This is gonna sound weird, but I wouldn't mind seeing Upping the Average on a few of the old guard. It feels like it's been months of the new, hot commander who manages to have gathered enough attention to debut with some 2,000 decks. I know there's only so much that can be done given the almighty Algorithm, but it'd be nice to see again sometime.
I was going to say I was surprised to not see Pyrohemia make the list, but the argument you made for Spear Spewer made an excellent point about why it wouldn't be a great fit.
I couldn't help but notice that you mentioned Shivan Reef, but did not mention Talisman of Creativity. That was also in the deck list and has the same effect as Shivan Reef (dealing 1 dmg to you, or 3 dmg with your commander in play). That would be a good card to consider swapping out for your Midnight Clock.
a 2 mana rock isn't as easily replaceble as a land. Being that this rock can still tap for colorless is big here too. I know the land can as well but why not jsut replace that land with another land? That doesn't affect your overall CMC as replacing a 2 mana rock with a 3 mana rock does.
@@hhnde100deal 1 to stuffy, ghyrson deals 2 to it as well. Stuffy deals 3 damage to an opponent, but it's 1 and 2, so ghyrson deals an additional 2 to the opponent, making 1 damage to stuffy equal 5 damage to an opponent.
I was on the fence with this commander because of the two different paths you can take with him. Since you always come in clutch with UTA's, I've got a better idea as to what I wanna do with this commander. Thank you Joey and fantastic video as always!
I like Hazoret as a low mana synergy with curiosity effects. I also found that making Yusri the commander and putting Ghyrson in the deck solved the card draw problem and made the lifelink equipment extra useful. If you use the pirate tims be sure to look at Malcom and Breeches.
I knew since he was spoiled I was going to build him. Prodigal Sorcerer is one of my childhood favorites. I've been in the tank for a few weeks about which way I wanted to focus towards. Looking forward to this one.
Same here, loved the original art of the prodigal sorcerer and i have been wanting to build a deck around prodigal sorcerer for some time. This gave me the commander for it.
Tbh you’ll have too hit all the opponents especially with a very strong effect commander like this … you can you add a few pingers that targets one thing but then again you should add a few that targets each opponent… that’s the route I’m going with him too target all my opponents at once’s
I'd like to see a segment that's called something like "Re-Upping the Average" where you go back to the start, and redo them. Would also like to see some other Commanders get love, especially some more mono colored Commanders as they can sometimes be friendly to budget players. I would love for example you go and do my favorite mono green Commander, Goreclaw.
I have this deck and including 1/1 tokens is also good, locust God makes this deck better. You do need card draw. First strike 1/1 makes blocking really hard.
I would love to see an Ashnod the Uncaring Upping the Average next! This deck is so versitile with the artifact/creatures possibilities that I find myself kinda lost in the deck building process lol
Impact Tremors + Birgi + Grinning Ignus = Game over if unanswered. Also, Crystal Shard can do a ton of heavy lifting in this deck, wanna cast your Goblin Chainwhirler every turn???
Devils are fun too because they go from being 1/1's to 3/3's, and then they bolt anything when they die. Put a handful of the "make multiple devils" in my deck to keep board presence up
I wanted to build goblins since I used to play them in legacy. I refuse to be "that guy" who plays Krenko or Muxus, and just to do something different I settled on either Boros or Izzet, but I couldn't find a commander that interested me. Like two days later the Warhammer decks came out. I'm super hyped to play this commander with Warren Instigator and Tetsuko, Goblin Matron and Pashalik Mons. Super fun, super weird. A goblins deck gets to play Coastal Piracy! As a bonus, I've always thought Razorfin Hunter was such an interesting card. Just taking two tribes and slapping them together. This deck is literally perfect for it.
I started as spell slinger pinger but now have this commander as thopters especially with brothers war support. Basically all the Bident of Thassa, Reconnaissance Mission effects and thopters, and then moraug, Karlach, Locust God, Orvika to make hastey 1/1s as top end. Made it as a budget but it’s pretty heinous and fast. Cavalcade of Calamity, Impact Tremors, Goblin bombardment can mean getting 12 damage out of a 1/1.
the 1/1 devils that ping when they die are great because if a creature blocks and you want it dead that 1/1 can deal 6 damage to it, also 1/X first strike or double strikers are an interesting route as well
I don't have some of the cards so I plopped in a Locust God and some 1/1 token generators plus cantrips already in the deck. And Kira because why not. Oh and a lot of (budget) counterspells. At 6-7 mana I can comfortably make a drop and save up for a counterspell.
Built this commander. Even tho it could potentially hurt you, I highly suggest the enchantment Repercussion in the deck and put the fear of God into your opponents
Built him as a pinger tribal and my group hates him. Mana Barbs was so fun, but immediately go hit with a beast within. My wife had to pay 6 life to do it, tho. Love this deck, and I will be tweaking it. Thanks for the recommendations Joey.
Honden of Infinite Rage, Smoke Spirits' Aid. Goblin Snowman, Slight Malfunction, Winter Sky, Mana Clash, Culmination of Studies, Comet Storm. Yamabushi's Storm is a 2 mana board wipe if Ghyrson has deathtouch.
I have a buddy who will absolutely love this deck. I have a question as well if anyone can answer this I can’t seem to find the answer online. Say I have The First Sliver on the field and play reflections of Littjara . I then cast say bonesycthe sliver, do I get two cascade triggers one from the original and then from the copy.
While I agree that keeping the Pingers' casting cost low is desirable, I've found Jeska, Warrior Adept works well because of her Haste and despite her 4 CMC. Of the bottom tier cards you pulled out I kept in Izzet Staticaster as a board wipe of sorts; I've also been in the position where there are no targets for the Staticaster, so I am still up in the air about it. The Reality Chip is good card advantage. I've been told Ghyrson is annoying specifically because of his Ward ability. Bring in The Machine That Goes Ping!
@@cobaltbluemaru Vulshok Sorcerer is better; why not play both? If you have no way of giving Haste to creatures, Pingers with Haste are important. That is one of the reasons Staticaster is still in my deck. Because of her CMC I was iffy about putting Jeska in, but she's worked out well for me.
11:00 Robe of Mirrors, Alexi's Cloak, and Diplomatic Immunity would all be good. They have their own merits, Robe of Mirrors is only 1 Blue, Alexi's Cloak can be cast at instant speed to bait an opponent, and Diplomatic Immunity, the thing giving shroud, has shroud!
I'm not gonna lie, I hate this card so much XD It's locked down 3 of decks before I could even get rolling, but it feels like it can really stumble when dealing with something beefier. It might just be a 'new user' problem, but he just seemed to drag the game out rather than actually end the game. It's board wipe tribal more often than not...
@@Ikaros5 I checked with a Judge , and they confirmed the ruling and no extra damage. I mean if one card gets exiled, sure. But again, unless you get the Rules manager to weigh in, its a best guess.
I'm contemplating putting Ghyrson in my Locust God deck. Only thing, though, is that with all of my other ways to buff up the insects, ghryson can be a bit of a non-bo
midnight clock rarely goes off in a game of commander, at least for me. I've had it in 1 of my decks and I've had it gone off once, it takes 3 turns to do it's thing, it's like a windfall with 3 time counters on it that can be stopped by a vandal blast. I'm not very impressed by it. But your goal is to keep the deck cost neutral so I understand, but you really want to splash a bit for that winfall if you build this. if you REALLY need a cheap mana rock, go with Izzet locket + the windfall then drop something else. the locket is basically free, I think its 5-10 cents.
