Very cool to see Damen talk about his personal connection to the set!

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Thank you, I am very appreciative that I was able to do this upgrade and talk about the significance this precon and set as a whole means to me.

@IceClimberr

Ай бұрын

@@damenlenz You did awesome bud, hope to see you on more often

Ok, going into the Navajo history influence for the cards in this was really cool; would love to see more of that in the future

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I am glad you enjoyed it. This was something that meant a lot to me both as a Native American myself, but also as a Marine.

It may be asking a lot, but I'd like to see a lot more of Command Zone staff share a lot more with the game. Like their history of getting into it, personal connections, how relatable you are to the game in terms of playstyle, favorite card, lore, flavor text, favorite stories. etc. Can't tell you how many times I re-watched that beginning segment where Damen talked about his background and how excited he got for it. Warms my heart.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

As a european I just learned so much history in the intro - wow! And it only was intro talk of a paper card game video. Thank you, Damen, for sharing!

49:12 Twisted Fealty just wins you the game. You do the same process but with Twisted Fealty instead, and every time the aura falls off Stella Lee, each opponent will take one damage... Completely busted in every regard!

@johnnygoodman8262

Ай бұрын

There are quite a few cards like that that can win the game. Dramatic Reversal gives you infinite mana and twiddle effects will do something similar.

@ChristopherSmithGPlus

Ай бұрын

@@johnnygoodman8262 Involuntary Employment gives you *real* infinite mana. ;-) The nice thing with Twisted Fealty is it has it all in one package. No additional spells or actions needed. Like Great Train Heist can also work, but only if your attackers can get by the blockers. Bond of Passion also works. Kari Zev's Expertise will let you cast a ton of 1 & 2 mana spells.

As a Kingdom Hearts fan, I love hearing Damen talk about his experience and what he's doing with the games!

This man's voice is perfect for westerns...

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Why thank you partner 🤠

I really like how the "after 3" is sort of like "3,2,1 DRAW!"

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I missed that, but that is AMAZING

"Anything for Rachel Weeks" has been my battle cry for years. Yeehaw.

This deck is mad powerful; I'd always wondered why creatures that could copy instant/ sorceries by tapping had extra mana costs attached, and Stella is the answer why 😂

Really enjoyed this episode. Glad we're back to a single-deck format giving you guys a bit more space to add detail - loved all the extra bits included here!!

Very cool for Damen to talk about his own connection to this deck. The Navajo Code Talkers were very much the United States' version of the Enigma Machine. I really like this deck, though I already have an Izzet Spellslinger deck (in the form of Veyran), so I won't be getting this one, but it is definitely tempting.

@RedCometNurse

Ай бұрын

I really like the picks for upgrades. I would almost rather have seen Fiery Inscription rather than Guttersnipe, since it is more resilient. Delayed Blast Fireball is amazing. I have it in my Narset, Enlightened Exile deck as one of my board wipes. I often do 7 damage to opponents' faces and their creatures all on one turn to clear the way for Narset to smash face. Price of Progress is MEAN. I love it.

Damen thanks for sharing your story with us

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Anytime!

looks like a great episode, exactly what i need since i plan on getting this precon! thanks!

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I am so excited to pick up and build Stella Lee as well. I hope you like my upgrades!

Love the segment on how the deck plays out!

Damen sharing his roots was very touching. It made me want to buy the precon

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I hope you enjoy the deck as much as I do!

Really enjoyed the opening segment. Great way for the audience to connect with the cast.

This is the one deck im going to get (for parts) and im fascinated to hear about the upgrades.

Great video on upgrades. I would definitely consider grape shot for the deck. Big value when you storm off!

Can I just say that I really really enjoyed the first 15 minutes of this episode ❤️ Always nice to see someone being this happy for some recognition. Godspeed to you brother 🙏

@JasonOshinko

Ай бұрын

I hope the commenters who whine about cultural consultants paid close attention to that part.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Being able to talk about all of that meant a lot to me. I am so genuinely touched that people liked that section so much

Love the history lesson! Made the cadence of the episode feel more personal and more off-the-cuff kinda podcast.

literally love these vids so much. Thank you so much for helping me understand the deck!

