I did forget to mention something here. Card Advantage becomes even more important when we consider the "hand emptying" mana system MTG uses. The standard game of Limited typically results in top decking by turn 5 or 6 if you hit every single land drop. This translates to commander. We need to hit our land drops, but if we can't fuel our hand with more cards to utilize that mana, then we might as well have never hit our land drops. Card Advantage is so critically important to our format. I hope you enjoy the video and I'll see you soon for another!
@Beghty27 most cantrips are hand improvement spells. The reason most people shouldn't play them outside of decks with enough additional synergy is that commander is slower. Commander has the first turn draw and first turn free mulligan too. Making keeping a sketchy hand less needed and making a cantrip less desirable when taking a turn off to Night's Whisper won't lose you the game in tempo
@@doctorrobz Brainstorm is one of the most important cards ever printed in magic. It's an incredibly nuanced, skill intensive, powerful card. Ask any legacy player and they could write an essay on brainstorm. Commander players viewing brainstorm as a "card draw" spell fundamentally misunderstand just how to properly play it.
@@doctorrobzAnd then you put two back. It’s basically a cantrip in terms of card advantage. And without a shuffle, you’re just gonna draw those cards again on your next few turns. It’s like Faithless Looting, except you’re discarding to the top of your library.
I agree on some points in the video but this is extremely dangerous advice. Repeatable card draw is not easy to get by in certain colors and often more expensive or slow. Typically the example for the most basic card draw is phyrexian arena which you pay 3 mana to see 3 new cards over 3 turns. With brainstorm you see 3 new cards in 1 turn for 1 mana. If you play a faster paced casual game we can assume people start dying turn 8 so at most phyrexian arena will draw around 5 cards max if played during perfect times. This sort of repeatable card draw is often too slow. Considering something extremely basic like ancient craving which draws 3 cards for 4 mana is almost the same as phyrexian arena but only takes 1 turn. As we see repeatable card draw is often back loaded and in magical dream land were a game goes on for 20 turn that would be the most beneficial but it's more correct to only include efficient repeatable card draw and think about deck composition more individually and not as a template. Can you generate a lot of mana? Then X card draw is often better than any other. Can you keep your hand filled? You might want to include brainstorm for tempo. Do you play a control style game where you slow the game down? Then maybe things like arena are good for you. It's a very nuanced topic.
I took apart an old deck after this video and only had two pieces of repeatable card draw alongside a monolith commander (henry wu, ingen geneticist) with draw stapled to him. Definitely feel like rebuilding it after watching this. It takes time to identify card draw vs filtering vs repeatable effects but it's time well spent.
I will say i agree with a lot of the statements in this video but i would like to warn new players that come across this video. Repeatable card draw is usually either more expensive , slower or both compared to one shot effects like Divination or Night's Whisper. Sometimes you're going to want cards Now. whether that be you're digging for a land or digging for removal or just really low on cards in a post board wipe board. that's where the one shot effects come into play. Topdecking a phyrexian arena on turn 7 feels terrible whereas at least something like Read the Bones or harmonize gets you cards now. generally finding a balance between card advantage/selection engines and one shot draw is as much art as science.
I like phrasing it as cards that just work. The ceiling on repeatable card draw is a lot higher but the floor is also a lot lower. Night's whisper will give you 2 cards regardless of how well the game is going for you.
@Dazer87 yeah i agree with this. Generally You're going to want some cards that go wild with synergy or have a really high ceiling but low floor because those cards will be usually what helps push you to victory. Though you're going to want some cards that just work and do the thing because sometimes you won't have the big synergy stuff going and need to get to it
@@tommieboi707 7:36 I see a whole screen worth of repeatable card draw effects. The art of finding the balance between card advantage/selection engines and one-shot draw is a potentially interesting conversation, so interesting that it might never get better than saying 'test a lot and see how it feels'. In my mind, the function of the one-shot effects you listed like Divination and Night's Whisper are much closer to Ponder and Preordain than they are to Phyrexian Arena, both of which feel much different from a big bursty card draw spell like Recurring Insight or Seagate Restoration. Finding the right mix of these is worth thinking about and tinkering with. This video is a nice elaboration on the generic 10 card draw template and could be a helpful guideline as to why your deck could feel lighter on card draw than you might have expected it to, but nothing beats testing and adjusting. If your deck is running 10 card draw spells, whatever that means to you, but you feel like you run out of cards, run more than 10 card draw spells, leaning towards bigger one-shot spells or engines.
