I always thought Ulrich of the Krallenhorde made a great fight club commander, with its two side even representing Brad Pritt and Edward Norton's two halves of Tyler Durden.
One card you didn't mention that I think had great combo potential is Generous Patron. 2 and a green for a 1/4, it has support 2, but it also says "Whenever you put one or more counters on a creature you don't control, draw a card. That seems insane in Hapatra, putting -1/-1 counters on your opponent's creatures.
One important thing about Partner With that wasn't mentioned, the set was designed with allied colour decks in mind. This means that running both partners yourself in Limited isn't terribly effective, BUT since a team drafts together you can for example grab Virtus and Gorm, you run Dimir with Virtus and have your teammate run Gruul with Gorm.
That talk about assist...it goes back to how most people play: pay the costs then show the card and wait for responses etc. When in the rules it's the opposite: put the card out then pay costs. And then if it turns out it can't be paid the action of casting it gets reversed. So the idea of "what do I do with a card I play then find out can't be paid for" is nothing new to Battlebond, has been in the comprehensive rules for ages, and assist cards work the same. (Of course you're allowed to tap lands first; just rules-wise you're floating mana briefly when you do that.)
Toothy with any clone effect is great. The legend rule makes you sacrifice one (the original), you draw all those cards, then the copy gets the counters back and you end up with where you started plus a crapload of cards.
11:45 I think it's in the gatherer info for assist cards, but you have to declare all of the targets for an assist prior to asking the person to assist. You can reveal and negotiate prior to beginning to cast. The person casting the spell is always responsible for the colored mana portion. The number in the reminder text is just a reminder; the person assisting can spend any amount towards the generic mana cost (even if it's been modified). If the person assisting doesn't pay all of the mana, you have an opportunity to pay the rest otherwise he spell returns to your hand.
So you said that krarks thumb lets you activate the abilities twice if both coins end up favorable. Are you sure? Because it does say "ignore one of them"
The rulings for Krark's other Thumb, which has the same effects, except for dice rolls, specifies "The ignored roll never happened as far as any other cards are concerned". So it should be the same way for Krark's Thumb. Also, you aren't technically "winning" or "losing" a flip until until you pick a result to use for the effect that caused the initial flip.
Does that also means that if one or both of the two coin flips goes tail (75%) you stop fliping for their ability? Because it says "until you lose a flip".
Things you guys didn’t mention about Najeela: The tokens make more warriors when they attack. It can become exponential. Also things like bear umbra can go infinite just by attacking so easily as long as you have 5 colors in your lands. Sword of Feast and Famine can too but has to connect. Cathars Crusade and Coat of arms can be so busted so fast just by attacking once with like 4-5 warriors.
Yup. There are more ways to go infinite too, but the ones you mentioned plus Nature's Will and Derevi are the easiest since you only need them, your commander, and five creatures.
Phyrexian Altar also works if you have 5 attacking warriors, Najeela doesn't even have to swing then, also there's the wider combo with Savage Ventmaw and Mycosynth Lattice, netting infinite mana with only 3 cards, instead of the 5 warriors the others need
Grand Warlord Radha or Savage Ventmaw with Orochi Leafcaller and five attacking creatures also goes infinite. Edit: Oh I forgot another one! There are so many! Haha! Reconnaissance with Najeela and five attacking creatures goes infinite. Ahn-Crop Champion is another card that lets you go infinite with Cryptolith Rites or Song of Freyalise and five attacking creatures.
Frist off, I really liked this in depth review; so thank you guys. Secondly, I saw a lot of great cards for a spellslinger/storm type commander deck. I love the political value of assist to help my deck along. Lastly, I would appreciate some advice on what I should put into my Kess deck from this set. Thanx
One thing that really amuses me here is Josh's immediate understanding of the political value of Assist. I've seen several other commander players claiming it would never work because you're 'asking another player for something' rather than 'giving them something in trade'. 10 mins 30 in and Josh has already explained what I've been saying for the last week - that interpretation only applies if that's how you choose to treat it. If you present it properly, and can convince another player that casting the spell is more in their interest than yours (ie, you benefit, but they benefit more, or at least they believe they do...), it should be perfectly possible to convince them to pay. It's all in the way you approach it - which is how most of the political tricks in commander work. These aren't the droids you're looking for.
I have learned a lot about MTG from you guys, and I love using Card Kingdom/CommandZone for all my cards. I made a Breya deck and I love her so much. My favorite Planeswalker is Chandra. So, thank you again!
Thinking of making a Talrand instant speed draw/counterspell deck. Victory chimes seems pretty good as it essentially reads "The first cars you cast each turn costs {1} less" so I'm gonna be spawning drakes 4 days
Victory Chimes has been great for me. It's very powerful in Kruphix decks, netting you 3 to 4 mana some turns. In my Ephara control deck it adds a lot of flexibility to when I use my mana.
Wondering if I should switch commanders now from Shu Yun to Najeela, as she does what my deck intends to do. Not sure if the extra colors would help or hinder though.
Victory chimes is going into my Ayli deck! It taps for a colourless, but untaps each upkeep. What i usually do with ayli is keep up land mana to have a sacrifice outlet at instant speed. So sometimes that upkeep of mana makes me miss out on casting spells, but Victory Chimes will solve that problem!
Cory Smith Not really. Josh's deck is basically a combo deck and Krav is just a worse Razaketh. They'd be great in a good stuff demon tribal version though and could even be the commander as a way to show you aren't dedicated to the combo
Yeah true, I was just thinking if had them in the deck when searches for a demon he could get Krav then the other automatically. Then he could infinite right then and there.
One combo that I was lucky enough to play with in limited was Thrasher Brute and Najeela. Brute drains the opponents for one every time a warrior hits the field and with Najeela who snowballs off herself, its very powerful.
A card I don't think was mentioned (but I'm certainly interested in) is Thrilling Encore, as essentially a black Faiths Reward effect, letting you blank a wipe.
One of the most fun ideas is this: Pir, Imaginative Rascal + Toothy, Imaginative Friend + Arcane Artisan + Any Huge Creature. The card draw off of the artisan will pump Toothy, thanks to Pir, AND you get a Huge Creature to boot. All only for two generic and one blue. Win con right there.
The partner cards can go get Panglacial Wurm out, even if you are running them as commanders as you can search but fail to find the partner but miraculously stumble upon the Wurm. (the commander shenanigan only works for Pir and Gorm, the rest would have to be part of your deck). Extra tutor target, and not the worst card to ramp into. Most of them may be very costly mana-wise, but say Pir, Virtus or Gorm can probably get one out if you have lots of mana or cost reduction; this also can be done with the uncommon partners as well. Note that if you already found the partner and used it, again, you can still search and fail to find, but still cast Panglacial Wurm.
There are lots of cards I am excited about this set, but the 2 biggest are the coin flip commanders Zndrsplt and Okaun. My coin flipping cmdr deck has always been a blast and now I FINALLY have on theme commanders - something i have been hoping for since I started playing the format.
103:50 I didn't even think of that! Oh wow! That's awesome! Now I need to play this card! Haha! Man this set is amazing! Battlebond might be my new favorite set!
Hello. Do you apply the effect of friend or foe cards on yourself as well? I mean, it says chose for EACH player but it seems a bit weird to mark myself as my own friend... :D
With Gorm and Virtus, I am definitely going to run them in my Ikra Shadiqi-Sidar Kondo Big Butts partner deck. It's a less aggressive Doran deck with a focus on lifegain by making low-power creatures unblockable. Definitely sneaking that damage in!
I already have all the cards pulled aside for my coin flips matters deck! I'm excited to build it. Also, lots and lots of other cards going into my commander decks. So many commander decks. Thanks for an awesome set review!
I don't think so. I believe u can get the twin partner pws and another random mythic (random mythic or partners are mythic) but i doubt u can get two partner pairs.
sooo, I just started building a superfriends deck because of certain reprints. The suggestion with the archon is why I run counterspell, pact, and swan song (I know swan song doesn't hit creatures).
When virtuous the veiled deals combat damage to a player at 40 (the starting commander life total) life the extra one he deals by himself is in total 21 commander damage right?
For assist spells: "You don't choose the player until after you've revealed the card with assist and made all other required choices, including targets. So the other player will know what they're signing up for. If they don't want to pay, you can either foot the entire bill yourself, or choose to back up and not cast the spell at all." From the Battlebond mechanics article by wizards.
Hmm I had an idea watching this video...Use Riku as commander, doubling season out then use the partner planeswalkers. Then cast a spell, copy it with emblem, copy with riku, copy ability with other emblem, then fork or twincast and copy again
really craving for that Doubling season reprint because im gonna put it in my slimefoot commander deck, ashnods altar, doubling season/ parallel lives, slimefoot.
I run a Kess copy instant sorcery style deck and so far the best card for the deck that I saw for it was probably Virtus's Maneuver. I run a specific deck so no hate please. Just add Maneuver with Panoptic Mirror with other copy effects and your golden for the game.
I can’t wait to get Spellseeker and Sentinel Tower for my Talrand deck. The tower goes perfect with the Dramatic Reversal/Isochron Scepter combo allowing me to win without my commander even through effects that prevent life gain. I’m also brewing Grothama and Najeela as well as a the Angel/Demon pair running the angel solely for access to white. This seems like an all around amazing set for spikes and casuals alike.
I'm definitely making a deck with the G/B partners, especially because my original B/G saproling deck went B/G/W instead. And in the saproling deck, both Doubling Season and Land tax will be bomb-ass reprints for them so I'm excited!!!
Najeela's favorite toys: Druids' Repository (requires you to swing with 5 things each combat step) Nature's Will (requires you to hit a player with at least one creature each time and have WUBRG in lands) Phyrexian Altar (As long as you generate enough tokens to be able to sacrifice 5 each time and still be doing combat damage, infinite even if you can't get past blockers for the first few iterations) Sword of Feast and Famine (requires you to hit a player with the equipped creature each time and have WUBRG in lands) Bear Umbra (Swinging creature must be able to survive attacking each combat, and have WUBRG in lands) Cryptolith Rite (requires you to be able to pay WUBRG up front or have vigilance and enough good attacks/creatures to make more tokens) Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (Requires enough things to hit each time to make WUBRG in lands/artifacts/tapping mana sources) Her second favorite toys: Helm of the Host (rapidly increases the token generation, and can give infinite combats when used with Godo, Aurelia the Warleader, or Combat Celebrant) Reconnaissance/Iroas/Rune Tail/MAYBE Emmara Tandris (it's hard to build up a token swarm when they die so easy to being chumped) Purphoros/Impact Tremors (Is someone behind a wall of indestructible creatures, propaganda effects, etc? Murder them incidentally) Doubling Season/Parallel Lives/Anointed Procession/Primal Vigor (In decreasing order of how powerful it is for you. Primal Vigor is symmetrical.) Additional, less optimized but still fun stuff: Cavalcade of Calamity (those 1/1s now lava dart whatever they're swinging at) Beastmaster Ascension (Can get there quickly. Swing with najeela, Najeela and the token, Najeela and all 3 tokens, bam, 7.)
I'm probably most excited for the Mycosynth Lattice reprint for my Sydri deck. Beyond that, Grothama seems like he'll be a lot of fun to play and play against.
Najeela has got to be my favorite card from the set! Definitely going for a tribal synergy theme and just try to make it for pod and 2-Headed Giant purposes. Can't wait.
A really important thing to realize with this set is it 2HG so you play one partner tutor it for your ally and then they can play theirs on the same turn. Another note is there are ally dual land to discourage putting partner cards in the same deck
Question: Do you still untap your permanents on your untap step with Seedborn Muse on the field under your control? Would appreciate it if you guys could clarify.
Yes, you always get to untap during the untap step, unless a card effect says so, such as claustrophobia. How ever seed born doesn't say that you untap during opp untap "instead" of yours, just that you get to do it during theirs, aka you get both. Seed born is amazing
Grothama has me super excited to build with. I think you build you deck with a ton of creatures that are either indestructible or regenerate. That way you can attack without fear.
I play a +1/+1 counters atraxa and i was happy to see doubling season reprinted! (For atraxa period) but also very excited wizards decided to try out the support mechanic again, many new powerful options! My favorite new card is Pir, Imaginative Rascal
I definitely wanna build Grothama in as mono green group hug. Play all the tempts and friend or foe cards I can and getting as many people to like me as possible. then play some crazy combo to win. I feel like it could be super fun
DragonKyng Z that sounds like a super fun deck I don’t know if you would be willing to put the deck list on this comment but either way I would love to check it out and see how it works
I think it sure couldv'e been, they had the chance to reprint a lot more staples...that wouldv'e been a smart direction to lean. I do still, however, like the fringe "two-headed dragon" thing, I mean although it is getting a lot of push back- it's not a terrible idea.
Alright so about Okaun and Zndrsplt.. wouldn’t you be able to double Okaun’s power and draw a card guaranteed at the beginning of combat? “Whenever a player...”. That doesn’t say whenever YOU win a flip. A player means it can be anyone. Just my thought.
When it comes to last one standing the odds can still be cruel because a saw someone cast gamble while having 23 cards in hand and they still discarded what the tutored for so you never no what will be left standing, maybe a Ulamog or even the gadoq teeg you mentioned but overall it is a good card
So just throwing this out there. If you see a really cool deck and have the opportunity to get the decklist at the GPVegas, consider making an episode about that perhaps? Stories and a sorta deck tech if manage to get the list as I said.
Played Battlebond yesterday, me and my teammate had Okaun+Zndrsplt(cant believe i spelled it right off my mind). I kept flipping coins and losing them, until I drew 6 cards off of one combat phase. It was amazing
Josh, would you play Grothama in your 5 color nekuzar? I Mean, basically a "do not attack me" creature, great Blocker for 5 mana that will kill anything comming your way, and forcing Them to draw cards, which is good for you. Don't know if it would work, but seems kinda fun 😊
You can think of Grothama as a sacrifice mechanic, more than card draw, I think. Throw up to 10 saprolings against it in Slimefoot for maximum effort. Also Krav+Animation Module+Black Market is nuts
Worth noting regarding Grothama, fights, and pumps: unless your opponent is really bad you're not going to catch all their creatures with the Giant Growth trick. The fights are optional and resolve one at a time. If I have two 4/4s attack and trigger to fight Grothama and you Giant Growth immediately, I'm saying no to both triggers. You want to wait until the first one fights, then Growth. You'll gank the first creature and then they should say no to the second trigger.
With Krav, can you sacrifice your teammate's creatures? My gut feeling tells me no, which seems like it won't be as good in 2hg unless you run both halves in one deck
What I would probably do is Voltron Virtus the Veiled and get a lifelink and double strike Aura or Equipment on it (playing commander). Then have a few shenanigans with lifelink. Aetherflux cannon...maybe.
Seedborn Muse + Omnath, Locus of Rage seems like a great combo I am going to run. Throw Sylvala, Heart of the Wilds in there and the ramp and Omnath are unstoppable. I'm using Omnath as commander so the combo can result in a ton of commanderdamage. However these are all old cards/reprints. I'll see what Battlebonds will give me to build more out of this, and other, decks.
