Lost Caverns of Ixalan Precons: Worst to Best
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- čas přidán 2. 11. 2023
- How do the precons from Lost Caverns of Ixalan compare to one another? We give you the FULL review, from worst to best!
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NitpickingNerds - Hry
As a Dino player Verdant Suns avatar is really good, we don't really have life gain and played with the coander where you gonna incidentally get more dinos in play, it's really good and will save your neck
The lifegain saved my butt countless of times.
Dumb in my etb yarrock deck
Quick note: Raging Swordtooth is already in the Dino deck
You absolutely nailed the pronunciation of "Clavileño" kudos! thanks for the upgrade ideas. I got the pirates, and my wife vampires and merfolk, can't wait to try them out.
They’ve printed Zetalpa into the ground because she’s a cheap reprint, and in a Precon environment, where games tend to go long, she can finish off a game.
I got zetalpa as a rare in a commander masters pack. I was livid
Reprinted into the ground so hard that she doesn't have flying anymore 😂
@@LeonJohnson-yi3hg that’s brutal man
Zetalpa is the card we all make fun of but by the time it comes down we used most of our removal that would work on her so she is a decent game ender.
@@hiddenleaf414she does 8 damage in combat, I genuinely do not understand how that makes her a good game ender
This is the best duo for this channel. Hope it’s these two forever
I think Metallic Mimic may be a bit more expensive now because of the combo with Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Grist. Metallic Mimic on insect, exile Grist with cauldron adding counter on mimic, mimic uses grist's +1 make insect that becomes another Grist. Make as many Grists as you have cards to spare.
I appreciate you rating all 4 of the Ixalan Pre-cons. I preordered all 4 from my LGS. I watched Nerd Girl win a Commander game using the new Merfolk deck. She was drawing so many cards. Thank you for the video Nitpicking Nerds.
The merfolk on goes off so easily in every game I watched on CZcams
I was so looking forward to this specifically because of pirates. And everyday that there was spoilers I just kept getting more and more disappointed. I really was hoping that pirates as a creature type would finally get the “glue” it needed to be a creature type that does “a thing”. But it just feels like they are all over the place. :/
only really powerful thing they have is malcolm, and malcolm just leads you to running a bunch of infinite combos...
That was only thought too about the pirate deck. Personally I’m taking out the things that deal with GY for now. Wish they built on thieving which original Brass focused on.
Also the face commander is a complete flavor fail. Why is she reanimating things? The second grixis commander is a pirate that gets either a bigger crew or rewarded for stealing. Both is PERFECT. He should have been the face commander.
Shapeshifters and changing creature types can help make it punch abit better as a tribal.
I would've make the commander a 1 blue black red 1/4 human pirate that has: Ward: 2. Whenever a pirate enters the battlefield under your control or a pirate creature you control deals combat damage, generate a tapped treasure token. You can pay 2 and tap to steal a non land permanent an opponent controls until the end of turn. You can pay 2 and X: take control of target non land permanent with converted mana cost X or less.
The idea being: lets make a heap of coin and use it to steal everyone elses fun cards~
I dunno.. sounds better to me than reanimation. Like, wtf... Its pirates, not necromancers.
Kit-Kats we're scientifically designed to be the most satisfying candy bar.
25:40 Thassa, God of the Sea is a popular commander for 1v1 merfolk players; Svyelun being an alternative popular 1v1 commander for merfolk players. Against multiple opponents, both fail. It might not fit in right in this explore deck, but as a tempo card, it's a good card. You can pump up your merfolk, but you still need to connect. The "Can't be blocked" ability from Thassa can make sure of that. It doesn't require to tap Thassa, so it can be used on multiple creatures at once. You do need lands though.
Oh, right! You have lands! From your Explore triggers!
I'm so stoked for my Veloci-ramp-tor deck to get here this week. Ordered a few swap in creatures & Enchantments.
