holy shit this is hillarious like fuking nothing kills that thing, apart from a lili of the veil after your turn 3 drop (if you have no other creatures)
The recent release of High Alert made Wall of Denial much better than it already was, given that now we have a better version of Assault Formation in UW.
Always been a fan of Wall of Denial. 0/8, defender, flying, shroud. Like the flavour text says, it gives you time to think. More importantly, early game it definitely can slow down agressive decks.
I loved Cemetery Gate, from Homelands, for the flavour text. I never used it, but 15 year old me found Grandmother Sengir's words to be incredibly funny. "It keeps some out, yes. It also keeps others in!"
I had a standard deck that used those, and galvanic alchemist to make infinite mana. Then door to nothingness because that's the best way to win with infinite mana.
I have a defender deck that uses axebane guardian and freed from the reel to infinity produce mana then banefire or blue suns zenith the oppenent to death
My favorite defender is Colossus of Akros. It starts out as a 10/10 indestructible defender for 8 colorless. It then has monstrosity 10 for 10 colorless. Also, when it becomes monstrous it loses defender and gains trample. Thus, it becomes a 20/20 indestructible, trample creature.
I just love he made this list before so much as spoilers for M19 came out (Which gave us the great gift of Arcades) No seriously, Defender Tribal is SOOOO gonna be my thing!
Tree of Perdition is my favorite. 0/13 with a game winning combo. Do not attack opponent, switch life totals so they drop to 13 life, then use Ayli and sack this creature for a 20 point life gain. Sanguine Bond if on the board wins the game. So turn 2 play Ayli, turn 4 play Tree of Perdition, turn 5 play Sanguine Blood. Turn 5 tap ToP, it has 20 life. Turn 6 sack ToP and win due to gaining 20 life.
When I was little and just getting into MTG for the first time, I opened a Grozoth, and it quickly became one of my favorite cards. I didn't mind that it had defender I just thought it was so awesome even though I wasn't even playing Blue. I loved how it seemed like the idea was supposed to be that he was too powerful to be a normal creature so he needed to be a defender to balance him, and the art was just so cool. It's only now that I realize he's not really a good card, but I do still love the design, he's such an awesome looking leviathan.
My favourite defender is called "Guard Gomazoa" it is a 1/3 that costs one blue Mana and 2 other Mana, it's ability prevent ALL combat damage that would be dealt to it, so deathtouch won't kill it
Yea I run some of them in my Defender Tribal deck along with some Fog Banks and Wall of Denials. With all them tough SOBs on the field they provide aggro decks with some REAL problems!😙
Yes! One of my all time favorite flavor texts! "Let them see what is not there and feel what does not touch them, and when they no longer trust their senses - that is the time to strike."
I'm pretty fond of Guard Gomazoa myself. A 1/3 for 3 with Flying and Defender is decent in of it's self but it also has invulnerability to battle damage! He could block just about anything and stay on the board😏
Even if the Thing in the Ice transforms and flattens your creatures as well it's still a good place to be, the board is empty apart from one huge creature you control.
Overgrown Battlement was part of a really fun defender tribal deck in RoE limited. It was a hard deck to put togethee just because everybody knew how powerful it was.
Personally, my favorite Defender is Wall of Blades. I like how it inverts the way walls normally work by being a 5/1 with first strike so it punishes you opponent for attacking with creatures with low toughness.
actually, I have a good one. Pumpable power (with mana) creatures. Not ones like a Shivan Dragon that start with 5 power. Things like Frozen Shade that start with 0 (possibly some that start with 1)
Axebane guardian logically goes in a zoo deck as more creatures = more ramp, but it is a bit slow for that. Costing 2 and a green for a 0/3 that can just be removed by spells in a zoo deck is...kind of lame.
My personal favorites are Wall of Denial and Nivix Cyclops. Wall of Denial is super hard to get past for 3 mana, so it helps stall setting up combos, and Nivix Cyclops can go from a defender to a beater pretty effectively in a Pauper deck like UR Delver.