I noticed that too. That one that searches a sorcery or instant that costs 2 or less when it enters the battlefield is very good! That got me thinking on brining back my Inalla deck that I took apart and adding more sorceries and instants.
Me and my friend started making a proxy deck for Najilla and tested it. It was crazy stupid fun with doubling season and then we looked at each other and we just said.... Sword of feast and famine.... and at that moment we realised the number of ways to have endless attack steps which get more powerful each time you do it. It is so stupidly fun and is probably one of the most interesting token spam decks ive seen.
Im most excited and looking forward to Pir and Toothy. Dont have a plan, just love the art and the synergy they come with right out the pack. Im weird. Sometimes I just take cards that look really cool. It costs me wins, but its worth it looking that cool.
you would just die the next time the triggers are checked (in case of poison and commander damage, that would be the next time anybody gets priority - which is kinda a moot point) Revel in Riches doesn't make anybody lose, it just makes someone else win, so no effect here. But it would be glorious to cast Stunning Reversel in response to a Door to Nothingness targeting you! :D
Grothama is in set with Vigor. That's a serious pump when you can have all your stuff fight him and they all get bigger Just protect vigor lol and you're getting so swole. Then give trample or unblockable
I can't even choose which card I am most excited for, I think for the best combo I have found so far is generous patron archfiend of despair. Cycle a card, put a -1 counter on all creatures my opponents control and then draw that many cards. I definitely want one all every and I mean every rare and mythic
This entire set feels like the Anonymous of our format broke into wizards, typed some stuff in a computer, and everyone there was thinking “yep, that’s great”.
Looking at khorvaths fury use it name every one foe then use a copy spell instant and since the copy resolves first name friend and boom you just delta anywhere from 2 to like 8 damage....... I think
I LOVE Pir and would totally make a deck around him. But I want to know who the goblin form Last One Standing is!!!?! He's in multiple artworks from the set
I love Grothama I've always wanted a fight club deck but until now I couldn't talk about it
Dammit, take your upvote, sir.
I always thought Ulrich of the Krallenhorde made a great fight club commander, with its two side even representing Brad Pritt and Edward Norton's two halves of Tyler Durden.
Jeffrey Krismer it's hard to keep going with him but I do agree at least being in gruul is nice
Ben Williams That's fair.
Just think about how bad a pump spell could mess up other players plans with grothama or sack outlets as well
One card you didn't mention that I think had great combo potential is Generous Patron. 2 and a green for a 1/4, it has support 2, but it also says "Whenever you put one or more counters on a creature you don't control, draw a card. That seems insane in Hapatra, putting -1/-1 counters on your opponent's creatures.
SmugLookingBarrel my thoughts exactly. I'm currently Proxying it into my Hapatra deck but I haven't had a chance to test it yet
I'll stomp on it with dinos. Idk felt like being that guy.
SmugLookingBarrel another fun thing about it is it's not a may. So if you miscalculate you can end up decking yourself
I'm pretty sure that accidentally decking yourself counts as a win in commander. XD
I've put it into my online Hapatra list four days ago. That card should be nuts in that deck!
7:40
its funny how 10 - 15% of the podcast is not a podcast
they should do the song at the end
thx
Thanks
Thanks for showing where the video actually starts instead of their rambling bullshit at the start
One important thing about Partner With that wasn't mentioned, the set was designed with allied colour decks in mind.
This means that running both partners yourself in Limited isn't terribly effective, BUT since a team drafts together you can for example grab Virtus and Gorm, you run Dimir with Virtus and have your teammate run Gruul with Gorm.
damn that angel inspires dudes to fight on her side, and then her bf eats them to get more buff
nekineki Relationship goals, tbh
They aren't friends, they are fighting
That talk about assist...it goes back to how most people play: pay the costs then show the card and wait for responses etc. When in the rules it's the opposite: put the card out then pay costs. And then if it turns out it can't be paid the action of casting it gets reversed. So the idea of "what do I do with a card I play then find out can't be paid for" is nothing new to Battlebond, has been in the comprehensive rules for ages, and assist cards work the same. (Of course you're allowed to tap lands first; just rules-wise you're floating mana briefly when you do that.)
That's a hairy Wong.
"Gorm and Virtus, not that great in Commander"
My past games against those two beg to differ
Yes, it's Commander Masters.
I love that this name is a thing! Haha! I'm glad to see so many people thinking the same thing about this set!
Toothy with any clone effect is great. The legend rule makes you sacrifice one (the original), you draw all those cards, then the copy gets the counters back and you end up with where you started plus a crapload of cards.
11:45 I think it's in the gatherer info for assist cards, but you have to declare all of the targets for an assist prior to asking the person to assist. You can reveal and negotiate prior to beginning to cast. The person casting the spell is always responsible for the colored mana portion. The number in the reminder text is just a reminder; the person assisting can spend any amount towards the generic mana cost (even if it's been modified). If the person assisting doesn't pay all of the mana, you have an opportunity to pay the rest otherwise he spell returns to your hand.
What I love about the dual lands is that pretty much only commander players would want them anyway.
So you said that krarks thumb lets you activate the abilities twice if both coins end up favorable. Are you sure? Because it does say "ignore one of them"
you would flip 2 coins. 2 could win. that's all the paired creatures would care about. thumb is good
2 "could" win. But you're ignoring one so it doesn't matter if it won or not. You choose one and the other basically didn't exist
The rulings for Krark's other Thumb, which has the same effects, except for dice rolls, specifies "The ignored roll never happened as far as any other cards are concerned". So it should be the same way for Krark's Thumb. Also, you aren't technically "winning" or "losing" a flip until until you pick a result to use for the effect that caused the initial flip.
They only meant that it increases your chance of winning the flip.
Does that also means that if one or both of the two coin flips goes tail (75%) you stop fliping for their ability? Because it says "until you lose a flip".
When does the Game Knights episode that's themed with this set come out!
7:40 start of show
Things you guys didn’t mention about Najeela: The tokens make more warriors when they attack. It can become exponential. Also things like bear umbra can go infinite just by attacking so easily as long as you have 5 colors in your lands. Sword of Feast and Famine can too but has to connect. Cathars Crusade and Coat of arms can be so busted so fast just by attacking once with like 4-5 warriors.
Cryptolith Rite or Song of Freyalise on lore one or two also helps go infinite.
Yup. There are more ways to go infinite too, but the ones you mentioned plus Nature's Will and Derevi are the easiest since you only need them, your commander, and five creatures.
Phyrexian Altar also works if you have 5 attacking warriors, Najeela doesn't even have to swing then, also there's the wider combo with Savage Ventmaw and Mycosynth Lattice, netting infinite mana with only 3 cards, instead of the 5 warriors the others need
Grand Warlord Radha or Savage Ventmaw with Orochi Leafcaller and five attacking creatures also goes infinite.
Edit: Oh I forgot another one! There are so many! Haha! Reconnaissance with Najeela and five attacking creatures goes infinite. Ahn-Crop Champion is another card that lets you go infinite with Cryptolith Rites or Song of Freyalise and five attacking creatures.
Druid's repository is another.
Frist off, I really liked this in depth review; so thank you guys.
Secondly, I saw a lot of great cards for a spellslinger/storm type commander deck. I love the political value of assist to help my deck along.
Lastly, I would appreciate some advice on what I should put into my Kess deck from this set.
Thanx
One thing that really amuses me here is Josh's immediate understanding of the political value of Assist. I've seen several other commander players claiming it would never work because you're 'asking another player for something' rather than 'giving them something in trade'. 10 mins 30 in and Josh has already explained what I've been saying for the last week - that interpretation only applies if that's how you choose to treat it. If you present it properly, and can convince another player that casting the spell is more in their interest than yours (ie, you benefit, but they benefit more, or at least they believe they do...), it should be perfectly possible to convince them to pay. It's all in the way you approach it - which is how most of the political tricks in commander work.
These aren't the droids you're looking for.
iv anyways wanted constructed 2 headed giant to be a thing.. could be possible after battlebond
Rowan and Will Kenrith? you mean Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver?
I have learned a lot about MTG from you guys, and I love using Card Kingdom/CommandZone for all my cards. I made a Breya deck and I love her so much. My favorite Planeswalker is Chandra. So, thank you again!
Krark's Thumb doesn't trigger Okaun and Zndrsplt twice, because even if you win both flips, you have to ignore one of them.
Exactly its why if you loose one you ignore that lost flip and its as if it never happened so you won't stop flipping
#CommanderMasters
Right guys?
Come up with that yourself?
Thinking of making a Talrand instant speed draw/counterspell deck. Victory chimes seems pretty good as it essentially reads "The first cars you cast each turn costs {1} less" so I'm gonna be spawning drakes 4 days
Victory Chimes has been great for me. It's very powerful in Kruphix decks, netting you 3 to 4 mana some turns. In my Ephara control deck it adds a lot of flexibility to when I use my mana.
I feel like the next Game Knights is gonna be Battlebond draft or Battlebond sealed.
TeamPhoenixDK I'm hoping it's battlebond 2hg commander but I think you're right
I’d watch the hell out of that.
Yeah I think you're right.
Wondering if I should switch commanders now from Shu Yun to Najeela, as she does what my deck intends to do. Not sure if the extra colors would help or hinder though.
Victory chimes is going into my Ayli deck!
It taps for a colourless, but untaps each upkeep. What i usually do with ayli is keep up land mana to have a sacrifice outlet at instant speed. So sometimes that upkeep of mana makes me miss out on casting spells, but Victory Chimes will solve that problem!
OH MY GOD! Krav, the Unredeemed and Regna, the Redeemer would be so scary in you Shadowborn Apostle deck.
Cory Smith Not really. Josh's deck is basically a combo deck and Krav is just a worse Razaketh. They'd be great in a good stuff demon tribal version though and could even be the commander as a way to show you aren't dedicated to the combo
Yeah true, I was just thinking if had them in the deck when searches for a demon he could get Krav then the other automatically. Then he could infinite right then and there.