I love getting my once a day big goofy smile when you guys upload 🫶😃
I have won a lot of games with Majestic Heliopterus after I gave Zacama double strike. I think it's pretty solid in most Dino decks
Thanks guys, this really helped to inform my purchases.
I actually super disagree about cutting explore. One of the best things you can do with a ton of lands in hand but no gas is Explore, since it replaces itself while still being good ramp. Explore has great synergy with the explore mechanic!!!
Feel you. Usually explore sucks, but in this deck they're pretty lit
For 1G other ramp spells search a land for sure and put it on the battlefield. Explore doesn't guarantee a ramp if you don't have land in your hand.
@@LucaDV92 do you understand what exploring does
As soon as I heard to cut Windfall, that's the moment I figured they don't know what they're talking about. There's a reason why that card always retains its value, in Grixis they care about grave it's a must.
Thieving amalgam is gonna be a must include in don andres. You manifest the top card of each opponents library on their upkeep which will be 4/4s with menace and deathtouch
I feel like thassa's Scry each turn is worth keeping to help set up consistent explores.
Windfall is an amazing card what you taking about? I routinely empty my hand and instead of slowly building it back up I just reset hands. This also usually removes cards people have tutorled for which is a plus.
Great video! Thanks.
Glad you liked it!
The merfolk commander deck has power in every video with gameplay with these decks and it really dose go off in kinda surprised with how well they did
I disagree with a lot of points but loved the video format!!
Power conduit can remove the finality counter and put a +1/+1 counter on any creature. Auto include for pirates if the new becket is your commander
I got 4 cards to be able to remove counters repeatedly. In this deck each one of them is greag
Even tho the pirate deck is in last place I still wanna make it a steal all your opponents stuff deck, with a sub pirate theme, I'm using marchesa the black rose currently for just the value
Yo never watched this channel before, but both of you are hella valid for your candy choices.
I love that yall got IntoTheAM shirts. I got both of them
yeah we dont need any more Etali's or Zetalpa's but im SO psyched to be getting a canopy vista!!! those are hard to find
Yeah, it's about time
Lol damn I just checked, 19 printings so far
I wish I could give Beezy some of my KitKats, I just have too much! But milky way for me! Also when I saw the blood rites precon I had to pre-order, I love those vampires and I finally get a chance
TBH I think "Explore' in the merfolk deck is very likely to ramp you most the time given how often you're drawing lands (and psuedo-surveiling spells to the yard), but in Simic you have almost strictly better Growth Spiral, and even Uro, Titan of Yer'momma''s wrath
Growth Spiral is in the deck
Descendents Path disrespect can only be from not hitting some sweet 6-8 mana dinos at the start of your upkeep for free. That card can put in amazing work
Dino tribal looks super fun!
Are these precons that come with the set like the dr.who precons, where if you buy all of them you get every card in the set?
I've been playing Admiral Beckett so seeing a new version of her is interesting especially in a precon. I actually swapped the deck around to being Obecka for some turns value and the time stream navigator combo.
Sword of Once and Future allows double casts of the 2 drop extra turns.
I think that the pirates deck should have leaned into the strategy of Don Andres a bit more.
The hate for windfall absolutely shocked me.
It's actually a super simple card.
Normally, you don't overcommit to the board because when it gets answered you lose, but with a windfall in hand you can be a little more aggressive and let your opponents play timid then BAM You get their card advantage while having the advantage you gained from overcommiting to the board.
Best of both worlds.
It's especially good in a deck that uses the graveyard not because you can discard cards but because opponent's are definitely gonna try and answer your board, putting into the graveyard.
Why worry about getting things in the graveyard when your opponents will do it for you.
In the Merfolk deck, why wasn't Burgeoning in the non-budget adds? The deck draws you so many cards and will fill your hand with lands that having a way to put a land into play whenever an opponent does seems good.
