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

[@gravetitan1321]

'C' grade for: "Cannot live without".

[@workyoutube7798]

no joke

[@elipetrou9308]

In korvold, village rites says “ancestral recall” which I’ve heard is pretty good

[@selkokieli843]

Sweet deck to put village rites into for sure. just to nitpick though, would you count Concentrate as ancestral recall? if having a creature and sacrificing it while having your commander out is not that much extra cost then I would count Concentrate as ancestral recall

[@elipetrou9308]

@@selkokieli843 it’s more in the general sense, you’re always gonna have korvold out on turns 3 or later, and making fodder is what the decks say. It’s a one mana instant that says draw 3. Close enough

[@selkokieli843]

@@elipetrou9308 No doubt it works just fine in Korvold. It's just something I like to point out when people talk about ancestral recall and forgetting what makes the card. Not the power of drawing three but the sheer lack of casting and deck building requirements. It's just to nitpick, but if anyone wants to take something out of this is that all costs matter. You might even consider if village rites is better replaced by a repeatable Korvold enabler that can draw potentially more than 2 extra cards or do something even when fodder or Korvold are temporarily unavailable. I suppose that's what the nerds are talking about. the more it needs support, the lower of a grade it deserves in their show.

[@elipetrou9308]

@@selkokieli843 I agree it’s bad in most decks, but it’s very efficient in ones that want to run it

[@selkokieli843]

@@elipetrou9308 when you get to pull off the 1 mana draw 2 it's certainly efficient and makes you feel very smart which matters a lot in the fun factor :)

[@benbarclay4239]

Village Rites turns a creature that would be removed anyway into 2 cards. Especially useful against exile removal. Idk that card always performs for me.

[@elipetrou9308]

Same

[@jeremypeven1772]

Yeah I mean it's pretty decent I don't know what these guys are talking about. Opponent tried to target remove one of your creature ? Pay 1 black draw two cards... Seems pretty good when I use it.

[@elipetrou9308]

@@jeremypeven1772 it’s fine in the right decks

[@Brandonnutley]

Incredible in deaths with important death triggers. My Nevinyrral loves it when I don't have a sac outlet and they think it's a free path to exile

[@selkokieli843]

It's nice when it works. The other times when it rots in your hand? makes you wish you had night's whisper or a repeatable sac outlet. Big part of casual mtg is about making sweet stuff like this work. Let's just not pretend that our pet interactions are made up of necessarily great cards

[@JadeHex]

Welcome to our 3 year anniversary of grading staples: green. First up it's Wood Elemental...

[@mtgsus]

Village rites is good in aristrocat type decks, just sac a useless token or something. And oh boy, I do like yawgmoth, easily one of my favorite black cards.

[@randymotter51]

love it in Pest aristocrat, anytime you can sac a pest for value is great especially if they gun down your permanent sac outlet(s) instead of your value cards which slows you down a ton. Anything to sac and draw cards as a backup is great for this, only issue is that it doesn't scale the way something like Plumb the Forbidden does but it is still a good card for one mana and instant speed. I'd rate it as a C, decent but replaceable depending on your build.

[@meatforge]

Yawgmoth is also amazing in Hapatra Vizier of Poisons. Basically a win con if unanswered.

[@WayYer23]

31:40 talking about wishclaw talisman, this card is an absolute MONSTER in my Aminatou deck, because of the interaction with her -1

[@loganmunoz5373]

I love wishclaw I always give it to people who are mana screwed and they give it right back then I blow their land up!

[@wolfsack1064]

Sorry fellas, Village Rites is a good card. Especially in a color that wants their creatures to die. As you mentioned, there are ways to get card draw for your creatures dying in Black. often times Village Rites can be more than just 2 cards 🤗

[@owentucker6215]

Especially with cheap dorks like shambling ghast that can come out t1 and give value for dying themselves.

