Is Turn 3 Lord Xander Good in Explorer? 🧛 MTG Gameplay 🧛 Much Abrew

[@AaronRotenberg]

Pretty sure people playing Standard decks in Explorer is a symptom of the Arena economy. They don't necessarily want to spend their precious wildcards on the new format.

[@butdoesitscrub3457]

Agree. It's the rare lands that's been Hurting me

[@Atmapalazzo]

@@butdoesitscrub3457 I'd image as much. The only reason I feel that I can play explorer is because I had the rare lands from when they were in standard.

[@keenanevans7888]

I mean swapping to paper economy is not much better. 3 play sets of shocklands is ruff Edit: looking at deck price at wrap up seems tit4tat

[@Atmapalazzo]

Part of what makes the sacrifice decks so strong in explorer is that they can fight through graveyard hate pretty well. Mayhem Devil and Trail of Crumbs triggers on sacrifice for the food variants, and Experimental Synthesizer and Oni-Cult Anvil trigger on leaving the battlefield for the artifact variants. On top of that, both sacrifice tokens primarily so leyline doesn't hurt them. Personally I run an artifact version, and only Servo Schematic and Kroxa are affected by graveyard hate, which is why I run Anger of the Gods and Grafdigger's cage in the sideboard.

[@elesegerardo]

Holy crap that Grixis control match was insane.

[@guilhermedasilva1795]

Really really fun!

[@arthurkeech]

Low gold is seriously a boatload of fun. A whole different meta thats much more diverse

[@ValariaxSword]

That back and forth game against Grixis control was sweet.

[@mus0u]

i know aspiringspike was brewing in modern around the orzhov version that used charmed groom. i wonder if this would have legs there, where you can combo the mill ability with a dauthi voidwalker.

[@Dayyyjoey26]

Playing that into a calibrated blast deck would be hilarious

[@wickidgames]

I love him putting the companion in his hand and them you immediately making him discard and exile it 🤣🤣🤣

[@hartfordwolfpack8678]

Definitely should have saced the Xander to sorin rather than have your opponent steal it in match 1

[@hulenny2893]

I really enjoy your content! Since I've seen a lot of MTGA content from you - lovin it, again - I am always kind of missing a summary about the wildcards you'd have to spend for crafting these decks. The prices to purchase the deck on MTGO or for paper Magic are really helpful. It might be a considerable addition to add the amount of different wildcards you'd have to spend for the deck on MTGA.

[@captainnermy5608]

Xander seems to play much worse than he looks. The rounded down part really makes his etb and dies triggers much less effective.

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, it's ETB and dies triggers aren't as strong as they might look, although I think we still won every game where Lord Xander came down, just being a 6/6 and getting a little value from the triggers was pretty good.

[@RiKSh4w]

@@MTGGoldfish I think I figured out why I hate Lord Xander. You're right, against an aggro deck they don't care much about his first two abilities. Against a traditional control deck they can just counter him (or the sorin I guess). But against non-blue control decks he's just an impossible card to deal with. No amount of value you get off a Binding the Old Gods, Casualties of War, Hostile Takeover, etc is going to overpower the advantage he gives. If you don't or can't counterspell the card it's such a silly card. Non-blue control decks already have a really hard time existing and I hate that this card was made and exclusively punishes them.

[@Atmapalazzo]

@@MTGGoldfish I understand that, but when I look at the deck and have to ask "Is Olivia's Attendants a better choice for a 6/6 body to cheat" and "Should I just be using the smaller, but stronger effect monsters like Olivia or Vona"

[@jonarbuckle320]

@@Atmapalazzo yeah but Xander is a lot more fun to plop down so that's a bigger upside

[@treesome3979]

@@RiKSh4w Orzhov Control is about the only non blue control deck I can think wouldn't mind Xandir with the amount of exiles and yard hate it has

[@mtgdiagnosis9469]

Haunt of Hightower goes well in this deck too

[@benjiboy1337]

Would Maestro's Charm be good in this list? Having that extra dig, life gain, and reach attached to a removal spell that hits almost everything?

[@16kauffmanh]

Coming from September 2024, yeah I'd say turn 3 any vampire is really good!

[@DonovanPresents]

Unfortunately, Nykthos isn't on Arena yet though when you were talking about pioneer/explorer

[@eddievedderface]

Obviously, we can't see the opponents hand but I can't help but feel that Grixis player played like too much of a damn control player in that game 3. He could have been more aggressive with his Hall of the Storm Giants but instead chose to sit and do nothing like only a true control player would.....

[@ChaosForce08]

Which is interesting given that they went Smorc in G1 leaving Sorin on the battlefield giving Seth a bit of a chance.

[@derekhall8453]

Okay the title grabbed my attention. Cheers

[@turnerhoughton3652]

I've been running Lord Xander in Standard, he's super good against control matchups if you can reanimate him on turn 4. Combine him with Jin Jitaxis and you can lock a lot of control decks out of the game

[@anannoyedpanda]

Yeah you'd be banned if I played again you lol.

