Oh, going to add, part of why I prolong games is that there is almost zero motivation typically to try to start up a second game, even if it ends quickly. It's also a very casual group.
There are a few different categories of pulling punches. Do you? Do you think it's something that's worth doing some of the time?
I would categorize these differently:
Playing less aggressively than you otherwise could.
Not winning as soon as you can, either from a lethal boardstate or an immediate win combo.
Ending your turn early when you could make numerous more plays. (in cases where you have 20+ mana)
Not use every option available to you, when there's little reason not to. (Like using Terrastodon to kill a single permanent.)
Not casting a critical spell to stop someone from getting into a boardstate that you won't be able to manage otherwise.
Any 'suboptimal' card choice made at deck-building time where reducing power level of the deck is the only factor.
No, no, no, no, no, and yes. I don't believe in pulling punches in game. I build my decks to a certain power level so that it's fair for the group's level, and then I go for the throat with it. Under the expectations of competition, there's little reason to do differently. An exception made is that I let people take moves back when they are new and miss a great play. I explain it in-game so they learn and give them the chance to play it differently. Other than that, it's give no quarter and expect none in return.
There are only two scenarios in which I pull punches in-game. 1) If someone is getting mana screwed, I will go easy on attacking them / blowing up what little boardstate they have. By this I mean I will send the 5-7 at someone else and send the 2 power creature their way. By boardstate I mean that say I have Aura Shards and they have two lands and a signet, Im not going to blow up their signet to really screw them over. 2) My mono black deck is the only deck with tutors. After I find Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, if I find myself tutoring through the deck without a purpose (wrath, graveyard hate, etc), I try to vary my tutor targets. Sure I could go for Exsanguinate every time, but that gets old really fast. Just the other week I ended up getting Liliana of the Dark Realms since boards were mostly clear and a few extra Swamps makes Coffers happy. Yeah...I somehow got her ultimate off and proceeded to win.
As for deckbuilding, I guess I pull punches in that I dont use infinite combos, I try to only have a given staple card in one or two decks, and all cards must fit in a deck's theme. Though for me themes are a deck's game gameplan (like Yidris finding a way to make saboteur creatures unblockable) rather than say, making a Harry Potter theme deck.
Whether or not I pull any punches depends on who I am playing with. I have introduce a lot of people into Commander (and friends back into it after they quit modern/standard years ago) and when your play with people who are learning/relearning magic, you gotta pull a few punches in the beginning to help them have fun and get into it more seriously before I troll them into the ground or combo out; and its not fun to win that way unless your versing more tuned decks that could actually stop you.
The only other reason that I pull punches is that if the game is just really fun and I don't wanna just Tooth and Nail for the Deadeye Navigator+Palinchron FTW, when I could grab a couple jank creatures and keep the fun going.
As mentioned, if someone is apparently mana screw and I have the opportunity to screw them over I won't...unless a)they talk lots of *****, b)irrationally target me in recent memory, c)irresistible tempo play (sol ring destroyed after you play your second land drop as karoo on turn three? get strip mine'ed son then flinch as I salivate. Some early marginal gains are very potent and have repercussions so deep in the game that holding back would be against what I love about this game. After writing this I guess I rarely hold back. Oh yeah, this has never really happened, but d)if you are incredibly* hot.
*incredibly.
I have so many decks that my deck choice is the most honest gimp I'll self impose. It's more gratifying winning at everyone's level than curb-stomping precons with vintage singleton.
Lastly, my love for magic runs deep. If your gonna sissy out and go to sleep early bc you were ham-stringed early on then I may be inclined to slow-roll you.
No. Mono black for the win. Go big or go home. I discard your hand with a Mind Twist effect. I kill your creatures with Damnation. I will cast Army of the damned twice in the same turn with all the mana doubling possibilities in my deck.
I know my deck is not tier S/tier 1 hyper competitive. It just tries to be consistent and make strong plays no matter what the "line" in front of me is. Start each game by playing a combination of mana rocks and utility cards, follow that up with card draw and/or tutors, next we will see removal/disruption for what everyone else has been doing and finally we start to see threats come down.
