I feel the same! I saw him and immediately knew I was gonna build him for 2 reasons. First, he reminds me a lot of the card Feaster of Fools, which is a super flavorful card. Second, my name is Jarren!
I also love Ludevic, don't feel completely alone, you're just the only commander content creator who actually wants to make interesting and fun EDH decks. People see that the card doesn't instantly 1-card combo with something and they dismiss it as a "bad" card. Fucking idiots. WotC expanding the format and printing powerful and pushed cards have pushed the format in the wrong direction. There's a reason your channel is called EDH deckbuilding and not Commander deckbuilding. You're an old soul who actually understands what the format was created for and why the format is great - creativity and connecting with friends. Thanks for all the great content mate, keep it up
Hi Demo, just to say, I really love your decklist, I tried Rem Karolus deck that you recommended last and it's really really fun! It really caught my friends off guard cos they thought I just played junk commander and she beat the heck out of them in the end lol Your deck idea really creative and really put a fun and new gameplay to my group Thank you so much!!
One thing about Sphinx of the Second Sun that people get mixed up because it's worded in such a weird way: "At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, you get an additional beginning phase *after this phase* ." Meaning, you won't have a full second main phase where you've untapped all your permanents, this happens after, even though it *triggers* at the beginning.
Just commented about the same thing before I saw you had already said the same thing! It's worded really weird and I can see why people get confused about it.
Yes great deck tech here! Ludevic is the one commander I wanted to brew from this set. The only thing I would add is either Thassa, Deep Dwelling or Conjurer's Closet. Probaby CC as it is a "may" ability. Having a repeatable blink effect for him would be helpful.
I know he's an old one, but Ive had a borborygmos deck for about a month and Id love to see what you could drum up that I haven't thought of. I love your vids and your channel. Im really happy you're starting to get the attention you deserve!
I built oops all creatures for Ludevic. Even as a trade binder deck, it held its own. Got wrecked by Rest in Peace, but I ended up getting my revenge by stealing a Cathars Crusade and getting him down to basically dead. Fun deck, will continue playing.
I'm conflicted. I wonder if requiring the flicker stuff makes Ludevic a bit too gimmicky. The 2 mana Lazav is very similar, except you can be super flexible cause you can change back on demand. Sure, you can't turn Lazav into an It that Betrays cause that costs 12 mana instead of 5. But if you need to invest on average 2 mana to flicker Ludevic so he turns back, you can turn him into Nezahal and back for 7 mana. That's the same rate as Lazav, except you also have to use another card to flicker (which you might not even have in hand). Very interesting commander for sure (and certainly different from Lazav), but I'm not entirely sold on whether or not he's different ENOUGH.
One way Ludevic is better is Infect, I suppose. You can really exile that Phyrexian Crusader/ Blighted Agent/Flesh-Eater Imp to get a base 4/4 body with some +1/+1 counters. At worst you can exile Blighted Agent and 5 other things for 10 mana at sorcery speed and you've got an unblockable 10/10 infect but jeez that's pretty bad... At best pay 5, exile just Flesh-Eater Imp and sacrifice some other stuff or maybe you've got an Ozolith or a fireshrieker to get to 10 but that's not that great either... And you're losing out on Lazav's ability to do it at instant speed, which is a big blow to his survivability.
My other problem with this deck is that you could just resurrect those creatures the regular way paying 4 or 5 mana and get an actual It That Betrays on the field, without jumping through hoops, and without exiling it.
That's not how Sphinx of the Second Sun works. "At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, you get an additional beginning phase *after* this (postcombat main) phase". The untap occurs after the main phase, not after the combat phase.
Definitely a very cool commander, I think people overlook him because they think "if I want to pay 5 mana and make my commander a copy of something in a graveyard... why would I not use the Mimeoplasm and get access to green?" The thing is Ludevic gives you the ability to take advantage of some cards Mimeoplasm can't, like Phage... can't use Phage with Mimeoplasm. And even though they are very similar, they can both be made into really cool decks.
I thought wotc did a good job designing him, I love the transformation of him. I hoping to get him for a pack or cheap foil copy. Thanks for reminding of the blinking of him, totally cool. You got 2 of the options I like that alot of people were hating, thanks.
Everyone is excited to build Werewolves, Humans, and Zombies. I got excited for Adeline and built her. She's a fantastic aggro Commander. After playing a few games with Leinore, I think she would be great as a Selesnya Modular Commander. You don't see many GW artifact decks, and this is a way to buff creatures and draw a couple extra cards. Gorex seems like a great value Commander, and finally I can live my dream of building an ETB deck in every mono color. So many good brews for this set alone (and we're getting another one in a month!), and some people want to complain that we don't have a Werewolf precon. Very sad.
Well the idea is cool it seems like he's a different version of the scarab God. He might cost less but his ability can only be used once before you have to reset him.
Looks like a fun idea ... as a potential backup card you could also consider Lazav, The multifarious as he can become a copy of creatures in your graveyard for x (x = mana value of creature). Not fully sure why people dislike this commander although yes ... there is an abundance of commanders. To be honest with an eternal format this situation is always unavoidable though, you only gain more options over time.
I just had a draft tourny and he was srsly the OG in my zombie mill deck. He won me the game every time he was on the field (apart from the match where he got phased out by that ghost with Flash,....) I am gonna put in him in my dimir Mill deck, and heck, i might even put him at the helm, and focus on self mill instead of milling others out.
I think Necrotic ooze and patchwork crawler are fantastic in this deck too. You can make your own Griselbrand for example for Asmodeus. And shouldnt be too hard either since we have all the entomb effects.
even a simple unsummon will do. there are also ton of creatures that taps to unsummon. you kinda weak to counter but the cost is the same as displace. and unsummon is quite nice defensevly as well
Great video as always! The thing about the Sphinx of the Second Sun is that it is worded really confusingly. The trigger goes to stack at the beginning of the post-combat main phase but you get the beginning phase only AFTER the main phase, so you don't get to untap after combat and still cast at sorcery speed. I run the sphinx in my Eligeth deck and realized only recently I've been running it wrong the whole time :D
I really like it the deck. And this commander. Just be careful with Nezahal because after you exile Olag to its own ability, you can’t get nezahal back because it’s been exiled from the graveyard.
The way the card is worded, it seems you can reselect among cards you’ve exiled with it previously, and that the +1 / +1 will accumulate, if he is re-transformed. Is that so? I don’t know if this is obvious, or if I’m reading it wrong, but I haven’t heard anyone mentioning it. It seems significant.
i don't think so sadly olag say "it becomes a copy of a card exiled with it" refering to himself and when a commander die and you recast it, it's a complete new creature and will not see cards exiled with the previous ludevic
I think a lot of the "hate" for Ludevic comes from three sources: first, many of the early influential creators really set the tone for this card, second, it plays very similarly to the existing Mimeoplasm at first glance, and third, Ludevic has a historical record of getting bad cards and I think people really wanted his non-Partner version to get more carrot and less stick. Moreover, Mimeoplasm isn't the only card that looks like it's better at first glance- things like Mairsil or Moritte also have more "power" in fewer "hoops". That said, I like this card. I don't intend to build it- I already have a pretty potent Mimeoplasm deck that fills such a role- but there's two areas in which I think this card is the better pick. Ludevic is a lot slower to accumulate a back-breaking tax thanks to the 2MV+Transform cost, and I think you can get away with self or mass mill much more effectively than you can in Mimeoplasm. The "dominant strategy" isn't really voltron, mostly because you lack access to Green, but there's combo potential. I'm just sad stuff like Champion of Wits doesn't work due to being ETB.
We are spoiled. WOTC should never have designed cards in standard sets for other formats, let us figure it out. LOL So I bought a prerelease pack from my LGS and the best card I pulled from my final booster was, *drumroll, a foil Ludevic. A floating alien head called a Cromulon put it best: Show me what you got LOL Phage, one of my all time favorite pet cards :P
Maybe the second Lazav is doing the same thing as ludevic, without exiling the card., and that's the reason, ludevic isn't appealing to a lot of people.
my biggest let down with this card is the fact that you can't transform it into something else after it transformed. Yeah, there are ways around it, but for me it's too many hoops to jump through. Either way the deck idea is cool, I might try it
Grave titan comes to mind, also lord of the void, vilis broker of blood, tree of perdition would make ludevic into a chonker. Labman to get the win that way off your commander. Sheoldred, ascendant evincar are all also good cards.
The problem with Ludevic is that he is just a straight up worse version of The scarab god under every circumstance. TSG is in the same colors, does the exact same thing, does it better and on top of that does other things.
Can...you understand what exiling two things or more with this can mean...? The cost for exiling a 7 becomes 5, but exiling a 7 mana creatures and another 7 One, It becomes 6 instead of *14*, this is huge, not to Tell that this can make this creature combo with itself. By having this you can pick cards that infinite with eachother and PUT BOTH THEIR ABILITYS IN PLAY WITH ONE CARD This is *SO BROKEN*
yeah you read the card wrong bud. it only copies ONE of the creatures it exiles. if you exile multiple creatures you can still only copy one. it just gives you more counters.
The problem with Olag is that it’s just a strictly worse Mimeoplasm for several reasons; > access to green for both ramp, ways to remove permanents dimir can’t and great graveyard synergies > scales better w it’s effect than Olag due to it’s wording > can be cloned than Olag due to being legendary a lot less of the time. > it’s sultai, c’mon If you build this commander you can simply splash green and add cards like Underrealm Lich, Fauna Shaman, Hermit Druid, Survival of the Fittest if you have money, the new removal you have access to, etc.
And this isn’t like there’s a preference between them Bc they play differently, Olag is quite literally worse in every single conceivable way and that’s not even talking about it’s colors.
I’d go further to say “WotC did it to themselves & US ALL”. The nerve of their insatiable greed to push sales to no end, purely on the back of bluntly powerful “good”, “must-have” new cards
I'm building a Mimeoplasm with Umori Companion, oops all creatures deck. I'm including Ludevic in that. I like Ludevic, but I agree he just seems like a worse Mimeoplasm.
I stopped watching after he started complaining about the X cost having to be above zero. Think about it. If the X cost is zero, then wtf is the transformed ludevic going to transform into? Gosh...
Lol i feel you on being the only one liking one commander. I immediately got hyped for Jerren but I feel very alone on that lmao
might have to come out with a deck tech for him too.
I feel the same! I saw him and immediately knew I was gonna build him for 2 reasons. First, he reminds me a lot of the card Feaster of Fools, which is a super flavorful card. Second, my name is Jarren!
I built him! It actually turned into a pretty fun and effective Deck with a not so effective commander.
I also love Ludevic, don't feel completely alone, you're just the only commander content creator who actually wants to make interesting and fun EDH decks. People see that the card doesn't instantly 1-card combo with something and they dismiss it as a "bad" card. Fucking idiots. WotC expanding the format and printing powerful and pushed cards have pushed the format in the wrong direction. There's a reason your channel is called EDH deckbuilding and not Commander deckbuilding. You're an old soul who actually understands what the format was created for and why the format is great - creativity and connecting with friends. Thanks for all the great content mate, keep it up
Hi Demo, just to say, I really love your decklist, I tried Rem Karolus deck that you recommended last and it's really really fun!
It really caught my friends off guard cos they thought I just played junk commander and she beat the heck out of them in the end lol
Your deck idea really creative and really put a fun and new gameplay to my group
Thank you so much!!
One thing about Sphinx of the Second Sun that people get mixed up because it's worded in such a weird way:
"At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, you get an additional beginning phase *after this phase* ."
Meaning, you won't have a full second main phase where you've untapped all your permanents, this happens after, even though it *triggers* at the beginning.
Just commented about the same thing before I saw you had already said the same thing! It's worded really weird and I can see why people get confused about it.
lol I did the same. now I feel petulant
I remember having to play Oros, the Avenger because there were no other RBW generals. We’ve come a long way
I'm so excited to build Oleg. That card reminds me of William Birkin from resident evil 2
Yes great deck tech here! Ludevic is the one commander I wanted to brew from this set. The only thing I would add is either Thassa, Deep Dwelling or Conjurer's Closet. Probaby CC as it is a "may" ability. Having a repeatable blink effect for him would be helpful.
