Commander Clash S2 Episode 29: Anything Goes
Hello and welcome to Commander Clash, a video series where several MTGGoldfish contributors battle in a four player Commander game for fun and bragging rights. This week, we're playing whatever deck we felt like bringing, without any deckbuilding restrictions! Let's see what sweet brews we brought:
- Tom pilots a sneaky Evasion deck full of shadows and ninjas that draw cards and other neat things, led by the unassuming Sygg, River Cutthroat
- Seth steals all of his opponent's things while still trying to make "friends" with Sen Triplets
- Richard finds another janky tribe to represent, picking Tribal Thopters led by Breya, Etherium Shaper
- Tomer makes one final attempt at assembling Kaldra, this time with the help of the partners Akiri, Line-Slinger and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
What janky brew will win it this time? Let's find out! But first, a quick reminder: if you like Commander Clash and other video content here on MTGGoldfish, make sure to subscribe to the MTGGoldfish Youtube Channel to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Tom's Deck (Sygg)
Seth's Deck (Sen Triplets)
Richard's Deck (Breya)
Tomer's Deck (Akiri and Silas)
Post-Game Thoughts
IT FINALLY HAPPENED! Kaldra has been assembled, ladies and gentlemen! The long wait is over.
Despite my relief at finally attaining my goal, watching this game while editing got me very angry at myself: I could've won the game! If I had returned Swiftfoot Boots instead of Junk Diver, I would've had enough mana on the following turn to activate Stonehewer Giant, equipping it with Worldslayer, and blowing up the board -- except for my indestructible Kaldra pieces, which would've locked out the game. But because I got the Diver instead, my plan was executed a turn too slow and I lost. I'm so irrationally angry at this! Argh!
That gripe aside, I'm glad I can move on from Kaldra. There are other janky Commander ideas floating around in my noggin that I can finally focus on. It's like a weight on my shoulders has been lifted.
At the end there, Seth talked about how it's hard to make friends with Sen Triplets. I agree, and I'm pretty sure I know the reason why: Sen Triplets falls into a distinctive "feelbad" category that a lot of Magic players don't like playing against. This is the same category that Mass Land Destruction, Stax, and Countermagic falls in; all of them deny you from playing your deck. People like playing their cards and watching their deck do its intended schtick. Removing their mana that they need to cast their cards, countering them before they resolve, or stealing their cards before they can even be played feels really bad for a lot of people. In contrast, I find that people are generally far more accepting of removal spells on their cards after they got a chance to do something with them. It's not a question of which strategy is more effective, but rather a psychological difference.
Whenever you're bringing a deck that is focused on preventing your opponents from playing their deck, you should ask yourself how your group will react to the strategy. Some groups, like my own, don't mind it -- but expect to be hated out by default because it just makes sense to. Other groups might be less tolerant of it. In the end, Commander is just a game played for fun, so do your part to make sure people are having fun.
Next Week: Sliver Mayhem!
Someone recently suggested that we play an All Slivers game, and the idea sounded awesome so that's what we're doing next week! Here are our rules for Sliver Mayhem:
- The commander must be Sliver Legion
- None of the modern slivers that only buff your own slivers are allowed; the slivers must all provide global buffs for maximum mayhem
- These are tribal decks, so each one must be packing 30+ slivers
This is a recipe for absolutely bonkers games. Maybe we'll even break Magic Online! Let's find out! As always, we love to hear from you guys! Tell us what you like to see, what you don't like, any ideas that we can put forward for future videos, or anything else you'd like to tell us! You can reach us in the comments section below or tweet me @BudgetCommander.
