Why Your Deck Doesn't Click (It's Not Your Fault) | Commander | Magic: the Gathering

I'm glad someone else recognized the lack of Ooze tribal. We need more big voices like this pointing that out.

Force of Will 1:15

this is why i always lean into a theme as much as possible. build for fun, play for win.

This is far from the intended purpose of the video, but it did further solidify my belief that optimizing a deck doesn't necessarily make it more fun. Sure, you can get infinite turns with Tivit and Time Seive, but to me the voting mechanic would be more fun, even if its objectively weaker.

The "you are tapped out and cannot counter my call to action" bit was really funy u got me there🤣

I see this a LOT. It's hard convincing a player their deck doesn't have the theme they think it does.

Hidetsugu and Kairi are a really excellent example of this. I would imagine they were meant to be a spellslinger deck which accounts for 40 of the 1987 decks i see right now. But i started building it and was like "wow, how is this the best clone commander"

This isn't even limited to card designs, but actual mechanics. Flicker, bounce, and reanimation all seem like some form of evasion to diversify interaction, but in practice are just methods to trigger your own ETBs more.

You hit the nail on the head with Shelob. I built her as a spider tribal deck. But, the more you play with her, the more you realize...you wsnt more fight spells, and less boring spiders. I think i've found a good balance, but it still pulls me towards less spiders the more i play.

This might be your best video yet, Joey! I love listening to you talk through some great EDH topics, and this was a very clever topic with a smart discussion. Very illuminating, thank you!

Still weird that they didn't put the "once per turn" clause on Stella Lee since it's so prominent on cards in OTJ.

Well said, Joey. The Kalamax bit hit home…. I just wanted to sling spells in Temur. Wish me luck with new Riku!

Omg, the Tivit conversation is word by word what I went through. I won the Esper Precon in a raffle, and wanted to build a voting deck around Tivit as soon I saw the card. Then, didn't really enjoy the 17 voting cards at the time available to Esper. So I went for Spark Double, Sakashimas and bunch of blink pieces. I omitted Time Sieve because it is stupid imo for a casual pod. (I play Tivit in cEDH as well, and there it is very close to the usual top16 lists-with Time Sieve and Thoracle Consult ofc.) Highlights in my casual Tivit list inclue Tezerret, Master of the Bridge, Kappa Cannoneer, Cyberdrive Awakener, Kitten, etc.

Great thoughts Joey. This is why I tend towards commanders that are less popular, trying to make something unique and fun. It’s pretty cool when after a game another player tells you “Wow, what a neat deck idea.” Easier said than done, but I think the challenge is worth it.

I think a perfect example of this is in the Lara Croft release from last year. On paper, she's a neat (and thematic) way to continuously recur and reanimate legendary lands and artifacts. And then you start realizing that this requires you to get them in your graveyard in the first place, so now its a self mill deck instead. Then, since a lot of the more generically useful targets are equipment, well now its a voltron deck as well.

I love the fact that the first two examples you named are decks I own. I didn't get to edit Stella Lee yet, but I'm pretty sure my Tivit desk is actually "politics & control" and not "blink & artifacts"

2:25 "lets investigate" *lays clue token on the desk 😂

Excellent deep dive on a very real problem, Joey! Chefs kiss.

I play Xyris as a commander for a pile of combat tricks, with a few other creatures in the 99. Some sorcery ramp, no mana dorks. Usually on turn 5 I land him, and after passing to the next player, I start asking everyone how their hands are looking and if anyone wants to draw cards. Then I ask what they are willing to pay for those cards. It's about 3 cards different from Salubrious Snail's Xyris deck list.

This video just came across my feed and I wanted to say thank you. I enjoy these deck tech type videos that delve into the unspoken parts of magic and that it is clear you hold respect for both the designers and the players as we are all just people playing a game we love.