I think "out of touch" is a little harsh, but, from my perspective, well... yes, a little. Whenever I see a game start with fetch into old dual, or Mana Crypt/Jeweled Lotus...or a creator suggesting over 500 bucks worth of upgrades to a precon... those are cards that are waaaaay out of my reach. I can't do those plays, I won't own those decks. I even stopped watching most of other channels gameplay except for Commander Clash, and that's because of Tomer and his budget decks! I just have more fun seeing cards that I can actually afford to play.
This is so true just the fact Dana was talking about owning multiple decks with the One Ring already shows a certain being out of Touch. Most people simple do not have the MTG budget of thousands of Dollars that most Content creators have.
yeah, that can in part be out of touch but also its their job. someone who makes art for a living would have high quality equipment the people they might teach through youtube wont have. out right suggesting yeah here’s 500 bucks upgrade is out of touch but this channel and many others will tell you almost without asking that og duals arent necessary or important for your commander deck. dana having multiple rings is him saying that he thinks it is a strong card and as a part of his job multiple copies are useful. if he was telling everyone to pick up a copy for pretty much any deck would be out of touch with normal people
I think I would politely disagree because to me that's a life priority issue not a budget issue. My main commander deck is $800-$1000 and I've built it over 1.5 years because I love it and it's a priority for me. That's like $50 a month on magic cards for the deck over the past 1.5 years or so? That's less than people spend on coffee in a month. If Magic is a priority for you, I'd say most of it is affordable. For content creators, whether paid or not, magic is a massive priority in their life, more than me or most people which means they drop the money for it. This doesn't make them out of touch, it most likely means they prioritize it more than you or I do. Come to think of it, this analogy most likely works for pretty much every hobby one can name. Every hobby will have varying degrees of financial buy in. If your critique is that content creators who spend lots of money on Magic are out of touch, then most hobbies will be unavailable to you if you want to pursue them even semi-seriously. Sure, do pushups in your room, but you probably can't afford even a standard gym membership. Sure, play games on your phone, but most console and PC gaming requirements are going to be way out of your price range. Sure watch movies for free at your local library, but streaming services are going to be pretty pricey for you. But you probably can afford most of those things if you wanted, which means that magic is not too expensive, it's just not a priority for you, and that's totally fine.
Just at the 18 minute mark. You lot saying how you want to make our days better. You do. Thank you. And im glad thats the focus. I want that positivity.
I heard the news about Sheldon a few days ago, and I listen to your podcast everyday while at work, and everytime you mention him I can tell how much he meant to you guys personally. I'm so sorry for your loss, and we all know he is proud of you. Rest in peace Sheldon, and my condolence to you guys.
For those of you seeking your own one ring, you can get one with 6 set boosters and a few other promo cards in the set booster bundle. If you can find it for 64 bucks at a box store like I did. It's worth it. 100%
Never met Sheldon, but the way his death has affected all the MTG content creators who knew him shows how great of a person he was. RIP and hope anyone who knew and loved him are doing OK.
On the episode where all three of the guys can let themselves sharpen their sarcasm a bit, it's good to see Chase getting in on the action in post-production too. 😹
The opening was so amazing. Clearly a man who left his mark on the world. And then the subtle comments during the episode had me rolling on the ground laughing! Content creators are often much more invested in the game and have much more exposure because it becomes one of their highest priorities in their lives. The average player probably thinks about or plays EDH less than five to ten hours a month. So sure they may not entirely be connected viewpoints but both bring a lot to the table when they share their opinion.
RIP Sheldon of course. What a great legacy, though... so many friendships resulting from his actions. I seriously enjoy the (No) in the title. Love the energy.
Joey, have an internet sent hug from me. We will all miss Sheldon, but you look like it crushed you. So have a hug from me ❤️ Also, Rest In Peace Mr. Mennery
@@Blunderflutz I think thats a fair point that wasnt really addressed in this podcast. There are a few Wizards employees that regularly go on these game play videos, where they basically promote cards they designed, including a new mythic rare that just came out.
Sheldon left a positive and honorable legacy that will persist for the years to come. To the point about you guys not being recognized at events, I witnessed this firsthand at Minneapolis when I played with Dana and some fine strangers who had listened to the podcast but didn't watch the video, and it wasn't until fairly late into our time playing together that they found out they were playing with THAT Dana. Lastly, I appreciate this sort of 'clearing the air' episode, but i do want to say I like the more geeky and positive content y'all make, because that is clearly what you prefer to do.
I have so much respect for guys who are brave enough to show how things effect them when something tragic occurs, all three of you showing that in your own ways is very commendable. RIP Sheldon. Without Sheldon, I would have never been pulled back into this fun community by the wonderful format he fathered with such care. It's only one portion of the massive contributions he's made to the community at large, he will be missed.
I had no idea, this is my only touch point to MTG outside of Arena now, damn. Only ever heard great things about the man, thoughts with his family and many friends in this tough time.
Joey being so touched got me crying all over again. You guys always make content that makes me smile, and enjoy our shared hobby even more. Thank you guys!
I will say, I started tuning into Command Zone a lot less when every episode became blingmas. I'm glad they can afford a mana crypt in every deck but my play group can't. Game Knights used to feel like playing magic with my friends but now it just feels like watching people flex how much more money they have. Wish they would do more budget episodes.
You guys have really helped me through a lot! I really only play commander once a week with a couple close friends - but your podcasts, and social dynamics have been a breath of fresh air in such a hard time in my life. Struggles with addiction, mental health, burnout, and loss. But you guys give me hope and get me laughing each week with your dad jokes and corny sense of humor! Never change EDHREC team, what you do is important and goes beyond the game of Magic!
Out of touch? Not at all. Different perspective than casual players? Absolutely. The sheer amount of time content creators spend with whatever their chosen content is changes their perspective, doubly so because of how they engage with it. It is neither good nor bad, just different. Also, also, people will have different perspectives on things and someone who creates content usually (but not always) has chosen something they enjoy which naturally gives a positive bent.
There is no such thing as “casual players” there are just players and people with varying opinions and engagement with the game. Casual players don’t all get long or have same desires. 10 different players have 10 different opinions and views.
@@hunterransom2594 by mere virtue of the fact that some players label themselves casual, yes there are. However, you are correct in that it always breaks down to individuals with individual opinions. But since we're engaging in pedantry, let me rephrase: individuals with high engagement, especially engagement that involves analysis and performance, will generally have perspectives born of that engagement that individuals with low or infrequent engagement are less likely to possess and, sometimes, may not understand.
@@JonReid01 to @hunterransom2594's point, you can't really collectively group them as always having common interests. To that end, I personally like MTG Goldfish because there is a good variety in the perspectives.
im abit late. but i wanted to let joey know that you also touch many of us newer players the same way. from all walks of life many of us found you to be very relatable when searching information on magic and commander. So im sure you already know this but sheldon was and is very proud of you im very sure. much love from a newer monoblack player. and a personal thank you for sharing your opinions, love, and emotions at all times with us all. love you all.
