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

[@thrillhouse4151]

The price of Cabal Coffers and the good tutors is one of the reasons I haven’t kept a mono-black deck. It’s like 3 cards for the cost of a Nintendo Switch.

[@NitpickingNerds]

They are more fun than a Nintendo switch

[@mattdeters8306]

Cabal Coffers is a $100 card now, and the sad part is that it's quickly becoming too slow for the format.

[@wyrdboy6414]

Print the art then laminate it and if you let people know they don't care.

[@seaandstone1]

Proxy it fam. Go to Etsy and find a cool alt art for like $2-4 dollars a card with better art.

[@jimsteve5615]

In mono black crypt ghast is better than coffers every time, in my opinion it goes in even up to three color decks just because urborg. You don’t need to sacrifice a Nintendo switch to play optimally

[@babyyeti2540]

Where are all of these incredible black card draw spells that make “Read the Bones” and “Phyrexian Arena” obsolete?

[@GabrielLopez-zr7gz]

"Nothing synergizes with diabolic tutor!" -K'rrik, who wants tons of black pips in spells: Am I a joke to you?

[@alazia8109]

I like beseech the queen in K'rrik!

[@thoop6795]

Doomsday withcedh K’rrik would be so good if black had things to stop pact or force

[@ajrowe5845]

Fr, laughs in phyrexian cost Jet. Lol

[@BozzLightyr]

Sometimes I watch your vids at 1.5 or 1.75 speed for that Quickpicking Nerds experience.

[@elipetrou9308]

Ah grave titan might be here, I play that in all my artifact/enchantment decks, super high synergy. It’s a real finisher almost every game

[@NitpickingNerds]

I am surprised he wasn't here

[@Greg501-]

Grave Titan is in 100% of all Black Decks so it isn't even a staple but a LITERAL auto-Include

[@RobMedellin]

A++++ card

[@obadijahparks]

I actually don't own it... yet..... I ordered it in secret lair though... I'll just have to wait a few years.

[@elipetrou9308]

@@obadijahparks yep same. I got the simic kaldheim one and it was supposed to be here months ago. Yay

[@pridefulgaming]

Imma say this again for the people in the back. Magic is a game that lets u express yourself. Play the cards u want to. Just have fun.

[@famousstranger8468]

@@pridefulgaming this aged poorly

[@pridefulgaming]

@famousstranger8468 the bans doesn't change rule 0. Duh

[@mistysowards7365]

Dark ritual is A+++ one of the best instants ever printed

[@hiddenleaf414]

If you look at the ceiling for Phyrexian Arena when comparing it to Read the Bones you have to do the same for Read the Bones, you technically get the reach of 4 cards since you can Scry the first 2 to the bottom. Read the Bones is much better imo than a F and much better than Phyrexian Arena in most cases.

[@vds92]

My thoughts exactly. At least C+ for Read the Bones, imo.

[@raedien]

Yeah, lots of bad takes in this video. Lol

[@forrestl5982]

This. I love the 4 card reach, especially if I'm needing a land or something like, say, one of my sac outlet that I haven't drawn yet. I think it's good when you're behind and good when you're ahead. It may not be as strictly efficient as a Nights Whisper/Sign in Blood, but the card selection/dig bumps it up. Plus it's budget as heck. Def at least a C/C+.

[@comradelarry2558]

Dark Ritual is very good to power out Tergrid. If you're psychotic enough to run her as commander you want her out quickly as possible.

[@unpro-gaming230]

Sacrifice can be almost as good. I run an optimized tergrid build, and you have to be prepared to summon 2-3 times to make It stick in a competitive pod.

[@thekwjiboo]

I played in a 4 player game. The guy who went first ran Tergrid. Turn 1 he goes swamp, jeweled lotus, dark ritual. 5 mana for Tergrid, the 6th floating he cast thoughtseize on the guy to my left, grabbed a freekin Jin-Gitaxias from his hand to put into play. We all just said "good game", scooped shuffled and started over.

[@ma9ical1]

@@thekwjiboo Exactly, Dark Ritual is a key card in many decks, even if the planets aligned in this case.

[@hiddenleaf414]

Great to power out Beledros or get that extra mana for a big Torment of Hailfire.

