Commander Clash S8 E5: Companion Week w/ Joseph Schultz from EDHREC

Keruga, the Macrosaga vs. Lurrus, the Dream Den vs. Obosh, the Preypiercer vs. Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Companions have taken most constructed formats by storm, which made us wonder the obvious question: how busted are companions in Commander? To answer this question, each of us have built a deck using a different companion in the companion zone! Since none of the Goldfish crew has any experience with companions in Commander, we enlisted the help of someone who already has such a deck: Joseph Schultz, editor and content contributor at EDHREC and host of EDHRECast! Here's what we've got:
Joey plays a slightly modified version of his personal Obosh companion deck, using the damage doubling to make his commander even more lethal, Greven, Predator Captain
Richard figures if Lurrus is banned in Vintage then it has to be pretty decent in Commander too, where it's supporting Karlov of the Ghost Council
Seth will never miss an opportunity to build a Panharmonicon deck or draw cards, so when he saw the ETB card draw trigger of Keruga he knew what he must do, building Yarok, the Desecrated
Tomer avoids building Zirda as infinite combo or Cycling, instead doing some new, innovative, never-before-seen strategy with Tajic, Legion's Edge
How fast will Joey kill his opponents? Will Richard make a good argument for Lurrus to be banned in Commander? Will Seth durdle and draw cards (of course he will)? Find out on this episode of Commander Clash!
Today's video is brought to you by Card Kingdom. You can pick up some cards and support the show at www.cardkingdo...
Where To Find Joseph Schultz:
You can find more content from Joseph Schultz over at:
@EDHRECast on Twitter, Facebook
EDHRECast KZbin: / @edhrecast
EDHRECast Paper EDH Stream (Wednesdays 6PM EST): / edhrecast
Twitter: / josephmschultz

[@tierfunmtg]

1:24:52 Every time Tomer talks about never winning with Kaldra, I like to remind him that he assembled Kaldra at 1:12:00 on S4E11 with a Nazahn deck Richard gave him for Secret Santa. He killed Richard with it five minutes later, securing the win. I know this because I thought it was so sweet, I went out and built a version of that Kaldra deck and played it for months. And yes, I have assembled Kaldra at least twice!

[@nicholaskirk462]

"Are you trying to assemble Kaldra again, Tomer?" "I won't confirm nor deny. Look, am I that much of an old hat Seth?" *Tomer draws a Kaldra piece as he says this*

[@marsmandel42]

I love that Tomer never gives up on his tribes. Kaldra 4 win.

[@tomerabramovici32]

The timing couldn't be better!

[@Jamhottt]

@@marsmandel42 pppppppp P I I I Pp

[@sanguavour]

Let's see, Richard playing a deck with a seemingly questionable and yet probably effective game plan? Check. Seth playing Panharmonicon and drawing cards? Check. Tomer running Kaldra back again?...Check. At least it isn't Moonfolk... Yep, sounds like Commander Clash.

[@chrischeung1809]

Tomer I’m dissappinted you didn’t bring back 6cmc tribal again you literally screamed about how Gyurda is basically a free card in the deck

[@Niuttuc]

That deck may or may not be featured in another episode that hasn't aired yet.

[@PalPlays]

@@Niuttuc And you would know this how?

[@tomerabramovici32]

@@PalPlays Niuttuc is the editor of Commander Clash, so he knows :)

[@patrickbuerke1390]

@@tomerabramovici32 HE KNOOOOOWS

[@Niuttuc]

@@tomerabramovici32 Don't give away the secrets of my arcane knowledge!

[@Weasels42]

"How do we feel about mass land destruction" - said after resolving Armageddon. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, eh?

[@latroyw4650]

Naturia :D

[@newtpondskipper]

As a guy who became trapped in a blue control hell red mass land D became my new friend.

[@johntraversa2153]

That armageddon brought a lot of salt...

