So in my new play group (1.5 months) there is this one player who like to play a deck that he called "chaos" deck. Last night I played with him in a group with 2 other players (4 players total). He was the least threatening player the entire game (he played Jodah). The game was closed to finished, it was a tight battle between me and the Rubinia Soulsinger player, until the Jodah player start to play Decree of Annihilation out of nowhere.
No one at the table was able to stop it. So it happenned, at this point I thought the Jodah player going to win (In my mind the decree must be part of his wincon). But he actually doesn't have plan afterwards. The next few turns was so painful to play because we just draw and go, praying for top-decking a land card.
I asked him, is this part of your win-con? He said no. I asked him again, why did u play that card? It is a chaos deck, I Just like to be chaos he said. At this point I was in lost of word. The game then proceeds for another painfully 60 ish minutes, the game ends with him as the least threatening player still (only managed to find 4 lands). At the end of the game he said I don't care who win, as long I casted decree of annihilation (and other mld spells) he feels that he won.
So what do you guys think about him? I actually remembers to have talked to him in the past about this matter when he casts devastation without any real plan to win afterwards and made the game unnecessary long.
I honestly wouldn't even consider MLD as chaos. I have a chaos deck lead by Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, chaos is things just get out of control that everyone is trying to figure out what's triggering. Stuff like Possibility Storm, Warp World, Hive Mind, cascade, storm, etc. MLD for no reason is not chaos, it's just being an @$$. MLD in a Narset, Enlightened Master deck i'm fine with because it's part of the strategy, once you have Narset down, you don't really need mana because you're casting everything for free with her trigger. But in a Jodah deck without crucible of worlds, that's just unnecessary. I wouldn't want to play with him. I'm getting aggravated just reading your post.
Honestly I dislike anyone who says "I don't care who wins". You don't have to take the game super seriously and you don't need to play a good deck, but you should at least be making some effort to win. This isn't calvinball, there is a clear objective, and it definitely isn't "making the game miserable for everyone else". If that's the game he's playing, I'd say go play with someone else.
People are selfish. In Commander, players tend to explore whatever facets of the game interest them most without ever considering the repercussions. In that regard, Decree of Annihilation guy isn't really that different from most Commander players. He simply found a part of the game he liked, and he wasn't concerned about the consequences his interests had on the game at large.
Making Commander fun is hard. It isn't some kind of boxed game where the experience is controlled. It takes all players working together to create the sort of game they want, and most players can't really be bothered to do so.
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WUBRGMr. Bones' Wild RideGRBUW Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Yea, if someone plays like that, I'm gonna make it my game's mission to keep punting them out of the game as soon as I possibly can. If you just want to mess up other players' games, then I'm going to mess up yours until you either leave the group or change your ways.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I don't know if that behavior applies to most Commander players. At least in my LGS, almost every player considers the repercussion when playing certain decks. That's why it is rare for us to play archetypes like MLD, stax or even combo.
It's possible my local meta is anomalous. Without any actual data, there's no way to know for certain. I'm just pulling from my own experiences and from what I know about human psychology. As such, I'm lead to believe that your situation is the atypical one here, not mine. Regardless, you're very fortunate to live in a place where players will consider how their deck construction affects the quality of their gameplay.
I believe it would be prudent to note that my comment on selfishness doesn't only apply to archetypes that players frequently bemoan playing against like stax, chaos, and group hug though. Rather, my comment applies to all different facets of the game. That goblin tribal deck someone was interested in? Same deal. Players, in my experience, tend to just find some aspect of the game that interests them and then go in that direction regardless of how other players feel. This isn't a strike against Commander. It's just an observation about human behavior. If someone wants to play something like Helix Pinnacle because that's what they find most fun with the game at the time, they're likely to do so even at the expense of other players. This is because, generally, people seem to prioritize their enjoyment of the game before they consider their playgroup's, and that doesn't strike me as a radical claim.
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WUBRGMr. Bones' Wild RideGRBUW Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Sounds like the guy isn't really a fan of considering the consequences of his actions. This would get me frustrated too, and it's definitely not chaos. Well, the act of playing an MLD spell out of the blue with no plan thereafter is not chaos at any rate. That is to say, MLD and chaos are not necessarily mutually exclusive. This guy just sounds like an idiot to be honest.
he played to annoy people, that's jerk material, the best ways to deal with this kind of people are:
1) Call it a draw and start a new game, which would at least start anew.
