MTG Salvation

I have a question. How are you growing/nurturing new generation of EDH players? Do you give them your unused commons? Teach them the tips and tricks? Be welcoming as much as possible?
For me, I am lucky. I am a teacher. In the school I work for, I established a Games Club where students can bring their EDH decks to play. I also secured some starter decks (that Wizards gives for free) to give to new players.
What about you?

I always start by emphasizing the social aspect of EDH and how it's a format that's more concerned with politics than power level making it more budget and new-player friendly. Then I like to point out that EDH can easily be the cheapest format to play long term because of the singleton nature of the cards and it being an eternal format. Finally, I'll explain how these factors combine to create an environment of fun over competitiveness.

Then I play them with STAX.

My part is giving a new player a unrefined tribal deck. Aside from the commander being rare like, Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen. The deck is composed of commons and some uncommons. Affordable for me, but also leaves room for future deckbuilding opportunities for them to make. As it doesn't do a new mind some good to just hand them a finely tuned deck. Allowing for that window of discovery gives them a chance for them to hone their deckbuilding skills and really start to understand what makes the deck tick.

EDIT: To expound more. I don't mind if the new player chooses to look at decklists on the internet and copy them. The willingness to learn and expand beyond what you are given is an admirable trait to see in a new mind for the format. As it means they will watch videos, read articles and see posts to increase their comprehension of how the tribal deck they were given can not only be improved but what makes it tick the way it does in more complicated ways.

Quote from redthirst »

Then I play them with STAX.

That's mean.

I always bring a deck for someone to borrow which is both simple and contains the big plays we all love. It also helps for that deck to be cheap so that when they do well and kill somebody you can say its less than $1 per card to make.

I lend decks all the time. I encourage players to try out some decks before deciding what they should spend money on. I offer to help make a decklist, but I also allow them to make their own deck since commander is a lot about self expression.

I find that playing precons with new players is a great way to keep the power level the same and introduce the game's mechanics and interactions. I play with newer players and will often play the weaker deck so that it is harder to manufacture a comeback or win, while they get to, generall, timmy their way into a board state. The mono green and mono white precons are quite user friendly IMO.

I help build first decks. Recommend commanders, give them some cheap staples to get things going, help guide them through interactions in the deck.
Sometimes I'll play dumb when we first start playing. "Wow I didn't realize you could turn all my lands into creatures with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa in response to my Wrath of God. Oops"
That kind of stuff helps get people get their feet wet.

Quote from redthirst »

Then I play them with STAX.

rofl.

This is how we learn.

Generally, new players at my LGS borrow a simple deck first to join in with one or two games. We then help them building their first deck. Usually we point them towards the starter decks, help them pick one that gives them a base suited to their desires, and then help them build upon that. Some cards get thrown their way, others traded favorably so they get something that can trade punches with our lower tier decks to start with. From there on, the rest of the growth happens naturally.

I tell them that they get to pick their favorite legend as their signature creature and being able to cast it whenever, with a deck made entirely devoted to it. I believe IDENTITY is a major part of EDH and it appeals to people more if they're told that they could have their personality expressed via gameplay.

I could've told them that it's like YuGiOh, with an extra deck and exaggerated persona, but that might turn off some players.

I seldom meet new player as my LGS has an already established playgroup an you often will not find a new player. (You may see a new face but by no means are they new players) So i can't really nurture them. I don't have money nor the time to help others grow anyway.

Though a few years ago there were new players popping up and I helped them out by giving them their first taste of humiliating defeat.

I think the most I do is emphasize that every legal strategy is fair. This way you can avoid *****ing and moaning when MLD or combo shows up because the players expect and incorporate those elements in their decks from day one.

I make lots of decks for new people to borrow, that are pretty easy to play. I also give out extra commons/uncommons I don't need. And of course, stress the idea of the format as being more about "He who has fun, wins" rather than "He who wins, has fun".