@@chibichanga1849 running 10 card draws in a 100 card deck only gives you a 10% chance of top decking a card draw spell. That's why mid power games always feel so inconsistent. But that's also the fun in commander games. You never know what you're going to pull next. The reason you hardly see spells like recurring insight is because you're relying on an opponent to have a ton of cards in their hands. It also cost 6 mana and is a dead card of you draw it on your opening hand. Whereas cards like ponder/preordain can be effective on the 1st turn or the 9th turn.
A couple nights ago, I curved Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff into Sheoldred the Apocalypse, and the Blue player at the table still used Brainstorm mainphase - taking 6 from Sheoldred. When I asked, he said he "needed the card draw". Just kind of felt like sighing.
When I build decks and categorize stuff I break things down into the mainstays of removal, card draw, and ramp, then I mark things down for if they have additional synergy with the deck or are repeatable.
The issues with repeatable draw effects is that they are win more cards and usually require something else in order to actually draw cards. They do nothing if your lacking cards already or are on the backfoot. Those cheap can trips let you dig for answers and are good in any game state not just when your winning. With how populate big sweepers are in the format it can be risky putting card draw to a 4 mana creature or artifact then getting farewelled the following turn or indiscriminately drawing lands instead of just digging for what you actually need. IMO they are both useful for diffrent reasons and diffrent decks.
Really interesting perspective on card draw. I'm wondering if you might consider doing some kind of primer on spellslinging decks? I always find it hard to get the balance of spells to pay-offs right and end up with dead hands 😅
The big thing that I use to emphasize to new players the difference between card advantage and cantrip spells is that cantrips are "card draw", sure, but that what you really want is "*cards* draw". If it's not multiple, it's not worth it. (And then I need to talk about why Brainstorm doesn't count either, so on second thought maybe this isn't such a great method)
I run Brainstorm, ponder, and otherworldly gaze in my galea deck specifically because she cares about the top deck. She's slightly unique since she let's you look at the top any time and cast auras and cheats equip costs from there.
🤔 Is The One Ring always good? Is it worth including even if you have no way to deal with its downside of losing life? I think if you have any significant method of gaining life I think it is 🤷🏻♂️ I’m going to try it in my sliver deck. By the time the ring deals you 3 damage you’ve drawn 6 extra cards… then it starts to get kind of painful but hey lifelink!
Awesome video as always! Keep going with it! I’m pretty new in mtg, LOVE your content. Thanx to you i made Eriette and Rakdos deck. I would love to see your Wilhelt deck. I just bought and a precon and i don’t know what’s is the best way: Aristocrats, tokens, lords…By the way, I dont like infinite combos. Thanx for your content, really. EDIT: Holy shiatt! I just realize there is a Wilhelt precon behind you!
I like ponder, it is a pet card though. A couple of my tribal brews (aggro tempo) lately, has had me swapping out rhystic for kindred discovery. If they were midrange, like Ovika, rhystic study all the way. Also is that new commander Ms. Bumbleflower on your radar?
It is almost always better to have 3 2/2s for the pressure of swinging in and dealing 4 damaged and then 2 damange. Within 2 turns thats 1/4 (roughly) your life total in constructed formats. And it is definitely not a 3 for 1. It is a 6 life 2 for 1. To which you lose the eventual race of starting at effectively 14 life if yoy choose to seing in. The chances of a double block is dependent on the cards in the opponents hand. In this instance id let my opponent hit me for 3 to which i will hit for 6 on the ceack back.
@@dlion0734 functionally stays the same because now we have 2 other players at the table that we can assume have nothing. it is, regardless, not a 3 turn 3 for 1.
I have never liked the term card advantage. Just because you have more access to cards does not mean any of the cards are useful. the ability to have the correct card at the right time is more important than the total number of cards. The ability to filter cards that are unnecessary scrying effects or surveil is sometimes more potent than just drawing. Then the ability to do so without expending mana is another step up from there. Tutoring is a method of getting what you need when you need it. It annoys me when players simply count how many cards deeper did you go through the casting of the spell, aka you played the spell: down 1, then draw a card: up 1, net zero. Without that affect in another situation would you be holding another card in hand that may not get you to another card faster. The most important thing is having the card you need and the resources you need to deploy it at the right moment.
