A Defense of "Bad" Cards | EDHRECast 266

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

The moment EDH stops being a format where you can deliberately pick a deck because you have a favourite card and play anyway is the moment it's not worth playing. I'm not trying to run a Korlash Grandeur deck because I have high expectations of victory.

[@GerBessa]

You do because you have style, sir.

[@daem0nfaust]

I'm sorry, a what now?

[@brunopintaric8997]

My GUY, you and me both. It doesn't happen every game but when o pull the grandeur combo off... It's so satisfying.

[@kylegonewild]

Grandeur, Haakon, Mishra, Phage. The holy quadrangle of "because I want to" in commander. (forgot Phage initially)

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

@@daem0nfaust Step one, copy a Korlash. Kill the real Korlash, let it go to graveyard. Step two, graveyard to hand, easy in Black. Step three, discard the real one to use the copy's Grandeur. Bonus step four, If you have Phyrexian Reclamation and Amulet of Vigor/Tiller Engine specifically, get every Swamp in your deck. Step five, get killed before you untap because you got hubris. It's janky as hell and realistically is just a Swamps Matter deck 99% of the time, but worth it for the sheer confusion on everyone's face when you actually execute a Grandeur combo in singleton.

[@jorgemendieta8085]

The classic: Why are you playing that card? Because I want to

[@beurtalvarez]

sometimes people are very bad at wording. But there are two situations relevant here : either I ask why do people play a card because I legitimately don't get why (and yearn for an answer), either I ask because I think about a "better" card to take its place, not because I "know better" or anything, but because kniwubg every card in MTG History is almost impossible, so when I have an idea, I suggest it (maybe quite bluntly sometimes, I admitt). I can only speak for my own case though

[@Bobjdobbs]

I was playing Magar last night, and people were giving me grief asking why I played Burrowing… until I played Blood Moon and attached Burrowing to my Searing Wind creature.

[@willowk.2231]

me playing hammerhead shark in my sea monster deck

[@tommynosocks6267]

I mean it’s a social game but it’s still a game and the goal is to win not to durdle and run 2 hr games because you played the worst version of every effect in your deck. You’re right it’s your deck play whatever cards YOU want but don’t be offended when people tell you there is a more efficient way to run the deck. In the same vein that you can run whatever cards you want I can also put it out there that there is a better card

[@Bobjdobbs]

⁠@@tommynosocks6267- Your entire post is full of assumptions, many painting yourself as being superior in this scenario. Let’s tackle them. 1. False: the goal doesn’t have to be to win. Some people play to get off a certain effect, or cause chaos, or to even bring the game to a stalemate. The goal does not have to be to win. That may be your goal, but there is no requirement that everyone think like you. 2. Who said they are playing the worst version of every card? Did you not watch the video? A card that seems bad in General may find a home in the right deck. Even Leveler has found a home. Perhaps they are running a card that has great synergy that you can’t see. 3. Why assume they are offended? Who mentioned being offended? They may be frustrated at you for being blind to the synergies the so-called bad card takes advantage of. You might be the problem, not them. 4. “I can put out whatever I want.” Sure, if you are an idiot. Most people understand that a social game requires one to phrase things in a polite way, and to not always say everything that comes to mind. It acknowledges that social mores, such as policing our own tone or phrases, is a normal part of human interactions. 5. Your entire post assumes that you are right and the person running a card you don’t like is wrong to do so. But they may actually be the one who found a clever synergy that you missed. That is called arrogance. 6. Bear in mind, in any scenario, you might be right, BUT you may also be wrong. Always be open to being wrong.

[@lottasha]

I love making ”cards i already own” decks which means I often play ”bad” cards! I know there’s better options for the cards I play but if playing them means I don’t have to order more cards I’ll do it :)

[@robertwilbrand3441]

I have to piggyback onto this week's Challenge the Stats and point out that Titania's Song is also fantastic in a Glissa, Herald of Predation deck - no need to transform your Incubator tokens :)

[@the_names_rob]

I love how every episode now is. Hey have you guys heard about this underplayed card from Baldurs Gate? Modify Memory and Navigation Orb look like super solid cards

[@grantmurdock7385]

Also: Gond Gate + Navigation Orb also makes those gates come in untapped.

