Also Some Blink Effect allow Ulamog give itself 10 Counters since it sees itself in exile because the wording is "Enters with" not "When this enters the battlefield"
@@brandondavis6952his ability is a replacement effect. Ulamog is still in exile before it hits the field once blinked and it sees itself in exile so it gets 10 +1/+1 counters
@@brandondavis6952Its 3rd ability is a replacement effect so if Defiler gets blinked it sees itself in exile before it hits the battlefield therefore is the highest cmc spell in exile before it ETBs
@@xaxscratchxax926 If you play Reliquary Tower, and THEN play Necrodominance, Necrodominance overrides Reliquary Tower, and you still have a max hand size of 5.
@@xaxscratchxax926 both apply continuous effects modifying hand size. With two identical effects, we apply them in order, that order being when they entered the battle field. Necro would set your hand size to 5, then the tower would set it to unlimited.
But the wording is: you have no maximum hand size. In my head that would supersede having a maximum hand size of 5. It just negates. I may very well be wrong.
One note on the card Final Act. Because you resolve modes in order, you can boardwipe and then exile graveyards which does result in everything you killed getting exiled. (as long as they weren't indestructible)
I’ve got a mill heavy lands deck so seeing I could flare of cultivation my world shaper when my graveyard was nice and full really made my heart happy.
From what I’ve seen in the last 2 weeks of CEDH at my Local game store, the cards that make the most impact have been the “Flares” specifically the green and blue ones, and that Drake that acts like a gilded drake but can be seen as removal if you can’t pay the Energy.
What creatures are the saccing to the green flare? That’s what I think holds it back, typically green has dorks on the field and I wouldn’t want to sacrifice those lol
@@Remlap_MTG Unless you're doing Elfball things or need it to chump, I would happily cash in any Llanowar Elf for two lands. The ideal creatures though are Elvish Pioneer and Aboreal Grazer.
@@Remlap_MTG Why not? Use the dork to play a spell, sacrifice the dork for getting an extra land drop that turn and getting a land for next turn. It's what I've been doing and it's real good.
@@dom6637 I get that but idk, I’d rather casts Cultivate on turn 2 and keep my dork around. I think it’s gonna come down to personal preference? I just don’t know that man 1 and 2 drops that i would want to sacrifice to this 🤔
@@Remlap_MTG It sounds not that amazing but give it a go you might surprise yourself. At the end of the day, the dorks are just there to help us curve, by getting value from them, they're just vulnerable lands. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about casting the dork then instantly saccing it, although you can do that if you want to I guess. I'm saying, play the dork, next turn play a land, play a 3 drop turn 2 (which could be your standard cultivate if you want btw) then get rid of the now used dork for the free cultivate. You've now ramped super hard, guaranteed yourself a land drop which can't be understated since commander players typically undervalue consistent land drops vs ramping and you're now playing 6 drops by turn 3 while still actually being able to commit something useful on the board. It's quite nice tempo.
Regarding 3lamog, played him as my commander in a paper game last weekend. Exiled over 150 cards, annihilated 36 permanents, 24 of which was with one swing. I asked for feedback from the table (regular playgroup) and they were all fine with it, it's not a deck I play regularly, only high power games, we were all having a laugh. It also made me want therapy as I enjoyed making someone sacrifice 24 permanents with one attack trigger far too much.
I did kind of the same thing, except it was the Forsaken Monument Basalt Monolith combo with Echoes of Eternity and Ulalek on the table so I just kept paying the Ulalek/Echoes Trigger and exiled everybody's libraries lol
I think folks are really missing the idea sacrifice target for Flare of Cultivation - your own commander that's been hit by Kenrith's Transformation. Especially since they just printed another version in MH3. I don't think that really changes the evaluation of the card, it's still a corner case, but that's the real upside to it.
I think the funniest thing to do with the new Emrakul is to Aven Interrupter your own. You get the cast trigger and then you also don’t have to worry about the leaves the battlefield trigger. Also, you then have a plotted Emrakul.
Great episode! These are my favorite of each new set. I have an idea for content: what if after you finished the upgrade guides for each precon deck, you then did an extra turns episode where you play the upgraded precons against each other? Keep up the awesome work!
Dreamtide Whale is absolutely amazing, I got it in my prerelease, and even though I played Abzan modified, I splashed blue exclusively for the whale (easier due to the landscapes) and it won multiple games for me. 7/5 for 3 is just insane
I have never seen the Whale die to vanishing in five games it got played, either getting targeted for removal or swept up in a wipe. It might as well not have vanishing.
Surprised to see no mention of Spymaster's Vault on here. Its the black land in the same cycle as Shifting Woodlands that has (Black)(tap): Target creature connives X, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn. I think this straight up replaces Castle Locthwain in black decks, since most of your turns youre probably killing or sacrificing something. I activated it after a board wipe last friday and it was the single best activation i made that game
Black utility lands have to work harder to be good because simply playing more swamps to power up coffers in mono-black decks is already attractive. I'd still play Spymaster's Vault with an indestructible commander because of destruction/damage board wipes and commander damage turning the land on. For sacrifice-themed decks it's just OK unless you play the voltron/scarifice where it's excellent. Kresh the Bloodbraided and Prossh just got their new best friend.
There's honestly no better feeling than using amphibian downpour on your opponent's psychic frogs. I turned my opponents frogs into frogs! Also Final Act specifically ends the Meren player.
As a predominantly Naya player, I take offense to your assessment of Flare of cultivation. I promise you, Voja loves this card. Ward makes it so that board wipes are almost always lurking somewhere. As a green player if you rely too much on your mana dorks you get severely punished with a board wipe. This ensures that you can change your mana dork into permanent ramp as early as turn 1. You guarantee WRG on turn 2 so that turn 3 Voja is likely out and ready to play.
