Untimely Malfunction is my favorite new card of last year. It has already done so much work for me. I hope you give it a try and love it like I do, Matt!
In defense of Untimely Malfunction, and redirect effects like it, it's red's version of counter magic. It typically blanks any single target removal, or spells that only effect you, and during counter wars on the stack, it can change the entire outcome by changing which spell a counterspell is hitting. And Untimely Malfunction has two other modes tacked on to it alongside the redirect effect. It's such a good card I love it
Golgari Charm isn't niche. -1/-1 can blow out token decks, destroying an enchantment is always good, and boardwipe protection is great. Golgari charm to me is one of the best 50 cent cards you can get in GB.
I have had Sudden Spoiling in my The Scorpion God -1/-1 counter deck, and it has saved me so many times and made so many huge impacts on games. Sometimes, I have had 2 -1/-1 on creature(s) and it helps wipe out some of their creatures.
Honestly the thing I forget about most in deck building isn’t a specific card, it’s just… blockers. Way too often I first play a deck and realise ‘oh I just keep dying to combat damage I need to add way more creatures’
I basically never play the normal green ramp spells for this reason. There's enough creatures that can to get me a land like Wood Elves that I would rather just have the body laying around. Way safer than mana dorks since your land sticks around after a wrath, but all the benefits of it being a creature, just a little less efficient.
It always depends as what kinda role a card should fullfill. Village rites is often a draw, but there simply are far better draw cards if you dont gain any advantage out of saccing creatures. Yes, if a creature were to get removed you effectively draw 2 for 1 mana, but in any other scenario you are better off paying 2 mana to draw 2 with nights whisper etc, not even including off color draw when playing 2 or more colors. Thats why stuff like village rites can feel good if you "dodge" a removal with it, but more often than not is normal card draw better, especially if you can draw into some real protection. Ultimate malfunction for instance is insane, as it is removal but also extremely good protection. Thats definately a card that can easily be picked over many other "protection" cards like tamiyos safekeeping or other hexproof giving cards
I think with Mirage Mirror most people see the word copy and look at that effect externally, like well it's only going to be useful depending on what other players have. The reality is that this card also offers colorless redundancy to your own deck. If you are in black and there are only a few cards like gravepact, well now you can pay 2 mana and have a second gravepact effect at instant speed. If there is an effect that you want that doesn't already have a ton of redundant effects mirage mirror can help you do that. The versatility of the card based on opponents and the value it can add to your own engines is immense. I agree it can be overlooked as it's not clear as to what role it directly plays in your list, if you are talking classic playing cards think of it as a JOKER, the card is a swiss army knife, mana sink and can be used your turn and opponents turns. If they try and destroy artifact you can change it to a land, it protects itself as well. You got a doubling season on the board, cool you have another before dropping tokens of PW's. Mirage Mirror is the type of card that thrives especially in playgroups that might be big on synergy and low on removal.
I like it in artifact heavy decks, particularly ones where something like Basalt Monolith is good (gilded lotus, thran dynamo etc). If you have Basalt Monolith in play, Mirage Mirror is already a mana rock, but if you are using Basalt Monolith, you're probably using a key or otherwise up to no good with it in other ways, so the Mirror makes your big mana turns even bigger, or easier to achieve.
Q: "Why do players feel tempted to cut truly excellent cards?" A: Because some players prefer flavorful synergistic cards to generic excellent cards, especially on low-to-mid power tables.
I discovered Stone-Seeder on a deep Scryfall dive about 2 months ago and slid that into my Bristly Bill deck. That card is insane. It seems hard to play for 4 mana, but it's just unbelievable. It's basically a Lotus Cobra or an Amulet of Vigor, whichever you need it to be for each separate trigger-but it's also still a dork even without the landfall trigger. It's crazy good and I've been suggesting it to everyone since then. So happy to see it mentioned here. I am validated :P
Mirage mirror is an auto include in every deck I have. It can survive almost any removal or board wipe by turning into a land last second and can surprise your enemy if he forgets and attacks into the biggest creature on the board. Also, having 2 smothering tithes or doubling seasons or any other non-legendary value engine for a turn can get out of hand fast.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the charms that see the most play are the ones that have That Mode you can proactively aim for, even if on reflection that is often not the mode you use. Naya Charm and Rakdos Charm have their Remove Target Player modes, but the former for me is most likely a regrowth and the latter an artifact remover.
Sudden Spoiling and March of the Swirling Mist are my pet cards and I won't cut them from any deck that has those colors. They have help me win tons of games ✨
When I open up a new deck list. I grab 8 staples that always go in. Mirage Mirror is one of those 8. Sol ring isn't btw, it's too much trouble outside of competitive metas. Reject Sol, Embrace Mirage.
I have been adding Healing Technique to a lot of my green decks and cutting Eternal Witness and sometimes even Skullwinder. It is a great way to recur a big spell (usually splash card draw) and has the added benefit of gaining a substantial amount of life back. I usually find there is relatively low risk because at least one opponent won't have a huge graveyard or I have enough graveyard exile myself to get rid of the worst one and then choose that opponent as my target. Getting two big spells back in your green deck over one can literally be a game-changer.