[@markdziamski4859]

If it was sorcery speed it would be garbage. But how great is it to chump block a big creature and the sac it for 2 cards. That’s why now that deadly dispute came out it’s a $5 common

[@charliewright2667]

But why not just add more creatures/tokens or sac effects/outlets instead of adding a sorcery that sacs a single creature lol

[@wolfsack1064]

@@charliewright2667 *instant

[@charliewright2667]

@@wolfsack1064 point still stands. Unless this is inalla wizard aristocrats it just doesn't make sense to play over something like another sac outlet or another grim haruspex/midnight reaper or token maker effect which makes your overall synergy much stronger? (In my aristocrats deck getting a draw engine together is absurdly easy tbh, not sure why I'd need a 2 mana draw two when by turn 4-5 my board with an instant speed sac outlet and (usually) graveyard recursion can draw me 6-10 cards and get played again next turn lol.

[@SirStickBug]

Love the new thumbnail design. Joe seems like the teacher-y type.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I work in as a teachers aide and assistant

[@trumpetperson11]

24:23 Also of note if there are any other Yidris fanboys out there. Evoke is still a cast from hand, and will use the full CMC. Shriekmaw isn't exactly the best, but it is a fun thing to mess around with in that deck. Especially since it can fuel a faster delve, since you will most likely have a bunch of those in the deck too. I haven't tried the new exile a card evoke cards yet, but they might also have promise if you have a lot of gold cards to pitch consistently. Also an aside, I really need to get myself a Deadly Rollick for that deck. Probably replaces murderous cut in my deck.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Deadly Rollick is a house!

[@fargoretro]

I cant wait for the expansion of the Nitpicking Nerds Cinematic Universe

[@NitpickingNerds]

We're in phase 1

[@helmhamerhand733]

Revell in Riches is in my treasure pirate theme deck and it’s so…much…fun… And also works sometimes.

[@ianchandler4903]

Joe Cherries is getting all "take- a-look-it's-in a book" in that thumbnail 👏

[@thetsarofall8666]

Currently new to magic, building decks is fun so far. Currently working on an odd one: blue/black with lots of cards based on fear, mental disease etc. The entire strat is that i draw alot, force my opponent to discard alot, and then damage them each time they discard while also stealing the cards they discard for my own use.

[@dravenbrose6761]

You should check out the captain, he’s blue/ black and you might like him (Captain N'ghathrod)

[@rileypowell5354]

Village rites is just a one-off skullclamp at instant speed. theres nothing bad about that

[@jayjayhooksch1]

One-off skull clamp is bad. It reminds me of Eldritch Evolution which is like a one-off birthing pod activation. I've tried both of these cards in my Meren/birthing pod decks and they are just awful. Half of my creatures don't want to be sacced, and the other half don't want to be sacced at the cost of a card from hand. I would much rather have fodder for viscera seer, plaguecrafter, yawgmoth, or one of the altars which don't require me to use my mana or potentially make me mana. There are so many ways to get +1 card advantage and not so many ways to save a mana or make a mana. The cute times that you save it for responding to exile removal are far and few between. Most of the time you're saccing a creature you don't really want to sac because you need to hit your land drops or find action. F in my books too. Even in my Meren Aristocrats deck.

[@rileypowell5354]

Eldritch evolution is an amazing card too. It's a great example of what I'm talking about with village rites actually. You're probably not seeing the strength of those cards cuz you're looking at them through the lens of a value engine strategy. That's not what these cards do and that's probably why you don't think they're very good. I tend to play a lot of aggro decks so I see the use cases you think are corner case far more frequently.

[@agneseschen8550]

u guys are my favorite MTG content creators!! Be careful not to overwork yourself!! U have been making soo many videos u should remember to take care of yourself.... Or maybe ur totally fine and me saying this is awkward

[@NitpickingNerds]

We do take care of ourselves and thank you for caring

[@agneseschen8550]

@@NitpickingNerds that's good :'>

[@NitpickingNerds]

@@agneseschen8550 you are good 😊

[@wolfsack1064]

I agree with Beezy. Haymakers need to have immediate value.

[@crawdaddy2004]

I use Night’s Whisper in most of my black decks along with Painful Truths (when in 3+ colors). Before it got reprinted recently, I had bought, like, 12 copies of the original version.