To your question which commander wants 20 or more creatures with Power 4 or more, my Runadi Behemoth Caller deck runs 26 creatures with power 4 or greater 😁
Yeah there are plenty of deck that run 20+ big boys. My Mayael had over 30 but she got scrapped for Atla and now I only play ~10. And win most games instead of lose them all 😅
The whale is insane engine, since it can be triggered by all players per turn. So potential 4 triggers per round. In poison deck it is extremely powerful
Sorry guys, Cthonian Nightmare DOES NOT go infinite on it's own with Dockside. Sacrificing the creature (DE) is part of the cost, so you first activate the ability, declare target in graveyard and then costs are paid. You need a 3rd card (a creature in graveyard that is 3mv or less) to begin the loop as long as dockside nets 4 treasures.
Cthonian Nightmare I can see having so many enablers, doesn't even have to be infinite mana with dock side. Just re-occurring something like E.Witness its all fun and games til the board is being spammed with farewell every turn.
It'd be interesting to see a podcast where you put cards into the "tier" or power level you feel like it belongs. For instance, jeweled lotus, the one ring, mana crypt at 9 or 10, etc.
Fanatic of Rhonas is an auto-include in Raggadragga decks, he has 4 power and this becoMes a 3/6 with Raggadragga out. The answer to your question Josh when reviewing this card is "Selvala wants powerful creatures" and she herself is small. Correction Josh: Final act CAN exile everything, because the abilities on the card resolve in order: destroy all creatures, then planeswalkers, then battles and THEN it exiles all of them and then players lose energy/experience/poison counters. it doesn't hit artfacts or enchantments though, but that is black's weakness after all. I tried fitting Flare of denial into my high power temur pirates deck, it just has no place there. outside of Malcolm, my commander, I have 1 blue creature, which is Siren stormtamer and that already does what this does for 1 mana. all I want is protection from removal spells, I don't care to counter anything else and Siren stormtamer does that job.
Flare of Cultivation is perfect in golgari decks such as Savra, Meren, Mazirek. You don't run it to pay the mana for it or straight up replace cultivate. It is a 30$ card
Flare of duplication is the best flare of the cycle imo. Its very flexible unlike flare of denial it furthers your gameplan. necrodominance is 10/10 for cedh, necrodominance has already sloted in. Necro combo is very hot now. necro + borne and final fortune.
I guess I'm not good enough with the rules to understand that interaction, but I know I have been waiting to cast it until I have an emrakul in exile to my ugins labyrinth. 20/20, annihilator 13!
Because of the text "enters with", it sees itself in exile. 400.6.If an object would move from one zone to another, determine what event is moving the object. If the object is moving to a public zone and its owner will be able to look at it in that zone, its owner looks at it to see if it has any abilities that would affect the move. If the object is moving to the battlefield, each other player who will be able to look at it in that zone does so. Then any appropriate replacement effects, whether they come from that object or from elsewhere, are applied to that event. If any effects or rules try to do two or more contradictory or mutually exclusive things to a particular object, that object’s controller-or its owner if it has no controller-chooses which effect to apply, and what that effect does. (Note that multiple instances of the same thing may be mutually exclusive; for example, two simultaneous “destroy” effects.) Then the event moves the object.
They really think Flare of Cultivation is bad? JLK: "Why sac a creature when you can just cast your cultivation?". I mean...you could say this about any alternative cost spell...why do you think they're good? You can use your mana dork to cast a ramp spell, then get another free ramp with Flare of Cultivation. Now you're a turn ahead. You're welcome.
I just wanna say out loud how much I appreciate how much Josh gives importance to Rachel's opinion about everything and it is definitely a very smart move. The Command Zone rocks !
Stole my opponents 2 cost commander and paid the energy, bounced it back to my hand with sink into stupor that i drew the following turn then stole another 3 cost commander and paid to keep it. They weren’t too happy 😅
29:27 just so you know you have to have a valid target in your graveyard to activate cthonian nightmare, you can’t just have 0 creatures in the graveyard and loop a creature you have on the battlefield by sacrificing it
Love the beginning section where you guys cover strong and simple cards that you don't have to go too in depth with. Would like to see this kind of thing for cards that are good in specific decks like zombies, elves, etc in regular sets. It's quick, easy, and informative.
I will add that Emrakul's ability to take all creatures target play controls is a *cast trigger.* So if you, or anyone else tries to counter it, *you won't have to sacrifice your creatures,* as Emrakul never entered the battlefield, so thus *can't leave the battlefield!*
Man, the rules committee pointing out that "Recurring Nightmare: The Gathering" would make for extremely stale, repetitive games and that this would be an undesirable outcome is not them legislating what you're allowed to have fun with. Especially in an era of pickup games at an LGS where kitchen table magic is subordinate to Commander as the driving force for products the continued insistence that "oh, we shouldn't be making judgments about whats fun for others" should take precedence over managing obvious problems looks increasingly bogus. Maybe Recurring Nightmare guy loves the time he is having with that one trick deck, but there are 3 other players at the table. Going "yeah, it would be wack if the entire game revolved around this one card every time it hit the board" is absolutely a normal statement to make.
Everyone out here thirsty for that tricky terrain precon upgrade... I included Bilbo's Ring in my upgrade. Lets you get in free attacks with Omo and equips for one. It's also a perfect turn 4 followup to Omo.
4:10 to 4:20 Tuya Bearclaw 1RG for a 2/2 Human Warrior Whenever Tuya Bearclaw attacks, it gets +x/+x until end of turn where x is the greatest power among other creatures you control. When she swings, if your biggest creature has 4 power, she becomes a 6/6. If your biggest creature is Galta, Tuya becomes a 14/14. I'm not sure if Fanatic of Rhonas would go in my Tuya deck due to the restrictions I put on the deck. Without the restrictions, it easily goes in.
