The Case Against Tutors | EDHRECast 349

Tutors are powerful, so why don't we play them? Are there any exceptions?

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@JosephMSchultz
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[DyneGrasshopper]

I once made a deck that was intended to have a couple of secret commanders in it. My one friend told me I couldn't run that deck without running tutors in it, so of course I tried to build the deck without tutors in it and of course he was right. The deck changed a lot from the original vision and that was one of the few reasons why, but I love that deck so much. I really don't think I would have ended up loving that deck the same way if I did put those tutors in. Great video!

[thayerbirch]

I imagine the reason Dolmen Gate isn't being run much in Kona is that it's over $20

[cameton_youtube]

On the one hand, I enjoy a good toolbox deck. On the other, I can't stand shuffling lol

[mooninites]

I think this mindset needs to expand beyond tutors to a lot of generic high power staples. I stopped including cards like Rhystic Study, Smothering tithe, Teferi's Protection, and Cyclonic Rift in nearly all of my decks and it opened up my deck building so much. When I stopped including generically powerful staples in my decks, it freed up ~10+ spots in each deck. I'm not saying don't run card draw, removal, or protection, but maybe reconsider what types of those cards you're including instead

[gully]

I'm completely fine using a tutor to find your finisher or combo piece to end the game. Casting Finale of Devastation for X=10 to grab a Craterhoof and end the game is much better than someone using Demonic Tutor to find a Rhystic Study.

[ForsakenToLimbo]

Yes please build Minthara!
Another NonBo is with her and the far traveler background, same situation of triggering on the endstep after she'd check the gamestate.
She's one of my favourite decks and such a fun build around. Being only a power pump and not a full anthem means cards like skullclamp give so much value, especially with token makers like nested shambler that can scale really high!
A great thing about her too is that when you get 1 experience counter you can let her go back to the cz and proliferate freely, then bring her back out for a go wide and tall swing.
(Also Chthonian Nightmare works amazing because you reanimate so many 1-2 cmc cards that you'll actually have excess energy and can hit 6+ for a big creature quite easily while still applying pressure)

[EasilySuede]

Sometimes tutors can help enact a janky strategy that would otherwise be impossible

[dylanlondrigan]

Thank you Joey for bringing up Legendary Creatures and their tutorless experiment! I was gonna comment about it immediately upon starting this video, but I decided to wait and see if y'all would bring it up yourselves; I was not disappointed!

[tiptop_flipflop]

I'm also on the side of not tutoring, but like you guys, I've got that one exception - Transmute. I had a cycling/discard deck that had a few transmute cards and it was great to be able to recycle them over and over as a toolboxy build. Thanks for the great content as always guys!

[Gimpocalypse]

Woo! My Kona tech got into this one! Thanks a ton Dana.

I have started playing next to no land-based tutors in my decks nowadays and I'm never looking back. I have found my games have been so much more enjoyable for me and the people I play with as a result. I'm so happy for this episode because I think more people need to play less tutors for all the reasons you have mentioned.

(Also, Joey, build that Minthara deck)

[Robert-vkje]

I like tutors like Mausoleum Secrets, Grim Servant or Traverse the Ulvenwald. The restrictions make them feel rewarding to me. I want to work for my cake, before I eat it. :D

[lightfut]

Huh, i would've thought you could stack the triggers with minthara and port circle to be favorable, but yeah, given the templating on the card it checks before it even puts the trigger on the stack

[razalar]

A card similar to Remembrance is Verdant Succession. It only works for green creatures but it puts them into play untapped. A buddy of mine has built an EDH deck built around this card by shuffling the green creature into their deck while the Verdant Succession ability is on the stack so he can then put the creature that just died on the the battlefield. The deck is fun to play and play against.

[dustinfisher]

This might be a controversial take, but tutors are really only as bad as the player using them. When I use a tutor in a deck, it's not because there is one target I am going to grab, but rather a plethora. Tutors present an opportunity for impulse control, and there are times when yes, I will grab the thing that will try and win the game, but other times, they are pieces I need for set up with context of what's in hand. Synergies > Win cons in my opinion, they are just more fun/interesting

[ryansurran]

“There should be no tutors except for the ones I like” this is what I hear from this video. The quote I dislike is tutors take out the suspense if he has the card or not AKA a two hour boring game where people are just drawing cards and the game is stalled.

[robjmiller]

I often draw half my deck with Rite of Harmony in my Cadira deck. That card is wild and the Flashback is so unnecessarily good.

[Mobius_ll]

Sold my borderless Demonic Tutor right after pulling it. Originally I would completely avoid tutors and infinite combos, but I get targeted a lot and was struggling to close games. Major "just you wait until I untap" energy. Still weary, but I've finally started to add some actual combos and tutors to push my boardstate over the top or find protection.

[TranquilReindeer]

The deck I ran the most tutors in was The Council of Four where I was trying to commander damage players out with a 0-power commander. I needed High Alert style effects, but there were only 4 in those colors (5-now with Plagon). So I ran 3 or four tutors to try to get one of them out for the deck to function

[Fornost]

So in agreement with your points here, but I also like where Joey was going: I like to use more specific tutors that have a casting restriction—i.e. paying life. My favorite version of this is Beseech the Mirror. What an amazing tutor…if you have something to bargain for it so that you may cast the found spell for free! This makes one of the more powerful (and affordable) tutor spells mostly useful in high enchantment and/or token density decks.

[filthystaxplayer]

Love the challenge from Matt this week as a long time Jetmir fan, 2 things I wanted to add:
1) you can flash back rite of harmony in the same turn if you have the mana, and go to combat to draw a truly ludicrous amount of cards off it

2) I think another underplayed card in non-hare Jetmir decks is Wyrm's Crossing Patrol, 1 mana for 3 bodies is so powerful it can take you from any level of Jetmir to the next on its own!