Many Magic: The Gathering players are asking where I got the Craterhoof plushie. It was made by @TallysTreasury of tallystreasury.com/store/ . I won it at Desert Bus many years back. Did you miss our episode on how to be a Better Combo Player? Check it out here: th-cam.com/video/nxJ53HLMkHA/w-d-xo.html
Tolarian Community College great video today! Most of my decks for commander are silly, but knowing some evaluation tips and threat assessment is useful for someone who loves building decks for every day (for instance, like building an infinite take an extra turn combo when I'm feeling evil) so this video gets an A.
Remember, people. Don't buy you Craterhoof pups in holidays, or any other time. Go to your nearest elven pet refuge and adopt. They have much love and trampling to give.
Can you believe they are just giving these craterhoofs away for only several mana? It's like being free! Man, what do these things eat? ... *flips through book* oh. Animals....vegetation...rocks...people...huh. We might need to start a land war with a foreign country to feed this thing o.o
For season 2 I'd like to watch you play mock games (live or online) while you explain how you evaluate the board state, how you make decisions, and specific tactics to answer threats. Basically, the "Inner Game of Magic".
Thank you Professor for emphasizing the importance of "the progressive game and obtaining the win condition". Your advice and teachings are definitely helpful.
That craterhoof behemoth plushie put a bigger smile on my face than I could have imagined. Reminds me why I enjoy watching this channel: it's just so sincere, charming and motivated by pure love for the game.
Loving this series. I think you should do an episode on some more intricate aspects of the game (the stack, triggered vs activated abilities, and how player priority works). Having a tutorial video on these would be super helpful for trying to teach my friends how to progress past just knowing how to play more basic magic.
It finally happened. Great video. Over the many years of edh/cmdr I've played I've picked up on certain habits in deck building. Ramp (green, artifacts), card draw (blue, black, artifacts), recursion (any color), removal (non-blue colors), and win conditions. I agree that it's better to always have 2 for 1's but sometimes a simple 1 for 1 to stop your opponent from winning is good enough. Something with a repeatable effect or a mana sink to use over and over is always better than a 1 time effect. Wraths are important but shouldn't be overdone. Somewhere between 3 and 5. Since cmdr games can go on for a while, the larger wraths can have a bigger impact over the cost effective 4 mana wraths. Foiled decks are more of a status simple than any relivence to the decks power level. Just because you foiled out a budget deck doesn't mean it's any better than the non-foiled deck. My Omnath deck (which I sold to put a down payment on my car) was fully foiled, and all it did was draw all the hate from the other players (and it was my most powerful deck, so it was justified, kinda).
Play Zur? cEDH Zur is one of the most reliable fast winning decks out there. It isn't the fastest, but it'll get there if nobody else can, possibly due to counters. It's also very annoying, usually running lots of counters itself, and Zur is mostly there for Necropotence, which finds the cards you need or tutors, and then you just win. You're in the colors with the best tutors I'd argue, and Necro is likely good for 20 cards or more, since you can get it out early and put out Solitary Confinement to protect yourself. For cEDH it is a fair deck, and at least it's not Stax?
As an avid, enfranchised commander player, I have to disagree that _all_ targeted removal is bad. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are both staples and can have huge impact in a game of commander, whether that means exiling an Avacyn, Angel of Hope, or dealing with that annoying reanimator target that has come back half a dozen times already. I also have to respectfully disagree that Oblivion Ring is bad, as, even though it is vulnerable to removal, it can answer _anything_ that can be targeted, and can often buy the rest of the table enough time to find a more long-term answer to the threat you put under the Ring. tl;dr some of the better, targeted removal is still good, and O-Ring is also worth considering if you need to answer something in your meta that your deck cant deal with typically, or as a catch-all to buy time for another player to find a better answer.
WeskersPlayhouse he said swords to plowshares and path are good but not all spot removal is good most edh decks run recursion in there decks so you sending a creature to the graveyard is pretty useless when exiling it is better he is saying you need to be more careful with it since the value of it decreases with more players
Hey Prof. Thanks for this. My girlfriend has been getting into commander, but has difficulty focusing on the end goal. I've been trying to teach her why I seem more focused, and this has helped so much!
Having seen your first few videos and being impressed by how concise and informative they were it warms my heart to see how your channel has progressed. The production value of this video is on par if not even better than network television. Thanks for the hard work Professor, it is truly inspiring to see someone take so much care and pride in what they create.
Merry EDHmas I love topics like "your card drawn is 25% of the total cards drawn", that's a good layer of the game to keep in mind that others may overlook
I love the Tolarian Tutor series Prof! Glad you did an episode on commander. I'll take this lesson to heart in making my decks more streamlined from now on. World you ever consider doing an episode on mid range decks in the future?
I just want to say thanks. You’re a great source of information and I always recommend your content to help others get better not only at the game but the economy of it as well. Hope you are doing well despite these crazy times. I wish you good luck and health
I would appreciate a Tolarian Tutor video on tribal strategies and how to avoid just putting all your favorite creatures of x type in them. How do you make them good?
I play mainly tribal and my best advice is like he said in video, what is your overall strategy? If you're playing vampires, are you making an aggro deck or bleeder deck? If you are playing Ixalan Merfolk are you going to focus more on +1/+1 or a numbers advantage? No idea if you still have this question but I thought I would answer anyway.
