I'm really not worried about it, but it's nice to have the option without needing to specifically build around countering it.
There's no need to build around your entire deck or strategy. As I said, any black deck can run a Sorin Markov, which is both not game ending (so not unfun like instant win combos) but versatile and useful enough (and very difficult to answer if u dont run counters) to shut down life gain players and still do other stuff in the game. But really, life gain decks are such a minority in edh world that justifing "commander damage" only for their existence really isn't enough of a good reason alone. Even Oloro players, if it's in dominant position, can be reasonably beated by simply doing politics and alliances inside a multiplayer game, without the need of the commander damage rule.
Combos are essentially running the format, and although competitive and casual are different metas, eventually people upgrade their decks and then tend to lean in to stronger strategies... like combos.
If combo decks are a problem, then commander damages do almost nothing to stop them, because assembling any 2 card combo, it's much faster and efficent than wasting time to summon a creature, hoping nobody got removals meanwhile and wasting time with equipments and/or auras with multiple combat phases. Unless you are planning to one-shot always with a single combat, which is just another combo monster beating a combo monster and you didn't resolve nothing, because the combo problem is still there. Anyway, from a practical viewpoint, voltron is not a reliable strategy to beat combos, thats why in CEDH the only decks you see to contrast efficently combo decks are control, stax and/or hatebears archetype.
Also, with Brawl, I don't think it's so much as WotC hating Commander Damage as it is having a lower life total in a 1v1 game. What would you set the Cdamage to? 15? 10? It just doesn't work as well.
The only real reason the number 21 was chosen was simply because the original elder dragons when commander started were all 7/7, so exactly 3 attacks from them, which are 21, would kill the player. The origin of this rule is simply for very narrow flavor reasons, than for gameplay reasons.
Also, with Brawl, I don't think it's so much as WotC hating Commander Damage as it is having a lower life total in a 1v1 game.
If it's true that MTGO Commander 1vs1 has Commander Damages, while multiplayer Brawl that starts at 30 lifes in multiplayer still doesn't have commander damages, means in that case that lower life has no meaning for WotC and that definitely try to get rid of commander damages.
I'm not saying that Commander damage is a counter to combos; I'm saying that it is pointless to get rid of commander damage because it is not something that is hurting the format like too many combo decks.
I wonder if White could end up as the color to play around with Commander Damage? They care about combat, they care about "fairness," and they definitely care about building up and protecting creatures, so it feels like it would be in their wheelhouse.
I have a strong feeling that WotC personally hate the "21 commander damage rule" (and I can perfectly understand the reasons behind it) and that's why it's a thing that in 10 years of commander product was never mentioned in any single card (and probably never will), because they have no interest in supporting it, but since they do not control the rules of the format but the Rules Commitee, they can't officially delete it either. In fact, when WotC did their own commander variant, Brawl, they dislike commander damage so much that it doesn't exist as a rule in that format completely.
In the defense of the "21 and Done" rule, I personally think they do need to make more cards that lean into it, because it's one of the few ways aggro decks can stand a chance in the format. Combos are essentially running the format, and although competitive and casual are different metas, eventually people upgrade their decks and then tend to lean in to stronger strategies... like combos.
Sure, there are other aggro decks outside of winning via commander damage, but are we really going to cut out Voltron just because? It would ruin a lot of commanders. Also, there's been times I've played with a non voltron commander and almost won through commander damage. In the end its another win condition provided with every commander people play.
The 21 commander damage rule is important for the format.
Also, with Brawl, I don't think it's so much as WotC hating Commander Damage as it is having a lower life total in a 1v1 game. What would you set the Cdamage to? 15? 10? It just doesn't work as well.
Also, @Xcric, I don't see how Voltron is any more antisocial than something like infinite combo victory. You literally race to your little combo pieces and then kill everyone on the spot. At least voltron offers combat, making it a fight.
Not much talk about Magic in this thread though, sooooo....
No kidding, and it is the same people, every, single, time. When context is out the window, people will find a reason to rage on this forum for no reason. Brings a good laugh every time I see it though.
And yet the mods never seem to get them. I've been flagged multiple times for actually complaining about it over the past couple of years when this site really went down hill. I'd make comments like, can we cut the bull and get back on topic? And then I'd get flagged for participating in the "fight". And yet I would wager the people who posted horrible nonsensical fights for pages upon pages got the same punishment as me; a slap on the wrist, because they are STILL here.
It is one of the most annoying things about this site. I've been here for a long time, and I hate to sound like some kind of old-timer, but it did use to be a better place.
It only makes me mad because actual "good" discussion gets lost in the Hate and bull*****, and then the threads get locked. It is kind of funny, I agree, because people really try to act like they are Arcanis the Omnipotent when they are just someone behind a computer screen talking about a card game.
Public Mod Note
(boombox_smk):
It is important to understand that posts like this only add dissonance to the conversation at hand. They do not help the conversation get back on topic, either.
I could really do with less cards that show people barfing up money ... one was already more than enough
The cards are OK, but I'm not that excited for most of them. Alibou is neat I guess, as is Losheel. But they just couldn't help themselves and had to put combat-related text on all of the secondary commanders. Is it that scary to try something different? I really wish they would've gone deeper into the activated ability theme. I like how Alibou supports it though, you can attack with a random token and still get extra damage from your tappers and mana rocks.
Yeah I wasn't expecting the same exact art direction for this one. I kinda hate it to be honest because it feels like it is REALLY trying hard to be smotjering tithe on all fronts.
I'm not saying that Commander damage is a counter to combos; I'm saying that it is pointless to get rid of commander damage because it is not something that is hurting the format like too many combo decks.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
In the defense of the "21 and Done" rule, I personally think they do need to make more cards that lean into it, because it's one of the few ways aggro decks can stand a chance in the format. Combos are essentially running the format, and although competitive and casual are different metas, eventually people upgrade their decks and then tend to lean in to stronger strategies... like combos.
Sure, there are other aggro decks outside of winning via commander damage, but are we really going to cut out Voltron just because? It would ruin a lot of commanders. Also, there's been times I've played with a non voltron commander and almost won through commander damage. In the end its another win condition provided with every commander people play.
The 21 commander damage rule is important for the format.
Also, with Brawl, I don't think it's so much as WotC hating Commander Damage as it is having a lower life total in a 1v1 game. What would you set the Cdamage to? 15? 10? It just doesn't work as well.
Also, @Xcric, I don't see how Voltron is any more antisocial than something like infinite combo victory. You literally race to your little combo pieces and then kill everyone on the spot. At least voltron offers combat, making it a fight.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
And yet the mods never seem to get them. I've been flagged multiple times for actually complaining about it over the past couple of years when this site really went down hill. I'd make comments like, can we cut the bull and get back on topic? And then I'd get flagged for participating in the "fight". And yet I would wager the people who posted horrible nonsensical fights for pages upon pages got the same punishment as me; a slap on the wrist, because they are STILL here.
It is one of the most annoying things about this site. I've been here for a long time, and I hate to sound like some kind of old-timer, but it did use to be a better place.
It only makes me mad because actual "good" discussion gets lost in the Hate and bull*****, and then the threads get locked. It is kind of funny, I agree, because people really try to act like they are Arcanis the Omnipotent when they are just someone behind a computer screen talking about a card game.
It's ridiculous.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Yeah I wasn't expecting the same exact art direction for this one. I kinda hate it to be honest because it feels like it is REALLY trying hard to be smotjering tithe on all fronts.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries