I was lucky enough to meet the entire Command Zone crew at Vegas, walking into the event. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. I love that what you see on this channel is exactly what you get - Really cool people doing something they love, and not just "the characters" they play in front of the camera. I'm not a fanboy, but JLK did say I can tell everyone we're best friends. 🤣 Thank you all for your hard work. It was great meeting you. I hope you know how much joy and positivity you bring to the magic community.
Just a rules clarification, yawgmoth thran physician cannot target himself with the -1/-1 counter because he has protection from humans and is one himself
Unrelated to the video but I think you guys should have a tournament. And subscribers can vote on their champion and maybe even throw in prizes for the voters who picked the winner. Just an idea I had. Thx for the content
Hard to make a 4 players fun format into a tournament, trust me I tried, unless you play competitive but then it's only 1v1, so not suited for Command Zone Also introducing competition in commander is when deck powerlevel start to matter and limits creativity...
One thing to remember if you are using Backgrounds in the 99. They only work on Commander CREATURES. If you have a planeswalker commander, such as Elminster, then the background will not work unless you turn it into a creature (probably with Luxior).
I think backgrounds are a cool new mechanic to build decks around. So many different combinations, really gives the variety to choose what you want. Then if you don’t want to have a commander/background they slot into your deck as part of the 99. Really only works if your deck is based around your commander
Just to say, the Basalt monolith filter can be used for any amount of mana Vhal taps for: 1)Tap Vhal for 5 restricted 2)Untap basalt monolith with 3 of the 5. 3 filtered + 2 restricted floating. 3) Use 1 filtered and the 2 left from Vhal to untap the monolith again. Now you have 5 filtered floating.
@@reubenfromow4854 i was thinking the black one for card draw then dive into a revel into riches build with chatterfang and some other treasure things (old gnaw and bootlegger stash) lol
Gold tokens are a seldom-used mechanic that are effectively Treasures that don't need to tap. So you can tap them for a green and then sac them for one of any color.
They started out saying they would be talking about their favorite unique Background/Commander combinations - Jimmy even says "don't just play the obvious ones" before they start off with... Durnan and Passionate Archaeologist (ie. the Green/Red precon alternate Background/Commander combination, lol). 🤣🤣🤣
I really *LOVE* the design of backgrounds, such an elegant way to boost a mono-colored commander's power level in an interesting way that also diversifies its color identity.
I had already started making a quad color deck based on casting spells from exile. A possible commander pair for the deck would be Thrasios and Vial Smasher. When I saw how much support this set gave casting from exile, I was super excited. Whether I do Yidris or the partners, I think Passionate Archeologist goes in the deck. (Also, this is my first comment on UA-cam in like 10 years haha Love the show. Love Magic. Much love)
2 ways to get around vhal's mana restriction is to use prismite or stonework packbeast that way you can turn his colorless mana into calored mana, both prismite and stonework packbeast say 2: add one mana of any color
Right now I'm building mono black Burakis/Haunted One. It's a super comboey party deck that aims to establish wild value loops like that Aetherborn Rogue you mentioned that no one would probably make use of with Haunted One. It's a party type, so you can sac it in response and basically Lae'zel's acrobatics your board if you have a vehicle and a sac outlet. The deck also has no tutors, just seeking to put together free form combos because the general synergy seems so high.
I paired Wilson with Agent of the Shadow Thieves. By turn 3 with no ramp, I'm swinging with an invincible trampling vigilant deathtouch 3/3 that's just going to keep getting bigger.
the first background combo that got my attention was the Cultist Wilson combo, which you guys talked about quite a bit. tbh, seeing so many people talk about the pair has kinda taken the wind out of my sails on it, but that's fine since I already have two other ideas for golgari decks I want to build. I'll just find another background pair to build. thanks for the encouragement to really dig in and find something special to do with these cards
Interestingly backgrounds in the 99 with Yoshimaru are really good, more legendary permanents to trigger yoshi and most of them will buff him in different ways as well!
The background I thought of that could go in the 99 of lots of decks is Agent of the Iron Throne. If your commander wants to run Aristocrats, it's another payout. If you have Treasures? This makes them do damage. If you just want to throw a bunch of zombies at your opponents until they are overwhelmed, now your commander turns those deaths into more damage. You guys seem to be all about sac for value, so I would have thought you'd like that one.
Hadn't really thought about it, but the two "tribal" backgrounds have the very interesting avenue of turning one of the Choose commander into a tribal deck. Say, Folk Hero and Jaheira, for a fairly cheap cost, suddenly you have a green white Elves commander that draws you a card whenever you cast a elf mana dork. That's pretty powerful. Sure, a elf deck has Beast Whisperer and such in the deck already, and white is a little awkward for elves, but it makes an interesting design. Might just largely ignore the white in the deck beyond staples. I see he went into Haunted One shenanigans, probably cleric combo with that somehow. Maybe even do stuff with giving whichever Chooser changeling.
I built Wilson with Cultist of the absolute and it’s one of my favourite decks currently. It’s a bit slow but when it gets going it goes hard. I’m looking at possibly building another background pairing in the future
jimmy and josh got shameless charlatan wrong (and its ok cause new card)! the text is added by the enchantment, means after being another creature your commander still have pay 2 and blue: this creature bekomes a copy of another target creature. if the enchantment leaves then yes its stuck ^^ edit: i got them wrong. they mean it cant transform back to the original and thats right if you dont build around that.