I think the flavor on Indomitable is: If you got enough pirates and/or pirate ships you can always just hijack/attack someones ship and voila - you got a new ship :D
Indomitable isn't a place; it's a people
@NitpickingNerds Its not the name of the ship? Im so confused. 🫠
@@SWAT6809 no it is, I was just quoting my man Thor
I think the indomitable in the story sank but was recovered. That's why beckett brass, who is the captain of the ship, is called the unsinkable.
Also, beckett mils cards because she is descending through the caverns of ixalan, and reanimates pirates because she is rescuing the crew of the indomitable along the way
@@ferrangarcia1289 Thats a plausible take, I largely ignore the story, so when I make sense of flavor its likely far away from any in lore explanation
Love the vamp deck! Wish it had a little more demon jazz….but nothing I can’t fix :)
Exactly my thoughts and exactly the kinda upgrades im going with. How they didnt add Dreadfeast Demon at the very least is so odd.
@@ArmageddonAshbecause dreadfast demon doesn’t synergize wish the deck at all.
i built the merfolk deck and played it yesterday, i had kindred summons in it and it was the game winner.
Are we going to see a set review. Just asking whether I should watch it somewhere else or wait for yours ;)
so many awesome reprints in these, lfggg
It's a good thing I watched the video since I would have never guessed from reading the card that exalted triggers for each other creature that has exalted. I just thought it would have got a single +1/+1 for attacking alone.
23:48 Urza's Incubator-be careful here as many merfolk, especially if you start swapping cards, have mana values that include 1 generic mana (and some blue mana), so you're often not going to get the most out of the 2 mana cost reduction. Alternative cards I would suggest include Sapphire Medaillon (your deck is more blue than green anyways), Herald's Horn. You may also experiment with Kefnet's Monument or Rhona's Monument, though I do not have experience playing those cards.
Haunted One can help mitigate that Dusk Legion Sergeant's persist buff.
"I haven't seen a bunch of Pirate movies".... "It happened in Pirates of the Carribean" ....."Wouldn't that be a movie I'd have to see to know?" That was so great. Thanks for the content!
That stax Vampire is gonna be so fuckin OP in Winota.
Moxfield ad at 19:05 after the Pirate deck!
Silvergil adept and Spreading seas may be a budget add for the deck
The best candy was those smores bars that got discontinued. 😢 miss those😢
Wich precon makes so most sense to buy?
I think Clavileno sees Timothar, it's an additional replacment effect. When your vampire dies you can pay 1 and get a Bat and you still get a Demon. Then when the bat dies, you get the creature that died back.The only reason I believe this works is because the replacment effect, otherwise, yeah exiling it would suck and you would not get the Demon
i havent got a precon since the zombie one. i think im going back in!
I wanna grab the dino precon and put it into my Atla Palani deck :D
I love Timothar in my blood deck. He's a great way to save all my cheated in vamps.
I think one big thing they didnt talk enough about in the dino deck is if you have your commander your dinos basically have cascade. So when you cast those big dinos you can possibly cascade into a lot of dinos
They also didn't go into the potential blink shenanigans you can add to the deck since Pantlaza's effect doesn't specify it has to be only on your turn. But this is more of a general overview of everything, so I get why they wouldn't go too far down that rabbit hole.
Explore being cut is crazy. You draw a ton of lands with that commander and explore gets them out of your hand
The decks WERE 40 €, now they are up to 48. On some sites they don't even take preorders anymore. And I have even seen the dino one go for 60€.
No mention of master of dark rites? That thing is crazy
Day 61 of guessing the Moxfield ad at 16:44. The only deck I'm really looking forward to from this set is the dinosaur one, and even then I like Wayta more than Pantlaza.
I'm glad that all of the decks seem to have some pretty good value. Unfortunately the land bases suck but that was kind of expected.
Mia has the timing mastered now
I l think cutting Thassa is a wrong move. With all that explore, your creatures will be big. Making things unblockable late game, wins games. It's an MVP in my tuvasa deck.
Also the free scry every turn helps you set up your explores
I know this is nitpicky but can you guys say the mana cost as “2 colorless” rather than just “2, then the colors involved”? I don’t always look at the video so a “2 colorless, 1 white & a green” sounds like “2 white and a green”, which gets confusing.
Sorry buckos, the moxfield ad is at 7:47. Very clever hiding it in a Earth Wind and Fire lyric but you won't fool me this time.
i picked up veloci-ramp-tor for $38. feels good. lol
Dusk Legion Sergeant- if only there was a way for tribal creatures to enter with an additional +1 counter, maybe on a creature body XD
Pirates are literally the strongest kindred archetype in Commander. Hullbreacher so broken it was banned, Dockside, Malcolm, pitiless plunderer, so many strong creatures!
What is better dinos or vampires?
Don andres is going right into mt evelyn the covetous deck.
Peanut butter Twix!! I haven't been able to find them for awhile though, which socks.
Despite the relentless reprinting, I gotta go with the Kit Kat
I disagree with the opinion on Windfall, throw in Narset and it’s brutal.
Gishath, listening to that Zacama comment: 😮
Beezer, I know prolonged Grave Titan use hurts the brain, but it's called Tribal.
I’ve played a few rounds with some pretty experienced commander players and we’ve come to the consensus that vampires is one of the worst precons. The professor has it right- Dinos and merfolk are the strongest.
Liliana’s contract in the vampire deck
Surprised you put dinos so low. I have played with it a bunch on digital formats like untap, it punches way above its weight most of the time.
Exquisite Blood got reprinted?! Here goes my version's value....
“There aren’t that many good Merfolk” watch out, those are fighting words 😂
@25:45 litteraly LOL'd when the "controversy" came to light
i cant believe you guys have done this, i will never be taking your advice again (sarcasm)
Vampires just never disapoints :). Timothar has just to many "whens" on it. And whats about "Rite of Oblivion"? Isnt that a perfect removal for this deck?
Good video, but this constant tunnel animation made it really difficult for me to watch, I felt super tense after a minute. Not sure if others feel the same, but just as a quick feedback for me: maybe slow down the animation or stop it/cut to other views for a while.
Doesn't apex kill itself when it ETBs or takes damage with that "unending fight" mechanic?
Curious why this is a value reprint.
It is "up to one" so you can stop it. Definitely thats value
I feel like they missed the mark a little on the vampire deck because there are no actual demons. Would have been neat to see a couple of big demon finishers and at least Westvale Abbey.
It’s a VAMPIRE deck bro NOT a demon deck lol. The point is for you to constantly be getting tokens out, gaining a bunch of life and turning your attacking vampires into demon tokens when your vampires die, while also buffing your vampires or making your enemies lose life whenever you gain it etc.
The entire deck synergizes around vampires. The commander only turns attacking vampires into demons. Having actual demons in the deck would ruin it and not synergize at all.
Plus if you add sanguine bond you can pair that with exquisite blood and infinite combo the entire board. It’s an instant win against anyone and any deck the moment you have both out. The deck is amazing.
@@hatchell18 I know how vampires work I was just hoping for something different. You could use conspiracy with lilianas contract as a backup win con that catches players off guard too.
@@whydoesthisexistpod I added in sanguine bond so I can infinite combo off of exquisite blood and instantly win the game if I get both out. Also added the new Vito Fanatic of Aclazotz vampire to make even more big demon tokens, Vito thorn of the dusk rose, teysa karlov to make all my cards with death triggers activate twice each time, while also giving all the demon and bat tokens this deck can create lifelink and vigalance, which makes them even more threatening.
I also added the new queens bat paladin for some extra recursion anytime it attacks, fumigate for a better board wipe card that also gives massive life back, demonic tutor, vampiric tutor, grim tutor and enlightened tutor, rebuff the wicked, vindicate, grave pact, and massively upgraded the mana base with all the really good/expensive dual and fetch lands etc.
Last but not least, I also added in deadly dispute, phyrexian reclamation for some really good/extra recursion, coat of arms to massively buff all my vampires/tokens at the same time, and tainted remedy to screw my opponents over with life even more lol. This deck is insane now with all these cards in it and the synergy is perfect.
Doesn’t need any demon cards in it bro. I can make so many big demon tokens that all have flying, lifelink and vigilance and then they’ll all be majorly buffed with coat of arms and all my other vampires etc. You have the instant wincon with exquisite blood/sanguine bond, Vito thorn of the dusk rose and a bunch of other cards that can help towards that wincon too, plenty of recursion, lots of tutors, good card draw and removal etc.
Thanks needed this. To me Ixalan was when I really go into magic. The lore and world building is too good. Conquistador vampires vs inca mermaids vs anztez dinosaur riders vs a multi cultureal coalition of pirates. pirate support has gone a long way. While I was about to get all the decks. I feel...sadly wizards has really changed. Singles for me.
all of that for you to just say you weren't gonna bother with the decks? 😭
@@bloodydumper gotta vote with your wallet.
After playing pirates and merfolk a lot I have to say pirates was really fun and kept performing really well. It probably isn't as good for higher power level players but as a kitchen table precon player it's exceeded all the expectations I've seen about it online so far
I know I’m late to the party. I’m guessing the moxfield ad is at 11:43 and you know I’m not cheating cus I was plugging my nose and standing on my toes
Remember kids, everything is a budget add when you have access to a marker....or better yet a printer.
Absolutely wrong about Aetherize
It's literally the best blowout card printed. You're not waiting for them to swing on you, you're punishing them for swinging at you and you're withholding your resources when they are swinging at an opponent.
Yea, I agree
Agree and there are a couple ways to give flash to your merfolk so you can hold up mana for either.
I just like pirates in general. disappointed its the weakest. May still play it though because just being pirates will make it more fun to me :)
Watched a few precon gameplay videos these couple of days and the dinos and merfolk decks slapped hard. The pirates and vampires not so much, alas.
That's weird, gameplay I've watched was complete opposite
@@charlied8284 I have watched
Elder dragon hijinks;
Decked out;
Spikefeeders;
Worst possible commander show (which weren't the precons but the face commanders)
The vampire deck is the best one outside of the Dino’s lol
Dragonshield sleeves just passed 11 dollares here, jfc...not long ago they were 5 bucks~~
The dino should be #1 with a little upgrade. It's unstoppable. I won every game with that deck
I gotta be honest I almost skipped the video when I heard “I like Pretzel M&M’s the best!”!? Mia please tell me you don’t have Vedalken Orrey in every deck as well!
Marauding blight-priest is a decent budget add that combos with exquisite blood
Thassa is absolutely a flavor win in the Explore deck, are you kidding? She is the God of the Sea and has several storylines with prominent Merfolk characters, like Kiora. Sure, she isn't from Ixalan, but it's 100% in flavor to play Thassa in a Merfolk deck. Especially if the Commander is Hakbal cause no he swings through with no blockers every turn and guarantees you a land drop or card draw.
Everyone seems to forget that people tend to hold their best spells and if they have 6 cards you are really only drawing them 1 with windfall, it’s not “give your opponents 21 cards”
That’s not how that math works 💀
$200 now $150! OMG I’m making money by buying this! 😩
Hard disagree
@@zeroisnine you make an excellent argument 👍
@@burnsboy101 I agree man shattered my point 💀
Adaptative automaton ftw in the merfolk deck.
How did you not include Grave Pact into the aristocrat deck as an add… that should be an automatic add for a aristocrat deck…
OMG
i thought i loved the pirate deck...
but (NOW!) i LOVE THE VAMPIRE ONE MORE !!!!
Ah yes, my favorite magic card Llanowar Type
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