just to back up my comments about white. the mtgoldfish commander guys just ranked the colors in the format (and did a pretty good job overall imo), and they had white second just behind green: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Sj3WQNy3YYE.html&ab_channel=MTGGoldfishCommander
@@baconsir1159 you know it was a 2 part video right? And they spent like 10-15 minutes on draw in part one? I’m with you that they were wrong about cyc rift tho
@@Spirited_skiing Aaah, my bad. Put part two as a reference so I watched that one, didn't notice it was a two-parter. Still disagree with a lot of the observations on that one (they REALLY underrated blue removal in general imo) but I guess I'll have to watch part 1
@@baconsir1159 it’s worth it. I do agree that with how fast the meta has gotten, bounce removal has gotten pretty good and is better as you get more powerful towards cedh because interrupting sequencing is often enough to survive a person’s turn I personally really agree with their assessment of mono-white though. And crim + tomer had more respect for blue’s removal at least- and that’s what I love about their stuff: they bring widely different viewpoints and at least tomer and Richard play both cedh and normal edh so they understand the format at different levels. But I think disagreement and discourse around magic is super good, and keeps things interesting because if we all agreed on commander philosophy it would be much more boring to play
@@Spirited_skiing Watched it. Richard saying Secret Rendevous is a good card I adamantly disagree with, and him saying "Kodama's Reach is card draw" almost gave me a stroke.
Unpopular opinion I know but: I actually like that this set isn't super powerful and synergistic. I think what this set brings most to Commander is a bunch of Jank, which is where commander is really supposed to shine. Playing suboptimal things just for self expression and fun. A full set of jank is exactly what I like for my commander decks tbh
I keep mine semi competitive with cards that I want to use. Not a fan of net decking because it's similar to inputting God mode in videogames and that takes the fun out of the game. I'll still face net decks no problem but I never expect to win against them.
@@Ascendedninja6 Personally, I don't see how it turns god mode on. Maybe I suck, but I used edhrec to make most of my Kediss/Falthis deck for a $99 budget thing my buddies and I were doing, and I'm still not winning most games. It lets me feel like I'm a bit closer to where they are if anything
@@guyinthecorner0 I dont think he meant it by god mode = very strong but meant it by turning on cheats and not having fun. Some people have fun turning on cheats too and some people enjoy the brewing part as much as the playing aspect.
24:00 love the Blind Seer shoutout there! Random fact- Blind Seer is actually Urza. Pretty neat! I have this card in foil and man those old foils are just built different..
Great picks, I agree with your point about the strong white cards being available for use in every deck with white. Those two cards should have had double white pips at the very least.
So far one of my favorite background combinations is Wilson and cultist of the absolute. You get a 5/5 voltron commander with just so many keywords on like turn 3
I love this set :D , its just very intresting and looks like a lot of fun. in point of the terramancer i think you are right, also it would be better if they just made reprints instead of just push more and more white card draw.
oh to actually help you case on "Deep Gnome Terramancer" there's something even worse I'm not sure you missed it since you didn't talk about but on further inspection.....where's the word "Basic" and for playing at home that allows you to get the Shocklands/triomes/snow dual lands from kaldheim/tango or battle lands/Mistveil Plains/Mistveil Plains/and original dual lands with no drawbacks (via Savanah) so in other words you can put it in a 5-color deck easily because you can fix the mana
I agree about the white card problem. The only reason I haven’t made any mono white decks is because all the staple cards are over $10. It’s a big feelsbad.
Someone (maybe it was you Demo) said that these white cards should just have more white pips. I totally agree - it disincentivizes people from just slamming them in their 3, 4, or 5-color decks. If the Archivist and Terramancer both costed WW instead of 1W, hopefully people would be more hesitant to auto-include them in their multicolored decks. Smothering Tithe at 1WWW is way less format-warping than at 3W.
Agreed. I think you need 3 mono coloured pips to deter players from putting a card in a 3+ coloured deck. I still put cards in a 3 colour deck that have 2 mono pips no problem.
I agree with your opinion. Whether other people agree or not may not even matter. It's coming from someone who obviously has a deep passion for the game. You're also expressing yourself in an attempt to make the game better for the players. That's what matters. Thank you from one of those players.
I'm building a deck around Deep Gnome. A Rocco deck and a ton of removal that gives opponents lands. Path, Gost Quarters, etc. Him being 2/2 plus a few different commanders makes him very easily tutored. He's crazy
Cloudkill in K'rrik seems good. You are right about the break in the color pie with the last couple sets leaning into white mana acceleration and card draw. But to be fair, green has already done that in that it has just about everything.
cards i like from the choises you made: - wild magic surge (btw i would place this onto my top 3^^) - navigation orb - irenicus's vile duplication - elmister's simulacrum - elturel survivors - balor - barroom brawl things i would add: - Popular Entertainer works for each commander, means in the 98 if a partner commander this means you could goad up to 6 creatures, 2 per enermie^^ oh and doublestrike works too. - Mocking Doppelganger strait up goads the go wide token deck xD - speaking of goad... what is this fun card i instandly wanna put in each red deck? Spectacular Showdown - oh and Traverse the Outlands or Jaheira's Respite are the reasons we got those white cards that help against tutors without stoping them... - Shameless Charlatan is a insanly good background! cause the effect is added by the enchantment you can use it again over and over! - Kindred Discovery also can be a new staple for tribal decks^^. - Windshaper Planetar, you redirect attacks... ALL OF THEM??? this set is bonkers, its one of the few times i like more then 10 cards from a set.
I was watching Gavin Verhey (who was lead designer on CL1 and second in command for CL2) open a draft booster box. One thing he pointed out is that they are trying to design very niche legendaries to inspire very narrow decks because there are just so many great wide-range designed commanders now. He said it after pulling Raggadragga, which is a pretty niche commander.
Fraying Line + Sphinx of the Second Sun can be a board wipe on your turn. With Sphinx giving you a second upkeep during your post combat main phase, you'd be able to decline Rope's upkeep clause without anyone else getting an opportunity to pay for it.
I agree with you on Terramancer. They could have even had it get a "basic plains land", being able to fetch a "Plains" is way too powerful for only 2 cmc.
There’s one great synergy in backgrounds, Abdel Adrian and the background Candlekeep sage. Probably gonna be the best azorius blink deck, goes infinite with Restoration Angel effects and facilitates a lot of blinking
Ghired, Conclave Exile loves any and all of the Myriad creatures in his colors since you can stack the attack triggers to get the myriad token out, populate it with Ghired's trigger, and that populated token sticks around after combat Then on the next attack, you have two myriad creatures and triggers! It snowballs really fast.
A decent commander/background combo i’ve found is Renari, Merchant of Marvels with Haunted One, its not really game-breaking at all, but its really fun to play because Renari gives all your dragon spells flash and Haunted One just helps your creatures stick through combat so much easier, its an interesting combination but fun to play. The only trouble I had building the deck is that Renari likes artifacts and Haunted One is obviously a black background, so not a ton of artifact support there, but you’re already in blue with Renari and most of the artifacts in my list are colorless anyway, so it ended up being only a minor build-around.
They specifically said they made the background mechanic to enable the draft of Baldur's Gate and didn't have constructed commander in mind. They also didn't want to do partner since they couldn't effectively play test them in time.
I think the big problem with Deep Gnome Terramancer is that it doesn't say *basic* plains... just plains! Playing three colors? Go fetch your triome, shockland, checkland, etc...
Interesting perspective about how much tutoring/shuffling goes on in a game. I never edited a gameplay video so I wouldn't really know. Surprised you didn't include any of the Mythic dragons. And I agree White has received a considerable bump in the past year.
i think people might be a little disappointed in those dragons. spending 7 mana on a creature, then waiting a turn to attack then rolling a 1 or 2 seems pretty bad.
@@edhdeckbuilding I couldn’t disagree more. I think they’re all bomb creatures. Can always run them in a graveyard deck if you think they’re too expensive.
@@edhdeckbuilding If you're rolling a D20 the average is around 10 (if my math is correct) which makes these pretty nuts I imagine. I actually love the variance, I think it will lead to some fun, cool, memorable moments, one way or the other.
Great match: Scion of Halaster with Erinis, Gloom Stalker. Discard a land with Scion, play it when you attack with Erinis. There's also a lot of mill/recur in Golgari, so there's a good amount of support for the pairing.
Deep Gnome is super powerful, however if your playgroup doesn't play fetches it is significantly weaker. I get the green players are still going to trigger this multiple times, but it will not trigger from rocks.
Deep Gnome Terramancer also fetches ANY plains, so dual lands can be grabbed as well, because it doesn't say 'basic Plains'. Any white deck, especially the multi-color ones, will want this.
I agree with your take on mono white card draw. I’m glad they’ve given us what they have, but I kind of think they should stop now and focus on reprinting these cards so availability is high. But I foresee it going further instead. Soon mono white is gonna be the new simic.
Black Market works VERY well in a lot of deck that want to lose life - like Dinah, Greven and the like will love this card. A lot of decks with incidental life gain and in particular vampires could also benefit. If you have some creatures with lifelink, paying 6 to get a card, a treasure and another "vampire" isn't a bad deal.
Love your videos! You have a really fun refreshing and coherent perspective on cards. Let’s just say some other channels are starting to give confusing messages about what they stand for. I half agree with you on white draw. I don’t think it’s too much now. But it is on the cusp. I can tell this because I made a Naya tokens deck recently and realised 80% of the card draw was coming from white! I think white draw is in the same category of almost too much as treasure and goad. Wizards really need to take their foot off the pedal now with those three things, I think!
The epic dragons cycle while random are still stupid OP in any dragon/dice deck, just because a d20 can roll you a 1 it's still a 10.5 average, people need to start respecting the d20 real fast once one of those dragons hit the battlefield. Also myriad in any aristocrat deck is just so good fodder, 2 free tokens to be sacrificed each combat phase, even if they connect.
I don’t mind the low power level of this set. It’s just that it’s not particularly interesting. I remember they were going through the draft archetypes and it reminded me of something we’d see in a core set. Very dull. I personally can’t stand the price they’re charging though.
Elturel Survivors goes in any Dwarven Warrior type deck. Make a creature with power 2 or less unblockable then swing and pump. Going into one of my Goblin decks for sure.
I think the Archivist is more generally applicable than the Terramancer, honestly. One of the things about Smothering Tithe is it's unlimited; you cannot run out of treasure tokens to make. Similarly, Archivist should not run out of cards to draw. But if my mana base gets greedy enough? I can easily run out of Plains. Both cards are fantastic and belong at the top, and you can make your argument that this isn't how to fix White, but I think its far more true of the Archivist than the Terramancer; if I'm running 3-5 colors, my mana base could quite literally be too greedy to support it.
The white weenie value engines are nuts! They we're juiced without the flash keyword, but being able to use them as a trap with an effect on the stack just pushes them over the top. I recently built Jetmir and I've been looking for one or two more low cost value engines, preferably on creatures. These are going to fit perfectly.
i think with cards like Archivist/Deep Gnome and smothering tithe they need to at least use more restrictive casting costs like WW for the former and 1WWW for the tithe so they cant be abused by the other 4 colours, doesn't fix it but its better for mono white overall
One very good Background combination I've seen so far is Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant + Cloakwood Hermit, they have really good synergy! Honestly I feel like there's a few very cool combinations, you just have to dig a little deeper or have a strategy that works _with_ your commanders rather than them being the entire engine.