No, they are correct. They are saying that if you turn it into something, you can't then turn it back into your commander because you can't target your own commander with the ability.
I had the same love for Wlson, Refined Grizzly; however, I went a different route. I used the white background Flaming Fist (a common, by the way), which allows me to double up on "hit" abilities, such as mark of sakiko, one with nature, hunter's insight, keen/sixth sense to draw and ramp at a crazy rate for such little investment. I also use Hammer Time (which is lethal with Flaming Fist) and other massive buffs that put Wilson in lethal range with the double strike. I find the double strike allows Wilson to be more powerful and better at sustaining for these reasons. I nicknamed the deck, "Mr. Wilson's Right to Bear Arms."
For folk hero I think if ur playing a white human or angel general I think it's a auto include cause those types are really easy to just have a good amount of them incidentally and it makes those common types cantrip which is mono white or in the mardu colors wedge is just really good.
Cultist of the Absolute got highlighted, but I feel like the most underrated BG for Wilson is Flaming Fist (gives commanders double strike when they attack). Took out 3 players with commander damage over 2 games during prerelease draft, thanks to 3 copies of Greatsword of Tyr. I've built a no-rares deck from that pairing and it's already taken out Azami Wizards tribal, 4c Omnath and Kenrith with only commons and uncommons.
@@craig1287 There are not too many thing, it's mostly an episode to clarify some things about Backgrounds, some rules and effects might not be as clear to some players. One thing that I really like is using the Backgrounds in the 99 of a deck with Partner or Partner With (or Friends Forever as well I guess) when the Background has an effect that stacks with each Commander Creature you own.
Played this in a SpellTable game with Jimmy but I paired Dungeon Delver with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers for a D&D themed deck! Its a fun deck and I love it 😆
Cultist of the Absolute has gone straight into my Olivia; Crimson Bride deck. Gives Olivia +3/+3 with deathtouch and ward. The downside of “at upkeep sacrifice a creature” can be overcome with Olivia’s “when Olivia attacks, return creature from graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking”.
I added Street Urchin and Agent of the Iron Throne in the 99 of my Prosper deck. Street Urchin let's me use my treasures to kill stuff off with Prosper's deathtouch and Agent gives me another drain to go with him. I need to get a copy of
I think they could make 2-color commanders with "choose a background that shares a color with this" and keep the mono backgrounds, or maybe 2-color backgrounds. But yeah, they'd need a "share a color" restriction or something like that.
If you do Vhal with Animation Module, Thornbite Staff is very helpful, because everytime you sac a servo to the background, the staff untaps Vhal so you can use her to pay for the combo and make more and more mana in the process.
I'm tinkering Imoen with Haunted One. Glad I got ahead of the curve by already picking up Opposition and Cauldron of souls. Also Mothdust Changeling. Burakos also pairs well with Haunted One, either a mono black, or with Haunted One in the 99 for him
@@joshholmes1372 Black does have the support for the creature types, but a build in this way is more about spreading an anthem to many creature types at the same time with anti-removal built in rather than forcing life loss and getting treasures.
I had made a Yoshimaru/Reyhan Legendary matters deck, and was strongly considering dropping some backgrounds into that deck. Not only affecting both commanders of the deck, but also triggering Yoshimaru for playing a legendary.
I’m REALLY surprised you guys didn’t mention the background “Street Urchin” for deathtouch commanders. Especially Prosper. Who is one of my commanders. Lol. I threw it in immediately after I got mine!
One thing that you guys probably just didn't get talked about with these in the 99 is that they mention "commander creature(s) you own." So I think like the 'storm' cycle these work best in partner decks. Agent of the Iron Throne turns both your commanders into blood artists. With 2 commanders Folk Hero expands your tribal options considerably, Inspiring Leader pumps by +4/+4 if both are out etc. On my side the only thing I know I'm doing is converting my red/green landfall deck away from Mina and Denn and into Erinis, Gloomstalker + Street Urchin. Street Urchin gives you the power to pay a mana and sac artifacts or creatures to have your commander deal 1 damage to something. Not very good. But Erinis is a deathtouch creature with the ability to pull lands back on attack. You can sac artifact lands to Street Urchin, let Erinis kill potential blockers in the way, swing, bring a land back, tap and sacrifice it to kill another creature. Lots of cool synergies to be had.
Yknow? Normally the commercials are more cringeworthy than entertaining, but i really liked this batch. Rocco was fun and on point with the puns, and the backstory you guys made for combat Celebrant was pretty sensible. Good work to the writers.
I can see Voltron decks making use of some of the backgrounds; the one that gives commander's double strike in particular just seems good here, as does Agent of the Shadow Thieves which gives them deathtouch. I would play both in Zurgo.
I'm putting Cultist of the Absolute in my Hapatra deck. It seems like a slam dunk because it's evasion, protection, and more commander damage (which isn't that important but it's fun)
The only background I plan to run is Shadowheart + Master chef. All the little tokens get a good meal before I sacrifice them to draw cards. I call it the last potluck.
