Sheldon is super-busy this week, so he asked me to do a guest article. I thought it might be fun to let folks ask questions of one of the other members of the RC (namely, me) to get a different perspective. So, ask away and I'll do what I can to answer next week.
For those of you who don't know anything about me, I'm Toby Elliott, former L5 (now L3). When I'm not doing my day job (senior engineer at Amazon), I maintain the tournament policy documents (IPG and MTR). I've been playing continuously since Alpha, play Commander and draft a ton. I've been around for a while.
I first wanted to say Thanks for all the PTQs, Regionals, GPQs, etc. tournaments you head-judged in the Bay Area. I always felt that we were a little spoiled by how well-run our tournaments were run (and by your successor Nick Fang), and it made a ton of sense that you were promoted through the ranks to L5.
2) How much does the rest of the Rules Committee laugh at/cry for/commiserate with/pray to appropriate deity that your not/wish you were in Sheldon's shoes as the "face" of Commander and all the praise, notoriety, and faceless vitriol that comes with it? It would seem to me that you guys that know him well would have a unique perspective on how one handles such a position.
3) What do you think of the new Brawl format? Do you plan on sleeving up any 60-card decks soon?
4) Given that Brawl allows Planeswalkers to be your commander, if you could have any Planeswalker as the commander of a deck, what Planeswalker would it be?
Have you guys (the RC) ever talked about implementing an official sideboard rule for EDH? If so, when was the last time it was brought up? Would you say the majority of the RC has grown more or less fond of the idea?
Have you guys (the RC) ever talked about implementing an official sideboard rule for EDH? If so, when was the last time it was brought up? Would you say the majority of the RC has grown more or less fond of the idea?
Edit: Yeah, sorry. I wanted to elaborate a bit, but I was just heading to the car as I noticed this thread so I wanted to get my foot in the door before I lost/forgot about it.
Basically what Toc says below. However, I’m curious as to what pool of cards it falls into, both for you personally, and the RC. In the dedicated thread, those looking for it to come off the list continually compare it to cards like Tooth and Nail or Enter the Infinite as a card that wins the game. I don’t, I put it in the same category as Worldfire and Sway of the Stars, as it’s a card that, when played in EDH, either functions differently or gains some inherent advantage from the format rules.
Thanks again for doing this. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Brawl as well.
To elaborate, there has been a lot of discussion here in the rules forum around the theory that CV is no longer as strong as it once might have been, and is comparable to more common win conditions that aren't likely to be banned anytime soon, and other 'win the game cards' that aren't even discussed with the likelihood of a ban.
While I don't agree and think it's a non interactive win condition that I'd prefer not to see in play, in the interest of reasonable discussion around the issue as opposed to opposing opinions, I had suggested to the members here with opposing opinions that we seek the opinion of the Rules Committee; and here we are.
If I may, I'd like to ask one for my own benefit;
Who is your current favourite commander (no pressure to name a recent release, or just one)?
Who currently makes up the RC? I know of you and Sheldon, but I'm a little uncertain who the other members are (since they seemingly don't peruse this forum). I believe I've heard there are four members and that Scott Larabee is one of them?
Do you believe Commander is still being played by the general Magic community in the way it was originally intended to be? Do you believe the Commander community at large has shifted Commander away from its original vision in any way?
If I was looking to hold discourse with you and the rest of the RC, what would be the best way for me to engage with you?
I want to know if there are ever grudge matches between you guys. Like perhaps one RC member went a little too rampy one week, so decks are adjusted and Winter Orb or Ankh of Mishra come out and do stuff. Or whether finger-wagging happens on certain plays. I'm really more interested in the table interactions and goings-on, and the self-policing that occurs.
Thanks!
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The "Crazy One", playing casual magic and occasionally dipping his toes into regular play since 1994.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
Just so everyone knows, the article that Toby was referencing went up on 4/12 and can be found here.
The best nugget from that article for me was this:
Quote from papa_funk »
The internet is usually great at surfacing potential problems, and we do rely on it for that. It's not so great at figuring out whether something is actually a problem (since internet posters are not terribly representative of the average Commander player) or what a reasonable solution might be. Nobody arguing repeatedly on a forum has caused us to change our minds, but sometimes someone will come up with a nugget we haven't considered that'll germinate an idea.
This should be stickied to the top of this forum. Permanently.
Just so everyone knows, the article that Toby was referencing went up on 4/12 and can be found here.