Tally's Bestiary on Etsy seems to be the source. She's currently on break, and I don't know if it's just over the holidays or for a longer time. Might still be reachable via email or PM though, so it's worth giving it a shot if you're hell-bent on getting one of those :)
Alot of my play group are "new" at edh. I had them sit down and watch this and there decks power level went up a few levels because of this and also the fun went up aswell. Thank you so much Professor.
I do very much disagree with the "no Doom Blade" idea. Certainly, wraths are much more important in EDH so you can clear multiple threats. However, single-target removal is cheaper, and so, so many times I see times when a player dies to a Kikki Combo with a Damnation in hand, when Doom Blade would save their lives. Single-target removal should be limited in quantity (I've had to tell black/white players so many times that they don't need Swords and Path and five versions of Vindicate) and should be restricted to cards that either synergize with your deck in some other way or instant-speed effects, as the latter can often be counterspells against win conditions.
If you're playing competitive EDH then you're either a) Playing a combo deck that's faster than a Kiki combo list such as something built around hermit druid or flash hulk. b) Playing blue and counterspells are generally more relevant than single target creature removal. c) Playing a stax deck that will slow combo decks down enough to find something that will stop their combo working all together. or some combination of the above.
A. Kess Kikki Combo is literally a T1 deck, so I'm very confused about why you'd imagine this to be true. Even so, your argument actually proves the truth of mine: both Hermit Druid and Flash Hulk can be disrupted by single-target removal. Druid needs to wheel or needs a haste outlet, and no competitive deck I can think of is going to run a haste enchantment and Hermit Druid so it's either going around the table or I can respond to an attempt to equip. Hulk itself can't be disrupted by a removal spell but all of its game-ending combinations can be. B. Sure, but aside from Force/Pact counterspells cost more than removal spells. UU versus W. Also, if we trust our handy-dandy-Tappedout-tier-list, we'll note that Prossh is a T1 commander without blue, and T1.5 brings seven more non-blue commanders to the table. C. ... And very often that "something" is a removal spell, because removal spells solve the vast majority of combos in EDH. If you're actually playing competitive EDH, this wouldn't even be a conversation. Cards like Swords, Path, Nature's Claim, and Chain of Vapors are format staples.
This. The value of single-target removal goes down in multiplayer, but if it's very powerful/cheap like Swords or very versatile like Cast Out it can still earn a spot. There's also the threat value. Maze of Ith can only stop one attacker, but nobody wants to be that guy, so they'll tend to focus their attacks elsewhere. Countermagic can only stop one spell, but knowing someone is clutching a counter makes everyone more wary about what they play.
Hi Prof, nice video!! Good to have a dedicated Tolarian Tutor to us EDH Players! Since you are always talking about how Wizards don't give the players a basic instruction/tutorial on how to play magic, how about you start season 2 with a miniseries on How to play the game for begginers/people who never played magic before? Like an MTG 101. It wont be of much use for people who already play the game, but beeing able to send a link to a new friend you want to show the game before he comes to play, and have him already understand the basics of the game when he comes, is going to be a real help! I'm sure if you do this it's going to be one of the most shared videos in the Tolarian Tutor series!
Love this video and the emphasis on threat assessment. I feel like Edh in particular is the perfect format for perfecting Threat assessment. In 1v1 it's easy...remove the thing in the way. In a typical EDH game cards like Krosan Grip typically sit in my habd until it's an absolute must remove under any circumstances. Keep up the amazing work Prof.!
good morning professor! I watch your videos religiously and I really enjoy your content. when I was in Pacifica I saw the game store that you have had in so many of your videos! didn't realize you were In the bay...
Yeah this is great. Ive been playing commander since the first precon and fostered many into the format. The best advice for begginers i have is "ask yourself are your cards helping you win?". Love the video.
I love this series and I hope you continue them! Maybe a video along the lines of "how do the five colours of Magic work together? What pairings have historically been the best, statistics,decks, etc."? I don't fully know how to put it, but something in that vein would be cool! But I am not sure whether that topic would be fitting for the Tutor-Series.
I would absolutely love to see a video on Modern - specifically, recognizing your opponent's deck and adjusting your game plan accordingly. I absolutely love this series, and it's been INCREDIBLY helpful. Thank you Prof, Emma, and Michelle!
As always, an incredible video with great insight. As a casual commander player, these videos are useful even to people not trying to go for instant wins. Thanks as always! Looking forward to season 2
Love the channel! My play group is only commander so seeing stuff over commander is quite enjoyable. Our game store set Wednesday as commander night and tells any new player to come watch if they truly wish to see competitive EDH. I would personally love to see more in depth to synergy and answers not only to your playgroup but any. Often I find new players creating answers to only the decks my group has shown than we bring out new decks and screw that plan right out of the water, not that the plan really worked on the first deck just slightly annoying and you are correct in politics you create a problem for Everyone you become the enemy to everyone. Be creative in having answers for any situation whether someone brings a new or old deck to the table. Thanks didn’t have much time to review my comment and make corrections, kher keep it up!
I don't agree with your "board wipes are always better than targeted removals" philosophy. In a free for all multiplayer game all the other players are your enemies but also are aligned with you in killing the other players. Every threat on the table is a threat for everybody, not just for you. When you board wipe you are destroying stuff in the table that wasn't as troublesome for you as it was for other players, you are doing their dirty work. So, ask yourself "can any other player do my dirty work for me?" and spend your removals wisely, after all, every threat you remove is another removal in a player's hand waiting for your threats. I find that surgical removals are enough to swing the power balance of the board against a player making him weak enough to be taken by others. So unless your plan is going infinite and killing everybody at once, with board wipes you are just delaying the game which isn't really funny.
I usually run 5 wrath per deck maximum, some are specific to anti artifact etc.., they are required to shut down strategy like sliver etc that has a explosive start. But I am with you if you want removal focusing on wrath just remove the fun from the game. I feel like removal that scale with late game such as Dregs of Sorrow or Silence the Believers is way more welcome by people and actually help the game.
Perfect timing prof, I left EDH for a semester long hiatus. Now I can better prepare and execute my big comeback in January. Thanks and best wishes from the East Cast.
I would like an episode on GRAVEYARDS and how to manage them and use them effectively. I play a non-graveyard centric Karakoram hatebear deck in EDH, and would like to know how to use my graveyard in a more effective way than simply bringing creatures back. It would be cool, Love the content, Prof! Keep up the awesome work!
Excelent video i must say, you should do more commander related content, in my gaming community we really apreciate this kind of gaming tech & tip content. I want to thank you for your dedication and passion on all of your videos
Mill sucks in commander. If your opponents are running eldrazi, your strategy is immediately almost useless. Worse, if your opponents are running a deck that recurs cards from the graveyard, you're just helping them win faster. The only way to win as a mill player is to just play a different deck because your strategy is shitty.
A really great video that obviously shows influence from all of Prof's time playing over the years and with so many other EDH titans. However, I would clarify a point made (probably just cut for time in the script): not all single-target spells and effects are bad in EDH. You should definitely pack your Krosan Grips and Vindicates anytime you build a new deck that can support them. Wraths are prime, but sometimes you want to keep your stuff, or don't want to blowout a possible ally! If only one or two permanents are problems, no need to smash them all (and that's coming from a Red player)!
Hey professor, could you please do a video showing your whole magic the gathering collection? We have seen glimpses of your planeswalkers, rares and mythics in your reviews on folders. However we have never seen a whole video showing all your magic the gathering treasures. Additionally we have heard so much about your commander decks but we have never actually seen the cards. I also think it would be interesting to include a part of the vid where you show all the deck boxes folders and sleeves you have reviewed so we can see how you use each product. Thanks and I hope we see a video like this in the near future!
A couple of friends and I like to instill a casual homebrew rule where if we call out "turn one sol ring", the player who was about to play it has to chuck it into the grave. If we can guess what the other is about to summon, we chuck it into the grave. Adds a silly little element to our casual EDH games
Hi professor, thank you for all of your efforts into making this deeply useful series. I hope you could make a few more building focused episodes, especially about how to choose an efficient archetype/strategy/thematic to settle on even before actually building a deck. I think this is a dark area for both new and advanced players: i guess i can't be called a fresh new player but i still choose what deck to spend my time on by just trying to make a funny card interaction playable... This is also the reason why i don't play commander: i don't know what to begin with !
I would still really like to see a breakdown of Boros in Commander, as many see it as the weakest colour, and some ways to overcome the colour pair weakness with out simply resorting to a giant heap of mana rocks and a ridiculous card draw work around. And yes I did watch the Command Zones breaking Boros, and was left.........saddened.
As for my part, i hope that we can get a boros prison commander sometime in the future. Maybe a clever take on control that revolves around combat manipulation.
Ever heard of a card called repercussions? (whenever a creature is dealt damage repercussions deals that much damage to that creatures controller?) I use that with some double damage effects and mass burn spells to blast our life totals to oblivion. And i might even survive if Gisella is on the board
Love this series, Prof! Maybe you could go deeper into edh archetypes, please? I have brought a few friends into the format, but don't have the talent or the knowledge to properly tutor them... Have a nice holiday season, thanks!
thank you professor, I was looking for a card to add to my sheoldred commander deck to increase her potential. I didn't think about urborg, tomb of yawgmoth so thank you
Sequencing and good play habits. When to crack your fetch or cast your “combat trick”. The little things like going to combat with open mana and maximizing your second main phase.
Shocked there aren’t more recent comments on this one. I feel as though commander has become a lot more mainstream, especially in WotC eyes. Would love a new tutoring video on making strong commander decks!
I bet you could make an entire episode on the idea of “the stack” - seems pretty simple, but I’m sure there would be enough examples of this response to this responds to that which triggers this thing that could be explored.
A friend of mine runs the Markov Commander deck and all they know is being competitive so in answer to people saying its casual it all depends on the player. Ex. Jen or Tom from Commander Clash.
Amazing, entertaining and very guiding. Thank you, Prof! Also, what about a video on how to build a good tribal deck (even for obscure races such as Cephalids or Homarids)? Another theme I'd love to see you tackle is how do you calculate how many color-producing lands do you put into a normal 60 card deck, taking into account the type and quantity of mana required to cast spells? Much in the line of your "How to build mana bases for Commander" series. Thank you and I wish you the best for this upcoming 2018.
I would love to see an episode decks like Burn or Infect. I know that they technically fall under the large archetypes (aggro, control, and combo) already covered, but it would be fun to see what advice the Professor has for things like those decks.
I would love a discussion on how to include mana ramp in standard/modern format, and how to best approach this for different types of deck. Or, if there are even decks where you dont need mana ramp.