42:22 What people forget is that anything that is destroyed by Final Act and put into a graveyard (so not things like Progenitus) will be exiled if you choose to exile all graveyards.
Yeah which is why people play it even more... Which is why it's the most played on edh rec... Which is why people play it even more... Risen and repeat. People don't know why they play what the play.
Chthonian Nightmare is a powerful car yet fair. Recurring nightmare has a very important issue, after resolving there is no window of opportunity for you to kill it, as the return to hand is part of the cost. With the new Chthonian Nightmare there is an etb trigger (generate energy) and the activation is sorcery speed, so we can interact with it. It has a lot of combo potential, so it's for the competitive games.
For Null Elemental Blast in a green deck: I didn't consider to put a Wastes in for my basic fetches. In my Gruul landfall deck, I've got a handful of lands that tap for colorless - I'll have to see if I have enough sources and maybe pick up a Wastes.
With Amphibian Downpour you overlooked the fact that the storm count is increased by opponents as well. So if my opponent casts 2 spells on their turn you can cast Amphibian Downpour and take out their 3 best creatures.
I absolutely love your content and team and all your past work. You helped me get into magic and feel confident. Now that I’m not lost in the sea of “what’s that?” I want to share a request that could hopefully help your content even more. Please make cut down episodes or other videos with this same info for those of us who don’t have the time for 2 hour episodes! It would be rad to even have a website where we could read and reference your selections. Thanks!
Volatile Stormdrake is so good. Zero down side. Cheaper and better gilded imo. Don’t have to sacrifice him even if the abilities get countered or the target becomes illegal, if you don’t have the energy for the creature you take it’s either going back to the command some or graveyard so your problems are still gone. Who ever designed this card needs their flowers.
Emrakul can do some cool things though. You gain control of another players creatures on the CAST trigger. You could cast it and counter it yourself, that way he doesn’t hit the field, and if he doesn’t hit the field he doesn’t leave the field, and if he doesn’t leave the field you just get to keep all their stuff!
My favorite card of the set is for sure the soul trader. And it is 100% because I’m a Chatterfang player lol. Even without a payoff, “pay a life add 1 mana” is insanely powerful and helps you curve perfectly into any payoff in hand. Its types are also all amazing and will definitely be the reason why it finds just so many homes. Its just such a versatile card
To answer your question "what commander would run 20+ creatures power 4 or greater that isn't 4 or greater itself?" My Svella, Ice Shaper deck has 27 creatures power 4 or greater and is itself a 2/4.
The thing about emrakul having that 6 colorless madness. Remember that colorless nana is far more common as a secondary source than colored mana. Soul ring is 2. Mana crypt is 2. +2 pain lands and boom you have 6 colorless. If you don’t want mana crypt you can use worn powerstone
Oh!. Oh my, I just got an idea for my Ayara, Asshole of the Realm deck. Currently, I reanimate things with her after she flips and try to make sure I can sacrifice them before EOT (my typical targets are edict creatures). It might actually be fun to have Ulamog in her deck, l get big expensive targets get exiled (Like Abhorrent Overlord), then start reanimating him and giving him Annihilator 7. Speaking of Ayara, she's probably looking forward to Ripples of Undeath and Flare of Malice. Chthonian Nightmare isn't high on her list, but could be. I would serve as a sac outlet, at least, as long as I have small creatures in her graveyard, which she usually doesn't..
Since Chthonian Nightmare says "Return target creature", the target needs to be legal when you announce the activation of the ability. If there is no target, you can't activate the ability. Same as how a spell needs you to specify targets before costs are paid. So unfortunately doesn't go infinite with dockside and such without additional help.
Ok, you sold me on Talon Gates of Madara. Sowing Mycospawn is my pick for best card. Sure its 4 mana, but it is search any land into play untapped, and its on a cast trigger! If its later game and you have 6 mana, you also remove your opponent's strongest land. Which is again on a cast trigger!
The Talon Gates of Madara are part of how Bolas escaped the Mending during Time Spiral. So it's abilities are super weird in isolation, but it kind of does exactly what it did in the lore. Which is cool.
Null Elemental Blast is definitely playable in any color, I think it doesn't get kicked out of a deck until you're running Dimir or Azorius, but even then one mana to destroy a permanent or counter a spell is a very good rate.
Amphibian Downpour is so good in spellslinger decks because of the flash. Yes, it isn’t an instant or sorcery, but those decks get storm counts which is relevant.
As for Volatile Stormdrake: the hexproof was as much for commander as modern. Commander has more than just Capsize, it has stuff like Tradewind Rider, Waterfront Bouncer, and Sidisi's faithful. Even without those un-fun patterns you can do cool things when giving away a creature like Homeward Path (assuming you sacrificed the creature you stole) and Profaner of the Dead to get the drake back in hand.
Just to chime in, black decks can cast Emrakul pretty easy if they lean into sacrificing things. Ashnod's Altar let me cast Emrakul for madness without much of an issue.
Rachel talked a lot about Ripples of Undeath because it's the only thing out there. And I do like the card a lot - I've added it to my 2 black graveyard decks. But why does no one seem to play Out of The Tombs. Though it does not contain the text that allows you to pay 1 and put one of the cards into your hand, it will mill a LOT as the game goes if you get it down early (which is when you want to play mill pieces anyway).
My vote for the name for the new Ulamog is Neo-Newlamog xD Thanks for the video! It was super fun to watch and there are a bunch of cards you brought up that I hadn't caught on to yet.
1:04:40 i think y'all should do a podcast episode on Soul Shatters and the like. Sheoldred's Edict, Pick your Poison, etc. I've found to be using them a LOT more than defaulting to the standard suite of removal in commander. I just think paying maybe 1 or 2 extra mana to 3 for 1 my opponents is nutso value
I will say this about "Final Act." It works really well against experience counters. If it was everyone's counters, it would be top tier due to poison counters.
