Back in 2015, I made this thread, surveying all the cards you thought were the most fun for you to play against. Today, I'm interested in seeing if any of that has changed over three years' time. Has anybody found anything lately that they thought was especially fun to play against in Commander? Personally, I've always found it easier to identify the cards that I don't like playing against rather than the cards I do like, making this question somewhat difficult for me.
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Since there have been a ton of released cards since then i'm going to limit myself - for now - on the possible commanders printed since then(DTK).
In alphabetical order:
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - I don't know a single commander that scales so well with the power of its opponents. Creates tons and tons of memorable plays off other peoples stuff. I really like loaning out my deck just to see it unfold. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Does live up to it's name and warps the game in a pleasant and unbroken way. Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca - Merfolk have been a big part of MTG for so long and i am very happy to see a in flavor, yet strong, general for them now. Neheb, the Eternal - I just love seeing him spin out of control and run away with the game. Mono-R will always get extra points from me. Queen Marchesa - I loved the old Marchesa and i love the new one, too. Every match with Monarch in it is better than the same one would be without it. Samut, Voice of Dissent - She allows for so many different builds and this far i enjoyed each and every single one i've seen. Saskia the Unyielding - By far my favorite one of the 4C solo ones. In a format with so much control, seeing premium beatdown enablers in the zone is just sweet. Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Only ran into him once or twice, but it's been fun times. The funniest built i've seen was him with Eldrazi titans. The moment people realized it was that, oh boy! The Gitrog Monster - Come on, how could you not like the battle toad!? Yahenni, Undying Partisan - Idk, he's nothing to fancy, but mono-B control with voltron-ish elements is just fun. Zada, Hedron Grinder - Either she does amazing things - or nothing. But the flavor and tech are original and a lot of fun.
I still haven't encountered a card that is more fun to play against than Possibility Storm, which is chaos done right, in my opinion.
In terms of commanders, I just absolutely dig Kess, Dissident Mage. Fun ability in a great set of colors, and exceptionally flexible. You never know what you are going to see when you are up against a Kess deck. Since Kess gives you access to so many tutors, I am sure someone has made a dreadfully boring Kess combo deck, but so far I have been fortunate to not encounter one of those.
Possibility Storm is the best. Never fails to make the game more interesting, and in the right deck manages to turn the game in your favor.
But aside from that, any cards that tend to enable "more game" happening without being a total group hug deck (I don't enjoy beating you down if you aren't even attempting to win), or cards that tilts the game/combat logic a bit Doran, the Siege Tower or Fumiko the Lowblood come to mind.
...I have been staring at the screen a few minutes, and I have to admit it's far easier to see what's not fun to play against.
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X Hope of Ghirapur Swordpile W Ghosty Blinky Anafenza U Nezahal- Big, Blue and HERE! B Gonti Can Afford It R Etali, Primal 'Whatjusthappened?' G Polukranos Wants More Mana WU The Exalted Vizier Temmet WB Home, Athreos WR Basandra, Recursive Aggression WG Karametra, Momma of Lands UB Wrexial Eats Your Brains UR Arjun, the Mad Flame UG The Fable of Prime Speaker BR Hellbent, Malfegor Style BG Jarad, Death is Served RG Running Thromok WUB Varina and ALL the Zombies WUBYennett, the Odd Pain-Train WUR Zedruu the Furyhearted WUG Arcades' Strategy, Shmategy, Sausage and Spam WBR A Case of Mathas' Persistent F*ckery WBRLicia's League of Legendary Lifegain Layabouts WBG The Karador Advantage PackageWRG Gahiji Rattlesnake Collection UBR Jeleva... does... things UBG Damia's Just Deserts URG Yasova's Has More Power Than Sense BRG Wasitora, Bad Kitty WUBRBreya, Eggs, Breya'd Eggs WUBG Tymna and Kydele, Extended Borrowing WURG Kynaios and Tiro, Landfall Impersonations WBRG Saskia Pet Card EnchantressUBRG Yidris of the Chi-Ting Corporation WUBRG Tazri's Amazing Allies
Come to think of it Disrupt Decorum is hilarious to play against.
The sheer amount of politicking that comes with it is genuinely entertaining usually.
Come to think of it Disrupt Decorum is hilarious to play against.
The sheer amount of politicking that comes with it is genuinely entertaining usually.
Good call. I've only seen it in action once so far, when I cast it in my Eron the Relentless deck, but it was hilarious.
Maybe this is more applicable to casual groups who don't mind winning by chance, but I always have fun copying my Whims of the Fates and then putting all of my permanents into one pile twice (or thrice!). We always joke that the survivor of this madness won through "pure skill".
Maybe this is more applicable to casual groups who don't mind winning by chance, but I always have fun copying my Whims of the Fates and then putting all of my permanents into one pile twice (or thrice!). We always joke that the survivor of this madness won through "pure skill".
It was a monored deck. I could double Increasing Vengeance a Howl of the Horde for 9 total copies, but at some point you need to admit you're just destroying all permanents in a roundabout way.
Also, I have to say I don't like a lot of the 'staple' chaos cards like Hive Mind or Knowledge Pool or anything else that is chaotic to the point of dramatically slowing down gameplay. I prefer things like Teferi's Curse, Fiery Gambit, or Timesifter that are easy to resolve, don't stop anyone from actually playing, but are still hilariously chaotic.
Watching this thread unfold over the last three days has been a somewhat surreal experience for me. Thus far, a lot of the cards suggested are ones I've found players to dislike in the past. This isn't to say folks in this thread aren't being genuine, just that either a.) folks might not actually know what they find fun and that identifying especially fun cards is as difficult for others as it is for me, or b.) the Commander crowd really is so diverse as to make this task a fool's errand. Personally, I don't think "b" is the case. If it were, designing any game would be nigh impossible. Still, as someone who upholds the spirit of the format, I hadn't really considered the possibility that maybe I was an outlier. Perhaps I'm simply abnormal when it comes to Commander. In any case, here are some of my thoughts regarding a few of the responses:
Wheel of Fortune effects: — In my experience, I've found these types of cards to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, I've had players be extremely grateful for wheeling since their hands didn't have any action, and now they have the chance to get back into the game with something new. On the other hand, I've had players absolutely bemoan wheel effects since they liked the hand they already had and really didn't want to discard something they were particularly attached to. Even worse is when this happens and then the player in question draws into an absolute dud, taking them from being excited about the game to removing their ability to play the game entirely and ruining the experience for them. This is especially heinous in the earliest turns of the game, where a turn two or three Windfall can translate into a forced mulligan.
Group hug effects: — Group hug cards were a common complaint from the previous thread. Essentially, players want a legitimate game. When they find someone doling out resources left and right to their opponents, what players fear is their game losing its merit since the group hug player in question isn't giving the impression that they're actually trying to win the game, something players very much want their opponents to do. And because group hug players commonly fail to win, I've found players tend to disdain most group hug cards because they're frequently associated with games they don't enjoy.
Possibility Storm: — This is a card I've found to be very polarizing. While I don't personally hate the thing, I definitely sympathize with players who do. Basically, the most common complaint I've heard about Possibility Storm is that it throws any sense of strategy or preparation right out the window. Once in play, cards in hands can't do anything (which is a lot like discarding everyone's hand) and just amount to being mana costs for random effects. Getting stuck with a hand full of expensive cards this way feels especially bad for some players since not only will they be limited to casting only a single spell each turn, but the spell they do cast off of Possibility Storm will almost certainly be worse than anything they could be casting from their hand. And to top that off, rolling into something that's either uncastable due to timing restrictions or just outright undesirable feels especially rotten. Just about the only positive experience Possibility Storm creates for players is the hope that their inexpensive spells will luck into something amazing. When that happens, stories are bound to occur, and that's something I see as a positive, but from my vantage point the negatives have always overshadowed the positives for players.
