My favorite pet deck (ironically with a kamigawa commander too) is Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant. Super janky creature that requires you to have 7 lands in your HAND to transform into an enchantment that turns all lands with the same name into "cloudpost" lands. I've gone out of my way to have zero infinite combos, but the deck can produce over 400 mana in a single turn (stars align and the game goes way too long). I usually win through turbo fog followed up by a hurricane effect with glacial chasm in play. Other win conditions include Helix pinnacle, snake basket, or sprout swarm.
"That's right, spicy people of the Internet. Through a technique that I can only describe as being made of pure savant logic, I read the cards that I was playing with, and was rewarded with an explanation in how they worked." Truly revolutionary. Where would we be without your insight?
And here i thought most any vanilla legendary creature would just be terrible since we now have so many actual voltron synergistic legendary creatures and such.
Fun Fact: Kentaro's art was originally commissioned for Toshiro Umezawa which was intended to be released in Champions. When they decided to move Umezawa to Betrayers, they cannot use the art for the packaging since Donato Giancola painted it and Chris Moeller was already assigned to do the packaging images. They resolved it by having Moeller paint a new Umezawa art and Giancola's piece was repurposed as Kentaro.
from someone who watches a lot of decktechs, this one was the best, by far! Funny, precise, shows ways to shut down the combo, cards that fit in the deck, anyway, marvelous job, please Spice, make more of those!
@@Spice8Rack what's it gonna cost us to get you to do more of these, without stopping all the other delightful nonsense on the channel? Serious question! I would hate to lose videos like the D&D ones, but I need more deck techs like this in my life.
Flipping the Rand book to invoke like a Playboy centerfold was actually amazing. Your creativity and delivery never cease to make me giggle like a goblin, Spice
27:00 "Teferi's Protection is the classic, mono-white, 'Not today, Satan!' nuclear option." I doubt I could have said it better myself. Now I need a Teferi's Protection alter of a mushroom cloud in the shape of a cross.
Satan has plenty of red mana to cast more burn on the stack lol (I literally just won a game with a ghyrson kharn deck that had enough damage available at instant speed to just re-kill my opponent with their TP on the stack lol)
7:28 Always nice to see people willing to change their opinon and outlook based on new evidence instead of digging in and holding on to snark when it is not overly necessary. The Neon Dynasty story is neither as bad nor as good as it could have been but I'd say it's closer to the good end especially when it comes to toning down the orientalism. The deck looks inconsistent but super fun if you get it to work. Combining a cost replacement effect with cost reduction is just a great interaction. This may not be the best deck when it comes to winning games but it is a great deck to show off just how amazing Magic can be.
100% agree with that, we see that rarely so respect to him for adding that to the Video and acknowledging he did jump to assumptions, which really is something widespread, including in the MTG Community. And for those interested in History and don't mind some reading: I work as a Historian for the IFZ In München/Munich here in Germany & often also with/for other Research Institutes on shared Topics of our Countries (especially France, Russia and Japan) I also want to add that the Podcast he recommended is definitely not a Podcast i'd recommend for those wanting to listen to learn about History, but People who enjoy Alternative Theories or Revisionist Ideas and Theories about History. Now that doesn't mean the Podcast is bad, i listened to the whole thing and it's just like any other Podcast that theorises and talks about alternative theories to Historical Topics, not Facts. I do enjoy Podcasts like that as Historian because it's interesting to consider & theorise about any Historical Topic of which we don't have 100% Facts - which is pretty much every Historical Topic and the further in the past, the less we know but even in Contemporary History we still keep finding out new information that even sometimes changes what was considered "Facts". One Reason why i love my Job, it's often like a Treasure Hunt. But back to the Podcast, it's worth listening to, but Theories are very often told to the Listener as if it was Fact, which will definitely mislead some Listeners. I also checked the little bit of Sources that are mentioned, most are from other Theory/Opinion Work and the rest was actual from factual Sources. I listen to many History-focused Podcasts because i'm interested in everyone's View & Opinions on any Historical Topic, so in the past 10 Years i can say that Podcasts on History & Theories rarely make clear they just theorise and that they will use Theories/Opinions as Sources. I hope some of the People who will check that Podcast, or pretty much any Podcast on Historical Topic sout keep that in Mind. I can't tell you how often i had People who argue some Theory online as "Facts" tell me "Listen to Podcast X and Number Y, that's the Sources" and then you check the "Sources" and they turn out to be just more Opinions & Theories. So everyone: Listen to every Podcast on Historical Topics that interest you, but if you won't or can't check their Sources (if they mention any) at least keep in mind to not take everything as actual Fact but as Theories & Opinions, which is important for History since we don't know everything about anything in History. So Theories & Discussions are vital for us Historians but also anyone interested in History to consider different Angles & the Possibilities of it being incorrect as this sometimes leads to new Results and sometimes even a Historical Topic to be re-researched and finding out that it was false or was missing Information. Stay safe everyone and definitely listen to more and any Podcasts, but keep in mind to be both questioning what is claimed but also being open to what is claimed in the Podcast. Prost & Cheers from the Snow-Covered Bavarian Alps
The fact that the _Cats_ movie abomination was already two years ago is a more shocking reveal than the combined revelations of Kentaro actually having gotten a story at all and of Bushido & samurai's nobleness being revisionist inventions. The hell?
