Hot Tech from the Largest Commander Convention | Commander Clash Podcast 172

[@steven.d6492]

Everyone’s hot tech card is so fitting for them: Richard: a white land that enables more catchup ramp Seth: a do-nothing enchantment that lets him draw more cards Tomer: an aggro red spell that is only useful to end the game Phil: a card that makes a token copy of his broken legendary creature but gets hosed by any interaction

[@6969pumpking]

Richard I was the guy who played kaervek! You killed me thru my glacial chasm with insult/injury it was sweet playing with you and it was cool to see the tech!

[@crss29]

Richard: " At every game, there was one person that adhered to the Richard meta." I'd say that is inevitable by definition 😂😂

[@bernabes8424]

You missed the part where he said he spectated a lot

[@josephwodarczyk977]

​@@bernabes8424 said adhering, not playing!

[@commanderpower99]

@@bernabes8424 as it should be with their deckbuilding philosophy

[@cassie7611]

it was so cool meeting you all at magiccon 😭❤️ you were so kind and welcoming and i am gonna treasure that playmat you signed forever!! thank you so much

[@TMidander]

Yay glad to hear you had a great time :)

[@SilvanOrion]

The amount of times I hear Richard chime with some rendition of "but what if they have X" is astounding to me. It is like that 1 guy at the LGS who always talks about how he would have the perfect counter to your card/combo/deck at all times.

[@TheSpunYarn]

I appreciate the active interest the group has in figuring out how accurate their assessment of Commander is. That said, very "its just a banana, what could it cost, ten dollars?" vibes from the early part of this cast

[@patches.742]

Yea the fact that they can buy these game pieces and write the expenses off on their taxes so I think their view of how expensive this game is is a bit skewed

[@bernabes8424]

I get what you mean, but remember they were at a hobby convention where everyone payed for entry, travel, lodging, and food. They were around ppl they would expect to pay for staples.

[@gypsieking3280]

​@@bernabes8424that is a good point, but maybe they dropped all that dough to make it there so their singles budget took a hit.😊

[@matthiasvecanski7044]

@@gypsieking3280I mean how many non enfranchised players drop a k to travel to a con but don’t spend any money on their decks 🤔

[@gypsieking3280]

@@matthiasvecanski7044 I was just trying to be facetious. I perhaps should have included the "[/sarcasm]" tags.

[@RedBossTV]

29:44 Maybe you guys are underestimating just how taxing and expensive those cards are. At least that is the case on my playgroup. The card isn’t cheap so it hinders how many copies someone has of it, if at all.

[@gypsieking3280]

Preach

[@BlightDragonBrewery]

If you can’t afford it proxy it

[@mannycrb]

Yea I think they underestimate how many ppl don’t want to just play the strongest cards

[@KnightmareTheGreat]

Richard: 5 mana to ramp 3 random lands is insane. Broken really Also Richard: 5 mana to win the game on the spot is unplayable.

[@Azeria]

Crim didn’t need to be here because his only ‘over-represented card’ would’ve been Forest

[@InOzWeTrust]

Richard Moment: Sees a game winning spell and the option to cast it twice and calls that a weakness.

[@danw6485]

So great to see Seth embrace Farewell. Really happy to see it become his favorite card.

[@JDWBoardGames]

You were all so nice! Thanks for signing I Found Bigfoot, I want to give an extra special shoutout to Morgan, I had an excellent game with him on my Isshin deck. Super awesome guy, thanks for talking with me! Let me know if you have any questions on Making Manhattan!

[@InOzWeTrust]

Winds of Abandon has been a card I've commented on many times in MTG Twitter as the "Bane of Commander Clash" since only Tomer runs enough Basics.

[@peewee0224]

It’s also just generically good if you’re a combat based deck. Being able to winds everybody’s boards and swing and kill is super strong

[@KRdHaene]

Richard when theorycrafting cards: You have to win the moment you cast a spell or it's trash Richard actually playing: All my cards are one offs! I'm completely out of gas...

[@connormohs6046]

Richard is correct, Maro said it is the largest Magic event ever at 15,000 people

[@padrial]

I have a Kambal deck, and I enjoy it because it tends to scale with the table. High powered decks make a lot of tokens like treasures/bloods/clues/creature copies and it can keep up just fine, but lower powered decks don't, which slow kambal down and make him less strong.

