There are a number of players that don’t realize that Blind Obedience can be played in ANY white deck, even mono-white.

Open the Way's true secret power is you don't have to shuffle afterward

'You're leaving so much power on the table!" Richard says talking about a land that lets you pay 4 mana to amass 1

After all the basic/nonbasic debate I expect Tomer to come back next season with a temur deck running blood moon, back to basics, wave of vitriol, from the ashes and ruination

I’m glad Seth shouted out all MDFC lands, I put 1-4 of them in basically every deck. I would have picked Bala Ged Recovery as the card for winning silently though. I’ve played it as the sanctuary so many times, but I’ve pulled my wincon out of my graveyard just as often.

Richard's Field of the Dead defense is MtG's equivalent to the OJ Acquittal

Tomer's face when Richard said he runs 4 basics in his mono black deck! I feel you, Tomer! I love basics! I unironically run 18 basics in my jund deck

Tomer, I think it's time for you to start playing blood moon effects to show them the power of basics! Lol

Lands utility being the fact where you cant play basics actually is part of the reason commander is no longer casual because as according to Seth and Richard you have an automatic 2/3 of your land base you have to play in every deck.

I really don’t like that they say lands are “untouchable”. Like, yeah mass land destruction is frowned upon and rightly so. But a little bit of targeted land destruction to get rid of actually troublesome lands like maze of Ith, field of the dead, glacial casm, etc. I think is perfectly fine. Like how Seth with occasional play the miser strip mine to deal with certain lands that are a problem. Lands shouldn’t be considered untouchable, it should just be bad sportsmanship to mass land wipe, especially repeatedly.

I've come to the conclusion that playing broken utility lands is basically exploiting the bug of the format of lands being untouchable.

Tomer, the crew thinks any card that requires you to play basics are bad because they refuse to play non greedy mana bases

Love the pod. I could listen to you guys talk about how to do your taxes, fantastic chemistry.

No one know about Open the Way cause it’s from March of the Machines: Aftermath. Also, Blind Obedience is a mono-W card, not an Orzhov card. (Technically)

Richard really is screaming at all of you to play Ruination.

The second I play a field of the dead blind obedience or mesmeric orb the entire table starts beating the life out of me what do you mean quietly😭

The crew is off base compared to general edh standards when it comes to obsession with non basics that sometimes have only marginal value. They’re like - oh but why would you play basics and leave power on the table. Geez don’t you do it with literally all the other areas? Staples, optimal plays, combos, we all select things out to reduce power in casual commander. But no basics get them going crazy

For me recently it has been Leadership vacuum!!!! You have an indestructible Commander, with flying, menace, and two of the swords with protection from you colors swinging at you for game. Leadership vacuum puts it back to the command zone unless the player has protection from you (which nobody does). Nasty especially with all this power creep and Ward and all that!!! Have fun!

I don't call these cards quiet. If you are playing in paper and have to keep reminding people to lose a life (meathook, blind obedience) or pay the extra 2 (propaganda, smothering tithe) then they actively get annoyed and will collaborate to make it stop.

The obsession of the crew with non basic land is so funny because if you play irl you realize people mostly play 90% basic 😂

57:00 I'm with Tomer on this one haha. I haven't updated my decks with new lands in a while, but even my spikiest 3 Color deck has 4 of each basic. The crews Numbers seem a bit exaggerated

Cards that quietly win games: basic lands.😌

i agree with tomer about sea gate restoration. also, most of the time when you get to the 7 mana needed for it, your hand is mostly empty. it becomes a 7 mana draw 1 or maybe 2 cards, and you have no max hand size.... huzzah.

5-D chess -- become opulent and enchant yourself with Curse of Opulence! What are your opponents going to do about it? Give you treasures?

Richard and Seth have brainwashed the cast into forgetting every commander player is okay with targeted land removal. And the MOST acceptable land removal is swap removal they're extra susceptible to because they run no basics and terrible mana fixing.

It really seems like Richard's list can be summed up as "Thank God our play groups meta is so slow".

If Tomer plays next season, he just needs to run blood moon and he’ll win every single game the second it hits the board

I can say I don’t play Open the Way because I’ve never seen one at the table and barely paid attention to Aftermath. I’ll give it a try in my Maja landfall deck for sure.

Glad they added video formatting to the title, I always wondered what format they used =)

Thanks, crew, for lifting the fog over my eyes from Open the Way. I had evaluated it for my Gates deck but dismissed it. You're right! My math was wrong, and this card is actually great.

The reason people were complaining about Field of the Dead in Richard's Sgt. Benton deck is because with all that mana and all that card draw winning was a formality. Instead of winning in an interesting way, you played Field of the Dead. 😴💤

I love the ".mp4" video names. : )

The card that has single handedly won me the most games of commander is Lair of the Hydra. This kinda falls in line with a major argument of the video regarding the insane ability of utility lands. But simply being able to swing out with a massive creature late game right after a board wipe has been huge in my experience, and being a land, nobody really pays much attention to it till it’s too late.

Somebody plays a Seagate Restoration and nobody bats an eye. I play the One Ring and everybody loses their minds

Love episode 143.mp4 but when is 143.mp5 coming out?

I think Breena is a great quiet Commander. It sits out and gives everyone value, but then becomes a huge flying threat.

I feel like the basics vs turbo non-basics argument is a question of practicality, budget, and aesthetic. Practically speaking, there's diminishing returns when it comes to how optimal your mana base is. If you spent $500 and 20 life to effectively have only trilands and utility lands and perfectly fixed mana, you arent exclusively casting 3 pip charms and necropotences. Ive seen the cards the Crew play, and Crim aside they arent that demanding. Theres just no need for the effort and budget allocation. Not only this, but the only two utility lands that consistently see *use* are Thespians Stage and Vesuva, and iconic design mistake Field of the Dead - which isnt a utility lands so much as a win con. Spending 50 to 25% of that amount of money gets a perfectly functional mana base which allows for cards like Cultivate to be playable - and those cards are powerful no matter what 3/4ths of a Commander Podcast say.

the vast amount of greed these guys have in regards to mana bases is astounding. price of progress is like an instant KO for everyone except Tomar

I'm with Tomer. I have no idea what you guys are talking about with Land Tax. It's one of the best draw engines of all time. If I'm running anything but white green, I'm running tax. It's that strong. It's always been quiet, and has been since inception. Just ridiculously strong. There's a reason it's not a budget card. Beyond that, fun episode.

I'd love to sit at the table where the majority of these are sleeper game winners. Basically all these would draw the attention of the table, ESPECIALLY Field of the Dead and Blind Obedience. Absolute nonsense land, and people really do not enjoy their stuff coming in tapped. The only ones that I kinda agree as sleepers are Skullwinder and Land Tax. Sorry Crim, but Sword of Body and Mind is still a no from me dawg.

I started using open the way after you suggested it several episodes ago, and the moment i cast it, my pod went "oh that's Two games later, i see them. playing it. Completely agree.

This episode just reminds me everyone should start running non basic land punishment because of the modern day greedy land bases.

Someone's GOTTA run Ruination and Bloodmoon to make them pay for running 5 basics in Monocoloured.

01:06:18 Quakebringer does not work with mutavault. "At the beginning of your upkeep" is when the giant triggers, and all "at the beginning of your upkeep" triggers go on the stack before any player gets priority. By the time you have priority to activate Mutavault, the window to get quakebringer to trigger has passed.

I put Open The Way in my Magus Lucea Kane deck when I pulled it from the booster pack and it's been one of the best cards in my deck ever since.

Early consistencies and synergies can oftentimes be more impactful than late game bombs.

Not only do I think the aggro Blind Obedience draws is over stated, but it also provides you with the resources to deal with it.

The problem with the basic vs non basic argument is that a lot of people can’t afford to put all that money into land based every time they build a deck.

Hearing Seth and Richard say that no one plays land hate is like hearing children explain that Santa is gonna come. Blood moon is legal, Back to basics is legal, your play groups have been coddling you.

So the takeaway from this is that Tomer should run a boros deck with land tax and blood moon 🤣

How is meathook on this list? Its still banned in standard and still 30 dollars... Card basically consolidates like 3 different roles into one well costed card

In real life people play a lot of basics, but after this podcast I think I'll keep from the ashes sleeved just in case I'm ever at a command fest where people can play with one of you

lol Seth is choosing things that are such loud moments in edh… 7 mana draw seagate restoration and field of the dead omg in which groups is it quietly impacting the board

This episode definitely brought to the forefront that non basic land hate and land destruction should be more commonly run in decks. Even if it's just Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, and Wasteland. Take out the greed

Hearing the land counts of Richard, Seth, and Crim... I definitely want to run ruination/blood moon effects...

the sea gate restoration discussion had me bursting out in laughter sooo hard ily mtggoldfish for live

My most hipster magic take is that "no max hand size" effects are unnecessary and Reliquary Tower is bad. Drawing 10 and sculpting 17 cards down to 7 isnt really that hard, nor is it that big of a downside. Keep one land, one or two pieces of interaction and GAS and you're in great shape. The 5 lands you discarded arent hurting you.

Tomer is the only one that is actually right basics are so underplayed nowadays

Commander doesn't need mass and destruction, it needs incedential land destruction. Mass land destruction just makes the game take forever and condemds two players for the crimes of the one ramping too much. That is not only mean, but not optimal, politics or no politics. It's a combo piece you build around. Incedential land destruction should be played a lot more because it only goes to the player it should. We just need cheaper effects.

I never wanted to see a Blood Moon so badly as I do now after hearing those takes on basic lands... Punish them, Tomer!

I love how Open The Way is finally getting the love it deserves. I've been using it since Aftermath dropped, and it's been an incredible boon every time I've seen it.

Open the way under used because it’s in Aftermath. That was a bomb set that nobody bought

we need to reintroduced land destruction into the meta this "we cant destroy land" makes the games nowadays worse as green runs away with the game xD

Pretty sure Field of the Dead does NOT quietly win you games. It's pretty obvious.

I have become a huge fan of open the way. Mainly because so many times it has drawn out an opposition agent early. Which usually gets eaten by someone in the group because at least two others cannot live with out their tutors/fetches.

You guy’s convinced me to buy Body and Mind and mesmeric orb for Mothman 🤓🙏🏽

I feel like Sea Gate Restoration is the exact wrong answer here. If you're at 7 mana and have enough cards in hand that it's worth casting, you're already doing pretty well. Drawing 4 or 5 isn't at all quiet, and it's not really letting you win the game any differently than any other mass card draw effect. It's a MDFC, it's a good card, but it's louder than it is powerful.

I play Simic Landfall personally, and I actively encourage my friends and opponents to play land hate/wipes against me. In casual games I understand not having any Armageddon effects, but it's ridiculous to have your win con be protected under the rule 0 feels bad rule that discourages land hate. No other win con is as protected as lands and ramp

14:04 It’s so interesting. I thought the common understanding was that burst card draw was perceived as scarier as opposed to engines.

Cards that quietly win games: using path to exile on your own creature as a 1 mana ramp spell 😬

Given the skullwinder/eternal witness/timeless witness discussion, I'd be curious about what the crew thinks of healing technique?

Blind Obedience is not an Orzhov card. You can play it in any white deck. The Extort mana symbol is in the reminder text, not actually a part of the color identity. Edit: Okay, Richard corrected Crim at the end.

In my colorless deck, Thoptor squadron is my quiet wincon

I put at minimum 10 basics (5 colors, 2 of each), and that is the bare minimum. I play up to 30 basics in some mono-colored decks i have. I have 24 commander decks right now and build over the years a lot of decks and searched a lot for optimal ratios regarding draw, ramp and lands. Mostly non-basics did not work for me and it bit me in the ass most of the time. Either you have a huge wallet to buy cards like urborg, nikthos and so on or otherwise it is a waste to play so many non-basics, because it slows you down most of the time. I am convinced people should be playing more basics. Color-fixing and utility does sometimes give you an edge, but if it enters tapped, it is just too slow. I think Tomer is right. If you play online, then probably, because swapping cards is far easier. But on paper magic, it is a faulty logic if you have many decks.

It's so funny when they ask "I wonder why people don't play X card over Y card" when one card is 20x times more expensive. When you guys record podcasts please remember we're not all Wizards sponsored infinte money guys

On Sea Gate Restoration, I think Burst Card Draw that you can capitalize on without discarding in general has the same thing where, it happens, it will win you the game, and people just do not give it the attention it deserves. I want to point out all the Pull From Tomorrow effects, drawing you five or six cards as an instant so you have all your mana untapped to use them next turn. And one of my playgroup's meta warping card, budget Sea Gate Restoration, Recurring Insight. With people drawing cards at the rate they do in Commander, it is always a draw 6 with Rebound. Normally, the play pattern goes, cast Recurring Insight, draw 6 cards, people get really worried for like, the next person's turn until they do something scary and more board-related, and now everyone forgot I sculpted my hand. Then in my upkeep I draw 6 cards more and win the game, because I had 7 perfect cards +6 new ones. With Pull from Tomorrow/Stroke of Genius/Brain Geyser/etc, you get to draw a bunch of cards on your opponent's turn, right after everyone in the table was expecting "Oh, suspicious, but he is blue, he may be saving interaction". You may risk someone thinking you are saving up a Cyclonic Rift but a) just complain very loudly about not running it because it is a super staple in blue and b) they may even try to play closer to the chest in that case. Regardless, I feel burst card draw is underappreciated in Commander as the same kind of point of no return moment for the game. If I untap with 15 cards in hand, the game is most likely over this turn or in a couple of turns of everyone else not playing. All in all what I am saying is, play more counterspells or play more aggro options to kill the player that draws cards.

23:03 one day I played in a pod with my Henzie deck the other day where one opponent played blind obedience and the other played dauthi voidwalker. It was one of the most miserable three hours I ever had, AND STILL WON, because those two players kept targeting each other

I play a Capt. N'ghathrod mill deck, and Altar of the Brood is a card that does work, specially on turn one.

I'd really like a podcast episode that analyzes the downsides and upsides of controversial or unassuming effects. How many times has Skullwinder backfired? Was the incidental life gain actually relevant to someone's survival or did they die anyway? Did the fog actually save the game? How much life did someone redirect with a Ghostly Prison?

55:26 Land Tax vs. Utility Lands?? I don’t understand the confusion. ¿Por qué no los dos? What does you guys’ mana base look like for that to be an conflict??

Starting the podcast out with Richard painting magical Christmas land scenarios to prop up mediocre cards (as he always does) and then referring to bounce lands as card draw was certainly a decision lol

Crim would put sword of body and mind into anything and he'll have 100 justifications why he did it.

Tomer's face during the Land Tax discussion is exactly the same as mine. Just wow.

I'm with Tomer in regard to basic lands, I have no idea how people play without basics

Never understood why Traverse the Outlands was "greatest power" instead of "greatest toughness". It literally has a Treefolk as the art. Treefolk are known for big butts...

Authority of the Consuls is what Richard was asking for: 1 mana life gain and tap on an enchantment.

I would love a podcast on this topic for modern or other non-edh formats.

Land tax is also very useful for being able to shuffle away the top of the deck.

Can an "offensive" Settle the Wreckage on your own board outpace Open the Way? In a token deck, you'd have 3 turns to get as many tokens out as possible. I feel like you could comfortably get more than 3 tokens. Basics only instead of any lands, but to be able to do something similar in white seems pretty strong.

I have two quiet cards that have impressed me every time I have had them on the field. Garruk's Uprising and Temur Ascendancy, you draw as you throw down your biggest threats and those Threats will Either have Haste to hit out of nowhere or Trample to smash through Blockers. Also Running Less Basics is sensible because we have more powerful Mana Dorks and Rocks along side Nature's Lore and Farseek, Yes those will get caught in Sweeper effects but if I tapped my Birds of Paradise for 2 mana that means it was a profitable mana spent.

Tomer officially has permission to run back to basics and bloodmoon in every deck now

58:13 a land tax package can work with field of the dead in two color decks, two of each basic and snow basic

I like open the way because it’s a scalable ramp spell. I don’t think it’s as insane as Richard says because Richard is always hyperbolic about the cards that he likes 😂

Instead of running cards that give no maximum hand size try running Mystic Redaction. With this when you have to discard to hand size each opponent will mill 2 cards for each card you discard. It effectively turns your card draw into mill/removal.

I have ONE deck that runs basics over most utility lands. Mono Blue go crazy for them islands.

Great podcast this! I’m missing tomer from the clash!

I bought 10 open the ways when it first dropped. Put it in every green deck I have and will continue to do so. That card is insane and it’s one of the few cards I want to see every game.

I always feel like they are out of touch with the common player. Not everybody can put these busted land packages in every deck. I think they should put restrictions on land packages next season.

For me, the whole "play more utility lands instead of basics" is the prime example of making your decks marginally better, at the cost of making them much less interesting.

How to play land tax. Start with 33 plains. Now cut a plains for each replacement land Lotus Field Lotus Vale Arid Mesa Flooded Strand Marsh Flats Windswept Heath Prismatic Vista Fabled Passage 8 Fetches 25 basic plains Or if you wanna be greedy you can cut more and add Obscura Storefront Brokers Hideout Caberretti Courtyard 11 Fetches 22 basic plains