Sensei golden-tail has been my “basically useless” pet card for over a decade now, and it was an absolute sucker punch to hear it be mechanically relevant. Thank you for this gift
its relevant in inshin samurai where you're playing all of the double attack triggers cards including the "whenever a samurai attacks alone" cards and then you just turn your best attack triggers into samurai.
33:35 You have another way to win there! With a self-bounce creature and Oketra's Monument in play you'll end up with infinite Warrior Tokens. Great vid as always!
I'll be honest my first thought was using mana rocks that produce a bunch of colourless mana like Thran Dynamo and Worn Powerstone along with the cost reduction to crank out tonnes of creatures, not an infinite combo. Definitely a creative take!
if you arent concerned about permanent Flash, you could always add "Emergence Zone" as one of your lands to have back up to quickly flash out ANY spells for a turn.
I am sad about the lack of love for Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn, two cards which reduce the costs of a specific creature type - naming Samurai helps you to pop off using the smug kitty man. That said, this video was absolutely beautiful, and utterly hilarious, thank you. Absolute 10/10.
its not tho, politics is one of the stupidest things ever invented and anyone who thinks its important should be rolled down a hill in a porta-potty that has been on the job site for 5 months.
I almost started to doubt you really play card games when you displayed you ability to read cards, but then you made that mistake with Workshop Assistant and convinced me, you're definitely a tcg player.
It wasn't enough to make one of the best deck techs I've ever seen, you also had to end it with the best version of one of the best songs ever written. Bless you, and have a great day!
at 20:55 you talk about Cloudstone curio and how you can play "the exact same samurai" for infinite cast but in actuality Cloudstone curio needs to target another permanent thats shares a type so you would actually need to bounce a different creature just for clarification if someone were to see this video and try to play the combo. You would need another equally costed cmc creature to loop them both with cloudstone curio.
Having actually come to the same conclusion on Kentaro, (the cost reduction and turning it into a combo deck) This has proved to be a very interesting database for upgrades to my deck! Thank you Spice!
tangent, but: you're one of the few dude i've seen wearing nail polish, and it's part of what led me to buying some myself today. And i really like it. so, y'know. Thanks for being you.
For some reason, when I saw the card I assumed you had done some a cosplay and photoshopped it in part of the official art. I was taken a little aback when I realized it was the official art.
Just a note on the Japanology discussion. One of the issues the podcast had with Tsushima and the portrayal of the samurai is that the time period the game took place would not lend to the honor bound characteristics of the characters in the game. The events of the game are around 1270, about 400 years before the samurai stopped being warmongers and became philosophers and peace keepers.
The more budget friendly way to build this would be tutors, maskwood, and colorless mana rocks as the core, with big heavy white spells as your pay off. Cards like palladium myr and sol ring are amazing here, as that colorless mana can be used instead of white, making you less limited by your lands. This also means you can run a lot of colorless lands without being as punished, with things like desert and tomb of the spirit dragon ending up a lot more viable. (you could even consider running radiant fountain). cost reduction spells are a good idea as well, as if you can chain mana rock into mana rock into mana rock you can ramp pretty quickly, and artifact mana dorks can be dumped from your hand quickly with any sort of draw engine (which is where the heavy spells come in). myr galvanizer is also a cool card for this deck, usually it's a combo piece, but with maskwood it can simply be used to untap ALL YOUR CREATURES for 1 mana, as well as giving them all +1/+1. Essentially what im saying is the combos shouldn't be the focus, they should just be happy coincidences when you get them
This is exactly why changeling is my favorite mechanic in Magic. It allows you to make all kinds of brilliant synergies with otherwise forgettable cards from across Magic’s history all with the hilarity of having vampire zombie eldrazi spawns or what have you.
I have a personal grudge against Sadistic Sacrament because in a game I played while I was still new to commander, I was mana screwed for several turns, and then one of the opponents cast a kicked Sadistic Sacrament on me, exiling 15 LANDS and making me unable to play for the rest of the game. Don't be like that guy.
I'm one of those people who likes making really restrictive strategies work. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker is another Kamigawa mono-color legend that I really enjoyed building a deck around. Fun video.
This deck looks unironically like fire, I know it's a meme but like I would 100% pilot this. Also, I knew that seeing a deck-tech from you was going to be wonderful, but I could not have foreseen just how incredible it would turn out
This is a series of almost disconnected notes I made while watching: (I recognize the music from a PS1 classic at the beginning, but I dare not say the name in case the algorithm uses my comment to somehow copyright claim it, but I must let you know I greatly enjoyed it!) I audibly cackled at the dino-samurai drawing. Well played. I've been rallying for Cloudstone Curio reprint for so long :C. (later you address its absurd cost) (a card that was not included but that I actually love running as recursion is Restoration Specialist. If you have an enchantment OR artifact that returns creatures from the graveyard to hand/battlefield, it's a neat way of getting extra card advantage from the yard. I like it with Angelic Renewal which is a pet card or mine or even Elspeth Conquers Death) *as a note, given infinite mill as a win con it's important to run some graveyard hate in case of those pesky eldrazi that shuffle the graveyard back when milled and I didn't see one in your list. Thank you Spice for being spicy
Well this is a nice surprise! Excellent video, glad you went all out on this one. Also I spy some Patrick Ness books in the background, excellent choice.
