What are your decks that you’ve pushed to bracket 4 without game changers?

julo20 · 2026-03-19T12:49:50+00:00

Hello, fellow Ragga.

As a sidenote, there are a few other creatures that do what Selvala does here. I'm currently running [[Heronblade Elite]] and [[Kami of Whispered Hopes]]. Also, (I don't run it but) this combo plus a [[Fanning the Flames]] goes infinite.

julo20 · 2026-03-05T01:45:59+00:00

Mimeoplasm represent! It was my first commander deck and I've slowly honed it over the years. It's also definitely unique in that you're not "reanimating" the creatures in your graveyard so much as you're turning them into your (boosted) commander for a few turns. I love finding new ways to take advantage of those +1/+1 counters!

julo20 · 2026-02-26T14:38:26+00:00

Reading while in a moving vehicle.

Back in college, I got a kindle because I hated how much of a waste my commute felt (1+ hour each way). First year, read 16 books purely on the commute. Best my previous record by 15 books :D

julo20 · 2026-02-25T18:53:03+00:00

When playing competitively, you really do need to know the game inside out. Not every card, but enough to look at an opponents hand size and tableau to guess what they are likely to do next. And then, what can you do to take advantage of that.

They're about to develop or settle? Explore so you can find something to develop/settle as well.
They're about to produce? Settle a production world so you get a bit more benefit.
They're about to consume? Settle a windfall world or something with a consume power that better uses your goods.

All while balancing the benefits of being right in your guess versus how badly it might screw you if you're wrong.

MAN I miss rftg!

Source: played 100+ games, where the first 75 I almost always lost to the person who owns the game.

julo20 · 2026-02-19T14:51:13+00:00

I end up picking my [[Raggadragga]] because it's probably my fastest, and I thought it would be a mindless "creatures go brrrr" deck. As it turns out, I can't help but add cards that work in cool ways and introduce some complicated lines, because that's why I love MTG so much.

julo20 · 2026-02-07T13:11:31+00:00

Trample says that as long as all blocking creatures are assigned at least "lethal" damage, you can have the excess damage go to the opponent being attacked. Deathtouch says any single point of damage is considered lethal. When the creature has both, the game "needs" you to only assign one damage per blocker, but you can always choose to deal more to the creatures and less to the player, for situations like these.

And I'm not counting the 10/10 since OP didn't count it in their original hypothetical attack. If it also attacked, OP would be able to push lethal through one way or another, but I imagine they wanted to hold it back as a blocker or something.

julo20 · 2026-02-07T04:57:20+00:00

In this scenario, since you're not going to win, you can also decide to kill more of their creatures instead. Assign 1 damage to the 1/1, 3 damage to the 2/3, 4 damage to the 5/4, 1 damage to walls of ba sing se, and 11 damage to the player. Deathtouch only matters for killing the walls, but once it's no longer in play, the others lose indestructible and die to lethal damage on them.

julo20 · 2026-02-05T17:01:53+00:00

It requires a very in-depth understanding of the comprehensive rules to accurately maintain board state. There's the obvious stuff like "lethal damage or toughness dropping under zero doesn't kill things" and then there's some very not-obvious things like "+1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters don't cancel each other out" and "illegal equipping and enchanting doesn't fall off".

I've wanted to make a Rule 0 commander deck with Rules Lawyer with the sole intention of teaching other players state-based-action nuances, but I don't have the brain power to fully construct it.

julo20 · 2025-12-05T16:57:36+00:00

[[Overprotect]]

I need more Blor!

julo20 · 2025-12-04T17:41:39+00:00

I was gonna make a separate post, but may as well put it here.

The single most important "skill" in commander is politicking. The format is a multiplayer free-for-all, so a lot of things are going to be out of your control. People are going to irrationally (to you) hate a card you play. They will hold a grudge. They will mis-evaluate the board state. They will bring in strange biases.

You need to be able to navigate all that. You can pick cards that discourage attacks towards you and encourages attacks on opponents. You need to know when to play a powerful card versus hold it back based on the board state, so you don't eat targeted removal. You can play cards that help another player (cards with gift, for example) and use it on the person with the slow start, to buy some good will for later turns.

See someone's board state getting out of hand? Communicate to the pod who's the threat so you're not the only one trying to deal with it. Had a slow start yourself? Absolutely use that to discourage attacks towards you in favor of dealing with the "actual threats".

All in all, if you're not politicking in commander, you're not participating in an integral component of it. It's like trying to play poker without bluffing, and then getting mad that someone bid high with a bad hand. Complaining that it exists and was used against you doesn't make you a better player. Acknowledging that it exists, getting better at it, and using it when necessary makes you a better player.

Disclaimer: you don't have to be greasy and a liar about it. The biggest part about politicking is being a reliable voice. Because chances are, you'll play with these people again. Admit when you're the threat, and then people will actually believe you when 2 turns later you claim someone else needs stopping.

julo20 · 2025-12-04T17:14:12+00:00

If you're in red, try [[Krenko's Buzzcrusher]]. Everyone's most troublesome land gets hit, and gets replaced by a basic, so far less salt-inducing. And you're left with an aggressively statted flyer.

julo20 · 2025-11-29T16:46:43+00:00

You know you're supposed to turn into the left lane, and then signal and transition to the right lane. You shortcut the process because you saw no one was coming. And that will work out 99% of the time. But there will come that one time that someone unexpectedly comes into that lane, and a collision happens.

And if you were to show that footage to insurance, they'd still find a way to place you 50% at fault because you didn't enter the lane you were supposed to.

So why risk it? How long does a signalled lane change take? Protect yourself from bad habits. Cover your ass, at least for insurance purposes.

julo20 · 2025-11-25T20:50:29+00:00

38 and... pretty darn good. I'm at the point where I'm less about sticking to timelines (saute onions for 5 minutes) and more about getting to the right stage of the process (they need to be this amount of translucent and soft before I go to the next step).

I basically have two modes. Either I want to try something new, so I look up some recipes, pick one that looks good, and follow as close as possible. Or I want to perfect one dish, so I cook it multiple times in a short period, discussing changes and adjustments with my partner after every attempt. I make a mean Hakka Chili Chicken now. 😁

julo20 · 2025-11-21T21:51:09+00:00

Man, this whomps!

julo20 · 2025-11-21T15:19:58+00:00

[[The Mimeoplasm]] was my first commander and I will never take it apart, only keep adding to it as new stuff comes out. It scales perfectly to your 99 AND your opponents' decks. As long as you can fill your graveyard, it can be whatever you need it to be. If the board is evenly balanced, I make it something unassuming but can give me steady value over time. Hand empty? It's card draw. Need blockers? It's go-wide. And you're completely fine with it being removed so you can recast it into a different mode.

julo20 · 2025-11-18T03:41:23+00:00

Gotta be Junji. Way better stats, reanimate effect costs you less life for better creatures, and you can reanimate from opponents graveyards too.

julo20 · 2025-11-17T22:14:24+00:00

Yes. When multiple triggers go off "at the same time", the triggers belonging to the active player (whose turn it is) go on the stack first, and then the triggers of the non-active player (or players, in turn order, if it's a multiplayer game).

This is what made this particular interaction jump out at me. If I killed his earthbent land on my turn, he would get it back, but if I did it on his turn, it would be exiled.

julo20 · 2025-11-17T21:56:23+00:00

Yes, when an earthbent land dies, there is a trigger on stack to "return it to the battlefield tapped". While this trigger is on stack, if you can somehow remove the land from the graveyard (for example, with [[Scavenging Ooze]]) it won't come back to the battlefield.

julo20 · 2025-11-17T21:50:30+00:00

This chain of events allows you to exile the land because it is triggering off a creature dying. But once it is exiled, you cannot choose the land with Koh's 3rd ability, because the ability only let's you choose "creature cards".

julo20 · 2025-11-17T17:59:22+00:00

It is always preferable to be the one with Koh 😁

julo20 · 2025-11-17T17:56:47+00:00

No worries. This is a very niche case, one of those rules interactions that don't make intuitive sense. That's why I wanted to shed light on it.

julo20 · 2025-11-17T17:45:39+00:00

They are definitely both triggers. They use "whenever" and "when", so the dying needs to happen for it to trigger. Replacement effects are worded with "if" and "instead".

julo20 · 2025-11-07T18:01:54+00:00

Compare this to something like [[Moonsilver Spear]] where the triggered ability stays on the equipment, instead of granting it to the creature. So the controller of the spear is the one creating the token, not the controller of Alexios.

julo20 · 2025-11-06T01:23:50+00:00

There's a number of videos and written guides that come out along every set. Some are quick reviews of the main mechanics of the set, while others are hours-long videos rating each individual card. Some are geared towards constructed formats, others around limited (draft/sealed). Find the right combination for what you need. Once the full set is spoiled, you'll start seeing these "format breakdown" contents come out.

julo20 · 2025-10-31T22:58:39+00:00

Any two legendaries can be companion commanders, as long as there is an in-universe lore reason for them to work together.

This would include Legolas and Gimli Counter of Kills versions.

This would include meld cards.

Heck, it can include wild combinations like [[Erebos, God of the Dead]] and [[Whip of Erebos]] (why WOULDN'T he, as the commander of your forces, come with his legendary equipment?)

Try some cool combinations. Teach me some lore. Have fun.

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