[@CQCnotBLT]

Gonna fund the gameplay just to see Joe use the pointer stick to flick someone's Halimar Depths off the table

[@NitpickingNerds]

Banned for the our gameplay is Halimar Depths lol

[@bendiv7999]

That Thumbnail is perfect. And now let us all comment why Village rite is amazing

[@tinstreet_egg]

I love how excited you two stay about magic 😁 Thank you!

[@vanDaalstad]

I will warn people who want card draw in aristocrats to skip Grim Haruspex and any other card that wants Non-Token creatures to die. There are alternatives that get triggered for any death, including tokens, like Dark Prophecy and Lili Dreadhorde General

[@tommullings9912]

Easily top 5 thumbnails of all time.

[@yannickcollin8542]

Today is my 50th birthday! Spending quality time watching you videos, only discovered you guys a few weeks ago, and been binge watching your stuff, I am also an heretic, I like Grave Titans and Blightsteel golem!!!

[@erenjager4698]

I understand the village rites grading but I just have to say it's so good in my alesha and marchesa deck.

[@bobbiechristine]

Can't wait for the gameplay guys ❤❤❤

[@Slaike93]

I think it depends by the context, Butcher of Malakir is the budget version of Dictate of Erebos or Grave Pact, and if your commander is Teysa Karlov it's very good

[@clrl936]

About getting wishclaw talisman back... use Aminatou. You can blink permanents on your oponnent's side of the field and return them to the OWNERS control.

[@aaroncorsini6165]

Village rites works in some decks really good

[@TheeMasterSword]

Wow that's wild. I paused this at Shirekmaw to play a commander (Prosper) game over webcam which I won with Revel in Riches and then I unpaused after the game and it was the next card. Kinda Twilight Zone

[@crawdaddy2004]

I think you should have said, about Grave Titan, “It’s so bad that it gets its own grade, ‘G’, for Grave Titan.”

[@SickOfItAll1988]

In my Shirei, Caretaker deck, I play both Black Market and Revel in Riches. Since I'm saccing a ton of creatures each turn, I often get double Markets price the next turn. Since the deck is hugely impaired by boardwipes I play Revel. People dont usually wipe when it's on the board since that would let me win, also it has great synergies with my Plunderer

[@golgariguy]

Ok guys, I usually agree on 90% of your grades but F to Village Rites is just wrong. It's at least a B and I'll die on this hill!! :)

[@Binbounty09]

Gravy titan and the tokens he makes are good targets for village rites effects, or saving the titan from being exiled as a response. Than using Phyrexian Rec get him back to hand to recast, creating more tokens to fuel your engines, its literally free realestate. I dont think u guys really understand what Black wants to do. These cards play extremely well into a reanimation playstyle and creatre synergy for many other cards and effects.

[@codelicious6590]

Oh my God a Phyrexian Eldrazi titan?!?! That would be amazing!!! Also, insta-ban.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Sounds very scary

[@TheButlerofdeath]

Personally I think if you're gonna play dark confidant, play ruin raider instead, yes it's one more mana and needs an attack trigger, but you get the draw on end step. Plus if you're playing a low cmc deck, you've got enough low cmc creatures where it won't hurt you, and the ability will trigger because you probably have a turn 1/2 creature. I don't think ruin raider is being slept on but I do think it's unappreciated

[@mauriciored9813]

Ruin Raider is so underrated, great card on aggresive low CMC decks

[@baconsir1159]

Back when Deadly Rollick was $12 lol, glad yall convinced me to pick it up.

[@colink638]

Black Market is A+ in my Yawgmoth deck with Undyers :p .... torment to failfire for 100 :p

[@everythingisbizzaaaaaro3694]

Your wall looks so blank now. However, I do like the magic colored shelves. In order, too.

[@dylansturm8065]

Op agent is in my Maralen the mornsong deck. It's amazing!

[@charyou3167]

I am so ready to argue in the comments with anyone defending Grave Titan.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Get em, char!

[@obadijahparks]

Black! The funnest to play with!...

[@screamorox12345]

Love when you talk about cards based on the color pie

[@Hobbes2718]

Yawg is insane, draw, sac, and removal that kills indestructible on ONE card with a bonus of a discard and proliferate outlet. F*ckin bonkers. Eveyone is like him or Krk, and its like mana generation or draw. I guess if your stacked with tutors then krk becomes better but if you want a single card that can change the game, yawg is the way to go.

[@petermullins10]

Revel in riches in prosper, tome bound is awesome. It’s such a quirky win con nobody can be mad.

[@KevinYuMusic1]

Yawgmoth does a weird impression of the great henge now that I think of it

[@shawnboyce7439]

I have Revel in Riches in my Prosper deck and have won with it many times. But i understand that not everyone is playing Prosper. In my deck Revel in riches is a win con and is A+

[@Decapotator]

My favorite Nitpicking Nerds personalities on the gameplay series?!? Finally disclaimer guy will come back from vacation!

[@NitpickingNerds]

He is busy with his modelling career

[@mattiavenier3898]

Sorry guys but what is your thought between Liliana Dreadhorde General vs Moldervine Reclamation? I know it is a weird comparison but I did have Liliana in my Meren deck (mostly for the passive draw ability) but ofc as soon as she hits the field she becomes such a big target and draws so many attacks / removal whilst moldervine is there for the draw effect as well and often it just flies under the radar and gets left alone and costs 1 mana less yeah ofc it doesn not have all other good abilities that liliana offers for just one mana more but it has been proven really hard (unless already ahead) to keep liliana on the field to your next turn for a second activation so usually ends up being pay 6 create a zombie draw a card. Would you still think Liliana is worth running over moldervine reclamation? Ps Grave Titan and Phyrexian Arena are not in my deck ... just wanted to make you guys proud 😂

[@trumpetperson11]

10:30 Tbf, that game was kinda a mess. There were like 6 different piles of cards in the middle of the table. But it was still hilarious, especially with you trying to lead him into playing the tutor.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I'm the joker, baby!

[@PawzBrownMTG]

Joe Cherries 🍒 putting one cherry on top 😆. Great video guys

[@adambaptiste5345]

Low key stumbled upon this channel and am fastly loving the content

[@PhoenicopterusR]

I would argue that Black Market and Revel in Riches should at least be the same grade. Revel is undoubtedly more versatile and safe, but Market's trigger on ANY creature death puts you much further ahead. Seems like a fairly even trade-off to me.

[@NewOldEBM]

I've got Revel in my Kardur deck because you know, goad, it's pretty aiight in any black-containing combat-ie decks. Eye Tyrant, Kardur, Thantis, Daxos (?)

[@comradelarry2558]

I tend to play Opposition Agent proactively, but I do play at a bit of a higher power group where tutors and fetches are common. It's a great hate piece to draw removal. One of those cards that gets better as the power level rises.

[@codelicious6590]

I love you guys!! As much as I can without being weird.

[@Vtrjfrost]

Village Rites is far from an F. Target a creature that's already dying or is being targeted for removal. Great for dying matters triggers too.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I mean you have to set it up. The card is just not going to be that great overall.

[@Vtrjfrost]

@@NitpickingNerds you have to set up a single creature in a creature deck. Lol. It's like saying don't play spells because you have to set up mana and play lands. The spell isn't magical christmas land setup.

[@NitpickingNerds]

@@Vtrjfrost It is required to have a creature that wants to be saced if you don’t have that then the card is kinda dead or in-optimal at best.

[@Vtrjfrost]

@Nitpicking Nerds if the creature is getting targeted for removal then you get value by removing it on your own terms.. my point being the card ain't an F. Sometimes it seems like you grade sometimes on shock factor. If you don't want the creature to be sac'd you shouldn't be playing village rites. But that also doesn't mean it's F tier overall.

[@erocksemler]

Not related to this video, but I just felt the pain of having a Krosan Grip in my hand instead of a Nature’s Claim. The one mana cost would have been very relevant, while split second… not so much since I couldn’t cast it when I needed it!