[@thebluesbrothers]

I also have a Kambal deck and I love it so much. Like Seth saw there's almost always at least one token focused deck at any given table. Difference between me and Seth is that he puts Kambal away when he sees an opponent pull out a token deck while I just laugh with malevolent glee. About a month ago I played against someone with a The Master, Multiplied deck and he promptly lost his mind once he read Kambal

[@dullestpenguin4151]

Winds of Abandon wins me so many games. The key is to not treat it as spot removal or a board wipe, it is simply a wincon.

[@TheSpunYarn]

Also i totally agree about Depletlion Lands and Struggle for Project Purity. Struggle draws you three cards for free on each upkeep. you have all your mana to use those cards every turn! No missed land drops. Who cares if you discard to hand size? That matters a lot less than the crew thinks it does

[@MrCrimAngel]

Just got my MTGGoldfish play mat. Pretty sweet. Thanks Richard for the fast shipping

[@T_Peazy]

Tomer is correct about open the way. It's insane if you're playing no basic lands. But most people aren't playing OPTIMAL mana bases. They're mostly basic lands.

[@joshuavelo4265]

Isn't 6 mana, ramp 4, still good even for basics? There's a couple bigger basic rampers but they're almost more expensive.

[@alexandercurnell1142]

I'd even say it's not really worth it if you just have a bunch of dual lands and little to no utility. You want to have a high enough density of top tier lands that you can consistently hit 1 or 2 with open the way. Otherwise its just a pricey ramp spell that makes you look like the bad guy for everyone else's six mana haymakers.

[@tomerabramovici32]

@@joshuavelo4265 my argument why it's mid is because I value ramp less and less as the game goes on. I want my ramp to be castable turns 1-3 to accelerate into my midgame value engines. 6 mana ramp 4 is a fine rate but it's not accomplishing what I want most of my ramp to be doing.

[@lesternomo6578]

yall need to be casting more open the ways because it's still insane if you don't have utility lands. drop it on turn 4-5 and cast 10+ mana worth of spells each turn for the rest of the game is insane

[@WarriorFromV4LH4LL4]

It's still insane with a budget manabase.

[@spookymoblin8888]

Richard saying discarding to hand size is bad like it’s not one of the best scenarios you could have in a game. Discard reanimación targets, flashback spells, cards with graveyard interactions like Anger or Wonder, heck just discard extra lands you don’t need! Discarding to hand size is not a bad thing, it is sculpting the best hand of 7 from likely 10+ card options. Who wouldn’t want that?

[@dee-wreck]

I didn't get a chance to play this con, but I am downloading this information for next year when I do. Wrath protection and anti-glacial chasm tech. I can build for that.

[@mrsilverbutton7786]

This was one of my favorite episodes in awhile! Next time I'd love to see you guys do a quick run through of what decks you brought to an event. A mini-deck tech if you will!

[@GravityHammerBro828]

It was fantastic meeting you all. I was the one with the Phylath token deck. Thank you guys so much for signing my basic lands.

[@patbak73]

I was the guy in Richard's pod that got owned by atraxa, they did SO much to avoid the first poison counter. Tis was just a scratch, but a really big one. 😅

[@6969pumpking]

Hey is this Patrick? I'm the guy that you drew a card for my deck full of drawings

[@patbak73]

@6969pumpking yeah its me! That's so awesome that you found me. Was so fun playing with you during the weekend

[@6969pumpking]

@patbak73 is really cool to find someone like this. I had a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of it and some silly games

[@jakenspan013]

Hey I was the 7 mana value commander Richard saw with my Myrkul deck. Unfortunately I kinda got shut down that game…

[@DG-ly2po]

I was the Armageddon player and had a great time meeting you all and getting signatures on cards and my goldfish mat! Enjoy the Remote Farm Richard

[@Yakmage]

I love inkshield, once i managed to memory plunder an opponents inkshield when they were about to lethal me with thier inkling tokens

[@Blacklodge_Willy]

Memory plunder is soooo cool!

[@abeybaebe2514]

Sweet line 🤣

[@AphexTwin99999]

I had Quantum Misalignment in my Alania Divergent Storm deck; cast it and copy it and you have 3 alania's on board. Assuming you untap with them, you rebound and copy is 3 times and have 7 alania's on board. Having done it, I have now removed it as it was kind of like a scute swarm win.

