While I like your list, and the inclusion of non-evergreen mechanics certainly widens the list significantly I personally would have submitted the following list: 10: Collosal Dreadmaw 9: Collosal Dreadmaw 8: Collosal Dreadmaw 7: Colossal Dreadmaw 6: Colossal Dreadmaw 5: Colossal Dreadmaw 4: Collosal Dreadmaw 3: Colossal Dreadmaw 2: Colossal Dreadmaw And of course, at #1... Yargle.
The best part of Timeless Dragon's Eternalize is it's an ability, not a spell, meaning you can't use traditional Counterspell to counter the inevitable 4/4 flying.
Ornithopter should probably have been on this list, as an ancient, simple card that has seen play forever and is still used in multiple competitive decks today.
I loved Akroma and Phage back then in Onslaught block. Pre-Lifelink as a keyword, and Vigilance was Attacking Does Not Cause Creature to Tap... The good ol' days
Yeah I remember reading Akroma when I was 10 years old and thinking wow, it has so many abilities! Also costed way more money than 10 year old me could afford.
Nightmare, akroma, squee, and phage all haunt my beginning magic self xD especially phage. I cannot even begin to explain to you how often it's lose the ability game started arguments as we found out what counts as entering the battlefield.
I would love to see a video on the Pauper format. I had to liquidate my entire collection and only got to hide 3 decks away: 2 fair EDH decks and one pauper deck that can win on turn 2. I would love to hear your thoughts on the format and cards that are usually bad but amazing with the Pauper restrictions! Love your vids!
If you check Maro's definition, french vanilla refers to creatures with only *creature* keywords. As such, Bloodbraid Elf, Timeless Dragon, Gurmag Angler, & Streetwraith are ineligible for this list, as they include keywords that don't just go on creatures.
I've played the game since almost the beginning and it's mind-boggling how much better creatures have gotten. 2/2's for 2 with DRAWBACKS like Ironclaw Orcs were played in serious competitive decks. Jackal Pup was amazing when it came out. Now we have Ragavan. 4/4's for 4 mana with drawbacks like Derelor were played in serious decks. Now there are common 4/4's for 4 mana with positive abilities. The examples go on and on.
Belgian Vanillas would need to be strictly Vanilla except for an ETB trigger in my book. Etb with blink is such a big thing I can't see not counting against how vanilla it is. Keywords + blink = immediately into Neopoliton or Banana Split tier.
Strangleroot geist is the greatest. I love all the ways it can throw an opponent off. One of these days you will have to mention the mono green stompy deck in modern!
Street Wraith is also played in Hollow One/Modern Madness as a free cycle. It's just Gitaxian Probe in many matchups and let's you play with 52 cards. Honestly, there's an argument for playing it in -every- deck. Edit- 56 cards.
I think the term French Vanilla should be used to define Vanilla creatures with only Evergreen Mechanics. Like, Mantis Rider I get, but that Plainvycling Eternalize Dragon seems like it shouldn't be in the same class, because there are so many Set/Block only keywords that almost any creature without an activated ability or an ETB could be considered French. Too broad in my opinion
There is not a term like that, but "keyword abilities" by their nature are evergreen. Even if KAs like Soulbond or Miracle aren't used very commonly due to their flavor, the way they inherently function won't ever change (barring rulings changes, anyway). While I get the argument, Miracle hasn't been featured since 2018, and both Soulbound and Eternalize are very focused on blocks involving specific locals in the lore (Innistrad and Amonkhet respectively)... they will consistently work the same way even if MTG decides to include them in cards that don't fit into flavorful contexts. Haste is always Haste, Vigilance is always Vigilance, Eternalize is always Eternalize.
It's a matchup dependent keyword, but that's everything. Sometimes having flying means nothing on a card in the context of a matchup, other times vigilance can be the best keyword because it pairs really well with lifelink on batterskull for example.
Gurmag Angler is just so hilarious to think about. It's so clearly designed to be common draft chaff, but they completely underestimated the Delve mechanic. As such, a "throwaway" card accidentally became a multi-format powerhouse that saw play in the fastest formats around.
Isn't as good as the cards on this list, but Elite Inquisitor is my favorite 2 drop. Two white mana for 2/2 vigilance, first strike, protection from werewolves/vampires/zombies. Not bad at all
The most OP French vanilla potential creature would be one that unconditionally has first or double strike, trample, and deathtouch, even if it was just a 1/1, or even 0/1. Especially if it was legendary, for commander reasons.
Given how little play it sees, versus the absolutely powerhouse the cards below it were in their respective formats, if Timeless Dragon HAS to be on this list, there's no reason it should be above #10. And even then, something like Slippery Bogle should've made the cut over it, seeing as it's the namesake for an entire deck full of Hexproof creatures, even if it contains zero copies of that card.
I always took french vanilla to only be evergreen keywords(flying, trample, vigilance, haste, lifelink, deathtouch), not any keyword(persist, infect etc)
In what format? In modern, I don't see any reason to kill off one of many top tier decks, especially one that firmly in the middle as far as top tier decks go. It's pushed, sure, but that's not why cards get banned. They either lead to undesired play patterns, like Sensei's Divining Top, which just made matches go to turns all the time; they're omnipresent in the format and are warping it in undesirable ways, like Gitaxian Probe, which could go in every deck and probably should were it legal; or as part of a plan to attack decks that are overperforming. Murktide sees play in a pretty narrow set of decks (basically just Murktide), and said deck is good, but definitely not the best deck. Even if it was the best deck, it's a cornerstone of the deck and its namesake, so they'd probably go after enablers like DRC to try and weaken the deck before they tried to take out Murktide. There's just no real reason to ban Murktide. If its other formats like legacy, I'll admit I don't know as much about how it fares there. I could see maybe banning it as the new kid on the block for an already established deck.
@@fwg1994 I'm not saying I necessarily agree with a banning, I don't play Modern outside of a bit of casual play with my Goblins. However, it does make up 15% of Moderns meta and is in Izzet Delver in Legacy, meaning you have around a 1/5 chance of playing it in a match in these formats. That is incredibly pushed and I do see MH2 as kind of a joke in terms of power creep, I'm not sure the set should've been printed at all.
@@docterfantazmo I think you hit the nail on the head. Murktide and all of the cards in MH2 feel very forced. Most top decks in modern are using multiple copies of multiple cards from MH1 and 2. I have been playing MtG for a while and I have NEVER seen a format turned so quickly in its head by the release of a single set and then just finished it off with the second set. Modern, for the most part should be the Modern Horizon's format. That is probably the reason I don't see as many modern tournaments as I used to and even less people getting into the format. MH and MH2 didn't make the format more accessible to more players, it just created even more of a pay wall. Before these sets, you could build a mono green stompy deck, a burn deck or even any one of a few tribal decks(humans, merfolk, spirits) and expect some good results that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Their mana base was pretty cheap and they were at least useable in the meta. Now, 3-4-5 color decks are the norm, with mana bases chalked full of fetches, Urza's Sagas and shocks($18-40), elementals that are up to $60, stupid $90+ monkeys, $22+ Regents, etc. And these top decks are playing 3-4 of each. How is a new player supposed to afford that to be competitive?
@@docterfantazmo According to mtgtop8, which gets its results from tournaments, UR Aggro is sitting at about 13% of the metagame in the last 2 months. It's the top deck by play percentage, but it's not actually one deck. Those stats are combining Izzet Aggro and Izzet Murktide. You can break the decks down even further, one Aggro variant that came in second in a tournament 2 days ago was all in on the prowess plan with 4 swiftspear, 4 sprite dragon, 4 soul-scar, 4 DRC, and a single Ragavan for its creatures. Another top 4 from that same tournament was more on the value plan with a brazen borrower, 3 fury, a magus of the moon, 4 Ragavan, 2 snapcaster, and a subtlety for its creatures. And in case that didn't make it clear, the big difference between the Murktide and Aggro Izzet decks in modern is whether or not they run murktide. Most don't anymore. In the last week, there were 0 out of 10 placing UR aggro decks that were on the Murktide variant. There are 5 out of 31 in the previous week. Meanwhile outside of tournaments you mostly have MTGO, where meta decks are present, but the majority of people seem to be playing fringe decks. Like you watch any streamer play modern on MTGO, and like half their matches are weird homebrews you've never seen before. That and Creativity seems to be real popular for some reason. It's showing 5% on mtgtop8, and mtggoldfish has it at about 4% between 4c and 5c variants, but I swear its like a 3rd of the matches I've seen streamers play against on MTGO. Interestingly, looking at the last 2 weeks, UR Aggro is up to 16% of the metagame on mtgtop8, while all control decks combined take up about 13% of the metagame. If you wanna know why Murktide is being cut from tournament lists, that's pretty much it right there. You just don't have time to build up your graveyard to cast a Murktide when 87% of the metagame is aggro or combo decks that'll have you dead before the Murktide can make a difference. Edit: On further inspection, it seems that a lot of decks labelled as "UR Aggro" do still run 3-4 Murktides, including every UR Aggro deck that placed in a major event over the last two months. So its not nearly as gone as that initial search or the labelling of decks suggested. In fact, it seems to be only the two I checked that don't include Murktide. They are the most recent, and they did perform very well, but they were in tournaments considered a tier below what qualifies as a major tournament. This isn't the first time I've heard talk of cutting Murktide, but this looks to be more regional differences than anything. It's sitting at about 14% of the metagame in major events, right behind Hammertime at 13%. While that is high, it's honestly not that bad for the largest share of the metagame. Like Breeding Pool got banned because it had a solid 40% of the metagame, and we've seen top decks push the 20-30% range before (about 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 matches average).
One small thing I'd note is that Bloodbraid's body alone is already worth roughly three mana, not just two. There are no 3/X haste creatures with upside at 2 mana, and only one without downside (a 3/1 for BR). So the rate for cascade here is costing much closer to 1 extra mana, which is pretty absurd when you can hit mv 3 spells.
I don't believe Bloodbraid Elf and Monastery Swiftspear should count because the Proper definition is One ability for French Vanilla, not as many as can fit on the card like Akroma. But if we suspend that rule, I definitely agree Bloodbraid has more power in gameplay tiers than Monastery Swiftspear. She fought Jace the Mind Sculptor at the height of his power, and I'm pretty sure if you allowed Worldwake-Mirrodin Besieged Standard to have access to Monastery Swiftspear, that wouldn't be enough to hold back Jace. I could be wrong.