Definitely agree he is one of the coolest commanders from the set, and is the first one ive been excited to try and pair with gyruda
Always love your deck tech ideas and this is just another example. Can’t wait to build my own variant of this.
I know he's an old one, but Ive had a borborygmos deck for about a month and Id love to see what you could drum up that I haven't thought of. I love your vids and your channel. Im really happy you're starting to get the attention you deserve!
I'm glad somebody else liked this card! Ludevic was the one revisit I never knew I needed; but when this was leaked, I thought he looked super cool
Was excited to see if you were going to do a deck tech for ludevic. I thought he was really interesting and fun to play with
Oriq Lorenage is a strong contender for my favourite new card this year
I built oops all creatures for Ludevic. Even as a trade binder deck, it held its own. Got wrecked by Rest in Peace, but I ended up getting my revenge by stealing a Cathars Crusade and getting him down to basically dead. Fun deck, will continue playing.
Forever gonna call him Old Egg. Hes a pretty cool take on cloning.
Just a cool $500 deck...
Would be curious to see your take on a budget version.
A person could probably do a spellshaper/unblockable theme, maybe with some synergistic beaters like arch fiend of ifnir and wormfang manta.
Really love deck techs like these
I'm conflicted. I wonder if requiring the flicker stuff makes Ludevic a bit too gimmicky. The 2 mana Lazav is very similar, except you can be super flexible cause you can change back on demand. Sure, you can't turn Lazav into an It that Betrays cause that costs 12 mana instead of 5. But if you need to invest on average 2 mana to flicker Ludevic so he turns back, you can turn him into Nezahal and back for 7 mana. That's the same rate as Lazav, except you also have to use another card to flicker (which you might not even have in hand).
Very interesting commander for sure (and certainly different from Lazav), but I'm not entirely sold on whether or not he's different ENOUGH.
That's a good point ☝️
One way Ludevic is better is Infect, I suppose. You can really exile that Phyrexian Crusader/ Blighted Agent/Flesh-Eater Imp to get a base 4/4 body with some +1/+1 counters. At worst you can exile Blighted Agent and 5 other things for 10 mana at sorcery speed and you've got an unblockable 10/10 infect but jeez that's pretty bad... At best pay 5, exile just Flesh-Eater Imp and sacrifice some other stuff or maybe you've got an Ozolith or a fireshrieker to get to 10 but that's not that great either...
And you're losing out on Lazav's ability to do it at instant speed, which is a big blow to his survivability.
My other problem with this deck is that you could just resurrect those creatures the regular way paying 4 or 5 mana and get an actual It That Betrays on the field, without jumping through hoops, and without exiling it.
Holy shit, this is the first time i've seen someone suggest lim dul. I have him as my first commander.
That's not how Sphinx of the Second Sun works. "At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, you get an additional beginning phase *after* this (postcombat main) phase". The untap occurs after the main phase, not after the combat phase.
Definitely a very cool commander, I think people overlook him because they think "if I want to pay 5 mana and make my commander a copy of something in a graveyard... why would I not use the Mimeoplasm and get access to green?" The thing is Ludevic gives you the ability to take advantage of some cards Mimeoplasm can't, like Phage... can't use Phage with Mimeoplasm. And even though they are very similar, they can both be made into really cool decks.
I thought wotc did a good job designing him, I love the transformation of him. I hoping to get him for a pack or cheap foil copy. Thanks for reminding of the blinking of him, totally cool. You got 2 of the options I like that alot of people were hating, thanks.
Everyone is excited to build Werewolves, Humans, and Zombies.
I got excited for Adeline and built her. She's a fantastic aggro Commander. After playing a few games with Leinore, I think she would be great as a Selesnya Modular Commander. You don't see many GW artifact decks, and this is a way to buff creatures and draw a couple extra cards. Gorex seems like a great value Commander, and finally I can live my dream of building an ETB deck in every mono color.
So many good brews for this set alone (and we're getting another one in a month!), and some people want to complain that we don't have a Werewolf precon. Very sad.
Displacer Kitten and dead eye navigator on this here bad boy does work.
Cool deck! Seems a bit light on lands/ramp? The ability is a bit mana hungry and imagine you still want to hold up mana for protection.
