Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor | Upping the Average

[@mfitkin]

Joey I think you are the best at what you do. Specifically I mean the deck upgrades, but also I often watch just for the puns when it’s a commander I’ll never build!

[@minine6508]

I would advise against putting Thirst for Meaning in the deck. You aren't able to pull your enchantment from the graveyard if you're discarding with lynde, and I was able to find some better cards for it. Read the Runes and Perilous Research do what is essentially the same thing, but no only do you not have to discard, you also get to Instant target a curse (preferably right before your turn so you can immediately move the curse back to it's target). This also triggers Lynde's card advantage. With Lynde, Perilous Research is pretty much "Draw 5 cards," and Read the Runes is "Draw X+2 Cards". Super effective.

[@gibbysg8143]

This is a such a great series! Would love to see one for Prosper, tome bound

[@JohnDoe-df7bl]

Wish granted

[@Spawny]

I might just have to build this after watching this video. I would love to see Marchesa, The Black Rose make an appearance in this series! Great video as always!

[@beebrainzz]

The new Staff of Compleation as a sac outlet, mana rock, or draw (you can't really benefit much from proliferate) is a nice addition to this deck.

[@hectormorales4090]

Oh yeah, this is another hit mate! Dang! Another must-build deck. 😜

[@specter324thefallen6]

This helpful video has now allowed me to build my curse deck effectively

[@nerdgoodness7656]

What a great video! I would love to eventually see a Syr Gwen, Anafenza the Foremost, and Sidisi Brood Tyrant hit the playlist!

[@joseguilherme4342]

Yeaaah!! Ty sir!! Excellent work!!

[@DoylePrime]

Ooh gotta love the despotic scepter! Good find!

[@schnitzel4461]

Thank you! I have been waiting for this

[@pedrogoncalo7942]

Man, despotic scepter is soooooo good on this one

[@Thimbrethil]

By the way, did you notice that Lynde has a voodoo doll that is this guy from curse cykle? I LOVE IT

[@TheChitownboi93]

Thank you for being who you are, Joey. Watching a fellow gay be this knowledgeable and handsome makes me smile! Heard you watch A24 movies too!

[@rubyyrare]

him and joe cherries are the best, we love our fellow lgbt+ mtg players :)

[@enoeht]

Fun considerations for Lyde: Mogis, God of Slaughter & Thieving Amalgam. The deck already wants to turtle up and value your opponents to death, and Mogis is a difficult to interact with clock while the Amalgam is very much a time bomb that gets out of hand quickly.

[@nathanglushka3920]

I would love to see an episode on Inalla wizard tribal

[@lightfut]

Liked and subscribed. Please don't hurt me Lynde!

[@coreyh-d2593]

Same

[@crawdaddy2004]

Lynde is the Lyndechpin of the deck

[@mn6334]

I said it in a chat on Discord once but I think it's both too bad and probably a really good thing that Paradox Haze isn't a Curse for Lynde.

[@Polishbojo]

Something I did with this deck was added the ability to steal opponents creatures, give them to myself using conjurer's closet, ghostly flicker, liquimetal torque/coating, and Bazaar Trader. I also put in Role Reversal and Harmless offering, while adding in Demonic Pact, just for fun. I don't think it'll be effective, but when it happens it'll be fun to watch.

[@oksolotti1408]

I don't know if it's common saying but man that opening sound awesome. "what a horrible night to have a curse" By black Dahlia murder is such great song that i fell in love with rock band/guitar hero games.

[@ianshevlin8675]

It would be interesting to see a deck that leans more into swap effects like the puca's mischief

[@fabio.n4458]

please, Phage the untouchable next! :)

[@Dubi264]

Man I was about to comment about Infernal Tribute and then you brought it up lol. It was interesting trying to find weird sac outlets that would work for curses and Infernal Tribute was probably my favorite.

[@MrAllekzander]

When other plans fail and you just need to punch someone in the mouth, Nettlecyst and Helm of the Gods can make for a beefy back up plan, or even push Lynde's toughness out of Toxic Deluge range.

[@caioo08]

Came for content, stayed for the daddy jokes.

[@danielkuttel7867]

I had created the deck and was not happy, but I really was not sure what I should cut and replace. BAM there is your video and you mentioned so many good options. Now I can Upgrade my Deck and I'm so curious, how it works this evening against my opponents.

