How To Control In Commander | Tolarian Tutor | A Magic: The Gathering Study Guide

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Ай бұрын

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Пікірлер: 417

@TolarianCommunityCollege Ай бұрын

Go to sponsr.is/bootdev_tolarian and use my code TOLARIAN to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev. That’s 25% your first month or your first year, depending on the subscription you choose.

@undercoverwhale6891 Ай бұрын

Professor you should do a whatnot steam on a weekend for the people that work Monday - Friday 😢

@MichaelPesta Ай бұрын

Hey boss professor man do more of these videos instead of the shuffle up and plays

@merlannin2108 Ай бұрын

Tolarian Tutor finally returns!

@palicaoo Ай бұрын

yay 🎉🎉🎉

@abuelovinagres4411 Ай бұрын

The control players in my pod: _I'm going to counter that Arcane Signet because I feel threatened when someone else casts a spell._

@malachai1381 Ай бұрын

The only "mana rocks' I have counted are combo pieces like grim/basalt monolith

@drewkehoe1805 Ай бұрын

Lol my sol ring got hit with targeted removal on turn 8 earlier today because idk he was gonna lose next turn so he dragged the game out an extra turn lol. I was kinda salty cause it was pointless and just felt like a spite move

@AndrewLaPrade Ай бұрын

Sheesh, have these people not heard the good news of vandalblast?

@abuelovinagres4411 Ай бұрын

@@AndrewLaPrade The point is not about sweeping artifacts, but about bad threat assesment...

@stigurna Ай бұрын

I relate to this feeling As a izzet player whenever someone plays basically anything im like "noooo I don't like that... I wanna counter it so bad..."

@benjaminlehman3221 Ай бұрын

For the 1 million subscribers special, can we please see all of your suits? I love your collection.

@TeamAPS Ай бұрын

This all makes so much sense to me now.

@darthretor8466 Ай бұрын

Floodgates in Commander, anyone? Mystic Mine, let's go Control is so much fun in Yugioh ;D

@henrye3935 Ай бұрын

I think it might have been Richard of MTGGoldfish (but I could be wrong) who once said "In Commander, politics is control." This massively changed the way I play control in Commander for the better. Controlling opponent's advantages to gain your own advantage. It's why I love commanders like Breena, or even Marisi.

@anthonydelfino6171 Ай бұрын

I build Queen Marchesa as a "let's make a deal" kind of deck... and she absolutely controls the table when I bring her out both with the ability to punish players who refuse my deals, and to gain favors from those who do.

@mmmy4282 Ай бұрын

My biggest issue with commander is that too many people let their emotions play for them. They focus out someone playing a control deck while someone else is ready to end the game next turn anyways. Actual threat assessment is something a LOT of commander players need to learn lmao. (Including me ngl)

@casually_lurking Ай бұрын

Hi, Designated Control Player here- because someone has to be or the group goes full anime protagonist. One, this guide is excellent; it's a great primer for getting comfortable with actual control play. Two, you CAN play cards like Arbiter; you just couch them in the 99 with good draw and search to reach them. Hinata does that, protecting him and giving her a wicked gear 2 in waiting. Overall, in my experience most people who are newer or started in Commander tend to respond to the first targeted removal or counter spell by screaming Stax and hitting their panic buttons, so if you walk this road be responsible but be prepared to also get hit first every time, on the time, even if you countered someone two years ago that one time and you haven't seen them but thrice since.

@Eckendenker Ай бұрын

Jokes on you, I go full protagonist and play law enforcement for the table, letting them vote what to remove and counter. (until I am set up)

@casually_lurking Ай бұрын

@@Eckendenker So, "Secretly I am" Protagonist versus "Destiny is on my side" Protagonist? That, I can dig.

@Shaddymaze Ай бұрын

@@Eckendenker You're doing God's work. Carry on. And no, I won't play the 1 for replying.

@blaineallen5297 Ай бұрын

Sadly my pod hates when i play control, they just wanna play solitaire😂

@casually_lurking Ай бұрын

@@blaineallen5297 *Shrugs supportively* Sadly, that tracks.

@WarmasterXVI Ай бұрын

Missed this series! I started out watching Tolarian Tutor back in college more than five years ago.

@whirlwindsky Ай бұрын

Have I been playing MTG for almost a decade? yes. Have I always enjoyed control decks, even before I played magic? yes. Did I still watch the video start to finish? YES! Love this series, and I am so happy to see it return. Thank you for another wonderful lesson, Professor!

@azelia2464 21 күн бұрын

Ayy I've been playing for almost 10 years as well. This year's August/September will be my 9 year mark!

@user-sl7je4ik1x Ай бұрын

As someone who built Augustine in 2011 as my first deck... Yeah, you're just a target. "I just want to sphinx's rev for 2 more!" "I just want you dead"

@dfekety Ай бұрын

Anyone else just randomly say "maaany Magic the Gathering players" to themselves while walking around their home doing chores or whatever? Just me? Ok.

@Infamouscritter Ай бұрын

Just you

@mikemucchetti2260 Ай бұрын

Very guilty of this.

@jorgemartins1390 Ай бұрын

Not just you

@robertnorman3821 Ай бұрын

Your not the only one 😂😅❤

@RaunienTheFirst Ай бұрын

Coming across a strange event irl like "many magic the gathering players ask the question, what the hell is going on here?"

@DrSavitruc Ай бұрын

Hey Prof, I wanted to take a moment to tell you that your content made me jump from digital on Arena to buying my first commander deck to play with friends. I bought the Painbow one based one your recommendation in a previous video, and I am having a blast. This morning, I upgraded it with my first purchase of singles on Card Kingdom but forgot to use your link. I thought I would at least tell you how much you have helped in getting me in the hobby ! Thanks again Prof

@leestauffenecker6227 Ай бұрын

Thank you for these videos! I was struggling to move from “knowing the rules” to “being able to play competently”, and this series has been a huge help

@benji-obi Ай бұрын

I was convinced years ago that arcane denial wasn't good for commander, but hearing your example against counterspell was brilliant!

@1Lord1Faith1Baptism Ай бұрын

Control is the best part of MTG in my humble, yet accurate, opinion, and one of the great things that makes Magic stand out from other TCGs.

@Triskitguru Ай бұрын

Larry Niven's Disk got a good laugh from me.

@KinginZeCastle Ай бұрын

One of my favourite literary references in Magic. I use Disk in a lot of decks just because it's cool.

@agentkhaine2204 Ай бұрын

I missed this series - and love playing control. I’ve helped a lot of players who vented frustrations to me about their efforts porting 1v1 60-card control into Commander.

@ZrinNZ Ай бұрын

It might have been obvious for veterans of MTG, but as a player who only started playing mid-2023 (praise be to Phyrexia, who brought me into the game), the "you don't want one-to-one control cards" and instead using ones that give you a 'profit', so to speak - was mind-blowing and eye-opening. Thank you Prof :)

@LudwigRamirez Ай бұрын

Combo decks are rampant in our LGS, which is why I play control & aggro decks to counter them. 😁

@Mia-oz6nd Ай бұрын

Yesssss, Tolarian Tutor is back!!!

@ZSAITOSEI Ай бұрын

The point about having a non threat in the command zone is key! My two control decks are an interesting duality. One is Elsha, a spellslinger that's just a toolbox of jank that really taught me how to work around interactions in game. People certainly know you're gonna be casting things but you don't get wiped off the board immediately. The other is 2nd Doctor/Adric. "Group hug" in the command zone plus optional stifle. Everyone loves the extra draws but the 99 is filled with a brutal amount of oppressive enchantments and artifacts that make playing the game (for opponents) nearly impossible and wins with Approach of the Second Sun. I will agree that playing 2nd Doctor may also violate the Geneva Convention, so I at least know what I'm getting myself into 😂

@agentkhaine2204 Ай бұрын

I have a Kynaios and Tiro control deck. The social perception of “this player is my friend/not a threat” even though the 99 is pure control allows punching up way too often.

