So a few weeks ago we had a game where a guy played Tree of Perdition (the 0/13 that exchanges its toughness for some one's lifetotal). He came down, I had the option of killing it and I said "Hey, if you don't use that tree on me, I won't kill it." Fast forward a few turns, I'm at 20 life, the tree was used on some one so it was a 0/26, and one of the other opponents casts a lethal 25 damage fireball at my face. I plead with the guy to switch my life total with tree so I'll live at 1 life. "C'mon, let me see if I draw an answer!" He looks at me and says "It would be a stain on my honor to allow me to use this tree, this same tree we made a deal about, to save you." I died.
Personally I hold grudges, so when people ask why I smack them with a beafy creature I tell them remember that one game 3 months ago and you hit me for 1 with a timmy
there is a house rule my commander group has: you start off with two basic lands of your choice in your hand revealed to other players then up to the normal amount. it helps prevent that mana screwed situation cause its not fun when people have no mana.
I think mass land destruction and pin point land destruction is fine as long as it has a purpose. If you have a dominant board state and blow up all lands to close out the game or strip mining someone's only color source, that's a perfect legitimate strategy. However LD for LD's sake, just to a stall out a game or endlessly recurring a strip mine just to annoy somebody is pretty gross to me.
Usually how it goes in my commander sessions with my group. Me: Hey you're going to love me the next turn. Friends: oh really? What are you going to do? Me: Don't worry, it's going to be amazing. *Plays Weird Harvest for where X is 6* *Everyone stares and starts to smile as they fetch for their best impactful creatures* *I reveal biovisionary and five clones* *sudden awkward silence followed by moaning spreads across the board*
My archetype is The Student. I only started playing because my son has gotten really into it. I almost always loose and I spend a lot of time reading cards and asking questions. I have come to enjoy it, just wish I could to math in my head as fast as my son can.
As much as I love game knights I would totally watch some unfiltered unedited footage of you guys playing magic just as you nornally would. You could even stream it on twitch if you want to skip the uploading process
Chizzlematrix ive tried but everytime I go to watch one of their vids I just get so bored. And if I look away for even a sec I have no idea whats going on. I understand its a very popular series and they do it more natural which is cool but I just cant get into when they are moving so slow and talking the entire time about stuff unrelated to the game they are playing.
100 % agree would totally watch. the amount of times I've rewatched the episodes cause they are soo good. I need new episodes every week, even if they are 20min episodes.
Well I don't think not winning in Commander is all that frustrating. However, being the first eliminated can get really boring if it happens too often.
Yeah, watched someone play some kind of mill deck in a 6 player game, it went off turn 3 and took out 4 players in one shot. I survived by having ulamog in the deck. However, it wasn't an infinite mill. He told me to mill to my last but one card, until ulamog is at the bottom. Yeah I quit and it didn't feel good.
I love that you (prof) use lands from the plane of your commander, I did a similar thing with my Asusa deck. All my basics are from different planes, but none from Kamigawa since Asusa is you know... lost but seeking.
I disapprove of picking on whoever is in last place if they are sufficiently far behind. Like, if they are missing several land drops and you then use targeted land destruction against them then that is a nono.
Yeah, I had someone destroy my signet when I was at three land and everyone else was over eight. It sucked. I used oblivion stone later to cost him the win. Worth it.
Great episode! I love the parts that focused on discussing keeping Commander fun for everybody because I feel like a lot of people tend to get too competitive and lose focus on having fun. It is a game after all. When I play I like to be a sort of Jack of All Trades with a solution to any problem and a trick or a backup plan always up my sleeve, but I also REALLY love to build a lot of flavor in my decks and know the stories behind the legends that I play.
That's actually so cool...I'm totally the liar of the playgroup, but I think you guys convinced me. I'll be sticking to clever wordings from now on. Thanks guys!
You can change your mindset but you really have to want to. I used to get upset about people doing poorly in video games or People focusing me down in a multiplayer game of EDH. I saw one of my friends doing the same thing and I saw how ugly it looked. I actively worked on it and OVER TIME I changed. Don't get me wrong I still get slightly frustrated but it doesn't ruin the good time I'm having. Great episode btw.
I've been playing games since I was 3 and I not only do not require a win to feel satisfied in EDH in fact I go into every single match expecting to lose first. My favorite deck to play the baby of the precon group hug deck and a mono red chaos deck.
26:40 About not knowing your own win cons -- I played a guy whose whole deck revolved around doing a double-fast Maze's End finisher... by cloning it with Clever Impersonator. Who only clones nonland permanents. When we finally got him to read the card, he was livid.
Funny MTG Story: Playing a multi of 4 people. A lot of stuff happening on the field. Someone cast a creature, exile it. I wanna play this spell, counter that spell. A Gamekeeper on play since the beginning and no one want to kill it. Anyways, my friend who owns the gamekeeper loudly says "Theres no way I could win this game, only my Blightsteel Colossus might be helpful". Shuffling deck, everyone´s looking for answers, no one with the courage to boardwipe. At 13 life and hoping no one start to swing punches because all of us had enough to kill someone else but not to take charge or the others). Draw a card to kill everything except the Gamekeeper, forgot about the Ryusei, Falling Star on board ´cause I wanted to get lifeback as quick as possibly and take advantage later (lifegain combo). Target one of my tokens to destroy everything stronger than him (1/1). All goes away, Ryusei make the damage to the Gamekeeper, player reveals the top, Blightsteel Colossus showed up...enters the battlefield. "How much life you say you have?" I had 14...Wastorm Surge on his side. Dead. What were the odds?
