Grading Blue Commander Staples of EDHREC | Which Blue Staples are Worth Playing?

We're grading the blue staples from EDHREC, going over which ones we like and which we don't!
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We're here discussing all the top blue staples from EDHrec, going over their grades and how often we'd play them in commander decks!

[@jonnymiller1989]

I cracked 3 packs of commander legends and got a mana drain today 🎉🎉🎉

[@oonmm]

Congrats, I bought a whole box and got neither of Jeweled Lotus, Mana Drain or Vampiric Tutor. Got just about every other expensive card except for the Cascade [repeat] card though. Commander's Plate is my favorite, even though it's not very expensive.

[@stfinalwrath]

I just cracked two packs of strixhaven and scored a mystic archives demonic tutor. Couldn't be happier lol. I've been trying for a tutor for the last couple sets that be had them, from grim tutor to vampiric and demonic and I finally got one.

[@ViralVenom]

@@stfinalwrath heck yeah! I got my hands on a demonic tutor from a strix set booster. I was just outside the store and almost lost it in public.

[@elipetrou9308]

Did the same and got vamp

[@silastallio2932]

i bought a commander legends box when it came out and the first pack had a mana drain😩😩

[@iamyourpc]

Swan song sees play in CEDH so hard to say it's power goes down

[@ohno5559]

Hugely underrating the cantrips imo, the reason they’re so powerful in 60 card formats is because their impact (consistency) is disproportionate to their costs (1 mana, zero cards, a little information). In EDH, the cost is even smaller and the benefit is even larger.

[@crawdaddy2004]

The thing I love about Pact of Negation’s design is that the mana you need to spend to not lose is Force of Will’s mana cost.

[@thorpate1698]

For you all not knowing, Dramatic reversal is the card about the climax of the duel between Tezzeret and Chandra. After gaining the upper (metallic) hand and going for the coup de grace , Tezzeret is met with the arrival of the Gatewatch and gets stomped.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Zzzzzz.... I fell asleep during your comment 😴

[@antfayden4559]

Wow the nitpicking nerds hate the lore 😭

[@NitpickingNerds]

@@antfayden4559 we like lore but the gatewatch story line was boring. It was not well done in our opinion

[@YuckyRory]

@@NitpickingNerds Have you guys ever heard of THE AVENGERS?

[@raevimati7048]

@@YuckyRory yeah but at least the avengers won sometimes, from what ive heard the gatewatch kinda sucked at their jobs

[@firstandlast.1254]

This series, 2 whole episodes in, is already a solid A+

[@NitpickingNerds]

After 3 it will get S+

[@firstandlast.1254]

@@NitpickingNerds lol for all I know, it could get there by the time I finish watching this one

[@GabetheFrog_]

I agree! These videos are awesome!

[@RollieB89]

Narset Reversal: "Very rarely a counterspell can win you a game" But when it does it feels so sweet

[@EDHCoffee]

The ceiling for this channel is through the roof

[@NitpickingNerds]

Don’t stop us now

[@helmhamerhand733]

Cuz you’re having such a good time?

[@christopherdukett4158]

They are having a ball

[@everythingisbizzaaaaaro3694]

The top 30 ways to tell your opponent "no".

[@NitpickingNerds]

Hey only like 7

[@GabetheFrog_]

Can’t wait to see you grade 30 counter spells!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Only like 7

[@jackwehman6148]

These videos are fantastic, I can’t wait for black and red. You should do a follow up where you pick the top 5 cards in each color that should make the top 30 but didn’t!

[@vanmccalister3345]

This please.

[@josephfishman9825]

I've found dramatic reversal to actually be a very powerful ritual if you're ramping with artifacts or creatures. I run it in two of my decks and it allows explosive turns in both of them.

[@ben_clifford]

I love that you used the memory-help from the comments of your previous grading video

[@NitpickingNerds]

We listen to feedback! :D

[@MTG69]

This channel is on a subscriber rocket ship, and rightfully so.

[@mella4376]

We might disagree on some of the criteria and arguments, but this is stil a lovely series and a very insightful look into your meta and card evaluation process!

[@YuckyRory]

I'm blue, dabadee dabadyeeee, dabadee, dabadyeeee, daba dee dabadyeeeeeee NOW LISTEN UP HERE'S THE STORY ABOUT TWO DUDES WHO GRADE ALL THE BLUE CARDS

[@jahpal9275]

Swan song actually gets better the higher you go in powerlevel, because creatures gets worse in efficiency as you go up and combo gets more and more omnipresent. It might be one of the best counter in CEDH behind FoW and Mental misstep across all decks.

[@NitpickingNerds]

That might be true but luckily we are not a cEDH channel :P

[@omghackslol]

Hello Nitpicking Nerds, the "grading staples" videos are stellar. I would love to be able refer back to the final graded list stacked against the other cards, is this something that already exists on the Discord or Patreon? Thanks for the video!

[@NitpickingNerds]

What do you me ?

[@Johnfredlambert]

Please start zooming in on the card for 3-4secs when you show it. I love being able to see you guys and your dialogue, but a quick zoom will help the audience on phones read it easier. ❤ Great content, as always though!!

[@landphil7535]

Beezy should build an Eligeth deck. He turns Preordain into Ancestral Recall.

[@NitpickingNerds]

That was on my Commander Legends bucket list, but I never got to draft Eligeth! The other thing I never got to do was draft that stupid (bad) GB golems deck lol

[@ultimateretroasd]

I agree on arcane denial, but on the other hand I love how Narset's reversal can turn opponent's key plays against them

[@22freedom33]

Negate got a D, and yet it counters all these other counterspells, touchée Nitpicking Nerds lol

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yes!

[@odogz1081]

niv-mizzit be like cantrips got you down well now you can shock

[@mthlay15]

Thanks for running such a great channel and having a solid discord

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thaks for being you

[@supermassivi1995]

I can't get why do u think Red Elemental Blast is a F outside of cEDH. It's rare to go in a EDH table and no one is playing blue, 5 of the top 10 Commanders are blue creatures and 8 out of 10 have blue in the color id. U can counter their commander or kill it for one red

[@Malverde888]

Yeah, it’s a lot of fun in a Gruul deck for example.

[@NitpickingNerds]

We aren’t interested in playing a card that can be dead just because of the table you sat at. That is just our take. If you are willing to take that risk then the card will over perform often 😊

[@Keanebaconburger]

So glad I found y’all’s channel

[@g33kaholic24]

It's called dramatic reversal because Shawndra was fighting her Nemesis, and Jace put all of the gatewatch in the arena with them. If you read the flavor text, it explains it

[@blaze556922]

I feel like negate is a C like Counterspell because of the flexibility. Great vid as always gentlemen :)

[@jonasbley2602]

I don't get why you rank the good cantrips so low. I mean including a gitaxian probe will make any deck just a tiny bit better, including preordain and ponder will make your deck better as well. Often it helps you make your land drop, find a removal spell faster etc. I doesnt do much obviously but its always better than nothing

[@NiaTheMilkTank]

THIS 10000% its turns your 99 deck into 98 and if your running things that can cast out of grave (kess, yagmoths will) its 97 cards in your deck

[@szylaj]

3:22 GUILE HAS SYNERGY WITH COUNTERSPELL, PRAISE THE CHIKENWORM

[@attackkataka6599]

I love this series more please

[@NitpickingNerds]

It’s never gonna stop!

[@thisdigitalveil]

Isochron scepter with narset’s reversal + any extra turn blue spell.

[@DaBearSquid42]

Not sure if anyone said, but muldrifter is amazing in a Muldrotha deck, evoking it most turns is super good imo

[@NewOldEBM]

What kind of green spot removal do you play over reality shift? Surely it still works it's way in being exile? Or do you edge it out between beast within and pongify/co?

[@edmundolivier8074]

I think of Dispel as a purely Defensive counterspell because most of what your opponents can do on your turn is gonna be casting an instant. it's like a better Rebuff the Wicked/Turn Aside.

[@JD-gk7eh]

Arcane Denial has the issue of scaling very poorly as your pod's power increases. You don't want to be casting it in cEDH because you can only use it to stop a no-ambiguity game winning card (e.g., Consultation when Oracle has been cast). At higher power levels, like 8-9, it has the same problem. Giving someone two cards to counter, say, Rhystic Study is going to be worse than simply letting the Study resolve because there's ways around the Study draw. It can also be destroyed. You're just better off with something else, like the vastly underrated Memory Lapse, for example, if you want a single-blue pip counterspell.

[@blackhorizon40k81]

The ceiling is through the roof. nuff said. A+

[@VampiricGamess]

I would be interested in knowing between the five colors which color would be the most expensive. I would like to think blue has it but I would be interesting to see.

[@mthlay15]

I wanted to use a bounce spell last night against a K'rrik but they were able to equipt Greaves before I had the available mana. I was kinda bummed until another opponent also played a K'rrik....the Echoing Truth in my hand became just *chef's kiss*

[@NitpickingNerds]

That is a spicy meatball!