@michaelraymond7576 Ай бұрын

Watching the professor is actually what got me into magic. I was always afraid to get into it after all these years it’s been around, but after watching profs videos it gave me the confidence and interest in giving the game a try. So far I love it! Especially commander format, I’m happy I actually decided to try this game out cause I feel I’ve been missing something by not playing it. Thanks prof!

@BlazeBops Ай бұрын

I'm building a "Nick Valentine, Private Eye" control deck right now and this video helped a ton! Thanks for the just-in-time post!

@XJBG1001X Ай бұрын

I baven't even started the video, yet I'm excited! I like that this is coming hot off the heals of Dan Dan on S.U.P.. I learned so much from that video that this almost seemed necessary. I hope to learn so much more, thank you for making this series!!!

@kungfuwizard4633 Ай бұрын

This was a wonderfully written breakdown of how to play Control. I really appreciate the Intermediate level videos!

@lukehathaway9674 Ай бұрын

So close to 1M! So happy for you prof, I remember not long ago being happy to see you cross 600k. Thank you for being a constant good in this ever changing hobby ❤

@omahonda Ай бұрын

I appreciated the Serra Angel reference to Brian Weissman’s control deck “The Deck”.

@arborealblazer283 Ай бұрын

This was so awesome!!! I've been wondering about how to make control work in commander for a while now but didn't really put any effort into finding out, this was immensely helpful. For other strategies, and I know this one is really niche, I've always been unboundingly curious about Cheerios and how they possibly win.

@bondgirl129 Ай бұрын

Prof, please, PLEASE keep doing educational series such as these. They are ridiculously useful and insightful. I nearly wept with joy when I saw this one.

@flargon0 Ай бұрын

I was just building a Hinata control deck for commander and this was tremendously helpful thank Prof!

@alexanderwylie702 Ай бұрын

absolutely love this video format, excited to see more Tolarian Tutor!

@nickw6084 Ай бұрын

Love this, professor! I can already tell you we’re a wonderful teacher. Please keep these coming.

@JulesTesla Ай бұрын

I feel like I cracked the code of control decks in commander when I build Beluna Grandsquall. It’s a more “Timmy” Tempo deck where you stall your opponents enough for your to gain Beanstalk Giant or any other card that just swings the game in your favor. It has counters and removal and bounces, sure, but it plays in “in response…” mode fairly effectively against multiple opponents, as you can recast the creature part later and gain that instant/sorcery adventure back to hand if need be. The point in commander is multiplayer interaction (and lack thereof), so being able to recycle spells back into hand without needing to lean into multiple spell combos is pretty key. Beluna and Riku of Many Paths excel at this. Go give these a try if anyone wants to build a tempo deck made to stomp out late game. That or you’re into the Temur colors. Go Timur! 😂

@phillipfry8141 Ай бұрын

The professor doing what he does best: teaching! we all like the reviews and box openings and games, but you ARE a professor, this is a perfect video to show to my friend's boy! Excellent lesson, class adjourned! EDIT: That suit is fresh as F***. This man LOOKS professional, what a Chad.

@bestnumberever73 Ай бұрын

Talrand was my very first Commander deck, way back before Wizards officially recognized the format. Needless to say, I've been playing control in EDH/Commander for a very long time. Nice to see my favorite commander shouted out here. Great video Prof!

@jasa4079 Ай бұрын

Run more interaction! Always run more interaction.

@Pyrodactyl Ай бұрын

Really glad this series is back, and with a banger video. This is great advice!

@AHG1347 Ай бұрын

As one who is currently figuring out my Sen Triplets deck, this speaks to me. Thank you Professor

@cameton_youtube Ай бұрын

Great video! I've been working on improving my control gameplay recently, so this is well timed

@pug8714 Ай бұрын

My shorikai control deck is one of my favorites, if not a bit repetitive

@danikahicks2210 Ай бұрын

+1 engagement ~♡ I learned how to play magic from watching the tolarian tutor series. Love to see it back ~♡

@nickolaslillogodoy3496 Ай бұрын

I missed Tolarian Tutor, glad the series is back!

@seanmachlan3282 Ай бұрын

Thanks for continuing this series.

@Moxon-nl5mg Ай бұрын

Looking at my Kellan the Kid deck in a new light, thanks Prof!

@onewithsin Ай бұрын

Outside of shuffle up and play, this is my favorite series of yours Prof. Thanks

@zerosum789 Ай бұрын

Great video. Im not good at deck building and focusing on specific game interractions and goals is a really helpful topic.

@Fabled.- Ай бұрын

This series is a very welcomed return. I am trying to relearn how to play after a several year hiatus.

@darkfaithful 20 күн бұрын

"Control is a perfectly valid strategy in Magic" - thank you! I'm tired of content creators disencouraging players from venturing into control decks, saying that this is not fun. It is fun for the controller.

@peeporiot9948 Ай бұрын

This may not get the views of reviews but i love series that talk about improving gameplay

@kadavercade3597 Ай бұрын

Currently building my Urza control deck, thanks!

@bob101021 Ай бұрын

I don’t run a strict control deck but maybe just a good amount of interaction. After playing many times, you really just need to focus on stopping things that stop you. Rather than just trying to stop others playing.

@MikeConstantinou Ай бұрын

What a fantastic episode thanks prof. & team.

@Alwayz114 Ай бұрын

Perfect timing! I've been working on upgrading the Deep Clue Sea precon into a pseudo-control deck and am really finding it difficult to balance all the things I want to do

@ohnosmoarlulcatz Ай бұрын

I've just been using Stella Lee to generate tokens as a shield while I try to draw my way to victory with Laboratory Maniac, Jace, and Thassa's Oracle. This has more or less been the only deck I've had any success at. And a Tyrant somewhere in the back just in case I manage to hoard enough artifacts.

@benjaminloyd6056 Ай бұрын

You need to pick 2-3 things to be good at, anymore and you end up being okay at everything. That is my experience anyway.

@jeremiahjbarnes06 Ай бұрын

I feel like Morska is secretly a +1 counter Voltron deck with a clue sub theme rather than a shell for control. What drew you to her as a control shell?

@darkrexkigntstone8773 Ай бұрын

Rule of law effects are great. They balance out the heavy use of casting manys spells. Also good with counterspells.

@diegoblin9090 Ай бұрын

I love this series!!!! Im joyful to see its revival

@jaredwright1655 Ай бұрын

Control is a mindset. And when I draw all 4 of my board wipes 😂

@TheMalarz1989 Ай бұрын

I have a Zaxara Xspell controll deck. The last time I won, was due to me casting and buying back a counter spell and untapping all my stuff each round. Fun.

@BraydenCobb-lg3nc Ай бұрын

I am so glad prof did this, he literally just explained my whole niv deck in its entirety in 20 short minutes

@RNCAST Ай бұрын

Ohhhh Im really looking forward for the next episode. I love watching those yugi guys play old yugioh decks!

@UberAnonymous Ай бұрын

special shout out to the aggro, combo, and control glowing text at 0:56. Very nice bloom effects *chefs kiss*

@emuclone154 Ай бұрын

Winota stax is my favorite way to control the table!

@TheSassaboss Ай бұрын

Commenting for the algorithm, really love this kind of content and feel we need more of it!

@celphys Ай бұрын

Thank you for the video. +Such great editings and animations, it shines.

@Vohtwomax Ай бұрын

Tolarian Tutor, this is a perfect segment to run on your channel. Please do more of these. You ARE a professor, after all 😂

@caseyp5665 Ай бұрын

I would be happy to see a STOMPY tutor session 👍

@Arcko9 Ай бұрын

Let's gooooooo! The series that showed me the Prof the first time. Glad to see it again!

@charliemarlow647 Ай бұрын

My control commander of choice is Kruphix, God of Horizons. They allow you to not lose tempo if you didn't need to use all your mana to interact in a turn cycle, and enable playing big haymakers as your "inevitability" engine (which normally end the game pretty quickly). Would love to see a Tolarian Tutor video on the "forced combat" archetype, as I think it's super fun and something I don't see too much!