While I absolutely love this commander, I really wish he was temur, especially since he was in the temur deck. I have been running a dedicated pinger deck for years now. It started off as a Niv Mizzet, the Firemind deck but it had a big problem. Not enough untapping synergies to make the deck have big closing turns. So I added green and key cards such as: Seedborn Muse, Vitalize, Awakening, Quest for Renewal, and Zhur-Taa Druid (because pinger ramp is just awesome). The difference this handful of cards made was like night and day. Currently I run Riku as the commander really just for the colors, but at least I can justify "synergy" if I copy a creature spell. It is rare tbh, but the closest I could get to literally never caring about casting my commander. Hopefully a temur pinger commander comes out one day, or even if they switch it to Jeskai I would be ok with that. If 5 more cards come out that could replace my green ones such as Drumbellower that could work too. This has been my favorite deck for years, so I am happy to see it get lots of interest from this commander
--LONG COMMENT WARNING-- Defiler of Instinct goes way harder in this deck than you think it does in my experience. You often don’t hit that on-curve turn 5 land drop, so you end up going Ghyrson t3, Defiler t4, then two three drops on turn 5 thanks to your Defiler’s discount bringing them down to 2 each. The deck being so heavy on 3 drops is actually the reason that cards like the Elixir you suggested just aren’t good enough - they’re competing for an already extremely tight / saturated spot in the deck, and Elixir just cannot compete with 99% of other 3 drops that immediately begin doing work. Clock is way, way too slow to refill in this deck. You can’t wait three turns to get a wheel effect and expect comparable results at all in a deck of this speed, OK if you’re going for budget and your group has a proxy allergy though I guess. Roiling Vortex is nice consistent (albeit slightly slow) damage with the very real benefit of being able to shut down lifegain, although definitely agree that it’s one of the shakier cards in the deck. The issue with it causing self-harm is slightly funny to me as you often win with this deck while at a life total of 10-20, overwhelmingly due to self-harm. I also personally run Rampaging Ferocidon because it can brutally punish token decks as well as lifegain decks. Yes, it causes major self-harm with the Seasoned Pyromancer, but I find that one instance of brutal anti-synergy to be manageable enough to justify its presence in the deck. It also hurts Basilisk Collar but meh. In the case of Shivan Reef, the mana flexibility makes up for the potential for it to take bites out of your life. Cards like Razorfin Hunter make it worth it for me, you just really don’t want to find yourself in the early game with no momentum. Decks like these that are so hyper-dependent on their commander all but require expensive cards like Fierce Guardianship and Swan Song, sadly, especially as a response to cheap board wipes like Toxic Deluge which don’t care about ward. The best protection for a card like this is counterspells, more so than clunky expensive protection equipments, as he already makes targeted removal way less appealing by charging a 2 mana tax on anyone so much as *trying* to kill him. I like the idea of Intruder Alarm but it suffers from the “yet another 3 drop” issue, and isn’t even red so no Defiler value. Fellwar Stone and Orchard are pretty nice ideas though, as two colour decks often feel a bit “basic” in terms of land so can be pesky. And because Manabarbs in the late game is so insanely impactful, you often find yourself wishing you had more stones lol
This card is a prime example why our playgroup has initiated a mana cost minimum of 7 for casting commanders. Taxes cumulative from there. So yeah, this commander would cost 7 to cast from command zone. Then 9 the second time etc. Makes for a lot more even game play and a lot more fun.
This deck is cancer. You either kill someone istantly or you constantly burn every creature on the battlefield. Nobody has fun except the guy using this
Can confirm. I had the pleasure of facing this general online with a freaking token deck. It was miserable. I couldn't keep any creatures on the board even for a turn in some cases, and all of my removal spells were countered. I didn't get to play Magic that day. Bonus: The guy even had the nerve to tell me that I was irrationally focusing him despite his deck being a hard counter to my own. He went on to win the whole game. 🙄
This is gonna sound weird, but I wouldn't mind seeing Upping the Average on a few of the old guard. It feels like it's been months of the new, hot commander who manages to have gathered enough attention to debut with some 2,000 decks. I know there's only so much that can be done given the almighty Algorithm, but it'd be nice to see again sometime.
If the popularity of this card doesn’t push Wizards to make a “Wild West” inspired plane, I don’t know what will
Well, wouldn't you know.
Oddly prophetic
He Is a real wizard indeed, a blue One It seems.
Prophecy
This aged better than fine wine 🍷
I was going to say I was surprised to not see Pyrohemia make the list, but the argument you made for Spear Spewer made an excellent point about why it wouldn't be a great fit.
I couldn't help but notice that you mentioned Shivan Reef, but did not mention Talisman of Creativity. That was also in the deck list and has the same effect as Shivan Reef (dealing 1 dmg to you, or 3 dmg with your commander in play). That would be a good card to consider swapping out for your Midnight Clock.
a 2 mana rock isn't as easily replaceble as a land. Being that this rock can still tap for colorless is big here too. I know the land can as well but why not jsut replace that land with another land? That doesn't affect your overall CMC as replacing a 2 mana rock with a 3 mana rock does.