Krav can potentially mill someone out
Krav and Regna don't infinite. She only triggers once each turn.
for rowan ultimate thats in general so that includes abilities you can activate from the graveyard or the hand like cycle
One combo that I was lucky enough to play with in limited was Thrasher Brute and Najeela. Brute drains the opponents for one every time a warrior hits the field and with Najeela who snowballs off herself, its very powerful.
A card I don't think was mentioned (but I'm certainly interested in) is Thrilling Encore, as essentially a black Faiths Reward effect, letting you blank a wipe.
that sol ring playmat is gorgeous, the only one I've seen that made me audibly gasp
The flavor text on regena’s sanction is interesting ... a demon loves an angel
Thoughts on Krav and Regna in the Athreos apostles deck? Was the first thing that came to mind for me, surprised it didn't come up.
One of the most fun ideas is this: Pir, Imaginative Rascal + Toothy, Imaginative Friend + Arcane Artisan + Any Huge Creature. The card draw off of the artisan will pump Toothy, thanks to Pir, AND you get a Huge Creature to boot. All only for two generic and one blue. Win con right there.
The partner cards can go get Panglacial Wurm out, even if you are running them as commanders as you can search but fail to find the partner but miraculously stumble upon the Wurm. (the commander shenanigan only works for Pir and Gorm, the rest would have to be part of your deck). Extra tutor target, and not the worst card to ramp into. Most of them may be very costly mana-wise, but say Pir, Virtus or Gorm can probably get one out if you have lots of mana or cost reduction; this also can be done with the uncommon partners as well. Note that if you already found the partner and used it, again, you can still search and fail to find, but still cast Panglacial Wurm.
There are lots of cards I am excited about this set, but the 2 biggest are the coin flip commanders Zndrsplt and Okaun. My coin flipping cmdr deck has always been a blast and now I FINALLY have on theme commanders - something i have been hoping for since I started playing the format.
So have you gotten the surveys up yet or would we see that on the updated page? (Last stand kickstart)
103:50 I didn't even think of that! Oh wow! That's awesome! Now I need to play this card! Haha! Man this set is amazing! Battlebond might be my new favorite set!
I looking forward to build a warrior tribal deck with Najeela, the Blade-Blossom as commander and +1/+1 counters matters (Khan outlast mechanic).
Hello. Do you apply the effect of friend or foe cards on yourself as well? I mean, it says chose for EACH player but it seems a bit weird to mark myself as my own friend... :D
Toothy: Use "Give//Take" from the ravnica block to take all 27 counters from toothy, draw 27 cards. Satisfaction
With Gorm and Virtus, I am definitely going to run them in my Ikra Shadiqi-Sidar Kondo Big Butts partner deck. It's a less aggressive Doran deck with a focus on lifegain by making low-power creatures unblockable. Definitely sneaking that damage in!
if only riku was on this plane, he wouldnt need a partner because hes already got himself
I already have all the cards pulled aside for my coin flips matters deck! I'm excited to build it. Also, lots and lots of other cards going into my commander decks. So many commander decks.
Thanks for an awesome set review!
Wait. In a pack, is it possible to get 4 mythics? Two foil and two nonfoil?
I don't think so. I believe u can get the twin partner pws and another random mythic (random mythic or partners are mythic) but i doubt u can get two partner pairs.
I think you probably could
I got 3 in a pack at my prerelease. Foil Rowan and Will, and Najeela.
Lucky, I love Rowan and Wiill
Can you tap the Sol Ring playmat to add two colorless?
sooo, I just started building a superfriends deck because of certain reprints. The suggestion with the archon is why I run counterspell, pact, and swan song (I know swan song doesn't hit creatures).
I'd say you could add in "Out of Bounds" ... but then, nobody would help you protect your planeswalkers anyway :P
When virtuous the veiled deals combat damage to a player at 40 (the starting commander life total) life the extra one he deals by himself is in total 21 commander damage right?
For assist spells:
"You don't choose the player until after you've revealed the card with assist and made all other required choices, including targets. So the other player will know what they're signing up for. If they don't want to pay, you can either foot the entire bill yourself, or choose to back up and not cast the spell at all."
From the Battlebond mechanics article by wizards.
Hmm I had an idea watching this video...Use Riku as commander, doubling season out then use the partner planeswalkers. Then cast a spell, copy it with emblem, copy with riku, copy ability with other emblem, then fork or twincast and copy again
really craving for that Doubling season reprint because im gonna put it in my slimefoot commander deck, ashnods altar, doubling season/ parallel lives, slimefoot.
So... when will we be seeing Battleborn Two-Headed Giant on GameKnights?
KOkami03 I'd imagine because anthology 2 comes out at the same time the next game knights will be that instead
I'll do this next year. With all your help, (including the TCC), I feel like I'll be ready. I run Rafiq, so it's not hard to be a douchbag.
Awesome fact about Najeela is that you can use her ability in another player‘s turn. Do you want attack twice Sir?
I run a Kess copy instant sorcery style deck and so far the best card for the deck that I saw for it was probably Virtus's Maneuver. I run a specific deck so no hate please. Just add Maneuver with Panoptic Mirror with other copy effects and your golden for the game.
