In light of Sheldon's article and the CommandZone episode are there cards you refuse to play because they're too powerful or not fun to be on either side of?
Personally, I play very few high end tutors (or tutors in general), and I won't play MLD, Craterhoof Behemoth, or infinite combos.
I think there's an argument to be made that you can win more if you are known not to play extremely powerful cards, because people won't feel like they need to take you out ASAP.
Personally I think that by far the easiest way to win in commander is with a "bursty" wincon - either infinite combo, eot tokens into craterhoof...basically anything that goes 0-60 in the space of a single turn.
So I try to make a point not to do that with any of my decks. Because I like a challenge.
As per what they said in the vid, I agree that hating on tutors is stupid. A tutor is only as good as what it gets. If you're just trying to make something janky work, then why not play demonic tutor?
well, I'm a bit torn on the tutors thing. the 100-card highlander part of the game is made to increase variance in the game; tutors runs completely against that ideal. At the same time, there are decks where it tries to pull off a single linear strategy, and often, they require very specific cards for it to work (case in point, i have a 'skip all my turns' deck that requires at minimum jester's cap to remove all reshuffling effects from everyone else's decks, lethal vapors to skip infinite turns, teferi's protection and abeyance for protection, and have your opponents natural mill themselves out of the game or use karona, false god to kill everyone. that deck really needs very specific pieces for it to even remotely work.. and it doesn't really work)
I don't think there are really 'overpowered' cards as such in edh. i've a mono-white combo deck that runs things like implements of sacrificeconjurer's bauble, trusty packbeast and Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle to basically draw my deck, mill my opponents out and exile all GYs, or whatever i need to win. each individual card is extremely underpowered, but the synergy of the deck is the thing that makes the deck win quite consistently by turn 5-6.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, i've a rakdos the defiler deck that features all the money cards. individual power level of each card is significantly higher than that of my teshar deck, but it almost never wins. My playgroup started off being super scared of rakdos, but after a few games, they realised that its synergies of the deck that wins games, not individual card power levels.
There are cards I don't play in too many decks because they are so good they are boring when played repeatedly. Craterhoof Behemoth and Tooth and Nail are in only two decks, for example, both decks where they fit so perfectly with the deck's win strategies that it would be strange to not play in them, and I make it a point to never TnN for Craterhoof in the one deck which includes both.
I have considered removing Paradox Engine from all of my decks which run it, and have actively removed it from most of them because it is simply too good in too many decks.
I avoid certain combos by not including both parts of the combo in my decks. No deck of mine which includes either Kiki or Zealous Conscripts ever includes both.
I don't play Palinchron or Iona in any decks. The first is too easily broken, the second is simply unfun.
Most of the other cards from Sheldon's article, I do sometimes play. Wound Reflection is, in my opinion, a perfectly fine card which allows aggro decks to speed up the clock a bit.
No idea about the video in question, because I don't find the insights offered in Command Zone videos to be particularly insightful.
I currently have 16 decks. 2 of them are "tier 1", so I have not limited the power of the cards there. The others are supposed to be more friendly. Most of them have a limited number of tutors (example, Sidisi, Undead Vizier in a sacrifice themed deck), but a couple have more tutors or else would not function.
I only play Tooth and Nail in one deck, and it doesn't get a combo... I think T&N is too strong.
I have a mono black control deck that I find pretty fun, but then I realized that Contamination can be broken in it. I thought it would be okay since the deck has so few creatures, but in a few cases I can stretch it for a few turns and my opponents lose to it. I have been wrestling with taking it out since I don't have another home for it, but the power level is too high.
I don’t play real stax or stasis stuff because I think it’s boring. I think all tutors should be banned (and all staples) to liven up the game.
I've seen you say some crazy things on this forum before, but this is truly the apex. Banning that much stuff would be so brutal as to kill the format, not liven it up. ***** dude, I don't even think I'd still play EDH or magic at all if I had to go play vintage just to cast a Necropotence
Kill the format? The format is about digging up your old cards and throwing together a deck to play with your friends for the sake of playing the game. Nah, as much variance as possible is best.
