OK, we are bad at Magic. With Alexios, you can still chump if the table agrees by assigning all the damage to the blocking creature rather than trampling over to face. Also, spot removal is very cope with Alexios because it gets 3 combats a turn cycle as soon as it's recast. You really want a Darksteel Mutation / Imprisoned in the Moon effect.

A big thing that almost everyone (including in this game) forgets, is that trample damage is a ‘may’. Even if the creature has trample, the controller can choose to deal all damage to a 1/1 blocker and none to the player, so if your opponents work together, Alexios isn’t as fast as he looks

Obligatory comment about how commanders that are Slicer-like are one of the many reasons to run targeted removal.

Richard losing twice to commander damage and still says that using sword to plowshares it's a disadvantage

Zero targeted removal meta is more fragile than we thought

alexios is very good, but even better in a meta where nobody plays spot removal lol

Reminder for around 37:00 that Diamond Pickaxe gives the treasurr ability to the creature, so the controller makes the token not Phil

I'm pretty sure Richard can't Dress Down and then attack Phil with Alexios, because Dress Down would get rid of the commander's Haste, and it needs Haste to attack because it just changed control.

I expected Seth to fumble the name, but hearing Richard let me down today

tying this to the Aggro question in a recent podcast, this is what edh aggro looks like to me. A succesful aggro archetype in commander needs a way to overcome the 120 life you need to wipe out the board, and passing creatures around the table is a great solution IMO. That or if they come out with some kind of myriad aggro commander.

Every Red aggro deck should play anti-fog spells, like Insult // Injury and Skullcrack. Insult vs. Teferi's means they still take Commander dmg, even if their life doesnt change.

At 32:06, why doesn’t Seth just homeward path? He doesn’t use the mana, so it seems like preventing 9 commander damage for free? Alexios is already tapped, so I don’t think it’s even a blocker for Phil.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that all of Seth's odd rolls were 3's and all of his even rolls were 2's

Richard losing because he had a fog not targeted removal, fitting

Everybody playing assassins and heres crim who took the commander who just gives everything protection from assassins i love you crim

Tip for playing against Alexios - If someone chumps, the controller can still choose to assign all the damage to the chump blocker even with trample.

You guys know that trample is a may for the controller of the creature so I would say slicer is way better

Just wanted point out that the pick axe gives the ability of making a treasure to the creature, so the person attacking makes the treasure and not the owner of the equipment.

Tempted by the ring is an emblem too!

Turns out when Phil plays aggro instead of simic ramp and card draw he’s incredibly scary 😅

“Esio Auditor, de Firens” So it’s not just Seth

I like the wrap-ups! Giving everyone a chance to talk a little about their deck is nice. Hopefully those return

34:10 Some others have mentioned, but I don't believe Richard could have attacked Phil here after the Dress Down. Alexios needs Haste to attack each turn, because creatures gain summoning sickness whenever they change controller, and I believe Dress Down would have removed the Haste it granted itself with its ability.

Seems like spot removal would be good against phil’s commander 😂

If only that fog was a Swords to Plowshares huh?

Good games, just saying 36:50 The Diamond Pick-Axe Gives the ability to create treasure to the creature, is not in the equipment itself, so the controller of the creature creates the treasure even if they do not control the equipment

I bet Richard suddenly decides Swords and Path are worth it again.

a swords to plowshares would have dealt with Phil's commander a lot better than a fog...

Pretty sure game 2 Richard couldn't attack Phil when dress down was played as it would take away the haste

They laughed at the goats until the goats laughed back. 😂

36:50 Crim gets the treasure, not Phil. Diamond Pick-Axe uses the wording of "equipped creature has". So the one to create the treasure token from the triggered ability is the controller of the creature, Crim, and not the controller of the equipment, Phil.

I can't wait to play both Slicer-esque cards in the same Slicer-esque desk. MAXIMUM SLICERING!

"Capleen trio" "Capitoline Triad" As in, the Capitoline Hill, thats not even an Assassins Creed makey uppy word, thats a real very famous historical place in Rome.

Very fun games! I think Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos is really good but I still think Slicer is stronger because double strike is huge. Slicer also has haste and you can play for 1 mana less initially. Sad Richard's deck didn't get to do anything but loving to see the guys just attacking him and not letting him silver tongue his way to victory. I'm wondering though, how does Seth's The Capitoline Traid deck if he doesn't draw Krak-Clan Ironworks? It seems very difficult to get 30 mana value worth of cards artifacts into the graveyard without it.

Important thing about alexios is that you can over assign trample damage when you control him, so he’s practically useless if you co-operate as a team

I like the idea of emblems from non-planeswalkers, but i hope they keep it to interactable things, like the final step of a saga or the reward for a battle or something.

Oh god the confetti and trumpet sound had me on the floor

I WHOOPED at the Unfinity card. Love Clown Car.

Honestly richard isnt the kind of person I'd play commander with regularly if at all with how he is in these videos ive been watching

I don't think the Dress Down play works since I'm pretty sure he loses the haste he needs to attack.

How did Alexios die to the Blasplehmous Act at 18:08? He was a 22/22 at that point with no damage marked on him, wasn't he? What am I missing?

This is why I run as many "damage can't be prevented" effects in red volition decks. Opponents still due through t-pro

Diamond pickaxe gives the creature the ability, so whoever is controlling the creature would create the treasure, even though Phil controls the equipment.

A commander clash with cards above a certain % played in their colours banned (hipster/no staples week) would be really cool to see. Showing off some cool staple alternatives might be fun

This episode is a banger! I'm stoked for Seth and Phil's decks.

Alexios seems like one of the most unfun cards to play against I’ve seen in a while. Even if you run heavy interaction you can’t guarantee people will use it, they might wanna use Alexios to kill someone, the trample makes it impossible to chump, and it’s not too expensive so a mono deck can probably get out enough treasure and mana to just keep playing it. The equipment is useful but it literally just grows on its own and becomes massive. Slicer was already annoying but this is something else.

I'm glad Richard leaned into the one-shot. I'm brewing an Ezio Assassin/"Sudden Death" tribal as I call it.

Slicer style commanders can be fun, but I don't find them particularly fun as a viewer because the whole game necessarily becomes about that one commander. All other decks (except for whichever ends up in the 1v1) bately get seen. Of course targeted removal is the right answer for these kinds of decks, but then the slicer player does nothing. I have something like it, but its strictly a last game of the day "known challenge" style deck

36:50 the treasure would be created by crim nit phil, because the equipment gives that ability to the equiped creature. There are others that work like you thought but in this case this is a mistake.

Why did Alexios die to the Blasphemous Act in game 1 (18 min in the video)? His P/T was 22/22 (4/4 with 8 +1/+1 counters and the +10/+10 from Excalibur) which was large enough to live through the 13 damage from Blasphemous Act. Phil would have won on the next turn with his commander still being around and able to attack. Edit: Excalibur does not buff toughness.

Very good product placement Phil, A+

Alexios Deck should run Homeward Path in the deck for the commander.

I love Seth just staring down his webcam in disgust with Alexios at 31:07

Amazing episode ! 😀👍🏽Alexios and Capitoline Triad are very intresting Commanders to build a deck arround 🤔 Haytham with his protection from Assaasins could be a nice counter against some of these new AC cards and as a fan of FiveColour Commanders and 'AssassinsCreed' Ezio is my favourite Card from the Set 💚 Thank you for showing this awesome new cards in action 👍🏽🤗

Crim doing artifacts? You were supposed to be the chosen one! On the other hand, this is the best way to use Circle of Loyalty, the best card from Throne of Eldraine.

i really liked the wrap-up!

Some good games, but a real shame we barely got to see two of the decks do very much at all. I'd definitely like to see those two decks appear again, as they look like they'd be fun.

"We've been betrayed.", huh? Richard, there was no "we" there. It was just you.

How will phil die first this week 😭

"Every game you let Crim get away with it...and he just passes with 4 mana up. You should've just got the T Pro out of his hand." This, from *Richard* of all people, is hilarious.

I think an interesting way to counter one of these Slicer-esque commander is Goad. You kinda declare it just not being your problem.

The line of text that gets me on team Alexios is that his 'cant be sacrificed' effect is a static, where Slicers is part of his trigger so in a way Slicer is easier to get rid of in my eyes. Jus takes an Altar type effect on anybody's board. Edit: Been proven otherwise!

As soon as saw that guy get spoiled was like it's slicer 2.0

Hope to see one more assassin creed episode! they had a lot of cool commanders to check out I’m hyped on the new golgari deathtouch matters legend

It might be greedy but I am running a few more historics in Sidisi, Brood Tyrant to turn her zombies into 9/9 zombies with Capitoline Triad.

I was looking for to see Ezio gameplay but didn’t see a lot😂

Loved slicer deck and the artifact self mill.

Oh no! A single target is threatening the table! If only there was a variety of low-cost cards that deal with single targets! Maybe it could even exile it?

Alexios doesn't give Phil the treasure when Crim attacks, because it gives the creature that ability, it's not the Diamond Pick-Axe that has the ability

I found it really funny Richard doing the clown melody

So Clown Car has been an absolute all-star in my Mr. House deck. Just absolutely wrecks. Just rolling x die is bonkers but the deck has all sorts of token doublers and artifact anthems and playoffs. Just absolutely cooks.

I know it is stated below, but just a reminder - the ATTACKING player assigns damage at the combat damage step. You can assign all damage from a huge creature like Alexios to the chump blocker and have NONE of the damage trample over. Crim, Seth, and Richard had a lot more agency in the game than they realized. And they play every week - most players will miss this fact!

I think Seth missed the part why Altar of Dementia is in his deck? Why sac it for playing the clown? Just mill yourself by 18, then sac the triad, mill another 9 and your commander usually costs 20 less to play then? xD

"If you swords it you're just down a card!" says Richard as he dies to an aggressive commander with absolutely no protection. Thank goodness he didn't go down 1 card, though. That'd basically just be a fog! I think this shows how myopic commander clash has gotten. They've done the thing where they keep trying to go over the top of each other with value and power because Commander is a "slow" format but if someone is actually legitimately aggressive they just fold like cheap laundry.

I have a Kitt Kanto Goad deck that runs Slicer, and may end up running Alexios. Slicer in the 99 instead of the commander brings it down from busted to just pretty good, and Alexios is probably be the same.

I just want to say that I really miss the wrap-ups. With the change to paper, there's a lot more time that gets cut out and a lot less time dealing with MODO triggers, time that used to get filled with banter and chatting between the group. Seth's wrap-up questions here were relevant and intriguing and really helped show the highlights of Richard's deck that didn't pop-off as well as the flaws in Phill's deck for those who want to build it. Yes, we get more gameplay now, but I miss the slower, chill pace the games used to have.

Canon events here. Mono red voltron always finishes second, it's a law.

Is commander damage not for commander + player pairs, not just by each individual commander?

Is the capitoline triad good?

Couldn't you of sac'd the equipment on alexios while you controlled him or do you not control the equipment that are attached to him as well?

I don't think Diamond Pick-Axe works with Alexios, because it gives the creature the trigger to create a treasure instead of the equipment creating it, like with Beamtown Beatstick for example.

I love these commander games.

Crim: People should play more aggro! Also Crim: attack me once for negligent damage for value and I will spite play you for the rest of the game

did phil build the new tamiyo? O would love to see a list

Seth is the GOAT in commander clash.

Crazy how these slicer commanders completely warp games of commander. Kind of becomes a different game

I'm not convinced bad Slicer is bad. Having played Slicer, being chump blocked is an issue, as is Slicer converting back when it's 1v1. Trample and the upgraded goad is very important.

If you want to play a Slicer style deck just play Kharn, the Betrayer. You get to be all group slug then kill your opponent with a Temur Battle Rage. 10/10 fav commander

I really can't wait to play the Triad now that I've seen it go off XD

Why Alexios doesnt start as a 3/3 since he gets the +1 counter immediately is beyond me

I have a question: why does phil run fetches in a mono colored deck?

Clown car full of goats vs Alexios slap fighting despite having double digit power.... This is Magic now I guess.

This is why I always run frogify effects lol

@MTGGoldfishCommander The games keep getting faster. Probably, in part, due to no longer being on magic online and editing but I think the deck power levels keep increasing. I noticed it at first when y'all played MH3.

Umm, 2nd game after dress down Richard couldn't swing at phil because the commander looses haste

This game is why I value Utter Insignificance and Mystic Subdual so highly.

I really like that they made Haythem Kenway UW. Despite him being the main antagonist in AC3, he really does embody UW. Also, he is by FAAAAAAAAAR the best antagonist in the franchise.

If only a card existed that could, say, remove a creature...

I wonder how many people were even aware of this set releasing today. It's literally everything people have been complaining about in Magic and absolutely no one is talking about it outside the big commander channels.

Isn't cmdr DMG still a thing with teferis protection?