Strix Serenade is the standout card in the set for me. It's really potent. I think the comparison to swan song is unhelpful. Just think how many ETBs exist on creatures today. {U} says no! :D
Talon Gates of Madara Is such a good card I was playing in a high power game with friends where I was on Rograkh Thrasios and an opponent had just resolved a grand abolisher. (I couldnt counter it because I only had an offer you cant refuse in hand.) then they cast a torment of hailfire where x was equal to 15. I proceeded to use the ability of talon gates of mandara put it into play and phase out the grand abolisher I then proceeded to use the offer you cant refuse to counter the torment while it was still on the stack. litteraly saving the game for myself and then won on my next turn.
Think yall glazed over wight. It easily gets huge AND has vigilance so you get a free attack and then can still activate its ability. Which not to mention again IS a sac outlet.
Loving Defilermog with Mimeoplasm shenanigans, it will see itself in exile so that's 10 counters guaranteed plus whatever other big power thing you choose
About the final act, it is Particularly good against specifically the doctor who deck with all the time counters because it removes all the suspension counters on cheated out creatures. But that is the only specific scenario i can think of where this is better
25:24 XD Oh my god. The other thing is that you can even sacrifice dockside to the Cthnonian nightmare and then reanimate it with that exact same ability. Why does Wizards make cards like this? If they had went a step further and given the reanimated cards a finality counter that would have prevented this issue with Dockside while still allowing it to be viable in constructed play.
i agree "final act" isnt that good, but i think its important to mention that when it comes to battles, you usually want to destroy battles you play. so if it is in a deck that has a lot of battles and such, its pretty decent. its my opinion at least
With Ulamog it counts the number of +1 counters for its Annihilatior, so if you can increase this with prolifrate/ doubling season/divergent Evolution suddenly they need to sac alot of permanents
Powerbalance looks pretty good in my Radha Heart of Keld deck - she looks at the top card and can play lands from there, so I generally know what my top card is, and have ways to mess with it. She also has a bunch of big stompy stuff so there's a decent chance you'll just naturally hit off somebody else's 7 drop and get a sarcastic amount of value
Sol ring, mindstone, reliquary tower, ancient tomb, guildless commons, temple of the false gods, scavenger grounds, ash barrels, rogues passage, talon gates of madara, urzas cave, urzas saga, and that's without counting things you might add based on specific deck or a higher budget. 6 colorless is way easier than 6 green.
COMMAND ZONEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! DROP THE TRICKY TERRAIN PRECON UPGRADE GUIDE, AND MY LIFE IS YOURSSSS.
Was just going to ask what is going on with that!
On goddddd
at this point i don’t think it’s coming, there are other videos on upgrading the deck on youtube with good suggestions
@@LordKazake443not from any of the people I watch
For real! I've been waiting for that episode. Really curious to see what direction they lean into.
Also Some Blink Effect allow Ulamog give itself 10 Counters since it sees itself in exile because the wording is "Enters with" not "When this enters the battlefield"
Not just some, every single blink effect does this ("blink" means exile and return)
how can ulamog see itself on the board and in exile at the same time?
@@brandondavis6952his ability is a replacement effect. Ulamog is still in exile before it hits the field once blinked and it sees itself in exile so it gets 10 +1/+1 counters
@@brandondavis6952Its 3rd ability is a replacement effect so if Defiler gets blinked it sees itself in exile before it hits the battlefield therefore is the highest cmc spell in exile before it ETBs
Remember kids, play Reliquary Tower AFTER Necrodominance.
Why after? Wouldn't it work beforehand?
@@xaxscratchxax926 If you play Reliquary Tower, and THEN play Necrodominance, Necrodominance overrides Reliquary Tower, and you still have a max hand size of 5.
@@jdgarrison9913 so why doesn't it work that way after? I didn't realize the order mattered for something like that.
@@xaxscratchxax926 both apply continuous effects modifying hand size.
With two identical effects, we apply them in order, that order being when they entered the battle field.
Necro would set your hand size to 5, then the tower would set it to unlimited.
But the wording is: you have no maximum hand size. In my head that would supersede having a maximum hand size of 5. It just negates.
I may very well be wrong.
One note on the card Final Act. Because you resolve modes in order, you can boardwipe and then exile graveyards which does result in everything you killed getting exiled. (as long as they weren't indestructible)
Although unlike Farewell, every death triggers will activate.
Also you aren’t forced to exile the graveyard if you want to load it up. Seems better than they’re giving it credit for
@@taylort643 they know its good, but they don't want the price to go up lol. If they say it's bad then people wont want it, making the price drop.
@@lovedead710 yep that makes total sense. Especially since they called other cards good. They must be ok with price hikes only on those specifically.
@@taylort643 prob because they pulled more of those cards and want the price to go up on them lol
The flavour of Emrakul 3 still dying to me saccing 12 squirrels to Chatterfang makes me feel real fuzzy inside.
Squirrel Girl can't be beaten.
@@styfen Super excited to get to combine chatterfang with the new squirrel commander in Bloomburrow.
The Emrakul player is definitely taking all your squirrels. How are you removing Emrakul?
Flare of Cultivation is really silly if you sac a creature that had an etb effect that gives you an extra land. Very quick and protected ramp.
Elvish Pioneer and Arboreal Grazer are 1 drops that super accelerate you with the green flare. Turn 2 and you have 4 mana.
And it is so well protected mana ramp…it could be brutal
@@CKarasu13 shame it's not an instant like the others. But I prefer the 1 drop that on death gives everyone 2 lands.
I’ve got a mill heavy lands deck so seeing I could flare of cultivation my world shaper when my graveyard was nice and full really made my heart happy.
Or Veteran Explorer @@CKarasu13
From what I’ve seen in the last 2 weeks of CEDH at my Local game store, the cards that make the most impact have been the “Flares” specifically the green and blue ones, and that Drake that acts like a gilded drake but can be seen as removal if you can’t pay the Energy.