46:30 "I told you! You dont get your gun until you tell me your name." I see you prof ;) and yes there was another after but we'll keep that between us
I enjoy how you guys always touch on all aspects of playing magic. I'm an architect player for sure, but sometimes i have to play my competive deck in my group due to a certain infect/atraxa player. But mostly I just want to see my creation work, win or lose.
I started out not really caring if I won or not and just liked the idea of having a boss and building the deck around them, but more than that I just liked that the games could go on for a bit and it made time to hang with friends where we could talk and hangout without having to go spend money and eat or go to a bar. Then they complained that I wasn't trying to win at all so since then I've started playing mostly 75% decks that can pull a win out of their ass so I can still durdle around most of the game and still win.
On the "how the players changed matter", I will say that jimmy showed a lot of improvement and all around knowledge of the game nowadays since the start of the channel. sure it's just a random opinion on the internet, and I don't remember you guys mtg background, but I listened to some of your first videos and jimmy really seemed to gather a whole lot of mtg knowledge in these 182 episodes, so props to you on that man! Josh is great too but he looked like a pretty stabilished player from the beginning
18:55 I'm somewhere between Josh and the Professor, since generally I have the most fun when everyone is having fun, but I also do like to see my deck go off (win or lose) and do what it is supposed to do (It's a Freyalise Llanowar's Fury Pre-Con, though I am taking steps to increase it's overall performance), but when it comes to commander overall I find deck building to be almost therapeutic in a sense, just watch you guys wait until a Legendary creature I think looks cool or has a cool ability pops up then make a deck for it.
wait wait wait... at 31:40, he talks about casting something on a hexproof creature and it fizzles away because of hexproof. as far as I know, you target at casting, so if you "cast" a spell on a enemy hexproof creature, it wont fizzl, it wasnt even cast in the first place. it was an illegal play and the card gets back in your hand. only if the target was a valid one upon casting, and after that it gets hexproof, it will fizzl, or better be said, countered or did I miss anyting?
This is a VERY important point for both new and experienced players. Some may just not know better, but I have witnessed the, umm, LESS honest among the ranks use this as a way to get a good card out of a player's hand. Even at high REL tourneys, this situation would effectively be a rewind and do-over.
Weird- I had this exact kinda’ situation in a draft five or six year’s ago. I had a hexproof creature, forget the name- but you could pay to make it first strike/ deathtouch and lose hexproof. He attacks into me- and I suspect shenanigans, so instead of letting it lose hexproof, I used a pump spell and blocked with it. My opponent tried to play some removal- not realizing I hadn’t taken the bait. Had to figure out what to do- and he was pretty sure the spell “fizzled.” I thought he was wrong, but very rarely play sanctioned mtg, so wasn’t sure. I wanted to call a judge, but I think he just surrendered the card. If not a judge made a bad ruling (not unprecedented- I distinctly remember one in my favor about turn//burn on a hydra. Both the judge and the other player thought it lost its counters to turn. I was pretty sure the counters stayed and I made a dumb play- but wygd?)
I don't think I've ever heard so many funny noises in one video on the Command Zone! Haha! 12:09 Oh my goodness! I'm the same way Proffesor! I hate combo decks, but I keep building them because I love building them, trying to figure out how to make them work, then I play them and get bored quickly. I also love playing decks that have multiple win conditions! That's probably why I hate combo decks so much since they win with the same few cards. 18:46-18:55 I can relate to that Jimmy. I tend to remember my loses and get upset at the mistakes that I make, especially the ones that costed me the game. I take winning the game too seriously sometimes. I have a hard time if I haven't won a game in a while. I'd say I'd be content with winning 25% of the games too Josh. Yeah my no no is when players break promises. I've had that happen to me a couple times. Yeah I love when everyone doesn't get mana screwed, and everyone's deck is playing as It's suppose to, but that rarely happens. My favorite moments are when something crazy happens, and everyone gives a positive reaction, and when everyone is happy at the end of the game because they all got to go off. Nothing is better than a good game where everyone gets to play their deck! I'm not sure what my archetype is. I think I'm a mix of the judo master, opportunist, and lonewolf. Probably more judo master and lonewolf.
Shea Jones: Yeah, I can understand that. I only asked because I encountered it once while playing in a 4P pod. Someone used windfall and I looked down at my hand for a counterspell and found cyclonic rift instead... I was playing Oloro, so...Esper controlled. :)
When I play Magic Commander, what I look for is group size. When it’s me vs. five to six people that is when I have the most fun. I never once have won, but I’m usually not the first one out either, and that is what makes me smile.
If I were to say anything about my playstyle it's normally "let me see how this mechanic works if I build around it". This led me to affinity, Mill, counters, token/lifegain, tribal and alternate win con decks from building around specific cards. When in game I would see myself as a Jack O'/Jack of all trades. I usually try play lone wolf but depending on the 3 opponents I will switch to a different style to fit the dynamic of the game.
I think I might be described as a "Romantic" I tend to have decks I love Where I just want the deck to work. In commander I tend to fall in love with a commander or a deck Idea and I just do whatever I can to make the deck good. I get really bothered when a deck I make stops being competitive or the idea falls apart in practice. The amount of times I've said "My _____ Deck just isn't working ... I have to fix it. "
Love your guys' chemistry this episode!!! Always love your stuff, keep it up! Good to see cross channel content. A great way to find additional Magic channels when you guys have guests on like this.
