Why not use proxies to play in formats you can't play due to pocketbook restrictions. I love legacy. My friends love Legacy. If we live in a world where proxies are not ok then I can't play legacy. If someone is testing for a legacy tournament and I pull out my proxied BUG deck, if they say oh I won't play you because you use proxies I would be flabbergasted. Proxies are fine as long you are not playing for anything. In casual, testing, edh, or whatever proxies are just fine. As long as your not the guy with a blank card and you just say what it is when you play it. At least get a sharpie.
If that is what you see as fair, then I say more power to you. I, obviously, have no right to tell other people how they should/shouldn't play with their playgroup. However, as someone who has never seen the draw in making up a proxy deck, I would be hard pressed to not find it a bit silly if I sat down to play a game of EDH, and the person across the table pulled out a proxy deck out cards they have no intention to actually own. Again, that's just my personal viewpoint. Of you and your friends have fun playing like that, then by all means go ahead. At the end of the day, I think people forget what the 'G' in 'TCG' stands for - game. And really, if you're not having fun playing a game, then you've done something seriously wrong.
(Unless your idea of 'fun' happens to be 'not having fun', in which case... don't have fun?)
I'll say the same thing here that I've said in the 40 billion other threads of this nature:
-If the card is in the mail/you've specifically expressed intent to own it, then by all means proxy it up. Just try to replace it within a month.
-If you own another copy (and it's something expensive, e.g. Mana crypt, duals, etc.) then feel free.
-If you just want to see "how this deck would play"... then man up, buy the cards, or build something else. I didn't come here to play Magic: Christmas Land.
I don't have the link in my signature anymore (it's hiding in one of my blog posts) but I had a pretty vicious Lyzolda deck, built and tuned over the course of a year or two, that was easily my favorite deck. It took advantage of cards like Grave Pact, Vicious Shadows, and Lyzolda's ability, along with recursive creatures and engines to generate advantage like no tomorrow. If you'd like to take a look, just find my blog post containing all my deck lists that I've posted, and look for the most recent Lyzolda list - it's probably the deck I'm most proud of [/shamelessbraggingplug]
I've actually already made a general to match my personality (or rather, my favorite playstyle x3 ). It doesn't quite match my name, though, given or forum:
Dalnorath, the Endbringer 2RBG
Legendary Creature - Dinosaur
First Strike
Whenever ~ attacks, attacking creatures you control get +2/+2 and trample until EoT.
4/4
Just for reference, this used to be Overrun on attack. Which just proved to be WAY too stupid.
Also, I have no idea what I would make as a general to fit my name, but Dalnorath is so much cooler - plus, he's a freaking DINOSAUR!
This happened about 2 years ago at my shop. One of my friends thought running Phage the untouchable was a good idea. We tried to convince him it wasn't yet he wouldn't listen. New player enters group and plays him. (like "playing magic for 3 months new")
Friend drops Phage on an empty board.
New kid drops Oblivion Ring targeting Phage.
New Kid casts Akroma's Vengeance.
Friend removes Phage from deck.
I had a situation similar to this, back when I first started playing EDH. I had (I think) a Szadek deck thrown together, and was playing against a friend. I had tossed phage in as a hopeful sometimes win condition. Then my buddy casts his Warp World...
I will say that set had THE ugliest basic lands EVER.*
*This is my opinion
It's funny; I keep hearing this being said about TSP basics, which makes me wonder if I'm the only one who really, REALLY likes them (they're the only non-full art lands I'll use, honestly)
Moar OT: I remember seeing that art when it was first released, and it made me really hope that Mirrodin was going to win the war. I would love to see an alternate reality look at what would've happened had the Phyrexians lost, even if there is little to no chance of it happening.
The people I used to play with never cared about "official" mulligans - we always just mulled to 7, but no one ever abused it. Just one of the advantages of playing with friends, I suppose.
Also, one of my friends wanted to build GAAIV, but didn't like the idea of the hate his last ability brought. So we all decided to house rule that his tax just wasn't there; it still powered up his deck with the spell reduction, but it was a lot more fun for the rest of us.
Before I got into my "I need new decks" craze a few weeks ago, that was how my Lyzolda deck ran. It always seemed like no matter how many of its pieces you destroyed, it just kept coming back stronger, to the point where I started to call her "The Boss". This stemmed from a friend of mine borrowing it one day, and then telling me how much he loved it, because it "Promotes synergy - LIKE A BOSS!"
To this day, hands down the best compliment I've ever received on one of my decks
Deathrender - Considering all the crazy ETB effects that have been coming out lately, this card just screams value in almost any deck. Put it on an early chump blocker to cheat out something big, or strap it to someone you're about to sac anyways and laugh at the pitiful expression on your opponent's face.
I've built way too many decks over the 4-5 years that I've been playing EDH to go over each one separately, but the majority of them fit into a few different categories:
The colors: First off, let me say that I tend to enjoy the building process as much as, if not more than, the playing, so I've been known to put decks together in my mind as I'm looking through cards for other decks - and a lot of the time, I just need a general that fits the colors. This usually only happens with 3+ color decks, though.
The General: Sometimes, I see a legendary creature that just makes me say "Wow, I have to build a deck around that!" More often than not, this happens with the 2 color legends, and they tend to be the ones that I'll come back to again and again.