@dodo299 Ай бұрын

9:40 and this is why I love the Nelly commander from Kharlov, probably the best control commander. Goad is so good for commander control and together with white also just brings that inevitability.

@thechikage1091 Ай бұрын

I think the thing that people get wrong about control decks is actually winning and ending the game rather than making me untap 1 land a turn and not be able to draw a card for 45 minutes and basically telling me that they don't value my time as a human I've taken out of my day to play the silly card game we all love. Update: Wow after watching the video it's crazy how the entire thing was just advice on how not be an asshole and waste everyone else's time lmao

@jibb8545 Ай бұрын

Yup! I've played too many games with people who are too good at locking down the board but not good enough to win.

@PsychoDiesel48 Ай бұрын

MY FAVORITE SERIES IS BACK

@zeo4481 Ай бұрын

Preach Brother! PREACH!!

@Solidus- Ай бұрын

The insight that the prof provides, is top tier.

@DarkDealer666 Ай бұрын

Great video. Another one of the control players here. I agree with most everything you said. Especially when it comes to counters, I think an important lesson for control players in Commander is learning what types of cards you actually care about and need to remove. For example, I often don't care if my opponent resolves a Craterhoof because I run cards like Aetherize and can just bounce their board if it comes my way, but I will care greatly about a card like Jin Gitaxias (pick your version), and counter it on the spot. Also, my personal favorite control commander I have is Quaeza Augur of Agonies, since they allow me to just do normal control things and profit off of it (much like your Talrand example but in a very different way).

@jeromehoulle Ай бұрын

Thanks a lot prof for this lesson on control player, playing Alela with a beginner level it's very difficult to find the right moment to interact with the others players.

@punahougirl84 Ай бұрын

I just finished building my first mono-blue commander deck, and this is so educational. This will help me refine it (my son's initial reaction was NOOOO! Lol). My "Big Splashy" will fight his "Big Stompy" and we will see if the sea rules the land! Thank you, Professor!

@Beckola44 Ай бұрын

These are good tips. Thank you for the video Professor.

@brandonbentz3555 Ай бұрын

really enjoyed thank you for your time.

@Dansu18 Ай бұрын

Amazing video!!! Your content always helps me have a better time with Magic. :3 Would love it if you did a small series of videos like these!!

@joshprice4855 Ай бұрын

I love modal spells in commander, especially if I can pick more than one mode. A card that does great in my Toxrill deck is Silimgars command. It isn't efficient at all but hitting an important spell and dealing with a scary permanent on the battlefield at the same time always feels good.

@Fluffy_Kun Ай бұрын

I recently been playing with a new pod and we play budget and low-mid power, so I cooked up a £50 Marchesa Crimes control deck themed around using opponent's cards against each other. Be it goad, removal or stealing spells from graveyards they all mostly commit crimes letting me cantrip and break the 1 for 1 issue control can face in commander. The deck plays enough bombs and card draw through interaction, that once in the 1v1 I attrition the last person out. But to get there I have 4 mass one turn goad effects and crackle with power. It also runs stuff to detour attacks at me as well. It's my favorite rattlesnake* deck.

@Bruggi10 Ай бұрын

This was a fun video. I don’t know if it’ll be a new series (I don’t think I’ve seen one before?) but I’d watch more.

@christopherrector5886 Ай бұрын

Oh man, this series is amazing! I can't wait till we see Aggro for commander but all of these videos are fire

@josephsmith1494 Ай бұрын

I would like to see a a tutorial for Combo decks, my main deck atm is a Shalai and Hallar deck and would like some ideas on how to pilot the deck more effectivally :) keep up the great work prof!

@mattmaass3920 Ай бұрын

Choosing mana base in commander would be a great tutor episode!