I teach new people to edh to build decks they find fun. Timmy, Spike, or Johnny I don't care. I don't ever bring up the "social" crap. Because that's what it is. Is crap. I never liked this idea that Commander is the format where you are forced to have a certain etiquette.

I do warn them that a lot of commander tables can be very volatile if you actually play your deck. Quite a few tout interaction but the moment you draw blood you might as well have killed their dog.

Quote from Umaro »

I teach new people to edh to build decks they find fun. Timmy, Spike, or Johnny I don't care. I don't ever bring up the "social" crap. Because that's what it is. Is crap. I never liked this idea that Commander is the format where you are forced to have a certain etiquette.

I do warn them that a lot of commander tables can be very volatile if you actually play your deck. Quite a few tout interaction but the moment you draw blood you might as well have killed their dog.

To be fair, the people that developed the format had the whole "social contract" firmly in mind, and in fact, re-iterated that stance just recently. You can argue that it has grown from that, but certainly the original intention was to create a mindset that prevents trying to break the format.

by mercilessly crushing their hopes and dreams



...i'll generally just play a less competitive deck and if i stomp them without meaning to i'll throw them a pack

I'll start by banning Sol Ring. It should be a forbidden fruit.

Teach them the ways of fair magic.

Cut the tutoring also. Teach them the importance of thinking for others and not waste too much time.

Handing over spare cards and by that I mean if I have two or more of the same card that isn't a basic land or a card like relentless rats, I hand it over to others if they don't have it. Outside of Pauper and Peasant, I really don't feel compelled by the desire to have a play set of like four force of wills.

Quote from TheAmericanSpirit »

I think the most I do is emphasize that every legal strategy is fair. This way you can avoid *****ing and moaning when MLD or combo shows up because the players expect and incorporate those elements in their decks from day one.

Tough love. Best thing you can do for anyone in magic is to not pull your punches at the kitchen table. Show them why the hate cards were made.

Quote from user_me »

Quote from TheAmericanSpirit »

I think the most I do is emphasize that every legal strategy is fair. This way you can avoid *****ing and moaning when MLD or combo shows up because the players expect and incorporate those elements in their decks from day one.

Tough love. Best thing you can do for anyone in magic is to not pull your punches at the kitchen table. Show them why the hate cards were made.

So very true. I dislike pulling my punches as well as it feels like I'm coddling and toying with them which I find to be quite disrespectful. The best thing after crushing them is to educate them on cards they could add to their decks if they really want to combat such strategies. Yet it shouldn't be in a hand-holding manner either as they may very well learn nothing and you start at square one. As it would be like telling them the answer to the math problem but not explaining how you reached said answer.

Agreed with Sam_Eldristein, user_me, and TheAmericanSpirit. It's part of the reason I downplay threats as well(not excessively): I want to see how much they already know. At the end of the game, I go over what worked, what didn't, what they should have(not) ignored, and so on. Properly toughen them up from the beginning, and the community as a whole is better for it.

I've helped along new players for years, giving away many hundreds of $ of commons and uncommons, and even unused rares. I don't pull punches, but like others here I do explain how they could have stopped me by either timing it differently, playing some different cards, and even explaining what weaknesses of my deck they should be exploiting. Those players now can kick my butt as easily as mine to theirs, and they are very good at playing their decks with a good understanding of the when-to-play part of strategy to make the most of the cards they do have.

Well, aside from giving away cards in large quantities when I introduce someone to Magic, my darling and I have spawned several children, whom we teach to play Magic. Out of our seven children, three play Magic regularly, and three are ... really young.

Our 9 year old has a Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer EDH deck, which she wants to foil out... At least her five swords of Stuff and Junk are already foil...

Our 14 year old has four decks, Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, Mistform Ultimus, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Akiri, Line-Slinger. That last one with the partners is her foiled out one. Sigh...

Anyway, they love Magic, and the 16 year old likes it a lot, too. She always plays my Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis Enchantress deck. So I guess we are literally growing and nurturing the next generation of Magic players?