My philosophy is this, I go into each game assuming I am the arch enemy and enjoy the role. I am mono black. i am the big bad evil corruption that spreads that must be stamped out or cleansed from this realm. I am not a jerk at the table... I play a role like a character. My deck will build up its resources and unleash them upon the world. My zombies, demons and vampires will consume you all.
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"Whatever style you wish to play, be it fast and frenzied or slow and tactical, the surest way to defeat your opponent consistently is by dominating him or her in the war of card advantage." - Brian Wiseman, April 1996
I am very notorious in my playgroup for playing very, very cautiously and sometimes just downright not trying to win in favor of pursuing some silly in-game goal. I've been given grief at for having 3+ Dragons on the field yet not attacking anyone with them, I've had people yell "WHAT?!!" with what I keep in my hand and not on the field whenever I get target discard'd/probe'd, and I've even had people deliberately mindslave me into winning the game or at least killing most of that player's opponents.
That said I do interact when I must and I will seize the game on my own when I actually believe that everyone's guard is down. I just may be too defensive and too not-serious for my own good.
Yes, but most often due to sloppy play, distraction, and suboptimal deckbuilding (due to flavor and card access, as much as for a distaste for tutors and easy 'I win' combos.)
I also make grudge plays (mostly attacks) and will make the 'fun' plays over the 'correct' plays, sometimes surveying the table to see if they want fun or correct.
Cheers!
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If in the area, check out Gamers N Geeks and Mini War Games in Mobile, Alabama and Underhill's Games in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
When a player can easily win the game, example they can entwine tooth+nail for whatever, and they choose not to (like they just get value creatures), I find it obnoxious. If an opponent is skilled enough to know that the game should have been over already and an opponent is not playing optimally on purpose, then that can be seen as irritating and insulting.
Even against newer players, where you "think" that you are just giving them a good game experience by delaying the inevitable, I still find that holding a punch would be rude. You need to display the win-con of your deck so that they are aware of it, so they can prepare for the speed of that possible win-con in future games.
If you hold your punches too much against newer players, they will never have a good incentive to actually improve. If you throw out some terrible win-con that they have a mediocre response/card to, they may think that that terrible response/card is amazing and feel obligated to continue running it.
Now in deck-building restrictions, one is given a natural way to hold their punches. A recent example for me was creating a second rakdos storm deck (original using typical tendrils/aetherflux wincon, and a "multiplayer" list using empty the warrens and haze of rage). I dropped consistency and win-con powerlevel for a more entertaining and experience that the opponents can interact with more easily.
In deckbuilding, yes - I choose to pursue "fair" strategies and don't include any infinite combos, generally speaking. But I try to make those decks as optimal as possible, granted that their ceiling is going to be below that of a tuned combo deck.
In gameplay, no - I feel like showing someone pity because you have the power to is almost worse than just caving their face in (in game, of course), and it kind of invalidates the result of the game.
If I'm in a position to win the game in a play, I always go for it. That being said, I absolutely pull punches all the time. Not so much out of any sense of fairness, but more out of managing how much hate I'm accruing compared to other players. In addition, if I know that another player can and will take care of a threat, I'm not going to spend my resources on it if I don't have to.
The one case where I pull punches where it is not advantageous for me to do so is if it means knocking one player out many turns before the game will likely draw down to a conclusion. I hate being the guy who has to sit through an hour of game play just shuffling cards and watching others play while waiting for the next game to start so I hate putting others in that position.
Like many others here I only ever pull punches when building my decks. I play with a very mixed group of friends and I try to have a deck for every occasion, many of them are quite powerful but if they start getting oppressive I will tone them down. As an example I recently cut all my time walk effects from Narset, which has actually made the deck fun rather than just ridiculously oppressive, same thing with cutting all tutors from Prossh. The deck can still go "off" and kill most or all of the table, but it happens much less frequently.
Occasionally I will.
Whether to lengthen the game so it doesn't end too quickly or if I'm playing with newer players that still want to cast their spells.
I try not to get to competitive when I play EDH anyway. I'm just trying to do some sweet stuff lol
No, no, no, no, no, and yes. I don't believe in pulling punches in game. I build my decks to a certain power level so that it's fair for the group's level, and then I go for the throat with it. Under the expectations of competition, there's little reason to do differently. An exception made is that I let people take moves back when they are new and miss a great play. I explain it in-game so they learn and give them the chance to play it differently. Other than that, it's give no quarter and expect none in return.
