Putting Mox Amber as a stinker seems unfair. Sure it's not been a staple in a large number of formats but it's seen a lot of play in combo decks in historic.
I agree. It's no staple, but it certainly isn't a stinker. It has fringe modern and pioneer play, good in historic, and practically a staple up there with sol ring, mana crypt, arcane signet and jeweled lotus in commander. Particularly if your commander is cheap.
I think is just a symptom of the video format: having staple or stinker is more appealing than having a 4 or 5 tier system for this. And, as they mentioned on the video, they are definitely not talking about edh, where it would be a staple. But any other formats, calling it a staple is kinda out there. I think they tend to pick this specific mox is just a way of talking about the expectations that a mox carries with the name vs the actual og moxes. So mostly used as a conversational piece, mor than actually thinking it's a stinker, but needs to be called that within this video format.
I wish they'd talked about the one weird time when it was competitive viable vs a deck that did damage based on the number of cards in the opponent's hand
@@casteanpreswyn7528 there are better cards, like lions eye diamond, or even bomat courier, to do the exact same thing. Honestly it's already powercrept out before it began. It's also better just to run discard outlets like putrid imp.
I get why gifts counts as a staple but I do agree that mox amber is very good, I saw it in more than one combo decks already, those were good decks and it was their best card.
Absolutely well noted. I don't understand how Mox Amber isn't a staple. It's played in so many different decks in pretty much all formats where it's legal (even historic), and it's the most expensive (read wanted) card in its set. Yes, it requires a specific deck build, but doesn't Gifts Ungiven require it too, for instance? Makes me wonder how Cardmarket defines staple then.
@@johnf9710 wouldn't you say the same about almost any card that's not outright bad (like one with nothing for example) though? The fact stands tho, not a good one to showcase staple vs stinker, but I understand them wanting to mention a _bad_ mox..
@@LolindirElros You answered your own question. It's neither a staple or stinker, and is especially odd as a 60+ US card. Something like Mox Tantalite would have been a better fit as a stinker.
Is it really a modern staple though? It seems a bit inconsistent to be played universally. I could see it being good w t1 ragavan, or maybe in affinity? Seems like so much potential to be a dead draw and do a lot of decks run efficient legends outside of ragavan? Maybe it’s played in legacy paradoxical outcome? I’m genuinely curious tho, I’d be v interested to hear why I’m wrong!
@@loxeggcheese There is a very good combo deck in modern right now that uses Mox amber. You play it from the graveyard over and over with grinding station and underworld breach in order to mill your deck and play thassa's oracle to win.
Cards ideas for future segments: -Thalia, Guardian of Thraben -Sneak Attack -Doom Whisperer -Ephemerate -Master Warcraft -Glorious End -Arboreal Grazer -Thassa's Oracle I don't remember every card that has been on this show, but I think these would be fun to have people guess.
The other thing about Standstill is that it triggers every time someone plays a spell because of how it's worded. You can't cast a spell, then respond to Standstill's trigger on the stack with something like Notion Thief because it will just cause Standstill to trigger again. The only way to beat Standstill is to just trigger it immediately and accept that your opponent gets to draw three cards for 1U. Otherwise, they'll lock you out with countermagic and manlands.
It does say "play". If you can deal with it with an activated abilated, triggered ability, spell cast from exile or GY, or the cycling effect of a card, you can get rid of it without him drawing three cards.
@@ichVII Yes, but very few decks play non-spell ways of getting rid of enchantments, especially in formats where Standstill sees play. Kami of Ancient Law is the perfect answer to Standstill. However, it's a worse option than something like Force of Vigor or Abrupt Decay when deciding on what to play in your 75. Again, what makes Standstill nuts is that it might as well be a sorcery that reads "1U: Draw three cards" in the decks that play it.
@@ichVII Almost, casting spells from the graveyard or exile will still trigger Standstill. It saying "play" is just a symptom of it being so old now. It's current text is "when a player casts a spell", so it really doesn't care where the spell was cast from. As pointed out, Boseiju is a recent answer that is just perfect for dealing with Standstill.
@@JonaxII I Blay UW "Sharkstill" in legacy and Boseju is indeed one of the most common way people answer standstill without letting me draw 3. The other way is to "pop" it during my end step when I have 7 cards, putting me to 10 cards right before my discard step. However this still often isn't the best bet because letting the game drag out that long is almost always in my favour. The main way I get totally destroyed through standstill is Urza's Saga or dark depths combo, since they are just lands with activated abilities.
Yep! :D And I appreciated how production didn't immediately list the cards, but rather only after their names were read. It gave some fun opportunity to try to guess their names, which was a blast with this one :D
I played blue/white tron in modern back in the day, the deck won with a gifts package. It was always fun to explain failure to find to new players. I still remember once when playing with an opponent in the LCS that was kindda of known to be a bit of a dick, so it was hard not to pull his leg a bit. - I resolve gifts - Proceeds to find only two cards (unburial rites and Iona, he was one mono red burn) - "Ey you have to find 4 cards!" Him - "Nah, sorry man I couldn't" Me - "What do you mean you couldn't?" Him - "I mean I failed to find 4 cards of different names in my deck" Me - "JUDGE!" Him - "What seems to be the problem?" Judge - "He only found 2 cards, it says he has to find 4" him - "Sorry judge, couldn't find the rest" Me - "His deck can't be legal if he doesn't have more different cards than that, check his deck" Him - Judge checks deck - "This deck is legal" judge - "Then he has to find 4 cards!" Him - "Not if he can't find any more cards" Judge - "Then that deck can't possibly be legal!" Him - "The deck is legal" Judge - Grumble grumble concede Same dude refused to scoop when I had him in a mindslaver lock and even the judge had a hard time explaining that the dude would no longer have the opportunity to take any game actions, and since I could demonstrate the loop, I had won. He insisted on us going through every turn with him getting milled one card at a time, so we would tie as we ran out of time.
Including Mox Amber seems unfair because it is certainly not a "stinker". TBH I would actually consider it closer to a staple, since in Commander, it has a lot more utility and belongs in MANY decks. Plus, it costs like 50 dollars. EDIT: loved the episode! definitely will watch more. Keep up the great work both of you.
It's also splashed for free in some top decks like Ragavan midrange, Affinity and is played in most Underworld breach combos in modern... It's not the most important piece in any deck, but is simply good enough or better than most options...
I agree. Its been seen in multiple modern and pioneer lists, this card is definitely a staple. It may not be as ubiquitous as mox diamond or chrome mox, but it definitely sees far more consistent play as compared to something like mox tantalite
I'm suprised the YGO player didn't think about Painful Choice while rating Gifts Ungiven. Very similar designs that are way more powerful than they look.
Thats immediately what I thought, though if I understand correctly, graveyard shennanigans in Magic arent quite as strong as they are in YuGiOh Still seemed really strong though
@@KariThomasMiller They are, just in a different way. The thing with mtg is that everything has a mana cost. And depending on that, the same effect can be playable or not. At 4 manas Gifts Ungiven is a good card, at 8 it would be unplayable and at 1 or 2 it would be busted. In ygo spell cards don't have any cost (unless specified on the card), that's the big difference. If Painful Choice had a restriction saying 'you can't play it during your first and second turn of the game', it would be way less busted.
That was immediately what I thought of but couldn't remember the cards name. Is it still as powerful without yatagurasu and the dragon that deletes everyone's hand?
I think Leoni isn't a very old player and mostly plays on Master Duel. Painful Choice has been banned for years now, it's likely she's never even heard of the card.
I’m disappointed in Leoni for not immediately recognizing Gifts Ungiven as Painful Choice. The only thing that she should have had to consider was the mana cost lol
Painful Choice was banned 18 years ago, anyone who is a newer player and has never played historical formats isn't likely to have come across it. (FWIW, I'm surprised that "painful choice but costs 4" is still a good card, I thought it would end up being too expensive)
@@Zanji1234 you don't have to play with Painful Choice to understand how broken it is, you just have to play the game for a reasonable amount of time and see how strong sending a bunch of cards to the graveyard from your deck is, especially when you get to choose the cards
It is worth noting, however, that in One With Nothing's Standard format, it was played in the sideboard of almost every deck that had access to black mana. This is because one of the core decks at the time was a deck that dealt damage to you for every card in your hand, and went out of its way to stuff your hand full so you were taking a *crapton* of damage each time it triggered. One play of One With Nothing, though, and usually you had just hard countered that deck. It still occasionally pops up, especially in Commander.
@@jensklingenmaier1745 Wasn't in either; it was in the same block as One With Nothing. My mistake, though: It only dealt 4 damage for having 7 or more cards in hand. The card is Ebony Owl Netsuke, and was played in combination with Howling Mine (which was in standard at the time, too) to fill someone's hand and then kill them rapidly. The combo was called Owling Mines. But One With Nothing hard countered it; after all, it dropped your hand flatly down below the necessary threshold, and you just had to play out your deck and you'd never hit the threshold again.
Great video as always! However, I disagree about the rating of Mox Amber. I totally understand what was meant by its status as a stinker, since it's not nearly as powerful or ubiquitous as people worried it might be when it came out. According to MTGGoldfish, it sees fringe play in Modern as either fast mana or a combo piece, and I know I've seen it in a Pioneer league once. Mox Amber isn't useful for most decks, but it's no Aurelia's Fury!
It's played in Pioneer kinnan paradox combo and it's great in commander. I wouldn't call it a staple or a stinker, just a situational card that's good where it fits.
As you said yourself in your comment, it only sees very fringe play in both modern and pioneer. It's, by all definition we are going by for the game, a Stinker. It does not mean the card is bad though :) but if we called every card we like a staple, these videos would be terribly dull :P
Mox amber see plays in Urza decks, and in the quite good Underworld breach deck in modern... I don't get the stinker either. Maybe not a staple, but quite stong
It only sees play in decks that are very rarely played. It's definitely not a bad card! But by all the metrics we are going by for this game, it does count as a stinker :) if we called every card that we occasionally play a Staple, these videos would get stale really fast 😅
As allways, great video. I love this format. Here are some more suggestions: Savannah Lions Meek Stone Jester's Cap Balduvian Horde Titania's Song Ice Cauldron Tin-Wing Chimera (Visions Chimeras in general) Chronartog Jester's Mask Tefiri's Puzzlebox Polar Kraken Phyrexian Dreadnought Lord of the Pit Nethershadow
@@nekrataali I played alot in the early days and those where the cards I have until today. Even if there is no usage for them today, I still have a soft spot for most of them.
im kinda shocked she didnt think of one of the contenders for one of the most powerful spell card in Yu Gi Oh "Painful Choice" surprised she didnt draw parallels to that and "Gifts Ungiven"
Idk about including mox amber in this list at all. It’s probably closer to a staple than a stinker, but it is way too in between to actually call it one or the other. As someone who has played mtg for quite a while I would call it a very good card. It’s certainly not the best by any means but I don’t think there will ever be a time when it’s not in any top deck in any format. There will always be more and more powerful legendaries printed, so the card naturally scales with power creep. I think it will always be a viable include in decks.
I was surprised that Leoni didn't snap off Gift's being a staple. When I first saw it, I thought it read like a more flexible Painful Choice which is one of the most powerful Yu-Gi-Oh cards
Creatures being spells makes sense. They used to be called "summon creature" cards. Its like conjuration magic in The Elder Scrolls or other role playing games.
Story time: someone in r&d wanted to kill One With Nothing before its printing, saying he would bash his head against the wall. The lead designer replied "print that shit". There was a deck called owling mine, a control deck that forces extra card draw for both players and wins with Ebony Owl Netsuke. Players started running One With Nothing in the sideboard to combat owling mine. The first one cast greatly increases your victory, the second one insures it. Rhystic Studies has a great video about the card, the best worst card
Really the only reason One With Nothing doesn't see play is because every format now where it's legal has another card that does the same thing, but better (like Putrid Imp). It would be a staple in decks like Dredge if Lion's Eye Diamond didn't exist or was banned.
Stuffy Doll is one of my favourite cards, not because it is good, but because it is fun to use. I have a "for fun" monoblack deck that has it, an equipment that redirects all damage I take to the equipped creature and Pestilence, so I can pay any amount of black mana to deal 3 times that in damage to the opponent.
Mox amber single-handedly enables Breach Combo in modern. One of the current best and most played top tier decks. It also was a key card in abzan legends a while back. The card is way closer to a staple than to a stinker.
I'd love to see someone evaluate a series of related cards, because it'd be super interesting seeing how their evaluation would change throughout the show, and comparing the cards to each other. Possible candidates would be: Invitational cards Companions MH1 forces The Titan cycle NPH praetors. Edit: The Kamgawa shoals would be really funny too.
I play One With Nothing in Oskar. Oskar's ability works just like Madness which means that you have to cast the discarded cards immediately when discarded. Which means those two abilities allow you to cast any of the discarded cards at instant speed. So I cast One With Nothing on my opponent's end step with Oskar on the battlefield and then cast whatever I want from the discarded cards. This is also great with combat tricks. Discard a few creatures before the declare blockers step, then cast them using Oskar's ability. Your opponents will never see it coming lol.
Gotta disagree on putting mox amber in the stinker pile. A lot of legends matter decks in commander run it (including some cedh decks) and there's an extremely relevant infinite-mana combo in both legacy and modern affinity
For the purpose of this game, we are only counting 60 card formats. Any card can be good in the right commander shell and there is no solid commander emtagame to rely on for this :)
1:15 not exactly true. a tapped permanent cant activate again unless its untapped, that doesn't mean a hard once per turn, just most of the time. If you have a way of untapping a tapped permanent, it can be tapped again. Its not like in YuGiHo where there is such a thing as a hard once per turn. Also, to clarify the "spell" explanation. All cards you cast are spells while on the stack(card/effect resolution system) regardless of their card type. Doesn't matter if its a permanent or an instant/sorcery. Lands being the only exception as they are played and do not use the stack, but any effects a land may have DO enter the stack, but still aren't spells. Another way to circumvent Standstill specifically is that it only cares about spells being cast, abilities of cards do not trigger it so you can still use specific cards with effects as long as they are exploiting abilities.
Gifts was format defining I'm many points of history. Mox Amber only sees fringe play outside of commander. That is what we used to measure whether it's a staple or not :)
does being in 4% of decks make it a staple? Especially when you have cards that are in 84% (Sol Ring), 67% (Arcane Signet), 60% (Swords to Plowshares), 49% (Cultivate), and 43% (Counterspell and Beast Within) of decks?
This is my favorite series on either channel. I love watching people uncover secrets that I discovered back in the day and also learning new ones myself. I would be fascinated to see "Unspeakable Symbol" on the show.
stuffy doll has like... a TON of infinite combos and it's so easy to cheat it out earlier lol it's not a staple but it's actually really strong if you do any building around it at all.
One with nothing was such a waste here. It's so good for messing with people who're just starting to learn enough about MTG cards to think they know things and blow their minds. Leoni seemed to actually think 1 mana was pricy! Also in general I feel like explanations of "why" are card is good or bad could be improved. Still love the series.
I love this series, i think it would be cool to see the expert be someone who is more familiar with both games (although anika is great) because theres a lot of similarities between magic and yugioh that would help both sides understand the cards better. for example, when talking about stuffy doll, anika mentioned trample being able to go past blockers but if she said "its like piercing damage", leoni would have gotten it instantly
Mox Amber is great. Regardless if its not great in every format, i think they literally even say its good in commander in this video? lol. Other than not understanding that part, enjoyed the video! These are always fun.
Mox Amber: Sees play with decks that use Emry (Modern comes to mind). One With Nothing: Called correctly. There *are* ways to make it good but usually that's to do things like make Barren Glory go off. Gifts Ungiven: Good call. Amazing when you can search up Unburial Rites/Dread Return and some kind of large creature to reanimate with it. Stuffy Doll: I probably agree with it not being a Staple, but it's really good with cards like Chain Reaction. Standstill: Agree here. Best played with cards that lands that have other abilities, such as the ability to turn into creatures and beat down.