I don't usually comment on these but big shout out to all of those "Quarters" you would have!!! Hahaha. I had to completely stop watching that channel. It was just too much negativity. Sad too, it was a go to for a while. Cheers to you all. Always enjoy the conversations here.
When I watching some videos and working on upgrading my Necron Dynasties precon I happened to see a phyrexian core land card in my bulk and it was a perfect fit in my articact re animation deck. Never once saw it mentioned and it helps so much
Awww Joey ❤ It's okay friend Sheldon may have moved on, but I guess games gotta end some time... even if it hurts. But like you say, it all matters how you make em feel when they are playing along side ya and Sheldon definitely made this time a lot brighter for a lot of us
I was glad to see you take a moment to honor Sheldon. His is a tremendous loss because of his work to make the world a nicer place to be. I mourn with you, he was a wonderful man.
I dunno, for someone with "just a different perspective", Dana sure seems to passive aggressively hate on people with a different perspective than him.
Joey I doubt you'll read this. But I figured, it's been a little bit, I need to get this off me somehow. I only ever got to play a single game with Sheldon, and you were there. I had no idea who you were, I played Bolas with gold bordered Mountains "because everyone knows mountains aren't real" and Sheldon basically said "hey as long as you're upfront that you have any other gold bordered cards in there, we're good to keep going" and I proceeded to basically kill myself with Doom Whisperer into your Syr Konrad. I ran into him later at the afterparty at the Museum of Pop Culture and he and I talked about some things and he was one of the first people who stuck it in my head, "Hey, your life is on your speed, you can't compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy." He and i and Josh Lee Kwai talked on whether we would ever choose to give up either cheese or butter for the rest of time. So I'm gonna remember him for all the positives I personally got from him.
Not out of touch... but it's certainly a different perspective and it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. Creating content is very different from consuming content and requires a different mindset... and that's totally okay. Player distrust being projected onto content creation is a symptom of their distrust and dissatisfaction in WotC and they're looking for validation. If players don't find that when they consume content, it's a logical progression to then turn to negativity towards those creators, especially if they're creators they like or enjoy because people (generally) want to identify with and feel validated by people they like. Additionally, people with "day jobs" who don't or can't understand content creation will never understand the work that goes into simply because it's not their world. That alone puts them on a different level of perspective and more likely to go that place of saying "they're just out of touch" when they don't feel validated. To that end, it's more correct to say "they're out of touch with me" which makes it personal for them vs the general statements we're otherwise describing. So what does that mean? Both sides are right and discounting either is probably incorrect. At the end of the day though... so what? Everyone has an opinion and none of them are completely correct.
I can only speak to personal experience, but I feel that for a lot of people the "playing with strangers" argument that you addressed is mostly about those players venting about how much of a crutch rule 0 has become for the format. Rule 0 is a fantastic idea, having a method built into the format to help sculpt your ideal experience is great, but for a large swath of the playerbase of the format, those like me who can only get 1-2 games in on Friday nights with whoever happens to be in the store and with whatever decks they have on them, the fact that many creators, many players, and _especially_ the rules committee constantly point to rule 0 as a catch all solution that allows them to ignore and deflect legitimate arguments,problems, and grievances comes off as frustrating and disingenuous
Personally I don't think Rule 0 is a crutch so much as it is the best of a bunch of bad options. The format just CANNOT be balanced IMO, and I'm of the mind that by and large most changes that could be made attempting to do so would just serve as a whack-a-mole situation where knocking down one thing causes another to pop up elsewhere. So while I completely get why it feels like a catch all solution that allows the RC to ignore and deflect legitimate arguments, I'm not sure there's a better alternative that isn't worse. Something can be a crappy answer while still being the best answer.
Dana, I stopped going to the movies because I am so tired of people texted through the whole movie. The lights from all of the phones is so distracting. Baldur's Gate has some really good cards. Too bad it was a Bate and Switch set plus the dragons are hard to get. I passed on LOTR and Commander Masters because of the price of sealed boxes. I just bought the singles that I wanted. I really like the Wilds of Eldraine set. It was so affordable and I love the artwork. My oldest son said the set is not that good. Thank you for the video Dana, Joey, and Matt.
The folks that are out of touch are the ones that want to treat EDH like it's a set meta like any other format when in reality it's extremely varied and you shouldn't paint it with a single brush, as much as you might want to.
I have to share my point of view from a "non-creator" perspective. First, creators are people too, whom deserve respect, have their human quirks, their own dreams, and they are not all the same of course. But there are people who devote themselves to the hobby, have their own dreams, (that happen to not have magic content). They don't have the privilege of: friendly attention (high class and even para-social), social access (like knowing the people that make the game, other famous people in and out of the hobby) and the incredible feeling of being known/mattering, ease of access to materials and upcoming information of the hobby, a comfort (alongside the discomfort) of working IN the hobby and not a day job that isn't entertaining. But honestly, this is the epitome of celebritism. There are just going to be people that gain these things because of whatever reasons, and they will have a much different view on life and their hobby because of it. And people get sour for not having these privileges and achieved dreams themselves. We "regular" people tend to compare ourselves to those that have it funner and easier in life. When we are beaten down by society, and it's negativity, loneliness, and financial/class struggles, we lash back. Hurt people hurt people. And I only wish we all had an easier time in life so that the negativity chain would stop. I think the only thing the famous people could do is show as much humility they healthily can. I guess they can also do a podcast addressing it too. 😉 What IS also interesting in the case of this hobby is that there is so much room for opinions and preferences regardless of who is talking. And when there is a level of attention directed at a set few, it can feel more radical. A side note: I don't think Wizard's "market research" is accurate or honest. Nor do I think it can be. It is such a difficult thing to measure, player behavior.
I actually recently left my playgroup of 7 years. I couldn't enjoy commander games with them anymore so I walked away. I wanted to play games with my playgroup AND with random strangers. Over the years I have been playing more and more with strangers. So naturally my deck building. Decision making, and money spent playing the game has changed over the years. My regular playgroup doesn't like to play with strangers at all. So this leads to their decks to be very "playgroup heavy meta dependant" It has also resulted in rule zero issues and salty beef from all players. I do think "the playgroup vs strangers" makes matters a lot depending on your personal experience.
I absolutely loved the BLeeM shoutout. EDHREC and D20 are two of my favorite pieces of content on the internet, so the shared awareness is a delight to me.
I would say the higher one is elevated in status regardless of the intention, they will be out of touch. Similar to how the higher up you are the smaller everything looks.
I've seen a few comments below about content creators "budget" putting them out of touch referencing Dana having multiple copies of The One Ring. This is a priority issue not a budget issue. Most hobbies will typically get more expensive the more important it is to you. I don't judge Dana for spending more money on Magic cards than me, any more than he should judge someone for spending $200+ dollars a month on protein powder as a bodybuilder or $300 on a paint brush set or $1600 on a graphics card for a gaming PC or $3000 on an electric guitar etc. In my opinion, content creators and their budget is more a reflection of how important it is to them and doesn't put them out of touch.
When you say “Creators out of Touch” I’m thinking Wizards, who actually create the game. The answer is yes. Protecting expensive reprints to pump the secondary market so they can overcharge for “premium” product is a prime example. Most of us enjoy opening boosters, finding something cool and unique, and then building a deck around it, but at 21.95 for a CMM booster at my LGS, or 8.95 for LOTR, it’s hard to buy a box and jump into a cool set with both feet The content creators I watch, are actually reasonably enjoyable as a spectrum.
Had an interesting conversation with a friend. He is a fairly casual player where as I am an LGS owner and I consume A LOT of content. He described me as out of touch because of the sheer difference in knowledge and access to cardboard
Similar to Dana’s Challenge the Stats: I hav found that Aura Shards is an important safety value in decks that rely on Elemental Bonds and other enchantments that trigger on creature etbs. Good luck convincing the table that that’s what you are using it for 😂. Regarding the show’s main topic: I think when people say something “sounds scripted”, what they really mean is that it sounds a bit stilted-Game Nights is the clearest example. I think the creators’ intent to is be clear and accurate as well as upbeat and interesting, but that can be a heavy burden to shoulder. I think viewers need to remember that creators are not all trained actors and grant them a bit of grace.
Funny The One Ring story that happened last Sunday at my lgs. I was playing Minn, Wily Illusionist as a color-pie-break aristocrat deck, and another pod player had a very tuned Tocasia, Digsite Mentor deck. He dug through his whole deck thanks to Seedborn Muse and The One Ring, and had both a Laboratory Maniac and Mirrodin Besieged on the board from the turn prior. By this point I had 7 illusion tokens, and had just topdecked my Salvaging Station, which I planned on cheating into play with a Minn token to reanimate some graveyard hate artifacts in my own graveyard. A 3rd player in the pod cast Heliod's Intervention to blow up a bunch of stuff, Tocasia went to give it an Offer he couldnt refuse, but I had Abjure, which let me get Salvaging Station into play. Stack resolves, and he activates the one ring to draw 5 cards, so I activate the station, bringing back Triangle of War and kill it in response! He's forced to exile his enchantment that increases the ssurveil value and shuffle his graveyard back, saving the game.
You hit it right on the head with this video. Of course creators are going to film multiple games so they can ensure content is interesting (and not play certain spells that make content run long). I'm also such a fan of your show because everything is not negative.
Holy shit. Was just scrolling through Brenards EDHREC site while listening to the podcast. I accidentally noticed the nonbo, just for you guys to mention it 2 seconds later. What are the chances?
For me alot of commander content creators (in short ccc) are out of touch (for me) mostly on one point: theyr decks are way too powerfull/optimised. All on goldfish eg plays teferis protection in every deck it fits. Commandzone plays tutors, 2 mana rocks, ristic budy/study and a ton more staples. Some of them have 8 mana on turn 4 or are in another way completely over the top. And the list goes on.. It gets boring to see cards everyone would use and play just to be effective. Imo some of them forgot commander is about the experience, but you dont get alot of experience if commander x gets path to exiled the x time. Or if you powercreep the table. You have a far smaller pool on cards you can see in optimised or high power tables and thats a pitty cause you loose a lot of diversity and in worst case you teach to play on that level...
I didn't know sheldon. What i heard of him was filtered through anger at his opinions on the format he created and observed. However, this past week I've heard of the passion, joy and humanity he displayed. He seemed like an awesome person, and while I'm sad he's gone, cancer is torture and I'm glad he's not suffering anymore.
yes the vitriol i've heard is very unjust, I would just tell them to make there own format and play that instead. my playgroup is making prEDH decks to honor him. REST IN PLANES SHELDON
Granted, there are a lot of creators I enjoy. I don't watch every single one of their gameplay episodes, because some of them just aren't the kind of pacing I enjoy. But that doesn't change the fact that it's good content and great creators.
Pretty early on in the episode Joey's all like yeah I want to brighten people's day after I unexpectedly wept as you guys did your eulogy for Sheldon cuz that hit me right in the feels. But for the most part yes you do make me happy I enjoy listening to your podcast and then I'm sure all of your viewers would agree
Content creation aint exactly the get-rich-quick scheme that people on the internet think it is, so that criticism of doing this stuff for the money always seems so disingenuous.
Not quick, but once you have a decent following the money pours in. Especially since a lot of people shill once they're sponsored by the same company a few times, and that skews how trustworthy their opinions are.
I remember reading a comment about people not liking Game Knights because they were "trying too hard and made it overproduced", but THAT'S THE POINT, it's supposed to be like WWE for Magic lol where it's big and fun and as if some big sports commentator was going nuts that someone just played an Esper Sentinel turn 1 or something lol. To be fair too, if I tried to understand the negativity more and expectation for creators to be addressing it all the time, it's likely that many people see creators as sort of "journalists" of a kind and expect you to be "taking it to the man" all the time. In my opinion though, that would be myopic because...let's face it, we can TRY to influence large corporations like HASBRO but ultimately, content creators alone aren't going to change whatever happens, it would have to be a BIG reaction. It's also quite a lot to ask of someone to make them not just a content creator but expect them to be more or less some sort of political leader for the cause they're pissed with WOTC for every month or so, as, as you say, it was never the intention of many people's shows to do that...but instead to share excitement, comradery, cool ideas, and ultimately spread fun about a goofy hobby we all enjoy.
Boggles my mind that people actually claim that gameplay content like Game Knights is scripted. I'm relatively new to Magic still, but I really don't see content creators in this community that aren't critical of certain topics or WOTC at least sometimes. If anything, there seems to be more "sky is falling" clickbait with some dude's shocked face and a title like "Wizards RUINS Magic FOREVER." It's a stark contrast to the theme park content world that I'm in, where there are absolutely creators who never say anything negative about the companies involved. Maybe Wizards doesn't try to punish content creators who are reasonably critical the way Disney and Universal do.
Objectively, yes. Not just in finance, but also in what makes a 'good game' for your average social group. There's this weird hyperfixation on winning 100% of the games 100% of the time, and it often leads to some often antisocial deckbuilding decisions, like casually recommending Tergrid in a $100 precon upgrade, without an aggressive caveat that the card's miserable to play against and ruins most games. IMO, content creators REALLY need to rein in the obsession with "Win every game at all costs, here's $300 worth of upgrades", and an $800 "precon decklist". That being said though, aside from one or two annoying exceptions, those types of content creators tend to rot in obscurity. Almost makes me want to do Content Creation myself, and show them how it's done.
I get why Zame Zights can feel scripted. They want to deliver a crisp experience, of when a conversation gehts of the rails, it gets cut. Shuffling is cut. Thinking is cut. You can feel that and it can feel off. But that's just editing...
I'm a little confused about this discussion on."optimal plays" and "sandbagging cards". If this game came down to mathematical optimisation, I wouldn't be playing. There's always a choice to make, and you can usually justify whatever choice you're making. Maybe I can kill the archenemy this turn, but if I'm left against two players I can't beat easily then I'm not doing it. Maybe I can put out/remove a major threat, but that doesn't mean I can withstand being archenemy. The game is full of politics, bluffs and strategy. It isn't all about having the most power on board.
Rest in peace Sheldon. For the out of touch discussion. I think a lot comes from players who watch a lot of online EDH content and than go to an LGS (= play in an open group). In this case it can happen that these players are now in vastly different play environment and nothing is the way they know from watching the EDH content, from the power lever of their own deck, to viable strategies and card evaluation. LGS veterans feel like they have to deprogram "command zone" players, all the time. And the new LGS player feels betrayed, overwhelmed, pup stomped etc. The sad part is, it is extremely difficult to solve the problem. As a youtube content creator you want to produce vids which have high entertainment value, are easily consumed, and don't require enormous effort. Which are naturally in contrast with teaching the most complex card game / board game ever.
People assume all sorts of absurd things about how much free stuff and money content creators get from IP owners. The vast, vast majority get no direct compensation from the companies who own the IPs and products they enjoy.
If you play a game enough WINNING gets boring. I would rather a close finish, even if I am not a large part of it, than to absolutely mop the floor. To me playing my lvl8-9 deck against a new player is because it is arguably the most straightforward deck I have means I am showing my hand and doublechecking calls if it seems they overlooked something. That friend has no idea that is my strongest deck, just that it is monocolored and arguably less complicated than their precon. I know what my deck does. I know every card in my deck. I want to however see the realization of synergy and the learned mastery of someone’s deck. This is also why I made a Sen Triplet deck, but people seem to not like it when I am playing their deck and they are not, so it does not win much.
I am kind of underwhelmed by this episode since I definitely somewhat empathize with people who distrust what they see on the internet, even in regards to MTG. When you look at the most popular videos or screenshots of people pulling packs online you see them pull cards that are so rare that you’ll never be able to pull them from a random booster box. It doesn’t take much to see someone pull a rare card online, go out and buy product, get disappointed with what you actually pulled and declare that what you see on the internet is fake. It is an irrational reaction, but an understandable one. RIP Sheldon. Without you I’d never have had the group I have now.
The problem with that is that some cards were designed to be double feature but some of them were just "printed" to black and white which makes them very bad looking so to speak.
I will say, content creators do have some minor infuence on the secondary market. They arent calling the shots for WotC, but they can make a forgotten card spike in popularity by featuring something cool about it.
Less episodes about the internet being mean and more episodes about rules interactions and strategy and deck building. Love you guys! RIP Sheldon x infinity
Hey guys great stuff as always ignore them haters all you folks do a great job and bring something different for the same subject manner thanks as always for your time and content
They should just do booster box and hanger packs and they do a premier line of Treasuries or master pieces that are no playable like numbered and collectible to crack, they can re print reserve list just done make it playable in size
There is a huge difference between being negative and being critical. I absolutely love your channel and profs, and command zone because all of you are honest with your opinions, no matter what the context. I used to love another channel that helped me make the most of out synergistic budget brews, but that became such a negative space I just could not enjoy it anymore. Opinions are great, but how you present them makes all the difference
Our lgs has a commander league that you earn points for performing x things. And there are point collecters....collectors..... and you have to pay to enter the command league..... i stopped playing in them but they do have commander days which doesn't track points I still play though. Much better experience.
I stopped listening to The Command Zone a year or two ago because every preview season turned into what the highlights of the set were, and how older, previous cards basically did the same thing but better. With preview season seemingly a constant occurrence, I didn't need cards and sets that I were cool to be preemptively judged as bad or sub-optimal. Commander may have started out casually. But once it took the title of "most casual" format, kitchen table 60 card decks that would never see play in constructed formats suddenly became too competitive and scary. It takes me playing with the son of one of my professors to have a non-commander with any regularity. And the only reason he wants to play "standard" or non-commander is his father played before commander was such a huge thing and is open to casual 60~ card decks. cEDH may be a small subsection but everyone listens to podcasts about deck building and play to get better at games. No one's playing Phage the Untouchable with the notion that it'll be a simple casting of the commander and killing the opponent with combat damage. The casualness of the game has gone done as a result of the amount of cards people see in an average game. 60 cards used to be effectively 30 different cards in order to make interesting situations. The possible card pool was much lower and as such the bar for knowledge of interactions was much lower. There's a constant joke about hat decks or "ladies facing left", yet I never see those in the wild. Otherwise, I'd say that part of the passion of making a project like EDHrec or Good Luck, High Five, is that the passion makes the focus on consistent, scheduled content less. Having a script means that you can remember everything you need to do and it also means that you have enough things going on that you can't keep it all in your mind. The passion for the game is more apparent when it isn't hidden behind 6 different segments with ad breaks in between. I listen to you guys because of your passion that has manifested in the amount of analysis you facilitate through your podcasts and EDHrec. You do set reviews but you don't need to drag them out or over analyze for the sake of having new content. You aren't dependent upon current events to be relevant, you've found a niche and are staying in it.
From the perspective of an out of US player, considering the pricing we are facing here in Canada, they are absolutely out of touch. The prices are so high that you can NEVER make close to your money back in a box unless you get a super rare chase card. Combine that with the fact that the economy is bad and they keep rising the prices at the same time they have no respect for most players and treat us as wallets to be squeezed dry using every dark paterns in the book to create fomo and other manipulative market strategy in the book.
I think "out of touch" is a little harsh, but, from my perspective, well... yes, a little. Whenever I see a game start with fetch into old dual, or Mana Crypt/Jeweled Lotus...or a creator suggesting over 500 bucks worth of upgrades to a precon... those are cards that are waaaaay out of my reach. I can't do those plays, I won't own those decks. I even stopped watching most of other channels gameplay except for Commander Clash, and that's because of Tomer and his budget decks! I just have more fun seeing cards that I can actually afford to play.
This is so true just the fact Dana was talking about owning multiple decks with the One Ring already shows a certain being out of Touch. Most people simple do not have the MTG budget of thousands of Dollars that most Content creators have.
yeah, that can in part be out of touch but also its their job. someone who makes art for a living would have high quality equipment the people they might teach through youtube wont have. out right suggesting yeah here’s 500 bucks upgrade is out of touch but this channel and many others will tell you almost without asking that og duals arent necessary or important for your commander deck. dana having multiple rings is him saying that he thinks it is a strong card and as a part of his job multiple copies are useful. if he was telling everyone to pick up a copy for pretty much any deck would be out of touch with normal people
That is not about them being content creators though.
I know plenty of people playing with true dual lands. Only one of them is a content creator.
I think I would politely disagree because to me that's a life priority issue not a budget issue. My main commander deck is $800-$1000 and I've built it over 1.5 years because I love it and it's a priority for me. That's like $50 a month on magic cards for the deck over the past 1.5 years or so? That's less than people spend on coffee in a month. If Magic is a priority for you, I'd say most of it is affordable. For content creators, whether paid or not, magic is a massive priority in their life, more than me or most people which means they drop the money for it. This doesn't make them out of touch, it most likely means they prioritize it more than you or I do. Come to think of it, this analogy most likely works for pretty much every hobby one can name. Every hobby will have varying degrees of financial buy in. If your critique is that content creators who spend lots of money on Magic are out of touch, then most hobbies will be unavailable to you if you want to pursue them even semi-seriously. Sure, do pushups in your room, but you probably can't afford even a standard gym membership. Sure, play games on your phone, but most console and PC gaming requirements are going to be way out of your price range. Sure watch movies for free at your local library, but streaming services are going to be pretty pricey for you. But you probably can afford most of those things if you wanted, which means that magic is not too expensive, it's just not a priority for you, and that's totally fine.