[@twistedsword8612]

It was today that I learned Flusterstorm only hits instants and sorceries, I definitely read my cards....

[@faperito2389]

But it is oh so sweet in counterspell wars

[@twistedsword8612]

This is true

[@Quicker-Bigger-sicker]

If your a blue player you gotta OPTimize your deck overtime.

[@stevesmith5883]

19:40, this is me with lands haha. I'll buy expensive cards that are exciting, like a Metalworker for my Jhoira deck, however buying lands just seems so boring unless they directly synagise with the deck, like Eye of Ugin in my eldrazi deck. This has led to some funny things such as my Jhoria deck having Metalworker and every high tier counterspell before it got any shocks or fetches.

[@Arisawa_Heavy_Ind]

[[STEAL ENCHANTMENT]]. GUYS PLEASE PLAY [[STEAL ENCHANTMENT]] IT'S SO FCKIN GOOD

[@Turkin4tor]

Narsets reversal works best in decks where its both a counterspell... and can copy your Extra Turn spells

[@georgeakoury7915]

This was amazing. Thanks guys

[@groovelord_nito]

i too love preordain. i found out that i had a foil m12 preordain sitting doing nothing in my collection not too long ago:D

[@blackmountain1983]

08:32 stupid bird! 😆 I need to make that token now.

[@Ins4n3Destiny]

The fact that did nothing but hype your bias rather than explain your decision on Propaganda only fuels my desire to continue using it. Lol

[@BMazeing]

Counterspell doesn't need to have synergy. It's a counter spell - most counter spells won't synergize with most commander decks. It's not meant to synergize, it's meant to stop a thing. At the very least it's a B because you would Build Around it, since it's 2 on color. Don't throw it in a 3-color deck, but it's definitely not Cuttable. I would rather pay 2 on color than give my opponents advantage with something like Arcane Denial any day. It's no Mana Drain, but it is the definition of versatility.

[@trytoxania7020]

Exciting series!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Best I ever had!

[@anthonywolf943]

I put mulldrifter in my Yorion and Roon deck.

[@hyperonmonster]

Great videos! Different color, but out of curiosity what would you grade the eldest reborn? It's number 81 for black so it won't be in that video.

[@Nr4747]

I think you're a bit to kind to Narset's Reversal and a bit to mean to Negate - there are plenty of spells that Narset's simply can't hit, not just planeswalkers, but also some really backbreaking enchantments and artifacts that Negate can counter. Narset's also doesn't guarantee you that copying the instant or sorcery will really greatly benefit you *and* your opponent might be able to recast it on the same turn, minimizing the tempo loss.

[@NitpickingNerds]

We actually came back to this point in a recent video on cards we disagree on.

[@greymane1994]

I honestly wonder if you guys have ever played a deck with blue in it as the primary color. A lot of the things that you rated like c or d are A+ cards.

[@returnoftheduelist9790]

Frantic search in my rielle the everwise deck is nasty. I have so many draw and discard spells and i get extra draws off all of them while voltroning rielle. One of my top decks for sure. Also ghostly prison and propaganda aren’t great I agree but i made alela and i put them in since it generates me a token and will stop my friends flying infect deck he made as well as a couple combat heavy decks at locals.

[@asdasdasd9269]

Love these guys

[@Dayyyjoey26]

Wow the disrespect on swan song is amazing. I think it’s definitely a top 4 or 5 counterspell

[@NitpickingNerds]

We like it a lot. :) B- minus is a strong grade.

[@MatthiasCorvinu]

Mulldrifter is handy in my blink deck. The goal of the deck is to control the board and then draw all my cards and win with lab man lol. All else fails, blink kiora bests the sea god and get a ton of krakens.

[@meatrace]

Mulldrifter is situational. Think of it this way, if it was a MDFC that had a 2/2 creature on one side and a Divination on the other, you'd probably play it IF it synergizes. Sultai graveyard decks, elemental tribal decks, Yarok decks, it's an S easily. I'd still say it's a "budget staple".

[@swiftmic8402]

In my opinion. There were quite a few I did not agree on, regardless of power level.

[@Domenico44055]

Honestly there are just 2 categories MN = Maybe Not. (All counterspells "unless opponent pays X" or conditional in any way ) NO = N absolutely O. (All hard counterspells)

[@thrillhouse4151]

Mana Drain is definitely the type of card I’d love to have but don’t feel like buying, instead I gambled for it and ended up with a lotus and hullbreacher instead which are also in that category.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I feel the same way. I hate buying auto include staples but play them when I have them.