About the No-No's. My best friend, I and two other of his friends played last year a game. I made a mistake my drawing a card on my turn - when I had Necropotence out. After I put it back one of the other guys just took my deck and shuffled it without even asking. Yes, it was a misplay on my side (the card wasn't even good at this moment it was Illusionist's bracers - in a Oona deck), but in the end it wouldn't matter because... well Necro would give it at the end of the turn anyway. I just took my stuff, went home and since then I don't want to play against him anymore. My best friend even tried a few times provoking me to change my mind - it did not work, in fact he just gave me more reasons. People are fun xD
Prof.... you're the first person I've ever heard of who also likes to match basic lands to the home plane of the commander. I've had a hard time with that since I love Queen Marchesa as a highly political commander, but there are no lands from Fiora! I've had to fudge it with a combination of lands from Ravnica and Kaladesh, but it's still frustrating that I can't get it right.
I have a couple of decks built, so I don't have to be afraid of coming in with an overpowered deck. For my main playgroup, I have a very competitive Ramos Hermit Druid combo deck. For a more casual group, I have a Mathas Control Deck, without the strong mana base and insane tutors, hoping to create interaction between all of the players. I can add in a stax package if there is a crazy combo player at the table, just to even the playing field. In between those two I have a Kess storm deck, which is inconsistent but can play a controlling game as well. I think the most important thing is communication, like you guys said. Know the playgroup, and if you're new, maybe just spectate a round to see how the decks play out. Very informative podcast, I liked it a lot
I build my decks like the Prof, original printings, lands on theme, varied power levels. it's nice hearing someone talk about the game the same way I think about it.
What is the general consensus here for rolling a dice to decide attacks when the board state is the same, or its the first swing of the game- that type of thing. I saw it in Game Knights and thought it was a nice way to get around starting beef early game and have someone think you are picking on them by leaving it up to the random dice roll. But I have a friend who HATES when you dont choose your targets yourself for some reason
On the subject of “no-no’s,” breaking promises and flavor, I thought it might be an interesting discussion to consider that a dimir commander deck would be able to deceive others where a bant deck has to honor their word or something. Maybe it is too “RP-ie” for everyone but I think it is a cool concept
I have a g/w tokens deck that also focuses on abilities for Odric LM to spread to everyone. I just found out about Fleecemane Lion a few weeks ago thanks to game knights. I immediately looks up the card and ordered it.
My biggest no no is when a person try’s to be deceitful by not telling me the full story behind a card. Like if I ask what does a card do, I want to know everything whether the other parts of the card are active or not... my roommate pissed me off because I asked him what a card did and he told me it was just a 5/5 and what do you know the next turn he goes okay, Imma activate his ability and do some other things and he one shot everyone else at the table. Not okay!
I’m a Machiavellian and a firm believer in the philosophy “making the promise was a necessity of the past. Breaking it is a necessity of the present.” As such I’ve come to be known as the ‘deal with the devil’ player as far as politics are concerned.
My favorite moment was having a tainted remedy(If an opponent would gain life they lose that much instead) on the board and a vedalken orrey that gave me flash then the combo zur the enchanter player goes to attack and I flash onto zur celestial mantle which doubles your life total
Nice video! I found my decks pretty much Jimmy-ish, like Ramos and Intet, but I share same ideas with Josh more! Win or lose doesn't bother me that much. Btw really nice to Prof again! Wish there would be another Game Knight with Prof a second time
Finally started watching all your videos! First off... probably my only huge issue is when a person is targeted and has few lands or anything. Like they already are screwed over there... I want them to play. So I have always put cards in my decks to help me and an opponent to hopefully help them start. If they attack me then I can no longer insure their safety though.
i love how the green screen background of ixalan has slouds or giant flying dinosaurs flying past which changes the screen and birds occasionally flying by in it...or maybe theyre leaves? idk either way its cool
I am the type of player who like to build weird combos and watch them go off. I had a friend describe my decks as things that shouldn't work, but somehow does. Sometimes grudges bother me, like if someone wins and next game people are now focusing them because they won. The exception is if there deck is really fast and you have to do that in order to survive. I think of my decks as time bombs, they are usually never threatening until the point of no return. My favorite deck is my clone themed deck.
I gave a player who came back into Magic my Maelstrom Wanderer deck to let him test how Commander is in a tournament-enviroment. In the last round, he could decide who of his opponents gets first place, by deciding to defeat me first, or the other player. We had no creatures, no cards in hand, and despite him not being able to get a higher rank no matter what, AND PILOTING ONE OF MY FREAKING DECKS he killed me first and took first place away from me. I still hold this against him and and maybe will for all his life xD
The hurdle for me in playing more Commander is the time it takes per round. Waiting five to ten minutes for my turn while the other players try to pick which basic land to play makes me want to tear my hair out. How do you deal with slow play?
The issue of time is honestly one of my favorite justifications for playing combo. If I have to sit around waiting for everyone to aggro out, then I could be sitting there all night. But quick and lethal Goblin Bombardment wraps things up by turn 8-9 (time enough for others to have a fair shake.) When people complain, my response is, "someone has to win for the game to end. And at this rate, we'll be here all night if we wait for you." Drink tears, shuffle up, and have more fun.
I like to think that I'm an Architect player. I love building towards a theme and slowly building towards a convoluted plan. Maybe it takes ten different pieces in play. That and I love helping others get better, building decks ,and things like that.
Yeet the Professor is back, also first time I've been in the first 2000 viewers. My own archetype depends on the deck I run actually. When I run my B/U Control deck I think I'm actually more of a Politician or Supporter, usually helping other players win while i know I have little chance of winning on my own, and with my B/W Lifelink deck I fall more under the merciless.