As for deckbuilding, I guess I pull punches in that I dont use infinite combos, I try to only have a given staple card in one or two decks, and all cards must fit in a deck's theme. Though for me themes are a deck's game gameplan (like Yidris finding a way to make saboteur creatures unblockable) rather than say, making a Harry Potter theme deck.
The Mimeoplasm || Karador, Ghost Chieftain
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher || Vial Smasher/Tymna Group Slug
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief || Talrand, Sky Summoner
Yidris - Unblockable Saboteurs || Kiki-Jiki, ETB breaker
Kess, Dissident Mage
The only other reason that I pull punches is that if the game is just really fun and I don't wanna just Tooth and Nail for the Deadeye Navigator+Palinchron FTW, when I could grab a couple jank creatures and keep the fun going.
WEight-and-a-Half-Tails-The Fox Says "NO"
RKrenko, Mob Boss-Goblin Gangsters
GUSram, Senior Edificer-Cheerios Storm
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm-I'm Gonna Roon Your Day
*incredibly.
I have so many decks that my deck choice is the most honest gimp I'll self impose. It's more gratifying winning at everyone's level than curb-stomping precons with vintage singleton.
Lastly, my love for magic runs deep. If your gonna sissy out and go to sleep early bc you were ham-stringed early on then I may be inclined to slow-roll you.
TLDR; it's complicated.
I know my deck is not tier S/tier 1 hyper competitive. It just tries to be consistent and make strong plays no matter what the "line" in front of me is. Start each game by playing a combination of mana rocks and utility cards, follow that up with card draw and/or tutors, next we will see removal/disruption for what everyone else has been doing and finally we start to see threats come down.
My philosophy is this, I go into each game assuming I am the arch enemy and enjoy the role. I am mono black. i am the big bad evil corruption that spreads that must be stamped out or cleansed from this realm. I am not a jerk at the table... I play a role like a character. My deck will build up its resources and unleash them upon the world. My zombies, demons and vampires will consume you all.
That said I do interact when I must and I will seize the game on my own when I actually believe that everyone's guard is down. I just may be too defensive and too not-serious for my own good.
I also make grudge plays (mostly attacks) and will make the 'fun' plays over the 'correct' plays, sometimes surveying the table to see if they want fun or correct.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
When a player can easily win the game, example they can entwine tooth+nail for whatever, and they choose not to (like they just get value creatures), I find it obnoxious. If an opponent is skilled enough to know that the game should have been over already and an opponent is not playing optimally on purpose, then that can be seen as irritating and insulting.
Even against newer players, where you "think" that you are just giving them a good game experience by delaying the inevitable, I still find that holding a punch would be rude. You need to display the win-con of your deck so that they are aware of it, so they can prepare for the speed of that possible win-con in future games.
If you hold your punches too much against newer players, they will never have a good incentive to actually improve. If you throw out some terrible win-con that they have a mediocre response/card to, they may think that that terrible response/card is amazing and feel obligated to continue running it.
Now in deck-building restrictions, one is given a natural way to hold their punches. A recent example for me was creating a second rakdos storm deck (original using typical tendrils/aetherflux wincon, and a "multiplayer" list using empty the warrens and haze of rage). I dropped consistency and win-con powerlevel for a more entertaining and experience that the opponents can interact with more easily.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
In gameplay, no - I feel like showing someone pity because you have the power to is almost worse than just caving their face in (in game, of course), and it kind of invalidates the result of the game.
R.I.P. Sundering Titan (6/20/12) and Braids, Cabal Minion (9/12/14)
The one case where I pull punches where it is not advantageous for me to do so is if it means knocking one player out many turns before the game will likely draw down to a conclusion. I hate being the guy who has to sit through an hour of game play just shuffling cards and watching others play while waiting for the next game to start so I hate putting others in that position.
Phenax - Mill
Breya - Combo
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Token
Oloros - Combo
Jeleva - eh...working on it
Yidris - Soft Combo
Whether to lengthen the game so it doesn't end too quickly or if I'm playing with newer players that still want to cast their spells.
I try not to get to competitive when I play EDH anyway. I'm just trying to do some sweet stuff lol
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock