It is frustrating when that happens. The thing is, commanders like Riku or Ghave, they are the precon commanders. Tons of people out there have decks with them, but in a small group of maybe six people it seems like it would not be an issue. We have been playing together for over two years, and he had never once produced a Ghave or Riku deck. He had never even once mentioned having a deck with either of those legendaries, and when I was feeling inspired to make something new Riku really jumped out at me. I don't think it was until he realized just how strong my Riku deck was starting to shape up to be that he decided to make his own. He would text me constantly, gloating about how awesome it was, even after I told him it irritated me. He proceeded to do much the same about Ghave after claiming to have already had a Ghave deck as well.
It's alright though. I've had a lot of input for my Teneb deck, and it is starting to shape up to be better than both of those ideas were anyway. That's life though. Sometimes great ideas fall apart, and even greater ones are born.
I'm not trying to twist anything, I was simply responding to your words. You said that people needed to "get over this mentality" in regards to style vs. form. I disagree with that sentiment; getting better doesn't always mean getting more competitive.
It's like a lot of things in life though, it depends on who you ask. I would argue that no, they don't, but someone who stands by them is going to stand by their experiences and say they do.
We don't all agree with that mentality.
Uh, no. Not truth.
A better quote for truth is "to each their own." It's EDH, not the grand prix. Did I miss the notice where we weren't allowed to play the cards we wanted anymore? Reasons for using or not using something are kind of up to the individual, aren't they? You use them, and I say go for it, that's great. It makes your deck function the way you want and it makes you happy. Is there any better reason than that? I don't think so. At the same time someone says "I don't like them, the flavor feels off and that is really important to me. Not using them makes me happy." It's the same thing. Do they have worse decks? Ehhh... I think that's debatable. In some ways, sure... Maybe. But I think if it was overly noticeable or problematic they would fix it or change it. Clearly it isn't, so clearly it doesn't matter to them. Their reason for not running the cards are just as valid as your reason for running them, especially in a format that is supposedly focused on the individual taste of the person who made the deck. How many people get altered art cards for their commanders, or spend way too much money trying to get full-art basics, or foiling out the entirety of their deck? It's something done to make the deck look a certain way, and make the person who made it feel good about it and proud of what they made. I don't think it's a bad thing, not using them, if you don't like how they look in your deck. I equally think it's fine to use them if you don't care, but it's your deck, so ultimately what I think about it doesn't matter, right? No one needs to get over their reasons, in any case.
I'll talk to him about it. I know he wants me to build one. I'm kind of lazy about standard, so right now I am sort of working on a standard black/green elves deck, but I don't know. It feels uncreative, at least in the face of only using commons/uncommons.
Soooooooooo.... Girl is out of town, son is at grandpas. I haven't had a night to myself in ages. Sadly I don't have anything going on, lol.
It's a valid reason, though, not to run them. For me I wasn't necessarily talking about my own budget, merely mentioning it as a potential factor against. It may not have been the OP's main intent, but it seems as though enough people thought about it to warrant being brought up.
I think it's less about the fact that they tap for those colors, and more about the colors on the card. While the off-color fetches aren't the two colors they show on the card, they do have those colors. So the red/white one is red on half and white on the other, and so on. I think people don't like it because they break up the flow of the deck, so to speak. I think it's more a personal choice/aesthetics thing. Birds of Paradise, for example, is green, but it happens to tap for other colors. I can't use the other colors, so in my GB deck it only taps for green and black based on EDH rules. Even if it says it taps for other colors, in EDH it cannot, based on the rules, tap for, say, blue, in my deck.
I have them, and I have played with them, though generally not as off-color fetches because of the other main reason I listed in my original post, and I see what you mean by not missing it, but I guess I am confused by your overall response. Yes, people have different budgets, and people are willing to put different amounts of money into the game. EDH is great in that, unlike Standard or Legacy or Modern, it really doesn't always matter depending on the people you play with. Yes, it can be pretty rough and competitive, but a low-budget manabase can still work relatively well and take on a really expensive deck and win. At the end of the day money can and is for a lot of people still a factor. I could care less about who considers themselves elite, or what people consider to be elite, because I play EDH for fun, as do a lot of people. There are plenty of formats that I play that I play for the competitiveness, and EDH isn't one of them. Still, I also recognize that some people do play EDH more competitively, and enjoy it, and I tip my hat to them because it should be enjoyable.
Budget is still a valid reason not to run them.
No, it hasn't. I still love the hell out of my Gilded Drake, though.
As for the Scavenger Folk... I mean, it has a relevant use, but I feel like there are a lot of better options. At the same time... The artwork... So creepy. It's one of those cards that belongs in a deck that focuses on creep-factor.
At the same time I know what my favorite colors are, and there are plenty of commanders in them that have excited me as well. Just be happy with what you are doing, and everything else falls into place. You get a commander you really like, some cards you really like, and as time goes you start to streamline it and come up with new ideas, and then years later you have a deck you are pretty proud of.
Pretty much agree with this. I try to approach deck design from both functionality and enjoyability, and I think the scry lands are both useful and fun, in the right deck. Certainly I have other lands I will pick over them, but I have no issue running them.
I like Verge. I run it. I understand why people dislike it, but I've always liked it, I feel like it's just one more way to tutor out your duals/shocks, and while you might lose a little, if you do it right it can get you where you need to be. I've had it backfire maybe once or twice, and it can and does happen, but in the casual environment I usually play in, it's pretty good.
Yeah, my brother tries to act like he doesn't care, but I know he does. I know I do, but that could be because he sold off a good chunk of mine without asking as well.