Time for some honorable mentions: Colossal Dreadmaw. 6/6 Green Dino for 6 (4GG) with Trample. Okay on its own, but in a dedicated Dino deck with all their cost reductions and ramp shenanigans, it can be a problem. Akroma, Angel of Wrath. 6/6 White Angel for 8 (5WWW) with Flying, First Strike, Vigilance, Trample, Haste and Protection from Red and Black. Because... if Baneslayer Angel gets a mention, why not Akroma? Mirran Crusader. 2/2 White Human Knight for 3 (1WW) with Double Strike, Protection from Green and Black. It's just a solid rate for all that jazz, and the Human synergy means he'll likely contribute more than just being a body even if all you do is play him. Ornithopter. 0/2 Artifact Creature for 0 with Flying. Literally a card to consider for any Artifact deck, even if it's just to put an extra Artifact in play. Being able to do so for free is great! Really surprised this didn't make it on the list. (Although if "Vanilla Flyer" is considered distinct from "French Vanilla", I get it. Don't agree, but I get it.) Slippery Bogle. 1/1 Green/Blue Beast for 1 (G/U) with Hexproof. I think the only reason this wasn't included is because Glistener Elf exists. Infect is jank, without question, but having a 1/1 with Hexproof is pretty spicy too.
How about top 10 Retrain cards. I was thinking about retrain cards after looking at the Suspend retrains of banned/restricted cards such as Sol Talisman (Sol Ring) and Wheel of Fate (Wheel of Fortune)
Goblin guide is a 1 mana 2/2 with haste and upside 2/3 of the time and downside 1/3. Which I find incredibly broken Because it doesn't just enter and hits your opponent, it gives you info about their draws. What GG should've said to be fair is "Defending player sees his top card. If it is a land card he can reveal it and add it to his hand"
No Vampire Nighthawk makes me sad The only reason it doesn't see play is because they made a better version of it. 3 Mana for flying lifelink and deathtouch is no joke
Nighthawk was unplayable in modern even before the new version and it's also unplayable in Pioneer where the improved version doesn't exist. It was barely playable in Modern in mono black devotion years ago before better options got printed, and even then that's never been a top tier strategy.
Yeah the problem is that cost doesn't matter so the more expensive ones are better because of that They could cost 800 Mana and it'd be no different Though in a vacuum, nighthawk is amazing
I'm firmly of the opinion that "X is unblockable" should be shortened to a keyword, if only to save on card space. They did it with "X cannot be targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control" by making Hexproof.
I look at baneslayer as the radiant guardian card from league of runeterra... Both are 5/5 with protection and lifesteal, although radiant doesnt have flying(stealth for lor) and first strike(quick attack) but in my eyes they are pretty similir
@@magicalgirlanime The full text was "This creature is unlockable" and now is "This creature can't be blocked". Unlockable was never a keyword, it was one of those "take this word by its literal English meaning and trust us" that they hopefully got rid of.
I always thought of “French vanilla” as being “vanilla and one extra keyword,” so I wouldn’t have ever considered some of these many-keywords monstrosities fitting.
The funniest moment for me is when someone tried to target my Baneslayer with Crib Swap. No, you can't do that; it's a changeling, and therefore a demon and a dragon.
Shoutouts to Throes of Chaos, a *sorcery* with only 2 keywords: Cascade and retrace. Doesn't seem much, but was what finally got Tibalt's Trickery banned in historic.
"Lyra was not eligible for this list as her pump ability is not a Keyword." I swear, after so many decades of Magic, I dont see why the Lord keyword doesn't exist yet. Its so old school I might as well BE a keyword. Guess its probably because most lords give a stat boost AND a global ability, but Im sure they could make a short hand for most of those.
It's funny, people always hype up Infect's power because of Modern, but totally forget it was barely a thing for much of the 2 years it was in Standard. Valakut, Caw Blade, Vengevine, Vampires, Elves, Mono Red, etc. were more prominent those years.
Mirran Crusader and Cloudfin Raptor are also both very strong French vanillas, but Raptor was basically Standard-only, and I think Crusader has been powercrept out of all the eternal formats it was good in
Why not young wolf instead of Geist? It's ok either way, Geist is pretty strong too but I like young wolf a bit more a 2 for 1 creature for 1 mana is always nice especially if it can become a 2/2 for 1 mana after giving you some sacrifice value, in pauper young wolf into Bayou Groff is one of the best aggro starts in the format
For me it really is Island + lotus petal + chrome mox + thassa's oracle + demonic consultation. Only 2 cards are vital, you can play all tutors. It's insane
I just want to add some lore and irl facts WotC does. There is very little human tribal support due to that fact humans are the most commonly printed type. They knew humans would out race other cards due to newer versions being printed so much. The white the most support you see is for specific things like, white creatures, tokens, knights, soldiers, etc. When I saw humans had finally broken into the format, I was surprised but always knew it would happen one day, just cause of the selection pool being so large.
In fact we saw our very first ever human tribal support in the original Innistrad set, back in September of 2011. That's over half of mtg's life span at this point.