I can’t wait to get Spellseeker and Sentinel Tower for my Talrand deck. The tower goes perfect with the Dramatic Reversal/Isochron Scepter combo allowing me to win without my commander even through effects that prevent life gain. I’m also brewing Grothama and Najeela as well as a the Angel/Demon pair running the angel solely for access to white. This seems like an all around amazing set for spikes and casuals alike.
I'm definitely making a deck with the G/B partners, especially because my original B/G saproling deck went B/G/W instead. And in the saproling deck, both Doubling Season and Land tax will be bomb-ass reprints for them so I'm excited!!!
Najeela's favorite toys:
Druids' Repository (requires you to swing with 5 things each combat step)
Nature's Will (requires you to hit a player with at least one creature each time and have WUBRG in lands)
Phyrexian Altar (As long as you generate enough tokens to be able to sacrifice 5 each time and still be doing combat damage, infinite even if you can't get past blockers for the first few iterations)
Sword of Feast and Famine (requires you to hit a player with the equipped creature each time and have WUBRG in lands)
Bear Umbra (Swinging creature must be able to survive attacking each combat, and have WUBRG in lands)
Cryptolith Rite (requires you to be able to pay WUBRG up front or have vigilance and enough good attacks/creatures to make more tokens)
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (Requires enough things to hit each time to make WUBRG in lands/artifacts/tapping mana sources)
Her second favorite toys:
Helm of the Host (rapidly increases the token generation, and can give infinite combats when used with Godo, Aurelia the Warleader, or Combat Celebrant)
Reconnaissance/Iroas/Rune Tail/MAYBE Emmara Tandris (it's hard to build up a token swarm when they die so easy to being chumped)
Purphoros/Impact Tremors (Is someone behind a wall of indestructible creatures, propaganda effects, etc? Murder them incidentally)
Doubling Season/Parallel Lives/Anointed Procession/Primal Vigor (In decreasing order of how powerful it is for you. Primal Vigor is symmetrical.)
Additional, less optimized but still fun stuff:
Cavalcade of Calamity (those 1/1s now lava dart whatever they're swinging at)
Beastmaster Ascension (Can get there quickly. Swing with najeela, Najeela and the token, Najeela and all 3 tokens, bam, 7.)
I'm probably most excited for the Mycosynth Lattice reprint for my Sydri deck. Beyond that, Grothama seems like he'll be a lot of fun to play and play against.
Najeela has got to be my favorite card from the set! Definitely going for a tribal synergy theme and just try to make it for pod and 2-Headed Giant purposes. Can't wait.
A really important thing to realize with this set is it 2HG so you play one partner tutor it for your ally and then they can play theirs on the same turn.
Another note is there are ally dual land to discourage putting partner cards in the same deck
Arcane Artisan combos with Sundial of the Infinite you keep the tokens when she leaves if you activate the sundial before the turn ends
Question: Do you still untap your permanents on your untap step with Seedborn Muse on the field under your control? Would appreciate it if you guys could clarify.
Yes, you always get to untap during the untap step, unless a card effect says so, such as claustrophobia. How ever seed born doesn't say that you untap during opp untap "instead" of yours, just that you get to do it during theirs, aka you get both. Seed born is amazing
Grothama has me super excited to build with. I think you build you deck with a ton of creatures that are either indestructible or regenerate. That way you can attack without fear.
Also, Krav seems like a solid include in the Shadowborn Apostle deck.
I play a +1/+1 counters atraxa and i was happy to see doubling season reprinted! (For atraxa period) but also very excited wizards decided to try out the support mechanic again, many new powerful options! My favorite new card is Pir, Imaginative Rascal
I definitely wanna build Grothama in as mono green group hug. Play all the tempts and friend or foe cards I can and getting as many people to like me as possible. then play some crazy combo to win. I feel like it could be super fun
DragonKyng Z that sounds like a super fun deck I don’t know if you would be willing to put the deck list on this comment but either way I would love to check it out and see how it works
Why swords and not path?, great set with reprints for days, happy overall, but missed opportunity to get another printing of path out there.
I think it sure couldv'e been, they had the chance to reprint a lot more staples...that wouldv'e been a smart direction to lean. I do still, however, like the fringe "two-headed dragon" thing, I mean although it is getting a lot of push back- it's not a terrible idea.
Alright so about Okaun and Zndrsplt.. wouldn’t you be able to double Okaun’s power and draw a card guaranteed at the beginning of combat? “Whenever a player...”. That doesn’t say whenever YOU win a flip. A player means it can be anyone. Just my thought.
When it comes to last one standing the odds can still be cruel because a saw someone cast gamble while having 23 cards in hand and they still discarded what the tutored for so you never no what will be left standing, maybe a Ulamog or even the gadoq teeg you mentioned but overall it is a good card
I bought one pack of battlebond, it had two foil uncommons and a rare land. Not a doubling season, but I was happy.
This set is so conceptually clever, make a fun casual set as a way to provide valuable reprints and balance them in a abnormal meta
So just throwing this out there.
If you see a really cool deck and have the opportunity to get the decklist at the GPVegas, consider making an episode about that perhaps? Stories and a sorta deck tech if manage to get the list as I said.