I can't disagree. I suppose the caveat here is that many players don't want to run tutors in every deck to ensure they have access to the card they need at exactly the moment they need it. If you aren't running tutors to accomplish that goal then generally it's just a pipe dream. I think the average player will find they CAN access most cards they need if they also make sure they have plenty of card advantage. I can't guarantee it works 100%, heck probably not even 75% of the time, but generally the MORE cards you see every game the better you will perform in that game. And in that same example you give, the alternative card I have in my hand (like replacing my brainstorm), will be another card advantage piece that helps synergize with my deck, like a Welcoming Vampire/mystic remora, which in general situations will be better as the game progresses. I suppose this falls apart at late stages of the game, but I even talked about that in this video. I think I'd just be careful to imply that card advantage can be easily superseded by simply having the right card at the right time. Unless you are running plenty of tutors this isn't reliable in my experience, and generally having more methods to see MORE of your deck will result in a larger % of wins. I find this true in every single game I play nowadays.
@@mufasafalldown8401completely agree. I've taken all tutors out of my decks. It's just so easy to find the answer. It is so much more fun to draw into it.
I mean yeah, it doesn't matter if you can draw your deck if none of the cards are good, but what matters most is being able to find AND use them. Card advantage and selection are ways to see more cards just like scry and surveil except you can actually use the cards.
I did forget to mention something here. Card Advantage becomes even more important when we consider the "hand emptying" mana system MTG uses. The standard game of Limited typically results in top decking by turn 5 or 6 if you hit every single land drop. This translates to commander. We need to hit our land drops, but if we can't fuel our hand with more cards to utilize that mana, then we might as well have never hit our land drops. Card Advantage is so critically important to our format. I hope you enjoy the video and I'll see you soon for another!
Brainstorm is not a card draw spell. It's a hand improvement spell.
Yes, and is always better in a deck with fetch lands so you don't draw the cards you put back.
@Beghty27 most cantrips are hand improvement spells. The reason most people shouldn't play them outside of decks with enough additional synergy is that commander is slower. Commander has the first turn draw and first turn free mulligan too. Making keeping a sketchy hand less needed and making a cantrip less desirable when taking a turn off to Night's Whisper won't lose you the game in tempo
But it draws 3 cards ..
@@doctorrobz Brainstorm is one of the most important cards ever printed in magic. It's an incredibly nuanced, skill intensive, powerful card. Ask any legacy player and they could write an essay on brainstorm. Commander players viewing brainstorm as a "card draw" spell fundamentally misunderstand just how to properly play it.
@@doctorrobzAnd then you put two back. It’s basically a cantrip in terms of card advantage. And without a shuffle, you’re just gonna draw those cards again on your next few turns. It’s like Faithless Looting, except you’re discarding to the top of your library.
I agree on some points in the video but this is extremely dangerous advice. Repeatable card draw is not easy to get by in certain colors and often more expensive or slow. Typically the example for the most basic card draw is phyrexian arena which you pay 3 mana to see 3 new cards over 3 turns. With brainstorm you see 3 new cards in 1 turn for 1 mana. If you play a faster paced casual game we can assume people start dying turn 8 so at most phyrexian arena will draw around 5 cards max if played during perfect times. This sort of repeatable card draw is often too slow. Considering something extremely basic like ancient craving which draws 3 cards for 4 mana is almost the same as phyrexian arena but only takes 1 turn. As we see repeatable card draw is often back loaded and in magical dream land were a game goes on for 20 turn that would be the most beneficial but it's more correct to only include efficient repeatable card draw and think about deck composition more individually and not as a template. Can you generate a lot of mana? Then X card draw is often better than any other. Can you keep your hand filled? You might want to include brainstorm for tempo. Do you play a control style game where you slow the game down? Then maybe things like arena are good for you. It's a very nuanced topic.
Ancient Craving is shitty Harmonize, but you’re right - card draw “engines” are overrated
I took apart an old deck after this video and only had two pieces of repeatable card draw alongside a monolith commander (henry wu, ingen geneticist) with draw stapled to him. Definitely feel like rebuilding it after watching this. It takes time to identify card draw vs filtering vs repeatable effects but it's time well spent.
I will say i agree with a lot of the statements in this video but i would like to warn new players that come across this video. Repeatable card draw is usually either more expensive , slower or both compared to one shot effects like Divination or Night's Whisper. Sometimes you're going to want cards Now. whether that be you're digging for a land or digging for removal or just really low on cards in a post board wipe board. that's where the one shot effects come into play. Topdecking a phyrexian arena on turn 7 feels terrible whereas at least something like Read the Bones or harmonize gets you cards now. generally finding a balance between card advantage/selection engines and one shot draw is as much art as science.