[@Caerikz]

​@@grantmurdock7385 glad someone els mentioned it. Gond gate should be the first gate you grab, and it removes the downside of your entire mana base. Gives decks a good plan C to win later, if needed.

[@LeBecBec]

One of my favourite card arts of all time is Notion Rain from return to return to Ravnica block, and I got very excited when I stumbled into building a weird self mill style deck which made it very playable!

[@jax099]

I was reminded of this when talking about chromatic sphere. A card that I undervalued for a long time was Hour of Promise. (The Desert text is pure flavor text) I am a HUGE fan of the ravnica bounce lands, and using Hour of Promise to search up TWO of them to field fixes you FOUR colors and then also adds TWO lands to your hand to make land drops on future turns. Not to mention it also can just grab Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawg or your other utility lands. To me it is a supercharged explosive vegetation which works best in high color decks, you can always cast it because you won't run out of basics and it just always feels great. Scavenger Grounds or Bojuka Bog or Kessig Wolf Run or Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion or Vault of the Archangel. You can get a Bounce Land and a Bojuka Bog to Bog someone now and Bog someone next turn, or you can get a Bounceland and a Boseiju or Otowara to use the channel ability. Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage getting Glacial Chasm or Maze of Ith / Kor Haven To me (another player that loves to optimize the land base) the card is just insane (because any 2 lands is insane).

[@kandjar]

3:34 4 people laughing? Well I’m one of them LOL; 🌟🌟🌟

[@BrianShaw06]

I have a "Challenge the Stats" submission: Lim-Dul's Paladin in Alesha, Who Smiles at Death decks. It's an 0/3 that becomes a 6/6 trampler when blocked, and deals 4 damage when unblocked. Then it sacrifices itself at the beginning of your next upkeep and you get to draw a card, so you can reanimate it again if you like! Bonus points if you use it with Invasion Plans to force all creatures to block Lim-Dul's Paladin, as he gets +6/+3 per blocker.

[@liv9520]

I've not been interested in building Alesha until I saw this comment. Dang that's spicy.

[@selkokieli843]

Definitely an appropriate card for this episode 😂

[@daneburke6592]

I don’t know how bad it is but wake the dead is one i’m surprised I don’t see more. It’s a black instant for XBB that can only be cast on an opponents turn that reanimates X creatures and then you sac them at the next end step. Great for any deck with lots of etb or dies triggers and can blow someone out with a bunch of surprise blockers. I also want to challenge the stats on this card in Teysa Karlov decks. It’s only in 3.2% of them and this fits perfectly there with all the dies triggers.

[@calebsaenger3344]

I've got this in my Henzie 'Toolbox' Torre deck and it does wonders every time I've drawn it

[@NightOfCrystals]

Sweet card and agree 100%.

[@stoogeslap]

Joey, at 29:00 you talk about Trailblazer... What is even more fun is one of two scenarios: 1) Out of the blue you make a creature unblockable that's another player is attacking another player with... ooorrrrrr.... you make a pact with another player to ward off an attack or two in exchange of getting their big monster in, unblocked, for a single attack. Now that's cooking with fire... or shall I say growing with green?

[@adrianmetz3013]

I have two flicker decks right now, one that is selesnya enchantments wich uses a bunch if Oblivion Ring type of effects which arent great in any other deck but in this one its used as a pseudo blink/protection spell to get my stuff off the board for my board wipes or limited removal to just get rid an opponents stuff temporarily until i have a more permanent fix for it. In my other dimir flicker deck, faceless butcher acts much the same way, allowing me to use my own flicker stuff more easily and to get rid of a problematic permanent. Ive used all of them to great effect!