[@JayoticMTG]

Re: Winds of Abandon. You should probably think of that card as an “I need to get my big board through” card rather than a defensive board wipe. Ramping each opponent 6-10 lands is going to backfire hard if you can’t eliminate them immediately.

[@jcstaff1007]

But then any wrath can work. Especially in white where you have tons of one-sided wipes available and easy indestructible like “Flawless Maneuver”.

[@JayoticMTG]

@ There are also ways to negate the land ramp - Aven Mindcensor, Opposition Agent, Confounding Conundrum , etc. Even still, I’m not a fan of WoA. But if someone insists on running it, be proactive with it instead of reactive.

[@peewee0224]

@@jcstaff1007there really aren’t that many one sided wipes in white especially that exile.

[@Cjtip26]

Mighty bold of you to think I had more than 3 basic lands

[@BingbongRecto]

Please do a follow up episode with more tech cards. This is my favorite podcast episode so far

[@BloodMoonGo]

I'll respect Richard if his tech is spot removal or interaction. Edit: If perceived power levels are an indicator of the bans effectiveness, that sounds like a net positive.

[@Lucarioguild7]

I think that touches on something kinda important about those bans as Tomer mentioned, it's not that the power level overall was drastically changed but it reduced the variance. The same way sometimes elfball deck feels like a 10 and sometimes like a 5 depending on your draw, the fast mana bans did that across the board.

[@Omniphenom]

Can't believe that Tomer is against a mass ramp spell that doesn't make him shuffle his library

[@PalPlays]

He isn't against it; he just doesn't think it is as broken as the crew is claiming.

[@bortron5000]

Woo I was in one of the Venser poison games! He had me dead at 9 but left me alive because another player was the threat, and we needed to team up. No other player had poison counters 😂

[@etria6604]

Hey thanks for mentioning that game, I was the guy who Sun Ballista’d you Richard lol

[@6969pumpking]

Where you playing Tayam?

[@etria6604]

@ yeah I’m that guy lol

[@6969pumpking]

@etria6604 I was playing kaervek that game!

[@etria6604]

@@6969pumpking Oh hey! What’s up? lol

[@6969pumpking]

@etria6604 oh nothing much just listening to see if any of my games where talked about, how about you?

[@kevinthecarpathian]

People that wrath to not lose with no resources available and extend the game another hour should never complain about a Cyclonic Rift

[@k9commander]

You are comparing apples to oranges. Just because they are both fruits doesn't make them the same. Most board wipes are at Sorcery speed. You end up using most or all your mana on the wipe. Other players get to set up first or have more mana to set up better. With Rift, even if you have nothing on board, you get to set up first with ALL of your mana. The few other wipes that are at instant speed are symmetrical. You have the advantage of setting up first, but lose Rift's potential of catapulting the Rift player ahead. If you cast Rift when you're ahead, you stay ahead. Not so with the other instant speed wipes.

[@kylegonewild]

@@k9commander It's both the strongest blue board wipe and the strongest blue wall breaker to let your own gameplan take off and snowball unimpeded.

[@blainerodgers5294]

So we know most like Open the Way. What does the crew think about Viewpoint Synchronization?

[@Mecal00]

Good choice Richard. I love the MMQ depletion lands in mono color decks. Have been using them for a while. I don't play the green one, but I do use the white, blue, and red ones

[@zekrom488]

My trouble in pairs stopped the extra turn Richard was talking about. Voja elves stopping jeskai walkers taking that extra turn that would have killed the table.

[@_claymore]

sometimes I actually question this groups sanity. the argument that Inkshield is bad because the opponent(s) could have an answer for it is so astonishingly shortsighted it drives me nuts. *every card* is bad if your argument is always "but they could have the perfect answer for it and then it does nothing". if someone has a fog for your Inkshield, then that's just how it is. and their secondary argument of "but it is 5 mana" is also incredibly weird. you use Inkshield when the game's about to end, meaning turn ~10 or whatever. if you cannot muster up 5 mana at that point for a game-winning play, then what are you even doing? and if the argument is "but anyone seeing the orzhov deck holding up 5 mana won't attack them" then what's the issue? you just prevented from losing the game because you weren't attacked.

