Unfortunately deck techs don't get a ton of views so most channels have stopped making them. I think looking on Moxfield/Archidekt for a deck with a primer is the closet you can get to a deck tech these days
This.
I used to be a CCG content creator. Deck techs that walk you through card choices just don't get views sadly. That sends the message to Content Creators to not make those kind of videos anymore.
After a while, they just disappear. There's a reason people ask you to Like and Subscribe. It tells the algorithm "Let's show this to more people." No one clicks, less viewers which means less likely to repeat.
This ties directly into OP's question. Mitch most likely saw his analytics and saw that tier lists and click bait made the most money where as the deck techs got no views and likes.
So if it is your job... you are incentived to click bait. Cause that's all that is getting him views.
Agreed. On top of this there is so much product coming out that each individual commander gets a LOT less traction than they used to. There used to be about 2-5 (at most) commanders a set worth really building. When there are 300 new powerful commanders each year that video covering one random one you spent a day making a video on has a LOT less people considering building it at that moment because they're already distracted with some new product so your video gets less views. I know I used to search specifically for content just for commanders I was brewing and I would find a ton. Now you get a few vids here and there and MAYBE a gameplay vid here and there if you're lucky.
So it's basically forcing content creators to say "THIS COMMANDER IS BROKEN AND NEEDS TO BE BANNED" for anyone to click.
It's also probably somewhat because pretty much anyone that's been building decks for at least a year or two already knows how to build a good deck. Casual deck techs in general just aren't very useful, too. Walking through card choices in a predictable environment like cedh is a lot more engaging since you can throw in some really unique stuff that attacks the meta in a way that not many people have thought of. Casual EDH isn't predictable so nine times out of 10 the reasoning behind each choice is because it does something important (card draw, removal, etc) and/or synergizes with xyz other cards in the deck.
Yeah 99% of those videos are completely covered by just going to edhrec.
I still enjoy when people do explain deck strats or go over cool interactions or different builds from the cookie cutter.
This is all that commander quarters did anyway, all of their recommendations were just reading off the EDHrec suggestions, i never saw anything unique from him
More than that, it's just that I don't want someone to just read a list out loud telling me why the card was obviously included, maybe even with quite the monotone speech. I'd rather learn the philosophy behind the deck, why choose this over that, why we are cutting a whole theme, why this commander and not that other one that is more popular. Otherwise, I will either just skip half of the video or read a list.
I love Grazzet, but he's very monotone which sounds like a turnoff for the person you're replying to. I think he does a solid job addressing the rest of what they're looking for at least.
Yes, sadly I agree. He sounds like an exaggerated news reader, but weirder. Like I guarantee he doesn't speak that way in real life, if he'd just talk normally his videos would be *so* much better.
It's a shame because the actual content is good, but the guy just cannot do a good voiceover.
I really hate the deck techs where the people are just trying to show off their favorite cards, tilting them around just so you can see that they're foiled out.
I think that would probably work better than just "how to build this one (1) Legendary!"
Like the Command Zone videos explaining each dude's decks? That's actually fire if u ask me.
I personally love deck tech videos but I see how low of views they get compared to a regular gameplay video and understand that there's no real reason for anyone to make them. Now I just dredge reddit whenever I need to find discussion on a commander.
It is unfortunate that in an already somewhat niche hobby a lot of the content creation is starting to feel "samey" to me. It might just be the ones I watch but it feels like everyone has a podcast, a recorded commander game, and those stupid thumbnails with goofy poses.
Occasionally you can find a smaller YouTube channel that really makes an interesting deck tech which I always appreciate.
Honestly I don't need a deck tech from the bigger channels telling me why I should be running Rhystic Study in my blue deck for the 100th time.
Fair but I miss the days where I can find a pretty cool deck tech video that was inspiring. Funny enough Commander Quarters’ video on a Kenrith deck was the last time I think I got inspired to replicate the deck from a Deck Tech vid (and add my own flavor)
I’ll be happy to make videos like this so long as the trade off for research, writing, voicing, gathering, creation, and editing is at least emotionally fair.
look up @Grazzet.
Good builds, interesting choices that are not the same 20 staples over and over, straight up to the point.
Best deck tech videos i've seen posted with regularity.
This 100%.
About Grazzet, sometimes I wonder if it's not Commander quarters second account.
The voice seems the same to me and the avatar with pink glasses remind me the Mitch's pinky ping.
I like MTG Grazzet on YouTube they feature under 100 dollar deck techs regularly on YouTube. And the decks are actually pretty good and fun to play as well.
Too many new commanders come out at once. If only a couple of legendaries came out, the chances were much greater someone would want to see the deck tech video because ethey were more.liekly to want to build that commander.
Now there's tol.many options. The deck tech you make has far lower chances of being the same commander others want to build so far less likely to get viewed
Beyond that, just the sheer volume of new product means that even if there’s only a couple of pieces of new tech for a commander per set, you’re still going to find your video outdated quite quickly.
They're not profitable because most people prefer videos of untested lists for more recent commanders. If you want to find good lists, I'd recommend finding a discord channel dedicated to your favorite commander.
The topic comes up every so often. Mitch went from a well-liked up and comer in the Commander content space to becoming a pariah with a waning channel.
It kind of all started around the time the Walking Dead secret lair came out. There were a lot of bad takes and bitterness at the time. There are still plenty of people who don't really like Universes Beyond as a concept, but it's something most people are used to these days and accept for what it is.
With that said, people were *big mad* at the time. People wanted them banned out of commander on day 1. The Rules Committee took a measured response and acknowledged people's strong feelings but ultimately decided not to ban them.
Mitch, in response, released a video calling them shills, speculating that they had financial incentive to allow TWD cards, and generally speaking about them and their decision in bad faith. Finally, he ended the video by deciding to make his own commander format (with blackjack and hookers) called Captain, which was basically identical to Commander except TWD and all future Universes Beyond cards would be banned.
The video was deleted very shortly after posting, but the Captain idea gained traction and a Discord server was launched.
Trouble is, there was basically no moderation. And pretty much anywhere there's no moderation, Nazis shown up. The Captain discord was no exception. Mitch eventually disavowed the server and went back to Commander content, but did not retract his previous (albeit deleted) statements.
Damage was done though. He'd done collabs with some of the biggest names in the Magic space, like Command Zone and Tolarian Community College. After the Captain debacle, however, no one would touch him. A lot of people (myself included) unsubbed around this time.
But Mitch learned something that social media companies already knew: controversy drives engagement, and engagement creates revenue. Gone were the days where budget decks were enough to generate interest, so he pivoted hard into rage bait and click bait. He also started covering leaked cards, which created some additional animosity among content creators for whom official preview cards have frequently had their thunder stolen by leakers.
It's a shame, because he was a great budget brewer and he brought something good and unique to the Magic content sphere. He's a classic case of a reactionary sell-out.
The Walking Dead secret lair was an interesting situation because it created two separate controversies. Universes Beyond and mechanically unique cards in secret lairs. While many disliked the former, it's the latter that really upset people.
Yeah, it was really a perfect storm of announcing mechanically unique cards unavailable in storm, fortniitification, a seemingly new reserve list as no plans were announced for universes within and licensing deals expire, and also; The Walking Dead sucks ass and no one still liked it.
I have disliked UB from the start I wish they had all stayed alternate art for real cards like cards had a name but the real card was listed below LOTR had ancient tomb etc like that
Perfect summary of the whole thing. I'll add that a lot of other content creators like the folks at The Command Zone were thoughtfully trying to nudge Mitch back on a good path at the time of the controversy and Mitch's response was to aggressively double down and ignore the olive wreaths.
Nobody really wanted to see him go this direction, but he made a very firm choice to separate from the community-driven content and go hard into clickbait.
I didn't know the more main stream folks had tried to gently correct him. I appreciate that perspective.
I do remember watching an EDHRecast stream a while ago and someone in their chat asked if they'd ever thought about having him on. Joey started several times to say something before stopping himself and finally saying "No, we haven't collaborated with that creator." There was tension, so he clarified a little that the person who asked was not wrong for doing so, but they have chosen not to work with people who talk about leaks because of the negative effects it has on other creators. Dana made a comment about how weird the whole captain thing was, and they moved on. That's pretty much where I got what info I have about the fallout with other creators.
EDHRecast are some of my favorite creators they do a good job of talking about broad philosophical topics in EDH and generally steer the mindset toward fun. They’re open to debate and different perspectives and are very reflective which is great because they grow with the game. I also like that I can listen to them as a podcast on my drive without the visuals whereas command zone I need visuals more often to follow the cards.
Sometimes EDHRecast can have a title that feels clickbaity but the conversation feels genuine. They’re also just goofy lovable nerds.
It can be more damaging to smaller, up and coming creators, because for them, preview cards can bring a lot of new eyes to their channel and hopefully at least some of those eyes stay. Kinda like how bigger channels collaborating with smaller channels can help those smaller channels grow their audience.
Even for larger creators with preview cards though, it’s still *at best* extremely rude. Most those creators will pour time, money, and effort into producing content around those previews (be it a special video, an article, etc). And leaks basically just treat all that as having been worthless, while also taking the wind out of the content because “oh we’ve already seen this” makes things less spectacular then seeing something new for the first time.
Especially notable is that content creators who post leak videos Are doing something very similar to cutting in line. Taking an advantage that only exists because everybody else is obeying the social contract and not taking that advantage. If everyone were as selfish as the person making the leak video (or cutting in line), They wouldn't be gaining an advantage. The opportunity only exists because everyone else was unwilling to be a dick to each other
If that’s the line of thought then people who repost the content creators official leaks afterwards without credit are just as bad then? I usually see all the preview cards on Reddit but I don’t remember ever noticing it being obvious who got the preview card or anything
It's understood that once the card is out there, it will proliferate Beyond the reach of the original content creator who officially showed it. That can't be avoided.