@@nathanielb5659but any professional sportsman or an artist will tell you they are “out of touch” with general public.
Just at the 18 minute mark. You lot saying how you want to make our days better. You do. Thank you. And im glad thats the focus. I want that positivity.
Rest in peace Sheldon. You changed all of our lives ❤ and meant more to us than you could ever know
First Kazuki Takahashi (the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh) passed on, now Sheldon. It's been a tough year seeing these great people passing on, R.I.P to both
Kazuki was this year too? I thought he passed last year. Damn.
@@ToxicAtomnah I think he was last year. This year just passed by quick for a lot of us
Damn, Joey. Looks like its taking a toll on you. Keep your head up. RIP Sheldon.
I heard the news about Sheldon a few days ago, and I listen to your podcast everyday while at work, and everytime you mention him I can tell how much he meant to you guys personally. I'm so sorry for your loss, and we all know he is proud of you. Rest in peace Sheldon, and my condolence to you guys.
For those of you seeking your own one ring, you can get one with 6 set boosters and a few other promo cards in the set booster bundle. If you can find it for 64 bucks at a box store like I did. It's worth it. 100%
I would rather spend 5 cents on printing it
Never met Sheldon, but the way his death has affected all the MTG content creators who knew him shows how great of a person he was. RIP and hope anyone who knew and loved him are doing OK.
On the episode where all three of the guys can let themselves sharpen their sarcasm a bit, it's good to see Chase getting in on the action in post-production too. 😹
The opening was so amazing. Clearly a man who left his mark on the world.
And then the subtle comments during the episode had me rolling on the ground laughing!
Content creators are often much more invested in the game and have much more exposure because it becomes one of their highest priorities in their lives.
The average player probably thinks about or plays EDH less than five to ten hours a month.
So sure they may not entirely be connected viewpoints but both bring a lot to the table when they share their opinion.
I'm going to start using "My brother in cardboard" during all of my games now
RIP Sheldon of course. What a great legacy, though... so many friendships resulting from his actions.
I seriously enjoy the (No) in the title. Love the energy.
I work for a game developer, and pretty much everything you touched on is applicable to just about every game community in existence.
Joey, have an internet sent hug from me. We will all miss Sheldon, but you look like it crushed you. So have a hug from me ❤️
Also, Rest In Peace Mr. Mennery
Sheldon Menery; a rest well deserved but that still came too soon. He left an incredible legacy, lets cherish it.
Creators? Maybe not. WotC marketing and management? Definitely yes.
The line between the two is getting blurrier by the day.
@@Blunderflutz I think thats a fair point that wasnt really addressed in this podcast. There are a few Wizards employees that regularly go on these game play videos, where they basically promote cards they designed, including a new mythic rare that just came out.
@Blunderflutz now that I think about it Maro has been doing those drive cast for a decade or something now.
Sheldon left a positive and honorable legacy that will persist for the years to come.
To the point about you guys not being recognized at events, I witnessed this firsthand at Minneapolis when I played with Dana and some fine strangers who had listened to the podcast but didn't watch the video, and it wasn't until fairly late into our time playing together that they found out they were playing with THAT Dana.
Lastly, I appreciate this sort of 'clearing the air' episode, but i do want to say I like the more geeky and positive content y'all make, because that is clearly what you prefer to do.
I have so much respect for guys who are brave enough to show how things effect them when something tragic occurs, all three of you showing that in your own ways is very commendable. RIP Sheldon. Without Sheldon, I would have never been pulled back into this fun community by the wonderful format he fathered with such care. It's only one portion of the massive contributions he's made to the community at large, he will be missed.
I had no idea, this is my only touch point to MTG outside of Arena now, damn. Only ever heard great things about the man, thoughts with his family and many friends in this tough time.
Joey being so touched got me crying all over again. You guys always make content that makes me smile, and enjoy our shared hobby even more. Thank you guys!
I just wish they wouldn’t release so many sets, it’s like every other month there’s a new set, a new dragon to chase.
Beautiful little intro there guys ❤️
I will say, I started tuning into Command Zone a lot less when every episode became blingmas. I'm glad they can afford a mana crypt in every deck but my play group can't. Game Knights used to feel like playing magic with my friends but now it just feels like watching people flex how much more money they have. Wish they would do more budget episodes.
You guys have really helped me through a lot! I really only play commander once a week with a couple close friends - but your podcasts, and social dynamics have been a breath of fresh air in such a hard time in my life.
Struggles with addiction, mental health, burnout, and loss. But you guys give me hope and get me laughing each week with your dad jokes and corny sense of humor!
Never change EDHREC team, what you do is important and goes beyond the game of Magic!
9:50 I tell those dad jokes to my family as well and get a wonderful combination of laughs, smiles and especially eye-rolls.
Out of touch? Not at all. Different perspective than casual players? Absolutely.
The sheer amount of time content creators spend with whatever their chosen content is changes their perspective, doubly so because of how they engage with it. It is neither good nor bad, just different. Also, also, people will have different perspectives on things and someone who creates content usually (but not always) has chosen something they enjoy which naturally gives a positive bent.
Who are your favorite creators that you think resonate best eoth casual players?
There is no such thing as “casual players” there are just players and people with varying opinions and engagement with the game.
Casual players don’t all get long or have same desires. 10 different players have 10 different opinions and views.
@@hunterransom2594 by mere virtue of the fact that some players label themselves casual, yes there are. However, you are correct in that it always breaks down to individuals with individual opinions.
But since we're engaging in pedantry, let me rephrase: individuals with high engagement, especially engagement that involves analysis and performance, will generally have perspectives born of that engagement that individuals with low or infrequent engagement are less likely to possess and, sometimes, may not understand.
@@JonReid01 to @hunterransom2594's point, you can't really collectively group them as always having common interests. To that end, I personally like MTG Goldfish because there is a good variety in the perspectives.
Who are you that dares to speak sense on the internet? Here we have only irrational reaction and hate to outsiders! To the gulag with you!
im abit late. but i wanted to let joey know that you also touch many of us newer players the same way. from all walks of life many of us found you to be very relatable when searching information on magic and commander. So im sure you already know this but sheldon was and is very proud of you im very sure.
much love from a newer monoblack player. and a personal thank you for sharing your opinions, love, and emotions at all times with us all. love you all.
I don't usually comment on these but big shout out to all of those "Quarters" you would have!!! Hahaha. I had to completely stop watching that channel. It was just too much negativity. Sad too, it was a go to for a while. Cheers to you all. Always enjoy the conversations here.
When I watching some videos and working on upgrading my Necron Dynasties precon I happened to see a phyrexian core land card in my bulk and it was a perfect fit in my articact re animation deck. Never once saw it mentioned and it helps so much
Did Matt say Affinty needs you to tap to add the mana!?! That's it he's out of touch for not knowing every rule of Magic on demand
Was just looking for my weekly dose of EDHRecCast :3
Awww Joey ❤
It's okay friend Sheldon may have moved on, but I guess games gotta end some time... even if it hurts. But like you say, it all matters how you make em feel when they are playing along side ya and Sheldon definitely made this time a lot brighter for a lot of us
I was glad to see you take a moment to honor Sheldon. His is a tremendous loss because of his work to make the world a nicer place to be. I mourn with you, he was a wonderful man.
Dana nailed it off the bat. Not out of touch just a different perspective. Nothing wrong with that!
I dunno, for someone with "just a different perspective", Dana sure seems to passive aggressively hate on people with a different perspective than him.
I just want to say i like that you like to keep it fun. It does cheer up my day. Magic is my happy place and I do not enjoy negative videos.
Dana for sure visits his LGS often. As a fan who keeps his distance 😅
19:07 damn joey that's a spicy tweet
I love seeing everyone give Sheldon his flowers. It literally makes me tear up even though I just recently found out who he was…RIP Sheldon!
Why you gotta me make cry so early in the day? Thank you all.
Thanks for giving us the best way to play magic RIP
Joey I doubt you'll read this. But I figured, it's been a little bit, I need to get this off me somehow.
I only ever got to play a single game with Sheldon, and you were there. I had no idea who you were, I played Bolas with gold bordered Mountains "because everyone knows mountains aren't real" and Sheldon basically said "hey as long as you're upfront that you have any other gold bordered cards in there, we're good to keep going" and I proceeded to basically kill myself with Doom Whisperer into your Syr Konrad.
I ran into him later at the afterparty at the Museum of Pop Culture and he and I talked about some things and he was one of the first people who stuck it in my head, "Hey, your life is on your speed, you can't compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy." He and i and Josh Lee Kwai talked on whether we would ever choose to give up either cheese or butter for the rest of time. So I'm gonna remember him for all the positives I personally got from him.
Not out of touch... but it's certainly a different perspective and it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. Creating content is very different from consuming content and requires a different mindset... and that's totally okay. Player distrust being projected onto content creation is a symptom of their distrust and dissatisfaction in WotC and they're looking for validation. If players don't find that when they consume content, it's a logical progression to then turn to negativity towards those creators, especially if they're creators they like or enjoy because people (generally) want to identify with and feel validated by people they like.
Additionally, people with "day jobs" who don't or can't understand content creation will never understand the work that goes into simply because it's not their world. That alone puts them on a different level of perspective and more likely to go that place of saying "they're just out of touch" when they don't feel validated. To that end, it's more correct to say "they're out of touch with me" which makes it personal for them vs the general statements we're otherwise describing.
So what does that mean? Both sides are right and discounting either is probably incorrect. At the end of the day though... so what? Everyone has an opinion and none of them are completely correct.
I can only speak to personal experience, but I feel that for a lot of people the "playing with strangers" argument that you addressed is mostly about those players venting about how much of a crutch rule 0 has become for the format. Rule 0 is a fantastic idea, having a method built into the format to help sculpt your ideal experience is great, but for a large swath of the playerbase of the format, those like me who can only get 1-2 games in on Friday nights with whoever happens to be in the store and with whatever decks they have on them, the fact that many creators, many players, and _especially_ the rules committee constantly point to rule 0 as a catch all solution that allows them to ignore and deflect legitimate arguments,problems, and grievances comes off as frustrating and disingenuous
This is absolutely true, but i doubt content creators entirely avoid this when playing out in the wild.
Personally I don't think Rule 0 is a crutch so much as it is the best of a bunch of bad options. The format just CANNOT be balanced IMO, and I'm of the mind that by and large most changes that could be made attempting to do so would just serve as a whack-a-mole situation where knocking down one thing causes another to pop up elsewhere. So while I completely get why it feels like a catch all solution that allows the RC to ignore and deflect legitimate arguments, I'm not sure there's a better alternative that isn't worse. Something can be a crappy answer while still being the best answer.
Agree, something more formal would improve the format.
Dana, I stopped going to the movies because I am so tired of people texted through the whole movie. The lights from all of the phones is so distracting. Baldur's Gate has some really good cards. Too bad it was a Bate and Switch set plus the dragons are hard to get. I passed on LOTR and Commander Masters because of the price of sealed boxes. I just bought the singles that I wanted. I really like the Wilds of Eldraine set. It was so affordable and I love the artwork. My oldest son said the set is not that good. Thank you for the video Dana, Joey, and Matt.
The folks that are out of touch are the ones that want to treat EDH like it's a set meta like any other format when in reality it's extremely varied and you shouldn't paint it with a single brush, as much as you might want to.
Sheldon was truly a legend among us. RIP to a good man
I have to share my point of view from a "non-creator" perspective.
First, creators are people too, whom deserve respect, have their human quirks, their own dreams, and they are not all the same of course.
But there are people who devote themselves to the hobby, have their own dreams, (that happen to not have magic content). They don't have the privilege of: friendly attention (high class and even para-social), social access (like knowing the people that make the game, other famous people in and out of the hobby) and the incredible feeling of being known/mattering, ease of access to materials and upcoming information of the hobby, a comfort (alongside the discomfort) of working IN the hobby and not a day job that isn't entertaining.
But honestly, this is the epitome of celebritism. There are just going to be people that gain these things because of whatever reasons, and they will have a much different view on life and their hobby because of it. And people get sour for not having these privileges and achieved dreams themselves. We "regular" people tend to compare ourselves to those that have it funner and easier in life. When we are beaten down by society, and it's negativity, loneliness, and financial/class struggles, we lash back. Hurt people hurt people. And I only wish we all had an easier time in life so that the negativity chain would stop. I think the only thing the famous people could do is show as much humility they healthily can. I guess they can also do a podcast addressing it too. 😉
What IS also interesting in the case of this hobby is that there is so much room for opinions and preferences regardless of who is talking. And when there is a level of attention directed at a set few, it can feel more radical.
A side note: I don't think Wizard's "market research" is accurate or honest. Nor do I think it can be. It is such a difficult thing to measure, player behavior.
I actually recently left my playgroup of 7 years. I couldn't enjoy commander games with them anymore so I walked away. I wanted to play games with my playgroup AND with random strangers. Over the years I have been playing more and more with strangers. So naturally my deck building. Decision making, and money spent playing the game has changed over the years. My regular playgroup doesn't like to play with strangers at all. So this leads to their decks to be very "playgroup heavy meta dependant" It has also resulted in rule zero issues and salty beef from all players.
I do think "the playgroup vs strangers" makes matters a lot depending on your personal experience.
You are content creators! You simply make the BEST content on commander on youtube. I’m not joking. You are great.
I absolutely loved the BLeeM shoutout. EDHREC and D20 are two of my favorite pieces of content on the internet, so the shared awareness is a delight to me.
YES ! Dimension 20 is amazing.
I would say the higher one is elevated in status regardless of the intention, they will be out of touch.
Similar to how the higher up you are the smaller everything looks.
I've seen a few comments below about content creators "budget" putting them out of touch referencing Dana having multiple copies of The One Ring. This is a priority issue not a budget issue. Most hobbies will typically get more expensive the more important it is to you. I don't judge Dana for spending more money on Magic cards than me, any more than he should judge someone for spending $200+ dollars a month on protein powder as a bodybuilder or $300 on a paint brush set or $1600 on a graphics card for a gaming PC or $3000 on an electric guitar etc. In my opinion, content creators and their budget is more a reflection of how important it is to them and doesn't put them out of touch.
Took me too long to catch the quarters reference
Lmao shots fired
Nice sentiments guys. ❤️
When you say “Creators out of Touch” I’m thinking Wizards, who actually create the game. The answer is yes. Protecting expensive reprints to pump the secondary market so they can overcharge for “premium” product is a prime example. Most of us enjoy opening boosters, finding something cool and unique, and then building a deck around it, but at 21.95 for a CMM booster at my LGS, or 8.95 for LOTR, it’s hard to buy a box and jump into a cool set with both feet
The content creators I watch, are actually reasonably enjoyable as a spectrum.
Had an interesting conversation with a friend. He is a fairly casual player where as I am an LGS owner and I consume A LOT of content. He described me as out of touch because of the sheer difference in knowledge and access to cardboard
May his memory be a blessing.
Similar to Dana’s Challenge the Stats: I hav found that Aura Shards is an important safety value in decks that rely on Elemental Bonds and other enchantments that trigger on creature etbs. Good luck convincing the table that that’s what you are using it for 😂.
Regarding the show’s main topic: I think when people say something “sounds scripted”, what they really mean is that it sounds a bit stilted-Game Nights is the clearest example. I think the creators’ intent to is be clear and accurate as well as upbeat and interesting, but that can be a heavy burden to shoulder. I think viewers need to remember that creators are not all trained actors and grant them a bit of grace.
Funny The One Ring story that happened last Sunday at my lgs. I was playing Minn, Wily Illusionist as a color-pie-break aristocrat deck, and another pod player had a very tuned Tocasia, Digsite Mentor deck. He dug through his whole deck thanks to Seedborn Muse and The One Ring, and had both a Laboratory Maniac and Mirrodin Besieged on the board from the turn prior. By this point I had 7 illusion tokens, and had just topdecked my Salvaging Station, which I planned on cheating into play with a Minn token to reanimate some graveyard hate artifacts in my own graveyard. A 3rd player in the pod cast Heliod's Intervention to blow up a bunch of stuff, Tocasia went to give it an Offer he couldnt refuse, but I had Abjure, which let me get Salvaging Station into play. Stack resolves, and he activates the one ring to draw 5 cards, so I activate the station, bringing back Triangle of War and kill it in response! He's forced to exile his enchantment that increases the ssurveil value and shuffle his graveyard back, saving the game.
You hit it right on the head with this video. Of course creators are going to film multiple games so they can ensure content is interesting (and not play certain spells that make content run long). I'm also such a fan of your show because everything is not negative.
Love the shoutout to Dimension 20
Loved the Muddstah shoutout!
Real good of you guys to hype up other good relevant channels
Holy shit. Was just scrolling through Brenards EDHREC site while listening to the podcast. I accidentally noticed the nonbo, just for you guys to mention it 2 seconds later.
What are the chances?
About the art of the cards, they really look like A.I. . I miss the old art 😢
For me alot of commander content creators (in short ccc) are out of touch (for me) mostly on one point: theyr decks are way too powerfull/optimised.
All on goldfish eg plays teferis protection in every deck it fits.
Commandzone plays tutors, 2 mana rocks, ristic budy/study and a ton more staples.
Some of them have 8 mana on turn 4 or are in another way completely over the top.
And the list goes on..
It gets boring to see cards everyone would use and play just to be effective.
Imo some of them forgot commander is about the experience, but you dont get alot of experience if commander x gets path to exiled the x time. Or if you powercreep the table.
You have a far smaller pool on cards you can see in optimised or high power tables and thats a pitty cause you loose a lot of diversity and in worst case you teach to play on that level...
I didn't know sheldon. What i heard of him was filtered through anger at his opinions on the format he created and observed. However, this past week I've heard of the passion, joy and humanity he displayed. He seemed like an awesome person, and while I'm sad he's gone, cancer is torture and I'm glad he's not suffering anymore.
yes the vitriol i've heard is very unjust, I would just tell them to make there own format and play that instead. my playgroup is making prEDH decks to honor him. REST IN PLANES SHELDON
Granted, there are a lot of creators I enjoy. I don't watch every single one of their gameplay episodes, because some of them just aren't the kind of pacing I enjoy. But that doesn't change the fact that it's good content and great creators.
Pretty early on in the episode Joey's all like yeah I want to brighten people's day after I unexpectedly wept as you guys did your eulogy for Sheldon cuz that hit me right in the feels.
But for the most part yes you do make me happy I enjoy listening to your podcast and then I'm sure all of your viewers would agree
Content creation aint exactly the get-rich-quick scheme that people on the internet think it is, so that criticism of doing this stuff for the money always seems so disingenuous.
Hey now, I once paid A bill with money I made in content creation!
Not quick, but once you have a decent following the money pours in. Especially since a lot of people shill once they're sponsored by the same company a few times, and that skews how trustworthy their opinions are.
Totally agree with the points raised in this video.
I remember reading a comment about people not liking Game Knights because they were "trying too hard and made it overproduced", but THAT'S THE POINT, it's supposed to be like WWE for Magic lol where it's big and fun and as if some big sports commentator was going nuts that someone just played an Esper Sentinel turn 1 or something lol.
To be fair too, if I tried to understand the negativity more and expectation for creators to be addressing it all the time, it's likely that many people see creators as sort of "journalists" of a kind and expect you to be "taking it to the man" all the time. In my opinion though, that would be myopic because...let's face it, we can TRY to influence large corporations like HASBRO but ultimately, content creators alone aren't going to change whatever happens, it would have to be a BIG reaction. It's also quite a lot to ask of someone to make them not just a content creator but expect them to be more or less some sort of political leader for the cause they're pissed with WOTC for every month or so, as, as you say, it was never the intention of many people's shows to do that...but instead to share excitement, comradery, cool ideas, and ultimately spread fun about a goofy hobby we all enjoy.
RIP Sheldon...prayers to his family and to the entire community, this is a hard loss!
Matt, I guess that limo took you for a ride!😂
Boggles my mind that people actually claim that gameplay content like Game Knights is scripted.
I'm relatively new to Magic still, but I really don't see content creators in this community that aren't critical of certain topics or WOTC at least sometimes. If anything, there seems to be more "sky is falling" clickbait with some dude's shocked face and a title like "Wizards RUINS Magic FOREVER."
It's a stark contrast to the theme park content world that I'm in, where there are absolutely creators who never say anything negative about the companies involved. Maybe Wizards doesn't try to punish content creators who are reasonably critical the way Disney and Universal do.
Rest in Peace, Big Guy, Godfather ‘o E.D.H.
(E.D.H. …& not Hasbro/WotC stamped, trademarked, hyper-commercialised Commander😤)
I read the title and I thought the title was about the creators of Magic were out of touch
Objectively, yes.
Not just in finance, but also in what makes a 'good game' for your average social group.
There's this weird hyperfixation on winning 100% of the games 100% of the time, and it often leads to some often antisocial deckbuilding decisions, like casually recommending Tergrid in a $100 precon upgrade, without an aggressive caveat that the card's miserable to play against and ruins most games.
IMO, content creators REALLY need to rein in the obsession with "Win every game at all costs, here's $300 worth of upgrades", and an $800 "precon decklist".
That being said though, aside from one or two annoying exceptions, those types of content creators tend to rot in obscurity.
Almost makes me want to do Content Creation myself, and show them how it's done.
19:10 Funniest tweets I've read in a long time.
I get why Zame Zights can feel scripted. They want to deliver a crisp experience, of when a conversation gehts of the rails, it gets cut. Shuffling is cut. Thinking is cut. You can feel that and it can feel off. But that's just editing...
I'm a little confused about this discussion on."optimal plays" and "sandbagging cards".
If this game came down to mathematical optimisation, I wouldn't be playing. There's always a choice to make, and you can usually justify whatever choice you're making. Maybe I can kill the archenemy this turn, but if I'm left against two players I can't beat easily then I'm not doing it. Maybe I can put out/remove a major threat, but that doesn't mean I can withstand being archenemy.
The game is full of politics, bluffs and strategy. It isn't all about having the most power on board.
Rest in peace Sheldon.
For the out of touch discussion. I think a lot comes from players who watch a lot of online EDH content and than go to an LGS (= play in an open group). In this case it can happen that these players are now in vastly different play environment and nothing is the way they know from watching the EDH content, from the power lever of their own deck, to viable strategies and card evaluation. LGS veterans feel like they have to deprogram "command zone" players, all the time. And the new LGS player feels betrayed, overwhelmed, pup stomped etc. The sad part is, it is extremely difficult to solve the problem. As a youtube content creator you want to produce vids which have high entertainment value, are easily consumed, and don't require enormous effort. Which are naturally in contrast with teaching the most complex card game / board game ever.
People assume all sorts of absurd things about how much free stuff and money content creators get from IP owners. The vast, vast majority get no direct compensation from the companies who own the IPs and products they enjoy.
If you play a game enough WINNING gets boring. I would rather a close finish, even if I am not a large part of it, than to absolutely mop the floor. To me playing my lvl8-9 deck against a new player is because it is arguably the most straightforward deck I have means I am showing my hand and doublechecking calls if it seems they overlooked something. That friend has no idea that is my strongest deck, just that it is monocolored and arguably less complicated than their precon. I know what my deck does. I know every card in my deck. I want to however see the realization of synergy and the learned mastery of someone’s deck.
This is also why I made a Sen Triplet deck, but people seem to not like it when I am playing their deck and they are not, so it does not win much.
18:39 lol Matt coming out swinging against certain people I love it
Is ther an episode where its all challenge the stats and if not they should do that
I am kind of underwhelmed by this episode since I definitely somewhat empathize with people who distrust what they see on the internet, even in regards to MTG. When you look at the most popular videos or screenshots of people pulling packs online you see them pull cards that are so rare that you’ll never be able to pull them from a random booster box. It doesn’t take much to see someone pull a rare card online, go out and buy product, get disappointed with what you actually pulled and declare that what you see on the internet is fake. It is an irrational reaction, but an understandable one.
RIP Sheldon. Without you I’d never have had the group I have now.
I love Innistrad Double Feature. I am sad ALL other players hated it
The problem with that is that some cards were designed to be double feature but some of them were just "printed" to black and white which makes them very bad looking so to speak.
I will say, content creators do have some minor infuence on the secondary market. They arent calling the shots for WotC, but they can make a forgotten card spike in popularity by featuring something cool about it.
Less episodes about the internet being mean and more episodes about rules interactions and strategy and deck building. Love you guys! RIP Sheldon x infinity
Hey guys great stuff as always ignore them haters all you folks do a great job and bring something different for the same subject manner thanks as always for your time and content
They should just do booster box and hanger packs and they do a premier line of Treasuries or master pieces that are no playable like numbered and collectible to crack, they can re print reserve list just done make it playable in size
There is a huge difference between being negative and being critical. I absolutely love your channel and profs, and command zone because all of you are honest with your opinions, no matter what the context. I used to love another channel that helped me make the most of out synergistic budget brews, but that became such a negative space I just could not enjoy it anymore. Opinions are great, but how you present them makes all the difference
'being negative' is pretty vauge and can be taken in a number of different ways. a lot of critcisms gets taken as such regardless.
Are content creators out of touch? The content creators have spoken. They have decided that they are not out of touch.
No. It’s the children who are wrong.
Dana with the Non-Basic land challenge? No Way!
Our lgs has a commander league that you earn points for performing x things. And there are point collecters....collectors..... and you have to pay to enter the command league..... i stopped playing in them but they do have commander days which doesn't track points I still play though. Much better experience.
I stopped listening to The Command Zone a year or two ago because every preview season turned into what the highlights of the set were, and how older, previous cards basically did the same thing but better. With preview season seemingly a constant occurrence, I didn't need cards and sets that I were cool to be preemptively judged as bad or sub-optimal.
Commander may have started out casually. But once it took the title of "most casual" format, kitchen table 60 card decks that would never see play in constructed formats suddenly became too competitive and scary. It takes me playing with the son of one of my professors to have a non-commander with any regularity. And the only reason he wants to play "standard" or non-commander is his father played before commander was such a huge thing and is open to casual 60~ card decks. cEDH may be a small subsection but everyone listens to podcasts about deck building and play to get better at games. No one's playing Phage the Untouchable with the notion that it'll be a simple casting of the commander and killing the opponent with combat damage. The casualness of the game has gone done as a result of the amount of cards people see in an average game. 60 cards used to be effectively 30 different cards in order to make interesting situations. The possible card pool was much lower and as such the bar for knowledge of interactions was much lower. There's a constant joke about hat decks or "ladies facing left", yet I never see those in the wild.
Otherwise, I'd say that part of the passion of making a project like EDHrec or Good Luck, High Five, is that the passion makes the focus on consistent, scheduled content less. Having a script means that you can remember everything you need to do and it also means that you have enough things going on that you can't keep it all in your mind. The passion for the game is more apparent when it isn't hidden behind 6 different segments with ad breaks in between.
I listen to you guys because of your passion that has manifested in the amount of analysis you facilitate through your podcasts and EDHrec. You do set reviews but you don't need to drag them out or over analyze for the sake of having new content. You aren't dependent upon current events to be relevant, you've found a niche and are staying in it.
From the perspective of an out of US player, considering the pricing we are facing here in Canada, they are absolutely out of touch. The prices are so high that you can NEVER make close to your money back in a box unless you get a super rare chase card. Combine that with the fact that the economy is bad and they keep rising the prices at the same time they have no respect for most players and treat us as wallets to be squeezed dry using every dark paterns in the book to create fomo and other manipulative market strategy in the book.
If you're buying a box trying to get your money back, you sir might be outta touch
I feel like creators just play on their own meta, which mostly overlaps with mine but is nevertheless different