[@Dubi264]

Don't disagree with the overall grade, but brainstorm is great if you care about drawing cards or have a draw doubling thing like in my Prime Speaker Zegana deck. 1 mana draw 6 put 2 back and put 6 counters on Toothy sounds much much better.

[@stephensilverstein4855]

Eh I kind of disagree with the grade think by their own standard it would be a B- as its a build around but it is the best cantrip when it comes to card quality / selection. They even mention it being bad without fetches but it's trivially easy to shuffle your deck when budget it not a concern.

[@matthewlugo2417]

Is muldrifter okay in muldrotha?

[@zxxDarkLightxxz]

It's alright yeah. Pretty sure I've ended up cutting mine though.

[@nathanandrews2686]

Arcane Denial is great for a Nekusar deck or the like.

[@sleepwellmychild]

Could I send you guys my deck list and get some feedback? With blue being my favorite color in mtg, this video is making me wonder how I could improve.

[@BBGunsPGH]

plenty of people run dramatic reversal and iso outside of cedh

[@joshuadempsey5281]

Arcane denial is so much worse than negate. It's 100% and F. You said that "you're up mana because it usually counters something that costs more", but that's not looking at the whole picture; the opponent is basically given a free Divination (3 mana) to make up for being countered.

[@esrohm6460]

the argument dies to removal can be said of anything, but what if it couldn't. what if at some point we get a card that doesn't die to remove: can't be targeted on the stack (for counter spells, buonce spells or exile spells), hexprove, indestructible, can't change possession, can't be saced and if it leaves field, by bouncing/exiling/shuffling into the deck/or any way left to send it to the grave it returns to the field with a trigger that also can't be targeted and its effects or stats can't change, so no humility to turn it off or -1/-1 counter or static decreases.and just if i forgot some crazy form of removing a card its also protected by that somehow because writing this down i realized how many was exist to stop something and i maybe forgot some way and if we ever get actually a card that does this its either a joke card or a bad day for magic. even i its a 0/1 how good would it be. it would be just a blocker, so bad in commander but how good would this be in other formats.

[@MrContinuityError]

This is sadly how yu gi oh kinda fell apart for me. So many cards have insane protection.

[@blackmountain1983]

10:37 I have never had Mystic Remora work for me. It seems good in CEDH but in regular commander people seem to play around it too much. Do you guys normally play it turn 1 or do you wait?

[@emptysentiment7932]

Definitely not turn 1

[@th3giv3r]

The fact that you mention swan song during each grading rubric as being in the "B" range but actually give it a "B-" (and how unenthusiastically you talk about it, to the point where you mention that there are several better cards) is really odd. Just name the better card in your overview - why such mediocre methodology?

[@salfontana5712]

Can y’all make a new series or channel called “biased beezy” because that would be hilarious

[@mariesidman7905]

Narsets reversal+isochron scepter+timewarp.

[@NitpickingNerds]

That is a silly combo

[@Vinterloft]

Gush is more of a staple than two thirds of the cards you mentioned here

[@bedwarssweat6205]

OPT IS A BAD CANTRIP UNLESS YOU NEED A CRITICAL MASS OF CANTRIPS!

[@NitpickingNerds]

That’s what we said.

[@benjaminschomburg7746]

@@NitpickingNerds but not in caps lock. Instructions unclear

[@NitpickingNerds]

@@benjaminschomburg7746 damn it!

[@bedwarssweat6205]

@@NitpickingNerds yeah, caps lock is key here

[@wakefieldwade4019]

More please.

[@gustavgans403]

So sad that there will be only 6 videos of this series :(..

[@NitpickingNerds]

I’m thinking we will continue it by grading more of each color.

[@beepboopkendo4206]

There are the guilds, shards, and wedges and 5 colour possibilities.(hopefully)

[@gustavgans403]

@@beepboopkendo4206 that is true :D

[@leifwalker4929]

Welcome back to c and c counter spells and cantrips with your hosts Joe and Bezzy

[@NitpickingNerds]

I get it!