I really value that you reflected on your opinion and changed it - but also included both your original opinion, your new opinion, and an explanation of why it changed. Thankyou
Listening to the section on samurai history made me learn more, I'm now learning samurai is less ghosts of tsushima and more oni from dead by daylight, and i feel lied to
yessss, the first video of yours i saw was the gruul anarcho-primitivist deck tech and while i like your other content a lot im glad you made another deck tech :)
This deck looks hilariously janky in the best of ways! I salute you! Some cards you may have missed that could be useful: - It's not exactly a mono-white Caustic Caterpillar, but Devout Chaplain is searchable by Recruiter of the Guard, and is repeatable artifact/enchantment removal. - Mangara of Corondor similarly can be useful, if it can survive a turn or you can make it hasty. - As long as you're making everything have all creature types, might as well throw Coat of Arms in, if you can find a slot. It gives you a way to win without the full combo in place. - Emeria Shepherd can give you another way to get your combo pieces back from your graveyard. - Aven Mindcensor is just good. - Ornithopter of Paradise beats Manakin every time. As for what to cut for Indomitable Archangel and Shimmer Myr, I think Mirage Mirror might be the weakest card in the list for your purposes. Other than that I can't find a card I'd cut for either of those.
As an anthropologist the mention of Edward William Said has bring a big smile to my face. Always loved your videos and this one is not an exception. Please keep the good work Spice!
It might not be the most budget friendly thing, but consider urza's incubator for the cost reduction. It's a really good rate and honestly the first card I thought of with this commander.
Absolutely loved the Nikya deck tech, although I might have a slight bias as it was uploaded not 2 days after I had built my own Nikya deck with the same anti-non-creature ethos. Looking forward to the next deck tech in 2025!
Genuine question, as someone who really advocates for using proxies, why don’t you just… proxy the super expensive rat colonies? Then you can build the cool deck 🙂
I'm certainly impressed by what you did with such an underwhelming commander, but the only thing I'd recommend is a bit more protection for the main man himself with cards like mother of runes to protect him
Wow, I have been watching Dimension 20 and had it open in another tab whilst this plays in a window as I am searching the Kamigawa sets for inspiration as I am making a Japanese style proxy card with as many references as I can hidden in the art, so I was incredibly confused when you stopped talking and Dimension 20 started playing, as if I'd clicked on the wrong tab. Thanks for the confusion. 10/10 content.
Time Spiral did that thing where they shifted various things to other colors; it'd be cool if they did that with various utility enchantments to enable, like, a white reprint of Conspiracy.
@@Waffletigercat Really? The only color-shifted cards I can even think of are Damnation, Harmonize, and Mana Tithe, and I wouldn't consider any of those being unhealthy for the game. Your description sounds more like what Phyrexian mana did, giving all decks and colors access to a bunch of staples for the low price of 2 life on cast.
Love the video. My 2 recommendations would be pull from eternity and mistveil plains. Just in case something is exiled pull can get it back to your yard and you can figure out how to get it back and mistveil is just always a great utility land to hand!
kentaro actually sees really fun play in the weird niche subformat of edh i play with my friends called "double dragon highlander" where you get to have two monocolored commanders in your deck.
Is.... Is it weird that I'm still so used to the derailed and unhinged presentation of Spice in their Forgotten Realms videos that seeing them in a blazer is.... he's so handsome
The Battle of Bywater - LoTR Flowering of the White Tree - LoTR Tocasia's Welcome - BRO Kayla's Reconstruction - BRO Seem like a fit for the deck in future MtG this deck lives in
also, i would consider adding ancestral statue, emancipation angel, and perhaps Aviary mechanic, as all of them can either return themselves to hand to be cast again, or can return another combo piece similar felidar guardian/restoration angel
One of my all-time favorite jank commanders that I built and played was Mishra, Artificer Prodigy by abusing cards that trigger on cast like Possibility Storm. Basically cast artifact, it gets put on the bottom and you get a free artifact into play, then you resolve Mishra's triggered ability and search the artifact back out from the bottom of your deck and put it back into play. Was silly and kind of ineffective, but very fun to play.
I just did my first in-person game of magic at my local game store and LOVED it, so I'm wanting to comment on the videos of everyone that convinced me to give it a try after being intimidated by it for decades to boost the algorithm a bit as a thank you. I think your videos might've been what UA-cam's algorithm first started throwing at me--I'm into online CCG games, and I'm also a queer gal that loves video essays about story and their unintended politics, so I guess the algorithm saw me as a pretty easy mark. Your passion for both the game and its story, as well as being an example about how a progressive fan can still be a part of the community and urge something they love to do better, is really inspiring to me, and made me feel like a queer gal like me has a place in the hobby, too. Thanks a ton for all of your work!
