That thumbnail is absolute gold lol

"Yeah the Bear Deck is Jank" Ooooooh friend just you wait until MH. #BearForceOne #IBelieve

I'm surprised this wasn't an hour of Josh screaming MORE CARD DRAW and QUIT PLAYING RED OR WHITE into the microphone until his voice gave out.

DJ is great. I really love how he is always trying to stay positive and rarely outright says that cards or strategies are bad (even when they are). I know that Jimmy and Josh don't hate these weaker strategies or cards, but sometimes it feels a little bit to negative when they talk about them. DJ's positivity is (in my opinion) a great counterpart to Josh's harsh criticism.

Love that they brought up Stephen Green's chair deck. That thing is so funny

DJ, you are doing a great job as co-host. It's obvious you love talking about Magic and Commander and you always have something insightful to add. Josh, you seem like you had more fun in this episode than I've seen you have in a while, and it makes the show so much better. The last few episodes with DJ have been some of the best episodes, in my opinion.

I'm gonna miss jumbo when he leaves lol, I also love jimmy and can't wait for him to come back but hopefully they all begin to regularly work together after this. Command zone and jumbo commander take the cake when it comes to commander content on KZfaq.

It might be interesting to look at mana bases from decks in different catagories, I think they're pretty telling: Competitive will have all the fetches and duals available and play expensive multicolor-lands and utility lands. Optimized would look similar, but maybe shocks instead of duals and less expensive utility lands. When we get to focused I think we don't have fetches anymore, as they are quite expensive, especially when you need shocks as well. I think we won't see filter lands as well. Now we have 2-3 color lands maybe temples/bouncelands and we start seeing more basics. Here we'll probably see medium expensive but fine lands, like check lands and Cycle lands and the battlebondlands. When we get to casual, I think the manabase works but will be slow and the lands are cheap. Bouncelands, Temples, Guildgates, Refuge lands and similar is probably where we're at, and there are more basics. I think the manabase you build and you can afford will tell a lot about your deck and where to put it on the list, and I think budget restrictions really kick in here.

As a deckbuilder of EDH for 10+ years this is one of my favorite episodes of your channel! I am stunned with how good the presentation of divisions of speed / social contract / card value etc... all fits together. Thank you Josh and JumboCommander!!!!! If i could be a patron i would soley based on this video. plz more like it.

I'm really impressed with how quickly you and DJ have developed your rapport. Excellent episode!

Anyone wanna just hug DJ? Dude is like a wise friendly bear.

Note* in Competitive EDH (CEDH) there are no concessions, not even budget. In many play groups, proxies are encouraged so everyone can play to the max power level.

10/10 thumbnail! 😂👌👍

We need DJ on a classic commander game knights

I have really enjoyed the episodes with DJ. He and Josh seem to work well together.

My first EDH deck was upgraded precon Meren. It's somewhere around "focused" and "optimized," but I found out that when it does work, it just isn't very fun. Spore frogging every turn until I can get in front and my opponents can't keep up with sacrificing their creatures. I started a Sram deck from jank and I have fun every time.

Starts at 4:11.

I would love to see game nights showcasing different levels. Or perhaps a statement on the power levels of the decks being played. I am still trying to figure it out.

If path was at $3 I'd be ordering so many.

This was one of my favorite episodes by far. Have only been playing for around a year and a half and am still learning a ton about deck building. Sharing this with my play group! You guys are awesome.

In my decks, I usually carry several options for generals to modify my power level. In my Karador deck, I run Ikra and Tymna as well, and I can swap them with Karador to power down my deck. It doesn't destroy the deck completely, but it powers it down just enough to go from focused to casual, meaning I can play with janky decks or optimised decks and still have a great time.

So when will DJ be on game knights?

So i had to laugh a bit at the thumbnail of Josh putting his face on Goku going Super Saiyan XD

DJ's shirt makes me wish WUBRG bears was a thing

"You have entered the jumbo commander zone!"