[@mightyone3737]

I've always had a soft spot for hard-to-use cards with long learning curves, I find it exciting to play a card like Phyrexian Totem in Legacy, where you are taking an objectively big risk but have the potential for a commensurate payoff. I have had a ton of fun with an old card, Banshee, originally from The Dark. For one thing, if you just give it Lifelink it becomes X mana to gain .5X life and deal .5X damage to any target... and that's ignoring the floor of Banshee, where you just pressure the heck out of anyone who dares to use low toughness creatures by removing 1 per cycle for no additional cards. It's also useful with Exquisite Blood, X mana to deal .5X damage, and you can repeat it each turn sounds like a creature that I'd look at pretty hard. Without any support it's a so-so removal source, but with almost any it becomes suspiciously useful.

[@kandjar]

“enchanter’s bane” is the best answer to: Fiery Emancipation or City on Fire. - but my main issue with it is: the end step trigger is NOT a may; so u may have to target your own enchantment; still a fun card :-)

[@marknicklason]

Maybe this is challenge the stats suggestion too? This card isn't really bad I suppose...but anytime a player who hasn't seen me play it...they always read it twice and more or less dismiss it. Tombstone stairwell in Phenax. Normally I only have a few creatures in my yard when it hits and I spend the first round or 2 of tokens milling myself. Then it dawns on them how this is gonna end up going. A thing of beauty. If my intruder alarm happens to be in play as well....*smile* Tombstone stairwell is in 7 phenax decks on edhrec? I am so embarassed for people.

[@NightOfCrystals]

Very cool card, I didn’t know it. It probably doesn’t see play because a) it’s old and people don’t know about it b) it’s $11/€12, making it enough money that most people wouldn’t just casually pick it up to put into their deck. They would really want to include it at that point.

[@marknicklason]

@@NightOfCrystals Yeah absolutely. I have always loved the card myself, but its relatively low price tag for a reserved list card and its lack of play in EDH don't support my love for it. That said there are a ton of decks that could make great use of it, would not at all shock me if it got spotlighted somewhere and became a 50$ card overnight. I can tell you...I have played this card in kitchen table games for 20 years now...and I honestly don't think I have ever died to the alleged symetry. Pick up your copy soon sir! Definite challenge the stats, tombstone stairwell i Phenax...or tombstone stairwell..in general.

[@calebsaenger3344]

A potential challenge the stats from my Prava/Ikra Shidiqi deck that should just be in more decks period, is Ready//Willing. Ready gives you surprise blockers or defends from a boardwipe, while Willing leads to huge life swings and tokens trading for massive threats. Late game you can fuse both sides together and make very aggressive moves without opening up to the next players attacks. I'll have to come back later for this comments section, I look forward to finding some hidden gems

[@devonhalford5522]

I’ve got a Challenge the Stats for Shelob. About 26% of decks are running academy manufactor which because of its specific wording would turn the food token copies into normal non copy food tokens

[@DoenerUde]

Hey Dana, I have a stats challenge for a CTS Seque Schemer like you: Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir doesn't see any Play of "Mask of the schemer". But considering the possibility, to stack the triggers from Conniving X and then reviving a knight is just amazing. And Sidar becomes an even bigger threat for going lethal through commander damage. Imagine digging 10 deep and throwing your best utility ETB knight into the bin before getting it back immediately.

[@stevencretsinger2887]

Another great video from you handsome fellas! I have two cards in mind that you might not see in an average commander game. Endless Detour is a bant spell that has amazing versatility including graveyard interaction which I love in those colors. Dire-Strain Rampage is a semi-versatile removal spell but also can be ramp and give you two landfall triggers.

[@RobertoBlanco232]

If Joey wants to do a Dana impression I've got one for him to Challenge the Stats on: Death or Glory, an old 5 mana White Sorcery rare from Invasion. It's combines Fact or Fiction with Rise of the Dark Realms, in White of all colors. Currently not even in 800 decks, it seems great in something like a Shorikai Reanimator list or a Ratadrabik deck for all of your tricky reanimator needs

[@NightOfCrystals]

There are so many of these, but Citadel of Pain is strong against decks that want to leave mana open. It’s maybe enough to be a bit annoying, but really hurts blue decks which want to counter everything so leaving mana open has a real cost. I run it in my Queen Marchesa enchantress deck.

