I'm curious to see how the community views Casual Magic. At most of the LGSs I frequent the concept of multiplayer, non-formated FFA is nonexistent. And whenever I do mention multiplayer games everyone assumes you want to play Commander. Also, the players I play casual FFA with never venture into card shops to play. So there's this weird divide that's happened over the past decade or so. Along with this divide, the concept of Casual has changed. For the longest time casual games were played using the Type 1/Vintage restricted list as a guideline just to avoid anything too busted. With that people tended to not run P9 cards. Nowadays however, Casual has branch off and become many things to many people.
In the casual groups I play, we have a rule to either follow the Vintage restricted list or your deck must be legal in any one format. Except when we allow silver boardered cards. We also will include Planechace, Archenemy, Vanguard, Challenge Decks, and whole bevy of other weirdness, occasionally.
But I've encountered other people seeing things differently.
IMHO I see several different views on Casual, here's the one's I've encountered:
1. People playing janky decks. Two subgroups here, first, janky on purpose. People sick of net decks, just rolling casually for more relaxed game play.
The second group are people with limited collections just playing within their limited card pools.
2. Anything that's not a typical format. So things like Two-Headed Giant, Multiplayer, Planechase, Archenemy, Emperor, Un-cards, and homemade formats like Stack and Cube.
3. Playing formated decks in a non-tournament setting. These folks tend to only want to play matched format decks in their games.
4. Commander. For another subset, Commander is the only casual option.
5. Some casual players don't like multiplayer, go figure.
I'm curious to see what different people do and feel about the idea of "Casual". Also where do you draw the line with power level? In some of my groups the power levels can get pretty disgusting, in others I have to tone it down. I mean no one wants to see Magical Hacker paired with Planeswalkers, and your less serious friends will hate you for Eldrazi decks.
Are your friends cool with infinite combos, prison locks, or glass cannons? And if so, for how long?(In one group, you get one win with that crap then change decks, LOL) I've been made to dismantle my Shahrazad/Time Machine deck, probably, rightfully so.
Bring on your thoughts and experiences.
Couple of parting notes.
One thing I see stated on many forums and discussions about casual is the notion of "just proxy up and play whatever, no constructed rules, because it's casual you know." The vast majority of people I've met that only play casual, are fiercely proud of their collections and view proxies as cheating(except for deck testing). They see it as play with what you have or acquire what you need. Following some kind of constructed rules is also important, rules are what define a game after all.
Secondly Un set rules. Even people playing UnMagic want some direction on how these cards interact. I always hate it in rules forums when questions about Un cards are answered with "they're Un cards, play it however you think is correct." WOTC printed the damn cards, they should at least have something to say about rulings. If I'm going to be playing Calvin-ball, I don't need to spend money on your product to do so.
I played Multiplayer all the time and yes when it comes to store games they have evaporated in favor of Commander. Playing commander is fine though I still approach it with the same mind set.
Only home games seem to still play Multiplayer free for all deck construction.
Mostly infinite combos are frowned upon but everybody in my group finds them boring anyway. No need to ban Power 9 around here we don't own them. Proxies are immediately shunned. Surely you own enough cards to put together a deck.
Casual to me just means that I'm not building to play in a tournament. I still usually follow a format (legacy, pauper or commander mostly). I used to play in legacy tournaments a lot, but I found that I don't enjoy actually being in the tournament, I just like playing with the best stuff. These days I mostly brew for commander or pauper due to budget, and I never net deck. Most of my commander playgroup plays combo, and I'm often the only control player at the table. I also keep weaker aggro decks or janky combo decks on me in case I'm playing with a different group.
what i consider casual is just playing with friends. Usually with cheap decks no ban lists or rotations just dont put in a bunch of expensive cards. Other than that its fair game play what you enjoy as long as its not super unfair. Decks mainly played cause we just think its a cool theme or strategy instead of what is the strongest possible deck to be played cheapley.
I think one's perception of casual can be very different depending on whether they play casual. I think a good number of non-casual players think of casual as an excuse to make a deck with 4 Sol Ring, 4 Demonic Tutor, etc. But from what I've seen, the vast majority of the decks posted on this forum are vintage or legacy legal.
