Build the SALTIEST Deck Challenge | Commander Deckbuilding Contest 09/2024 | Magic: the Gathering

[@teradul2480]

Endurance test: all 3 finalists and the all textless deck that Red Bobcat made.

[@Calvimh10]

I would watch that game. Just to see the mental states of all 4 of the players deteriorate over the turns.

[@PUDRETE919]

needs 4 judges as players and another 4 just to keep track of each board state and only last final boss of a judge that is actually in charge of making final decisions haha

[@Geneo1700]

I need this as an Elder Dragon Hijinks episode (It will be at least 4 hours long)

[@ana-alyciajuarez5958]

I kind of wish that yall selected 4 decks so that people could take these decks from the competitions and play them against each other.

[@janmelantu7490]

“Layers Matter” is not a Commander Deck, it’s a Judge’s Tower

[@mrTjstephens1]

So a Ben Wheeler challenge deck?

[@hughjass5494]

None of these would actually be salt inducing because they're mostly unplayable heaps that would buckle or stall quickly. I think I made a mistake with my submission by trying to make a deck that would actually cause saltiness in most pods, rather than one whose concept sounded cute, but wasn't really practical.

[@the_knut]

I thought the Dormammu deck was gonna be impossible to beat... But good lord are each of these three decks cursed in all the best ways. All very deserving of the win.

[@EDHRECast]

RIGHT!? :D

[@tedyoat]

dormanu was almost identical my first commander deck, no wonder why no one liked to play against me

[@Dragonspeaker]

I kinda wish someone would have done a deck where "Reading the Card DOES NOT Explain the Card". A deck made entirely of cards that you need to read the oracle text to figure out what they do

[@btrabdon]

I'm a finalist! Of course after submitting to the competition I think of other mechanics to include as a one-of. Energy counters is my most glaring omission.

[@nightcore4208]

So am I! I maybe should have added some of the overlords from duskmourn since they lose the creature supertype in layer 3, but I didn't remember them lol. I gave your deck a vote because it made me burst out laughing when I saw it. Good luck!

[@GrizzneyGames]

Yours was my favorite to the point of wanting to build it myself. 😂

[@mcbuckets2399]

I'd like to thank the second deck for letting me play Judge's Tower in commander. Now when my playgroup says they'd rather play commander then Judge's Tower I can pull this out. Edit: Made it to the third deck. Same comment applies.

[@flyingkumquat4845]

Grab that one other guy who doesn't mind judge's tower, each one of you makes one of the last two decks..... Both of you show up to the next session with those.

[@cassiemay2397]

Now play those with bounties, planeschase, and as the archenemy at the same time

[@maxleveladventures]

I was mostly expecting these to be just a list of cards near the top of the salt list. But hearing “every tracking” card immediately made me groan “oh my god” out loud 😂 That’s fucking miserable.

[@flyingkumquat4845]

That one is purely tedious and time consuming. The last one though is another beast all on it's own. Each new played card resetting the whole chain of interaction layers.

[@maxleveladventures]

@@flyingkumquat4845 it’s like the headache of Bello and “lose all abilities” effects, but an entire deck. You’d have to be a judge just to get through one turn 😂

[@sarahmay3795]

Can't wait for the videos going over all those "re-salts"

[@styfen]

You guys are a treasure.

[@EDHRECast]

We tap & sac for mana!

[@joedoe7572]

​​​@@EDHRECastin that case (no, not *_that_* case), you guys are gold

[@TroyLambert-b5c]

I have been advocating sensory overload for years. My only change was i included all of the rhystic cycle, except rhystic study.

[@theunease5541]

I didnt have the energy to do this month's challenge and seeing these finalists it makes me feel better that at least I didnt stand a chance. These are DIRTY. I love them. My idea was similar to the second. I was gonna do a stickers mutate deck with some extra hard to understand cards/mechanics sprinkled in.