Wait. I can't chose a creature that I exiled before with the effect of Ludevic after a new activation?
I was thinking that, as well as the +1/+1 counters being added for all previous creatures he’s exiled as well.
Well the idea is cool it seems like he's a different version of the scarab God. He might cost less but his ability can only be used once before you have to reset him.
Looks like a fun idea ... as a potential backup card you could also consider Lazav, The multifarious as he can become a copy of creatures in your graveyard for x (x = mana value of creature). Not fully sure why people dislike this commander although yes ... there is an abundance of commanders. To be honest with an eternal format this situation is always unavoidable though, you only gain more options over time.
he's in the deck.
I just had a draft tourny and he was srsly the OG in my zombie mill deck. He won me the game every time he was on the field (apart from the match where he got phased out by that ghost with Flash,....)
I am gonna put in him in my dimir Mill deck, and heck, i might even put him at the helm, and focus on self mill instead of milling others out.
I was waiting on this one, hell yeah!!
I was Also pretty psyched for Ludevic , don't have many Dimir decks but he looks fun and not toooo crazy busted, just the power level I enjoy
I think Necrotic ooze and patchwork crawler are fantastic in this deck too. You can make your own Griselbrand for example for Asmodeus. And shouldnt be too hard either since we have all the entomb effects.
even a simple unsummon will do. there are also ton of creatures that taps to unsummon. you kinda weak to counter but the cost is the same as displace. and unsummon is quite nice defensevly as well
Great video as always!
The thing about the Sphinx of the Second Sun is that it is worded really confusingly. The trigger goes to stack at the beginning of the post-combat main phase but you get the beginning phase only AFTER the main phase, so you don't get to untap after combat and still cast at sorcery speed.
I run the sphinx in my Eligeth deck and realized only recently I've been running it wrong the whole time :D
He worth adding to the new zombie commander deck? Just pulled him and am strongly considering it.
Zombie Master's oracle text only gives OTHER zombies swampwalk and regeneration so Olag wouldn't have those abilities either.
yeah so copying the zombie master here seems silly. you would just play it normally, giving your commander those abilities.
I really like it the deck. And this commander. Just be careful with Nezahal because after you exile Olag to its own ability, you can’t get nezahal back because it’s been exiled from the graveyard.
Scion of Drako could be a fun card to put into this.
The way the card is worded, it seems you can reselect among cards you’ve exiled with it previously, and that the +1 / +1 will accumulate, if he is re-transformed. Is that so?
I don’t know if this is obvious, or if I’m reading it wrong, but I haven’t heard anyone mentioning it. It seems significant.
I was thinking the same thing because it doesn't say "exiled this way" in it's text. So I'm assuming you are correct.
i don't think so sadly olag say
"it becomes a copy of a card exiled with it" refering to himself and when a commander die and you recast it, it's a complete new creature and will not see cards exiled with the previous ludevic
@@felipelandi1766 Ah, good catch! I think you are right!
Just pulled one out of a collector's booster today ^_^
I think a lot of the "hate" for Ludevic comes from three sources: first, many of the early influential creators really set the tone for this card, second, it plays very similarly to the existing Mimeoplasm at first glance, and third, Ludevic has a historical record of getting bad cards and I think people really wanted his non-Partner version to get more carrot and less stick. Moreover, Mimeoplasm isn't the only card that looks like it's better at first glance- things like Mairsil or Moritte also have more "power" in fewer "hoops".
That said, I like this card. I don't intend to build it- I already have a pretty potent Mimeoplasm deck that fills such a role- but there's two areas in which I think this card is the better pick. Ludevic is a lot slower to accumulate a back-breaking tax thanks to the 2MV+Transform cost, and I think you can get away with self or mass mill much more effectively than you can in Mimeoplasm. The "dominant strategy" isn't really voltron, mostly because you lack access to Green, but there's combo potential. I'm just sad stuff like Champion of Wits doesn't work due to being ETB.
We are spoiled. WOTC should never have designed cards in standard sets for other formats, let us figure it out.
LOL So I bought a prerelease pack from my LGS and the best card I pulled from my final booster was, *drumroll, a foil Ludevic.
