Hey listened coming a Cookout Podcast, episode four twenty six on brand O.
I'm here with Ryan at Ever're gonna talk a little shop for you now in
our theme song, Hey Ryan, We're back for yet another whirlwind adventure.
How you doing good? What is going down? Whole bunch is going down?
We are back immediately following the recording we just made that our good friends
heard yesterday. Yep, we have some stories to tell. Yup, some
people to thank. What we like to think is a fairly interesting topic to
delve into. I think so. But as always, before we get to
any of that, we have to thank our official business daddies, Fusion Gaming
Online dot com. They are your source for all your gaming needs and Pile
the Bones Brewing Coal. They are the official beer sponsors for c CEO Sidewalk
Slam Season two. Episode three available right now on YouTube, where you should
be watching episode four soon as you listen to this if it's on time.
If you listen to this in the future, four, five six are out.
Listen watch those two. They're super funny. Four was the best one
though. Oh yeah, big thanks to Pile of Bones for sponsoring Sidewalk Slam
season two. Man I can't wait. I've got the footage pulled up.
I'm ready to go through it, ready to cut it down, distill it
down to its most entertaining, funniest form. The end of that game,
all I hope is is every everything that happened, it all gets captured on
all of the microphones. I hope that the energy that was in the room,
just like there was some laughing, because it was very, very good.
You know, I've never I wish we hadn't hyped it up so much
because I would almost want to record more games and have that one be the
last one of this dang run of game because it's the It's the perfect ending
to any game, in my opinion, I think I think it's one of
the funniest things that's ever happened. And it's a situation that I'll bet you
every table of longtime Magic players has joked about ad nauseum for years. Yeah,
and it finally happened and so good. So uh big thanks to Pylo
Bones, big thanks to Fusion Gaming Online dot Com. Remember CEO Summer promo
codes changing. You can still use it right now if you want to get
a discount, but in the future when April rolls in and it's the actual
spring leading into actual summer. It's going to be CEO. Save the promo
code tells you exactly what's gonna happen when you when you use it. Yes,
that's a good idea. It's a good idea. Good idea. So
if you want to build three dog from yesterday, if you want to pick
up any of the cards that we talk about today, we h We've got
some questions and some thoughts and just some real natural kind of conversation to get
through today because we haven't really talked about each other's decks and talk shop like
magic over beers in quite a long time. I was sick for a little
while my kids had hockey all winter, so I missed a bunch of like
ed h and ms throughout the winter. But all of that's over and I'm
kicking off my spring of magic right now. Ooh yeah, that's pretty good.
And it's like the short day of spring. I shouldn't say right now
because we've got a little tiny bit of podcast business. Oh big thank you
to all the Patreon supporters Patreon dot com, slash cco podcasts where you could
become one of them. You could benefits include air quotes benefits twist your CEO
nickname air quotes benefits benefit Yeah, us preferring your decks that you submit to
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at gmail dot com. If you've got a list we think we should,
you think we should listen to look at do on the show, send them
in very much. So sometimes I get deck lists on Twitter, like people
will DM me or send me a link or something. That's fine, but
I don't want to take that link and then like email myself. So if
you just email Commander Cookout at gmail dot com, we have a folder right
for those, and we save everything just in case the patrons come up fricking
bunk and don't have anything good for us, but only have like sellout shit.
But the patriots are really good, lots of clever, creative, smart
and nice people in there. So there's seven. If you want to become
part of a good community, get your nickname, get your decks featured deals
on the CEO store. I've got a patron only discount code there, so
if you want to get further savings, I do when I open up commissions
for Altered Art magic cards. The first place I go is our Altered Art
channel to say to patrons, hey, I'm open for commissions, and quite
usually the commission slots for the month fill up from the patrons. And I
like doing it that way because I'm servicing the patrons. I've worked with them
before, they know kind of the timeline and cost expectations, and it's very
easy for me to do it that way. Yeah, So if you want
to get in on that, that's another benefit. If you like another benefit
if you like Commander History that's launched on March twenty fifth. That's my new
show with Mac or our new show with Mac and the final one Jesus Gemstone
Mine with John. If you want to actually learn about magic. Yeah,
oh man, I'm out of breath. Yeah lots. How's my neck?
Is it swollen? It's red? You look purple on the camera. I
don't know if somebody's used to clean that up in post, but probably not.
You look I'm just purple now. You look very purple. A purple
shirt too, so that probably helps my purpleness, I mean me, and
you look. The glow off of your screen has like blue light in it.
I got scry fall home screen open. So everything's purple up in this
bitch, yeah except me. Yeah, I look relatively healthy. And I've
got my hat on backwards so that you can't see it, so you can't
see your unkempt frickin' everybody knows why Brando wears a hat on the show.
Oh yeah, yeah. And if you don't know, literally go back through
time and listen to every Commander Cookout until you hear the answer. There is
a reason. It's a very good reason. Yeah, Okay, hang on,
okay, okay, I have a crisis of magic thing. I'm having
a an identity crisis. If you will, let me hit you with this,
hit me one of the more famous Commander Cookout lists. If I do
say so myself, nor on the wary, Yes, I agree. My
deck that I've I build, I love, I play all the time,
and the project that I've had project make it look as little like a magic
deck as I can. And that's secret layers things that don't look like magic
cards. I probably got a couple altars in there, like just kooky stuff
that like you got the weird blood moon that doesn't even like it looks like
a tarot card all sorts of weird shit. Yeah, and I love it
and it's a great conversation piece and like people like to look through it,
and yeah like that. I've noticed that now that every set has just like
different wanted posters, invisible ink and dossier cards and constellation shit, oil skin
glass, all this stuff. I have a couple other decks now that look
way less like magic decks than Nor in the Wary does. Yeah, maybe
maybe I'll get a link to it. We can put it in the description
below. My ratidrabbic only legendary or Zov decks, and all the legends have
their own treatment. Legends have their own treatments from their own sets. Looking
at that is insane. That deck is insane to look at, and it's
done all the things that Noorn is trying to do, but like easier.
And so I feel like my Nor on the Wary deck, while my favorite
deck of all time that will never change, has sort of lost something that
that makes it special and unique and different than all the other decks that are
out there, because now I personally have I'm gonna say, three decks that
are doing that, where I have three decks that just don't look like magic
decks. Watch CEO Sidewalk Slam episode three where I play my Attracts a deck.
It doesn't look much like a magic deck anymore either. Yeah, you've
got like retro frames and oil slicks and step in complete foils I'm trying to
think of. There's like the full arts. There's those ones that are like
the white the they have white sides and a colored stripe up the middle,
like the concept concept prayers. Yep, Like there's those are cool. I
like those. They all just look different. They're doing what Norn does.
But I don't want to say better, but easier because it's easier to pick
a legend that has a showcase frame. Then, like, because norn' is
at this point is doing a pretty specific thing. So you got to find
the card that's going to fit in there better than a card that's already there.
Yes, it also has a ridiculous art. Yes, hard to do.
So what's the question that's French for question, what do I do?
Do I just accept that Noorin physically isn't as unique as it once was,
or do I do something to I don't want to say force it, that's
the wrong word, but to give it a little jump start, give it
a little kick in the butt, a little kick in the touche to make
it go go a little more better, play cartouche of zeal. You can't.
It looks too much like a magic card. Okay, I think,
what do you do? What do you do there? Like many things on
Commander Cookod, I say, okay, two things, Okay, things here,
two things. Because other decks have the ability to do that thing.
Let's call it a gimmick to do that gimmick because you like that word.
It is a gimmick. You like gimmicks. I love gimmicks. Because other
decks can do that gimmick doesn't make noorin doing that gimmick less you. So
whatever you're feeling, that that self consciousness, or that that feeling of failure
or not being able to do that in mono, read this exact strategy.
You're still doing it. That's true, right, Yeah, I guess right,
And and and for for people who like the race car analogies, because
you know I do. Just because other cars go fast doesn't mean my car
is not also fast, right, Like if I build a race car,
it will be fast. Other cars are also fast though. Yeah, it
doesn't make mine slow. So that's the first thing, and your car is
real junkie, but since it still goes fast, it's impressive. There you
go. Yet, there you go? Uh. Second thing is the what
do you do to kick started? Jump start it, reinvigorate the project?
Yeah, maybe just even continue the project when it gets harder and harder to
find random stuff, because it's not like somebody at wats he has your neural
list and is specifically printing cards for it. Hand hand right, it's some
random red card from a bygone set that you need a weird printing for that's
probably never gonna happen. I mean, I got Price of Glory. Hey,
there you go. Right, it's got red borders. Yeah it's ugly
as hell. Oh yeah, those are so terrible. The worst what about
being what about doing a complete breakdown by category or function that cards serve in
the deck and saying something like, no, before that, look at all
of the weird stuff that could go in the deck, and see if there's
a trend that you could include. Ooh, right, like when I include
a dice rolling, Yes, exactly, what if there's like a dice rolling
or an attraction theme or an aura a theme or a land destruction theme,
some theme strategy, whatever it is that coincidentally that theme or strategy has a
lot of weird looking cards that you could a little bit morph. And I'm
not saying that this what nourn does. But let's say Nora had like this
Goblin sub theme which it used to what if you could take out the Goblin
sub theme and put in the dice rolling theme because the dice rolling theme has
five or six weird looking cards in it. Yeah, just see if you
can identify a trend or pattern, theme or strategy that has a high concentration
of weird looking freaking magic cards. It's a good idea. You got any
of the Lord of the Rings poster cards in there? No, there's uh
the what's the Scouring of the Shire one? I'm a spiteful bandit trees got
a poster card? Does have a poster card? Yeah, spiteful? I
have the I have the scene one where it's just like the top of an
ax. Yes, somebody's forehead. I have that one in to Ralph.
Yes that's a thing. Yeah, yeah, here check it out. I
got I got up on my screen so Brando can see. Oh, there's
one. Yeah, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, there you go,
see and and like you could maybe play that one in in Norn. I
don't have one. The only one of those I own. I opened the
Uh it was the Witch King of Angmar. Oh, yeah, is that
it? Man? I might need that one. And I don't know what
that card does. And nobody knows what the Lord of the Rings poster cards
do. And I played it because this is cool. And then I went
to actually play it in a game. Oh what does that do? I
don't know. I don't know. And then we all went to look like
read it, like what the I have no idea? How read you?
I'll read you what the one Ring does on the on the poster card if
you read the card from left to right, so as if it is being
read like something in the West would be read. Yes, line by line
by line by line, not as it is in the columns with different colored
text. Okay, are you ready, everybody? Yes, indestructible. When
the one Ring enters the battlefield, if you cast it, you at the
beginning tap gain protection of your upkeep, put a everything you lose life,
put a everything kind of on the same line for each burden counter until burden,
then draw next turn counter the one ring, the one ring, What
the f that? What the hell? In different columns? So what do
they do? Nobody knows what that card does, man, oh man,
Why are they doing that with complicated card? Nobody knows what that card does?
So bad that they changed it in the arena. Man, that's like
the best card of the year. That's right up there with Texas Cryptic Command.
Hey, so good, I play, I pay this magic cost you
can see on the top of the card, and I just tell you two
things that it does. And you should believe me, because look at my
face. You know what. Sometimes I forget and I just I just use.
I just hold it until I counter and I draw card. Yeah,
and they have to believe it's it's gotta it's gotta tap all permanence they control.
That's got to be one. Sometimes I'll go, draw card, tap
all your guys, kill you. It's draw card, tap all your guys,
counter a spell, bounce a thing, bounce tap all creature. Is
bounce target permanent or is it bounce target creature, tap all permanence. No,
it's bounce target permanent, tap all things. I tap all creatures because
tap all things would be too good even for cryptic command. Yeah, okay,
choose to counter target spell return target permanent to its owner's hand. Tap
all creatures your opponents control. There it is opponents plural fu Yeah that oh
draw card? Oh yeah. Why not find a theme. See if there's
something in that theme that you can incorporate. That's what I would do.
Okay, that's what I'll do. If you have any ideas, put them
in the comments or send it off to us. Hey, And and if
you're trying to do what Uncle Brando's doing or like what I'm doing with the
full Settle Lord of the Rings, don't get discouraged because things take time.
And and like the deck can be done for now until the next secret layer
comes out, or like the super drop comes out and you look at it
and it's like going to shop, right, it's like going to shop when
you know when the spring line comes out or whatever. And if there's nothing,
then then the deck just remains complete for the time being. Wait for
the summer. And that's fine. Off topic a little bit, but thank
you for the advice, and I'm gonna give them some advice as well.