What creatures are the saccing to the green flare? That’s what I think holds it back, typically green has dorks on the field and I wouldn’t want to sacrifice those lol
@@Remlap_MTG Unless you're doing Elfball things or need it to chump, I would happily cash in any Llanowar Elf for two lands. The ideal creatures though are Elvish Pioneer and Aboreal Grazer.
@@Remlap_MTG Why not? Use the dork to play a spell, sacrifice the dork for getting an extra land drop that turn and getting a land for next turn.
It's what I've been doing and it's real good.
@@dom6637 I get that but idk, I’d rather casts Cultivate on turn 2 and keep my dork around. I think it’s gonna come down to personal preference? I just don’t know that man 1 and 2 drops that i would want to sacrifice to this 🤔
@@Remlap_MTG It sounds not that amazing but give it a go you might surprise yourself. At the end of the day, the dorks are just there to help us curve, by getting value from them, they're just vulnerable lands.
Keep in mind, I'm not talking about casting the dork then instantly saccing it, although you can do that if you want to I guess. I'm saying, play the dork, next turn play a land, play a 3 drop turn 2 (which could be your standard cultivate if you want btw) then get rid of the now used dork for the free cultivate.
You've now ramped super hard, guaranteed yourself a land drop which can't be understated since commander players typically undervalue consistent land drops vs ramping and you're now playing 6 drops by turn 3 while still actually being able to commit something useful on the board.
It's quite nice tempo.
Regarding 3lamog, played him as my commander in a paper game last weekend. Exiled over 150 cards, annihilated 36 permanents, 24 of which was with one swing. I asked for feedback from the table (regular playgroup) and they were all fine with it, it's not a deck I play regularly, only high power games, we were all having a laugh. It also made me want therapy as I enjoyed making someone sacrifice 24 permanents with one attack trigger far too much.
I did kind of the same thing, except it was the Forsaken Monument Basalt Monolith combo with Echoes of Eternity and Ulalek on the table so I just kept paying the Ulalek/Echoes Trigger and exiled everybody's libraries lol
How do you play with him as your commander if he technically doesn't have colorless pip in his mana cost?
I think folks are really missing the idea sacrifice target for Flare of Cultivation - your own commander that's been hit by Kenrith's Transformation. Especially since they just printed another version in MH3. I don't think that really changes the evaluation of the card, it's still a corner case, but that's the real upside to it.
French has the answer for us!
1. Un-lamog
2. Deux-lamog
3. Trois-lamog
(Or just say “New-lamog” for the newest one to keep the oo sound going)
Old-lamog
New-lamog
Newer-lamog
Oldlamog, twolamog and Newlamog
Ulamog, 2-lamog, Newlamog
@@locus0fmana saying twah-lamog would make me feel like I was about to be beaten with a baguette.
I think the funniest thing to do with the new Emrakul is to Aven Interrupter your own. You get the cast trigger and then you also don’t have to worry about the leaves the battlefield trigger. Also, you then have a plotted Emrakul.
😮 we did it boys! For 15 mana we have completed the full circlejurk
@@juicedupjunkie2324 I mean, you really gotta cheat, but yes.
Great episode! These are my favorite of each new set. I have an idea for content: what if after you finished the upgrade guides for each precon deck, you then did an extra turns episode where you play the upgraded precons against each other? Keep up the awesome work!
Dreamtide Whale is absolutely amazing, I got it in my prerelease, and even though I played Abzan modified, I splashed blue exclusively for the whale (easier due to the landscapes) and it won multiple games for me. 7/5 for 3 is just insane
I have never seen the Whale die to vanishing in five games it got played, either getting targeted for removal or swept up in a wipe. It might as well not have vanishing.
Where is ocelot pride? Best white creature in mh3
Surprised to see no mention of Spymaster's Vault on here. Its the black land in the same cycle as Shifting Woodlands that has (Black)(tap): Target creature connives X, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn. I think this straight up replaces Castle Locthwain in black decks, since most of your turns youre probably killing or sacrificing something. I activated it after a board wipe last friday and it was the single best activation i made that game
Black utility lands have to work harder to be good because simply playing more swamps to power up coffers in mono-black decks is already attractive. I'd still play Spymaster's Vault with an indestructible commander because of destruction/damage board wipes and commander damage turning the land on. For sacrifice-themed decks it's just OK unless you play the voltron/scarifice where it's excellent. Kresh the Bloodbraided and Prossh just got their new best friend.
One-lamog, Two-lamog, Half-lamog, based on the cast trigger one and two targets and half the deck
There's honestly no better feeling than using amphibian downpour on your opponent's psychic frogs. I turned my opponents frogs into frogs!
Also Final Act specifically ends the Meren player.
Arena of Glory went right into my Kaalia deck :)
Thank you 🎉
As a predominantly Naya player, I take offense to your assessment of Flare of cultivation. I promise you, Voja loves this card. Ward makes it so that board wipes are almost always lurking somewhere. As a green player if you rely too much on your mana dorks you get severely punished with a board wipe. This ensures that you can change your mana dork into permanent ramp as early as turn 1. You guarantee WRG on turn 2 so that turn 3 Voja is likely out and ready to play.
To your question which commander wants 20 or more creatures with Power 4 or more, my Runadi Behemoth Caller deck runs 26 creatures with power 4 or greater 😁
Yeah there are plenty of deck that run 20+ big boys. My Mayael had over 30 but she got scrapped for Atla and now I only play ~10. And win most games instead of lose them all 😅
The whale is insane engine, since it can be triggered by all players per turn. So potential 4 triggers per round. In poison deck it is extremely powerful
Sorry guys, Cthonian Nightmare DOES NOT go infinite on it's own with Dockside. Sacrificing the creature (DE) is part of the cost, so you first activate the ability, declare target in graveyard and then costs are paid. You need a 3rd card (a creature in graveyard that is 3mv or less) to begin the loop as long as dockside nets 4 treasures.