A floating alien head called a Cromulon put it best: Show me what you got
LOL Phage, one of my all time favorite pet cards :P
Thassa Deep Dwelling and Conjurer's Closet are also viable ways to reset Ludevic.
Hey, Demo, do you run Trickbind just for countering graveyard hate?
What about Underworld Sentinel?
Fun deck.
Reminds me of The Mimeoplasm
Does regen flip him back or no?
Do one for wilhelt, the rotcleaver next!
I would be super happy if they lowered the bar and we went back to the 2013-2015 days
I think wormfang manta would be a really good, budget target. A 5/5 flier with insurance seems nice to me- or at least it’s some political fun.
Maybe the second Lazav is doing the same thing as ludevic, without exiling the card., and that's the reason, ludevic isn't appealing to a lot of people.
i really tried to build this one but i couldn't make a deck that worked for me or that i found fun ://
my biggest let down with this card is the fact that you can't transform it into something else after it transformed. Yeah, there are ways around it, but for me it's too many hoops to jump through. Either way the deck idea is cool, I might try it
Grave titan comes to mind, also lord of the void, vilis broker of blood, tree of perdition would make ludevic into a chonker. Labman to get the win that way off your commander. Sheoldred, ascendant evincar are all also good cards.
Ludevic turns himself into a tree gives me pickle rick vibes.
Ludevic: Gisa, Geralf! Look at me, I'm a treeeeeeeeee! Now who is the NecroGenius? LOL
@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 ok lmao let's do this, include the tree, black oak of odunos, skeleton ship,myr welder for some extra sci-fi
I wish he was Grixis for flavor :/
I really wanted to build with him but he seems underwhelming, lets see what he can do
I thought it was quite meh and did care much. This video kinda forced me to like it. I'm now highly excited to build a deck around him.
mission accomplished.
I just want legendary creature to be legendary I don’t want it to be powerful I want it flavorful and I like this commander
I see ludevic and think : dimir necrotic ooze
The problem with Ludevic is that he is just a straight up worse version of The scarab god under every circumstance. TSG is in the same colors, does the exact same thing, does it better and on top of that does other things.
Can...you understand what exiling two things or more with this can mean...? The cost for exiling a 7 becomes 5, but exiling a 7 mana creatures and another 7 One, It becomes 6 instead of *14*, this is huge, not to Tell that this can make this creature combo with itself. By having this you can pick cards that infinite with eachother and PUT BOTH THEIR ABILITYS IN PLAY WITH ONE CARD
This is *SO BROKEN*
yeah you read the card wrong bud. it only copies ONE of the creatures it exiles. if you exile multiple creatures you can still only copy one. it just gives you more counters.
@@edhdeckbuilding Oh thats Nice
Looks like a worse Scarab God, but at least its cheap and can fill the graveyard by its self.
X can’t be 0 because Ludevic needs to transform into something.
The problem with Olag is that it’s just a strictly worse Mimeoplasm for several reasons;
> access to green for both ramp, ways to remove permanents dimir can’t and great graveyard synergies
> scales better w it’s effect than Olag due to it’s wording
> can be cloned than Olag due to being legendary a lot less of the time.
> it’s sultai, c’mon
If you build this commander you can simply splash green and add cards like Underrealm Lich, Fauna Shaman, Hermit Druid, Survival of the Fittest if you have money, the new removal you have access to, etc.
And this isn’t like there’s a preference between them Bc they play differently, Olag is quite literally worse in every single conceivable way and that’s not even talking about it’s colors.
some of us like building with underwhelming commanders.
Mimeoplasm forces you to always remove 2 creatures though where this one is ok with only one. It is not much of an 'upside' but it is one.
I’d go further to say “WotC did it to themselves & US ALL”.
The nerve of their insatiable greed to push sales to no end, purely on the back of bluntly powerful “good”, “must-have” new cards
This commander is just OK. Seems like a lot of steps to do what The Mineoplasm does.
I'm building a Mimeoplasm with Umori Companion, oops all creatures deck. I'm including Ludevic in that. I like Ludevic, but I agree he just seems like a worse Mimeoplasm.
I stopped watching after he started complaining about the X cost having to be above zero. Think about it. If the X cost is zero, then wtf is the transformed ludevic going to transform into? Gosh...