Whims of the Fates: — This is a card I really want to like because I think this card has the potential to create some really interesting decisions by making players consider what combination of cards should be in each pile as to best mitigate the card's effect. Unfortunately, the most common (and near universal) outcome I've seen is for players to split their cards into piles of everything-nothing-nothing hoping to dodge the card entirely. This really doesn't lead to good gameplay, as players either ignore Whims of the Fates altogether or lose everything they have as a result of their luck. Sometimes the best decision is to risk it all, and being punished this harshly for making the proper play feels especially feel bad for some players.
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Possibility Storm: — This is a card I've found to be very polarizing. While I don't personally hate the thing, I definitely sympathize with players who do. Basically, the most common complaint I've heard about Possibility Storm is that it throws any sense of strategy or preparation right out the window. Once in play, cards in hands can't do anything (which is a lot like discarding everyone's hand) and just amount to being mana costs for random effects. Getting stuck with a hand full of expensive cards this way feels especially bad for some players since not only will they be limited to casting only a single spell each turn, but the spell they do cast off of Possibility Storm will almost certainly be worse than anything they could be casting from their hand. And to top that off, rolling into something that's either uncastable due to timing restrictions or just outright undesirable feels especially rotten. Just about the only positive experience Possibility Storm creates for players is the hope that their inexpensive spells will luck into something amazing. When that happens, stories are bound to occur, and that's something I see as a positive, but from my vantage point the negatives have always overshadowed the positives for players.
In defense of possibility storm, what I like about it is that outside of the jankiest of jank it renders combo nigh impossible. And if you do manage to somehow combo out with possibility storm in play, all I can do is laugh my ass off and tip my hat. I guess it does come with bad feels, but the types of decks that thrive in a PS environment aren’t just chaos. They’re decks that have good synergy, in which cards interact at multiple points in multiple ways. It may not necessarily be the way you expect, but a PS environment encourages strong deck building and discourages combo, and that’s not the worst thing in the world. (I’m not a fan of combo, clearly)
As far whiffing from a storm, it’s just as possible for the owner as the affected. It’s no different to a slot machine - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but it’s not a sure bet for anyone. What I like about it is the crazy states it brings out, and I’m just as excited to see what happens across the board from me as what I can achieve.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
Different tastes, and undoubtedly something that is fun to play with/against for one is instant hate for another. If you like carefully building gameplans, you won't like me playing Possibility Storm. I enjoy creating such synergy balls that Possibility Storm is almost always a net positive for me, sans the occasional time it hits a card I can't play from it, but those are pretty rare for my decks.
I'll briefly defend my enjoyment in group hug effects. To be exact - effects. If you have a whole deck dedicated to Howling Mines without it also playing into your game plan somehow (draw-punisher or some variant of non-blue 'spam'), yeah, I'm not a fan. But some amount of these effects can really make the game more interesting, as they reduce the chances of being screwed up by your initial hand and first few draws.
Now, I am a firm believer in that your deck should be able to execute its' plan on it's own, absolutely. But we're talking 100-card singleton here - sometimes your luck or shuffling just is that rotten. The occasional 'everyone draws' or 'everyone gets to search a land' can definitely make the game more interesting just by mildly evening the chances that everyone gets to play what they're setting out to do. If you already are doing decent, additional draw might not do much. But if you're behind, that additional topdeck might save your game from a total disaster.
Or put in another way, I much prefer games end because big spells happened, and not because they did not happen. (You can probably tell I am not a big fan of heavy stax...)
When I slot in such a card, it's usually due to 'yeah, it gets everyone cards and that might harm me, but if I have no cards, that definitely harms me'. Depending on the deck and colors in question, selfish draw just might not be the best option. And as said, there can be game plans created around everyone benefiting (there is a reason my Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis runs Treacherous Terrain, for example).