[@benoitbusque3601]

Tomer: try and tell me hedron archive is worth it you cant Also Tomer: Kaldra is actually good really

[@matiasrochaix2234]

But who plays hedron archive as a pet card.

[@kellinwilson7509]

@@matiasrochaix2234 You don't?!

[@ms.sysbit5511]

Tomer, Pernicious Deed doesn’t hit Planeswalkers so you could have cast Gideon Blackblade rather than discard.

[@petrsevcik5044]

Seth: *has multiple answers to Graven in hand.* Also Seth: "Oh, I'm just gonna die to Graven..."

[@TheBigPenguu]

An idea for a Keruga deck: Trinisphere. If you have to play at 3 CMC or greater, then everyone has to play at 3 CMC.

[@seanclark4071]

That is a great idea, I love it

[@girlhunter2102]

Kenobi will probably do it, he likes playing stacks.

[@grevious9816]

Unsarcastically loving these three hour videos

[@eusouzoom]

About the bounty hunter art. She is only loyal to you until she catches the bad guy and collect the bounty. Then she vanishes (sacrifice). The art is depicting the most important thing, she catching the bad guy. At least that's how I see it.

[@sekiryuutei6354]

Ah yes, finally. Seth is playing against the odds

[@shammerHammer]

nice. very solid joke. Im proud of you.

[@patrickbuerke1390]

@@shammerHammer I am proud of you both

[@abrahamthayer4059]

Listening to you guys talk about mutate reminded me of a game I was playing on modo earlier where I learned that leadership vacuum returns all cards mutated onto your commander to the command zone in addition to the commander itself. Seeing like four creatures get sent to my command zone is probably the hardest I've laughed at a game of magic in a while

[@UTUB2kholle]

Woa. And so you could recast them afterwards ?

[@nikomcpherson8394]

That’s a bug... the ruling on mutate says that the other creatures should go back to your hand..

[@anonzillaking]

@@nikomcpherson8394 i am pretty sure they go to command zone. the command zone talked about it in their rules podcast.

[@NMS127]

@@nikomcpherson8394 Leadership Vacuum specifically puts it into the command zone, so that applies to all the parts of the combined object. If you use the command zone replacement, that only applies to the actual commander card and everything else goes where it otherwise would.

[@GamerdevilPro]

@@UTUB2kholle You can only cast your commander from the command zone so those other cards are gone :D

[@colinmcgrath4801]

Can we just get Joey as a permanent addition to the Goldfish crew rotation? I loved his takes and commentary. He really resonates with how you guys build decks and seems like a great guy.

[@brningpyre]

41:00 Tomer: "I need to hit a land drop." Also Tomer: has Sword of the Animist in hand, and mana to play and equip it (thus guaranteeing a land drop). Yet Still Tomer: Attacks to try to draw a land, and then gets nothing to an on-board trick . Like, I understand you don't want to lose it, but you just skipped at least one turn instead (and arguably more).

[@miniroo612]

13:51 You should watch this week's episode of CMDRVS... Villainous Wealth.

[@jaymack9199]

came here to comment this exact thing lol

[@Karonar]

2:27:00 Richard could have won by activating Karlov to remove the wall, and then playing Jitte, paying for Extort, and casting Mana Tithe on his own jitte, again paying for extort(using 7 of his 10 available mana). Joey would have been at 16 life, and Karlov would have been at 6 power(8 power at start of turn, down to 2 to remove the wall, and up to 6 again after the extort triggers), Pridemate at 10, and still having Celebrant and Knight for 3 more damage.

[@dahl7817]

Tomer should have reset the board with World Slayer after he got dropped to 12 life points instead of playing a Kaldra piece.

[@MstrKipper]

@@dahl7817 I believe Tomer only had 7 Mana that turn meaning he couldn't play and equip world breaker, which is why he wanted to flip his golem land so bad. Also, even if he did do that it would just become what the table were renting about with MLD and no way to finish the game. No player would have had a board state because Tomer had no indestrucable options, meaning there was no win condition set up for the post wipe state

[@jeremyspencer1395]

Feel like you really want Search for Tomorrow or some other ways to have at least a chance at turn 1/2 plays for the Yarok deck, maybe some landcyclers or the like.