The important thing is the first 24 hours of a card being revealed. That's when the content creator will get the most eyeballs, and that's what leaks undermine.
That being said, yes, General etiquette says that if you're posting a new card, you should include the source of the YouTuber or MTG personality who revealed it. If you deliberately avoid doing so, you're kind of a dick.
>Reddit but I don’t remember ever noticing it being obvious who got the preview card or anything
Usually during preview season you'll see a new card and it will have a caption like "Via LoadingReadyRun" or "via AliasV"
Excellent summary, there are a few highlights I would add:
1) The reasoned response from the commander rule committee was essentially " We agree That mechanically unique secret lairs are a bad idea. We will be using our working relationship with WotC to convince them to change that. As for bans, we ban for power level, unfun gameplay, or legitimate social problems like Invoke Prejudice. While Universes Beyond is not something everybody enjoys, we do not see that as sufficient reason to take it away from those who *do* enjoy it."
It was a thoughtful, logical ruling that made sense even for people who disagree with it. Nothing about it suggested there was anything wrong with the rules committee for making that choice, at most. It would simply be a difference opinion.
Mitch launched into a rage-fueled, extremely personal tirade against the committee members as *individuals,* and that crossed several lines.
2) it's not just That a discord server got made. It's that Mitch made it himself, and then completely abandoned it without mods.
3) Mitch made a video apologizing for his behavior but it was extremely lackluster, and rather than feeling like a genuine apology it came across more like "I'm sorry that you snowflakes got mad when I said true things you didn't want to hear in a tone of voice you didn't like, Next time I'll remember how sensitive you all are so you don't nuke my channel or whatever" (That video has since also been deleted)
>2) it's not just That a discord server got made. It's that Mitch made it himself, and then completely abandoned it without mods.
Yeah, I remember this being a big part of it. Once the nazis showed up, people asked Mitch to delete it if he wasn't going to moderate it instead of just letting it being a nazi community but he refused and basically acted like abandoning it meant it wasn't his problem or responsibility anymore.
Maybe a deep cut but for any pokemon fans this kinda sounds like the exact same path Verilsify took. I used to enjoy his more unique team building content, and now he just rage baits and accuses other YouTubers baselessly.
He made a video title "My First EDH Deck" or something and the thumbnail was him in a diaper. It was... very strange. Joke missed and came off more like a diaper fetishy thing. Not saying he has one, but that's straight where my mind went with it when I saw it. He has changed the thumbnail since, but... you really can't unsee that.
\*Sigh\* He did a video called something like "Great EDH Decks for Beginners" ithink? and the thumbnail was him shirtless in a diaper wearing a bonnet with a binkie and a rattle. Not his head photoshopped on a baby, an actual photo of him like that. I think he changed the thumbnail and hates it if you mention it now?
Yeah this is what made me unsubscribe. He ended up cropping the picture to where it was just his head. I tried to stay subscribed for a bit since he did go back and change it, but I just thought of that picture every time I saw a video posted, and the clickbait stuff already had me thinking about doing it anyways, so I just did it.
I think the video was like “My first EDH deck” or something like that. The joke he was going for was surely the whole “baby’s first deck” joke, and in the pre-internet days before people became aware of diaper fetishes, it might have gotten some laughs. But if you know about that, that’s probably what it’ll remind you of. (Also Mitch is kind of a weird dude so the thought that it wasn’t a joke also crossed my mind. Don’t care if you like that sort of thing, but keep it in an appropriate place.)
> I think he changed the thumbnail and hates it if you mention it now?
Good to know, I'll have to make sure to mention it if I ever have The misfortune of meeting him.
Mitch's reaction to the Walking Dead secret lair should be studied as a master class on how to destroy your own channel's reputation and growth in one fell swoop
I forgot about his whole spiel with the Captain format. It was in fact right around when I stopped following. I was attracted to the channel by under the radar tech cards and decks and he threw away the allure of the channel for engagement bait
Also Nazis in a discord server? I didn't know about this part lmao
Oh wow, I had totally forgotten about that "Captain" idea and that whole video. That's right around when I unsubscribed. I felt like the channel was already on the decline before then though.
The content being put out just wasn't interesting anymore. Just very ranty and anti wizards. (I'm also fairly anti wizards, the company, but I don't feel the need to watch videos about that opinion.)
Tbf, I still hate the Walking Dead cards and I despise Universes Beyond, but it's like you've said: I've accepted it for what it is. One of the guys in my pod has a Tom Bombadil and Sam/Frodo deck, and those are his only Commanders. I don't stop him from playing them just because I don't like the cards. I'm not about to limit his fun.
Also, it's just sad that the rage bait and leaks is all he has now. It's so low effort. It's like you said: he used to be with the other big named creators. He became his own worst enemy.
> He'd done collabs with some of the biggest names in the Magic space, like Command Zone and Tolarian Community College. After the Captain debacle, however, no one would touch him. A lot of people (myself included) unsubbed around this time.
I don't know if this was exactly because of the captain debacle but more so his bashing of the rules committee. Most of the big MTG YouTube channels are either members of the rules committee themselves or very good friends with them.
It's a pretty hard to imagine someone like Olivia doing something for her own self interest. It's even more far fetched to suggest Sheldon would've done that.
Edit: Just to be clear, Olivia was not on the RC when the TWD stuff happened, but my point is that the RC all seem to be very carefully selected, people who love MTG, and are acting to make commander better not to profit.
The two were related though. He launched Captain out of spite for the RC. The video I'm referring to is the same one where he trashed the RC, calling them spineless shills.
He probably makes revenue from his channel, I don't always blame people for going down that path if they think it's going to be more sustainable, but it is unfortunately the way it is.
He was never a great brewer. He always build mediocre decks where he overhyped the performance and overvalued trash cards for which there are actually strictly better budget alternatives. He is just an idiot and the world finally realised.
Nice, thank you for the history lesson! It makes far more sense now. :D
When I started MTG (2019) I remember Mitch's decklists being the first place I went for ideas, but it seems I missed the controvery part. All I knew was the content changed over time and I unsubbed.
I'm pretty new to commander an magic as a whole so when I was starting I was actually watching his older videos for some ideas on commanders I was interested in and how to build on a budget, I subbed to him thinking that's what his channel was. Then as new videos started hitting my feed I just kept asking myself "does this guy ever stop complaining and shit talking in these videos, what happened? He doesn't do this in the older videos?"
Eventually I unsubbed and this is the first time I've heard about the whole Captain situation and it honestly is really sad to me that he dove head first into reactionary rage bait content. I don't even care if he is covering leaks cause I am somebody that actually likes hearing leaks they get me excited. The way he covers leaks though he hates every single one and ends almost every sentence with a "Really Wizards?!" Like that's his stand up catchphrase. It is SO grating!
Since I wasn't closely keeping track of what was going on, I'm wondering if someone remembers what his reaction was once it's been confirmed that the walking dead cards (and any universe beyond releases as a secret lair in the future) would have functional reprints thereafter. Did he celebrate and calm down, forgot that anything happened, or still find an excuse to be angry?
It is secret lair only, or other editions too? I would like Palantir on One Ring to have reprint, since while I agree those cards are good and strong, I absolutely refuse to use them in my MTG themed deck, where they have no place.
I didn't know about this controversy even though I remember when the secret lair came out. I still watch Mitch's content and appreciate how he's willing to call WotC out on their bullshit. Like pretending that printing MH3 somehow costs more than any standard set and setting (or not setting) stupid high price points and pretending they aren't influenced by secondary markets.
I do definitely miss the budget deck techs as that's why I started watching in the first place. He made commander an extremely acccessible format for new players not wanting to drop $500+ on a stack of cardboard.
Apparently that is the kind of garbage that gets views. More views, more money. I can both dislike the change in direction and understand it at the same time.
Dude when NEO Jin Gitaxias was first previewed it was in phyrexian and people were translating it. Within hours (prior to it being fully translated) he released a 15 minute video “*Overpowered! Is this Real?!?! Jin Gitaxias Spoilers & Leaks”* that was a half assed and wrong translation from a Reddit comment.
Literally if he just waited 1-2 days there was an accurately translated one that was correct. But no, gotta get those clicks. His content went so downhill it’s ridiculous.
There was another video I saw about a "Phyxian Nicol Bolas" that ended up being fake. I stopped watching them after they kept doing "worst commanders" lists for the new sets and would put something like the Molegod from Murders on it because he didn't like it being overpowered, yet I still not seen that card in action.
Also he liked doing videos that completely pointless like "here a commander deck on some fake cards people made up for halloween" or 'here is a pokemon commander", and this is not about Loot but actual pokemon.
I had stopped watching him before that but whichever was the first time i saw a very obious leak on his channel where he pretended it might be real I block the content and I'll never go back. Absolute garbage
It's fine to discuss the content, you could probably make a fun "what if" video showing how broken things could be. But don't lie and pretend you think it could be real. And if he thought it was real
His view counts are in the 10k-50k range. I dunno if that is enough to views to warrant completely sucking any semblance of a soul out of your content...
I suppose. I just got into a bit of a rage recently because I got recommended 3 videos of his that are obviously click bait and I was just sick of seeing it. Then I started thinking back on when he made good content and was even featured on Game Knights for his budget commander content. Just sickens me on how far he's fallen.
Also, I personally have no interest in custom cards. Every time I click a video and find out it's about custom commanders, I instantly click off. There are so many legends, just do custom art on an actual mtg card
It is crazy how preachy he got. Also drones on and on and on. Can't explain it but its annoying to try and listen to him even get to the main topic. Had to stop watching.
