TR&CI 42: When Exactly Does Mana Empty From Your Mana Pool (Can You Store Mana Between Steps)?

[@nuggrcrunch]

I've been trying to build a Yurlok EDH deck and this really clarified a lot for me, thanks!

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

Happy to help out. Yurlok is a tricky one. You run the risk of giving people more mana to be able to kill you, but if they don't have a mana-sink to flood the mana into then you can kill them pretty easily. Are you building in a higher power level pod? If so, run a lot of general interaction like Assassin's Trophy so you can kill those mana-sinks.

[@nuggrcrunch]

@@ThisIsACommanderChannel I usually run around low to mid level since I'm an intermediate player who plays mostly with beginners. I just love the novelty this game has and Yurlok seemed super interesting (especially after learning what this video explains)

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@nuggrcrunch Ah, that's awesome. I can get a little burned out by comments always so heavily focusing on hyper competitive (like not quite cEDH but as close as you can get to it) Commander levels. It's nice to see groups out there still having some more chill games. Yurlok is pretty good for that then, not a lot of targeted removal needed.

[@NotAllWhoWanderAreLost641]

Ty for this! A guy I played vs at my LGS was convinced priority didn’t pass during upkeep and he’s been playing for 5 plus years. Education is key!

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

Glad to help. If you play against him again, just so you're not just saying "believe me" or "I heard it in a YT video" you can tell him to check out CR 503.1 which says "The upkeep step has no turn-based actions. Once it begins, the active player gets priority." And if he doesn't believe you after directly citing the CR, then may God have mercy on his soul.

[@andrewrockwell1282]

I learned that no gets priority during untap and that you do gain and pass priority during upkeep and draw. I knew the upkeep, wasn't sure about that draw step. I also learned about the mana emptying during steps of combat. Thank you.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

Oh, those are the new things you picked up on from this video? That's great. A lot of players don't know about when Priority is passed during the Beginning Phase. Even most players that do know it is passed during Upkeep do not know that it is passed again in the Draw Step after the Active Player draws their card.

[@JimmyEscajeda]

In the case of "Pygmy Hippo" can your opponent tap his or her lands for mana in the combat step for no reason if pygmy hippo will indeed do damage inorder to have no mana available to the pygmy hippo's controller? OR can the defending player decide to tap all mana before combat to avoid having to give up mana to their opponent if they have no blockers for instance?

[@Reefer9000]

How down one pay the up keep cost for braids of fire the age counter. I'm always confused with that.

[@waynesoniat3749]

Are there any cards that let you keep mana between turns?

[@amatheuslc]

A few: Upwelling, Omnath, Kruphix, Leyline Tyrant and Horizon Stone. There are also a few cards that generate mana that specifically doesn't empty until your turn ends, like Birgi, one of the Nehebs, one of the Radhas, Klauth and Colossal Plow.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@amatheuslc Well it looks like Allan Costa nailed pretty much all of them.

[@waynesoniat3749]

@@amatheuslc what makes it not go away? Like what's special about their wording?

[@Cnvvj]

I run Omnath Locus of Mana in my Raggadragga, always a lot of fun to hoard up a huge pool of mana on a few D20s if I can get away with it. That card would be really funny actually in Mana Burn rules, dumps a dozen or so green mana to Burn on removal. Something I learned the hard way recently about phase/step specifics, was that Bolt trumps Flash, in terms of denying a flashed blocker.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

I want to build a Raggadragga deck just because of its name. What a wild name. How you liking the deck overall?

[@Cnvvj]

@@ThisIsACommanderChannel I think it's a lot of fun! There's lots of fun ways to play around with his textbox, and some great payoffs for big mana.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@Cnvvj I've thought about adding him to the 99 of one of my decks that does run a few Mana dorks, but I don't cast many other big spells.

[@tryndameregaming7387]

Quick question. - If I attack with "Yusri, Fortunes Flame" do I have to choose a number before the resolution of the ability? Wanted to know if I can copy the trigger and wait untill the copy resolves to choose the next number.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

So you want to swing, copy the triggered ability, then when the copy resolves you pick your 1-5 and get your damage/draws, and then after all that you resolve the original ability and be able to pick a new 1-5 (that might be a different number than what was picked for the copy)? If that's the question, then the answer is yes! If I got the question wrong, then let me know.

[@tryndameregaming7387]

@@ThisIsACommanderChannel Thanks, you got the question right.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@tryndameregaming7387 Huzzah!

[@janzibansi9218]

I tried blocking with a mana dork, tapping that creature for 1 black mana after i declared blockers, dealing 1 damage to the attacking creature. Tried to cast "mirrodin avenged" (destroy creature etc) with that black mana, but arena said no

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

Ha! Really? That's a pretty serious flaw.

[@Hanmacx]

For confusing Mana Ability, check out the card "Piracy"

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

I love that card, but them getting rid of Mana burn did make it a less cool card. Back in the day, the player you were draining could obviously tap in response but if they did do this to rob you of some Mana then they would get hurt for that. It can still be handy today to use it before you play something that you don't want to get countered.

[@kyleedmunds5329]

I think mana burn should be added back to the game. It makes sense to have that, from a thematic perspective but also a gameplay perspective.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

I second this. Mana burn was a great way to... Keep people in check. In Commander, with access to all these Mana doublers and now tripplers, it would be really nice to keep people in check a bit.

[@mimiklureaegis9906]

Weird request: Can you do a video of rules and interactions with Myriad please? :3

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

For sure, I can always add that to the list. I haven't done a video as part of my Combat Phase miniseries in a while. Are there any questions specifically that you have, any specific scenarios?

[@piercexlr878]

@@ThisIsACommanderChannel My personal short list. Etbs, attack triggers, leaves the battlefield triggers, chatterfang-like effects. Just generally speaking what works what doesn't.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@piercexlr878 Okay, I'll add that to the list. One of the most common things I see with Myriad is that people thinking that the creatures trigger any 'dies' effects, also there's always confusion about how Propaganda works with Myriad. I'll whip that up right now and see if I can get the audio recorded tonight.

[@mimiklureaegis9906]

@@ThisIsACommanderChannel yes please!! Like, interactions with: -Melee -“Tapped and Attacking” creatures and how their triggers will work -The Boast mechanic -And Exert Please, and thank you very much~!!

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

@@mimiklureaegis9906 Alrighty, I'll add those to the list.

[@bjj21]

I still don't get it. What's the point of adding mana if you can't use it when you draw a card or it goes away

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

Instants and Activated Abilities (or even if you have Triggered Abilities that happen during your Upkeep that require a mana payment). Then there are also cards out there that allow you to store mana (like Horizon Stone).

[@derHexenhammer]

Bring back mana burn... it balanced infinite mana situations.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

I agree! I would love for them to bring it back. I think it was a great way to balance cards that made so much mana. Keeping things in check a bit. There would be a slight increase to the power of Treasures with this, but honestly they're already busted.

[@michaelhaley4920]

Corresponding visuals would have helped during explaination.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

For sure, I would love to have an editor. I do not have any high end editing/rendering software, but more importantly I don't have the skills for that. Maybe one day I will be able to budget that and have someone that really knows what they're doing to add that sort of stuff in.

[@N1CKW3B3R]

I can’t even figure out what a mana pool is

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

It isn't a physical game element, but more of an imaginary "location" where your mana is stored when you are adding all the different types of mana you produce.