[@daneburke6592]

The thing I don’t like about ink shield is it’s a dead card for most of the game and you have to hold up 5 mana to cast it. Holding up 5 mana just for no one to attack you is rough, you just wasted either a whole turn holding it up or a large chunk of it in late game. I would rather just play something that advances my board state at any stage of the game. I could see it working in a control heavy deck that’s just draw go but that’s it

[@dariocampanella7992]

This is richard in nutshell: my weird tech is amazing. Your tech is weak to interaction.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

The problem is twofold: 1) It’s only good if someone is attacking you with a board full of creatures. Outside of that situation, it ranges from really bad to straight useless. It’s not gonna help you against combo, burn, mill, or “you win the game” effects, and it’s most likely going to buy you one turn against voltron. 2) It’s pretty frequently _not obvious_ that the game is going to end on a certain turn. Like I said, Inkshield is only good when you’re getting attacked with a wide board. But nobody’s just gonna untap with 15 tokens and swing out unless they’re about to play Craterhoof or something similar. And unless they tutored for that wincon, you can’t predict when they have it. So if you see their big board, you’re basically gambling on whether they have that wincon or not. And if they don’t, you just Time Walked yourself by leaving 5 mana unused instead of progressing your game plan. Unless you’re playing a good amount of instant-speed cards, in which case this downside is irrelevant, but most WB+ decks aren’t doing that. When Inkshield works, it’s amazing. But there are way too many variables that completely ignore it to make it worth passing with 5 untapped mana open.

[@peewee0224]

@@daneburke6592that’s why you play it in draw go control decks

[@webbc99]

Inkshield is just too much mana. No one is ever holding up 5 mana in Orzhov unless they are holding Inkshield, at which point you play around it. Compare Inkshield to Batwing Brume which costs 2 mana for a similar effect, it's so much more flexible and playable, and will actually "get" people. Also compare to Aetherize. Holding up 4 blue is far less unusual than 5 in Orzhov. But also, I can hold up that blue and most likely have stuff to do if I don't end up needing to use the Aetherize. If you hold up 5 mana for Inkshield and don't use it, turn after turn, you are falling so far behind.

[@headhunterhades3816]

I’d kinda like to hear an episode about what you guys think are the most underrated keywords

[@EraseMan531]

We need a short of tomer responding to Richard "just stop playing lands"

[@golgariguy]

My experience regarding players running mostly basics is that most casual players, especially the newer ones, treat the manabase as something that they regrettably have to play to cast their spells. They treat it strictly as a necessity, which has two consequences: first, they don't run enough lands nor ramp. Second, since they don't want to spend money on unexciting lands (to some extent understandable), they just jam whatever they have. Which works most of the time, but they also end up missing out on all the super powerful synergies you unlock when you start playing powerful nonbasic lands.

[@jasonferguson9052]

OK hear me out: in the white catch up ramp decks, you can run urborg. Then you can run Stern Judge and punish the table. Currently trying a secret commander deck around this idea.

[@paull6887]

Great podcast. The only thing that could make it better was Crim! Lol. I loved hearing about Vegas from you guys. It makes me want to go next year! Thanks.

[@timbombadil4046]

1:12:37 Depletion lands with surveyors scope is legit. Been using them together in three different decks.

[@ysalas7631]

Depletion lands are also amazing in any deck where you're proliferating a lot: poison, energy, experience, etc.

[@TheTexasDice]

Secret Tech: Richard, you sometimes complain there is no blue fog. But have you heard of Illusionists gambit? It's a 2UU instant from commander 2013. it removes all attacking creatures from combat, untaps them and gives the playerr an extra combat in which they can't attack you but must attack. It is functionally identical to a 2RW card from the karlov manor predcon (that one goaded)

[@peewee0224]

He wants cheap fogs like 1 or 2 mana. But another 4 cost blue fog is cryptic command you have to do it pre combat but if you’re smart enough you know who that person is attacking. Also doubles as a way to guarantee you hit people

[@trixterDevil]

56:27 Richard perfectly describes the exact scenario for all of Crim's Soul Shatter style edicts.

[@surfinggarchomp2820]

I don’t play trouble in pairs because I don’t want to spend $30 for a card with stolen art. I might get a proxy though and draw my own art.

[@ironpalmmonk1199]

That is a big reason for me too. I recognize how good it is but the art is stolen and the context of the art makes no sense. I think "Prickly Pair" from OTJ has better reflective art and flavor text for what Trouble in Pairs is.