Gurmag will always be the best boi. I‘ll just play a regentless format. F that Card anyway. Also, I‘m surprised you didn’t mention shardless agent (nevermind, he did, I just missed it) alongside bloodbraid elf. It’s the better one and it fills in. It would have been the strongest one from the list. Better than Angler and swifty I‘d say.
He does this, as well as deliberately mispronouncing certain terms because it drives up engagement from people like you who point it out, and people like me who point out that you're being farmed for engagement
You are wrong about counters--especially when it comes to +#/+# or -#/-# on creatures. They both stay on the creature and DO NOT nullify/cancel each other out and are removed... that way if someone proliferates they can choose to proliferate the -1/-1 counter OR the +1/+1 counter.
While I like your list, and the inclusion of non-evergreen mechanics certainly widens the list significantly I personally would have submitted the following list:
10: Collosal Dreadmaw
9: Collosal Dreadmaw
8: Collosal Dreadmaw
7: Colossal Dreadmaw
6: Colossal Dreadmaw
5: Colossal Dreadmaw
4: Collosal Dreadmaw
3: Colossal Dreadmaw
2: Colossal Dreadmaw
And of course, at #1...
Yargle.
True
I am the reincarnation of collosal dreadmaw.
I approve this message.
Yargle I’ve come to bargle
Sadly, Yargle can't join this list because he's a Vanilla. The best and strongest card, but it'd plain vanilla, not french vanilla.
are you ready to BARGLE
The best part of Timeless Dragon's Eternalize is it's an ability, not a spell, meaning you can't use traditional Counterspell to counter the inevitable 4/4 flying.
Just a bit of nitpicking: lifelink applies to all damage done by a creature, not only combat damage
Tell me you have glasses to push up
@@jonbaird8835 this matters more than you would think
Arcbond go brrrrr
0:38
That’s what he said …
@@jonbaird8835 I do, i do.
Ornithopter should probably have been on this list, as an ancient, simple card that has seen play forever and is still used in multiple competitive decks today.
what decks play thopter except affinity?
@@mantizshrimp Not many, but Affinity has been a top deck in basically every format at one point or another.
Huh been out of the loop with mtg for near a decade so I never knew about the French vanilla term
I think it's a regional thing cause I've never heard it either
It's often just said in the context of discussing game design. Players don't really use it.
I've been in the loop for the past decade and haven't heard of it lol
It’s a term that’s been around if you like talking abt card design and competitive.
@@jacobtietjen2099 Yea was finna say this term is frequently used if you play mtg in any competitive scene. Especially draft and limited.
I still remember when my brother opened Akroma, Angel of Wrath and thinking how crazy it was with its 7 keyword abilities.
I loved Akroma and Phage back then in Onslaught block. Pre-Lifelink as a keyword, and Vigilance was Attacking Does Not Cause Creature to Tap... The good ol' days
Yeah I remember reading Akroma when I was 10 years old and thinking wow, it has so many abilities! Also costed way more money than 10 year old me could afford.
Akroma is still pretty damn good today, aside from her mana cost. If she was like 6 mana and a 5/5 today she would be fine
Nightmare, akroma, squee, and phage all haunt my beginning magic self xD especially phage. I cannot even begin to explain to you how often it's lose the ability game started arguments as we found out what counts as entering the battlefield.
Idk if its too hard to define, but a Top 10 of the most unique Cards would be a banger
Crystalline Giant is one of my top 5 fav magic cards. Love the idea
I would love to see a video on the Pauper format. I had to liquidate my entire collection and only got to hide 3 decks away: 2 fair EDH decks and one pauper deck that can win on turn 2. I would love to hear your thoughts on the format and cards that are usually bad but amazing with the Pauper restrictions! Love your vids!
Me, a french that dont know much about magic: i still have several question
If you check Maro's definition, french vanilla refers to creatures with only *creature* keywords. As such, Bloodbraid Elf, Timeless Dragon, Gurmag Angler, & Streetwraith are ineligible for this list, as they include keywords that don't just go on creatures.
I agree, plus any keyword that has to include reminder text and is only in a single block isn't really evergreen to me.
@@Mrbananasgfan only existing in a single block is literally the antonym of evergreen.
But I don't think evergreen makes something French vanilla
So would Sphinx, since enchantments and artifacts can also have protection
The fact that Baneslayer Angel is not good enough nowadays really says something about the power-creeo.
I've played the game since almost the beginning and it's mind-boggling how much better creatures have gotten. 2/2's for 2 with DRAWBACKS like Ironclaw Orcs were played in serious competitive decks. Jackal Pup was amazing when it came out. Now we have Ragavan. 4/4's for 4 mana with drawbacks like Derelor were played in serious decks. Now there are common 4/4's for 4 mana with positive abilities. The examples go on and on.
very good. now what about BELGIAN vanillas?
What are those?
"Creatures that are effectively vanilla or French vanilla *after* they've entered the battlefield." Spice8Rack joked about it once.
Belgian Vanillas would need to be strictly Vanilla except for an ETB trigger in my book.
Etb with blink is such a big thing I can't see not counting against how vanilla it is.
Keywords + blink = immediately into Neopoliton or Banana Split tier.
