Ranking the Best Finishers in Commander | Commander Clash Podcast 68

[@MTGGoldfishCommander]

Full rankings here: i.imgur.com/HLOsnwS.png

[@Kryptnyt]

I always think that this'll be the week they actually bring up a tier list to arrange things upon

[@andyspendlove1019]

I mean, they create one for the thumbnail that’s actually filled in with their real picks! But they just…. don’t share it anywhere??

[@narkfly]

They could easily just put it up at the end of the video.

[@hahahafunniness]

Probably has something to do with not being able to handle the comments/hate of random people on the internet. These nerds are soft af

[@bye1551]

@@hahahafunniness those be fighting words for an anonymous, random generated looking ass name with no internet footprint lmao And before you say "WeLl So ArE yOu" I'm not the one who criticised people for putting themselves on the internet.

[@jordangroblewsky2087]

@@andyspendlove1019 they probably share it on discord or something while they're recording the episode, is my guess. Or Tomer makes it just for the thumbnails.

[@pizzaguy8461]

And then you learn that you can cast Akroma's will off of Sunforger

[@Spaced92]

jesus

[@okgut2033]

What i like about akromas will: - only very few options to get around it (counterspells, farewell, sac) - lifelink and vigilance helps on crackback - protection helps on getting to the player - doublestrike is a damage buff most of times - even only one side will save you or can win you the game - instandspeed cause ofc.

[@Jidayun]

"Is Akromas Will better than Craterhoof?" If you play Selesnya, you don't have to choose 😎

[@antarath517]

Even better, just do WUBRG

[@colebengston3963]

Or moonshaker cavalry :D

[@PrimeShifter]

Lol Phil you had me looking for a bug 🐛 🤣 😂

[@fabiogliosci8305]

L

[@bouncingbeebles]

It's the "most replayed" part of the video 😂

[@Kopekemaster]

I came here to look for the bug Phil was talking about, did anyone see it? I'm not seeing anything. Edit: also Gary is ABSOLUTELY an incredible wincon. It's almost too easy. Cast it, sacrifice it, reanimate it, sac it again, recur it, cast it again, etc. Once you have a boardstate you can do a ton of (potentially fatal) damage.

[@maxrichard2244]

43:14 the pure look of horror on Phil's face 😂😂

[@wittyzitty6995]

As a suggestion, would it be possible to have an ongoing tier list displayed as the video progresses, with a row for each tier and the card images in the rows? That way it would be much easier to make comparisons as more and more cards are added.

[@j.w.213]

they have it in the thumbnal but don't do it in the video like wtf

[@punkypinko2965]

I agree something like that would be helpful, if it were clear, but I like it the way it is. The ongoing tier list just takes up too much screen and the cards are too small to make sense of it all by the end.

[@rainmaker709]

Craterhoof Behemoth, Akroma's Will, and Cyclonic Rift are things that turn a threatening board state into a lethal board state. Rise Of The Dark Realms, Tooth and Nail, Blatant Thievery, Insurrection, Eerie Ultimatum, and Torment of Hellfire are things that turn a poor board state into a hopefully lethal board state. The difference is really in play style. Crim and Phil play more reactively and tend to not be the aggressor that is dictating the place of play. Tomer and Seth tend to be more proactive and are challenging the group to stop/control them. This is also a very good point to consider when you are building your deck. What kind of player are you? What is the end game for the deck you are trying to build? Identifying this will help you select finishers that are far less likely to be "dead" when you are trying to close out the game.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

Thing to note about craterhoof: you only need 5 1/1 tokens to kill someone with it. At 10, you can kill the whole board with 15 damage to spare

[@RyanEglitis]

Tooth, Torment, & Insurrection do it immediately though. And Craterhoof "combos" with a ham sandwich, which along with tutorability, is why it rides at the top.

[@theflintabletc]

Seeing Phil's reaction to Seth's fun suggestions for Tooth and Nail targets makes me want an episode for that.

[@MakeVarahHappen]

Rift isn't just mass evasion. It puts people back so many times you can basically operate unimpeded until you win the game. You guys should do stats on how often the rift player loses because it's not often.

[@Doomwarden13]

I have seen rift fail to win many many games. It's often telegraphed and/or used in desperation. Some decks like to replay their etb effects. Teferi's protection blows it out. Sacrifice decks can often cash in/mass reanimate. Some decks just don't play a ton of nonland permanents. Undoubtedly powerful, but you still have to secure a win.

