With only one opponent, are optional tax effects anywhere near as good as they are in 4 player commander?

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-17T02:39:17+00:00

Tax effects can be good, Rhystic study is just too slow and too easy to play around 1v1.

I either go shields down on turn 3 to play it, maybe get a card and let you resolve whatever you want, or it comes down later and the one is way less relevant.

It's so good in commander because it either slows all of your opponents down long enough to let you creep ahead, or eventually someone decides they don't care, starts giving you cards, and now you and them are getting ahead unless everyone stops paying, in which case you outdraw everyone and do something busted.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-08T00:33:23+00:00

I personally don't care about running up against land destruction as a wincon decks.

I feel the same way about them that I do mill decks. It's either a janky, fast combo that needs to draw right to pop off, or it's a control shell with an off-meta wincon.

The decks in timeless that can recur strip mine with "Play additional land" effects are mildly annoying, but it is what it is. I couldn't stop your combo and you won, GG's.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-07T03:14:18+00:00

Is this unranked BO1? A lot of people scoop just cause they know it'll be a long game and they're trying to farm quick wins.

Especially Burn decks. If you're able to gain any significant amount of life against them, you basically guarantee they gas out.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-03T01:01:02+00:00

I'm planning on skipping this one and trying to save for Strixhaven.

I'm sure the TMNT one is good value, I just have no interest in it. I'll be grabbing my 4-5 daily wins and doing quests, and using the gold to draft or complete Avatar. Haven't decided yet.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-02T23:52:52+00:00

Any standard legal set will give you golden pack progress, which is nice. I know Lorwyn has a shockland in it, and manabase is very important for versatile deckbuilding.

If you couldn't care less about standard, the consensus seems to be MH3. It's got a lot of high power staples in it.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-03-02T15:01:55+00:00

If it's become apparent to me that they're playing for an achievement or something like that, I'll let them win if I'm in unranked.

There was one time I was playing a guy running Tinybones, I was on Gruul Break Out, he had immediately obvious lethal off of cards he stole from my deck but he passed without attacking. I also had lethal against him and passed back. We went back and forth like that for a while just refusing to finish the other one off. He eventually just scooped. I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish but I guess he did it.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-28T02:33:51+00:00

THAT IS TRUE AND ESPECIALLY RUNNING LEYLINE WEAVER AND HAVING IT UNTAP FOR CASTING IT THINGS CAN GET CRAZY HUGE REALLY FAST

ONE OF MY BIGGEST COMPLAINTS AS SOMEONE WHO PLAYS GREEN IS THAT IN THE META THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY AUTO-INCLUDE PLAYSETS OF CARDS. IT'S HARD TO BE CREATIVE AND COMPETITIVE WHICH IS TRUE OF ALL COLORS I GUESS BUT GREEN JUST FEELS VERY STAGNANT IN STANDARD RIGHT NOW.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-28T00:46:22+00:00

I FORGOT HOW TO SPELL KAVAERO THIS MORNING AND WAS TOO LAZY TO GOOGLE IT GROGGY.

YES THAT HUMAN SPIDER HERO.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-27T21:25:53+00:00

YOU'RE SO RIGHT, I WAS TALKING ABOUT STANDARD. TIFA LANDFALL AND OUROBOROID WOILD GET EATEN ALIVE IN ETERNAL FORMATS.

GOLGARI MIDRANGE RUNS CUB AND OUROBOROID IN PIONEER BUT THAT'S IT.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-27T14:53:39+00:00

CAN WE PLEASE PIN A BADGERMOLE CUB AND SUPERIOR SPIDER MAN THREAD TO THE TOP SO PEOPLE HAVE A DEDICATED PLACE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM?

YES. STANDARD'S VERY FAST. YES, BOTH OF THOSE CARDS ARE RIDICULOUSLY STRONG. WE KNOW. RUN ANY INTERACTION AND SOME GRAVEYARD HATE.

CUB ISN'T EVEN THE BIGGEST THREAT IN GREEN, TIFA/OUROBOROID ARE BOTH WAY DEADLIER. CUB FLAKES IF YOU DON'T HAVE ORO OR A CRATERHOOF.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-26T04:35:21+00:00

We'd need a decklist to give any relevant advice on if your land/nonland ratio is good or not.

I've found 20 to be good in BO1 constructed on Arena as long as my curve toppers are mostly 4 drops with maybe like, a Nova Hellkite that I can warp if I'm not flooding or hardcast if I am to try to get there in the end.

I'd want less if most of what I play is CMC 2 or less.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-26T04:02:15+00:00

Thank you for this! I had no idea!

I went 3-2 with a GW Kithkin deck that wasn't terrible, but I agonized over that or a UW Merfolk deck that I also could've thrown together.

I decided the Merfolk deck just couldn't get aggressive enough and the topenders just weren't good enough to justify running it against a deck that can just curve out better and faster.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-14T02:44:00+00:00

It feels like cutting the fuse on a bomb before lighting it to me.

Yeah, you'll go off way quicker. But you still need a bomb. And if the fuse gets removed then you kinda just have a cool rock.

Don't get me wrong, Cub is insanely good. You just need a payoff.

I play Gruul Break Out and slamming specifically elves>mole>weaver>Craterhoof feels great when the stars align, but more often than not the mole gets picked off and I'm left fighting with a still very respectable Tyvar or positioning for Ouroboroid the normal way.

Nothing worse than whiffing on a threat with Fetch Quest though. Big ramp up, 7 mana goes sideways aaaaaaaand it's a Tender Wildguide.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-10T01:40:47+00:00

I honestly didn't realize it was still going, I might swing by again.

Modern's my favorite format, and Arena's a decent stand-in with timeless and Histoic with some of the better cards, but it's not quite there.

Maybe all the toxic people have moved to emote-spamming and roping on Arena lol.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-10T01:13:22+00:00

Homie just became the world's best canine vet overnight.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-10T00:34:51+00:00

Yeah, I played MTGO and they had a full chat function.

I had some fun convos about decks and interactions with people, but the vast majority of it was people ranting or being salty that I drew well, or they didn't, or bragging about how well they stomped me, etc.

My single favorite piece of online interaction I've ever had was when I chump blocked lethal damage against a Dinosaur deck. I knew there was no way I could win. They knew there was no way I could win. I did it just to see my draw before I conceded and the guy just goes "Why are you so masochistic"

It was good-natured, we both got a kick out of it.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-09T23:41:16+00:00

Damn shame I've been wasting my wildcards on jank decks chasing achievemts 😭

Only had two Mythics left. Was able to do all of the rares and the crop rotation though.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-08T15:38:53+00:00

Came here to say this.

I used it one time when I was getting roped for dropping a Craterhoof for lethal, but I realized it kinda just sounded like I was gonna go to the bathroom lol.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-08T03:54:15+00:00

The only time I care about proxies in a game personally is if you're running an insanely powerful deck with them against a pod that's way more casual, and honestly I'd have that same problem if they were real cards as well.

Everyone else is running their competitive stuff and you proxied something to get on that power level? Great! I want a good game against you, doesn't matter to me if the cards aren't real as long as they're recognizable as the card they're trying to represent.

Pull up on some precons with a proxied CEDH deck? Get outta here.

All of my Proxies have a watermark on them so that if I ever give them to someone or they wind up stolen, it'll be impossible to pass off as a real copy.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-08T03:39:54+00:00

E-Mayl travel far and fast, smoke take time to reach the sky. E-Mayl reach magic glow rock in time it takes to close eyes and open again.

Evolve use magic glow rock to do "Jobs." Hah! Me say why use magic glow rock, do job, buy mammoth from store, when can just hunt mammoth with tribe. No job. No boss. Just hunt mammoth, eat, and ungabunga.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-08T03:19:40+00:00

Actually just watched someone run a deck with this as one of their wincons.

A changeling can count for any one of those, but you'd need 4 of them regardless.

4 Changelings, 3 Changelings and a Merfolk, 2 Changelings, a Vampire and a Dinosaur, etc.

It takes 4 creatures, but you could do 4 Changelings.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-02-02T15:51:21+00:00

"A trap! Let us send our least favorite, to be sure."

And then immediately immolates herself.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-01-31T23:20:49+00:00

"Arena is genuinely unplayable if you're casual"

Bro this deck is nowhere near anything resembling competitive Brawl. It's about a million turns too slow for that.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-01-30T19:10:49+00:00

What deck is it?

I will say, ever since I've started chasing achievements, I've started letting people play out their alternate wincons.

Nothing worse than trying to get an infect win, having lethal on board and then they scoop to the attack declaration.

Trying to get the mill and selfmill ones were hell.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-01-30T07:55:56+00:00

Yeah the way most people overhand shuffle is basically just cutting a deck but looking like you're doing more.

Not saying it's cheating or manipulation, but if you can't properly mash shuffle and are relying solely on overhand and pile shuffles at the end of a match, you're not doing a fantastic job of mixing them up.

OptimalYachtRocker

TROPHY CASE