[@mightyone3737]

I cut Fleshbag for Savra, but I run 3 other versions of the effect, and Sheoldred, and targeted removal on legs (or, uh, snake?). I feel like running the 3rd and 4th of that creature is fine if the deck actively wants this out. About Sheoldred does enough depending on your deck, if your deck revolves around both of those things, and you can keep her out (or can expect to put her back out enough times that she'll stick). She's not as good as Reanimate if all you want is to reanimate a creature, that's not what she does. In my case, Meren likes having it around, in part as a back up recursion engine, but it also is a big buff if I can play 2 Plague Crafters per turn, and Sheoldred then forces them to sac another creature on their own turn, few people will have much of a board left. Magical christmas land, but Meren can rebuild if disrupted, and the constant barrage of death effects makes it hard for anyone else to generate their own board. I do not run Butcher of Malakir though, it seems even clunkier than Sheoldred. Effects that 'prune' the opponent's board are good, but you need a certain density of them, and you probably want some targeted removal to back it up. Visara was what I settled on as my sniper, to just deal with problems that are preventing me from comboing, and that I can't force them to sac. The key edge she had was that she didn't need to be recurred, and I found I didn't mind recurring Ravenous Chupacabra repeatedly, especially if I wasn't drawing terribly well. The deck is actually a combo deck, but it uses control to keep from dying long enough to combo off via Haakon. Yawgmoth though, that might be a good addition actually, even if it will eat up my creatures. Opposition Agent is a card that is a magic bullet vs certain decks, those decks just scoop if they don't have a crapton of removal around, and they need it to be instant generally. I like tutor driven decks, so I feel like it's a nasty card, but I also feel like people a

[@kjellegilhustad2095]

This is your best serie.

[@Kbaby521]

Yagmoth's not up there because it's a) relatively new and b) freaking expensive.

[@workyoutube7798]

War journal entry: IT deleted one of the company's critical inboxes today. Just needed to cast shade at their constant incompetence. So when we doing that kickstarter gaming thing together guys? I am 125% D-O-W-N!

[@collingriffen2492]

I put revel in riches in my planar portal deck. It is easy to get ten tokens out before ever playing the card. They have one turn to answer it or it's game.

[@tacoedits3302]

Wishclaw Talisman is a card I play only because I enjoy helping people play more magic

[@ashernichols1117]

I will say that black market and revel in riches are pretty good in my Ob Nixilis, Unshackled decksz

[@djbisson9819]

Oh man NN Kickstarter can’t wait! Game play incoming! Man do I wanna see BZs Geo deck something fierce as well as Joes Tibalt deck those are the two I’m most excited to see play.

[@crawdaddy2004]

My 1v1 Grixis Artifact deck runs the 3 diamonds, but that’s because I think it runs all but one or two 2-mana rocks - 3 signets, 3 talismans, Mind Stone, Everflowing Chalice; all of the mana reducers…

[@jamesgratz4771]

Deadly rollick is super cool. Those free instants were busted lol

[@kylehorvath9295]

If I had a dollar for everytime Joe said if you care about zombies/zombie tribal.

[@kritique777]

In Garruk's Wake is insane in Jodah. At least it feels insane. Maybe I'm wrong.

[@noobtuber10]

Scheming sym is a vampiric tutor for Anje falkenwrath

[@d33f4ult5]

Gotta disagree with Black Market. In an aristocrats deck it just goes nuts for mana

[@uphillwalrus5164]

Wishclaw Talisman is good at high power levels when you use it to tutor for your wincon before your opponent can activate it. Other than that it’s eh

[@elipetrou9308]

Yeah I run it as a budget extra tutor

[@RVS789]

Hahaha! That video thumbnail. 👍

[@NitpickingNerds]

Isn't it ridiculous?? 😂

[@abderianagelast7868]

Funnily enough, I think I actually overplay Phex Rec. Like, I put it in every single black deck I own, but sometimes I just don't get creatures into my graveyard, or cards like Alesha are just better at reanimation and I have Phex Rec as a backup to get my main reanimation pieces back. I think it might be the closest thing I have to a pet card, except for maybe Guttersnipe. But even then, I hardly ever use Guttersnipe anymore, so maybe Phex Rec IS my pet card lol Also, I took Deadly Rollick out of my Otrimi Homicidal Seclusion deck because it wasn't a creature. I get that it's really good, but I wanted to focus on dumb mutate abilities and only ever having one creature on the battlefield whenever I can help it.