Most of the other cards from Sheldon's article, I do sometimes play. Wound Reflection is, in my opinion, a perfectly fine card which allows aggro decks to speed up the clock a bit.
This was also the question I had about the article. He said it takes players out of the game emotionally, and I dont really know what that means, or why that is worse than another way of losing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Old MTGSalvation’s staff dared to dream so the community could live on. Support the new MTGNexus. Follow me on instagram @TheMTGWord
Those two off the top of my head. Doesn’t matter if they are not going for infinite combo. Too much value.
Any repeatable counter spell/ability.
Any extra turn card that does not exile itself.
Any mass land destruction.
And last, any chaos cards that would mix up permanents too badly on the field. And not because of the effect. This is mostly because some cards are very expensive. And I don’t even want the optics that there is an opportunity to steal a card from another player.
Note: I would be fine playing against many of these things. I just don’t run them myself.
The cards that are broad categories tend to be my own preference / the social agreement in my meta. Land disrupion on mass scale is frowned on in mass in my LGS but some people will still combo and do infinite effects but I still refrain from it myself.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Kill the format? The format is about digging up your old cards and throwing together a deck to play with your friends for the sake of playing the game. Nah, as much variance as possible is best.
And when you've banned all the staples, we eventually gravitate to a new set of staples (though they are now significantly underpowered, overcosted, and inefficient). Do you then have a second round of banning all staples in the interest of "as much variance as possible"? So now we lose Ondu Giant in addition to Sakura-tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum? Keep going with that line of thought, and you end up with as little variance as possible because everything is on the banned list. And you've lost all your players.
And when you've banned all the staples, we eventually gravitate to a new set of staples (though they are now significantly underpowered, overcosted, and inefficient). Do you then have a second round of banning all staples in the interest of "as much variance as possible"? So now we lose Ondu Giant in addition to Sakura-tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum? Keep going with that line of thought, and you end up with as little variance as possible because everything is on the banned list. And you've lost all your players.
Too right. Casual EDH already has a great amount of variance. If you ban every card that reduces variance - does this include scry, cycling, all cantrips, all card draw in general, all recursion? - then you get either literal unplayability or the world's most expensive game of Starter 1999.
Back on topic, the primary category of cards my playgroup don't play is two-card infinite combos. If it's three or more cards, though, that's kosher.
There's a ton of stuff I don't play including a lot of the format staples, though a lot of it is because it was getting stale as much as for power level reasons. Fast mana is the biggest one. I don't think any of the regulars in my group have cast a Sol Ring outside of a precon in years.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
My playstyle and what cards and strategies I use have taken a pretty drastic turn since starting up Magic again. I don't enjoy control, basically at all anymore, and that's after switching my control decks to be removal based rather than counter based. I've stopped building with infinite combos, and have moved to intentionally remove them. I've never enjoyed MLD, Stasis, Stax, and Taxation strategies in the first place, so I've never really used any of those. I don't use cards that make people scoop or give people the "well, he just won." mindset, even if there's no guarantee of me winning off it. I avoid needlessly complicated cards that just take forever to resolve them, like Warp World. I've grown a lot more casual over the past few months, and a lot of my builds are just really different. I like turning combo commanders, like Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, and building comboless aggro decks with them.
I've always been a player that preferred weird and fun boardstates and card interactions more than winning, and my last group was just too competitive for me to play that way. My current group has a few people that are a bit too competitive for the people they play with, but there's enough people in general that I can go a few weeks and never have to play against them.
I just try and keep the game interesting for everyone at the table rather than just me.
Just curious - 3 out of the 5 NPH Praetors are generally accepted as fair for EDH, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger is generally accepted as unfair, but where does everyone think Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur lies on that spectrum?
Just curious - 3 out of the 5 NPH Praetors are generally accepted as fair for EDH, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger is generally accepted as unfair, but where does everyone think Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur lies on that spectrum?