[@NightOfCrystals]

Boo Tergrid. Yikes

[@ezekielshackelford9865]

I love the way Joe looked at Beezy when he was explaining the grades. "Did you really just say Demonic Tutor was 'A' before we even started the video?" Priceless

[@user-fd2co5xr7k]

I’m really surprised that they put Grave Titan as the only card in S tier! I thought they weren’t too fond of it, but it seems like they’ve changed their minds

[@toxicink72]

I really disagree with Read the Bones. The fact that you get to Scry 2 before you draw is incredibly good because you can just put them on the bottom for another chance to draw something relevant. And it gives you two cards instantly. Love it

[@JPNox]

Yes, you can see up to 4 cards for 4 mana. And like in general what cost to they expect, when we look at costs in general it's basically always more than 1 mana per 1 card, it doesn't seem more expensive then the average They got me thinking with Arena though, it's true late game Arena draw sounds kinda useless

[@765craven4]

I'm a little confused at why Diabolic Intent having a sacrifice cost makes it debatably better than Demonic Tutor in the right decks but Village Rites having a sacrifice cost makes it bad.

[@thekwjiboo]

I think price of fame is underrated in this format. Since you'll almost always have a legendary target in the opponents commanders it's a 2 mana instant speed kill with surveil on it. Great value.

[@chickeneverythingisfine9338]

Phyrexian arena is better in more casual games since those last longer but even still it takes 3 turns for phyrexian arena to do what read the bones does instantly without the extra benefit. Also read the bones is way cheaper (money wise) and is most of the time better since it’s better to get the boost you want when you play the card rather over the course of 3+ turns (usually). The reason why phyrexian arena is played so much is because it makes you “feel” like your drawing two cards a turn but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s gonna take three turns to be slightly worse than read the bones and half the time you can guarantee it will stay around for that long. Read the bones vs phyrexian arena is a really interesting conversation that could have been given more thought on during the video. A lot of the cards reviewed on the channel as a whole are usually just brushed over as “it’s bad don’t think about it” which makes people give people zero chance to consider cards that could be potentially good/better than the staples that make every game feel the same. I love the channel but some cards deserve more than to be written off without consideration/explanation.

[@AlexanderBalchev]

Great content, guys! As an avid black aficionado I have to something to add. Read the Bones - The scry on the card is very potent and for 1 mana more I'd rather be able to see 2 more cards from my library. This is the card that replaced Phyrexian Arena for me actually and never looked back. The only good thing going on with Arena is the devotion it adds. Obviously Read the Bones goes down if you include more tutors, but for straight up immediate draw it's very good. Viscera Seer - I'd argue that it's on par with Carrion Feeder. The latter brings the Zombie type which can combo with some cards, namely Gravecrawler.

[@jaredhuckstep20]

Same with read the bones and phyrexian arena

[@dumbdom4videos436]

Came here to post this. It feels like they completely overlooked the scry effect which pushes read the bones to a C for me. I'm never disappointed when I draw this card or have it in my opening hand.

[@sw33tshar3]

Beezy was looking really intense talking about how they do daily content

[@NitpickingNerds]

Can't blink when you're talking about daily content

[@shamtactics4712]

I’m worried about early burnout. I do however appreciate the enthusiasm and excitement for daily content.

[@NitpickingNerds]

@@shamtactics4712 wgat do you mean?

[@bryanpmcgowan]

He peers into your heart and burns away your soul. The only thing that remains is utter devotion to the Nitpicking Nerds

[@shamtactics4712]

@@NitpickingNerds I don’t want y’all to burn yourselves out by forcing quantity. The quality of y’all’s videos are fantastic and I’d hate to see the fire die out because of burnout. I don’t know if it’s possible with magic due to the constant content being added 🤷🏼‍♂️ my challenge to you I guess if you feel like you guys are feeling burn out please allow your self some rest. I love this channel! I just want to see the long term growth of this channel but as a human I also care for your guys well being. Long story short of y’all need a break here and there to stretch do so! Thank you for keeping up the awesome content. I just beg to you guys to consider your mental health if needed. 😁❤️

[@mtgice1799]

Mulldrifter = C+ Read the Bones = F Come on now... I don't think Read the Bones is the most amazing card ever but it certainly isn't an F in my book. Solid C for me. Can dig 4 deep and is great to set up your midgame turns (helps you avoid missing land drops and gives you gas). Really like these videos though and it's interesting to hear your views. EDIT: Also it doesn't suck drawing it late, it's pretty good tbh. Much better top deck than night's whisper/sign in blood. Ps. I also intensely dislike phyrexian arena Beezy :)

[@NitpickingNerds]

Mulldrifter can be recurred, bounced, and used over and over easily but read the bones is just a 1 time thing

[@joshuadempsey5281]

Red Elemental Blast in an auto include in mono-red decks. It counters counters. It kills 1/2 of the top commanders. It counters many of the biggest "if that resolves we lose" spells (as many/most of those seem to be blue). In CASUAL its great.