Yes… they said this.
Someone used an invert polarity against me in a game on arena and I damn near lost my mind. Totally underrated this card but it’s powerful for sure.
Cthonian Nightmare I can see having so many enablers, doesn't even have to be infinite mana with dock side. Just re-occurring something like E.Witness its all fun and games til the board is being spammed with farewell every turn.
You guys are wild, for saying Kodama’s Reach and Cultivate aren’t cutting it anymore. They are still super reliable ramp.
Amphian downpour is interesting in brudiclad because it creates tokens that you control so it’s removal until you try to win
It'd be interesting to see a podcast where you put cards into the "tier" or power level you feel like it belongs. For instance, jeweled lotus, the one ring, mana crypt at 9 or 10, etc.
Fanatic of Rhonas is an auto-include in Raggadragga decks, he has 4 power and this becoMes a 3/6 with Raggadragga out. The answer to your question Josh when reviewing this card is "Selvala wants powerful creatures" and she herself is small. Correction Josh: Final act CAN exile everything, because the abilities on the card resolve in order: destroy all creatures, then planeswalkers, then battles and THEN it exiles all of them and then players lose energy/experience/poison counters. it doesn't hit artfacts or enchantments though, but that is black's weakness after all. I tried fitting Flare of denial into my high power temur pirates deck, it just has no place there. outside of Malcolm, my commander, I have 1 blue creature, which is Siren stormtamer and that already does what this does for 1 mana. all I want is protection from removal spells, I don't care to counter anything else and Siren stormtamer does that job.
Flare of Cultivation is perfect in golgari decks such as Savra, Meren, Mazirek. You don't run it to pay the mana for it or straight up replace cultivate. It is a 30$ card
Emrakul can actually be really good in mono blue as well considering all the artifacts in decks like urza!
Flare of duplication is the best flare of the cycle imo. Its very flexible unlike flare of denial it furthers your gameplan.
necrodominance is 10/10 for cedh, necrodominance has already sloted in. Necro combo is very hot now. necro + borne and final fortune.
adding the whale with the someone who can clone the whale. So you can double proliferate every turn or more.
If you blink Ulamog, it comesback with 10 counters.
I guess I'm not good enough with the rules to understand that interaction, but I know I have been waiting to cast it until I have an emrakul in exile to my ugins labyrinth. 20/20, annihilator 13!
Ulamog sees itself as the highest mana value in exile (unless you have a higher costed spell in exile) then it would enter with 10. Very cool
How? It's not in exile while it ETBs. It can't be on the battlefield and in exile at the same time.
Because of the text "enters with", it sees itself in exile.
400.6.If an object would move from one zone to another, determine what event is moving the object. If the object is moving to a public zone and its owner will be able to look at it in that zone, its owner looks at it to see if it has any abilities that would affect the move. If the object is moving to the battlefield, each other player who will be able to look at it in that zone does so. Then any appropriate replacement effects, whether they come from that object or from elsewhere, are applied to that event. If any effects or rules try to do two or more contradictory or mutually exclusive things to a particular object, that object’s controller-or its owner if it has no controller-chooses which effect to apply, and what that effect does. (Note that multiple instances of the same thing may be mutually exclusive; for example, two simultaneous “destroy” effects.) Then the event moves the object.
Or Minic Vat him, hasty Ulamog's that always come in with 10.
Ripples of Undeath is my favorite card! It feels so good every time I get it.
First thought that came to mind for Arena of Glory was putting it in my Obeka, Splitter of Seconds deck.
The Goodlamog, the badlamug, and the uglyamog.
Good one!!! XD
Except they are all ugly 😄
uglamog?
drop land play arboreal grazer drop another land flare cultivation 4 land turn 2
1-lamog
2-lamog
red-lamog
blue-lamog
RUclips had a "Translate to English" option on this comment. Apparently "lamog" is "soft" in tagalog.
@@sahjhan1that’s fantastic
They really think Flare of Cultivation is bad? JLK: "Why sac a creature when you can just cast your cultivation?". I mean...you could say this about any alternative cost spell...why do you think they're good? You can use your mana dork to cast a ramp spell, then get another free ramp with Flare of Cultivation. Now you're a turn ahead. You're welcome.
If you sacrifice a mana dork to cultivate, you're still net even on your mana production.
i know right, “why pay 0 mana when i can pay 3?” is absolutely not an argument i expected to hear from somebody i presume to be a decent player
I just wanna say out loud how much I appreciate how much Josh gives importance to Rachel's opinion about everything and it is definitely a very smart move. The Command Zone rocks !
flare of cultivation is good with scute swarm, once you start swarming up. you just kill the main scute and just make more scutes.
Stole my opponents 2 cost commander and paid the energy, bounced it back to my hand with sink into stupor that i drew the following turn then stole another 3 cost commander and paid to keep it. They weren’t too happy 😅
where is the omo deck tech >:( u still havent done taht one yet T_T
Literally every time they post I'm upset that it isn't the Omo deck tech!
@@Pookielove1123same!
I've also been wondering this
Admittedly, that one is really complex
It is an awfull design. But you can build it as Kindred tribal and run all the lords and anthem like cards
29:27 just so you know you have to have a valid target in your graveyard to activate cthonian nightmare, you can’t just have 0 creatures in the graveyard and loop a creature you have on the battlefield by sacrificing it
Love the beginning section where you guys cover strong and simple cards that you don't have to go too in depth with. Would like to see this kind of thing for cards that are good in specific decks like zombies, elves, etc in regular sets. It's quick, easy, and informative.
Josh not realizing Flare of Denial was printed into a set called Modern Horizons 3 is adorable.