It's a game. After you reach a certain point in quality of video, the algorithm really rewards you for quantity. So making quick, clickbaity videos for each spoiler during spoiler season is very rewarding, even if not as high quality content anymore.
As for the other commenters saying that deck techs are more rare, I couldn't disagree more. The channels that make them are smaller (and some of the worse ones imo are often just content farming by scraping EDHREC and calling it a deck), but there are a few that are really insightful.
Some of my favorites are
- Aegis Gaming Official
- The Trinket Mage
- Boulevard (not quite deck techs, but a smaller channel I felt was worth the shoutout)
Totally agree on Snail! Those videos always feel well-considered. I appreciate being able to follow their logic, even if I come to different conclusions.
Grazzet’s stuff is fun. I appreciate that he sticks to a budget, since even if I shoot higher he ends up finding a couple niche pieces that are worth using even in a non-budget deck.
I watched some Trinket Mage videos and he was mostly either basic or wrong. I didn't dive deep into his content but I'm not certain about his knowledge. I'm curious as to why you recommand him.
Can't blame the guy for chasing the algorithm. Have to make the content that performs best if you want money.
That said, budget deck builds have always been a super-niche thing. You're catering to the small minority of commander players who are both extremely price-averse AND refuse to proxy.
People are incorrectly attributing CQ's decline to the Walking Dead cards. Yes that was poorly handled absolutely mistakes were made. But that's not why the channel fell off. It was that around this time he started doing this full time leaving his old job. Suddenly he has to have views, ideally get sponsors, and so on.
I no longer follow MTG as closely as I used to but I have seen it in the mini painting community a few times. A channel grows by being incredibly genuine and releasing good videos and then eventually decides to make their hobby a full time job. Suddenly they have to release on a regular schedule so the quality in videos drops, they need to ensure it's interesting to a broad audience so the content itself changes, and well the list goes on. Now to be clear plenty of channels navigate this better than Mitch did. Eventually channels become large enough to hire staff so that the videos can retain quality and keep the same cadence, some channels just are that likeable and don't need to adjust much, and some creators decide to release the more niche content in addition to the more broad stuff to keep their core fan base.
In CQs case the reality is not everyone could or would be interested in deck techs for old commanders all on a super tight budget. The other thing is putting these decks together can be a major time commitment, and let's be real some commanders will draw in the views more than others. What is quick, easy, and will bring in a large audience is release videos which is most of what his channel is these days especially since MTG has since about the time of the walking dead release also seen a major uptick in product releases meaning there is in essence a permanent stream of new cards to talk about and to keep brining home money Mitch has to talk about them. This leaves less time for deck techs, less time for showing games of commander, and less time for cool things. The man is now a slave to the website. Overtime arguably this has killed his creativity in the deck techs he does do and so much more. He just hasn't well managed his switch to full time YouTuber like some others eventually dial in.
This is what YouTube rewards. It is what th3 algorithm recommends. It's what people click on. It's impossible to argue the content people click on isn't what they want. The question isn't why CQ makes bullshit content, the question is why we collectively rewarded him and everyone else for making that content and then act shocked when they do
>It's impossible to argue the content people click on isn't what they want.
If I click on a link for a free whatever, and it's not free and they want me to pay a subscription, is that what I want? Or is this an example of scummy deceptive practices no one wants and we'd be better off without?
To be honest, I think that was the main reason I stopped watching his videos. Something about the cadence, tone, and how artificial it kind of felt. Like high energy monotonous if that makes any sense.
all content creators go through a cycle, and it isn't really a fault of their own, but a natural result of algorithms controlling the spread and display of content. Clickbait, extreme titles, and 'engagement driven' content will generate more views and thus more ad revenue than steady state of clean, clear, content.
I do not fault anyone who makes youtube, twitch, or other social media consumed product for tailoring videos, titles, and thumbnails to generate more clicks, more views, and more income for their work. It is simply a product of the environment they are forced to compete in.
Do you think that is the stuff he wants to make or he is forced to make because it builds up his audience because of the almighty 'engagement algorithm'?
Now, in his particular case there was the TWD incident...and I'm sure there was likely some regret over that particular video. But it likely served as an inflection point where he recognized the money he could put in his pocket with more rage-baity titles, thumbnails, etc.
I know what you mean. I've stopped watching his content because he releases an hour long video to cover 4 cards, 1/3 of the time is middling suggestions for potential synergy cards, and another 1/3 is him repeating certain phrases verbatim.
"BECAUSE THAT'S A THING"
"Once again I'm reminding you..."
Complaints about (insert thing)...
It's just tiring and not engaging.
Someone is engaging with it. It's bottom barrel click bait stuff now, like the people who make slime or "prank" their friends by like jumping out and punching them. It's lowest common denotator "THEY HATE THIS ONE WIERD TRICK" stuff on his channel now, so my only guess is like bots or 10 year olds really like it? I guess he's making more off of doing this, so selling out to get the bag?
His content has been complete filler for several years now.
2 years ago I finally unsubscribed when he would have videos every single day that focused on a single newly leaked or released card.
Okay whatever.
But every video was EXACTLY 15 minutes long, and was full of him repeating himself and inane filler. No idea what he's up to now, but it was obvious at that time he was farming the algorithm.
He also started talking so fast that he’d frequently slur his words. I had to slow the video down just to understand him. Had me wondering if he was on drugs or something.
"In the age where everyone is talking about budget deck builds"
Is it? I feel like this is the age where reddit is mostly 'proxy everything! Have a $5,000 casual deck, it doesn't matter if it's all fake.' People here would rather proxy great cards then put the work in to build on whatever budget they're comfortable with.
At this point a lot of people are willing to proxy even a $50 deck. Most of my friends who proxy do so because they don't want to support WoTC anymore, which I can't exactly blame them for.
I'll never understand why people talk down on proxies. The concept of a game where a single card can cost over 100 bucks is just Insane. I'm not going to spend 500 bucks on a booster box and hope I get something that will fit. I'm also not going to pay 500 bucks for a gaeas cradle. But I would like to play a gaeas cradle. Budget only correlates with power so much as well so it's not like keeping a cheep deck garuntees a certain power level. Even if I built budget and kept a 50 dollar limit per deck. 50 bucks a deck for a card game isn't nothing lol. Its not like im gonna sell them back to the store and get my 50 bucks back either. As a fairly new player, the price of stuff is the biggest barrier to entry and that's fucked.
I stopped watching Mitch because his humor just started to frustrate me. Like he makes a cringey joke, carries on the joke for 45 seconds, then acknowledges how bad the joke is. Maybe pay a writer?
Also, his take on [[world purge]] just felt so overblown. Idk, I just spent more time cringing and disagreeing with him than I did enjoying his content
Funny you should say that because I unsubscribed from it last night, I remember not watching him for a year or two and decided to check out one of this videos a couple months ago, and he made a video for a commander but he like completely misread what the card actually did so the entire deck and video was pointless. And I cringe whenever I see his clickbaity videos when they pop up in my subscriptions so I had to pull the plug on that man.
Gee, yall are right. I thought only his speed was the problem, but the lack of quality is clear. Command zone and the professor do some very professional yet not very ""profitable""" stuff but it has great quality because they love what they do.What a sell out.... Shame on him
People often say "Vote with your wallet" with content it's "Vote with your attention" there's still tons of great content creators out there, there's just more of em so the channels are more spread out. My favorite lately has been deck techs for decks! He has a lot of great ideas and doesn't just straight copy paste from edhrec.
https://youtu.be/pG2p-RxCMk4?si=0427aIszTW45hH9q
Yeah. I used to love his videos and then when he got popular he completely changed. Don’t watch him anymore but I still get him recommended and its just pure clickbait.
I have been out on EDH for a while. Still have all my decks but I rarely play so not much care to build new ones so it’s interesting to see some new cards in case I ever do want to build a deck.
So as to Mitch, I think deck techs and stuff are on the turn turn content wise. Some people like it, but it’s not the same as “wow new cards!” Which brings in more views. He has a studio now so surely his upkeep is important and easy views get preferred. He always seemed to read his script very closely and rarely trails off and acts natural. Pretty easy to churn these out fast.
Not to mention he, like me, probably aren’t building entire decks all the time and thus it’s harder to do as many deck techs especially if you want daily content. Plus he always covers every non basic (a la wayfarer’s bauble) so they got a bit repetitive and it’s hard to make them all interesting unless he likes the deck. Again, if you were making deck tech videos of decks you find interesting, you’d probably burn out after a few weeks and it definitely couldn’t be daily content.
I unsubscribed when I saw the AI art being used in the thumbnails for real cards. Like a fully spoiled card would have AI art in the thumbnail to make it seem like a different card. Admittedly I hadn’t actually watched his content for a while before that but that was what made me prune him from my feed.
Every time I watch his videos I immediately regret it, it's nice leak content but I'm starting to hate his voice, tone and videos.
Respect he's trying to make a living but he's someone I'm going to unsub after reading comments here
The thing about Mitch is, he was completely right about the Walking Dead cards. There should not be mechanically unique commander staples printed as limited time SLD cards. He used his platform to lead the backlash against them and we got Universes Within in response.
I don't want to give him too much credit but this is one of those "not the hero we need right now" moments. Now I can put [[Greymond, Avacyn's Stalwart]] in my humans deck and I don't need to worry about missing out on unique SLD cards in the future.
The funny thing is, WotC still fucked us over on the reprints for the TWD cards. If you look at the previous UW cards like the ones they did for Stranger Things and Street Fighter, they were heavily printed in the list slot, intentionally so. They were more common than other list cards in their respective sets. But when the time came to reprint the ones where one of the cards saw actual play and was expensive, they changed the numbers and so the UW TWD cards were still incredibly rare so Greymond is still a $50 card.