@@darthparallax5207 I think that's a great way to categorise them!
Strangleroot geist is the greatest. I love all the ways it can throw an opponent off. One of these days you will have to mention the mono green stompy deck in modern!
Don’t forget Angler also dodges mental misstep and counterbalance
Street Wraith is also played in Hollow One/Modern Madness as a free cycle. It's just Gitaxian Probe in many matchups and let's you play with 52 cards. Honestly, there's an argument for playing it in -every- deck.
Edit- 56 cards.
I think the term French Vanilla should be used to define Vanilla creatures with only Evergreen Mechanics. Like, Mantis Rider I get, but that Plainvycling Eternalize Dragon seems like it shouldn't be in the same class, because there are so many Set/Block only keywords that almost any creature without an activated ability or an ETB could be considered French. Too broad in my opinion
Or is there a Vanilla term used to define something like that?
There is not a term like that, but "keyword abilities" by their nature are evergreen. Even if KAs like Soulbond or Miracle aren't used very commonly due to their flavor, the way they inherently function won't ever change (barring rulings changes, anyway).
While I get the argument, Miracle hasn't been featured since 2018, and both Soulbound and Eternalize are very focused on blocks involving specific locals in the lore (Innistrad and Amonkhet respectively)... they will consistently work the same way even if MTG decides to include them in cards that don't fit into flavorful contexts. Haste is always Haste, Vigilance is always Vigilance, Eternalize is always Eternalize.
If you check Maro's definition, french vanilla refers to creatures with only *creature* keywords, which discounts 4 of these picks.
I thought remembered reading old articles that referred to French Vanilla as a creature with only one creature keyword.
@@RyanEglitis Players should only pay as much attention to MaRo's glossary as the current design team does.
2:45, Vigilance is also not the WORST keyword.
It is the weakest of the three, and doesn't advance the agro plan so I can see a number of better ones, but definitely not the worst
It’s definitely the worst of the three on Rider.
It's a matchup dependent keyword, but that's everything. Sometimes having flying means nothing on a card in the context of a matchup, other times vigilance can be the best keyword because it pairs really well with lifelink on batterskull for example.
I feel like vigilance is actually a very impactful keyword ability.
I agree, vigilance and haste together is especially great.
Wandering emporer certainly made it more relevant
It matters when it matters that’s for sure
Gurmag Angler is just so hilarious to think about. It's so clearly designed to be common draft chaff, but they completely underestimated the Delve mechanic. As such, a "throwaway" card accidentally became a multi-format powerhouse that saw play in the fastest formats around.
As only the most casual of commander player, Swiftspear's power made my jaw drop jeez
Isn't as good as the cards on this list, but Elite Inquisitor is my favorite 2 drop. Two white mana for 2/2 vigilance, first strike, protection from werewolves/vampires/zombies. Not bad at all
Irrelevant to note, but I believe glistener elf is errataed to be a Phyrexian in addition to its other types.
My favorite french vanilla by far is Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
The most OP French vanilla potential creature would be one that unconditionally has first or double strike, trample, and deathtouch, even if it was just a 1/1, or even 0/1. Especially if it was legendary, for commander reasons.
the closest you'll get to something like that is Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh I think
@@Jacqthepossposs he just needs deathtouch and has partner so going rakdos is easy enough
I think being a 0/1 would hurt a lot. Also, if it's just a 1/1, you can block with two creatures and it'll only kill one.
Love the MTG content you've been making. Happy to know you really love MTG ! What's your stance on MTG and Yugioh now ?
Given how little play it sees, versus the absolutely powerhouse the cards below it were in their respective formats, if Timeless Dragon HAS to be on this list, there's no reason it should be above #10. And even then, something like Slippery Bogle should've made the cut over it, seeing as it's the namesake for an entire deck full of Hexproof creatures, even if it contains zero copies of that card.
Timeless dragon sees solid play in legacy and vintage
I guess you don't play much legacy huh?
Timeless Dragon is relevant right now, whereas no one plays Boggles anymore.
could you make a video on 5 mana cards or decks?
I always took french vanilla to only be evergreen keywords(flying, trample, vigilance, haste, lifelink, deathtouch), not any keyword(persist, infect etc)
I've seen so much debate lately about banning Murktide, it's so damn pushed, it's a joke.
Give Gurmag his throne back >:
In what format? In modern, I don't see any reason to kill off one of many top tier decks, especially one that firmly in the middle as far as top tier decks go. It's pushed, sure, but that's not why cards get banned. They either lead to undesired play patterns, like Sensei's Divining Top, which just made matches go to turns all the time; they're omnipresent in the format and are warping it in undesirable ways, like Gitaxian Probe, which could go in every deck and probably should were it legal; or as part of a plan to attack decks that are overperforming. Murktide sees play in a pretty narrow set of decks (basically just Murktide), and said deck is good, but definitely not the best deck. Even if it was the best deck, it's a cornerstone of the deck and its namesake, so they'd probably go after enablers like DRC to try and weaken the deck before they tried to take out Murktide. There's just no real reason to ban Murktide.
If its other formats like legacy, I'll admit I don't know as much about how it fares there. I could see maybe banning it as the new kid on the block for an already established deck.
