Agreed Richard is 100% correct, these are MDFC's 90% of the time and sometimes stronger. They are worse in landfall decks. The blue one should be in 90% of blue casual decks, the Troll in all graveyard matter decks, the Olypant in any red creature decks, the Eagle in most white go wide decks. Green one kinda sucks. This pod is a bit high on MDFCs, but this cycle of cards is SO close to an MDFC and most are more relevant on the spell side. They should be heavily played cards. If they were uncommons or rares they would be worth speculating on, thankfully they are commons, get 3 or 4 of each for your decks.
Same, I've been doing the same thing with a card from Midnight Hunt or Crimson Vow Called "Dig Up" that searches for any basic land for G and can be a Diabolic Tutor with cleave.
I had a surprisingly large number for this! 1. Ingenious Mastery - very efficient at 3 cards for 3 mana + help out an ally. Also scales larger in the lategame. 2. Public Enemy - great at getting people to focus on the true threat at the table if they're not getting it. 3. Reins of Power - judo move that wins games out of creature-light decks. Basically a mini-Insurrection that can be used as a Fog in an emergency. 4. Captivating Glance - control magic at 3 mana. You choose who to clash with, and importantly it doesn't have to be the owner. They will never get their creature back if you don't want them to! 5. Manifold Insights - another efficient card draw at 3 for 3 mana. Great with politics! 6. Wrong Turn - really messes with people, especially at instant speed! Give the archenemy's best creature to an ally. 7. Commit // Memory - never dead. Stalls out a threat earlier and then acts as graveyard hate later. 8. Modify Memory - give the least powerful player a creature belonging to the most powerful player, helping to equalize the table, and draw 3 cards along the way! 9. Sphinx of Enlightenment - blinkable card draw on a huge flyer + help out an ally! 10. Fealty to the Realm - new toy. Introduces the monarchy to the game, and protects you from a creature forever.
Big fan of Gale's Redirection, I used it just as Phil described: I exiled the problem card, Ghalta and Mavren, then cast it on my side and steam rolled the table with it.
I’m with Phil on the primordial. I tried playing psionic ritual in tribal tribal and it was dead in my hand so many times. It was good occasionally but it’s less guaranteed than you might initially think
It's so good in my Noyan Dar deck. Lets you turn someone's commander into a land, which takes it out of the game most of the time. Even better if it's an indestructible land lol.
@@HarmonicResonanceScale So, when you target a land creature with Mystic Reflection, the next creature(s) will become a copy of it. However, since it becomes a copy of the *card*, it will become a copy of the land, but it won't have the effect from Noyan Dar that turns it into a creature. Thus, it will be a land only.
Yeah, something they overlooked (maybe because they misread the card, which most people do the first time, myself included) is that you _can_ brick someone’s commander with it. The “choose target nonlegendary” part only references the creature you want other creatures to enter as, so that you can’t preemptively board wipe someone’s tokens by turning them all into one legendary creature and killing them with the legend rule. But the effect still works on legendary creatures entering the battlefield. So it’s kind of like a Kenrith’s Transformation or Lignify, but better because there’s no permanent attached to it that they can remove. Do this to their commander and now they have to find a way to kill their commander so they can recast it, unless they can blink it. It’s like a counterspell that can only hit creatures or planeswalkers for 2 mana, which isn’t phenomenal but it’s playable (also it doesn’t put the thing in their graveyard to be reanimated later), but with the added alternative mode of letting you get one or more of the best creature on the board.
IMO 1 mana landcycling is much stronger in practice than in theory. You're not restricted to basics, and you search at instant speed! The red and black ones are solid creatures too if you don't need to cycle. I run Lórien Revealed and Troll of Khazad-dûm in my Raffine Reanimator deck, and they've been nuts for fixing. The troll is also essentially unblockable for easy damage.
If your deck is about reanimation then I imagine they would overperform, I've been looking into making an arcane bombardment deck and that land cycler is going to be cracked in it
I think all the Transmute cards are worth a mention. Most noticeably Muddle the Mixture and Tolaria West. Blue doesn't have many non-Instant/Sorcery tutors so these cards allow you to break the color pie which is alwys noteworthy.
No lol. Those ones are only good (heavy quotation marks on the "good" for Tolaria West) because the effects are actually like not super far off from being okay without transmute, so they're actually good modal spells. The rest completely suck ass outside of specifically situations like dizzy spell in Orvar.
Phil is right that Exploration effects don't work with landcycling, because you want the land to already be in your hand when you cast the extra land drop effect.
Perfect timing : I was finishing a mono blue deck and forgot about two cards of the list when I initially wanted to put them in the deck. Thanks for the reminder, guys ! My pick would be Venser, an oldy but a goody. On top of being my favourite magic card, it's an instant speed blocker that can solve most problems, can be flickered, the etb can be doubled, etc.
In commander, after having played against way too many commanders who gain indestructible, my removal is almost always exile target permanent. My go to spells over pongify or rapid hybridization is always a resculpt, ravenform, or reality shift. In the case of raven form or resculpt, I would rather hit their koma or whatever with the exile removal and deal with the 1/1 flyer or 4/4 elemental than deal with the fact that my removal cannot get around indestructible. Reality shift is just rolling the dice, but it is good. Plus all of these options are very budget friendly compared to some of the other prices of blue removal cards.
Richard. Unsummon and counterspell together are blue's removal package, blue has to use more cards to get the same effect as other colors, but that's ok because it also draws more cards than other colors.