[@joedoe7572]

Okay, these were a lot better than I expected

[@RsDrPowers]

I recently made a Temur chaos deck and it got a lot of salt when "Ward World" was cast for the 4th time in one turn lol

[@lugh.i]

THIS is PEAK commander content, this is one of the best videos you've put up here. Please, more!

[@thenemosix6835]

I have a friend who made a deck he called EDHDMV. It ground the game to a halt.

[@ArtGuyCharlie]

The conundrum for this concept is should I vote for the deck I’d like to play with the most or the least?

[@derekgarcia3069]

This was a fun video. These decks all look like both a nightmare but fun one-time challenge to play against. I've never looked at the Salt Ranking on EDHREC before and doing so made me realize...I love a lot of salty cards! Now I want to see the salt ranking of my decks...

[@patches.742]

Layers matters is absolutely cursed as a deck idea wtf lmao

[@nickkertzer3047]

I sometimes think that at least trying to pilot a deck with something complicated going on is a good way to teach yourself to be a better player. Because one of the biggest challenges of this game is articulating clearly what your actions are going to do to the game. I think that working really hard to be really clear about what and why you are doing something will make this process easier and will lead to, ironically, less salt from people who you are playing against. While I think the decks displayed here might take it a step to far. Having a deck that runs a semi-complicated win condition like Be'lakor the Dark Master+Rite of Replication that requires understanding of the stack, state based effects, and triggered abilities is a good example. As a bonus, the above combo very likely immediately ends the game upon completing your explanation so there's time to then engage in aftercare for the table before starting a new game.

[@Tuss36]

That middle bit I find to be very good practice. Being the first swing of the game and saying "I attack you because you're gonna have a bunch of tokens so I'm getting in damage while I can" or "I'm removing this thing because I can't block fliers" helps a lot with managing mood and expectations. You might still get some push back ("Why are you removing my thing when that other thing is gonna deal way more damage to you?") but at least it gets some back and forth going about the game state, rather than everyone just going "I attack, I block, I cast this, I counter" and not saying anything more than necessary.

[@draco4569]

I have a similar combo in my Dragon Tribal deck with Miirym, Sentinel Wurm (my commander) and Worldgorger Dragon. I had to look up the interaction loop for these two, and being able to explain it to my friends in-game was definitely satisfying. As a bonus, if there's no interaction and certain other cards are out, I win on the spot. Now I just gotta figure out how Roaming Throne Interacts with the above two. That's going to give me a migraine if nothing else will.

[@cannonballbrad9522]

Secret layer alert is the best pun on this channel yet. Dad joke 100%

[@Qdrew78]

I had a Negan deck that was not built to produce salt… but wow did it. It really was built about flickering Negan and getting ahead in mana while casting a second sun. The coined phrase in our play group was “want to play a game” and I have been told it is miserable experience of doing nothing with combined 11 board wipes plus Negan’s effects. I happily took it apart as I really do not enjoy effecting people like that… love and laughter in your lives and cheers :)

[@rayquaza4948]

Want to let people know with cumber stone, the fevered dream and godhead of awe. All creatures will die. Layers are applied in order. Layer 7 is p/t So this is part b then part c then part e. Hope this helps

[@Tuss36]

To be exact, all *opponent's creatures will die, as Cumberstone only applies to opponent's creatures (though I did misread it at first myself). But you do have it correct otherwise.

[@typethe1316]

This is the best episode ever! I wish I could have submitted my Hanna, Ship Navigator -Turbo Stasis Deck, but... Commander players should know how to deal with these sorts of decks. Understanding the rules and knowing the game interactions is a part of playing. Most "stax" decks are nothing more than general combo decks that just lock other players out. Like other combos, just shuffle up and play a different game after the lock happens.

[@danielprivate8038]

Ooh my gosh it would be really cool for you guys to have a commander game.. where you lit four of these decks against each other…. Lots of views :P

[@danielprivate8038]

The fourth deck would be made by one of the creators.. playing this epic game

[@Dragon_Fyre]

“[Five hours later]… whose turn is it ?”

