Fun fact: Tinder wall actually saw play in the pauper wall deck mentioned earlier for the brief times of experementation when running both a damage and mill engine with your wall deck is nessesary for the format. its ability to add red mana allowed the deck to stay purely simic for the most part aside from running a fireball or two in main. this helped with the matchups that, at the time, were the decks that were the only graveyard decks. now that there is enough good graveyard support in all 5 colors in the pauper meta, that arguement for running a hybrid victory that has one of the wincons being mill makes it a less compelling arguement than going all in on something that isnt going to give your opponent resources to stop your combo. basically, it was good for the burn wall strat and not really the mill strat but could bridge either, and because there were just that many better options that were more for the all in focus of burn made it just barely not viable enough for modern pauper.
this. I was shocked it wasn't in the list. it has no "gimmick ability" sure, but it's a 0/8 defender with flying and shroud... for 3 mana. that is an absolutely huge blocker, that can block flying, can't be targeted by your opponent, for only 3. it didn't need any gimmick abilities to be amazing to give you time to put stuff together, which white and blue is the two colors tending to need it the most (more blue, but white occasionally as well)
This is sort of a weird list, because all of the best defender cards are so redundant. You''ve got Blossoms/Omens, Tuktuk/Drawbridge, Battlement/Axebane, and to a lesser extent Caryatid/Wall of Roots. Plus the 0 cost walls which were skipped in favor of random cards that were okay in Standard, which fit the unique role of being zero cost artifact creatures for Glimpse of Nature cheerios strategies in Legacy (though jank enough that excluding them is definitely understandable). I think consolidating half the best defender cards into a single "Pauper Walls combo" slot really warps the list, but it does make some sense to avoid having to double up on half the slots with near-identical cards. That said, Drift of Phantasms felt like a bit of a weird pick for this role, since I put literally every other card mentioned alongside it higher on the ranking.
A few honorable mentions: * Sunscape Familiar- Cost reduction is just always good. * Wall of Omens - A 2 mana flying 1/8 is nothing to sneeze at. The downside of giving your opponent life isn't relevant if you plan on winning with the aforementioned wall combo anyway. * Shield Sphere - A 0/6 cheerio? Yes please! And the best part is, its negative effect doesn't trigger when attacking * Wall of Blood - This one is busted if you can allow it to attack, since you can pay life to pump its attack. * Concealing Curtains - A one mana 0/3 that, for 2B, flips into a 3/4 menace with a thoughtseize effect.
You mean Wall of Shards instead of Wall of Omens, right? Also, I'm surprised Wall of Denial wasn't mentioned. A 0/8 flying shround wall for 3 mana is pretty solid, especially if you're using something like Arcades, the Strategist to let it attack and deal damage equal to its toughness.
Drift of Phantasms is very underrated in Commander purely as a transmute tutor. Blue doesn't have a lot of access to non artifact/instant/sorcery tuutors and 3 mana value is a sweet spot for plenty of combo pieces... and Rhystic Study.
It's not half bad, the sorcery speed is a bit of a pisser though. At the very least, as he mentioned in the video, it's still a good card on its own. Compared to Wall of Denial it's got less toughness but fulfills a similar role, AND you can discard it to grab a Sword of This and That, Chromatic Lantern, Basalt Monolith... the list goes on. Most decks have a 3 mana card they'd love to get easier access to
"can't ramp into a spell on turn 2 with a dork that costs more than 1 mana" Manacrypt, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox: "Am I a joke to you?" Also my favorite wall has to be "Wall of Denial", thing is a fucking 3 mana 0/8 wall with Flying and Shroud. Thing is quite literally the best at being an actual wall.
I'm generally happy with Hornet Nest in my Xira the Golden Sting Insect deck. It's one of two effects like it, and can be flashed out via the deck's tricks.
I think the only thing cariatid needs to be playable in modern is a 4 mana threat good enough to be worth the tempo drop. With stuff like jace and rhino power crept out of the game there’s nothing really worth accelerating to 4 that can compete with current explosive early games
Charbelchwr actually has a simpler way of playing non-lands. Have all your lands be MDFCs, since their front face is a spell, its not a land technically
Stronghold had a cycle of uncommon walls that all, if not great cards, at least fun cards. Wall of BLossoms has been mentioned. Wall of Essence is 0/4 for 2 that gives you life for combat damage done to it. Wall of Souls deals damage to an opponent based on the combat damage it takes. Wall of Razors is a 4/1 defender, first strike which, admittedly, is the weakest of the bunch, but it is a fun casual card and with cards that remove defender, it is nifty. Wall of Mists returns creatures it blocks to their owners hand at the end of combat. A very annoying card.