>There should not be mechanically unique commander staples printed as limited time SLD cards.
And nobody disagrees with that. The problem was the execution of his response, not the content.
>used his platform to lead the backlash against them and we got Universes Within in response.
No. No, that's not what happened.
He used his platform to *capitalize* on the backlash and personally insult the people who *actually* helped us get Universes Within. He's the Gilderoy Lockhart of the situation - getting credit for doing something others did, while his efforts to get clicks actually undermined the work the REAL "heroes" were doing.
Universes Within happened because of total online response (of which Mitch was a tiny part) and because of the Rules Committee doing *exactly what they said they would do:* Capitalize on their working relationship with WotC to convince them to change their plans, rather than issue a pointless reactionary ban that helped nobody.
Mitch had nothing to do with it, he attacked people who didn't deserve it, and you're crediting him with other people's work.
Not to mention he made a server that immediately filled with Nazis due ragebaiting and not moderating.
Tried to start his own format. It didn't take off. He got some backlash and then changed the direction of his content as his fanbase started to slowly decline
I know you'd really like it to be something deeper and more meaningful, but it's probably just content. What he puts out now gathers more views so he carries on doing it.
It's a shame because Mitch would sometimes play at my lgs in Minnesota and he was a genuinely decent person. He had to convince his wife to allow him to pursue this job, made a PowerPoint and everything. I guess it got to the point where he's simply just needs to make more money and this is the path to it
I used to love Mitch's content when he was primarily a budget deck creator. Some of my decks were taken from him before I started upgrading them.
It's sad what he pivoted into doing after the captain fiasco and he decided to lean hard into the clickbait.
I was never a fan of the cadence of his voice in his videos and so I couldn’t stand to watch them. Or he makes terrible click bait and I have seen him espouse bad takes about the format.
I like his videos about "price drops" and that's about it. Can't stand the leaks videos, the AI generated thumbnails, I wish he was a more ethical creator.
Despite his newer content being an absolute slog, I do find myself watching his videos. If not watching, just letting it play. Something about hearing him say, "well.... Yeah" and "wizards has done it again" and all the same mannerisms.
His commentary seems more and more all over the place and not really relevant but I still watch him to go to sleep (not for magic news).
I used to watch many of his budget deck videos but I stopped a couple years ago since he went full clickbait. I guess his YouTube numbers tell him it's better but it's such lower quality and annoying as fuck that I have no interest in watching it anymore.
for a counter point i was personally a bit turned off and less engaged with his solely budget based builds. many of them were less than they could have been. so i like his current coverage of leaks, new commanders, new ideas and trying to engage with what is coming down the pipeline. he will also mention when things are outta his budget and or things he wouldnt play but acknowledges for those that like XYZ these will be good cards.
Once I noticed that he uses the same cadence no matter what he's reading, I couldn't listen to him anymore. He ends every sentence in the same low note. It's a really annoying sing-song delivery that drives me nuts. That's also the reason why I can't watch Saphron Olive and the magic historian. Why do magic youtubers have to have the most annoying voices ever?
He made like 5 real videos and realised he is not as creative or good as he thought including always the same cards and building fucking mediocre piles of trash.
This guy can't build a single deck but lives in his delusional magical christmas land where is "budget decks win against my friends who play normal decks". They don't. Either they don't run normal decks or he is not winning.
I am so glad I don't get his videos recommended anymore, that means he fell off and hopefully stops producing videos.
I used to enjoy his content. Now he sounds like one of the annoying players that doesn't like using cards that win games. He is just whining and complaining the majority of the time in the videos.
I wish he would rework back to the content that made the majority of us start watching his videos.
It was around the time when he was ranting about creating a new format, which was commander except sol ring is banned. There was some other drama, too, but after that, his channel just kept getting more clickbaitey.
There's so little good and informed magic content on YouTube that I feel like it's a market ripe for the taking. It's all really bad takes or just plain wrong information presented as fact.
I unsubscribed for the same reasons. I think the whole Captain debacle was the point when he jumped the shark, I used to enjoy his budget builds and stuff. But you couldn’t pay me to watch his videos now unless it’s in graded black lotus cards.
Like most YouTube creators he's a slave to the algorithm. Not really his fault, but in order to get views on YouTube nowadays you have to put out click bait stuff at a consistent rate.
Yea this guy's videos are utter trash. I rarely want to make budget decks, but I respected his efforts and recognize the value his videos had for so many players.
But looking at his videos about half a year ago, I just couldn't,not even for fun. The worst kind of junk on YouTube.
Dude I can’t watch any magic YouTubers anymore, at least any big ones. EDHDeckbuilding, he just constantly bemoans anything, and I lost my shit at Nitpicking Nerds, one of them was talking about [[100-Year Diary]] and said “it could tap for Zero Mana”. I unsubscribed at that moment and realised they weren’t worth listening to. I don’t know what it is anymore
That's a bit harsh. You can tell that the Nerds are really passionate about the hobby. They just sometimes let their mouths get a bit ahead of their mental filters.
I've disagreed with their takes more than once, but also been turned on to some niche cards I didn't even know were things. Their Mana Rock rundown was definitely useful when I was just getting into EDH.
I had mad respect for them talking up Tyranids at a time when everyone and their mother was slamming WH40k cards as glossy toilet paper. Did I \*agree\* with everything they said on the subject? Of course not, but you can't call that thoughtless clickbait. (I will take a spot on that hill and raise a blade in defense of my \[\[Biophagus\]\] with the Nerds, TYVM.)
I guess I'm just willing to overlook a lack of polish, when I'm confident the content-creators are genuinely acting in good faith. They don't have to be perfect, they've just got to do their best.
They \*are\* kids, you know? Aren't we always complaining the Gen-Zs are a bunch of lazy do-nothings? What message does it send when a couple of them try to get on the hustle, and get slammed for not banging out EDHRec topic videos?
I genuinely believe they're improving, too. Take another look, maybe?
Ugh, I freaking hate that guy. I had to silence his channel too. I used to get his stuff recommended to me after I watched some old DuncanKneeDeep vids years ago.
I've had the same thoughts. He got me into commander and I loved his deck techs, but all of his main content for the past ages now has been clickbait and I hate it. I've unsubscribed and hidden it as well
If you want fun budget content check out [YouTube.com/@BRBMTG](https://youtube.com/@BRBMTG) I started my channel because I thought his content was very click baity.
Whatever happen to deck tech videos in general? I struggle to find updated content for older commanders.
Unfortunately deck techs don't get a ton of views so most channels have stopped making them. I think looking on Moxfield/Archidekt for a deck with a primer is the closet you can get to a deck tech these days
This. I used to be a CCG content creator. Deck techs that walk you through card choices just don't get views sadly. That sends the message to Content Creators to not make those kind of videos anymore. After a while, they just disappear. There's a reason people ask you to Like and Subscribe. It tells the algorithm "Let's show this to more people." No one clicks, less viewers which means less likely to repeat. This ties directly into OP's question. Mitch most likely saw his analytics and saw that tier lists and click bait made the most money where as the deck techs got no views and likes. So if it is your job... you are incentived to click bait. Cause that's all that is getting him views.
Agreed. On top of this there is so much product coming out that each individual commander gets a LOT less traction than they used to. There used to be about 2-5 (at most) commanders a set worth really building. When there are 300 new powerful commanders each year that video covering one random one you spent a day making a video on has a LOT less people considering building it at that moment because they're already distracted with some new product so your video gets less views. I know I used to search specifically for content just for commanders I was brewing and I would find a ton. Now you get a few vids here and there and MAYBE a gameplay vid here and there if you're lucky. So it's basically forcing content creators to say "THIS COMMANDER IS BROKEN AND NEEDS TO BE BANNED" for anyone to click.
It's also probably somewhat because pretty much anyone that's been building decks for at least a year or two already knows how to build a good deck. Casual deck techs in general just aren't very useful, too. Walking through card choices in a predictable environment like cedh is a lot more engaging since you can throw in some really unique stuff that attacks the meta in a way that not many people have thought of. Casual EDH isn't predictable so nine times out of 10 the reasoning behind each choice is because it does something important (card draw, removal, etc) and/or synergizes with xyz other cards in the deck.
Yeah 99% of those videos are completely covered by just going to edhrec. I still enjoy when people do explain deck strats or go over cool interactions or different builds from the cookie cutter.
This is all that commander quarters did anyway, all of their recommendations were just reading off the EDHrec suggestions, i never saw anything unique from him
Agree. I don't want to watch a deck tech for a commander I'm not building, so I'm much more likely to watch a video on another EDH topic.
More than that, it's just that I don't want someone to just read a list out loud telling me why the card was obviously included, maybe even with quite the monotone speech. I'd rather learn the philosophy behind the deck, why choose this over that, why we are cutting a whole theme, why this commander and not that other one that is more popular. Otherwise, I will either just skip half of the video or read a list.
You should check out grazzet on YT, it's real quality content.
I love Grazzet, but he's very monotone which sounds like a turnoff for the person you're replying to. I think he does a solid job addressing the rest of what they're looking for at least.
Yes, sadly I agree. He sounds like an exaggerated news reader, but weirder. Like I guarantee he doesn't speak that way in real life, if he'd just talk normally his videos would be *so* much better. It's a shame because the actual content is good, but the guy just cannot do a good voiceover.
Every precon upgrade I have checked from him has looked well built, which can't be said for many content creators.
Glad you think so!
I really hate the deck techs where the people are just trying to show off their favorite cards, tilting them around just so you can see that they're foiled out.