[@imrankhann8797]

This episode brought to mind a Challenge the Stats pick: Spectacular Showdown. This card is only in ~10,000 decks, almost all of which are goad decks. But the card is INSANELY powerful in any creature based deck, and also super versatile. When cast for two mana, it's a single-use goad effect with the benefit of double strike which can be used on an opponent's big creature, or on your own commander to push in an attack. But the overload here is huge; goading all creatures AND giving your whole board double strike. This is especially silly given that the double strike is permanent. The turn after this is cast, your opponents blockers are all tapped due to goad and you're left with a board of double-striking creatures. I play this in my Anax, Hardened in the Forge phoenix tribal deck and it's won me a game every single time I cast it, and that's not an understatement. The card is $0.59. It needs to see more play

[@devonhalford5522]

I just bought one to put into my Rocco Street Chef deck as a finisher because my creatures get very large very fast

[@iryanmadayana1904]

Regarding "Bad" cards, I am currently tinkering with a Galazeth Prismari deck, and I find myself deliberately putting in several counterspells that cost 3-5 mana but have a small to big upside, rather than going with the "efficient" 2 mana options. Even something like a 3 mana "Counter target spell, surveil 1" is fair game. Once Galazeth is in play, I find myself having so much spell mana that the 1 or two points of cost difference does not matter, while at the same time this allows me to condense more effects into my deck slots. Yes, I am totally running Sinister Sabotage over Counterspell. No regrets!

[@trents.3149]

Totally on board with Green Slime. So many ways to use and abuse that card, as well as similar cards like Masked Vandal and even good old Acidic Slime.

[@azazelmorningstar5631]

Joey countered Dana's attempt to segueway fairly you just don't want to admit his victory Matt

[@Worm.emergency]

Should just be “segue”

[@GrizzneyGames]

One "bad" card I like running is "blood price" instead of read the bones effects. It's 3 and a black for looking at the top 4 cards instead of 2 and a black for only scrying 2.

[@kylegonewild]

I tell people running 3+ color decks to consider Shadow Prophecy. With only 2 land types it's an instant speed draw 2 in black for 3, but it lets you dig and deposit stuff into the graveyard if you have 3 or more types. I love it in decks like Muldrotha as a cheap draw spell with extra potential.

[@GrizzneyGames]

​@kylegonewild Yes! That one is in my Jodah deck and it does its work!

[@jettblade]

One of the best feelings is playing something that makes someone go 'Wait! What!?'. I remember that I played Lavinia Azorious Renegade and then someone tried to cheat out stuff with Sunbird's Invocation. They were completely baffled when all their stuff was countered while I was still able to play stuff for free. There was also someone in the same game that tried to play a massive spell with Treasures and literally lost 25 mana because they didn't have enough lands, I didn't allow them to refund their treasure. I never thought Lavina was a bad card just underrated and underplayed.

[@veganeconomist7453]

Challenge the stats - Ghost Lantern B Artifact - Equipment Whenever a creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature. Equip {1} (Bind Spirit 1B) Instant - Adventure Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. 4980 decks, 1% of 956800 decks!!

[@stephensilverstein4855]

Honestly I play some bad 'value engine' spells because they will fly under the radar and if someone has removal and the option of taking out one of two engines they're less likely to hit my engine. Which helps me as i often play more controlling / grindy strategies.

[@dizzyrobot5350]

A card I'll usually defend is Butcher of Malakir. Yeah, it's 7 mana while Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos are cheaper, but Butcher is a 5/4 flyer that works well in reanimate/sacrifice decks (like my Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck). It also doesn't always generate the immediate aggro that Pact or Dictate do

[@Omillion00]

I usually the "why are you playing that card?" comment because I like to be make decks from my collection. That doesn't mean I won't order a handful of singles for a deck I want, but the core inspiration of a deck I play comes from the cards I have collected. So when I get the "why are you playing that" comment, it's because that's all I have.