[@danielprivate8038]

Ok yeah fair point… it would get views but not everyone would watch the whole thing I suppose. Even if they did that would be allot for the creators and editors… but what a spectacle :)

[@danielprivate8038]

Just saw a deck tech in Zurgo Helmsmasher … the deck was 48 cards that all Board wiped in some way… looks like it might function well enough to win and lose all your friends

[@mrTjstephens1]

Why do i see Ben Brode showing up on Commander at home with some version of one of these decks!

[@shadowfrost__]

Did I read the rules of the deckbuilding challenge wrong? They asked for decks that make your opponents hate the game, yet all the game winning decks are decks that make the pilot hate the game. And I guess functionality wasn't a consideration either, because none of these decks could reliably pull off the condition they need to piss the table off. The infinite games deck would be annoying but is easily dismantled. And i'm sorry but the other two decks are more of a headache for the pilot then the table. It's your responsibility to track your shit, and also your responsibility to remember the layer rules because all i'm going to do is ask you whats going on.

[@hughjass5494]

@@shadowfrost__ you are absolutely correct. And the judges passed over numerous entries which would have actually satisfied the prompt as given in an actual pod. The tracking one is particularly egregious. I would just say to that pilot "let us know when you're done with your pointless bookkeeping so we can resume the game. It's not like your brew is going to have an actual impact, so we don't really need to keep up with whatever you're doing." The layers list is similarly unplayable, but at least it would actually create a few headaches for the other players before getting bodied. The karn list is the only one that gets close to satisfying the prompt, and it's just a weak stax list that wants to set off karn over and over instead of winning. There were dozens of more creative entries. Weak judging, imo. Waste of time to compete in future contests unless you're willing to brew simple concepts that make cute soundbites for their upload.

[@taechuK]

I saw a deck that was all secret lair stuff that had really hard to read text or no text at all.

[@zacburgess5318]

Oh Joey you were so close. Salty but cool, I would’ve gone with Sodium Chlo-rida. Just going to have to keep hanging out with Matt and Dana I guess and keeping up the great work while you’re there.

[@burnsboy101]

2:21 anything that targets her or attacks her, based on some recent commander at home episodes 😂

[@narvuntien]

Evil geniuses! I beat a Stax deck once. They died to their own mana crypt after locking me out of the game.

[@kristianfischer9814]

It's very funny to me that Olivia gets salty about stealing effects when the most hilarious thing I've seen her do in a game involved stealing Jimothy's commander. :D

[@origaminosferatu3357]

Might be the most beautiful decklists I've ever seen.

[@flyingkumquat4845]

Okay, this is certainly now my favourite video in this series. The decks are brilliant ideas from some very twisted individuals. *Tipps hat and runs away*

[@banshee2125]

There is no way I could choose between these masterpieces

[@MegatronTarantulas]

Where is the current contest? I can't find it on the site

[@lightfut]

Commander at homey lol nice

[@KasmirHercun]

so creative

[@thatevildude]

I wanna see these two on CaH with Gavin playing these decks.

[@Kjos_jax]

I am thoroughly impressed with how annoying these decks look 😂

[@DrukenReaps]

Hmmmmm salty but not just the typical things. Sounds fun! I hope someone brought up Mairsil. Dude can be a ridiculous lockdown piece on a game from the simple Nevinyrral's Disk + Soul of New Phyrexia that can never be removed from the board because you can't touch cage counters all the way to Perilous Vault. I'll just exile everything every few turns, still want to play? Or The Stasis Coffin because why should I let the commoners touch me?

[@jayhaviland4708]

Sensory overload should run Hive Mind and Shared Fate so you're not the only one who gets to play with all these fun mechanics.

[@hughjass5494]

@@jayhaviland4708 there was an entry based on plays like that. They passed it over. Was submitted on the Archidekt thread and is second or third from the top by votes, if you want to see it.

[@Nidrog]

God I don't know what deck to vote for. If I vote on the "I hate this." level very much in theme of salt. Man, the Layers one wins hands down! Meanwhile, for the flavour the Dormmanu one wins so easily! And sensory overload feels the least egregious to me because honestly that lack of egregiousness just makes it seem like its 'okay' to me. But honestly knowing how much you need to track at times, it definitely isn't but it doesn't seem as bad as the other two so it should win!

