me because someone will just play a land and pass turn 1 and 2 and i'll crack a fetch for a shock land which is a much stronger play but because they're at 40 and I'm at 37, the other 2 people usually attack them instead lol

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yeah it’s wild 😂 I chose to fetch and shock to make my mana better! Don’t attack the dude with a gain land

[@lorenzomarquez9122]

On point 5 i was playing a game and I played a saskia and i chose the player at 20 life and not the player at 70 the other player was confused but im like the player at 20 had 20+ blockers and had ghostly prison and another tax effect on combat. I was laughed at but won because no one could effectively get damage in on that player but me.

[@xragg]

#6 Unwavering mutual destruction of a player that irrationally ignores an obvious threat to instead target/attack you. This only works if you generally play with the same circle of people. You merely point out the board state and how targeting/attacking you really doesn't make sense.You have to clearly warn them that if they choose to proceed, then you will spend every resource you have against them, most certainly causing you both to lose. You also can't do this very often. Use sparingly. Just enough to make people think about their choices, remember that time in the past, but not so much that you are a killjoy to play with.

[@laughingman4570]

Tip #3 TLDR: Mia has mastered the art of standing so incredibly still, that she has become invisible to the eye.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Literally ☠️

[@josephhill6928]

Our playgroup calls this person the "fly on the wall". It's usually the person who starts slow for whatever reason (no lands, usually). They tend to garner pity and usually are only targeted for early game combat triggers, then pretty much left alone. This person's win percentage is pretty damn good.

[@zappyxp1575]

Regarding #3 ive actually ran into this multiple times. The table will be at a semi even playing field and someone is playing a lot of things and I may ask questions about interactions etc, then when they conclude what theyre doing theyll be like alright, because you ask so many questions i have a 4/4 coming at you 😅😂

[@mariomalacara6916]

As far as rule 5 goes. My group goes for either the highest threat or whomever won the previous game.

[@brandoncuevas9774]

"I like relaxing in hot water". The most elegant way to say you like baths. Gotta love Mia

[@joshuawenninger9346]

All the groups I ever play in roll a die to decide attacks when multiple players are at the highest life

[@NitpickingNerds]

nooooooooo the missed valuuueee

[@wow_mango]

erm what the sigma

[@kaetlertcg6711]

So skibidi

[@GrimmTutelage]

Mythical commander unlocked: Beezy, The Frogboiler. But jund or just golgari?

[@NitpickingNerds]

I like Golgari. Sacrifice a frog create a food baybeeee

[@krunchyapples]

I love my kenrith deck because just as a creature on his own kenny is an inherently political commander which can be built in any way that you want. What I like doing is I will try to put myself into a strong position where I can afford to go around helping anyone who's falling behind without putting myself at too much risk. After a few rounds of making deals and doing favors my pod is too distracted to notice that I've built up a board state of about 50 indestructible copies of ramos the dragon engine

[@BussyConnoisseur]

On one opponents turn, I got hit by 12 damage and an equal amount of Radiation Counters. Same game, the very next opponent, hit me with 20 and annihilate 4. My board was 4 lands and 2 enchantments, that buffed my non existing creatures... Same group. Next game. I got hit by 15 by one, and the next 19...they said they attacked me because I attacked them.. But we were forced to attack each other if able by card effect of the other player.. It feels bad man

[@joshcuker5877]

I'm so nice, I made a Krenko deck twice! 😂 (Mob Boss and Tin street Kingpin)

[@jeffreylong1478]

The 80/20 rule works less and less effectively the more you use it

[@Raven.Bloodrot]

Hence the name 80/20 you shouldn't be using it very often.

[@arkanixarcmage]

Ok. Ok. My guess is 7:19...? For the Moxfield...dang it.

[@Logic-cg7qy]

I too like to metaphorically take someone out of the game.

[@The-Spaghetti-Wives]

I'm the guy that has a response, but will wait for someone else to use it, or when the threat starts to be a pain in my strategy.

[@tyrelledavenport106]

“Come into your walls”…..was that intentional? 🤣

[@SainCheese]

The biggest tip i can provide: Respect priory.

