Cards That Matter - Dominaria United - In the 99 Analysis | The Command Zone 489 | Magic Commander

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Show Notes:
The plane of Dominaria is vast and ancient… and bursting at the seams with great new cards for Commander! This episode we put aside the legends for a moment to discuss the best cards for the 99 from Dominaria United! Tune in to find out which might be sleeper hits to grab for your deck!
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Relevant Links:
Rachel Weeks:
Twitter: @wachelreeks
Instagram: @wachelreeks
Podcast: / commandsphere
Better Than Heroes Podcast:
/ betterthanheroes
Dominaria United Story Summary:
Ch 1 - • Dominaria United Story...
Ch 2 - bit.ly/3D6gBwd
Ch 3 - • Arin (… I mean Karn) g...
Ch 4 - • Dominaria United Story...
Ch 5 - • The Final Chapter! | D...
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Commander Rules and Ban List:
mtgcommander.net/

[@DUARTEJD]

Rachel Weeks… you rock!!! Hopefully we see you more in the show 😊

[@bobbiechristine]

amen!!

[@famousstranger8468]

Personal opinion, she is quite boring in general

[@Blyan23]

@@famousstranger8468 Definitely your opinion. She is funny and very good at Magic content. Listen to the Commander's Sphere

[@davidsisbarro1501]

Vesuvan Duplimancy with Tatsunari is awesome.

[@jfprovencal]

she is awesome i really like her input

[@Doombot2point0]

Interesting to hear JLK say he prefers a slower format. I had assumed they were happy with it being more competitive so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that. My biggest complaint about commander in the past like 5 years is that it went from playing standard jank battle cruiser like stuff (Which I love) to like winning turn 5 with some combo. Bro I just wanna play my big angels and dragons and stuff and have fun combats lol

[@twoneraps3352]

you didn't know he liked a slower format? usually he likes to build up a value engine until he pops off which generally needs to be slower

[@MrThouMad]

Always remember your pods power level is up to you! You don't have to have turn 5 wins if you communicate with everyone in your group!!

[@NotYourPalGuy]

@@MrThouMad correct! Also you can switch in cards specifically to ruin ‘that guy’s’ deck if they don’t listen

[@twoneraps3352]

@@MrThouMad cap. turn 5 or bust

[@GmanTheTank]

I kind of want to get Defiler of Vigor for my 1/1 counters deck but my play group is very casual and it feels like it would be very unfair haha.

[@RishavPOV]

I’m unfamiliar with Rachel’s work, but I love her on the show. Easy to listen to and gives good insight. Big Fan

[@kemperfranklin1935]

You would like her podcast the commander sphere, very funny and relaxing

[@Midragor]

She is pretty safe with her topic, would like more character from her, but she trives from being more of a host also, it's a thought call, all in all

[@aidanschauer1581]

More Rachel please. Very insightful episode

[@janmelantu7490]

There’s been a lot of arguing about which Defiler is the most powerful. I personally love just how diverse everyone’s perspectives on how they’ll fit into different metas.

[@kelseyo402]

It’s neat to see all the different ideas and shows how different a play group or play style can determine the exact value of a card!

[@quaroaquilinusbarfing9700]

Perfect to have Rachel for this: sharp card analysis and plenty of useful insights

[@nathanmounce627]

41:15 my favorite chaos warp moment is when my friend put his Phage into play and lost instantly lol

[@DoubleOhSilver]

Glad the current speed of the format was brought up. It's annoying when 3 of us at the table at a LGS are running fun, slow decks, but then the 4th player has enough speed to be unaffected by a board wipe (that actually wiped him) and still takes 3 consecutive turns and hits his alt win condition by turn 7.

[@sxychtulhu2425]

Defiler of flesh is going straight into my horror deck tho. :) We'll see. These three videos with Rachel has been awesome. She has great chemistry with both Josh and Jimmy and is great at analyzing cards and I also like the longer videos with more deep diving. So more Rachel please! :)

[@shekki3192]

I thought so too, but if you use Captain as your commander, menace stuff is just so wasteful.

[@austinquillen9777]

Defiler of Instinct is a shoo-in for a ping deck with the new 40K legendary that turns 1 damage pings into 3 damage

[@cannon0wood]

really enjoy having Rachel's point of view on the new cards as well as just having her on the show in general.

[@davidlyon649]

Defiler of Dreams works really well in sphinx tribal with Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. Being able to reduce colored mana of your sphinxes is really valuable since there are so many blue pips on the high cost sphinxes and stacking too many colorless cost reducers can have diminishing returns/no effect outside of commander tax. Not to mention it draws you a card on top of the Fact or Fiction effect of Unesh every time you play a sphinx. It's probably the best sphinx to include in the deck.

[@trowawayacc]

Or you could use it to reanimate in. BUG deck…

[@cebenify]

The less blue mana I spend to cast sphinxes, the more I have for counter spells

[@SpecialKail]

Shrieking drake.

[@Mahaha1987]

Tetsuko umezawa likes it too

[@chadsamuels6512]

I put it in my wizards deck

[@randywright7764]

I like this girls vibe and insight a lot more than most of the co host!

[@julianvickers]

She is good, but DJ will always have my heart.

[@mitchfitzgerald945]

Loving this set personally it's been great to get back to something that feels more like magic.

[@loosemoose5217]

Lmao and right afterwards, here is an unset with commander legal cards and a dumb sticker mechanics an 2 extra deck mechanics (which I don't actually mind extra deck that much but it's a little much)

[@vaporeon344]

Gotta say, the white Defiler is absolutely crazy in Light-Paws. I play a very low curve Light-Paws list, and even with its high mana (in comparison to 1-3 mana auras), the card is absolutely bonkers.

[@coleepley8985]

Congrats to Rachel for being the most permanent host over the past month for a show that isn’t even her main thing lol Just make her a permanent host and make it a three person cast. Her analysis and vibes are A+

[@coolasfire111]

Man Rachel Weeks out here setting the movement forward! Some of the most informed, confident, and insightful analysis I have heard in any podcast format. Can we get more Rachel across all MTG content? This is the sort of positive representation the game needs from some underserved demographics!

[@thewells1024]

One important thing for Serra paragon is that it’s not a replacement effect. So it will still go to the graveyard and so any instant speed ways of getting it out will save it. For instance either athreos will work, or you can exile it to Myrkul and get a copy

[@chrisgebben2043]

they actually already mention that with "Flash" spells with the paragon

[@Scopesightzx]

Defiler of dreams is cool in blue decks that bounce it's own creatures, specifically with Shrieking Drake

[@sufifi]

Agreed, gonna love that one in my Naban deck, with enough cost reduction a card like Venser becomes a 1 mana cantrip which can bounce any spell or permanent, pretty neat !

[@jtowensbyiii6018]

Cast not bounce

[@russelltodd5255]

Came to say this combo specifically. 1st thing I thought of.

[@jadevalcourt]

And with training grounds! And Chulane!

[@EnemyToad]

@@jtowensbyiii6018 after you bounce it you recast

[@Ryan-so3il]

Defiler of faith and vigor's cast triggers should have been swapped. White needs another Cathars crusade and green was fine without one.

[@gwampa7066]

I think its worth noting that Defiler of Faith has the most relevant creature type. Its going straight into my mardu humans deck which still happens to have 28 white permanents

[@jamespatterson5644]

pondering it in my Athreos deck. possible combo life gain/aristocrats. already run white mane lion and pearl medallion and Oketra's monument.

[@EvolutionSTUD10S]

Building a Ghyrson Starn ping deck. Defiler of Instinct seems like it might be a lot of fun in that deck.

[@owenzheng8357]

For the defiler cycle, there's shadowborn apostles and persistent petitioners, which is an archetype that profits the most. Also a Chaotic Transformation in a Hinata, Dawn Crowned deck could be incredibly fun.

[@aidanjudd3460]

After watching this, immediately went and purchased a Defiler of Flesh for my Captain N'gathrod deck, perfect synergy!

[@damiend.7392]

Rachel Weeks, you're AWESOME! I love your input, I hope you are in many more of these analysis videos. Thanks so much for your commentary!

[@ggflowen]

Ever since I got new desktop speakers I really appreciate the audio quality of the stuff you guys produce. It just sounds richer than most other content.