Maybe a "deck watch" series? Where you take a look at a deck that has been winning a lot or maybe a new rising deck and talk about how to play it and even better how to fight against it. Commander would be awesome but modern might be easier to do. As another Tolarian Tutor video I have had a few matches now where everyone will sit down for a commander game and I find I am the only person with spot removal and open land. This leads to me being the only person that can stop a combo deck from going off. And I can't always be on the ball for that or don't even know I am sitting down with a combo commander player. So covering the importance of 'versatile instant spot remover' and/or 'how to spot the combo player', would be a good video imo.
Professor, I wish you made this earlier as I fell deep into the pit of blinging out my deck. My lovely wife however did get me an amazing liefkicker deckbox though. Also, i'd like to see a video on Trading, and building a strong trade binder. When to go hunting for individual cards? How to build and maintain awareness of price spikes in the secondary market?
Loved the video prof I showed it to my local play group also I'd love to see you cover cards that work better in the format do to certain rules being different such cards that take advantage of a higher starting life total and of course cards with good expenetial value . Ps when are we getting another commander deck tech
Professor, I don't know that this is specific to Commander, but one of the rules I try to teach others is to always wait until the last possible moment to make a play and I find it one of the hardest lessons for EDH newcomers: yes, the Blightsteel Colossus can kill someone in one shot, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing - it might do some work for you, removing a troublesome player. Don't bother with it until it is coming at YOU. Often times the mere threat of removal can turn what seems like a threat into a tool for your own advantage. Also, while single target removal may be far weaker in EDH than standard Magic formats, it is worth noting that Exile effects are often important tools to have regardless of their limited range, as almost every good EDH deck has SOME form of graveyard recursion.
I would love to see a video about how to play using the graveyard. I feel like Green and Black is a popular color combination but lots of newer players don't understand how to make the graveyard work in their favor. Meren of Clan Nel Toth, for example, when she is built correctly she can be very oppressive, but if not built correctly you just end up with all of your creatures in your graveyard and you get back one small creature a turn.
What would be cool for next year’s lessons would be how to build decks for standard/modern whatever. How do I respond to the meta game? How many of each card to include? How do I build around cards and how can I tell which ones are worth building around? These may seem basic but I am still kind of new and I am a little bored with net decking.
My friend's favorite edh deck started as: Godo, Bandit Warlord with Helm of The Host, and 98 Mountains. (He won the first 4P match he played with it.) He then supplemented this with a metric f-ton of red ramp, more equip artifacts, and the wraths. Now about 3 people have changed their decks so he isn't allowed to play.
Hello Professor, I was wondering when a Guide to a Mono-Colored mana base for EDH is gonna come out? I've been a big fan of your EDH mana base guides and use it as a reference point when building my commanders. Sadly though, I do not see one for Mono-Colored mana bases. If there is one, if I could get a link I would appreciate it. If not, then I hope to see one soon. I've Been looking at Commanders like Purphoros and Omnath, Locus of Mana and hope to get a second opinion when I do see your Mono-Colored mana base guide.
Thanks a million Prof!! I am a new player and because of you I've started strong out of the gate in my play group. I think I may love goblins as much as you love merfolk! P.S I cannot wait to irritate with my new Zo-Zu Deck.
Many Magic: The Gathering players are asking where I got the Craterhoof plushie. It was made by @TallysTreasury of tallystreasury.com/store/ . I won it at Desert Bus many years back.
Did you miss our episode on how to be a Better Combo Player? Check it out here: th-cam.com/video/nxJ53HLMkHA/w-d-xo.html
level up!
t i m m y p o w e r g a m e r ---------> j h o n n y , c o m b o p l a y e r
Tolarian Community College great video today! Most of my decks for commander are silly, but knowing some evaluation tips and threat assessment is useful for someone who loves building decks for every day (for instance, like building an infinite take an extra turn combo when I'm feeling evil) so this video gets an A.
More Tutor videos! Best segment on your channel, by far!
Am I the only one that read this like he says it
any advice for a maelstrom cascade deck for edh?
Remember, people. Don't buy you Craterhoof pups in holidays, or any other time. Go to your nearest elven pet refuge and adopt. They have much love and trampling to give.
Juanjo Rodríguez Craterhoofs are for life, not just Christmas.
Can you believe they are just giving these craterhoofs away for only several mana? It's like being free!
Man, what do these things eat? ... *flips through book* oh. Animals....vegetation...rocks...people...huh.
We might need to start a land war with a foreign country to feed this thing o.o
"And remember: it's not about winning individual games of magic. It's about CASTING CRATERHOOF!!!" C:
It’s not always about winning. It’s about THE METS BABY LOVE THE METS ALRIGHT BABY LET’S GO GET A HOME RUN BABY LOVE THE METS LET’S GO METS.
@Meatforge LOLL
This is such an ancient comment as well..
@@Space_Potat I’m a level 20 chaotic evil necroposter.
Meatforge Lul
For season 2 I'd like to watch you play mock games (live or online) while you explain how you evaluate the board state, how you make decisions, and specific tactics to answer threats. Basically, the "Inner Game of Magic".
Thank you Professor for emphasizing the importance of "the progressive game and obtaining the win condition". Your advice and teachings are definitely helpful.
That craterhoof behemoth plushie put a bigger smile on my face than I could have imagined. Reminds me why I enjoy watching this channel: it's just so sincere, charming and motivated by pure love for the game.
Loving this series. I think you should do an episode on some more intricate aspects of the game (the stack, triggered vs activated abilities, and how player priority works). Having a tutorial video on these would be super helpful for trying to teach my friends how to progress past just knowing how to play more basic magic.
It finally happened. Great video.