[@billkinnunen2384]

Miso might be going to college, but the best Amber can hope for is community college

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yeah and we’re not even talking about dorming either

[@billjensen51]

yeah attacking the deck with jank gain 1 life lands vs the player playing fetchlands makes no sense unless you just want to eliminate the weaker player first which is what some players do instead of focusing on the obvious threats first note: There is no 2nd place in commander

[@FlowBerni]

Last time i let Elesh Norn sit there for one turn the player followed it up with a natures revolt.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Not okay 😭

[@ZaNiiPhantom]

People attacking you when you're nice and reminding them they have a free attack, is because of a real psychological principle known as recency bias! To your theory yes, because you were the last one to make noise, birdy go attack mode 💀

[@chrismccormick5976]

Sounds to me like Beezy just bullies Mia 😂

[@thatguyintherain3168]

Since the sign hasnt changed you should swap around a few letters now and then to make people second guess what the sign really says

[@samusbionicle]

Im the beating bag of the table to get buffs and safe hits on and the player with the least amount of wins. I play budget decks while everyone else uses precons or decks littered in rares/uncommons. So have the deck stacked against me from the get go. Im the player no one wants to lose to because itd be like losing to your little brother. So I have come to terms ill prolly never win another game of mtg as long as i live 😂

[@CasevacDevilDoc]

Tip number 6: MLD all day everyday.

[@Dark-Pikachu1]

7:46 I said to my friend at 48 life process to do like 50+ damage to me this didn’t work out

[@matthewanderson3261]

Liked at Good Sleeves.

[@tripdowney9175]

Unpopular opinion: worry more about winning and less about not losing. If you don’t know the difference you’re detrimental to your play group.

[@HonkLord]

Can I see what it's like without the lights on?

[@mrurameshi9433]

Attack the person paying their own life to get early card advantage or cast spells

[@NitpickingNerds]

But they’re not at the highest life total!!!

[@twoferone5729]

Yo what happened to Joe Cherries? Was half the reason I used to watch the channel.

[@RogueBullhead]

It sounds like you two are playing two headed dragon and pub stomping people and then telling people how not to be that guy, yet it's 2 on 1v1.

[@bradross7488]

When I “need” to attack someone with my giant creature because that’s how my deck works, I’ll generally roll dice assuming I’m the threat. Although I did have one guy that guy that accused me of picking on him and storming away when I did that! 🤷🏽

[@helmhamerhand733]

Missing Joe Cherries…

[@shawnpanzegraf5642]

Cute *petite* women get targeted less often, outside “OMG, she’s about to kill us all with her army of Miirym-generated dragon-clones” situations. Slow your roll, commenters. I’m 45, married, and my wife is sitting here nodding her head until it’s ready to fly off the top of her spine. Not being a creeper, just spitting facts. My lady love gets away with stuff playing her Sakashima deck that doing *half* the stuff she’s doing to secure the win would see my tripping someone’s Time to Wipe-switch. Does her Commander get Spot Removed the moment it leaves the CZ. Mostly, yes, but the fact that the answer to that question isn’t, “Every single time by her next untap, latest” illustrates my point. God, it infuriates her when people do that. Then *I* get to hear about it for the 40-45 min drive home. Leave the sexism at the LGS door, brothers. Your married brethren will thank you for it.

[@anthonyromeo9875]

Only 1000 + likes and tons of comments from fans supporting the channel within 30 min. Are the nitpicking nerds falling off?🤔

[@Casual_BackPacking]

Less talking sure got it

[@jimmysmith2249]

The frog thing is not true.

[@NitpickingNerds]

That’s exactly what a frog would say…

[@tripdowney9175]

Being a villain and being annoying with your constant politicking Is way different.

[@robertgrim8400]

You two are so cute in this

[@mikgenta]

Swaggy !!

[@stormtrooperjeepjk]

13:95

[@lorenzomarquez9122]

12:21

[@Chucklepuffs]

Did you guys see that the sign changed? I swear one of these videos it said it never changes 🤔😂

[@NitpickingNerds]

Nope it actually NEVER changes

[@thundergunn7203]

Whoa I'm here early

[@NitpickingNerds]

Welcome 🙌🏻

[@RaisingJackal]

Got here early yay me

[@NitpickingNerds]

Welcome! 🙌🏻

[@Maverickstyg]

I hate to tell you Beezy, but youre probably being attacked because people find people that try directing them annoying lol. Its like blatantly trying to manipulate a situation. Subtelty is key

[@userofusers5787]

I voted this down because I saw youtube ads that my adblocker could not block.

[@lachlanmeijer8706]

Bro fr?

[@Vanmoire]

God forbid you support a channel you enjoy, by seeing an ad. The level of entitlement these days is wild.

[@adrianj8370]

It do be free content dude, at least single moms in your area arent trying to connect with you in a seprate tab😂😂😂

[@stormtrooperjeepjk]

Blame Google not NN

[@anthonyashwood1438]

So Adblocker didn't resolve?😅