Ive seen the keeps ad like a hundred times now but i gotta say its refreshing to hear you advertise keeps without making us baldies feel like shit about it like a lot of channels do. Appreciate you, prof!
I'd like to imagine that Prof made this vid as a gentle reminder to himself. Like, before a game with JLK or any other _very_ knowledgable magic player you'll see him speed watching this to reinforce proper behavior.😂
Every time I see someone do an ad read for a hair loss company, they all seem to describe hair loss as objectively bad. This is the first and only time that I’ve heard someone do an ad for a hair product while also saying that you shouldn’t feel judged for however your hair naturally looks. Thanks Professor, you continue to set a high bar, from honest critiques to ad reads.
I usually hate videos like these that say "mistakes you make when playing" along with "cards you shouldn't be putting in your deck", but this video is really informative. It didn't occur to me to ask my opponents what I did wrong and I have yet played with someone who ask what they did wrong.
That ‘ask opponent what I did wrong’ came up in a game where it was 1-1at the end, he was playing one of those Aura-Voltron commanders and had protection from all colors. I lost and when I showed what I had in my hand, I had Sheoldred, Whispering One - and because she was black and his commander had protection from black I thought her “opponent sacrifices a creature” wouldn’t work - forgot it was a passive that bypassed color protection. Got that pointed out afterwards.
@@orangegalenIt's not because it's passive, but because it's a triggered ability forcing the player to make the choice. If the Voltron player mistakenly only has one creature with protection from all colors, there's a lot of ways to take care of it. Board wipes will still kill it, unless they're damage based, like red ones. Colorless removal will also take it out, though this is rare. But I appreciate your attitude to learn and grow. It will serve you well in this ever growing complicated game!
@@SwedeRacerDC what’s even better is a previous turn I had the best top-deck of my life when I got Karn Liberated and exiled it. Table lost their minds. Unfortunately couldn’t get the tempo back and he re-cast his commander and started the voltron up again. And then I had that misremembering with what protection actually protects against.
@@orangegalen It sounds like a wildly fun game. The kind I enjoy playing and even watching to the finish if I've been KO'd. Protection is definitely a complicated mechanic, which is why they rarely revisit it.. It's not as bad as banding, which is why that one is completely obsolete.
Best piece of advice in this video. Plan your turn out before it's your turn. What needs dealing with. What are your options. Does drawing a land change things. What are your ideal top decks. You can have a plan in place and re-evaluate as new information is relevant. A lot of the Profs advice here is really going to help you as a newer player. As you grow as a player, know that a lot that is said here is conditional and subject to the conditions of the table. Growth will include those moments when you realize the lessons presented here do not apply and to do it differently instead. This is a great place to start, but there are still level-ups to come.
Is there a trustworthy video series from which I can learn for when these level-ups occur, but before I become an expert? Preferably with a presenter as congenial as Prof?
A common mistake I see for sequencing is to cast a planeswalker and then another spell. You should almost always immediately use a planeswalker ability after casting it. Because as soon as it resolves you have priority, if you cast a spell (or activate any other abilities) then your opponents get priority and can respond and remove the walker before you activate it.
Your videos are awesome. I stopped playing mtg when I left highschool, but your videos got me to try Commander for the first time recently and I've been having a blast.
something that really helps also in order to keep track of things and speeding your turn is to clearly voice out loud your steps even though you are probably playing casual, saying "ok, my turn, untap, upkeep, draw" will help you better manage what comes first in your turn and not forget an upkeep trigger for instance also, it helps clarify that you are giving priority and so players knows when to interact so many times I have seen player rushing a step (often when going to combat) and having two creatures sideways and callign someone before people react (or try to bargain/politic) and it often leads to a "sorry but i had something to do before combat" and your judgement is biased by knowing part of what the attack looks like you should always emphasize on when you give priority
THIS 100% I've been playing almost 9 years and I do this sometimes. It's just a good thing to do and is like a self memory check to keep you up on things. Also like you said it helps notify the other players so they can respond so it doesn't seem like you're "skipping" a phase or step.
Great tips. One thing that helps is knowing the priority for attempted removal and counter spells and not jumping the gun. quite a specific example, but I've been interjected with a counter spell out of priority while I was casting 'Hatred' just as I was declaring how much life i was going to pay, allowing me to change my answer knowing it was going to get countered.
Great video with lots of important issues covered. It would be nice to have a clear summary at the end, but it's still good. Here are the main points, but do give it a watch as it goes in detail. 1. Combat mistakes (3:18) 2. Threat Assessment (5:57) 3. Sequencing Errors (8:13) 4. Decision Paralysis (10:30) 5. Playing as if You're in a Vacuum (12:55) Also in the mentioning of post game self reflection, and possibly elsewhere, I like that 3 of the 4 players in the theoretical game were versions of the Prof and one of them was Spice 8 Rack. Great video again!
For a lot of new players the biggest mistake is not knowing what they can respond to and when they have priority to respond to it. It's surprising how many people think that removing a creature after being declared as an attacker means its triggered ability doesn't go on the stack. Introducing players to Reconnaissance with first strike damage or similar things is another one. There's plenty of general play improvements sure, but that stems from understanding basic rules of play sometimes.
I've found the best thing to do for new players is to give them the "how to play" cheat card that comes in every precon that shows steps and phases and habe them refer to thay while playing. It really helps people wrap their head around what's going on step by step, rather than just having three experienced players yelling random instructions at them.
To be totally fair, this isn't even a new player problem per se, but one of where the format tends to encourage a lot of shortcuts for time efficiency's sake which run smack dab into things like: beginning of combat step interaction, attack triggers before blockers, the weird divergent timelines that can occur in combat when one player might have a fog or similar type effect, handling things like cascade... CEDH is handy here because it forces players to be more explicit on the priority windows, etc., and new players certainly could use the inculcation of those pieces of game knowledge so they can shortcut in a more informed way.
@@canamrock I agree that shortcutting is part of the issue, but I also run into a number of people who don't even know priority exists and think they can cast an instant at any time they want. I.E: A threat ETB's and they cast swords "as a response" when there are no triggers going on the stack and the player who cast it hasn't moved to their next end step/phase. This and a lot of similar things come up at my LGS even when drafting and there have been people who argue or even call a judge because they believe the game works the entirely wrong way. Personally, when I teach people to play any format I sit down and have a notebook breaking down steps/phases while we play with our hands open on the table so I can explain responses and other nuances for a few games or until they're comfortable. Also because of this I announce everything I do in a game whether it's casual or competitive and I don't allow myself takes backsies, as I'm more likely to remember something I did wrong if I suffered the consequence.
