MTG Salvation

There are many cards we don't like to play against at times but there are some cards that really grind our gears! We can use this thread to discuss these cards.

Name one card that you especially dislike playing against in EDH. What aspects of the card do you find frustrating? Are there any memorable examples of you playing against the card that ruined the game for you?

I personally abhor Maze of Ith.

It is obviously way too powerful (see Mystifying Maze for a modern design with a comparable ability). Not only is Maze of Ith difficult to interact with but there also is little drawback to playing it and no cost or downside to activating it. I especially hate that it encourages players to run land destruction, a resource denial strategy I am not fond of because there are many times in a game where said land destruction ends up being used on a land that doesn't have any abilities aside from producing mana.

Additionally, it is especially powerful against control strategies and creature light EDH lists. Mark Rosewater has said it is one of his most overpowered, unfun and regrettable designs in all of Magic. Lastly, and perhaps worst of all, it doesn't even follow the basic rule of modern land design; it doesn't generate mana!

I HATE Leovold, Emissary of Trest. I am pretty open to anything but this is the FIRST general ever I refuse to play against.

Fatespinner. I tend to play a lot of 'plop creatures, hit you hasted' kind of decks, and this card manages singlehandedly to grind them to a halt unless I already have an alternative draw outlet about(and even then it's really annoying). It has become pretty much 'kill on sight' for most of my decks.

Depends on the deck but usually, Cyclonic rift.

Just a pet peeve of mind, but I can't stand when people use my deck to cast my spells. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is the first card that comes to mind, though cards like Grenzo, Havoc Raiser and such get on my nerves as well. It's not the end of the world or anything but it does irk me.

Quote from Cabz »

Just a pet peeve of mind, but I can't stand when people use my deck to cast my spells. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is the first card that comes to mind, though cards like Grenzo, Havoc Raiser and such get on my nerves as well. It's not the end of the world or anything but it does irk me.

Considering I have a Golden Priest in Hearthstone, I'm well aware that this is a common sentiment, but I've never really understood why. I consider it an excellent mechanic (particularly when it doesn't significantly use your opponent's resources to do so, like with Commandeer, Sen Triples or Mindslaver.)

I'm not a fan of this either. I don't know what it is particularly but I know it goes outside the realm of perfectly logical MTG reasoning. I didn't offer for you to touch my stuff so please dont. Lol. I know this is crazy but I like sharing to me my choice.

Inside the realm of the game its just kinda annoying to have to own cards played against you. I think is an interesting discussion because it is a less obviously annoying thing. I think there are other strategies that can be argued against more logically but that makes them easier to figure out.

Tooth and Nail and Cyclonic Rift are cards that irk me. I don't like it when a single spell generates such an overwhelming advantage. Games usually end on the spot when they are cast.

Primal Surge. It would be totally fine if played in a normal deck, but 100% of the time that I've encountered it it has been either the only non-permanent in the deck or one of two (usually Genesis Wave is the other one). Not only is it a boring win condition, but it also warps every deck it's included in into a boring non-interactive deck.

EDIT: "No really, you don't need to actually flip your whole deck for me. I trust you that you have Craterhoof Behemoth and Akroma's Memorial in there."

sliver queen

The deck is either a sliver deck or a degenerate competitive 5 color deck, neither of which will ever be fun to play with or against.

Glacial Chasm has to be up there for me. I pack Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, Tectonic Edge into every deck because of stuff like this. Lands are the most difficult to interact with,
As most removal says 'nonland' ie Maelstom Pulse, Oblivion Ring, Anguished Unmaking, Abrupt Decay et al.

I haven't found a card yet.

My most disliked playstyle is just a generic superfriends deck.

Cyclonic Rift hands down. The card is completely one sided and if it goes off you and two others have usually just lost the game, but you have to keep playing till the end; lifeless, like a zombie.

Glacial Chasm is the absolute bane of my existence.

Quote from XeroxedFool »

I'm not a fan of this either. I don't know what it is particularly but I know it goes outside the realm of perfectly logical MTG reasoning. I didn't offer for you to touch my stuff so please dont. Lol. I know this is crazy but I like sharing to me my choice.

Inside the realm of the game its just kinda annoying to have to own cards played against you. I think is an interesting discussion because it is a less obviously annoying thing. I think there are other strategies that can be argued against more logically but that makes them easier to figure out.

I received similar reaction with my Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge deck, I think in addition to people hating their own weapons were used against them, they also hate not being able to use those cards again in some cases.

It's like Mana Drain, not only is your strategy foiled, your opponent gets to use your effort to kill you, adds insult to injury.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, in addition to Mana Drain, one general I have high dislike towards is Leovold, Emissary of Trest.

Mindslaver and similar effects. They bug me.

My least favorite cards to play against are the ones opponents throw on the table while ragequitting over good cards in my decks that they ought to have answers to. For $10, you can set up a deck with Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, and Tectonic Edge and never again piss and moan about Glacial Chasm. Better yet, you can work on your politicking and get other people to do it for you.

Scrambleverse. Tedious to resolve and stupidly random. And then you get those people who think it's fun to copy.

First off, LEAVE MY BOY LEO ALONE!



Humility. Talk about raining on parades. Audios voltron decks, see ya later "x" tribal, deuces random stompy deck, etc etc.

Anything that makes the game slow way way down or stutter like a buffering YouTube video.

In the first case, I'm talking about any Moat-esque effect. As soon as I see somebody play one of these enchantments, I immediately start to focus on them because I just know they're going to set up a gigantic pillowfort to try and make themselves untouchable. This also goes for recurring Spore Frog, gaining life behind a Glacial Chasm, etcetera. It's not that I don't run answers, I just hate for the game to go on forever.

In the second case, I'm talking about Sensei's Divining Top and friends. Admittedly I am guilty of running them in decks that care about the top of the library, but I've seen others activating top multiple times each turn cycle, looking for counterspells and instant speed removal, etc. It gets pretty obnoxious when it's constantly interrupting the flow of the game.

Since my current favorite commander is Breya, Bane of Progress and Wave of Vitriol are the first to come to mind.

In a more general sense, Contamination. I got locked out by it once (it's hard to get rid of even in a deck that runs black and Steel Hellkite), and it was the least fun I've ever had playing this format. Nonblack decks will lose instantly unless they can float mana for removal.

That actually sees play? Chaos Warp. I've probably just had horrible luck with it, but it's been too good for the player it resolved on too often. Anything with an overly random effect goes here as well, but I never see stuff like Scrambleverse being played.

Quote from Outcryqq »

Mindslaver and similar effects. They bug me.

So much this. I absolutely loathe getting mindslavered. Probably because my decks tend to be very vulnerable to mindslaver since they're packed with targeted removal and such. One mindslaver turn and my hand and board are empty, and all the responses I can count on are shut down. Yuck. Meanwhile the stupid zero-answer all-dumb-beatstick-creature deck shrugs it off like it ain't no thing. Effects that reward stupid decks just piss me off.

Tooth and Nail gets runner up.

Quote from Kassill »

Humility. Talk about raining on parades. Audios voltron decks, see ya later "x" tribal, deuces random stompy deck, etc etc.

Humility is the best thing ever printed. Craps on all the dumb value decks that won't play anything that isn't stapled onto a creature. Run targeted removal or humility will eat your children. It's a good lesson.

I hate Expropriate. The card takes ages to resolve as everyone starts discussing the options and by the time that's done the caster has to rethink his whole next X turns.

All the while I'm sitting there like "Ok, it will be my turn again in about 15 minutes...".