[@Suavek69]

​@@ironpalmmonk1199What it the context for the "stolen art" thing?

[@Kestral287]

Yup. I'm just waiting for a reprint with new art and then I'll look into picking one up.

[@surfinggarchomp2820]

@@Suavek69 the art is basically a bunch of stolen bits stitched together.

[@ZachH8387]

Take a shot every time the gang says "Farewell". Good Luck!!!

[@starchaser6024]

30:39 taking an extra turn = taking 2 turns. 2 turns = a pair. Trouble in pairs 👍

[@oliverlong345]

At this point the podcast just needs a dedicated 5 minute segment for everyone to gush over Open The Way.

[@dogmonolith]

I can say for my group in Berlin, the brews and commanders and super varied and unique, the only thing that comes up more often is the fallout precons.

[@dakotacouch5642]

I really feel like commander decks are very personal to the folks that build them. Like yeah you have the staples and the combos, but you can definitely see each person's sprinkle of spice and flavor and that I think is the spirit of commander.

[@rjveit5902]

I love Winds of abandon you just…like…don’t cast it until your swinging in for lethal lol

[@dariocampanella7992]

What about tap all opponent creatures? I think most of the time is an overcosted path of exile

[@PalPlays]

One of my favorite endings to a game was when someone had played a symmetrical mana doubler. I was attacked with Triumph of the Hordes, so I cast Mercadia's Downfall, Angel's Grace, Tainted Strike on one of my creatures, and Arcbond. In response, they removed the Arcbonded creature, so I shrugged and cast Inkshield, creating like 80 Inklings. The next player in order then cast an X spell and ended the game in a draw lol

[@bloo3972]

I run the blue version of Remote Farm, Saprazzan Skerry in my mono blue proliferate deck and when it works, it's great fun

[@KRdHaene]

I choose Enclave for Struggle in Mothman occasionally. If you have the other pieces to combo off rads into +1/+1s people think twice about attacking. Especially if you have large creatures to defend, forcing other players to really pile into the attack. The card draw is insane though. Edit: You need to run it in simic at least. Three extra cards per turn with ramp. The dream turn 2 ramp, turn 3 Struggle, turn 4 ramp, turn 5 infinite mana infinite cards? Crazy good. Oppo might get answers, but you'll have them too with your value pieces.

[@samsprague3158]

Im sure y’all have done it at some point, but imo an all poison clash episode would be sweet.

[@ruudvanlaarhoven5776]

I played a game recently where the Athreos deck combo'd out 32 Shadowborn Apostles by tapping out. Ramping them for 19 with Winds of Abandon didn't matter at all, their deck did literally nothing after that... it ensured my Land Tax, Claim Jumper and Knight of the White Orchid for quite a few turns after that, too

[@markkolodziej496]

Struggle for project purity + notion thief = draw 7 every turn

[@TheNaturalnuke]

I've recently cut Struggle for Project Purity, its just... bad, its not a big enough effect to bargain with, it's Enclave effect is not big enough to dissuade any one from attacking. Additionally the 4 cost slot is HIGHLY competitive, by the time this goes down its either too late in the game to matter or it's slowing me from doing things that actually progress the board state

[@ive.got.a.secret]

Winds of abandon (or settle the wreck) into urzas sylex after they rebuild with all the extra lands brings me unending joy.

[@matix0239]

Mythic inkshield player here. The inkshield was exactly what I needed that game. If I had the secret rendezvous I wouldn’t have won! Not even the F word would have won me that game. Richard needs more inkshields, get em Tomer!

[@Monkeydudem2]

Love Phil's positivity at the end

[@MrMartinSchou]

The tech card for Winds of Abandon is a 2 mana artifact from Alpha - Ankh of Mishra.