Yeah, as a newer player, understanding how priority works was a nightmare. Imagine my play group when I finally found out I could get value out of creatures and artifacts before they get removed
@@TheDesertSpear How are yall doing with the learning curve of it all? We're getting to the point where we don't have to stop and look at rules every 5 minutes 😆
@gamebreaker60 about the same haha. But on the other hand, we are checking for more in depth stuff because we are upgrading decks and getting cards that are a little more in depth or complex
Wish all yall that are learning with your kids the best! My dad n i were the same a long time ago. While its not for everyone, if you guys care more about having fun at home than playing at game stores, consider proxying now n then so you guys can try fun cards together without all the expensive purchases. Yall n your kids will probably appreciate the chance to make fun decks the market would keep out of reach. Thats what me n my pa did anyways lol. Commander is expensive af
In one of my game groups i act as a teacher to them... and watching this video made me realize a lot of things that i know, but i can't teach them properly. This video is a gift, so thx ❤
I would also say try to avoid game/deck memory. This happens to new and seasoned players. It’s good to know that an opponent is a strong player, or that they have a strong deck, but that doesn’t mean you need to destroy/counter everything they play. Oftentimes people will sub-optimally remove incorrect threats because they know a player is “good” or because they’ve won prior.
For this year, i made the conscious decision to attack more. And to take ownership of my actions (no more dice rolling to decide where my attacks go unless the card says so). Sometimes, that makes me the target for a lot of retaliation, but it has definitely made my games a lot better overall.
Playing games in my buddies garage with just piles of whatever is how I learned to ply magic. It was having a 15-30 minute discussion with my friend after each best of 3 that got me good at magic. Not only was able to articulate my thought process to him, he would then articulate his thought process to me and then asks me specific questions about the games. For instance “do you remember what was in your hand on turn 2?” I would tell him and he would respond with “I wonder if maybe doing this play instead of the one you made would’ve been more optimal, based on what I had done. Well, if you would’ve done that I would’ve played differently.” Kind of conversations. Sounds simple, but it went a long way in making me a much better player. So yes, always ask the people you’re plying with what their thought process. Even in the middle of the game. Just don’t be rude with how you’re asking, and most people will happily explain themselves
Thank you for this content, Prof! Too many MTG UA-camrs focus on covering what's releasing but never take the time to help out new players on understanding the bigger things. It's videos like this from TCC that helped guide my way into Magic. Help guides like this are always immensely appreciated ❤
One common mistake I see in Magic players more generally is the classic "use it because you have it" mindset. They'll draw a removal spell, find whatever the biggest threat currently on the board is, and cast it without thinking about if something more threatening is likely to be played on a later turn.
Control of information is absolutely key. The waiting to cast instants and activate instant-speed abilities until the last possible moment is all about making your opponent commit to lines of play with as little information as possible while keeping your options open until you have as much information as possible. To this end, it may not *always* be correct to play your spells at the last possible moment. For example, if you want to attack with as many creatures as possible while making sure you have one creature left to block and you have one creature card in hand, you may choose to cast that creature before combat if you anticipate a Counterspell. In this case, seeing whether you can resolve the creature spell first will allow you to attack optimally and not get locked into a defenseless position by commiting to an alpha strike only to have your post-combat play countered. On the other hand, by waiting to make a play you keep your own options open while giving your opponent as little information as possible to inform their choices. For example, if your end goal is to use up all your available mana, you'd be right in most cases to attack first because, with a handful of cards and open mana, you appear to have options (even if you know you objectively don't based on knowing your hand). If you tap all your lands first, your opponent can be fairly confident you don't have the ability to interact during combat, which may change the way they block. Again, it's about making your opponent guess (ideally guess wrong) about what you can actually do and getting them to make decisions from which they can't backtrack based on those guesses, while ascertaining as much information as possible before making decisions so that you don't paint yourself into a corner.
Triggered abilities don't resolve in the middle of other effects. For example, if you put a Cavalier of Gales on the battlefield during a Genesis Ultimatum, you have to finish the Ultimatum first before you brainstorm. (thinking of a specific Shuffle Up & Play episode)
Arter having played for almost a year I found that the biggest challenge to commander is building decks that are just right for your play groups. Having to consider the groups rule zeros, power level and play style etc.
Commander is a social game so if I get decision paralysis because idk what to use my removal on it can help to ask the table. " do we think is more dangerous A or B?"
This is why the Professor is a great "Professor" who can assess and analyze good Magic play outside the game yet is an emotionally motivated magic player in the game who often falls prey to all of the things pointed out in this video. That doesn't mean that all of the things pointed out in the video are not valid. They are very valid.
I'd like to add one more important one to this list "Dont fear the counterspells." Unless you're against a mono blue player, the number of counterspells is extremely limited. If you let a player successfully threaten you with a counterspell, or act like they MIGHT have one (leaving 2 blue open/untapped), you will be losing turns to that player through inaction. While a cointerspell might remove your game winning card or a development piece, deciding not to act because of one gives your opponent more turns to figure out a win and makes you "lose" turns to them, making your victory less likely. Im not suggesting playing like no one can interact with you, like playing in a vacuum, but play like each big move is going to be countered, and plan around that.
The "make them have it" approach to whether or not your opponents have interaction. Either they have it and use it now, and won't have it later; or they don't have it now, and you get to do your thing. Where this gets complicated is if player A has a counterspell and both player B and C has a winning play in hand. Whoever is first to fire will probably lose. That's where the mind games come into play.
This is a big one to teach newer players for sure. If the possibility of a counterspell causes you to not play the card, it's almost as if it got counterspelled for free (and even if they didn't have one) since the result is still that you did not resolve it, gotta make them have it.
A Great tip I got from limited is “ if you don’t know what to do then the sequence of plays that uses the most of your mana is most likely the correct one” Not always true, but an easy fallback rule of thumb to avoid decision paralysis!