[@Cyberium]

Tajic thought his first kiss was with Zirda, but it was with Kaldra!

[@Darklordiban7]

Gonti could actually be possible. You set up a table off on the side that either has a webcam or a way of taking pictures without looking at the table. This info is then sent to a mediator who can DM the picture to the person resolving Gonti. The cards are then flipped over in their place. Gonti resolver then dictates which card is exiled face down. Ex: "Second from the right." As for cards under another person's control, there can be another webcam dedicated for that or just a spot at the top of your playmat.

[@JonaxII]

Sounds like no exaggerated measure at all.

[@michelspode423]

really nice episode. interesting talking toppics, nice really close game 2. that game was so tense!!! looking forward to the next one

[@peewee130946]

Favorite thing I’ve done with companions is two partners and a companion so I can start with 11 cards lol

[@Small_Panda]

Don't you mean 10 or did you some how mange to convince a group that having 3 commanders was normal?

[@LegitHarpyHunter]

@@Small_Panda draw for turn.

[@Small_Panda]

@Andrew Rhoads I don't really consider your first draw starting with as all leyline effects don't count it but I get what you mean now.

[@jordanppepper2280]

I was just in the process of building Greven Obosh. I see you're a man of culture as well

[@superduperbeans1234]

the biggest takeaway I got from this video: "Your fun should never come at the expense of someone else's fun." I feel like more people need to adopt this mindset.

[@victorperron8092]

The Jojo reference from Tomer's deck title is glorious. Praise it!

[@martinskullerud2195]

Liked for Armageddon. :) This is how you use mass LD - to solidify an advantaged boardstate and capitalize for the win!

[@kedros45]

1:57:00 Tomer not realizing he can use the golem to block graven (in the following round most likely), activate the guardian. when it dies from combat damage (with tajic in play) it still flips. best 1 for 3 from the whole game :)

[@velraith]

That was how armageddon should be. Honestly that wasn't any less fun then simic having 20 mana on turn 4 while my boros has 3 or 4.

[@GamerdevilPro]

Yeah the Armageddon was perfect, it literally won the game there and wasn't just randomly cast on curve "just for the lolz"

[@GiovanniBoss]

Now I REALLY want you guys to invite Joey's mom for an episode.

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

Tomer just ignoring the mana tithe is killing me

[@woolsyzygy]

"I come here looking for a jolly ol' time..." Oh, Joey, you sweet innocent child. Buckle up.

[@DarthTUK]

Awww :( When I heard the theme I was so excited to see 6CMC tribal from Tomer.

[@chrischeung1809]

That’s exactly what I was thinking however Kaldra is also very especially Tomer as well

[@Wolfir05]

Me at 1:00:00 : How did this game dragged for 3hrs??!! Me some minutes later: OH...

[@Xileph410]

Tomer Pernicious Deed doesn't blow up planewalkers so you're Gideon was a safe play.

[@robertyensko3618]

Keep living the dream Tomer. I've assembled Kaldra twice and it was glorious both times.

[@DonovanPresents]

2:55 If you want a similar effect, Haunted Close is pretty good. Also, Whispersilk Cloak is a good include for the lightning greaves effect

[@MrKennethb83]

I like that the whole family plays Mtg that’s so cool!

[@jackpabich763]

"I'm not an old hat, Seth!" Tomer claims as he draws the old hat.

[@hachiman127]

Doctor Anime dropping the JoJo reference here and he doesn't like anime.

[@TeaHauss]

Targeted Land destruction - great, I encourage it in fact. "Untouchable lands" is a stupid concept. Mass nonbasic destruction - fine, its a way to curb 5-color decks and makes basics necessary. Mass land destruction - no. There's no point unless you plan to win immediately.