I'd say Mox Amber is still a mid ground between staple and stinker, even if only for Commander decks, it's not game breaking, but great piece too. So I wouldn't really call it either, but in decks it is good in, it's almost a bomb X_x. In Rograkh deck, you can drop it turn 1 and cast 2 mana spell (after you cast Rograkh) (or 3 mana Spell if you have Sol Ring too). And unlike One With Nothing, which is still basically unplayable even in Grixis decks which run Rielle and bunch of Wheel Effects (unless they make good Madness cards lol), Mox Amber is playable card.
We are specifically ignoring commander for this game and focusing on 60 card formats. Yugioh players don't have an analogue format to commander, and commander does not have a defined metagame as is
@2:35 Wasnt Kethis, Emry and Mox Amber in the same Pioneer format until 2020 Aug banning of Kethis? (I only play MTGA so someone should comment but Mox Amber was valued for Kethis players?) Tangentially, MTGoldfish has the 2020 Kethis decks which place high and use the above mentioned cards. Really we should be talking about formats and how Mox Amber was fuel for this combo deck.
Yes it was, but it was the only deck itself that took advantage of that card. Once the card got banned, it went back to seeing very niche play. It only sees play in one deck in modern. I wouldn't qualify mox amber as a staple.
@@vDeadbolt If Mox Amber couldnt be sacrificed to itself, it makes it harder to combo in a given turn. Imagine only having 4 mana with another mox or having a mox you can cast as many times as you want to. Say if WotC banned Mox Amber and left Kethis in Pioneer, the deck would not function even 1/10 that it could. (Yes I agree with banning Kethis but in WotC fashion, they could have just banned Mox Amber to starve the then current Kethis lists.)
@@dragade101 I feel like they banned Me this over amber due to the fact that they were scared of players discovering a new combo with future cards, thus repeating the cycle. It's like the current situation. Wizards will ban shuko in modern over nadu, because they still want people to play nadu since they will find new cards to break it. Shuko wasn't the problem card, it just enabled it. Same case with mox amber. It wasn't a problem card.
Love these videos! Maybe an oldschool/banned list episode? Hypergenesis Delver of secrets Huntmaster of the fells Ponder Tome scour Nimble mongoose Basking rootwalla
It might be cool to see a beginner react to cards like Teferi's Protection, Pact of Negation, or Demonic Pact. I feel it could really drum up a good conversation.
How can a $55 / €35 card (Mox Amber) be a "stinker"? I don't get it. I mean, Gifts Ungiven is a staple that's also very cheap in most printings, and I could imagine that Mox Amber doesn't match your definition of "staple" - but with its price tag, it's definitely not a "stinker", no matter how you define "stinker".
@@BatCaveOz Ok, if that's the definition of "stinker" - not being played in competitive formats. But in the videos, this is not mentioned, and the vast majority of Magic players are only playing casually, which is why I think that definition is not good.
price is irrelevant; there are plenty of RL "stinkers" from 25 or 30 years ago with high price tags. worst argument to make for the easy point that mox amber isn't stinker.
The reason to play standstill is that once you are ahead you can slam it and force your opponent to give you 3 cards, or you can slam it on an empty board if your deck has cards that let you win without casting spells. Very rarely does it see play with the goal of letting your opponent draw 3.
Wait, am I misremembering Stuffy Doll? Didn't it used to be a control and combo staple when it came out? It has basically limitless combo potential and was a good midrange combat deterrent for control.
Yah Stuffy Doll has been a combo deck for as long as it's been a card. It's not a format defining staple by any means, but it's definitely not a stinker. You never use it to block. It's always about doing dumb shit like Pyrohemia + Braid of Fire or having infinite untaps.
Is Mox Amber a “stinker” because you won’t necessarily have a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker under control all the time? It seems like a zero risk play for 0 mana. How does it work if there’s no legendary/planeswalker in the field? Is it a generic mana or does tapping it do nothing?
if you dont have the legendary creature or planeswalker , then the ability does nothing . i would not count it as a stinker as it is a good card and sees some play here or there but its not really a staple in 1v1 but is def one in commander .
You really need to define what "Staple" means. What format(s) are we talking about? What if it was huge while in Standard but saw no play in eternal formats? I bring this up because Mox Amber as a stinker seems strange to me as it was part of a broken, although brief, standard deck and still sees some play in Modern and Commander. Edit: But Gifts is a staple? What?
Gifts was played for ages as a 1-card combo in early modern, finding Unburial rites and a reanimation target. It also (more relevantly) currently sees play in modern storm, often getting piles of ritual,ritual, manamorphose, past in flames.
Gifts Ungiven is "staple, maybe?" Girl, have you ever read Painful Choice? Like, imagine that in Tearlaments right now. Wait, stop that. I don't even want to imagine it. Unless you were acting for the cam, that was a very questionable answer...
Before I watch the video, if the Yugioh player gets to say Gifts Ungiven is a stinker, I will be dissapointed. Gifts Ungiven is basically what Painful Choice is in Yugioh, and Painful Choice is arguably best card ever in YGO Edit: Ok, nice, she guessed it right, but she didn't make the Painful Choice comparison. Not dissapointed though, she guessed it right
Imagine that in Tears right now. "Oh look, here are my 4 Tearlaments Main Deck monsters. Wait, no, don't concede yet, you can choose which 2 to go in my GY. What? Oh yeah, the rest goes into my hand. Wait, don't pick up the chair-" *fighting breaks out in the shop*
@@colgatelampinen2501 That's an obvious difference, you just assume it. Is like when I like to compare Dig Through Time from MTG to Pot of Prosperity from Yugioh. Similar effects and cost reduction/excavating requirement methods. You disregard the obvious mana cost difference but you take in account the power levels relative to their own games and then grab on that fact to make the cross-game comparison. Pot of Greed equivalent in MTG is not Divination, is Ancestral Recall, even if Recall is a 1 Blue Mana +2 in card advantage and Greed a free of cost +1, bc the power level relative to their own games makes them almost equal. In the case of Gifts Ungiven, IT IS Painful Choice equivalent, despite costing 3 generic and 1 Blue mana, bc it has been said many times if you get to resolve Gifts Ungiven and choose the cards properly, you are probably winning the game on the spot, the same kind of game winning effect Painful Choice has in Yugioh
punishing fire and primeval titan would be tricky to guess. also timestream navigator, experimental frenzy and clone legion are quite simple yet confusing.
I would be fine with showing punishing fire ONLY if they showed Grove of the Burnwillows ahead of time. Like Grove is the first card evaluated and punishing fire is fourth.... something like that.
@@joeldykman7591 I understand why but... it's a land, how will you explain why is this card being played without talking about punishing fire? I think it is already interesting enough on it's own to confuse new players if this is good or bad.
@@talamran7499 you don't have to explain the synergy when showing the land, but it allows the YuGiOh player a chance to piece together the wombo combo on their own without having to force feed it.
tbh this was very fun! now that i think about it would you care about a video series about peoples best cards (banned or not) and their stories? idk that stuff interests me as a player who only ever played with friends and we never even got our hands on the actual strong cards. would be interesting for me at least
What makes standstill good is that there are cards that do things from the hand with abilities, not spells. Example: Shark Thyphoon. I can cycle Typhoon, make a however big token I can and draw 1 and not trigger standstill, and now you have a threat you need to deal with. But if you cast a spell to get rid of the shark token, I draw 3, unless you dealt with the shark with an ability of your own. It's kind of contextually good and hard to figure out
Mox Amber is definitely a staple… it sees a lot of play in Commander (definitely a staple there) and is played in modern too. It isn’t a cheap card either. Certainly not a stinker.
For the purpose of this game, we are only looking at 60 card formats :) most cards can be strong in the right commander deck and as commander does not have a fixed metagame, we find it better to skip it for evaluating purposes
Mox Amber is only ever seriously played in commander ;) it's an absolute staple in commander though! But we ignore commander for this game since almost any card can be good in commander given the right deck
@@CardmarketMagic So it's a staple in the largest most played most supported by WotC format. Even excluding Commander it sees play in combo decks and is far from a Stinker.