[@DawnbringerRB]

I guess Matt was too sweet to join in the saltfest

[@Dragon_Fyre]

Stickers are legal in Commander ?

[@IcyShyGuy]

Man. Imagine a pod of these 3 decks together. Wonder how that'll go 🤔😶

[@shayneweyker]

Someone should see if the second or third decks break MTGO over the course of a normal game.

[@dorsalfin22]

Dang! Forgot to submit by DMG board wipes deck with new judith!

[@Gimpocalypse]

Damn, and here I thought I was evil.

[@silentjay1284]

Wow - my cEDH deck is 0.18 saltier than Dormammu's.

[@hughjass5494]

My submission had a 91.17, heavily featured card swapping and theft and some chaotic effects, which the hosts pointed out as particularly salt-inducing. Not even an honorable mention x_X

[@JLKaizen]

2:50 Chaos, steal effects, and land destruction are just stupid 😂

[@Nathanael_Forlorn]

Hey! It's Goober Thicks!

[@JeffBoes-m4s]

What is on her shirt?

[@dreamlogic681]

oooo i know what i'm building....hehehehe.... ...."bookworm"

[@jasonritner9662]

Miserable gameplay loop, decision paralysis, or oops all layers... Jeebus... Magic players really are monsters when they put their minds to it.

[@davidrosenberg9615]

Dormammu is the only one that sounds truly obnoxious to play with.

[@JuliusKlovekorn]

Go birds ❤

[@Renegadetothe64th]

Olivia! Quit showing up in my subscription feed!

[@ribbontoast]

I hate all these decks and love the video.

[@hughjass5494]

None of these would generate much salt because they wouldn't actually achieve much in a genuine pod - even a low powered pod. They might stick two or three spells that gum up the game, but the other decks would wrap things up quickly once the rules interactions were untangled. All three analysis were imagining magical christmasland. Imo the finalists should have included at least one deck with some legit infrastructure and consistency.

[@Krunschy]

I agree with the principle that these should be functional decks, but this is incredibly hard to verify and an even harder line to draw. So in practice, mostly rating it based off of originality and creativity of the decks intent makes way more sense.

[@hughjass5494]

@@Krunschy fair. I think you are right. My expectations were off when I submitted my brew, and I got salty over it. They'd probably have to play with the decks a little to see if they actually satisfy the prompt in practice, and I guess there's just not enough time for that.

[@Krunschy]

@@hughjass5494 That's part of why I don't feel like submitting decks. Finding out the final few optimizations after a few iterations of playing and rebuilding and really getting to know how the deck plays and what it needs, that's what great deckbuilding is all about to me. However I feel the only way anyone but the builder could ever appreciate this, was for them to witness the deck play out over many games and iterations. So knowing how many intricacies of my brew would be lost while judging, I would be just as salty. 😅

[@hughjass5494]

@@Krunschy it's like you are inside of my mind. I was expecting the judges to at least try to imagine what it would be like for these decks to actually play in a real pod, rather than judging based on 'intent'. Seems like maybe they should reconsider their approach, since there appears to be lots of people who are interested in trying out the contest winning brews - and who would be very disappointed when they dropped one do-nothing sticker card, one do-nothing day/night card, then promptly ran out of gas and spent the rest of the game on "draw/go" without so much as inconveniencing any of the other players. "But Olivia promised me this is the first/second/third saltiest deck it's possible to brew!" ...maybe that's where the real salt of the winning decks comes from? Link me your decks, if you're willing. You seem to know a thing or two about a thing or two.

[@joedoe7572]

Why wasn't this challenge who could build the least salty deck?

[@chadbauer]

Biggest crush on olivia

[@timwilliams92]

First?

[@shermandonger1908]

Just a thought, maybe include 4 decks or a honorable mention so that pods of 4 can play these