Unrelated to this video, but I'd really love to see a video from you guys discussing not just throwing in all the powerful cards/staples into decks. Most of the MtG community talk about how the format is getting increasingly powerful all the time, how various cards are no longer "playable" or "fast enough" etc. I've had people comment on my card choices for decks, saying I should cut them for stronger alternatives, but those choices had been made to lower the power to make for better games with certain groups. It's a problem in the community that people feel pressured to play the 2 mana rocks, for example, when these choices should just be made to fit the power you're going for. I think it'd be really helpful for the community as a whole to adjust their perspective on this so that it's "okay" to play sub-optimal cards and not always feel like they need the best decks to have fun, or even to win. Having a voice like yours at the CZ express this to people would be a great step forwards for all players, I feel :)
Yep. People watch these shows and are inspired to build insane expensive decks and try to play against their friends who's decks are half bulk. It sucks. I did the same shit and my friends were like wow this is... not fun at all!
Passionate Archaeologist is amazing in a Prosper deck. Tavern Brawler is also nice, though that deck will already have so many ways to get impulsive draw and usually doesn't care about boosting that 1/4 statline very much. Also, I'm surprised you didn't go very much into Partners and the fact that you can effectively double up on Background power that way. Two Master Chefs giving each of your creatures a pair of +1/+1 counters on ETB? Two Inspiring Leaders to give your token creatures +4/+4? Even just a pair of 10/10 commanders on the board (though of course they track Commander Damage separately).
My personal favorite combo is shadowheart + shameless charlatan relentless rat / rat colony. Sac beeg rats for beeg draw and when the time is right, turn ypur commander into a beeg rat that deals commander damage
Captain Wilson, Sword Coast Sailor, it was quite funny watching my opponents vie to be the person with the least life when my turn came around. Simic Voltron was quite fun!
Thinking about an Ellyn Harbreeze/inspiring leader deck, or Ellyn/Feywild visitor. Both sound like a lot of fun to me. Also a Volo/Scion of Halaster deck could be really interesting, especially if you're able to consistently untap volo each turn
Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant has some potential with the Haunted One background, only thing is, you'd need some way for creatures to share a type with it more easily
I brewed an elmar + wernog friends forever deck, slapped like 20 backgrounds on it. I ended up with a combat-centric enchantress, clues deck. I have yet to playtest it though. (in theory, 2 commanders + multiple backgrounds on the board make for some very interesting set-ups. Hardy outlander + raised by giants with 2 commander's on board nets you a 30/30 and a 20/20 creature swinging at the player with the biggest life total. 😂)
Can you use a background in the 99? Just as a normal enchantment in your deck? - answered at 15:35 However, I'm a still a little confused. Jimmy said backgrounds never interact with a card that doesn't say "choose a background". If that's true, then what JLK said immediately afterward doesn't make sense as far as them being in the 99 of any other commander deck. It would make sense to me that you could have a background in the 99 and it would fully function when it's in play, but could only have it in the command zone if you have a commander that says "choose a background". That would make it function exactly like partner and friends forever.
Currently building a Burakos Party leader/ haunted one deck! Burakos is an orc, cleric, wizard, rogue and warrior and has party support and haunted one cares about creature types of the commander so a Sacrifice party!
There’s not actually 960 combos. There are only 496 unique combos with the background mechanic. If you just use the 32 x 30 equation you will in up with non-unique combos (like Durnan/Folk Hero and Folk Hero/Durnan) and double ups (like Durnan/Durnan and Folk Hero/Folk Hero). It’s the same way you calculate just dual color combos. If you just do 5 x 5 you’ll end up with repeats like W/B and B/W (which are both Orzhov or B/B which is just mono black) so you have to account to the double ups and the reverse combos which is why there are only 10 dual color combos and not 25.
I went for a Baeloth Barrityl paired with Raised by Giants to continuously goad anything with less than 10 power (20 with Unnatural Growth) and get treasure tokens from forced combats. The whole table quickly turns on you, but it's hilarious nonetheless.
Backgrounds seem like they could be broken in the 98 of Partner commander decks. I slammed Guild Artisan and Agent of the Iron Throne in my Max/Will stranger things food/clues/treasure tokens deck. Both low drop commanders that drain all opponents for 1 each when I sac a token and/or both create treasures when they attack is really strong.
Prerelease boxes had a sheet with "You may use up to 2 copies of "Faceless One" for the draft events. Is this legal for the format or just a temporary allowance granted for the event only?
thats for the draft cause it might be that you have cards you want to play but not commanders to play that cause color identity (unlikely but possible). also faceless one is a little missleading cause you might think cause of him you can choose another background aka 3 commanders, but the reminder say it has to be a second commander. so you cant have a third one cause you can only have one second commander card ;)
Starting it feel like there are so many cards in the format that the commander you choose is becoming less and less relavent. Like the Green/Black deck with the Bear and the Cultist background, is just reanimate protean hulk find a combo and win, and you could do that with ~66% of golgari commanders, and commanders that do a unique thing are made so paint by numbers that nearly every deck looks the same. I don't mean to complain about Wizards game design, or the content CZ puts out, I thinks it's a natural evolution of a card pool becoming ever more robust.
It would be interesting if they did more small cycles of backgrounds or choose a background commanders, like one of each color in a commander product, or one of each color in a set in the future. I think that would be more interesting than adding a whole batch at once
In Prosper alone I added Tavern Brawler, Agent of the Iron Throne, Street Urchin, and Passionate Archaeologist. Whenever one of them hits the field Prosper feels that much better if that's even possible.
WoTC NEVER answered the "Tymna" problem. Right now, Trymna is the ONLY legendary partner that allows meaningful draw power for non-blue combinations and makes combining with blue THAT much more powerful. i am still amazed that we actually did get "mini thrasios" in the form of Titchwillow and she is every bit of overpowered that Thrasios is without being able to partner and actually needing a green and blue mana instead of four generic.
I built a deck with Wyll and Shameless Charlatan. I'm dieing to try it out!!! The idea is to let it appear to be a silly dice roll deck, so I play all the stupid dice cards. However at some point Wyll will actually have a considerable number of counters in him and then I play Blighted Agent or Cephalid Constable, let Wyll become a copy of that creature and attack at the same turn with them just that they're 7/7 instead of 1/1 and all the sudden other's realize: Oh, this deck actually does more than just rolling dices. Besides that I put in the dice dragons which are actually really powerful. If my opponents play something really scary I just make a copy of that and attack with the blightsteel before they do. The right swords, boots and auras protect Wyll and make sure he gets through also when he's not Wyll anymore, so commander damage could be a long term plan B.
I'm looking into building a Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant deck with Candlekeep Sage as the background. Lulu with the revolt effect and being able to draw 2 cards from blinking Lulu sounds like fun to me.
I've Made a B/U Venture into the dungeons and initiative deck using Shadowheart, dark justicar and Dungeon dweler background. Its hella fun, It was janky but It definitely showed a lot of potential. Now im looking forward to tunning the deck up
I ended up making a G/U Dungeons&Dragons deck using Durnan and the dungeon dweller background! Uses pretty much any and all take initiative, venture into the dungeon, and roll a D20 cards as possible
I'm really excited to try out Cultist of the Absolute in my Lathril deck Pump her by 3, give her evasion make 5 tokens? Yes i have to sac one of them on my upkeep but thats still 2 more than i normally would have. Also I got evasion and small protection AND dealt way more damage and all this for 1 black mana. Yeah this card is nuts
I believe there are only 29 backgrounds (5 of each color from the main set + 1 from each (4) of the precon decks). Which means there is only 928 combinations, not 960.
Boros Goblin Tribal with Gut and Folk Hero is one of my ideas. i think it gives goblins a funny option too use white interaction AND keep the hand full. or i just take inspiring leader and go aggro with big skelletons x)
Rules question, maybe someone can answer it. Let’s say I have both Renari, Merchant of Marvels and Acolyte of Bahamut out. I then cast a Spark Double coping my Renari. Does the copy also have the ability from the background and therefore my first dragon spell costs 4 less to cast each turn?🤔 Thanks in advance for the answers 😊
Use shamless charlatan with faceless one, that way faceless one gains more versatility with the price of always having blue in your commander identity.
Ok so what about Faceless One it's a "colorless enchantment creature background it says choose a color at the beginning of the game and of course it also has choose a background" so with this can you technically have three cards?
Background reminds me of host and augment from unstable. You can make something silly like sarevok the folk hero, or ellyn harbreeze the dragon cultist.
I was lucky enough to meet the entire Command Zone crew at Vegas, walking into the event. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. I love that what you see on this channel is exactly what you get - Really cool people doing something they love, and not just "the characters" they play in front of the camera.
I'm not a fanboy, but JLK did say I can tell everyone we're best friends. 🤣
Thank you all for your hard work. It was great meeting you. I hope you know how much joy and positivity you bring to the magic community.
nice!!!
Awesome dude. Jealous
X
Fuck yeah!! That's awesome! I met them too! They were super nice and super cool!
Just a rules clarification, yawgmoth thran physician cannot target himself with the -1/-1 counter because he has protection from humans and is one himself
Definitely making Wyll the Master Chef deck with a dice matters theme.
sir i did not know you were a Magic fan but it is a nice surprise!
Love your videos, huge fan!
Are the guys that do the Extra Turn games going to use partner background pairing decks in that episode? It would be really awesome and fun to watch.
Unrelated to the video but I think you guys should have a tournament. And subscribers can vote on their champion and maybe even throw in prizes for the voters who picked the winner. Just an idea I had. Thx for the content
Hard to make a 4 players fun format into a tournament, trust me I tried, unless you play competitive but then it's only 1v1, so not suited for Command Zone
Also introducing competition in commander is when deck powerlevel start to matter and limits creativity...
@@lasterman94100 plus what’s the point if josh is going to win
@@enriquemeza5291 then eliminate josh first.. EZ
@@hepsdaveed8057 lol!! I like it! But these guys never do that. He’s the boss.
The mind sculptors had a very good tournament recently, it is very possible for 4 player play
One thing to remember if you are using Backgrounds in the 99. They only work on Commander CREATURES. If you have a planeswalker commander, such as Elminster, then the background will not work unless you turn it into a creature (probably with Luxior).
I think backgrounds are a cool new mechanic to build decks around. So many different combinations, really gives the variety to choose what you want. Then if you don’t want to have a commander/background they slot into your deck as part of the 99. Really only works if your deck is based around your commander
That's the thing! Some of these are essentially: "Auras that don't fall off of your Commander when they leave." Voltron tools
Just to say, the Basalt monolith filter can be used for any amount of mana Vhal taps for:
1)Tap Vhal for 5 restricted
2)Untap basalt monolith with 3 of the 5.
3 filtered + 2 restricted floating.