2) Finish him first in next games.
3) Or, just exclude him from the group, also let everyone in the shop know about it, until he apologizes.
It's possible my local meta is anomalous. Without any actual data, there's no way to know for certain. I'm just pulling from my own experiences and from what I know about human psychology. As such, I'm lead to believe that your situation is the atypical one here, not mine. Regardless, you're very fortunate to live in a place where players will consider how their deck construction affects the quality of their gameplay.
I think by far the prevalence in players is to follow the unofficial "rules" of commander - no mld, no combo (or at least no fast combo), no stax. After that, people build what they like and don't consider the play experience because they aren't at that level. They're just trying to make X work, not determine if X leads to fun games. Over iterations they may have revelations about what creates good games, but mostly people don't think that hard. People want rules, not critical examination.
It's possible my local meta is anomalous. Without any actual data, there's no way to know for certain. I'm just pulling from my own experiences and from what I know about human psychology. As such, I'm lead to believe that your situation is the atypical one here, not mine. Regardless, you're very fortunate to live in a place where players will consider how their deck construction affects the quality of their gameplay.
I think by far the prevalence in players is to follow the unofficial "rules" of commander - no mld, no combo (or at least no fast combo), no stax. After that, people build what they like and don't consider the play experience because they aren't at that level. They're just trying to make X work, not determine if X leads to fun games. Over iterations they may have revelations about what creates good games, but mostly people don't think that hard. People want rules, not critical examination.
I’m curious if all your decks would pass your own analysis? Do you consider those same things on every deck you make? I don’t mean that as a call-you-out kind of thing at all, as you are definitely a pretty fair-minded poster on the site. I’m just asking are there decks you’ve made listed here where you said “aww, the heck with it”. Philosophically, though, what is the higher law here? Build something one likes to play or build something everyone else likes you to play? I doubt most people are nihilistic misanthropes here, but tastes do vary and people rightly build what they want to play, or else what’s the point?
I think there is a difference between chaos, and that actually being the best play at the present time and while in this case it is clear from the person talking about it that it is what they are doing.
I don't necessarily want to throw all use of cards like that which are designed to win immediately under the bus, they are flattening effects and often can be the best play to get out of the situation you find yourself in.
I also don't always have a problem with just chaos for its own sake (it makes up a large amount of multiplayer focused cards) just that same style of chaos over and over again I can do without.
I actually enjoy a proper chaos deck when it's like, used sparingly. To me at least, EDH is all about seeing bizarre situations and things you rarely see in a proper head to head game. Like anyone else I still want to be in control of what I'm doing in the game, obviously, but it's nice to shake it up with a Eye of the Storm or a Possibility Storm sometimes.
Resetting the boards because "why not" is about as "chaotic" as abruptly yanking the table cloth off the table with everyone's dinner on top of it. There is no pretense of "for fun" it's just straight up rude and unpleasant.
I’m curious if all your decks would pass your own analysis? Do you consider those same things on every deck you make? I don’t mean that as a call-you-out kind of thing at all, as you are definitely a pretty fair-minded poster on the site. I’m just asking are there decks you’ve made listed here where you said “aww, the heck with it”. Philosophically, though, what is the higher law here? Build something one likes to play or build something everyone else likes you to play? I doubt most people are nihilistic misanthropes here, but tastes do vary and people rightly build what they want to play, or else what’s the point?
All of them? Definitely not. At the beginning of my playing EDH in '09 (or 60 card casual before EDH was a thing) I wasn't really thinking in that way, although a year in or so I did make some political phelddagrif decks that were trying to understand my opponents' experiences. These days I make decks for a lot of reasons, sometimes intentionally creating weird and interesting experiences for my opponents (like my K&T build), but sometimes just to make a commander that looks fun, or a color combo I haven't hit yet, or just because I feel like doing a new deck.
Even when I'm building without my opponents explicitly in mind (which, in fairness, I don't most of the time) I'll still make some cuts based off cards and combinations I think will be unpleasant for the group - beyond the normal "no mass LD" and "no combo" unofficial rules.