[@Turokmaster11]

Surprised finale of Devastation isn't on the list. Good in go wide decks and go tall decks if you grab pathbreaker Ibex. Wins me the game most times I cast it

[@Jakerunio]

I know there aren't any cards that say they draw the game on them, but there ARE some actual unbounded infinite loops that draw the game in some situations. This is the tier list we need now: top 10 draw the game combos.

[@TheSpiritombsableye]

44:25, there is no spider. That looks to be a light's reflection on the glass furniture that resides behind Seth's right shoulder.

[@shayneweyker]

An episode on the tension between a deck's focus on tempo vs. value (and how that relates to power level) would be nice.

[@WushuTaz]

Fun video guys! When Tooth and Nail first came out during Mirrodin block the Standard combo was Mephidross Vampire + Triskelion. Good memories. Unrelated, I just heard about the pre-Modern format. That reminds me of the good old Extended format with its decks. Extended was my jam 20 years ago during Tempest, Urza, Odyssey, , Onslaught era.

[@13okto13]

My favorite finisher is probably Rite of Replication the amount of different cards that just win the game from it is insane and are probably already in whatever deck id run this in anyways. Five copies of Gary everyone dies. Five copies of kokusho five death triggers, if you copy it once you drain the table for 50. Even in General Tazri this thing wins off of like 3 to 4 different allies.

[@jayjayhooksch1]

Rite of replication is one of my favorite finishers too. I love that it's flexible enough to be cast as a decent 4 mana spell, and at 9 mana it can potentially win the game. It's especially good in my Anhelo deck; copied kicked spells are kicked. 10 good etbs is enough value to put you in a winning position even if it doesn't end the game on the spot.

[@salmonking007]

Your comment needs more attention. Rite of Replication is a gem, and I was expecting them to bring it up when talking about Gary and his requirement of pips. No one said anything D:

[@thoop6795]

Just hours ago I copied a triplicate titan. Powerful, fun, “Fair”, I love it.

[@troacctid]

Hey, Divine Intervention may not win you the game, but it absolutely FINISHES the game, so it is technically a finisher!

[@YourPalJamieEllis]

I'm just saying, find me a player who ticked Divine Intervention up all the way and that person is without fail grinning ear to ear while everyone else is grumbling and ready to choke them out. If that's not a win I don't know what is.

[@fozthepoet8274]

My favourite finisher is the 4 mana high risk high reward card, Bedlam. For those who don't know it's a 2rr enchantment that says "creatures can't block".

[@xylerianproductions7245]

As someone who started playing commander in 2013, who was a middle school Timmy gamer, it is heartbreaking to see genesis wave as a b tier. Rip literally every monogreen ramp deck having more boring finishers rn.

[@brandandixon3943]

Read the way they rate.

[@xylerianproductions7245]

@@brandandixon3943 oh I don’t deny the validity of its ranking it’s more so missing Gen wave x=35 on turn 17 commander lmao

[@dancarlson4982]

I use wave and exsanguinate in my Beledros deck. Just some good, wholesome finishers. I am playing them before T8, so it might not be the slow finish of yesteryear, but still a good time.

[@DanZigs79]

The red craterhoof is Surge to Victory. It requires a bit of setup but it’s bananas.

[@johnperseo1044]

Underrated gem here.

[@spliffi869]

I think cyclonic rift is completely fine and people who have a problem with it, should question themselves imo. It's exactly what I expect a blue board wipe to be and actually doesn't even kill anything besides tokens. just a good ol' bounce spell, which is in many situations way worse than the other colors board wipe options, because people can rebuild their stuff (yes, I'm looking at you farewell)

[@colbybastian17]

Cyc rift is absolutely a finisher. It gets played when you have a winning board state, and use it to clear the pieces your opponents have out. Not just creatures, but spells and other tools.

[@timbombadil4046]

Agreed. My Talrand deck basically aims to get head to head cast it or say Spectral Deluge, and then win as a control deck with an established board state. You really going to re-establish against a deck thats mostly interaction?

[@wchenful]

I think it's just a definitions issue. A "finisher" has to actually end the game. Cyclonic rift is always playable but doesn't guarantee a win when you cast it. A lot of the time, you'll cast it for value or to reset the board. For a cyclonic to end the game, it's highly reliant on other finishers already being on your board before you cast it. In comparison, resolving tooth and nail = insta game over >90% of the time if you run a combo.

[@Droid6689]

Cyclonic Rift doesn't clear spells

[@MrShinyObject]

Tomer mentioning his skull deck made me think it might be nice to hear everyone's favorite silly, non-mechanical themed commander decks, or themes they wish they could do but don't have the pieces or tools.

[@andrewgolubiewski3463]

Commander clash idea, one week play all S cards from the podcast rankings are banned. Lands, creatures, ramp, wrath's, finishers, etc. Every podcast's rankings included.

[@Ixidora]

Right! Bring it back to battle cruiser for an episode lol, I hope they do this at some point, I bet it'll end up being just massive splashy spells all over the place!

[@lokumo13]

Cyberdrive Awakener is one of my favorite wincons in my Tivit, Seller of Secrets deck, in addition to Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge, (not running Time Sieve or Expropriate because not into those wincons). I was running Rise and Shine until very recently but decided to switch it for Braids, Arisen Nightmare for some additional card draw.

[@marshall4439]

If you have never seen Cyclonic Rift win the game, you are lucky. This is a spell that when it gets casts, it acts as a board wipe + time walk.

[@duesexistat5016]

Came here from the podcast just to say that Skullstorm has won me the game several times. I play it in Grixis Anhelo. Let’s say you hit it with a copied Spelltwine where you target a wrath among other cards then Skullstorm hits an empty board. Or you cast it fair for 9 mana but you have multiple copy effects on the board and maybe the board just got wrathed the turn before. As you guys discussed it’s pretty good even if it doesn’t outright win.

[@ohno5559]

I like how Tooth and Nail is 9 mana to win the game and it gets B’s and C’s for being so crazy expensive, then later cards get A’s because they win the game if you put 20 mana into them

[@thetrinketmage]

What about Expropriate? I think it's blatant thievery but actually wins the game! It's so strong and can actually win even if you have nothing on board!

[@tyr_4941]

If Cyclonic Rift isn't a finisher then neither is Craterhoof. Craterhoof makes your boardstate lethal when it comes done by making you able to go over your opponents creatures and giving them a damage boost to more reliably have lethal, similar Cyclonic Rift takes your opponents creatures out of the equation by bouncing them making you able to attack for game. And even if you only kill off one person. You probably have gained enough advantage from that you can kill the remaining players on your next turn.

[@tonehunter8755]

Issue with blatant thievery compared to A tiers is that it's reliant on your opponents having something worth stealing and hoping that all 3 of your opponents have something good. Aroma's will and Craterhoof are purely reliant on your own board state

[@jasonhart543]

Aminatou's Augury into Mnemonic Deluge in Riku is the dumbest, most satisfying thing ever. Agreed Phil

[@lokidragon8725]

There is actually a nerfed version of Divine intervention, called Celestial convergence, it comes in with seven Omen counters and the person with the highest life total wins the game when the last is removed... But if two players have the same life total the game is a draw.

[@apjapki]

Aminatou's Augury is legit one of my favourite magic cards. You absolutely don't need to hit 8 targets to make it worth it in a spellslinger deck that can copy. Most times 4 cards puts you waaaay ahead of everyone else.

[@troacctid]

On the one hand, Eerie Ultimatum, which you cast for seven mana as a sorcery, and it immediately gives you a huge board advantage over your opponents. On the other hand, Cyclonic Rift, which you cast for seven mana as an instant, and it immediately gives you a huge board advantage over your opponents. The difference is Eerie Ultimatum does it by building up your board, while Cyclonic Rift does it by tearing down everyone else's board. Also, Eerie Ultimatum does it as a sorcery and gives everyone else a round to respond before you untap. Cyclonic Rift does it as an instant, allowing it to *be* the response, and allowing it to also wipe everything your opponents played during the round you played Cyclonic Rift, including cancelling all of their attacks against you that round. It's easy to wipe the board and come back from an opponent dumping a bunch of crap on the battlefield. It's a lot harder to be sent back to square one and have to build your board back up while the Cyc Rift player is still firing on all cylinders.

[@wchenful]

Why is insurrection an S at 8 mana while tooth and nail is a B at 9 (but in a much stronger ramp colour and also being less reliant on board state)?