@@Revenant77x it's not actually a staple in commander, seeing only play in 3% of decks ;) and seeing play in some fringe modern decks definitely does not make it a staple. Still! It's a really fun card and an exciting challenge to build around :)
The issue with it is getting a legendary creature or planeswalker on the battlefield - you're probably not going to get those out on turn 1 (and most likely not on turn 2 either), so it's slower than it seems for a zero-cost card. All that being said, the card does see play quite often, so it's not as bad as this video might've made it seem. It's just not a "put four in every deck" card as you might initially think when you first read it.
Am I the only one remembering the 1 weekend when one for nothing was the most searched card of a event because the people needed it for the sideboard against the owl howling Mine deck I believe when it was t2
Alright, I disagree with the first one. If Commander is the most popular format (which is is, by a lot) then Mox Amber is 100% a staple. Sounds like the MTG player knows less than the Yu-Gi-Oh player in their own game x-x.
For the purpose of this game, we are only looking at 60 card formats :) most cards can be strong in the right commander deck and as commander does not have a fixed metagame, we find it better to skip it for evaluating purposes.
How can you ask someone to evaluate stuffy doll without telling them it's made for a 4 player format? I don't play commander myself but I assume you are supposed to "invite" opponents to attack into it. Probably still not very good, but it's strange to ask for an evaluation without giving the information needed to figure out the intended use.
It wasn't though. Stuffy Doll was first printed in Time Spiral, 5 years before WotC accepted EDH as a format and renamed it Commander. While it has a better home in commander than in 60 card 1 v 1 formats, it was not made with that format in mind.
I dont know if I have seen all the videos but I'm wondering how they would view something like Gitaxian Probe, Valakut, Birthing Pod, or maybe Goblin Guide
Stuffy Doll may not be a staple, but it will always be part of my favourite janky "win the game" combo. What you need for the combo: - 1 Stuffy Doll on the field under your control. The player you chose does not matter for this, but that player will lose the game twice as fast. If you chose yourself, you can win the game twice as fast and rub a little salt in your opponents' wounds at the same time. - 1 of either Pariah enchanting Stuffy Doll or Pariah's Shield equipped to Stuffy Doll. - 1 Arcbond in hand and mana to cast it. How the combo works (for those of you who may not know the cards already): - Cast Arcbond, targeting Stuffy Doll. Until end of turn, every time Stuffy Doll is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to each other creature and each player. - Tap Stuffy Doll to deal one damage to itself. Stuffy Doll took one damage, so it deals one damage to each other creature and each player. Due to the effect of Pariah/Pariah's Shield, any damage that would be dealt to you is dealt to Stuffy Doll instead. So, Stuffy Doll takes one damage for you. Stuffy Doll took one damage, .... This loops for literally infinite amounts of damage. Since it involves triggers (Arcbond), other players will lose the game from state based actions once their life total has reached zero. Your life total will not be damaged since Stuffy Doll takes all the damage for you. This means you win the game, unless your opponents have effects that prevent them from losing (that aren't removed by infinite damage to all players and creatures) or effects that prevent that one damage it deals every time (like the emblem from Ajani Steadfast's ultimate ability). The thing is, if they have those effects in play the game will automatically be a draw, because the combo does loop infinitely until it is stopped by the game ending (or your opponent's effects, but they would use those well before it got to the point that a judge gets called to this). Once the game enters such a state where there is an infinite loop and neither player breaks the loop, the game is a draw (as per rule 104.4b; the "limited range of influence option" part only becomes relevant if all players in your range of influence are protected by effects. Otherwise, the damage will defeat your opponents and then proceed to wipe the rest of the table until you either win or the game becomes a draw by one of the above methods.)
Find all cards here: bit.ly/3S9lxVi
Watch Anika rate YuGiOh cards here: bit.ly/3Uj1ndA
Putting Mox Amber as a stinker seems unfair. Sure it's not been a staple in a large number of formats but it's seen a lot of play in combo decks in historic.
its borderline a commander staple, not as good as jeweled lotus, but obviously a free roll in most decks looking for a little extra conditional ramp.
Historic 😂
Grizzly bears is a draft staple. Why isn't it here m
I agree. It's no staple, but it certainly isn't a stinker. It has fringe modern and pioneer play, good in historic, and practically a staple up there with sol ring, mana crypt, arcane signet and jeweled lotus in commander. Particularly if your commander is cheap.
I think is just a symptom of the video format: having staple or stinker is more appealing than having a 4 or 5 tier system for this.
And, as they mentioned on the video, they are definitely not talking about edh, where it would be a staple. But any other formats, calling it a staple is kinda out there.
I think they tend to pick this specific mox is just a way of talking about the expectations that a mox carries with the name vs the actual og moxes. So mostly used as a conversational piece, mor than actually thinking it's a stinker, but needs to be called that within this video format.
It's always funny seeing people try to wrap their minds around one with nothing
I still think it's one of the best cards ever printed. Mainly cause I love Madness and especially now with Bone Miser.
I wish they'd talked about the one weird time when it was competitive viable vs a deck that did damage based on the number of cards in the opponent's hand
@@sethb3090 "my spell will deal 7 damage to you, cause you have 7 cards in hand", "I cast One With Nothing".
Spell fizzles and turn is passed.
@@casteanpreswyn7528 there are better cards, like lions eye diamond, or even bomat courier, to do the exact same thing. Honestly it's already powercrept out before it began. It's also better just to run discard outlets like putrid imp.
@@casteanpreswyn7528 spell doesn't fizzle it deals 0 damage
As soon as she said "three volleyballs" I started dying.
Ratings are a bit weird gift ungiven is no longer a staple but mox amber is seeing play in all formats it's legal in. Even if it isn't "top tier"
I get why gifts counts as a staple but I do agree that mox amber is very good, I saw it in more than one combo decks already, those were good decks and it was their best card.
Yeah. It wasn't a good include for a line up like this. In most decks, it's useless, but can be busted in right deck.
Absolutely well noted. I don't understand how Mox Amber isn't a staple. It's played in so many different decks in pretty much all formats where it's legal (even historic), and it's the most expensive (read wanted) card in its set.
Yes, it requires a specific deck build, but doesn't Gifts Ungiven require it too, for instance? Makes me wonder how Cardmarket defines staple then.
@@johnf9710 wouldn't you say the same about almost any card that's not outright bad (like one with nothing for example) though?
The fact stands tho, not a good one to showcase staple vs stinker, but I understand them wanting to mention a _bad_ mox..
@@LolindirElros You answered your own question. It's neither a staple or stinker, and is especially odd as a 60+ US card. Something like Mox Tantalite would have been a better fit as a stinker.
Wait... are you saying Mox Amber is not a staple? This thing is insane... it's at 40 Dollars now... it's played in modern...
Also doesn't make sense to restrict this to modern or whatever. If it's a staple in commander, it's a staple
Is it really a modern staple though? It seems a bit inconsistent to be played universally.
I could see it being good w t1 ragavan, or maybe in affinity? Seems like so much potential to be a dead draw and do a lot of decks run efficient legends outside of ragavan?
Maybe it’s played in legacy paradoxical outcome?
I’m genuinely curious tho, I’d be v interested to hear why I’m wrong!
@@loxeggcheese There is a very good combo deck in modern right now that uses Mox amber. You play it from the graveyard over and over with grinding station and underworld breach in order to mill your deck and play thassa's oracle to win.
the card was clearly designed for commander. it's not a "stinker." it doesn't really belong in the video.
It also facilitated the most broken standard deck with Kethis while both were legal. This card has been and still is a staple in multiple formats.
Cards ideas for future segments:
-Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
-Sneak Attack
-Doom Whisperer
-Ephemerate
-Master Warcraft
-Glorious End
-Arboreal Grazer
-Thassa's Oracle
I don't remember every card that has been on this show, but I think these would be fun to have people guess.
These are great suggestions!
Great list! I would also like to see bitterblossom sooner or later
We're putting some of these on our list for next one! 😃
great picks
Hmm... was barren glory used yet? If not, do so, but it's original version. The Cheese Stands Alone.
