Hoo boy, I don't know that I'm really interested in a long debate about this. I'm flying to Germany in like...30 hours. And I'll not pretend to be super familiar with cEDH - I've played against cEDH decks occasionally, and with a cEDH deck a couple times, but not nearly enough to have a particularly educated opinion on it. So feel free to dismiss my opinion as ignorant because it mostly is.
My main point that I think I was a bit unclear on is that cEDH drastically reduces the number of cards people are likely to play, and reduces the commanders/lists you're likely to come up against. The number of things you need to expect is cut down considerably because as soon as you see the commander, you know a fairly high percentage of the cards in their decks, which makes it easier to expect and play around the right things. Whereas in a normal commander game, there are basically no limit to the sorts of things that could happen. People play some crazy stuff sometimes.
Granted, this doesn't really matter if you're playing edh in an insular meta and know what you expect from everyone, but I tend to play in big, public groups where there's almost always decks at the table I've never seen before, and I've always got to be on my toes. It could be cEDH level, or it could be draft chaff, and playing well means being able to figure out which it is, and how to handle it. In a sense, normal EDH encompasses all of cEDH, because playing against anything includes cEDH, as well as everything else.
This is basically the same reason I'm not a big fan of any competitive-level constructed magic - it's the same decks, over and over. Magic is still a very complex game, and cEDH is much more complex than, say, standard, but it's not as complex as normal commander because the possibilities are so cut down.
Another, unmentioned point is that cEDH generally involves using decks - or at least archetypes - from established lists, possibly with tweaks that usually won't broadly change the goal of the deck. That doesn't say anything about the gameplay that I haven't already said, but I prefer magic as a biathlon of deckbuilding and playing - hence why limited is my favorite competitive format, by far.
Combo decks [...] generally raises the playskill of everyone involved; if you miss a single opportunity, it could cost you the game.
I don't think I can let that one slide. I'd say playing cEDH drastically reduces the number of interactions to worry about because the pool of played cards is so much fewer, as are the number of decks and archetypes. It also drastically reduces the number of important decisions in a game because it's so much shorter. Granted, those decisions are much more likely to be life and death than any of the myriad mostly-irrelevant decisions made in a normal commander game, but I think being able to identify the critical junctures in a normal commander game from among all the unimportant ones - and to make the right choice in those decisions - can be a lot harder than making the right decisions in a fast combo game, because in the fast combo game it's mostly the same kinds of decisions every game. Whereas in the normal commander game, the kinds of decisions can be enormously diverse and require more critical thinking and less rote memorization.
Not that the play skill of most normal commander players is high - it is not. And the skill of cEDH players tends to be higher, partly because you have to be fairly invested and familiar with the game to buy in at that level. But there's way, way more room to perfect your gameplay in a normal game of commander than a cEDH one, at least imo.
2. Even if a deck isn't a dedicated combo deck, just having a combo finish means it becomes a combo deck (even if the main plan is to aggro people to death).
Yeah, this is part of why this gets really vague. Most, say, legacy decks are either explicitly going for a combo from which they win essentially every game, whereas most commander decks, in my experience, may have a combo or two but also have myriad other ways to win. I wouldn't really call it a "combo deck" unless it's something close to a dedicated combo deck - in which case, it's probably cEDH or close to.
So I think if people are rating decks as "combo decks" because they're either synergistic in a non-infinite way, or because have a few combos that they use occasionally...i would not call either of those combo decks.
I might be speculating a little too much, but I think this poll mostly asks "so, the run-of-the-mill value midrange ramp/draw/synergy/bomb decks...would you call those combo, aggro, midrange, or control?" Because they're kind of all of them, from a certain point of view.
So this poll seems like it might be more of a Rorschach test for how people see the average commander deck, more than anything about those actual metas.
I don't think commander breaks along these lines in the same way other formats tend to.
Combo is pretty similar to its non-EDH counterparts when in cEDH, but outside of cEDH there are plenty of decks that are basically midrange with one or two combos that come together occasionally. Not sure where that would fall, archetypically.
Control tends to be a lot lighter on the "control" and lot heavier on the draw and wincons. Where a control deck in another format might dedicate most of its nonlands to interaction, most commander control decks do not (although some do).
Aggro, at least traditional aggro, is rare bordering on nonexistent, and tends to be replaced with a lot of what could be called midrange, although that's a bit broad. But basically anything that's trying to put together a big mass of synergistic stuff and win through some mixture of value and tempo. Usually starting with ramp.
Also, just generally, I think the lines are a lot blurrier here than in other formats. Often midrange decks will still have plenty of board wipes, for example, where that tends not to be the case in traditional formats. Mostly, I think, because in other formats you can plan to almost always be the aggressor as an aggro/midrange deck, whereas most commander games you'll have to play both offense and defense.
I'd say the average group I've been in looks like...
3% dedicated combo (cEDH)
22% control, to varying degrees
5% aggro
70% midrange synergistic decks, maybe with a combo or two thrown in
My main point that I think I was a bit unclear on is that cEDH drastically reduces the number of cards people are likely to play, and reduces the commanders/lists you're likely to come up against. The number of things you need to expect is cut down considerably because as soon as you see the commander, you know a fairly high percentage of the cards in their decks, which makes it easier to expect and play around the right things. Whereas in a normal commander game, there are basically no limit to the sorts of things that could happen. People play some crazy stuff sometimes.
Granted, this doesn't really matter if you're playing edh in an insular meta and know what you expect from everyone, but I tend to play in big, public groups where there's almost always decks at the table I've never seen before, and I've always got to be on my toes. It could be cEDH level, or it could be draft chaff, and playing well means being able to figure out which it is, and how to handle it. In a sense, normal EDH encompasses all of cEDH, because playing against anything includes cEDH, as well as everything else.
This is basically the same reason I'm not a big fan of any competitive-level constructed magic - it's the same decks, over and over. Magic is still a very complex game, and cEDH is much more complex than, say, standard, but it's not as complex as normal commander because the possibilities are so cut down.
Another, unmentioned point is that cEDH generally involves using decks - or at least archetypes - from established lists, possibly with tweaks that usually won't broadly change the goal of the deck. That doesn't say anything about the gameplay that I haven't already said, but I prefer magic as a biathlon of deckbuilding and playing - hence why limited is my favorite competitive format, by far.
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
Not that the play skill of most normal commander players is high - it is not. And the skill of cEDH players tends to be higher, partly because you have to be fairly invested and familiar with the game to buy in at that level. But there's way, way more room to perfect your gameplay in a normal game of commander than a cEDH one, at least imo.
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
So I think if people are rating decks as "combo decks" because they're either synergistic in a non-infinite way, or because have a few combos that they use occasionally...i would not call either of those combo decks.
I might be speculating a little too much, but I think this poll mostly asks "so, the run-of-the-mill value midrange ramp/draw/synergy/bomb decks...would you call those combo, aggro, midrange, or control?" Because they're kind of all of them, from a certain point of view.
So this poll seems like it might be more of a Rorschach test for how people see the average commander deck, more than anything about those actual metas.
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
Combo is pretty similar to its non-EDH counterparts when in cEDH, but outside of cEDH there are plenty of decks that are basically midrange with one or two combos that come together occasionally. Not sure where that would fall, archetypically.
Control tends to be a lot lighter on the "control" and lot heavier on the draw and wincons. Where a control deck in another format might dedicate most of its nonlands to interaction, most commander control decks do not (although some do).
Aggro, at least traditional aggro, is rare bordering on nonexistent, and tends to be replaced with a lot of what could be called midrange, although that's a bit broad. But basically anything that's trying to put together a big mass of synergistic stuff and win through some mixture of value and tempo. Usually starting with ramp.
Also, just generally, I think the lines are a lot blurrier here than in other formats. Often midrange decks will still have plenty of board wipes, for example, where that tends not to be the case in traditional formats. Mostly, I think, because in other formats you can plan to almost always be the aggressor as an aggro/midrange deck, whereas most commander games you'll have to play both offense and defense.
I'd say the average group I've been in looks like...
3% dedicated combo (cEDH)
22% control, to varying degrees
5% aggro
70% midrange synergistic decks, maybe with a combo or two thrown in
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