Overgrown Battlements, Axebane Guardian, Wall of omens and throw in a duskwatch recruiter to loot for more walls. Your on the fast track to a 20+ damage Banefire. Add collected company and its even faster. Makes a fun, pretty budget Modern deck.
I was a little surprised that Thing in the Ice wasn't higher on the list. It was the first THING that came to mind when it came to defender creatures with end game abilities. I also like the link to the movie The Thing.
Understandable, I'm a returning player so I wasn't aware of how it performed in standard at that time. Love your content and appreciate the consistency.
My favorite Defender is either Wall of Stone or Wall of Swords. Wall of Stone is a 1RR for a 0/8. No fancy tricks, just a three mana 0/8. Takes a lot of punishment to go down. Wall of Swords is a 3/5 flying for 3W. Decent for blocking low-mid-range flyers.
Seeing thing in the ice reminds that one time someone had one out with one counter left and then I act of treasoned it and then cooked it with bubbling cauldron, man it shook his nerves cause he never got thing in the ice to go off
Surprised Tinder Wall wasn't on this list. Like Wall of Roots, it's green but you can sac it for RR or sac it when blocking with it for 2 damage and a R. I love running it with Orcish Lumberjack (R, 1/1, T: Sac a forest: add three R or G in any combination) ;) sacing things to ramp for kicker and X spells in a R/G Kicker deck.
I really like Tinder Wall. I have a feeling Wall of Denial is popular in the casual/EDH scene, hence people liking it, but it not showing up in the list.
I liked to combo Wall of Force with Nomads En-Kor, redirecting damage to the wall to give it +1 +1 counters. And you got love flying walls just on flavor grounds! P
Wall of Tears is probably my favorite wall from back in the day. While not as good at stonewalling as a Wall of Ice the bounce on that thing can make life very frustrating for aggro.
My favorite Defender is still Illusionary Wall. 4U for a 7/4 Flying First Strike Defender...with Cumulative Upkeep of U. Okay, that last part sucks, but Eon Hub is a thing...and it even gained a bit of utility with the switch to the Defender tag, because it's an Illusion now!
My favorite is still guard gomazoa..... Simply because he can block everything without dying (he gets all combat damage prevented).... Add hexproof to that and you have something that really annoys everyone else
My favorite defender is clearly the "Wall of Glare" enchanted with "Shielded by faith" and "Nimbus Wings" for good measure. As I play in a community which doesn't field much in terms of alternate win conditions this defeats any deck without tramplers. 1/6, can block any number of creatures, flying, indestructible. nuff said.
@@NizzahonMagic well it would, but I've just now heard of this card for the first time... And control decks are (sadly) frowned upon by my opponents. Oh and it's 1/8 not 1/6... Not that it would make any difference. Also did I mention I field quite a few "protection from chosen Color" Enchantments. Would make no difference for terminus but protects quite well against "target Creature" spells.
Personally I think fog bank is the best wall. It is the most wally wall. Blocks a 40/40 and is undamaged. Deathtouch dows’t kilo it and it makes sense in terms of walls.
I don't think it's fair to say that wall of frost saw play entirely because it's a good blocker, since the same card costed 2U probably wouldn't have been played
"Play this ability as a mana source" (wall of roots) Can someone explain to an Arena-only noob what this means? I assume it means you can't play a land if you use that ability which seems dumb but I assume if that was true it wouldn't be #2
Yeah it is definitely confusing - errata on Gatherer is clearer. Basically waht they are saying is that you can use the ability at Instant speed, which is obvious to us now
When I was a kid, my brother had this fucking annoying deck he'd play that used Glacial Wall and this card that allowed all his creatures to block 2 creatures, along with a bunch of buffs. So he'd just make these unbreakable walls. It was a bastard to play against, especially when he mixed in a bunch of counterspells because Blue players hate fun
![1 Orc vs 7 Computers [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7BWNchvzG1Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Favourite defender? That’d be Shield Sphere. You can’t tell me a 0/6 for 0 doesn’t pique the Johnny and the Spike in you
My favorite defender is wall of *No.*
(Wall of denial)
holy shit this is hillarious like fuking nothing kills that thing, apart from a lili of the veil after your turn 3 drop (if you have no other creatures)
IKR??!??!!!????
