The Goldfish Test Every Commander Player Needs

This entry is a ready-to-use AI prompt — copy it and paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.

## Summary

The video teaches a two-phase goldfishing method for testing a Commander deck during design, not at the table. Core principle: be proactive even with reactive decks—your deck must pose a strong enough question or threat that opponents must answer. A deck list is just a hypothesis until tested. Phase one, the rough: sketch ~100 cards, dedicating about 27 to the game plan, then pick main payoffs, enablers, and pet cards. Use placeholders (e.g. Arcane Signets, Swords to Plowshares, lands that tap for anything) since exact ramp doesn't matter yet—only how the deck flows. Mulligan into a playable hand and play roughly six turns, repeatedly, tuning until the game plan executes smoothly (e.g. a spellslinger pinger deck should clear the table by turn six). Don't get married to cards early. Phase two, the polish: repeatedly mulligan without playing out, counting how many hands out of ten are keepable and noting why hands fail. Tune until you keep six or seven on average that deliver the plan. Goldfishing can't test interaction; address removal via template-based removal counts and planning fallbacks/protection for key pieces.

## Key Clips

- **[01:16]** The number one problem I see of players who goldfish during deck design is they are trying to solve too many problems at once. It's much easier to resolve key decisions, then move on to the rest.
- **[02:32]** Our goldfishing process during deck design needs to answer the two fundamental parts of a strong deck: a consistent game plan and strong mulligans — with the rough and the polish.
- **[03:45]** You are simply goldfishing and tuning your deck until the game plan is smooth. Rough out the ~27 cards dedicated to your plan, then pick your main payoffs and enablers.
- **[05:24]** One of the biggest issues with deck builders is getting married to their cards too early. Throw in placeholder ramp and removal and Islands that tap for everything — at this point it doesn't matter what the ramp is, it matters how the deck is flowing.
- **[05:37]** Once you rough out 100 cards, mulligan into a playable hand and play up to six turns. Focus on how your enablers tee up payoffs, how payoffs convert to finish the game, and where your commander sits in a proactive plan.
- **[07:36]** The polish: mulligan again and again and see how many hands you can keep out of 10, and note the hands you can't keep and why — like cheap blue-black cards not supported by majority blue-white lands.
- **[08:29]** Keep polishing the deck until you're keeping six or sevens on average and they're consistently delivering on the game plan. The game plan is sound; now it's about maximizing how often it works.
- **[09:22]** Goldfishing structurally cannot tell you whether you have enough interaction. Integrate the right removal numbers via a template system, split between board wipes and other interaction, so you're likely to draw removal in games.

## Tags

**Archetypes/Strategy:** spellslinger, combo
**Format/Bracket:** 
**Card Categories:** removal, protection, counter, ramp, draw, finishers

Summary

The video teaches a two-phase goldfishing method for testing a Commander deck during design, not at the table. Core principle: be proactive even with reactive decks—your deck must pose a strong enough question or threat that opponents must answer. A deck list is just a hypothesis until tested. Phase one, the rough: sketch ~100 cards, dedicating about 27 to the game plan, then pick main payoffs, enablers, and pet cards. Use placeholders (e.g. Arcane Signets, Swords to Plowshares, lands that tap for anything) since exact ramp doesn't matter yet—only how the deck flows. Mulligan into a playable hand and play roughly six turns, repeatedly, tuning until the game plan executes smoothly (e.g. a spellslinger pinger deck should clear the table by turn six). Don't get married to cards early. Phase two, the polish: repeatedly mulligan without playing out, counting how many hands out of ten are keepable and noting why hands fail. Tune until you keep six or seven on average that deliver the plan. Goldfishing can't test interaction; address removal via template-based removal counts and planning fallbacks/protection for key pieces.

Key Clips

[01:16] The number one problem I see of players who goldfish during deck design is they are trying to solve too many problems at once. It's much easier to resolve key decisions, then move on to the rest.
[02:32] Our goldfishing process during deck design needs to answer the two fundamental parts of a strong deck: a consistent game plan and strong mulligans — with the rough and the polish.
[03:45] You are simply goldfishing and tuning your deck until the game plan is smooth. Rough out the ~27 cards dedicated to your plan, then pick your main payoffs and enablers.
[05:24] One of the biggest issues with deck builders is getting married to their cards too early. Throw in placeholder ramp and removal and Islands that tap for everything — at this point it doesn't matter what the ramp is, it matters how the deck is flowing.
[05:37] Once you rough out 100 cards, mulligan into a playable hand and play up to six turns. Focus on how your enablers tee up payoffs, how payoffs convert to finish the game, and where your commander sits in a proactive plan.
[07:36] The polish: mulligan again and again and see how many hands you can keep out of 10, and note the hands you can't keep and why — like cheap blue-black cards not supported by majority blue-white lands.
[08:29] Keep polishing the deck until you're keeping six or sevens on average and they're consistently delivering on the game plan. The game plan is sound; now it's about maximizing how often it works.
[09:22] Goldfishing structurally cannot tell you whether you have enough interaction. Integrate the right removal numbers via a template system, split between board wipes and other interaction, so you're likely to draw removal in games.