A note on the "phyrexian arena" vs "read the bone" topic, if you played the said card on curve on t3 it doesn't matter how many cards you net the first turn its played if you no longer have the mana to play them, by the second turn it was played you only behind 1 card

Great to see Jumbo Commander :)

this episode has helped me get in a different mindset when looking at the power of a card.

Most of my decks are 5's. I hate spending hundreds on a deck, but i do my best to be as synergistic as possible without making my wife mad lol. I also put helm of the host in every deck. Its too much fun, cmc be damned.

awesome to see DJ filling in. I love his channel!

I only have the skill level to play janky decks and I am able to keep up with some higher level decks. Though these tips are just what I needed to improve my deck building. Thanks Josh and DJ!

Love seeing DJ on the pod!

I love building decks with Jank-level restrictions (like "only River Heralds aligned cards from Ixalan"), but if you know what you're doing you can often tune those to be at LEAST casual, if not focused. My advice for improving Jank decks are: * Identify synergies and emphasise them. You may be running only cards that depict characters in chairs, but do a large number of them care about, say, gaining life? Then it might be best to prioritise lifegain cards over others, even if they're slightly weaker in a vacuum. * Prioritise removal. Removal is almost always going to be the most difficult section to fill in, but it's super important. If you don't have enough removal, you may need to accept some subpar removal spells to fill out the numbers. * Practice playing your deck. This is important for all decks, but particularly for lower power decks if you want to do well. You need to be weary of what you need in your opening hand, be aware of what how much of your removal covers the current threat and prioritise keeping your scarce removal, and so on. * Consider your early game. Your deck is slower, so you NEED to make sure you can reach the late game. Removal will play in here too, as getting rid of an early game ender is going to be vital when it comes up. As for hard mode win conditions, they're nice to have. Most of my decks have one alternate way to win, be it Revel In Riches in pirates, or Forerunner/Polyraptor in dinosaurs, and they can allow you to have a fun win AND give you something to do if your main wincon is shut down somehow.

very happy to see more DJ! always super insightful, really interesting

loved this! I'm usually not much for podcasts, but you guys are enthralling! Extremely interesting, and intelligent. And I love DJ's shirt! Stay frosty!

Man this is a great video! Great discussions Josh and DJ! I didn't even think of some of the things that you talked about, and the comparison to Phyrexian Arena to Read the Bones I think is very interesting! I think this is a great way to go about deck power levels and tuning your decks! I think most of my decks fit in the focused category, but I've been slowly changing my decks over time this year to be more optimized. Time to make some deck changes!

I was expecting at least an hour of screaming/yelling powering-up based on the thumbnail 5/10

Best way to tune a deck down is make it boros.

Out of the people available for substitution, DJ from JC is the best. I miss Jimmy but DJ will do for now. Both are super great.

Y’all need to get DJ onto Game Knights!

Best show in 12 months... Maybe ever.

Simply outstanding content. Truly valuable. Great insights, especially putting deck power levels into context as they relate to playgroups, etc. thank you, both.

When you made the spiderweb analogy with desecrated tomb and aointed procession, me and my play group call those micro-gears. Micro-gears only work if every tiny gear is connected to 5 or 6 others creating in affect, a web.

I purposefully keep my decks in between 6-7 just because it's probably where you have the most ability to build whatever you want. It's the most common area where people are actually playing commander

I can't wait for the next line of relic tokens, i want my SAPROLINGS!

I've been trying to make my casual deck more focused and this was really helpful. thank you Command zone and Jumbo commander

I think that most of my decks sit around the 6-8 range, and I’ve felt like I’m the “Archenemy” of sorts in some of my Commander games, so I’ve been trying to bring down the power of my decks or, if I don’t want to change the deck, the power of my playing. One of the best ways I’ve found to “tune down” my playing is to have a combo on board but to wait for a turn cycle or two, depending on how the game is going, and give people a chance to notice and/or respond in some sort of way before going off. Great show, guys! Keep up the great work.

Wow, DJ is fantastic here! I've followed his Jumbo Commander channel for a good while so it's cool to see him here on The Command Zone and doing such a great job as a co-host. When I saw this video was over an hour-and-a-half I kinda groaned and figured I'd only be able to watch part of it (short attention span here) but I stuck around until the end. Great job, guys!