[@durakku]

I adore Phyrexian Reclamation. My playgroup dreads that hitting the board because they know they'll never be able to permanently kill anything until they deal with it

[@DuctusCysticus]

Scheming symmetry is amazing in the Anowon Rogue deck.

[@crawdaddy2004]

Wishclaw Talisman is in my Aminatou deck, because she can blink permanents you OWN.

[@MrSamthefan]

Would y'all consider making a staples graded spreadsheet like you did for every commander? Would be an incredible resource for new players

[@jamesgratz4771]

Butcher of Malakir is cool from a flavor standpoint. But I mean yeah a seven drop should have more going for it. It’s a monster in one v one modern depending on the deck

[@frankburning]

Villis is soo good 😆 started a turn only able to tap for 1 black mana and won the game because villis let me draw soo many cards for krrik

[@PhantomMarth]

Aminatou to flicker the Wishclaw. Its a staple. Hands down best tutor in Aminatou Flicker deck (*Lower Power Build*)

[@user-fd2co5xr7k]

Scheming symmetry would be good in an Anowon mill deck! Or any mill deck for that matter

[@dylansturm8065]

It's in my maralen mornsong deck!

[@user-fd2co5xr7k]

@@dylansturm8065 how do you get the card that you tutored for when maralen is on the board?

[@mathieubrebouillet714]

I think price and precon may influence the % of a card.

[@kingginger3335]

Scheming Symmetry plus Op Agent

[@brendans1983]

Night's Whisper a C and Fallen Rites an F? Aaaaaaalrighty then

[@22freedom33]

I feel that out of all mono colors black has the most "combo I win" cards, sure blue has some but mostly they generate infinite mana or draw, black is like "if you don't have an answer I win"

[@Dracomandriuthus]

Not *really*. There's a few combos in black that can win you the game, but most of the *best* win the game cards are in red or blue. You notice the lack of win conditions pretty hard if you build a monoblack deck. Most crutch on either Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Aetherflux Reservoir, Ashnod's Altar, or Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo.

[@abbygaleforcewind]

Oof. Was Yawgmoth actually that cheap back then? He's part of a good combo deck in Modern he's over fifty bucks now.

[@imaqt3.14]

Damn you guys have opened up a lot to Grave Titan. Old Nitpicking Nerds would;ve given it an F.

[@jacesaints4117]

I use scheming Symmetry for my Mill-Deck to fool my opponent xD

[@bch9124]

I wanted to mention this again that your master volume is about 25% lower than other KZbin videos and the commercials that run before, during, and after your videos. If you could boost it, we who are hard of hearing would appreciate it!

[@BornFromEmbers]

Me: I think I’ll make a Toshiro Umezawa deck Nitpicking Nerds: *MAKES BLACK STAPLES VIDEO* Me: GET OUT OF MY HEAD

[@markdziamski4859]

I know this is an old video but where does The Meathook Massacre fall on this grading?

[@marsimoto8980]

You guys are awesome

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thanks Marsi!

[@jordanvaughan768]

You guys are the best!

[@darksteelmenace595]

For once I agree with your ratings, except for village rites, that card is a C, many decks can use it and in the worst case you just play it in response to a removal spell.

[@timtauber5557]

3 cmc tutors to hand are playable, especially in combo decks

[@zweis]

Village Rites is Night Whisper and Sign in Blood at 1 mana??

[@bryanpmcgowan]

That thumbnail made me feel feelings

[@saltinegaming9348]

Opposition agent is easily A tier. I don’t know what you guys are on. Everyone plays tutors and I’ve seen it shut down entire games. The clunkiness is the only thing keeping it from S tier.

[@juanjon02]

Wow the 17th of August is my birthday - how did you all know i feel so honored.

[@tinstreet_egg]

Happy Birthday for then!