This or That? How We Choose the Commanders to Use | EDHRECast 293

Pantlaza or Gishath? Ur-Dragon or Miirym? This episode we take a look at the metrics we use when trying to decide between super-similar commanders!
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[@endgame1222]

As a James Harris but not THE James Harris referenced here, Hearing my name and glancing up to see my name covering the screen out of nowhere truly terrified me

[@hanschristopherson8056]

It’s not officially Friday until I watch the edhrecast!

[@quayo90]

The accuracy! It’s something I forward to seeing pop up on my phone every time🎉😂

[@sunbro7853]

It is now friday

[@ethanglaeser9239]

I also think it is worth consider what portion of your strategy you want in the command zone. Not to reference Joey's preferences specifically, but if you are building a reanimator deck it may be important to think about what aspect of reanimation your commander does. Does it discard things to be reanimated? Does it reanimate things that have been discarded? Does it affect the reanimation process in another way? It may be that you want to select a commander with those things in mind.

[@mercystreetcjc]

This is a safe space for necromancers. We hear you and we see you.

[@ethanglaeser9239]

You touched on it some at the end, but one of the big things for me is the commander's threat level. I have seen many games where someone runs a scary commander and gets completely shut down by removal, and I don't want to fight that battle. I want a commander that is powerful, but not a lightning rod. Sometimes choosing a slightly more niche or subtle option saves you from the table's aggression, and counter-intuitively increases your success rate.

[@underscore_5450]

That's definitely an important thing to think about since threat assessment starts when the game does and the first piece of info your opponents have is your commander. I used to run an Atraxa infect deck (because I'm evil) but most players see an Atraxa and decide that you need to be the first player out. So I decided to shave back some colors and run Ojer Kaslem as my commander to kinda throw people off. Now most people assume I'm playing a mono green voltron strat until my commander starts putting blightsteels and Vorinclex's onto the field for free.

[@Cephalopopo]

It is so impressive to me how much of a positive attitude you guys are putting out there, especially when i take the usual internet as a baseline. Especially Joey is just generally such a wholesome guy and the way he articulates himself, it is just absolutely amazing to me. I do not even watch you for the EDH content right now, I just enjoy people not being toxic about magic and simply having a wholesome talk about cards and stuff.

[@andrueurbane7361]

Last March of the Ents is responsible for my single best turn of magic in 30 years.

[@totakekeslider3835]

It's my all time favorite card now.

[@achocofilah]

Miirym was my first commander deck I ever built, and someone did suggest ur dragon to me but I kept up with her instead. I think it was a mix of what was mentioned, and bc of “first love” effect. Sure I could put her in a 5-color dragon deck, but I like knowing I can see her in every game and go down memory lane popping off the first time I played her (before she is rightly removed before my next upkeep lol)

[@brandoncreek5709]

I had a similar experience with Gishath! He was my first deck ever and I ended up taking him apart at some point since I felt like the deck was getting a little stale, plus there were so many Gishath decks in my playgroup/LGS. Recently I put dinos back together with Pantlaza as commander and I'm having a blast going back down memory lane!

[@bruvaroni]

Iirc miirym is considered better than ur so you probably made the correct choice.

[@klaiken989]

​@bruvaroni Tiamat objectively is the current strongest WUBRG Dragon commander. Poeople don't like mentioning her because they claim she is a "cheap" dragon tutor

[@tresnalder2149]

When it comes to choosing a commander, I've learned to choose ones that dont have a target on them immediately. I look at functioning, yet unassuming commanders. Sivriss has been amazing because he doesnt get a second read from anyone but he ends up getting so much value from the graveyard.

[@marinadelgais4083]

Yoo! I've been trying to build a Sivriss deck too! Can you tell me a bit about what you did with yours?

[@calebbrown1068]

I'd love to know what Background/Direction you went with it. Sivriss/Folk Hero Clerics seems fun.

[@tresnalder2149]

@marinadelgais4083, @calebbrown1068 Sweet. I chose the Cloakwood Hermit background and its a self mill/reanimator build. Shigeki and Beledross Witherbloom are the big wincons.

[@marinadelgais4083]

Both really cool! I was thinking of going the mono black route with things like Syr Conrad and Agent of the Iron Throne, but I find myself trying to take it in too many different directions For example, I am also considering a "political" build with Noble Heritage and cards like Breena the Demagogue There's too many options!

[@FriendlyNewt]

This is my favorite show of the week. I look for commanders that do something I haven't built before. If they are super unique I look for ones that can be consistently powerful while also occasionally being splashy.

[@stevenjones4953]

The Doctor Who decks inspired me to finally start watching the show, and i'm hooked. I started all the way back at the classic and it's made me love the Doctor Who precons even more.

[@adoo765]

I didnt have this vibe with dr who but i totally get it, i loved the warhammer 40k lore and the precons were the cause of it

[@washada]

I got way more into LotR lore after the set came out, so I get it! (I had seen the movies and had a general idea of what happens in the Silmarillon, but I’m actually reading the books now)

[@eternaleclypse]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1013">16:53</a> I actually tend to see Myrrim as both critical mass of dragons and copying specific dragons. Which really brings it back to what Joey said: Do I really need the BW in my color identity? What do those colors do for me?

[@Emblerfied]

Love this show! I run Curator of Sun's Creation to get an extra Pantlaza trigger, and I can do it on EVERYONE'S turn. 🙂

[@ricogarciaperez4734]

I had this situation. The question was "Faldorn" or "Prosper"? I went with Faldorn because I wanted to make creatures I could do damage with and so I could play my pet-card "Triumph of the Hordes". I love this value-engine Deck.

[@nathansnaza8363]

For me I found that I wanted to run both so I made a Proshh impulse draw deck with both as shadow commanders as well as the card that inspired the deck in hoarding broodlord who gives all the Kobolds from Proshh convoke and it always feels like I have a chance to win without causing the revulsion that either of those two can cause.

[@theJGR]

Because this came up in one of my games. In challenge the stats Joey mentioned the interaction of Roaming throne with Pantlaza, the Sun Favored Afaik: Simply said Roaming Throne not working with Pantlaza is correct. But what many people say is that Roaming Throne makes a COPY of the triggered ability - is incorrect. The ability simply gets triggered twice. This is relevant for triggers like morbid opportunist because it explicitly CAN NOT trigger twice in a turn - but you could copy the ability when it is on the stack with something like Strionic Resonator and essentially get to resolve it twice off a single trigger. On the contrary Pantlaza doesn't explicitly prevent triggering twice - but any resolution beyond the first won't have any effect. Hope that helps someone out in their games! 👍

[@lightfut]

Fishing music is best when it has a good hook

[@Controlqueen31]

Aristocrats might be one of the most simple playstyles on paper and deckbuilding, but there are different colours to pull it off, and I think that's kinda cool. When you speak about Meren giving recursion and Teysa creating different kinds of value, I thought about my aristrocrats commander: Kels. She is UB, and while not beeing as pushed and popular as the other two, she is an amazing value engine that can survive a lot of time on board with her last ability. Heck, with phyrexian altar she can go "sacrifice token = draw a card"

[@edwardjrackley]

Could you link your deck list? Always thought Kels was a really interesting commander.😊

[@Controlqueen31]

@@edwardjrackley I had two versions, but delete the decklists cause I needed to sell a lot of cards. The budget one was played with cards that get you 2 for 1, like sacrificers when ETB: fleshbag, executioner... (And always having one mana up for drawing). The nonbudget I used to played between aristocrats and reanimator. Toxrill, Massacre wurm... But that list is a little bit personal.

[@chummer2060]

Thanks for always keeping me entertained on my Friday night commute

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

"It's more complicated than you made it out to be, because you can copy it, it's just the copy doesn't do anything" Actually, it's even more complicated than that. The copy goes on the stack last, so the copy does something. The original effect, however, doesn't do anything more than enter the stack, trigger the throne, and then fizzle.

[@PSroka]

I have a Monarch/Initiative deck and I switch out Marisi with Rocco depending on what I want the power level to be

[@DiRTYZs19z]

That challenge the stats segway was absolutely brutal, and I loved it. Glad to have Matt back!

[@maxleveladventures]

Regarding access to colors, I want a new Mardu equipment commander. Would love to see a new version of Syr Gwyn.

[@1notdeadfred]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="378">6:18</a> That's because you're choosing to run it as a search for lands style. I'm running a Temur landfall deck using Thrasios and Toggo entitled "Rocks fall, everybody's land." Instead of searching, the deck is built around things that allow me put lands into play from hand like Sakura-tribe scout and Patron of the moon, and it runs waaaay more card draw than a typical landfall deck. I found that my initial draft using searches was just so time consuming because of shuffling that it wasn't fun. It was stressful to play instead.

[@johneverett2271]

I developed a reputation locally as _the_ Naya-centric player by finding all the strategies I could play in GRW. Gahiji: weenies/incentivized combat; Mayael: surprise! big dumb creature; Samut: voltron; Rienne: recursion; Marath: enchantments (plot twist, I know); etc. I've taken that philosophy into other color combos so that my decks feel as unique from each other as possible. I thought about building Polukranos, Reborn, for instance, but the pattern of "play hydras for X=0" seemed too similar to--and slower than--my God-Eternal Oketra deck's strategy of "spam Whitemane Lion and friends". OTOH, Anikthea feels very different from the Marath enchantress deck despite the huge number of enchantments and enchantments-matter cards in each. Ratadrabik would be a major power upgrade from Anikthea, but would otherwise feel very similar despite the focus on legendary creatures vs enchantments. How much would Ramos overlap with Rienne? Or would it feel very different with the blue and black added to the mix? Ultimately, it seems that this more than anything accounts for the staying power of EDH as a format. You can have so many different ways to play a strategy at so many different power levels, and so many commanders give you multiple strategies to explore. Great topic, guys!

[@aylith6575]

Matt: haha I can't believe you pronounce "bant" like that Also Matt: Riss the Redeemed

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Yay for Matt being back!!! Good discussion. I just go where my whims take me. Normally some card will catch my eye and I’ll build something inspired by it. But sometimes I want to fill a hole in my deck collection. Also, my talrand has won multiple times with Candlekeep inspiration. Also in my hinata deck. Excellent card. Basically any blue tokens deck could use it!

[@jasonritner9662]

As someone who runs a Sam/Frodo food deck, I had trouble deciding which pair to go with, but decided the engine was more important to have in the command zone. Then again, it leans more into life drain than just tokens so making food for free every turn and getting tempted by the ring constantly helps. I am running it as a deck where I deliberately don't use tutors or infinite combos though. So, take my experience with a grain of salt.

[@SonOfSodium]

I've played around 5-6 different mono black commanders and now I have all the shells, know which ones I like to play and got way better at playing reanimator/turbo having usually only playing control in black. Konrad, new Braids, Tergrid, Starscream and Krikk are all so fun. I had never played mono in commander, but I built a mono red deck (Jaxis) but black being my favorite, when a friend picked up Jaxis off me I used that to fund into mono black and I've played the least amount of colors this last year but maybe had the most fun.

[@BloodSplatterArtist]

My last commander choice/upgrade debate was a not brainer. Switching from Xenagos to Henzie covered all of its weaknesses as a gruul deck with upside to boot. Still got haste in the command zone, but also got card advantage and access to better removal and recursion. Love the deck

[@ANitschkeProduction]

For Throne in the Pantlaza decks, they should use Crusator of the Sun's Creation. It Discovers for the same amount whenever you Discover (once a turn).

[@CrabBaskets]

Im kinda in Dana's camp of selecting a commander that is the least popular. Though more specifically, the first factor of choosing a commander for me is colors. I love brewing and playing monocolor over multicolor, so I will find a commander of a particular strategy and go for the one with the fewest colors. The second factor is does the commander service as a engine, or a payoff, or both, to the gameplan of the deck? Im a sucker for triggered abilities getting micro advantages (to an extent) so I will go for the engine / enabler style commander over the payoff / finisher style commander. And yes, I realize many a commanders can functionally do both.

[@AxillaryPower2]

On choosing between commanders with similar themes, I'm surprised Boros Equipment didn't come up. It's almost meme status that every Boros Equipment legendary creature are interchangable.

[@TheOpaldes]

Pantlaza uses a bunch of trigger effects so a roaming throne goes in well. Also the throne hits the field as a dino so it itself triggers. If I would go for power a throne is definitly on my list.

[@RagdorUltron]

I have a Maja, Bertagard Protector land fall deck. It runs well and puts a lot of tokens on board.

[@angelojohnson9441]

I have to say that I like the offshoot legends in the pre-cons. Xantcha, Thantis, Mairsil, Marisi, and Kaima are all unique commanders that I have utilized for other decks and 3 out of those five helm their own (I even have Marisi and Kaima together). Speaking of Kaima: Kamigawa Neon Dynasty was the only time I bought all the precons of a set. The vehicle deck was a new space for me (I made it Jeskai with the Universes Within Friends Forever legends, since I had a few really good red cards for it) and I was trying to build a Gruul deck with Targ Nar, so seeing the deck list it was well worth my time and effort to get the Chishiro deck and strip it for parts… but what ended up happening is that Chishiro lends for a far more interesting play pattern in play testing. Targ Nar is still in the 99 of that deck, but Chishiro’s ability to build up while building out is pretty neat. I realize most people pick a commander and build a deck around it outside of precons, but building a deck from an idea of what you want it to do and then picking the commander later is a gratifying experience. Building this way means your deck can function just fine without your commander ( if you disable Yawgmoth or Doran, the deck just stops working in comparison). You can also have your commander cover weak points. Jund infect has trouble with big armies, big creatures, and fliers. Prossh can come in to save the day to block fliers, trade with a big creature, or prove a bunch of kobold fodder as blockers. I made a Golgari Wurm tribal deck and the issue was what to do with fliers; Halana essentially lets me cast wurms to kill creatures and Baron gets bigger with each creature killed that way so the deck is very much anti-air.

[@afifthofjackgaming]

I had to find a copy of Roaming Throne for my Bear Force One.... I don't know how expensive its gonna get but solid that its can be tossed in any deck

[@moongurd20]

I recently build a gruul deck and i first thought of using borborygmos, enraged but then i remembered this guy and changed commander like last minute. Love how to use red to get haste and create a bunch of elementals and smash face 😅

[@cas126]

Gish is like a godzilla in San Fran. You see him coming from a mile away and hold removal. Pantlaza is like a raptor from Jurassic park, its out there, you dont know where and when itll strike and you may overlook it.

[@kryzallazurite1585]

You might say she's...... a clever girl~

[@LunarSkittles]

Perfect timing on this one. I've just started a simic deck and I'm unsure if I want Momir Vig inside a Experiment Kraj deck to help find pieces, or of I want Kraj in the 99 with Momir at the helm so that I know I can search. Deciding if I want the combo piece or the search engine in the command zone is so hard.

[@bryceosborne4357]

Momir was the first commander deck I built, did It on a budget, and let me tell you that deck is still pretty powerful. It does lead to really consistent or samey kinds of games. If that's something you want momir is for you, if not I'd try using Kraj as the commander instead

[@ZenTeT]

im trying to make a Blanka deck for my playgroup this week. well listening to these edherecasts.

[@VisibleNinja5674]

Oh, Ixhel! I loved Ixhel since it's more of a slow poison deck imo. As someone that played ub proliferate poison in scars block, that's my jam.

[@joshuapardee4901]

Last March of the Ents is worth casting. Cast it for 10 or 11 at mtg summit and got so many triggers off it in my LoTR fellowship deck. Still lost but I just wanted to make the spell happen once.

[@hainzyy]

To any aspiring Ovika brewer, just know that over time in a group that knows the deck, it's kill on sight, and that there are a lot of good cards like the one suggest here that seem like great slots, and are, but I just want to reiterate to be careful/ready to win when you cast ovika.

[@Tater8q3f]

Sam & Frodo vs Merry & Pippin is another question of engine vs wincon. Difference of these pairs vs the Dr Who ones is S&F both work together to create an engine, and M&P both work together to create a wincon. Personally I've really been enjoying the deck as an Abzan control deck with Sam&Frodo, but I admit I would probably get a higher winrate by having Pippin in the command zone.

[@perk2469]

I actually decided to make separate decks for each pair of Food hobbits and I think it's cool that the decks play completely differently

[@danielscott9960]

Matt bullying Joey for Barnt (Bant), fair play to Joey for not getting his own back with prec'n (precon)

[@bryceosborne4357]

I tend to look for value engine commanders that work in unique ways. Ive been working on a (non competitive) build for Tivit because he provides both card draw and mana, albeit in a limited way. I kind of like that tho as it sets a limit, and having extra votes is just cool.

[@sunstrid3r44]

Ur Dragon was my first commander and with time the deck evolved around playing dragons that are related to the Ur Dragon that i like the most (og elders, tarkir elders, etc) so i didnt had room for a lot of cool dragons i like. When Miirym was revealed i loved the card, but i didnt wanted to build a deck around her bc i fell in love with Firkraag. I play Miirym in the 99 of The Ur Dragon and now have 2 other dragon decks with Firkraag and Atarka so i have room for most of my favorite dragons (and the 3 decks have very few, next to 0, dragons in common). I love Ur Dragon bc of the lore and i can play any dragon i want in the deck bc it is 5c, so i stayed with him over Miirym. Firkraag openned new ways to play dragons, he dont have green or black so the pool is more limited without lacking good support (i try my best to put as many mono U dragons as possible in the deck). The commander plays a super active role in how the deck works and makes the gameplay more unique too! Atarka was a way to make more room for other dragons, and to force me into playing more green dragons (specialy mono green dragons, i love non red dragons)! I think if Miirym was esper or abzan i would 100% build her, but as temur she overlaps with Firkraag, who i think is way more interesting, and Atarka, who i wanted to build as a challenge and as a cool introdutory deck to teach friends and family.

[@LordofPhantasm]

I currently play Tyvar the Bellicose as elf commander. Golgari and dork powering.

[@jomarsantiago978]

I also have omanth locust of rage he's so fun. Only deck I splurged for the sac lands 😂

[@dreddbolt]

> Landfall - Glacian (Powerstone Engineer)//Toggo (Goblin Weaponsmith) > Elves - Grand Warlord Radha - Varis (Silverymoon Ranger) - Nadier (Agent of the Duskenel)//Miara (Thorn of the Glade) > Aristocrats - Slimefoot (the Stowaway) > Dragons - Skanos Dragonheart//Acolyte of Bahamut

[@jaimemarquez6397]

The reason why I picked pantlaza instead of gishath is pantz rewards me when I defend my board with blinks or delayed blinks by adding more to it

[@kylejohnmiller8045]

Tiamat the toolbox Dragon, Tutor for ramp, haste, card draw boardwipes, the world is my oyster

[@minispiel19]

A lot of dinosaurs have triggered abilities (Enrage being one) so even though Roaming Throne doesn’t trigger Pantlaza, it works on lots of other dinosaurs. I honestly can’t think of a deck this couldn’t go in.

[@deansantos8915]

The art on that Syr Konrad got me howling 😂

[@jasonburrs3142]

To add to the discussion about Miirym v Ur-Dragon before Commander Masters Ur-Dragon was about $60 US around the time Miirym was newly released. Miirym is still under $3 while Ur is nearing $20 now. Personally I got a Miirym from pre-release and it wound up being the first commander I've ever built around from scratch. It's wonderfully explosive with the right cards. Ur is just really expensive to optimize comparably but has a higher ceiling with the extra 2 colors.

[@noise.s]

I haven't had the issue of choosing commander until recently, before it's always been the commander I find cool to dictate the build around and flavor, now I'm trying to build a deck around "food fight" from woe and it's all over the place with colors and commanders...

[@olivierdebilde4292]

I usually scroll through EDHrec data base to look at what cards I can add with specific colors. Do I wanna that Kokusho, Darigaaz or Eternal dragon in my deck? Then I consider Ur Dragon. Secondly I look at the commander strategy.

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

I’m planning to design an aristocrats deck in every color combination, and I’m expecting mono-blue to be the most difficult. I have an idea where I’m going to go with that, but I haven’t built it yet. This honestly probably isn’t going to be a commander-first build.

[@kryzallazurite1585]

Arcum Dagsson perhaps?

[@Level_1_Frog]

The answer is: whichever is cooler 😎

[@markhaessler4395]

the reason I have Roaming Throne in the Dino deck is to get sweet sweet double enrage triggers :-)

[@teradul2480]

Also, Pantlaza needn't be a dinosaur deck. I've been working on a list that uses a few 1 toghness dinos/changelings to cascade into either Glimpse of Tomorrow or Ressurgent Belief and do the explovise stuff like that

[@brandoncreek5709]

I'm super indecisive, so my gruul stompy deck has like 5-6 gruul commanders I can swap between and not have to change the deck much if at all

[@abbydabbs5519]

My partner has lays the ur dragon so rarely that he has forgotten what its non-eminent ability is MULTIPLE TIMES

[@NewOldEBM]

Hold up, so are they saying at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1775">29:35</a> Roaming Throne can trigger a "trigger only once per turn" trigger again? Because I don't see how it would if Teysa can't double trigger a morbid opportunist twice. True enough you can copy it on the stack, but roaming throne doesn't do that, it creates an additional trigger. Anyone got any clues?

[@HexQuesTT]

I had this debate with myself not long ago about a food deck, I had been working on Gyome for a while then Greta came out and I debated switching to her and she would probably be the better more consistent and even more versatile commander but I've just gotten really attached to Gyome and I like that he can protect himself and others and also tap down opponents blockers/give them indestructible when they're attacking, he's a better political tool than Greta, though I think the main thing is Gyome makes food by playing creatures, Greta needs spells that make food

[@3LimbedHero]

My Miirym has yet to lose to an Ur Dragon and Tiamat. I find my opponents often struggling to find their colors to even cast their dragon commander and often "tapping out" to cast a big single dragon, only to have no mana up to protect it, every turn. Miirym just seems to always outpace the other dragons in my opinion.

[@MackRangerPower]

Zombies is so complex. I’m wanting to have either scarab god or wilhelt. Both do cool shit and it just feels like wilhelt does just a little more of what I want.

[@keeganbham]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1727">28:47</a> the copy actually DOES discover X. The original would be the one that does nothing

[@crazybaldman]

I honestly have an elf deck helmet by Grand Warlord Radha...it is tons of fun, and an interesting strategy too.

[@someguy1ification]

I have a deck with that general. it's great. can go in so many different directions from game to game--things like Moonveil Dragon, Warp World, and Five Alarm Fire can just take over the game. or Jaya's Immolating Inferno for 20 with a Reiterate.

[@mkill572]

I have that deck too … unfortunately it either kills the table turn 4-5 or doesn’t really do much …

[@crazybaldman]

It is actually one of my more untouched decks as far as getting updates. I need to revise the current list.

[@101stumphead]

Where sis Joey get that version of Syr Konrad? They always use its art but I can never find it

[@occasj]

Was kind of hoping to hear an argument about kozilek vs zhulodok, currently have the struggle of if I want to change kozilek to zhulodok or not

[@Strik3r1090]

You could proxy it to goldfish and see if you like it and then commit to buying it if you do like it. 👍

[@nicolasdespres9694]

This is the first time I've disagreed with a challenge the stats. I think roaming throne is so powerful and all of the dinosaurs in a Pantlaza deck have such great triggered abilities that I still think it's absolutely worth keeping in the list

[@RedCometNurse]

I think I need to put Candlekeep Inspiration into my Narset, Enlightened Exile deck. 🤔

[@jasonritner9662]

Can confirm. It's a lot of fun.

[@Vangeltheunderdog]

Hey, gents. I was curious on what you guys' takes are on a rule 0 idea I came up with and covered briefly. It involves short-cutting tutors into sifting spells. Instead of tutoring, you look at the top X cards where X is the CMC of the spell +1 (or whatever else the table decides). I thought of this formula because this one seemed consistent with a lot of already existing sifters like Adventurous Impulse and Board the Weatherlight, to name a few.

[@lazarusspeaking7324]

If you want to rule 0 tutors to be unplayable just rule 0 a no-tutors policy. No-one would bother running Demonic Tutor as a colour-shifted Impulse, so don't bother with the rule

[@rosinx]

Ur dragon having 20k decks and Miirym having 17.5k seems crazy too me considering Miirym has been out for like 1.5 years

[@happybrain2674]

to take the issue why dino typal almost allways wiffs if gishath is on play: i see alot of decks that move around 20 dinos or even less and thats far to few. The unwritten rule for almost all typal decks is to have at least 30 (better 33-35) of that typal to properly fuction and thats esp true on gishath that goes at best 7 cards deep at worst none. and since most typals have backed in draw/ramp and/or removal its even easyer to justify that number.

[@jexplayssiegeandhesgood8463]

You know the dad joke should have referenced the catchy bass line

[@sunstrid3r44]

Hey guys, i LOVE your work, but i want to add to the conversation saying i strongly disagree with the roaming throne challenge. The majority of best dinosaurs have triggered abilities. Sure it doesnt work with pantlaza, but will work with trapjaw tyrant, trunpeting carnosaur, regisaur alpha, palanis hatcher, quartzwood crasher, ghalta and mavren, etali and etali, gishath, ripjaw raptor, ranging raptors, zacama, polyraptor, verdant sun avatar and so on. It is important to allert about the nombo with pantlaza, but the way it was presented felt like the card isnt good in the deck even with you briefly saying that it still works with other things. I think it wasnt clear enough that the card is good for the deck, just dont work with the commander! Keep it up with the great content!

[@vampirica11]

I've upgraded by Rhys deck to Galadriel, because it adds blue. It's still an elf ball deck though, but with Rysthic Study :)

[@dapperghastmeowregard]

"Do you go with Miirym or Ur-Dragon?" Me, with Scion: Uhhhh...

[@jomarsantiago978]

Took apart my Kyler felt boring

[@kamakazi339]

I think the idea of a decision between mirrym and ur dragon is nullified by the fact that you can just throw mirrym in ur dragon and be done

[@Str1ker1000]

Yeah then we can put the ur dragon and mirrym into Tiamat

[@kamakazi339]

@@Str1ker1000 ouch. What a downgrade

[@Str1ker1000]

@@kamakazi339 maybe but I have played against someone who has a Tiamat deck and they kicked my ass

[@kamakazi339]

@@Str1ker1000 tiamat is good but ur dragon is better overall I think

[@Str1ker1000]

@@kamakazi339 maybe, that eminence ability is pretty cool

[@Akoustikus]

As Selesnya and Golgari boys, what are your favorite greenless pairs? Sorry to fish for engagement, I've been a little green around the gills and these videos have really kept me afloat. 💖🐟

[@matthewwexler2105]

So I want to actually disagree with your challenge the stats on Roaming Throne. It does not work on the commander, but in my Pantlaza deck, aboout twenty five of the other dinosaurs gain a great benefit from it. That's over a third of the Non land cards in the deck and over two thirds of all my dinosaurs. And some of those triggers are bonkers to double up. So I think it's still worth it Simply because the archetype itself can benefit from it.

[@alexandergartner8877]

Actually I sometimes prefer to actively work against the color pie. I have built dragon decks in Azorius, Dimir and Golgari. I have built mono blue landfall. Obviously, these decks are on the janky side of things, but this is EDH, so who cares?

[@withacurseMTG]

AYO, SHANID REPRESENT!!!

[@12jacobmar]

First!

[@andrewpeli9019]

Ixhel should be a way more popular commander. When Ixhel and Vishgraz came out, the Command Zone really favored Vishgraz, which was a horrible take. That whole episode was full of misinformation and I think that episode construes the numbers a lot. They were stuck in the mindset of poison counter decks being a "aggro" strategy when that set made poison counters a mid-range powerhouse. I run Vishgraz in Ixhel, but if they revisit the Toxic key word, it's very likely that Vishgraz gets cut, because it is one of the weakest cards in the deck. Conversely, a 2/5 flying, vig, toxic 2, card advantage engine for 4 mana is not going to be dropped from any poison counter deck that can support its colors. The poison counter strategy has explosive tools such as "triumph of the hordes", "Tyrranax Rex", and Skithiryx. But it also has extreme resilience, being able to spell sling to victory without a board state with the proliferate mechanic. It's very rare to build a commander deck that has a powerful commander but can function without the commander. That will run away with the game if you don't deal with the board state, but can win without a board state. All without relying on combos or tutors. I have 15 commander decks and Ixhel is easily my favorite.

[@brandonlapple6949]

Has anyone ever told you guys how not annoying and perfectly fine your intro jingle is?.......

[@famousstranger8468]

Why do you never show titania natures force?

[@EDHRECast]

When Joey talks about his Titania deck, we want to show the Titania he actually plays.

[@oxpolitik]

This one was a flop for me, gentlemen. A rare miss. A couple of days later, I literally don't remember anything that was said. No biggie. Love the show.

[@izzydarkhart4144]

The Ur Dragon has honestly been powercrept pretty bad. There has been a ridiculous. Both of its abilities are pretty irrelevant now, ramp and cheating mana, and there are so many cards that reduces Dragon cast, and the draw ability has always deen irrelevant. Tiamat is definitely the best 5 color Dragon commander now. A 5 Dragon tutor is insane. you pretty much win the game if you cast her more than once (i added blink stuff to the deck to take advantage of the ETB). My friend and I both made the change, and it is ridiculously consistent and good. Maybe a little too good and consistent. Every game is literally the same. You will win with her majority of the time sense you will always have the best Dragons ever designed in your hands. Now Eminence is just broken, so there can always be an argument for it, which is why so many hate it. Personally, I just think Eminence is boring, and I avoid using it majority of the time. Like at least you can counter Tiamat if you are a smart player when Eminence there is literally zero interaction and is rarely fair or fun for anyone.

[@DCII]

Sam and Frodo are so much better than Merry and Pippin. In fact I pulled Merry and Pippin from my Sam and Frodo deck. They're just not good enough.

[@thorbalt1]

Look, lets be honest here. If you choose a commander with any ability to give you free casts, you play trash and you cant expect anyone to be nice to you when you play because you dont play nice in the first place. So that means any trash like jodah, cascade, discover, etc. No thinking required, no skill needed commanders means everyone is going to look at you once and then look around the pod, everyone nods and you get killed first and they intentionally drag the game on after you are out to punish you for playing that garbage

[@Thoughtmage100]

I won't deny that they're on average easier to use, but gatekeeping is cringe. Let people play what they want to play.