Over the many years of edh/cmdr I've played I've picked up on certain habits in deck building. Ramp (green, artifacts), card draw (blue, black, artifacts), recursion (any color), removal (non-blue colors), and win conditions.
I agree that it's better to always have 2 for 1's but sometimes a simple 1 for 1 to stop your opponent from winning is good enough. Something with a repeatable effect or a mana sink to use over and over is always better than a 1 time effect.
Wraths are important but shouldn't be overdone. Somewhere between 3 and 5. Since cmdr games can go on for a while, the larger wraths can have a bigger impact over the cost effective 4 mana wraths.
Foiled decks are more of a status simple than any relivence to the decks power level. Just because you foiled out a budget deck doesn't mean it's any better than the non-foiled deck. My Omnath deck (which I sold to put a down payment on my car) was fully foiled, and all it did was draw all the hate from the other players (and it was my most powerful deck, so it was justified, kinda).
I personally don't go for the foil cards because even double sleeved, they tend to warp. This aggravates me to no end. just sayin
agreed on Omnath - my Locus of Rage deck is still the strongest deck I have built. I use foils where they are relevant.
Duncan Ellis I had locus of mana, built it in 2011
My wife and I use Commander to settle our debates. Please show me how to win an argument for once.
Also... nice suit bro. Looking sharp
Play stax or a super oppressive french (1v1) commander
Flash hulk wins before she can draw a card.
@Proton I said I wanted to win an argument. Not lose a marriage
Play Zur? cEDH Zur is one of the most reliable fast winning decks out there. It isn't the fastest, but it'll get there if nobody else can, possibly due to counters. It's also very annoying, usually running lots of counters itself, and Zur is mostly there for Necropotence, which finds the cards you need or tutors, and then you just win. You're in the colors with the best tutors I'd argue, and Necro is likely good for 20 cards or more, since you can get it out early and put out Solitary Confinement to protect yourself. For cEDH it is a fair deck, and at least it's not Stax?
Simple play pot of greed
As an avid, enfranchised commander player, I have to disagree that _all_ targeted removal is bad. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are both staples and can have huge impact in a game of commander, whether that means exiling an Avacyn, Angel of Hope, or dealing with that annoying reanimator target that has come back half a dozen times already. I also have to respectfully disagree that Oblivion Ring is bad, as, even though it is vulnerable to removal, it can answer _anything_ that can be targeted, and can often buy the rest of the table enough time to find a more long-term answer to the threat you put under the Ring.
tl;dr some of the better, targeted removal is still good, and O-Ring is also worth considering if you need to answer something in your meta that your deck cant deal with typically, or as a catch-all to buy time for another player to find a better answer.
WeskersPlayhouse he said swords to plowshares and path are good but not all spot removal is good most edh decks run recursion in there decks so you sending a creature to the graveyard is pretty useless when exiling it is better he is saying you need to be more careful with it since the value of it decreases with more players
Prof, this series really helped cement how far you’ve come as a content creator and producer. Please, keep it up.
As a starting player this video helped so much, thank you
Hey Prof. Thanks for this. My girlfriend has been getting into commander, but has difficulty focusing on the end goal. I've been trying to teach her why I seem more focused, and this has helped so much!
thank you for posting a commander video!
Having seen your first few videos and being impressed by how concise and informative they were it warms my heart to see how your channel has progressed. The production value of this video is on par if not even better than network television. Thanks for the hard work Professor, it is truly inspiring to see someone take so much care and pride in what they create.
Merry EDHmas
I love topics like "your card drawn is 25% of the total cards drawn", that's a good layer of the game to keep in mind that others may overlook
I love the Tolarian Tutor series Prof! Glad you did an episode on commander. I'll take this lesson to heart in making my decks more streamlined from now on. World you ever consider doing an episode on mid range decks in the future?
I just want to say thanks. You’re a great source of information and I always recommend your content to help others get better not only at the game but the economy of it as well. Hope you are doing well despite these crazy times. I wish you good luck and health
I would appreciate a Tolarian Tutor video on tribal strategies and how to avoid just putting all your favorite creatures of x type in them. How do you make them good?
I play mainly tribal and my best advice is like he said in video, what is your overall strategy? If you're playing vampires, are you making an aggro deck or bleeder deck? If you are playing Ixalan Merfolk are you going to focus more on +1/+1 or a numbers advantage? No idea if you still have this question but I thought I would answer anyway.
Good vídeo professor, waiting for more Tolarian Tutor. Really like to see as much content for old and new player alike.
Keep up the good work!
That's cool and all, but where do I get that plush?
Tally's Bestiary on Etsy seems to be the source. She's currently on break, and I don't know if it's just over the holidays or for a longer time. Might still be reachable via email or PM though, so it's worth giving it a shot if you're hell-bent on getting one of those :)
I Hope you have Great holidays Prof! I got a TCC-Shirt. I wish you the best New Year's Eve!
Thank you Professor!!! This was so helpful!!! You gave me the idea I need for my commander deck I've been trying to get running for a year!!!!
Alot of my play group are "new" at edh. I had them sit down and watch this and there decks power level went up a few levels because of this and also the fun went up aswell. Thank you so much Professor.
I do very much disagree with the "no Doom Blade" idea. Certainly, wraths are much more important in EDH so you can clear multiple threats. However, single-target removal is cheaper, and so, so many times I see times when a player dies to a Kikki Combo with a Damnation in hand, when Doom Blade would save their lives.
Single-target removal should be limited in quantity (I've had to tell black/white players so many times that they don't need Swords and Path and five versions of Vindicate) and should be restricted to cards that either synergize with your deck in some other way or instant-speed effects, as the latter can often be counterspells against win conditions.
If you're playing competitive EDH then you're either
a) Playing a combo deck that's faster than a Kiki combo list such as something built around hermit druid or flash hulk.
b) Playing blue and counterspells are generally more relevant than single target creature removal.
c) Playing a stax deck that will slow combo decks down enough to find something that will stop their combo working all together.
or some combination of the above.
A. Kess Kikki Combo is literally a T1 deck, so I'm very confused about why you'd imagine this to be true. Even so, your argument actually proves the truth of mine: both Hermit Druid and Flash Hulk can be disrupted by single-target removal. Druid needs to wheel or needs a haste outlet, and no competitive deck I can think of is going to run a haste enchantment and Hermit Druid so it's either going around the table or I can respond to an attempt to equip. Hulk itself can't be disrupted by a removal spell but all of its game-ending combinations can be.
B. Sure, but aside from Force/Pact counterspells cost more than removal spells. UU versus W. Also, if we trust our handy-dandy-Tappedout-tier-list, we'll note that Prossh is a T1 commander without blue, and T1.5 brings seven more non-blue commanders to the table.
C. ... And very often that "something" is a removal spell, because removal spells solve the vast majority of combos in EDH.
If you're actually playing competitive EDH, this wouldn't even be a conversation. Cards like Swords, Path, Nature's Claim, and Chain of Vapors are format staples.
Kestral287 run blue and return spells then run doomblade or ultimate sacrifice
Again, Swords and Path are T1 cEDH staples. These are cookie-cutter removal spells played at the absolute highest level of the format.
This. The value of single-target removal goes down in multiplayer, but if it's very powerful/cheap like Swords or very versatile like Cast Out it can still earn a spot.
There's also the threat value. Maze of Ith can only stop one attacker, but nobody wants to be that guy, so they'll tend to focus their attacks elsewhere. Countermagic can only stop one spell, but knowing someone is clutching a counter makes everyone more wary about what they play.
Hi Prof, nice video!! Good to have a dedicated Tolarian Tutor to us EDH Players!
Since you are always talking about how Wizards don't give the players a basic instruction/tutorial on how to play magic, how about you start season 2 with a miniseries on How to play the game for begginers/people who never played magic before?
Like an MTG 101. It wont be of much use for people who already play the game, but beeing able to send a link to a new friend you want to show the game before he comes to play, and have him already understand the basics of the game when he comes, is going to be a real help!
I'm sure if you do this it's going to be one of the most shared videos in the Tolarian Tutor series!
I love this series so much! My favorite format is Commander so I had this kind of episode on my Christmas wishlist!
I love the effort that goes into making these videos. Bravo TCC
Love love loved this video! I basically only play commander and am so glad for this video! It was as high quality as always with this tutor series.
Love this video and the emphasis on threat assessment. I feel like Edh in particular is the perfect format for perfecting Threat assessment.
In 1v1 it's easy...remove the thing in the way. In a typical EDH game cards like Krosan Grip typically sit in my habd until it's an absolute must remove under any circumstances.
Keep up the amazing work Prof.!
good morning professor!
I watch your videos religiously and I really enjoy your content. when I was in Pacifica I saw the game store that you have had in so many of your videos! didn't realize you were In the bay...
Yeah this is great. Ive been playing commander since the first precon and fostered many into the format. The best advice for begginers i have is "ask yourself are your cards helping you win?". Love the video.
Merry christmas to you prof. Be merry, hang in there and take care of yourself friend.
I love this series and I hope you continue them! Maybe a video along the lines of "how do the five colours of Magic work together? What pairings have historically been the best, statistics,decks, etc."? I don't fully know how to put it, but something in that vein would be cool! But I am not sure whether that topic would be fitting for the Tutor-Series.
Very helpful!! Glad TH-cam suggested it for me. I am hoping to try Commander soon. I may be the only Magic player who has yet to try Commander.
My favorite exponential advantage card is Decimate. There are *always* four targets.
I would absolutely love to see a video on Modern - specifically, recognizing your opponent's deck and adjusting your game plan accordingly. I absolutely love this series, and it's been INCREDIBLY helpful. Thank you Prof, Emma, and Michelle!
I just love all of your videos, I love commander format and all your tips are awesome, keep it going! Also happy holidays profesor!
Merry christmas and happy holidays prof! Always a delight watching your videos!
As always, an incredible video with great insight. As a casual commander player, these videos are useful even to people not trying to go for instant wins. Thanks as always! Looking forward to season 2
Love the channel! My play group is only commander so seeing stuff over commander is quite enjoyable. Our game store set Wednesday as commander night and tells any new player to come watch if they truly wish to see competitive EDH. I would personally love to see more in depth to synergy and answers not only to your playgroup but any. Often I find new players creating answers to only the decks my group has shown than we bring out new decks and screw that plan right out of the water, not that the plan really worked on the first deck just slightly annoying and you are correct in politics you create a problem for Everyone you become the enemy to everyone. Be creative in having answers for any situation whether someone brings a new or old deck to the table. Thanks didn’t have much time to review my comment and make corrections, kher keep it up!
I don't agree with your "board wipes are always better than targeted removals" philosophy. In a free for all multiplayer game all the other players are your enemies but also are aligned with you in killing the other players.
Every threat on the table is a threat for everybody, not just for you. When you board wipe you are destroying stuff in the table that wasn't as troublesome for you as it was for other players, you are doing their dirty work. So, ask yourself "can any other player do my dirty work for me?" and spend your removals wisely, after all, every threat you remove is another removal in a player's hand waiting for your threats.
I find that surgical removals are enough to swing the power balance of the board against a player making him weak enough to be taken by others.
So unless your plan is going infinite and killing everybody at once, with board wipes you are just delaying the game which isn't really funny.
Agree. Look at very strong decks and they often run 2 sweepers at most and far more spot removal.
Agree
I usually run 5 wrath per deck maximum, some are specific to anti artifact etc.., they are required to shut down strategy like sliver etc that has a explosive start. But I am with you if you want removal focusing on wrath just remove the fun from the game. I feel like removal that scale with late game such as Dregs of Sorrow or Silence the Believers is way more welcome by people and actually help the game.
+Lucas CW There are cards that pull cards from exile back into libraries
its no teams in a free for all, anyone teaming is just playing bad
Perfect timing prof, I left EDH for a semester long hiatus. Now I can better prepare and execute my big comeback in January. Thanks and best wishes from the East Cast.
Craterhoof plushie is
I would like an episode on GRAVEYARDS and how to manage them and use them effectively. I play a non-graveyard centric Karakoram hatebear deck in EDH, and would like to know how to use my graveyard in a more effective way than simply bringing creatures back. It would be cool, Love the content, Prof! Keep up the awesome work!
Excelent video i must say, you should do more commander related content, in my gaming community we really apreciate this kind of gaming tech & tip content.
I want to thank you for your dedication and passion on all of your videos
I love this series!
Can't wait for Season Two!
Dude, your videos are so good and they have been for years.
I dunno why, but seeing the Prof cuddle with a Craterhoof plush really warmed me up inside :')
I'd love to see something on mill decks and strategies.
Mill sucks in commander. If your opponents are running eldrazi, your strategy is immediately almost useless. Worse, if your opponents are running a deck that recurs cards from the graveyard, you're just helping them win faster. The only way to win as a mill player is to just play a different deck because your strategy is shitty.
Great direction and study for the student of Magic!
I've needed this.
Thank you so much. I been teaching some friends of mine how to play EDH and this will definitely help.
A really great video that obviously shows influence from all of Prof's time playing over the years and with so many other EDH titans.
However, I would clarify a point made (probably just cut for time in the script): not all single-target spells and effects are bad in EDH. You should definitely pack your Krosan Grips and Vindicates anytime you build a new deck that can support them. Wraths are prime, but sometimes you want to keep your stuff, or don't want to blowout a possible ally! If only one or two permanents are problems, no need to smash them all (and that's coming from a Red player)!
Hey professor, could you please do a video showing your whole magic the gathering collection? We have seen glimpses of your planeswalkers, rares and mythics in your reviews on folders. However we have never seen a whole video showing all your magic the gathering treasures. Additionally we have heard so much about your commander decks but we have never actually seen the cards. I also think it would be interesting to include a part of the vid where you show all the deck boxes folders and sleeves you have reviewed so we can see how you use each product. Thanks and I hope we see a video like this in the near future!
I was sold on this video when you called the format by its real name; Elder Dragon Highlander. Merry EDHmas!
A couple of friends and I like to instill a casual homebrew rule where if we call out "turn one sol ring", the player who was about to play it has to chuck it into the grave. If we can guess what the other is about to summon, we chuck it into the grave. Adds a silly little element to our casual EDH games
Hi professor, thank you for all of your efforts into making this deeply useful series. I hope you could make a few more building focused episodes, especially about how to choose an efficient archetype/strategy/thematic to settle on even before actually building a deck. I think this is a dark area for both new and advanced players: i guess i can't be called a fresh new player but i still choose what deck to spend my time on by just trying to make a funny card interaction playable... This is also the reason why i don't play commander: i don't know what to begin with !
I would still really like to see a breakdown of Boros in Commander, as many see it as the weakest colour, and some ways to overcome the colour pair weakness with out simply resorting to a giant heap of mana rocks and a ridiculous card draw work around.
And yes I did watch the Command Zones breaking Boros, and was left.........saddened.
How to break boros = hit face 10% harder then before, repeat :D
Accurate.
As for my part, i hope that we can get a boros prison commander sometime in the future. Maybe a clever take on control that revolves around combat manipulation.
Ever heard of a card called repercussions? (whenever a creature is dealt damage repercussions deals that much damage to that creatures controller?) I use that with some double damage effects and mass burn spells to blast our life totals to oblivion. And i might even survive if Gisella is on the board
Seems like a good way to add on extra damage. Thanks my dude.
Awesome vid! Thanks! Its always cool to get some useful tips and fundamentals
I like this. I'd love to see more Commander/EDH videos like this
Please do this kind of video more!
wonderful series thank you
I genuinely love commander, it has so many options and fun builds and it (usually) allows for lengthy interactive gameplay.
Love this series, Prof!
Maybe you could go deeper into edh archetypes, please? I have brought a few friends into the format, but don't have the talent or the knowledge to properly tutor them...
Have a nice holiday season, thanks!
thank you professor, I was looking for a card to add to my sheoldred commander deck to increase her potential. I didn't think about urborg, tomb of yawgmoth so thank you
You are a great tutor and a best player in magic card
Sequencing and good play habits. When to crack your fetch or cast your “combat trick”. The little things like going to combat with open mana and maximizing your second main phase.