[@frankomancer]

One of my friends solely plays decks that just ramp ramp ramp and then throw powerful goodstuff out till it wins, and because of that Ive spent a lot of time struggling to find good land destruction that isnt Armageddon to punish him with. They REALLY need to print more cards that copy Ruination... I dont want to wipe everyones mana base, just punish greedy players that are at 8 mana when everyone else has 4

[@VolvoxSocks]

I've been wanting to see nonbasic land destruction become a consistent thing for a while.

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche4303]

@@frankomancer there are enchantments that force players to only play at X lands

[@ashra8281]

The issue is lands are the strongest thing in commander. And basic lands can be ramped into for fixing. So idk. I don't mind it

[@leonstein7037]

@@frankomancer you could try the green Kamahl, if you really want and need to punish individual lands. Pair that with targeted or mass removal according to your needs and tastes.

[@aGoshDarnTravesty]

Oh, Tomer's playing Boros, I wonder if -- oh, there it is.

[@shagua2]

« I have a secret sauce in my deck » right, secret

[@jewpcabra666]

great guest yet again! Also love these longgg videos

[@Alakarin]

To be honest some of the best (or at least funniest to watch) episodes of the commander clash were where the entire game start again because of mass land destruction. I feel bad that Richard got shamed for his mass land destruction. Look I understand stax and mass land D are kind of unfun for the table, but I don't think it should be a rule out of never play them. Some of the most bantery episodes Involved the two. They make for hilarious scenerios and stories. It works if you see a play group each week and want to change things up. Maybe just ease off of it for commander clash this season as the guests are just coming for one game (or two if there is time) and they probably won't have as much fun for that one game.

[@ms.sysbit5511]

Gonti you can do. It requires honesty. Everyone else shuts their eyes/looks away. You fan the top 4 blind to the caster setting them in a near row. Once all 4 are shown, the stolen from hovers over the card selected and exiles it. The caster tends to write the card down for ease. Want a challenge? Thieves’ Auction lol

[@MrShinyObject]

Hey Tomer, with EDHREC representation here, I thought I'd suggest a theme I thought up a while ago: each player picks a commander, then uses the "average deck" function to build their deck. You only get to add cards if you're swapping out soft ban cards. I thought it might provide some insight on how decks are built.

[@Manifusion]

@1:44:30 I'd just like to point out something about the bounty hunter art versus its flavor; To me it reads as "Bounty hunter has caught her target and thus f's off the board now that her job is done."

[@SylphIcilio]

1:05:00 Opinions on Infect and MLD: If you win on the spot with it, its great. If it turns the game into a slow grind from either, its annoying. Same as infinite turns. If you're trying to play a game by yourself, there are videogames and and solitaire. If you sitting down at a table to play with others, the goal is for everyone to play the game. To quote one of the guys at my LGS, "If you want people to just sit around and watch your play with yourself, there a website that you can make money doing it."

[@tsho6131]

As someone who plays Jokulhaups as a finisher in Marchesa the Black Rose, I totally agree with Richard. It’s no worse than comboing off. Everyone can just say, ok, I scoop. It’s because people are stubborn and want to think they can get back into it, so they put themselves through bad gameplay, rather than just starting another game.

[@CodenameJD]

Search for Tomorrow is such a phenomenal card for Keruga, letting it spend that early mana to get some ramp in, even if you have to wait to get that ramp.

[@xZipkan]

Whats the point of running mana tithe if you don't actually never use it, I'm 45 minutes in and have seen several people tap out for plays and he never uses mana tithe.

[@manuelito1233]

I recently decided to FINALLY build an Animar deck after opening it in Masters 25. Keruga as a companion makes it amazing since you can run out of gas quick when you storm off with your creatures, a draw spell ready to go is amazing.

[@7someone]

Is this the beginning of Companion Clash ? Time will tell.

[@Battleguild]

Search for Tomorrow is a decent early Rampant Growth for Keruga.