[@jordanstone3630]

I play a Volrath, The Shapestealer deck that I enjoyed brewing fun tricks to catch people off guard. This led me to running uncommon cards in Volrath such as Spellskite (0.001% of decks run this) and sylvan caryatid (0.004% of decks run this). I effectively can give my whole board hexproof. Example- opponent targets blighted agent, I put on the stack Volrath becoming a copy of Sylvan Caryatid, then on the stack I have Volrath becoming a copy of Spellskite, then activate ability of Volrath/spellskite to make spell target himself. If someone retargets my stuff I can keep putting this on the stack as long as I have the mana (spellskites ability uses phyrexian, so I can pay life as needed).

[@CDour]

18:42 fun fact, Grean Slime gets around ward/shroud/hexproof because it doesn't target the card!

[@lokidragon8725]

I enjoy a lot of the old jank/bad cards it's hard to pick a favourite but some honourable mentions are Kusuri-gamma in any big stuff/voltron deck, magnetic web in any deck you want stuff to take damage in like dinosaurs and credit voucher in any deck that searches big stuff to the field to get rid of the seven drops in your hand before you need them.

[@ryanmanning2319]

I believe in running narrow removal versus flexible. Everyone sings the praises of flexible removal because it gives you more options, but I have had a ton of fun running jank kill spells. I have almost never regretted playing a Disenchant over a Generous Gift, for example, or an Immolating Glare over a Swords to Plowshares. Sure I run into scenarios where the most flexible or powerful removal would have gotten me out of something, but I gain too. With Immolating Glare over Swords, for example, If they have a problem creature, and they know I run Glare, they really have to think twice about attacking me when I have two mana up. Also, cards like Disenchant have forced me to save them for artifacts and enchantments instead of using them to kill an annoying creature. I can now deal with that Doubling Season because I didn't have to face the temptation of blowing my Generous Gift on a scary creature that the board wipe two turns later got anyway. I have really grown attached to Blood Frenzy as red removal, because I love the idea of targeting an unblocked opponent's creature going at someone else. One opponent takes four extra damage and the other loses their creature on their end step. That card can also target a creature attacking me after it hits, and it will kill it EOT, I just have to take the damage. There are so many examples of scenarios that have arisen because of my choice of bad removal spells. Take, for example, the opponent who purposely attacks into my Soul Snare. That tells me that he either has a better creature that he wants to hit me with, or he has a card that saves his creature. I couldn't get that information if I just had a Swords. The best, most flexible, removal spells limit your game by turning it into drawing an answer and deploying it on the right target at the right time. The bad, or limited, removal spells often add other aspects to the game beside just pointing and pulling the trigger by allowing sneaky or unusual plays, which makes them more flexible, but in a different way.

[@evansteinberg2337]

one example i can thik of is the life gain artifacts from the old core sets. incidental life gain is frequently useful particulaly in collors that cant always get it elsewhere

[@PraetorGix]

Fuck yeah! I used to watch Jem and the Holograms! You're not alone Dana!

[@ForgottenSoma]

I'd like to challenge Thromok the insatiable in Omnath, locus of rage. As he's coming out, you can sacrifice any number of your elementals that you've been creating to dome somebody for 3x that damage and get a big body for having done it. I understand being hesitant to sac your entire board, but as a late game bomb that can get around propaganda effects, it can be super clutch. Not to mention the fact you're in gruul, so giving this thing haste and trample the turn this comes down to kill another player should be really easy. This should see more play than in 15 of the 5000 omnath decks, especially considering 3000 of then run zendikar's roil.

[@ceroluthor]

So machine god's effigy just gets better and better because If Machine God’s Effigy copies a planeswalker that became a creature due to an effect, Machine God’s Effigy will have that planeswalker’s loyalty abilities but its only card type is artifact (it will still be legendary in most cases). Because it isn’t a planeswalker itself, it won’t enter the battlefield with any loyalty counters, but it also won’t die because due to not having any. Similarly, it can’t be attacked and damage can’t be dealt to it. You may activate only one loyalty ability of that permanent per turn. If it later becomes a creature and damage is dealt to it, that damage won’t remove any loyalty counters.