Utilize your wish lists, everybody, if you have your email address registered with
a site that you buy cards from, like that justly Fusion Gaming Online dot
com. I've got twenty three things on my wish list. I have at
least that many. Just even if you think that they're never gonna get this,
put it in there, because I've got a couple of cards, like
a couple of not like some really cool bodity rarities that just sort of show
up. And that's cool, man, Like, if you're looking for something
specific, don't hesitate to utilize those wish lists across the sites that you buy
from. And if you're whatever site, Fusion is a great one, whatever
site, you just use them. I got I got twenty two actually,
and I want to read you some of them. Some of them are like
the things I'm missing from Lord of the Rings that that I don't think I'll
be able to just randomly walk into an LGS and see or find like the
like the extended Art Jumpstart cards, the jump Start specific extended art cards that
only came in collector packs. Oh yeah, those ones are just so hard
to find. Yeah right, So, But in addition to those, I've
got things like a a foil Fyrexian Altar from Invasion, just to see if
it ever comes back in stock. Right, I've got a foil Visions from
Beyond the If a library has twenty or more cards, draw three Graveyard,
just twenty more cards. Oh yeah, yeah that's right. Yeah, yeah,
stuff like that. I've got the eleven language Soul Ring. Sure not
that I'll ever buy that for a thousand fricking dollars anytime soon, but i
want to see if it comes back into stock, and if it does,
if the price goes up or down. That'll help me kind of plan,
prepare, track, anticipate. Yeah, gird your loins. Yeah, yeah,
I've got I've got a retroframe serialized Bruvak for the same reasons as those
other ones, just to see what they cost if they come back into stock.
What Bruvak did you settle on? I've got my original one from Jumpstart.
Still why because I'm a loser. I've opened every one of them.
Oh yeah, a serialized one. No, No, you would I would
have not. I would you would have it, and I would have your
money. You know you would not. You would put it in a binder
right beside all your goddamn foil or or dark misprinted Griffin canyons. You just
have a page of Griffin canyons with a brewvac right in the middle slot.
Oh, that's a good idea. That's a good idea. You got that
many. I'm not telling you. I will Neither and Tyler all combined have
nine of them. Yet I will not confirm or deny. Can I back
a deck with dark misprinted Griffin canyons? One day? I will say.
I will say in your presence that I have been looking, looking four looking
for dark misprint visions Griffin canyons for about seven years. Now. That is
what I will say. That is where I will leave it. And here
we are. Here we are now today in twenty twenty four, just before
the Easter Long weekend? Yeah? Is it the same in America? Then?
The same Eastern Long as we do. Was it the same Jesus Christ
that got crucified than rose two days later on Easter Sunday? I don't know.
Was it? Probably was it? I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. Well, they think he's a different color than we
do. Well, one of them like talk to a lizard, and then
one of them lived in a mountain, and yeah, there's a whole bunch
of different Jesus, isn't there. We hired a guy at the mine named
DeJesus and his brother, the Leon. The Jesus and the Leon. Hey,
yes, the Jesus and the Leon. Wow, who's the Leon?
They like? What's he famous? I don't know. They're from the Philippines.
You see the furniture guy. I don't know, because you have Leon's
furniture here in Canada. Yeah, it's a Canadian thing. Yeah, yeah,
I think whatever. So, yeah, utilize your wish lists, But
none of that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about today. Oh
yeah, I just wanted to mention the thing and we'll should we get into
should we take a slight break, grab a little bit of sider from over
here? Yeah, and we'll talk about the real shit. Oh yeah,
let's let's do it. Okay. So here's the thing. That's what I
got, that's what I've been thinking of. We're having imagine this, everybody.
Brando and I are sitting at ed H and m after in the bar,
drinking a couple of beers. Las we do checks out if you can
imagine something that's real and you were talking about thrown of the Dragon, thrown
of the Dragon, thrown of tark Here, Dragon, thrown of tark Here.
Yes, and you were we were saying, that's a good card.
I said, I never played that card, not one time ever. I've
never cast that card. I use it as a wind condition in talks.
Row. Yeah, And I said, I think that the strategy vector that
you build dex on, or the register that you build dex on, is
different than or other than the how I do you use this card to some
great effect good card? I can recognize I never cast the thing ever in
my life. Yeap, oh man, this is cool. I hope somebody
plays this. And I thought it would be an interesting kind of experiment if
I could a little bit like describe your deck strategy to you and then you
try and do it to me. And I thought that that would be fun.
I want me to go first. You mail and you play crabs.
That's it. That's it. I don't even have a crab deck anymore.
I have it together, but it's all parted out. Oh, come on.
I took the lands out well because it had a bunch of fetches in
it that I needed. Come on, and it had a bunch of equipment
in it that I needed. Come on, more, I can't afford it.
Just open more. Isn't there? Aren't they reprinting fetch lands And an
upcoming master said they're finally doing borderless fetches and they're gonna be in packs or
one of the ninety dollars. Yeah, I'm not gonna buy those ones.
Me neither. I'm gonna buy those ones. Who wants to go first?
You want to try and describe my play style or you want me to describe
yours? Okay, you go first, so I know what? Okay,
so I'll set the bar. Now we don't know what metrics I'm supposed to
to get you on. Okay. So this is what I was thinking on
last night and on the drive in this morning when I'm thinking about, Okay,
what am I gonna ask Brando? Okay? Colors that you like?
Oh? And colors that you stay away from this? Come on tweezy.
Well yeah, a little bit. You like white? Color? No?
No, no, you like red and green? That's your favorite? Correct?
And your next one that you probably play the most of? Probably black,
yes, right, yes? And some combination of black and other things
red, red, green or red green and other things. Yes, all
that checks out. Yes, Blue you play the fourth most and white you
play the least. Correct generally, I would say that you play top and
agro. That would be not a ton of go wide fast, low to
the ground, agro fast build up, get your high end big beaters out
quickly and in plentiful variety. Yes you think, am I Am I doing
good so far? Yeah? I think so. I think that you generally
stay away from soft forms of control or political control, where you try to
politic to save cards in your hand. I don't think that you do that
very often, Like, don't do that, I'll counter it, or or
strategies that I would expect you to have a counterspell in or a wrath of
God in. You don't play those strategies often. Nope, it doesn't say
you don't play removal, but I wouldn't expect you to play rap of God.
And part of that is because I don't expect you to play white,
even though sweepers do. Even though sweepers do exist in non white colors.
I play a chain reaction like one deck. Yeah, yeah, there you
go where it makes me win the game. Yeah, exactly. You you're
you're weaponizing your control and that's an agro strategy. Yes, that's how you
flip from mid game to a very abrupt late game. Yes, yes,
and that's an agro thing. You're alive, You're alive. You're alive than
you're dead. I think, yes, I think that you you actively stay
away from combo, that you don't like combo finishing because when you do it,
or when somebody else does it to the table that you're at, you
find it anti climactic. Yes, I would like to know that's on that
topic specifically. Is that is that something that you developed into or something that
is only since you started to play eat? Is that because you invest?
Why don't you play combo? I stopped playing combo? Stopped playing well.
I have a couple of decks that do combo stuff, but like I stopped
kind of trying to include it as the main way that a deck wins.
I still have them in decks because deck's gotta win. We talk about that
all the time, yep, But after I saw a few I don't want
to put Laura on blast right now, but she's the most obvious example that
you and I both know, and people in the nation who have played with
her will agree with me, and they will. She takes very long,
kind of dirtily turns yes that accrue value incrementally during the same turn, and
then will either win with the combo or not. Each turn does that incremental
build up and it either wins or does not. Incremental and non deterministic.
Nondeterministic because that's like the neutral game term versus dirty being like the derogatory term
for that. And I got you, Lara, And I'm not saying all
combos are like that, because they're not, but that experience kind of overall,
See, you get get trogged a few times, you get Najilla blade
blossomed a couple of times, which is a little litu faster, yea faster,
That's where I was going. But is the faster combo that kills you
instantly, like think of Bruvac maddening pack of phony when I instantly mill the
whole table. Is that give the same or different feeling? We will get
to that when I do you. But that's why I stopped doing it,
because it's like I didn't like how that Like I'm kind of bored. And
then like remember my original clones deck One of the big win conditions was infinite
turns, cloning the best thing every turn and using the age of the best
thing at the table to win. But then sometimes I'd take ten turns and
not win, and I was like, Okay, so I'm doing this thing
that I find kind of boring when it's done against me, So I'm gonna
just kind of start doing less of it. So my turns were more like
big, smashy and colorful and bah or not. That's so that that was
something that you developed into out of not wanting to make other people feel shitty
like you felt. Yeah, hey, that's a pretty good reason. I
don't want other people to sit and wait like I do. I mean,
maybe something some people probably don't mind it, and I'm not trying to say
don't do that if you're playing games with me, but like, that's not
the experience that I come out for, and if I have to sit through
it, I will. But more always control what you can control and try
not to control other people unless it's with actual strategic magic card and playing well
in magic. But like outside of magically, you can't control what somebody else
is gonna put in their decks. You can control what I'm gonna put in
mine. So I try not to do those things just because I don't particularly
like when it's happening on the other side of the table. Yeah, So
I just assume that other people are going to be like me and not want
to see that. So unless it's something that I can shortcut real quick or
demonstrate with a flow chart that I keep folded up in my token box,
I yes, I do have that, Yes, that does exist. You
know what I really like is as as an experienced magic player hearing you say,
like, I've had all of these things happen to me. Some of
them I know that I like, and everybody else who I've ever played magic
with likes. Those are the strategies that I'm going to play. The things
that I don't like or I've noticed that others don't like, I'm going to
do my best to stay away from those strategies. That's the answer I hear.
Yeah, and that just comes from experience. Right when we were younger
and first getting into Commander, and I'm talking like more than a decade ago.
Yeah, and even before that, when we played sixty and four Casual
before anybody even knew what EDH was we played some degenerate trash that like it
was hard to play against, and that made for some some salt and as
we matured as as people and as friends, but also became better at magic,
Like, if I don't like what you're doing, I'm gonna meta game
against you. And eventually, if everybody met is against you, that thing
that we don't like that you're doing is gonna weed itself out anyways. But
to save as friends, to save ourselves all of that heartache of that process,
that shit, we were just like, I guess, I guess nobody
likes this. I'm gonna switch strategy and I'm gonna do this. Find something
else that's also powerful, Just do something. I'll find the things that I
like that are fine, and then I'll just do those. You know what,
I'm you know what, I'm struggling and I play fucking stacks. I
do. Yeah, And you know what, people don't necessarily like that,
but well, on one or two stacks pieces in a deck, isn't playing
capital S stacks. And if you are, you're playing your capital S stacks
deck against my combo cedh deck. And that's appropriate. And I don't mind
that. I'm trying to combo you faster than you can stop me, and
that's appropriate. Get Winter roar, Dickhead, exactly right. I'm having a
tough time. We'll switch sides here right away. But I want to tell
you about my Marvel. Remember I told you I'm building octopus freaking big creature
guide deck where I clash. It turns, literally it turns freaking magic into
the game of war. Just reveal and biggest number wins. That's how you
play war with a bicycle card deck. And the deck is either insanely powerful
or completely freaking terrible or worthless no top deck manipulation. The first game I
ever played with it, I wore. I clashed five times, five times
in a row. I hit a land on the sixth one. I hit
like a two drop and the guy flipped a one drop and I won the
clash and I drew the two drop ole powerful magic. Yeah, after I
cast my five drop commander for the time right like it was terrible. The
next time I played it, Like the next game, I attack with Marvel
deep operative when he when he attacks you a clash with an opponent. If
you win a class, you draw card. You can cast an eight drop
for free. So like exactly eight or eight or less or less. Oh
yeah, eight or less. So I go like this, I goes attack
you. He's a one to eight take one forty turn clock and I clash.
I win with like a five drop and I draw it. The eight
drop I cast from my hand was peer into the abyss. I draw half
my deck and then I go tap five, put a dream Halls onto the
battlefield dream Halls which lets you discard a card to cast a card for free
of the same color. I go dream Halls, discard a blue card,
time warp, and then I go discard a card, takeing a extra turn,
discard a card, take an extra turn. So I got like six
turns in a row now, And they're like, well, how do you
win? And I go discard a black card, cast Razakath, discard a
black card, cast room card, scard demon, discard a blue card,
cast a giant eight eight crack and right, and I'll be like, okay,
I'll go to my extra turn hit you for thirty what the It's fine.
I hope the MIC's got it. I hope you can leave it in.
Oh I will, oh yeah, leave it in, leave it in.
So they're like oh, so you're just gonna take extra turns and like
value hit us for eight eights and I'm like, well, value hitting for
eight eights is like yeah, it's gonna take dudes, it's gonna take like
three turns. You guys can just scoop because I've got literally forty cards in
my hand and fifteen of them are removal and if you try and do anything,
I'll just counter it, like here's my hand and a little bit it
was like epic and awesome and I got to cast all these cards I love.
But a little bit it was I climactic because it was an extra turns
combo and everybod's like oh. But also, just the game before, I
demonstrated how bad the deck is. Right, so I don't know what to
do and I'm having a hard time. Well those are That's exactly what I
expect you to do. Have a hard time or people's thinks into the dirt
because here's what you do. Okay, here's what I here's here's what you
do. You like to play black? I do like black. I think
black is your most favoriteist color. Team A is my favorite combination, but
black is your favorite color. If you had one color that you had to
play, you'd pick black and teamer not blue. Not blue. Blue is
your second most favorite. You're pre probably right it is. Maybe maybe I'm
just being hard on myself. Maybe I do like blue more. No,
you don't, you like blackmore? Okay, he's just saving face for me.
He likes blackmore, he does, but blue has the blue has the
and here's here's your thing. And I dig on you like this all the
time, for this kind of all the time. You like to build decks
that are a silly little gimmick, like crabs, like Milly, like clash.
Yes, but like all my guys have dies triggers, and when you
tell people, oh it's dies trigger themed, Oh it's clash themed, Oh
it's whatever. The cards in the deck do that do those things. But
they also have the bruvac mill the whole table with one card. They also
have the I clash and draw time stretch. So I win like your decks
kind of do something silly and then have the come out of nowhere victory.
Yes, And in no way does that make them the same, because all
your decks are very unique and very different. Yes, but that's that's a
thing that that I think as as commander players, we try to do is
make our decks different. I like the splashy like firework, explosion and gross
stre yep. You like the gimmicky, silly things to get you to that
really powerful magic place. You like to win with the compact little combos,
but you like to set them up by doing stupid shit, just terrible stuff.
It's like, uh, it's like trying to drive in uh, like
a nail this big, but with a little tiny plastic hand with a ballpeen
hammer. Exactly. Yes. And the reason I think the reason you do
that comes here. It comes The reason that you do that is because while
I when I say something, people go, oh fuck, he probably does
have it. So I don't bluss when I say, do you want to
hear? How hard I can put? Yes, the next turn they'll take
thirty seven. Yes. And I've done that enough times where the one time
I do bluff, maybe people will not attack me. Yes. Fuck,
I don't want to risk that. Yeah, you build your decks all JANKI
and shitty to do strong stuff so that you can say it's just crabs,
it's Lord of Tresser hunt. You love that political. I just politics.
So hard. Look at last game, I lost all the clashes. I'll
bet you that's what you said. I'll bet you there was a time in
that second game when you started winning and taking extra turns. We're like,
look at last game, I didn't do anything. This deck sucks. And
then you took nine turns in a row and you swung for seventy on each
of those turns, killing three players. Yes, well, to be fair,
I didn't have to take any turns. There scoop and those are the
kind of decks I think you like to build where you like to build on
a You want to do the stuff that everybody wants to do. But yes,
you start it from like this little stupid nugget. Yes, this little
stupid you're doing the you know, not the most part you want to do,
like the top end of Yes, the thing that the deck does,
but it's Breuvac beats, it's Breuvak and the boys. But it's also a
very very very stout mill deck. I got it, I got it,
This is it, this is it. I want to I want to do
the thing, the topest of endest, most powerful thing that all magic players
want to do. I want to do the thing. But I want to
get to the thing on hard mode, and that's what it is. And
you know why you do that, Well, I tell you why you do
that. I'm going to psychological you. You you like to win every game.
And if you don't win the game with your deck winning the game doing
the traditional thing, then your deck didn't necessarily do the thing. But if
you're playing stupid clash tribal, right, and you get to clash and laugh
and do the stupid garbage that you and your deck just doesn't work and don't
win, and you don't win, you've still won because your deck did something
that's funny that you can then tell the next table you play with. Oh
man, I played this deck last time, and I clashed nineteen times and
I only won one. Yes, and it didn't do shit. My cascade
deck exact same way. Oh you remember when I cascade into the clown card
the second week in or OW. We tell the story hilarious, and it
will be hilarious every time it happens, and it will happen again, because
it's not like you went home and cut clown car. No no, no,
no, you did not. I put tutors for clown Car isn't that
right? And and that's how I think you build decks where you your deck
will always win because your deck always does the thing. And like you'll never
have a necessarily bad game unless you're flooded or screwed. Yeah, right,
and good deck building principles take over there, Like to know, if I
get flooded, it is like a statistical anomaly because I have the right amount
of manna, the right amount of rocks, the right amount of card draw.
