Why would I try to limit myself to standard cards, when I have (almost) the entire cardpool of magic that I can play with, just to have a planeswalker as a commander?
It also seems like it would be as others have mentioned before, creature-heavy, midrange slugfest with gummed up boards and a lot of the same creatures because there's only so many "good" options in standard.
Why would I try to limit myself to standard cards, when I have (almost) the entire cardpool of magic that I can play with, just to have a planeswalker as a commander?
It also seems like it would be as others have mentioned before, creature-heavy, midrange slugfest with gummed up boards and a lot of the same creatures because there's only so many "good" options in standard.
I'll pass this time thanks
If boards get gummed up, you know what the solution is? evasion.
Maybe it's because limited is my other format, but I don't understand the hate that some commander players have for combat. Combat isn't easy. I see people who have played magic for years make boneheaded mistakes in combat. Hell, I do too every once in a blue moon. Especially in a format where combat tricks are actually viable, knowing what you play around, the bluffs and counterbluffs...it has an enormous amount of depth that changes in subtle ways with every expansion. Sure, thematically beating face isn't subtle, but actually playing well through combat is. It's a huge part of the game and a huge part of what gives the game its longevity and its depth. Goldfishing your combo deck has all the depth of a kiddie pool compared to the ocean of the intricacies of combat. Give it some respect.
I am moderately disinclinedly interested, but mostly on theory level of 'what can you do with just standard cardpool?'
We shall see if this actually goes anywhere, I guess.
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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
can someone provide the restrictions list? I might build one (I already have a lot of PWs availed to me. I might break one.)
EDIT: Okay looked up the ban list and I am probably not gonna touch this one. Feel like a poor man's version of EDH that, with rotations, will become the rich man's version as they have to keep buying new cards. (Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of rotations in EDH, but one reason i play EDH is due to not having to buy new cards every few months.
The difference here is that both commander and brawl are casual formats, so WotC support or lack thereof is pretty meaningless. Commander was still just as great when it was only edh. I guess they could screw it up online but I hate playing online so idc. Commander is way better in person.
The way I see it, both formats offer different things. Commander is a format for enfranchised players who want the freedom to try any potential combinations of cards. Letting players do anything can be awesome but it also lets people break the format if they wish. Brawl is for new players, or people who want a format where fairness is built into the rules rather than social contract.
Put simply, the souls of commander are freedom and nostalgia, the souls of brawl are balance and novelty.
I play a lot online, so them screwing things up online is a big worry to me, especially after last year's debacle. I also am skeptical that the format will end up balanced, as they've had a piss poor track record of balancing standard over the past few years, and a format based around having one card always available that can be built around is even more imbalance, though being singleton limits that somewhat.
I'd say its logical to view the formats as different things, but I'm skeptical that wizards will. If brawl can exist without cannibalizing commander, then that's great, even if I don't personally like the format. I think I'll be less skeptical if they let it develop naturally, but being an in house development from branding of all places (and for all their talk of it being "grassroots", a product originating in the branding department to address a specific corporate goal and developed internally by the company then introduced to coincide with a major product release doesn't really seem grassroots). Time will tell. If we see their push of commander wane, and brawl get boosted at its expense, I'll be worried, but if they continue to try to get people excited about commander and don't force meme brawl then I'll be happy. If people try brawl and like it, that's great. If it turns into "Hey guys, you gotta try brawl, we're gonna have an organize side event for brawl at tournaments, and we're releasing brawl online right away with brawl leagues and Magic Arena is going to have brawl instead of commander so all new players are pushed into brawl please like this because brand synergy" I'll be annoyed and start rooting for its failure, because I don't want to see Commander suffer Legacy's fate. And yes, Commander is a great format, but so is Legacy, and that didn't help Legacy.
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Absolutely not. A huge part of the fun for me with EDH is the huge card pool. Taking that away by making it standard only restricts me to the worst cards in magic. I'd probably have more fun if they made it Homelands only at this point, with how bad standard has been the last few years. At least if it was homelands only the format wouldn't rotate.