I’m definitely guilty of playing in a vacuum! Gold fishing at home sort of helps me feel confident what my deck wants to do so I can shift my focus to the board in a game
When It Comes To Chump Blocking, I Play A Timeless Deck Of Creatures, Other permanents, and Instants That State Something Like The Following: "Return This Card To The Battlefield From The Graveyard For Cheep Mana Cost". Other Than That Chump Blocking Is Useful If Both Blocking Legal Attacks And Big Hits. Like If I Have 20 Health Remaining And My Opponent Is Attacking For 17 By A Single Creature, Then Definitely Chump Block 😁👍
Biggest mistake I always see after these is just simple misunderstandings about how to play around a commander. I can’t count how many times I’ve let my friends use my Ghalta Primal hunger gimmick deck and another player just kills it as if it won’t come back next turn, or someone uses pacifism on a commander that doesn’t really need to attack to be useful.
The first one translates to poker as well, I've noticed....many players opt to check, rather than play aggressively or lead-out w/ a bet, regardless of the hand
One of my favorite things about magic is that even if I lose, I usually get just a little bit better every time I play, and ultimately that's the end goal, to be a better player than I was before the game.
One specific mistake I see often is players wasting instant speed removal on “scary” creatures as soon as they hit the board. I save that removal until the creature is attacking me and I’m in not position to take the hit or block. Every time an opponent’s creature(s) are damaging anyone other than you, they are in effect working for you.
If you mostly play with the same group of friends it really helps to watch commander games online or to play against other people at a lgs For the longest time my play group thought that you tapped your defender, before realising that was not the case when watching shuffle up and play 😅
One thing that helped me a lot was not taking backsies. When you can't revers a mistake you are more likely to learn from it because they will lose you games. I started to think more about my action and when to take them as a result.
Best piece of advice I can give to any new player is, I know building decks and playing multiple decks is exciting and fun but focus on 1. Focus and really learn it. Learn the combos and timing, how it all connects and interacts. It'll help you become a better player, and you'll have more fun at games, rather than juggling various decks, strategies and trying to remember what is in a deck and what it does.
People also tend to share information about their hand (ex: sure, keep going, i have no interaction aniway), do not do politic at all (a well done bluff sometimes can get you out of sticky situations), and they prefer to keep a weak hand of seven cards with too many or to little lands instead of going to a strong hand of 6 or 5 cards.
Something I really struggle with in Commander is knowing when I should try to go for the win and when I should hang back or sandbag my cards. E.g. I don’t want to expand my board presence and put out a lot of threats only to be taken down by the other players, but also sometimes I miss my chance and someone else gets into a dominant position and I can’t overtake them.
It is not really a mistake but another thing people don't really know is that if you want to move to attack and someone says in response, you are still in your main phase and can still cast creature BEFORE the attack. Let's say someone kills your commander before the attack to stop the attack trigger (thinking Winota), you can cast again your commander and move again to the attack
the threat reaction thing, so true, so many times my 6/4 anzrag will get swords to plowshares when it lands, instead of when it does something, and then something way worse for the table hits the field, ill always be like, you should have waited, they go, i couldn't have known, but if you had waited you could have, sometimes people bait and or wait for counters and removal to then play things and its so often fell for
UA-cam: Awesome video filled with fundamental game decision tips. Me: "Cool! I finally drew this 7 mana thing that I never have played before! Let's see how it pans out in game!" *ignores rest of board, hand, GY, silent players etc etc
I wish you could be in Tupelo Ms and teach me the way I’m so lost with commander it’s not even funny yet I keep buying commander decks! I’m determined to learn!
Came back to magic since the first time in 12 years, loved your videos. Currently 10/0 against my play group (6 of us play at once not the standard pod of 4 but who wants to be left out of the fun!)
I think the most common mistake is timing and sequencing. Which most of the time players at the table don't mind going back and doing it in the best order. My most common timing mistake is playing a land before a landfall permanent. It's just so easy to drop a land start of turn on autopilot 😔
With sequencing it can make you ignore other suggestions. It might be better to play cards after combat but if say it’s an ability that does x based on the number of permanents you have if you can increase it before combat do it!
1. Combat. Multiplayer formats like Commander tend to punish players for attacking unless that attack can take out the entire table. It is wise not to focus your attention on one player or another and attack each player evenly if you intend to close out a game using combat. Myriad is a good ability and so is Goad, and choosing to attack the player with the highest life total to even out life totals so that your final combat step can take out everyone at once!!
...however, if there is only one combo player at the table who intends to combo off and win as quickly as possible, everyone should gang up and attack that player to take them out of the game before they can combo off. This is not rude or unfriendly, it's just magic. Combo players know this, and should be prepared to face an entire table of 3 vs 1 attackers without getting salty about it.
"don't rage quit" is another that comes to mind. was playing a game and one guy was building quite a strong board state. i and the other 2 kept trying to stop him since we were all slower due to mana curve. when someone tried to remove their commander, they got flustered and tried to scoop, so i offered to "save" their commander with one of my enchantments to return it to their hand instead and they accepted. they never played their commander again the whole game and ended up winning anyway. basically, be more understanding about why you might be targeted and come to terms that sometimes losing one card doesn't mean you lose the game outright and at the very least you can still enjoy the rest of the game.
That's really true, even more in a multiplayer game You never know what the game will look like even one turn later! (Board wipe, combo out of nowhere, etc...) So i always try to play until I really that there is nothing in my game which is going to reverse the tide The number of people I saw quit before a drastic change is way to high... For instance I had once a game (1v1v1) where one of my opponents had a kitchen combo for infinite life, next was the third player which was "ok then, you have infinite life, you win I can't compete" I tried to tell him to stay as i had a strong plan which needed only a good support as it needed two turns but he was "naaaah he can go infinite life again and again"... Bro! I couldn't flat tell him because it would ruin the plan in case of interaction but i had a heavy tutor deck which win with an unlockable phage (sorry it's the french name, don't know in English) for those kind of situations but as it requires lots of mana i couldn't pull it in one turn :/ Therefore, trust your ennemies, they are you're best friend against an archenemy
Or let him rage quit lol. Who wants to play with a guy throwing a temper tantrum anyways. So he gets to behave however he wants have you help him and win the game? Nah. Casual commander scooping should be done with the highest level of sportsmanship. Not as a weaponized ultimate game action. Wrong format for that behavior.
Wanting to get back into playing Magic. But, I stopped around 1998 or so and so much has changed. Not sure where to even start anymore lol. Trying to watch as many videos as I can before I sink money into a few decks to play.
one of the biggest and maybe less obvious mistakes i would say is just killing opponents too early, and it has nothing to do with being "too mean". if you have one or more opponents who are not super threatening, you can obviously get some free damage and/or attack triggers off them, but you have to realize that they are still an ally against any opponents who are the real threat. for example, i was playing with my friend and 2 others. my friend and i were running 2 MKM precons while the other 2 were using locust god and mothman. mothman kept swinging at us for attack triggers while the locust god kept growing their board state. my biggest issue was that i didn't have any flyers but i had a board wipe in hand that i could have used against the locust god on my next turn if mothman didn't kill me. my friend also had a massacre worm which would have devastated locust's board of 1/1s, but he too died before he could use it. so the locust god just finished the mothman off easily at that point as it had nothing it could do against all the token creatures they generated and the 2 people who could have done something about it were dead.
This was actually very helpful for me,I struggle with when is a good time for casting instants or when to attack or hold back as I am still rather new being under a year of experience with the game in general,thank you for this new insight
I think most people dont like to attack early game even if they can easily is for two reasons,: 1. people dont like to leave themselves open just to get in for 1 or 2 damage so they would rather jsut leave up blockers, and... 2. I think this is the big reason, people dont want to make enemies too early on, I think its generally understood a good way to win is to keep a low profile early game, dont "rock the boat" too much so if you start throwing small creatures at people you are basically waving a big red flag at them and saying "come at me bro"
The other day had a game with just 3 people, not enough for another pod. The game itself was just a 1v1 with another person there. Neither myself or the guy across from me like playing 1v1, we didn't play til we got a 3rd. The other guy got upset during the game, cause the 3rd .. well was just there. The 3rd fell into the trap of "I am playing my own game, you are all just here". No interaction, no dealing with other people etc. When he did attack, he just attacked the player thats behind instead of trying to hurt the person who is obviously the threat. We both tried to explain threat assessment and such. It was really hard to teach in a way that didnt sound condescending. Even had the best thing could do to stop me from winning.. he exiled a card from the top of my deck, happened to be demonic tutor, played it for free. Literally had 0 answers in his entire deck to stop me, either disenchant, board wipe, etc etc, he had NOTHING. A single wrath effect/bounce etc, he had nothing. His entire deck was just for him to play his own game. The 2nd guy just got frustrated and went home.
Re: decision paralysis: I love Prototype Portal, but I had to replace it in every deck it was in w Mimic Vat, because I could never settle for what to imprint, Mimic Vat let me act first and adapt later.
As a rule of thumb, if I am going to play a land, I do it in the first main phase. Why? Because I might need to have that mana available to respond to a combat trick later in the turn. I have literally lost games by delaying a land drop till the second main phase, because I wasn't able to respond to a counterspell or a combat trick. So: land drop in first main unless there's a strong reason not to.
From personal experience the whole not attacking thing is not wanting to attack until you are SURE you are going to kill someone. Or that you can't see you have a clear advantage by doing so. I've started attacking a lot more because of this having watched and played more with people than with myself.
My biggest mistake in Commander comes from my Timmy playstyle In casual games. As a Timmy I enjoy large, impactful spells, and I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how many big spells I can put in a deck without having consistency issues. However, almost always playing a big spell each turn after the setup of lands + ramp draws a lot of attention and causes me to appear on everyone’s threat radar even if I’m 5+ turns from being a threat to someone’s life.
Drawing before you untap. As someone who won a tournament in the early days of magic by forcing my repeat offender opponent to take mana burn (and leave their lands tapped), I'm still LIVID that they removed the mana burn rule.
I love winning but if I am given the opportunity to make everyone lose at the same time, myself included, I will always take that route immediately. I will also take the route that devolves into pure chaos when available (Possibility Storm + Eye of the Storm is always amusing together)
Head to keeps.com/tolarian to get a special offer!
I love how you've KEEPS hedging your preamble about how you're not body shaming. Your audience of aging male nerds is sure valuable to your sponsor!
I went bald in middle school. I’m way past keeps at this point.
Pls send à collector brother's wars at 513 avenue des auréades magog canada quebec
pleeeeeaaaaasseeee. I will do ANYTHING PLEEEEEAAAAAASSEEEEEEEEEeeee
Ive seen the keeps ad like a hundred times now but i gotta say its refreshing to hear you advertise keeps without making us baldies feel like shit about it like a lot of channels do. Appreciate you, prof!
You know you can trust the Professor on this, a leading expert in making mistakes while playing Commander.
I'd like to imagine that Prof made this vid as a gentle reminder to himself. Like, before a game with JLK or any other _very_ knowledgable magic player you'll see him speed watching this to reinforce proper behavior.😂
Danhausen must've cursed him! 😏
🤡👑🙃🤣
lol!
So mean
"it's really fun when you win a game of commander... or so I'm told" I love prof for these great comedic lines 😀
This is exactly how I feel every time lol
as someone who got into this many months ago... I can definitely tell you it is really awesome to actually pull off a win in Commander
Every time I see someone do an ad read for a hair loss company, they all seem to describe hair loss as objectively bad. This is the first and only time that I’ve heard someone do an ad for a hair product while also saying that you shouldn’t feel judged for however your hair naturally looks.
Thanks Professor, you continue to set a high bar, from honest critiques to ad reads.
As a bald guy, I don't give a F either way.
I usually hate videos like these that say "mistakes you make when playing" along with "cards you shouldn't be putting in your deck", but this video is really informative. It didn't occur to me to ask my opponents what I did wrong and I have yet played with someone who ask what they did wrong.
That ‘ask opponent what I did wrong’ came up in a game where it was 1-1at the end, he was playing one of those Aura-Voltron commanders and had protection from all colors. I lost and when I showed what I had in my hand, I had Sheoldred, Whispering One - and because she was black and his commander had protection from black I thought her “opponent sacrifices a creature” wouldn’t work - forgot it was a passive that bypassed color protection. Got that pointed out afterwards.