The challenge: Back when I played with my regular playgroup, I would voice my boredom about the decks I was running at the time. Every now and then, someone would pipe up with "You should build X general/strategy", and I typically would. These decks were usually the most fun to build, but rarely lasted for more than a few games, for one reason or another. The ones that did last, though, went on to be some of my most memorable decks (Godo, I'm looking at you bud )
Other than that, though, there's really not much to say. If anyone is interested, you can check my blog to find an extensive list of generals I've played in the past, and the decks to go with them.
So, is every card that isn't a 5/5 unblockable haste for 0 just automatically bad in constructed or something? Soul Ransom seems amazing for its cost; a control magic that can net you +3 CA if your opponent wants their creature back? The "restrictive" mana cost isn't even an issue, considering the amount of mana fixing around right now. Maybe I'm just too far out of standard to know better, but this seems at least good enough to see play, if not being an auto-include.
I have a link to a Lyzolda deck in my signature that I've been working with for a while. It has a few expensive cards, but most of them could be replaced with less expensive cards. Also, using Olivia as general wouldn't throw it off much, but you'd probably want to make a few changes. Hopefully it helps!
This is why I'm glad I don't play against random people anymore. I remember once playing against a Karrthus dedicated LD deck with my janky (at the time, I was still new to the format) Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck. Despite being stuck on 2 lands for about 6 turns, he had no way of killing me, and then whined and complained when I stabilized and beat him with general damage.
Personally, I've had fun games playing everything from janky tribal to dedicated combo, and I don't get why people use "unfun" as some sort of scapegoat when they lose; heck, I've even heard people using it playing standard, which really blew my mind. If you can't have fun unless you win every single game you play, then I feel bad for you.
I'm definitely going to be sticking with the original, personally. The abjlity to blink him at will is what makes him so threatening, esecially since every color has a way to kill a creature at instant speed. Obzedat isn't bad, and I actually wouldn't mind picking jp a copy to put in the 99 of my GCO deck, but I really don't think I'll be swapping them.
Any "every player draws a card" effect is almost always met by a chorus of "BONG!!", ever since I started adopting Temple Bell as my favorite pet card ever.
If that is what you see as fair, then I say more power to you. I, obviously, have no right to tell other people how they should/shouldn't play with their playgroup. However, as someone who has never seen the draw in making up a proxy deck, I would be hard pressed to not find it a bit silly if I sat down to play a game of EDH, and the person across the table pulled out a proxy deck out cards they have no intention to actually own. Again, that's just my personal viewpoint. Of you and your friends have fun playing like that, then by all means go ahead. At the end of the day, I think people forget what the 'G' in 'TCG' stands for - game. And really, if you're not having fun playing a game, then you've done something seriously wrong.
(Unless your idea of 'fun' happens to be 'not having fun', in which case... don't have fun?)
-If the card is in the mail/you've specifically expressed intent to own it, then by all means proxy it up. Just try to replace it within a month.
-If you own another copy (and it's something expensive, e.g. Mana crypt, duals, etc.) then feel free.
-If you just want to see "how this deck would play"... then man up, buy the cards, or build something else. I didn't come here to play Magic: Christmas Land.
Legendary Creature - Dinosaur
First Strike
Whenever ~ attacks, attacking creatures you control get +2/+2 and trample until EoT.
4/4
Just for reference, this used to be Overrun on attack. Which just proved to be WAY too stupid.
Also, I have no idea what I would make as a general to fit my name, but Dalnorath is so much cooler - plus, he's a freaking DINOSAUR!
I had a situation similar to this, back when I first started playing EDH. I had (I think) a Szadek deck thrown together, and was playing against a friend. I had tossed phage in as a hopeful sometimes win condition. Then my buddy casts his Warp World...
It's funny; I keep hearing this being said about TSP basics, which makes me wonder if I'm the only one who really, REALLY likes them (they're the only non-full art lands I'll use, honestly)
Moar OT: I remember seeing that art when it was first released, and it made me really hope that Mirrodin was going to win the war. I would love to see an alternate reality look at what would've happened had the Phyrexians lost, even if there is little to no chance of it happening.
Also, one of my friends wanted to build GAAIV, but didn't like the idea of the hate his last ability brought. So we all decided to house rule that his tax just wasn't there; it still powered up his deck with the spell reduction, but it was a lot more fun for the rest of us.
To this day, hands down the best compliment I've ever received on one of my decks
The colors: First off, let me say that I tend to enjoy the building process as much as, if not more than, the playing, so I've been known to put decks together in my mind as I'm looking through cards for other decks - and a lot of the time, I just need a general that fits the colors. This usually only happens with 3+ color decks, though.
The General: Sometimes, I see a legendary creature that just makes me say "Wow, I have to build a deck around that!" More often than not, this happens with the 2 color legends, and they tend to be the ones that I'll come back to again and again.
The challenge: Back when I played with my regular playgroup, I would voice my boredom about the decks I was running at the time. Every now and then, someone would pipe up with "You should build X general/strategy", and I typically would. These decks were usually the most fun to build, but rarely lasted for more than a few games, for one reason or another. The ones that did last, though, went on to be some of my most memorable decks (Godo, I'm looking at you bud
Other than that, though, there's really not much to say. If anyone is interested, you can check my blog to find an extensive list of generals I've played in the past, and the decks to go with them.
Personally, I've had fun games playing everything from janky tribal to dedicated combo, and I don't get why people use "unfun" as some sort of scapegoat when they lose; heck, I've even heard people using it playing standard, which really blew my mind. If you can't have fun unless you win every single game you play, then I feel bad for you.