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is generally considered unfair, but its also considered pretty bad in the EDH circles that I run in. 10-mana is a lot for a 5/4 creature that needs to stick around to do anything. I ran it in Jalira at one point, but I pulled it out after never being able to cast it. Also, the Flash on it is a little weird; its something that you want in play for the end of your turn and you want in play during your opponent's turns, so waiting till EOT just before your turn to cast it is just awkward. You find yourself casting it during some players end step to make them discard to zero and forcing the next player to Wrath or kill it, or you do it during your turn to Draw 7.
As for what I don't play, the main card I don't use is Tooth and Nail. We have a kind of soft-ban on T&N as we all concur that it is just a stupid card that should end the game whenever it is cast, and the only way it doesn't is if you go out of your way to not run a combo for it. My group shuns infinite combo anyway, but even so just not playing it has been a boon for our games. The same goes for Ad Nauseam, Doomsday, Defense of the Heart, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and a few other "I win" cards. We don't like games that devolve into finding and casting a single card to decide a game. I think that as far as cards not played for power reasons, those 6 would be the big ones.
Interestingly, we don't have as much of an issue with a lot of "Stax" cards that some people have. We don't generally mess with people's ability to play through Stasis effects, Land locks (March+Lattice, Enchaned Evening+Opalescence, etc), directly destroying lands, or Blood Moon/Contamination effects, but Annihilator/Eldrazi are perfectly acceptable as are things that make for hostile environments to permanents (Grave Pact, Smokestack, Martyr's Bond, Karmic Justice, etc.) without necessarily just going after lands (although Martyr's Bond plus Fetchlands is frowned upon).
As per what they said in the vid, I agree that hating on tutors is stupid. A tutor is only as good as what it gets. If you're just trying to make something janky work, then why not play demonic tutor?
I disagree. Tutors represent a specific subset of your deck (or all of it) so that you can get the best thing fpr the situation. Need removal? Your wincon? Your combo piece? The tutor is all of them.
There's a reason DJ got the reaction he did when playing Vampiric tutor. It has a reputation. His opponent might not have known his deck was jank.
It's true you can get something subpar with the tutor, but if I see it, I'm going to assume you're getting something that will lead to you winning shortly thereafter.
Paradox Engine because it was so boring and broken. Having to keep doing the untap shenanigans was so bothersome that i took it out and traded off the card.
None of the Stax and LD. I used to run it but it was very strong and anoyed people so i stoped using it. And then some of these people start using Armaggedon and jsut makes me want to rebuild my Daretti Stax/LD deck
I don't see anything wrong with Sorin and Wound reflection. Those are weird choices compared to rest of Sheldon's list.
DJ complaining about Biorythm been banned while he said he would never play a 8 mana cost card that won on the spot lol ok.
Sorin Markov I get not liking for his potential to basically deal 30 damage from the outset. Wound Reflection though - I can't possibly see thinking it'a an unfair card.
My group has a 50+ card banlist so i guess we do that all the time
i started to loathe craterhoof behemoth (even if i loved the card when it was spoiled) because it was too easy to win with it. i took it away from every deck of mine (and i had 3 token decks).
my playgroup quickly understood i was right and we housebanned it (even if only another player was using it).
right now i never play a Sword of X and Y. They feel too goodstuffy.
also, skullclamp is feelig too easy to and i'm thinking about removing it
Could you share your banlist? Just out of interest.
In light of Sheldon's article and the CommandZone episode are there cards you refuse to play because they're too powerful or not fun to be on either side of?
Personally, I play very few high end tutors (or tutors in general), and I won't play MLD, Craterhoof Behemoth, or infinite combos.
You?
Too strong.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Personally I think that by far the easiest way to win in commander is with a "bursty" wincon - either infinite combo, eot tokens into craterhoof...basically anything that goes 0-60 in the space of a single turn.
So I try to make a point not to do that with any of my decks. Because I like a challenge.
As per what they said in the vid, I agree that hating on tutors is stupid. A tutor is only as good as what it gets. If you're just trying to make something janky work, then why not play demonic tutor?
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
I don't think there are really 'overpowered' cards as such in edh. i've a mono-white combo deck that runs things like implements of sacrifice conjurer's bauble, trusty packbeast and Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle to basically draw my deck, mill my opponents out and exile all GYs, or whatever i need to win. each individual card is extremely underpowered, but the synergy of the deck is the thing that makes the deck win quite consistently by turn 5-6.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, i've a rakdos the defiler deck that features all the money cards. individual power level of each card is significantly higher than that of my teshar deck, but it almost never wins. My playgroup started off being super scared of rakdos, but after a few games, they realised that its synergies of the deck that wins games, not individual card power levels.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
I have considered removing Paradox Engine from all of my decks which run it, and have actively removed it from most of them because it is simply too good in too many decks.
I avoid certain combos by not including both parts of the combo in my decks. No deck of mine which includes either Kiki or Zealous Conscripts ever includes both.
I don't play Palinchron or Iona in any decks. The first is too easily broken, the second is simply unfun.
Most of the other cards from Sheldon's article, I do sometimes play. Wound Reflection is, in my opinion, a perfectly fine card which allows aggro decks to speed up the clock a bit.
No idea about the video in question, because I don't find the insights offered in Command Zone videos to be particularly insightful.
I only play Tooth and Nail in one deck, and it doesn't get a combo... I think T&N is too strong.
I only play mana crypt in my 2 "Tier 1" decks and my Marchesa, The Black Rose because it hurts me.
Gaea's cradle is only in one of my tier 1 decks.
I have a mono black control deck that I find pretty fun, but then I realized that Contamination can be broken in it. I thought it would be okay since the deck has so few creatures, but in a few cases I can stretch it for a few turns and my opponents lose to it. I have been wrestling with taking it out since I don't have another home for it, but the power level is too high.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I've seen you say some crazy things on this forum before, but this is truly the apex. Banning that much stuff would be so brutal as to kill the format, not liven it up. ***** dude, I don't even think I'd still play EDH or magic at all if I had to go play vintage just to cast a Necropotence
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
This was also the question I had about the article. He said it takes players out of the game emotionally, and I dont really know what that means, or why that is worse than another way of losing.
Follow me on instagram @TheMTGWord
Deadeye Navigator
Those two off the top of my head. Doesn’t matter if they are not going for infinite combo. Too much value.
Any repeatable counter spell/ability.
Any extra turn card that does not exile itself.
Any mass land destruction.
And last, any chaos cards that would mix up permanents too badly on the field. And not because of the effect. This is mostly because some cards are very expensive. And I don’t even want the optics that there is an opportunity to steal a card from another player.
Note: I would be fine playing against many of these things. I just don’t run them myself.
Thread | Draft
The cards that are broad categories tend to be my own preference / the social agreement in my meta. Land disrupion on mass scale is frowned on in mass in my LGS but some people will still combo and do infinite effects but I still refrain from it myself.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Umezawa's Broken Beyond Belief Jitte
Iona, Queen of Douching a Color-based Format
Vorinclex, Voice of Unfun Games for Everyone
And when you've banned all the staples, we eventually gravitate to a new set of staples (though they are now significantly underpowered, overcosted, and inefficient). Do you then have a second round of banning all staples in the interest of "as much variance as possible"? So now we lose Ondu Giant in addition to Sakura-tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum? Keep going with that line of thought, and you end up with as little variance as possible because everything is on the banned list. And you've lost all your players.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
Back on topic, the primary category of cards my playgroup don't play is two-card infinite combos. If it's three or more cards, though, that's kosher.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
On a different note, occasionally an infinite combo is needed to end an especially long or grueling boardwipe - boardwipe - boardwipe game
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
I've always been a player that preferred weird and fun boardstates and card interactions more than winning, and my last group was just too competitive for me to play that way. My current group has a few people that are a bit too competitive for the people they play with, but there's enough people in general that I can go a few weeks and never have to play against them.