Actually glad DJ substitute Jimmy I love the guy and his channel 👌🏻

Excellent advice and just what I wanted to know! I've been tuning up my Goreclaw deck and need some good points in where to take it. Thanks for all the content ya'll produce! :)

Best podcast ever! Keep it up guys! We listen everyday (years worth to catch up on)

Helm of the Host on Azor the Lawbringer. Seems so funny.

The participation of jumbocommander is great. Kudos guys!

Great show. Especially loved the discussion around Phyrexian Arena. Just replaced it with Read the Bones in my Elenda the Dusk Rose deck thanks to this episode.

This is such a great video and its name doesnt do it justice. It touches on several other deep pervasive topics that most players don't really think about. Thank you for the amazing insight!

If you have DJ in Game Knights I would love it. The thing is which one would he choose😂

Jank is what commander is about. It's great playing your competitive deck then some random janky card controls the rest of the game (possibility storm).

Sooooooo glad you guys talked about casual and focused! It’s what I think the majority of playgroups play at. GPs and stuff are most likely to be optimized or you will only be successful. All the playgroups of friends playing on Saturday nights play in the casual to low end of optimized in my opinion.

I came to this video because I've been trying to make a deck featuring Desecrated Tomb for a while now and you literally used it as an example! How crazy is that?! You guys made some really good points in this video, particularly the one about cards that become "distraction" cards in your deck. You might mistake them for synergy, but they actually gimp your deck in some way by either slowing it down, or making it inconsistent. Hopefully I can smooth it out with this advice. Keep up the great analysis.

You guys both seem to have adjusted well to each others presence on the show, this episode was very insightful. Whats up with Jimmy tho is he on vacation or something.

It's not like I don't miss Jimmy, but it's awesome seeing DJ on here again!

it's so wholesome that DJ said all the power levels offered something good. I don't have a single jank deck, but I know how entertaining they can be for everyone, so they definitely still offer something good

I love praetors council. I actually get to cast it quite often in my games. It is of course in my Multani deck =) Also love Jumob Commander I am glad he is filling in for Jimmy. Great content guys!

I specifically don’t run doubling season in 5c superfriends. It makes the games all about finding ds, then playing a walker with a backbreaking emblem. Without ds games become so much more interesting and political. On another note Kitchen Confidential is such an amazing book, his writing flows in such an elegant yet casual way and I believe he narrated the audiobook version as well. 10/10 recommend.

jumbo is such an amazing co-host

I've loved jumbo commander for the past year and am really loving him on this show! Once Jimmy takes over as the lead for tom cruise on the mission impossible franchise, we can take comfort knowing this show will go on.

You guys honestly put out such high quality content, it's incredible that this is provided for free to everyone. Thank you to everyone that makes game knights possible!

When you guys were talking about rankings the 1-10 I feel that the upper tier should all be their own level. I personally consider 8-10 cEDH, 8 being your entry level, 9 your advanced, and 10 is your combo off turn 3-4 decks. Each almost are like leaps and bounds better than the rest. Me as a non-cEDH guy I generally rate my decks at max being a 7 and most I'd say fall in that 4-5 range. For me I don't mind playing against cEDH decks that are in that entry zone, but I refuse to play against those 9 or 10 power decks. I just don't find getting combo'd out on turn 3-5 fun. Other than that great episode guys, thanks for all the advice.

Carpet of flowers is stupid good. Believe jumbo.

I am new to Commander and this video helped me understand so much more than deck optimizing. Thanks very much!

Darien King of Kjeldor started off as my Jank deck and became somewhere between Focused and Optimized. Flavorful fun.

Still lovin on DJ

"You should only have 4 cards with cmc 7 or more" looks at my Jodah eldrazi tribal deck that has 23 7 cmc or greater cards...."Oh boi"

This proved te be insightful. I thought my deck was focused/optimised, but it's clear now it was casual. moving it into focused now.

This is a great episode. Love JumboCommander guesting, and I appreciated the topic. I have been in the process of trying to move my Alesha deck from a 5 to an 8 because my new meta has so many 9-10 decks running around, if I don't really really optimize it, then I really don't even get to play.

Y'all better do a game knights with all the Elder Dragons!!!

DJ da man!!

Probably my new favorite episode. Love the idea of creating an environment to allow a “good” card to rise above its text.

An hour and a half of pure awesome! Work day just got a whole lot better.

My Gaea's Blessing deck wants this to be popular.

Ok this is my gay mind talking but Jumbo’s shirt is really telling me “I’m a gay bear” but it also might mean “I’m from California and I like colors”

Dj is back! Love having a new look on things and seeing Dj becoming more comfortable.

Carpet of flowers + Omnath, Locus of Mana. Seems pretty awesome.

If only Gaea's Cradle was $200 any more. T_T

This totally happened to me when playing one vs one, I was playing an aggro deck and could have won 3 different ways, but I had won 2 times already and wanted to see the other deck perform, I just sat there and did as little damage as possible, but then he played a card that took my next turn and He would see that I could have won because all the cards I had in my hands could have killed him on the spot. This was funny because I never would have imagined that he could steal my turn to kill me with my how cards!!! =)

I like how you line up the Jank-Competitive levels with 1-10. That's very helpful.

The most deck building theory in one video possible. Thank you dudes!

I'm actually incredibly sad lately, as my main MTG friends have all started to upgrade their decks far past 'what they need to'. Pouring 80+ dollars into their decks again and again, making optimizations and upgrades when they're already winning 9/10 games played, that sort of thing. I'm a flavor guy, when it comes to DnD, I come up with character traits, ect, and worry about stats later. In MTG, I get a fun idea and then seek out cards to make it (more or less) happen. It used to be a fun time, I have a few decks that are both mechanically sound, as well as flavorfully pleasing, but they are quickly becoming entirely obsolete. I don't want to abandon the heart that went into them.

I really feel like Cedh is its own entity, and don't agree with having it in the power chart. Makes it appear as though you are saying Cedh is the ultimate goal when powering up your deck and I don't think that is accurate. In a weird way its kinda like comparing standard and modern decks to each other. No matter how powerful a standard deck is it will get smoked by a modern one. I think both have their place and can be enjoyable to play but they just can't be compared to each other in terms of power outside their respected formats. I feel the same way about edh and Cedh decks.

Awesome upload! You guys touched on some great points. Much love to Jumbo Commander.

I know Mono white Samurais from Kamigawa aren't the strongest tribe in Magic, but that just makes it even better when you die to them (jank in a nutshell)

Does progenitus Maze's end counts as jank?

swear some guy has won on game knights with a bear deck, yes yes Jank gang

Fairly new to EDH, and the two decks I have came from Commander's Quarters. They're focused decks according to this scale, so I suppose they're around the 5-7 range. It's great to have that sort of visualization when making decks and playing against others.

I play a colorless EDH deck with ulamog as the commander; my play group is probably around the 4-5 power range, I once got helm of the host off and managed to get 4 ulamogs on the battlefield before anyone drew into removal. A fun story for you Josh

I’m already running all the OG Moxen, hopefully this will help power up my EDH Decks more.

So nothing against Jimmy, I've always liked him. But lately it felt like the passion on his side wasn't near Josh's level, which brought Josh's level down indirectly. I understand that doing this every week can be taxing and it's hard to always be excited talking about the same games. DJ being on the show confirms what I felt was happening for the last few months. Him being on the show draws passion out of Josh in a way Jimmy couldn't (atleast lately) and these past two episodes have been nothing short of awesome. But maybe it's just a case of novelty and I'm overthinking this.

For me focussed is the most pleasurable power level. Everyone has a cool deck, everyone does his stuff and does what he wants to do, no one gets pubstomped and to win you just have to be the better player and/or be better at politics. Best gameplay IMO

I've been working on a Mark Tedin themed art deck... Jank for sure, but this podcast has inspired me to finish the build.

"A deck full of greedy cards?" How dare you talk about Jodah that way?!?