[@psachickennugget8617]

Defiler of dreams is the perfect blue card draw spell I’ve been looking for for the past several months ❤

[@JonathanHecht]

i play defiler of deams in my Donal, herald of wings deck and this card does wonders there

[@mizzlchieizzl]

Thanks for the review! I love that I can take a look quick and then come back later when I can pay more attention longer.

[@DrMrPunny]

Loved that Rachel gave a voice to different metas. I’m a big fan of command zone content in general but one thing that can sometimes put me off is the discussion of commander “speeding up”. While it’s been acknowledged by JLK and Jimmy that they’re speaking from their personal experiences, it’s nice to have insight into card evaluation that acknowledges not all metas, playgroups, or LGS’s are experiencing this speeding up.

[@boofnasty]

I actually swapped out my Krosan Grip for Silverback Elder. Love the card.

[@metallicapirate]

Honestly, I think the defilers are going to be great in multicolored decks where permanents have one pip of said color. It allows you the flexibility of not needing the mana to cast some of them.

[@wtgibs91]

I put Defiler of Dreams in my Bruvac deck because of the 30 petitioners I have in it😅

[@ayties5113]

Silverback Elder + Ancienstral Statue: Use the power of the Statue to blink herself while f.e. cost nothing, the blew up every Artifact and Enchantment, search every Land from your Deck, maybe with Landfall, then gain infinite Life. So powerfull, mostly in Landfall or Lifegain/Lifedrain Decks.

[@nicholasbruce4124]

How's it free?

[@ayties5113]

@@nicholasbruce4124 There are many ways to reduce the costs of Creatures and/or Artifacts, like Starnheim Courser, etc.

[@nik700]

Cut Down feels like a meta call. Super efficient, yes, but far from Tragic Slip/Fall or even Fatal Push. Also, if the dork/hatebear has a +1+1 counter, you're looking at a dead card in your hand

[@billberndtson]

Man, I've been waiting for Weeks! 💙

[@scottpalmer4438]

I love everytime Rachel is on the show she's so awesome!!! More WachelReeks

[@tortorugo]

The Phasing of Zhalfir saga is very good on a Raff Capashen deck. You can play it in the end step before your turn, phase out Raff, then, in your turn, it will destroy all creatures, and Raff will come back. Instant speed board wipe that protect your commander.

[@golgariguy]

My favorite card form the set is Tear Asunder. I think it'll become a Golgari casual staple.

[@Ketchemup]

Blue defiler is perfect for my Barrin Master Wizard deck. The best engines in the deck normally revolve around 1 or 2 cmc creatures, and the combos are all creature based.

[@dominicmetzger3246]

Glad to see more 99 discussions as that’s where decks get made.

[@zackwilcox3183]

Defiler of flesh in a death touch matters type deck could be nice.

[@Beev37]

The blue defiler im 100% putting in my Volo, Guide to Monsters deck. It fits soooo well.

[@crawdaddy2004]

It absolutely makes sense that the number of popular commanders two or less mana. Most people want more than two colors.

[@NotYourPalGuy]

You can combo Cut Down with a black spell that gives -x/-x until end of turn to lower some bigger creatures to make more targets

[@wolframflorian]

1:17:44 i run it in my Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain Deck... and my god! It makes me fly! 😃

[@fatefulwaffle]

When I thought of the defilers in blue and green, the first thing I thought of was Esix and Adrix, could be very fun

[@JACKSONPRYORBENNETT]

Defiler of Dreams absolutely goes in orvar lol copy it a bunch of times, cast a blue permanent, draw a bunch of cards! Orvar, 30ish lands, 8ish rocks, 30 spells that copy stuff with Orvar's ability by targeting permanents 30ish permanents to copy, include isochron scepter and vesuvan duplimancy and Thoracle for a wincon if you deck yourself or clone enough things

[@Pyraxian1]

One thing I think maybe should have been talked about with the defilers is how good they are on 2c cards where you can effectively turn them into 1c cards.

[@MegaGrip13]

Defiler of faith I am willing to say is perhaps the fifth best card in my Oketra deck. It Marble Diamond/Monument and a card like whitemane is 2 Life: make a 4/4.

[@gibbysg8143]

I have a mono blue Sun Quan horsemanship deck and defiler of dreams was an incredible hit for that one!

