Treasonous Ogre freaks me the F out. I can get soooOOOOooo greedy sometimes and paying TWELVE life for four mana is totally something I would do and end up losing because of it. The infect equipment is neato but everyone sees it coming from a mile away and it doesn't directly win me the game (despite being a cool trick).
Equip the lifelink artifacts, blast the table with Hidetsugu, gain EIGHTY life. Burn them to death simultaneously. Heartless Hidetsugu is a complete ass. I take his natural affinity to being an ass and double it, Gratuitous Violence, Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and Overblaze. Gotta be careful though, he cuts my life total in half too. Enter lifesavers: Batterskull and Basilisk Collar. So long as I can gain a little life, chances are I'm able to cut down every opponent at once with cards like Molten Disaster. But beyond that, Heartless deals DAMAGE equal to half of all life-totals. So equip him with the lifelink and you're gaining life for all the damage dealt and losing nothing. Gross right?
There are so many things to do here, this is a nasty-ass deck.
It's always a good decision to kill the table, before they kill me. If I don't win, I'm the first to lose. Not the end of the world though, I took them from 40 life to less than 10 by turn six. Feels good to deal all the damage! Haste is essential. With it, Heartless is an immediate threat that can go off at anytime. Lifelink sitting there, double damage prepped, they're scared. Playing Hidetsugu without haste usually (always) results in one dead ogre. Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Fervor, Urabrask the Hidden, Thousand-Year Elixir, Hammer of Purphoros, and Hall of the Bandit Lord are here to help.
Ratios
18x Mana Accelerators
15x Card Draw
14x Bombs
Comments
There are so many elements I could add to this deck to take it truly to the next level. The obvious choice is land destruction and resource denial. Cards like Blood Moon and Ruination can wreck people and lock out a game. When/if I feel that these strategies are necessary, I will incorporate them - until then I'd rather everyone be able to play the game rather than watch me play solitaire.
I know for a fact that this deck can't deal with heavy enchantment use or with overbearing control. But you drop this badboy in play with haste, all hell's going to break loose. The deck is geared to overwhelm the top-tier decks present in the EDH-world. It has enough paths to victory, enough interference to disrupt opponents, it frequently outpaces other ramp decks, continuously annihilates entire tables, and works equally well in 1v1 and multiplayer. You know what EDH is like, sometimes those 6-man games take FOREVER. Heartless Hidetsugu cuts down on the bullcrap and puts things in perspective. You're here to kill everyone at the table, so hop to it!
I like the IDEA of Mark of Fury, but not in real play. Lightning Mauler is my new favorite haste mechanism from the new set! You want HH to have haste on opponent's turn, that way you control the life total game - not them. You always want to own the variables with HH, otherwise you'll end up being manipulated. Pentavus and the other token generators are alright. They function brilliantly in the combo situation (rare though that is), but more importantly... they create passive blockers, Skullclamp targets, and rattlesnake effectively. Couple that with their low'ish-threat and I find them invaluable.
No Anger? Battle Rampart > Anger? Strider Harness > Anger? The new Duel Decks Anger looks nice, too.
Anger is overrated. Bojuka Bog and other graveyard hate cards are too available and prevalent in the format, silly to rely on it. Couple that with the fact that it's difficult to get it into the graveyard, I'd rather just have something that directly gave me haste. Battle Rampart is GREAT because people don't care about it, SUPER low threat. Strider Harness is acceptable, but not optimal. I like that it has a super-low equip cost and the CMC is right. I will probably replace him with the new soulbound creature that gives haste.
What is the instant death combo with Heartless Hidetsugu and Mages' Contest?
That's actually one of the best/most fun ways to kill someone. Mages' Contest and Illicit Auction are two VERY sneaky ways to pull off a kill against 1 person in the group or 1v1. Both cards require a bidding war with life total as currency. Process is as follows:
1. Heartless Hidetsugu on the field with haste
2. Cast Mages' Contest/Illicit Auction
3. Incite/politic a bidding war
4. Jump life total bids in increments of ~5 until opponent-bidder is edgy
5. Let them out bid one last time
6. Blast HH in response
They lose 1/2 their life, THEN the life bid. If you did your job right, they bid more than half their life and your HH blast will eat the other half. You'd be surprised how easy it is to pull this off, even against experienced HH opponents. Try and counter their Tooth and Nail, Reiterate or whatever mechanism they have for "going off". Usually they'll pay AT LEAST 10 life to let something be theirs.