I just play both 🤷♂️ give him lifelink and don't worry about it
They're far above the average mana value of the deck as presented, but I find the idea of Stuffy Doll and Brash Taunter hilarious in the deck.
New to magic so I don't understand why these wouldn't be good in this deck?
@@hhnde100deal 1 to stuffy, ghyrson deals 2 to it as well. Stuffy deals 3 damage to an opponent, but it's 1 and 2, so ghyrson deals an additional 2 to the opponent, making 1 damage to stuffy equal 5 damage to an opponent.
I was on the fence with this commander because of the two different paths you can take with him. Since you always come in clutch with UTA's, I've got a better idea as to what I wanna do with this commander. Thank you Joey and fantastic video as always!
Oh wow that’s very interesting
@@chapmanandchapmanproductio974 Okay.
What are UTA's?
I would love to see an Elas il-Kor episode! It's been so long since the last Aristocrat Upping the Average
I like Hazoret as a low mana synergy with curiosity effects. I also found that making Yusri the commander and putting Ghyrson in the deck solved the card draw problem and made the lifelink equipment extra useful. If you use the pirate tims be sure to look at Malcom and Breeches.
I knew since he was spoiled I was going to build him. Prodigal Sorcerer is one of my childhood favorites. I've been in the tank for a few weeks about which way I wanted to focus towards. Looking forward to this one.
Same here, loved the original art of the prodigal sorcerer and i have been wanting to build a deck around prodigal sorcerer for some time. This gave me the commander for it.
@@Cidermaker I picked up the FNM promo a couple years ago and I've just been jamming him into any deck I could. Now he finally has a proper home.
Tbh you’ll have too hit all the opponents especially with a very strong effect commander like this … you can you add a few pingers that targets one thing but then again you should add a few that targets each opponent… that’s the route I’m going with him too target all my opponents at once’s
I'd like to see a segment that's called something like "Re-Upping the Average" where you go back to the start, and redo them. Would also like to see some other Commanders get love, especially some more mono colored Commanders as they can sometimes be friendly to budget players. I would love for example you go and do my favorite mono green Commander, Goreclaw.
Willbreaker is EXACTLY the type of weird ping shenanigans I want to be doing with those Auto Stubs. Thanks for a great video as always!! :D
I have this deck and including 1/1 tokens is also good, locust God makes this deck better. You do need card draw. First strike 1/1 makes blocking really hard.
Man I’d love to see a marneus calgar deck or a Lathiel the Bountless dawn
Lathiel for sure. Been trying to build a Unicorn Tribal for my daughter all blinged out with foils and full arts
I would love to see an Ashnod the Uncaring Upping the Average next! This deck is so versitile with the artifact/creatures possibilities that I find myself kinda lost in the deck building process lol
Impact Tremors + Birgi + Grinning Ignus = Game over if unanswered. Also, Crystal Shard can do a ton of heavy lifting in this deck, wanna cast your Goblin Chainwhirler every turn???
Devils are fun too because they go from being 1/1's to 3/3's, and then they bolt anything when they die. Put a handful of the "make multiple devils" in my deck to keep board presence up
I missed this one when it came out, but I love the suggestions. Good call on the self-pinging too, what a nonbo.
I wanted to build goblins since I used to play them in legacy. I refuse to be "that guy" who plays Krenko or Muxus, and just to do something different I settled on either Boros or Izzet, but I couldn't find a commander that interested me.
Like two days later the Warhammer decks came out. I'm super hyped to play this commander with Warren Instigator and Tetsuko, Goblin Matron and Pashalik Mons. Super fun, super weird. A goblins deck gets to play Coastal Piracy!
As a bonus, I've always thought Razorfin Hunter was such an interesting card. Just taking two tribes and slapping them together. This deck is literally perfect for it.
I started as spell slinger pinger but now have this commander as thopters especially with brothers war support.
Basically all the Bident of Thassa, Reconnaissance Mission effects and thopters, and then moraug, Karlach, Locust God, Orvika to make hastey 1/1s as top end.
