I think one of the most important skills in EDH is the ability to pay attention to all the information opponents show. Regardless of if your goal is winning or crafting some sort of experience being more aware of the different things that might appear based on what has been shown will help you with that goal.
@AgoristDryad with the amount of new cards and the amount of text on cards these days, cards almost don't exist to me until they start doing something silly or dangerous ☠️😭
This is a way more solid and focused video, than the best of 2024. The deep dives, and your insights, work very well. Thanks for making such solid content!
Yeah best of 2024 was an experiment and a bit of a mess. This is far more like my current normal content, and is probably what I'll stick to, as videos like that best of video just feel like work, whereas exploring ideas and concepts is much more like fun. Thanks for being here (again) :D
The most difficult part of exposing biases is that people are not willing to accept they are subjected to them as all humans 😂 in life in general, as you said, not in magic in particular
Haha, yeah, therein lies the problem! May those who are humble enough to see their shortcomings dominate the commander pods because they've leveled up 😂
This is why I struggle so much as a new player, it’s difficult to recognize the true threat level of opponents cards when I’ve never seen them or understand how they play off that persons other cards
This video highlights basically everything I’ve seen people do at my LGS, someone always “knows” if someone else has a counterspell or “knows” someone is a threat. All of which is usually blown out of proportion. And it’s funny because the game can suffer for it rather than benefit
Alas, we are all at the mercy of our biases 😭 but yeah this is why I often play mainly with friends. At least I know their biases ahead of time by now ☠️😁
the worst is when i have mana for an answer but decide to use it up, cuz its turn 5 what could happen? then someone combo's off and wins the game when i coulda stopped it with my answer if i had left the mana open
We literally have a rule at our lgs "no grudge plays". What this means that you are not allowed to act out on grudges from previous games. This is a thing because we have some players that tend to hold grudges between matches and attempt to stomp the one they perceive as causing the grudge even though they are doing nothing against them this game. In a similar vein, spite plays or game actions that dont further ones own game state or hinder the threat of the table but rather only punishes one other player for no real reason (think, destroying the sol ring from the guy who just got his commander countered or popping a land of someone who is in like third place because "it was funny") Now there is room for spite plays between good friends (because sometimes it really *is* funny) but we have this rule during FNM and such when more randos play.
I once had a friend counter my three visits with a Swan Song on turn 2. An absolutely ridiculous waste of resources on their part and completely unwarranted, but very funny. I don't love hard rules around things like this, but in the spirit of the rule I 100% agree. Carrying over grudges between games, or even having grudges for that matter is cringe. And if someone has done something to evoke that response out of a reasonable level headed person, then they need to be the one in the naughty corner 😂
Seems hard to enforce especially with randos. I would feel like I'm walking on eggshells that my plays could be randomly called spiteful and I have to take them back or leave or something. Though that's how I always feel about all multiplayer mtg and that's why I don't play it anymore lmao
@yawg691 ok its more of a thing when you notice people clearly not letting go between matches that someone tells them off not to grudge play. It isnt super commonly enforced as to avoid making it a risky situation, when you notice someone gunning for another player for no reason (especially if they are not even a threat) thats when you say something. Though tbf mixing pods usually clears any grudges lol
I narrowly avoided getting my entire board wipe because I was listening to random table chatter. The Ur Dragon player let it slip that they had an answer for my board and I was able to alpha strike them out of the game. I still lost that game 😢
Sadly as a Group Hug / Political deck, I need to dislike this video to keep my ennemis liking me. You have given too much great quality content, and quality information that could change the way people play and everyone should learn from what you've just given to us
@@brunop.8745 I don't know what you are talking abou- OH look what the person is doing in the comment right under!!!! We should take care of it RIGHT NOW!!!
I love my jank decks! They may not work even remotely consistently, but killing a dino deck with Meteorites from the Starfall Savant will never not be funny.
Excellent content related to some of what i feel is the most fun and most transferable value of the game of commander 😊 I know it's not necessarily the take you offered here, but in some instances i intentionally build my decks with skewed strength/weakness profiles known to me, because that's like... How i exist, typically 😅 and i enjoy revelling in that in the context of a commander deck. The way commander decks speak to a person's personality has always been the appeal of the format for me. The most common example is probably '[generic deck building rationale for running what is objectively too few lands]', but you know what? I enjoy popping off when my deck's synergies hit the table in the correct succession- but i also enjoy copping a righteous beating for my greedy/eclectic build and then sprinting at my opponent when i finally get that fourth landfall on turn 8 (🤣) that puts my deck online, like some wounded swordsman with a second wind, straight out of an anime. I guess. If the occasional deficit of the deck is fun, in application, for me as the pilot /and/ it doesn't represent a negative experience for the others at the table, i think that's very much in the spirit of the format. The obvious exception here is decks that literally do nothing an unacceptable percentage of the time and make for really uninspiring games, but i maintain that those decks are not my decks 😁
I've made this point before in videos but I think commander is at its best when it's like a good dungeons and dragons session. In your case, the deck being your character that you are portraying and playing. You've got to find the right people to play with if you do this, but if you have like minded friends it is indeed some of the best commander to be had ❤️
@BasedDeckDept the specific deck I have in mind is Meren of Clan Nel Toth, which is hardly a brave choice - such power in Golgari colours and in the command zone explicitly allow for low curve shenanigans, outrageously efficient engines, discounted spells and (protracted) one turn flips in status quo that would make an izzet player smile. The deck can hold its own pretty happily if it can get to 3 lands, which is reasonably expectable 😅 and it will win if a game goes on for too long -but that's my pet deck. It runs cards that are objectively powerful, cards from artists I appreciate (Seb McKinnon 👌🏻) and cards that fit the imagined realm of an infamous Golgari shaman. I've played it for years and, circling back to your points, I've had the time and opportunity to learn the game as that deck has changed though it's many seasons. Probably, I've learned more about my own playstyle and the game of commander through multiple iterations of that one deck than I have from deck building and playing with several decks of different colours and themes. Anyway. High praise for the focus on humility and honest critical assessment of one's own potential and actual game actions, rather than the low hanging fruit of pointing at opponents and consoling oneself with 'bOLaS's ciTAdEl iS PaY tO WiN'. Blue control players who make content usually just point out that power crept green cards are the end of the world as we know it 😉 Subscribed for future content 😊
@benyoung2287 ahhh ironic that Meren was my first commander deck and is probably still my choice if I could only have one deck. I made a video about her not too long ago about a similar process of playing her for ages and refining her. And again glad all this is resonating. See you in the next one 🤜🤛
The most common bias I've seen playing commander for many years is: player x is a good player with crazy decks, so I'm going to target them. Whether or not that player's board state is threatening or not, the player themself gets heat for being notorious. That and: I can't win this game, so I'm just going to take a vulnerable player down with me, which leads to kingmaking.
Who needs consistency, it's a very silly game, occasional funny business helps the joke from becoming stale. If your deck is popping off consistently, the impact of when it does isn't going to hit as hard.
As a player of many games, I always try to target the leader (which isn't always obvious) and politically sway decisions that way. In any game where you can steal things, you might try to steal the best thing just to have the best presence for yourself. But you really need to consider the whole board state. Perhaps you stole a potential allies only good thing and made an enemy of them whereas the player with a strong board state, the highest life and most resources has a piece that you could steal even if it's not quite as exciting. If it balances the table overall, you can gain an ally and set the player in the lead back hopefully to the level of the rest of the table. Certain things like this constantly get screwed up in different games. I just played 3 new board games tonight (each with a variety of familiar facets so it was easy to pick up after a round or two of playing) and there was definitely some errors in these kinds of judgments that led to failures to win on the parts of the people who made them. One game had a lot of Commander in its bones and in this game I was murdered in the same round as another player through combat, while the other player was left near death after the turn player finished their turn. However, the other player took their turn and won with an alternate win condition, but one which was about as visible as poison counters or milling. The last game I was screwed over in the first round and since I couldn't get a bonus, I caused the player who tried to screw me over rather than the player who had the clear advantage. I did what I could with the remainder of my turn to hinder players from getting the most points that round and continually focused on political intrigue to maneuver the game so that I could end a round by forcing the player with the most advantages to lose some and gaining an advantage myself if possible, thus catching up round after round until the last round where I stole the lead.
While no one is bias free, I'd dare to say that I am pretty close to it when it comes to MTG.Don't get me wrong, I do make questionable plays and decisions, a lot at times, but almost always I am fully aware of them. Sometimes it is just more satisfying to do the dumb, chaotic, spiteful, or janky stuff than to play optimally 🙃
If there's one thing I fail at, it's having a good discord link. (and being active in there recently but that's a separate story!) The sauce: discord.gg/YT9s3wqd5F
Cookin hooves is my new favorite way of describing that.
😂 glad to be of service
Some of the best MTG content on UA-cam
No u ❤️❤️ thanks for watching
I think one of the most important skills in EDH is the ability to pay attention to all the information opponents show. Regardless of if your goal is winning or crafting some sort of experience being more aware of the different things that might appear based on what has been shown will help you with that goal.
Couldn't agree more ❤️
With my poor vision I really struggle with this and an constantly inquiring about what my opponents are playing.
@AgoristDryad with the amount of new cards and the amount of text on cards these days, cards almost don't exist to me until they start doing something silly or dangerous ☠️😭
@@BasedDeckDept
Same. Typically, I play in a way where I don't need to pay attention to every spell and trigger. Stax is great for people with adhd.
This is a way more solid and focused video, than the best of 2024. The deep dives, and your insights, work very well. Thanks for making such solid content!
Yeah best of 2024 was an experiment and a bit of a mess. This is far more like my current normal content, and is probably what I'll stick to, as videos like that best of video just feel like work, whereas exploring ideas and concepts is much more like fun. Thanks for being here (again) :D
Luckily my brain never lies to me.
The most difficult part of exposing biases is that people are not willing to accept they are subjected to them as all humans 😂 in life in general, as you said, not in magic in particular
Haha, yeah, therein lies the problem! May those who are humble enough to see their shortcomings dominate the commander pods because they've leveled up 😂
This is why I struggle so much as a new player, it’s difficult to recognize the true threat level of opponents cards when I’ve never seen them or understand how they play off that persons other cards
This video highlights basically everything I’ve seen people do at my LGS, someone always “knows” if someone else has a counterspell or “knows” someone is a threat. All of which is usually blown out of proportion. And it’s funny because the game can suffer for it rather than benefit
Alas, we are all at the mercy of our biases 😭 but yeah this is why I often play mainly with friends. At least I know their biases ahead of time by now ☠️😁
Elves and that Commander with snakes isss a threat. Always
Definitely no bias here 😂😂😂 but based on my experience I'd probably agree with you
I think these are great examples of applied logic.
❤️❤️ thanks for watching
the worst is when i have mana for an answer but decide to use it up, cuz its turn 5 what could happen?
then someone combo's off and wins the game when i coulda stopped it with my answer if i had left the mana open
Alas I dont think there will ever be a solution for that 😂 sometimes magic just be magicking
This is why I love sitting on treasures. They're not as suspicious as untapped blue lands or even mana rocks.
@@BasedDeckDept the solution for that is free interaction and that's why it's so busted in every format.
Great insight 😊 You've precisely articulated some thoughts I've been having since getting into edh.
Glad it resonated! 🤜🤛
We literally have a rule at our lgs "no grudge plays". What this means that you are not allowed to act out on grudges from previous games.
This is a thing because we have some players that tend to hold grudges between matches and attempt to stomp the one they perceive as causing the grudge even though they are doing nothing against them this game.
In a similar vein, spite plays or game actions that dont further ones own game state or hinder the threat of the table but rather only punishes one other player for no real reason (think, destroying the sol ring from the guy who just got his commander countered or popping a land of someone who is in like third place because "it was funny")
Now there is room for spite plays between good friends (because sometimes it really *is* funny) but we have this rule during FNM and such when more randos play.
I once had a friend counter my three visits with a Swan Song on turn 2. An absolutely ridiculous waste of resources on their part and completely unwarranted, but very funny. I don't love hard rules around things like this, but in the spirit of the rule I 100% agree. Carrying over grudges between games, or even having grudges for that matter is cringe. And if someone has done something to evoke that response out of a reasonable level headed person, then they need to be the one in the naughty corner 😂
Seems hard to enforce especially with randos. I would feel like I'm walking on eggshells that my plays could be randomly called spiteful and I have to take them back or leave or something. Though that's how I always feel about all multiplayer mtg and that's why I don't play it anymore lmao
@yawg691 ok its more of a thing when you notice people clearly not letting go between matches that someone tells them off not to grudge play. It isnt super commonly enforced as to avoid making it a risky situation, when you notice someone gunning for another player for no reason (especially if they are not even a threat) thats when you say something. Though tbf mixing pods usually clears any grudges lol
As always a fantastic video my dude. I really like this series on magic philosophy
❤️❤️ as always thanks for watching! Biases are such an interesting topic, so it was a lot of fun to explore the topic for me too.
I narrowly avoided getting my entire board wipe because I was listening to random table chatter. The Ur Dragon player let it slip that they had an answer for my board and I was able to alpha strike them out of the game. I still lost that game 😢
They all run counterspells. Trust me bro.
Very well said and presented
Thanks for watching 🤜🤛
Great vid. New sub here. Can't wait to watch more
❤️❤️
Sadly as a Group Hug / Political deck, I need to dislike this video to keep my ennemis liking me. You have given too much great quality content, and quality information that could change the way people play and everyone should learn from what you've just given to us
Bro is playing the long game
@@brunop.8745 I don't know what you are talking abou- OH look what the person is doing in the comment right under!!!! We should take care of it RIGHT NOW!!!
Amazing infos! Thanks, super informative and useful 👌
🤜🤛
I love my jank decks! They may not work even remotely consistently, but killing a dino deck with Meteorites from the Starfall Savant will never not be funny.
Based
Excellent content related to some of what i feel is the most fun and most transferable value of the game of commander 😊
I know it's not necessarily the take you offered here, but in some instances i intentionally build my decks with skewed strength/weakness profiles known to me, because that's like... How i exist, typically 😅 and i enjoy revelling in that in the context of a commander deck. The way commander decks speak to a person's personality has always been the appeal of the format for me.
The most common example is probably '[generic deck building rationale for running what is objectively too few lands]', but you know what? I enjoy popping off when my deck's synergies hit the table in the correct succession- but i also enjoy copping a righteous beating for my greedy/eclectic build and then sprinting at my opponent when i finally get that fourth landfall on turn 8 (🤣) that puts my deck online, like some wounded swordsman with a second wind, straight out of an anime.
I guess. If the occasional deficit of the deck is fun, in application, for me as the pilot /and/ it doesn't represent a negative experience for the others at the table, i think that's very much in the spirit of the format. The obvious exception here is decks that literally do nothing an unacceptable percentage of the time and make for really uninspiring games, but i maintain that those decks are not my decks 😁
I've made this point before in videos but I think commander is at its best when it's like a good dungeons and dragons session. In your case, the deck being your character that you are portraying and playing. You've got to find the right people to play with if you do this, but if you have like minded friends it is indeed some of the best commander to be had ❤️
@BasedDeckDept the specific deck I have in mind is Meren of Clan Nel Toth, which is hardly a brave choice - such power in Golgari colours and in the command zone explicitly allow for low curve shenanigans, outrageously efficient engines, discounted spells and (protracted) one turn flips in status quo that would make an izzet player smile. The deck can hold its own pretty happily if it can get to 3 lands, which is reasonably expectable 😅 and it will win if a game goes on for too long -but that's my pet deck. It runs cards that are objectively powerful, cards from artists I appreciate (Seb McKinnon 👌🏻) and cards that fit the imagined realm of an infamous Golgari shaman. I've played it for years and, circling back to your points, I've had the time and opportunity to learn the game as that deck has changed though it's many seasons. Probably, I've learned more about my own playstyle and the game of commander through multiple iterations of that one deck than I have from deck building and playing with several decks of different colours and themes.
Anyway. High praise for the focus on humility and honest critical assessment of one's own potential and actual game actions, rather than the low hanging fruit of pointing at opponents and consoling oneself with 'bOLaS's ciTAdEl iS PaY tO WiN'. Blue control players who make content usually just point out that power crept green cards are the end of the world as we know it 😉
Subscribed for future content 😊
@benyoung2287 ahhh ironic that Meren was my first commander deck and is probably still my choice if I could only have one deck. I made a video about her not too long ago about a similar process of playing her for ages and refining her. And again glad all this is resonating. See you in the next one 🤜🤛
The most common bias I've seen playing commander for many years is: player x is a good player with crazy decks, so I'm going to target them. Whether or not that player's board state is threatening or not, the player themself gets heat for being notorious. That and: I can't win this game, so I'm just going to take a vulnerable player down with me, which leads to kingmaking.
Alas, too true ☠️
Who needs consistency, it's a very silly game, occasional funny business helps the joke from becoming stale. If your deck is popping off consistently, the impact of when it does isn't going to hit as hard.
😂 whilst there's truth to that, it's definitely a balance, because a deck that never does anything isn't any fun
great video as usual!
Thanks for watching 🤜🤛
Yay! another upload!
❤️❤️❤️
As a player of many games, I always try to target the leader (which isn't always obvious) and politically sway decisions that way. In any game where you can steal things, you might try to steal the best thing just to have the best presence for yourself. But you really need to consider the whole board state. Perhaps you stole a potential allies only good thing and made an enemy of them whereas the player with a strong board state, the highest life and most resources has a piece that you could steal even if it's not quite as exciting. If it balances the table overall, you can gain an ally and set the player in the lead back hopefully to the level of the rest of the table. Certain things like this constantly get screwed up in different games. I just played 3 new board games tonight (each with a variety of familiar facets so it was easy to pick up after a round or two of playing) and there was definitely some errors in these kinds of judgments that led to failures to win on the parts of the people who made them. One game had a lot of Commander in its bones and in this game I was murdered in the same round as another player through combat, while the other player was left near death after the turn player finished their turn. However, the other player took their turn and won with an alternate win condition, but one which was about as visible as poison counters or milling. The last game I was screwed over in the first round and since I couldn't get a bonus, I caused the player who tried to screw me over rather than the player who had the clear advantage. I did what I could with the remainder of my turn to hinder players from getting the most points that round and continually focused on political intrigue to maneuver the game so that I could end a round by forcing the player with the most advantages to lose some and gaining an advantage myself if possible, thus catching up round after round until the last round where I stole the lead.
board games and getting screwed over. Name a finer duo :D
@BasedDeckDept most people do it to themselves lol.
While no one is bias free, I'd dare to say that I am pretty close to it when it comes to MTG.Don't get me wrong, I do make questionable plays and decisions, a lot at times, but almost always I am fully aware of them. Sometimes it is just more satisfying to do the dumb, chaotic, spiteful, or janky stuff than to play optimally 🙃
Based 🤜🤛
Looking to hop on the Discord, but the link in description is showing as expired? Got the hook up for me? 😁
If there's one thing I fail at, it's having a good discord link. (and being active in there recently but that's a separate story!) The sauce: discord.gg/YT9s3wqd5F
Thanks for the quick response! I'll stop by! Love the content, really solid takes on this
@@eliasdejaye677 all good, you shouldn't have to ask for a working link 😂😂 and thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 🤜🤛
@@BasedDeckDept The link is still dead for me :(
@ Weird, just checked it and it's 100% working for me
The Discord invite link is either expired or invalid :(
Weird I thought I'd set it to not do that. Either way, here you go! discord.gg/YT9s3wqd5F thanks for watching!
Algorithm boost comment go brrrr
🤜🤛
Doesn't the algorithm skip comments that say algorithm boost on em? Genuine question
@yawg691 alas I have no idea, but at the very least your comment has probably evened that out 🫡😁