I think one's perception of casual can be very different depending on whether they play casual. I think a good number of non-casual players think of casual as an excuse to make a deck with 4 Sol Ring, 4 Demonic Tutor, etc. But from what I've seen, the vast majority of the decks posted on this forum are vintage or legacy legal.
That's one of the issues I'm trying to address. Those that do not play casually see "casual" in that light, then shrink away from joining casual groups.
The vast majority of seasoned casual players have respect for the rules and don't want to be seen as scrubs that are clueless. Showing up with four Sol Rings and four Demonic Tutors in your deck shows a lack of understanding power and balance. Many casual groups even ban Vintage restricted cards altogether for that very reason.
I've come across this attitude in the non-casual community that somehow casual players don't take the game seriously or something. That attitude borders on condescending at times. I know a lot of casuals that are as heavily vested in the game as any grinder. I always say that I don't play Standard because I can't afford it. The truth is that I choose not to afford it. I spend more a month on Magic than many a Standard player, I just have peculiar and expensive tastes, LOL.
Anyway, thanks for the input folks. Hope the responses keep coming.
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In the casual groups I play, we have a rule to either follow the Vintage restricted list or your deck must be legal in any one format. Except when we allow silver boardered cards. We also will include Planechace, Archenemy, Vanguard, Challenge Decks, and whole bevy of other weirdness, occasionally.
But I've encountered other people seeing things differently.
IMHO I see several different views on Casual, here's the one's I've encountered:
1. People playing janky decks. Two subgroups here, first, janky on purpose. People sick of net decks, just rolling casually for more relaxed game play.
The second group are people with limited collections just playing within their limited card pools.
2. Anything that's not a typical format. So things like Two-Headed Giant, Multiplayer, Planechase, Archenemy, Emperor, Un-cards, and homemade formats like Stack and Cube.
3. Playing formated decks in a non-tournament setting. These folks tend to only want to play matched format decks in their games.
4. Commander. For another subset, Commander is the only casual option.
5. Some casual players don't like multiplayer, go figure.
I'm curious to see what different people do and feel about the idea of "Casual". Also where do you draw the line with power level? In some of my groups the power levels can get pretty disgusting, in others I have to tone it down. I mean no one wants to see Magical Hacker paired with Planeswalkers, and your less serious friends will hate you for Eldrazi decks.
Are your friends cool with infinite combos, prison locks, or glass cannons? And if so, for how long?(In one group, you get one win with that crap then change decks, LOL) I've been made to dismantle my Shahrazad/Time Machine deck, probably, rightfully so.
Bring on your thoughts and experiences.
Couple of parting notes.
One thing I see stated on many forums and discussions about casual is the notion of "just proxy up and play whatever, no constructed rules, because it's casual you know." The vast majority of people I've met that only play casual, are fiercely proud of their collections and view proxies as cheating(except for deck testing). They see it as play with what you have or acquire what you need. Following some kind of constructed rules is also important, rules are what define a game after all.
Secondly Un set rules. Even people playing UnMagic want some direction on how these cards interact. I always hate it in rules forums when questions about Un cards are answered with "they're Un cards, play it however you think is correct." WOTC printed the damn cards, they should at least have something to say about rulings. If I'm going to be playing Calvin-ball, I don't need to spend money on your product to do so.
Only home games seem to still play Multiplayer free for all deck construction.
Mostly infinite combos are frowned upon but everybody in my group finds them boring anyway. No need to ban Power 9 around here we don't own them. Proxies are immediately shunned. Surely you own enough cards to put together a deck.
That's one of the issues I'm trying to address. Those that do not play casually see "casual" in that light, then shrink away from joining casual groups.
The vast majority of seasoned casual players have respect for the rules and don't want to be seen as scrubs that are clueless. Showing up with four Sol Rings and four Demonic Tutors in your deck shows a lack of understanding power and balance. Many casual groups even ban Vintage restricted cards altogether for that very reason.
I've come across this attitude in the non-casual community that somehow casual players don't take the game seriously or something. That attitude borders on condescending at times. I know a lot of casuals that are as heavily vested in the game as any grinder. I always say that I don't play Standard because I can't afford it. The truth is that I choose not to afford it. I spend more a month on Magic than many a Standard player, I just have peculiar and expensive tastes, LOL.
Anyway, thanks for the input folks. Hope the responses keep coming.