The best nugget from that article for me was this:
Quote from papa_funk »
The internet is usually great at surfacing potential problems, and we do rely on it for that. It's not so great at figuring out whether something is actually a problem (since internet posters are not terribly representative of the average Commander player) or what a reasonable solution might be. Nobody arguing repeatedly on a forum has caused us to change our minds, but sometimes someone will come up with a nugget we haven't considered that'll germinate an idea.
This should be stickied to the top of this forum. Permanently.
To be fair to Toby, I’ll lost the entire blurb up including the question that prompted this response. Context is everything, after all.
Chris HerringFish asks, "How closely does the RC pay attention to complaining about the format like on Reddit and Facebook? In other words, how much influence does that internet at large have on the Rules Committee?"
I keep an ear to the ground on several internet sites, such as MtgCommander, MtgSalvation, various Facebook groups, and pay attention to some of the well-known podcasts. We all used to be on Reddit a fair bit, but Reddit's collective tendency to lose their minds over any change (or even rumor of a change) made the value of being there very low and the unpleasantness factor high. After the insane freakout over the tuck rule change, we sort of shrugged our shoulders and moved on. I lurk there occasionally.
The internet is usually great at surfacing potential problems, and we do rely on it for that. It's not so great at figuring out whether something is actually a problem (since internet posters are not terribly representative of the average Commander player) or what a reasonable solution might be. Nobody arguing repeatedly on a forum has caused us to change our minds, but sometimes someone will come up with a nugget we haven't considered that'll germinate an idea.
I do agree, though. This should be a permanent fixture at the top of the forum.
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For those of you who don't know anything about me, I'm Toby Elliott, former L5 (now L3). When I'm not doing my day job (senior engineer at Amazon), I maintain the tournament policy documents (IPG and MTR). I've been playing continuously since Alpha, play Commander and draft a ton. I've been around for a while.
Look forward to the questions.
1) What is the weirdest rules interaction you've ever had to deal with in an EDH game? For my group, I think we are still trying to resolve an 52-permanent Warp World that put Grip of Chaos, Panharmonicon, Mycosynth Lattice, and Confusion in the Ranks into play.
2) How much does the rest of the Rules Committee laugh at/cry for/commiserate with/pray to appropriate deity that your not/wish you were in Sheldon's shoes as the "face" of Commander and all the praise, notoriety, and faceless vitriol that comes with it? It would seem to me that you guys that know him well would have a unique perspective on how one handles such a position.
3) What do you think of the new Brawl format? Do you plan on sleeving up any 60-card decks soon?
4) Given that Brawl allows Planeswalkers to be your commander, if you could have any Planeswalker as the commander of a deck, what Planeswalker would it be?
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
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Edit: Yeah, sorry. I wanted to elaborate a bit, but I was just heading to the car as I noticed this thread so I wanted to get my foot in the door before I lost/forgot about it.
Basically what Toc says below. However, I’m curious as to what pool of cards it falls into, both for you personally, and the RC. In the dedicated thread, those looking for it to come off the list continually compare it to cards like Tooth and Nail or Enter the Infinite as a card that wins the game. I don’t, I put it in the same category as Worldfire and Sway of the Stars, as it’s a card that, when played in EDH, either functions differently or gains some inherent advantage from the format rules.
Thanks again for doing this. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Brawl as well.
Thanks for the opportunity Toby.
To elaborate, there has been a lot of discussion here in the rules forum around the theory that CV is no longer as strong as it once might have been, and is comparable to more common win conditions that aren't likely to be banned anytime soon, and other 'win the game cards' that aren't even discussed with the likelihood of a ban.
While I don't agree and think it's a non interactive win condition that I'd prefer not to see in play, in the interest of reasonable discussion around the issue as opposed to opposing opinions, I had suggested to the members here with opposing opinions that we seek the opinion of the Rules Committee; and here we are.
If I may, I'd like to ask one for my own benefit;
Who is your current favourite commander (no pressure to name a recent release, or just one)?
Do you prefer building around commanders that are clear in their build patterns (ie Chainer, Dementia Master), or commanders that have a degree of versatility (ie. Glissa, the Traitor or Sydri, Galvanic Genius)?
Do you believe Commander is still being played by the general Magic community in the way it was originally intended to be? Do you believe the Commander community at large has shifted Commander away from its original vision in any way?
If I was looking to hold discourse with you and the rest of the RC, what would be the best way for me to engage with you?
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Thanks!
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
The best nugget from that article for me was this:
This should be stickied to the top of this forum. Permanently.
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
To be fair to Toby, I’ll lost the entire blurb up including the question that prompted this response. Context is everything, after all.
I do agree, though. This should be a permanent fixture at the top of the forum.