[@6969pumpking]

Seth, I was in the game with the struggle for project purity (bug deck) yea its kinda nuts I should play it more

[@bentate5718]

If you like Kambal type effects, Crafty Cutpurse is a super underrated version of it in blue. In recent years, WOTC has made so many new types of tokens because they have to make new mechanics for each set so cards like this get way better over time. Highly recommend trying out Cutpurse in some of your blue decks, blowout potential is insane

[@Rob-ch1fy]

The math on mana geyser is wrong. If you have 5 lands your opponents probably have like 25 in total because they ramped and you played red

[@olivierdebilde4292]

"Struggle for Project Purity" I was looking for more non-creatures group hug draws for my Xyris Polymorph deck - Thank you

[@_claymore]

also Tomer talking about poison: obviously it is a very small sample size, but him going 0-3 with his poison deck and then explaining that this (underperforming) is the standard is just another point of evidence that poison is absolutely fine at 10 counters needed for the win. if poison was ever changed to 20 counters needed, then that archetype is just dead. and then you still hear Richard say "it is so good, it is bad" ... Infect decks are the exact same as voltron decks - if you let them hit you with an alpha strike you are dead in one or two attacks. play blockers and removal and it is no issue. I don't hear Richard talk like this about voltron strategies tho...

[@tomerabramovici32]

We spoke about poison after the Vegas podcast and basically everyone agreed that if poison was at 20 every poison related card would be unplayable, which I think settles the argument.

[@_claymore]

@@tomerabramovici32 oh hey Tomer, thanks for the reply! that's really cool to hear. Seth always seemed very adamant on 10 counters being too little for poison, so hearing he also changed his mind is big. now you just need to convince him that black enchantment removal is fine and he'll be a changed man!

[@iNCoMpeTeNtplAyS]

1:34:00 most content creators/humans dont like being disturbed during their activities/meals so thats probably why they didn't want to bother😊

[@Will_Morand]

41:29 Actually, if you cast an Inkshield and someone else cast a fog, they’re both replacement effects and you get to choose which affects you, so you still get the Inklings. Inkshield rules!

[@MaliciousBadger01]

My favourite tech cards that I never see anyone run are: Mandate of Peace as a weird fog and combo protector, Cloud Cover as a weird removal deterrent, Parallel Thoughts my favourite blue card that I recently found, solves flooding and mana screw, even if it gets blown up its usually done it's job - just draw gas I also have been playing Selesnya burn, which is as weird as it sounds but it's so fun, with nonsense like Hurricane, Squall line, and Primal Order (which might be in green but is such a Crim anti-ramp card)

[@MrCrimAngel]

i run 8-15 counters in any deck with blue

[@MrGeoghagan]

Richard continuing to create all the scenarios that will perfectly support his point denying the validity of any and all scenarios that don't support his argument. A true Richard staple.

[@light-chemistry]

Richard winning the most games every clash season must really get under the skins of you people

[@MrGeoghagan]

@light-chemistry doesn't bother me in the slightest. I just don't agree with this approach to debating on how good or bad a card is because he often hyper focuses on the scenarios that best support his position.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@light-chemistryWay to not comprehend the comment at all, bud! I’m proud of you even being able to figure this whole “typing words” thing out! It must be hard for you.

[@light-chemistry]

@@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai definitely not mad

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@light-chemistry Oh, I’m mad, but only at your prideful stupidity. You shouldn’t consider that a win. I may be mad, but at least I’m not really, _really_ dumb. _That’s_ a win. Anger goes away after 5 minutes. I’ll be over it pretty soon. Stupidity lasts forever though. Good luck in your future endeavors.

[@mike44njdevils1]

Out of morbid curiosity, did you guys see any proxies in the pods you played in? I'm definitely in the pro proxy camp, but I'm curious about how it is at conventions.

[@surfinggarchomp2820]

I was at Vegas, and I saw a fully proxied deck and nobody made any sort of fuss about it. The cards looked real enough, so there weren’t any recognizablility issues.

[@snowmanO07]

Booo. Support your LGS, but even more importantly, nobody wants to see another mana tithe, rhystic study, trouble in pairs, ancient tomb, etc. they are busted, make 1 deck with them and play more fun cards.

[@mike44njdevils1]

@snowmanO07 I work at my LGS. I don't proxy anything like that. I do, sometimes, proxy fetch, dual, shock. I have one deck that is mainly proxies because this is the 4th time I built it. I've had cards stolen multiple times, and I'm not shelling out the money on it again. 🙃

[@SWAT6809]

​@@snowmanO07proxying =/= playing all the busted cards. Those two are different problems and should not be thrown together

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@snowmanO07But you’re ok with people doing that if they buy them? Don’t see what difference that makes.

[@highdark4]

Hi, Tomer, where can we find your Melek decklist? I'm building it for Christmas for my friends and would love to play with your list!