LIKE
3 FUCKING MANA FOR A FLYING 0/8 WITH FUCKING SHROUD
I
LOVE
THIS
CARD
So is Wall of Denial in an Arcades the strategist deck the way to go?
@@chrisp2757 Fuck...YES!👍
The recent release of High Alert made Wall of Denial much better than it already was, given that now we have a better version of Assault Formation in UW.
Always been a fan of Wall of Denial. 0/8, defender, flying, shroud. Like the flavour text says, it gives you time to think. More importantly, early game it definitely can slow down agressive decks.
Just imagine if it had hexproof instead. ;) The Wall of OP will never be surmounted.
Fog bank and wall of frost are probably my favorite defenders. Won me a lot of games when my friends and I were just learning.
I loved Cemetery Gate, from Homelands, for the flavour text. I never used it, but 15 year old me found Grandmother Sengir's words to be incredibly funny.
"It keeps some out, yes. It also keeps others in!"
For me the quintessential wall is Wall of Ice with the Rime of the Ancient Mariner quote.
Homelands respect
I like "Axebane Guardian" and "Doorkeeper" for defender matters decks.
I had a standard deck that used those, and galvanic alchemist to make infinite mana. Then door to nothingness because that's the best way to win with infinite mana.
Nick Larocco I have a pauper deck that does a similar thing except with X burn
I have a defender deck that uses axebane guardian and freed from the reel to infinity produce mana then banefire or blue suns zenith the oppenent to death
They are great in Arcades, the Strategist decks
When paired with high alert you can get infinite mana
My favorite defender is Colossus of Akros. It starts out as a 10/10 indestructible defender for 8 colorless. It then has monstrosity 10 for 10 colorless. Also, when it becomes monstrous it loses defender and gains trample. Thus, it becomes a 20/20 indestructible, trample creature.
Matt Ram same I often ramp into it in commander
i got a defender deck that runs him as a win condition
My friend has that
I just love he made this list before so much as spoilers for M19 came out (Which gave us the great gift of Arcades) No seriously, Defender Tribal is SOOOO gonna be my thing!
Haha, right on, man, right on!👍😎
Hate to break it to you though, BUT long before Arcades, Defender Tribal was already MY thing!😏
I don't really care if Fog Bank has 0 points, it's the best card and deserves to be number 1.
Drakeness This isn't what is the best defender, but what defender has seen the most play.
Its really not though. Best defence is a great offence. Fog bank is just a great defence.
Jeff Santos Nah, the best defense is "Can't touch this"
Wall of "No" (Wall of Denial) was THE best defense.
J.K. Brown Awful. So many ways around that
@@gandalfgrey91 r u bad?
Tree of Perdition is my favorite. 0/13 with a game winning combo. Do not attack opponent, switch life totals so they drop to 13 life, then use Ayli and sack this creature for a 20 point life gain. Sanguine Bond if on the board wins the game. So turn 2 play Ayli, turn 4 play Tree of Perdition, turn 5 play Sanguine Blood. Turn 5 tap ToP, it has 20 life. Turn 6 sack ToP and win due to gaining 20 life.
I really like the background pictures on some of these cards. especially number 9 on the list.
I loved wall of tinder back in the day. Used to use it to cast surprise lava bursts on friends. Good times.
If only he counted Legacy for these videos...
@@cutecommie He does.
When I was little and just getting into MTG for the first time, I opened a Grozoth, and it quickly became one of my favorite cards. I didn't mind that it had defender I just thought it was so awesome even though I wasn't even playing Blue. I loved how it seemed like the idea was supposed to be that he was too powerful to be a normal creature so he needed to be a defender to balance him, and the art was just so cool. It's only now that I realize he's not really a good card, but I do still love the design, he's such an awesome looking leviathan.