I just try and keep the game interesting for everyone at the table rather than just me.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
Realm Razer + Oblivion Sower + sac outlet
Tooth and Nail + Avenger of Zendikar + Craterhoof Behemoth
Infinite Combos
Hellkite Charger/Aggravated Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine/Bear Umbra/Savage Ventmaw
Note: Savage Ventaw only goes infinite with Aggravated Assault
Saffi Eriksdotter + Karmic Guide/Reveillark/Renegade Rallier + sac outlet
Artifacts
Crucible of Worlds
Creatures
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Darksteel Colossus
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Worldgorger Dragon
Worldspine Wurm
Yosei, the Morning Star
Eldrazi
Bane of Bala Ged
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Emrakul, the Promised End
It That Betrays
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Pathrazer of Ulamog
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Void Winnower
Infect
Blightsteel Colossus
Triumph of the Hordes
Lands
Dust Bowl
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
Wasteland
Land Destruction
Sundering Titan
Sac outlets
Altar of Dementia
Ashnod's Altar
Phyrexian Altar
Bruse Tarl & Kraum, Ludevic's Opus
Mayael the Anima
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Squire wants a word with you...
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is generally considered unfair, but its also considered pretty bad in the EDH circles that I run in. 10-mana is a lot for a 5/4 creature that needs to stick around to do anything. I ran it in Jalira at one point, but I pulled it out after never being able to cast it. Also, the Flash on it is a little weird; its something that you want in play for the end of your turn and you want in play during your opponent's turns, so waiting till EOT just before your turn to cast it is just awkward. You find yourself casting it during some players end step to make them discard to zero and forcing the next player to Wrath or kill it, or you do it during your turn to Draw 7.
As for what I don't play, the main card I don't use is Tooth and Nail. We have a kind of soft-ban on T&N as we all concur that it is just a stupid card that should end the game whenever it is cast, and the only way it doesn't is if you go out of your way to not run a combo for it. My group shuns infinite combo anyway, but even so just not playing it has been a boon for our games. The same goes for Ad Nauseam, Doomsday, Defense of the Heart, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and a few other "I win" cards. We don't like games that devolve into finding and casting a single card to decide a game. I think that as far as cards not played for power reasons, those 6 would be the big ones.
Interestingly, we don't have as much of an issue with a lot of "Stax" cards that some people have. We don't generally mess with people's ability to play through Stasis effects, Land locks (March+Lattice, Enchaned Evening+Opalescence, etc), directly destroying lands, or Blood Moon/Contamination effects, but Annihilator/Eldrazi are perfectly acceptable as are things that make for hostile environments to permanents (Grave Pact, Smokestack, Martyr's Bond, Karmic Justice, etc.) without necessarily just going after lands (although Martyr's Bond plus Fetchlands is frowned upon).
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
I disagree. Tutors represent a specific subset of your deck (or all of it) so that you can get the best thing fpr the situation. Need removal? Your wincon? Your combo piece? The tutor is all of them.
There's a reason DJ got the reaction he did when playing Vampiric tutor. It has a reputation. His opponent might not have known his deck was jank.
It's true you can get something subpar with the tutor, but if I see it, I'm going to assume you're getting something that will lead to you winning shortly thereafter.
None of the Stax and LD. I used to run it but it was very strong and anoyed people so i stoped using it. And then some of these people start using Armaggedon and jsut makes me want to rebuild my Daretti Stax/LD deck
I don't see anything wrong with Sorin and Wound reflection. Those are weird choices compared to rest of Sheldon's list.
DJ complaining about Biorythm been banned while he said he would never play a 8 mana cost card that won on the spot lol ok.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Could you share your banlist? Just out of interest.
Excess extra turn spells
Stasis
Eye of The Storm
Jokulhaups
Commanders - More the deck than the individual card
Narset, Enlightened Master
Animar, Soul of Elements