WHAT'S THE BEST CREATURE IN cEDH? - The Play To Win Podcast

This week, Cam and Dylan talk about the to 10 creatures in the 99 for cEDH!
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[@anthonybuck4864]

I put a Gemstone Cavern in my stax deck for the dream to Dark Ritual into Opposition Agent on the 1st players fetchland.. hasn't happened yet, but one day

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

And when it does, it'll be amazing

[@PRrrr_neutral]

One day

[@Tw0diefour]

I had the utmost pleasure of doing this to a friend of mine, and yes it is hysterically fun. Turn one land, crypt pass, flashed in opo on his turn 1 attempt to crack a fetch. Felt douchy but had to do it for the lols, and at the same time we all laughed at it so yeah

[@duncanwalla7014]

So evil. So beautiful

[@thechicken5141]

I did it ones it was beautiful

[@notjohn2774]

I'd love to see you talk about color archetypes in cedh and how powerful colors are on their own or as support colors etc

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

Love the idea!

[@gaddywalls8092]

@@PlaytoWinMTG wats up play to win mtg.

[@jadegrace1312]

@@gaddywalls8092 I assume they're playing to win...

[@egoish6762]

Thats a good topic, i think the interaction between the colours and options are what makes blue farm so highly played. The red vs green ramp is interesting, the blue draw vs black draw is another topic, the blue vs white stax is something to consider, could probably do a whole podcast on tutors for different colours, it's a really deep topic.

[@toctheyounger]

Man, so hilarious. I totally thought I had the top 2 in ragavan and dockside purely because I forgot thoracle was even a creature. That's how little the body matters 😂

[@xtigerbotjoe]

As someone who watches and listens while working, I'd def appreciate card images on the screen so I can peak when I don't know the full text of the card. And leaving them on the screen for longer. Basically the whole time you're talking about the card, unless a new card pops up in the discussion. Love the podcast and looking forward to more!

[@duncanwalla7014]

Please more podcast. I love your show and love the cast.

[@titak7755]

Otawara and Boseiju are important to consider with Grand Abolisher. While Boseiju can't hit creatures, it can if that play has Ashaya (something GW Selvala has to watch out for)

[@jadegrace1312]

In general, it can also hit other cards that could be combo pieces that are being protected by the Grand Abolisher

[@KuyaChris633]

One notable thing about Opp Agent that wasn’t mentioned is if you flash in response to an opponent attempting to search, you get to look at their hand (as well as morphs or foretell cards) which further helps navigating your own decisions.

[@imsolikecool]

Can’t believe they missed out multi-format all-star storm crow

[@Solonarv]

21:30 Grand Abolisher doesn't stop abilities of cards in zones other than the battlefield, so for example you can still channel a Twinshot Sniper or cycle a Gempalm Incinerator to remove the GA. There are also a few morph creatures with an unmorph trigger that can remove the GA, but AFAIK nobody plays those. Twinshot Sniper does see play in Magda though, which could come up.

[@mothbag]

Haven't checked the list in a minute but I think Twinshot also sees play in Rocco still to kill arena rector. Still monir at the end of the day

[@stepanmovsesian6299]

Fun fact: 4 mana Teferi stops Grand Abolisher by phasing it out.

[@TheFu3lman]

Kinda surprised the Kitten didn't make at least honorable mention. Lately, all I've had to do is resolve it and the table usually just insta-scoops.

[@marlonlam6959]

So happy yall are doing this. Been having a shit week. Now I have even more of you guys to look forward to 😂. Thanks guys.

[@francoispelletier4940]

Hang in there dude

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

Sorry your weeks been lame!!! Glad you’re diggin the content

[@Jay15199]

Hopefully you keep this going for all the other card types.

[@jorjor500]

Niv Mizzet is another Cedh deck that probably wouldn’t exist without dockside. Many lists run cards like goblin Matron exclusively to tutor for dockside to make the colored mana needed.