3) Use 1 filtered and the 2 left from Vhal to untap the monolith again.
Now you have 5 filtered floating.
Didn't realize Jaheira also affects no creature tokens. Food, clues, treasure and blood become mana rocks that add G.
Pair her with a red background and go into blood tokens? Relatively easy to make!
Street urchin for easy pinging
@@reubenfromow4854 i was thinking the black one for card draw then dive into a revel into riches build with chatterfang and some other treasure things (old gnaw and bootlegger stash) lol
Gold tokens are a seldom-used mechanic that are effectively Treasures that don't need to tap. So you can tap them for a green and then sac them for one of any color.
They started out saying they would be talking about their favorite unique Background/Commander combinations - Jimmy even says "don't just play the obvious ones" before they start off with... Durnan and Passionate Archaeologist (ie. the Green/Red precon alternate Background/Commander combination, lol). 🤣🤣🤣
I really *LOVE* the design of backgrounds, such an elegant way to boost a mono-colored commander's power level in an interesting way that also diversifies its color identity.
I had already started making a quad color deck based on casting spells from exile. A possible commander pair for the deck would be Thrasios and Vial Smasher. When I saw how much support this set gave casting from exile, I was super excited. Whether I do Yidris or the partners, I think Passionate Archeologist goes in the deck.
(Also, this is my first comment on UA-cam in like 10 years haha Love the show. Love Magic. Much love)
2 ways to get around vhal's mana restriction is to use prismite or stonework packbeast that way you can turn his colorless mana into calored mana, both prismite and stonework packbeast say 2: add one mana of any color
Wow guys you forgot to tell a patron that they rock.
Right now I'm building mono black Burakis/Haunted One. It's a super comboey party deck that aims to establish wild value loops like that Aetherborn Rogue you mentioned that no one would probably make use of with Haunted One. It's a party type, so you can sac it in response and basically Lae'zel's acrobatics your board if you have a vehicle and a sac outlet. The deck also has no tutors, just seeking to put together free form combos because the general synergy seems so high.
I paired Wilson with Agent of the Shadow Thieves. By turn 3 with no ramp, I'm swinging with an invincible trampling vigilant deathtouch 3/3 that's just going to keep getting bigger.
I went Wilson and Flaming Fist for the Double strike instead.
@@MunchKING that pairing is nuts
the first background combo that got my attention was the Cultist Wilson combo, which you guys talked about quite a bit. tbh, seeing so many people talk about the pair has kinda taken the wind out of my sails on it, but that's fine since I already have two other ideas for golgari decks I want to build. I'll just find another background pair to build. thanks for the encouragement to really dig in and find something special to do with these cards
Passionate Archeologist feels like an auto include in any Prosper deck, I know I plan to pick it up and add it to mine
Interestingly backgrounds in the 99 with Yoshimaru are really good, more legendary permanents to trigger yoshi and most of them will buff him in different ways as well!
The background I thought of that could go in the 99 of lots of decks is Agent of the Iron Throne. If your commander wants to run Aristocrats, it's another payout. If you have Treasures? This makes them do damage. If you just want to throw a bunch of zombies at your opponents until they are overwhelmed, now your commander turns those deaths into more damage. You guys seem to be all about sac for value, so I would have thought you'd like that one.
Hadn't really thought about it, but the two "tribal" backgrounds have the very interesting avenue of turning one of the Choose commander into a tribal deck. Say, Folk Hero and Jaheira, for a fairly cheap cost, suddenly you have a green white Elves commander that draws you a card whenever you cast a elf mana dork. That's pretty powerful. Sure, a elf deck has Beast Whisperer and such in the deck already, and white is a little awkward for elves, but it makes an interesting design. Might just largely ignore the white in the deck beyond staples. I see he went into Haunted One shenanigans, probably cleric combo with that somehow. Maybe even do stuff with giving whichever Chooser changeling.
I built Wilson with Cultist of the absolute and it’s one of my favourite decks currently. It’s a bit slow but when it gets going it goes hard.
I’m looking at possibly building another background pairing in the future
The Wilson and Raised by Giants Combination should really play Belt of Giant Strength, +10/+10 and free equip! xD
Doesn't work, both effects set it at 10/10
I instantly subbed after that opening. Well done.
jimmy and josh got shameless charlatan wrong (and its ok cause new card)! the text is added by the enchantment, means after being another creature your commander still have pay 2 and blue: this creature bekomes a copy of another target creature. if the enchantment leaves then yes its stuck ^^
edit: i got them wrong. they mean it cant transform back to the original and thats right if you dont build around that.
I actually missed this too, thanks for the clarification, any commander having the combo potential that volrath/scion has is actually neat!
Its totally how I read it the first time. Good comment 👍
No, they are correct. They are saying that if you turn it into something, you can't then turn it back into your commander because you can't target your own commander with the ability.
@@clokedman883 your right, sorry ill change it.
Another awesome episode you guys rock also in episode idea throwback. Upgrade like the very first precons with modern cards now.
Big Timmy energy picking Wilson not just nice but twice
I had the same love for Wlson, Refined Grizzly; however, I went a different route. I used the white background Flaming Fist (a common, by the way), which allows me to double up on "hit" abilities, such as mark of sakiko, one with nature, hunter's insight, keen/sixth sense to draw and ramp at a crazy rate for such little investment. I also use Hammer Time (which is lethal with Flaming Fist) and other massive buffs that put Wilson in lethal range with the double strike. I find the double strike allows Wilson to be more powerful and better at sustaining for these reasons.