I’ve been wanting a spell slinger precon for so long. I’m glad to finally have one

Awesome to hear about the cultural input and Damien’s connection to the set. Just bought the precon and loving it, your video helped a lot with approaching it out the box as a new player.

I can't wait to play this. I love Izzet spellslinger, its my favorite guild. I've already asked my friend to buy it for me when it releases officially next week I think? Edit: the cerulean whisps thing also works with Dramatic reversal, it goes infinite. I was also thinking about things that say ", draw a card", like all the cards used for Zada storm. there is: Accelerate: target creature gains haste, draw a card, argent mutation: target permanent becomes an artifact in addition until end of turn, draw a card. Crimson Whisps: target creature becomes red, draw a card. and so on and so on.

@commandcast

Ай бұрын

Hope you enjoy it!

I think this is the deck I am most excited about

I hadn't intended to pick up a pre-con for this set, but this deck looks stacked in my favor.

very happy that you are back to making video per deck

Stella Lee is legit the most power-crept Izzet-Spellslinger commander of all time (up to this point). The ability to potentially draw your entire deck for U with cerulean wisps + any 2 “free” spells (0cmc/evoke/etc) is wildly powerful. Even if played “fairly”, you can still get Stella Lee T3 and then abuse her ability as early as T4. Even if you’re only copying a ponder or expressive iteration, the value will begin to snowball. Those extra draws will feed your hand to play 3 spells the next turn and copy one of them again. Doing this “fair” build can still result in T6 Time Warps + copy of Time Warp. It can also result in T6 Mana Geyser + copy of mana geyser into any good X spell. She is so easily abused and also gives you additional cards to cast from exile. She is cracked.

@bruvaroni

Ай бұрын

Imagine if they had listed Twisted Feality 😂

Loved the history lesson! Thank you!

Loved the section on Navajo Code Talkers. Amazing cultural teaching and discussion. Great job Command Zone

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I greatly appreciate the support

Fblthp, Lost on the Range would also be another in set card that would do well in this. The only risk with plot is that it does show you as a threat, but if you plot some cantrips you might get away with it.

Twisted Fealty is a 2 card combo with this that goes infinite and instantly wins.

@Dtoszi

Ай бұрын

I’m a bit dumb but how? Gain control of all creatures and infinitely give them +1?

@Dtoszi

Ай бұрын

MoveToCombat omg, I forgot about the role’s effect

@Th3Treasoner

Ай бұрын

Twisted Fealty is one of the reasons I decided I needed to build Stella Lee. I love her, she's so good.

The mercs clothing/aesthetics in the set is a major sale for me. I have not pre-ordered magic in more than 8 years, but the look and feel of this set is it. Debatting this pre con or the Olivia one. Thanks for the content

I was actually really looking forward to using Arcane Bombardment as a win con builder. Pair it with twinning staff to double the copies it makes, stock lots of counter spells to block removal and also get a cast on opponents turns to build up exiled spells, then toss down volcanic torrent and elemental eruption to get a ton of tokens down while clearing the board.

I liked the dueling pre-con format of the last set. 🤠❤ Love the videos either way. 🎉

Looks good, thanks for the tips.

"Ah, so they don't like Ward 3, eh? Well wait 'til they get a load of THIS!" --Gavin 🤣

Tezzerat’s gambit is definitely a cut from here but may slide into my merfolk explore deck for the easy card draw and proliferate

This is a great upgrade package for my Baral and Kari Zev deck. Baral and Kari Zev is getting switched out for Stella lee, but is gonna do work in the 99

I'm loving David geeking out on Kingdom Hearts. Also Rule O Goblin Haberdasher. I wonder what Thousand Year Storm would do it in this deck.

Thank you, this was so much good information, especially for a noob like me.

Great special show!!!🎉

one note on arcane bombardment is that as far as i can tell it works on other player's turns so it ends up being a late game use for your cantrips.

“I think this upgrade will take you to a powerful place” @ 1:05:55 is what I needed to hear in my guided meditation 😂

This may legitimately be my favorite precon they’ve ever made

I call for more little history lessons associated with a set if it has ties to real life events. That little segment was cool as hell.