[@StrataGames]

Serra Angel is in my top 10. I was told by Cam that I'm maybe not wrong

[@Gentraf]

In fact there was a 3mv white dockside extortionist with flash that was legal in edh, but first things first, it was not white but blue, second, it was not dockside extortionist but hullbreacher, and third, it was banned.

[@Maverickstyg]

Haven't built a cEDH deck yet, but I've been looking into it and this video and your 7&1/2 steps vid have been invaluable

[@RitzyJ]

Honorable mention wiffs: Notion thief, Ragavan nimble pilferer (could be a commander so I can see it being left off I guess), phyrexian metamorph (better than phantasmal image purely), and the kitten (displacer kitten). Updated list following Lotr lol: Add orchish bowmasters and drop opp, drop birds and add delighted halfling imo. Honorable mention is Latho.

[@DaxVerus]

Greens power is eventually that if everyone plays green dockside gets turned off more often. It's not exactly a true power but that's where green can shine.

[@Envykhan]

I feel like protean hulk should be at least an honourable mention. The card is so good and it sets up the win so easily

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

if flash were legal, it certainly would be

[@Benstra93]

Hey Cam and Dylan, love the new content (as well as the games!). I would be interested in some information in how to get a crack at creating your own competitive deck and/or how to make your commander deck competitive. I know it has some cross-over with this episode as well as the getting into cEDH one but I still think it would be a good topic. Cheers! Daan

[@johnweinhandl8890]

Cam needs headphones let’s make this podcast more official!

[@thatglockguy21]

I liked this format a lot. I'd be interested in one for your top 5 or 10 deck lists and why!

[@FullFatMayo1]

Archon of Emeria and Collector Ouphe would be in my top 10.

[@Lodesify]

Love this more podcasts please 🥰.

[@SackofDooDoo]

22:40 That's fascinating; when I did Thecommandzone's mulligan exercise, I found myself choosing Drannith as one of my "god hand" keeps (in my monowhite deck), as it's just that reliable of a card.

[@samuelbeall439]

The fact that you 2 switched places, my mind is like it's Dylan-Cam, Cam-Dylan, no wait, ahhhhhhh. And then I was ok.

[@thomasnoonan2039]

Hadn't noticed the lack of impactful green creatures till you said it, but that's true!

[@benjaminking3677]

Good podcast! Seems like a solid list. If I had to edit it, you could maybe argue deathrite shaman over BoP but it’s just so generically good. Something I’ve thought about Thassa’s Oracle is I do think it’s good currently. With the emphasis on currently. I think it will eventually get outpaced when we get something new that breaks the format. But right now we are indeed in a Thoracle world.

[@Flip4Crypt]

Holy shit, another play to win podcast drop?!? Fuck yeah!

[@noahparker9882]

I usually get walking ballista from ranger captain of eos. I got a degenerate heliod deck since I found out how many great white cards are in the format. Ranger captain protecting my combo has been so perfect.

[@mothbag]

Part of me wanted to say Thalia could be at least an honourable mention but jeez the format has really power crept with creatures these past few years.

[@kennethpolsky8369]

I feel like archon of emeria beats out Thalia now a days

[@mothbag]

True, I’ve found myself cutting her from lists that don’t run tymna

[@mtgtinfoilthaumaturge1102]

The reason rograhk is the best creature body is because of the manipulation potential. And I’m not talking about just the polymorph. I’m talking about the hullbreaker lines, the cloudstone curio lines, the equilibrium lines, the cryptolith rite, druids repository, guild artisan, honor worn shaku, relic of legends, and other ramp lines, along with the sac ritual lines. It’s insane how much rograhk really does.

[@AresVishnu]

Please do a top 10 most powerful CEDH commanders. We would love that.

[@UVAFoozle]

1. Partner pair 2. Partner pair 3. Partner pair...

[@SackofDooDoo]

6:41 I see what you did there, Dylan. Bravo.

[@AndrewWoodford]

Dang is it me or does he seem like a better Magic Player with the Headphones on?

[@B1gBingus]

Just wanted to say that Cabal pit can also deal with grand abolisher which is why I love it so much.