I used to play Diluvian Primordial back in in 2013 along with Sylvan Primordial before its banning. The Expectation being I would cast big game ending spells but in reality was usually a Demonic tutor, a removal spell, and a ramp spell. I think it could be used as a late game blue ramp/ landfall card.
The creatures based land cyclers are even better for some specific decks such as living end as they also provide you with reanimation targets while fixing your mana.
I didn’t know schema thief existed, now I need it for Kamiz. It wants double strike, and maybe unblockable sometimes if flyers are protecting a good artifact
I am like 8min into this video, and 100% adding Lorien Revealed to my mono blue deck. For sure. I am trying to get it up to 38 lands and like a MDFC I can consider this a makeshift one. This card is amazing and I had not seen that all. And the deck is a flash Teferi deck, and I don't even care that is a sorcery. i run Sea Gate restoration. That's a sorcery too. This is amazing tech. And I 100% overlooked it. Thanks guys!
On the topic of the land cyclers, it’s the exact reason I run Dig Up in every single deck that can run it. It’s basically an MDFC in all the same ways!
Richard's card evaluation is always on point. Skullwinder, Secret Rendezvous, and Lorien Revealed are all great examples of his ability to evaluate cards without getting distracted by preconceptions.
Except when it comes to STR, I agree. I hard disagree that you should run only one card of STR. You should have at least 8, because you can't count on other players to to remove the thing that will kill you.
@@DoctorPhanan no he is very much wrong and just delusional in that regard. Remember he also considers whites worst modern piece of land ramp a white staple.
10:09 So interesting to see Crim’s take on this card especially when it’s now know to be so valued as a very flexible card. Also without hearing why my guess is that it’s sorcery speed.
Little bit of a magic Christmas land moment, but I landed a mystic reflection on an orcish bowmaster while my six scute swarm tokens had a land trigger on the stack.
Witness Protection is great! I play it a lot. Schema Thief is better than Skydiver because cloning is inherently less obnoxious than stealing - less spite. My pick for underrated budget blue cards is a set of Foretell spells: Saw It Coming, Ravenform, Behold the Multiverse, maybe Tales of the Ancestors, and, if you can stretch just past a dollar, Spectral Deluge. This package includes card advantage, removal, countermagic, and a sweeper; it's not hard to find a window to foretell them (and they're all fairly playable even if not foretold); and the more Foretell cards you have, the better they all become for the same reason that all Morphs are Willbender.
Spectral Adversary for me, keeps alive key pieces and/or mana rocks through both targeted and mass removal. The lads alluded to there being more exile removal being printed and I agree, when playing blue I find myself look to phasing out as a defence rather than hexproof as "exile each x" is more prevalent. I like change of plans too, but it only hit creatures, this, while being way less efficient on mana, will realistically keep 1-2 of your best permanents safe, with the potential for more. Spectral Adversary {1}{U} Creature - Spirit Flash Flying When Spectral Adversary enters the battlefield, you may pay {1}{U} any number of times. When you pay this cost one or more times, put that many +1/+1 counters on Spectral Adversary, then up to that many other target artifacts, creatures, and/or enchantments phase out. 2/1
Since we're on the budget topic: will there be another budget commander clash this season? Feel like 1 tix is too restrictive though, but a 3 tix budget would be a nice middle ground. That would be restrictive enough to see unpopular cards be played, while leaving a little room for some spice.
I remember playing mystic reflection in my Zimone and Dina deck. I emergent ultimatum'd and found avenger of zendikar, mystic reflection, and Sir Konrad the Grim. My opponent put Konrad back because they weren't scared of my targeting the avenger of zendikar with the mystic reflection. They were surprised when I targeted THEIR blood artist with the avenger etb on the stack. I made 15 blood artist, then toxic deluged for 3. 15 blood artist triggering simultaneously ended the game. People get fixated on the known combo and overlook what the card is actually going to do.
Only other problem I see with lorien revealed is that you can't keep it as your only land in hand. Prob shouldn't keep a 1 lander anyway but if you have another landcycle card as your other land I'd likely rather have actual mdfcs in my hand
I really like Change of Plans as a card in Minn, Wily Illusionist. Protects the board, and even gives you draw triggers to create an illusion through the connives if you need it!
Saheeli's artistry is both a clone and a ramp spell for whatever the largest mana rock on the battlefield it. It can do fun things with archaomancers or eternal witnesses as well. Stormtide leviathan is a great budget threat that also stops other people from attacking. Treasure cruise and dig through time are both surprisingly cheap and just as powerful as in other formats but people always forget about them since they are thought of as 60 card cards.
Richard is one of the most intelligent card evaluators. I have learned quite a bit listening to his opinions about cards. He thinks outside of the box. If I could take a MTG lesson from one of the MTGGoldfish members, I would choose Richard. Others are great too, but in my mind, Richard stands out.
He said a one mana removal spell that always works is bad and you should play a seven mana creature and hope your opponent has a wrath in the graveyard instead which would kill itself anyway Richard is questionable at best at card evaluation and you guys are questionable at best at evaluating commentators
@@nykthosacolyte Yeah I don't agree with everything he says, but I agree with him the most out of the crew. They are all too light on removal. His philosophy is to let others kill something for you, but that's easier said than done.
@@efnfen If we're being completely honest, everybody is questionable at card evaluation. I don't agree with him all the time, especially in regard to removal, but I do agree with him the most.
Richard mentioned blue cards that are green hate. High Seas is an enchantment that taxes green and red creatures. Paying that little extra can sometimes make all the difference
Late to the party because I was overseas, but Richard successfully turned me into a Lorien Revealed believer. I run a handful of MDFCs in my decks, and in the blue ones, it should replace Silundi Vision. It does a couple things that are great. 1. As stated in the cast, it grabs multicolored lands. That is amazing for fixing. 2. It is an okay draw spell and compared to Silundi Vision, it can't blank. 3. Unlike MDFCs, it thins your deck. The lesser the likelihood of drawing a land late game, the better.
Schema Thief + Double Strike could prove to be a more reliable ramp option in decks that care about the Flying and/or Rogue synergies whereas Solemn is the generic never fail option. -Eater of Virtue (?) -Whispersilk Cloak (?) I like it, good call out!
consuming tide is rock solid and arguably better than coastal breach but i run coastal breach and flood of tears in EVERY blue deck and i run consuming tide, devastation tide and crush of tentacles too in a more competitive deck. coastal breach is EXTREMELY clutch for when someone has a crazy start and pops off real early especially with multiple rocks and/or dorks. it's always fun to see someone with a bunch of creatures and artifacts and treasures bounce everything and be left with like 3 lands.
teferi's veil is great in blue creature decks, ive been running it in an unesh deck and its an absolute hoser for sorcery speed removal and more importantly wraths, and you can still leave behind blockers or static abilities
Abjure is my favorite blue card under $1. Great counterspell if you can reliably make blue tokens. I use it in Minn, wiley illusionist. If Minn is in play and you sac the token to cast abjure, you also get to put a land from hand into play b/c of Minn. Basically a free counter.
Oldie but a goodie, Deep-Sea Kraken is just rhystic study for a like 2 turn cycles. 3 mana suspend to draw about 5-7 cards and get a 6/6 unblockable creature
In terms of "tether" effects like Kenrith's Transformation, Darksteel, etc. - obviously the one that draws the cards is best, but in terms of permanence, Oubliette is top tier at locking out commanders and anythinf that might've invested in terms of auras and equipments. It's back-breaking against some decks and might lose you friends though
Currently building my first ever commander deck and I am very hwppy to find half of these cards on the intended decklist. :) Budget Azorious Control, no / low stax, no planeswalkers.
I like that the Forestcycler can both search Murmering Bosk but also let you play it untapped if you happen to get both in a hand, just a small boon to it for Abzan builds ahah.
If people are not expecting mind control you can probably keep whatever you steal for a couple of turns stealing commanders is back breaking. If they know you play a mind control in all of your decks you run more of a chance of getting blown out 1:27:00
You guys are spot on about capsize, it is that powerful, and the true cost is losing friends, did run it in my popper EDH deck and it does win games but in an unfun way
Witness protection is great for one mana especially for commanders who are a problem early game. The player has to use own resources to kill it unless they have a sac outlet. Most people will not block it and will use creatures to evasion so their commander stays enchanted.
I was 100% on board with Blue Sun's Twilight. Then See Double came out and i swapped all of my Twilights out. Copying something on the stack and on board is just strong. Ive copied someones Xyris and Mirkwood Bats once and ooo was I cookin that game
Ethereal Investigator is excellent in Donal, Herald of Wings. Make a copy, get 6 clue tokens and every 2nd card you draw create 2 1/1 Spirits with flying. Gets even more nuts if you can make additional copies 😁
Another card for the list: Secrets of the Golden City. In any deck that makes tokens, usually a draw 3 for 3, and the floor is Divination, which isn't great, but it's never a dead draw. Also, Exchange of Words is a hilarious way to steal a creature's abilities.
my favorite blue tech for under $1 is anything that has wizard cycling (specific type yes, but creature tutoring in blue is so good in the right deck, especially mono blue) and also Hour of Eternity, again basically only in mono blue, but basically getting a creature back from the grave is so good and unexpected
I use all those cycling cards and ruin grinder in my sauron lord of the rings deck, Cause the mana fixing is amazing starting off with 2 lands and a cycle plus I added archfiend of ifnir, curator of mysteries, ancient excavation, and abandoned sarcophagus and chainer, nightmare adept
its okay Tomer, I love Fade Away as well. it goes PERFECTLY in my "jhoira is my friend-my best friend" karn and jhoira deck, and the flavor text is just glorious!
Lorien Revealed is a blue staple in all my blue decks. Every blue deck starts with 37 lands and Lorien Revealed. Investigator is great in any deck that draws a second card in your turn consistently.
These discussions always end too abruptly and sometimes disappointingly. I think Richard should do a quick poll of the table on their final opinions before moving on to the next card.
Courser of Kruphix works with MDFC, as does Crucible of Worlds. When you play the card, you choose the side and it checks legallity. Mdfc's don't work for growth spiral as you're not playing the land.
Diluvian primordial is still a house. Every time I see it in one of my decks it basically wins the game on the spot. And don’t get me started on what happens if you have the stars align and get to cast it with rionya on the field
The real issue with countering a wrath is that you are saving your enemies boards. Holding up a bit more mana to only protect yourself is worthwhile to me.
Must say that Schema Thief is so good! When the players don't have flying blockers, it's like going shopping looking at what yummy artefacts to copy. Every round!!
