"It's Not THAT Deck" | Magic: the Gathering | Commander 

I’ve totally been on the bad end of “don’t worry it’s casual”, but I’ve also been on the other end with an Urza deck that’s Vorthos based with dragon engines and such. Just have to trust but verify and believe people when they show who they really are.

a friend brought a Narset deck and said something like “dont worry, is not THAT deck, this is low power lvl”, then proceeded to take like 6 consecutive turns with extra combats each

This is partially why I love playing underwhelming/lesser known commanders. You aren’t scrutinized from the very beginning and when you pull something off often people are like “oh, cool! I’ve never seen that before!”

I think we need to be aware that variance exists in Magic, and that sometimes your 6 will play like a 9 in any given game. It becomes a problem when the overperformant outlier becomes the frame of reference that people base their threat assessment on.

Yes Joey, the whining story existsfor others: one of the staff of my local LGS likes to play a mono green omnath deck revolving around infinite mana combos. One night I play Kogla and fight omnath to destroy it and say I want to attack him to destroy his sol ring with koglas attack trigger. He whines and I attack someone else. He plays Nyxbloom ancient the next turn (needing the sol ring mana) and combos us the turn after. He also plays that deck with precons on the table btw

"Its not that deck" he said, knowing full well that it was in fact, that deck.

“I don’t know where you got the audacity, but you can put it back.” Yasss the sass 💅 I’m absolutely using that.

If you’re the type of player who likes power, then the key is to own it. I come to my playgroup with everyone full well knowing that all of my decks are huge threats, and I love being the target from the get-go to me defending against three other players forces me to be a better player, the only thing I like more than that is taking underwhelming commanders and making those powerful

It’s usually THAT deck unfortunately

I like the approach that the Worse possible commander show takes. Before the game starts each player reveals the worst possible combination their deck/commander can do so everyone at the table is forewarned.

I had a similar experience. I went to MagicCon Vegas this year and had a Thrasios/Tymna Enchantments deck. And the first time I went to sit down and try it out, I got nasty looks and decided to play Piru instead. I felt like, "Well I understand the power of the pairing, and while I know my deck isn't 'that deck' I didn't want everyone to have that experience either way." Had a great time either way!

I like optimizing decks so I pretty much always play “that deck” and it makes pregame interactions simpler. Except for the commanders no one knows about, but that’s the joy of brewing

The only deck I do this disclaimer to is my super budget Breya deck and even then I do explain that there are infinite combos. Breya herself is still an incredibly powerful commander by herself, but it just got really annoying getting focused down when my board is just a reckless fireweaver and a skyswimmer koi solely from the 'bad pr' of Breya when the person right next to me is literally Thoracle comboing in front of everyone...

Always impressed with how eloquent and comprehensive Joey's videos are.❤

I think the observation about players is a good one: an earnest desire to have fun and be good company is kind of all I'm after in a game. I don't mind being the punching bag, or even having the most powerful deck (though I'm less comfortable with that) as long as we're all playing in the right spirit. I don't tend to opt for tutors or too much fast mana - beyond a couple of rocks in most decks - and it means I'm left with a very simple set of decisions every turn: which cards in my hand I can play and which I can't. I'm responsible for that set of simple decisions, so it's kind of on me to do my bit to contribute to the kind of game I want to play in.

Guy at my LGS: "It's not THAT Urza, Lord High Artificer deck" Same guy 15 minutes later: *wins by attacking with Blightsteel Collossus equipped with Lightning Greaves

This is why I like cedh. Everybody knows what they’re getting into from the get go. Can’t get mad at anyone when the objective is “win at any cost”.

I think everyone has experienced this at one point or another. The best ways to avoid it are rule 0 conversations, open communication during games and having interaction

I have built the new Jin-Gitaxias. As a stimulation, I went SUPER budget, and all cards are .50 or under. You can still make a great deck with that in mind, but rather than lab man or thoracle, it is leviathan beatdown. My friends all know Jin is the strength and weakness of the deck, if he goes, no coming back. But every time he loses, I am allowed to change one card for a ~5$ one, because I am always the archenemy and I embrace it.

I think this conversation is interesting because i like to build high power commanders in a suboptimal, unique way. My favorite deck is my 4c Omnath gates list. Most people see Omnath and groan, but then I play a guildgate on turn one and they go "woah, nice!!" and it starts a conversation. Can i win on turn 5 if i have omnath, a fetchland, and an amulet of vigor in play by casting reshape the earth? Sure. But its only happened one time, otherwise the deck is durdly as hell and absolutely just uses Omnath as a way to have more mana and speed up the gates plan a bit more than winning on like turn 15.

Its amazing how apologizing can sometimes have the opposite effect. Played a game against a Tivit player, who got the turn one sol ring into signet off a mulligan and with a turn 2 dark ritual and 6 drop commander proceeded to utterly dominate the game from start to finish. He kept saying things like 'I didn't know it was THAT strong" and the like, but it was clear everyone was looking at him like he was an angle shooter.

Absolutely loved this video! In my LGS' Commander League, I've been a customer/supporter for over a decade and have built the reputation of being 'the fun guy'. I treat every game whether it be casual Commander, semi-competitive Limited/Pre-Release or sanctioned events, as if I'm there to make friends... which IS the reason I'm there. I win some, I lose some, I really don't care... so long as we're all having fun. I have no problem being the punching bag, I get to watch the rest of the game and provide 'MST3K'-like commentary throughout. If I want to win and feel like I've accomplished something, I go to where I can get that feeling. If I want to have fun with friends and make new ones, I play Magic: the Gathering.

I really enjoyed this video Joey. It was a fun watch that I felt hit a little bit home for me. I am a rather casual player, my play group created silly rules to limit how we play. Mine is based on what brought me back to magic, D&D an other universes beyond products. I loved the dragon based precons for both AFR and CLB and wanted to mix colors together and went URG and found the only commander that fit my style was Miirym. This has led to a mildly frustrating experience with the deck where it is missing a number of parts and still draws out the removal just for the commander's potential. I don't play blink or clone effects since i just wanted big stompy dragons. And i did not include green ramp spells in favor of rocks since dragons like treasure. But I fight half a table most of the time since the commander is so scary. I don't fault the other players since if left alone I will have tons of dragons burning the board. But sometimes it feels like i am just eating up the tables removal until someone else wins. I like the deck and want to play it, but I am lost on if I should optimize it to go full archenemy or just shelf it for rare plays.

People love Darth Vader. Boos from the crowd are his applause. He is the villain and the threat and almost never apologizes for it. People love him for it. If you're going to be darth vader, be Darth Vader.

Definitely agree with the "that deck" vs "that player" mentality and have been on both sides of the "that deck" table. Nothing is more annoying than the guy that says I swear this isn't a cedh deck..and then proceeds to combo off turn 3-4. (Guy literally pulled out a list and said see its not the cedh list cause its missing mana crypt and 3 dual lands.) I also feel like knowing what your deck is capable of and being honest about it. My favorite deck is my Merieke ri berit deck. Its main goal is to win using my opponents cards so it doesn't really win the game on its own. But it does have some fairly staxy combos (aura thief and enchanted evening) that make it a strong deck. When I bring it out I try to be as honest as possible about its potential because of how it scales. (If I know someone has a blightsteel in their deck, you might see me play a blightsteel) and that comes from the knowledge of having played the deck for years. If you play a deck only a few times or just built a commander from the newest precon/set you might not be aware of some unexpected combos. And thats ok just be honest about it. If I am testing a new deck I will let the table know. However, if the commander has been out for a little while, try to do a little research about the target your putting on your back. People are going to be a lot more forgiving of a "I didn't realize this Doctor Who commander did that." Compared to "I didn't realize Tergrid could do that".

Assume it's that deck until you have reason to believe otherwise.

One of the easiest solutions for this problem personally is to just show people my decks before I play them. I know it takes the element of surprise out of them or whatever, but letting other players know that my anje deck has 2 madness cards in it and showing it’s a non combo reanimator deck, tends to mean I actually get to play my commander!