I nicknamed the deck, "Mr. Wilson's Right to Bear Arms."
For folk hero I think if ur playing a white human or angel general I think it's a auto include cause those types are really easy to just have a good amount of them incidentally and it makes those common types cantrip which is mono white or in the mardu colors wedge is just really good.
I think that this is a good idea however with the way the power level is going up each year you have to choose 2 lower mana options .
20:50 first commander
30:42 second commander
Cultist of the Absolute got highlighted, but I feel like the most underrated BG for Wilson is Flaming Fist (gives commanders double strike when they attack). Took out 3 players with commander damage over 2 games during prerelease draft, thanks to 3 copies of Greatsword of Tyr. I've built a no-rares deck from that pairing and it's already taken out Azami Wizards tribal, 4c Omnath and Kenrith with only commons and uncommons.
Oh, I've got a video coming out soon that goes over the cool shenanigans that you can do with Background.
Like what kind of shenanigans?
@@craig1287 There are not too many thing, it's mostly an episode to clarify some things about Backgrounds, some rules and effects might not be as clear to some players. One thing that I really like is using the Backgrounds in the 99 of a deck with Partner or Partner With (or Friends Forever as well I guess) when the Background has an effect that stacks with each Commander Creature you own.
@@ThisIsACommanderChannel Very cool!
I'm throwing haunted one in my wilhelt deck for even more zombie recursion shennagins.
Love it!
Played this in a SpellTable game with Jimmy but I paired Dungeon Delver with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers for a D&D themed deck! Its a fun deck and I love it 😆
Cultist of the Absolute has gone straight into my Olivia; Crimson Bride deck. Gives Olivia +3/+3 with deathtouch and ward. The downside of “at upkeep sacrifice a creature” can be overcome with Olivia’s “when Olivia attacks, return creature from graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking”.
I added Street Urchin and Agent of the Iron Throne in the 99 of my Prosper deck. Street Urchin let's me use my treasures to kill stuff off with Prosper's deathtouch and Agent gives me another drain to go with him. I need to get a copy of
Passionate Archaeologist for it too.
I think they could make 2-color commanders with "choose a background that shares a color with this" and keep the mono backgrounds, or maybe 2-color backgrounds. But yeah, they'd need a "share a color" restriction or something like that.
I actually really like the partner mechanic, I think it can shape up to make some pretty sweet decks
If you do Vhal with Animation Module, Thornbite Staff is very helpful, because everytime you sac a servo to the background, the staff untaps Vhal so you can use her to pay for the combo and make more and more mana in the process.
I'm tinkering Imoen with Haunted One. Glad I got ahead of the curve by already picking up Opposition and Cauldron of souls. Also Mothdust Changeling. Burakos also pairs well with Haunted One, either a mono black, or with Haunted One in the 99 for him
Don't think you want to mono color a commander that requires specific creature types to function. Haunted one in 99 makes sense though.
@@joshholmes1372 Black does have the support for the creature types, but a build in this way is more about spreading an anthem to many creature types at the same time with anti-removal built in rather than forcing life loss and getting treasures.
Progenitus and all of the Backgrounds! Progenitus, who happens to be a master chef who also has a criminal background!
So in my prerelease pool, another player and myself both played Lae'zel and Master Chef. They go real well together.
I had made a Yoshimaru/Reyhan Legendary matters deck, and was strongly considering dropping some backgrounds into that deck. Not only affecting both commanders of the deck, but also triggering Yoshimaru for playing a legendary.
You should have done "you spin me back round baby back round like enchantment baby" for the opening song
I’m REALLY surprised you guys didn’t mention the background “Street Urchin” for deathtouch commanders. Especially Prosper. Who is one of my commanders. Lol. I threw it in immediately after I got mine!
One thing that you guys probably just didn't get talked about with these in the 99 is that they mention "commander creature(s) you own." So I think like the 'storm' cycle these work best in partner decks. Agent of the Iron Throne turns both your commanders into blood artists. With 2 commanders Folk Hero expands your tribal options considerably, Inspiring Leader pumps by +4/+4 if both are out etc.
On my side the only thing I know I'm doing is converting my red/green landfall deck away from Mina and Denn and into Erinis, Gloomstalker + Street Urchin. Street Urchin gives you the power to pay a mana and sac artifacts or creatures to have your commander deal 1 damage to something. Not very good. But Erinis is a deathtouch creature with the ability to pull lands back on attack. You can sac artifact lands to Street Urchin, let Erinis kill potential blockers in the way, swing, bring a land back, tap and sacrifice it to kill another creature. Lots of cool synergies to be had.
Yknow? Normally the commercials are more cringeworthy than entertaining, but i really liked this batch. Rocco was fun and on point with the puns, and the backstory you guys made for combat Celebrant was pretty sensible. Good work to the writers.
I can see Voltron decks making use of some of the backgrounds; the one that gives commander's double strike in particular just seems good here, as does Agent of the Shadow Thieves which gives them deathtouch. I would play both in Zurgo.