I absolutely hate betrayal and I detest whenever someone betrays me, but and can't hold grudges because I would never relegate my own best game potential for an arbitrary reason. Like prof, I play to play the best I can
Me personally I like to watch the new stuff happen. I like to see something I’ve never seen before. Weird random combos that work pretty well that aren’t mainstream or meta. I like to ask questions like “how did that work”
So, what if someone says they won't destroy something, but then makes you sacrifice it? I'm assuming you'd go by exact phrasing rather than intentions in the deal?
my first commander deck has no interrupts, it's a golos 5 color, artifact centric ramp monster that has only permanents, but here is the kicker, my best case scenario has me playing my entire deck on turn 2 and winning to self mill with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries . it's the deck I let others use if i'm trying to get them into commander.
In commander, I always find that if anyone implies that they're doing better than me, even if they are, I'll immediately have a vendetta against them for that game. Pride is definitely my commander deadly sin
You're a lot like me, Josh. I like to build decks with a lot of chaining and synergy. Not necessarily combos, but "Attack with Taigam. Second main, spell spell spell spell spell Mind's Desire, all on Rebound." But because it doesnt always win and starts to borderline on "goldfishing", in a lot of matchups with my local playgroup it becomes "how can I turn this into a win..." sort of stress.
Also, the explicit reason I run a lot of blue is because of broken promises. I run so many defensive blue spells, like Aetherspouts and Illusionists Gambit for that reason. "HAHA Now you're wide open!" "Nah bitch..."
"I won't destroy your thing"-exiles it.
He is a man of word :-)
Eliakim Rodrigues guess you could say it is gone in the "blink of an eye"
This happened to a guy in first game with us. He no longer trusts us.
@@thecouncilofbruh7854 if you blink it first it's a different entity
Sionnach Meaney well then it would be gone in a flash
So a few weeks ago we had a game where a guy played Tree of Perdition (the 0/13 that exchanges its toughness for some one's lifetotal).
He came down, I had the option of killing it and I said "Hey, if you don't use that tree on me, I won't kill it."
Fast forward a few turns, I'm at 20 life, the tree was used on some one so it was a 0/26, and one of the other opponents casts a lethal 25 damage fireball at my face.
I plead with the guy to switch my life total with tree so I'll live at 1 life. "C'mon, let me see if I draw an answer!"
He looks at me and says "It would be a stain on my honor to allow me to use this tree, this same tree we made a deal about, to save you."
I died.
Broc Page hahahahahaahaha awesome story!
Well...he did honour your deal no matter the consequences :P
Wreckt
Rip
Haha this was legit
The Professor is a priceless individual. The Magic community is lucky to have him.
Yep. He’s a national treasure.
I like how Jimmy Wong's train of thought was: "I am too focused on winning. Maybe if I change my mentality in games, I'll win more." :D
Lmfao yesss I caught that too 😂
Hahahahahaha!
Politics in my play group : Okay so you killed my commander? TAKE 15 WITH DOUBLE STRIKE TRAMPLE AND HASTE
You're Gruul then I take it?
Personally I hold grudges, so when people ask why I smack them with a beafy creature I tell them remember that one game 3 months ago and you hit me for 1 with a timmy
If the tree switches its life with toughness it will die
Commander damage?
Unscripted Prof is so great, love it
For Realz
This was a fantastic episode!
Agreed. Can't really stand the 'character' Prof. This Prof is great though!
TijmenDal They're pretty similar I just enjoy his off the cuff more than his calculated scripts.
I agree. He's just an all round cool guy.
there is a house rule my commander group has: you start off with two basic lands of your choice in your hand revealed to other players then up to the normal amount. it helps prevent that mana screwed situation cause its not fun when people have no mana.
Decideo Mirage oh wow that's a real simple yet nicely done way to handle that. I'll have to try it out sometime and see.
Decideo Mirage lol works well until you face someone with a bunch of land destruction :(
@@DommyXMommy And this is why people don't play land destruction. They get to use it once and then have no friends who will play with them
I as a rule will not destroy any basic land no matter what. Its just seems like a cheap shot and seems cowardly.
I think mass land destruction and pin point land destruction is fine as long as it has a purpose. If you have a dominant board state and blow up all lands to close out the game or strip mining someone's only color source, that's a perfect legitimate strategy. However LD for LD's sake, just to a stall out a game or endlessly recurring a strip mine just to annoy somebody is pretty gross to me.
Usually how it goes in my commander sessions with my group.
Me: Hey you're going to love me the next turn.
Friends: oh really? What are you going to do?
Me: Don't worry, it's going to be amazing.
*Plays Weird Harvest for where X is 6*
*Everyone stares and starts to smile as they fetch for their best impactful creatures*
*I reveal biovisionary and five clones*
*sudden awkward silence followed by moaning spreads across the board*
Cybershroom .Rigel and some grabbed a creature that kills on entry and smiles back.
Cybershroom .Rigel how can you have 5 copies of clones in a commander deck
that does not seem like a good plan unless you have the mana to play it on the same turn. Maybe a rites of replication might be more effective
I would have wrath of god
My archetype is The Student. I only started playing because my son has gotten really into it. I almost always loose and I spend a lot of time reading cards and asking questions. I have come to enjoy it, just wish I could to math in my head as fast as my son can.
Its a pretty fun game, when you really get into it youll DREAM of all the sweet seductive things you can do with those cards.
