Why Elder Dragon Highlander is bad for our playgroup

"When you've lived in complete isolation, how can you understand what it means to lose a culture? It's not until it is almost gone and when people become educated that they realize what's being lost. By then the attractions of the new way are overpowering, and the only people who want the old ways are the ones who never lived it." - Wade Davis, One River

"The people for whom the term cultural relativism was invented have rejected it." - Claude Lévi-Strauss

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In 1835, in the hinterlands of Europe (Finland, of all places), Elias Lönnrot published the first version of Kalevala, the epic poem compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore. Lönnrot found that with the spreading modernism his own people no longer cared about their own myths and language. No one of any standing within Finland actually spoke Finnish anymore- anybody who was anybody spoke Swedish or Russian, the languages of the ruling class. And all the folk stories and songs associated with the Finnish language were being forgotten. It was a pivotal moment. If Lönnrot had not traveled across the countryside, interviewing the older generations of poor, uneducated Finns, most of the oral culture of the society would have vanished, never to be remembered. As it turned out, Lönnrot's work, which he spent around 20 years of his life compiling, editing and reworking, helped spark a national awakening that eventually led to Finland gaining its independence. So what does this have to do with Magic?

Friends, Elder Dragon Highlander currently occupies more of our casual Magic time than every other format combined. I have no way to measure this data, so that last sentence could be total bullshit. You decide. A year ago, on FNM nights, a guy could walk into Game Universe and reliably get together one, and maybe even two afterdrafts. This was following the, you know, official draft. Now, there is only one format being played after a draft or after standard FNM, and let me give you a hint, it ain't Limited. (Although to be fair, some non-casual players may also be testing for whatever PTQ season is looming). Less than a year ago, a guy could drive to CBG's house, play a Cube draft for the entry fee of one booster, then do a Winston afterward with any stragglers. Now, on the rare occasions that we are in Captain Bondage Goth's musty dungeon our format is EDH- all night. Remember the free Ice Age, Alliances, Coldsnap draft that Major_Luck and I brought to you? How about Reject Rare Draft? Carroll Draft? Hell, even Five Color, online or IRL! Now, ask yourself, when is the last time you have played any of these formats? Probably at CBG's Draftstravaganza- THREE MONTHS AGO! The culprit for our lack of casual Magic diversity? EDH. Don't get me wrong. I love EDH. I love it so much, I'm beginning to suspect there might be a problem.

EDH IS TOO MUCH FUN
Let's start with the assumption that EDH is like crack cocaine. Okay, back up. That might be too inflammatory. Elder Dragon Highlander is an amazing casual Constructed format. It may very well be the best casual Constructed format ever. We know this because we have all experienced that sweet spot of competitiveness and wackiness that goes along with playing EDH. When I crawl into bed after playing EDH late into the night, I DREAM about the games. And I love it. It's like my brain is putting all that Magical knowledge into my long term memory by rehearsing those board positions, those plays, again and again. For those who don't know, long term crack addicts often struggle with similar dreams of hitting a pipe, usually after they've stopped using and are struggling to remain sober. So my crack analogy maybe isn't as far off as it first sounds.

We'll return to Lönnrot and his Kalevala. Lönnrot knew his culture was on the cusp of losing something, something great. This sort of thing happens all the time when modernity collides with tradition. The amazing thing about the story is that Lönnrot actually saved a part of his culture. Even more astounding is that the people who were now removed from the fading traditions by a generation (at least) actually began to care about their heritage again. This almost never happens until it's far too late.

In Wade Davis' book One River, he encounters a native Amazonian tribe (the Waorani) that had only recently come into contact with the outside world. He describes one native who was ahead of the curve in terms of acculturation to the West. The Waorani man, named Nenkiwi, was dressed in Western clothing, had a "huge silver watch without hands and an instamatic camera that didn't work... He couldn't read and so had no way of knowing that scrawled across his chest was the lettering AMOR-ECUADOR MILITARY POST #5." Nenkiwi had come to sell a ancient stone ax he had found in the jungle. It was at least 800 years old. Davis bought it from him for a few dollars, because if he didn't, someone else would. Nenkiwi, we are told, "was delighted." Here we see a person literally selling away his cultural history for the worst parts of our Western way of life. Davis, despite his complicity, obviously does not approve.

Is Davis right to judge Nenkiwi? Am I right to equate EDH with a broken watch and camera? Probably not. But seriously. We are choosing uniformity over diversity every time we sit down to play yet another game of EDH. Are we better off just because we WANT to play the format more than others? So maybe EDH is not crack cocaine, but it might be the chocolate cheesecake to every other casual format's vegetables. I feel like we eat a lot of desert (which tastes great) but we miss out on the different kind of pleasure that comes from having a full, balanced meal. And come to think of it, our culture certainly does blame people who eat too much desert (or too much McDonald's) for the consequences of their actions. Maybe I have a right to attack our playgroup (which includes myself, I know) for the unhealthy consequences of gorging ourselves on EDH alone.

Enough metaphors! Actually, one more, then I'll shut up. I can only speak for myself, but I would prefer to be Lönnrot rather Nenkiwi, given a choice. Keep your ears pricked for more non-EDH format plans in the near future. And tell me how wrong I am in the comments.

T