To a certain extent, because many less experienced players have a hard time grasping the intricacies of the game, they also care more about YOU following the unofficial rules than you playing things that actually make for a fun game. Playing eot WSZ into craterhoof is fine because it's not "against the rules", but a 2-card combo win is against the rules, so whining ensues (for the record I haven't made combo decks in ages as I just don't find them fun - nor craterhoof - but it's still an example of the somewhat inconsistent logic as they're both 2 card "combos" that win the game). Another primo example was playing brawl decks against commander decks, which resulted in multiple opponents arguing that I had an unfair advantage because I was playing only a 60 card deck while they were playing 100 The real problem was that I was a much better deckbuilder and player, and had deeper pockets (although that mattered a lot less with brawl decks than EDH), and I beat them just as often, if not more, with commander decks - but technically brawl decks were illegal, so THAT was where they identified the problem and why they kept losing.
To a certain extent I think it's necessary to just humor those players and avoid the sorts of things that cause problems. Luckily for me I don't find combos or stax particularly interesting, and mass LD I've learned to live without.
EDIT: another good example: circu and phenax. Both were created as lantern control. Circu was fun mostly because it was bad. People seemed to enjoy it but it didn't work. Phenax worked well and it was misery. I consider most of my decks experiments - to make X work, to see if it's fun for me, if it's fun for opponents, etc. I don't always avoid miserable stuff because sometimes it gives me other insights - or sometimes it's actually fun. I keep my opponents experiences in mind always - but I don't necessarily do my utmost to cater to them.
Playing Decree in that situation is fine. OP or Rubina was about to win, so Jodah resetting the board is a legit, if annoying, move. Sure he didn't have a wincon set up, but sometimes winning means making sure you don't lose first, and Decree did a good job making sure that didn't happen for another hour for him. I look at it like punting and trying to pin the other team at the 1.
His explanation, though, means that he's just a dip*****. Blowing up the board just for *****s and giggles is stupid. He sounds like he's all about ******* up games and only accidentally made the right play while doing so. Kill on sight.
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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!
In my old playgroup, playing MLD was frowned upon. But ever since I play in this new meta, I slowly adjusted and begin to appreciate other strategy like stax or MLD.
We have 2 players in my current meta that play Daretti and Brago stax. In their deck MLD is part of their win-con/control elements. And these players always get hated out through the game because of their playstyle which is fair. And I played with them many times, they always ended up died first. Often times the play group still can band together to eliminate them.
My point is, the using of MLD in this play-style I can appreciate because there is a thought behind them, not just nuking all the lands and then do literally nothing, it just prolonged the game unnecessarily. I am all for long game if there are a lot of actions but when we just praying for top decking lands, it can get very frustrating (I was fuming when he did this, and had to compose myself back )
Honestly I dislike anyone who says "I don't care who wins". You don't have to take the game super seriously and you don't need to play a good deck, but you should at least be making some effort to win.
100% I agree with this. I think you should be loyal to the objective of the game which is to win. Any actions you do in the game should bring you closer to win or distant other player from winning. I am not saying to play a cutthroat deck but your judgement of situation should still reflect to the objective of the game.
And yes, he will be on my kill on sight list next time.
I'm fine with this. My friend Vassar plays Jokulhaups with Splendid Reclamaton and I'm going to play Jokulhaups in Yidris, probably.
Just kill them?
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The "Crazy One", playing casual magic and occasionally dipping his toes into regular play since 1994.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
Consider it a learning experience to play every turn like mass removal is right around the corner. The worst thing about Commander are the "unofficial rules" prohibiting everything except ramp -- the simultaneous disapproval of decks that play solitaire effectively, and entitlement to effectively play solitaire oneself because removal is unfun.
I'm fine with this. My friend Vassar plays Jokulhaups with Splendid Reclamaton and I'm going to play Jokulhaups in Yidris, probably.
Just kill them?
To me, the difference here is that this guy has no intention of leveraging that MLD for his own gain, he's playing it just because. If that's what he wants to do, fine, but it's still a dick move. MLD with purpose is fine. MLD just to play MLD is not always a dick move, but if you're stalling out a game just because you had it in your hand, personally, I'm probably gonna just sweep and start another game. My time to play is limited and I'm not going to waste in on a non-productive game state or starting again from behind the start line.