Its delicious.
That's awesome
you are a great mom!!!
As much as I love game knights I would totally watch some unfiltered unedited footage of you guys playing magic just as you nornally would. You could even stream it on twitch if you want to skip the uploading process
Logan Matthews I agree with this.
Logan Matthews You could try watching commander vs. Series by starcity games
Chizzlematrix ive tried but everytime I go to watch one of their vids I just get so bored. And if I look away for even a sec I have no idea whats going on. I understand its a very popular series and they do it more natural which is cool but I just cant get into when they are moving so slow and talking the entire time about stuff unrelated to the game they are playing.
Logan Matthews that would be awesome! Nice idea
100 % agree would totally watch. the amount of times I've rewatched the episodes cause they are soo good. I need new episodes every week, even if they are 20min episodes.
My favorite thing in commander is when a deck I worked hard on just works, even when I don't win.
I agree. I have a mono blue homebrew that's crazy fun to play
Well I don't think not winning in Commander is all that frustrating. However, being the first eliminated can get really boring if it happens too often.
Don't mind not winning... I HATE getting stomped. Like... when it isn't even close. There was never a snowflake's chance in hell.
Yeah, watched someone play some kind of mill deck in a 6 player game, it went off turn 3 and took out 4 players in one shot.
I survived by having ulamog in the deck. However, it wasn't an infinite mill. He told me to mill to my last but one card, until ulamog is at the bottom.
Yeah I quit and it didn't feel good.
@@mrtalos That victory sounded awesome! It is really hard to win through mill (or infect).
@@mrtalos I do this in modern. I have 4 altar of broods mycoloth and parallel lives
Yeah, once I was the first one out in a game that lasted another 2 hours. Not fun.
I would love to see everyone play with a fan submitted deck!!!
Id send them a 5 colour combo deck with only lands and 7-cost cards
This was a really fun episode! I loved hearing you guys talking about making commander a better game for everyone playing instead of just yourself.
I love that you (prof) use lands from the plane of your commander, I did a similar thing with my Asusa deck. All my basics are from different planes, but none from Kamigawa since Asusa is you know... lost but seeking.
I disapprove of picking on whoever is in last place if they are sufficiently far behind. Like, if they are missing several land drops and you then use targeted land destruction against them then that is a nono.
i always try to go for my greatest threat. if people are tied, i spread it out.
Yeah, I had someone destroy my signet when I was at three land and everyone else was over eight. It sucked.
I used oblivion stone later to cost him the win. Worth it.
thats the kind of guy you share your scheming symmetry with
@@alexw.9175 only if i have opposition agent too
@@thulegezelschap5884 YOU'RE EVIL!!
This thumbnail... I thought this was the tolarian channel
LilFox15 same here! Command zone intro caught me by surprise.
Yeah, pretty good branding by the Professor.
Why do I have so many likes... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE
Same
legit same here
lmao
Play to win, enjoy every game, win or lose. Good advice, professor. Good advice😄
Can't wait for the next episode of Game Knights with the Prof!
Magic is just a game of civilization. With different resources and weapons.
Tim Quaty That's a way of looking at it. When do you use nukes?
it's called wrath of god
Apocalypse
Yup
I've managed to use Aetherflux Reservoir enough for it to become known as nuking someone in my playgroup.
The professor is a treasure, one which we will never fully appreciate regardless of how much we already appreciate him.
Great episode! I love the parts that focused on discussing keeping Commander fun for everybody because I feel like a lot of people tend to get too competitive and lose focus on having fun. It is a game after all. When I play I like to be a sort of Jack of All Trades with a solution to any problem and a trick or a backup plan always up my sleeve, but I also REALLY love to build a lot of flavor in my decks and know the stories behind the legends that I play.
That's actually so cool...I'm totally the liar of the playgroup, but I think you guys convinced me. I'll be sticking to clever wordings from now on. Thanks guys!
clever tricks always feel more satisfying than lying.
I just say I will let you draw a card when I really dont
"You'd still eat the toe? You'd still eat the severed human toe for 990,000 dollars?" literally made me cry. love you prof
You can change your mindset but you really have to want to. I used to get upset about people doing poorly in video games or People focusing me down in a multiplayer game of EDH. I saw one of my friends doing the same thing and I saw how ugly it looked. I actively worked on it and OVER TIME I changed. Don't get me wrong I still get slightly frustrated but it doesn't ruin the good time I'm having.
Great episode btw.
We really need more of The Professor on this show! :D He's so funny to listen to xD
I love the Prof's vibe with you two. Just a fantastic episode
Love seeing you guys and the professor collabing!!
I've been playing games since I was 3 and I not only do not require a win to feel satisfied in EDH in fact I go into every single match expecting to lose first. My favorite deck to play the baby of the precon group hug deck and a mono red chaos deck.
Poor Professor politely listening to this old married couple. Haha. Great episode.
26:40 About not knowing your own win cons -- I played a guy whose whole deck revolved around doing a double-fast Maze's End finisher... by cloning it with Clever Impersonator. Who only clones nonland permanents. When we finally got him to read the card, he was livid.
