In my blog and in posts on this forum, I've written about my experiences playing EDH with different groups.
I feel like how I got started in the format was both very good and very bad.
I started playing with a group of people and we fell into similar deckbuilding philosophies: Don't whine when your board gets wiped, or your combo gets disrupted. No one wins two games straight. Mass LD is frowned upon. Infinite combos get the "you won, now we're playing for 2nd" treatment. Counterspells were rare.
We played regularly for more than a year, meeting on a weekly basis. We built all sorts of decks, keeping the variety fresh, but with those same basic philosophies.
Around Christmas, I moved to a new area, and one with a far smaller player base. EVERYONE up here plays some form of combo or control deck, whether it's Elves or Sharuum or mono-blue trying to get to Caged Sun/Palinchron/infinite Capsize or Rite of Replication/Mnemonic Wall/Time Warp etc.
As you might expect, this was something of a shock to my system. I've had to face the realization that I was deliberately building decks to a lower power level than some others. I didn't mind that, though I do remember when I took Bloom Tender and Viridian Joiner out of my Experiment Kraj deck.
What was more of a revelation to me was that these guys had been playing the same decks against each other for so long, they really enjoyed the games that turned into counterspell wars. This seemed rather foreign to me.
I've become convinced that my EDH playstyle was a hothouse flower, unsuitable for the world outside...but upon reading some of the comments about the RC and the banlist, I'm starting to think that this format is predicated on people of similar styles playing together and enjoying themselves. One counter/control deck in a group will get corrected due to group pressure--probably.
I'd like to hear about the experiences that some others have had in going from one group to another. Was it like yanking off their pants because they were not powerful enough? Did your pants get the yanking?
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I have 15 EDH decks...sorta kills the 'I only need one of a card' aspect of the format.
I went and started a Commander/EDH blog! Come see it at http://wordofcommander.blogspot.com/ and it includes all 15 of my custom super-art generals!
If you're more into the finance section of the game, I write on Fridays for MTGPrice.com.
I've moved play groups several times (some times just adding ones for more play time), and originally this was my experience too. However, as it kept happening (social group to competitive group, and vice versa), I just realized I needed more decks. Varying the power levels in each deck, I found I was essentially able to play at the level of whatever group I was with.
Also, just a tip from my experiences with new playgroups, the first time you sit down, always play the more casual deck, making a really bad first impression on a social group can ruin that playgroup's view of you as a player, and make them not want to have you as a member.
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Amazing Avy & Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios [4/22/11]
I introduced EDH to my group a couple of years ago and for the most part the decks were pretty casual. I started to up my game a bit, but they didn't really, so I end up being "that guy", and I try to fly under the radar more. Infinite combos and the like are basically banned.
Then I started playing at my LGS and those guys were HARD CORE. Nothing was really out of bounds and infinite combos were run of the mill. That blew my mind too, given the 'spirit of the format', etc.
Now, I feel really fortunate to have both groups. I have super competitive decks that I only play at the LGS, casual decks that I only play with my casual group, and some that lie in the middle that I play in both groups (as long as the cut throat game has enough players in it).
Playing in the cutthroat meta has upped my overall deck quality, which is sort of a problem since the casual group is fairly stagnant though.
I have to agree with RWF_Less. Having multiple decks within different competitive ranges is the best way to introduce into new groups. I travel quite a bit for work and have three decks that I really enjoy playing. One is pretty casual and rarely wins with my regular play group at home. The second has a stronger power level but plays a lot different. And then my Animar deck can just wreck face if I want. Having different power level decks allows me to walk into a new playgroup, access their style, and play accordingly. Also, just because Animar can go infinite and win the game now doesn't mean I have to do that. I enjoy playing the deck for other reasons, so if I need to not be so competitive, I can just focus on that.
As a side note coming from someone who travels a lot, having a "not really a sideboard" sideboard can help too. Basically cards you don't normally play in the deck. I personally dislike Palinchron in my Animar deck even though he gives it more depth (the mental math is sometimes more than I care to deal with), I do keep one on hand when I see that this random group of people plays super competitively. Likewise, I will drop Force of Will and Pact of Negation in my mono-blue deck for other choices when I see a new group that frowns on super-control decks.
EDH is a huge format, just realize that it extends a lot beyond what you think it might be.