My favourite defender is called "Guard Gomazoa" it is a 1/3 that costs one blue Mana and 2 other Mana, it's ability prevent ALL combat damage that would be dealt to it, so deathtouch won't kill it
Yea I run some of them in my Defender Tribal deck along with some Fog Banks and Wall of Denials. With all them tough SOBs on the field they provide aggro decks with some REAL problems!😙
Just curious, have you ever done a top 10 of cards that refer to EDH mechanics
I love Illusionary Wall. 7/4 flying and first strike, and it has great flavor too
Yes! One of my all time favorite flavor texts!
"Let them see what is not there and feel what does not touch them, and when they no longer trust their senses - that is the time to strike."
I'm pretty fond of Guard Gomazoa myself. A 1/3 for 3 with Flying and Defender is decent in of it's self but it also has invulnerability to battle damage! He could block just about anything and stay on the board😏
As I concept my Nekusar EDH deck, both this and wall of fog are probably gonna be in my sideboard if not at least one inclusion
Fogbank*
Even if the Thing in the Ice transforms and flattens your creatures as well it's still a good place to be, the board is empty apart from one huge creature you control.
You should do MTG: top ten players
Overgrown Battlement was part of a really fun defender tribal deck in RoE limited. It was a hard deck to put togethee just because everybody knew how powerful it was.
You have such a great thing going here, the way you populate your top ten lists. It's unbiased and helpful to watch. Thanks. 😊
Glad you're enjoying it!
Personally, my favorite Defender is Wall of Blades. I like how it inverts the way walls normally work by being a 5/1 with first strike so it punishes you opponent for attacking with creatures with low toughness.
Hmmmm, have you done Top 10 Banding?
No, and I never will!
All right. 10 *worst* banders.
actually, I have a good one.
Pumpable power (with mana) creatures. Not ones like a Shivan Dragon that start with 5 power. Things like Frozen Shade that start with 0 (possibly some that start with 1)
Nizzahon Magic WHY??????!!!!!!!???????!!!!!!!
@@NizzahonMagic You should tho
I'm surprised Wall of Denial wasn't somewhere on this list.
+David Lyckman Yrah it never had much of an impact on the game, despite being a super annoying card to play against.
I feel bad for my main man Axebane guardian
+Goldscorpio7 Yeah he didn't quite make it.
i ran a 5 color control when Axebane Guardian and Sylvan Caryatid were in standard. Good times.
Axebane guardian logically goes in a zoo deck as more creatures = more ramp, but it is a bit slow for that. Costing 2 and a green for a 0/3 that can just be removed by spells in a zoo deck is...kind of lame.
My personal favorites are Wall of Denial and Nivix Cyclops. Wall of Denial is super hard to get past for 3 mana, so it helps stall setting up combos, and Nivix Cyclops can go from a defender to a beater pretty effectively in a Pauper deck like UR Delver.
Overgrown Battlements, Axebane Guardian, Wall of omens and throw in a duskwatch recruiter to loot for more walls. Your on the fast track to a 20+ damage Banefire. Add collected company and its even faster.
Makes a fun, pretty budget Modern deck.
I was a little surprised that Thing in the Ice wasn't higher on the list. It was the first THING that came to mind when it came to defender creatures with end game abilities. I also like the link to the movie The Thing.
+Yautja Prime Jist hasn't been around long enough and wasn't a staple in Standard
Understandable, I'm a returning player so I wasn't aware of how it performed in standard at that time. Love your content and appreciate the consistency.
My favorite Defender is either Wall of Stone or Wall of Swords.
Wall of Stone is a 1RR for a 0/8. No fancy tricks, just a three mana 0/8. Takes a lot of punishment to go down.
Wall of Swords is a 3/5 flying for 3W. Decent for blocking low-mid-range flyers.
Seeing thing in the ice reminds that one time someone had one out with one counter left and then I act of treasoned it and then cooked it with bubbling cauldron, man it shook his nerves cause he never got thing in the ice to go off
Surprised Tinder Wall wasn't on this list. Like Wall of Roots, it's green but you can sac it for RR or sac it when blocking with it for 2 damage and a R. I love running it with Orcish Lumberjack (R, 1/1, T: Sac a forest: add three R or G in any combination) ;) sacing things to ramp for kicker and X spells in a R/G Kicker deck.
Wall of blossoms is not Modern legal btw
Well, now it is
This could basically be an Arcades the strategist EDH deck tech lol
My personal favorite is wall of swords. It has good power for a defender and it's flying so you can often take out attackers from land or sky.
Lol “thing in the ice only fits in control decks”
Arclight Phoenix
I mean at the time, he cant predict that this card would exist lol
thing in the ice (with 2 counters left) + titan's strength + temur battle rage = flip, bounce -> 20 dmg = perfect blowout :D
I knew wall of frost was going to be on this list! My friend has it and it's so frustrating.
I really like Tinder Wall.
I have a feeling Wall of Denial is popular in the casual/EDH scene, hence people liking it, but it not showing up in the list.
My favourite creature with defender...Blistering Barrier! (At least for the artwork)
I liked to combo Wall of Force with Nomads En-Kor, redirecting damage to the wall to give it +1 +1 counters. And you got love flying walls just on flavor grounds! P
What about Psychic Membrane?
Angelic Wall is my favorite, because it's so classic.
Steel Wall is also one of the cards I grew up with.
Wall of Tears is probably my favorite wall from back in the day. While not as good at stonewalling as a Wall of Ice the bounce on that thing can make life very frustrating for aggro.
My favourite defender of all time is definitely Wall of Glare. It's just so good at shutting down attacks for days
My friends and I are pretty casual players and usually do mono-colour decks. As such, my Order of the Stars is pretty great.
I prefer Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo. Really nice for redirecting things like unblockable damage.
I reckon a top ten cards of all time would be sick as
My favorite Defender is still Illusionary Wall. 4U for a 7/4 Flying First Strike Defender...with Cumulative Upkeep of U.
Okay, that last part sucks, but Eon Hub is a thing...and it even gained a bit of utility with the switch to the Defender tag, because it's an Illusion now!
Carnivorous plant is my favorite. I grew up using it, and I love the card
top 10：Comments
Yay Sylvan Caryatid. I play it in my Bad Medicine Modern deck (Tainted Remedy and Friends: Siege Rhino, Thragtusk, Alms Beast)
No Fog Bank?
I'm surprised. 2 mana flying defender that doesn't die no matter what from battle. Gotta Bolt it or something. Really useful.
wall of frost, i love it
My favorite wall is Fog Bank
Aawww no one else shares my love for Colossus of Akros?
Kheru dreadmaw, hands down one of my favorites
My favorite is still guard gomazoa..... Simply because he can block everything without dying (he gets all combat damage prevented).... Add hexproof to that and you have something that really annoys everyone else
if you award points for tournament play, every blue deck had wall of air in the sideboard during the masques/invasion era to stop the blue skies deck
Tree of Redemption is a great defender, gets a bar rep but I have a nasty TOR/assault formation deck
Your annotation logo covers the power toughness of cards when you have multiple on the screen.
My favorite defender is clearly the "Wall of Glare" enchanted with "Shielded by faith" and "Nimbus Wings" for good measure. As I play in a community which doesn't field much in terms of alternate win conditions this defeats any deck without tramplers. 1/6, can block any number of creatures, flying, indestructible. nuff said.
Yeah that can stand up to a lot for sure. Terminus must hurt thougj
@@NizzahonMagic well it would, but I've just now heard of this card for the first time... And control decks are (sadly) frowned upon by my opponents. Oh and it's 1/8 not 1/6... Not that it would make any difference. Also did I mention I field quite a few "protection from chosen Color" Enchantments. Would make no difference for terminus but protects quite well against "target Creature" spells.
@@NizzahonMagic rage quit counter so far: 2
Surprised about no Wall of Denial. That's probably my favorite.