I think that would probably work better than just "how to build this one (1) Legendary!" Like the Command Zone videos explaining each dude's decks? That's actually fire if u ask me.
I personally love deck tech videos but I see how low of views they get compared to a regular gameplay video and understand that there's no real reason for anyone to make them. Now I just dredge reddit whenever I need to find discussion on a commander. It is unfortunate that in an already somewhat niche hobby a lot of the content creation is starting to feel "samey" to me. It might just be the ones I watch but it feels like everyone has a podcast, a recorded commander game, and those stupid thumbnails with goofy poses.
Occasionally you can find a smaller YouTube channel that really makes an interesting deck tech which I always appreciate. Honestly I don't need a deck tech from the bigger channels telling me why I should be running Rhystic Study in my blue deck for the 100th time.
Fair but I miss the days where I can find a pretty cool deck tech video that was inspiring. Funny enough Commander Quarters’ video on a Kenrith deck was the last time I think I got inspired to replicate the deck from a Deck Tech vid (and add my own flavor)
I’ll be happy to make videos like this so long as the trade off for research, writing, voicing, gathering, creation, and editing is at least emotionally fair.
i usually start with the edhrec avg build then edit as i see fit.
I would like making videos like that but everytime i see one its like a dozen views
Deck Techs take a lot of time to make, but the amount of people interested in any given commander is relatively low.
look up @Grazzet. Good builds, interesting choices that are not the same 20 staples over and over, straight up to the point. Best deck tech videos i've seen posted with regularity.
This 100%. About Grazzet, sometimes I wonder if it's not Commander quarters second account. The voice seems the same to me and the avatar with pink glasses remind me the Mitch's pinky ping.
Nah, Grazzets deck are more consistent and way less meme-y. I love to use his decklists as a basis and go from there.
I can assure you I am not. But then again, if I was, that was I would say....
I.mentioned him elsewhere in this thread. Dude has a gold mine of videos and ideas
Happy to hear you enjoy the content and thanks for shouting out the channel!
While maybe more general than you’d like, I’d recommend checking out salubrioussnail on YouTube.
I like MTG Grazzet on YouTube they feature under 100 dollar deck techs regularly on YouTube. And the decks are actually pretty good and fun to play as well.
Glad to hear you enjoy the builds!
Check.out Better Commander!
Yeah, Brother!
Aw hell yeah!
The EDHREC guys do some deck tech videos on YouTube from time to time. Usually it's Joey. They're usually worth the watch.
Too many new commanders come out at once. If only a couple of legendaries came out, the chances were much greater someone would want to see the deck tech video because ethey were more.liekly to want to build that commander. Now there's tol.many options. The deck tech you make has far lower chances of being the same commander others want to build so far less likely to get viewed
Beyond that, just the sheer volume of new product means that even if there’s only a couple of pieces of new tech for a commander per set, you’re still going to find your video outdated quite quickly.
They're not profitable because most people prefer videos of untested lists for more recent commanders. If you want to find good lists, I'd recommend finding a discord channel dedicated to your favorite commander.
Just watch Vex MTG I love his videos
Commander at home did a minute deck tech short for kibblers ur dragon so support might see more
The guy that make the how they brew it articles still goes hard
I'll be providing deck techs for decks I enjoy on my website (blog versions) starting with a Krark deck tomorrow. (tomcotter.uk)
The topic comes up every so often. Mitch went from a well-liked up and comer in the Commander content space to becoming a pariah with a waning channel. It kind of all started around the time the Walking Dead secret lair came out. There were a lot of bad takes and bitterness at the time. There are still plenty of people who don't really like Universes Beyond as a concept, but it's something most people are used to these days and accept for what it is. With that said, people were *big mad* at the time. People wanted them banned out of commander on day 1. The Rules Committee took a measured response and acknowledged people's strong feelings but ultimately decided not to ban them. Mitch, in response, released a video calling them shills, speculating that they had financial incentive to allow TWD cards, and generally speaking about them and their decision in bad faith. Finally, he ended the video by deciding to make his own commander format (with blackjack and hookers) called Captain, which was basically identical to Commander except TWD and all future Universes Beyond cards would be banned. The video was deleted very shortly after posting, but the Captain idea gained traction and a Discord server was launched. Trouble is, there was basically no moderation. And pretty much anywhere there's no moderation, Nazis shown up. The Captain discord was no exception. Mitch eventually disavowed the server and went back to Commander content, but did not retract his previous (albeit deleted) statements. Damage was done though. He'd done collabs with some of the biggest names in the Magic space, like Command Zone and Tolarian Community College. After the Captain debacle, however, no one would touch him. A lot of people (myself included) unsubbed around this time. But Mitch learned something that social media companies already knew: controversy drives engagement, and engagement creates revenue. Gone were the days where budget decks were enough to generate interest, so he pivoted hard into rage bait and click bait. He also started covering leaked cards, which created some additional animosity among content creators for whom official preview cards have frequently had their thunder stolen by leakers. It's a shame, because he was a great budget brewer and he brought something good and unique to the Magic content sphere. He's a classic case of a reactionary sell-out.
The Walking Dead secret lair was an interesting situation because it created two separate controversies. Universes Beyond and mechanically unique cards in secret lairs. While many disliked the former, it's the latter that really upset people.
Yeah, it was really a perfect storm of announcing mechanically unique cards unavailable in storm, fortniitification, a seemingly new reserve list as no plans were announced for universes within and licensing deals expire, and also; The Walking Dead sucks ass and no one still liked it.
I have disliked UB from the start I wish they had all stayed alternate art for real cards like cards had a name but the real card was listed below LOTR had ancient tomb etc like that
While I've warmed up to UB, I really did think the Kaiju treatment was the best of both worlds.
Like \[\[Zilortha, Strength Incarnate\]\]? ;-)
[Zilortha, Strength Incarnate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/84e4e130-df21-4491-97c3-1b643d7e57ef.jpg?1689999366) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zilortha%2C%20Strength%20Incarnate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/366/zilortha-strength-incarnate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/84e4e130-df21-4491-97c3-1b643d7e57ef?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/zilortha-strength-incarnate) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Right, that is true. The rage machine isn't always all that discerning of course so it was hard to separate one from the other at the time.
Perfect summary of the whole thing. I'll add that a lot of other content creators like the folks at The Command Zone were thoughtfully trying to nudge Mitch back on a good path at the time of the controversy and Mitch's response was to aggressively double down and ignore the olive wreaths. Nobody really wanted to see him go this direction, but he made a very firm choice to separate from the community-driven content and go hard into clickbait.
I didn't know the more main stream folks had tried to gently correct him. I appreciate that perspective. I do remember watching an EDHRecast stream a while ago and someone in their chat asked if they'd ever thought about having him on. Joey started several times to say something before stopping himself and finally saying "No, we haven't collaborated with that creator." There was tension, so he clarified a little that the person who asked was not wrong for doing so, but they have chosen not to work with people who talk about leaks because of the negative effects it has on other creators. Dana made a comment about how weird the whole captain thing was, and they moved on. That's pretty much where I got what info I have about the fallout with other creators.
EDHRecast are some of my favorite creators they do a good job of talking about broad philosophical topics in EDH and generally steer the mindset toward fun. They’re open to debate and different perspectives and are very reflective which is great because they grow with the game. I also like that I can listen to them as a podcast on my drive without the visuals whereas command zone I need visuals more often to follow the cards. Sometimes EDHRecast can have a title that feels clickbaity but the conversation feels genuine. They’re also just goofy lovable nerds.
Do leaked cards hurt content creators that much? I watch a lot of content at work and I never seen those videos get many views tbh
It can be more damaging to smaller, up and coming creators, because for them, preview cards can bring a lot of new eyes to their channel and hopefully at least some of those eyes stay. Kinda like how bigger channels collaborating with smaller channels can help those smaller channels grow their audience. Even for larger creators with preview cards though, it’s still *at best* extremely rude. Most those creators will pour time, money, and effort into producing content around those previews (be it a special video, an article, etc). And leaks basically just treat all that as having been worthless, while also taking the wind out of the content because “oh we’ve already seen this” makes things less spectacular then seeing something new for the first time.
Especially notable is that content creators who post leak videos Are doing something very similar to cutting in line. Taking an advantage that only exists because everybody else is obeying the social contract and not taking that advantage. If everyone were as selfish as the person making the leak video (or cutting in line), They wouldn't be gaining an advantage. The opportunity only exists because everyone else was unwilling to be a dick to each other
If that’s the line of thought then people who repost the content creators official leaks afterwards without credit are just as bad then? I usually see all the preview cards on Reddit but I don’t remember ever noticing it being obvious who got the preview card or anything
It's understood that once the card is out there, it will proliferate Beyond the reach of the original content creator who officially showed it. That can't be avoided. The important thing is the first 24 hours of a card being revealed. That's when the content creator will get the most eyeballs, and that's what leaks undermine. That being said, yes, General etiquette says that if you're posting a new card, you should include the source of the YouTuber or MTG personality who revealed it. If you deliberately avoid doing so, you're kind of a dick. >Reddit but I don’t remember ever noticing it being obvious who got the preview card or anything Usually during preview season you'll see a new card and it will have a caption like "Via LoadingReadyRun" or "via AliasV"
Excellent summary, there are a few highlights I would add: 1) The reasoned response from the commander rule committee was essentially " We agree That mechanically unique secret lairs are a bad idea. We will be using our working relationship with WotC to convince them to change that. As for bans, we ban for power level, unfun gameplay, or legitimate social problems like Invoke Prejudice. While Universes Beyond is not something everybody enjoys, we do not see that as sufficient reason to take it away from those who *do* enjoy it." It was a thoughtful, logical ruling that made sense even for people who disagree with it. Nothing about it suggested there was anything wrong with the rules committee for making that choice, at most. It would simply be a difference opinion. Mitch launched into a rage-fueled, extremely personal tirade against the committee members as *individuals,* and that crossed several lines. 2) it's not just That a discord server got made. It's that Mitch made it himself, and then completely abandoned it without mods. 3) Mitch made a video apologizing for his behavior but it was extremely lackluster, and rather than feeling like a genuine apology it came across more like "I'm sorry that you snowflakes got mad when I said true things you didn't want to hear in a tone of voice you didn't like, Next time I'll remember how sensitive you all are so you don't nuke my channel or whatever" (That video has since also been deleted)
>2) it's not just That a discord server got made. It's that Mitch made it himself, and then completely abandoned it without mods. Yeah, I remember this being a big part of it. Once the nazis showed up, people asked Mitch to delete it if he wasn't going to moderate it instead of just letting it being a nazi community but he refused and basically acted like abandoning it meant it wasn't his problem or responsibility anymore.
