I've tried on multiple occasions to get into EDH but I continuously find that the length of games (especially with more than four players) and shuffling of 100-card decks is a turnoff for me. However, I recently started playing a variant with 60-card decks and 30 life and I find the games much more enjoyable. It doesn't hurt that it significantly reduces the cost of building decks, as well.
It is 100 cards because EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) was originally a variant of Highlander which has always been a 100 card singleton format. Being that it was a variant of highlander it makes sense that a lot of its roots came from that format.
Why is it 100 cards now? Because that's just how it has been since creation and nobody has seen a reason to change that.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
You could just as easily ask "Why 60 cards?" It's just the number that was chosen at the inception of the format (or perhaps even before, as ISB described), and there was never any reason to change it.
100 causes more variance, which leads to gameplay that more closely matches the ideal of EDH. 60 card decks can be a lot more consistent just by virtue of having 40% fewer cards in the pool. Heck, a lot of Vintage decks look like singleton decks.
I haven't had a problem shuffling, and my Glissa deck shuffles at least 1-2 times per turn on average. There are a lot of ways to do it, maybe you just haven't found one that suits you yet
100 causes more variance, which leads to gameplay that more closely matches the ideal of EDH. 60 card decks can be a lot more consistent just by virtue of having 40% fewer cards in the pool. Heck, a lot of Vintage decks look like singleton decks.
I haven't had a problem shuffling, and my Glissa deck shuffles at least 1-2 times per turn on average. There are a lot of ways to do it, maybe you just haven't found one that suits you yet
People with smaller hands can have trouble shuffling. I've known a few girls who had issues with EDH deck shuffling or simply found it uncomfortable to do repeatedly (to the point it influenced their card choices).
People with smaller hands can have trouble shuffling. I've known a few girls who had issues with EDH deck shuffling or simply found it uncomfortable to do repeatedly (to the point it influenced their card choices).
i think it just takes getting used to. I couldn't shuffle my deck the for a long while after I started playing EDH, and I still can't shuffle the full 100 cards when they're double sleeved, but I don't have any problems doing so now single sleeved. Just as many guys had the same problem I had. That said, one way to do it is to shuffle 2/3's of the deck at a time. It's much easier to handle.
I've only played 60 card EDH while cube drafting, but I don't think I could do it normally. I generally have a hard enough time narrowing my card pool down to 99, much less 59.
People with smaller hands can have trouble shuffling. I've known a few girls who had issues with EDH deck shuffling or simply found it uncomfortable to do repeatedly (to the point it influenced their card choices).
I've been doing Card Magic and XCM (extreme card manipulation) for about 8 years now and have taught multiple girls and guys with small hands a lot. With enough practice, even the smallest handed people limbered up and I had them doing some exceptionally impressive things. Long story short, hand size means very little. The most important thing is getting used to using your hands in a new way. However, with such a large deck, shuffling in portions can help even more. 3-4 really solid shuffles on both halves followed by one to get them together should be sufficient.
I'm not a big fan of table pile shuffling, I typically only do it in constructed tournaments as a way to count the cards in my deck and my opponents deck to make sure I don't present non-60 and catch them if they present non-60. I also just picked up doing this recently after years of only doing riffle shuffles.
However, for players who find shuffling a 100 card deck to be difficult I'd recommend it as a way to randomize your deck. Doing a large amount of piles and piling the deck out more then once can randomize it and you can always combine it with other techniques, such as shuffling the smaller piles before combining them.
Now, some would say that this is a bit on the time consuming side, but shuffling IRL is just that way. They give you 3 minutes between games to shuffle in tournaments for a reason, the 2 riffles you do in 20 seconds isn't sufficient to randomize a deck.
Has anyone else tried a similar variant?
Why is it 100 cards now? Because that's just how it has been since creation and nobody has seen a reason to change that.
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I haven't had a problem shuffling, and my Glissa deck shuffles at least 1-2 times per turn on average. There are a lot of ways to do it, maybe you just haven't found one that suits you yet
People with smaller hands can have trouble shuffling. I've known a few girls who had issues with EDH deck shuffling or simply found it uncomfortable to do repeatedly (to the point it influenced their card choices).
I've only played 60 card EDH while cube drafting, but I don't think I could do it normally. I generally have a hard enough time narrowing my card pool down to 99, much less 59.
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I've been doing Card Magic and XCM (extreme card manipulation) for about 8 years now and have taught multiple girls and guys with small hands a lot. With enough practice, even the smallest handed people limbered up and I had them doing some exceptionally impressive things. Long story short, hand size means very little. The most important thing is getting used to using your hands in a new way. However, with such a large deck, shuffling in portions can help even more. 3-4 really solid shuffles on both halves followed by one to get them together should be sufficient.
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However, for players who find shuffling a 100 card deck to be difficult I'd recommend it as a way to randomize your deck. Doing a large amount of piles and piling the deck out more then once can randomize it and you can always combine it with other techniques, such as shuffling the smaller piles before combining them.
Now, some would say that this is a bit on the time consuming side, but shuffling IRL is just that way. They give you 3 minutes between games to shuffle in tournaments for a reason, the 2 riffles you do in 20 seconds isn't sufficient to randomize a deck.
....and yet everyone wants tutors to continue in this format....
Back on topic, decks don't always have to be expensive. My buddies and I got out of Legacy to get into EDH.
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seriously? tutors are one of the main things that EDH players whine and cry about.
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Psh, your Vig deck must not be optimal. =P
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that's more or less the long answer too