Funny MTG Story:
Playing a multi of 4 people. A lot of stuff happening on the field. Someone cast a creature, exile it. I wanna play this spell, counter that spell. A Gamekeeper on play since the beginning and no one want to kill it. Anyways, my friend who owns the gamekeeper loudly says "Theres no way I could win this game, only my Blightsteel Colossus might be helpful". Shuffling deck, everyone´s looking for answers, no one with the courage to boardwipe. At 13 life and hoping no one start to swing punches because all of us had enough to kill someone else but not to take charge or the others). Draw a card to kill everything except the Gamekeeper, forgot about the Ryusei, Falling Star on board ´cause I wanted to get lifeback as quick as possibly and take advantage later (lifegain combo). Target one of my tokens to destroy everything stronger than him (1/1). All goes away, Ryusei make the damage to the Gamekeeper, player reveals the top, Blightsteel Colossus showed up...enters the battlefield. "How much life you say you have?" I had 14...Wastorm Surge on his side. Dead. What were the odds?
So glad you were finally able to get Prof on! Big fan of both channels.
46:30 "I told you! You dont get your gun until you tell me your name." I see you prof ;) and yes there was another after but we'll keep that between us
I enjoy how you guys always touch on all aspects of playing magic. I'm an architect player for sure, but sometimes i have to play my competive deck in my group due to a certain infect/atraxa player. But mostly I just want to see my creation work, win or lose.
Can we get Dev from SBMTG for game knights? That would make me so happy!
all i know is i enjoy watching you guys more than anybody play commander online...so more vids please!!!!
I started out not really caring if I won or not and just liked the idea of having a boss and building the deck around them, but more than that I just liked that the games could go on for a bit and it made time to hang with friends where we could talk and hangout without having to go spend money and eat or go to a bar. Then they complained that I wasn't trying to win at all so since then I've started playing mostly 75% decks that can pull a win out of their ass so I can still durdle around most of the game and still win.
Siracha in the background.... These boys know how to do it. *Thumbs up*
Anything with the Professor is great! Love that guy!
This has been one of my favourite episodes of TCZ. Thanks guys!
On the "how the players changed matter", I will say that jimmy showed a lot of improvement and all around knowledge of the game nowadays since the start of the channel. sure it's just a random opinion on the internet, and I don't remember you guys mtg background, but I listened to some of your first videos and jimmy really seemed to gather a whole lot of mtg knowledge in these 182 episodes, so props to you on that man! Josh is great too but he looked like a pretty stabilished player from the beginning
13:00 I'm the same way! The most fun decks I have are ones with 3-5 wincons. I only build a deck like that or conjure up a fun tribal!
18:55 I'm somewhere between Josh and the Professor, since generally I have the most fun when everyone is having fun, but I also do like to see my deck go off (win or lose) and do what it is supposed to do (It's a Freyalise Llanowar's Fury Pre-Con, though I am taking steps to increase it's overall performance), but when it comes to commander overall I find deck building to be almost therapeutic in a sense, just watch you guys wait until a Legendary creature I think looks cool or has a cool ability pops up then make a deck for it.
The background window is insanely awesome looking. Would love something like that at my place.
It's probably a TV set plugged into a computer.
wait wait wait...
at 31:40, he talks about casting something on a hexproof creature and it fizzles away because of hexproof.
as far as I know, you target at casting, so if you "cast" a spell on a enemy hexproof creature, it wont fizzl, it wasnt even cast in the first place. it was an illegal play and the card gets back in your hand.
only if the target was a valid one upon casting, and after that it gets hexproof, it will fizzl, or better be said, countered
or did I miss anyting?
aggressivli you are correct, i was thinking this same exact thing while they were talking.
This is a VERY important point for both new and experienced players. Some may just not know better, but I have witnessed the, umm, LESS honest among the ranks use this as a way to get a good card out of a player's hand. Even at high REL tourneys, this situation would effectively be a rewind and do-over.
Did he maybe think of something that had shroud which is kind of like hexproof except it can't be targeted by either player's spells, even your own.
Weird- I had this exact kinda’ situation in a draft five or six year’s ago.
I had a hexproof creature, forget the name- but you could pay to make it first strike/ deathtouch and lose hexproof.
He attacks into me- and I suspect shenanigans, so instead of letting it lose hexproof, I used a pump spell and blocked with it.
My opponent tried to play some removal- not realizing I hadn’t taken the bait. Had to figure out what to do- and he was pretty sure the spell “fizzled.”
I thought he was wrong, but very rarely play sanctioned mtg, so wasn’t sure.
I wanted to call a judge, but I think he just surrendered the card. If not a judge made a bad ruling (not unprecedented- I distinctly remember one in my favor about turn//burn on a hydra. Both the judge and the other player thought it lost its counters to turn. I was pretty sure the counters stayed and I made a dumb play- but wygd?)
I don't think I've ever heard so many funny noises in one video on the Command Zone! Haha!
12:09 Oh my goodness! I'm the same way Proffesor! I hate combo decks, but I keep building them because I love building them, trying to figure out how to make them work, then I play them and get bored quickly.
I also love playing decks that have multiple win conditions! That's probably why I hate combo decks so much since they win with the same few cards.
18:46-18:55 I can relate to that Jimmy. I tend to remember my loses and get upset at the mistakes that I make, especially the ones that costed me the game. I take winning the game too seriously sometimes.
I have a hard time if I haven't won a game in a while. I'd say I'd be content with winning 25% of the games too Josh.
Yeah my no no is when players break promises. I've had that happen to me a couple times.
Yeah I love when everyone doesn't get mana screwed, and everyone's deck is playing as It's suppose to, but that rarely happens.
My favorite moments are when something crazy happens, and everyone gives a positive reaction, and when everyone is happy at the end of the game because they all got to go off. Nothing is better than a good game where everyone gets to play their deck!
