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CovertGoBlue's Commander Is Banned (by Prof) | Shuffle Up & Play 80 | Magic: The Gathering Gameplay

Tolarian Community College

Commanders featured in this video Reviewed & Verified

Personality featured in this video

Decklists

Deck Strategies

  • Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

    Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

    Control and tax opponents by increasing their spell costs to disrupt their tempo and limit their options, aiming to win through attrition and incremental advantage.

  • The Celestial Toymaker

    The Celestial Toymaker

    Manipulate opponents' decisions by forcing them to divide cards into piles and make choices, causing chaos and strategic disruption while exploiting those forced choices.

  • Uril, the Miststalker

    Uril, the Miststalker

    Build a Voltron-style deck by equipping and enchanting Uril to become a large, hexproof attacker, focusing on combat damage to close out the game.

  • Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

    Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

    Increase damage output for all red sources, aiming to burn opponents down quickly through direct damage spells and combat damage.

Gameplay Insights

  • 1

    Grand Arbiter Augustin IV’s taxing effect significantly slowed down the game, forcing opponents to pay extra mana or lose tempo, shaping the strategic flow early on.

  • 2

    The Celestial Toymaker introduced a meta-layer of forced choices that complicated opponents' decision-making, leading to unpredictable game states.

  • 3

    Uril’s deck focused on establishing a powerful Voltron threat with hexproof, requiring opponents to manage combat damage carefully.

  • 4

    Torbran’s presence on the battlefield raised the stakes by amplifying all red damage, making each burn spell and attack potentially lethal.

  • 5

    Use of Liar’s Pendulum provided steady card advantage through guessing mechanics, supporting the blue-white control player’s hand management.

  • 6

    Mana base choices like Exotic Orchard and fetch lands ensured color fixing to support multi-color strategies effectively.

Notable Cards

  • Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

    Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

  • The Celestial Toymaker

    The Celestial Toymaker

  • Uril, the Miststalker

    Uril, the Miststalker

  • Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

    Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

  • Liar's Pendulum

    Liar's Pendulum

  • Flooded Strand

    Flooded Strand

  • Exotic Orchard

    Exotic Orchard

  • Faithless Looting

    Faithless Looting

Summary

The game began with four players piloting distinct Commander decks: a blue-white control deck led by Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, a decision-forcing deck with The Celestial Toymaker, a Voltron-style aura deck with Uril, the Miststalker, and an aggressive mono-red burn deck headed by Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. Early turns saw setup plays with mana acceleration and utility lands, as well as key enchantments like Liar's Pendulum to generate card advantage and interactive effects. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV’s player leveraged taxing effects to slow down opponents, creating a controlling atmosphere that pressured others to pay more for spells or lose tempo. The Celestial Toymaker’s unique mechanic forced players to make difficult deck-manipulating decisions, adding a layer of chaos and choice manipulation to the game. Meanwhile, Uril, the Miststalker focused on assembling a Voltron threat by attaching multiple auras, growing into a formidable attacker with built-in hexproof. Torbran aimed to accelerate damage output, increasing burn damage and punishing opponents for any creature or red source damage. The game featured a significant interplay of taxing and group hug elements, alongside attempts to build board presence and apply pressure through combat and spells. Tensions rose as the taxing effects and decision-making mechanics shaped the pacing and interaction, with the red deck poised to deliver heavy damage if unchecked. The critical turning points involved managing Grand Arbiter’s taxing lock and navigating the forced choices from Celestial Toymaker, while players jockeyed for position to execute their win conditions.

Description

CovertGoBlue tried to play a banned Commander, but Prof catches! Well, it’s not officially banned per se, but Prof votes for it to be house banned, and with good reason! Higher (Playing With Power) and Amy The Amazonian weigh in, then Shuffle Up & Play!

▶Are you looking to Shuffle Up & Play games of Magic: The Gathering over webcam? The “Looking For Game” section of our Patron Discord is 100% free and open to everyone: discord.gg/tolariancommunitycollege

#magicthegathering #mtgcommander #commander

►Check out my guests’ channels!

CovertGoBlue www.youtube.com/@covertgoblue

Amy www.youtube.com/@Amazonian

Higher www.youtube.com/@PlayingWithPowerMTG

►Decklists

archidekt.com/decks/13789898/so_you_have_chosen_death

archidekt.com/decks/13789938/three_mode_azorius

archidekt.com/decks/13789955/link_needs_more_equipment_enchantments_tho

archidekt.com/decks/13789970/some_people_just_want_to_watch_the_world_burn

►Credits Lead Editor | Director: Kevyn Wallace Editor: Theo Nguyen Assistant Editor: Brian Sirk Music / SFX: Def Cat @defcatofficial Intro VFX: Kyle Sullivan, Kevyn Wallace

►Special Thanks Josh-TheProxyGuy Andre Garcia Jebari Dean

►This episode is brought to you thanks to our wonderful Patreon community. Join to support the show, or just Shuffle Up & Play with other awesome people on our Patron Discord by going to www.Patreon.com/TolarianCommunityCollege

►This show is made in part due to Card Kingdom. You can help us out by visiting our affiliate link at www.CardKingdom.com/TCC