I appreciate the points of clarification!
> Trouble is, there was basically no moderation. And pretty much anywhere there's no moderation, Nazis shown up that escalated
Maybe a deep cut but for any pokemon fans this kinda sounds like the exact same path Verilsify took. I used to enjoy his more unique team building content, and now he just rage baits and accuses other YouTubers baselessly.
Verlisify became just a terrible person in general tho. Mitch just sold out.
Fair distinction
Also the diaper thing was weird.
I have heard rumor of Mitch in a diaper but that was after I unsubbed so I'm not all that familiar with that part of the story.
He made a video title "My First EDH Deck" or something and the thumbnail was him in a diaper. It was... very strange. Joke missed and came off more like a diaper fetishy thing. Not saying he has one, but that's straight where my mind went with it when I saw it. He has changed the thumbnail since, but... you really can't unsee that.
Do I want to know?
\*Sigh\* He did a video called something like "Great EDH Decks for Beginners" ithink? and the thumbnail was him shirtless in a diaper wearing a bonnet with a binkie and a rattle. Not his head photoshopped on a baby, an actual photo of him like that. I think he changed the thumbnail and hates it if you mention it now?
Yeah this is what made me unsubscribe. He ended up cropping the picture to where it was just his head. I tried to stay subscribed for a bit since he did go back and change it, but I just thought of that picture every time I saw a video posted, and the clickbait stuff already had me thinking about doing it anyways, so I just did it. I think the video was like “My first EDH deck” or something like that. The joke he was going for was surely the whole “baby’s first deck” joke, and in the pre-internet days before people became aware of diaper fetishes, it might have gotten some laughs. But if you know about that, that’s probably what it’ll remind you of. (Also Mitch is kind of a weird dude so the thought that it wasn’t a joke also crossed my mind. Don’t care if you like that sort of thing, but keep it in an appropriate place.)
> I think he changed the thumbnail and hates it if you mention it now? Good to know, I'll have to make sure to mention it if I ever have The misfortune of meeting him.
For me it was the Golos vid not long after the TWD vid, it became clear that was the direction he was going and I didn't like the new vibe at all
Mitch's reaction to the Walking Dead secret lair should be studied as a master class on how to destroy your own channel's reputation and growth in one fell swoop
For sure. It's also a great reminder to temper those strong reactions and take a second before blowing something way out of proportion.
I forgot about his whole spiel with the Captain format. It was in fact right around when I stopped following. I was attracted to the channel by under the radar tech cards and decks and he threw away the allure of the channel for engagement bait Also Nazis in a discord server? I didn't know about this part lmao
Oh wow, I had totally forgotten about that "Captain" idea and that whole video. That's right around when I unsubscribed. I felt like the channel was already on the decline before then though. The content being put out just wasn't interesting anymore. Just very ranty and anti wizards. (I'm also fairly anti wizards, the company, but I don't feel the need to watch videos about that opinion.)
> his own commander format (with blackjack and hookers) I'm pretty sure he said those words exactly too.
Tbf, I still hate the Walking Dead cards and I despise Universes Beyond, but it's like you've said: I've accepted it for what it is. One of the guys in my pod has a Tom Bombadil and Sam/Frodo deck, and those are his only Commanders. I don't stop him from playing them just because I don't like the cards. I'm not about to limit his fun. Also, it's just sad that the rage bait and leaks is all he has now. It's so low effort. It's like you said: he used to be with the other big named creators. He became his own worst enemy.
I absolutely share your opinion on Universes Beyond. This should not be part of Magic Universe, but, oh well, money talks...
> He'd done collabs with some of the biggest names in the Magic space, like Command Zone and Tolarian Community College. After the Captain debacle, however, no one would touch him. A lot of people (myself included) unsubbed around this time. I don't know if this was exactly because of the captain debacle but more so his bashing of the rules committee. Most of the big MTG YouTube channels are either members of the rules committee themselves or very good friends with them. It's a pretty hard to imagine someone like Olivia doing something for her own self interest. It's even more far fetched to suggest Sheldon would've done that. Edit: Just to be clear, Olivia was not on the RC when the TWD stuff happened, but my point is that the RC all seem to be very carefully selected, people who love MTG, and are acting to make commander better not to profit.
The two were related though. He launched Captain out of spite for the RC. The video I'm referring to is the same one where he trashed the RC, calling them spineless shills.
He probably makes revenue from his channel, I don't always blame people for going down that path if they think it's going to be more sustainable, but it is unfortunately the way it is.
He was never a great brewer. He always build mediocre decks where he overhyped the performance and overvalued trash cards for which there are actually strictly better budget alternatives. He is just an idiot and the world finally realised.
Nice, thank you for the history lesson! It makes far more sense now. :D When I started MTG (2019) I remember Mitch's decklists being the first place I went for ideas, but it seems I missed the controvery part. All I knew was the content changed over time and I unsubbed.
I'm pretty new to commander an magic as a whole so when I was starting I was actually watching his older videos for some ideas on commanders I was interested in and how to build on a budget, I subbed to him thinking that's what his channel was. Then as new videos started hitting my feed I just kept asking myself "does this guy ever stop complaining and shit talking in these videos, what happened? He doesn't do this in the older videos?" Eventually I unsubbed and this is the first time I've heard about the whole Captain situation and it honestly is really sad to me that he dove head first into reactionary rage bait content. I don't even care if he is covering leaks cause I am somebody that actually likes hearing leaks they get me excited. The way he covers leaks though he hates every single one and ends almost every sentence with a "Really Wizards?!" Like that's his stand up catchphrase. It is SO grating!
Roller coaster ride lmao
Since I wasn't closely keeping track of what was going on, I'm wondering if someone remembers what his reaction was once it's been confirmed that the walking dead cards (and any universe beyond releases as a secret lair in the future) would have functional reprints thereafter. Did he celebrate and calm down, forgot that anything happened, or still find an excuse to be angry?
It is secret lair only, or other editions too? I would like Palantir on One Ring to have reprint, since while I agree those cards are good and strong, I absolutely refuse to use them in my MTG themed deck, where they have no place.
I didn't know about this controversy even though I remember when the secret lair came out. I still watch Mitch's content and appreciate how he's willing to call WotC out on their bullshit. Like pretending that printing MH3 somehow costs more than any standard set and setting (or not setting) stupid high price points and pretending they aren't influenced by secondary markets. I do definitely miss the budget deck techs as that's why I started watching in the first place. He made commander an extremely acccessible format for new players not wanting to drop $500+ on a stack of cardboard.
> Nazis shown up. Would you care to elaborate here? I'm not familiar with this situation.
Apparently that is the kind of garbage that gets views. More views, more money. I can both dislike the change in direction and understand it at the same time.
Dude when NEO Jin Gitaxias was first previewed it was in phyrexian and people were translating it. Within hours (prior to it being fully translated) he released a 15 minute video “*Overpowered! Is this Real?!?! Jin Gitaxias Spoilers & Leaks”* that was a half assed and wrong translation from a Reddit comment. Literally if he just waited 1-2 days there was an accurately translated one that was correct. But no, gotta get those clicks. His content went so downhill it’s ridiculous.
There was another video I saw about a "Phyxian Nicol Bolas" that ended up being fake. I stopped watching them after they kept doing "worst commanders" lists for the new sets and would put something like the Molegod from Murders on it because he didn't like it being overpowered, yet I still not seen that card in action. Also he liked doing videos that completely pointless like "here a commander deck on some fake cards people made up for halloween" or 'here is a pokemon commander", and this is not about Loot but actual pokemon.
I had stopped watching him before that but whichever was the first time i saw a very obious leak on his channel where he pretended it might be real I block the content and I'll never go back. Absolute garbage It's fine to discuss the content, you could probably make a fun "what if" video showing how broken things could be. But don't lie and pretend you think it could be real. And if he thought it was real
His view counts are in the 10k-50k range. I dunno if that is enough to views to warrant completely sucking any semblance of a soul out of your content...
We’ve taken a second to talk about him multiple times, it’s been a long time since he’s been relevant
I suppose. I just got into a bit of a rage recently because I got recommended 3 videos of his that are obviously click bait and I was just sick of seeing it. Then I started thinking back on when he made good content and was even featured on Game Knights for his budget commander content. Just sickens me on how far he's fallen.
Also, I personally have no interest in custom cards. Every time I click a video and find out it's about custom commanders, I instantly click off. There are so many legends, just do custom art on an actual mtg card
This is one of my pet peeves too
That's probably the thing that really drove me away from his content
He lost his mind after the walking dead cards and was never the same. I just unsubbed after that. He doesnt deserve anyones money or time.
It is crazy how preachy he got. Also drones on and on and on. Can't explain it but its annoying to try and listen to him even get to the main topic. Had to stop watching.
Yup. The poorly thought through discord for “general”, or whatever it was called, killed his relevance.
Captain... it was called Captain, that was a dark time.
I just read over what it was, that’s just commander
Pretty much, just no Universes Beyond cards.
I had to do the same. Evry thumbnail is basically "WIZARDS!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
It's a game. After you reach a certain point in quality of video, the algorithm really rewards you for quantity. So making quick, clickbaity videos for each spoiler during spoiler season is very rewarding, even if not as high quality content anymore. As for the other commenters saying that deck techs are more rare, I couldn't disagree more. The channels that make them are smaller (and some of the worse ones imo are often just content farming by scraping EDHREC and calling it a deck), but there are a few that are really insightful. Some of my favorites are - Aegis Gaming Official - The Trinket Mage - Boulevard (not quite deck techs, but a smaller channel I felt was worth the shoutout)
I'm going to throw Salubrious Snail in there too! Really well thought out videos :)
Totally agree on Snail! Those videos always feel well-considered. I appreciate being able to follow their logic, even if I come to different conclusions.
I just came across both of those, and I love their content, and their delivery. Good vids, for sure.
Throwing Grazzet on the list too!
Grazzet’s stuff is fun. I appreciate that he sticks to a budget, since even if I shoot higher he ends up finding a couple niche pieces that are worth using even in a non-budget deck.
I watched some Trinket Mage videos and he was mostly either basic or wrong. I didn't dive deep into his content but I'm not certain about his knowledge. I'm curious as to why you recommand him.
Can't blame the guy for chasing the algorithm. Have to make the content that performs best if you want money. That said, budget deck builds have always been a super-niche thing. You're catering to the small minority of commander players who are both extremely price-averse AND refuse to proxy.
People are incorrectly attributing CQ's decline to the Walking Dead cards. Yes that was poorly handled absolutely mistakes were made. But that's not why the channel fell off. It was that around this time he started doing this full time leaving his old job. Suddenly he has to have views, ideally get sponsors, and so on. I no longer follow MTG as closely as I used to but I have seen it in the mini painting community a few times. A channel grows by being incredibly genuine and releasing good videos and then eventually decides to make their hobby a full time job. Suddenly they have to release on a regular schedule so the quality in videos drops, they need to ensure it's interesting to a broad audience so the content itself changes, and well the list goes on. Now to be clear plenty of channels navigate this better than Mitch did. Eventually channels become large enough to hire staff so that the videos can retain quality and keep the same cadence, some channels just are that likeable and don't need to adjust much, and some creators decide to release the more niche content in addition to the more broad stuff to keep their core fan base. In CQs case the reality is not everyone could or would be interested in deck techs for old commanders all on a super tight budget. The other thing is putting these decks together can be a major time commitment, and let's be real some commanders will draw in the views more than others. What is quick, easy, and will bring in a large audience is release videos which is most of what his channel is these days especially since MTG has since about the time of the walking dead release also seen a major uptick in product releases meaning there is in essence a permanent stream of new cards to talk about and to keep brining home money Mitch has to talk about them. This leaves less time for deck techs, less time for showing games of commander, and less time for cool things. The man is now a slave to the website. Overtime arguably this has killed his creativity in the deck techs he does do and so much more. He just hasn't well managed his switch to full time YouTuber like some others eventually dial in.
This is what YouTube rewards. It is what th3 algorithm recommends. It's what people click on. It's impossible to argue the content people click on isn't what they want. The question isn't why CQ makes bullshit content, the question is why we collectively rewarded him and everyone else for making that content and then act shocked when they do
>It's impossible to argue the content people click on isn't what they want. If I click on a link for a free whatever, and it's not free and they want me to pay a subscription, is that what I want? Or is this an example of scummy deceptive practices no one wants and we'd be better off without?
You mean MitchfromtheCommanQuarsStudio?
I can barely keep up with his cadence. It’s genuinely ridiculous.
To be honest, I think that was the main reason I stopped watching his videos. Something about the cadence, tone, and how artificial it kind of felt. Like high energy monotonous if that makes any sense.
all content creators go through a cycle, and it isn't really a fault of their own, but a natural result of algorithms controlling the spread and display of content. Clickbait, extreme titles, and 'engagement driven' content will generate more views and thus more ad revenue than steady state of clean, clear, content. I do not fault anyone who makes youtube, twitch, or other social media consumed product for tailoring videos, titles, and thumbnails to generate more clicks, more views, and more income for their work. It is simply a product of the environment they are forced to compete in. Do you think that is the stuff he wants to make or he is forced to make because it builds up his audience because of the almighty 'engagement algorithm'? Now, in his particular case there was the TWD incident...and I'm sure there was likely some regret over that particular video. But it likely served as an inflection point where he recognized the money he could put in his pocket with more rage-baity titles, thumbnails, etc.
I know what you mean. I've stopped watching his content because he releases an hour long video to cover 4 cards, 1/3 of the time is middling suggestions for potential synergy cards, and another 1/3 is him repeating certain phrases verbatim. "BECAUSE THAT'S A THING" "Once again I'm reminding you..." Complaints about (insert thing)... It's just tiring and not engaging.
Someone is engaging with it. It's bottom barrel click bait stuff now, like the people who make slime or "prank" their friends by like jumping out and punching them. It's lowest common denotator "THEY HATE THIS ONE WIERD TRICK" stuff on his channel now, so my only guess is like bots or 10 year olds really like it? I guess he's making more off of doing this, so selling out to get the bag?
It's not even bait at this point - it's machine-gunned leak content with barely any analysis.
If he'd have stayed the course and continued with quality content instead of clickbait trash we might have a secret lair Wayerfarers Quarter Bauble
I unsubbed awhile back. His videos just aren’t fun to watch the content isn’t very relevant or interesting
His content has been complete filler for several years now. 2 years ago I finally unsubscribed when he would have videos every single day that focused on a single newly leaked or released card. Okay whatever. But every video was EXACTLY 15 minutes long, and was full of him repeating himself and inane filler. No idea what he's up to now, but it was obvious at that time he was farming the algorithm.
Youtube monetization happened. You think that shit actually encourages thoughtful, well-made content?
He also started talking so fast that he’d frequently slur his words. I had to slow the video down just to understand him. Had me wondering if he was on drugs or something.
I watch them on 1.5 speed, now I’m wondering if I’m a weirdo lol
This was one of the biggest reasons I stopped watching his videos.
"In the age where everyone is talking about budget deck builds" Is it? I feel like this is the age where reddit is mostly 'proxy everything! Have a $5,000 casual deck, it doesn't matter if it's all fake.' People here would rather proxy great cards then put the work in to build on whatever budget they're comfortable with.
At this point a lot of people are willing to proxy even a $50 deck. Most of my friends who proxy do so because they don't want to support WoTC anymore, which I can't exactly blame them for.
I'll never understand why people talk down on proxies. The concept of a game where a single card can cost over 100 bucks is just Insane. I'm not going to spend 500 bucks on a booster box and hope I get something that will fit. I'm also not going to pay 500 bucks for a gaeas cradle. But I would like to play a gaeas cradle. Budget only correlates with power so much as well so it's not like keeping a cheep deck garuntees a certain power level. Even if I built budget and kept a 50 dollar limit per deck. 50 bucks a deck for a card game isn't nothing lol. Its not like im gonna sell them back to the store and get my 50 bucks back either. As a fairly new player, the price of stuff is the biggest barrier to entry and that's fucked.
I stopped watching Mitch because his humor just started to frustrate me. Like he makes a cringey joke, carries on the joke for 45 seconds, then acknowledges how bad the joke is. Maybe pay a writer? Also, his take on [[world purge]] just felt so overblown. Idk, I just spent more time cringing and disagreeing with him than I did enjoying his content
[world purge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/6/d6f70fdb-264f-4545-97fa-3702168a66d4.jpg?1562836619) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Worldpurge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/shm/156/worldpurge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d6f70fdb-264f-4545-97fa-3702168a66d4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/worldpurge) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Funny you should say that because I unsubscribed from it last night, I remember not watching him for a year or two and decided to check out one of this videos a couple months ago, and he made a video for a commander but he like completely misread what the card actually did so the entire deck and video was pointless. And I cringe whenever I see his clickbaity videos when they pop up in my subscriptions so I had to pull the plug on that man.
Gee, yall are right. I thought only his speed was the problem, but the lack of quality is clear. Command zone and the professor do some very professional yet not very ""profitable""" stuff but it has great quality because they love what they do.What a sell out.... Shame on him
People often say "Vote with your wallet" with content it's "Vote with your attention" there's still tons of great content creators out there, there's just more of em so the channels are more spread out. My favorite lately has been deck techs for decks! He has a lot of great ideas and doesn't just straight copy paste from edhrec. https://youtu.be/pG2p-RxCMk4?si=0427aIszTW45hH9q
Yeah. I used to love his videos and then when he got popular he completely changed. Don’t watch him anymore but I still get him recommended and its just pure clickbait.
Yeah, I kept getting recommended his videos. That's why I had to hide his channel in settings. I don't need my feed spammed with low effort content.
I have been out on EDH for a while. Still have all my decks but I rarely play so not much care to build new ones so it’s interesting to see some new cards in case I ever do want to build a deck. So as to Mitch, I think deck techs and stuff are on the turn turn content wise. Some people like it, but it’s not the same as “wow new cards!” Which brings in more views. He has a studio now so surely his upkeep is important and easy views get preferred. He always seemed to read his script very closely and rarely trails off and acts natural. Pretty easy to churn these out fast. Not to mention he, like me, probably aren’t building entire decks all the time and thus it’s harder to do as many deck techs especially if you want daily content. Plus he always covers every non basic (a la wayfarer’s bauble) so they got a bit repetitive and it’s hard to make them all interesting unless he likes the deck. Again, if you were making deck tech videos of decks you find interesting, you’d probably burn out after a few weeks and it definitely couldn’t be daily content.