I will add that Emrakul's ability to take all creatures target play controls is a *cast trigger.*
So if you, or anyone else tries to counter it, *you won't have to sacrifice your creatures,* as Emrakul never entered the battlefield, so thus *can't leave the battlefield!*
Countering new Emrakul is really bad. You still get the trigger and you don't have to worry about her death trigger.
@@CKarasu13 For your opponents to counter, sure, I see it as a pretty bad move. However, I also see it as a neat trick to counter her yourself.
Man, the rules committee pointing out that "Recurring Nightmare: The Gathering" would make for extremely stale, repetitive games and that this would be an undesirable outcome is not them legislating what you're allowed to have fun with. Especially in an era of pickup games at an LGS where kitchen table magic is subordinate to Commander as the driving force for products the continued insistence that "oh, we shouldn't be making judgments about whats fun for others" should take precedence over managing obvious problems looks increasingly bogus. Maybe Recurring Nightmare guy loves the time he is having with that one trick deck, but there are 3 other players at the table. Going "yeah, it would be wack if the entire game revolved around this one card every time it hit the board" is absolutely a normal statement to make.
Everyone out here thirsty for that tricky terrain precon upgrade...
I included Bilbo's Ring in my upgrade. Lets you get in free attacks with Omo and equips for one. It's also a perfect turn 4 followup to Omo.
You should play commander with the odd1sout.
The opening convo earned my like. Amazing content 👍
4:10 to 4:20
Tuya Bearclaw
1RG for a 2/2 Human Warrior
Whenever Tuya Bearclaw attacks, it gets +x/+x until end of turn where x is the greatest power among other creatures you control.
When she swings, if your biggest creature has 4 power, she becomes a 6/6. If your biggest creature is Galta, Tuya becomes a 14/14.
I'm not sure if Fanatic of Rhonas would go in my Tuya deck due to the restrictions I put on the deck. Without the restrictions, it easily goes in.
Necrodominance also calls back to Necrologia, and instant that can *only* be played in your step and lets you draw x cards and lose x life.
42:22 What people forget is that anything that is destroyed by Final Act and put into a graveyard (so not things like Progenitus) will be exiled if you choose to exile all graveyards.
Dewey-lamog
Malcolm-lamog
Reese-lamog
I love that Talon Gates of Madara is a gate. You can find it with Maze's End! :D
I will say that, at least on EDHRec, Cultivate is still the most used Green card.
Yeah which is why people play it even more... Which is why it's the most played on edh rec... Which is why people play it even more... Risen and repeat.
People don't know why they play what the play.
@@pascalsimioli6777 "everyone is stupid except me"
Chthonian Nightmare is a powerful car yet fair. Recurring nightmare has a very important issue, after resolving there is no window of opportunity for you to kill it, as the return to hand is part of the cost. With the new Chthonian Nightmare there is an etb trigger (generate energy) and the activation is sorcery speed, so we can interact with it. It has a lot of combo potential, so it's for the competitive games.
For Null Elemental Blast in a green deck: I didn't consider to put a Wastes in for my basic fetches. In my Gruul landfall deck, I've got a handful of lands that tap for colorless - I'll have to see if I have enough sources and maybe pick up a Wastes.
One two and three lamog is an insanely funny naming imma steal that and Midlamog 😂
With Amphibian Downpour you overlooked the fact that the storm count is increased by opponents as well. So if my opponent casts 2 spells on their turn you can cast Amphibian Downpour and take out their 3 best creatures.
they did mention that
Amphibian downpour is the new all star in my Tatsunari deck. Everybody frogs!
Y'all are way too low on the green flair and way too high on the red one imo
wow was just thinking about when this would come out
I absolutely love your content and team and all your past work. You helped me get into magic and feel confident. Now that I’m not lost in the sea of “what’s that?” I want to share a request that could hopefully help your content even more. Please make cut down episodes or other videos with this same info for those of us who don’t have the time for 2 hour episodes! It would be rad to even have a website where we could read and reference your selections. Thanks!
Volatile Stormdrake is so good. Zero down side. Cheaper and better gilded imo. Don’t have to sacrifice him even if the abilities get countered or the target becomes illegal, if you don’t have the energy for the creature you take it’s either going back to the command some or graveyard so your problems are still gone. Who ever designed this card needs their flowers.
Emrakul can do some cool things though. You gain control of another players creatures on the CAST trigger. You could cast it and counter it yourself, that way he doesn’t hit the field, and if he doesn’t hit the field he doesn’t leave the field, and if he doesn’t leave the field you just get to keep all their stuff!
My favorite card of the set is for sure the soul trader. And it is 100% because I’m a Chatterfang player lol. Even without a payoff, “pay a life add 1 mana” is insanely powerful and helps you curve perfectly into any payoff in hand.
Its types are also all amazing and will definitely be the reason why it finds just so many homes. Its just such a versatile card
To answer your question "what commander would run 20+ creatures power 4 or greater that isn't 4 or greater itself?" My Svella, Ice Shaper deck has 27 creatures power 4 or greater and is itself a 2/4.
The thing about emrakul having that 6 colorless madness. Remember that colorless nana is far more common as a secondary source than colored mana. Soul ring is 2. Mana crypt is 2. +2 pain lands and boom you have 6 colorless. If you don’t want mana crypt you can use worn powerstone
The talk of recurring nightmare made we want a Command Zone episode of no-ban commander so badly!
Oh!. Oh my, I just got an idea for my Ayara, Asshole of the Realm deck. Currently, I reanimate things with her after she flips and try to make sure I can sacrifice them before EOT (my typical targets are edict creatures). It might actually be fun to have Ulamog in her deck, l get big expensive targets get exiled (Like Abhorrent Overlord), then start reanimating him and giving him Annihilator 7.