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"You are what you pretend to be, so you must be careful what you pretend to be" from Mother Night
I switched playgroups two weeks ago. I've yet to see infinite combo, but the DB quotient is high. Commanders like skittles, hokor dusk drinker; and awsome moves like turn three sorin set you to 10, a quick black myojin or Jin-Gitaxis. This was quite the shock for my poor Malfegor deck. This week though, I'm happily sleeving up Memnarch and engaging in some antics of my own. Adjusting to a new group is just another fun challenge of EDH.
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Thanks to mchief111 at Rising Studios for the great artwork.
when I go to a new playgroup, I usually like to play an obscure general or one of the original legends or one of my tri color dragons :). I like to think that I can do some fairly interesting things with my adun oakenshield or invasion dragon decks!
But I also think it has more to do with attitude than actual cards used. If you are the guy smiling, being friendly, etc...that goes quite a bit further than playing some pile of cards your first time and then showing up with a $5000 deck the next time.
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I feel like how I got started in the format was both very good and very bad.
I started playing with a group of people and we fell into similar deckbuilding philosophies: Don't whine when your board gets wiped, or your combo gets disrupted. No one wins two games straight. Mass LD is frowned upon. Infinite combos get the "you won, now we're playing for 2nd" treatment. Counterspells were rare.
We played regularly for more than a year, meeting on a weekly basis. We built all sorts of decks, keeping the variety fresh, but with those same basic philosophies.
Around Christmas, I moved to a new area, and one with a far smaller player base. EVERYONE up here plays some form of combo or control deck, whether it's Elves or Sharuum or mono-blue trying to get to Caged Sun/Palinchron/infinite Capsize or Rite of Replication/Mnemonic Wall/Time Warp etc.
As you might expect, this was something of a shock to my system. I've had to face the realization that I was deliberately building decks to a lower power level than some others. I didn't mind that, though I do remember when I took Bloom Tender and Viridian Joiner out of my Experiment Kraj deck.
What was more of a revelation to me was that these guys had been playing the same decks against each other for so long, they really enjoyed the games that turned into counterspell wars. This seemed rather foreign to me.
I've become convinced that my EDH playstyle was a hothouse flower, unsuitable for the world outside...but upon reading some of the comments about the RC and the banlist, I'm starting to think that this format is predicated on people of similar styles playing together and enjoying themselves. One counter/control deck in a group will get corrected due to group pressure--probably.
I'd like to hear about the experiences that some others have had in going from one group to another. Was it like yanking off their pants because they were not powerful enough? Did your pants get the yanking?
I went and started a Commander/EDH blog! Come see it at http://wordofcommander.blogspot.com/ and it includes all 15 of my custom super-art generals!
If you're more into the finance section of the game, I write on Fridays for MTGPrice.com.
Also, just a tip from my experiences with new playgroups, the first time you sit down, always play the more casual deck, making a really bad first impression on a social group can ruin that playgroup's view of you as a player, and make them not want to have you as a member.
Then I started playing at my LGS and those guys were HARD CORE. Nothing was really out of bounds and infinite combos were run of the mill. That blew my mind too, given the 'spirit of the format', etc.
Now, I feel really fortunate to have both groups. I have super competitive decks that I only play at the LGS, casual decks that I only play with my casual group, and some that lie in the middle that I play in both groups (as long as the cut throat game has enough players in it).
Playing in the cutthroat meta has upped my overall deck quality, which is sort of a problem since the casual group is fairly stagnant though.
As a side note coming from someone who travels a lot, having a "not really a sideboard" sideboard can help too. Basically cards you don't normally play in the deck. I personally dislike Palinchron in my Animar deck even though he gives it more depth (the mental math is sometimes more than I care to deal with), I do keep one on hand when I see that this random group of people plays super competitively. Likewise, I will drop Force of Will and Pact of Negation in my mono-blue deck for other choices when I see a new group that frowns on super-control decks.
EDH is a huge format, just realize that it extends a lot beyond what you think it might be.
First posted EDH deck: Hakim, Beardmaster
Thanks to mchief111 at Rising Studios for the great artwork.
But I also think it has more to do with attitude than actual cards used. If you are the guy smiling, being friendly, etc...that goes quite a bit further than playing some pile of cards your first time and then showing up with a $5000 deck the next time.