@@fwg1994 I'm not saying I necessarily agree with a banning, I don't play Modern outside of a bit of casual play with my Goblins. However, it does make up 15% of Moderns meta and is in Izzet Delver in Legacy, meaning you have around a 1/5 chance of playing it in a match in these formats. That is incredibly pushed and I do see MH2 as kind of a joke in terms of power creep, I'm not sure the set should've been printed at all.
@@docterfantazmo I think you hit the nail on the head. Murktide and all of the cards in MH2 feel very forced. Most top decks in modern are using multiple copies of multiple cards from MH1 and 2. I have been playing MtG for a while and I have NEVER seen a format turned so quickly in its head by the release of a single set and then just finished it off with the second set. Modern, for the most part should be the Modern Horizon's format. That is probably the reason I don't see as many modern tournaments as I used to and even less people getting into the format.
MH and MH2 didn't make the format more accessible to more players, it just created even more of a pay wall. Before these sets, you could build a mono green stompy deck, a burn deck or even any one of a few tribal decks(humans, merfolk, spirits) and expect some good results that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Their mana base was pretty cheap and they were at least useable in the meta.
Now, 3-4-5 color decks are the norm, with mana bases chalked full of fetches, Urza's Sagas and shocks($18-40), elementals that are up to $60, stupid $90+ monkeys, $22+ Regents, etc. And these top decks are playing 3-4 of each. How is a new player supposed to afford that to be competitive?
@@docterfantazmo According to mtgtop8, which gets its results from tournaments, UR Aggro is sitting at about 13% of the metagame in the last 2 months. It's the top deck by play percentage, but it's not actually one deck. Those stats are combining Izzet Aggro and Izzet Murktide. You can break the decks down even further, one Aggro variant that came in second in a tournament 2 days ago was all in on the prowess plan with 4 swiftspear, 4 sprite dragon, 4 soul-scar, 4 DRC, and a single Ragavan for its creatures. Another top 4 from that same tournament was more on the value plan with a brazen borrower, 3 fury, a magus of the moon, 4 Ragavan, 2 snapcaster, and a subtlety for its creatures. And in case that didn't make it clear, the big difference between the Murktide and Aggro Izzet decks in modern is whether or not they run murktide. Most don't anymore. In the last week, there were 0 out of 10 placing UR aggro decks that were on the Murktide variant. There are 5 out of 31 in the previous week.
Meanwhile outside of tournaments you mostly have MTGO, where meta decks are present, but the majority of people seem to be playing fringe decks. Like you watch any streamer play modern on MTGO, and like half their matches are weird homebrews you've never seen before. That and Creativity seems to be real popular for some reason. It's showing 5% on mtgtop8, and mtggoldfish has it at about 4% between 4c and 5c variants, but I swear its like a 3rd of the matches I've seen streamers play against on MTGO.
Interestingly, looking at the last 2 weeks, UR Aggro is up to 16% of the metagame on mtgtop8, while all control decks combined take up about 13% of the metagame. If you wanna know why Murktide is being cut from tournament lists, that's pretty much it right there. You just don't have time to build up your graveyard to cast a Murktide when 87% of the metagame is aggro or combo decks that'll have you dead before the Murktide can make a difference.
Edit: On further inspection, it seems that a lot of decks labelled as "UR Aggro" do still run 3-4 Murktides, including every UR Aggro deck that placed in a major event over the last two months. So its not nearly as gone as that initial search or the labelling of decks suggested. In fact, it seems to be only the two I checked that don't include Murktide. They are the most recent, and they did perform very well, but they were in tournaments considered a tier below what qualifies as a major tournament. This isn't the first time I've heard talk of cutting Murktide, but this looks to be more regional differences than anything. It's sitting at about 14% of the metagame in major events, right behind Hammertime at 13%. While that is high, it's honestly not that bad for the largest share of the metagame. Like Breeding Pool got banned because it had a solid 40% of the metagame, and we've seen top decks push the 20-30% range before (about 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 matches average).
Alara had some really great cards, it seems.
One small thing I'd note is that Bloodbraid's body alone is already worth roughly three mana, not just two. There are no 3/X haste creatures with upside at 2 mana, and only one without downside (a 3/1 for BR). So the rate for cascade here is costing much closer to 1 extra mana, which is pretty absurd when you can hit mv 3 spells.
I don't believe Bloodbraid Elf and Monastery Swiftspear should count because the Proper definition is One ability for French Vanilla, not as many as can fit on the card like Akroma.
But if we suspend that rule, I definitely agree Bloodbraid has more power in gameplay tiers than Monastery Swiftspear. She fought Jace the Mind Sculptor at the height of his power, and I'm pretty sure if you allowed Worldwake-Mirrodin Besieged Standard to have access to Monastery Swiftspear, that wouldn't be enough to hold back Jace.
I could be wrong.
Time for some honorable mentions:
Colossal Dreadmaw. 6/6 Green Dino for 6 (4GG) with Trample. Okay on its own, but in a dedicated Dino deck with all their cost reductions and ramp shenanigans, it can be a problem.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath. 6/6 White Angel for 8 (5WWW) with Flying, First Strike, Vigilance, Trample, Haste and Protection from Red and Black. Because... if Baneslayer Angel gets a mention, why not Akroma?