[@Cornelius135]

I’ve been trying to make this work but I jam Olivia and blood token synergies to also have the reanimate Xander option

[@RyuPlaneswalker]

I wonder if there is a version of this that spits Xanders and The other Gixis Vampire, or one of two in place of the Champion of Dusks.

[@JustGoUpTheySay]

wish his voice wasn't a rollercoaster, makes it unenjoyable for me.

[@mopanda81]

hitting twice with xander but not keeping any xanders for 3x in the game vs grixis control seemed iffy

[@tommygol15br]

55:38 why didn't you play the land so that you can give the Knight deathtouch?

[@ninjadave3281]

Anyone know what sleeves seth was using? They looked sweet.

[@Sandovian]

My preferred big drop for Sorin’s -3 is Westgate Regent. You don’t get the draw but you do get a flying 4/4 with ward and if he hits face grows massive. If you can play Vito turn 4 the lifelink from Sorin +1 means you’re hitting for 10 if you hit face and Westgate is now a 10/10 to deal with.

[@starmanda88]

This was great Seth! Love watching you play!

[@person3176]

mayhem DEVIL vs power word kill, who will win in a fight?

[@silverdeathgamer2907]

It seems worse than Mono black vampires, you cannot afford to run as much creature lands and Castle Lochtwains due to the mana base and Lord Xander will be a dead draw alot of the time. Even champion of the dusk can cost you in mono black vampires having both Lord Xander and champion of the dusk will give you more unplayable hands and bad top decks alot of the time. Also I recommend crippling fear in the sideboard for creatures matchups and grafdigger's cage in the sideboard for Winota(it doesn't stop Sorin) then maybe some soul guide lanterns for Kroxa and Greasefang decks(leyline isn't really worth mulling too hard for and ruining your gameplan even against greasefang, though Rakdos Kroxa decks find it hard to deal with).

[@ODIRGO]

Punt. Not discartig Mayhem devil with thoughtseize around minute 28.

[@lincolnosiris3665]

Is there even a notable difference between historic and explorer right now?

[@wolf_8026]

EXP is trying to mimic real cardboard formats and eventually be pioneer on arena so they can decommission MTGO one day

[@anannoyedpanda]

Both are degenerate cesspools of bullshit

[@boarhatfisher9701]

Tergrid the discord god would have been amazing in this deck

[@jamesrule1338]

Very curious to see how explorer plays.

[@shapied]

You can do this with the new ghalta 😳

[@brianmcdonald4457]

Out of the loop a bit what is explorer?

[@SatsuiKing]

wow

[@Kaisingsens]

explorer content is great! love to see it

[@BeezBlueHeart]

I'm lost 31:19 why didn't seth just kill the mayhem with fatal? they're cat was sacked so it could target? am i missing something?

[@matthewraye64]

Usually you’re in the background but today I watched the lady genius last tenish minutes of the video and it was great commentary Greay commentary , as always

[@MTGGoldfish]

Thanks :)

[@perrywhitlow]

how many lands was that!!! geez!

[@wolf_8026]

I like the change seeing more "good" decks with a combo/funny twist. It's nice seeing this over the goofy, non functioning, meme decks all of the time before

[@mistysowards7365]

I'm in.... got em

[@weenblizzard9780]

Seems kinda funny if you add a fraying sanity to the deck to just turn four empty oppenta deck. Would be a pain to get the mana base right tho I'm guessing

[@konnichi1wa]

Sorin's nice and all, but I think I would prefer a Purphoros, Bronze Blooded instead, since it's red and lets you get all three triggers in the same turn, as well as letting you branch out into non-grixis, non-vampire themes

[@DarkX64]

Purphoros is a 5 drop and his sneak attack costs 3 The ask for that much mana is too slow in like anything but commander, you will be interacted with I am sure

[@burnsboy101]

Did you see how many times he attacked with Xander? Don’t think that’s worth

[@aidankeyes5526]

Sorin show or Sorin and tell?

[@joesantos2455]

It seems that Goldfish is the one of the few KZbin platforms that hasn't been trashing Xander! Probably, props to them, right? The only viable issue, that anyone can have with Xander, is his cost. This would make good sense, if we weren't @ the very BEGINNING of a meta that has treasure tokens exploding copiously out of everyone's bunghole...I guess what I'm trying 2 say is: "Way to not suck, MTG Goldfish!".

[@zotha]

Lose to Mayhem Devil, bring in multiple copies of a spell that cannot kill a devil. Seems good.

[@a.velderrain8849]

No Evelyn?? Seems like a huge miss considering she has flash, triggers whenever a Vampire ETBs, and can be cheated in with Sorin.

[@yelnatsbravo5483]

You are a monster! stop showing everyone how to make my life harder 🤣 Real talk love the channel and the cool combos you show off!

[@SnakeyBoiii871]

what is the difference between Explorer and Pioneer? Is it just non-digital cards like with the perpetual mechanic?

[@danpearman270]

Explorer is 'only cards that are legal in Pioneer', but doesn't yet have the full Pioneer card base programmed in, so is being counted as a separate format until they eventually get there. All of the Alchemy digital-only cards (with Perpetual, or Seek, or Conjure etc) are not legal in Explorer (they're only legal in Alchemy or Historic) - so it's a 'true to paper magic' format, that WotC has said they plan to eventually turn into full Pioneer by adding the missing cards bit by bit.