I'm not sure what my archetype is. I think I'm a mix of the judo master, opportunist, and lonewolf. Probably more judo master and lonewolf.
How do you feel about someone casting a wheel and another player responds with cyclonic rift? Or if one player cyclonic rifts and then wheels...? ^~^
OathtoOrder Remixed I play Mayael so I cry
Shea Jones: Yeah, I can understand that. I only asked because I encountered it once while playing in a 4P pod. Someone used windfall and I looked down at my hand for a counterspell and found cyclonic rift instead...
I was playing Oloro, so...Esper controlled. :)
When I play Magic Commander, what I look for is group size. When it’s me vs. five to six people that is when I have the most fun. I never once have won, but I’m usually not the first one out either, and that is what makes me smile.
If I were to say anything about my playstyle it's normally "let me see how this mechanic works if I build around it". This led me to affinity, Mill, counters, token/lifegain, tribal and alternate win con decks from building around specific cards.
When in game I would see myself as a Jack O'/Jack of all trades. I usually try play lone wolf but depending on the 3 opponents I will switch to a different style to fit the dynamic of the game.
I think I might be described as a "Romantic"
I tend to have decks I love
Where I just want the deck to work. In commander I tend to fall in love with a commander or a deck Idea and I just do whatever I can to make the deck good.
I get really bothered when a deck I make stops being competitive or the idea falls apart in practice.
The amount of times I've said "My _____ Deck just isn't working ... I have to fix it. "
Love your guys' chemistry this episode!!! Always love your stuff, keep it up! Good to see cross channel content. A great way to find additional Magic channels when you guys have guests on like this.
My favorite thing in EDH is when I discover a synergy or combo that I didn't even know I put in the deck. It's like, "Holy crap! I can do that!?"
20:29 its funny how Josh and Prof nod almost exactly simultaneously. and I totally agree with Josh. I hate that people break a promise.
About the No-No's.
My best friend, I and two other of his friends played last year a game.
I made a mistake my drawing a card on my turn - when I had Necropotence out.
After I put it back one of the other guys just took my deck and shuffled it without even asking.
Yes, it was a misplay on my side (the card wasn't even good at this moment it was Illusionist's bracers - in a Oona deck), but in the end it wouldn't matter because... well Necro would give it at the end of the turn anyway.
I just took my stuff, went home and since then I don't want to play against him anymore.
My best friend even tried a few times provoking me to change my mind - it did not work, in fact he just gave me more reasons.
People are fun xD
26:06 had me on the floor! ACTING!
Prof.... you're the first person I've ever heard of who also likes to match basic lands to the home plane of the commander. I've had a hard time with that since I love Queen Marchesa as a highly political commander, but there are no lands from Fiora! I've had to fudge it with a combination of lands from Ravnica and Kaladesh, but it's still frustrating that I can't get it right.
I have a couple of decks built, so I don't have to be afraid of coming in with an overpowered deck. For my main playgroup, I have a very competitive Ramos Hermit Druid combo deck. For a more casual group, I have a Mathas Control Deck, without the strong mana base and insane tutors, hoping to create interaction between all of the players. I can add in a stax package if there is a crazy combo player at the table, just to even the playing field. In between those two I have a Kess storm deck, which is inconsistent but can play a controlling game as well.
I think the most important thing is communication, like you guys said. Know the playgroup, and if you're new, maybe just spectate a round to see how the decks play out. Very informative podcast, I liked it a lot
I build my decks like the Prof, original printings, lands on theme, varied power levels. it's nice hearing someone talk about the game the same way I think about it.
What is the general consensus here for rolling a dice to decide attacks when the board state is the same, or its the first swing of the game- that type of thing. I saw it in Game Knights and thought it was a nice way to get around starting beef early game and have someone think you are picking on them by leaving it up to the random dice roll. But I have a friend who HATES when you dont choose your targets yourself for some reason
@12:09, I'm the same with control decks; I'll make plenty of them for fun but dislike playing control.
On the subject of “no-no’s,” breaking promises and flavor, I thought it might be an interesting discussion to consider that a dimir commander deck would be able to deceive others where a bant deck has to honor their word or something. Maybe it is too “RP-ie” for everyone but I think it is a cool concept
VERY cool idea!!!!
Waiting for my game knights alert
I don’t like it when people take back play mistakes. When I make a mistake I just say “oops I misplayed played, oh well”.
I have a g/w tokens deck that also focuses on abilities for Odric LM to spread to everyone. I just found out about Fleecemane Lion a few weeks ago thanks to game knights. I immediately looks up the card and ordered it.
My biggest no no is when a person try’s to be deceitful by not telling me the full story behind a card. Like if I ask what does a card do, I want to know everything whether the other parts of the card are active or not... my roommate pissed me off because I asked him what a card did and he told me it was just a 5/5 and what do you know the next turn he goes okay, Imma activate his ability and do some other things and he one shot everyone else at the table. Not okay!
Great episode guys! Not what I was expecting but it made me look at myself as a player more so thanks!
Oh man the three of you are great together, please do this more often!
I’m a Machiavellian and a firm believer in the philosophy “making the promise was a necessity of the past. Breaking it is a necessity of the present.” As such I’ve come to be known as the ‘deal with the devil’ player as far as politics are concerned.
My favorite moment was having a tainted remedy(If an opponent would gain life they lose that much instead) on the board and a vedalken orrey that gave me flash then the combo zur the enchanter player goes to attack and I flash onto zur celestial mantle which doubles your life total
"Self reflexive" makes me so triggered, especially when there's a freaking English professor sitting there next to him letting it slide like 5 times.