[@brainpower45]

Interestingly, there is a Historic combo deck, which has drawing the game as a serious part of its best of 3 gameplan. www.reddit.com/r/spikes/comments/yotyi2/discussion_niambi_and_the_27_club_lines_and_primer/ Arena won't let you loop Niambe and glasspool mimic more than 27 times without forcing a draw, which "wins" by generating that many 1/1s and swinging for lethal on the next turn. Against control decks which just wipe the board, you intentionally force a draw in game 1, then play the rest of the match pre-sideboarded with counter magic.

[@emerson685]

Hot take: I like End-Raze Forerunners more than Craterhoof. Craterhoof will definitely kill someone, but a lot of times one person survives and then you're creatures are all tapped. The vigilance you get with the Forerunners is so valuable.

[@themonsoon117]

Multiple people will survive razerunners anytime craterhoof won’t win.

[@HRPufnsting]

Homeward part is a win condition for my Jon Irenicus deck, good card that needs a few reprints.

[@Zentenski]

Tomer, I vote in favour of Skull Storm! It's actually my primary finisher in my Jeleva deck. It's probably the card that's most often directly won me the game when I've cast it, and it's just delicious to cast for free of Jeleva and copy it a bunch of times. Plus, Jeleva tends to get blown up a lot, and even benefits from it, so it's just naturally synergistic there, too.

[@Zentenski]

Also, it's fantastic to hit with Mnemonic Deluge, since you cast the copies. That's a lot of skulls :D

[@HighlandersWorkshop]

Crim is right about Gary. Top-tier finisher due to his easy repeatability

[@discoviolenza1984]

It was actually Seth that won the game with divine intervention. I was just re-watching old school episodes with Jake in them and I think it was episode 4 or 5

[@tecapran]

I'm always shocked they don't break up these lists into videos for each color. More content, deeper dives into colors, themes, etc.

[@BigDiff7]

I use Cyberdrive Awakener as a part win con in my Attractions deck. I already run flicker effects in there anyways.

[@chubzoid]

I love skull storm! Don't underestimate it completely. It's really fun in Aminatou, since she draws a lot of aggro.

[@HRPufnsting]

I run it in my Jon Irenicus deck, your opponent can’t sac the creatures you give them so they have no choice but to give up their creatures or life.

[@jordangroblewsky2087]

I actually forgot about Skull Storm completely. I still have my copy in my Commander box, and now I gotta put it in something.

[@umpatte0]

Majestic Genesis is an auto include in Thrasta and Ghalta.

[@mfitkin]

Omg Phil’s face at 43:14

[@patrickschmidt6140]

It was cool to see you at the Magic Summit! I wish I could've caught a game with you this weekend!

[@aklepatzky]

12:25 craterhoof avenger, pass? Cause you dont have haste

[@morrius0757]

Craterhoof is most certainly an A, the deck has to be slightly built around it for it to be a finisher. You need lots of creatures cheap enough to have a lot of them on board before being board wiped. I prefer Overwhelming Stampede in stompy decks and Craterhoof in elf/token decks.

[@dominicnatoli7097]

In reference to genesis wave, I do think it may be important to point out that while you do have to spend at least 10ish mana to make it a "finisher" the fact that you can pump more mana into it and make it a one card wincon does give it a bit of an edge against some other finishers that require creatures on the board etc.

[@ben_clifford]

1:24:09 earned my like. What expert presentation. 😂

[@matthewdevey8878]

The last 2 times I cast cyclonic rift I won on my next turn.

[@baranpourtahmaseb-sasi1421]

I think the topics need to change up a bit. Almost every "tier list" somehow becomes mostly a conversation about a very small pool of cards like Craterhoof, Dockside, Blatant, etc. Commander is a much more diverse environment of topics and discussions than rehashing a top-10 staples list almost every week.

[@malikileefred6011]

I ran Cyberdrive in a Tivit blink deck. I would get around 40 total tokens from Tivit alone, and Cyberdrive was oppressively good

[@jeremymajors8982]

Cyclonic Rift is a finisher ONLY when you are able to cast it on the end step before your turn. In this case, it is a complete blowout, but that alone DOES NOT win you the game. It only sets you up to potentially do something great or win on the next turn. If you use the Rift in any other situation, the other players have a chance to rebuild, depending on when you cast it. And, there is a HUGE downside to the RIFT -- leaving that much mana open to cast it means you probably didn't do anything on your turn to progress your board state. Probably the only exception to this is when you have Seedborn Must or some other "untap all your lands" effect. This would allow you to do stuff on your turn, THEN untap lands for a possible RIFT on the end step before your turn. For this reason, I would give RIFT a solid B. It is an AMAZING card in blue, and nothing beats it, but because of the downsides and the fact that it doesn't give you an insta-win, it is definitely a B. Giving it A (for some people) is understandable, but it is overrated with an A. Another downside is that you have to get it overloaded to get the full potential, but you cannot cast it for the overload cost as an alternative cost in most cases. In other words, I can't cast it for the overload cost for free, in most cases.

[@givitback5323]

I tend to run Mob Rule over Insurrection, does almost the same job at 6 mana

[@ADVBCAT]

I don't see Cyclonic Rift as a "finisher" in that I am going to necessarily attack for lethal because now my stuff will be unblocked.. But most commander decks rely on building up a synergistic boardstate until you can hit "escape velocity" and either combo off, or just produce so much value /control/etc that the other players teaming up are too late to stop you. Rift ends games by putting you 1-2 turns ahead on tempo as everyone else is forced to redeploy. It's more like an Extra Turn spell in that regard. And yeah sometimes it's like "I would have been better off playing Time Warp", but if your opponents have to spend 2 whole turns redeploying, it's closer to a Time Stretch (in terms of tempo, not card advantage, since they're still drawing).

[@chriselliott5539]

All the over run effects with no mentions of Finale of Devestation. Search for a creature or recur a creature and if you dump the mana for 10+ you get craterhoof effect too.

[@sethlennberg4516]

Just tutor hoof for overkill

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

In regards to craterhoof behemoth... it's 8 mana for Overrun, which is a 5 mana card. We can actually do some math to figure out exactly what you need to make it win the game. Commander, 40 life total, 4 players. You need 120 damage. For simplification, lets assume you are not currently significantly ahead of your opponents (that would make Craterhoof just a win-more effect, after all), so total power and toughness will be roughly equal for all players pre-craterhoof. Ok, so what do you need to win? 40 damage to each opponent, ok... but even if it was 1 opponent, that's 5+6x6 creatures for 41 total damage. So, even in a 1v1, you need 5 creatures to make Craterhoof worth playing. But it's not a 1v1, you need to overcome 3x your board, plus an additional 120 after that. 11 creatures for an additional 126 damage is what gets you there... but, if we're assuming you're not already winning, that means you need to get over 33 of your opponent's equal creatures in the process. We need 1 more creature to get enough damage to overrun the enemy here. This is the minimum to make craterhoof a winning play instead of a win-more card. Alternatively, it could be used as a finisher for a game you were already ahead on... but overrun does the same for less mana. It's good, but if it were S tier you'd also be running Overrun for its ability to do the exact same thing.

[@theetiologist9539]

These are some of my favorite magic content videos

[@curtissmith2815]

Controversial opinion: I run Mirror Entity over Craterhoof in any deck that's Green white as its much more flexible. No trample but doubles as protection and trial synergies. Mirror entity is the best overrun effect 😬😂

[@sidclauwers5945]

love to see my favourite Commander Clash players advertise one of my favourite utility lands so much ❤❤❤

[@lukaspecson6095]

I play Cyberdrive awakener in my Shirokai Vehicles and my Brudiclad deck and it performs super well as a finisher in both

[@airforcec]

I won three games at magic 30 in Vegas copying opponents Torment of Hellfire, copy spells are amazing finishers.

[@andrewtaylor5883]

In mono black...I run both Ex and Torment however the actual finisher in my Human aristocrat deck is Repay in Kind and at 7 mana will impact the board...easy. And always will net the same result.

[@riverhale6469]

I think you’re underrating tooth and nail here. Tooth and nail is 9 mana and gets you any number of combos that are pretty much guaranteed to win you the game. Insurrection, craterhoof, etc., are conditional on you or your opponents having a board state or full graveyard in order to be effective. It is a far bigger hoop to jump through than “I paid 9 mana and now I win,” which tooth and nail does. If I draw insurrection or craterhoof on an empty board or after a boardwipe, I can’t do anything. If I draw tooth and nail on an empty board, I win the game. It’s just better.

[@TonyScimeca]

I'm with Tomer and Crim. Gary is a more powerful finisher than torment or exsanguinate. Sure you need to loop it, but for 5 mana it's so easy to get out early, sacrifice it and reanimate or encore or unearth or return it to hand then replay or blink it or bounce then replay or...

[@Joolenplus]

Surprised to not see Underworld Breach here. In casual storm lists it's just game over when this hits. I think Cyc Rift is kind of a finisher in the sense that you need a board. Imo it's better than Craterhoof as it also has a purpose outside of ending the game. Plus being instant to cancel someone else's aggro finisher. There's a reason why Cyc Rift sees cedh play in every blue deck but Craterhoof doesn't in every green deck. It's the versatility. You out everyone's board and then follow up with a win condition. In casual where board states are build up over multiple turns Cyc Rift becomes such a huge tempo swing. Cyc Rift + Rhystic Study/Remora is also basically a 2 Card combo that just wins you the game if it gets back to you and study/remora doesn't get popped.

[@xenovya777]

I never realized just how bad white is in need of finishers until I saw this video because the only mono white finisher (besides divine intervention, which is not really a finisher because it just prematurely ends the game) that was mentioned in this video is akroma's will and that was printed only 2 years ago.

[@blakem000]

Phil - Love the Dogma Buddy Jesus in the background! Great seeing you all at M30!

[@soratu4216]

Skull storm is actually AMAZING in an Awaken the Blood Avatar deck, but that deck is also super powerful, I think I played it 4 times, won everytime with it, and then dismantled it cause it was just too powerful for my taste in commander decks. I’ve casted Skull storm twice in it tho, and it slaps! I highly encourage one of you to try and build a blood avatar deck and take it on commander clash to try the skull storm 😉

[@mightyone3737]

I'm super impressed with Dragon Throne, it's less mana than hoof even! It does serious work if you consistently have a big body and a few creatures to swing with. It's also repeatable and super-cheap. If you have a Stax deck, almost anything can 'finish' people, so I have decks where I just need a few damage per cycle to each opponent to win, my two non-cEDH Stax decks use Vigilant bodies or discard payoffs/Wheel of Torture to win the game. I do feel that Thieves' Auction is the 'coolest' way to generate enough value to win, it's also easy build around, Red loves annoying universal effects. The only edge Craterhoof tends to have is it's Haste, it's very often much worse than stuff like Pathbreaker and Overwhelming Stampede, unless you literally build around 'go wide weenies'. It also does nothing turn two. For example Tomer literally refers to 5 other creatures, is it hard to have a 7 or 8 power body?? Also unless everyone else is on death's doorstep, getting +6 and Trample will be a pretty crappy 8 drop. I don't even run it tbh, how permissive are your people's metas that you can build up a huge board, yet you still have no big creatures/haven't won yet due to sheer advantage? Stampede is so much better most of the time. Akroma's Will is good, but it's pricey for an effect that says 'you can't be blocked by coloured bodies/get double damage', so this tends to suitable to remove one opponent and that's it. There are no downsides to Akroma's/it is really versatile, so it's not strictly a closer, but you can technically flicker Hoof to block. Tooth seems like a clear 'B', it has a high ceiling and a very low floor/it's hard to dig out. This is a huge Timmy card btw. At this point it's nothing but 'Baby's first World Tree', digging out a whole army for 2 more mana seems more relevant, if you actually are digging out a combo you're going to have a much harder time digging out Tooth vs Tree, and if you're digging out a mainstream combo lots of people will get salty. Rift is salty because it's costed correctly for 1v1, for 4 player free for all it's 2 or 3 mana too cheap. It's a design mistake in Commander, and it is very hard to answer a Rift outside instants in Jeskai and Ashaya. It's a really versatile card that enables you to win, if more colours could ignore it/deal with it it'd be more fun, it's a Blue thing to do inherently unfair and unfun stuff, and undercosted Rift is exceeded only by counter magic at those things. Don't run it in Casual. Rise is good in the right deck (decks with +10 wipes and mill), but it's often dead until late, which is a huge drawback. Eerie Ultimatum has a big problem in common with Rise, but fold hard to any 'yard hate, I think you could run either in Casual and it won't be a problem. Homeward Path is a really janky solution imho, but I guess it helps? I do run my 1 copy I guess. Insurrection is a bad wincon because it requires other people to have big boards and for attacking to matter. It's terrible in a traditional deck with ~5 wipes per deck, it's like Hoof a bit in that it's often worse than you'd expect in practice, you need like 10 bodies and everyone else to be weak for Hoof to work, Insurrection only makes sense in Low Power imho, I think it's even a 'fun' card. It also is mana-hungry enough to make it a hard card to protect, even if you also have Blue. Showdown seems like two or three times the card, it also leaves most opponents defenseless when it's your turn. Genesis Wave feels a bit clunky, even at very high mana it can still whiff in an average deck. I feel like you're going to run more spells than 10 unless you're building around this, and if you're in a Green heavy deck it's a terrible build around because you can't dig out Sorceries. If you're heavy on lands in Green just run The Great Aurora over it, similar power with more versatility, and if you can give people tokens you can just win. Majestic seems 100% a Ghalta only card. Druidic Vow feels like Bad World Tree, am I wrong? Torment of Hailfire is low cost enough that it can be good, but if you weren't able to preemptively hit people with a Act or Deluge it'll struggle a bit. It's a good Jund card I think, but it's a serviceable if super-boring win-con, like Hoof. I think Torment is stronger than Exsanguinate unless you care about life gain. Run them with Bottomless Vault for props! Gary is probably better than Exanguinate, way less mana. Cards that turn your clues into 4/4 en mass is pretty decent in the right deck, but 4/4s aren't very beefy so unless that's the best you can get in your existing deck (ie Lonis) why bother? Sounds like a C, since it goes in a handful of decks at best. Skull Storm is a huge amount of mana to almost never win the game, it's total jank, absolutely worse than Torment in almost every conceivable situation. Note, they have to be at like 8 life for 4 casts to kill them, ie very much not a finisher imho, but a fun enough card. Augur seems super-likely to not actually win, but it generates value I guess? Divine Intervention is pretty classy, forcing a draw is very salty to some folks, but if your definition of winning is having the most fun, than this is exactly the kind of card you want if you're a troll. I agree, it's not "the Storm scale" because they keep printing Storm stuff that busts format yet never print "draw the game" cards. Sorry if this post looks short, I'm on a tablet.

[@beanthebuilder]

Cyclonic Rift is an extra turn spell. It's such a tempo play, for 7 mana you destroy all tokens and make your opponents pay mana equal to their board. It's not a sweeper- it's a delay. It's not a finisher - it's a tempo play. Cyclonic Rift is an extra turn spell

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

If it were phrased as “destroy all tokens your opponents control. Take an extra turn after this one” that’s sorta what it mostly does.

[@beanthebuilder]

@@johnathanrhoades7751 Except that most of the time it's more of a "take two extra turns after this one" because whoever's ahead likely has a higher mana value board than the amount of mana they can produce. Plus it removes all +1/+1 counters. Plus it can be used on the end step, forcing a player to discard down to 7. Plus it removes all blockers, so if you have a good board, you can alpha strike for the win. It's good when you're losing, or when you're winning, and the only time it's bad is early game, when you can STILL cast it for 2 to stop a combo

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

@@beanthebuilder yup. It’s pretty good 😄 I love it in my talrand deck and just wish it would drop in price so I could pick up another copy…

[@quinnheppe2959]

So honestly I can understand Exsanguinate in something like an Anhelo deck. Being able to cast it for a big amount and copy it seems a lot better for that deck seeing as it plays alot of spells and doesn't have much of a devotion amount for something like Gary. Both are good, but I do like how there are some times where both cards are playable. it just depends on the deck.

[@jerryloiselle8507]

I have a lonis deck, cyberdrive is soooooooo good in it. Phil, you should run it. Indeed the deck tends to spin his wheels a lot and not kill but with cyberdrive + rise and shine or kappa cannoneer, or even rampage of the clans its much more easier

[@st0rm4g3dd0n]

I'm brewing an Orvar deck and was looking for a unique or more interesting wincon, so I think Cyberdrive would be perfect. Copy a bunch of mana rocks and other artifacts with Orvar and make them cool flying mechs

[@cerealamog]

man thats what i want when i cast eerie ultimatum...my fetchlands lol love hearing about your stuff

[@matthiasblum5772]

if you want to win with skullstorm you can do it with dargo as a commander. i have a deck built around saccing dargo for value. it's quite easy to cast dargo 7 times or so. copy it with fury storm for max copies.

[@DarthChocolate15]

It is 9 mana, but Tooth and Nail can win the game from no boardstate and no cards in hand. The other overrun effects can't do that.

[@gemkid85]

A lot of there opinions missed the mark here. Blatant is NOT a finisher. Tooth is literally everything you want in a finisher. It's a 1 card win con.

[@VexylObby]

43:36 I think Phil just saw the "B" in front of his camera. 😉

[@grizzerotwofour7858]

The bug digression as the best part of the ep lol

[@headshiphero]

As an overrun, I think Hoof wins it. Akroma's will has the instant speed if needed, so can be used for other things too. And also gives vigilance, indestructible, lifelink, etc, so great if winning isn't certain. BUT Akroma's Will is less of a definitely win if you are exclusively wide and not tall. Hoof is already a total win at a relatively small number of creatures, which can be puny 0/1 plants. But obviously, if you can, play both.

[@charliewright2667]

Majestic genesis in ghalta seems powerful like isn't that deck mostly based on playing massive green creatures anyway?

[@ricaragontrean938]

it would have been interesting for me to compare Overwhelming Stampede and Craterhoof Behemoth to one another because i think its dependent on the situation which one is better.

[@bozilla1996]

My favorite combo atm is ghalta the stampede into craterhoof the looks you receive

[@RyanEglitis]

Was hoping to see Apex Devastator. It's always silly when it resolves, but it's always super fun, even if it doesn't always end things when you whiff.

[@riverhale6469]

I’ve hit a 5 person table with 4,900+ damage from craterhoof. Can’t say the same for any other non-infinite cards

[@brandyourfan9244]

6.67 to the 16th power looks like 66700000000000000

[@tonyontilt3522]

Thank God Phil is here to be a voice of reason.

[@bruvaroni]

I run Torment in my Nicol Bolas, the Ravager because Dockside Extortionist with Deadeye Navigator or Displacer Kitten is a thing lol

[@lucasperrella9280]

would you call tezzeret master of the bridge a finisher?

[@juliofranciscogomezstoppel1860]

the thing with torment is that, even when not lethal, can cause such a mayhem, that you might end up winning anyway because of that spell, is almost as a black asymetrical armaggedon. That being said.... for it to be trully relevant, you need an X much bigger than, lets say... deathcloud, wich is a trully devastating for far less mana

[@TeaHauss]

I already know that the next tier list will be nice

[@doughboysal]

Majestic Genesis + Worth, the Broodmother is fun 😅 goblin recruiter before that would be the nuts

[@shadowfox513]

Hot take, I think Torment of Hailfire is worse than Exsanguinate. Like Tomer points out, It's often not lethal, even when you have like 17 mana. I'd rather have the 45 point life swing.

[@jayjayhooksch1]

Exsanguinate only buys time when it's not lethal. Torment at least strips your opponents of resources.

[@memonk100]

Cyclonic Rift is 1000 times more of a finisher than Blatant Thievery.

[@StalkingPanda96]

I know this comment is old, but seeing him put blatant thievery, a 7 mana sorcery that literally cannot win the game unless you're stealing giant hasty commanders an S; next to a 7 mana instant speed nonland board wipe at D is mind numbing.

[@peewee0224]

@@StalkingPanda96they just don’t understand the power of cyclonic rift. The tempo you gain is insane it doesn’t matter if you can’t win the game on you turn your opponents are just set way back you’ll probably win in a turn or two

[@bubblehulk7647]

⁠@@StalkingPanda96board wipes tend to extend the game…not finish it. Makes sense to me. Yeah, if you have lethal on board and can cyclonic rift and attack for lethal- but most times I see it played it’s more like an explore or a time warp. Everyone skips their turn to redeploy their stuff.

[@StalkingPanda96]

@@bubblehulk7647 if you do it end step it makes whoever's turn it is discard their board down to hand size, then the caster gets a turn, THEN everyone else wastes a turn replaying. And that's if the blue player does nothing as you recast your board. Compared to blatant thievery, which cannot win the game unless you steal like three 21 power haste commanders, it's night and day

[@bubblehulk7647]

@@StalkingPanda96 that doesn’t win the game though. Bouncing their stuff usually just puts you way ahead. It might be 3-4 turns until you win.

[@dragondest4]

triumph of the hordes is the best overrun effect.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I like it better than hoof. It feels less boring…

[@slifer867]

Majestic Genesis is a HOUSE in the Ur-dragon. Tomer might want to look at it for tribal tribal.