Harmonic Sliver is not a good choice ultimately, choose Aura Shards instead - it's a may ability. I'm reading through your deck here, and you say it's a combo deck. Looks like you have MANY pieces of combos, and very few of the 2nd pieces. Mana Echoes is good
I'm going to do you a solid fellow 5c'er. Here's a list of combos & synergies I utilize in my Slivincible deck. This thing is jammed-packed with combos, outlets everywhere. Bet you'll find something useful!
Equip the lifelink artifacts, blast the table with Hidetsugu, gain EIGHTY life. Burn them to death simultaneously.
Heartless Hidetsugu is a complete ass. I take his natural affinity to being an ass and double it, Gratuitous Violence, Furnace of Rath, and Overblaze. Gotta be careful though, he cuts my life total in half too. Enter lifesavers: Loxodon Warhammer and Basilisk Collar. So long as I can gain a little life, chances are I'm able to cut down every opponent at once with cards like Molten Disaster. But beyond that, Heartless deals DAMAGE equal to half of all life-totals. So equip him with the Hammer or Collar and you're lifelinking all the damage dealt and losing nothing. Gross right?
There are so many things to do here, this is a nasty-ass deck.
It's always a good decision to kill the table, before they kill me. If I don't win, I'm the first to lose. Not the end of the world though, I took them from 40 life to less than 10 by turn six. Feels good to deal all the damage! Haste is essential. With it, Heartless is an immediate threat that can go off at anytime. Lifelink sitting there, double damage prepped, they're scared. Playing Hidetsugu without haste usually (always) results in one dead ogre. Lightning Greaves, Fervor, Lightning Mauler, Battle Rampart, Urabrask the Hidden, Thousand-Year Elixir, Swiftfoot Boots, and Hall of the Bandit Lord are here to help.
I have been building this deck for +2yrs, played against some of the best decks present in the EDH-meta, and you are seeing the fruits of my labor. The deck is geared to overwhelm the top-tier decks present in the EDH-world. It has enough paths to victory, enough interference to disrupt opponents, it frequently outpaces other ramp decks, continuously annihilates entire tables, and works equally well in 1v1 and multiplayer. You know what EDH is like, sometimes those 6-man games take FOREVER. Heartless Hidetsugu cuts down on the bullcrap and puts things in perspective. You're here to kill everyone at the table, so hop to it!
This is a perfectly acceptableHeartless Hidetsugu deck. Unfortunately, this build will never be able to compete at the tier1 level. It's simply not fast enough, CMC is too high, and any bomb-heavy green deck will ultimately overwhelm. Setting up the HH explosion can prove somewhat challenging, but really... it's a 3-card combo with multiple options. You need: HH + Haste + Damage Doubler/Lifelink. That's it. Now... if you want to see a deck made of pure awesome. A deck that can win on turn3. A deck that has won tournaments.
Then check out "Blast 'Em, Heartless Hidetsugu" on EssentialMagic. Should really demonstrate where the power is with HH.
Think there's a point missing here that bears mentioning. There is no established "sideboard vote time" in the rules to EDH/Commander. Yes the sideboard rule is optional, but that means it's either being utilized or not. That utilization is taken at the player, not table, level. If a player wishes to utilize a sideboard, the table has no opportunity to dispute it. The sideboard is simply used or not.
"Players may bring a 10 card sideboard in addition to their 99 cards and 1 Commander."
The start of game procedure for Commander is as follows:
1. Players announce their choice of Commander and move that card to the command zone.
2. Players may then sideboard if the optional rules for sideboards are being used.
3. Each player draws a hand of seven cards.
4. Players may mulligan, using the modified "Partial Paris" method.
There is simply no opportunity for the table to protest the use of a sideboard. Players at the table either use a sideboard, or they do not. It is the responsibility of the players utilizing sideboards to announce and make it obvious that they are doing so. Once that announcement has taken place, it is out of everyone's control - the sideboard is active.
you have been on the receiving end of a lot of the skepticism i am relaying now
That much was obvious
The cut thing is easily remedied if someone is assertive, but it's not really something I think about before or during a game. Will try to keep it in mind, but I rarely even want to cut my opponent's deck. I'd go so far as to say I'd like to see if they can cheat while I'm there and what they could pull out. Cutting is essentially a non-issue to me on both sides of the equation. I will try to offer a cut on my end. But, as you said, I'm about the game moving quickly and efficiently. Shuffling for three-minutes after a Vampiric Tutor in a casual game, followed by a round of cuts, is simply unacceptable for game-tempo and keeping up the intensity/pressure of gameplay.