Made it as a budget but it’s pretty heinous and fast.
Cavalcade of Calamity, Impact Tremors, Goblin bombardment can mean getting 12 damage out of a 1/1.
the 1/1 devils that ping when they die are great because if a creature blocks and you want it dead that 1/1 can deal 6 damage to it, also 1/X first strike or double strikers are an interesting route as well
Is impact tremors ok? With olny 21 creatures it seems a bit low...
2 mana permanent and with commander does 9 damage per etb
You also have the bodies being made from young pyromancer
From play test goblin bombardment is much better
@@lord_more_dino u mean 3 damage per etb ....
Ooh we're starting to analyze the 40k commanders. Hoping to see Be'lakor. Been trying to figure out how to lower the mana curve.
Mana curve is real low when 25 cards are Shadowborn Apostles
clones help alot but also running every cost reducer and rock you fit in, save counter magic for mass artifact removal
I don't have some of the cards so I plopped in a Locust God and some 1/1 token generators plus cantrips already in the deck. And Kira because why not.
Oh and a lot of (budget) counterspells. At 6-7 mana I can comfortably make a drop and save up for a counterspell.
Built this commander. Even tho it could potentially hurt you, I highly suggest the enchantment Repercussion in the deck and put the fear of God into your opponents
do we have an updated list here since this has been a list for a long time. really appreciate it thanks in advance
I love running Oasis in my Ghyrson Starn as it offers protection in a land slot, should I not find it in some other way
Built him as a pinger tribal and my group hates him. Mana Barbs was so fun, but immediately go hit with a beast within. My wife had to pay 6 life to do it, tho. Love this deck, and I will be tweaking it. Thanks for the recommendations Joey.
rampaging ferocidon and auntie blyte??
My friend plays this and the deck is so opressive
Which cards would be replaced by the more expensive cards?
So after cutting the most expensive of the cards, what are some good recs to take their place?
If anyone decides to take this as a go wide deck, I cannot recommend Cavalcade of Calamity and Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive enough
Hellrider too
We want an upping for ABADDON pl!
Anyone know which is the stronger build? Spell slinger or pinger?
Honden of Infinite Rage, Smoke Spirits' Aid. Goblin Snowman, Slight Malfunction, Winter Sky, Mana Clash, Culmination of Studies, Comet Storm. Yamabushi's Storm is a 2 mana board wipe if Ghyrson has deathtouch.
My GSK deck is called " i started blasting"
Big score?
Been looking for this guy for a month, I thought he was in Unfinity lol.
It gets really nutty when you have goblins with goblin bombardment. That's the way I went!
You forgot to cut Talisman of Creativity!
I only run spellslinger Ghyrson. I really dislike the Impact Tremors half of it
I know it’s kind of expensive, but how do you feel about adding Chandra, Awakened Inferno to the list instead of Ral?
The emblems aren't sources you control so it won't trigger the Autostubs. But I do like the card anyways.
@@jasonsteavens158 gotcha wasn’t sure
Give us some Marneus Calgar please! For the Emperor!
I have a buddy who will absolutely love this deck. I have a question as well if anyone can answer this I can’t seem to find the answer online. Say I have The First Sliver on the field and play reflections of Littjara . I then cast say bonesycthe sliver, do I get two cascade triggers one from the original and then from the copy.
While I agree that keeping the Pingers' casting cost low is desirable, I've found Jeska, Warrior Adept works well because of her Haste and despite her 4 CMC.
Of the bottom tier cards you pulled out I kept in Izzet Staticaster as a board wipe of sorts; I've also been in the position where there are no targets for the Staticaster, so I am still up in the air about it.
The Reality Chip is good card advantage.
I've been told Ghyrson is annoying specifically because of his Ward ability.
Bring in The Machine That Goes Ping!
I think Vulshok Sorcerer is way better than Jeska.
@@cobaltbluemaru Vulshok Sorcerer is better; why not play both? If you have no way of giving Haste to creatures, Pingers with Haste are important. That is one of the reasons Staticaster is still in my deck. Because of her CMC I was iffy about putting Jeska in, but she's worked out well for me.