Abdel Adrian+Candlekeep Sage is a great Background combo, its in flicker/blink colors, and Candlekeep Sage rewards you with 2 cards for flickering Abdel :)
I think that you're giving the Gnome too much credit. Yes, it is powerful, and yes it will work a lot, but it wont be as powerful or consistent as Tithe. Every deck, no matter the color or playstyle draws cards, it's literally a step of the turn. Not every deck runs fetchlands though. Lots of 2 color decks don't run them due to budget or just they don't want to, and plenty of people with 3 color decks don't run them due to budget. And of course, almost no mono colored decks run them. Aside from fetchlands, not everyone plays green and that's the only color that you will see any consistent effects putting lands into play other than Wayfarer's Bauble and a couple other colorless artifacts. Again, it's great, even with just one trigger when you flash it out, it's a Three Visits that leaves behind a blocker/attacker, which is just great, but comparing it to Smothering Tithe is just not realistic. I can realistically seeing it trigger around 10% of the time that Tithe does, sure in certain games when you're playing against Omnath or some other kind of landfall deck it will trigger around 10+ times that game if you draw it early enough, but not every deck is a landfall deck and it has a once per turn limit. If you're not going against green decks, that means each 2-color deck may have one fetch land, and if you're going against three 3-color decks then there's maybe nine total fetchlands, out of 300 cards, those odds are much less than the guaranteed card that every plays takes on their turns.
I agree that Deep Gnome Terramancer is really strong. I agree that smothering tithe, and cards like it, aren't the answer. But one point in Deep Gnome Terramancer's favor is that you specifically have to grab a plains, which means that like a 5, 4, or even 3 color deck (where smothering tithe is great) can't really get as much out of it like a mono white deck could
It doesnt say BASIC PLAINS, it says PLAINS. A PLAINS card is any card that is a plains such as a triome that is a plains/mountain/island making the Terramancer not only be ramp but also perfect fixing
I don't know if you do Arena, or arena only sets, but love to hear your thoughts on balders gate alchemy for historic brawl, might be too complicated if you don't know the format or such, but even just if these cards were in commander if they be good.
I can understand the concerns for the new powerful white cards from this set, but taking a look at the cleric and the gnome they both have flash and are creatures. This is a great direction to be heading imo because it changes the gameplay and interactions outside turn order with removal/counter spells where as before it's just games where nobody has any removal and then the game is over. With boardwipes sweeping the meta I think it was best to put these on second tier tribal creature cards.
If the terramancer mentioned basic plains, then it would be balanced for white and white only. Since it is ANY plains, you can get duals, triomes, etc.
Terramancer also doesn't say basic Plains. It's says Plains, meaning dual lands and Triomes are also on the menu. If it even just had basic Plains, it'd be a more restricted and balanced card.
backgrounds for commanders compared to prismatic piper ... that's my thought. Seems like it's mainly for drafting commander and being able to get two colors. We will see if any get broken open
Those top cards are pushed so hard. And I agree that they should cost all white mana.. To make it very hard to play in anything but mono white. Mono white does need cards like these.
39:07 that's true, Kenny doesn't need it, but then again, how many plains will Kenny have? I think that it should say "basic plains" there won't be many decks that would play it.
My best picks from the set are The Council of Four, Irenicus’s Vile Duplication, and Aboleth Spawn. I really slept on Council until I ended up drafting them, and it’s a new level of value and fun! Aboleth Spawn is literally so much free value for only 3 mana. I would go so far to say it’s a new blue staple.
I drafted I really powerful Background commander pair with Wilson, Refined Grizzly and Raised by Giants. A 10/10 with vigilance, trample, haste, and ward 2 is pretty great in the command zone. Only downside is the Background costs 6, but that shouldn't be too hard with the ramp in green.
Erinis + Street Urchin gives you a deathtouch pinger. Add in artifact/creature lands, and you can sac them, then have Erinis attack and bring them right back. Not really my playstyle, but I'd love to see someone else pull it off!
Yes the best case for the gnome is turn two get it down and gain some value from the green deck ramping out of control. What about when this is a late game top deck it's just a 2/2. Also it only gets a plains so that limit's its usability in 3-4-5 color decks. Probably should have been WW or only gotten a basic plains but we will see. If this becomes a thing maybe people will start opening their eyes and saying we need some LD or at least more punishment cards for explosive ramp.