[@ncuco]

I have a gilgari counters deck and still cant play Astorians Thirst. But i do play Ruinous Intrusion, because i dont need the commander in play to get extra benefit

[@NecroNathancon]

In the first example, Growth Spasm is perfect! I had non-cEDH Korvold built back when it was brand new (before I realized just how boringly powerful it was), and Growth Spasm was amazing synergy! Ramp up 2, draw one, always amazing!

[@Nick-gp3xu]

Hell ya!!! I play makeshift mannequin in my child of alara deck and the instant speed is great.

[@rorschach1]

Truly outrageous that you guys didn’t get Dana’s Jem and the Holograms reference. Truly truly truly outrageous.

[@darylmcnaughton748]

I have a grixis deck and enchantments has always been an issue with that deck. the bolas planeswalkers, counterspells, chaos warp and feed the swarm are about the only answers for them in that color till i found out enchanters bane exists from this video and im gonna have to try that out.

[@brendans1983]

Trailblazer is my type of card! I play Awesome Prescence in my Esior/Kediss build. There are more effective ways to make Esior unblockable, yes. But i would much prefer to ask my opponent if they are going to pay the 3 😂

[@blin9999]

Angrath, Captain of Chaos is only in 1% of possible decks. Menace for the whole team is underrated.

[@theicarusgambit6953]

I run Goblin War Drums for the same reason and it has similar rates. I have no idea why they aren't so commonly used but I am certainly going to take advantage of them as often as I can.

[@dreddbolt]

Titania's Song also goes good in Gluntch (the Bestower), and Tahngarth's Glare goes pretty dang good in Haldan//Pako.

[@uhfrank]

im always digging deep when i deck build and i end up finding the wackiest or strangest cards where i can easily say "this card is perfect and strong for this deck! and yet id never use it in any other deck." i just ran into such a card, not that id really call it bad in general, but im building a smeagle, helpful guide artifact deck and just so happens that even my non-artifacts mostly happen to be less color intensive (ex: 3B vs 1BBB) and i found this instant speed ritual called Spoils of Evil which for 2B, for every artifact and creature in target opponents graveyard, add 1 colorless mana and gain 1 life. in this deck that can easily on average net me a good 7-8 mana AND life, allowing me to cast some potentially fantastic spell and worst case, im up 8 life points and got a couple smaller spells for just a 3 mana investment. i cant imagine running that in any other deck

[@grantmurdock7385]

Structural Assault. Nobody plays it. Nobody expects it. It's not the best board wipe, but I have always played it into enough treasures to make it worth the mana cost. Also, every time, someone sacrifices treasures to try and mitigate damage... and it doesn't because of the wording. It's not Blasphemous Act, and that's good by me. Also glad to see some gate love. I put together 5-color gates for Urtet, and learned about Reshape The Earth. 9 mana to say, "I win when I untap"... that's going in to leverage the Maze's End win for any stalemate situations.

[@TheSmartCinema]

Navigation Orb is even more bonkers in Historic Brawl on MTGA. Its activation cost is reduced by one, basically become a colorless 4 mana Cultivate. Such an underplayed card there.

[@d0xx1d3]

Killian ink duelist is designed to make use of low efficient cards like astarions thirst

[@leonfriedemann9151]

About what you where telling about modify memories. I think the trickster gods heist is sneakely good aswell. Mode one you switch control of 2 commanders or steal a creature. Mode 2 you give away the heist and permanently steal an enchantment. 😁 I must say, I do feel derty when I play it. It's like stealing 2 commanders 😅

[@GrizzneyGames]

Yay! A new video! Now if I can only catch you 3 live on twitch!

[@walls_of_skulls6061]

I love astarion’s thirst!! Goes great in skullbriar

[@kamakazi339]

I can't believe planewide celebration is used that little. It has been in my atraxa Planeswalker deck since its inception.