As for the untapping/tapping bit... I play some of the more complicated decks in the playgroup, certainly the most colors. As such, in playing 5c decks, I frequently have options in my hand for this turn, their turn, or color-requirements to throw into abilities. The tapping/untapping as I cast a spell is me finding the most color-efficient route to tap the required amount of mana. Ending with the correct colored mana tapped in the proper proportions. In most cases, I will count it out for someone if they have an issue. But I can think of a recent episode wherein I was being douchey trying to quicken the game (apparently) beyond the comfort-level of one of my opponents. Based on the comment above, I'm guessing that's the "straw" which made this thread.
There is something to be said for quick games. Each player knowing and understanding their deck to a level wherein they can Kodama's Reach for their lands, but before going through the search effort, playing the next cards in the chain from their hand. That sort of foresight is harmless in 90% of cases and saves ~1m per player's turn. The one-minute really starts to add up over an entire game. Suppose not everyone can think in those terms... but it would be interesting to see a timestamped chart for total turn time of each player.
@kakwann
That sounds like a pretty intense deck-stacker right there. Perhaps you could offer to help him with his deck construction and help correct the problem near the source? But it's not fun to play with someone who is constantly cheating and making your heart groan every time something ridiculous hits the field in the early game. Sounds like your group keeps him enough in check in the mid/late game when it matters most, so that's something.
@Tantarus
Or at least wasting an early tutor to mess with them
That said and being true wasmachstdugern, there is an element of EDH/Commander where the core of your deck... the cards that truly make or break your deck every time seem to have a higher percentage of popping up in the early/mid game. I see this frequently among honest players. Might be a Mana Drain or Sol Ring or Reiterate, doesn't really matter. These are frequently the cards that are "core" to the decks in question. Shuffle, cut, kiss the top card, doesn't matter - these core cards pop up often. Noticed it in every deck I have ever played or played against.
They call it something in Yu-gi-oh, "Heart of the Cards" and I see it happening around me all the time.
Next time you are in contact with someone you are suspicious of, keep a half-eye on how they are shuffling (especially between games). See if you can follow the hand they just had in their shuffling and where it ends up. Cut so the cards you've tracked are not on top. If the decks are built well enough, it won't really matter and you're keeping them honest. But I think the major culprit to this problem is the idea of the Paris Mulligan. Essentially crafting the perfect hand as most/many people don't reduce the number of cards drawn. If you find cheats in your area or are concerned about the topic, just take the initiative and assertively ask to cut their deck. The stupid ones will get loud and ornery, the smart ones will smirk and try to find another way to get the cards they tried to cheat on top.
Don't sell yourself short on colors my friend. Proliferate is one of the most powerful abilities in the game. Why limit yourself on colors when you can BEAT FACE in rainbow-sexiness? Run cards like Magistrate's Scepter and kill everyone. If you want to see two extremely powerful EDH decks I play to great effect (both Proliferate), check the links below:
If you're going for the win everytime, go for the combo version. Might not win EVERYTIME 1v1, but just about everytime in multiplayer. There are some potent keywords to keep an eye on like fading (Parallax Wave)
Heartless Hidetsugu is a complete ass. I take his natural affinity to being an ass and double it, Gratuitous Violence, Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and Overblaze. Gotta be careful though, he cuts my life total in half too. Enter lifesavers: Batterskull and Basilisk Collar. So long as I can gain a little life, chances are I'm able to cut down every opponent at once with cards like Molten Disaster. But beyond that, Heartless deals DAMAGE equal to half of all life-totals. So equip him with the lifelink and you're gaining life for all the damage dealt and losing nothing. Gross right?
There are so many things to do here, this is a nasty-ass deck.