[@LovedandTheLover]

Ok serious question, i have no idea how to get specific cards on mtgo. I wanted to build my commander in the game but i can't figure out how or where to get the cards i want for it

[@MassiveFoot29]

It was me Kaldra Here we go again

[@telisabeth]

Really enjoyable games! Would have loved to see a Rakdos win though. Also still rooting for Tomer to build his dream wincon in an actual game. :)

[@stephenhousman6975]

I never understood but why rot wolf for the unknown cards?

[@ashra8281]

Tbh I have no idea what an activated abitity is. I assume you pay mana or a cost to make something happened. But not entiry sure. Like does cycling count? Idk

[@Mr_Myst13]

Any ability that is formatted as "(cost):(effect)”, it's an activated ability...

[@Fromaginator]

I opened each of the Kaldra pieces in booster packs back when I was just getting into magic (odyssey) and for ages Kaldra was always my go to and I haven't put it in a commander deck yet but I'm working on a rafiq deck to utilize it!

[@francescogulisano2917]

Richard woke up that day thinking "I'll be the biggest a-hole ever", I guess ahahaha. Seth: hold my beard

[@brandonyoung8388]

Will you be doing the mutate legends? Really want to see Illuna :)

[@ryanworthington8095]

Armageddon really isn't great against ramp decks. I'd like to see a LD spell that makes everyone sac down to 6 lands or something like that. So you don't punish the whole table but the ramp deck is hampered severely

[@NMS127]

Interesting episode. But Seth and Tomer are playing so badly in game 2. Just constantly failing to leave up enough blockers or use their removal on the threats that will kill them.

[@MrShinyObject]

Can someone tell me if legion's landing can go in zirda? It has an activated ability, but only on the back.

[@Karonar]

Nope. Doesnt have an activated ability on the front, and that is the side that matters.

[@lior1204]

just saw the intro, no 6 cmc tribal with gyruda??

[@lawfullyblind8403]

that jojo reference had me laughing fir a full minute well done Tomer

[@malakbigs1563]

Why didn’t tomer play the Gideon when Seth had the pernicious deed? Would have made the eyeglass awesome.

[@tomerabramovici32]

I didn't realize Deed doesn't kill planeswalkers :(

[@malakbigs1563]

@@tomerabramovici32 Awwww bummer man, no sweat, those old cards were designed before planeswalkers even existed.

[@ravek7629]

In regards to determining power level of a deck, i find it more helpful to ask "What is the earliest turn your deck can theoretically win?"

[@davidsewnauth140]

Are there any plans to have previous guests come back for a game? Especially Jake or Tom.

[@dannyisjesus]

I love it Richard. Get em. GET EM ALL. Also, I agree with everything you said 100%.

[@bigwig8657]

For all the complaining I think Ikoria is a pretty cool set for limited and standard. It's very normal for cards to define archetypes. It's not different from decks being resto, rev, or wolf run decks and it's rare that a set doesn't have at least auto include in every deck, when that happens people complain. So just accepting this is a standard broken down into what 4 competitive companions all of which have multiple different decks that have results, honestly it's a pretty diverse format with a clear best deck. But thats more a fires getting multiple new ways to get a 3rd spell in fires and got to fuse with the other best deck in the previous standard which liked to bounce its own value enchantments. Lukka, sharknado and fires are the problem. Getting to have 8 agents, 4 of which cost 5 mana and comes with a planeswalker and if fires is out also comes with a second trigger and a strong 5 drop, and probably draw reset a walker or something. But yorion ramp is in line with the rest of the meta and there are like a dozen decks that have turned up results.

[@Alkhemia8]

man it would of been so funny if tomer used mana tithe on pernicious deed

[@c.jhamblin5759]

Wait does joey watch starkid? He called obosh tickle me wiggly. Secret theatre kid?