Cerulean Wisps also makes a treasure every time you copy thanks to Storm Kiln, making as much mana as you’d like for all the cards you draw 🤯

The one thing I can think of with Tezzeret's Gambit is that it's a 4-CMC spell you can cast for 3 mana. That could have some fringe value over regular Divination when trying to fill your graveyard with spells of different mana values for Eris's cost reduction. I haven't looked at the costs of the instants and sorceries to see if the 4 slot is actually less full than the 3 slot that regular-variety Divination would occupy, but that's the one niche I could think of other than the couple of counters you mentioned. That one's a real head scratcher for sure!

I know I am a little late to the dance but there is a very interesting movie called Windtalkers that really illustrates how important Native Americans were in the Allies/US success in WWII. @damenlenz surely had seen it and would attest to its portayal. Thank you again Damen for your personal take of the significance and correct portrayal that Wizards is doing for cultures they are using. We have come a long way and truly appreciate the lengths in which they are doing stuff right.

I was half expecting them to say we are not using any of the 2 commanders in this deck and instead we are using niv mizzet

Twisted fealty works really well with Stella

I waited for this one! Quick draw seems busted I’m so excited 😊😊😊

Got some room in the budget to get an underworld breach and a brain freeze lol. I already have an Izzet/stormy type deck but kinda interested in this one tbh. Looks fun.

Very good episode

I think epic experiment is pretty good. If you dump all your mana, sometimes youre hitting like anywhere between 6-10 cards, and can cast pretty much all of them, and youre casting them, so it procs your commanders first and second effects, so you can exile the top card or copy one of the cards or maybe even get to your infinite untaps. Its pretty good imo

Slickshot show off is definitely a must have in my eyes

Really interested in a CDH version of this deck with full explanation 🎉

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I have a list that I am in the process of testing. I don't have a primer written quite yet though

I feel like this deck needs more instants if you switch out more than 10 cards. The base instant/sorcery count is pretty low for a spellslinger deck, and it is heavy on the sorcery side

I added Quicken. It's a blue 1cmc cantrip that makes the next sorcery you cast have flash. Talk about catching them unaware.

@mjohn3126

Ай бұрын

That is such an interesting card!

“Ropin’; an ridin’; an being a……….outlaaaaaw”. She sounded as excited about this set as I am. Yee haw……..

Cerulean Wisps into Lab Man or Thoracle 👍 You don't need hundreds of dollars of interaction either; super strong deck with budget cards.

I love this episode with the cultural nuances.

Damen, as long as you play enough interaction to deal with orcish bowmasters I think this could be a fun and consistent deck that approaches cedh power for sure.

I also really like Candlekeep inspiration as a second overrun effect for those tokens.

@endersgamer72

Ай бұрын

Metallurgic Summonings also acts as a second Shark Typhoon.

Seems like Galazeth Prismari would be good in this deck. Turn any treasures you make into regular mana rocks for instant and sorceries.

I myself went more cost reduction and added a few of or mid costs to keep everything cheap. Was about to lose a game badly against a guy who was going to be coming at all of us with a massive army next turn for the win. except I managed to create and swing out with 8 elemental dragons that were prowess +3 and no one else had flying. Leir, Disciple of the Drowned ftw.

Very interesting guest to have.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Thank you, I strive to be interesting!

I run Ral Zarek,Ral:Storm Conduit,and Jace:Reawakened, would Tezzeret's gambit be worth to include for a potential surprise chance at 5 extra turns or copying every spell i play that turn with Jace's ult? Genuinely asking lol.

Glad to see a buget version of Jace popping up here! Slap a cowboy hat on Jori En in an alt art and you’ll be ready to spell sling. Little bummed not seeing any cards with disturb, madness , flashback or foretell included in the upgrade guide. Cheap Alt casting card really can go well in the deck

I think "Lila, Undefeated Slickshot" would work really well in this deck. Casting an Instant or Sorcery, then immediately plotting it to cast again later seems awesome. Downside is that it has to be a multicolored spell

Pyretic Charge gets nuts in this deck 🔥

Nice to see Maynard James Keenan in a new hat offering his thoughts on the new precon. Your last few albums are so good my friend! Seriously though I appreciate the thoughts on your connection to the set. I saw some other takes from people angry about the way native stuff was handled in this set, so it’s good to see a take from a person actually connected to both the culture being represented and the game.

