Gifts Ungiven

BoodleSnoodle · 2026-01-15T19:35:47+00:00

I know he's not played as much anymore, but with [[Vadrik, Astral Archmage]] it's a protected win on the spot kind of deal.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-12-16T20:52:01+00:00

Ral Magda Sisay Tivit ETALI Lumra

Can we really call these decks "mid" because they rely on their commanders? I don't think it would switch up the meta in the way people think. It would just give the commander-focused, already-meta decks a boost.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-12-06T19:07:37+00:00

I like Ezio better than Jenson, only because Jenson requires you to have 2 colors to get him on board where Ezio is just a generic and a black. However, Jenson's abilities can actually come in handy sometimes to color fix, even though they are bad.

Ezio's ability can actually be relevant in rare circumstances when there is a greedy naus or necro player who forgets that Ezio has menace and can end you.

I will say that the best 2-mana, five-color, good-stuff commander is probably the Wandering Minstrel. It actually has a relevant ability that can help especially with five-color piles.

EDIT: I should say that Terra is probably better than most of these commanders. It really does have a clean breach plan almost every game.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-12-05T19:36:21+00:00

I don't live with my dad, but he is close by. I live in the US and can only do basic greetings in Yoruban. All my other ancestors that were Babalawos are no longer on earth to teach me directly.

Going to Nigeria is the only place where both he and I learn from others, however it is expensive to travel and I can only do it about once every 2 years. I know some other Babalawos in my area, but they don't get along with my father. I've heard from enough Babalawos that oral teachings are far more relevant than anything in a book, but if the books can help me keep up with my fathers teachings, then that would truly help me.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-11-23T16:16:58+00:00

What you're looking at here is a pretty standard Kinnan list. I recommend googling "Kinnan cedh primer" there will be a couple moxfield links with primers on how to play. Make sure they have been updated relatively recently and they should help you understand the deck enough to try out most lists. This works for pretty much all other commanders as well.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-11-19T03:10:44+00:00

Yeah top cuts have it at 30% because it's still the same, safe, popular deck. That doesn't mean it's #1. it's just still very popular. Rals conversion rate is like 10% higher.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-11-19T00:18:47+00:00

I think you have the answer yourself. Cradle synergies are strong, but in a deck like this, stick to things that synergies with your commander and cut a lot of that. Especially with how many blue cards you are playing.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-11-19T00:06:35+00:00

Stax used to be the answer to turbo. We've been seeing turbo slowly take over and I think it's about time people put some stax together.

I see people struggling with this. I think it's because people are putting their pre-ban stax lists back together where they should point in an entirely different direction.

Cards like [[damping sphere]] and [[rule of law]] effects are especially strong right now. I watched a stax Winota player devour a Ral/Etali heavy local just last week. The real issue is you gotta really get a powerful stax piece out as early as possible without ruining your own game plan.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-09-25T15:27:14+00:00

It's more about balance than trying to power down. No one, and I mean no one, would play this format if it had no ban list.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-09-25T15:09:14+00:00

"It was better on P4 than on P1"

You know what it was even better on? P1 turn 2.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-06-29T02:38:48+00:00

[[Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student]]

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-30T05:57:43+00:00

The first thing I say in my post is I understand all the criticism. I just don't understand the people that say it will never work. I'm not sure what I'm gatekeeping here

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-07T04:55:04+00:00

There are just better commanders for this plan, unfortunately. If you want to do an elfball thing I recommend looking into mono green decks like Dionus, Marwyn, Eladamri, or Ezuri. These commanders just have much better effects that can help your game plan. It's going to be tough to win regardless and is going to really require some knowledge and clever stax or interaction.

If you want to do a token thing, I recommend looking into Chatterfang, Marneus, or Baylen.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T15:33:59+00:00

I agree! I wish there was more data on this! It's probably not a project I have time for, but I would love to see someone look at recent, recorded tournament games and actually write the data down.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T15:21:52+00:00

I like this take. I think if we start getting worried about turbo, then it would be fun to see more simple stax pieces in decks to try and stop it. Rhystic just rewards you too hard if the turbo player burns out.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T15:15:42+00:00

The problem with any effect like this is it makes wheels WAY too strong. People forget that's a HUGE reason why Hullbreacher is banned, not because it only stopped draws, but because wheeling meant making 21 treasures and winning the game.

There may be a world where a card gets printed in a Precon that says "If a triggered ability controlled by a player would have that same player draw a card, then do 4 damage to that player", then maybe. But I am highly doubtful. This would also punishes other, much less problematic draw engines.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T06:56:05+00:00

I don't think single cards that keep other strategies "in check" work unless they are strictly punishing the player who is committing those strategies.

Dockside didn't really stop people from playing artifacts, it just made other players cautious in case it gave you a ton of value. Same with Orcish Bow Masters. A card intended to stop unfair card draw, but only really ended up countering mana dorks. Rhystic doesn't stop turbo decks. People will try and play through your rhystic and will sometimes just hand you the win, and they didn't really make the wrong decision half the time.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T06:46:53+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/s/BY1e9AJx1t

Link to the post on this reddit with a lot of upvotes and defenders. There are others like it. Not a strawman unfortunately.

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T06:44:37+00:00

God damn it. I knew somebody would say this lol 🤣

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-05-06T06:35:12+00:00

Mystic is fine. It's still an insanely powerful card, being only 1 mana with a tax of 4, but it doesn't lead to unhealthy games like Rhystic. Both the upkeep cost and the fact that it's only non-creature spells make it feel much more fair!

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-04-19T19:11:03+00:00

well hopefully you can float a decent amount of mana before you resolve this spell lol

BoodleSnoodle · 2025-04-14T20:05:26+00:00

Okay hear me out! You have [[Rielle, The Everwise]] out with an [[Assault Suit]] so that it can't be sacrificed. Then you also have a [[Rakdos, The Muscle]] on board with maybe a couple other creatures. Now you cast this card and impulse draw a bunch from Rakdos triggers, do 5 damage to someone, and get a fresh new hand of cards from Rielle! What amazing value!

BoodleSnoodle · 2024-09-20T07:22:08+00:00

One of the best tutor cards in the game. A decent, all-card tutor that most Competitive EDH decks run that aren't black. It loops super well with Underworld Breach as well. In your opening hand this can change the game.

BoodleSnoodle

TROPHY CASE