It's always a good decision to kill the table, before they kill me. If I don't win, I'm the first to lose. Not the end of the world though, I took them from 40 life to less than 10 by turn six. Feels good to deal all the damage! Haste is essential. With it, Heartless is an immediate threat that can go off at anytime. Lifelink sitting there, double damage prepped, they're scared. Playing Hidetsugu without haste usually (always) results in one dead ogre. Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Fervor, Urabrask the Hidden, Thousand-Year Elixir, Hammer of Purphoros, and Hall of the Bandit Lord are here to help.
Combos and Synergies
Instant Death: Heartless Hidetsugu + Gratuitous Violence/Overblaze/Furnace of Rath + haaaaaste
Infinite Mana01: Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
Infinite Mana02: Doubling Cube + Voltaic Key + Rings of Brighthearth
Infinite Mana03: Staff of Domination + Metalworker
Infinite Mana04: Metalworker + Clock of Omens + Grim Monolith + Basalt Monolith
Shenanigans1: Voltaic Key + Rings of Brighthearth
Shenanigans2: Trading Post + et.al
Shenanigans3: Clock of Omens + Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith + Grim Monolith
Ratios
18x Mana Accelerators
15x Card Draw
14x Bombs
Comments
There are so many elements I could add to this deck to take it truly to the next level. The obvious choice is land destruction and resource denial. Cards like Blood Moon and Ruination can wreck people and lock out a game. When/if I feel that these strategies are necessary, I will incorporate them - until then I'd rather everyone be able to play the game rather than watch me play solitaire.
I know for a fact that this deck can't deal with heavy enchantment use or with overbearing control. But you drop this badboy in play with haste, all hell's going to break loose. The deck is geared to overwhelm the top-tier decks present in the EDH-world. It has enough paths to victory, enough interference to disrupt opponents, it frequently outpaces other ramp decks, continuously annihilates entire tables, and works equally well in 1v1 and multiplayer. You know what EDH is like, sometimes those 6-man games take FOREVER. Heartless Hidetsugu cuts down on the bullcrap and puts things in perspective. You're here to kill everyone at the table, so hop to it!
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Ghitu Encampment
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mishra's Workshop
21 Mountain
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terrain Generator
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
CREATURES
1 Burnished Hart
1 Metalworker
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Urabrask the Hidden
ENCHANTMENTS
1 Dictate of the Twin Gods
1 Fervor
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Gratuitous Violence
1 Pyrohemia
SPELLS
1 Fault Line
1 Inferno
1 Overblaze
1 Act on Impulse
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Earthquake
1 Insurrection
1 Molten Disaster
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Rolling Earthquake
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Batterskull
1 Caged Sun
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Clock of Omens
1 Doubling Cube
1 Druidic Satchel
1 Expedition Map
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Howling Mine
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind's Eye
1 Otherworld Atlas
1 Planar Portal
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Staff of Domination
1 Staff of Nin
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Temple Bell
1 Temporal Aperture
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Torpor Orb
1 Trading Post
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Voltaic Key
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Mindslaver
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Ashling's Prerogative
1 Battle Rampart
1 Coalition Relic
1 Curse of Bloodletting
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Walking Atlas
1 Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient
EssentialMagic.com Decklist (Updated Most Frequently)
Anger is overrated. Bojuka Bog and other graveyard hate cards are too available and prevalent in the format, silly to rely on it. Couple that with the fact that it's difficult to get it into the graveyard, I'd rather just have something that directly gave me haste. Battle Rampart is GREAT because people don't care about it, SUPER low threat. Strider Harness is acceptable, but not optimal. I like that it has a super-low equip cost and the CMC is right. I will probably replace him with the new soulbound creature that gives haste.
That's actually one of the best/most fun ways to kill someone. Mages' Contest and Illicit Auction are two VERY sneaky ways to pull off a kill against 1 person in the group or 1v1. Both cards require a bidding war with life total as currency. Process is as follows:
1. Heartless Hidetsugu on the field with haste
2. Cast Mages' Contest/Illicit Auction
3. Incite/politic a bidding war
4. Jump life total bids in increments of ~5 until opponent-bidder is edgy
5. Let them out bid one last time
6. Blast HH in response
They lose 1/2 their life, THEN the life bid. If you did your job right, they bid more than half their life and your HH blast will eat the other half. You'd be surprised how easy it is to pull this off, even against experienced HH opponents. Try and counter their Tooth and Nail, Reiterate or whatever mechanism they have for "going off". Usually they'll pay AT LEAST 10 life to let something be theirs.