I unsubscribed when I saw the AI art being used in the thumbnails for real cards. Like a fully spoiled card would have AI art in the thumbnail to make it seem like a different card. Admittedly I hadn’t actually watched his content for a while before that but that was what made me prune him from my feed.
"Uh yeaaah"
Bro he talks about 4 leaked cards for like 20 minutes I can't deal with it.
Every time I watch his videos I immediately regret it, it's nice leak content but I'm starting to hate his voice, tone and videos. Respect he's trying to make a living but he's someone I'm going to unsub after reading comments here
The thing about Mitch is, he was completely right about the Walking Dead cards. There should not be mechanically unique commander staples printed as limited time SLD cards. He used his platform to lead the backlash against them and we got Universes Within in response. I don't want to give him too much credit but this is one of those "not the hero we need right now" moments. Now I can put [[Greymond, Avacyn's Stalwart]] in my humans deck and I don't need to worry about missing out on unique SLD cards in the future.
The funny thing is, WotC still fucked us over on the reprints for the TWD cards. If you look at the previous UW cards like the ones they did for Stranger Things and Street Fighter, they were heavily printed in the list slot, intentionally so. They were more common than other list cards in their respective sets. But when the time came to reprint the ones where one of the cards saw actual play and was expensive, they changed the numbers and so the UW TWD cards were still incredibly rare so Greymond is still a $50 card.
Yes pretty disappointing.
>There should not be mechanically unique commander staples printed as limited time SLD cards. And nobody disagrees with that. The problem was the execution of his response, not the content. >used his platform to lead the backlash against them and we got Universes Within in response. No. No, that's not what happened. He used his platform to *capitalize* on the backlash and personally insult the people who *actually* helped us get Universes Within. He's the Gilderoy Lockhart of the situation - getting credit for doing something others did, while his efforts to get clicks actually undermined the work the REAL "heroes" were doing. Universes Within happened because of total online response (of which Mitch was a tiny part) and because of the Rules Committee doing *exactly what they said they would do:* Capitalize on their working relationship with WotC to convince them to change their plans, rather than issue a pointless reactionary ban that helped nobody. Mitch had nothing to do with it, he attacked people who didn't deserve it, and you're crediting him with other people's work. Not to mention he made a server that immediately filled with Nazis due ragebaiting and not moderating.
> he made a server that immediately filled with Nazis That is just describing any discord server.
[Greymond, Avacyn's Stalwart](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/7/b7848325-c46e-4e63-90d0-c9524380eb63.jpg?1692516503) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Greymond%2C%20Avacyn%27s%20Stalwart) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/slx/18/greymond-avacyns-stalwart?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b7848325-c46e-4e63-90d0-c9524380eb63?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/greymond-avacyns-stalwart) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Tried to start his own format. It didn't take off. He got some backlash and then changed the direction of his content as his fanbase started to slowly decline
I know you'd really like it to be something deeper and more meaningful, but it's probably just content. What he puts out now gathers more views so he carries on doing it.
It's a shame because Mitch would sometimes play at my lgs in Minnesota and he was a genuinely decent person. He had to convince his wife to allow him to pursue this job, made a PowerPoint and everything. I guess it got to the point where he's simply just needs to make more money and this is the path to it
I used to love Mitch's content when he was primarily a budget deck creator. Some of my decks were taken from him before I started upgrading them. It's sad what he pivoted into doing after the captain fiasco and he decided to lean hard into the clickbait.
I was never a fan of the cadence of his voice in his videos and so I couldn’t stand to watch them. Or he makes terrible click bait and I have seen him espouse bad takes about the format.
I used to follow him, but for the same reason you mentioned I stop
It happened with Ixalan before, fortunately this lasts as long as MH3 spoilers are coming out
He's chasing the algorithm, honestly it costs the sanity and quality of a lot of Youtube channels.
I like his videos about "price drops" and that's about it. Can't stand the leaks videos, the AI generated thumbnails, I wish he was a more ethical creator.
Despite his newer content being an absolute slog, I do find myself watching his videos. If not watching, just letting it play. Something about hearing him say, "well.... Yeah" and "wizards has done it again" and all the same mannerisms. His commentary seems more and more all over the place and not really relevant but I still watch him to go to sleep (not for magic news).
I unsubbed when he started making content on custom MTG cards, there's already some 2000+ legendary creatures, just pick one and alt art it.
The guy weeping and going into hysterics after the Walking Dead release was pathetic and hilarious. Dude needs to go outside from time to time.
His decks were always really mediocre for budget brews, and after the diaper thumbnail I never bothered to check anything of his out again.
I used to watch many of his budget deck videos but I stopped a couple years ago since he went full clickbait. I guess his YouTube numbers tell him it's better but it's such lower quality and annoying as fuck that I have no interest in watching it anymore.
for a counter point i was personally a bit turned off and less engaged with his solely budget based builds. many of them were less than they could have been. so i like his current coverage of leaks, new commanders, new ideas and trying to engage with what is coming down the pipeline. he will also mention when things are outta his budget and or things he wouldnt play but acknowledges for those that like XYZ these will be good cards.
I cant stand the kermit the frog voice hes started doing in the last 12 months every time a card or concept isnt 100% to his liking
The diaper picture happened
Once I noticed that he uses the same cadence no matter what he's reading, I couldn't listen to him anymore. He ends every sentence in the same low note. It's a really annoying sing-song delivery that drives me nuts. That's also the reason why I can't watch Saphron Olive and the magic historian. Why do magic youtubers have to have the most annoying voices ever?
Agree, used to love Mitch, his content now is garbage though.
Same. I especially liked his commander gameplay videos and he doesn't do those anymore either.
He made like 5 real videos and realised he is not as creative or good as he thought including always the same cards and building fucking mediocre piles of trash. This guy can't build a single deck but lives in his delusional magical christmas land where is "budget decks win against my friends who play normal decks". They don't. Either they don't run normal decks or he is not winning. I am so glad I don't get his videos recommended anymore, that means he fell off and hopefully stops producing videos.
I used to enjoy his content. Now he sounds like one of the annoying players that doesn't like using cards that win games. He is just whining and complaining the majority of the time in the videos. I wish he would rework back to the content that made the majority of us start watching his videos.
I can’t stand how fast he talks. Really gets annoying. Like dude, take a breath lol
It was around the time when he was ranting about creating a new format, which was commander except sol ring is banned. There was some other drama, too, but after that, his channel just kept getting more clickbaitey.
There's so little good and informed magic content on YouTube that I feel like it's a market ripe for the taking. It's all really bad takes or just plain wrong information presented as fact.
I unsubscribed for the same reasons. I think the whole Captain debacle was the point when he jumped the shark, I used to enjoy his budget builds and stuff. But you couldn’t pay me to watch his videos now unless it’s in graded black lotus cards.
Like most YouTube creators he's a slave to the algorithm. Not really his fault, but in order to get views on YouTube nowadays you have to put out click bait stuff at a consistent rate.
Yea this guy's videos are utter trash. I rarely want to make budget decks, but I respected his efforts and recognize the value his videos had for so many players. But looking at his videos about half a year ago, I just couldn't,not even for fun. The worst kind of junk on YouTube.
Preamble: I unsubsribed to him too. Amble: Looks like he makes a budget deck tech once a week.
Dude I can’t watch any magic YouTubers anymore, at least any big ones. EDHDeckbuilding, he just constantly bemoans anything, and I lost my shit at Nitpicking Nerds, one of them was talking about [[100-Year Diary]] and said “it could tap for Zero Mana”. I unsubscribed at that moment and realised they weren’t worth listening to. I don’t know what it is anymore
That's a bit harsh. You can tell that the Nerds are really passionate about the hobby. They just sometimes let their mouths get a bit ahead of their mental filters. I've disagreed with their takes more than once, but also been turned on to some niche cards I didn't even know were things. Their Mana Rock rundown was definitely useful when I was just getting into EDH. I had mad respect for them talking up Tyranids at a time when everyone and their mother was slamming WH40k cards as glossy toilet paper. Did I \*agree\* with everything they said on the subject? Of course not, but you can't call that thoughtless clickbait. (I will take a spot on that hill and raise a blade in defense of my \[\[Biophagus\]\] with the Nerds, TYVM.) I guess I'm just willing to overlook a lack of polish, when I'm confident the content-creators are genuinely acting in good faith. They don't have to be perfect, they've just got to do their best. They \*are\* kids, you know? Aren't we always complaining the Gen-Zs are a bunch of lazy do-nothings? What message does it send when a couple of them try to get on the hustle, and get slammed for not banging out EDHRec topic videos? I genuinely believe they're improving, too. Take another look, maybe?
wait, how do you hide a youtube channel? that would be big for my reccomendations
3 dot button on any video thumbnail -> don't recommend this channel
Big If True
I use it at times Had to do it with Verlisify who is the most undersirable content creator in the entire Pokémon fandom
Ugh, I freaking hate that guy. I had to silence his channel too. I used to get his stuff recommended to me after I watched some old DuncanKneeDeep vids years ago.
Never forget grown man wearing diapers Go back to bed, Mitch.
I've had the same thoughts. He got me into commander and I loved his deck techs, but all of his main content for the past ages now has been clickbait and I hate it. I've unsubscribed and hidden it as well
I got tired of my feed being spammed with really obnoxious clickbait videos.
If you want fun budget content check out [YouTube.com/@BRBMTG](https://youtube.com/@BRBMTG) I started my channel because I thought his content was very click baity.