I play Impending Disaster in my krenko deck. it fits the theme of goblins plus I run stuff like Ashnod's Altar and Skirk Prospector to keep myself going while I send my opponents back to the stone age. board wiping for no reason is just being a jerk
That just seems like a duck move. At least when I play decree, I cast teferi's protection as well while decree was on the stack. Sure.k mag still lose my hand and grave. But my board state remains.
MLD is not chaos. This is not chaos either. Apparently it is not even a strategy.
Sadly the way I work. I would build a chaos deck to show him what true chaos is.
Sounds like his definition of chaos is "acting irrational". He does not have any actual strategy, but to a meta goal of playing Magic in a certain way: doing things for no purpose and without a goal other than surprise (edit: or rather, disbelief. It seems like he wants to elicit incredulous outbursts a la "Why did you do that?" from the other players, only to smugly answer "Because I can" and feel really clever). It is somewhat like randomly attacking strangers in public as a way to protest against social norms. A sort of MtG-Dadaism. I would not play with this person as long as they will "play" like that. This attitude literally makes playing Magic impossible.
With regard to classical "chaos" decks: One of the most boring and annoying strategies that I can think of. All the chaos cards are fun exactly once, and then they are always the same. Playing against chaos decks is like listening to someone tell the same old unfunny joke over and over again.
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
Tonight we played again, but (luckily, or lucky for him ) I never ended up in a pot with him. He was complaining how the deck (not Jodah) he used wasn't perform so well with opponents in his pot and it would have been different if he was using his Jodah 'Chaos'....hahaha..I can feel my ears burning when I heard this while also laughing inside. There is nothing anyone can do to change his mind.
No one at the table was able to stop it. So it happenned, at this point I thought the Jodah player going to win (In my mind the decree must be part of his wincon). But he actually doesn't have plan afterwards. The next few turns was so painful to play because we just draw and go, praying for top-decking a land card.
I asked him, is this part of your win-con? He said no. I asked him again, why did u play that card? It is a chaos deck, I Just like to be chaos he said. At this point I was in lost of word. The game then proceeds for another painfully 60 ish minutes, the game ends with him as the least threatening player still (only managed to find 4 lands). At the end of the game he said I don't care who win, as long I casted decree of annihilation (and other mld spells) he feels that he won.
So what do you guys think about him? I actually remembers to have talked to him in the past about this matter when he casts devastation without any real plan to win afterwards and made the game unnecessary long.
Gaddock Teeg Hatebears
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Control
Zacama, Primal Calamity Naya Control
Erebos, God of the dead Mono-Black Superfriends
Honestly I dislike anyone who says "I don't care who wins". You don't have to take the game super seriously and you don't need to play a good deck, but you should at least be making some effort to win. This isn't calvinball, there is a clear objective, and it definitely isn't "making the game miserable for everyone else". If that's the game he's playing, I'd say go play with someone else.
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
Making Commander fun is hard. It isn't some kind of boxed game where the experience is controlled. It takes all players working together to create the sort of game they want, and most players can't really be bothered to do so.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I believe it would be prudent to note that my comment on selfishness doesn't only apply to archetypes that players frequently bemoan playing against like stax, chaos, and group hug though. Rather, my comment applies to all different facets of the game. That goblin tribal deck someone was interested in? Same deal. Players, in my experience, tend to just find some aspect of the game that interests them and then go in that direction regardless of how other players feel. This isn't a strike against Commander. It's just an observation about human behavior. If someone wants to play something like Helix Pinnacle because that's what they find most fun with the game at the time, they're likely to do so even at the expense of other players. This is because, generally, people seem to prioritize their enjoyment of the game before they consider their playgroup's, and that doesn't strike me as a radical claim.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
1) Call it a draw and start a new game, which would at least start anew.
2) Finish him first in next games.
3) Or, just exclude him from the group, also let everyone in the shop know about it, until he apologizes.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
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
I don't necessarily want to throw all use of cards like that which are designed to win immediately under the bus, they are flattening effects and often can be the best play to get out of the situation you find yourself in.