Glad to see Tolarian back on making good MtG videos again!
Shocked there aren’t more recent comments on this one. I feel as though commander has become a lot more mainstream, especially in WotC eyes. Would love a new tutoring video on making strong commander decks!
I love this video professor. Ty so much for making it.
I bet you could make an entire episode on the idea of “the stack” - seems pretty simple, but I’m sure there would be enough examples of this response to this responds to that which triggers this thing that could be explored.
This is fantastic! Thanks Prof
This is the first of your videos I've watched, and I really enjoyed it. You remind me of Kyle Hill of Because Science a little bit.
A friend of mine runs the Markov Commander deck and all they know is being competitive so in answer to people saying its casual it all depends on the player. Ex. Jen or Tom from Commander Clash.
Excellent and helpful lesson. Thanks a lot.
I for one would be wicked excited to see how to build better control/combo/aggro decks.
Amazing, entertaining and very guiding. Thank you, Prof! Also, what about a video on how to build a good tribal deck (even for obscure races such as Cephalids or Homarids)? Another theme I'd love to see you tackle is how do you calculate how many color-producing lands do you put into a normal 60 card deck, taking into account the type and quantity of mana required to cast spells? Much in the line of your "How to build mana bases for Commander" series. Thank you and I wish you the best for this upcoming 2018.
I would love to see an episode decks like Burn or Infect. I know that they technically fall under the large archetypes (aggro, control, and combo) already covered, but it would be fun to see what advice the Professor has for things like those decks.
Please make more EDH videos!! These videos are a total life saver for me
Awesome episode. I love the breakdown of game theory
I would love a discussion on how to include mana ramp in standard/modern format, and how to best approach this for different types of deck. Or, if there are even decks where you dont need mana ramp.
New video!! Yes, of the Profesor!! Yes, Commander!!! YES, Competitive!!? Ye.... Close video, sorry proff
Maybe a "deck watch" series? Where you take a look at a deck that has been winning a lot or maybe a new rising deck and talk about how to play it and even better how to fight against it. Commander would be awesome but modern might be easier to do.
As another Tolarian Tutor video I have had a few matches now where everyone will sit down for a commander game and I find I am the only person with spot removal and open land. This leads to me being the only person that can stop a combo deck from going off. And I can't always be on the ball for that or don't even know I am sitting down with a combo commander player. So covering the importance of 'versatile instant spot remover' and/or 'how to spot the combo player', would be a good video imo.
Yay the commander episode!!!
Professor, I wish you made this earlier as I fell deep into the pit of blinging out my deck. My lovely wife however did get me an amazing liefkicker deckbox though. Also, i'd like to see a video on Trading, and building a strong trade binder. When to go hunting for individual cards? How to build and maintain awareness of price spikes in the secondary market?
Great as always Prof
Loved the video prof I showed it to my local play group also I'd love to see you cover cards that work better in the format do to certain rules being different such cards that take advantage of a higher starting life total and of course cards with good expenetial value . Ps when are we getting another commander deck tech
Professor, I don't know that this is specific to Commander, but one of the rules I try to teach others is to always wait until the last possible moment to make a play and I find it one of the hardest lessons for EDH newcomers: yes, the Blightsteel Colossus can kill someone in one shot, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing - it might do some work for you, removing a troublesome player. Don't bother with it until it is coming at YOU. Often times the mere threat of removal can turn what seems like a threat into a tool for your own advantage.
Also, while single target removal may be far weaker in EDH than standard Magic formats, it is worth noting that Exile effects are often important tools to have regardless of their limited range, as almost every good EDH deck has SOME form of graveyard recursion.
I would love to see a video about how to play using the graveyard. I feel like Green and Black is a popular color combination but lots of newer players don't understand how to make the graveyard work in their favor. Meren of Clan Nel Toth, for example, when she is built correctly she can be very oppressive, but if not built correctly you just end up with all of your creatures in your graveyard and you get back one small creature a turn.
excellent videos! This newbie sure has learned a lot from them!
Thank you so much Prof!
What would be cool for next year’s lessons would be how to build decks for standard/modern whatever.
How do I respond to the meta game?
How many of each card to include?
How do I build around cards and how can I tell which ones are worth building around?
These may seem basic but I am still kind of new and I am a little bored with net decking.
My friend's favorite edh deck started as: Godo, Bandit Warlord with Helm of The Host, and 98 Mountains. (He won the first 4P match he played with it.) He then supplemented this with a metric f-ton of red ramp, more equip artifacts, and the wraths. Now about 3 people have changed their decks so he isn't allowed to play.
Hello Professor, I was wondering when a Guide to a Mono-Colored mana base for EDH is gonna come out? I've been a big fan of your EDH mana base guides and use it as a reference point when building my commanders. Sadly though, I do not see one for Mono-Colored mana bases. If there is one, if I could get a link I would appreciate it. If not, then I hope to see one soon. I've Been looking at Commanders like Purphoros and Omnath, Locus of Mana and hope to get a second opinion when I do see your Mono-Colored mana base guide.
I was pleasantly surprised that you quickly covered the pitfalls of bling.
Thanks a million Prof!! I am a new player and because of you I've started strong out of the gate in my play group. I think I may love goblins as much as you love merfolk!
P.S I cannot wait to irritate with my new Zo-Zu Deck.
Thanks for another great video!
Happy EDH-Mas, Professor!
hey professor, hope you had a great christmas!