Speaking of Ayara, she's probably looking forward to Ripples of Undeath and Flare of Malice. Chthonian Nightmare isn't high on her list, but could be. I would serve as a sac outlet, at least, as long as I have small creatures in her graveyard, which she usually doesn't..
Since Chthonian Nightmare says "Return target creature", the target needs to be legal when you announce the activation of the ability. If there is no target, you can't activate the ability. Same as how a spell needs you to specify targets before costs are paid. So unfortunately doesn't go infinite with dockside and such without additional help.
Ok, you sold me on Talon Gates of Madara.
Sowing Mycospawn is my pick for best card. Sure its 4 mana, but it is search any land into play untapped, and its on a cast trigger!
If its later game and you have 6 mana, you also remove your opponent's strongest land. Which is again on a cast trigger!
The Talon Gates of Madara are part of how Bolas escaped the Mending during Time Spiral. So it's abilities are super weird in isolation, but it kind of does exactly what it did in the lore. Which is cool.
New Emrakul looses to a simple land: Homeward Path
Suspiciously not included in the MH3 Commander decks but likely coming to a secret lair just as demand creeps that price up.
Null Elemental Blast is definitely playable in any color, I think it doesn't get kicked out of a deck until you're running Dimir or Azorius, but even then one mana to destroy a permanent or counter a spell is a very good rate.
Amphibian Downpour is so good in spellslinger decks because of the flash. Yes, it isn’t an instant or sorcery, but those decks get storm counts which is relevant.
One of my favourites right now is Springheart Nantuko
As for Volatile Stormdrake: the hexproof was as much for commander as modern. Commander has more than just Capsize, it has stuff like Tradewind Rider, Waterfront Bouncer, and Sidisi's faithful. Even without those un-fun patterns you can do cool things when giving away a creature like Homeward Path (assuming you sacrificed the creature you stole) and Profaner of the Dead to get the drake back in hand.
It's Hunger, Gyre, and Defiler. That is how you keep track of the Ulamogs.
Just to chime in, black decks can cast Emrakul pretty easy if they lean into sacrificing things. Ashnod's Altar let me cast Emrakul for madness without much of an issue.
Any deck can run Ashnod's but the black deck specifically likes it. You get it.
Rachel talked a lot about Ripples of Undeath because it's the only thing out there. And I do like the card a lot - I've added it to my 2 black graveyard decks. But why does no one seem to play Out of The Tombs. Though it does not contain the text that allows you to pay 1 and put one of the cards into your hand, it will mill a LOT as the game goes if you get it down early (which is when you want to play mill pieces anyway).
My vote for the name for the new Ulamog is Neo-Newlamog xD
Thanks for the video! It was super fun to watch and there are a bunch of cards you brought up that I hadn't caught on to yet.
1:04:40 i think y'all should do a podcast episode on Soul Shatters and the like. Sheoldred's Edict, Pick your Poison, etc. I've found to be using them a LOT more than defaulting to the standard suite of removal in commander. I just think paying maybe 1 or 2 extra mana to 3 for 1 my opponents is nutso value
I will say this about "Final Act." It works really well against experience counters. If it was everyone's counters, it would be top tier due to poison counters.
I also feel that Energy Counters decks might have enough viability to be used more now.
41:13 well zaxara will for sure have 4+ power creatures and can definitely use the extra mana, while not being 4+ power itself
Invert Polarity is literally "Heads: I win. Tails: You lose"
Strix Serenade is the standout card in the set for me. It's really potent. I think the comparison to swan song is unhelpful. Just think how many ETBs exist on creatures today. {U} says no! :D
Ulamog, the Defiler is in my Bristly Bill deck.
Dude…
Talon Gates of Madara Is such a good card I was playing in a high power game with friends where I was on Rograkh Thrasios and an opponent had just resolved a grand abolisher. (I couldnt counter it because I only had an offer you cant refuse in hand.) then they cast a torment of hailfire where x was equal to 15. I proceeded to use the ability of talon gates of mandara put it into play and phase out the grand abolisher I then proceeded to use the offer you cant refuse to counter the torment while it was still on the stack. litteraly saving the game for myself and then won on my next turn.
Your editing / video ides are truly top notch stuff
Think yall glazed over wight. It easily gets huge AND has vigilance so you get a free attack and then can still activate its ability. Which not to mention again IS a sac outlet.
Loving Defilermog with Mimeoplasm shenanigans, it will see itself in exile so that's 10 counters guaranteed plus whatever other big power thing you choose
About the final act, it is Particularly good against specifically the doctor who deck with all the time counters because it removes all the suspension counters on cheated out creatures. But that is the only specific scenario i can think of where this is better
25:24 XD Oh my god. The other thing is that you can even sacrifice dockside to the Cthnonian nightmare and then reanimate it with that exact same ability. Why does Wizards make cards like this? If they had went a step further and given the reanimated cards a finality counter that would have prevented this issue with Dockside while still allowing it to be viable in constructed play.
i agree "final act" isnt that good, but i think its important to mention that when it comes to battles, you usually want to destroy battles you play. so if it is in a deck that has a lot of battles and such, its pretty decent. its my opinion at least
With Ulamog it counts the number of +1 counters for its Annihilatior, so if you can increase this with prolifrate/ doubling season/divergent Evolution suddenly they need to sac alot of permanents
Powerbalance looks pretty good in my Radha Heart of Keld deck - she looks at the top card and can play lands from there, so I generally know what my top card is, and have ways to mess with it. She also has a bunch of big stompy stuff so there's a decent chance you'll just naturally hit off somebody else's 7 drop and get a sarcastic amount of value
Sol ring, mindstone, reliquary tower, ancient tomb, guildless commons, temple of the false gods, scavenger grounds, ash barrels, rogues passage, talon gates of madara, urzas cave, urzas saga, and that's without counting things you might add based on specific deck or a higher budget. 6 colorless is way easier than 6 green.