This deck is amazing. On the subject of Cathar Commando, I find the flash value to be super good, and the hidden alternate mode of "Divine Arrow creature that's swinging at you" is . . . not terrible. I'm playing it mostly in a deck that cares about recurring it from the bin, rather than blinking it. I think sadly the mono White ETB removal creatures don't have the artifact or enchantment clause :(
@@gersonmoura3284 Yes, that was what I tried to capture, but failed in being clear. White has creatures that kill artifacts, and creature that kill enchantments, but the creature options that can handle both permanent types are harder to come by. Thanks!
I memorized The Raven in highschool because I could, recently I memorized Lewis Carol's Jabberwocky because both are equally cool and I'm a cool person for knowing them
I’ve never been so utterly aghast at a “word accompanied by an image” as I am at “removal” being accompanied by Lincoln’s assassination I’m laughing and crying in equal(?) parts
I found your channel today and have been watching your backlog, but the last step to gaining a new subscriber was the clip of emily axford, you struck me where i’m weak
I'm glad you went with the combo route, because comboing out with a janky commander and setup is the one time that if someone gets salty about infinites, they just look silly.
Best deck tech i've seen hands down. Love making unpopular commanders work like this!
My favorite pet deck (ironically with a kamigawa commander too) is Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant. Super janky creature that requires you to have 7 lands in your HAND to transform into an enchantment that turns all lands with the same name into "cloudpost" lands. I've gone out of my way to have zero infinite combos, but the deck can produce over 400 mana in a single turn (stars align and the game goes way too long). I usually win through turbo fog followed up by a hurricane effect with glacial chasm in play. Other win conditions include Helix pinnacle, snake basket, or sprout swarm.
@@Fyrefrye 5 Color Saproling EDH deck with +1+1 counters as a second theme
"We're not running any Loxodons."
Your Dinosaur Samurai Construct Angel Elephants: "Are we a joke to you?"
Not to mention the elephant on gift of tusks.
i don't remember there being any cost reduction that would ONLY reduce the casting cost of pack-e-derms.....?
and now theyre gamers
"That's right, spicy people of the Internet. Through a technique that I can only describe as being made of pure savant logic, I read the cards that I was playing with, and was rewarded with an explanation in how they worked."
Truly revolutionary. Where would we be without your insight?
14:03 for anyone looking
About time WotC banned reading, its just too powerful!
so its not just yugioh players that cant read
The good ol RTFC technique
Sadly, while this technique is essential, it’s not always sufficient.
The Professor is a foul beast. But by god, does the man know memes.
A good pal & a bastard is the prof :3
And here i thought most any vanilla legendary creature would just be terrible since we now have so many actual voltron synergistic legendary creatures and such.
For those of us who live on the internet, memes are our native tongue.
@@StrongButAwkward memes are the traditional weapon of our native land. The professor is an unmatched master in their use.
Thé professor scares me.
Worth remembering that Maskwood Nexus does turn off Restoration Angel, since you've made all your Samurai into angels.
samurai dinosaurs construct angels*
He does state that it is an alternate win con if maskwood isn’t there, other than that yeah, you’re right
so its not just yugioh players that cant read
@@lolface_9363 what do you mean?
@@chrisrd19 its a a meme in the yugioh community that yugioh players cant read
Fun Fact: Kentaro's art was originally commissioned for Toshiro Umezawa which was intended to be released in Champions. When they decided to move Umezawa to Betrayers, they cannot use the art for the packaging since Donato Giancola painted it and Chris Moeller was already assigned to do the packaging images. They resolved it by having Moeller paint a new Umezawa art and Giancola's piece was repurposed as Kentaro.
from someone who watches a lot of decktechs, this one was the best, by far! Funny, precise, shows ways to shut down the combo, cards that fit in the deck, anyway, marvelous job, please Spice, make more of those!
Oh bless you! What a lovely comment thanks!
@@Spice8Rack what's it gonna cost us to get you to do more of these, without stopping all the other delightful nonsense on the channel?
Serious question! I would hate to lose videos like the D&D ones, but I need more deck techs like this in my life.
Agreed! More, more, more!
I love the fact that, when you are discussing the cost of the deck, the instrumental in the background is Abba's Money, Money, Money. Very cheeky.
Flipping the Rand book to invoke like a Playboy centerfold was actually amazing. Your creativity and delivery never cease to make me giggle like a goblin, Spice
Hahaha thank you :D
@@Spice8Rack with d is is d so so so hard use his be gusher ddnejuseidirudies ssshdhehese deddiehdbehee amongus
Well it is basically erotica in some places.
27:00 "Teferi's Protection is the classic, mono-white, 'Not today, Satan!' nuclear option."
I doubt I could have said it better myself. Now I need a Teferi's Protection alter of a mushroom cloud in the shape of a cross.
Satan has plenty of red mana to cast more burn on the stack lol
(I literally just won a game with a ghyrson kharn deck that had enough damage available at instant speed to just re-kill my opponent with their TP on the stack lol)
I'll do you one better, the cross explosions from Evangelion
7:28 Always nice to see people willing to change their opinon and outlook based on new evidence instead of digging in and holding on to snark when it is not overly necessary.