I'm putting Cultist of the Absolute in my Hapatra deck. It seems like a slam dunk because it's evasion, protection, and more commander damage (which isn't that important but it's fun)
Guild Artisan is going straight into my Norin the Wary deck. That card is pure gas when my commander can attack freely and never fear dying in combat.
Presence of gond would synergize well with Jaheira if you have a way to untap her multiple times a turn
Going to try : volo and acolyte of bahamut.
Changeling tribal with the best simic lords !
Currently building Sivriss + haunted one
Burakos and Haunted One makes a sweet mono black party deck!
The only background I plan to run is Shadowheart + Master chef.
All the little tokens get a good meal before I sacrifice them to draw cards. I call it the last potluck.
Unrelated to this video, but I'd really love to see a video from you guys discussing not just throwing in all the powerful cards/staples into decks. Most of the MtG community talk about how the format is getting increasingly powerful all the time, how various cards are no longer "playable" or "fast enough" etc. I've had people comment on my card choices for decks, saying I should cut them for stronger alternatives, but those choices had been made to lower the power to make for better games with certain groups. It's a problem in the community that people feel pressured to play the 2 mana rocks, for example, when these choices should just be made to fit the power you're going for.
I think it'd be really helpful for the community as a whole to adjust their perspective on this so that it's "okay" to play sub-optimal cards and not always feel like they need the best decks to have fun, or even to win. Having a voice like yours at the CZ express this to people would be a great step forwards for all players, I feel :)
Yep. People watch these shows and are inspired to build insane expensive decks and try to play against their friends who's decks are half bulk. It sucks. I did the same shit and my friends were like wow this is... not fun at all!
I'm sorry i fell asleep hearing about Josh's Game Knights deck
Passionate Archaeologist is amazing in a Prosper deck. Tavern Brawler is also nice, though that deck will already have so many ways to get impulsive draw and usually doesn't care about boosting that 1/4 statline very much.
Also, I'm surprised you didn't go very much into Partners and the fact that you can effectively double up on Background power that way. Two Master Chefs giving each of your creatures a pair of +1/+1 counters on ETB? Two Inspiring Leaders to give your token creatures +4/+4? Even just a pair of 10/10 commanders on the board (though of course they track Commander Damage separately).
My personal favorite combo is shadowheart + shameless charlatan relentless rat / rat colony. Sac beeg rats for beeg draw and when the time is right, turn ypur commander into a beeg rat that deals commander damage
Captain Wilson, Sword Coast Sailor, it was quite funny watching my opponents vie to be the person with the least life when my turn came around. Simic Voltron was quite fun!
Thinking about an Ellyn Harbreeze/inspiring leader deck, or Ellyn/Feywild visitor. Both sound like a lot of fun to me. Also a Volo/Scion of Halaster deck could be really interesting, especially if you're able to consistently untap volo each turn
Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant has some potential with the Haunted One background, only thing is, you'd need some way for creatures to share a type with it more easily
I brewed an elmar + wernog friends forever deck, slapped like 20 backgrounds on it. I ended up with a combat-centric enchantress, clues deck. I have yet to playtest it though.
(in theory, 2 commanders + multiple backgrounds on the board make for some very interesting set-ups. Hardy outlander + raised by giants with 2 commander's on board nets you a 30/30 and a 20/20 creature swinging at the player with the biggest life total. 😂)
Can you use a background in the 99? Just as a normal enchantment in your deck? - answered at 15:35
However, I'm a still a little confused. Jimmy said backgrounds never interact with a card that doesn't say "choose a background". If that's true, then what JLK said immediately afterward doesn't make sense as far as them being in the 99 of any other commander deck. It would make sense to me that you could have a background in the 99 and it would fully function when it's in play, but could only have it in the command zone if you have a commander that says "choose a background". That would make it function exactly like partner and friends forever.
Currently building a Burakos Party leader/ haunted one deck! Burakos is an orc, cleric, wizard, rogue and warrior and has party support and haunted one cares about creature types of the commander so a Sacrifice party!
Lulu and Guild Artisan seems decent. Lulu has flying and can produce the treasure tokens which will trigger lulus effect when sacrifced.
There’s not actually 960 combos. There are only 496 unique combos with the background mechanic. If you just use the 32 x 30 equation you will in up with non-unique combos (like Durnan/Folk Hero and Folk Hero/Durnan) and double ups (like Durnan/Durnan and Folk Hero/Folk Hero). It’s the same way you calculate just dual color combos. If you just do 5 x 5 you’ll end up with repeats like W/B and B/W (which are both Orzhov or B/B which is just mono black) so you have to account to the double ups and the reverse combos which is why there are only 10 dual color combos and not 25.
I went for a Baeloth Barrityl paired with Raised by Giants to continuously goad anything with less than 10 power (20 with Unnatural Growth) and get treasure tokens from forced combats. The whole table quickly turns on you, but it's hilarious nonetheless.
I made a Gut / Scion of Halaster deck for skeleton tribal. I'm having a great time with it.
Backgrounds seem like they could be broken in the 98 of Partner commander decks. I slammed Guild Artisan and Agent of the Iron Throne in my Max/Will stranger things food/clues/treasure tokens deck. Both low drop commanders that drain all opponents for 1 each when I sac a token and/or both create treasures when they attack is really strong.
No Patreon shout out?