The other thing about Standstill is that it triggers every time someone plays a spell because of how it's worded. You can't cast a spell, then respond to Standstill's trigger on the stack with something like Notion Thief because it will just cause Standstill to trigger again. The only way to beat Standstill is to just trigger it immediately and accept that your opponent gets to draw three cards for 1U. Otherwise, they'll lock you out with countermagic and manlands.
It does say "play". If you can deal with it with an activated abilated, triggered ability, spell cast from exile or GY, or the cycling effect of a card, you can get rid of it without him drawing three cards.
@@ichVII Yes, but very few decks play non-spell ways of getting rid of enchantments, especially in formats where Standstill sees play. Kami of Ancient Law is the perfect answer to Standstill. However, it's a worse option than something like Force of Vigor or Abrupt Decay when deciding on what to play in your 75.
Again, what makes Standstill nuts is that it might as well be a sorcery that reads "1U: Draw three cards" in the decks that play it.
@@nekrataali Channel Boseju is a new card that actually can deal with it and sees decent play
@@ichVII Almost, casting spells from the graveyard or exile will still trigger Standstill.
It saying "play" is just a symptom of it being so old now. It's current text is "when a player casts a spell", so it really doesn't care where the spell was cast from. As pointed out, Boseiju is a recent answer that is just perfect for dealing with Standstill.
@@JonaxII I Blay UW "Sharkstill" in legacy and Boseju is indeed one of the most common way people answer standstill without letting me draw 3. The other way is to "pop" it during my end step when I have 7 cards, putting me to 10 cards right before my discard step. However this still often isn't the best bet because letting the game drag out that long is almost always in my favour.
The main way I get totally destroyed through standstill is Urza's Saga or dark depths combo, since they are just lands with activated abilities.
3:12 "This guy looks like he has three volleyballs spawned out of his head" -- I love that we all know exactly what card it is
Yep! :D And I appreciated how production didn't immediately list the cards, but rather only after their names were read. It gave some fun opportunity to try to guess their names, which was a blast with this one :D
Yugioh players when they learn what fail to find is, gives me life
For a short period of Yu-Gi-Oh's history, you could search but fail to find.
@@Rioluman10 wait how did that work. From what I understood, if something can’t resolve, it just can’t be cast, preventing fail to find
I played blue/white tron in modern back in the day, the deck won with a gifts package. It was always fun to explain failure to find to new players. I still remember once when playing with an opponent in the LCS that was kindda of known to be a bit of a dick, so it was hard not to pull his leg a bit.
- I resolve gifts
- Proceeds to find only two cards (unburial rites and Iona, he was one mono red burn)
- "Ey you have to find 4 cards!" Him
- "Nah, sorry man I couldn't" Me
- "What do you mean you couldn't?" Him
- "I mean I failed to find 4 cards of different names in my deck" Me
- "JUDGE!" Him
- "What seems to be the problem?" Judge
- "He only found 2 cards, it says he has to find 4" him
- "Sorry judge, couldn't find the rest" Me
- "His deck can't be legal if he doesn't have more different cards than that, check his deck" Him
- Judge checks deck
- "This deck is legal" judge
- "Then he has to find 4 cards!" Him
- "Not if he can't find any more cards" Judge
- "Then that deck can't possibly be legal!" Him
- "The deck is legal" Judge
- Grumble grumble concede
Same dude refused to scoop when I had him in a mindslaver lock and even the judge had a hard time explaining that the dude would no longer have the opportunity to take any game actions, and since I could demonstrate the loop, I had won. He insisted on us going through every turn with him getting milled one card at a time, so we would tie as we ran out of time.
Fair enough, but then we get that reaction from you guys when we have to explain missing the timing to you :D
@@anon2447 To be fair, Missing Timing is one of the worst designed... ANYTHINGS in a game.
"Just know the rules! :)))"
Including Mox Amber seems unfair because it is certainly not a "stinker". TBH I would actually consider it closer to a staple, since in Commander, it has a lot more utility and belongs in MANY decks. Plus, it costs like 50 dollars.
EDIT: loved the episode! definitely will watch more. Keep up the great work both of you.
It's also splashed for free in some top decks like Ragavan midrange, Affinity and is played in most Underworld breach combos in modern... It's not the most important piece in any deck, but is simply good enough or better than most options...
I agree. Its been seen in multiple modern and pioneer lists, this card is definitely a staple. It may not be as ubiquitous as mox diamond or chrome mox, but it definitely sees far more consistent play as compared to something like mox tantalite
I'm suprised the YGO player didn't think about Painful Choice while rating Gifts Ungiven. Very similar designs that are way more powerful than they look.
Thats immediately what I thought, though if I understand correctly, graveyard shennanigans in Magic arent quite as strong as they are in YuGiOh
Still seemed really strong though
@@KariThomasMiller They are, just in a different way. The thing with mtg is that everything has a mana cost. And depending on that, the same effect can be playable or not. At 4 manas Gifts Ungiven is a good card, at 8 it would be unplayable and at 1 or 2 it would be busted.
In ygo spell cards don't have any cost (unless specified on the card), that's the big difference. If Painful Choice had a restriction saying 'you can't play it during your first and second turn of the game', it would be way less busted.
@@DreamPurpleFloyd I mean technically the “cost” in painful choice is the 4 other cards that go to the GY but that’s basically a benefit
That was immediately what I thought of but couldn't remember the cards name. Is it still as powerful without yatagurasu and the dragon that deletes everyone's hand?
I think Leoni isn't a very old player and mostly plays on Master Duel. Painful Choice has been banned for years now, it's likely she's never even heard of the card.
I’m disappointed in Leoni for not immediately recognizing Gifts Ungiven as Painful Choice. The only thing that she should have had to consider was the mana cost lol
First thing I thought
Painful Choice was banned 18 years ago, anyone who is a newer player and has never played historical formats isn't likely to have come across it.
(FWIW, I'm surprised that "painful choice but costs 4" is still a good card, I thought it would end up being too expensive)
look at how long Painful Choice is banned :D i bet she didn't play back then
@@Zanji1234 you don't have to play with Painful Choice to understand how broken it is, you just have to play the game for a reasonable amount of time and see how strong sending a bunch of cards to the graveyard from your deck is, especially when you get to choose the cards
@@UniGya don't tell me that :-D tell it to her. Tbh. it took a while until Painful choice was played at all after it came out
I love hearing Anika talk! Such a friendly, calm delivery. I hope I deliver judge rulings as evenly as she delivers “nopes” to incorrect guesses.
It is worth noting, however, that in One With Nothing's Standard format, it was played in the sideboard of almost every deck that had access to black mana. This is because one of the core decks at the time was a deck that dealt damage to you for every card in your hand, and went out of its way to stuff your hand full so you were taking a *crapton* of damage each time it triggered. One play of One With Nothing, though, and usually you had just hard countered that deck. It still occasionally pops up, especially in Commander.
Uhm what card in ravnica/mirrodin did that o.o
@@jensklingenmaier1745 Wasn't in either; it was in the same block as One With Nothing. My mistake, though: It only dealt 4 damage for having 7 or more cards in hand. The card is Ebony Owl Netsuke, and was played in combination with Howling Mine (which was in standard at the time, too) to fill someone's hand and then kill them rapidly. The combo was called Owling Mines. But One With Nothing hard countered it; after all, it dropped your hand flatly down below the necessary threshold, and you just had to play out your deck and you'd never hit the threshold again.
Great video as always! However, I disagree about the rating of Mox Amber. I totally understand what was meant by its status as a stinker, since it's not nearly as powerful or ubiquitous as people worried it might be when it came out. According to MTGGoldfish, it sees fringe play in Modern as either fast mana or a combo piece, and I know I've seen it in a Pioneer league once. Mox Amber isn't useful for most decks, but it's no Aurelia's Fury!
I agree I was like wtf how is it a stinker. sure not a staple but not a stinker.
It's played in Pioneer kinnan paradox combo and it's great in commander. I wouldn't call it a staple or a stinker, just a situational card that's good where it fits.
As you said yourself in your comment, it only sees very fringe play in both modern and pioneer. It's, by all definition we are going by for the game, a Stinker. It does not mean the card is bad though :) but if we called every card we like a staple, these videos would be terribly dull :P
@@CardmarketMagicthat card is definitely good in commander, and much closer to staple than stinker lol. It is 70 $ cad ...
loved the chemistry between the ladies and they were both very excited and looked like they were having fun with the experience of learning.