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X Hope of Ghirapur Swordpile W Ghosty Blinky Anafenza U Nezahal- Big, Blue and HERE! B Gonti Can Afford It R Etali, Primal 'Whatjusthappened?' G Polukranos Wants More Mana WU The Exalted Vizier Temmet WB Home, Athreos WR Basandra, Recursive Aggression WG Karametra, Momma of Lands UB Wrexial Eats Your Brains UR Arjun, the Mad Flame UG The Fable of Prime Speaker BR Hellbent, Malfegor Style BG Jarad, Death is Served RG Running Thromok WUB Varina and ALL the Zombies WUBYennett, the Odd Pain-Train WUR Zedruu the Furyhearted WUG Arcades' Strategy, Shmategy, Sausage and Spam WBR A Case of Mathas' Persistent F*ckery WBRLicia's League of Legendary Lifegain Layabouts WBG The Karador Advantage PackageWRG Gahiji Rattlesnake Collection UBR Jeleva... does... things UBG Damia's Just Deserts URG Yasova's Has More Power Than Sense BRG Wasitora, Bad Kitty WUBRBreya, Eggs, Breya'd Eggs WUBG Tymna and Kydele, Extended Borrowing WURG Kynaios and Tiro, Landfall Impersonations WBRG Saskia Pet Card EnchantressUBRG Yidris of the Chi-Ting Corporation WUBRG Tazri's Amazing Allies
My Eron deck? Not much to tell. It's mono-red, full of big things to stomp opponents, equipment to make things more stompy, stuff that messes with other decks' capacity to function (Blood Moon, Stranglehold), ways to keep opponents from being able to block and lots of temporary theft effects to take my opponents' critters and do more stomping, then ways to either benefit from sacrificing my opponents' stompy stuff or to keep it indefinitely. Eron with some equipment is an okay win condition, but in mono-red, one has to be fairly aggro to take on a whole table. Disrupt Decorum fits in nicely to make them aggro each other, or at very least not have much available to block when it gets around to my next turn.
Watching this thread unfold over the last three days has been a somewhat surreal experience for me. Thus far, a lot of the cards suggested are ones I've found players to dislike in the past. This isn't to say folks in this thread aren't being genuine, just that either a.) folks might not actually know what they find fun and that identifying especially fun cards is as difficult for others as it is for me, or b.) the Commander crowd really is so diverse as to make this task a fool's errand. Personally, I don't think "b" is the case. If it were, designing any game would be nigh impossible. Still, as someone who upholds the spirit of the format, I hadn't really considered the possibility that maybe I was an outlier. Perhaps I'm simply abnormal when it comes to Commander. In any case, here are some of my thoughts regarding a few of the responses:
Possibility Storm: — This is a card I've found to be very polarizing. While I don't personally hate the thing, I definitely sympathize with players who do. Basically, the most common complaint I've heard about Possibility Storm is that it throws any sense of strategy or preparation right out the window. Once in play, cards in hands can't do anything (which is a lot like discarding everyone's hand) and just amount to being mana costs for random effects. Getting stuck with a hand full of expensive cards this way feels especially bad for some players since not only will they be limited to casting only a single spell each turn, but the spell they do cast off of Possibility Storm will almost certainly be worse than anything they could be casting from their hand. And to top that off, rolling into something that's either uncastable due to timing restrictions or just outright undesirable feels especially rotten. Just about the only positive experience Possibility Storm creates for players is the hope that their inexpensive spells will luck into something amazing. When that happens, stories are bound to occur, and that's something I see as a positive, but from my vantage point the negatives have always overshadowed the positives for players.
Me personally, I detest group hug with a passion. But P-Storm, I love it, it makes things unpredictable, and as toctheyounger77 noted, it totally screws combo, which is to me almost as good as piles of free money with some hot sex thrown in for good measure. The decks in which I run it are built to not be screwed by it, meanwhile the blue player is left unable to control everything and finds some standard tricks (Cyclonic Rift, for example) a lot less useful. In Ruric Thar, Possibility Storm is almost a win condition in itself.
I also enjoy playing against Possibility Storm, even when I'm the guy playing blue who is figuring out how to make something useful with a counterspell. I find it challenging and unpredictable, and since I'm in it for the fun a lot more than for the win, I just hope to see some amusing - or occasionally amazing - stuff happen.
Personally, I suspect people that don't like Possibility Storm are probably a lot further toward the competitive end of the casual/competitive axis than the people I would want to play with in the first place.
I play Possibility Storm in my Maelstrom Wanderer deck. Its one of the cards that lets me interact with multiple opponents without feeling too 'staxy' and still letting the game continue. It also hoses many styles of combo decks, which feels awesome. It also lets players cast their commanders, which is a big part of the commander format.
One of my favorite cards to play against is Chaos Warp. I always get a greedy glint in my eye, shuffle judiciously, rub my hands together, and offer the cut to the opponent that cast the spell. Maybe utter something like "Heart of the Cards, Guide ME!" or "How lucky do you feel today?" or something similar. Its also why I love playing that card.
I like playing against Etali, Primal Storm, because I like it when the card takes all the busted stuff that you put into your decks and uses it against you.
Possibility Storm is pretty good. Like people said before, it hoses a lot while still allowing people to play Magic. It's also a red chaos effect that doesn't cause the game to become difficult or impossible to track. (Think Scrambleverse on this one)
I like to play against cards that help the game move along: Howling Mine, Rites of Flourishing and Mana Flare. But also stuff that forces attacks. Other than that though, anything is cool as long as it doesn't prevent me from playing the game at all like mass land destruction or stax. The most enjoyable games to me are those where thr pendulum of who is ahead swings a few times with someone eventually winning through clever plays and a good combination of cards. As in, non-infinite combo: playing against infinite combo always feels like you're playing with someone who'd rather play solitaire.
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Back in 2015, I made this thread, surveying all the cards you thought were the most fun for you to play against. Today, I'm interested in seeing if any of that has changed over three years' time. Has anybody found anything lately that they thought was especially fun to play against in Commander? Personally, I've always found it easier to identify the cards that I don't like playing against rather than the cards I do like, making this question somewhat difficult for me.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
In alphabetical order:
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - I don't know a single commander that scales so well with the power of its opponents. Creates tons and tons of memorable plays off other peoples stuff. I really like loaning out my deck just to see it unfold.
Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Does live up to it's name and warps the game in a pleasant and unbroken way.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca - Merfolk have been a big part of MTG for so long and i am very happy to see a in flavor, yet strong, general for them now.
Neheb, the Eternal - I just love seeing him spin out of control and run away with the game. Mono-R will always get extra points from me.
Queen Marchesa - I loved the old Marchesa and i love the new one, too. Every match with Monarch in it is better than the same one would be without it.
Samut, Voice of Dissent - She allows for so many different builds and this far i enjoyed each and every single one i've seen.
Saskia the Unyielding - By far my favorite one of the 4C solo ones. In a format with so much control, seeing premium beatdown enablers in the zone is just sweet.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Only ran into him once or twice, but it's been fun times. The funniest built i've seen was him with Eldrazi titans. The moment people realized it was that, oh boy!
The Gitrog Monster - Come on, how could you not like the battle toad!?
Yahenni, Undying Partisan - Idk, he's nothing to fancy, but mono-B control with voltron-ish elements is just fun.
Zada, Hedron Grinder - Either she does amazing things - or nothing. But the flavor and tech are original and a lot of fun.
On the other hand the most unfun, boring and/or heavily overplayed ones were Atraxa, Praetor's Voice, Breya, Etherium Shaper, Leovold, Emissary of Trest, Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Rashmi, Eternities Crafter, The Scarab God, The Ur-Dragon and the ubiquitous combo-partner combinations.
EDH: Xenagos, God of Revels.
In terms of commanders, I just absolutely dig Kess, Dissident Mage. Fun ability in a great set of colors, and exceptionally flexible. You never know what you are going to see when you are up against a Kess deck. Since Kess gives you access to so many tutors, I am sure someone has made a dreadfully boring Kess combo deck, but so far I have been fortunate to not encounter one of those.
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But aside from that, any cards that tend to enable "more game" happening without being a total group hug deck (I don't enjoy beating you down if you aren't even attempting to win), or cards that tilts the game/combat logic a bit Doran, the Siege Tower or Fumiko the Lowblood come to mind.
...I have been staring at the screen a few minutes, and I have to admit it's far easier to see what's not fun to play against.
The sheer amount of politicking that comes with it is genuinely entertaining usually.
Good call. I've only seen it in action once so far, when I cast it in my Eron the Relentless deck, but it was hilarious.
- Rabid Wombat
Also, I have to say I don't like a lot of the 'staple' chaos cards like Hive Mind or Knowledge Pool or anything else that is chaotic to the point of dramatically slowing down gameplay. I prefer things like Teferi's Curse, Fiery Gambit, or Timesifter that are easy to resolve, don't stop anyone from actually playing, but are still hilariously chaotic.
- Rabid Wombat
Wheel of Fortune effects: — In my experience, I've found these types of cards to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, I've had players be extremely grateful for wheeling since their hands didn't have any action, and now they have the chance to get back into the game with something new. On the other hand, I've had players absolutely bemoan wheel effects since they liked the hand they already had and really didn't want to discard something they were particularly attached to. Even worse is when this happens and then the player in question draws into an absolute dud, taking them from being excited about the game to removing their ability to play the game entirely and ruining the experience for them. This is especially heinous in the earliest turns of the game, where a turn two or three Windfall can translate into a forced mulligan.
Group hug effects: — Group hug cards were a common complaint from the previous thread. Essentially, players want a legitimate game. When they find someone doling out resources left and right to their opponents, what players fear is their game losing its merit since the group hug player in question isn't giving the impression that they're actually trying to win the game, something players very much want their opponents to do. And because group hug players commonly fail to win, I've found players tend to disdain most group hug cards because they're frequently associated with games they don't enjoy.
Possibility Storm: — This is a card I've found to be very polarizing. While I don't personally hate the thing, I definitely sympathize with players who do. Basically, the most common complaint I've heard about Possibility Storm is that it throws any sense of strategy or preparation right out the window. Once in play, cards in hands can't do anything (which is a lot like discarding everyone's hand) and just amount to being mana costs for random effects. Getting stuck with a hand full of expensive cards this way feels especially bad for some players since not only will they be limited to casting only a single spell each turn, but the spell they do cast off of Possibility Storm will almost certainly be worse than anything they could be casting from their hand. And to top that off, rolling into something that's either uncastable due to timing restrictions or just outright undesirable feels especially rotten. Just about the only positive experience Possibility Storm creates for players is the hope that their inexpensive spells will luck into something amazing. When that happens, stories are bound to occur, and that's something I see as a positive, but from my vantage point the negatives have always overshadowed the positives for players.
Whims of the Fates: — This is a card I really want to like because I think this card has the potential to create some really interesting decisions by making players consider what combination of cards should be in each pile as to best mitigate the card's effect. Unfortunately, the most common (and near universal) outcome I've seen is for players to split their cards into piles of everything-nothing-nothing hoping to dodge the card entirely. This really doesn't lead to good gameplay, as players either ignore Whims of the Fates altogether or lose everything they have as a result of their luck. Sometimes the best decision is to risk it all, and being punished this harshly for making the proper play feels especially feel bad for some players.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
In defense of possibility storm, what I like about it is that outside of the jankiest of jank it renders combo nigh impossible. And if you do manage to somehow combo out with possibility storm in play, all I can do is laugh my ass off and tip my hat. I guess it does come with bad feels, but the types of decks that thrive in a PS environment aren’t just chaos. They’re decks that have good synergy, in which cards interact at multiple points in multiple ways. It may not necessarily be the way you expect, but a PS environment encourages strong deck building and discourages combo, and that’s not the worst thing in the world. (I’m not a fan of combo, clearly)
As far whiffing from a storm, it’s just as possible for the owner as the affected. It’s no different to a slot machine - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but it’s not a sure bet for anyone. What I like about it is the crazy states it brings out, and I’m just as excited to see what happens across the board from me as what I can achieve.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
Different tastes, and undoubtedly something that is fun to play with/against for one is instant hate for another. If you like carefully building gameplans, you won't like me playing Possibility Storm. I enjoy creating such synergy balls that Possibility Storm is almost always a net positive for me, sans the occasional time it hits a card I can't play from it, but those are pretty rare for my decks.