[@davidhansen5067]

The rant about Great Henge! :D

[@PalPlays]

Yarok + Keruga is spiiiicy. I have been looking for a deck to lose with recently. Kruphix + Keruga 5 CMC tribal is my current new love, but Yarok comes close.

[@PalPlays]

"Your commander is going to ZONE, would you like it to go to the Command Zone instead?' Yes No Look at that! I fixed commander zone changes on MTGO!

[@petrsevcik5044]

Arena is already doing that.

[@JoeMama-oh8rb]

Seth, thank you so much. I completely agree with what you said about deadeye navigator. It is not fun at all and it makes blink decks so much more boring.

[@birdofnyx376]

I found with a bit of upgrades that happened in like 15 minutes of thinking i think the cycling deck did fairly well

[@GeorgeAlone2277]

I've been playing 5c Ur-Dragon with Keruga as a companion. Missing some mana rocks but my deck basically hasn't changed

[@charmandenator5686]

You can't use Villanous Wealth over web cam! Try telling Jermey from Commander vs that.

[@thomasmay4953]

I was really hoping that one of them played Sisay, Weatherlight Captain with Jagantha as there companion.

[@Yig_al_Gaib4242]

Magic the Gathering SitCom Pitch: “What is Greven Doing?”

[@seanmurphy3430]

yo dawg we heard you liked commander so we put commander in your commander

[@bigwig8657]

I am so dissapointed Tomer did not play 6 drop tribal with the 6 drop commander that fits in Tasigur. It hits everyones library and is guaranteed to hit a 6 drop at least.

[@surakarus]

To sum up the episode: Joey can't even

[@laelnoj]

Mycosynth Lattice and Vandalblast overloaded?

[@gildarmesh3809]

"Ikka- Ragu" -Michael from Rage Quit

[@c.jhamblin5759]

wait YAY JOEY I LOVE JOEY

[@Big_Dai]

Brood of Cockroaches doesn't work with mutate. @Richard, should used Seal of Cleansing before the final attack.

[@alexjacobs9357]

When u going to do a commander 2020 pre-con deck commander clash episode

[@Alkhemia8]

They not on mtgo atm so not for like a month

[@MstrKipper]

Tomer almost world slayered everyone, he was so close but then Seth flipped a 9 drop

[@shagua2]

1:03:00 I don’t want to close my eyeeeeees, don’t want to fall asleeeeeeep, cuz I miss you babe and I don’t want to miss a thing

[@noahmurtha4036]

At 2:16:25 I’m just yelling at the screen that he has enough to kill Joey if he mana tithes his own ghost form and keeps it by paying the one. And also has enough to extort EACH spell and grow his pride mate big enough to be exactly 13. Granted he probably does to Seth on the crack back but oh well. 2nd is better than 3rd and dying to greven doesn’t sound fun lol

[@craiggentile313]

How is Tomer not on 6-drop tribal with Gyruda!

[@andy150395]

I adore brokkos but I think he's better as utility than mutate growing your small stuff to chip in for continuous commander damage

[@leonardoboccaletti1790]

Hey Tomer, Pernicious Deed doesn't hit planeswalkers. You probably should've played your Gideon instead of skiping the turn completely.

[@cinco_de_la_tarde]

I really dislike the question "does your deck have infinite combos?" as a way to determine deck power level. I've seen people actively take that to mean that they are busting out their cedh or 75% deck. I have $50 budget decks that have infinite combos. It doesn't mean they are high power level.

[@PalPlays]

I have punished full power Gitrog with my Queen Marchesa stax deck. His lands were Armageddoned and graveyard wiped. Stax and land destruction are hated too much. People are tilted by the people who curve naturally into land destruction with no plan. How is infect, a mechanic that kills one player early who then watches the game for an hour, better than the mechanic that has a clear path to victory enforced by Armageddon?

[@VinyJuliani]

spoiler: so Lurrus is also winning in commander too?

[@MultiTaz333]

I love mutate and hope it comes back as well as keyword counters but I'm not sure about companions, at least not outside of commander