I remember when thing in the ice first saw play in modern. Nothing better than an opponent flipping thing in the ice and realizing phyrexian obliterator is a horror. One of the many games where my opponent was annoyed by my gimmicky deck lol
I'm confused, how does wall of roots work with Agatha's Soul Cauldron? The ability reads "Put a -0/-1 counter on Wall of Roots", naming the card. What use is a Shivan Dragon that can put counters on an non-existant (exiled) wall of roots?
when a card mentions it's name in the rules text, it doesn't mean "cards named [card name]"/"this card that is named [card name]", it means "this game object"(game object, not card, because tokens aren't cards but are game objects) The exception to the above is when the card explicitly mentions others cards, for example, i remenber there's a card(i forget the name) with the text "When you control 4 creatures named [Card Name], you win the game."(or something similar). Cards care about the names of cards when they're referencing other cards.
@@williamdrum9899 but anything with flying goes right above all of the walls mentioned without flying.... so? i'd replace mnemonic with fog bank. if you have 4 trample and block with the mnemonic you will no longer have a blocker, and are taking 4 next turn, then 4 more the turn after that. at least with fog bank you take 2 less damage and an increasingly larger amount less for each turn post you losing your mnemonic. btw suck it nerd.
I actually play 4 of these, and I've never played a single constructed tournament or made a meta relevant deck. Hornet Nest is in a Insect-tribal EDH deck, and Drift of Phantasms, Wall of Roots and Wall of Tinder are in a Songs of the Damned OTK deck.
Yeah, kind of ironic to claim Caryatid is one of the best mana dorks in the game, and then right after that show two other mana producing Walls that are better than it, by the video's own ranking. Not to mention Deathrite Shaman (banned in Modern/Legacy), the Hierarchs (which also appeared briefly in the video), Delighted Halfling, and all the other mana dorks that actually see play in formats older than Pioneer.
Hornet Nest makes me wonder if there's a more consistent way to activate it other than battle. Maybe an enchantment that just deals a tiny amount of damage each turn to target creatures?
There are so many spells in red, green, and even jund that deal damage to boardwipe that giving the nest Indestructible can be a nightmarish game changer against some decks. Sure, that 10 damage Earthquake may have left two or three fliers alive on the opponent's side, but they're not gonna wanna swing when you now have 10 hornets and the nest on your side. Quite literally, adding just one keyword to it can take it from meta dependant to downright broken in most situations, cause no one will want to swing unless they can evade it with Flying or Unblockable.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Fun fact: Tinder wall actually saw play in the pauper wall deck mentioned earlier for the brief times of experementation when running both a damage and mill engine with your wall deck is nessesary for the format. its ability to add red mana allowed the deck to stay purely simic for the most part aside from running a fireball or two in main. this helped with the matchups that, at the time, were the decks that were the only graveyard decks. now that there is enough good graveyard support in all 5 colors in the pauper meta, that arguement for running a hybrid victory that has one of the wincons being mill makes it a less compelling arguement than going all in on something that isnt going to give your opponent resources to stop your combo. basically, it was good for the burn wall strat and not really the mill strat but could bridge either, and because there were just that many better options that were more for the all in focus of burn made it just barely not viable enough for modern pauper.
I only know tinder wall from pauper. When he said that was the last pauper staple and then presents Tinder Wall I was wtf xD but great list, thks
Wall of Denial is one of my personal favorites for actual blocking, even if it’s narrow in use as a gold card.
this. I was shocked it wasn't in the list. it has no "gimmick ability" sure, but it's a 0/8 defender with flying and shroud... for 3 mana. that is an absolutely huge blocker, that can block flying, can't be targeted by your opponent, for only 3. it didn't need any gimmick abilities to be amazing to give you time to put stuff together, which white and blue is the two colors tending to need it the most (more blue, but white occasionally as well)
I was about to say this too!