[@scottricks1676]

One of the best parts of friday!!! new vid droppppp.

[@chefpaddie3771]

The card Custody Battle should see more play ... in responsible play groups/metas. I run it in my Kaima, the Fractured Calm deck.

[@PSroka]

I was putting the Gavel on my Bilbp, retired burglar deck yesterday

[@marcelolima70]

One thing is run a bad card because you like it or you just dont want to extract the maximum of a deck. Another is run that bad card because one time it was exactly what you needed and was very fun to play it. The problem is you will aways remember that epic time when the card saved you, but you will forget all the times it was too expensive to cast or just dont resolve the situation to you. Bad cards are bad for a reason, dont try to make bad cards look good.

[@adrianmarquez5462]

Joey being extremely rude trying to steal Dana's segway. Who would do such a thing?

[@semperignotus]

I have a pet card that definitely doesn’t belong in every deck I put it in, but I just really enjoy it. Natural Reclamation. And I don’t just put it in cascade decks or anything. I jam it in a majority of my green decks. I just really enjoy dumb spells with cascade, and as such I’m okay being less efficient with my naturalise effect.

[@FoolishOptimistPrime]

That Gem and the Holograms reference was awesome. 😂

[@icehearteddragon]

Dana, your gem and the hologram joke was hilarious.. yes, I am old...

[@cliponbowties4799]

I once had a Kozilek voltron deck. My brother Infernal Reckoninged a 47 power Kozilek. Still mad about that.

[@mega-flare]

Hey Dana, I appreciate the Jem and the Holograms reference

[@Dragon_Fyre]

Trailblazer feels like the one card showcased where it’s just so bad that it’s funny, seems to be the main reason to include it. Just playing it for that “You cast a what ?” response…

[@SamuelKacerik]

Yeah, it's so bad that it suddenly kills one of your opponents.

[@Dragon_Fyre]

@@SamuelKacerik You could argue that under the right circumstances, most cards can kill or save a player. It’s that the card is ineffective or worse than most other options the majority of the time, that makes it a bad card.

[@zrrumyrrr6809]

34:50 i think you mean basilisk gate for pumping up your creatures

[@bugwrld8891]

Frog Tongue and Hot Soup in my aura/equipment deck i just love them so much

[@Magnafiend]

Joey: There's no such thing as something completely unplayable Scornful Egotist: Once I was human, now I am something so much more....useless...

[@TheCheeseman1983]

I once built a deck around Homarid Spawning Bed that abused Scornful Egotist to create 8 1/1’s by turn 4-ish. Wasn’t a bad deck 20 years ago.

[@KriskayART]

Absolutely love the card “public enemy”

[@777vid]

Joey, did you mean a Basilisk Gate pumping up creatures instead of a Bauldur's Gate?

[@pauldyson8098]

Hey, Matt, did you know that, in Hawaii, there's a law against laughing too loudly. You are allowed a low "ha," though.

[@kylegonewild]

Green Slime is one of my favorite sneaky techs.

[@AnimalTTC]

My challenge the stat: Chandra's Incinerator and its inclusion in Shalai and Hallar. It should be in the top creatures hands down.

[@NauticalComander]

The best win condition is to use thousand year storm to make toooo many copies of thieves auction or warp world then you just give the win to anyone patient enough to play out and resolve said stack of nonsense

[@scottcampbell9515]

Gem and the Holograms? I understood that reference.

[@SightedAxis]

I play “bad” cards because they’re mine. Skippy down the block doesn’t have the same deck as me and I know it. Permeating Mass is absolutely amazingly fun.

[@OverkillpG]

funny and entertaining episode as always ;)

[@patricklynch4074]

Chain of smog seems super fun in a madness deck

[@thriftypsgr]

I have built a near Cedh deck without any of the expensive mana rocks. There is no such thing as a card that needs to be in a deck.