Mate, it gets a PLAINS card… not a Basic Plains. The reason its so busted is because you can tutor a dual land or triome with it straight onto the battlefield making it not only ramp but also PERFECT colour fixing for 3/4/5 colour decks, which is nuts.
I agree. I personally don't mind the direction they are going with white but I do wish the were harder to splash. Add an additional white pip to cards like esper sentinel and smothering tithe and they would be added to less decks.
Super strong... against specifically green. Against anything else you pretty much have to pray they draw/play a fetch or Simulacrum. The former means you're likely just punishing decks for playing 3+ colors in a way that's not backbreaking, and the latter is a single card. I guess there's also burnished hart but that's falling out of favor as time goes on.
Imagine you have a Deep Gnome Terramancer and excited to tutor out Lands off of other Tutors, but one of your opponents has an Archivist of Oghma. Ouch.
in the last two sets. They created FOUR white angels that draw you cards. Not including any of the other card draw sticking with just that tribe I got 4 new card draw spells. And that deep gnome might be the second best ramp spell in the entire game. Turn 2 someone is going to ramp and you are going to keep up with them. then the next person is going to crack a fetch and you are going to be out ramping the green player. White is close to becoming the strongest color in the format. The best removal, the most board wipes, card draw has been fixed, and second place in ramp with a gap getting smaller and smaller. There is nothing white can't do anymore.
Battle angels is great in Isshin Two Heavens because Myriad is an attack trigger ability so the players not being attacked get two copies straight to the face.
I'm building a Karlach/Inspiring Leader Boros deck that focuses on Myriad and Extra Combats. Depending on how much I enjoy it, I may stick some of those Myriad cards in a Jetmir deck. Myraiding to 9 creatures and giving them all double strike? Yes please!
Acolyte of Bahamut + Ganax seems great for a dragons ramp deck. I will be using Tharkus though cause almost all of my dragons are from this set and are pretty weak compared to normal ones
I think the background commanders wer designed to be simple and straightforward so draft could function and slot into 99s in constructed. Imo they are not meant out shine Elminster or miiryam or myrkul. Altar of Bhaal is a callback to recurring nightmare which is fun. Overall I think they did pretty well with this set as long as you don’t want commander masters. Which I’m pretty sure will be coming lol…it’s going to be 400 a box and have that dockside and tithe and fierce guardianship everyone wants so bad.
Even though the cards from the main set are printed into commander, I still prefer them to precons. I love commander as making decks with the cards you open. Planning a deck and buying specific pieces is just bizarre to me
It seems like every second set has phenomenal green cards with the sets in between picking a different color to focus on.......but with four other colors that is still letting green outpace them dramatically.
I do agree that the background commanders are kinda underwhelming. I was super excited to see how many weird janky combos I could do in different colors and after coming through them, most of them don’t really add much interest to what your commander is already doing.
Totally agree with everything you said. I’m happy for the people that are excited for the flavor of the set that are D&D fans but to me it’s kind of a dud. Definitely a singles set for me. I wanted to buy a box but just can’t see it making sense for me since I just want the lands and a few singles. Kinda stinks that the set booster box only has 18 boosters too
Terramancer allows you to grab non standard Plains too. I believe that is the biggest mistake of the card. Being able to get a Hallowed Fountain, Canopy Vista or Trioms, is just dangerous on a 2 mv flasher. Positive edit: I do like the set as a whole tho. Very flavorful and more interesting than the raw power of the first commander legends imo.
You're still wrong about Archivist of Oghama and Deep Known Terramancer. They are powerful effect that goes in every deck, because white has not enough other options yet. All other colours have "Powerful options that go in every deck" that aren't super expensive, because the other colours have heaps of options. They need more and more card draw options so that these cards aren't ubiquitous, expensive cards that go in every deck.