[@smack80]

ranger captain also gets walking ballista in Heliod

[@lavandereisly4194]

I can't believe it took you 47 minutes to just say "Dockside Extortionist"

[@joskajiri]

"shuffle your creature.. nope" while talking about ranger, yep i felt that 💖 yersterday i was casting snap and said "casting brainfreeze" coz i had it in a hand and went facepalming for years

[@commanderpower99]

Hey guys, great content as always!! One thing.. why is the camera moving? You guys not using a tripod :P

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

Lol ya we got new cameras that track and move a little bit. Still not sure if I hate it or love it

[@andrewrobles8814]

That blue-eye toon dragon goes unfathomably hard

[@scorcher267]

Podcast was great :D, the moving camera was a little nauseating but the content rocked

[@ecclesiaandune687]

this makes me realise how good white creatures are tbh - just that i guess it doesn't have it's own commanders that are that competitive enough perhaps? or just the lack of 'burst' mana from red or card draw black has or the ability to interact on the stack blue has holds it back - which are really important in cedh

[@garthmichel]

Not sure if you've done this before, but I'd really like to see a top list of cEDH creature decks. Any deck where the main wincon is actually winning through creature damage, and not necessarily leaning on a combo to win, like a elf-ball deck or something

[@shawnosnap3462]

With Opp agent, you basically take what you can get with it. In cedh, if your holding up mana for opp agent, take what you can get any spot is worth it imo unless you have other plays.

[@willmatson3103]

Touch the Spirit Realm (and other channel cards, e.g. Moonsnare Prototype) also get around Grand Abolisher.

[@KirkulesMagicTheGalavanting]

Other Grand Abolisher answers, Cabal Pit, Barbarian Ring, Ifnir deadlands, and Mouth of Ronom

[@mauriziocaracas2949]

I'm surprised you didn't mention that opposition agent also lets you see that players hand, since you control them when searching you can also do anything they can while searching, like looking at your own hand. loved the podcast by the way

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

very relevant and actually comes up in our upcoming gameplay that i'm editing right now haha

[@jakehenry6839]

Best oppo agent i ever had was the opponent sacd a protean hulk, and i flashed the oppo in repsonse. Best part was my oppo was on top of the deck and i had a sensei's diving top. I knew ut was there but it was still a cool line

[@Ianova]

Maralen the Mornsong is a fetchable stax lock with Oppo agent through protean Hulk. Not sure how valid it is, but it feels good

[@T_v_W2]

That posibility storm + dran scenario came up like 2 weeks ago with my krark saka deck 😂 24:37

[@M3XYPZ]

Welcome to the comments section, where we talk about the contents of the Play to Win cEDH podcast, I'm CodeDiCode!

[@M3XYPZ]

Is the slight camera movement made in post or is it from the table's vibration? either way, its nice

[@VanHornJosh]

LOVE this video style guys *chefs kiss* 🤌

[@savior117]

Grand abolisher can phase back in after my teferi gets rid of him at instant speed. Dont expect a lot of people to play it but I've always felt good with him in play.

[@matthewbell4897]

Hey Cam I like your shirt :)

[@JohnDoe-vc5qb]

Shure headset, respect my g. AND a toon dragon shirt!? Damn dude is drippy.

[@hawkicelol]

Simian even has synergy with pod decks being a 3 cmc able to find felidar and others goodies

[@GTIBROS]

Would love too see strongest combo of something along those lines

[@NewSchoolPOKERstrat]

It’s thoracle consult. Another video P2W doesn’t have to do.. I’m on a roll and you are all welcome;)

[@FigNewton911]

My buddies and I play cedh every now and then. Every single game the last 3 games of cedh we played a buddy turn one Op Agent vs me fetching. Every single time. I must be cursed. 😂🤷‍♂️

[@loganschwartz4790]

It's me, I'm this guy. Haha

[@Bennyjackson1]

Blows my mind how little decks play endurance

[@ladragaux470]

Everyone forgetting about touch the spirit realm. Another grand abolisher (temporary) solution.

[@mtgtinfoilthaumaturge1102]

Well that depends: if you mean as a commander it’s obviously inalla. If you mean overall as a creature body, rograhk

[@ingolf82]

I play Possibility storm with Dranneth in my Winota deck. it's not quite cEDH, but it's very high power. I lack all the super fast rocks to get Winota out early to get it to cEDH, but its ok, noone in my playgroup plays cEDH yet, high power is just fine.

[@vansinkalliandrios8997]

Yugi, my boy! It took me until 42:41 into this video to realize Dylan has a fucking toon Blue-Eyes on his shirt!!!!

[@thatguycam1989]

I also really like ruthless technomancer. I suppose it's not ubiquitous, but it has proven to be quite a bit better in Korvold than Temur Sabertooth.

[@frankdetank9126]

Thanks for the video! Have you ever considered making a best enchantress deck in cEDH video?

[@NewSchoolPOKERstrat]

It’s Sythis. There you go guys I took care of that video for you to free up some time to get onto the next one ;)

[@frankdetank9126]

@@NewSchoolPOKERstrat lol. I mean, probably. But I'd like to see the gameplay. Also, Light-Paws can be pretty gross.

[@paulomalley3211]

I’m shocked to not see spellseeker here, I can see why as it’s easily interacted with but still it is one of the easiest things to make a one card wincon with very little damage to your other win conditions in stuff like inalla or even a white addition to grixis which with tymna kraum running wild is kind of incredible

[@PubStompMTG]

If I were ever to fix thassas oracle, I would give it a small sentence to add. "Your devotion can't be zero."

[@aaronupward]

Your devotion will never be below 2 with Oracle as it has 2 blue pips in its own casting cost

[@PubStompMTG]

@@aaronupward It's more for a point if someone removes Thassa's oracle on the trigger, it will fizzle because your devotion wouldn't be 2 anymore. Just a layer to make it a little more balanced.

[@xOptoger]

I really dont know why they put "Less than or equal" on a 2 mana card that says win the game, "Less than" would have been fine.

[@theodorealkro3583]

If you're really desperate, you can activate diving witch naming thoracle, and hope it's not in the top six.

[@toms1782]

Maybe not cedh but I love Baleful Strix for any deck playing those colors.

[@Mynamedoesntreallyfi]

Do people play torpor orb in cedh? Seems like a good answer to a lot of things like thoracle, dockside and ranger captain.

[@carettcake8752]

I’d be interested in seeing a top 10 sorceries lol

[@christianroberts1121]

I think a top 10 non-partner, and a top 10 partner cmdr (but individually, not a partner pairing) would be a good topic

[@thatguycam1989]

I'm strongly considering putting essence warden into Korvold.

[@flniggl5016]

i would switch places of archivist and oppo agent. In all my decks which have both colours i would opt for archivist over oppo. Sometimes you want to keep mana open for oppo and nobody tutors. The archivist you simply flash in

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

you could flash in oppo too

[@flniggl5016]

@@PlaytoWinMTG but then you aren't sniping the tutors. Than it is just a stax piece. It looses alot of its power imo

[@batboibob4910]

I think deathrite and bop are pretty close

[@jacksonb4444]

I think theres a good argument for deathrite shaman vs bop

[@jancerny3385]

I'm pretty sure cabal pit can stop grand abolisher once you have threshold

[@LinksCow1]

Spot on list. The only thing I would add is Deathrite Shaman as at least an honorable mention.

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

in other formats I would totally agree, but in cedh, I put deathrite a bit lower since the lifegain/loss isn't as relevant

[@LinksCow1]

@@PlaytoWinMTG That’s fair. Being restricted to only G/B/x decks also makes it less played than in other formats. Still, BoP that’s also grave hate feels pretty good.

[@irt3hsaint]

Our meta has a Selvala bro storm and Krrik that are absolute powerhouses, so Gilded Drake is so gas at shutting off those decks

[@kauwgomboom]

I'm quite sure I would have put Collector Ouphe above Duathi at least.