[@leonfriedemann9151]

I so hope we get a reprint with new art and border for Titanias song and necromancy. Both want to go in my muldrotha. The Song making my great henge a 2mana 9/9 doesn't hurt to much and takes care of those pesky smothering tides.... And necromancy is just good. I love the instant speed option. And later I can replay and replay it 😍

[@Fluffy_Kun]

I have Ink Eyes Servant of Oni as a commander and it’s technically a bad card compared to the many powercrept versions, and i cannot even ninjitsu it out from the command zone. Its a “fair” Big black deck. Also Rakashea Debaser is a stronger version that is under 20cents. But I don’t care, I will just play both.

[@diggerdog9205]

I'm going to put enchanters bane in Auntie Blyte and target myself sometimes

[@the_names_rob]

Is Nav Orb just a better Burnished Hart? (Given you dont care its not a creture)

[@chummer2060]

What about if w-CHALLENGE THE STATS!!!

[@holgerdanielsen3781]

Truffle snout In my food token deck! The artwork is sweet!! And sometimes 4 life triggers stuff… There is so Many straight upgrades to it… but truffle snout has the flavor thay dont! Pun intended ;)

[@williamstotzkowski148]

Joey intercepted Dana's attempt. Successful steal. Matt is just gatekeeping and being a sore loser.

[@SamuelKacerik]

I am not good at English but isn't the term "sore loser" rude?

[@irbricksceo]

Bad cards can be cool, but tbh, the EDH cardpool is SO vast that even in decks that can use them better than most, they are usually the wrong pick. My weakest deck, my objectively "this is not gonna win, it's gonna be funny" deck, is Horobi. At first, I built it using a TON of truly garbage cards under the justification that they became good under horobi. we're talking 15 different 1 black mana cards that targeted to do something random, which become kill spells. the deck was junk because when horobi wasn't out, my hand was full of dead cards. And Horobi is gonna draw a LOT of ire, fast. Instead the deck became much more functional when I shifted to building with cards that are ALREADY good, but become even better under horobi. Stuff like Liliana of last hope, or retreat to hagra. Both cards have decent utility on their own. Both become reusable kills under Horobi. (decklist if any body is curious, definitely more optimization to do but it's fun!: archidekt.com/decks/4259542)

[@walls_of_skulls6061]

My favorite format is $30 budget commander, it’s full of creative plays and janky combos.

[@Vangeltheunderdog]

One of my funny stories involves the silly statement, "CEDH staple Fire Ants," in which I played said card (Fire Ants, of course) and equipped it with a Blade of the Bloodchief and a Vorpal Sword. The funny thing about that game is that I was the only one playing anything with flying and it was absolutely wrecking everything, destroying all grounded creatures and receiving a +1 counter for each creature destroyed. This came the memory of the joke, "CEDH staple Fire Ants."

[@chadanenberg6454]

I know it is not a horrible card but avatar of woe will always be a good card in my heart. I use it in my orhzov deck every single time.

[@kfunky209]

I can safely say that I got that Jem of a reference

[@MajraMangetsu]

JEMS and the Holograms were sick, period.

[@TheAngelRaven]

Lands are always an auto-inclu- Wait... Why are you playing Cheeri O's?

[@mkill572]

Funny enough Jem & the Holograms is owned by Hasbro so Magic Crossover no IF but WHEN

[@ElmoTheRed]

I guess I was one of the 4 that got the GEM joke.

[@ThePirateCommander]

I made a PrEDH deck that does pretty well in its format but when playing in a casual commander game its gets annoying quick because of certain silly cards i run. Turns out way back in the day they printed cards that just flat out turn your opponents lands into Islands...just islands, not "Island in addition to their original type" so it makes their lands nearly useless if theyre not playing blue.

[@Jonzin4BeatzNYC]

Dana I got the Jem joke😢

[@ribbontoast]

I put Transguild Promenade into every 3+ color deck I have because it's cheap (USD) manafixing and also I'm trans and I think it's funny.

[@Tastiest-of-Cakes]

JEM! 👩‍🎤 She's truly, truly, truly outrageous!