Prerelease boxes had a sheet with "You may use up to 2 copies of "Faceless One" for the draft events. Is this legal for the format or just a temporary allowance granted for the event only?
thats for the draft cause it might be that you have cards you want to play but not commanders to play that cause color identity (unlikely but possible).
also faceless one is a little missleading cause you might think cause of him you can choose another background aka 3 commanders, but the reminder say it has to be a second commander. so you cant have a third one cause you can only have one second commander card ;)
The singleton rule doesn't apply in limited. You can use any number of any card (following color identity etc etc)
Starting it feel like there are so many cards in the format that the commander you choose is becoming less and less relavent. Like the Green/Black deck with the Bear and the Cultist background, is just reanimate protean hulk find a combo and win, and you could do that with ~66% of golgari commanders, and commanders that do a unique thing are made so paint by numbers that nearly every deck looks the same.
I don't mean to complain about Wizards game design, or the content CZ puts out, I thinks it's a natural evolution of a card pool becoming ever more robust.
Folk Hero is really good in partner decks since you can now get two draws per turn off it.
Honestly, I kinda prefer the Background mechanic over the Partner, it allows for a lot of creativity without the insane complexity. just my opinion
Durnan with alpha authority and madcap skills. Best part is that both are ways to make it harder to block effectively
It would be interesting if they did more small cycles of backgrounds or choose a background commanders, like one of each color in a commander product, or one of each color in a set in the future. I think that would be more interesting than adding a whole batch at once
In Prosper alone I added Tavern Brawler, Agent of the Iron Throne, Street Urchin, and Passionate Archaeologist. Whenever one of them hits the field Prosper feels that much better if that's even possible.
Agent of the iron thrown in my Regna/Krav sacrifice deck is a beast.
WoTC NEVER answered the "Tymna" problem. Right now, Trymna is the ONLY legendary partner that allows meaningful draw power for non-blue combinations and makes combining with blue THAT much more powerful. i am still amazed that we actually did get "mini thrasios" in the form of Titchwillow and she is every bit of overpowered that Thrasios is without being able to partner and actually needing a green and blue mana instead of four generic.
Agent of the iron thrown in my Regna/Krav sacrifice deck is a beast.
I built a deck with Wyll and Shameless Charlatan. I'm dieing to try it out!!!
The idea is to let it appear to be a silly dice roll deck, so I play all the stupid dice cards. However at some point Wyll will actually have a considerable number of counters in him and then I play Blighted Agent or Cephalid Constable, let Wyll become a copy of that creature and attack at the same turn with them just that they're 7/7 instead of 1/1 and all the sudden other's realize: Oh, this deck actually does more than just rolling dices. Besides that I put in the dice dragons which are actually really powerful. If my opponents play something really scary I just make a copy of that and attack with the blightsteel before they do. The right swords, boots and auras protect Wyll and make sure he gets through also when he's not Wyll anymore, so commander damage could be a long term plan B.
Backgrounds were confusing. Thanks for the explanation!
I'm looking into building a Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant deck with Candlekeep Sage as the background. Lulu with the revolt effect and being able to draw 2 cards from blinking Lulu sounds like fun to me.
I've Made a B/U Venture into the dungeons and initiative deck using Shadowheart, dark justicar and Dungeon dweler background.
Its hella fun, It was janky but It definitely showed a lot of potential. Now im looking forward to tunning the deck up
I ended up making a G/U Dungeons&Dragons deck using Durnan and the dungeon dweller background! Uses pretty much any and all take initiative, venture into the dungeon, and roll a D20 cards as possible
I'm really excited to try out Cultist of the Absolute in my Lathril deck
Pump her by 3, give her evasion make 5 tokens? Yes i have to sac one of them on my upkeep but thats still 2 more than i normally would have. Also I got evasion and small protection AND dealt way more damage and all this for 1 black mana.
Yeah this card is nuts
56:43 Arcane Adaptation cant use changeling as it is a keyword not a creature type
I believe there are only 29 backgrounds (5 of each color from the main set + 1 from each (4) of the precon decks). Which means there is only 928 combinations, not 960.
Boros Goblin Tribal with Gut and Folk Hero is one of my ideas. i think it gives goblins a funny option too use white interaction AND keep the hand full. or i just take inspiring leader and go aggro with big skelletons x)
Rules question, maybe someone can answer it.
Let’s say I have both Renari, Merchant of Marvels and Acolyte of Bahamut out. I then cast a Spark Double coping my Renari. Does the copy also have the ability from the background and therefore my first dragon spell costs 4 less to cast each turn?🤔
Thanks in advance for the answers 😊
Now I want to make a Zur background deck. Have him tutor all the backgrounds out.
Use shamless charlatan with faceless one, that way faceless one gains more versatility with the price of always having blue in your commander identity.
Volo+folk hero works good for creatures with several types, fe vedalken wizard and bird wizard would trigger both journal and background
Ok so what about Faceless One it's a "colorless enchantment creature background it says choose a color at the beginning of the game and of course it also has choose a background" so with this can you technically have three cards?
Rly like idea of ganax, astral hunter with feywild visitor.
I could see a Partner/Background version for artifacts. Maybe an equipment of 1 color and a legendary creature for another 1 color.
Great, then comes multi colored background commanders and backstories. I would prefer if they were stuck to mono color.
Background reminds me of host and augment from unstable. You can make something silly like sarevok the folk hero, or ellyn harbreeze the dragon cultist.
Shadowheart and the Haunted One, is really fun.