Mirran Crusader. 2/2 White Human Knight for 3 (1WW) with Double Strike, Protection from Green and Black. It's just a solid rate for all that jazz, and the Human synergy means he'll likely contribute more than just being a body even if all you do is play him.
Ornithopter. 0/2 Artifact Creature for 0 with Flying. Literally a card to consider for any Artifact deck, even if it's just to put an extra Artifact in play. Being able to do so for free is great! Really surprised this didn't make it on the list. (Although if "Vanilla Flyer" is considered distinct from "French Vanilla", I get it. Don't agree, but I get it.)
Slippery Bogle. 1/1 Green/Blue Beast for 1 (G/U) with Hexproof. I think the only reason this wasn't included is because Glistener Elf exists. Infect is jank, without question, but having a 1/1 with Hexproof is pretty spicy too.
What's the background music from? It sounds so eerily familiar
How about top 10 Retrain cards. I was thinking about retrain cards after looking at the Suspend retrains of banned/restricted cards such as Sol Talisman (Sol Ring) and Wheel of Fate (Wheel of Fortune)
Would have expected Rograth to be somewhere in the list
What about Slippery Bogle?
Where would it go in the list?
Goblin guide is a 1 mana 2/2 with haste and upside 2/3 of the time and downside 1/3. Which I find incredibly broken
Because it doesn't just enter and hits your opponent, it gives you info about their draws.
What GG should've said to be fair is "Defending player sees his top card. If it is a land card he can reveal it and add it to his hand"
Maybe a future top ten list could include the best cards that cost WUBRG to cast.
No.1-No.5: all sliver commanders
PTSD from Bloodbraid Elf>Blightning days.
No Vampire Nighthawk makes me sad
The only reason it doesn't see play is because they made a better version of it.
3 Mana for flying lifelink and deathtouch is no joke
Nighthawk was unplayable in modern even before the new version and it's also unplayable in Pioneer where the improved version doesn't exist. It was barely playable in Modern in mono black devotion years ago before better options got printed, and even then that's never been a top tier strategy.
The newer version doesn't see play either so it's not that.
Yeah the problem is that cost doesn't matter so the more expensive ones are better because of that
They could cost 800 Mana and it'd be no different
Though in a vacuum, nighthawk is amazing
@@randomcatname7792 there is that aetherborn vampire that's 1 less mana for no flying that saw some play I think
I'm firmly of the opinion that "X is unblockable" should be shortened to a keyword, if only to save on card space. They did it with "X cannot be targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control" by making Hexproof.
It used to be but for whatever reason Wizards decided not to.
Amazing!
Is “this creature is unblockable” not considered French vanilla?
6:40
It's not a single word effect anymore so no.
I suddenly want to play a French Vanilla tribal deck
Let's not forget the Old Fogey
error in the voice, but not in the text on scree: lifelink makes you gain life with any kind of damages dealt, not just in combat
I look at baneslayer as the radiant guardian card from league of runeterra... Both are 5/5 with protection and lifesteal, although radiant doesnt have flying(stealth for lor) and first strike(quick attack) but in my eyes they are pretty similir
Best Die rolling cards (separate for d6 and d20 cards, preferably)
Best Regular Vanillas
Best Cost Reduction Keywords (i.e. Delve, Convoke, etc.)
Playing commander for years, never heard of the term French Vanilla till today
I must confess: I was expecting Akroma to appear.
I have been playing MTG aince 2014 and this is the first time I heard of that term.
Is there a video that talks about vanilla creatures?
I'm a newer player and I never find a reason to put vanilla creatures in my decks
Going to take a guess at Tarmagoyf if you're being loose with the definition or Glistener Elf or Blighted Agent if you're being strict keywords only.
Blighted Agent also has a non-keyword ability
@@fernandobanda5734 It doesn't does it, just Infect and Unblockable
@@magicalgirlanime The full text was "This creature is unlockable" and now is "This creature can't be blocked". Unlockable was never a keyword, it was one of those "take this word by its literal English meaning and trust us" that they hopefully got rid of.
@@fernandobanda5734 Huh, so it is. Never noticed that before.
I always thought of “French vanilla” as being “vanilla and one extra keyword,” so I wouldn’t have ever considered some of these many-keywords monstrosities fitting.
It was printed well after this video, but honorable mentions to Radstorm from Fallout, an Instant with only keywords. 3U: Storm, Proliferate
13:21 "Astrall Recall"? LOL
I am once again asking you to let me make pronunciation guides for your videos, Mr. Logs.
The funniest moment for me is when someone tried to target my Baneslayer with Crib Swap. No, you can't do that; it's a changeling, and therefore a demon and a dragon.
what's strangleroot's prowess?
I had to Urban Dictionary the term "French Vanilla" and it meant exactly what I had envisioned XD
Shoutouts to Throes of Chaos, a *sorcery* with only 2 keywords: Cascade and retrace. Doesn't seem much, but was what finally got Tibalt's Trickery banned in historic.
Is goyf too wordy for fv status? It pretty much has 0 abilities.
"Lyra was not eligible for this list as her pump ability is not a Keyword."