I gotta say, this is the third or fourth deck upgrade I've seen that could use Ill-Timed Explosion but it wasn't mentioned. I think it would probably work better with Eris, so I get it, but that card is super sweet and I think should get more love.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

I have yet to play with Ill-Timed Explosion, I will have to give it a try

Can you guys start noting the power levels of the precons and then what you think it is after the upgrade?

I highly recommend adding fblthp lost on the range to the deck if you are going token creature for the win because you want to quick plot your negate or counter spell cards to get over board destruction also you get to look at the top card of your deck before you stella lee effect to see you can afford it cost next turn

I much prefer the two in one review videos you guys did for MKM and Fallout. Tighter focus and I like the deck comparison and commentary at the end.

literally just bought this precon

I'm not sure if someone mentioned this already but she is very powerful but doesn't play well with Guttersnipe, Electrostatic Field Young Pyromancer, or Storm stuff if you go infinite since copying isn't casting. You can still cast a TON of spells with her, but you can't make an arbitrarily large army of dragons (or Goblins, or Third-Path Iconoclast dudes, etc.). Also your cuts are spot on, they had to know how powerful Stella Lee was and just tossed in ten cards to avoid making her out of the box, absolutely bonkers.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Works amazingly with Archmage Emeritus and Storm-Kiln Artist though, it's bonkers

As soon as Damen started talking about Kingdom Hearts, I looked at how much time was left in the video and thought, “oh man this poor guy is going to try explaining this series.” Haha

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

And boy did I

I think Tezzeret's Gambit is in there for theme of the set

glad I bought the Baldur's Gate precon with Delayed Blast Fireball (:

any thoughts to throw a magnus the red in considering all the token creatures?

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Magnus is a bit too expensive mana cost wise for my tastes, but you could definitely run him and be happy, I just worry about him sitting in your hand for too long when you'd rather be double spelling.

Electrostatic Infantry could be a good cheap add also.

I very excited for this new set! AND a precone without white! AND IT blue AND Its red!? ( i dont have a red deck)

I'm gonna throw up, these decks are all so valuable recently. No complaints, I just keep expecting a drop that hasn't come yet, and that's throwing me off, exciting as it may be

Mystical tutoring a delayed fireball would do so good

Just curious, was birgi/urabrask considered for the big pricetag card?

Just realized that there are a number of extra combat spells that would work perfectly with her tap ability... Fury of the Horde, Relentless Assault, Savage Beating, and Seize the Day all work reasonably well, particularly if you have vigilance. World At War works even better.

I think they add tezzeret gambit for proliferating the storm counter

This deck is SCREAMING for a Jeska's Will. Ik its way out of budget but if you got the funds i highly recommend it

@Th3Treasoner

Ай бұрын

It is a lot of money, but IMO it's better than Mana Geyser because it bottles more cards, and costs much less. It's also why I like stuff like Rite of Flame, and Pyretic/Desperate Ritual. It's free real estate.

@damenlenz

Ай бұрын

Jeska's Will is fantastic in this deck, it basically guarantees double spelling that turn and often gets you to three on its own.

@jayd0lin214

Ай бұрын

@@damenlenz most definitely! I was hoping it would at least be an honorable mention haha but hey good stuff regardless.

The conversation about indigenous influence and how fool it is as someone who shares that lineage seeing themselves on a card is so heartwarming. There are so many people in this world who actively fight against diversity and inclusion and it always boggles my mind. If they had their way, we would miss out on so many amazing and beautiful things, so it's good that they aren't.

With all the talk around power levels, it would be great to have a before and after power level for the deck.

I was considering this precon and really like a lot of the creature stables it has but I hate how little instants and sorceries it has I think I am gonna skip cause of that

Dream's Grip is the really nasty combo piece with this deck, and it is cheap. You pay it's entwine cost and now you can tap down all your opponents' creatures whilst copying the spell as many times as you want.

As Beezy from the Nitpicking Nerds often says, “Stella Lee goes infinite with a ham sandwich.”

Delayed Blast Fire also seems really nice with Brainstorm which I’d add.

@commandcast

Ай бұрын

It does!

What are you guys talking about arcane bombardment really good card

Are the Apex sleeves better than the Katana sleeves?

Twisted Fealty from Wilds of Eldraine goes infinite with Stella's copy effect and kills the table