BSZ gives you two of that 5 drop. If it’s a commander you might get an ETB off the copy as a bonus, if not- you still get their commander. There’s still a ton of non-legendary fantastic creatures with really good effects. Nobody’s going to copy a mana dork with this or some rando vanilla card, right? It’s really really good, but not necessarily a staple
Crypsis is a super budget sleeper versatile gotcha makes a super blocker even if tapped or gives unblockable, gets crazy with tap to fight effects or deathtouch If you like Crim's phase out idea, why not do it every turn with Teferi's Veil! Lórien Revealed already spiked to $3-5 since this video... I think the black one is also good as there are a lot of decent swamp type lands you can get. I think ravenform is some of the best blue removal, exile creature or artifact is extremely relevant nowadays
Richard's Lorien Revealed take is actually sort of convincing me. Also, another big counterspell similar to Gale's Redirection is Spelljack. I play it in Malestrom Wanderer, alongside Release to the Wind. Getting a free Maelstom every 2/3 time with Gale's Redirection might be worth.
I belive ethereal invedtigator is one of the best blue token generators, wich is a small subtheme but still id rank him just after clone effects and minn.
My underrated card is Well of Ideas. 6mana artifact / draw 2 on ETB / everyone draws an additional card at draw step & you draw +2 cards Its basically Howling Mine on cocaine. You get 2 gets on ETB so theres instant value, then you still get more card draw than your opponents. Giving ppl cards can be helpful in politics/keeping ire off you. And with Orcish Bowmasters & Sheoldred around to punish card draw, you can turn the group hug to group slug.
I have a soft spot for Consuming Tide because it fits so amazingly in my Mairsil deck. But I would still rate it below Evacuation. Instant speed is nuts.
every time i get housed by Mystic Reflection i immediately vow to start putting it in all my blue decks and then forget by the time i'm actually building a blue deck. i've never seen it cast without being a beating in one way or another.
Mystic reflection is in my cedh Shorikai deck. It’s not seen at all really but I think that’s preposterous. It should be EVERYWHERE! Shorikai has 1/1 dorks to turn my opposing docksides and Tymna’s and Korvold’s into.. sooo good! And, better yet, my deck creates pilots that become gilded drake/dockside/Drannith/name it. Card is messed up and super flexible and I think one of the strongest pieces of interaction no one plays. I stopped a Glinthorn win recently by just saying “but what if that Glinthorn was a pilot instead? It’s a card that looks like it’s got a high ceiling low floor. The floor is honestly plenty fine and the ceiling is game warping
Skydiver is great yes, I simply don't want to draw the ire of stealing people's mana! Anyway, I'm glad I found this podcast, I love to have a bunch of nerds like me discussing nerd stuff in extreme detail while I work!
Lorean Revealed is an S. The best cards you missed are Engulf the Shore and Flow of Knowledge (at least for mono blue)
lorean revealed is a pauperEDH all-star. FWIW.
Lorean Revealed + mystic sanctuary in yuriko is great. you can even put itself on top again :D
100% agree with Richard on the land cycling cards. They are so good being able to get triomes and whatnot while always being on curve
The land cyclers are just pauper MDFC's. They're absolutely insane
@@alexscott8799 I love when my mdfcs get all my colors too. So good. I honestly like the white one more than most people, first strike is relevent.
Agreed Richard is 100% correct, these are MDFC's 90% of the time and sometimes stronger. They are worse in landfall decks. The blue one should be in 90% of blue casual decks, the Troll in all graveyard matter decks, the Olypant in any red creature decks, the Eagle in most white go wide decks. Green one kinda sucks. This pod is a bit high on MDFCs, but this cycle of cards is SO close to an MDFC and most are more relevant on the spell side. They should be heavily played cards. If they were uncommons or rares they would be worth speculating on, thankfully they are commons, get 3 or 4 of each for your decks.
Same, I've been doing the same thing with a card from Midnight Hunt or Crimson Vow Called "Dig Up" that searches for any basic land for G and can be a Diabolic Tutor with cleave.
You have to look at it as Land tutor with the other ability as a second function. They are all really sweet for it
Tomer was uninvited from this cast because Richard knew he would champion Fade Away, as he should.
#FreeTomer #FreeFadeAway
I had a surprisingly large number for this!
1. Ingenious Mastery - very efficient at 3 cards for 3 mana + help out an ally. Also scales larger in the lategame.
2. Public Enemy - great at getting people to focus on the true threat at the table if they're not getting it.
3. Reins of Power - judo move that wins games out of creature-light decks. Basically a mini-Insurrection that can be used as a Fog in an emergency.
4. Captivating Glance - control magic at 3 mana. You choose who to clash with, and importantly it doesn't have to be the owner. They will never get their creature back if you don't want them to!
5. Manifold Insights - another efficient card draw at 3 for 3 mana. Great with politics!
6. Wrong Turn - really messes with people, especially at instant speed! Give the archenemy's best creature to an ally.
7. Commit // Memory - never dead. Stalls out a threat earlier and then acts as graveyard hate later.
8. Modify Memory - give the least powerful player a creature belonging to the most powerful player, helping to equalize the table, and draw 3 cards along the way!
9. Sphinx of Enlightenment - blinkable card draw on a huge flyer + help out an ally!
10. Fealty to the Realm - new toy. Introduces the monarchy to the game, and protects you from a creature forever.
I've mentioned these already but Exchange of Words and Secrets of the Golden City seem like they'd go with this list. Also Lord of Change
These land cyclers are some of the best cards from lord of the rings, not quite bowmasters and one ring good but Richard is spot on.
Thieving Skydiver is hugely underrated, early or late game it always preforms well.
