So guys, I have a family reunion this weekend and my cousins are big EDH players. I always make sure to bring a deck or two. I'm trying to decide if Daxos is the man for the job. Their decks (from what I can recall) are reasonably powerful - not hyper-tuned or combo-centric or anything, they tend to lean towards battlecruiser plays.
I am a little worried that I might face some pre-game hate, though. We talk a lot about how everyone ignores the unassuming Daxos. How well does the deck handle being the center of attention in the early/mid-game?
More than a couple people in my meta who are "old school" and don't like planeswalkers, attacking into them on principle.
I love exploiting this. I know a few people I play with who have this same mentality, and in those games, Planeswalkers are "kill on sight" targets, even though they are generally terrible in EDH.
I swear, you Death Cloud with a Jace in play ONE TIME, and people's feathers get permanently ruffled. Yep, it was the walker's fault, all right. Nothing to do with me shredding your hand and board.
Dryad Arbor gives you a fetchable target for Demonic Dread if you're up against a deck with a very low creature count or an opponent who does not deploy creatures to not give you a target
Basically this. I actually think it's not super necessary to run right now, all things considered; the only reason I still have one in my list is because I see Bogles and Scapeshift in my meta with regularity.
This would have been awesome if it were the artwork for Ancestral Mask.
More to the point, though - this is slightly better than Serpent's Gift or a similar deathtouch-granting effect if you're targeting a smaller body. Taunting Elf has some awful breath, I hear.
...yeah, who am I kidding. Does anyone actually play this card?
I think it's possibly a good inclusion. I'm always down for more bolts because I don't think people respect that kind of incremental damage enough in this format. I think you have to run it with the expectation that you're stapling bolts to dead artifacts probably 75% of the time, unless there's a clear threat at the table or you can extort someone with a low life total. The bolts also get better the more incidental damage you're running. Jaya tends to finish games with repeated chunks of damage more than single bursts, so adding onto that is more useful. If you're finishing with something closer to a combo kill, the value of Pia's Revolution is going to drop sharply.
All of that said, it's always tough for me to find space for new things. I'm definitely picking up a copy, but I have no idea how long it will take before I even try it out.
I think I'll pick one up aswell, but likewise - what to take out? But also just realized, that it will get worse with more players in the game, since an opponent chooses to take the damage. So I can't pick whom to target, and there will be more life for the enchantment to burn through.
EDH: the format where "fun" is whatever you want it to be, but god forbid if it encroaches on someone else's idea of "fun."
I think crippling greedy manabases is fun. 4- and 5-color decks do not. Someone is going to have a bad time.
You completely miss my point. I could find it "fun" to grab people's decks and hurl them across the room. That doesn't mean I am entitled to do that. What this thread is discussing is not whether Ruination/MLD/etc is acceptable, it is discussing whether it should be used to combat people that are already essentially crippling themselves.
If you're not willing to compromise with the playgroup, you are wrong. That spiteful attitude is the problem.
Similarly, your decision not to run nonbasic land hate to combat greedy manabases does not make you entitled to decide what's appropriate for everyone. Your comparison of nonbasic land-hate and throwing decks across the room is ridiculous, by the way.
Besides, if a playgroup doesn't permit Ruination effects, doesn't that basically take away the self-crippling aspect of running all those colors in the first place?
I suppose if you play with people that are unwilling or unable to adapt to them, the cards just make the game *****ty for a few people that aren't you.
Bottom line is that playing a game like this to teach the lesson that "getting stuck not playing your cards is part of the game" just ends up in less fun all around. Don't delude yourself into thinking you are doing some great service by forcing this on your playgroup.
EDH: the format where "fun" is whatever you want it to be, but god forbid if it encroaches on someone else's idea of "fun."
I think crippling greedy manabases is fun. 4- and 5-color decks do not. Someone is going to have a bad time.
Artifact
t, Pay E, Discard a card: You gain 4 life.
t, Pay E and 1 life: Create a 0/1 white Goat creature token.
t, Pay E, Sacrifice a creature: Return target artifact from your graveyard to your hand.
t, Pay E, Sacrifice an artifact: Draw a card.
It's a card this Standard deserves.
...except Daxos. I promised him glory. I'll have to rectify that.
Because I win a lot. >_>
I don't mind losing, but it's another thing entirely to have the entire table's foot on your throat from Turn 1.
I am a little worried that I might face some pre-game hate, though. We talk a lot about how everyone ignores the unassuming Daxos. How well does the deck handle being the center of attention in the early/mid-game?
I love exploiting this. I know a few people I play with who have this same mentality, and in those games, Planeswalkers are "kill on sight" targets, even though they are generally terrible in EDH.
I swear, you Death Cloud with a Jace in play ONE TIME, and people's feathers get permanently ruffled. Yep, it was the walker's fault, all right. Nothing to do with me shredding your hand and board.
Basically this. I actually think it's not super necessary to run right now, all things considered; the only reason I still have one in my list is because I see Bogles and Scapeshift in my meta with regularity.
More to the point, though - this is slightly better than Serpent's Gift or a similar deathtouch-granting effect if you're targeting a smaller body. Taunting Elf has some awful breath, I hear.
...yeah, who am I kidding. Does anyone actually play this card?
Actually, you can target an opponent with Pia's Revolution.
Similarly, your decision not to run nonbasic land hate to combat greedy manabases does not make you entitled to decide what's appropriate for everyone. Your comparison of nonbasic land-hate and throwing decks across the room is ridiculous, by the way.
Besides, if a playgroup doesn't permit Ruination effects, doesn't that basically take away the self-crippling aspect of running all those colors in the first place?
EDH: the format where "fun" is whatever you want it to be, but god forbid if it encroaches on someone else's idea of "fun."
I think crippling greedy manabases is fun. 4- and 5-color decks do not. Someone is going to have a bad time.