I'll briefly defend my enjoyment in group hug effects. To be exact - effects. If you have a whole deck dedicated to Howling Mines without it also playing into your game plan somehow (draw-punisher or some variant of non-blue 'spam'), yeah, I'm not a fan. But some amount of these effects can really make the game more interesting, as they reduce the chances of being screwed up by your initial hand and first few draws.
Now, I am a firm believer in that your deck should be able to execute its' plan on it's own, absolutely. But we're talking 100-card singleton here - sometimes your luck or shuffling just is that rotten. The occasional 'everyone draws' or 'everyone gets to search a land' can definitely make the game more interesting just by mildly evening the chances that everyone gets to play what they're setting out to do. If you already are doing decent, additional draw might not do much. But if you're behind, that additional topdeck might save your game from a total disaster.
Or put in another way, I much prefer games end because big spells happened, and not because they did not happen. (You can probably tell I am not a big fan of heavy stax...)
When I slot in such a card, it's usually due to 'yeah, it gets everyone cards and that might harm me, but if I have no cards, that definitely harms me'. Depending on the deck and colors in question, selfish draw just might not be the best option. And as said, there can be game plans created around everyone benefiting (there is a reason my Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis runs Treacherous Terrain, for example).
My Eron deck? Not much to tell. It's mono-red, full of big things to stomp opponents, equipment to make things more stompy, stuff that messes with other decks' capacity to function (Blood Moon, Stranglehold), ways to keep opponents from being able to block and lots of temporary theft effects to take my opponents' critters and do more stomping, then ways to either benefit from sacrificing my opponents' stompy stuff or to keep it indefinitely. Eron with some equipment is an okay win condition, but in mono-red, one has to be fairly aggro to take on a whole table. Disrupt Decorum fits in nicely to make them aggro each other, or at very least not have much available to block when it gets around to my next turn.
Me personally, I detest group hug with a passion. But P-Storm, I love it, it makes things unpredictable, and as toctheyounger77 noted, it totally screws combo, which is to me almost as good as piles of free money with some hot sex thrown in for good measure. The decks in which I run it are built to not be screwed by it, meanwhile the blue player is left unable to control everything and finds some standard tricks (Cyclonic Rift, for example) a lot less useful. In Ruric Thar, Possibility Storm is almost a win condition in itself.
I also enjoy playing against Possibility Storm, even when I'm the guy playing blue who is figuring out how to make something useful with a counterspell. I find it challenging and unpredictable, and since I'm in it for the fun a lot more than for the win, I just hope to see some amusing - or occasionally amazing - stuff happen.
Personally, I suspect people that don't like Possibility Storm are probably a lot further toward the competitive end of the casual/competitive axis than the people I would want to play with in the first place.
Well said, sir. Hat tipped.
Its also awesome with a Void Winnower, or Planar Chaos in play, but thats neither here nor there.
One of my favorite cards to play against is Chaos Warp. I always get a greedy glint in my eye, shuffle judiciously, rub my hands together, and offer the cut to the opponent that cast the spell. Maybe utter something like "Heart of the Cards, Guide ME!" or "How lucky do you feel today?" or something similar. Its also why I love playing that card.
Maybe I just like red?
edit: I also really love playing against cards that are really only good in one deck. Flame Rift in Neheb, the Eternal or Notorious Throng in Edric, Spymaster of Trest or Sage of Fables in Marchesa, the Black Rose.
Possibility Storm is pretty good. Like people said before, it hoses a lot while still allowing people to play Magic. It's also a red chaos effect that doesn't cause the game to become difficult or impossible to track. (Think Scrambleverse on this one)
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
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