[@ThoseKidsAreEPIC]

I've been thinking of taking out Echoes as well so I'm happy someone else feels the same way. On paper it looks like it would be a massive bombshell, but very often when I get it out it just sits there. It's kind of like Cruel Reality and Torment of Scarabs, which I also removed, in that they're undeniably good but I fell into the consistent issue of never wanting to tutor them over my preferred engine curses and when in hand they were just too expensive to warrant casting. I've only had Echoes pay off twice in the games I've played, one was when I was facing my friends Chainer deck and he cast Reanimate while forgetting he had Echoes on, so my copy resolved first and I used it to grab Agent of Erebos to nuke his graveyard, and the other was when I actually had Echoes and Maddening Hex on myself cause the player they were on died, and when the last player spent out their mana on a do nothing spell I used arcane denial on it. That player had had Shaken Faith and Bloodletting on em, so what happened was he got a copy of Arcane Denial, countered mine which would let me draw 2 on my upkeep, I took 3 to Maddening and sent it to him with its effect, then his other spell resolved and he immediately took 4 from Shaken Faith and like 8 from Maddening.

[@willowdelosrios4326]

As an alternative to Silent Arbiter, what about either Crawlspace or Ensaring Bridge? Crawlspace makes it so we can’t be attacked by more than two creatures at a time, but doesn’t limit our ability to block, and is not a creature and thus dodges a decent amount of removal and direct damage spells. Meanwhile, Ensnaring Bridge makes it impossible for creatures with power higher than the number of cards in our hands to attack.

[@nathones]

Thantis definitely needs a look over now that goad is gaining so much popularity

[@goigadol1420]

a really good card i found for this deck is samblence anvil, you can use it to reduce enchantment and enchantment creature cost, because we draw so much there shouldn't be a problem. also a great one is lich knight conquest, which both sac your curses and return creatures from graveyard.

[@RedCometNurse]

I need to get all of the Curse Guy spells in Grixis for this deck. Also, I would still love to see an Upping the Average for Elsha of the Infinite. She was my first Commander deck and I tinker with her all the time. I would love to see if there is anything that I am overlooking.

[@kingcherubix7064]

If anyone wants another recommendation and this is purely my opinion and what i have in lynde right now, but i found that “tainted aether” is extremely mean and back breaking to players, especially heavy creature decks it hurts you less, also another “protection” card that was reprinted recently is “no mercy” so look into that as well

[@ChristopherSmithGPlus]

I'd add Detection Tower in to the deck, as you are highly dependent on being able to target other players with your curses.

[@jwall1646]

KZbin just sent a notification for this video… ALMOST A WEEK AFTER IT DROPED

[@danielmurta5652]

Upping the Average is by far my favorite commander content on KZbin! Returning to this list a year later, having played the deck, I must admit that playing Sphinx of the Second Sun is super underwhelming. The card is just too heavy, it would end up dead in my hand most games and hardly last. Paradox Haze is far better and more than enough. My friends have learned to not allow Lynde to be around for long as well, so I’m much more comfortable with playing something like an extra remove/counter instead.

[@danielmurta5652]

Same goes for the constellation creatures. It’s rare to have multiple enchants entering the battlefield on a single turn, so they are not so impacting overall, except if you have a very solid board state, which won’t happen often either. So again, more protection to make sure the board stays around.

[@okgut2033]

I want to combine curses and manaburn 👀 My winoptions are scoops and a slow death xD

[@riverketcherside1256]

If you remove the curse by liking and subscribing, you'll be blessed to continually receive premium content. Just sayin

[@RamenGlutton]

Instead of Demonic Tutor, I've been running Imperial Recruiter to tutor for Trinket Mage then Claw of Gix or Despotic Scepter. Not quite as fast, but much more budget (currently 1/5 of the price of Demonic Tutor) and it works well in the casual power level of the deck. There's also 8 other targets in the deck so you don't run out of creatures to tutor.

[@corranhuss]

i like both Magmaw, Infernal Tribute and Tavern Scoundrel on a budget instead of a tutor to search for claws of gix

[@jacknelson8640]

YESSSSSSS Thank you

[@bustedwolf]

Blim seems like a nonbo as he exchanges control of a permanent instead of just changing who a curse is attached to

[@jacknelson8640]

I see what you mean ! Thanks bud 😊

[@jellysandjamz250]

How do you feel about self mill in this deck?

[@chrisnoble8677]

Was that a Black Dahlia Murder reference in the intro? 🤔😁

[@NotTylerLiddy1794]

Literally thought the same thing! 🤘🏼😬🤘🏼

[@chrisnoble8677]

@@NotTylerLiddy1794 🤟

[@vanessaeve925]

The best Cursed deck

[@holdenfeldbauer4431]

Very, very surprised not to see a Lithoform Engine mentioned. On it's floor it's a more expensive Strionic resonator (I'd run both) and at the top it copies your curses and doubles down. Been excellent for me so far, highly recommed at least trying it out. It is however, very expensive (mana wise), but I think the robust ramp package makes up for that; plus copying curse of thirst is just too good not to include more ways to do so... >:)

[@BozzLightyr]

Hello everyone, can you do an upping the average on Gahiji, Honored One pls and thank you

[@hoph19]

how do you decide what deck to make a video for? can I request Gyome, Master Chef or Velomachus Lorhold

[@EDHRECast]

You can find our Gyome Upping the Average right here! :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6HIeYmArp2Hosk

[@jacknelson8640]

Gyome has one ! :D

[@Richthofen100]

Wait you can give someone a curse that is already attached to them via Pucas Misheif???

[@parttimeox3034]

I know this is old but yes. Because you control the curse, they dont. its just attached to them.

[@dustinmartin648]

Quick question here! I've watched a couple Lynde deck tecks and I was wondering why no one runs surveil? Checking the top card(s) and then if you find an enchantment, throwing that thing on yourself. Sounds pretty cool vs the traditional discard cards people would use to get enchantments onto themselves.

[@EDHRECast]

Lynde's ability only triggers when Curses are put into the graveyard from the battlefield.

[@dustinmartin648]

@@EDHRECast OH! Thank you so much! I was so excited about building a deck around her that must've kept missing that text 😅

[@danacoleman4007]

The way you say "EDH Rec" often sounds extremely similar to "idiot trek" . I can't unhear it now. very funny! still love the channel though!

[@ZeusTheGodSoA]

Was that a black dahlia murder reference???

[@heyitsnovabound]

Doesn't sphinx of the second sun and strionic resonator go infinite?

[@Orkimtor]

As far as I understand no. The moment you untap the resonator there is no more trigger to copy since everything already resolved

[@josephcraig9655]

Cunning Rhetoric? Have you put any thought to why not play, I'm not sure if you know this one but I have thought of trying to help deter being attacked lol.

[@andrewwagner8939]

Lynde = Vera Farmiga?

[@cheraxe4ever12345678]

Cunning Rhetoric is a really good addition as well

[@happyderpface]

Such a pain that she's not a commander with these curse cards.

[@NoMercyFtw]

Urza's saga instead of tutor

[@Balooh]

Blim Comedic Genius could be another option to give curses away

[@EDHRECast]

As a rules note, changing control of the curse doesn't change who the curse is attached to. Blim would give a player control of the curse, but they'd stay enchanted on the same person as before. :)

[@timtrio9862]

@@EDHRECast doesn't puca's mischief do the same thing? I am just curious how puca would do in the deck.

[@EDHRECast]

@@timtrio9862 Yes, Puca's Mischief is added to the deck to gain control of enemy permanents without changing who the Curse is attached to. It's there to be used on Curses that are already attached to opponents; control changes, but the enchanted player doesn't :)

[@timtrio9862]

@@EDHRECast then u can no longer sacrifice them or will nog get them back with lynde? And the curses who give treasures zombies or cards to the conrtoller wont trigger for you?

[@bustedwolf]

@@timtrio9862 if an opponent somehow removes the curse it will go back to your graveyard and then be brought back by Lynde. As for the concern about the more beneficial (for you) curses, don't trade them with the Puca's Mischief . Also, important text for Puca's Mischief is that you may exchange control, not have to

[@BladedCreed]

Second?

[@sandervanderleest7520]

69th comment

[@lunasterling4009]

First?