Well said. His only example of repeatable card draw is rhystic study. That's a 40 dollar card.
I like phrasing it as cards that just work. The ceiling on repeatable card draw is a lot higher but the floor is also a lot lower. Night's whisper will give you 2 cards regardless of how well the game is going for you.
@Dazer87 yeah i agree with this. Generally You're going to want some cards that go wild with synergy or have a really high ceiling but low floor because those cards will be usually what helps push you to victory. Though you're going to want some cards that just work and do the thing because sometimes you won't have the big synergy stuff going and need to get to it
@@tommieboi707 7:36 I see a whole screen worth of repeatable card draw effects.
The art of finding the balance between card advantage/selection engines and one-shot draw is a potentially interesting conversation, so interesting that it might never get better than saying 'test a lot and see how it feels'. In my mind, the function of the one-shot effects you listed like Divination and Night's Whisper are much closer to Ponder and Preordain than they are to Phyrexian Arena, both of which feel much different from a big bursty card draw spell like Recurring Insight or Seagate Restoration. Finding the right mix of these is worth thinking about and tinkering with.
This video is a nice elaboration on the generic 10 card draw template and could be a helpful guideline as to why your deck could feel lighter on card draw than you might have expected it to, but nothing beats testing and adjusting. If your deck is running 10 card draw spells, whatever that means to you, but you feel like you run out of cards, run more than 10 card draw spells, leaning towards bigger one-shot spells or engines.
@@chibichanga1849 running 10 card draws in a 100 card deck only gives you a 10% chance of top decking a card draw spell. That's why mid power games always feel so inconsistent. But that's also the fun in commander games. You never know what you're going to pull next.
The reason you hardly see spells like recurring insight is because you're relying on an opponent to have a ton of cards in their hands. It also cost 6 mana and is a dead card of you draw it on your opening hand. Whereas cards like ponder/preordain can be effective on the 1st turn or the 9th turn.
In a way, Brainstorm is just a cantrip. But I like running it in decks where my topdeck matters
A couple nights ago, I curved Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff into Sheoldred the Apocalypse, and the Blue player at the table still used Brainstorm mainphase - taking 6 from Sheoldred. When I asked, he said he "needed the card draw".
Just kind of felt like sighing.
My brainstorm creates a 2/2 blue drake token 😅 so its pretty good
When I build decks and categorize stuff I break things down into the mainstays of removal, card draw, and ramp, then I mark things down for if they have additional synergy with the deck or are repeatable.
Could you elaborate on why you purchased 500+ copies of Rhystic Study?
@brandonj4967 That was a joke. I was implying this video will increase the cost of rhystic study and I was "manipulating the market."
The issues with repeatable draw effects is that they are win more cards and usually require something else in order to actually draw cards. They do nothing if your lacking cards already or are on the backfoot. Those cheap can trips let you dig for answers and are good in any game state not just when your winning. With how populate big sweepers are in the format it can be risky putting card draw to a 4 mana creature or artifact then getting farewelled the following turn or indiscriminately drawing lands instead of just digging for what you actually need. IMO they are both useful for diffrent reasons and diffrent decks.
Really interesting perspective on card draw. I'm wondering if you might consider doing some kind of primer on spellslinging decks? I always find it hard to get the balance of spells to pay-offs right and end up with dead hands 😅
The big thing that I use to emphasize to new players the difference between card advantage and cantrip spells is that cantrips are "card draw", sure, but that what you really want is "*cards* draw". If it's not multiple, it's not worth it.
(And then I need to talk about why Brainstorm doesn't count either, so on second thought maybe this isn't such a great method)
I run Brainstorm, ponder, and otherworldly gaze in my galea deck specifically because she cares about the top deck. She's slightly unique since she let's you look at the top any time and cast auras and cheats equip costs from there.
The best card draw is _Wistful Thinking_
🤔 Is The One Ring always good? Is it worth including even if you have no way to deal with its downside of losing life? I think if you have any significant method of gaining life I think it is 🤷🏻♂️ I’m going to try it in my sliver deck. By the time the ring deals you 3 damage you’ve drawn 6 extra cards… then it starts to get kind of painful but hey lifelink!
Awesome video as always! Keep going with it! I’m pretty new in mtg, LOVE your content.