Zndrsplt's judgement is quite crazy with Crafty Cutpurse from RIX, because you chose everyone as friends, then take their tokens. That's sweet.
Played Battlebond yesterday, me and my teammate had Okaun+Zndrsplt(cant believe i spelled it right off my mind). I kept flipping coins and losing them, until I drew 6 cards off of one combat phase. It was amazing
Josh, would you play Grothama in your 5 color nekuzar? I Mean, basically a "do not attack me" creature, great Blocker for 5 mana that will kill anything comming your way, and forcing Them to draw cards, which is good for you. Don't know if it would work, but seems kinda fun 😊
Together forever + cauldron of souls. Yup going right into my Ayli deck.
You can think of Grothama as a sacrifice mechanic, more than card draw, I think. Throw up to 10 saprolings against it in Slimefoot for maximum effort. Also Krav+Animation Module+Black Market is nuts
Worth noting regarding Grothama, fights, and pumps: unless your opponent is really bad you're not going to catch all their creatures with the Giant Growth trick. The fights are optional and resolve one at a time. If I have two 4/4s attack and trigger to fight Grothama and you Giant Growth immediately, I'm saying no to both triggers. You want to wait until the first one fights, then Growth. You'll gank the first creature and then they should say no to the second trigger.
With Krav, can you sacrifice your teammate's creatures? My gut feeling tells me no, which seems like it won't be as good in 2hg unless you run both halves in one deck
No, you can only sac permanents you control.
What I would probably do is Voltron Virtus the Veiled and get a lifelink and double strike Aura or Equipment on it (playing commander). Then have a few shenanigans with lifelink. Aetherflux cannon...maybe.
So toothy is interesting, flicker effects that don't end of turn will result in just drawing a bunch of card and toothy getting all the counters back
Seedborn Muse + Omnath, Locus of Rage seems like a great combo I am going to run. Throw Sylvala, Heart of the Wilds in there and the ramp and Omnath are unstoppable. I'm using Omnath as commander so the combo can result in a ton of commanderdamage. However these are all old cards/reprints. I'll see what Battlebonds will give me to build more out of this, and other, decks.
there are lots of cool wizards for inalla
I noticed that too. That one that searches a sorcery or instant that costs 2 or less when it enters the battlefield is very good! That got me thinking on brining back my Inalla deck that I took apart and adding more sorceries and instants.
yea thats what i thought too
Inalla is already pretty broken to be honest, not like she needed more support. But yes
Inalla just has a lot of value. Inalla doesn't have that many ways to end games, so she's not really broken.
Innala has many many ways to go infinite, she doesn't lack ways to end the game
Me and my friend started making a proxy deck for Najilla and tested it. It was crazy stupid fun with doubling season and then we looked at each other and we just said.... Sword of feast and famine.... and at that moment we realised the number of ways to have endless attack steps which get more powerful each time you do it. It is so stupidly fun and is probably one of the most interesting token spam decks ive seen.
Im most excited and looking forward to Pir and Toothy. Dont have a plan, just love the art and the synergy they come with right out the pack. Im weird. Sometimes I just take cards that look really cool. It costs me wins, but its worth it looking that cool.
What happens w/ stunning reversal and dying to poison counters, or commander damage, or even revel in riches?
Phoenix Ashes doesn't work. The next time status based effects are checked you would lose
you would just die the next time the triggers are checked (in case of poison and commander damage, that would be the next time anybody gets priority - which is kinda a moot point)
Revel in Riches doesn't make anybody lose, it just makes someone else win, so no effect here.
But it would be glorious to cast Stunning Reversel in response to a Door to Nothingness targeting you! :D
sertaki ok thank you
Grothama is in set with Vigor.
That's a serious pump when you can have all your stuff fight him and they all get bigger
Just protect vigor lol and you're getting so swole.
Then give trample or unblockable
Hey guys in relation to Stadium Vendors, there's actually a mana rock called Spectral search light.
I can't even choose which card I am most excited for, I think for the best combo I have found so far is generous patron archfiend of despair. Cycle a card, put a -1 counter on all creatures my opponents control and then draw that many cards. I definitely want one all every and I mean every rare and mythic
This entire set feels like the Anonymous of our format broke into wizards, typed some stuff in a computer, and everyone there was thinking “yep, that’s great”.
How could you guys not talk about Thrilling Encore?! It's literally insane after any board wipe you BOARD SWIPE!
Egads!!!! So this is what Josh and Jimmy look like. I've only ever heard them on the podcast.
Looking at khorvaths fury use it name every one foe then use a copy spell instant and since the copy resolves first name friend and boom you just delta anywhere from 2 to like 8 damage....... I think
Jlk. Do you think you'll put krav, the unredeemed and regna, the redeemer in your shadowborn Apostle deck
I LOVE Pir and would totally make a deck around him. But I want to know who the goblin form Last One Standing is!!!?! He's in multiple artworks from the set
Are your sure it's one specific goblin? I had the impression it's just a "generic goblin" to represent the underdog.
Are you guys going play a commander game with the legends in this set? Or perhaps two-headed draft?
Over the Garden Wall is amazing. Definitely worth watching. I probably should rewatch it.