[@Notorious_BHG]

For how the Weatherlight was compleated - for those of you who haven't read/don't read the stories - when the invasion started the crew were using it as a smuggling ship by carrying a load of phyrexian scrap on it (Dominarian's know the ship so don't shoot it, Phyrexian see artifacts so don't shoot it, actually kinda smart). In one of the side stories, the ship is attacked and has to land for repairs. As the ship is "alive" because of the Weatherseed used to make it, eventually all the Glistening Oil dripping off the Phyrexian scrap soaked into the wood and, in it's damaged state, the power core couldn't fight off the corruption and so the ship was able to be compleated Edit: Good. Hail Phyrexia 😉

[@AnimEva_33]

Was surprised Unesh wasn't brought up for defiler of dreams! I'm immediately adding it to my unesh deck

[@MrNbkelly]

Defiler of dreams + Shrieking drake = pay 2 life draw a card!

[@vaporeon344]

This in Chulane sounds all kinds of gross.

[@evanelliott8231]

That’s actually pretty gross!

[@mungo2471]

Defiler of Instinct is also very cool in enrage decks! Seems like a very good add for dinosaur decks to guarantee an enrage trigger

[@paulhedges4625]

Only thing about Plaza of Heroes is that if you have a commander (For example, Kenrith) that is only a single color as a permanent you probably don't want it. I'm not sure it makes the land bad, but maybe not great for those specific decks. Edit: Shouldn't have commentated before watching that entire section :). Good catch, Command Zone.

[@Flip4Crypt]

I have Defiler of Dreams in my Braids deck, even though it's mostly artifacts I ramp so hard I'm often playing my big stuff, and braids loves being able to draw for playing big blue stuff Dropping omniscience and drawing a card is really nice

[@MTGPlayer10]

Granted Chaotic Transformation is an expensive (casting cost) card but its actually really good. All it says it "target" meaning you don't have to have all of the targets be your opponents..you can get rid of your own stuff in the hopes of finding something better. I wouldn't just dismiss this card..definitely try it out.

[@DerDarkfire1]

Raaacheeel! As I stated earlier. I really like her! Nice to see her this often. :)

[@sethhines3744]

Love having Rachel on. She's one of my favorite magic personalities but I've never been a big fan of her podcast. And I am running the blue defiler in my Dimir Clones deck.

[@elliottroose4194]

Changing the text to "that permanent" clears the blurred line there.

[@iconwilly9498]

Defiler of Dreams, is sooo good in a Unesh deck. I can't believe they named every tribe in blue but not the tribe its in.

[@PersonGuy]

I managed to pull a defiler of vigor in my first dominaria pack, and I was astounded by how good it was for 5 mana. I put it in my Karametra landfall deck! It's gonna get huge.

[@Goscalyon]

I think Shore Up, Joint Exploration and Stronghold Arena (this last one is 3 color sadly though so it limits it quite a bit) deserver a shout out for sure!

[@kylebeaumont2495]

I'm putting defiler of dreams in my persistent partioners chulane deck

[@thumbwrestler12]

This episode was cool I noticed the decliners can go infinite or can be an outlet for infinite etbs in the right deck especially in red

[@zachfuelling4905]

Grazzilax, Illithid scholar would love defiler of dreams! Very fun low power deck

[@brownmold]

Chaotic transformation is fantastic.... it exiles! Enchantments! In mono red!

[@serafimb2319]

The thing about silverback elders last effect is that it always gives you what it promises. You might not have a good target to destroy (in most cases you woll, to be fair) and the ramp effect has a chance to whiff (i will personally still always go for that one). But the last effect will always give you 4 life.

[@Aldissimo90]

I think Veyran is going to LOVE Vesuvan Duplimancy

[@gbarraza2012]

Defiler of Vigor and Silverback Elder are absolutely perfect in a Goreclaw deck.

[@ronmarshall1566]

Always working for the Weeks,end🥰

[@olivierdebilde4292]

Defiler of dreams will be totally bonkers in my blue devotion deck, for sure !