No no. Its terrible. Please don't jack up its price until I have my copy. :D
I'd rather remove or copy a mana rack than straight up take it. Stealing permanents just isn't as acceptable.
Big fan of Gale's Redirection, I used it just as Phil described: I exiled the problem card, Ghalta and Mavren, then cast it on my side and steam rolled the table with it.
I’m with Phil on the primordial. I tried playing psionic ritual in tribal tribal and it was dead in my hand so many times. It was good occasionally but it’s less guaranteed than you might initially think
Love this series, please do all the colors
Mystic reflection goes in all my blue decks. It always overperforms and is so flexible!
It's nice! It can be mean in games where it makes sense to be mean, and it can be really silly in games where that's ok!
It's so good in my Noyan Dar deck. Lets you turn someone's commander into a land, which takes it out of the game most of the time. Even better if it's an indestructible land lol.
@@KingRorixyou can only target a creature, right? Won't it just die as a 0/0?
@@HarmonicResonanceScale So, when you target a land creature with Mystic Reflection, the next creature(s) will become a copy of it. However, since it becomes a copy of the *card*, it will become a copy of the land, but it won't have the effect from Noyan Dar that turns it into a creature. Thus, it will be a land only.
Yeah, something they overlooked (maybe because they misread the card, which most people do the first time, myself included) is that you _can_ brick someone’s commander with it.
The “choose target nonlegendary” part only references the creature you want other creatures to enter as, so that you can’t preemptively board wipe someone’s tokens by turning them all into one legendary creature and killing them with the legend rule. But the effect still works on legendary creatures entering the battlefield. So it’s kind of like a Kenrith’s Transformation or Lignify, but better because there’s no permanent attached to it that they can remove.
Do this to their commander and now they have to find a way to kill their commander so they can recast it, unless they can blink it.
It’s like a counterspell that can only hit creatures or planeswalkers for 2 mana, which isn’t phenomenal but it’s playable (also it doesn’t put the thing in their graveyard to be reanimated later), but with the added alternative mode of letting you get one or more of the best creature on the board.
The contrast between Seth and Crim's reactions to suggesting Sword of Body and Mind + Diluvian Primordial...perfect.
IMO 1 mana landcycling is much stronger in practice than in theory. You're not restricted to basics, and you search at instant speed! The red and black ones are solid creatures too if you don't need to cycle. I run Lórien Revealed and Troll of Khazad-dûm in my Raffine Reanimator deck, and they've been nuts for fixing. The troll is also essentially unblockable for easy damage.
I guess it's also strong in theory but the theory just isn't intuitive
If your deck is about reanimation then I imagine they would overperform, I've been looking into making an arcane bombardment deck and that land cycler is going to be cracked in it
I think all the Transmute cards are worth a mention. Most noticeably Muddle the Mixture and Tolaria West. Blue doesn't have many non-Instant/Sorcery tutors so these cards allow you to break the color pie which is alwys noteworthy.
These are actual good cards unlike 5 mana draw 3. That's a pile of fucking steaming shit.
Oh wow I remember tolaria west being like $20 I didn't realize it was cheap now
No lol. Those ones are only good (heavy quotation marks on the "good" for Tolaria West) because the effects are actually like not super far off from being okay without transmute, so they're actually good modal spells. The rest completely suck ass outside of specifically situations like dizzy spell in Orvar.
Three weeks later, Lorain revealed has been heavily picked up on. $3 roughly. My lgs has it marked at $5.
Very good card in almost every format.
Phil is right that Exploration effects don't work with landcycling, because you want the land to already be in your hand when you cast the extra land drop effect.
also misses the key interaction between MDFCs and bouncelands. wouldn't run it unless I had some synergy with it.
Perfect timing : I was finishing a mono blue deck and forgot about two cards of the list when I initially wanted to put them in the deck. Thanks for the reminder, guys !
My pick would be Venser, an oldy but a goody. On top of being my favourite magic card, it's an instant speed blocker that can solve most problems, can be flickered, the etb can be doubled, etc.
ethereal investigator works great in Zimone and Dina, you draw a ton of cards and it also gives you sac fodder for them
In commander, after having played against way too many commanders who gain indestructible, my removal is almost always exile target permanent. My go to spells over pongify or rapid hybridization is always a resculpt, ravenform, or reality shift. In the case of raven form or resculpt, I would rather hit their koma or whatever with the exile removal and deal with the 1/1 flyer or 4/4 elemental than deal with the fact that my removal cannot get around indestructible. Reality shift is just rolling the dice, but it is good. Plus all of these options are very budget friendly compared to some of the other prices of blue removal cards.
Richard. Unsummon and counterspell together are blue's removal package, blue has to use more cards to get the same effect as other colors, but that's ok because it also draws more cards than other colors.
Except for black
Used mystic reflection targeting a dockside before and made 5 docksides at once. Love that card.
I used to play Diluvian Primordial back in in 2013 along with Sylvan Primordial before its banning. The Expectation being I would cast big game ending spells but in reality was usually a Demonic tutor, a removal spell, and a ramp spell. I think it could be used as a late game blue ramp/ landfall card.
Vizier of Tumbling Sands it cycles and untaps essentially it's blue ramp. Also can be used to make deals by ramping other players
lmao
@@jadegrace1312 yeah, a cheap under played card that easily combos with ten other cards to produce infinite mana is pretty funny I guess.
@@discoviolenza1984 It's not underplayed and it's part of zero 2 card combos besides kiki combos, which you could use a million bettee cards for.
Nascent Metamorph is one of my favorite blue creatures under $1
The creatures based land cyclers are even better for some specific decks such as living end as they also provide you with reanimation targets while fixing your mana.
I didn’t know schema thief existed, now I need it for Kamiz. It wants double strike, and maybe unblockable sometimes if flyers are protecting a good artifact
I am like 8min into this video, and 100% adding Lorien Revealed to my mono blue deck. For sure. I am trying to get it up to 38 lands and like a MDFC I can consider this a makeshift one. This card is amazing and I had not seen that all. And the deck is a flash Teferi deck, and I don't even care that is a sorcery. i run Sea Gate restoration. That's a sorcery too. This is amazing tech. And I 100% overlooked it. Thanks guys!
just start every deck with 41 lands
On the topic of the land cyclers, it’s the exact reason I run Dig Up in every single deck that can run it. It’s basically an MDFC in all the same ways!
Richard's card evaluation is always on point. Skullwinder, Secret Rendezvous, and Lorien Revealed are all great examples of his ability to evaluate cards without getting distracted by preconceptions.
Except when it comes to STR, I agree. I hard disagree that you should run only one card of STR. You should have at least 8, because you can't count on other players to to remove the thing that will kill you.
Swords to plowshares is unplayable is on point?
@@nykthosacolyte for the game he plays, yes.
@@DoctorPhanan no he is very much wrong and just delusional in that regard. Remember he also considers whites worst modern piece of land ramp a white staple.
Bad take
Ixidron my favorite blue wrath and scourge of fleets one of my favorite mass bounce cards
10:09
So interesting to see Crim’s take on this card especially when it’s now know to be so valued as a very flexible card.
Also without hearing why my guess is that it’s sorcery speed.
Little bit of a magic Christmas land moment, but I landed a mystic reflection on an orcish bowmaster while my six scute swarm tokens had a land trigger on the stack.
Witness Protection is great! I play it a lot. Schema Thief is better than Skydiver because cloning is inherently less obnoxious than stealing - less spite.
My pick for underrated budget blue cards is a set of Foretell spells: Saw It Coming, Ravenform, Behold the Multiverse, maybe Tales of the Ancestors, and, if you can stretch just past a dollar, Spectral Deluge. This package includes card advantage, removal, countermagic, and a sweeper; it's not hard to find a window to foretell them (and they're all fairly playable even if not foretold); and the more Foretell cards you have, the better they all become for the same reason that all Morphs are Willbender.
I love and play all these cards. Thanks for the reminder!
Spectral Adversary for me, keeps alive key pieces and/or mana rocks through both targeted and mass removal. The lads alluded to there being more exile removal being printed and I agree, when playing blue I find myself look to phasing out as a defence rather than hexproof as "exile each x" is more prevalent. I like change of plans too, but it only hit creatures, this, while being way less efficient on mana, will realistically keep 1-2 of your best permanents safe, with the potential for more.
Spectral Adversary
{1}{U}
Creature - Spirit
Flash
Flying
When Spectral Adversary enters the battlefield, you may pay {1}{U} any number of times. When you pay this cost one or more times, put that many +1/+1 counters on Spectral Adversary, then up to that many other target artifacts, creatures, and/or enchantments phase out.
2/1
Since we're on the budget topic: will there be another budget commander clash this season? Feel like 1 tix is too restrictive though, but a 3 tix budget would be a nice middle ground. That would be restrictive enough to see unpopular cards be played, while leaving a little room for some spice.
I remember playing mystic reflection in my Zimone and Dina deck. I emergent ultimatum'd and found avenger of zendikar, mystic reflection, and Sir Konrad the Grim. My opponent put Konrad back because they weren't scared of my targeting the avenger of zendikar with the mystic reflection. They were surprised when I targeted THEIR blood artist with the avenger etb on the stack. I made 15 blood artist, then toxic deluged for 3. 15 blood artist triggering simultaneously ended the game. People get fixated on the known combo and overlook what the card is actually going to do.
2 months later and Lorien Revealed and the Troll of Khazad-Dum are all over legacy and at least arguably playable in certain Vintage builds
Only other problem I see with lorien revealed is that you can't keep it as your only land in hand. Prob shouldn't keep a 1 lander anyway but if you have another landcycle card as your other land I'd likely rather have actual mdfcs in my hand
The way everyone reacts to Crim calling Lorien revealed terrible around 9:58 is perfect and I think it could easily be made into a short
I really like Change of Plans as a card in Minn, Wily Illusionist. Protects the board, and even gives you draw triggers to create an illusion through the connives if you need it!
Saheeli's artistry is both a clone and a ramp spell for whatever the largest mana rock on the battlefield it. It can do fun things with archaomancers or eternal witnesses as well.
Stormtide leviathan is a great budget threat that also stops other people from attacking.
Treasure cruise and dig through time are both surprisingly cheap and just as powerful as in other formats but people always forget about them since they are thought of as 60 card cards.
I’d love to see this episode repeated in other colors! Its really fun!
Richard is one of the most intelligent card evaluators. I have learned quite a bit listening to his opinions about cards. He thinks outside of the box. If I could take a MTG lesson from one of the MTGGoldfish members, I would choose Richard. Others are great too, but in my mind, Richard stands out.