@@orangegalenIt's not because it's passive, but because it's a triggered ability forcing the player to make the choice. If the Voltron player mistakenly only has one creature with protection from all colors, there's a lot of ways to take care of it. Board wipes will still kill it, unless they're damage based, like red ones. Colorless removal will also take it out, though this is rare. But I appreciate your attitude to learn and grow. It will serve you well in this ever growing complicated game!
@@SwedeRacerDC what’s even better is a previous turn I had the best top-deck of my life when I got Karn Liberated and exiled it. Table lost their minds. Unfortunately couldn’t get the tempo back and he re-cast his commander and started the voltron up again. And then I had that misremembering with what protection actually protects against.
@@orangegalen It sounds like a wildly fun game. The kind I enjoy playing and even watching to the finish if I've been KO'd. Protection is definitely a complicated mechanic, which is why they rarely revisit it.. It's not as bad as banding, which is why that one is completely obsolete.
Best piece of advice in this video. Plan your turn out before it's your turn. What needs dealing with. What are your options. Does drawing a land change things. What are your ideal top decks. You can have a plan in place and re-evaluate as new information is relevant.
A lot of the Profs advice here is really going to help you as a newer player.
As you grow as a player, know that a lot that is said here is conditional and subject to the conditions of the table. Growth will include those moments when you realize the lessons presented here do not apply and to do it differently instead.
This is a great place to start, but there are still level-ups to come.
Is there a trustworthy video series from which I can learn for when these level-ups occur, but before I become an expert? Preferably with a presenter as congenial as Prof?
A common mistake I see for sequencing is to cast a planeswalker and then another spell. You should almost always immediately use a planeswalker ability after casting it.
Because as soon as it resolves you have priority, if you cast a spell (or activate any other abilities) then your opponents get priority and can respond and remove the walker before you activate it.
Knowing what I'm doing wrong and actually playing correctly is going to take more than one video to help me, Prof.
Your videos are awesome. I stopped playing mtg when I left highschool, but your videos got me to try Commander for the first time recently and I've been having a blast.
something that really helps also in order to keep track of things and speeding your turn is to clearly voice out loud your steps
even though you are probably playing casual, saying "ok, my turn, untap, upkeep, draw" will help you better manage what comes first in your turn and not forget an upkeep trigger for instance
also, it helps clarify that you are giving priority and so players knows when to interact
so many times I have seen player rushing a step (often when going to combat) and having two creatures sideways and callign someone before people react (or try to bargain/politic) and it often leads to a "sorry but i had something to do before combat" and your judgement is biased by knowing part of what the attack looks like
you should always emphasize on when you give priority
THIS 100% I've been playing almost 9 years and I do this sometimes. It's just a good thing to do and is like a self memory check to keep you up on things. Also like you said it helps notify the other players so they can respond so it doesn't seem like you're "skipping" a phase or step.
Great tips.
One thing that helps is knowing the priority for attempted removal and counter spells and not jumping the gun. quite a specific example, but I've been interjected with a counter spell out of priority while I was casting 'Hatred' just as I was declaring how much life i was going to pay, allowing me to change my answer knowing it was going to get countered.
Great video with lots of important issues covered. It would be nice to have a clear summary at the end, but it's still good. Here are the main points, but do give it a watch as it goes in detail.
1. Combat mistakes (3:18)
2. Threat Assessment (5:57)
3. Sequencing Errors (8:13)
4. Decision Paralysis (10:30)
5. Playing as if You're in a Vacuum (12:55)
Also in the mentioning of post game self reflection, and possibly elsewhere, I like that 3 of the 4 players in the theoretical game were versions of the Prof and one of them was Spice 8 Rack. Great video again!
Didn’t know I needed to watch this until I did. Thank you prof, you are such a staple in the magic community, your presence is unmatched!
For a lot of new players the biggest mistake is not knowing what they can respond to and when they have priority to respond to it. It's surprising how many people think that removing a creature after being declared as an attacker means its triggered ability doesn't go on the stack. Introducing players to Reconnaissance with first strike damage or similar things is another one. There's plenty of general play improvements sure, but that stems from understanding basic rules of play sometimes.
+1
I've found the best thing to do for new players is to give them the "how to play" cheat card that comes in every precon that shows steps and phases and habe them refer to thay while playing.
It really helps people wrap their head around what's going on step by step, rather than just having three experienced players yelling random instructions at them.
To be totally fair, this isn't even a new player problem per se, but one of where the format tends to encourage a lot of shortcuts for time efficiency's sake which run smack dab into things like: beginning of combat step interaction, attack triggers before blockers, the weird divergent timelines that can occur in combat when one player might have a fog or similar type effect, handling things like cascade...
CEDH is handy here because it forces players to be more explicit on the priority windows, etc., and new players certainly could use the inculcation of those pieces of game knowledge so they can shortcut in a more informed way.
@@canamrock I agree that shortcutting is part of the issue, but I also run into a number of people who don't even know priority exists and think they can cast an instant at any time they want. I.E: A threat ETB's and they cast swords "as a response" when there are no triggers going on the stack and the player who cast it hasn't moved to their next end step/phase. This and a lot of similar things come up at my LGS even when drafting and there have been people who argue or even call a judge because they believe the game works the entirely wrong way. Personally, when I teach people to play any format I sit down and have a notebook breaking down steps/phases while we play with our hands open on the table so I can explain responses and other nuances for a few games or until they're comfortable. Also because of this I announce everything I do in a game whether it's casual or competitive and I don't allow myself takes backsies, as I'm more likely to remember something I did wrong if I suffered the consequence.
Yeah, as a newer player, understanding how priority works was a nightmare. Imagine my play group when I finally found out I could get value out of creatures and artifacts before they get removed
12:26 pre planning what your going to do is a major part of magic that newer players miss.
Thank you. My son and I just started playing Magic so, this helps alot.
Same with my son and I
@@TheDesertSpear How are yall doing with the learning curve of it all? We're getting to the point where we don't have to stop and look at rules every 5 minutes 😆
@gamebreaker60 about the same haha. But on the other hand, we are checking for more in depth stuff because we are upgrading decks and getting cards that are a little more in depth or complex
Wish all yall that are learning with your kids the best! My dad n i were the same a long time ago. While its not for everyone, if you guys care more about having fun at home than playing at game stores, consider proxying now n then so you guys can try fun cards together without all the expensive purchases. Yall n your kids will probably appreciate the chance to make fun decks the market would keep out of reach.
Thats what me n my pa did anyways lol. Commander is expensive af
@kippie8200 That's pretty cool. Could you explain proxy? We're having a blast with precons but we're currently trying to build our own decks.
In one of my game groups i act as a teacher to them... and watching this video made me realize a lot of things that i know, but i can't teach them properly. This video is a gift, so thx ❤
I would also say try to avoid game/deck memory. This happens to new and seasoned players. It’s good to know that an opponent is a strong player, or that they have a strong deck, but that doesn’t mean you need to destroy/counter everything they play.
Oftentimes people will sub-optimally remove incorrect threats because they know a player is “good” or because they’ve won prior.
Rampant growth keeps bit was genuinely one of the most clever ads ever.
And this is why he is called the Professor! Well done, sir. Well done. 👏
Great video, and really articulates better than I can what I try to help people in my pods with. Thanks, Prof.
For this year, i made the conscious decision to attack more. And to take ownership of my actions (no more dice rolling to decide where my attacks go unless the card says so). Sometimes, that makes me the target for a lot of retaliation, but it has definitely made my games a lot better overall.
Playing games in my buddies garage with just piles of whatever is how I learned to ply magic. It was having a 15-30 minute discussion with my friend after each best of 3 that got me good at magic. Not only was able to articulate my thought process to him, he would then articulate his thought process to me and then asks me specific questions about the games. For instance “do you remember what was in your hand on turn 2?” I would tell him and he would respond with “I wonder if maybe doing this play instead of the one you made would’ve been more optimal, based on what I had done. Well, if you would’ve done that I would’ve played differently.” Kind of conversations. Sounds simple, but it went a long way in making me a much better player. So yes, always ask the people you’re plying with what their thought process. Even in the middle of the game. Just don’t be rude with how you’re asking, and most people will happily explain themselves
Thank you for this content, Prof! Too many MTG UA-camrs focus on covering what's releasing but never take the time to help out new players on understanding the bigger things. It's videos like this from TCC that helped guide my way into Magic. Help guides like this are always immensely appreciated ❤
One common mistake I see in Magic players more generally is the classic "use it because you have it" mindset. They'll draw a removal spell, find whatever the biggest threat currently on the board is, and cast it without thinking about if something more threatening is likely to be played on a later turn.
15:10 "Make your next plays BASED" clip it!
After the commander night I just had, I really needed this video. Thank you, Prof! :)
Great video! Always good to review the things that make us a better Magic Commander player!
Flying under the radar... still remember Triskadekaphile getting their 13th card due to no one asking me for my hand size.
Lucky lol anytime I try to do Triskadekaphile they immediately know what I’m doing
Control of information is absolutely key. The waiting to cast instants and activate instant-speed abilities until the last possible moment is all about making your opponent commit to lines of play with as little information as possible while keeping your options open until you have as much information as possible. To this end, it may not *always* be correct to play your spells at the last possible moment. For example, if you want to attack with as many creatures as possible while making sure you have one creature left to block and you have one creature card in hand, you may choose to cast that creature before combat if you anticipate a Counterspell. In this case, seeing whether you can resolve the creature spell first will allow you to attack optimally and not get locked into a defenseless position by commiting to an alpha strike only to have your post-combat play countered. On the other hand, by waiting to make a play you keep your own options open while giving your opponent as little information as possible to inform their choices. For example, if your end goal is to use up all your available mana, you'd be right in most cases to attack first because, with a handful of cards and open mana, you appear to have options (even if you know you objectively don't based on knowing your hand). If you tap all your lands first, your opponent can be fairly confident you don't have the ability to interact during combat, which may change the way they block. Again, it's about making your opponent guess (ideally guess wrong) about what you can actually do and getting them to make decisions from which they can't backtrack based on those guesses, while ascertaining as much information as possible before making decisions so that you don't paint yourself into a corner.
Triggered abilities don't resolve in the middle of other effects. For example, if you put a Cavalier of Gales on the battlefield during a Genesis Ultimatum, you have to finish the Ultimatum first before you brainstorm. (thinking of a specific Shuffle Up & Play episode)
Arter having played for almost a year I found that the biggest challenge to commander is building decks that are just right for your play groups.
Having to consider the groups rule zeros, power level and play style etc.
Commander is a social game so if I get decision paralysis because idk what to use my removal on it can help to ask the table. " do we think is more dangerous A or B?"
This is why the Professor is a great "Professor" who can assess and analyze good Magic play outside the game yet is an emotionally motivated magic player in the game who often falls prey to all of the things pointed out in this video. That doesn't mean that all of the things pointed out in the video are not valid. They are very valid.
There is nothing to be learned from victory.
Been obsessed with your videos, and hair always on fleek as always prof, you don't gotta worry Abt that free keeps trial
Bout ready to go to my first FNM in over a decade. This was perfect timing on this refresher!
I'd like to add one more important one to this list
"Dont fear the counterspells."
Unless you're against a mono blue player, the number of counterspells is extremely limited. If you let a player successfully threaten you with a counterspell, or act like they MIGHT have one (leaving 2 blue open/untapped), you will be losing turns to that player through inaction. While a cointerspell might remove your game winning card or a development piece, deciding not to act because of one gives your opponent more turns to figure out a win and makes you "lose" turns to them, making your victory less likely.
Im not suggesting playing like no one can interact with you, like playing in a vacuum, but play like each big move is going to be countered, and plan around that.
The "make them have it" approach to whether or not your opponents have interaction. Either they have it and use it now, and won't have it later; or they don't have it now, and you get to do your thing. Where this gets complicated is if player A has a counterspell and both player B and C has a winning play in hand. Whoever is first to fire will probably lose. That's where the mind games come into play.
This is a big one to teach newer players for sure. If the possibility of a counterspell causes you to not play the card, it's almost as if it got counterspelled for free (and even if they didn't have one) since the result is still that you did not resolve it, gotta make them have it.
The next shuffle up and play is something I’m excited for. As a yugioh turned commander player, it’ll be interesting to see
@@TeaGarrison I started playing around March of the Machine.
A Great tip I got from limited is “ if you don’t know what to do then the sequence of plays that uses the most of your mana is most likely the correct one”
Not always true, but an easy fallback rule of thumb to avoid decision paralysis!
I’m definitely guilty of playing in a vacuum! Gold fishing at home sort of helps me feel confident what my deck wants to do so I can shift my focus to the board in a game
Love the Spice8Rack cameo @ 6:02! Also, good advice Prof
When It Comes To Chump Blocking, I Play A Timeless Deck Of Creatures, Other permanents, and Instants That State Something Like The Following: "Return This Card To The Battlefield From The Graveyard For Cheep Mana Cost". Other Than That Chump Blocking Is Useful If Both Blocking Legal Attacks And Big Hits. Like If I Have 20 Health Remaining And My Opponent Is Attacking For 17 By A Single Creature, Then Definitely Chump Block 😁👍
Biggest mistake I always see after these is just simple misunderstandings about how to play around a commander. I can’t count how many times I’ve let my friends use my Ghalta Primal hunger gimmick deck and another player just kills it as if it won’t come back next turn, or someone uses pacifism on a commander that doesn’t really need to attack to be useful.
Using Rampant Growth to segue into a Keeps ad is brilliant.
Holding up two blue mana is information on its own as it could be a Counterspell, even if what you have to do with that two mana is not.
Brilliant advice. Thx Prof!
12:15
Even better. It's not only not the end of the world, but it is a learning experience that makes you better in the long run.
The first one translates to poker as well, I've noticed....many players opt to check, rather than play aggressively or lead-out w/ a bet, regardless of the hand
Great tips! Also love Spice as a scary combo player
Keeps you guys gotta spread them ads out a LITTLE better, my god. You are EVERYWHERE today.
One of my favorite things about magic is that even if I lose, I usually get just a little bit better every time I play, and ultimately that's the end goal, to be a better player than I was before the game.
These seem like pretty good tips. These work for regular multiplayer as well.
One specific mistake I see often is players wasting instant speed removal on “scary” creatures as soon as they hit the board. I save that removal until the creature is attacking me and I’m in not position to take the hit or block.
Every time an opponent’s creature(s) are damaging anyone other than you, they are in effect working for you.
Need that top button with the tie. Good video
I make quite a few of these mistakes pretty often. but that's okay, knowing a UA-camr as big as the professor makes the same ones as well.
This was excellent example of mistakes, that could sum up me in certain parts...
That 18/6 is way too op for my taste :)
If you mostly play with the same group of friends it really helps to watch commander games online or to play against other people at a lgs
For the longest time my play group thought that you tapped your defender, before realising that was not the case when watching shuffle up and play 😅
One thing that helped me a lot was not taking backsies. When you can't revers a mistake you are more likely to learn from it because they will lose you games. I started to think more about my action and when to take them as a result.
Best piece of advice I can give to any new player is, I know building decks and playing multiple decks is exciting and fun but focus on 1. Focus and really learn it. Learn the combos and timing, how it all connects and interacts. It'll help you become a better player, and you'll have more fun at games, rather than juggling various decks, strategies and trying to remember what is in a deck and what it does.
People also tend to share information about their hand (ex: sure, keep going, i have no interaction aniway), do not do politic at all (a well done bluff sometimes can get you out of sticky situations), and they prefer to keep a weak hand of seven cards with too many or to little lands instead of going to a strong hand of 6 or 5 cards.
Very useful for a 1 year player like me thanks :) !
Something I really struggle with in Commander is knowing when I should try to go for the win and when I should hang back or sandbag my cards. E.g. I don’t want to expand my board presence and put out a lot of threats only to be taken down by the other players, but also sometimes I miss my chance and someone else gets into a dominant position and I can’t overtake them.
It is not really a mistake but another thing people don't really know is that if you want to move to attack and someone says in response, you are still in your main phase and can still cast creature BEFORE the attack. Let's say someone kills your commander before the attack to stop the attack trigger (thinking Winota), you can cast again your commander and move again to the attack
Team APS in the preview!! So hype!!! Hope we can see some digimon TCG with Alec in the future! haha
Advice I have heard before but need to keep hearing.
the threat reaction thing, so true, so many times my 6/4 anzrag will get swords to plowshares when it lands, instead of when it does something, and then something way worse for the table hits the field, ill always be like, you should have waited, they go, i couldn't have known, but if you had waited you could have, sometimes people bait and or wait for counters and removal to then play things and its so often fell for
UA-cam: Awesome video filled with fundamental game decision tips.
Me: "Cool! I finally drew this 7 mana thing that I never have played before! Let's see how it pans out in game!" *ignores rest of board, hand, GY, silent players etc etc
i just bought the davros precon, can't wait for the next episode!
I wish you could be in Tupelo Ms and teach me the way I’m so lost with commander it’s not even funny yet I keep buying commander decks! I’m determined to learn!
Came back to magic since the first time in 12 years, loved your videos. Currently 10/0 against my play group (6 of us play at once not the standard pod of 4 but who wants to be left out of the fun!)
This person in my playgroup is really good at politics and talking with the other players is something I really need to get better at.
I think the most common mistake is timing and sequencing. Which most of the time players at the table don't mind going back and doing it in the best order. My most common timing mistake is playing a land before a landfall permanent. It's just so easy to drop a land start of turn on autopilot 😔
With sequencing it can make you ignore other suggestions. It might be better to play cards after combat but if say it’s an ability that does x based on the number of permanents you have if you can increase it before combat do it!
1. Combat. Multiplayer formats like Commander tend to punish players for attacking unless that attack can take out the entire table. It is wise not to focus your attention on one player or another and attack each player evenly if you intend to close out a game using combat. Myriad is a good ability and so is Goad, and choosing to attack the player with the highest life total to even out life totals so that your final combat step can take out everyone at once!!
...however, if there is only one combo player at the table who intends to combo off and win as quickly as possible, everyone should gang up and attack that player to take them out of the game before they can combo off. This is not rude or unfriendly, it's just magic. Combo players know this, and should be prepared to face an entire table of 3 vs 1 attackers without getting salty about it.
The biggest mistake Commander players make is to play the game but forgetting that you also need to play the players.
i really appreciate your videos
Cheers!
