Do people actually feel a need to put a Sol Ring in every deck?
That seems odd to me, like I understand and have seen and had some very nice starts because of it but it doesn't automatically fill a slot for me anymore however the bigger thing I think about is having a bunch of early game plays generally and Sol Ring is a consideration for one of those slots but not always a guarantee.
You can't say you shouldn't do a thing based on a majority you cannot confirm exists.
What I have been trying to do is look at Magic the game and not anecdotal evidence based on the twmperature of only people who choose to post about this online.
What I said has nothing to do with the number of cards that are denial cards versus those that are not. Also using sheer card volume and not archetypes is perhaps misguided when so many MTG cards are design chaff that rarely see play.
There is nothing inherently game breaking or competitive about wanting to play denial strategies in a game about denial, because that is largely what Magic the Gathering is a game about overcoming your opponent(s) denying you resources while you are doing the same to them.
To expect people are not going to also want to do this when deck and life totals and strategies are expanded as they are in Commander at any power level is foolish.
I have seen Kemba decks equip a few equipment and then MLD
I have seen White decks of all stripes get a bit ahead and pull that trigger (it tends to work out well for them)
I have seen Krenko decks cycle a Decree
More than a handful of Tajic / Zurgo Worldslayer decks
I have seen people cast them more nonchalantly when the ramp deck was blowing way ahead of people to equalize things
I have dropped Thran a bunch out of an Ideal
I have never had the same stigma against those cards and have played through games where a Bearer of the Heavens has died multiple times because the game and the people playing it were enjoyable.
That is just an archetype and a collection of cards that gets a bad rap because they are famous spite plays that is really all it is in my mind.
And again I don't think the card Armageddon or Fall of the Thran or whatever other card you want to name qualifies a deck to be competetive in anyway
There are variations of power levels of every archetype under the sun.
I have made some exceptionally dumb combo decks over the years and some exceptionally fast ones too both styles are Combo decks because that is how the game ends. I have even put exceptionally dumb combos in pretty good shells it is liquid and it flows (it is part of why I bristle at the 75% thing (75% for who)) but that is a different conversation.
If you want to play a deck with competitive elements to it such as stasis, MLD, or combo focus I would hope that you would inform other players before the match so that they are not unknowingly playing a 75% deck against your competitive deck. I can agree with Sheldon that its kind of a rude thing to ambush someone with but if he knew about it or knew what kind of deck his opponent was playing and didn't say anything about it then its kind of a mixed bag.
There is nothing wrong with competitive players and or competitive decks but I like to know before the game starts that is the kind of game I will be up against. Being on the same page is generally important to me when it comes to playing commander.
I find flaw in the reasoning that just because a deck plays those archetype it elevates them directly into being a competitive deck.
You may have taken the wrong thing from my post there so I will clarify.
I think the game of Magic as it exists is pretty varied and balanced most of the time and can lead to some really interesting game states, Commander being one version of playing Magic falls into all those holes, attempting to engineer something unique or far away from magic a game that already produces those things is rather foolish. Some of the best most interesting games of Commander I have played is fighting combos through stax or keeping a lock progressing so I can keep up with my opponents Memorable games doesn't mean the same thing every game if it did this game would get stale quickly.
I am going to continue treating Commander like a format of Magic the Gathering and not as a separate thing because it has worked out splendidly so far.
Also people dislike Monopoly because it is a poorly designed game everything else spirals out of that.
That makes sense but sounds unreasonable because Commander was never far enough away from Magic to guarantee anything like that so trying to enforce or force that feels extremely foolish to me.
I think finding out that someone is trying to infer into someones personal life / history by deck they like playing in Magic as profoundly creepy and invasive.
Here's the thing: Phil is a genuinely nice person. I mean for real nice. He's reserved but friendly. There's nothing mean or dishonest about him. In fact, I asked him if my assessment that he was honest to a fault were accurate; I told him I couldn't imagine him cheating in any way, shape, or form (at Magic or on his significant other). I get the impression that he's good company. But then he plays decks with Winter Orb and Stax cards in them. Here's where my prejudice comes in (and I'm not being sarcastic in the slightest here): it's difficult for me to process that a kind, friendly person can play the kind of decks that take away the game from opponents (in Commander; on the other hand, some very, very good people have played prison decks in competitive events, which I can wrap my brain around pretty easily). I have to confront my own judgmental nature about players based on the kind of deck they're playing. I want to reinforce to myself that not everyone who plays Stax is also the kid who burned ants with a magnifying glass or delights in the misery of others. Some of them are fine human beings, just like Phil.
That seems odd to me, like I understand and have seen and had some very nice starts because of it but it doesn't automatically fill a slot for me anymore however the bigger thing I think about is having a bunch of early game plays generally and Sol Ring is a consideration for one of those slots but not always a guarantee.
What I have been trying to do is look at Magic the game and not anecdotal evidence based on the twmperature of only people who choose to post about this online.
Also the orbs are barely a Geddon in EDH unless incredibly well supported.
There is nothing inherently game breaking or competitive about wanting to play denial strategies in a game about denial, because that is largely what Magic the Gathering is a game about overcoming your opponent(s) denying you resources while you are doing the same to them.
To expect people are not going to also want to do this when deck and life totals and strategies are expanded as they are in Commander at any power level is foolish.
I have seen White decks of all stripes get a bit ahead and pull that trigger (it tends to work out well for them)
I have seen Krenko decks cycle a Decree
More than a handful of Tajic / Zurgo Worldslayer decks
I have seen people cast them more nonchalantly when the ramp deck was blowing way ahead of people to equalize things
I have dropped Thran a bunch out of an Ideal
I have never had the same stigma against those cards and have played through games where a Bearer of the Heavens has died multiple times because the game and the people playing it were enjoyable.
That is just an archetype and a collection of cards that gets a bad rap because they are famous spite plays that is really all it is in my mind.
There are variations of power levels of every archetype under the sun.
I have made some exceptionally dumb combo decks over the years and some exceptionally fast ones too both styles are Combo decks because that is how the game ends. I have even put exceptionally dumb combos in pretty good shells it is liquid and it flows (it is part of why I bristle at the 75% thing (75% for who)) but that is a different conversation.
I find flaw in the reasoning that just because a deck plays those archetype it elevates them directly into being a competitive deck.
I think the game of Magic as it exists is pretty varied and balanced most of the time and can lead to some really interesting game states, Commander being one version of playing Magic falls into all those holes, attempting to engineer something unique or far away from magic a game that already produces those things is rather foolish. Some of the best most interesting games of Commander I have played is fighting combos through stax or keeping a lock progressing so I can keep up with my opponents Memorable games doesn't mean the same thing every game if it did this game would get stale quickly.
I am going to continue treating Commander like a format of Magic the Gathering and not as a separate thing because it has worked out splendidly so far.
Also people dislike Monopoly because it is a poorly designed game everything else spirals out of that.