Tempt with Vengeance
PEW PEW. Love the pingers only idea. Mana Barbs seems sus
11:00 Robe of Mirrors, Alexi's Cloak, and Diplomatic Immunity would all be good. They have their own merits, Robe of Mirrors is only 1 Blue, Alexi's Cloak can be cast at instant speed to bait an opponent, and Diplomatic Immunity, the thing giving shroud, has shroud!
Shroud could keep you from equipping other stuff to the shrouded creature though.
@@shayneweyker yes but I still think that being able to keep your commander which is the bread and butter of the deck on the battle field is important
It's the Han Solo commander
I found I like this better in the 99 of Nekusar. All the little pingers isnt really my style so Nekusar seemed the best fit for the card.
tibor and lumia ??
SCALDING VIPER
I'm not gonna lie, I hate this card so much XD It's locked down 3 of decks before I could even get rolling, but it feels like it can really stumble when dealing with something beefier. It might just be a 'new user' problem, but he just seemed to drag the game out rather than actually end the game. It's board wipe tribal more often than not...
I miss when Joey used to go into what cuts would be better for the upgrade cards.
Love how bushy the beard is getting. Makes me want to see you in some flannel. ☕❤️🔥⚒️
Culmination of Studies might not be the best card for the deck but definitely a super fun finisher
I dont think it works "If multiple red cards are exiled, all of the damage is dealt as a single event."
@@matthoward6130 really? I asked over at the judge website and someone said It worked :(
@@Ikaros5 thats a ruling on Gatherer, which I would trust over a judge. But who knows exactly.
@@Ikaros5 I checked with a Judge , and they confirmed the ruling and no extra damage. I mean if one card gets exiled, sure. But again, unless you get the Rules manager to weigh in, its a best guess.
I think sunscorched desert is an auto include in this deck
And maybe the OG Desert.
Wait. Yall put more than 34 lands in your decks? 😮
Devil tokens.
I'm contemplating putting Ghyrson in my Locust God deck. Only thing, though, is that with all of my other ways to buff up the insects, ghryson can be a bit of a non-bo
Manabarbs would kill us too!
exactly. I mean we have a low curve, but yikes
No Hermetic Study or Psionic Gift with Horseshoe Crab or a Pemmin’s Aura?
Brown Patricia Hall Charles Martinez Kenneth
Garcia Donna Brown Charles Harris Christopher
Taylor Kevin Clark William Thompson Shirley
Thompson Sarah Wilson Michael Miller Elizabeth
midnight clock rarely goes off in a game of commander, at least for me. I've had it in 1 of my decks and I've had it gone off once, it takes 3 turns to do it's thing, it's like a windfall with 3 time counters on it that can be stopped by a vandal blast. I'm not very impressed by it. But your goal is to keep the deck cost neutral so I understand, but you really want to splash a bit for that winfall if you build this. if you REALLY need a cheap mana rock, go with Izzet locket + the windfall then drop something else. the locket is basically free, I think its 5-10 cents.
So the only rock you run is darksteel? I've seen this trigger in 3 games while its owner misplayed it and only applied the counter on their upkeep.
While I absolutely love this commander, I really wish he was temur, especially since he was in the temur deck. I have been running a dedicated pinger deck for years now. It started off as a Niv Mizzet, the Firemind deck but it had a big problem. Not enough untapping synergies to make the deck have big closing turns. So I added green and key cards such as: Seedborn Muse, Vitalize, Awakening, Quest for Renewal, and Zhur-Taa Druid (because pinger ramp is just awesome). The difference this handful of cards made was like night and day. Currently I run Riku as the commander really just for the colors, but at least I can justify "synergy" if I copy a creature spell. It is rare tbh, but the closest I could get to literally never caring about casting my commander. Hopefully a temur pinger commander comes out one day, or even if they switch it to Jeskai I would be ok with that. If 5 more cards come out that could replace my green ones such as Drumbellower that could work too. This has been my favorite deck for years, so I am happy to see it get lots of interest from this commander
Lewis Jason Lewis Edward Jones William
Anderson Gary Jackson Christopher Thomas Brenda
Garcia Margaret Jackson Maria Williams Matthew
Rakdos Charm. Make Starn shoot its controller.