"don't rage quit" is another that comes to mind.
was playing a game and one guy was building quite a strong board state. i and the other 2 kept trying to stop him since we were all slower due to mana curve. when someone tried to remove their commander, they got flustered and tried to scoop, so i offered to "save" their commander with one of my enchantments to return it to their hand instead and they accepted. they never played their commander again the whole game and ended up winning anyway.
basically, be more understanding about why you might be targeted and come to terms that sometimes losing one card doesn't mean you lose the game outright and at the very least you can still enjoy the rest of the game.
That's really true, even more in a multiplayer game
You never know what the game will look like even one turn later! (Board wipe, combo out of nowhere, etc...) So i always try to play until I really that there is nothing in my game which is going to reverse the tide
The number of people I saw quit before a drastic change is way to high... For instance I had once a game (1v1v1) where one of my opponents had a kitchen combo for infinite life, next was the third player which was "ok then, you have infinite life, you win I can't compete" I tried to tell him to stay as i had a strong plan which needed only a good support as it needed two turns but he was "naaaah he can go infinite life again and again"... Bro! I couldn't flat tell him because it would ruin the plan in case of interaction but i had a heavy tutor deck which win with an unlockable phage (sorry it's the french name, don't know in English) for those kind of situations but as it requires lots of mana i couldn't pull it in one turn :/
Therefore, trust your ennemies, they are you're best friend against an archenemy
Or let him rage quit lol. Who wants to play with a guy throwing a temper tantrum anyways. So he gets to behave however he wants have you help him and win the game? Nah. Casual commander scooping should be done with the highest level of sportsmanship. Not as a weaponized ultimate game action. Wrong format for that behavior.
@@bryanholdren9043 my point is, nothing i actually did even mattered. they were just in a bad mood and needed to play the game out
Wanting to get back into playing Magic. But, I stopped around 1998 or so and so much has changed. Not sure where to even start anymore lol. Trying to watch as many videos as I can before I sink money into a few decks to play.
Saving cards for second main and choosing to attack first is not something I thought about. I'll have to give that a go.
one of the biggest and maybe less obvious mistakes i would say is just killing opponents too early, and it has nothing to do with being "too mean".
if you have one or more opponents who are not super threatening, you can obviously get some free damage and/or attack triggers off them, but you have to realize that they are still an ally against any opponents who are the real threat.
for example, i was playing with my friend and 2 others. my friend and i were running 2 MKM precons while the other 2 were using locust god and mothman. mothman kept swinging at us for attack triggers while the locust god kept growing their board state. my biggest issue was that i didn't have any flyers but i had a board wipe in hand that i could have used against the locust god on my next turn if mothman didn't kill me. my friend also had a massacre worm which would have devastated locust's board of 1/1s, but he too died before he could use it.
so the locust god just finished the mothman off easily at that point as it had nothing it could do against all the token creatures they generated and the 2 people who could have done something about it were dead.
This was actually very helpful for me,I struggle with when is a good time for casting instants or when to attack or hold back as I am still rather new being under a year of experience with the game in general,thank you for this new insight
I think most people dont like to attack early game even if they can easily is for two reasons,:
1. people dont like to leave themselves open just to get in for 1 or 2 damage so they would rather jsut leave up blockers, and...
2. I think this is the big reason, people dont want to make enemies too early on, I think its generally understood a good way to win is to keep a low profile early game, dont "rock the boat" too much so if you start throwing small creatures at people you are basically waving a big red flag at them and saying "come at me bro"
The other day had a game with just 3 people, not enough for another pod. The game itself was just a 1v1 with another person there.
Neither myself or the guy across from me like playing 1v1, we didn't play til we got a 3rd. The other guy got upset during the game, cause the 3rd .. well was just there. The 3rd fell into the trap of "I am playing my own game, you are all just here". No interaction, no dealing with other people etc. When he did attack, he just attacked the player thats behind instead of trying to hurt the person who is obviously the threat.
We both tried to explain threat assessment and such. It was really hard to teach in a way that didnt sound condescending. Even had the best thing could do to stop me from winning.. he exiled a card from the top of my deck, happened to be demonic tutor, played it for free.
Literally had 0 answers in his entire deck to stop me, either disenchant, board wipe, etc etc, he had NOTHING. A single wrath effect/bounce etc, he had nothing. His entire deck was just for him to play his own game. The 2nd guy just got frustrated and went home.
Re: decision paralysis: I love Prototype Portal, but I had to replace it in every deck it was in w Mimic Vat, because I could never settle for what to imprint, Mimic Vat let me act first and adapt later.
As a rule of thumb, if I am going to play a land, I do it in the first main phase. Why? Because I might need to have that mana available to respond to a combat trick later in the turn. I have literally lost games by delaying a land drop till the second main phase, because I wasn't able to respond to a counterspell or a combat trick. So: land drop in first main unless there's a strong reason not to.
From personal experience the whole not attacking thing is not wanting to attack until you are SURE you are going to kill someone. Or that you can't see you have a clear advantage by doing so. I've started attacking a lot more because of this having watched and played more with people than with myself.
My biggest mistake in Commander comes from my Timmy playstyle In casual games. As a Timmy I enjoy large, impactful spells, and I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how many big spells I can put in a deck without having consistency issues. However, almost always playing a big spell each turn after the setup of lands + ramp draws a lot of attention and causes me to appear on everyone’s threat radar even if I’m 5+ turns from being a threat to someone’s life.
My best games of mander have been utter mud fights where everyone was missing triggers and casting things out of order
Great tips!
Not paying the one in rhystic study is one of the biggest mistakes magic players ever made
Amazing and useful video!
986k! I can't wait to be one in a million, Prof. :)
Highly hype by the edh game with team aps 😊🎉
I'd love to see one on Mill decks
I wasnt expecting this video to be so accurate...
how does this channel post so often? i can't imagine how rough the schedule must be gosh
They're troopers.
Drawing before you untap.
As someone who won a tournament in the early days of magic by forcing my repeat offender opponent to take mana burn (and leave their lands tapped), I'm still LIVID that they removed the mana burn rule.
I had to teach myself "untap, upkeep, draw a card, doo-dah, doo-dah" to the tune of camptown races
I love winning but if I am given the opportunity to make everyone lose at the same time, myself included, I will always take that route immediately.
I will also take the route that devolves into pure chaos when available (Possibility Storm + Eye of the Storm is always amusing together)
always good to see a Spice8Rack appearance at TCC