[@NightOfCrystals]

Honestly it’s probably defensible in CEDH too. How often will you not see a blue a deck with relevant spells at a CEDH table?

[@V2ULTRAKill]

Its actually SIGNIFICANTLY worse in casual than cedh

[@joshuadempsey5281]

@@NightOfCrystals The nerds usually insist its ONLY for cEDH, but its a fantastic card overall.

[@joshuadempsey5281]

@@V2ULTRAKill I didn't say its better in casual than it is in cEDH. Its absurdly good in cEDH, its also still great in casual.

[@V2ULTRAKill]

@@joshuadempsey5281 its mid in casual Unless youre specifically running a mid to high power playgroup with lots of blue in your meta youre literally better playing something like lightning bolt (thats how bad it is in the wrong pods) its far too meta dependant Compared to cedh where its an auto include in every deck that runs red

[@afriendofafriend5766]

This is the one I care about because Black has the only playable commander in the entire format: K'rrik. I love K'rrik.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Krrik is great

[@demolisherman1763]

Last time was counterspells NOW FOR TUTORS!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Basically!

[@Atanar89]

NN: "There is not a cheaper boardwhipe". Meanwhile, Blasphemous acts cries silently in its corner because there are only 4 creatures in play.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Yeah act is getting an A don’t worry about him

[@bluematrix395]

for diabolic tutor i think if you are in a budget this card can be a good tutor for like searching your pieces of your deck, me as a budget player i love that card tbh.

[@loganator326]

Can't wait for all the tutors I don't have the money for to come up

[@NitpickingNerds]

And Diabolic Tutor

[@williamwinder5011]

Casual! In all seriousness, they do get ridiculous.

[@Squee_666_9]

🤣

[@B1indFremen]

Proxy em bro

[@fyn1xs530]

This moment when you see dark ritual which is probably one if the best black cards on d+ lol. It basicly speeds you up by 2 turns which is insanly strong in this format.

[@NoFlu]

Only id you draw it in your first 2 turns, so about a 8%-10% chance. Otherwise its a nice boost but nothing to write home about. Yea, I'd gave thrown it in C+, but I get their reasoning

[@ma9ical1]

Dark ritual is an awesome card that helps to play Necropotence turn 1, or Ad Nauseum way faster. This is at least a B if not A. Most cEDH decks run it in the colour.

[@V2ULTRAKill]

Yeah but anything below like an 8 in power level its a dead card more often than not *i say this as a yuriko high power player running 3 black rituals*

[@twl232]

I like the C grade change from Cut to Cuttable. They seemed more natural in this video as well.

[@andynonya1490]

All this time, I didn't realize Vampiric tutor was an instant

[@Wazes]

It feels so good having entomb and reanimate in your opening hand

[@spectralmaniac]

As a Meren player, I had a visceral reaction to Victimize being given a C

[@connoringram4948]

Why would you run a sorcery that reanimates when your commander already does this and it doesnt synergize with your deck cus its not a creature? Victimize absolutley deserves a c you gotta be milling yourself having small fodder creatures to sac and multiple ones in the gy for it to be good. Thas alot of hoops. As are great in any deck Bs require very little to build around or are jus good by themselves but dont synergize too well with other cards.

[@RobMedellin]

I depend a lot on draw that in mono black I run sign in blood, night's whisper, and even read the bones (besides syphon mind)... What should I use instead? (for me those are bad if you have access to other colors, but in orshov or mono black they are as good as it gets, or what am I missing?)

[@simonecasolo3122]

This. Agree1000%

[@robertteisher3638]

Right around when they grade crypt ghast, they admit that they don't play much black and beezy says he plays no mono black, and you can tell with the grades. You can only have one copy of Necropotence in a deck...not sure how else they recommend you draw cards consistently in mono or heavy-black, lol

[@ogomezcastillo]

Robert, that’s around the same time they did the dictate and I felt like they were trying to make it sound bad but they had no good points then the sign in blood made me realize they don’t like card draw haha

[@kittenshanker]

Cards like altars reap, village rites, costly plunder, and things like Midnight reaper, Grim haruspex, and dark prophecy can draw you an insane amount of cards. Especially if you have a sac loop or a token generator available. You can also generate big mana in black, so things like Vilis Broker of Blood can actually be easily achievable as draw. Especially in a deck like K'rrik.

[@robertteisher3638]

@@kittenshanker Plumb the forbidden is literally my favorite card from strixhaven, was super pumped for that one as soon as it was spoiled. Loves me Village Rites as well. However, these cards kind of shoe-horn you into playing Aristocrats. If thats not what you're deck is doing or you're not yet set up, these cards are worse then Night's Whisper & Sign in Blood. Or at least on par. The ceiling on Plumb is HUGE...but the floor is awful. Sign & whisper & read the bones are just trusty ole staples where you draw, you get it now, no assembly required, and no one is going to waste a counterspell on them. I'm SUPER off of cards like haruspex & midnight reaper...both way overrated imo. They require too specific a deck (haruspex especially) & boardstate to get your values worth out of them. Could just be my meta. I've had reaper be a 3 cmc "draw one, lose one" (even worse if it gets exiled) way too often to prefer it to Read the Bones's 3cmc "scry 2, draw 2, lose 2". No argument on Vilis...he's a house & i run him in 3 decks, haha.

[@robertteisher3638]

You knew it was coming...so here's the defense for Dark Ritual: If you're in mono or mostly black, it's an auto include. I'm happy to see it at "almost" any point in the game, almost never had it be a dead draw. Cast my 3cmc commander on T1 with just one swamp? Sound good. T1 Necropotence or Phyrexian Arena? Yes pls definitely. Cast Victimize for 1 instead of 3? Entomb & Reanimate it immediately with just one land (and still have a black floating)? I like those a lot. Pump 2 additional mana into that big X spell that wasn't quite worth it yet? Is good. **end rant** Edit: almost end of rent...forgot about the game I had one measly swamp held up, opponent didn't figure i could really do anything, so they went for the tutor. Dark Ritual into Opposition Agent, mwuahaha. Enjoyed the rest of the video though 😆👍

[@HiddenGhost00]

Dark Ritual to help cast my 9 mana Valgavoth Terror Eater? Yes please lol

[@trevorjamieson8892]

I run arena, bones, and blood in my vilis deck, turns these cards into great card draw. After all, it doesn't matter if your losing life, when losing life is the thing you want to do in the first place!

[@psychocards5781]

As a new player playing a dimir commander, this couldn't be any better timed.

[@Sivarias]

One thing to remember about budget decks, is they often have one or two really good cards that have been splurged for. In that instance, tutors become more necessary. I do agree that diabolic is something you have to be desperate for a specific card to run it.

[@V2ULTRAKill]

In that case run beseech the queen instead Better 99% of the time on a budget

[@darkmatter32x]

Turn 1 dark ritual has won me a lot games. My rakdos reanimator thrives on it. Entomb and then exhume on turn 1 is guaranteed win.

[@aidankeyes5526]

You've finally updated my favorite part, the flavor text at the start. 10/10 I love it

[@NitpickingNerds]

We are gonna get a back ground to make it a neon sign feel soon

[@imthedude5127]

Zulaport, both tutors and dark ritual work perfect in k’rrik

[@godzillapanek5465]

First off been watching you guys awhile now and really enjoy the content. I find myself running a bunch of the draw cards in black that you say you shouldn't run. I would be interested to hear what you would be running instead in the episodes.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Well it is deck ti deck

[@godzillapanek5465]

@@NitpickingNerds I was just making a general statement when mentioning certain staples that a lot of the commander community plays. So if your not running phyrexian arena's and read the bones in your decks just toss a few cards that you do run to give us some insight.

[@Morrodin182]

@@godzillapanek5465 just run the cards, phyrexian arena is perfectly playable, so is read the bones ... the NN aren't all knowing gods but instead youtube content creators with personal tastest and opinions. What is being said is not without merit but I also noticed (regularly) that there are cards they just dislike even if it are good cards. Example being: Chromatic Lantern. They did a video on it not long ago about how you should not play it because it is a bad mana rock. This is not 100% false of course as the lantern's primary goal is not being a rock but being a mana filter. In other words enjoy their show but take what is said with a grain of salt

[@godzillapanek5465]

@@Morrodin182 I understand this and I was not trying to say I was going to instantly remove or stop playing these cards personally. I enjoy the channel and was trying to offer some constructive feedback. If the above mentioned cards should not be played and you are doing a show on staples on that color, I was just looking for their opinions on what are some of the options that could be played instead of the card. Doesn't have to be in depth but just say a card or two you feel is better and move on.

[@kirkbaranowski4996]

Pitiless Plunderer only being 6-7 dollars. Now that’s a good joke.

[@HZAres]

red blast is amazing if you don't have access to blue early phyrexiam arema is unbeatable, if you draw it late game, as you say your deck is built in a way that it shouldn't need it, no different from a ramp spell

[@Wolf_tongue]

I can’t imagine my life without Syr Konrad, hands down my favorite commander right now.

[@Wiseguy150]

I disagree with read the bones or other draw spells like it, you gotta have some unconditional burst draw in your deck.

[@Trisket]

>Phyrexian Arena: C >Read the Bones: F I have no idea what these guys are talking about. Phyrexian Arena takes 3 turns after it's played to justify its casting cost, provided it isn't incidentally destroyed. Read the Bones allows you to dig up to 4 deep immediately and isn't a dead card after turn after turn 6 like Phyrexian Arena essentially is.

[@nickmcdermott1229]

Sudden substitutioning my opponent's torment for a million is probably in my top 10 ways I've killed the table

[@mjvane46]

Sudden substitutioning your own spell to stop the opponents mikaeus combo, to then combo with it 😉

[@ecos889]

One great reason for dark ritual that I see time and time again in cEDH is SURPISE! opposition agents against turn one vampiric tutors and the likes. ;)

[@boombox_up_to_11]

@NitpickingNerds Exsanguinate is an all star in my Rakdos, Lord of Riots, deck. X = 4 = free Eldrazi, huge Walking Ballista, etc. It's straight gas in that deck.

[@josephmersinger8789]

Focus on Black = One of the best videos yet!.... I even stayed for the tidbit, and wow!... That list of patrons is growing!!! 😊👍🏼

[@vaporeonlvl1009]

"when they get rid of cabal coffers" BAAM MH2 reprint

[@matthewwendt9825]

Exanguinate is a win con in my big-mana-spells, lifesaving Bekedros, Witherbloom deck (and Torment of Hailfire of course).

[@TheHive616]

I love how after Beezy glared his way through his daily content thing, he had to reset his face before moving on.

[@Raven.Bloodrot]

Imo Blood Artist is the B+ and cutthroat is the B just cause it can stop your opponent from going infinite and allows you to play destruction spells and not really care as much. Either way, if you're playing aristocrats their both auto includes.

[@Hatneas]

Oh hey Pitiless Plunderer, I figured that card would be an absolute house. I managed to get one for Korvold at 0.62 cents ages ago.

[@drorian]

dark ritual is also cheap mana fixing(+ramp) for multi colored decks that want to play bolas's citadel/necropotence. it also saves you sometimes when you don't get enough lands. it's not only good to cast commanders that make you draw but also for example in liesa, where you want her out asap while being able to recast her later for 5 mana when you have the lands, and 2 cmc mana rocks don't really help more than 3 cmc rocks. It's good even if your commander makes you draw AND you draw it after casting it, for example in brina, who's 3cmc and can draw into dark ritual and some high cmc cards. it's almost a black lotus that gives 2 mana, seeing all the craze for jeweled lotus I'd say it's worth more than a d+

[@NitpickingNerds]

The difference between 1 and zero mana is huge.

[@cameronwilson4971]

I've got diabolic tutor AND read the bones ALL UP IN my Kaalia deck. They're so in that they ain't coming out even now with the power rankings upon us. =] 'preciate the videos, dudes.

[@guilhermereis4638]

Me , a monoblack player for more than 3 years now : "Well , good to know that BEEZE HATES ME AND WANT ME TO DIE" Jokes aside, great content as always guys. I love my read the bones + sign in blood , but I agree that as soon as I add green or blue to the deck , this two are out for sure.

[@brandt_gaming555]

You asked for examples of decks that liked exsanguinate. It's a very good finisher in Vito decks.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I could see that

[@RazgrizAce67]

Bought some cards for my Ruxa Vanilla Creature tribal deck using the TCGPLAYER link today. Keep it up guys!

[@andrewsammons9643]

The five minute mighty ducks rant made my whole week, y'all are wild

[@B1indFremen]

Wait, so what card draw spells DOES Beezy like? He poo-pooed everything lol

[@pauljimerson8218]

Necropotence

[@apiranha1]

Bolas’ citadel

[@ericd1022]

I recently built Marrow-gnawer and this video is right up my alley!

[@bryanpmcgowan]

Your tidbit reminds me of a similar line from some dumb sitcom where the guy says "I'm a level 7 magic the gathering player" and the audience loses it. Hilarious

[@NitpickingNerds]

What is that from?

[@bryanpmcgowan]

@@NitpickingNerds not sure. One of those fat/ugly dudes married to a hot lady shows. King of queens or something

[@joelagrinsoni4016]

I play Bontu vs seer, seer gets killed quickly in my group, bontu sticks around for a bit, and is an optional hitter with menace.. but to each his own, pretty good list guys! Thanks for the tid bits!

[@TheEr910]

Emilio had scheduling issues when they filmed Might Ducks 3 and they had to rewrite it. Good list.

[@mattiavenier3898]

I would never cut out Victimize from my Meren deck in that specific deck it's just too good! But will definitely swap phyrexian arena with either Dark Prophecy or Liliana Dreadhorde General

[@besabaftw]

With all the black card draw you guys hate on, what do you actually play in monoblack?! Already have necropotence, and a lot of the ones you guys hate

[@samuelswinamer4939]

Dark ritual is good in a deck that can use that extra boost any turn to push out an extra engine piece that will compensate that one turn of value. I have no idea what kind of meta you guys play in... adding that for context would be useful. Also the best Mono black staple after Necropotence is Infernal Darkness.

[@AmberPanda382]

The only board wipe that beats out Toxin Deluge is Farewell. In my opinion, being able to get rid of whatever you want, and choosing any nonland permanent type is great, not to mention graveyards

[@randymotter51]

I agree on the Phyrexian Arena that it is very cuttable. I had considered it for my deck centered around Beledros Witherbloom/Pests but realized that there was a better one in the shape of Dark Prophecy. Tying the draw to my sacrifices instead of just once a turn is better most of the time and it is also three mana. Also a cheaper card to buy which is always nice.

[@nycstreetpoet]

I never checked the list. I was curious about where Dead of Winter would land with the prevalence of snow lands in EDH

[@pizzaemperor3553]

I'm interested in seeing your multi color grading. The Blood Artist section reminds me of Poison Tip Archer

[@MJ0LN1R7]

Entomb, Reanimate, Vilis Broker of Blood. Yes money!! My fav combo in my K’rrik deck. I never hear you guys mention it! Great vid, still advocating for Yawgmoth’s Will here... ;)

[@benjaminking3677]

I will say this for diabolic tutor. You see it a lot of decks because people can afford it vs demonic tutor/vampiric tutor which can run you $50-60. I’m not arguing that’s it’s better, it’s not, in fact I’d say it’s objectively worse. I would say the $cost-to-card value ratio is better than an F.

[@theetiologist9539]

Read the bones is great I don’t know what you all are talking about.

[@sothisis1962]

I really don’t see how red elemental blast is bad Sure it’s blue specific but if your not countering a spell you can pop a permanent Blues a very popular color to play Simic, azorious, bant, grixous, izzet. Out of 3-4 people Someone is very likely playing blue Sure it’s an F if no one is playing blue but that’s rarely the case

[@drbloo1905]

I agree with your rating of Syr Konrad, the Grim, but I don't think you highlighted his passive effect enough. Blood Artist (and others) just trigger when a creature dies. But Syr Konrad's triggers on death, entering graveyard other than from the battlefield, and when a creature leaves your graveyard. Which makes creatures that have effects like persist or undying ping everyone twice. This mechanic can also serve as a deterrent to graveyard exiles, because if a player exiles your graveyard, everyone is going to take a ping for each creature in your graveyard. Play living death when he's out and everyone is taking extra damage from the "exile graveyards" step. It isn't a card I would just throw into any deck, but I feel like it's powerful enough to be a step above a lot of other extort mechanic cards due to the versatility of its passive.

[@Jonzin4BeatzNYC]

I don't know if I can watch this channel any more after smack talking the mighty ducks movies!

[@dangerouscool]

You might be tired of playing against cabal coffers, but without it, mono-black decks would be unplayable

[@raedien]

Yeah lots of bad takes in this video.

[@nablexd2633]

Love how they crap on black draw cards when you literally seen them all the time in black decks....