We wore out our copies of Wall of Roots back in the day.
Dang, I was hoping Wall of Denial was on here. So good in Alara block limited hnnghhh
I like to combo Wall of Hope with Soul Channeling and Pariah.
My favorite is definitely tree of redemption
I’m surprised Colossus if Akros wasn’t on here. I thought it saw a lot of play in standard.
+Zanthosus It has no GP or PT top 8s. If you go deeper, it had one top 8 at Colorado state championships in 2014.
Personally I think fog bank is the best wall. It is the most wally wall. Blocks a 40/40 and is undamaged. Deathtouch dows’t kilo it and it makes sense in terms of walls.
wall of reverence is super spicy in my phyrexian processor deck.
Mnemonic Wall is in every Blink Tron deck in pauper
Living Wall is an insane card. 0/6 regenerates for 1
When are we gonna get more legendary walls though
What about Colossus of Akros?
Traproot kami was a great defender. It was a 0/* for G. * was equal to the number of forests in play. And it has reach
Well done sir!
Thanks 👍
Wall of shards is my favorite wall even though it’s Culmulative Upkeep is pretty bad.
Favorite defenders are tree of perdition and redemption
Is birthing pod the best card in all
of MTG? You mention it in every video
Besides “all of them”, you should do worst 10 defender.
Thermo-Alchemist is pretty good too.
Before even watching I’m calling it wall of omens is number one lol
I never thought that Wall of Roots wouldn't get a single point from Modern
+Flippo lovesBMX It did, I just screwed up on that slide.
does thing in the ice get counters if you have selemnity out?
because it doesnt get counters "put" on it, it enters "with" counters
+Solace Nope, it would not get counters
i smell a prison deck
Solemnity and pherexian unlife. Oh look I can't die. Toss in TiTi and let then suffer the wrath of the ancient ocean lord
There was no time frame for wall of roots
I don't think it's fair to say that wall of frost saw play entirely because it's a good blocker, since the same card costed 2U probably wouldn't have been played
Don't remember the name of the card but I got this 2/8 for only 4 mana.(white)
"Play this ability as a mana source" (wall of roots)
Can someone explain to an Arena-only noob what this means? I assume it means you can't play a land if you use that ability which seems dumb but I assume if that was true it wouldn't be #2
Yeah it is definitely confusing - errata on Gatherer is clearer. Basically waht they are saying is that you can use the ability at Instant speed, which is obvious to us now
Great vids, fast helpful response. Sub
I've always liked Kheru Dreadmaw
What's that need health
Throw em to the undead corocodile
Nivix Cyclops has my vote, kills it in izzet blitz
Conner Barnes it's super good in UR Delver in Pauper, too.
My favourite is souls of the faultless
Wall of Denial is my favorite wall
Dude... Wall of fog
Do you mean Fog Bank? It has 0 points.
Or did you mean Wall of Vapor? #VapeNation
POINTS POINTS POINTS. its still a cool card
Nizzahon Magic how, it's so annoying.
how to deal with fog bank- lightning strike
opponent turn 3* wall of denial
me turn 4* consuming vapors
FOG BANK NEEDS LOVE.
What about fog bank?
When I was a kid, my brother had this fucking annoying deck he'd play that used Glacial Wall and this card that allowed all his creatures to block 2 creatures, along with a bunch of buffs. So he'd just make these unbreakable walls. It was a bastard to play against, especially when he mixed in a bunch of counterspells because Blue players hate fun
Speaker Greene For some people that is THE definition of "fun."😏
wall of roots + vizier of remedies= infinite green mana right?
No, because Wall of Roots uses -0/-1 counters and the Vizier only interacts with -1/-1 counters.
Kazzong plus you can only activate wall of roots once per turn.
I do enjoy some wall of tears.
I'm surprised fog bank or guard gamoza aren't on here. I suppose they didn't give enough card advantage? Idk
I play sylvan caryatid in my soulflayer deck!
WALL OF WOOD