[@monsieurm0u731]

I’m really exited for Defiler of Flesh, it goes right in my Captain N'ghathrod Horror tribal deck

[@tntkaboomsky7427]

This is a fun edgecase I like but the defiled of Instinct and the new ping commander from the tyranid deck basically makes your prodigal sorcerers / pingers have a lightning bolt attached

[@scottricks1676]

"cool defiler....Karns got a Bboooooowll for you" DEAD lol

[@TheMattallen]

My minotaur Rakdos deck has a subtheme of Menace matters so I think this will go great there. Stormfist Crusader, Sonorous Howlbonder, & Labyrinth Raptor were pet cards I wanted to play :)

[@egreenwood1117]

my favorite 1 drop ble permanent is "Aqueous Form" an enchantment that makes a creature unblockable

[@JakeAce13]

What I find weird about the wording on The Phasing of Zalfir is, that it does not clarify any phasing back in. Usually mtg cards are very clear about what they do and when. However the phasing only specifies that the phased out permanents cannot phase in for as long as it is in play. It does not specify them phasing back in when it leaves the battlefield. From the text alone it leaves you with one or two permanents phased out which technically could phase in again after it leaves play but do not automatically do so. Would be funny if that was actually the case

[@weirdo82]

Happened to crack a Relic of Legends yesterday, I'm pretty sure it's an auto include in my Kalamax commander deck, arguably even better than Shaku.

[@Crovax]

i think every defiler is an insta add for any deck. Any way of reducing costs is good, because if you spend less mana to play your permanents (even one mana) is more mana for another spells.

[@tylerwolf42]

I can't wait to put the red Defiler into my Krenko deck.

[@pvays]

Have you guys seen the new card twinferno because the rules say that the next instant or sorcery you cast this turn gets copied but because you don’t target even if you counter the spell copied you get the copy. Add in the chance to give a creature double strike, seems like a great uncommon

[@alester7814]

With Defiler of Instinct you can still deal infect damage, maybe something fun to play around with?

[@harryfenzlein443]

Weatherlight totally fits in the dedicated scy decks.

[@clanechelon]

Vesucan duplimancy is the best new card for my janky tatsunari mutate enchantment matters. Cant wait to test this one out !

[@Beev37]

"They need to find a way to deal w commanders" FOR REAL!!!

[@insertnamehere9566]

Chaotic Transformation is easily a 1 red drop to remove or polymorph multiple targets, thats bonkers

[@brandonsantos9865]

I threw a defiler of flesh into my shirei, shizo's caretaker deck to test it. Very excited to test this

[@Thundercall1991]

Defiler of Instinct + dash cards seems good. Also Defiler of Instinct with Grinning Ignus can probably do broken stuff.

[@fish-wizard]

Something to note about Karn's Sylex is that you can pay 0 mana to only hit tokens, and it destroys rather than exiles the other cards

[@NotYourPalGuy]

That’s a great point, I didn’t think about that

[@EvGamerBETA]

Defiler of dreams... It's perfect for my Sydry - Sharuum sphinx tribal

[@lukeisstrange1533]

I'm playing Silverback Elder in my Raggadragga deck which plays 40 creatures, most of them being low costed manadorks. Just recently was able to play it turn 3 and got a bunch of triggers out of it with all of my cheap creatures. its really perfect there Just like the Defiler which would turn all my cheap creatures into free creatures which pump my board. Also its a big trampling threat. Need to get one of those

[@robertbemis9800]

Defiled of dream and imaginary pet is a great combo

[@s.th2306]

Personally, I do like Defiler of Flesh with Acererak the Archlich on the same way as Defiler of Dreams + Shrieking Drake : a recastable permanent Spell that both benefits from the Defilers reduction and the cast trigger.

[@slade-runner6773]

To add to Chaos Transformation: It could be good for politics and helping someone else find an answer to an archenemy situation (especially if another player can scry/brainstorm/tutor to the top of the library something with an ETB), because you can target different players' permanents with it.

[@donnylurch4207]

I think Defiler of Dreams and Defiler of Faith would fit into a Geist of Saint Traft voltron deck, reducing the cost of and triggering off his many Auras, and some colored Equipment.

[@ELDevaux]

Somewhat surprised you guys didn't mention Sheoldred the Apocalypse

[@mygalsiii]

Defilers become extra awesome with if you got some colorless cost reducing effects in play too like from a Familiar or Medallion or hell even an inbound Helm of Awakening coming soon

[@pb9018]

Yay! Rachel is back!