The Neon Dynasty story is neither as bad nor as good as it could have been but I'd say it's closer to the good end especially when it comes to toning down the orientalism.
The deck looks inconsistent but super fun if you get it to work. Combining a cost replacement effect with cost reduction is just a great interaction.
This may not be the best deck when it comes to winning games but it is a great deck to show off just how amazing Magic can be.
100% agree with that, we see that rarely so respect to him for adding that to the Video and acknowledging he did jump to assumptions, which really is something widespread, including in the MTG Community.
And for those interested in History and don't mind some reading:
I work as a Historian for the IFZ In München/Munich here in Germany & often also with/for other Research Institutes on shared Topics of our Countries (especially France, Russia and Japan) I also want to add that the Podcast he recommended is definitely not a Podcast i'd recommend for those wanting to listen to learn about History, but People who enjoy Alternative Theories or Revisionist Ideas and Theories about History.
Now that doesn't mean the Podcast is bad, i listened to the whole thing and it's just like any other Podcast that theorises and talks about alternative theories to Historical Topics, not Facts. I do enjoy Podcasts like that as Historian because it's interesting to consider & theorise about any Historical Topic of which we don't have 100% Facts - which is pretty much every Historical Topic and the further in the past, the less we know but even in Contemporary History we still keep finding out new information that even sometimes changes what was considered "Facts". One Reason why i love my Job, it's often like a Treasure Hunt.
But back to the Podcast, it's worth listening to, but Theories are very often told to the Listener as if it was Fact, which will definitely mislead some Listeners. I also checked the little bit of Sources that are mentioned, most are from other Theory/Opinion Work and the rest was actual from factual Sources.
I listen to many History-focused Podcasts because i'm interested in everyone's View & Opinions on any Historical Topic, so in the past 10 Years i can say that Podcasts on History & Theories rarely make clear they just theorise and that they will use Theories/Opinions as Sources.
I hope some of the People who will check that Podcast, or pretty much any Podcast on Historical Topic sout keep that in Mind.
I can't tell you how often i had People who argue some Theory online as "Facts" tell me "Listen to Podcast X and Number Y, that's the Sources" and then you check the "Sources" and they turn out to be just more Opinions & Theories.
So everyone: Listen to every Podcast on Historical Topics that interest you, but if you won't or can't check their Sources (if they mention any) at least keep in mind to not take everything as actual Fact but as Theories & Opinions, which is important for History since we don't know everything about anything in History.
So Theories & Discussions are vital for us Historians but also anyone interested in History to consider different Angles & the Possibilities of it being incorrect as this sometimes leads to new Results and sometimes even a Historical Topic to be re-researched and finding out that it was false or was missing Information.
Stay safe everyone and definitely listen to more and any Podcasts, but keep in mind to be both questioning what is claimed but also being open to what is claimed in the Podcast.
Prost & Cheers from the Snow-Covered Bavarian Alps
The fact that the _Cats_ movie abomination was already two years ago is a more shocking reveal than the combined revelations of Kentaro actually having gotten a story at all and of Bushido & samurai's nobleness being revisionist inventions. The hell?
Sensei golden-tail has been my “basically useless” pet card for over a decade now, and it was an absolute sucker punch to hear it be mechanically relevant. Thank you for this gift
its relevant in inshin samurai where you're playing all of the double attack triggers cards including the "whenever a samurai attacks alone" cards and then you just turn your best attack triggers into samurai.
33:35
You have another way to win there! With a self-bounce creature and Oketra's Monument in play you'll end up with infinite Warrior Tokens. Great vid as always!
TRUE!
I'll be honest my first thought was using mana rocks that produce a bunch of colourless mana like Thran Dynamo and Worn Powerstone along with the cost reduction to crank out tonnes of creatures, not an infinite combo. Definitely a creative take!
He could have used Maskwood Nexus to turn Eldrazi into Samurai and cast them for colorless mana instead of colorless mana! What a miss
if you arent concerned about permanent Flash, you could always add "Emergence Zone" as one of your lands to have back up to quickly flash out ANY spells for a turn.
OOOOOH TOPSY!
I am sad about the lack of love for Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn, two cards which reduce the costs of a specific creature type - naming Samurai helps you to pop off using the smug kitty man. That said, this video was absolutely beautiful, and utterly hilarious, thank you. Absolute 10/10.
I feel like the Urza's incubator exclusion is due to Spice's well known opposition to Urza's extensive human rights violations
@@bradymclaughlin6376 But he did include Urza´s Saga tho.
Urza's saga isn't made by him though it's a story about him. If it insults him enough I assume it's fine
He probably just doesn’t have those, they are freakin expensive and haven’t been printed in a long time.
@@thrillhouse4151 Herald's horn was in jumpstart and is 7 dollars.
Subscribed the moment you said "imperialism" and japanism.
Understanding media in the context of politics is incredibly important
That's like Spice's whole niche, really.
its not tho, politics is one of the stupidest things ever invented and anyone who thinks its important should be rolled down a hill in a porta-potty that has been on the job site for 5 months.