@crimsonleg4237 Ай бұрын

Enjoyed this video. I'm a control player in Commander, and I also like using stax and hatebears as well. This was a pretty informative video and showed the differences between 1v1 and 1v3 (which is essentially EDH/Commander). Also looking forward to seeing Team APS play Commander. They're my favorite Yugitubers and you're my favorite Magictuber, so that video should be fun.

@xXSlumpymanXx Ай бұрын

In Shuffle Up and Play, George played one of my favorite Control decks that I took and copied (at least I think it’s Control). Taking your opponent’s creatures, sacrificing them, and then creating copies to bully your opponents with is so fun Link to video - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7mChKuV3tKXZIk.htmlsi=BTFLhw2WTK405Cpj

@caseyp5665 Ай бұрын

I love the Prof. Talking liking this. More please!🎉

@jillianlee2615 Ай бұрын

This is two fold good. This is good for those wanting to build this deck and for those to understand how these kinds of decks work. I hope to see some with Group Hug or something else like this.

@Izuyoi7215 Ай бұрын

I missed this series professor

@darushkii Ай бұрын

I really appreciate this video. We need to normalize control in commander. The worst EDH games are the ones where everyone just plays solitaire. How boring! Some of the best moments can happen when there's a ton of interaction throughout the game. Control is really fun, effective, and challenging in commander, and does not deserve the boogeyman status that it gets in this format.

@moralessanchezoscarelias6412 Ай бұрын

Hard agree. Some of my friends just want to sit next to each other and goldfish with their decks. I just don't get a lot from that experience 😅

@folkenphoenix Ай бұрын

The thing is help other players to deal with frustration Control decks bring. I understand that _full control players_ like to solve puzzles, yet that is not the way of having fun of other people, hence the difficulty to add likeness or popularity to control decks.

@jeremiahjbarnes06 Ай бұрын

I would argue that the problem with control is that in a 4 player game with 3 control players that can make a game take hours. And if it's something like Esper blink then you're also taking a lot of game actions and making it an unfun experience for everyone at the table. It's got to be a question for your playgroup and if I'm at an LGS with randoms I would never bring a hard control deck. That being said, I'm primarily attracted to aggro and midrange strategies in the Naya shard anyways, but most players I know would be uninterested in games that last more than an hour and a half or so. As a side note, because of the multiplayer nature of commander you honestly don't end up playing much pure control and your wincon is almost certainly combo anyways.

@edricsanchez6125 Ай бұрын

A tutorial on how to play combo at casual tables sounds really cool, whenever I've put one together it's hard for the deck not to feel really spikey

@drakko95 Ай бұрын

Alela, Cunning Conqueror is also a great pick for a would-be control deck. She produces fliers that you can turn into control pieces themselves by goading your opponents' best creatures on each of your combats. While the one token a turn limitation might seem too strict, the addition of black with Alela can't be underestimated, as it gives you the ability to leverage the tokens you create as potential cards in hand with spells like Deadly Dispute or Plumb the Forbidden, should you ever find yourself in a position where you either don't need them or they're going to go away anyway like when an opponent attempts to board wipe.

@GridRivers Ай бұрын

I did not know I was a control player until I watched this video. love this series

@caysino Ай бұрын

This is great deck building advice all around instead of just control.

@mzex1307 Ай бұрын

I love trying to figure out control in commander. There's something about identifying the actual threats, taking all the incidental bumps and surviving just long enough to take over that's exhilarating. The last game was Esper flash with multiple turns at 1 life, and I saw every card in my deck. Was I desperately rummaging for a sweeper that didn't exist? perhaps. But that didn't stop Slitherwisp from getting the job done.

@GaryVigil Ай бұрын

Great lesson!

@Sagaratnl Ай бұрын

Even if you don't play, or plan to play control; I highly recommend watching the last bit ( 16:12 ) of this video. It's great general advice on how you should use interaction in ANY strategie.

@dankerus9642 Ай бұрын

My favorite contol deck i built was kynaios and tiro of meletis group hug. The insane group hug ramp kept my oppenents happy, but the end plan of stealing thier creatures and killing them off with thier own boards was a sore spot.