Yuta Takahashi won World Champions with an Izzet deck featuring Smoldering Egg, saying it was the best card in his deck
This is sort of a weird list, because all of the best defender cards are so redundant. You''ve got Blossoms/Omens, Tuktuk/Drawbridge, Battlement/Axebane, and to a lesser extent Caryatid/Wall of Roots. Plus the 0 cost walls which were skipped in favor of random cards that were okay in Standard, which fit the unique role of being zero cost artifact creatures for Glimpse of Nature cheerios strategies in Legacy (though jank enough that excluding them is definitely understandable). I think consolidating half the best defender cards into a single "Pauper Walls combo" slot really warps the list, but it does make some sense to avoid having to double up on half the slots with near-identical cards. That said, Drift of Phantasms felt like a bit of a weird pick for this role, since I put literally every other card mentioned alongside it higher on the ranking.
Im pretty sure that you don't actually say the M in Mnemonic.
I think some of their mispronunciations are part of the appeal.
Welcome. You must be new here
@@evanvandeneinde7095 At least he pronounced "Llanowar" correctly this time.
@NoelQuo I've been around for a while, and I will always comment about the incorrect pronouncement.
I swear he mispronounces words on purpose and I don't understand it.
A few honorable mentions:
* Sunscape Familiar- Cost reduction is just always good.
* Wall of Omens - A 2 mana flying 1/8 is nothing to sneeze at. The downside of giving your opponent life isn't relevant if you plan on winning with the aforementioned wall combo anyway.
* Shield Sphere - A 0/6 cheerio? Yes please! And the best part is, its negative effect doesn't trigger when attacking
* Wall of Blood - This one is busted if you can allow it to attack, since you can pay life to pump its attack.
* Concealing Curtains - A one mana 0/3 that, for 2B, flips into a 3/4 menace with a thoughtseize effect.
Wall of Blood would be good with thud or Fling with a Judith on the board
That isn’t wall of omens btw! That’s wall of Shards
You mean Wall of Shards instead of Wall of Omens, right?
Also, I'm surprised Wall of Denial wasn't mentioned. A 0/8 flying shround wall for 3 mana is pretty solid, especially if you're using something like Arcades, the Strategist to let it attack and deal damage equal to its toughness.
I'd add Crashing Drawbridge and The Pride of Hull Calde. Not sure how powerfull these are in other formats than EDH, but they rip in Commander.
My boy birth of meletis is also worth a mention
Drift of Phantasms is very underrated in Commander purely as a transmute tutor. Blue doesn't have a lot of access to non artifact/instant/sorcery tuutors and 3 mana value is a sweet spot for plenty of combo pieces... and Rhystic Study.
It's not half bad, the sorcery speed is a bit of a pisser though. At the very least, as he mentioned in the video, it's still a good card on its own. Compared to Wall of Denial it's got less toughness but fulfills a similar role, AND you can discard it to grab a Sword of This and That, Chromatic Lantern, Basalt Monolith... the list goes on. Most decks have a 3 mana card they'd love to get easier access to
Thanks for this.
I might add _Wall of Shards, Wall of Blood, Silent Arbiter_ and perhaps _Woolly Razorback,_ for the flavour.
"can't ramp into a spell on turn 2 with a dork that costs more than 1 mana"
Manacrypt, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox: "Am I a joke to you?"
Also my favorite wall has to be "Wall of Denial", thing is a fucking 3 mana 0/8 wall with Flying and Shroud. Thing is quite literally the best at being an actual wall.
I'm generally happy with Hornet Nest in my Xira the Golden Sting Insect deck. It's one of two effects like it, and can be flashed out via the deck's tricks.
I'm surprised Shield Orb is not on this list. A zero drop with 6 defence. It depletes with use, but can buy you time, without a mana investment.
I made brew with that once, to stall for he combo.
I think the only thing cariatid needs to be playable in modern is a 4 mana threat good enough to be worth the tempo drop. With stuff like jace and rhino power crept out of the game there’s nothing really worth accelerating to 4 that can compete with current explosive early games
Charbelchwr actually has a simpler way of playing non-lands. Have all your lands be MDFCs, since their front face is a spell, its not a land technically
Stronghold had a cycle of uncommon walls that all, if not great cards, at least fun cards. Wall of BLossoms has been mentioned. Wall of Essence is 0/4 for 2 that gives you life for combat damage done to it. Wall of Souls deals damage to an opponent based on the combat damage it takes. Wall of Razors is a 4/1 defender, first strike which, admittedly, is the weakest of the bunch, but it is a fun casual card and with cards that remove defender, it is nifty. Wall of Mists returns creatures it blocks to their owners hand at the end of combat. A very annoying card.
I remember when thing in the ice first saw play in modern. Nothing better than an opponent flipping thing in the ice and realizing phyrexian obliterator is a horror. One of the many games where my opponent was annoyed by my gimmicky deck lol
*cries in Crashing Drawbridge*
It's fine but often I just wish it also had haste
I wish you’d talk more about edh on your videos
fog bank not being on the list makes me irrationally angry
I'm confused, how does wall of roots work with Agatha's Soul Cauldron? The ability reads "Put a -0/-1 counter on Wall of Roots", naming the card. What use is a Shivan Dragon that can put counters on an non-existant (exiled) wall of roots?
when a card mentions it's name in the rules text, it doesn't mean "cards named [card name]"/"this card that is named [card name]", it means "this game object"(game object, not card, because tokens aren't cards but are game objects)
The exception to the above is when the card explicitly mentions others cards, for example, i remenber there's a card(i forget the name) with the text "When you control 4 creatures named [Card Name], you win the game."(or something similar). Cards care about the names of cards when they're referencing other cards.
@@dragohammer6937Thank you for the thorough explanation
Not the most powerful but I liked Wall of razors a lot. The design was so cool!
Best/Worst Exalted cards?
Slightly surprised to not see Fog Bank on the list, it's one of the defenders that is used as a defender more advantageously
Fog Bank isn't even close to being good.
Anything with trample can just go around it.
@@williamdrum9899 but anything with flying goes right above all of the walls mentioned without flying.... so? i'd replace mnemonic with fog bank. if you have 4 trample and block with the mnemonic you will no longer have a blocker, and are taking 4 next turn, then 4 more the turn after that. at least with fog bank you take 2 less damage and an increasingly larger amount less for each turn post you losing your mnemonic.
btw suck it nerd.
Fog bank could be up there
Thermo-alchemist is one of the key pieces in my blue/red burn deck. He's a value engine in the right deck
Amazing!!!!
I'm surprised Promikon, Sky Rampert wasn't mentioned
I actually run my nest in derevi where I pong it for damage and use the blocker to killl creatures
I really wish Hornet’s nest had flash. I took it out of my Arcades commander deck Becuase no one wants to swing into it lol
Try adding Stinging Barrier to your deck. It cost one Blue to ping, but has done good work for me.
Tider Wall: The player is not affected by single target mom effects , money spells and creatures above 10 health
Thermo alchemist is an uncommon, not a common, so it’s not pauper legal. Though it is run in mono red burn commander
Aboreal Grazer is an honorary defender.
But Thermo-Alchemist did see a decent amount of Standard play unless im mistaken.
It's *currently* seeing some.
I always loved mnemonic wall
I actually play 4 of these, and I've never played a single constructed tournament or made a meta relevant deck. Hornet Nest is in a Insect-tribal EDH deck, and Drift of Phantasms, Wall of Roots and Wall of Tinder are in a Songs of the Damned OTK deck.
Flumph!
Oh wow, I didn't know you could use Wall of Roots' ability on your opponent's turn!!
Yeah, kind of ironic to claim Caryatid is one of the best mana dorks in the game, and then right after that show two other mana producing Walls that are better than it, by the video's own ranking. Not to mention Deathrite Shaman (banned in Modern/Legacy), the Hierarchs (which also appeared briefly in the video), Delighted Halfling, and all the other mana dorks that actually see play in formats older than Pioneer.
Surprised not to see surge engine
defender isnt purely negative. especialy against red when they force u to attack them
Hornet Nest makes me wonder if there's a more consistent way to activate it other than battle. Maybe an enchantment that just deals a tiny amount of damage each turn to target creatures?
Any red boardwipes would do it, something like blasphemous act or earthquake, you kill the whole board and end up with a ton of bugs
Give it indestructible, go to town with burn spells.
There are so many spells in red, green, and even jund that deal damage to boardwipe that giving the nest Indestructible can be a nightmarish game changer against some decks. Sure, that 10 damage Earthquake may have left two or three fliers alive on the opponent's side, but they're not gonna wanna swing when you now have 10 hornets and the nest on your side. Quite literally, adding just one keyword to it can take it from meta dependant to downright broken in most situations, cause no one will want to swing unless they can evade it with Flying or Unblockable.
You can repeatedly hit it with Acorn Catapult to get a hornet and a squirrel every turn
Wheres my nyxfleece ram???
it doesn't have defender
you forgot tree of perdition)))
like me some crashing draw bridge
Fog bank?
In short, the best walls in the game are creatures who do not function as walls, shocking
No Grozoth. Lame.
Wall of boom!