Just a quick comment, saying that you guys are doing great and that I'd love to see more of these 🙂.
Do Lion's Eye Diamond. It's incredibly counterintuitive how powerful it is.
It's going on the list for the next one! Great suggestion!
Which makes it an unfair inclusion in a video like this lol
Mox amber see plays in Urza decks, and in the quite good Underworld breach deck in modern... I don't get the stinker either. Maybe not a staple, but quite stong
It could be played in pretty much every Commander deck since your commander will always fit the requirements.
A card being played in one very specific deck doesn't make it a staple.
Even before the grinding station deck its a staple in almost all formats it is legal in. Such a weird call.
@@ClubbingSealCub doesn't make it a stinker either
It only sees play in decks that are very rarely played. It's definitely not a bad card! But by all the metrics we are going by for this game, it does count as a stinker :) if we called every card that we occasionally play a Staple, these videos would get stale really fast 😅
Gifts Ungiven is an interesting pick because it has such a direct parallel in Yugioh that is, incidentally, perhaps the best card in the game.
I'd love Goblin Guide to be discussed. I think it's an excellent design that might not be that obvious for a beginner player.
That's a great one! Putting it on the list!
Good example of red card advantage: opponent is dead with 7 cards in hand.
As allways, great video. I love this format. Here are some more suggestions:
Savannah Lions
Meek Stone
Jester's Cap
Balduvian Horde
Titania's Song
Ice Cauldron
Tin-Wing Chimera (Visions Chimeras in general)
Chronartog
Jester's Mask
Tefiri's Puzzlebox
Polar Kraken
Phyrexian Dreadnought
Lord of the Pit
Nethershadow
Oooh, Meekstone. That's a good one!
Oh man that's a hard list considering how many of those were staples and now don't see play because of power creep.
Meekstone is an absolutely fantastic suggestion! :D it's going straight on the list along with a few others your suggested
@@nekrataali I played alot in the early days and those where the cards I have until today. Even if there is no usage for them today, I still have a soft spot for most of them.
Meek stone and jester's cap giving so much nostalgia
im kinda shocked she didnt think of one of the contenders for one of the most powerful spell card in Yu Gi Oh "Painful Choice" surprised she didnt draw parallels to that and "Gifts Ungiven"
Series is called "staple or stinker", first card is neither a staple nor a stinker
Impressive to fuck up with a concept so simple
Love the positive Spirit, keep it up!
Idk about including mox amber in this list at all. It’s probably closer to a staple than a stinker, but it is way too in between to actually call it one or the other. As someone who has played mtg for quite a while I would call it a very good card. It’s certainly not the best by any means but I don’t think there will ever be a time when it’s not in any top deck in any format. There will always be more and more powerful legendaries printed, so the card naturally scales with power creep. I think it will always be a viable include in decks.
I was surprised that Leoni didn't snap off Gift's being a staple. When I first saw it, I thought it read like a more flexible Painful Choice which is one of the most powerful Yu-Gi-Oh cards
Creatures being spells makes sense. They used to be called "summon creature" cards. Its like conjuration magic in The Elder Scrolls or other role playing games.
Story time: someone in r&d wanted to kill One With Nothing before its printing, saying he would bash his head against the wall. The lead designer replied "print that shit".
There was a deck called owling mine, a control deck that forces extra card draw for both players and wins with Ebony Owl Netsuke. Players started running One With Nothing in the sideboard to combat owling mine. The first one cast greatly increases your victory, the second one insures it.
Rhystic Studies has a great video about the card, the best worst card
Really the only reason One With Nothing doesn't see play is because every format now where it's legal has another card that does the same thing, but better (like Putrid Imp). It would be a staple in decks like Dredge if Lion's Eye Diamond didn't exist or was banned.
Stuffy Doll is one of my favourite cards, not because it is good, but because it is fun to use.
I have a "for fun" monoblack deck that has it, an equipment that redirects all damage I take to the equipped creature and Pestilence, so I can pay any amount of black mana to deal 3 times that in damage to the opponent.
I don't know why but seeing someone discover how mana costs work fills me with such nostalgia
Stuffy Doll is amazing in at least one format: Commander in a voltron deck.
Mox amber single-handedly enables Breach Combo in modern. One of the current best and most played top tier decks.
It also was a key card in abzan legends a while back.
The card is way closer to a staple than to a stinker.
Which breqch combo decks in modern? 😅 with all due respect, that deck is basically non-existant :/
Mox amber is one of the prime examples of a staple, so it's awesome she got 4/5 right
i'm still sad that i got a foil mox amber as a promo
I'd love to see someone evaluate a series of related cards, because it'd be super interesting seeing how their evaluation would change throughout the show, and comparing the cards to each other.
Possible candidates would be:
Invitational cards
Companions
MH1 forces
The Titan cycle
NPH praetors.
Edit: The Kamgawa shoals would be really funny too.
Invitational cards would be fun - Especially because I don't think any of them scream that they are obviously busted.
I play One With Nothing in Oskar. Oskar's ability works just like Madness which means that you have to cast the discarded cards immediately when discarded. Which means those two abilities allow you to cast any of the discarded cards at instant speed. So I cast One With Nothing on my opponent's end step with Oskar on the battlefield and then cast whatever I want from the discarded cards. This is also great with combat tricks. Discard a few creatures before the declare blockers step, then cast them using Oskar's ability. Your opponents will never see it coming lol.
Gotta disagree on putting mox amber in the stinker pile. A lot of legends matter decks in commander run it (including some cedh decks) and there's an extremely relevant infinite-mana combo in both legacy and modern affinity
For the purpose of this game, we are only counting 60 card formats. Any card can be good in the right commander shell and there is no solid commander emtagame to rely on for this :)
@@CardmarketMagic I mean... Legacy and modern are 60 card formats.
Also CEDH does have a meta and some of it's decks do run mox amber.
1:15 not exactly true. a tapped permanent cant activate again unless its untapped, that doesn't mean a hard once per turn, just most of the time. If you have a way of untapping a tapped permanent, it can be tapped again. Its not like in YuGiHo where there is such a thing as a hard once per turn.
Also, to clarify the "spell" explanation. All cards you cast are spells while on the stack(card/effect resolution system) regardless of their card type. Doesn't matter if its a permanent or an instant/sorcery. Lands being the only exception as they are played and do not use the stack, but any effects a land may have DO enter the stack, but still aren't spells. Another way to circumvent Standstill specifically is that it only cares about spells being cast, abilities of cards do not trigger it so you can still use specific cards with effects as long as they are exploiting abilities.
Saying gifts is a staple but amber is not both are only really played in one deck tho
Gifts was format defining I'm many points of history. Mox Amber only sees fringe play outside of commander. That is what we used to measure whether it's a staple or not :)
@@CardmarketMagic Doesn't gifts currently see play in modern storm? Past in flames doesn't really care where it or it's 3 friends go.
@@simonteesdale9752 yes. The only deck in modern that really plays it is storm and amber is played in breach and also neoform
If Mox Amber is a staple in Commander, doesn't that mean it's a staple? I mean, Commander is one of the most popular formats, right?
it's not just one of the most popular formats, it's THE most popular format.
does being in 4% of decks make it a staple? Especially when you have cards that are in 84% (Sol Ring), 67% (Arcane Signet), 60% (Swords to Plowshares), 49% (Cultivate), and 43% (Counterspell and Beast Within) of decks?
and its not just price because Gaea's Cradle sees more play (7%) and that is $750 card
Mox Amber is definitely a cedh staple, that's a weird card to evaluate
This is my favorite series on either channel. I love watching people uncover secrets that I discovered back in the day and also learning new ones myself.
I would be fascinated to see "Unspeakable Symbol" on the show.
Gifts Ungiven is basically Magic's equivalent of Painful Choice. A dead give away that it's a good card.
stuffy doll has like... a TON of infinite combos and it's so easy to cheat it out earlier lol it's not a staple but it's actually really strong if you do any building around it at all.