I also don't always have a problem with just chaos for its own sake (it makes up a large amount of multiplayer focused cards) just that same style of chaos over and over again I can do without.
Resetting the boards because "why not" is about as "chaotic" as abruptly yanking the table cloth off the table with everyone's dinner on top of it. There is no pretense of "for fun" it's just straight up rude and unpleasant.
Even when I'm building without my opponents explicitly in mind (which, in fairness, I don't most of the time) I'll still make some cuts based off cards and combinations I think will be unpleasant for the group - beyond the normal "no mass LD" and "no combo" unofficial rules.
To a certain extent, because many less experienced players have a hard time grasping the intricacies of the game, they also care more about YOU following the unofficial rules than you playing things that actually make for a fun game. Playing eot WSZ into craterhoof is fine because it's not "against the rules", but a 2-card combo win is against the rules, so whining ensues (for the record I haven't made combo decks in ages as I just don't find them fun - nor craterhoof - but it's still an example of the somewhat inconsistent logic as they're both 2 card "combos" that win the game). Another primo example was playing brawl decks against commander decks, which resulted in multiple opponents arguing that I had an unfair advantage because I was playing only a 60 card deck while they were playing 100 The real problem was that I was a much better deckbuilder and player, and had deeper pockets (although that mattered a lot less with brawl decks than EDH), and I beat them just as often, if not more, with commander decks - but technically brawl decks were illegal, so THAT was where they identified the problem and why they kept losing.
To a certain extent I think it's necessary to just humor those players and avoid the sorts of things that cause problems. Luckily for me I don't find combos or stax particularly interesting, and mass LD I've learned to live without.
EDIT: another good example: circu and phenax. Both were created as lantern control. Circu was fun mostly because it was bad. People seemed to enjoy it but it didn't work. Phenax worked well and it was misery. I consider most of my decks experiments - to make X work, to see if it's fun for me, if it's fun for opponents, etc. I don't always avoid miserable stuff because sometimes it gives me other insights - or sometimes it's actually fun. I keep my opponents experiences in mind always - but I don't necessarily do my utmost to cater to them.
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
His explanation, though, means that he's just a dip*****. Blowing up the board just for *****s and giggles is stupid. He sounds like he's all about ******* up games and only accidentally made the right play while doing so. Kill on sight.
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!
We have 2 players in my current meta that play Daretti and Brago stax. In their deck MLD is part of their win-con/control elements. And these players always get hated out through the game because of their playstyle which is fair. And I played with them many times, they always ended up died first. Often times the play group still can band together to eliminate them.
My point is, the using of MLD in this play-style I can appreciate because there is a thought behind them, not just nuking all the lands and then do literally nothing, it just prolonged the game unnecessarily. I am all for long game if there are a lot of actions but when we just praying for top decking lands, it can get very frustrating (I was fuming when he did this, and had to compose myself back )
100% I agree with this. I think you should be loyal to the objective of the game which is to win. Any actions you do in the game should bring you closer to win or distant other player from winning. I am not saying to play a cutthroat deck but your judgement of situation should still reflect to the objective of the game.
And yes, he will be on my kill on sight list next time.
Gaddock Teeg Hatebears
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Control
Zacama, Primal Calamity Naya Control
Erebos, God of the dead Mono-Black Superfriends
Just kill them?
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
To me, the difference here is that this guy has no intention of leveraging that MLD for his own gain, he's playing it just because. If that's what he wants to do, fine, but it's still a dick move. MLD with purpose is fine. MLD just to play MLD is not always a dick move, but if you're stalling out a game just because you had it in your hand, personally, I'm probably gonna just sweep and start another game. My time to play is limited and I'm not going to waste in on a non-productive game state or starting again from behind the start line.
MLD is not chaos. This is not chaos either. Apparently it is not even a strategy.
Sadly the way I work. I would build a chaos deck to show him what true chaos is.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
With regard to classical "chaos" decks: One of the most boring and annoying strategies that I can think of. All the chaos cards are fun exactly once, and then they are always the same. Playing against chaos decks is like listening to someone tell the same old unfunny joke over and over again.
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
...I probably shouldn't.
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
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
Gaddock Teeg Hatebears
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Control
Zacama, Primal Calamity Naya Control
Erebos, God of the dead Mono-Black Superfriends