I had a buddy a few years ago that would scoop the second anyone countered or removed his Gishath. Even if he had enough mana to recast it next turn. It became a running joke that it was an easy way to win the game.

It's ok to give up too! I tried really, REALLY hard to make my Kiki-Jiki deck not have any infinite combos, it's just not possible! the second I introduce any kind of synergy I run into different 4 to 5 cards combo. But I like the deck, so I warn people and well if it happens it happens! Owning up to it makes it a much more fun experience for people that play against me, because they're not suprised when it happens and can even try to figure out what cards could end up going infinite, and that's fun! So yeah, sometime the awnsers to your deck problems isnt to make deck swaps, it's just to accept thats what your deck does.

Your timing is impeccable, Joey. I was just talking with my friends about this the other day, about the people who complain you won't allow them to play (some even claim you're 'king making'), yet they are the same people to outright win the game if you give them a millimeter.

This encompasses all sliver decks I've ever played against. Someone has been hurt by sliver decks. It didn't matter who the commander was. And we had a wave of new kids excited to play slivers in some form or fashion. If you leave them alone, they take over the game. If you target them, you get the blinders to other threats creeping up on you.

In my playgroup my Alesha deck is considered "that guy" as it has Master of Cruelties and a lot of combos. I enjoy winning immediately with an unfair animation, but that being said- I don't mind being useless all game

This is why I've mostly stepped away from commander. I built some decks i was really proud of and kept showing up to play at my LGS and it eventually ended in a game of Archenemy where i became the villain. I can't build decks that don't align with my play style, and that play style revolves around building a strong deck that stands a chance at winning. I've just come to the conclusion this format isn't necessarily for me. However, I do love when everyone plays pre-cons. That's fun.

I just say my decks are good, but I personally don't play tutors or fast mana. Keeps it easy.

I had a conversation with a local buddy that was real close to this. I think we boiled down to "Building a to play a game that's suboptimal fun and being ruthless to win" and "Building to play at the strongest decks you can build so that you can just run games for fun". The first is like "we all got a precon, I'm kicking your ass!" And the other is like "we come in with the expectation of power, therefore we can just let the cards play as they fall; you knew what you were stepping into when we started". Both are ABSOLUTELY VALID, and when everyone is open and starting the games on the same page. The problem is when people think they're playing one but building a deck that rests with the other; accidentally or intentionally. Example for EDH settings: It's one thing to run Miiriym, another to play Roaming throne; it's also OK to run both in the same deck. But if you're running them together: the "Chad" play is to play Roaming throne first, then Miiriam. You're absolutely being "unfun" if you play Miiriym first. You're especially an asshole if you do so, in multiple games, and you recall how the triggers result and what will be the consequences of that two piece combo, but you bungle and fiddlefart your turn clock mapping it out. FYI, Miirym then RT(Dragon) will make three RT. This means each dragon you cast after will result in 4 individual permanents per cast and 16 ETB effects. RT then Miirym just makes miiryms effect get copied once (so three permanents per cast) and 6 ETB triggers. It's still really strong but alot more fair than the alternative and easier to manage. Also, each RT triggers an addition ward cost, including stacking for RT, they just don't count themselves.

I have a Meren deck that is "that" Meren value engine aristocrats deck, but on a $100 budget. I'm well aware that putting things like Fleshbag Marauder, Zulaport Cutthroat, Spore Frog, and Skullclamp can make the game feel like it's slowly choking you until I find something like Gary or Living Death to finish it. But it's also fun to see opponents pool resources together to try and kill me first, and I'm very clear that my intent is to dump as much of my deck in the graveyard as possible and pull value from it until I find a splashy spell that leads to a win, as well as because it makes me happy to see all my cards, even if I don't get to use them all that game.

The guy that got me back into MTG always plays "THAT" deck. It's annoying sometimes, but he's made me a better player and deck builder as I try to find new, creative ways to stomp him. I may be a glutton for punishment, but I enjoy the challenge. You can't change other people, however you can change your reaction to what they're doing. Perception is the key. At the end of the day it's only a game. If it's not fun, why play?

Playing against someone like Crim seems like it would be a miserable experience. EVERYONE should have an equal push and pull in a game, and there should not be an obvious arch-enemy at the table from the beginning. Am I the only one that plays board games and realizes that? I feel like he doesn't come into the game with a distinct goal of making sure the table at large has a fun time. At least that is what I gather from hearing him in 200 different discussions. And to me, "that" type of player is inevitable if "that" type of deck is in front of me. That person made the choice to use that commander that combos with a ham sandwich. Unless they are unaware of these experience that can happen, they are making that choice to not consider the experience that typs of deck will produce. My solution instead is to make sure people know they can always play a different commander and still have a similar goal with their build. I was the Yidris player, and had to have someone tell me that what I was doing just wasn't fun, and then I experienced that unfun for myself too. Seriously, you can always play something different, if you really cared about making sure everyone was happy.

Some people are gonna make a scene no matter what. But I feel that a lot of the time there is drama it's because the person only gets to play 2 games of commander a month and THAT card just ruins them. They show up for 1 of those 2 games and right after they play their commander it gets hit by a Darksteel Mutation and they are just out of the game until they can find one of the 4 cards in their deck that can deal with an enchantment. I know this comment doesn't fully match this video, but I guess I'm saying that the "that deck" problem isn't a problem for people who play 20 games a month. It's a problem for the people who only have time to play a few games. If you get to play a lot of Commander just don't run THAT deck against someone who can hardly play.

As someone who relishes making weird versions of commander decks, I regularly have to have the whole "It's not THAT deck" convo. My favorite deck that I've ever made is Narset Superfriends. It is incredibly fun and ridiculous and basically either crashes and burns or goes off into utter insanity. The first time people see it though, they always presume it's like most other Narset, Enlightened Master decks that just use every extra turn spell in the game to either prod or go Super Saiyan Voltron to win... which I get is super annoying. I think a good way to handle it is just to allow people to scoop out of the game without being a dick about it... of course, asking some MTG players to not be a dick is like asking Star Wars fans to not bitch about the recent content... but at a certain point, that sort of behavior warrants just cutting out the problematic person.

Me, combo-ing off with Nekusar: "Some of you may die, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make."

I have a sissay, weatherlight captain deck but she is my dungeon delving deck. So when people give it a scared look because she can do some crazy stuff. My deck just goes off because I am speed running the dungeons hahah.

9:50 yup. I've been that guy, I've complained about that guy, I shut down that guy. Not necessarily in that order. This game is tricky

Ive built awul decks (mono black elves, crab tribal, etc) and get mixed responses. The only people i really met at my new LGS have been the type to build the hyper powerful yidris deck packed with storm cards and all the free spells, but they complain when we dont want to sit through a 20 minute turn with multiple extra turn effects, 60+ mana spent and an insurmountable boardstate. I agree that it's ultimately that kind of player, not the deck itself though. We asked him to play another deck, but it was the same thing really. Just monopolizing the game.

I love beeing the achenemy on the table. It is such a fun experience.

I'm not in any EDH groups but lately I'm thinking of finding one and intentionally being The Heel sounds really fun lol

There are so many less played commanders out there that if you choose to play a commander that's well known for being extremely powerful I'm going to expect it to be powerful. Whether or not it's the most powerful build doesn't matter to me. If you don't want to be scrutinized like that the answer is simple: use a different commander! It's so easy!

Jup... i got bullied with a leveler before in turn 4 and watched for 2 hours at the sideline

Good EP. There's no right answer, which is why videos like this can be made! Expectations, that's my big thing. People show up with their "Prized project" (deck) and want it to work how they envisioned. Anything from temperament of players, other decks, and card choices can affect it.

Ive brought my Tergrid deck, but dont worry, its not THAT Tergrid deck...

"It's not THAT deck" "Hey, is there anyone at this LGS that has played against it and can verify that claim? No? You're going down, buddy"

Love the video, one thing I'd like to add is when you're playing a, as you put it, "bad PR" commander and it's not "that deck" maybe describe the deck. Like my Zur deck or my recently built Nekusar deck. Zur was themed around the card Paradox Haze and having multiple upkeep triggers while my Nekusar deck is a Monarch/Initiative themed deck. Talking people through the process certainly helps. I feel.

shoutout comment just for Joey being able to sneak the word mensch into a video

Ninjas have always been my favorite tribe, dating back before yuriko was a thing. Got yuriko the moment it came out and played it for years with my playgroup who knew it had no extra turn bs. For reasons I won't get into I'm not in that group anymore, and now I do wish there was another ninja commander, since ik I won't be able to get good games with yuriko while the table assumes I have stuff that I just don't

Joey you bring the real conversations about being a good person that is not only relevant to this community but most communities! Thank you!

Your Kenrith comments reminded me of how I actively describe my Chulane deck. “I have this Chulane deck that I built using its Brawl precon as a base, then adding a bunch of lands and creatures I had just lying around to get to an EDH card count, and that really limited its potential power… But at the end of the day, it’s still a Chulane deck and it will absolutely just run away with the game if you let me just do my thing.” I’m very much the Crim in my group; I’ve learned how to celebrate when an opponent makes the correct threat assessment to figure out what I’m doing needs to be dealt with.

F for every fair Golos player, that has no Commander for your Gates typal

While the only "that deck" I've played is Niv-Mizzet (which I am straightforward in saying it's combo), I have had to earn my fellow players' trust with mechanically unique commanders (I have the handle Zeriphon on MTGCardsmith). It helps that it's generally a little lower-powered than my regular play-group.

My first game at a store was against a "that deck" player. I'm jamming an upgraded Lord Windgrace precon. He brings out an old-school 5c deck, and as soon as he can, he drops an Armageddon. I almost scooped, but something told me to stick around. I didn't end up winning that game, but I still had the most fun clawing my way back to a playable game.

I think you need to play the "not-that-deck" deck again and again to proof, that it isn't "that" deck. Accept their overreaction and loose some games until they notice, that your deck isn't the problem.

I have a Derevi fliers tempo deck, it only has one stax piece in it, magus of the mote, it is still annoying to play against because I can tap down key creatures over and over again, so it's still powerful, but it's not "that Derevi" but it's still really good

I have to make this speech every time I play my Atraxa Energy deck. “Yes it is Atraxa, but there is no infect or planeswalkers in here.”

Well said. Great video 🧙‍♂️

This is me with my Derevi Bird Tribal deck. They see the commander and think “oh god stax”, but once I play a few 1 cost 1/1 flyers people usually calm down.

As someone with several Cedh decks, fully optimized down to the LEDs... My favorite deck to play at a table is my Edgar Markov Aristocrats deck, which plays super budget around $150 and that's low given half the cost is the commander. Yet, people still see Edgar and think he's gonna be busted and jump on me... So obviously game two I have to bring out Urza or K'rrik and show them what power really is.

....everything you say is so relatable and easily understandable...

I am a very old school player and I remember hearing groans every game because I played Rafiq of the Many. My deck didn't have a single sword and was actually more of a bant control deck. I mostly used Rafiq to close out the game. Once my play group figured that out it was no longer an issue so much so that when a new player would join the pod my friends would let them know I wasn't playing "the Rafiq deck." I found it comes down to mentality like you said. When I showed that I am not trying to smash face via Rafiq with a sword, the stigma went away. But I had to earn that trust. It takes time and if you are not willing to go through that step then perhaps "those commanders" are not the best experience for you. Honest communication is key (much easier with a regular play group).

As someone who thrives in high power tables, getting joy out of the interaction cold war and value meets efficiency... "That" player has been a label I've landed myself in plenty of times. Some of its good reason, but honestly I only ever tried to meet the table where they were punching in power. But I kinda came to the realization that when decks "do the thing" they're typically trying to win. If your best board state doesn't attempt to win games, how _do_ you win games? The goal of the deck is to win, the reason you're playing is to have fun. So don't build your deck to where the only fun you can have is doing the thing, because that's making "winning" your fun.