Each card must be legal in the Standard format; cards banned in the Standard format can't be played in the Brawl variant.
Yeah I'll pass, thanks. The fact that they can't even foresee this becoming a serious problem that they're going to have to change later on inspires little faith from me.
I just think standard has too strong a threats and too weak answers and putting that into singleton seems like it could easily be a real feel bad. Particularly with all these obnoxious gods floating around.
So I am not super expectant of the format developing into something.
I will play it if it proves me wrong and perhaps if, as people are speculating, it ends up on Arena.
One of the things that gives this a lot more lifespan than something like tiny leaders is that its first of all multiplayer rather than 1v1. Meaning their might be 1-2 more players there to help or hinder. Much like normal multiplayer Commander, this is what helps keep it alive and prevents it from being completely solved as you will always have the potential for wildcard decks showing up.
OK, I see what is happening. This is a post in the commander section, which of course is read and posted by..wait for it..commander players.
Brawl is not aimed at commander players. It's aimed at people who want to get into Magic or who just have small card pools.
Commander is much like vintage for new players. Overwhelming in card pool choices, and overwhelming in prices to compete. So how do you make a fun format for newer players. Mix a bit of the commander rules, with a cheaper and limited card selection.
Of course if vintage players were asked to play standard, they are are going to go, umm, so I can't play a Black Lotus into Ancestral Recall? No thanks! This is where we are at with this thread. It ain't for you buddy.
"Commander Lite"? Pfft, please. This is a novelty concept at best, aimed at enticing the standard players into committing to a commander deck without having to buy a full commander deck, and to entice commander players into buying packs to play this new half format with others at an LGS. It's a cash grab by WotC, tbh.
Standard commander is a novellty, in some sets it can work out and be fun (like, say, RTR-THS season) but overall I have no interest in buying cards for an unsanctioned yet rotating format. You'd be better off roping me into Modern Commander, that's where the real money is at...
"Commander Lite"? Pfft, please. This is a novelty concept at best, aimed at enticing the standard players into committing to a commander deck without having to buy a full commander deck, and to entice commander players into buying packs to play this new half format with others at an LGS. It's a cash grab by WotC, tbh.
Standard commander is a novellty, in some sets it can work out and be fun (like, say, RTR-THS season) but overall I have no interest in buying cards for an unsanctioned yet rotating format. You'd be better off roping me into Modern Commander, that's where the real money is at...
Well, Dominaria and its chock full o legends theme is the absolute best time to try this, especially since its coming off a tribal block with tribal commanders which are popular (though Wizards using them as examples for why its sixty card, claiming that there aren't enough creatures to make a theme deck in 100 card singleton while commander players have already built Gishnath and Admiral Brass, is amusing). Down the line though, unless they are going to drastically increase the average legend count, I see it becoming increasingly less diverse after Dominaria rotates. But that's a couple years off, so it'll probably be dead by then without a concerted effort by Wizards to support it.
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
"Commander Lite"? Pfft, please. This is a novelty concept at best, aimed at enticing the standard players into committing to a commander deck without having to buy a full commander deck, and to entice commander players into buying packs to play this new half format with others at an LGS. It's a cash grab by WotC, tbh.
Standard commander is a novellty, in some sets it can work out and be fun (like, say, RTR-THS season) but overall I have no interest in buying cards for an unsanctioned yet rotating format. You'd be better off roping me into Modern Commander, that's where the real money is at...
Well, Dominaria and its chock full o legends theme is the absolute best time to try this, especially since its coming off a tribal block with tribal commanders which are popular (though Wizards using them as examples for why its sixty card, claiming that there aren't enough creatures to make a theme deck in 100 card singleton while commander players have already built Gishnath and Admiral Brass, is amusing). Down the line though, unless they are going to drastically increase the average legend count, I see it becoming increasingly less diverse after Dominaria rotates. But that's a couple years off, so it'll probably be dead by then without a concerted effort by Wizards to support it.
Even with dominaria legends, I see this format being largely solved into one or two viable decks two weeks after rotation. You could argue that you should approach brawl casually, but why, when you can approach EDH casually and have a much more fun and varied experience? Just because edh decks can be phenomenally expensive doesn't mean they have to be.
No thanks. Half the reason I love EDH is getting to cast old spells. I have zero interest in any sort of rotating format.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Even with dominaria legends, I see this format being largely solved into one or two viable decks two weeks after rotation. You could argue that you should approach brawl casually, but why, when you can approach EDH casually and have a much more fun and varied experience? Just because edh decks can be phenomenally expensive doesn't mean they have to be.
So I don't really get who this is made for.
I think it is designed for standard players (whom dont play commander) and or new players. I got the impression that they were looking for another format for newer players who may not have an extensive and old collection like a lot of long time commander players have. Its possible that its sort of a bridge to commander for those new or standard players but it seems like an odd thing to do from wizard's perspective.
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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.
Feel like a poor man's version of EDH that, with rotations, will become the rich man's version as they have to keep buying new cards.
I guess this is a fair complaint if you're the type who bought one precon and then never buys new decks, but if you're putting together new decks and trying to make it reasonably decent, commander can get phenomenally expensive. Definitely if your goal is to have an optimized powerful deck, you'd have to keep up with brawl for many, many years before you'd get even close to the cost of a single commander deck. Not that that's everyone's goal, but most of the people I see around here are posting up decklists like mine with duals and fetches and lots of $10+ cards, and complaining about the cost of brawl seems a little...poorly considered.
I play a lot online, so them screwing things up online is a big worry to me, especially after last year's debacle. I also am skeptical that the format will end up balanced, as they've had a piss poor track record of balancing standard over the past few years, and a format based around having one card always available that can be built around is even more imbalance, though being singleton limits that somewhat.
I'd say its logical to view the formats as different things, but I'm skeptical that wizards will. If brawl can exist without cannibalizing commander, then that's great, even if I don't personally like the format. I think I'll be less skeptical if they let it develop naturally, but being an in house development from branding of all places (and for all their talk of it being "grassroots", a product originating in the branding department to address a specific corporate goal and developed internally by the company then introduced to coincide with a major product release doesn't really seem grassroots). Time will tell. If we see their push of commander wane, and brawl get boosted at its expense, I'll be worried, but if they continue to try to get people excited about commander and don't force meme brawl then I'll be happy. If people try brawl and like it, that's great. If it turns into "Hey guys, you gotta try brawl, we're gonna have an organize side event for brawl at tournaments, and we're releasing brawl online right away with brawl leagues and Magic Arena is going to have brawl instead of commander so all new players are pushed into brawl please like this because brand synergy" I'll be annoyed and start rooting for its failure, because I don't want to see Commander suffer Legacy's fate. And yes, Commander is a great format, but so is Legacy, and that didn't help Legacy.
Well I'd be shocked if they made commander work in arena anytime soon regardless of brawl. Almost certainly brawl will be the arena format available. You think wotc wants to program 20K cards that are worthless to anyone except some niche commander deck played by 12 people who only want 1 copy? Fat chance. If anything brawl is an olive branch to the commander players to apologize to the fact that commander was almost certainly never going to be implemented in arena. Best case scenario you'll get frontier commander, where it doesn't rotate, but nobody is going to implement homelands just so people can recreate their soraya the falconer decks online.
I think you kinda missed my point. WotC didn't make commander popular. I mean, they helped accelerate its growth with the precons, but the core demo of commander was playing it before wotc had ever touched it. Even if they never printed a precon again and never have any commander side events at GPs or whatever...it would still be popular and retains its players, though it might not grow as fast. I guess I'm sorry if wotc ends up removing the ability to play it online...although it seems really unlikely that they'd remove anything, more likely they'll just fail to implement it in arena and let it sit in modo or wherever people play it now...but that's really not the majority of commander players. Commander was intended as a social format, which just doesn't translate to online play.
Legacy is still a format - as I'm annoyingly reminded of because the GP here in Seattle offers both a main event AND a PTQ for legacy (and standard) while limited players get to fart around in side events. Legacy is a popular format because it has prize support and rewards for doing well in it. People come into it because they like the card pool, sure, but also because they want a reward for doing well and a reason to succeed. Commander has never had those things. Commander is a popular format SOLELY because of how good the gameplay is. WotC support, or lack thereof, can't change that. That's my point.
Even with dominaria legends, I see this format being largely solved into one or two viable decks two weeks after rotation. You could argue that you should approach brawl casually, but why, when you can approach EDH casually and have a much more fun and varied experience? Just because edh decks can be phenomenally expensive doesn't mean they have to be.
So I don't really get who this is made for.
Multiplayer formats are not solveable.
At least, not in the way 1v1 formats are. It's like how draft isn't really solveable either. If one deck is clearly the best draft archetype...people try to force it harder, competition for the cards becomes fiercer, and the deck becomes worse because you're always fighting more people to draft it. Multiplayer, same sort of thing. If one commander is THE BEST deck, then people will gang up against them more than against other players with weaker decks. It's self-balancing. In order to be solved it would have be SO far out of wack that one deck was able to take on the whole table, or at least so good that practically everyone was playing it. Which seems really unlikely.
And there are loads of reason to play it as a casual format. It creates a more even playing field for new and old players. It prevents griefers from playing grossly overpowered decks against scrubs. It's much cheaper to get into and to optimize. My girlfriend has hated when I tried to get her to play commander in the past because she feels like she's massively out of her depth against powerful cards she's never heard of. In brawl she's seen practically every card because she's drafted them at some point or another. It's a way better experience for newer players.
I don't like the idea of leasing Magic decks, so I've never taken anything with a rotation seriously. My Taigam deck isn't perfect, but it can only improve, and it has no time limit to do so.
I don't like the idea of leasing Magic decks, so I've never taken anything with a rotation seriously. My Taigam deck isn't perfect, but it can only improve, and it has no time limit to do so.
You only ever really lease everything. One day commander won't exist. One day magic won't exist. One day you won't exist.
Pretentiousness aside, I always wonder, for people making this complaint - how long do you play decks? Personally I get bored of a deck if I play it for longer than a month. Being limited to a year or two sounds like plenty. Granted, your commander cards are more likely to retain value, but who knows. Maybe they'll break the reserved list and my $20K commander collection will crash. At least with brawl you're only in for a hundred bucks or so. Even if you're more likely to lose your money, at least it wasn't much to begin with. not to mention how easy it is to turn draft chaff into a brawl deck so you spend nothing, or a brawl deck into a commander deck so you can keep it around "forever".
I'm not particularly interested in the format, but some of the EDH people in my playgroup seem quite excited in it (fortunately nowhere near the point of giving up EDH for it). If they do get heavily into it, I'll probably put together a deck. Hopefully I can make an at least OK control deck - maybe the Dominaria Teferi?
It looks like a really cool format to play. As someone who exclusively plays commander, this could actually very well draw me into 60 card decks,again.... if it hadn't been for the standard restriction. I only buy the singles i want for my existing edh decks and occasionally a new one amd that already takes up more money then I should be spending on Magic. Since I don't like sealed I have no other source of incoming cards.
And of course if you drop the standard restriction then you're basically playing normal EDH in a 60 card variant.
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The secret to enjoyable Commander games is not winning first, but losing last.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
I feel like the reason behind using the same banlist is that they want to create this format to try and drive sales at a minimal effort. It would also be harder to collect the data they love to represent for their ban list articles since it is a non sanctioned format. So it basically feels like they just throw this out there and if it sells more packs that is fantastic because all it cost us was paying a couple people to write a couple articles and tweak a couple lines of text in the comprehensive rules. (Which they have to do anyway.)
My vote was definitely not. Given my limited time to play I will stick to EDH in it's full glory.
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Why would I try to limit myself to standard cards, when I have (almost) the entire cardpool of magic that I can play with, just to have a planeswalker as a commander?
It also seems like it would be as others have mentioned before, creature-heavy, midrange slugfest with gummed up boards and a lot of the same creatures because there's only so many "good" options in standard.
I'll pass this time thanks
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
Maybe it's because limited is my other format, but I don't understand the hate that some commander players have for combat. Combat isn't easy. I see people who have played magic for years make boneheaded mistakes in combat. Hell, I do too every once in a blue moon. Especially in a format where combat tricks are actually viable, knowing what you play around, the bluffs and counterbluffs...it has an enormous amount of depth that changes in subtle ways with every expansion. Sure, thematically beating face isn't subtle, but actually playing well through combat is. It's a huge part of the game and a huge part of what gives the game its longevity and its depth. Goldfishing your combo deck has all the depth of a kiddie pool compared to the ocean of the intricacies of combat. Give it some respect.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
We shall see if this actually goes anywhere, I guess.
EDIT: Okay looked up the ban list and I am probably not gonna touch this one. Feel like a poor man's version of EDH that, with rotations, will become the rich man's version as they have to keep buying new cards. (Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of rotations in EDH, but one reason i play EDH is due to not having to buy new cards every few months.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
I play a lot online, so them screwing things up online is a big worry to me, especially after last year's debacle. I also am skeptical that the format will end up balanced, as they've had a piss poor track record of balancing standard over the past few years, and a format based around having one card always available that can be built around is even more imbalance, though being singleton limits that somewhat.
I'd say its logical to view the formats as different things, but I'm skeptical that wizards will. If brawl can exist without cannibalizing commander, then that's great, even if I don't personally like the format. I think I'll be less skeptical if they let it develop naturally, but being an in house development from branding of all places (and for all their talk of it being "grassroots", a product originating in the branding department to address a specific corporate goal and developed internally by the company then introduced to coincide with a major product release doesn't really seem grassroots). Time will tell. If we see their push of commander wane, and brawl get boosted at its expense, I'll be worried, but if they continue to try to get people excited about commander and don't force meme brawl then I'll be happy. If people try brawl and like it, that's great. If it turns into "Hey guys, you gotta try brawl, we're gonna have an organize side event for brawl at tournaments, and we're releasing brawl online right away with brawl leagues and Magic Arena is going to have brawl instead of commander so all new players are pushed into brawl please like this because brand synergy" I'll be annoyed and start rooting for its failure, because I don't want to see Commander suffer Legacy's fate. And yes, Commander is a great format, but so is Legacy, and that didn't help Legacy.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Yeah I'll pass, thanks. The fact that they can't even foresee this becoming a serious problem that they're going to have to change later on inspires little faith from me.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
So I am not super expectant of the format developing into something.
I will play it if it proves me wrong and perhaps if, as people are speculating, it ends up on Arena.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Brawl is not aimed at commander players. It's aimed at people who want to get into Magic or who just have small card pools.
Commander is much like vintage for new players. Overwhelming in card pool choices, and overwhelming in prices to compete. So how do you make a fun format for newer players. Mix a bit of the commander rules, with a cheaper and limited card selection.
Of course if vintage players were asked to play standard, they are are going to go, umm, so I can't play a Black Lotus into Ancestral Recall? No thanks! This is where we are at with this thread. It ain't for you buddy.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Standard commander is a novellty, in some sets it can work out and be fun (like, say, RTR-THS season) but overall I have no interest in buying cards for an unsanctioned yet rotating format. You'd be better off roping me into Modern Commander, that's where the real money is at...
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Well, Dominaria and its chock full o legends theme is the absolute best time to try this, especially since its coming off a tribal block with tribal commanders which are popular (though Wizards using them as examples for why its sixty card, claiming that there aren't enough creatures to make a theme deck in 100 card singleton while commander players have already built Gishnath and Admiral Brass, is amusing). Down the line though, unless they are going to drastically increase the average legend count, I see it becoming increasingly less diverse after Dominaria rotates. But that's a couple years off, so it'll probably be dead by then without a concerted effort by Wizards to support it.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Even with dominaria legends, I see this format being largely solved into one or two viable decks two weeks after rotation. You could argue that you should approach brawl casually, but why, when you can approach EDH casually and have a much more fun and varied experience? Just because edh decks can be phenomenally expensive doesn't mean they have to be.
So I don't really get who this is made for.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I think it is designed for standard players (whom dont play commander) and or new players. I got the impression that they were looking for another format for newer players who may not have an extensive and old collection like a lot of long time commander players have. Its possible that its sort of a bridge to commander for those new or standard players but it seems like an odd thing to do from wizard's perspective.
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[Modern] Allies
I think you kinda missed my point. WotC didn't make commander popular. I mean, they helped accelerate its growth with the precons, but the core demo of commander was playing it before wotc had ever touched it. Even if they never printed a precon again and never have any commander side events at GPs or whatever...it would still be popular and retains its players, though it might not grow as fast. I guess I'm sorry if wotc ends up removing the ability to play it online...although it seems really unlikely that they'd remove anything, more likely they'll just fail to implement it in arena and let it sit in modo or wherever people play it now...but that's really not the majority of commander players. Commander was intended as a social format, which just doesn't translate to online play.
Legacy is still a format - as I'm annoyingly reminded of because the GP here in Seattle offers both a main event AND a PTQ for legacy (and standard) while limited players get to fart around in side events. Legacy is a popular format because it has prize support and rewards for doing well in it. People come into it because they like the card pool, sure, but also because they want a reward for doing well and a reason to succeed. Commander has never had those things. Commander is a popular format SOLELY because of how good the gameplay is. WotC support, or lack thereof, can't change that. That's my point. Multiplayer formats are not solveable.
At least, not in the way 1v1 formats are. It's like how draft isn't really solveable either. If one deck is clearly the best draft archetype...people try to force it harder, competition for the cards becomes fiercer, and the deck becomes worse because you're always fighting more people to draft it. Multiplayer, same sort of thing. If one commander is THE BEST deck, then people will gang up against them more than against other players with weaker decks. It's self-balancing. In order to be solved it would have be SO far out of wack that one deck was able to take on the whole table, or at least so good that practically everyone was playing it. Which seems really unlikely.
And there are loads of reason to play it as a casual format. It creates a more even playing field for new and old players. It prevents griefers from playing grossly overpowered decks against scrubs. It's much cheaper to get into and to optimize. My girlfriend has hated when I tried to get her to play commander in the past because she feels like she's massively out of her depth against powerful cards she's never heard of. In brawl she's seen practically every card because she's drafted them at some point or another. It's a way better experience for newer players.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Pretentiousness aside, I always wonder, for people making this complaint - how long do you play decks? Personally I get bored of a deck if I play it for longer than a month. Being limited to a year or two sounds like plenty. Granted, your commander cards are more likely to retain value, but who knows. Maybe they'll break the reserved list and my $20K commander collection will crash. At least with brawl you're only in for a hundred bucks or so. Even if you're more likely to lose your money, at least it wasn't much to begin with. not to mention how easy it is to turn draft chaff into a brawl deck so you spend nothing, or a brawl deck into a commander deck so you can keep it around "forever".
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
And of course if you drop the standard restriction then you're basically playing normal EDH in a 60 card variant.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
My vote was definitely not. Given my limited time to play I will stick to EDH in it's full glory.