Thanx to you i made Eriette and Rakdos deck. I would love to see your Wilhelt deck. I just bought and a precon and i don’t know what’s is the best way: Aristocrats, tokens, lords…By the way, I dont like infinite combos.
Thanx for your content, really.
EDIT: Holy shiatt! I just realize there is a Wilhelt precon behind you!
It's a top deck setup spell. I only run it in my Melek deck and my Hidetsugu & Kairi deck
I like ponder, it is a pet card though.
A couple of my tribal brews (aggro tempo) lately, has had me swapping out rhystic for kindred discovery.
If they were midrange, like Ovika, rhystic study all the way.
Also is that new commander Ms. Bumbleflower on your radar?
I've got a yennett deck and a kess wheel deck and brainstorm is actually really powerful!
@@Kararch any deck relying on top deck manipulation will find Brainstorm right at home.
again, best mtg channel
It is almost always better to have 3 2/2s for the pressure of swinging in and dealing 4 damaged and then 2 damange. Within 2 turns thats 1/4 (roughly) your life total in constructed formats. And it is definitely not a 3 for 1. It is a 6 life 2 for 1. To which you lose the eventual race of starting at effectively 14 life if yoy choose to seing in. The chances of a double block is dependent on the cards in the opponents hand. In this instance id let my opponent hit me for 3 to which i will hit for 6 on the ceack back.
Yea but we're talking about commander, where that damage is only 1/24th of what needs to be dealt.
@@dlion0734 functionally stays the same because now we have 2 other players at the table that we can assume have nothing. it is, regardless, not a 3 turn 3 for 1.
My maralen deck couldn't agree more. :)
Thanks to power creep as long as you play a commander from the last two three years your commander will just do the card draw for you it’s kind of sad
LOL. Hate to say it, but you're right on. Wizards prints it all there for you...
The commander will draw you cards, has ward 2, and does your laundry and taxes as well.
Hey Tempest, how long have you had an editor? What is the going rate? I was considering getting one but im not sure.
Dude forgot to button up his shirt
Just a minor missplay
Ah snap. I was literally doing research on this
damn did you just ji joe me damn have you also been watching ji joe
That was my childhood show right there!
@@Tempest-Official well hasbro has been uploading it to their youtube which is neat
I have never liked the term card advantage. Just because you have more access to cards does not mean any of the cards are useful. the ability to have the correct card at the right time is more important than the total number of cards. The ability to filter cards that are unnecessary scrying effects or surveil is sometimes more potent than just drawing. Then the ability to do so without expending mana is another step up from there. Tutoring is a method of getting what you need when you need it.
It annoys me when players simply count how many cards deeper did you go through the casting of the spell, aka you played the spell: down 1, then draw a card: up 1, net zero. Without that affect in another situation would you be holding another card in hand that may not get you to another card faster.
The most important thing is having the card you need and the resources you need to deploy it at the right moment.
I can't disagree. I suppose the caveat here is that many players don't want to run tutors in every deck to ensure they have access to the card they need at exactly the moment they need it. If you aren't running tutors to accomplish that goal then generally it's just a pipe dream.
I think the average player will find they CAN access most cards they need if they also make sure they have plenty of card advantage. I can't guarantee it works 100%, heck probably not even 75% of the time, but generally the MORE cards you see every game the better you will perform in that game.
And in that same example you give, the alternative card I have in my hand (like replacing my brainstorm), will be another card advantage piece that helps synergize with my deck, like a Welcoming Vampire/mystic remora, which in general situations will be better as the game progresses.
I suppose this falls apart at late stages of the game, but I even talked about that in this video. I think I'd just be careful to imply that card advantage can be easily superseded by simply having the right card at the right time. Unless you are running plenty of tutors this isn't reliable in my experience, and generally having more methods to see MORE of your deck will result in a larger % of wins. I find this true in every single game I play nowadays.
Tutors are boring 😴. But you're right scry and connive and such effects are awesome and underrated.
@@mufasafalldown8401completely agree. I've taken all tutors out of my decks. It's just so easy to find the answer. It is so much more fun to draw into it.
I mean yeah, it doesn't matter if you can draw your deck if none of the cards are good, but what matters most is being able to find AND use them. Card advantage and selection are ways to see more cards just like scry and surveil except you can actually use the cards.
My green deck used multiple card draw effects 😅 and runns 40 creatures so its kinda bonkers sometimes