This video is absolutely for my Grist deck. I try to be upfront as I can that it is one of the memeiest, one trick pony, rng/luck-based versions of the deck you could find. That it really only needs to be shutdown once to lock me out, that i didn't really care or think about the decklist barring lands, that its joke deck... But its still Grist. I let people unfamiliar know that it has a magic christmas land possibilty where i win on turn 4 whether i have 1 opponent or 50. I think part of the way i mitigate it, is that its a deck i will only play once that night before changing to another deck. Even if rng completely screws me and i mill a land every. Single. Uptick.

I think you’re right it’s about “That Player” there’s nothing wrong with having a powerful deck but you don’t have to play it that way. Or play it up hard. I have a Queen Marchesa deck with a minor Goad deck sub theme and the whole time I’m cracking jokes about thanking the table for their service for the Queendom as I revel in treasure tokens (the main theme of the deck treasure and solider tokens) it’s a lot of stupid role playing as the queen. I have been taken out many a times in the most interesting of ways that have been made into some of my favorite games. The whole table ends up getting super creative and it’s just a great time in my experience (at least I think so, I can’t a hundred percent vouche for the table ya know?)

On the topic of "Not that Deck" I gave up on Rafiq due to its PR, as you say. What's funny is that I built it in the same manner as my Mr. Orfeo deck, yet Rafiq would always be removed IMMEDIATELY, whereas Orfeo is almost never removed. The style of the decks had to do with the use of creatures that got bigger/scaled with what my opponents would do; the more broken things my opponents do, the bigger the swing via the damage doubling. It just goes to show how much PR alone will affect how people threat assess a commander, even if it does almost exactly what another one does. The other reason why I find Orfeo almost never targeted is because people's initial reaction to seeing him is, "Oh, so it's just a weaker Xenagos, but with black."

Meanwhile, me during FNM:" Hey guys, I brought my Jodah deck and YES it's THE Deck." I enjoy my Archenemy status

I have an Ur-Dragon deck and I do run Korvold, Fae-Cursed King as part of the 99 knowing he definitely does have a PR problem with many people. My friends were pretty chill about it especially since I only use him as a face beater who happens to be a dragon that draws you cards as oppose to a big combo piece. I can only imagine when I start playing with others though lol.

This is the heart of why Golos got banned. There is a "That deck" Golos, but every other build is hyper efficient and resilient.

This can be a really hard thing to grasp for new decks. I’ve put together something once and had no clue whether or not what I made was a problem such that the reputation of the deck was or wasnt warrented. Sometimes, you just gotta jam some games, and listen to everything being said. Sometimes, you make something busted and disgusting, and you just gotta own it, and know for later the deck is relegated for higher power than you thought

I agree with the comment talking about the cohesiveness of your videos! So, thank-you.

Timmy wants to play "5", Johnny wants to play "7", and Spike wants to play "10". Timmy and Spike are happy playing their decks no matter what, Johnny is stuck in the middle and NEEDS rule 0.

It's so weird to think there are some players that don't understand "not that deck" it's not wrong you don't know what tergrid does but it is wild to consider how different our experiences of the game are.

My first deck I build getting back into edh was Prosper not knowing it was one of the most played decks I just always play a Tiefling in DnD and love Rakdos. The first few times I went to my LGS to play people would walk by and say “You if you’re into cedh we do have a night specially for that” so I’ve still been looking for a second deck lol.

Great video.

I hate when I'm building a deck with a known powerhouse in an off-meta way that STILL ends up being a different powerhouse for a different reason. No matter how reasonable I try to keep it, I realize that if I want to have fun with it, I need to just tell people it's a powerhouse, just an off-meta powerhouse that they might not be ready for, but to still treat me appropriately. It's often even harder because it's off meta for a reason - it's not as strong... but your opponents shouldn't care!

You're a class act. 👏 thanks for reminding me about playing with more grace. One way my play group avoids these situations (we still end up being 'that player') is to have certain upcoming game days be cedh style. Conversions with friends are super important for a healthy play group.

It's great how the Magic content creator community, the Commander content creator community in particular, enjoy playing with/against each other.

I've had fortunately good experiences w/ this - lately been seeing a lot of competitive commanders that are built in a way that they are unique and not broken to play against.

I have a Derevi deck that focuses on utilizing the untap effect in more fun ways like utilizing activated abilites and the efficiency of untaping big rocks for more spells. Which is way more fun than the bs of everything is tapped for a million years becauseci wanted to play magice with frozen statues.

I think people are too sensitive about magic and just need to bring either high level and low level. If someone has a high power deck then don't play them

I love this episode and other episodes like this. This is probably the 10th time I've listened to this. Keep up the good work Joey.

Literally could not agree with this more. As 'the sliver player' in my group (still my favorite deck), and really when playing any of my decks, I do my best to make sure that regardless of power factor and even if I'm the Big Bad(tm) for the moment, I try not to be *that* player. Make sound tactical moves, keep your position, etc, but don't be a social villain as well as the tabletop one because they are VERY different things. Sometimes that means missing out on really strong plays that would have won a game NOW vs winning a bit later but having a more fun time with the group. Sometimes that just means not winning even though you COULD have if you did that special combo that runs away with the table. But for me at least, I don't care about winning nearly as much as I want to play the game and have fun. If I win and everyone is salty about it or I had to gut people's play or sucker punch my way there, that's a loss in my book. And in all honest, the victories I manage that are by the skin of my teeth and the last couple points of life are the most gratifying. Similarly the losses that were hard fought and well played by the opponent without making it so I COULDN'T play at all are the most enjoyable as well.

I exclusively play casual Commander, and for my own reasons I never play infinite combos in my deck. I don't like playing against them, but sometimes it's fine and I am not against them in every single context (CEDH should totally infinite away). In that context I have a K'rrik deck. I am a control player, but I am a black player at heart and my favorite way to play Magic is to pay life as a resource and then gain it back, or gain a lot of life then pay it. So naturally K'rrik is THE black deck for me. It is my strongest deck (still casual though). Sometimes is goes off and is the clear threat. In those situations I am usually the archenemy. Often times I win that archenemy game, sometimes I don't. But in that scenario, I always acknowledge that my opponents are right to target me, and I accept whatever comes my way, because I know what deck I am playing. Sometimes I get unfairly targeted, but usually fairly targeted, and I acknowledge that. And often times I do my math wrong and go low enough that someone can just kill me on the crack back, or I die with my Gary on the stack, or when Gary gets countered. Point is I know that the goal of my deck is to have me down in the 20s of life (at if not lower) usually by turn 5 because I am being that greedy (i.e. playing K'rrik correctly), so if that makes me the enemy, or just leads to my early demise, I don't get salty because I did that to myself, and (usually) I have no one but myself to blame. As a result of that attitude, rarely have I had a bad game with K'rrik.

I have a similar issue with my Wyleth deck. I am slowly turning into a toolbox equipment deck utilizing all the Swords of X and Y. It is very monolithic, and right now isnt super consistent. I do try and tell people that my deck is super reliant on Wyleth being out. The interesting thing is he isn't super scary early on, and so people leave him alone. However, if he stays out, I will get to the point that you literally can't deal with him. So I understand if I am the arch enemy early on because if I'm allowed to get going, the deck is nearly impossible to stop.

This is why I like playing low key non-meta commanders. Like how often do you go against Lovisa Coldeyes, or Rosheen Meanderer, or Melek Izzet Paragon that's all about stealing opponents creatures?

Just don’t say it’s not that deck. If you want to play strong accept the fact that you are gonna play a 1v3. It just means you are the boss of the game and that’s fun in its own right.

the whole i was ganged up on and that's why i lost i felt that so much because i used to see a legendary creature and if i liked it i would build around it and i wont lie they where NOT threats they where just jankie cards no one wanted to play, and the WHOLE night it would be the group destroying everything to the point i can only put a land and pass and i would be in a 3 v 1 every time just cause i had the bad decks to the point i nearly quit mtg, then i got a chance to build powerful decks like ur dragon, anzrag, ojer kaslem, and i became a real threat that now it was justified and i was ok with it cause i knew my decks could hand a 3 v 1

Sometimes Joey mentions a shocked silence and pall that falls over the room after a game of Magic. I feel like he's playing with much more dramatic people than I do.

I remember playing a typical Boros equipment deck in a low power game and remember getting targeted very often when someone is clearly going infinite with scute swarm. Needless to say it took everyone else to realize shit got real after 3 million infinite scute swarm is on board.

It is that Saffi Eriksdotter deck, it is that Veyran, Voice of Duality deck, it is that Kinnan Bonder Prodigy deck, it is that Zur the Enchanter deck, it is that Edgar Markov deck, it is that Winota Joiner of Forces deck, it is that Malcom and whatever deck, it is that Augustin IV deck, it is that Yuriko deck, it is that Xenagos deck….

I’m wondering if I’m “THAT player.” I have an Esika//Prismatic Bridge deck. It’s genuinely not optimized. I don’t run fast mana (not even a sol ring in that deck), I run dorks so the free creature trigger can whiff, I don’t play creatures that prevent people from playing the game or sacrifice your permanents (cards I hate playing against), I don’t play tutors/free commander-based spells, or anything that’s hyper efficient. And it almost never wins. When I started playing that deck, I noticed people saying, “yeah, I know that deck,” and they say it with a tone that implies they’ve seen scary versions of it. Thats when I first started getting an idea that I might be playing one of those decks with a reputation. With all that said, I know it’s a strong deck despite my attempts to make it fair and fairly easy to deal with, and I don’t say it isn’t. If I lose the game, but get at least one or two free creatures, thats all I need to feel like my deck did its thing. I just like flipping cards off the top of my library and I don’t care too much about the result. So, I hope I’m not THAT player… 😅

I have a "friend" that plays "that" Yuriko deck, and runs Thoracle combo. We have all complained to him and about him over and over , told him that we're playing high power level decks so the Yuriko part is fine, but the Thoracle combo is unacceptable. He doesn't care and we're at the point where we are just going to refuse to play against the deck because none of us want to be required to hold onto counterspells so that he doesn't just Thoracle when he starts losing. He says it's a "last resort" and doesn't give a shit that no one else is running auto-wins to make up for their bad decision making. We're playing at 8s, we can't afford to hold a counterspell from turn 4 until end of game. It's dogshit. I've stopped letting him know that I'm where we all meet when I get there because I can't stand his pouting when I refuse to 1v1 his unfun deck with an auto-win con that he tutors for.

My simple solution is to simply "not play that Commander." I am currently putting together my winter themed brew with Hylda, Of the Icy Crown. Using only "Cold Cards" like Icy Manipulator, Frost Blast, Ice Out, Thing in the Ice, Glacial Chasm, Thawing Glaciers, Frost Titan, Icy Prison, Cold Steel Heart, On Thin Ice, etc. Not all of the cards are amazing or the most efficient versions. But the deck is fun.

I've only played commander for about a year or two, and when I opened a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King awhile ago I immediately thought it would be cool to build. When I decided to start building it I started as a treasure token theme but quickly realized that was going to be incredibly strong to have a free sacrifice and also gain mana for it, I decided I didn't want to go that hard and wanted something a bit less common so I decided on making food tokens and rat tokens when I saw how much support was in Wilds of Eldraine for those tokens. I had no idea how much Korvold was hated when I built the deck, and I feel like I'm not playing "THAT Korvold" deck, but also I recognize that Korvold is just super powerful no matter what, so I still expect to be archenemy and have added in more protection into the deck, and I'm not going to argue that someone should let Korvold live because the deck isn't optimized, he definitely deserves his kill on sight rep. I've asked some people to look through the deck and have been told it's not nearly as oppressive as it could be, but to expect a lot of hate regardless, because it is still Korvold.