Doomsday
Ad nauseaum
Demonic consultation
Street wraith
Ragavan
We're never doing ragavan 😅 no one will ever look at that block of positive abilities and think "yeah, this seems not good"
Amber was a stinker but by now it's gotten a home and became a staple guys
I want an opinion on Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis 😂 the "can't spend mana" clause might sound tricky
One with nothing was such a waste here. It's so good for messing with people who're just starting to learn enough about MTG cards to think they know things and blow their minds. Leoni seemed to actually think 1 mana was pricy! Also in general I feel like explanations of "why" are card is good or bad could be improved.
Still love the series.
Fires of Invention might be a good fit for this series
"This guy has 3 volleyba-"
Say no more fam.
Mox Amber isn't *as good* as it looks, but calling it a bad card is lunacy.
How does a ygo player read Painful Choice for 2 and not be sure if it's good?????
I love this series, i think it would be cool to see the expert be someone who is more familiar with both games (although anika is great) because theres a lot of similarities between magic and yugioh that would help both sides understand the cards better. for example, when talking about stuffy doll, anika mentioned trample being able to go past blockers but if she said "its like piercing damage", leoni would have gotten it instantly
Card ideas:
Negate
Blossoming Defense
Autumn's Veil
Tibalt (the original one)
Collected Company
Realms Uncharted
I've watched tons of videos on this channel and I'm just now realizing that it's a German channel lol
Mox Amber is great. Regardless if its not great in every format, i think they literally even say its good in commander in this video? lol. Other than not understanding that part, enjoyed the video! These are always fun.
Mox Amber: Sees play with decks that use Emry (Modern comes to mind).
One With Nothing: Called correctly. There *are* ways to make it good but usually that's to do things like make Barren Glory go off.
Gifts Ungiven: Good call. Amazing when you can search up Unburial Rites/Dread Return and some kind of large creature to reanimate with it.
Stuffy Doll: I probably agree with it not being a Staple, but it's really good with cards like Chain Reaction.
Standstill: Agree here. Best played with cards that lands that have other abilities, such as the ability to turn into creatures and beat down.
I'd say Mox Amber is still a mid ground between staple and stinker, even if only for Commander decks, it's not game breaking, but great piece too. So I wouldn't really call it either, but in decks it is good in, it's almost a bomb X_x. In Rograkh deck, you can drop it turn 1 and cast 2 mana spell (after you cast Rograkh) (or 3 mana Spell if you have Sol Ring too). And unlike One With Nothing, which is still basically unplayable even in Grixis decks which run Rielle and bunch of Wheel Effects (unless they make good Madness cards lol), Mox Amber is playable card.
If it’s a staple in Commander, which Mox Amber is, then it’s still a staple.
displacer kitten in legacy and underworld breach in modern are decks that exist
We are specifically ignoring commander for this game and focusing on 60 card formats. Yugioh players don't have an analogue format to commander, and commander does not have a defined metagame as is
Thank you for making these! They are consistently entertaining and very accessible!
Please have someone look at life from the loam or Helm of Obedience!
Idk if mox amber belongs in stinker?
It only really sees play in commander. It's not a bad card, but for the purposes of this game, it's a stinker :)
12:38 How's that when the card does an infinite combo?
@2:35 Wasnt Kethis, Emry and Mox Amber in the same Pioneer format until 2020 Aug banning of Kethis? (I only play MTGA so someone should comment but Mox Amber was valued for Kethis players?)
Tangentially, MTGoldfish has the 2020 Kethis decks which place high and use the above mentioned cards. Really we should be talking about formats and how Mox Amber was fuel for this combo deck.
Yes it was, but it was the only deck itself that took advantage of that card. Once the card got banned, it went back to seeing very niche play. It only sees play in one deck in modern. I wouldn't qualify mox amber as a staple.
@@vDeadbolt
If Mox Amber couldnt be sacrificed to itself, it makes it harder to combo in a given turn. Imagine only having 4 mana with another mox or having a mox you can cast as many times as you want to.
Say if WotC banned Mox Amber and left Kethis in Pioneer, the deck would not function even 1/10 that it could. (Yes I agree with banning Kethis but in WotC fashion, they could have just banned Mox Amber to starve the then current Kethis lists.)
@@dragade101 I feel like they banned Me this over amber due to the fact that they were scared of players discovering a new combo with future cards, thus repeating the cycle. It's like the current situation. Wizards will ban shuko in modern over nadu, because they still want people to play nadu since they will find new cards to break it. Shuko wasn't the problem card, it just enabled it. Same case with mox amber. It wasn't a problem card.
Its always so funny when a Yugio player sees the tap symbol for the first time.
“So by switching my land into defence mode, I generate one energy?”
Love these videos!
Maybe an oldschool/banned list episode?
Hypergenesis
Delver of secrets
Huntmaster of the fells
Ponder
Tome scour
Nimble mongoose
Basking rootwalla
Let's go with the Basking Rootwala my favorite Era of magic
It might be cool to see a beginner react to cards like Teferi's Protection, Pact of Negation, or Demonic Pact. I feel it could really drum up a good conversation.
Can we see more of this?
I really like this format!
As someone who only plays commander, the decision making on whether something is a staple or not is always interesting to me.
Lantern of Insight -> Yugioh never had something like lantern control.
Maybe Bouncelands/Lotus field ?
How can a $55 / €35 card (Mox Amber) be a "stinker"? I don't get it. I mean, Gifts Ungiven is a staple that's also very cheap in most printings, and I could imagine that Mox Amber doesn't match your definition of "staple" - but with its price tag, it's definitely not a "stinker", no matter how you define "stinker".
Mox Amber sucks in actual gameplay... which is why you never see it used competitively... thus is a stinker.
Because edh
@@BatCaveOz Ok, if that's the definition of "stinker" - not being played in competitive formats. But in the videos, this is not mentioned, and the vast majority of Magic players are only playing casually, which is why I think that definition is not good.
@@BatCaveOz But it does see play in competitive magic.
price is irrelevant; there are plenty of RL "stinkers" from 25 or 30 years ago with high price tags. worst argument to make for the easy point that mox amber isn't stinker.
I IMMEDIATELY know the card was one with nothing when she said he had volleyballs next to his head lol.
The reason to play standstill is that once you are ahead you can slam it and force your opponent to give you 3 cards, or you can slam it on an empty board if your deck has cards that let you win without casting spells. Very rarely does it see play with the goal of letting your opponent draw 3.
Gifts Ungiven is just Painful Choice with an actual cost.
Keep going this ratings, I like them :)
For the next time I'd see Elvish reclaimer or Knight of the reliquary on the show !
Wait, am I misremembering Stuffy Doll? Didn't it used to be a control and combo staple when it came out? It has basically limitless combo potential and was a good midrange combat deterrent for control.
It was much too slow to ever see any competitive play
I like the Stuffy Doll combo though
Yah Stuffy Doll has been a combo deck for as long as it's been a card. It's not a format defining staple by any means, but it's definitely not a stinker. You never use it to block. It's always about doing dumb shit like Pyrohemia + Braid of Fire or having infinite untaps.
3:00 You didn’t explain to her that the mox does nothing if you don’t have any legendaries on board. :/
Is Mox Amber a “stinker” because you won’t necessarily have a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker under control all the time? It seems like a zero risk play for 0 mana.
How does it work if there’s no legendary/planeswalker in the field? Is it a generic mana or does tapping it do nothing?
if you dont have the legendary creature or planeswalker , then the ability does nothing . i would not count it as a stinker as it is a good card and sees some play here or there but its not really a staple in 1v1 but is def one in commander .
You really need to define what "Staple" means. What format(s) are we talking about? What if it was huge while in Standard but saw no play in eternal formats? I bring this up because Mox Amber as a stinker seems strange to me as it was part of a broken, although brief, standard deck and still sees some play in Modern and Commander.
Edit: But Gifts is a staple? What?
Gifts was played for ages as a 1-card combo in early modern, finding Unburial rites and a reanimation target.
It also (more relevantly) currently sees play in modern storm, often getting piles of ritual,ritual, manamorphose, past in flames.
Gifts Ungiven is "staple, maybe?" Girl, have you ever read Painful Choice?
Like, imagine that in Tearlaments right now. Wait, stop that. I don't even want to imagine it. Unless you were acting for the cam, that was a very questionable answer...
Before I watch the video, if the Yugioh player gets to say Gifts Ungiven is a stinker, I will be dissapointed. Gifts Ungiven is basically what Painful Choice is in Yugioh, and Painful Choice is arguably best card ever in YGO
Edit: Ok, nice, she guessed it right, but she didn't make the Painful Choice comparison. Not dissapointed though, she guessed it right
Imagine that in Tears right now. "Oh look, here are my 4 Tearlaments Main Deck monsters. Wait, no, don't concede yet, you can choose which 2 to go in my GY. What? Oh yeah, the rest goes into my hand. Wait, don't pick up the chair-" *fighting breaks out in the shop*
@@selenasilverstep7981 Painful Choice in Tear.... terrifying
They are not even close. Painful choice does not cost mana. It is like comparing pot of greed to inspiration.
@@colgatelampinen2501 That's an obvious difference, you just assume it. Is like when I like to compare Dig Through Time from MTG to Pot of Prosperity from Yugioh. Similar effects and cost reduction/excavating requirement methods.
You disregard the obvious mana cost difference but you take in account the power levels relative to their own games and then grab on that fact to make the cross-game comparison. Pot of Greed equivalent in MTG is not Divination, is Ancestral Recall, even if Recall is a 1 Blue Mana +2 in card advantage and Greed a free of cost +1, bc the power level relative to their own games makes them almost equal.
In the case of Gifts Ungiven, IT IS Painful Choice equivalent, despite costing 3 generic and 1 Blue mana, bc it has been said many times if you get to resolve Gifts Ungiven and choose the cards properly, you are probably winning the game on the spot, the same kind of game winning effect Painful Choice has in Yugioh
more of this pls wish this ware in playlist :D
punishing fire and primeval titan would be tricky to guess.
also timestream navigator, experimental frenzy and clone legion are quite simple yet confusing.
I would be fine with showing punishing fire ONLY if they showed Grove of the Burnwillows ahead of time. Like Grove is the first card evaluated and punishing fire is fourth.... something like that.
@@joeldykman7591 I understand why but... it's a land, how will you explain why is this card being played without talking about punishing fire? I think it is already interesting enough on it's own to confuse new players if this is good or bad.
@@talamran7499 you don't have to explain the synergy when showing the land, but it allows the YuGiOh player a chance to piece together the wombo combo on their own without having to force feed it.
TFW I only play Commander and the idea of Mox Amber being anything other than an extremely powerful card baffles me.
tbh this was very fun! now that i think about it would you care about a video series about peoples best cards (banned or not) and their stories? idk that stuff interests me as a player who only ever played with friends and we never even got our hands on the actual strong cards. would be interesting for me at least
I love these videos!
What makes standstill good is that there are cards that do things from the hand with abilities, not spells.
Example: Shark Thyphoon. I can cycle Typhoon, make a however big token I can and draw 1 and not trigger standstill, and now you have a threat you need to deal with. But if you cast a spell to get rid of the shark token, I draw 3, unless you dealt with the shark with an ability of your own. It's kind of contextually good and hard to figure out
Mox Amber is definitely a staple… it sees a lot of play in Commander (definitely a staple there) and is played in modern too. It isn’t a cheap card either.
Certainly not a stinker.
For the purpose of this game, we are only looking at 60 card formats :) most cards can be strong in the right commander deck and as commander does not have a fixed metagame, we find it better to skip it for evaluating purposes
a $70 is rated a stinker what a joke. Mox Amber is a staple by any definition it sees play in almost all formats it is legal in.
Mox Amber is only ever seriously played in commander ;) it's an absolute staple in commander though! But we ignore commander for this game since almost any card can be good in commander given the right deck
@@CardmarketMagic So it's a staple in the largest most played most supported by WotC format. Even excluding Commander it sees play in combo decks and is far from a Stinker.
@@Revenant77x it's not actually a staple in commander, seeing only play in 3% of decks ;) and seeing play in some fringe modern decks definitely does not make it a staple. Still! It's a really fun card and an exciting challenge to build around :)
The Mox Amber didn't age well. It is a staple in Pioneer and Modern now.
Is the struggle with Mox Ember that the mana isn't enough for a card draw, or that you can't consistently get the mana you want?
The issue with it is getting a legendary creature or planeswalker on the battlefield - you're probably not going to get those out on turn 1 (and most likely not on turn 2 either), so it's slower than it seems for a zero-cost card.
All that being said, the card does see play quite often, so it's not as bad as this video might've made it seem. It's just not a "put four in every deck" card as you might initially think when you first read it.
Hey have you done Bazaar of Baghdad yet?
That's a great one!
Am I the only one remembering the 1 weekend when one for nothing was the most searched card of a event because the people needed it for the sideboard against the owl howling Mine deck I believe when it was t2
Alright, I disagree with the first one. If Commander is the most popular format (which is is, by a lot) then Mox Amber is 100% a staple. Sounds like the MTG player knows less than the Yu-Gi-Oh player in their own game x-x.
For the purpose of this game, we are only looking at 60 card formats :) most cards can be strong in the right commander deck and as commander does not have a fixed metagame, we find it better to skip it for evaluating purposes.
Please rate Reality Smasher or Thought-Knot Seer (or Vile Aggregate or Sky Spawner)
How can you ask someone to evaluate stuffy doll without telling them it's made for a 4 player format? I don't play commander myself but I assume you are supposed to "invite" opponents to attack into it. Probably still not very good, but it's strange to ask for an evaluation without giving the information needed to figure out the intended use.
It wasn't though. Stuffy Doll was first printed in Time Spiral, 5 years before WotC accepted EDH as a format and renamed it Commander. While it has a better home in commander than in 60 card 1 v 1 formats, it was not made with that format in mind.
I dont know if I have seen all the videos but I'm wondering how they would view something like Gitaxian Probe, Valakut, Birthing Pod, or maybe Goblin Guide
I would love to see someone not used to magic try to figure out 'light up the stage' or 'faithless looting'
And now the mox amber is $60usd
Stuffy Doll may not be a staple, but it will always be part of my favourite janky "win the game" combo.
What you need for the combo:
- 1 Stuffy Doll on the field under your control. The player you chose does not matter for this, but that player will lose the game twice as fast. If you chose yourself, you can win the game twice as fast and rub a little salt in your opponents' wounds at the same time.
- 1 of either Pariah enchanting Stuffy Doll or Pariah's Shield equipped to Stuffy Doll.
- 1 Arcbond in hand and mana to cast it.
How the combo works (for those of you who may not know the cards already):
- Cast Arcbond, targeting Stuffy Doll. Until end of turn, every time Stuffy Doll is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to each other creature and each player.
- Tap Stuffy Doll to deal one damage to itself.
Stuffy Doll took one damage, so it deals one damage to each other creature and each player. Due to the effect of Pariah/Pariah's Shield, any damage that would be dealt to you is dealt to Stuffy Doll instead. So, Stuffy Doll takes one damage for you. Stuffy Doll took one damage, ....
This loops for literally infinite amounts of damage. Since it involves triggers (Arcbond), other players will lose the game from state based actions once their life total has reached zero. Your life total will not be damaged since Stuffy Doll takes all the damage for you. This means you win the game, unless your opponents have effects that prevent them from losing (that aren't removed by infinite damage to all players and creatures) or effects that prevent that one damage it deals every time (like the emblem from Ajani Steadfast's ultimate ability).
The thing is, if they have those effects in play the game will automatically be a draw, because the combo does loop infinitely until it is stopped by the game ending (or your opponent's effects, but they would use those well before it got to the point that a judge gets called to this). Once the game enters such a state where there is an infinite loop and neither player breaks the loop, the game is a draw (as per rule 104.4b; the "limited range of influence option" part only becomes relevant if all players in your range of influence are protected by effects. Otherwise, the damage will defeat your opponents and then proceed to wipe the rest of the table until you either win or the game becomes a draw by one of the above methods.)