[@ScreamingSecrets]

Dramatic Scepter + Sol ring nets no mana. however, infinite storm is a thing. Mana Vault + Dramatic Scepter= infinite colorless and who doesnt like that

[@ryancondon2246]

I really thought we would get a "blue staples, more like POO staples"

[@zotmaster]

Something to think about...or Ponder, if you will. Mark Rosewater famously said, many years ago, that the entire R&D team would have to be hit by a bus before they'd reprint Mana Drain. Now that it's been reprinted multiple times, no wonder they keep printing overly pushed, unfun cards: the R&D team has now been hit by multiple buses and has probably been flattened into pancakes that can't make design decisions. (MaRo referenced his comment back in April 2003 but made it years prior.)

[@stephensilverstein4855]

Believe it was in context of reprinting it into a tournament legal format.

[@zotmaster]

@@stephensilverstein4855 The exact quote was, according to MaRo himself: “Mana Drain won’t get reprinted until all of R&D is hit by a bus”. Even if it was as you stated, it's still a whiff since it's Vintage playable. But that's not what he said.

[@stephensilverstein4855]

@@zotmaster I know the quote, are you trying to say context doesn’t matter? Ponder if you will a world where people don’t strawman oppositions point. It would have been more accurate of me to say specifically standard or type 2.0 tournament format. MaRo’s statement was during a time before wizards even dreamed of have product which printed cards outside of standard. Any card printed at the time would have move thought 2.0 aka standard cards had no way of only being printed into 1.0 or 1.5 or extended, the predecessors to vintage legacy and well extended has no parallel. If you trying to suggesting that mana drains reprint has anything to do with recently pushed cards. No I don’t think it does, no I don’t think anyone at R&D has been hit by a bus. And no I don’t think it’s reprint has anything to do with poor design decisions made by the company.

[@zotmaster]

@@stephensilverstein4855 i thought the snark in my comment, especially the part about pushed cards was obvious, but it apparently wasn't, so I apologize for the fact that it didn't come through.

[@Mr.SpocksBrain]

Ponder better than Brainstorm? Oh come on, I must be hearing things! Clear you head from modern or whatever you played before mates! I rather think that you guys not played cEDH enough to judge those staples. No offense by the way!!! But anyway, cantrips are not as good as in other mtg-formats... never underestimate a card that basically says: if there is a Fetchland "I AM AN ANCESTRAL RECALL"! Even though I'm not your opinion, you guys rock hard. Like, Subscribe and Abo

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I have trouble understanding how you all think about this game...

[@benroseberry1598]

Mulldrifter isn't great in brago you're rather blink a stupefying touch or a spreading seas oath of jace and all the tutor creatures

[@Jakkgusa]

MORE

[@jayseha5458]

There’s only a few free counter spells

[@tommieboi707]

Force of will is the best until wotc makes a split second counterspell for free/1 mana.

[@aidankeyes5526]

My disappointment is immeasurable, you started with white to do things in the proper WUBRG order but did blue second. Black doesn't have a U in it! Kidding, it's a great series either way

[@ldgarius]

Arcane denial: You're all so hellbent on using this shit. How about listen to those who actually see how shit it is. You're down one card in the best case scenario. You don't need to look beyond that, it's horrible. Just play counterspell and all variants.

[@ma9ical1]

Ponder and Preordained better than Brainstorm??? Removing your unwanted cards and digging at instant speed to find a counterspell or an answer? Seriously that is horrendous advice.

[@basicstiger346]

Brainstorm as a D+? I swear I will never understand them

[@basicstiger346]

Swan song and arcane denial same rank?

[@garagavia]

Fierce Guardianship is an F beacuse it should be banned and is a disgusting stain of a magic card. But other than that great video!

[@BBGunsPGH]

fact or fiction is too slow imo versus Treasure Cruise

[@nickvalentinetti6911]

The talk about concentration is a little ridiculous. Mystical tutor might as well say go get an a answer.

[@MassEffectFan113]

Found your channel, saw you give Propaganda an F, lol. Moved on.

[@sirquixano5985]

How about you grade commander staples not based on power level, but on fun and health to the format :3

[@thesaltyseamonster7910]

They get a dumb bird 😂

[@Sweetluckk]

Brainstorm ends games , ended many with it .

[@tonyantony6110]

How the frick are the two most blue cards cEDH cards? Is it because if you play cEDH you almost always play decks with blue in it? Mama mia!

[@stephensilverstein4855]

More cedh decks play black or green.

[@alexmcgreen1664]

ill be honest for me those guys are wrong, super arkward not relevant ok all the a plus are yeah we already know xD!!

[@alexmcgreen1664]

fact or fiction A- XD and swan song C- ok explain me how you think they are relevant !!! they just throw some fucking none sense anyway bye last time watching you