This recommendation is intriguing. I've created my own Titania, Protector of Argos deck after Joey's, and have a fair amount of self-mill. I have an Eternal Witness in there mostly out of tradition, but haven't had much cause to cast it.
@@MAndrews976 It's great value generically but sometimes it is a certifiable win con. Like in my Treebeard deck if I get two large targets (I know I have returned an Ondu Inversion before and gained 8 life) that can at least be one player out of the game.
I’ve really liked having looters in any deck that has a remote synergy with the graveyard. The filtering ability is super useful, and it’s shocking how much work even a Merfolk Looter can do
Enchantment hate. I have seen so many games won due to one enchantment that goes well in a commander deck. It either locks down the game or propels that player forward so much that it wins him the game
Untimely Malfunction is the best card of 2024 IMO. It does everything you need to be doing. If your running artifact removal, deflecting swat style effects and looking for ways to get your creatures through for combat dmg Untimely Malfunction has your back. 2 mana instant speed multiple uses why would you not run this, it's pure value and slot compression.
I live deathgrip and it's compatriot lifeforce. When the come out they do do much work when you leave mana for them to counter thing. You change up player's play patterns. Even if you counter nothing that has such a huge impact on the game. It also feels really good when an opponent asks are you going to counter my spell.
I cut Muldrifter from my blink deck once because I wanted to try Lapse into Memory to remove enemy tokens while still drawing cards, but I found myself missing the simple flexibility of a good draw effect.
Mimic Vat has won me so many games in my henzie deck, thinking outside the box REALY can catch people offguard. also, rakdos charm is THE BEST at letting people know that token spammers deserve no mercy.
I think a big thing for people, and myself included, is cutting cards when you begin to, “draw the wrong half of your deck.” I’ve been in so many situations where the entire game I’ll see the instants, sorcs, artifacts, and lands none of the stuff that adds to the board state. When that happens in games, I’m definitely more likely to remove those cards because of the alleged high density when in reality, luck of the draw is a real thing (no matter how much card draw you have)
Mirage mirror and mimic vat fall into the same category for me. They are: a. Good cards conceptually b. Look bad when your brewing your deck and it’s spread across the kitchen table c. Are good in game play. I find it hard to envision how they will play out in game. As a result it gets cut more than it should.
Mirage Mirror to me is the classic 102 card. It's a good card. But in a generic sense. So if I have to decide between the Mirror and another card that actively goes with my theme I'd rather go with that. Especially since Mirage Mirror is a multi turn mana sink. It's good, but I've already seen it.
My issue with thinning decks is that I feel like I have played all the cards already... Obviously it's not true, but my decks used to have Demonic Tutor, Survival of the Fittest, Gaea's Cradle, Palincron, Deadeye Navigator, just stupid "best version of" cards, so everything makes me go... "I literally did that, but better and it was not as fun as I thought it would be." Which leads to me being in a situation where I have "no, these are still good and people won't *really* complain if I run them" cards for every color... So I made a boros deck and it will have half the overlap of an azorius deck, because both have white, so they have StP/PtE/Land Tax/Teferi's protection/WoG/Flawless Maneuver, so on and so forth... Because why *wouldn't* I play them? Part of the problem is simply that I have had so few chances to play over the past few years, that I want to do something "new and fun", but my budget has been so limited that I simply can't just go "oh, this deck would be fun, I will just buy the 20 - 30 new cards I need for it". I dunno, maybe I am just whining... I am probably just whining. it sucks living on a small island that you need to take a ferry to/from if you want to play games/trade cards.
i've been adding Equilibrium to all my decks with blue, the card has been fun and very impactful in my games!! one of my new favorite cards lately. (Equilibrium: basically add unsummon to all your creature spells)
Deep Gnome Terramancer for me. He usually gets one land, which is okay. But sometimes he just goes nuts and gets you two lans in the turn cycle you play it! Stone Seeder Hierophant is one of my favorite green cards btw. I had a 60 card Honden, Garruk, Obliterate deck when Lorwyn was new. Stone Seeder Hierophant made sure to help to untap those bounce lands to reliably get to Obliterate everything except Garruk and a Honden.
Love the Deathgrip mention. I always run it in mono-black. Started running Stromgald Cabal for similar reasons, that one can counter Teferi’s Protection, Inkshield, or Farewell, plus makes white players nervous. Screens Swords like a Mother of Runes too.
I like Mirage Mirror in my Myrkul, Lord of Bones deck. If someone tries to target my commander or he's about to die aome other way, I activate Mirror to become a copy of Myrkul, sacrifice the original Myrkul to the legend rule, and then get an enchantment copy of Myrkul on the board.
Modal spells (including cheeky secret modal spells like Sudden Spoiling) are so good in EDH. The Mightstone and Weakstone might be the best card in my Mishra, Eminent One deck because it does everything. ...and for a dad joke, it's a shame that Deathgrip gets No Love. I've Seen Footage of it doing serious work in games.
Sudden Spoiling is a ridiculously versatile card. It has become a staple for me in a lot of decks that can run it. Offensive, defensive, and disruption of combos/key pieces are all available in a single card with Split Second on it, which makes it extremely difficult to counter. It's just such a good card in so many strategies... I've even used it to protect myself from a casting of Dusk, preserving my board 😂
@EDHRECast this card is nearly impossible to truly evaluate in a vacuum. It is so context specific you don't really understand how this card can completely shift the balance of power in a game until you play with it a few times. It makes it super easy to overlook and accidentally cut during deck building/testing.
I'm upgrading Blood rites right now, and just last night I was teetering back and forth between keeping sudden spoiling or taking it out for a different fog. cool to see your thougths on it
YES! Such an underplayed card. Recently even put it in my (mostly Mardu) Kenrith knight tribal, just to give my hasty, trampling first strikers also deathtouch on top. So worth it!
As someone who plays a ton of spellslinger decks, my village rites is seize the spoils. Draw through your deck and get a little value. It's not quite creature protection as well, but interacts great with cost reducers or copy effects!
Not a specific card but the lesson can be applied to themes as well. I built a Ukkima and Cazur deck with an unblockable theme. I had ninjas and other cards that could bounce Ukkima to my hand in my list. I ended up cutting them for more 1/1 counters support. I realized quickly I could have been dealing 15 to 20 damage multiple times very easily by bouncing Ukkima. I had too many counters support card in the deck with no way to take advantage of the giant creatures besides attacking one player at a time. Lesson learned!
Temple of the False God a.k.a. Sol Ring #2. When Battlecruising the LGS with Nothing-under-6-cmc-mono-green, Sea monsters tribal, or Rhuric Thar Gruulp Slug that stupid land always pulls weight. I generally play 39+ lands per deck and even if it is in my opening hand, it rarely fails to perform from the jump. I also tend toward "just happy to be here" decks...
(Dana here) Temple of the False god gets crapped on a little too much imo. The biggest problem it has in my experience is the decks that use it the worst are the ones that tend to run it, and the decks that tend to be best equipped to utilize it need it the least.
Ponder, preordain, consider, opt etc. not flashy but they make sure you can hit your land drops and put away cards you need right now. 8 Basics!! that is way too high
It's quite simple but nothing spectacular. The changeling card in combination with the commander makes creatures your opponent controls not able to block, since they are also cowards. The same applies for all changeling cards that you might wanna play in Tribal decks.
Reins of Power is my personnal pet card I'm trying to never cut out of my deck. Such a versatile card it's nuts. Reins of power in response of a Cyclonic Rift is tons of fun...for you
I have the opposite problem, like at one point Prossh had Sudden Spoiling, Hellish Rebuke, Wyll's Reversal, Bolt Bend, Obscuring Haze, Heroic Intervention, and Moment's Peace. But like, when it works it's so funny.
Sadly that is not how permanents in MTG work. After re-entering the calendar is treated as a brand new object on the battlefield. Phasing it out would work tho.
I really want Joey to make a Havi, All-Father deck. Naya, legendary-matters, graveyard recursion deck. Cheat stuff in with Feldon or Sneak Attack, copy or sac your legendaries to recur. It's a strange version of a graveyard deck.
So I don’t have a doctorate, but I am a Master of Laws. I’m also English, so I appreciate the Sherlock Holmes reference…even if it was a stretch, that’s what makes the dad jokes such gems! Thanks guys!
About dearhgrip and other spells like them. They are so much fun. Because these cards are color dependant they enter always hit. In four players games they often will and getting a benefit that is often repeatable feels very good and is quite fin.
Commie Commander here, This is a fantastic topic, and I’ve got a card that fits perfectly into this discussion. Like Dana mentioned with *Sudden Spoiling*, my go-to is *Paladin of Stromgald*. Yep, take a moment to look it up-it’s *that* one. I’ve gotten so tired of being blown out by *Teferi's Protection* that I started keeping *Paladin of Stromgald* in my decks as a subtle countermeasure. Most opponents forget about it because it seems so innocuous, but I’ve managed to counter some key spells with it. In one game, I even used *Finale of Devastation* in my cEDH deck to bring it out with no board state, leaving everyone wondering why-until the time was right! Now, it’s become a staple in all my black decks. Honestly, in any deck running black-five-color or otherwise-it’s invaluable. With so many powerful white spells out there, paying one life to counter them is just too good to pass up.
Re: A lot of this talk about cards feeling bad in play testing...use MTG Forge. It's not the same as playing against other players, but it is by FAR the best way to play test and tune a deck. You ACTUALLY get to see the value and tune your deck with "real" games.
Blades of Velis Vel is amazing in any decks in red that worries about certain types. It foes WORK in my Varchild deck because I can nab 2 big creatures as a response to my commander being removed. Very fun card
My new card to never cut is ghost vacuum. Graveyard hate and potentially a lot of great etbs late game. With honorable mentions to Agatha's soul cauldron, scavenging ooze, deathrite shaman, and lion sash.
I loved the episode, but it really was just like.. two Challenge the Stats segments, wasn't it? :P BUT, I had never heard of Sudden Spoiling before, and it's a card that's right up my alley, so I'm looking into it for any of my decks with black now~
@@mathimus55 All good! I still liked the episode.. otherwise I wouldn't have felt sad when it ended. :P Take care of yourselves and all that. Hope you've had a great holiday season. Looking forward to Commander this year. (:
I played both Lifeforce and Deathgrip in the same deck and I had to cut both because in multiple games it just completely HOSED most the decks at the table and I stole the win away from myself a lot with them.
I also like Deathgrip, but Allosaurus Shepherd, Veil of Summer & Delighted Halfling exist. I know there's a lot of creature removal in black, but green has ways of making their spells uncounterable.
Maybe my brain is just wired differently, or my extensive tagging/categorizing of every card is paying off, but this is one of the few times, that I just can't relate to a topic at all. Something like "A card can go into anything so I put it in nowhere" is some kind of twisted logic that just does not compute for me. I mean, I know what I want my deck to do, I have a rough template of the basic stuff like removal, card advantage etc. and just fill up the rest according to the deck plan. Why would I skip out on a card that can check a box for multiple categories and thus giving me more space for the more theme specific/fun things? Anyways: Happy new year! Keep up the good work!
LANDS Never cut lands. You should actually play MORE lands. Almost every commander deck would be better if it ran between 41 and 43 lands - "but I never have issues" your mulligan rules are too soft - "but I run 10 mana rocks with my 28 lands" Write down the number of times you play a signet on 3 and miss a land drop. it's embarrassing, just play a land - but Cedh decks run 22 lands cedh decks are trying to turn 1 kill the table with thassas oracle, doomsday or underworld breach. These decks run chrome mox and lions eye diamond with 0 mana counters like pact of negation Listen to Sam Black, open the hypergeometric calculator. Your average cmc 4.5 deck isn't fine with 32 lands.
Why Village Rites? Ceiling: Opponent casts exile target creature. You cast Village Rites. Opponent goes -1, you go -2 +2=0 and your creature is in the graveyard now. Floor: You cast Village rites to go -2 +2. It's not even carddraw. This card is so fucking bad. And if you go on about "hurr durr but what if I want the creature to die or what if I can reanimate it" yea, if you can do that you PROBABLY got a sac outlet anyways. And guess what: they don't cost you anything. If you find Village rites is a good card in your deck, try running a sac outlet like phyrexian altar/ashnods altar/altar of dementia/goblin bombardment/Ayara/Whatever really. And see where it takes you. Hell, play Erebos Bleak Hearted. At least you get to kill another creature like this.
Untimely Malfunction is my favorite new card of last year. It has already done so much work for me. I hope you give it a try and love it like I do, Matt!
It’s real gnarly
In defense of Untimely Malfunction, and redirect effects like it, it's red's version of counter magic. It typically blanks any single target removal, or spells that only effect you, and during counter wars on the stack, it can change the entire outcome by changing which spell a counterspell is hitting.
And Untimely Malfunction has two other modes tacked on to it alongside the redirect effect. It's such a good card I love it
Besides the obvious Deflecting Swat, I think Untimely Malfunction is legit the best protection spell in any deck with red
Golgari Charm isn't niche. -1/-1 can blow out token decks, destroying an enchantment is always good, and boardwipe protection is great. Golgari charm to me is one of the best 50 cent cards you can get in GB.
Token deck isn't going to have 1/1's past the first 2 turns but go off.
@@MonoxideTF2 Usually what makes them bigger than 2/2s are enchantments, so...
I have had Sudden Spoiling in my The Scorpion God -1/-1 counter deck, and it has saved me so many times and made so many huge impacts on games. Sometimes, I have had 2 -1/-1 on creature(s) and it helps wipe out some of their creatures.
It's amazing for tempo play in toxril as well
Honestly the thing I forget about most in deck building isn’t a specific card, it’s just… blockers.
Way too often I first play a deck and realise ‘oh I just keep dying to combat damage I need to add way more creatures’
Amen, brother
I basically never play the normal green ramp spells for this reason. There's enough creatures that can to get me a land like Wood Elves that I would rather just have the body laying around. Way safer than mana dorks since your land sticks around after a wrath, but all the benefits of it being a creature, just a little less efficient.
It always depends as what kinda role a card should fullfill. Village rites is often a draw, but there simply are far better draw cards if you dont gain any advantage out of saccing creatures. Yes, if a creature were to get removed you effectively draw 2 for 1 mana, but in any other scenario you are better off paying 2 mana to draw 2 with nights whisper etc, not even including off color draw when playing 2 or more colors. Thats why stuff like village rites can feel good if you "dodge" a removal with it, but more often than not is normal card draw better, especially if you can draw into some real protection.
Ultimate malfunction for instance is insane, as it is removal but also extremely good protection. Thats definately a card that can easily be picked over many other "protection" cards like tamiyos safekeeping or other hexproof giving cards
I think with Mirage Mirror most people see the word copy and look at that effect externally, like well it's only going to be useful depending on what other players have. The reality is that this card also offers colorless redundancy to your own deck. If you are in black and there are only a few cards like gravepact, well now you can pay 2 mana and have a second gravepact effect at instant speed. If there is an effect that you want that doesn't already have a ton of redundant effects mirage mirror can help you do that. The versatility of the card based on opponents and the value it can add to your own engines is immense. I agree it can be overlooked as it's not clear as to what role it directly plays in your list, if you are talking classic playing cards think of it as a JOKER, the card is a swiss army knife, mana sink and can be used your turn and opponents turns. If they try and destroy artifact you can change it to a land, it protects itself as well. You got a doubling season on the board, cool you have another before dropping tokens of PW's. Mirage Mirror is the type of card that thrives especially in playgroups that might be big on synergy and low on removal.
I like it in artifact heavy decks, particularly ones where something like Basalt Monolith is good (gilded lotus, thran dynamo etc). If you have Basalt Monolith in play, Mirage Mirror is already a mana rock, but if you are using Basalt Monolith, you're probably using a key or otherwise up to no good with it in other ways, so the Mirror makes your big mana turns even bigger, or easier to achieve.
The card I will never cut is Strixhaven Stadium.
Have you ever won with it's effect?
@@nagashizzar3978 Yes :P
@@MTG_Mana_Drama NICE!
That’s a good one for sure.
Card goes hard in Felix Five Boots
"mirage mirror can protect itself from board wipes." - what an eye opener
It's one of those things that is super easy to miss but makes you kick yourself for missing it once you realize it.
Q: "Why do players feel tempted to cut truly excellent cards?"
A: Because some players prefer flavorful synergistic cards to generic excellent cards, especially on low-to-mid power tables.
I discovered Stone-Seeder on a deep Scryfall dive about 2 months ago and slid that into my Bristly Bill deck. That card is insane. It seems hard to play for 4 mana, but it's just unbelievable. It's basically a Lotus Cobra or an Amulet of Vigor, whichever you need it to be for each separate trigger-but it's also still a dork even without the landfall trigger. It's crazy good and I've been suggesting it to everyone since then. So happy to see it mentioned here. I am validated :P
Mirage mirror is an auto include in every deck I have. It can survive almost any removal or board wipe by turning into a land last second and can surprise your enemy if he forgets and attacks into the biggest creature on the board. Also, having 2 smothering tithes or doubling seasons or any other non-legendary value engine for a turn can get out of hand fast.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the charms that see the most play are the ones that have That Mode you can proactively aim for, even if on reflection that is often not the mode you use. Naya Charm and Rakdos Charm have their Remove Target Player modes, but the former for me is most likely a regrowth and the latter an artifact remover.
I feel this way about homeward path. This card now goes in every deck I make.
(Dana here) Homeward Path, Scavenger Grounds, Abstergo Entertainment and a couple Strip Mine effects into every deck, full stop.
I would also say, and this one hurts every deck I make, but the "new" best 3 mana rock has got to be Manascape Refractor.
Claiming first as a patreon supporter feels like cheating...
All good, the reward's the same.
I’ll allow it
It's just pay to win, like in many games now. 😆
Sudden Spoiling and March of the Swirling Mist are my pet cards and I won't cut them from any deck that has those colors. They have help me win tons of games ✨
March of Swirling Mists is a great pick!
Sudden spoiling at worst is a black uncounterable fog for 3
When I open up a new deck list. I grab 8 staples that always go in. Mirage Mirror is one of those 8.
Sol ring isn't btw, it's too much trouble outside of competitive metas. Reject Sol, Embrace Mirage.
I have been adding Healing Technique to a lot of my green decks and cutting Eternal Witness and sometimes even Skullwinder. It is a great way to recur a big spell (usually splash card draw) and has the added benefit of gaining a substantial amount of life back. I usually find there is relatively low risk because at least one opponent won't have a huge graveyard or I have enough graveyard exile myself to get rid of the worst one and then choose that opponent as my target. Getting two big spells back in your green deck over one can literally be a game-changer.
This recommendation is intriguing. I've created my own Titania, Protector of Argos deck after Joey's, and have a fair amount of self-mill. I have an Eternal Witness in there mostly out of tradition, but haven't had much cause to cast it.
@@MAndrews976 that sounds like the perfect deck to include it in!
@@MAndrews976 It's great value generically but sometimes it is a certifiable win con. Like in my Treebeard deck if I get two large targets (I know I have returned an Ondu Inversion before and gained 8 life) that can at least be one player out of the game.
Village Rites is interesting bc I've never played a card like that in a commander deck lol
Are cantrips good???
Thanks for the tip on Sudden Spoiling. I wasn't aware of the card previously. It will be a good inclusion in my Esper tricky stuff deck.
You'll be shocked how much utility it has.
I’ve really liked having looters in any deck that has a remote synergy with the graveyard. The filtering ability is super useful, and it’s shocking how much work even a Merfolk Looter can do
Enchantment hate. I have seen so many games won due to one enchantment that goes well in a commander deck. It either locks down the game or propels that player forward so much that it wins him the game
Untimely Malfunction is the best card of 2024 IMO. It does everything you need to be doing.
If your running artifact removal, deflecting swat style effects and looking for ways to get your creatures through for combat dmg Untimely Malfunction has your back. 2 mana instant speed multiple uses why would you not run this, it's pure value and slot compression.
Dana, that's a win-win, you either successfully resolve a new years resolution, or you continue the trend and are more productive.
This guy resolutions.
@@EDHRECast I bring a couple counter spells and stifles as backup.
Watched this episode LITERALLY as I was in the process of cutting Mimic Vat from a deck... then thought better of it 🤭
I live deathgrip and it's compatriot lifeforce. When the come out they do do much work when you leave mana for them to counter thing. You change up player's play patterns. Even if you counter nothing that has such a huge impact on the game. It also feels really good when an opponent asks are you going to counter my spell.
I cut Muldrifter from my blink deck once because I wanted to try Lapse into Memory to remove enemy tokens while still drawing cards, but I found myself missing the simple flexibility of a good draw effect.
Mimic Vat has won me so many games in my henzie deck, thinking outside the box REALY can catch people offguard. also, rakdos charm is THE BEST at letting people know that token spammers deserve no mercy.
I think a big thing for people, and myself included, is cutting cards when you begin to, “draw the wrong half of your deck.” I’ve been in so many situations where the entire game I’ll see the instants, sorcs, artifacts, and lands none of the stuff that adds to the board state. When that happens in games, I’m definitely more likely to remove those cards because of the alleged high density when in reality, luck of the draw is a real thing (no matter how much card draw you have)
4:55 Come on Joey! That was a perfect time to say "Before you Wreck your deck"
Whirlwind denial! A bad counterspell which has a ceiling so high I can’t get rid of it. Runs similar to sudden spoiling.
Episode starts: 4:14
You're gonna make people miss Dana's amazing CardSphere tags though. Yes, Dana is writing this.
Mirage mirror and mimic vat fall into the same category for me. They are:
a. Good cards conceptually
b. Look bad when your brewing your deck and it’s spread across the kitchen table
c. Are good in game play.
I find it hard to envision how they will play out in game. As a result it gets cut more than it should.
Mirage Mirror to me is the classic 102 card. It's a good card. But in a generic sense. So if I have to decide between the Mirror and another card that actively goes with my theme I'd rather go with that. Especially since Mirage Mirror is a multi turn mana sink. It's good, but I've already seen it.
My issue with thinning decks is that I feel like I have played all the cards already... Obviously it's not true, but my decks used to have Demonic Tutor, Survival of the Fittest, Gaea's Cradle, Palincron, Deadeye Navigator, just stupid "best version of" cards, so everything makes me go... "I literally did that, but better and it was not as fun as I thought it would be." Which leads to me being in a situation where I have "no, these are still good and people won't *really* complain if I run them" cards for every color... So I made a boros deck and it will have half the overlap of an azorius deck, because both have white, so they have StP/PtE/Land Tax/Teferi's protection/WoG/Flawless Maneuver, so on and so forth... Because why *wouldn't* I play them?
Part of the problem is simply that I have had so few chances to play over the past few years, that I want to do something "new and fun", but my budget has been so limited that I simply can't just go "oh, this deck would be fun, I will just buy the 20 - 30 new cards I need for it". I dunno, maybe I am just whining... I am probably just whining. it sucks living on a small island that you need to take a ferry to/from if you want to play games/trade cards.
i've been adding Equilibrium to all my decks with blue, the card has been fun and very impactful in my games!! one of my new favorite cards lately. (Equilibrium: basically add unsummon to all your creature spells)
Deep Gnome Terramancer for me.
He usually gets one land, which is okay. But sometimes he just goes nuts and gets you two lans in the turn cycle you play it!
Stone Seeder Hierophant is one of my favorite green cards btw.
I had a 60 card Honden, Garruk, Obliterate deck when Lorwyn was new. Stone Seeder Hierophant made sure to help to untap those bounce lands to reliably get to Obliterate everything except Garruk and a Honden.
Love the Deathgrip mention. I always run it in mono-black. Started running Stromgald Cabal for similar reasons, that one can counter Teferi’s Protection, Inkshield, or Farewell, plus makes white players nervous. Screens Swords like a Mother of Runes too.
I added Stone Seeder to my Necrobloom Gates commander thanks to you Joey! Lotus Field + Maze's End = Gravy
As someone who runs Millennium Calendar in my super friends deck, I appreciated Joey's opening jokes very much.
Sudden spoiling and untimely malfunction are both huge in my kazarov creature ping deck
I like Mirage Mirror in my Myrkul, Lord of Bones deck. If someone tries to target my commander or he's about to die aome other way, I activate Mirror to become a copy of Myrkul, sacrifice the original Myrkul to the legend rule, and then get an enchantment copy of Myrkul on the board.
This broke my brain a little bit
Modal spells (including cheeky secret modal spells like Sudden Spoiling) are so good in EDH. The Mightstone and Weakstone might be the best card in my Mishra, Eminent One deck because it does everything.
...and for a dad joke, it's a shame that Deathgrip gets No Love. I've Seen Footage of it doing serious work in games.
Sudden Spoiling is a ridiculously versatile card. It has become a staple for me in a lot of decks that can run it. Offensive, defensive, and disruption of combos/key pieces are all available in a single card with Split Second on it, which makes it extremely difficult to counter. It's just such a good card in so many strategies...
I've even used it to protect myself from a casting of Dusk, preserving my board 😂
It does sooooo many little things.
@EDHRECast this card is nearly impossible to truly evaluate in a vacuum. It is so context specific you don't really understand how this card can completely shift the balance of power in a game until you play with it a few times. It makes it super easy to overlook and accidentally cut during deck building/testing.
“So the card here is Sudden spo-“ and an ad starts. Absolutely perfect lmao
For me i just love including modify memory in every blue deck its basically draw 3 cards destroy 2 creatures for 5 mana
It has been an absolute stalwart in my Council of 4 deck
I'm upgrading Blood rites right now, and just last night I was teetering back and forth between keeping sudden spoiling or taking it out for a different fog. cool to see your thougths on it
I swear by the bow of Nylea. It does so much
YES! Such an underplayed card. Recently even put it in my (mostly Mardu) Kenrith knight tribal, just to give my hasty, trampling first strikers also deathtouch on top. So worth it!
As someone who plays a ton of spellslinger decks, my village rites is seize the spoils. Draw through your deck and get a little value. It's not quite creature protection as well, but interacts great with cost reducers or copy effects!
Fleeting Reflection - never cutting this power house of a 2024 card... Love it
for any weird good music enthusiast, putting a "deathgrip" and a "bottomless pit" in the same deck would make mc ride go YUH with joy
You can take that to the money store.
@EDHRECast wotc needs to print the money store asap
Not a specific card but the lesson can be applied to themes as well. I built a Ukkima and Cazur deck with an unblockable theme. I had ninjas and other cards that could bounce Ukkima to my hand in my list. I ended up cutting them for more 1/1 counters support. I realized quickly I could have been dealing 15 to 20 damage multiple times very easily by bouncing Ukkima. I had too many counters support card in the deck with no way to take advantage of the giant creatures besides attacking one player at a time. Lesson learned!
Temple of the False God a.k.a. Sol Ring #2.
When Battlecruising the LGS with Nothing-under-6-cmc-mono-green, Sea monsters tribal, or Rhuric Thar Gruulp Slug that stupid land always pulls weight. I generally play 39+ lands per deck and even if it is in my opening hand, it rarely fails to perform from the jump. I also tend toward "just happy to be here" decks...
(Dana here) Temple of the False god gets crapped on a little too much imo. The biggest problem it has in my experience is the decks that use it the worst are the ones that tend to run it, and the decks that tend to be best equipped to utilize it need it the least.
Ponder, preordain, consider, opt etc. not flashy but they make sure you can hit your land drops and put away cards you need right now. 8 Basics!! that is way too high
I haven't really understood Matts challenge the stat. Could someone explain it to me? I would like to understand the thought behind it
It's quite simple but nothing spectacular. The changeling card in combination with the commander makes creatures your opponent controls not able to block, since they are also cowards. The same applies for all changeling cards that you might wanna play in Tribal decks.
@ ah sorry, I meant the Part, in which Olivia said something to him
Reins of Power is my personnal pet card I'm trying to never cut out of my deck. Such a versatile card it's nuts. Reins of power in response of a Cyclonic Rift is tons of fun...for you
wow, amazing mini-episode. happy new year y'all
Love the shorter format! ❤
The only issue I have with sudden spoiling is that they are putting counters on everything, so reducing base stats will only do so much.
But no abilities!
Green players doing terrible things is known truth and sometimes i like being terrible
Amen
Just starting the video and hoping i even have the cards they are suggesting to not cut 😊
I have the opposite problem, like at one point Prossh had Sudden Spoiling, Hellish Rebuke, Wyll's Reversal, Bolt Bend, Obscuring Haze, Heroic Intervention, and Moment's Peace. But like, when it works it's so funny.
If the calendar gets blinked does it keep all its counters already on it?
No
Sadly that is not how permanents in MTG work. After re-entering the calendar is treated as a brand new object on the battlefield. Phasing it out would work tho.
I really want Joey to make a Havi, All-Father deck. Naya, legendary-matters, graveyard recursion deck. Cheat stuff in with Feldon or Sneak Attack, copy or sac your legendaries to recur. It's a strange version of a graveyard deck.
The only “never cut” cards I can think of are sol ring and wild growth. Honorable mention to lightning greaves which I’ve only cut from a few decks.
So I don’t have a doctorate, but I am a Master of Laws. I’m also English, so I appreciate the Sherlock Holmes reference…even if it was a stretch, that’s what makes the dad jokes such gems! Thanks guys!
About dearhgrip and other spells like them. They are so much fun. Because these cards are color dependant they enter always hit. In four players games they often will and getting a benefit that is often repeatable feels very good and is quite fin.
Commie Commander here,
This is a fantastic topic, and I’ve got a card that fits perfectly into this discussion. Like Dana mentioned with *Sudden Spoiling*, my go-to is *Paladin of Stromgald*. Yep, take a moment to look it up-it’s *that* one.
I’ve gotten so tired of being blown out by *Teferi's Protection* that I started keeping *Paladin of Stromgald* in my decks as a subtle countermeasure. Most opponents forget about it because it seems so innocuous, but I’ve managed to counter some key spells with it. In one game, I even used *Finale of Devastation* in my cEDH deck to bring it out with no board state, leaving everyone wondering why-until the time was right!
Now, it’s become a staple in all my black decks. Honestly, in any deck running black-five-color or otherwise-it’s invaluable. With so many powerful white spells out there, paying one life to counter them is just too good to pass up.
?? Paladin of stromgald doesn't exist
@@ekuude They likely meant Stromgald Cabal which taps to counter white spells.
@23:00 Stone-Seeder Heirophant is my main girl in my Ashaya deck!
I tend to be the berserk.. hatred.. kokusho.. massacre wurm guy... but i luv these cards mentioned..
Matt, did you hear about the yeti who decided to go to the gym more for his New Years resolution? Now he's the abdominal snowman.
Re: A lot of this talk about cards feeling bad in play testing...use MTG Forge. It's not the same as playing against other players, but it is by FAR the best way to play test and tune a deck. You ACTUALLY get to see the value and tune your deck with "real" games.
One time, I used Mimic Vat on my Gonti commander, and then Mimic Vat got exiled. Super awkward.
Blades of Velis Vel is amazing in any decks in red that worries about certain types. It foes WORK in my Varchild deck because I can nab 2 big creatures as a response to my commander being removed. Very fun card
Love this card in my Karrthus deck too
I love it when I have Angel of Suffering and lands that deal me damage.
Sudden spoiling has won me games. Love it
I still run Trading Post as often as I can.
My new card to never cut is ghost vacuum. Graveyard hate and potentially a lot of great etbs late game. With honorable mentions to Agatha's soul cauldron, scavenging ooze, deathrite shaman, and lion sash.
Only a thirty minute episode 😭
I loved the episode, but it really was just like.. two Challenge the Stats segments, wasn't it? :P
BUT, I had never heard of Sudden Spoiling before, and it's a card that's right up my alley, so I'm looking into it for any of my decks with black now~
Holiday seasons kept our work days to a minimum lately, we’ll be back to our normal programming next week
@@mathimus55 All good! I still liked the episode.. otherwise I wouldn't have felt sad when it ended. :P
Take care of yourselves and all that. Hope you've had a great holiday season. Looking forward to Commander this year. (:
I played both Lifeforce and Deathgrip in the same deck and I had to cut both because in multiple games it just completely HOSED most the decks at the table and I stole the win away from myself a lot with them.
I also like Deathgrip, but Allosaurus Shepherd, Veil of Summer & Delighted Halfling exist. I know there's a lot of creature removal in black, but green has ways of making their spells uncounterable.
Not that many, and they have to draw them.
I will never cut Goatnapper.
You. Just. Wait.
I would like to see each color also from dana, matt and joey
So should i start EVERY deck with all these cards? Hah!
I am the 0% that plays Deathgrip in K’Rrik and also plays Lifeforce in mono green.
fires of invention... it's an awesome card
Fires of Invention rules. It is wild how good Fires can be in any deck with a bunch of mana sinks.
yeah, makes you endure stax pieces as well
These thumbnails only have the purpose to show of Joey's guns dammmn man
4:30 video starts
Video starts at 5:06
I am one of that guys i have death grip in 3 of my decks with black ^^
As 2024 has come to a close Matt and Dana can finally start to steal segues from Joey again
Maybe my brain is just wired differently, or my extensive tagging/categorizing of every card is paying off, but this is one of the few times, that I just can't relate to a topic at all. Something like "A card can go into anything so I put it in nowhere" is some kind of twisted logic that just does not compute for me.
I mean, I know what I want my deck to do, I have a rough template of the basic stuff like removal, card advantage etc. and just fill up the rest according to the deck plan. Why would I skip out on a card that can check a box for multiple categories and thus giving me more space for the more theme specific/fun things?
Anyways: Happy new year! Keep up the good work!
I will never cut sol ring 🙌
Not nitch Dana... it's pronounced Nee-sh
I'm never cutting Trepanation Blade from my lazav Voltron deck
What you really shouldn't cut was half of my EDHRECast episode!! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Someone needs to build an AI that you can verse when testing your decks.
LANDS
Never cut lands. You should actually play MORE lands. Almost every commander deck would be better if it ran between 41 and 43 lands
- "but I never have issues" your mulligan rules are too soft
- "but I run 10 mana rocks with my 28 lands" Write down the number of times you play a signet on 3 and miss a land drop. it's embarrassing, just play a land
- but Cedh decks run 22 lands
cedh decks are trying to turn 1 kill the table with thassas oracle, doomsday or underworld breach. These decks run chrome mox and lions eye diamond with 0 mana counters like pact of negation
Listen to Sam Black, open the hypergeometric calculator. Your average cmc 4.5 deck isn't fine with 32 lands.
32 is too few but 43 is too many.
@@Dragon_Fyre wrong. Stats show otherwise.
34-36 for non landfall decks
@@famousstranger8468 It’s meaningless without context to other factors for the deck.
@@Dragon_Fyre Theres a reason most precons wotc creates have 38 lands
Why Village Rites?
Ceiling:
Opponent casts exile target creature. You cast Village Rites. Opponent goes -1, you go -2 +2=0 and your creature is in the graveyard now.
Floor:
You cast Village rites to go -2 +2. It's not even carddraw.
This card is so fucking bad. And if you go on about "hurr durr but what if I want the creature to die or what if I can reanimate it" yea, if you can do that you PROBABLY got a sac outlet anyways. And guess what: they don't cost you anything.
If you find Village rites is a good card in your deck, try running a sac outlet like phyrexian altar/ashnods altar/altar of dementia/goblin bombardment/Ayara/Whatever really. And see where it takes you. Hell, play Erebos Bleak Hearted. At least you get to kill another creature like this.
Sudden Spoiling will forever be my pet card. It’s saved me so many times and its versatility is insane.