[@cleanartcollective]

why not turn 2?

[@MTGGoldfish]

I wish.

[@anthonymccord2265]

@@MTGGoldfish I went B/G with Gilded Goose for turn 2 and did some other things different it seems a lot better.

[@denncardoso]

7/10 IGN - Too much lands! hahaha

[@obliviousobsidian7270]

That Sorin combo is nutty tho

[@saedbcruzreyes6064]

around minute 31, he literally had the kill with fatal push xD

[@SuenteusPi]

In a lot of these games Xander would be better as a 6/6 Ravenous Rats.

[@zarathos888]

I was pretty dissapointed in xander tbh. I d argue his mill is a downside since mtg has introduced a lot of flashback like effects like escape, jump start and thats not including reanimator jund sac. Xander round down clause feels so bad on a lot of effects. At the end of the day this is for the memes but i would definetly agree hes really underwhelming. Espicially compared to some of the other big spooky grixis colour cards you could play instead.

[@midnalight6419]

How did K command get in this format? Tarkir isn't on Mta I hope that elesh norn and the other anthology cards aren't legal here if they aren't actually legal in pioneer proper.

[@Luna-Lux]

I mean TECHNICALLY if you dropped shambling ghast and it died turn 1, you could use the treasure to play Xander on turn 2

[@BratkoCo]

Does anyone else call Sorin's -3 "Vampire Vial"?

[@guylevintov4791]

Oh no this could this could be turn one with dark ritual (I know it's banned but damm)

[@effiefoemperor]

Just run it in legacy, A-OK there. Though I probably would stick to Blood Baron of Vizkopa as it dodges pretty much all removal that sees play there

[@boredmagala5701]

Someone killed me for half with Xander in an EDH game and I proceeded to loop E wit triggers to use it as a tool box

[@obliviousobsidian7270]

Bro you can just abuse him so hard if you manage to blitz him

[@kylemarchand6867]

What card gives him blitz?

[@effiefoemperor]

@@kylemarchand6867 only one card does it but it's a commander card for the same cmc so not great. Easier to just sneak attack him

[@j_g_t6091]

If Xander is in play you can also use Jaxis to make a copy to sac to legend rule and draw a card

[@anthonymccord2265]

Maindeck Callous Bloodmage should be here and Evelyn over Champion of Dusk.

[@cicjose6016]

if you are just making people discard why wouldnt you run torment of hailfire?

[@winssports4830]

Because torment requires a good bit of mana to be effective this deck doesn't really ramp or have ways to get extra mana.

[@kamanikingdom]

I am so sick of winota

[@MichaelSpeaksHisTruth]

24th!

[@talamran7499]

35:00 what do you mean "we can't fatal push it now" arena gave you priority because knight of the ebon legion left the battlefield and allowed you to push the giant, shall we ask the chat if it was a punt?

[@MTGGoldfish]

We could have cast Fatal Push, but we didn't have revolt to kill Bonecrusher. I was wondering if we should kill our own Knight of the Ebon Legion with Fatal Push which would have fizzled the Stompy part of Bonecrusher and have it end up in the graveyard rather than on an adventure and being cast next turn.

[@talamran7499]

@@MTGGoldfish so arena giving priority really confused me 1-0

[@LadyMapi]

A part of me is amused that the only VOW card in this deck is the new Sorin.

[@goldnuggets10]

There is also the vampire land

[@amethystrose3480]

I actually had a disgusting plan in mind that may make me the most despicable person in earth. I have Xander, and what I’m thinking is aristocratic graveyard recursion commander, just robbing my opponent’s of all rescources

[@anannoyedpanda]

Do you want a permanent ban?

[@amethystrose3480]

@@anannoyedpanda 😇

[@Hippi1311]

wtf is explorer:)

[@lloydsmith7592]

Wait seth playing grixis and not crim? dont tell him!

[@ToxicallyMasculinelol]

xander is cool, though he's still no thraximundar

[@J_o_B_is_back]

Damnit Seth you degenerate 🤣👍

[@anannoyedpanda]

Yeah he's gotta be banned lol.

[@charlied8284]

Meh I'd prefer reanimate over Sorin

[@theredduke1275]

I like your video's but your voice... I just cannot listen to it, it grinds my soul XD

[@VS_Rice]

Haha same, ima try to watch on mute I guess, my brain can't take the constant pitch change. Love the quality of these vids though.

[@Tiax776]

Instant dislike for thoughtseize.

[@charlied8284]

Card kingdom is overpriced. Like a 10$ card everywhere else is 15$ on card kingdom

[@Goldfisher]

First?

[@Mark-xl2du]

@MTGGoldfish i can’t link here my deck to show to u…..so i sended an email at mtggoldfish, did u receive my deck? Just to know =)

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah! I haven't had a chance to look over decklist emails yet, but I got it. I'll give it a look soon.

[@Mark-xl2du]

@@MTGGoldfish Thanks seth, you always bring me a smile with youre attitude and contagious laugh