I'm going to do you a solid fellow 5c'er. Here's a list of combos & synergies I utilize in my Slivincible deck. This thing is jammed-packed with combos, outlets everywhere. Bet you'll find something useful!
Combos and Synergies
* Infinite Mana1: Palinchron + Mana Reflection/Mirari's Wake/Mana Flare/Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
* Infinite Mana2: Aggravated Assault + Bloom Tender + Mana Reflection
* Infinite Mana3: Composite Golem + Nim Deathmantle
* Infinite Mana4: Umbral Mantle + Bloom Tender
* Infinite Mana5: Reiterate + Turnabout
* Infinite Mana6: Mana Echoes + Sliver Queen/Spawnsire of Ulamog/Sprout Swarm
* Infinite Mana7: Palinchron + Nim Deathmantle + Thoughtpicker Witch
* Infinite Mana8: Palinchron + Riku of Two Reflections
* Infinite Mana9: Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
* Artifact/Enchantment Destruction: Aura Shards + Palinchron/Sliver Queen/Arcanis the Omnipotent
* Combat Phases: Aggravated Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine
* Near Invincible1: Solitary Confinement/Spirit of Resistance + Privileged Position + Sterling Grove
* Near Invincible2: Solitary Confinement + Skullclamp + Zur the Enchanter
* Card Draw1: Sensei's Divining Top + Magus of the Future
* Card Draw2: Sliver Queen + Skullclamp
* Card Draw3: Arcanis the Omnipotent + Umbral Mantle
* One-way Boardwipe1: Legacy Weapon + Infinite Mana
* One-way Boardwipe2: Necrotic Sliver + Infinite Mana
* Infinite Life/Death: Orzhov Guildmage + Infinite Mana
* Infinite Turns1: Time Stretch + Eternal Witness + Capsize.
* Bring Me Their Heads: Tooth and Nail + Palinchron + Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger/Riku of Two Reflections
* Drop It Like It's Hot: Grand Abolisher / Dosan the Falling Leaf / Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
* Unload On 'Em: Stone-seeder Hierophant + Amulet of Vigor + Thawing Glaciers
What other card-draw mechanics do you think would help?
Heartless Hidetsugu is a complete ass. I take his natural affinity to being an ass and double it, Gratuitous Violence, Furnace of Rath, and Overblaze. Gotta be careful though, he cuts my life total in half too. Enter lifesavers: Loxodon Warhammer and Basilisk Collar. So long as I can gain a little life, chances are I'm able to cut down every opponent at once with cards like Molten Disaster. But beyond that, Heartless deals DAMAGE equal to half of all life-totals. So equip him with the Hammer or Collar and you're lifelinking all the damage dealt and losing nothing. Gross right?
There are so many things to do here, this is a nasty-ass deck.
It's always a good decision to kill the table, before they kill me. If I don't win, I'm the first to lose. Not the end of the world though, I took them from 40 life to less than 10 by turn six. Feels good to deal all the damage! Haste is essential. With it, Heartless is an immediate threat that can go off at anytime. Lifelink sitting there, double damage prepped, they're scared. Playing Hidetsugu without haste usually (always) results in one dead ogre. Lightning Greaves, Fervor, Lightning Mauler, Battle Rampart, Urabrask the Hidden, Thousand-Year Elixir, Swiftfoot Boots, and Hall of the Bandit Lord are here to help.
Combos and Synergies
Instant Death01: Heartless Hidetsugu + Gratuitous Violence/Overblaze/Furnace of Rath
Infinite Mana01: Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar + token generator
Infinite Mana02: Pentavus + Mana Echoes
Infinite Mana03: Triskelavus + Mana Echoes + Nim Deathmantle
Infinite Mana04: Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
Infinite Mana05: Doubling Cube + Rings of Brighthearth + Voltaic Key
I have been building this deck for +2yrs, played against some of the best decks present in the EDH-meta, and you are seeing the fruits of my labor. The deck is geared to overwhelm the top-tier decks present in the EDH-world. It has enough paths to victory, enough interference to disrupt opponents, it frequently outpaces other ramp decks, continuously annihilates entire tables, and works equally well in 1v1 and multiplayer. You know what EDH is like, sometimes those 6-man games take FOREVER. Heartless Hidetsugu cuts down on the bullcrap and puts things in perspective.