It's not that the cards are bad, it's that the cards might not
have all the cards have a very disparate power level. These ones are for
to facilitate the theme or gimmick, the stupid crap. And these are the
ones that are going to try and win me the game. And they're trying
to feed into each other at like this kind of a steep, weird yanky
angle instead of just building gradually until you get like that critical mass to go
like really vertical, right, Yeah, Like your your power creep would look
like like the if you hold an acorn sideways, where it's all kind of
jaky and weird, and mine my power level is like when you take I've
said it before, you take an apple and try and balance. It's on
its stem where it's nothing until it's fucking everything like walking around on toothbits exactly.
It's like, what the hell is this deck even's supposed to do?
Right? And I think that's how I don't know, that's how I see
your decks being. Oh well, I'm good, I'm happy we had this
conversation. Yes, right, And I think that both of those things are
good, and I think they're both fun and I think people enjoy playing with
us. Yes, so we must be doing something right. And you know
what, I just I just do my best to make sure that everybody at
the table can have a good time. And even if my deck is sucking,
I have to remember that I put these cards. I'd made the decision
to put this in here for a reason. This is your fault. This,
this must have a reason that would theoretical bring me or the players I'm
playing with some pleasure. So if it doesn't work out, like clashing five
times and hitting basics each time, not even good like non basics that will
like let me scry and shit to facilitate my strategy. No frickin' basics,
right, I've got to just take it and roll with it because that's magic.
That's how life, life works. This is what we got to do.
We've got to put it to the people that are listening, people in
the nation, whether it be on Twitter or Facebook when we post the show
or the discord and everything. There's another drink for people coming to the door
because we're sharing the studio today. What's your deck building strategy? Like,
give us the Coles notes, the one liner, your favorite colors, favorite
strategy, stuff you stay away from, and the reason you build the way
you do. And there's something I believe. Listen, I just hit this
now, leaving this even more after talking to you, you talking to me
about how I build decks, and me putting into words how you There is
a sentence, a line, a through line that goes through every deck that
you build, you or me, but like a mission statement of your whole
deck Arsenal, And there's gonna be people out there. I'm thinking Lenny,
Yes, I'm thinking his mission statement, Gumball. I'm thinking all Killer,
no Filler, Ye Miller, just Chiller Miller. Yeah. You're trying to
think of more things to add all those those two guys, specifically because I
know that they're they're big deck builder guys that always try to do something different.
I'll about you, even with them when they build their decks that that
line still exists. It'll be different than yours, it'll be different than mine.
But there's something in every deck that we build that's the same. It's
the fingerprint. It's like, this is a this is a fingerp Okay,
that's a better one than mission statement. The fingerprint of you on that deck.
What is it that you just you can't get away from it? And
it's there, not pet card, no and not. My goal is to
make every deck different than my other one? No, no, what's the
thing that ties them all together? That's a that's a good thing to think
about because and here's the thing. If you can identify what your fingerprint on
your deck is, it will help you diversify your your colors, your strategies,
and and the way you play the game to make you a more well
rounded player. There's there is Yeah, man, we did it. There
it is we did it. You know what else? People know what we
did because actually I went to here's what I that was for yesterday's deck.
I went to say, like, oh, I wonder if for some other
enchantments that just could go in here that would be neat. And I went
to the internet and I was looking at some enchantments and then I immediately got
sidetracked and I went to Fusion Gaming online dot com and I bought a brand
of ill omen Oh did you use c CEO Summer Promo code? And on
April first? Would you use CEO Saved Promo card? I sure would because
I was gonna Actually I wasn't gonna buy that card anyway, but I did
because you saved money because I paid less for it, and now I have
it in the mail coming to my house. I'm very excited about it.
If you don't know what that card does, I'm not gonna tell you.
Look it up by yourself and then go brand with you son of a bitch,
you piece of shit. Why would you spend two Canadian dollars on that
card? Three because I had to pay for shipping. But the point is
that's what I did. I went to Fusion Gaming Online dot com. You
CEO Save or Summer depending on when you're listening to this, gave us a
five percent off. Then probably after we're done here, we're gonna go to
our super secret meeting. We're gonna drink some pile of bones, brewing co
beers of choice, possible fruit loops, possible loggers, who even knows of
the second best thing out of Regina and the official Fear sponsor Sidewalk Slam Season
two on YouTube. Episode three out now four coming soon depending on when you're
listening to this. Thank you all for being here on this very special bonus
episode, and we're going to be back next week with some outlaws of thunder
Junction oh man I Kelly on the next episode of Commander Cookout Podcast. In
our theme song,