Well this is pretty sick. Makes me wanna find a random commander and make it work
Do it! It's so fun!
Tarox Bladewing is your commander, have fun!
@@FrostiKing That's evil
I almost started to doubt you really play card games when you displayed you ability to read cards, but then you made that mistake with Workshop Assistant and convinced me, you're definitely a tcg player.
I thought he played yugioh till he showed he had the ability to read the cards
It wasn't enough to make one of the best deck techs I've ever seen, you also had to end it with the best version of one of the best songs ever written. Bless you, and have a great day!
at 20:55 you talk about Cloudstone curio and how you can play "the exact same samurai" for infinite cast but in actuality Cloudstone curio needs to target another permanent thats shares a type so you would actually need to bounce a different creature just for clarification if someone were to see this video and try to play the combo. You would need another equally costed cmc creature to loop them both with cloudstone curio.
Having actually come to the same conclusion on Kentaro, (the cost reduction and turning it into a combo deck) This has proved to be a very interesting database for upgrades to my deck!
Thank you Spice!
tangent, but: you're one of the few dude i've seen wearing nail polish, and it's part of what led me to buying some myself today. And i really like it. so, y'know. Thanks for being you.
For some reason, when I saw the card I assumed you had done some a cosplay and photoshopped it in part of the official art.
I was taken a little aback when I realized it was the official art.
Yes, it does look weird
As someone who doesn't even like to play commander, the sheer jank and creativity of this deck and video are 10/10. Many thanks
Just a note on the Japanology discussion. One of the issues the podcast had with Tsushima and the portrayal of the samurai is that the time period the game took place would not lend to the honor bound characteristics of the characters in the game. The events of the game are around 1270, about 400 years before the samurai stopped being warmongers and became philosophers and peace keepers.
I love how you were able to turn the deck tech into a story.
The more budget friendly way to build this would be tutors, maskwood, and colorless mana rocks as the core, with big heavy white spells as your pay off. Cards like palladium myr and sol ring are amazing here, as that colorless mana can be used instead of white, making you less limited by your lands. This also means you can run a lot of colorless lands without being as punished, with things like desert and tomb of the spirit dragon ending up a lot more viable. (you could even consider running radiant fountain). cost reduction spells are a good idea as well, as if you can chain mana rock into mana rock into mana rock you can ramp pretty quickly, and artifact mana dorks can be dumped from your hand quickly with any sort of draw engine (which is where the heavy spells come in). myr galvanizer is also a cool card for this deck, usually it's a combo piece, but with maskwood it can simply be used to untap ALL YOUR CREATURES for 1 mana, as well as giving them all +1/+1. Essentially what im saying is the combos shouldn't be the focus, they should just be happy coincidences when you get them
This is exactly why changeling is my favorite mechanic in Magic. It allows you to make all kinds of brilliant synergies with otherwise forgettable cards from across Magic’s history all with the hilarity of having vampire zombie eldrazi spawns or what have you.
I have a personal grudge against Sadistic Sacrament because in a game I played while I was still new to commander, I was mana screwed for several turns, and then one of the opponents cast a kicked Sadistic Sacrament on me, exiling 15 LANDS and making me unable to play for the rest of the game. Don't be like that guy.
Ok, but like to be fair. Thats completely hilarious
@@briana3602 "IT SCARRED ME FOR LIFE"
"we're not talking about that"
I'm one of those people who likes making really restrictive strategies work. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker is another Kamigawa mono-color legend that I really enjoyed building a deck around. Fun video.
YES! My pet deck is Shizo aristocrats :)
I love the rationales for each card presented and admitting that the list isn’t perfect is great. I wanna build my own version.
This deck looks unironically like fire, I know it's a meme but like I would 100% pilot this. Also, I knew that seeing a deck-tech from you was going to be wonderful, but I could not have foreseen just how incredible it would turn out
I stay for the credits because you have the funniest list of Patron names hands down. No other content creator comes close.
"Using a guy who looks like he'd sell party drugs to children to laser beam my friend's faces off" is by far the best name I've heard for a deck!
This is a series of almost disconnected notes I made while watching:
(I recognize the music from a PS1 classic at the beginning, but I dare not say the name in case the algorithm uses my comment to somehow copyright claim it, but I must let you know I greatly enjoyed it!)
I audibly cackled at the dino-samurai drawing. Well played.
I've been rallying for Cloudstone Curio reprint for so long :C. (later you address its absurd cost)
(a card that was not included but that I actually love running as recursion is Restoration Specialist. If you have an enchantment OR artifact that returns creatures from the graveyard to hand/battlefield, it's a neat way of getting extra card advantage from the yard. I like it with Angelic Renewal which is a pet card or mine or even Elspeth Conquers Death)
*as a note, given infinite mill as a win con it's important to run some graveyard hate in case of those pesky eldrazi that shuffle the graveyard back when milled and I didn't see one in your list.
Thank you Spice for being spicy
This channel has a perfect description imo.... this is the work of your creative mind
14:12 is one of the best written and delivered lines of comedy I've ever seen, well done
There is no bad cards in kamigawa it’s just spicy spice
A fair and powerful point!
God, I fucking love this channel! I did not expect an EDH deck tech to be so entertaining!
Well this is a nice surprise! Excellent video, glad you went all out on this one. Also I spy some Patrick Ness books in the background, excellent choice.
I really value that you reflected on your opinion and changed it - but also included both your original opinion, your new opinion, and an explanation of why it changed. Thankyou
Video was more entertaining than expected for a deck tech, nice one SpiceBoy
With Bontu's Monument out, you could play Painter's Servant to turn all your cards into black cards and net another discount for creatures!
Listening to the section on samurai history made me learn more, I'm now learning samurai is less ghosts of tsushima and more oni from dead by daylight, and i feel lied to
Feels like Helm of Awakening would fit in well, even if it helps your opponents, it doesn't matter if you win that turn, and it's very cheap.
Oooh yes!!
just started watching but yesss thank you for shouting out the great podcast Against Japanism!!
Hell yeah they rock!
yessss, the first video of yours i saw was the gruul anarcho-primitivist deck tech and while i like your other content a lot im glad you made another deck tech :)
Ayy! Oh how lovely to hear :D
Wow, I didn't think it could happen, but that ability got made good.
Thank you Spice, that was awesome.
Mother of runes could also be a good option for for protection- she’s just so cheap
Stepmom ain't bad either
Don't forget Devoted Caretaker- can give any permanent of yours protection from instants and sorceries.
@@zackkelley2940 that’s cool- I’ve never seen her before. So we have mom, step-mom, and godmother? Since she’s a cleric
@@nathanseverson-baker3412 It certainly fits^^
above and beyond in the video and deck construction. *chef's kiss*
This deck looks hilariously janky in the best of ways! I salute you!
Some cards you may have missed that could be useful:
- It's not exactly a mono-white Caustic Caterpillar, but Devout Chaplain is searchable by Recruiter of the Guard, and is repeatable artifact/enchantment removal.
- Mangara of Corondor similarly can be useful, if it can survive a turn or you can make it hasty.
- As long as you're making everything have all creature types, might as well throw Coat of Arms in, if you can find a slot. It gives you a way to win without the full combo in place.
- Emeria Shepherd can give you another way to get your combo pieces back from your graveyard.
- Aven Mindcensor is just good.
- Ornithopter of Paradise beats Manakin every time.
As for what to cut for Indomitable Archangel and Shimmer Myr, I think Mirage Mirror might be the weakest card in the list for your purposes. Other than that I can't find a card I'd cut for either of those.
This tech is next level jank. You've outdone yourself sir!
As an anthropologist the mention of Edward William Said has bring a big smile to my face. Always loved your videos and this one is not an exception. Please keep the good work Spice!
It might not be the most budget friendly thing, but consider urza's incubator for the cost reduction. It's a really good rate and honestly the first card I thought of with this commander.
Absolutely loved the Nikya deck tech, although I might have a slight bias as it was uploaded not 2 days after I had built my own Nikya deck with the same anti-non-creature ethos. Looking forward to the next deck tech in 2025!
Thank you very much BJ 😌
Honestly, praise be BJ
Genuine question, as someone who really advocates for using proxies, why don’t you just… proxy the super expensive rat colonies? Then you can build the cool deck 🙂
The normal rat colony card is pretty cheap, I think he just wants to get the very cool looking ones.
Those are the pimped version of a basic card. Flash is the point
For the sake of the joke
If you proxy them, they are no longer super expensive
Or flex by proxy-ing the better colony art on-top of the cheaper version for anyone who complains about your proxy. It’s quite fun, would recommend
I'm certainly impressed by what you did with such an underwhelming commander, but the only thing I'd recommend is a bit more protection for the main man himself with cards like mother of runes to protect him
Screw having a consistent channel theme, whatever you make is entertaining as hell 👍
So nice, I liked it twice!
This was honestly actually a cool Deck Tech and I love the spice that went into it
Oh my god, the Cats video was 2 years ago? It's been amazing watching your channel blow up, keep up the good work!
I love your videos since I always learn something on top of whatever magic content I clicked for.
Wow, I have been watching Dimension 20 and had it open in another tab whilst this plays in a window as I am searching the Kamigawa sets for inspiration as I am making a Japanese style proxy card with as many references as I can hidden in the art, so I was incredibly confused when you stopped talking and Dimension 20 started playing, as if I'd clicked on the wrong tab. Thanks for the confusion. 10/10 content.
Marvelous descent into madness this!
Hope you have some great games with it!
I love the fact that you made the golgari rat deck
Lol. Re-watching this I now realize that you built the Gyome deck For Shuffle Up and play
Time Spiral did that thing where they shifted various things to other colors; it'd be cool if they did that with various utility enchantments to enable, like, a white reprint of Conspiracy.
Except that it led to a lot of identity-crisis problems and gave colors access to effects and abilities they aren't supposed to have.
@@Waffletigercat Which sounds like it was the entire point of the set?
@@Th3D3vilishBoy My point was that it has been unhealthy for Magic in the long-term though, so shouldn't be done a second time.
@@Waffletigercat Really? The only color-shifted cards I can even think of are Damnation, Harmonize, and Mana Tithe, and I wouldn't consider any of those being unhealthy for the game. Your description sounds more like what Phyrexian mana did, giving all decks and colors access to a bunch of staples for the low price of 2 life on cast.
Love the video. My 2 recommendations would be pull from eternity and mistveil plains. Just in case something is exiled pull can get it back to your yard and you can figure out how to get it back and mistveil is just always a great utility land to hand!
kentaro actually sees really fun play in the weird niche subformat of edh i play with my friends called "double dragon highlander" where you get to have two monocolored commanders in your deck.
I have seen literally one DDH deck with Kentaro at the helm. What a shame :,(
2:39 that entire sequence had me in tears of laughter. Love your humor
Is.... Is it weird that I'm still so used to the derailed and unhinged presentation of Spice in their Forgotten Realms videos that seeing them in a blazer is....
he's so handsome
Aetherflux Resivoir seems very on flavor with Neon Dynasty coming out. Well done Dino Samurais, well done.
The Battle of Bywater - LoTR
Flowering of the White Tree - LoTR
Tocasia's Welcome - BRO
Kayla's Reconstruction - BRO
Seem like a fit for the deck in future MtG this deck lives in
It's awesome to comeback to this and the rat colonies finally made their appearance
the matching white nail polish for this wonderful white decktech has not gone unnoticed and we appreciate it very much
also, i would consider adding ancestral statue, emancipation angel, and perhaps Aviary mechanic, as all of them can either return themselves to hand to be cast again, or can return another combo piece similar felidar guardian/restoration angel
I've never played Magic, I likely never will, but I'll be damned if your videos aren't some of the most entertaining stuff out there
that unsleeping city reference makes me love you even more
It's crazy that magic madhouse got toast to read that ad.
Well this was unique, interesting and spicy. Well done!
One of my all-time favorite jank commanders that I built and played was Mishra, Artificer Prodigy by abusing cards that trigger on cast like Possibility Storm. Basically cast artifact, it gets put on the bottom and you get a free artifact into play, then you resolve Mishra's triggered ability and search the artifact back out from the bottom of your deck and put it back into play. Was silly and kind of ineffective, but very fun to play.
Holy shit it's the Gyome deck! All those cards were seen in the Shuffle Up and Play's most recent episode spice was in! Amazing foreshadowing!
Nothing makes me happier than to see a surprise spice video
If there is one thing I love about the 'against japanism podcast' its kota's 'helloooo' in the beginning of every episode
This is my favourite ever deck tech. Just so good. More please!!
the fucking FantasyHigh and Spice8rack crossover i didnt know i needed until now
So glad to see that prof is the reason i got to view this work of art
All that work to basically play alluren combo in mono white xD
I love it 😁
TRUE
This is the best deck tech I've ever seen. Congrats ❤️
Karn the Great Creator is a great card if you have a fragile artifact-based combo since he can reclaim exiled artifacts.
YES TRUE!
I am gobsmacked by the fact that you made this card work
I just did my first in-person game of magic at my local game store and LOVED it, so I'm wanting to comment on the videos of everyone that convinced me to give it a try after being intimidated by it for decades to boost the algorithm a bit as a thank you. I think your videos might've been what UA-cam's algorithm first started throwing at me--I'm into online CCG games, and I'm also a queer gal that loves video essays about story and their unintended politics, so I guess the algorithm saw me as a pretty easy mark. Your passion for both the game and its story, as well as being an example about how a progressive fan can still be a part of the community and urge something they love to do better, is really inspiring to me, and made me feel like a queer gal like me has a place in the hobby, too. Thanks a ton for all of your work!
This deck is amazing. On the subject of Cathar Commando, I find the flash value to be super good, and the hidden alternate mode of "Divine Arrow creature that's swinging at you" is . . . not terrible. I'm playing it mostly in a deck that cares about recurring it from the bin, rather than blinking it. I think sadly the mono White ETB removal creatures don't have the artifact or enchantment clause :(
It does have artifact, it does have enchantment, but not one that lets you choose one
@@gersonmoura3284 Yes, that was what I tried to capture, but failed in being clear. White has creatures that kill artifacts, and creature that kill enchantments, but the creature options that can handle both permanent types are harder to come by. Thanks!
I memorized The Raven in highschool because I could, recently I memorized Lewis Carol's Jabberwocky because both are equally cool and I'm a cool person for knowing them
I’ve never been so utterly aghast at a “word accompanied by an image” as I am at “removal” being accompanied by
Lincoln’s assassination
I’m laughing and crying in equal(?) parts
I found your channel today and have been watching your backlog, but the last step to gaining a new subscriber was the clip of emily axford, you struck me where i’m weak
The scene with Atlas Shrugged made me laugh too hard. Love your vids you spicy boi
29:30
Spice, you have played yourself. Once maskwood nexus is on the field this deck plays ALL ELEPHANTS!!
I'm glad you went with the combo route, because comboing out with a janky commander and setup is the one time that if someone gets salty about infinites, they just look silly.