You're here to kill everyone at the table, so hop to it!
LANDS
MANA ACCELERATION
CREATURES
HASTE
WINNING CARDS
CARD DRAW
SHENANIGANS
Then check out "Blast 'Em, Heartless Hidetsugu" on EssentialMagic. Should really demonstrate where the power is with HH.
"Players may bring a 10 card sideboard in addition to their 99 cards and 1 Commander."
The start of game procedure for Commander is as follows:
1. Players announce their choice of Commander and move that card to the command zone.
2. Players may then sideboard if the optional rules for sideboards are being used.
3. Each player draws a hand of seven cards.
4. Players may mulligan, using the modified "Partial Paris" method.
There is simply no opportunity for the table to protest the use of a sideboard. Players at the table either use a sideboard, or they do not. It is the responsibility of the players utilizing sideboards to announce and make it obvious that they are doing so. Once that announcement has taken place, it is out of everyone's control - the sideboard is active.
That much was obvious
The cut thing is easily remedied if someone is assertive, but it's not really something I think about before or during a game. Will try to keep it in mind, but I rarely even want to cut my opponent's deck. I'd go so far as to say I'd like to see if they can cheat while I'm there and what they could pull out. Cutting is essentially a non-issue to me on both sides of the equation. I will try to offer a cut on my end. But, as you said, I'm about the game moving quickly and efficiently. Shuffling for three-minutes after a Vampiric Tutor in a casual game, followed by a round of cuts, is simply unacceptable for game-tempo and keeping up the intensity/pressure of gameplay.
As for the untapping/tapping bit... I play some of the more complicated decks in the playgroup, certainly the most colors. As such, in playing 5c decks, I frequently have options in my hand for this turn, their turn, or color-requirements to throw into abilities. The tapping/untapping as I cast a spell is me finding the most color-efficient route to tap the required amount of mana. Ending with the correct colored mana tapped in the proper proportions. In most cases, I will count it out for someone if they have an issue. But I can think of a recent episode wherein I was being douchey trying to quicken the game (apparently) beyond the comfort-level of one of my opponents. Based on the comment above, I'm guessing that's the "straw" which made this thread.
There is something to be said for quick games. Each player knowing and understanding their deck to a level wherein they can Kodama's Reach for their lands, but before going through the search effort, playing the next cards in the chain from their hand. That sort of foresight is harmless in 90% of cases and saves ~1m per player's turn. The one-minute really starts to add up over an entire game. Suppose not everyone can think in those terms... but it would be interesting to see a timestamped chart for total turn time of each player.
@kakwann
That sounds like a pretty intense deck-stacker right there. Perhaps you could offer to help him with his deck construction and help correct the problem near the source? But it's not fun to play with someone who is constantly cheating and making your heart groan every time something ridiculous hits the field in the early game. Sounds like your group keeps him enough in check in the mid/late game when it matters most, so that's something.
@Tantarus
Or at least wasting an early tutor to mess with them
They call it something in Yu-gi-oh, "Heart of the Cards" and I see it happening around me all the time.
Next time you are in contact with someone you are suspicious of, keep a half-eye on how they are shuffling (especially between games). See if you can follow the hand they just had in their shuffling and where it ends up. Cut so the cards you've tracked are not on top. If the decks are built well enough, it won't really matter and you're keeping them honest. But I think the major culprit to this problem is the idea of the Paris Mulligan. Essentially crafting the perfect hand as most/many people don't reduce the number of cards drawn. If you find cheats in your area or are concerned about the topic, just take the initiative and assertively ask to cut their deck. The stupid ones will get loud and ornery, the smart ones will smirk and try to find another way to get the cards they tried to cheat on top.
Solution: be vigilant and assertive
Proliferate Schmoliferate (Non-Combo)
Proliferate Schmoliferate (33 Combos)
If you're going for the win everytime, go for the combo version. Might not win EVERYTIME 1v1, but just about everytime in multiplayer. There are some potent keywords to keep an eye on like fading (Parallax Wave)
Lord Demonico