[@HomeCookinMTG]

I know you guys don't technically cover cEDH, but I personally rate animate dead over reanimate because of combo potential.

[@NitpickingNerds]

That is fair

[@crawdaddy2004]

Best thing I ever did against the Bolas’ Citadel player was play Ruric Thar.

[@kks557]

Do you like any draw spells for mono black that don't require synergy besides Necropotence?

[@jaredhuckstep20]

Right? Plague crafter a B- .... read the bones an F? I'm much more likely to run read the bones for my 100th card instead of plague crafter

[@emilysmith2965]

lol time to cut a Dark Ritual for Necropotence in my Gix deck… I don’t know what it is about combat damage triggers to draw cards, but it makes my brain happy to do it. Backup Gix that’s harder to kill? Seems pretty good.

[@Plantedbetta]

They never played a mono black edh deck before … people are jerks you play a few spells that seem alll to damage you people start attacking you first always because they know if they don’t you are either going to annoy them or you become really dangerous turn 5-6 … dark ritual every black deck turn one boom boom

[@babies_eve]

Love the series. Really interesting to see your thoughts on cards. I do think the colors you're playing can really influence if you wind up with some of these D/F cards in your decks. Mono-colored decks probably see a lot more of these I'd bet. I'm also a throw all the staples in a deck player and I couldn't be more bored with the format.

[@adamvanhoozer8149]

Sign in blood is a D-? a two mana 2 life draw 2 spell (although admittingly at sorc speed) seems like one of the better card draw spells in black to me. If this is completely in a vacuum and you line it up against other card draw spells in black, how does this sit at a D-? Not trying to argue, just want to see the reasoning behind it as a newer player.

[@apiranha1]

We all agree with you.

[@Utenlok]

For people who play in groups where $50 for one card is frowned upon, Diabolic Tutor is pretty damn nice.

[@IdlestHands]

Exsanguinate seems to be rated a little low considering it has pretty good synergy with lots of the other black cards that has opponents lose life when you gain it (or vice versa) so you can easily double up on either effect or go infinite e.g. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Sanguine Bond, Exquisite Blood, Defiant Bloodlord, etc. Also considering its a lose/gain effect the actual swing is much higher than the damage done would indicate.

[@fernandodiaz9064]

Great show! Now You have a new subscriber from Perú that needs USD to upgrade his deck XD. Thanks for the EDH Insights.

[@NitpickingNerds]

No problem we are glad you enjoy the content ♥️

[@mrconchapelua]

you don't even need to play a bunch of Swamps if u can tutor for Urborg you can still put field of the dead in

[@omegagiant1]

You need arena for solemnity lock

[@CrazyMentor94]

enjoying your super cool 4k content so much! gives me good thoughts for decks in this horrible quarantine =D

[@sharkmanyt4431]

These idiots actually think dark ritual is bad… I do really like your channel, but trust me that card is amazing

[@GabetheFrog_]

Ah yes, magic the gathering conventions, my favorite.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Who doesn’t?

[@KingMasteron1]

What do you guys recommend in place of phyrexian arena? I understand it's not optimal, but what 3 manan draw spell could replace it? Read the bones has the potential to see 4 cards deep in one go, but it's a one and sone AND was rated low

[@kittenshanker]

Dark Confidant, Village Rights, Altars Reap, costly plunder, nights whisper, sign in blood. All replace cards faster than phyrexian arena, and in dark confidants case, it can come down faster, if you hit a land you don't lose any life, and it's a creature so it can be used for blocking or saccing.

[@kittenshanker]

Also necropotence.

[@RuFFRyDas87]

Can you please tell me where those lands are from in your picture frame? And how you got that made? And is it for sale?!

[@loganestes2841]

I love going Entomb, send Mikaeus, the Unhallowed to the Grave, then Reanimate him!

[@TheGoodchildOne]

What do you mean no red elemental blast :(, i mean, i know what you mean, but it takes out rhystic study and any blue commander and it is basically a red counterspell

[@NitpickingNerds]

Well it will perform we don’t advocate playing cards that only hit 1 color unless it is Veil of Summer. That card is dumb

[@TheGoodchildOne]

@@NitpickingNerds ty 😁

[@lisliaer7999]

Grey merchant with Helm of the host is a nice win con lol

[@davidgoulding1386]

Willowdusk can be a dangerous green black option for commande4

[@nathanreiber6819]

lol at phyrexian arena being a c because it doesn't have synergies. phyrexian arena has mad synergies in black