I swear, after so many decades of Magic, I dont see why the Lord keyword doesn't exist yet. Its so old school I might as well BE a keyword. Guess its probably because most lords give a stat boost AND a global ability, but Im sure they could make a short hand for most of those.
There really doesn't seem to be a need to make it one. It's not super common and I don't recall much that would need to interact with it as a keyword.
really expected slippery bogle to be on the list
It's funny, people always hype up Infect's power because of Modern, but totally forget it was barely a thing for much of the 2 years it was in Standard.
Valakut, Caw Blade, Vengevine, Vampires, Elves, Mono Red, etc. were more prominent those years.
Mirran Crusader and Cloudfin Raptor are also both very strong French vanillas, but Raptor was basically Standard-only, and I think Crusader has been powercrept out of all the eternal formats it was good in
Why not young wolf instead of Geist? It's ok either way, Geist is pretty strong too but I like young wolf a bit more a 2 for 1 creature for 1 mana is always nice especially if it can become a 2/2 for 1 mana after giving you some sacrifice value, in pauper young wolf into Bayou Groff is one of the best aggro starts in the format
Surprised to see no vampire nighthawk here
I've been playing magic for 2 decades and have never heard the term French Vanilla.
i have never heard of the term french vanilla in magic before
What about Apex Devastator?
It's not a good card...
Am I the only one who found Shardless more recognizable than BB Elf? Also idk but isn't unblockable basically a keyword?
Bloodbraid into Blightning still haunts my dreams to this day
For me it really is Island + lotus petal + chrome mox + thassa's oracle + demonic consultation. Only 2 cards are vital, you can play all tutors. It's insane
I just want to add some lore and irl facts WotC does. There is very little human tribal support due to that fact humans are the most commonly printed type. They knew humans would out race other cards due to newer versions being printed so much. The white the most support you see is for specific things like, white creatures, tokens, knights, soldiers, etc.
When I saw humans had finally broken into the format, I was surprised but always knew it would happen one day, just cause of the selection pool being so large.
In fact we saw our very first ever human tribal support in the original Innistrad set, back in September of 2011. That's over half of mtg's life span at this point.
@@tonysmith9905 yeah and some arguments could be said that of those human support cards are just werewolf support too lol.
My favorite french vanilla is vampire of the dire moon... 1 black mana for a 1/1 vampire with lifelink and deathtouch.
Does CGPGrey narrate this channel?
Can't really think of a reason to ply Unclaimed Territory when Ancient Ziggurat exists, other than format limitations tbh.
:O
Since do you do mtg content? I thought this was some random ass channel then I heard your voice. Nice surprise for sure!
Isn’t Glistener Elf also a Phyrexian?
Probably. Phyrexian wasn't a creature type until recently
French me came for some shenanigans with French versions of cards. My disapointment was immesurable and my day was ruined.
this is the first time me hearing about this term
Meddling mage wasn't just good agasint storm. It destroyed storm at the time humans was a tier 1 deck
Gurmag will always be the best boi. I‘ll just play a regentless format. F that Card anyway. Also, I‘m surprised you didn’t mention shardless agent (nevermind, he did, I just missed it) alongside bloodbraid elf. It’s the better one and it fills in. It would have been the strongest one from the list. Better than Angler and swifty I‘d say.
He did mention Shardless when he brought up Bloodbraid. Also, I agree with you. Murktide Regent was a mistake.
He did mention shardless during the bloodbraid elf slot
He did? Ups, I must have missed it. I'll add a note to my comment.
it's weird that you take time out of the video to explain what flying is, but then just say jargon-y things like "gives the deck a better clock."
He does this, as well as deliberately mispronouncing certain terms because it drives up engagement from people like you who point it out, and people like me who point out that you're being farmed for engagement
You are wrong about counters--especially when it comes to +#/+# or -#/-# on creatures. They both stay on the creature and DO NOT nullify/cancel each other out and are removed... that way if someone proliferates they can choose to proliferate the -1/-1 counter OR the +1/+1 counter.
You sure? I thought they destroyed each other. Unless that was changed recently
Since the moment they reintroduced -1/-1 counters in Shadowmoor in 2006 they cancel out with +1/+1 counters and that rule has never changed.
You could have mentioned as a small aside that the card Halo Hunter was in the same standard as baneslayer. Because it is tragic
Sad not to see my boy slippery bogle on the list, I mean he literally got a whole deck built just because of him
(Shoutout to gladecover Scout too)
You obviously left out the greatest 2 drop french vanilla in the game, Storm Crow.
Sent this to my friend who plays magic, without watching he said mantis rider should be 1st. Was surprised when i told him its 9 lol
No Mirran Crusader?
What about "Top 10 worst card effects (that don't directly harm the user)", like life gain, banding, etc.
ehh. Lifegain when added to literally anything else is actually pretty good. Incidental Lifegain is just pure upside.
What, no Akroma?
Correction: Glistener Elf has been errata to be a Phyrexian Elf Warrior
Should have been worth pointing out that Angler is still an all-star in Pauper
Where is Korvold????
What a fucking top 10 like bravo bro this was A+ material work
Why did I think by French vanilla you meant ohrzov
disappointed you didnt use steve argyle's art for bloodbraid elf
Gurmag still sees lots of play in pauper