[@Pinfeldorf]

I'm glad Vandalblast came up in the video, because I've taken it out of my decks in favor of what I think is a very underrated card: Anzrag's Rampage. I feel like every time I've cast a Vandalblast as a 1 for 1 I was unhappy with it, so it was really only a single mode card, and in that instance, why not give yourself the upside of a potential Sneak Attack? Or just run both if you want redundancy.

[@TheQuarrelsomeOne]

I always find it strange when you guys talk about not "seeing" people play certain cards, its 100 card singleton, you not seeing them play a card does not indicate that the card was not in the deck, just that they didn't draw it in the game. Unless you asked people after finishing the game whether or not they played Trouble in Pairs how do you know they just didn't draw it?

[@jerensteinbear]

I've been playing the depletion lands for years because of pauper EDH. They play well with scaretiller.

[@philmelo468]

one thing I do in tone of my decks is play Scholar of the Lost Trove, casting an Auton Soldier from the GY copying the Scholar, which then casts Phyrexian Metamorph from the GY copying the Soldier (which is a scholar with myriad) and do the same thing to a cursed mirror, then swinging in with the mirror (copy of scholar with myriad) which will let me cast 2 more instants/sorceries or artifacts from my GY, its very sick if you can pull it off

[@mark5617]

Id say the shift away from basic lands is due to the fact these more powerful lands are coming into play untapped. That alone makes these lands way more playable to just take a basic out.

[@jsato4921]

Winds of abandon isn't a sweep, it's a finisher. If your are posed to attack for lethal if there weren't blockers that's where you want to winds, otherwise it's actually better as a bad swords.

[@egggnome1866]

My takaway from this episode is that i should be playing more orzhov

[@K_Pank1028]

I have two decks that run spore frog, both have ways to loop him incidentally. i have some of the craziest comebacks involving frog loops, even after getting cataclysmed

[@GermanGaryOak]

I was the one to cast open the way against Phil and I was the one that won on the gay kings

[@midnalight6419]

I have always been on bouncelands. I have not been to a con yet. But tap land - draw a card Feels good.

[@ashsattva]

Faerie artisans is indeed, one of the most underrated cards in commander. It's the type of must kill card that people usually let sit on the table and accumulate value every game, thinking it won't be that good this time, and then eventually spend removal on it because of course it's awesome as usual.

[@punkypinko2965]

What fun great episode. Thanks!

[@iwaslikeweeeee]

Winds of abandon and Confounding Conundrum is also pretty funny/ budget friendly answer

[@ChadZeluff]

Richard, I’ve nonbo’d Open the Way into Glacial Chasm a half dozen times now. Which should I run between the two? Having both is wrecking me

[@mattjones2811]

that is a feature not a bug

[@TheWoelrat]

are you running the whole package though? Urborg/yavimaya so it can tap for mana, bounce lands so you can reset the counter, life from the loam/crucible/regrowth to get it back and so on.

[@ChadZeluff]

@@TheWoelrat yes!

[@EvilShade82]

I run Quantum Misalignement and Auton Soldier in my Lord of the Nazgul deck. Makes a lot of Wraith very quickly.

[@lordBeerus467]

Phil tells you how to play powerful engine commanders! If you have a swords you kill it to set them back. People act like its mean but its clearly the right play.

[@user-tx2mu3cr2o]

God I love Isengard Unleashed. It's like an overrun except it also works with guttersnipes and impact tremors that gets around TOR and fogs Edit: I think Richard's right on the flashback being a weird downside thing, but like I don't think mills common enough for me to care?

[@leavemealone535]

I literally just bought a Glacial Chasm and Constant Mists lol. I wanted it for shenanigans in my Six deck.

[@voidprism_studios666]

Isengard Unleashed seems really good in the new niv-mizzet. Having flashback is upside with discard effects. Also really strong with storm/copy effects.

[@alexkulis7295]

Struggle For Project Purity is very good with Orcish Bowmasters.

[@edwardgribbins7175]

Smothering tithe has a bunch of prints and in a standard set, trouble in pairs was in a precon one time, in a deck I’ve never seen someone play, and it’s expensive

[@christensolomon3679]

Someone in my local pod used “Path to Exile” on a token to ramp a basic land and I immediately thought “If Richard were here to see this…”