Well, he is drunk.... so?
I have used the card kingdom link for both channels. 😂😅😁😃
Had to watch the first 2 minutes again, because i was mesmerized from the "Window background".
Nice video! I found my decks pretty much Jimmy-ish, like Ramos and Intet, but I share same ideas with Josh more! Win or lose doesn't bother me that much. Btw really nice to Prof again! Wish there would be another Game Knight with Prof a second time
Yes, professor, I LOVE multiple win con, especially when they win on very different axes.
Finally started watching all your videos! First off... probably my only huge issue is when a person is targeted and has few lands or anything. Like they already are screwed over there... I want them to play. So I have always put cards in my decks to help me and an opponent to hopefully help them start. If they attack me then I can no longer insure their safety though.
I love that this is about politics and theres a copy of the art of war in the background
Also totally thought this was a Tolarian CC vid when I clicked
me too
Good to see "The Prof" at "The Command Zone" again. Very good Video!
Love the channel, guys!
I’m definitely an engineer. Let me slap the gorgon flail on my goblin sharpshooter, I may lose in the end, but that was awesome!
i love how the green screen background of ixalan has slouds or giant flying dinosaurs flying past which changes the screen and birds occasionally flying by in it...or maybe theyre leaves? idk either way its cool
I am the type of player who like to build weird combos and watch them go off. I had a friend describe my decks as things that shouldn't work, but somehow does. Sometimes grudges bother me, like if someone wins and next game people are now focusing them because they won. The exception is if there deck is really fast and you have to do that in order to survive. I think of my decks as time bombs, they are usually never threatening until the point of no return. My favorite deck is my clone themed deck.
I gave a player who came back into Magic my Maelstrom Wanderer deck to let him test how Commander is in a tournament-enviroment. In the last round, he could decide who of his opponents gets first place, by deciding to defeat me first, or the other player. We had no creatures, no cards in hand, and despite him not being able to get a higher rank no matter what, AND PILOTING ONE OF MY FREAKING DECKS he killed me first and took first place away from me.
I still hold this against him and and maybe will for all his life xD
It's commander
The hurdle for me in playing more Commander is the time it takes per round. Waiting five to ten minutes for my turn while the other players try to pick which basic land to play makes me want to tear my hair out. How do you deal with slow play?
Michael Alber they actually have an episode on playing faster you may want to watch
Right, but how do you convince the rest of the play group to play faster?
Michael Alber the reason I suggested it they do go over that a bit and I think it can help too
The issue of time is honestly one of my favorite justifications for playing combo. If I have to sit around waiting for everyone to aggro out, then I could be sitting there all night. But quick and lethal Goblin Bombardment wraps things up by turn 8-9 (time enough for others to have a fair shake.) When people complain, my response is, "someone has to win for the game to end. And at this rate, we'll be here all night if we wait for you." Drink tears, shuffle up, and have more fun.
Michael Alber in my local group we prefer play faster, and kill the most slow in the group.
I like to think that I'm an Architect player. I love building towards a theme and slowly building towards a convoluted plan. Maybe it takes ten different pieces in play. That and I love helping others get better, building decks ,and things like that.
The background outside the windows is a niiiiiice touch.
One of the better shows. Couple of belly laughs in there with you guys.
Yeet the Professor is back, also first time I've been in the first 2000 viewers. My own archetype depends on the deck I run actually. When I run my B/U Control deck I think I'm actually more of a Politician or Supporter, usually helping other players win while i know I have little chance of winning on my own, and with my B/W Lifelink deck I fall more under the merciless.
Gotta make sure to laugh into the microphone to make sure they hear you laughing... enjoyed the whole thing and you guys too just pointing that out
Please host the Professor more often! He has great chemistry with Jimmy and Josh! Also, Jimmy is really cute when he loses.
I absolutely hate betrayal and I detest whenever someone betrays me, but and can't hold grudges because I would never relegate my own best game potential for an arbitrary reason. Like prof, I play to play the best I can
Me personally I like to watch the new stuff happen. I like to see something I’ve never seen before. Weird random combos that work pretty well that aren’t mainstream or meta. I like to ask questions like “how did that work”
One Like-Button is not enough. Can't wait to see the next one! You guys rock!
So, what if someone says they won't destroy something, but then makes you sacrifice it? I'm assuming you'd go by exact phrasing rather than intentions in the deal?
my first commander deck has no interrupts, it's a golos 5 color, artifact centric ramp monster that has only permanents, but here is the kicker, my best case scenario has me playing my entire deck on turn 2 and winning to self mill with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
. it's the deck I let others use if i'm trying to get them into commander.
What a great idea for a topic. Awesome episode guys!
49:41-50:01 Haha! I laughed so hard at this! Who else did?!
54:41-54:54 Aw! That's so sweet!
In commander, I always find that if anyone implies that they're doing better than me, even if they are, I'll immediately have a vendetta against them for that game. Pride is definitely my commander deadly sin
You're a lot like me, Josh. I like to build decks with a lot of chaining and synergy. Not necessarily combos, but "Attack with Taigam. Second main, spell spell spell spell spell Mind's Desire, all on Rebound." But because it doesnt always win and starts to borderline on "goldfishing", in a lot of matchups with my local playgroup it becomes "how can I turn this into a win..." sort of stress.
Also, the explicit reason I run a lot of blue is because of broken promises. I run so many defensive blue spells, like Aetherspouts and Illusionists Gambit for that reason. "HAHA Now you're wide open!" "Nah bitch..."