[@micahlaremore8224]

I would put ledger shredder over spirit guide personally. Still great video.

[@web_buddy3860]

i think the top cedh card is Eruth, Tormented Phrophet. (is not but is my favorite commander by far)

[@colinstaub455]

What’re the deck boxes that I see that display the commander in the background of videos?

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

unrival 3d boxes! (They are currently making some more ptw custom deckboxes as w speak)

[@benhepburn9782]

Gilded Drake is great with sword of hearth and home

[@summerof893]

Probably between dranith dockside and bowmaster

[@egoish6762]

I'm going to watch it all but at zero seconds in i'm calling dockside

[@mthlay15]

40:06 big reveal. Drum roll included

[@egoish6762]

Was a good cast to be fair, it could have been a top 20 cause there are a lot of generally good creatures or very powerful creatures in certain decks that were left out. Mindcensor in sans black Notion thief does a lot of work Collector ouphe is such massive roadblock for sans green Ragavan feels a bit left out for all he does Ledger shredder and or darcy feel like they could be in there but obviously leaning toards stormy decks My biggest surprise was that bop beat our drs

[@connormraz6628]

maybe I'm biased because I play Najeela but I'd say elvish spirit guide is just as good as simian.

[@mimiklureaegis9906]

“Dockside should be a white card…” As a joke I use, what’s a white deck’s favorite condiment? Ketchup. 😆

[@josephbienek4504]

Thought Allosaurus Sh. Would have gotten an honorable mention

[@PlaytoWinMTG]

if we were to include one more honorable mention, allosaurus might get it, but its just not as universally playable as the others

[@commanderpower99]

Question for you guys: With so many good creatures in the format, why do you think we don't we see Fire Covenant more often? I feel like people have moved away from it and then get hosed by good stax creatures.

[@joshkay1530]

I think in the many turbo-naus decks specifically in black-red-whatever (Blue Farm, RogSi, Kess, etc.), Fire Covenant is significantly worse than in a vacuum. They're directly in competition for the same resource (your life), and while Fire covenant can eliminate any of the cards stopping you from winning or otherwise benefiting your opponents, considering the high toughness most stax pieces have (drannith, archon, oophe), fire covenant means your ad naus is 2-3 cards less per creature removed. If you're in the position where you need to remove 3+ stax pieces (i.e. active winnota), fire covenant becomes a better answer than the typical bounces/bolt/paths, but more often than not if you need to remove that many creatures its either to set up an ad naus or to prevent a win.

[@Dragynstone1202]

What about Abrade-ing the bird?

[@unwucht1529]

What's the best Creature in cEDH - and why is it Dockside Extortionist?

[@MrSonictheOtter]

1. Dockside Extortionist 2. Thassa's Oracle Will I be surprised???

[@hesnotbad9045]

I forgot thoracle was a creature. To me it’s usually a sorcery that reads “you win the game”

[@brushwagg7735]

The sorcery wouldn’t add 2 devotion. The fact that it’s a creature makes it a much better sorcery.

[@hesnotbad9045]

@@brushwagg7735 i understand how to card works, it’s just almost never relevant that it’s a creature

[@brushwagg7735]

@@hesnotbad9045 I mean, interacting with it on the board is usually pointless. But the typing is frequently relevant because fierce guardianship and pact of negation won’t touch it. I just meant to point out how it’s functionally a sorcery but almost strictly better because it’s not a sorcery. I just think it’s funny.

[@paradoxicalsg3522]

That camera is tripping me out man. Is it rocking around because it was loose or is it autofocusing on any exaggerated movements? Edit: nvm found you answered somebody else way way down in the comments that it tracks. For what it’s worth it’s a neat effect for emphasis (on like intros or stuff) but I’m not sure I like it running for a whole podcast

[@raulluna5845]

Sick shirt Dylan tho

[@DctrJimbo]

26:15 Well the Yugioh equivalent of Rhystic Study is banned because you can play it on turn 0. Makes sense