Gonzalez Nancy Lopez Jessica Johnson Frank
Hernandez Linda Moore Linda Lopez Frank
Jackson William Jones Larry Martinez Michelle
Moore Nancy Anderson David Johnson Deborah
Martin Joseph Thomas Donna Gonzalez Susan
I would love to make a pinger tribal deck. But I fucking refuse to put any of this universes beyond shit on any of my decks.
Thompson Donald Johnson William Taylor Brian
White James Walker Jessica Martinez Lisa
This card can litteraly be Han Solo and it would be 100 more iconic
--LONG COMMENT WARNING--
Defiler of Instinct goes way harder in this deck than you think it does in my experience. You often don’t hit that on-curve turn 5 land drop, so you end up going Ghyrson t3, Defiler t4, then two three drops on turn 5 thanks to your Defiler’s discount bringing them down to 2 each. The deck being so heavy on 3 drops is actually the reason that cards like the Elixir you suggested just aren’t good enough - they’re competing for an already extremely tight / saturated spot in the deck, and Elixir just cannot compete with 99% of other 3 drops that immediately begin doing work.
Clock is way, way too slow to refill in this deck. You can’t wait three turns to get a wheel effect and expect comparable results at all in a deck of this speed, OK if you’re going for budget and your group has a proxy allergy though I guess. Roiling Vortex is nice consistent (albeit slightly slow) damage with the very real benefit of being able to shut down lifegain, although definitely agree that it’s one of the shakier cards in the deck. The issue with it causing self-harm is slightly funny to me as you often win with this deck while at a life total of 10-20, overwhelmingly due to self-harm. I also personally run Rampaging Ferocidon because it can brutally punish token decks as well as lifegain decks. Yes, it causes major self-harm with the Seasoned Pyromancer, but I find that one instance of brutal anti-synergy to be manageable enough to justify its presence in the deck. It also hurts Basilisk Collar but meh. In the case of Shivan Reef, the mana flexibility makes up for the potential for it to take bites out of your life. Cards like Razorfin Hunter make it worth it for me, you just really don’t want to find yourself in the early game with no momentum.
Decks like these that are so hyper-dependent on their commander all but require expensive cards like Fierce Guardianship and Swan Song, sadly, especially as a response to cheap board wipes like Toxic Deluge which don’t care about ward. The best protection for a card like this is counterspells, more so than clunky expensive protection equipments, as he already makes targeted removal way less appealing by charging a 2 mana tax on anyone so much as *trying* to kill him.
I like the idea of Intruder Alarm but it suffers from the “yet another 3 drop” issue, and isn’t even red so no Defiler value. Fellwar Stone and Orchard are pretty nice ideas though, as two colour decks often feel a bit “basic” in terms of land so can be pesky. And because Manabarbs in the late game is so insanely impactful, you often find yourself wishing you had more stones lol
Chandra awakened inferno is very good in this deck
fyi this actually doesn't work with Ghyrson since you don't control the emblem
Stop being poor
This card is a prime example why our playgroup has initiated a mana cost minimum of 7 for casting commanders.
Taxes cumulative from there.
So yeah, this commander would cost 7 to cast from command zone. Then 9 the second time etc.
Makes for a lot more even game play and a lot more fun.
That nerfs a lot of cheap commanders though, why would it be fair to cast Yoshimaru for the same mana as a Tiamat or a Toxrill?
That’s hilarious, I assume you’re joking
@@purplecrowbar1332 Works great actually. Try it and see.
@@Ikaros5 Because fun games.
There's no point in playing low cmc commanders at that point.
This deck is cancer. You either kill someone istantly or you constantly burn every creature on the battlefield. Nobody has fun except the guy using this
Can confirm. I had the pleasure of facing this general online with a freaking token deck. It was miserable. I couldn't keep any creatures on the board even for a turn in some cases, and all of my removal spells were countered. I didn't get to play Magic that day.
Bonus: The guy even had the nerve to tell me that I was irrationally focusing him despite his deck being a hard counter to my own. He went on to win the whole game. 🙄
@@jf9022 people that play these kinds of deck are always like that...
Hernandez David Jackson Scott Walker Larry