Definitely agree with him the most. I think the one thing we'll never agree on is his love of Secret Rendezvous
Swords to plowshares.... Hawk... He has some VERY questionable takes when it comes to white cards
He said a one mana removal spell that always works is bad and you should play a seven mana creature and hope your opponent has a wrath in the graveyard instead which would kill itself anyway
Richard is questionable at best at card evaluation and you guys are questionable at best at evaluating commentators
@@nykthosacolyte Yeah I don't agree with everything he says, but I agree with him the most out of the crew. They are all too light on removal. His philosophy is to let others kill something for you, but that's easier said than done.
@@efnfen If we're being completely honest, everybody is questionable at card evaluation. I don't agree with him all the time, especially in regard to removal, but I do agree with him the most.
Nice to see filter out at the end there. definitely a good budget blue pseudo-boardwipe
Richard mentioned blue cards that are green hate. High Seas is an enchantment that taxes green and red creatures. Paying that little extra can sometimes make all the difference
Late to the party because I was overseas, but Richard successfully turned me into a Lorien Revealed believer. I run a handful of MDFCs in my decks, and in the blue ones, it should replace Silundi Vision. It does a couple things that are great. 1. As stated in the cast, it grabs multicolored lands. That is amazing for fixing. 2. It is an okay draw spell and compared to Silundi Vision, it can't blank. 3. Unlike MDFCs, it thins your deck. The lesser the likelihood of drawing a land late game, the better.
Schema Thief + Double Strike could prove to be a more reliable ramp option in decks that care about the Flying and/or Rogue synergies whereas Solemn is the generic never fail option.
-Eater of Virtue (?)
-Whispersilk Cloak (?)
I like it, good call out!
Totally agree on Lorien Revealed. Also I did not know about Ethereal Investigator, so into Shorikai it goes.
I feel like thieving skydiver doesn't get the love it deserves because the arena shuffler always gives it to you when you only have two Mana
consuming tide is rock solid and arguably better than coastal breach but i run coastal breach and flood of tears in EVERY blue deck and i run consuming tide, devastation tide and crush of tentacles too in a more competitive deck.
coastal breach is EXTREMELY clutch for when someone has a crazy start and pops off real early especially with multiple rocks and/or dorks. it's always fun to see someone with a bunch of creatures and artifacts and treasures bounce everything and be left with like 3 lands.
teferi's veil is great in blue creature decks, ive been running it in an unesh deck and its an absolute hoser for sorcery speed removal and more importantly wraths, and you can still leave behind blockers or static abilities
Abjure is my favorite blue card under $1. Great counterspell if you can reliably make blue tokens. I use it in Minn, wiley illusionist. If Minn is in play and you sac the token to cast abjure, you also get to put a land from hand into play b/c of Minn. Basically a free counter.
Oldie but a goodie, Deep-Sea Kraken is just rhystic study for a like 2 turn cycles. 3 mana suspend to draw about 5-7 cards and get a 6/6 unblockable creature
In terms of "tether" effects like Kenrith's Transformation, Darksteel, etc. - obviously the one that draws the cards is best, but in terms of permanence, Oubliette is top tier at locking out commanders and anythinf that might've invested in terms of auras and equipments. It's back-breaking against some decks and might lose you friends though
Currently building my first ever commander deck and I am very hwppy to find half of these cards on the intended decklist. :)
Budget Azorious Control, no / low stax, no planeswalkers.
I like that the Forestcycler can both search Murmering Bosk but also let you play it untapped if you happen to get both in a hand, just a small boon to it for Abzan builds ahah.
If people are not expecting mind control you can probably keep whatever you steal for a couple of turns stealing commanders is back breaking. If they know you play a mind control in all of your decks you run more of a chance of getting blown out 1:27:00
You guys are spot on about capsize, it is that powerful, and the true cost is losing friends, did run it in my popper EDH deck and it does win games but in an unfun way
Change of plans is an awesome card in Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief 😁
Witness protection is great for one mana especially for commanders who are a problem early game.
The player has to use own resources to kill it unless they have a sac outlet. Most people will not block it and will use creatures to evasion so their commander stays enchanted.
With witness protection be in white as well. Cast some that doesnt allow it to attack or block to keep it down.
exclude and leadership vacum are my underated cards. they are ways todeal with commanders without going down a card
I play Mystic Reflection in Breya, my best play with it was creating a bunch of treasure from Brass’s Bounty and making them Esper Sentinels
This video was great. I looked at a couple cards I had in a different light and I’ll probably pick up some others
I've seen people play the land cycling creatures in a Living End shell - seems pretty good there!
If only we were playing modern and not commander where they suck
I was 100% on board with Blue Sun's Twilight. Then See Double came out and i swapped all of my Twilights out. Copying something on the stack and on board is just strong. Ive copied someones Xyris and Mirkwood Bats once and ooo was I cookin that game
1:03:40 Seth's face here was priceless.
Ethereal Investigator is excellent in Donal, Herald of Wings. Make a copy, get 6 clue tokens and every 2nd card you draw create 2 1/1 Spirits with flying. Gets even more nuts if you can make additional copies 😁
Agent of Treachery isn’t the best theft card, it’s Gilded Drake
Another card for the list: Secrets of the Golden City. In any deck that makes tokens, usually a draw 3 for 3, and the floor is Divination, which isn't great, but it's never a dead draw. Also, Exchange of Words is a hilarious way to steal a creature's abilities.
I use exchange of words in my Alela deck, and it has won me games 😹
Selhoff Occultist is a fun riff on an aristocrat card - decent for reanimator with tokens like zombies, Sidisi Brood Tyrant enjoys it as well.
Looking forward to videos for the other colors! Or whatever other umbrella for great budget cards!
my favorite blue tech for under $1 is anything that has wizard cycling (specific type yes, but creature tutoring in blue is so good in the right deck, especially mono blue) and also Hour of Eternity, again basically only in mono blue, but basically getting a creature back from the grave is so good and unexpected
I use all those cycling cards and ruin grinder in my sauron lord of the rings deck, Cause the mana fixing is amazing starting off with 2 lands and a cycle plus I added archfiend of ifnir, curator of mysteries, ancient excavation, and abandoned sarcophagus and chainer, nightmare adept
its okay Tomer, I love Fade Away as well.
it goes PERFECTLY in my "jhoira is my friend-my best friend" karn and jhoira deck, and the flavor text is just glorious!
Mystic reflection is such a great card! I love all the shenanigans you can do with that card
Mindshrieker from original Innistrad. Its my favorite card in all of Magic :)
I just looked it up and I definitely don’t hate it.
i spark doubled my locus god and casted mystic reflections when i wheeled. very fun
Lorien Revealed is a blue staple in all my blue decks. Every blue deck starts with 37 lands and Lorien Revealed. Investigator is great in any deck that draws a second card in your turn consistently.
These discussions always end too abruptly and sometimes disappointingly. I think Richard should do a quick poll of the table on their final opinions before moving on to the next card.
Richard was spot on with lorien reveled and time the ultimate arbiter has borne that out.
Courser of Kruphix works with MDFC, as does Crucible of Worlds. When you play the card, you choose the side and it checks legallity. Mdfc's don't work for growth spiral as you're not playing the land.
Diluvian primordial is still a house. Every time I see it in one of my decks it basically wins the game on the spot. And don’t get me started on what happens if you have the stars align and get to cast it with rionya on the field
The real issue with countering a wrath is that you are saving your enemies boards. Holding up a bit more mana to only protect yourself is worthwhile to me.
agree
Must say that Schema Thief is so good! When the players don't have flying blockers, it's like going shopping looking at what yummy artefacts to copy. Every round!!
BSZ gives you two of that 5 drop. If it’s a commander you might get an ETB off the copy as a bonus, if not- you still get their commander. There’s still a ton of non-legendary fantastic creatures with really good effects. Nobody’s going to copy a mana dork with this or some rando vanilla card, right? It’s really really good, but not necessarily a staple
I play the Diluvian Primordial in my Donal deck, get a copy of it, get double the fun! Same for Thieving Skydiver😉
Where is Budget Commander Tomer on the budget episode?
Feels wrong
Crypsis is a super budget sleeper versatile gotcha makes a super blocker even if tapped or gives unblockable, gets crazy with tap to fight effects or deathtouch
If you like Crim's phase out idea, why not do it every turn with Teferi's Veil!
Lórien Revealed already spiked to $3-5 since this video... I think the black one is also good as there are a lot of decent swamp type lands you can get.
I think ravenform is some of the best blue removal, exile creature or artifact is extremely relevant nowadays
Richard's Lorien Revealed take is actually sort of convincing me. Also, another big counterspell similar to Gale's Redirection is Spelljack. I play it in Malestrom Wanderer, alongside Release to the Wind. Getting a free Maelstom every 2/3 time with Gale's Redirection might be worth.
I belive ethereal invedtigator is one of the best blue token generators, wich is a small subtheme but still id rank him just after clone effects and minn.
My underrated card is Well of Ideas. 6mana artifact / draw 2 on ETB / everyone draws an additional card at draw step & you draw +2 cards
Its basically Howling Mine on cocaine. You get 2 gets on ETB so theres instant value, then you still get more card draw than your opponents.
Giving ppl cards can be helpful in politics/keeping ire off you. And with Orcish Bowmasters & Sheoldred around to punish card draw, you can turn the group hug to group slug.
I have a soft spot for Consuming Tide because it fits so amazingly in my Mairsil deck. But I would still rate it below Evacuation. Instant speed is nuts.
Dakra mystic is my most underrated blue card!
Sold me Lorien Revealed is a good card for budget
every time i get housed by Mystic Reflection i immediately vow to start putting it in all my blue decks and then forget by the time i'm actually building a blue deck.
i've never seen it cast without being a beating in one way or another.
Consuming tide is huge in my tatyova steward of tides deck, nonland permanents so my landcreatures stay on the field ^^
As a steal effect I like dominate. It's a little more mana intensive but it's an instant speed. It's fun. It's not busted or anything. Just fun
Richard knows the true power of Lorien! I'm adding one to my budget Niv Miz deck.
Mystic reflection is in my cedh Shorikai deck. It’s not seen at all really but I think that’s preposterous. It should be EVERYWHERE! Shorikai has 1/1 dorks to turn my opposing docksides and Tymna’s and Korvold’s into.. sooo good! And, better yet, my deck creates pilots that become gilded drake/dockside/Drannith/name it.
Card is messed up and super flexible and I think one of the strongest pieces of interaction no one plays. I stopped a Glinthorn win recently by just saying “but what if that Glinthorn was a pilot instead?
It’s a card that looks like it’s got a high ceiling low floor. The floor is honestly plenty fine and the ceiling is game warping
Skydiver is great yes, I simply don't want to draw the ire of stealing people's mana!
Anyway, I'm glad I found this podcast, I love to have a bunch of nerds like me discussing nerd stuff in extreme detail while I work!