EDH Generals- A New Agreement?

I wanted to talk about the draftsgravaganza today (short recap: awesome!) but a more pertinent issue was raised in yesterday’s post. It'a not even an April Fools joke! Too bad. When Fugie wrote that we were running out of generals I was a little confused. It was his rationale for restricting everyone to one reserved general. Taken literally Fugie can’t possibly mean what he says. After all, he has a knowledge of the cards far greater than mine, and even I know that we have only grabbed a very few, albeit excellent, generals out of the pool. So what did Fugie mean when he said we were running out? Despite the fact that it was boring as hell, I decided to try to refute Fugie’s literal statement to get at what he may have really meant. I decided to catalog the color combinations of all possible generals. Using Star City’s Spoiler Generator I went through all the possible legendary creatures. I counted manually because there was no filter that would do exactly what I wanted, namely leaving out reprints and the Un-set legends. The data is current as of Morningtide. Here is what I found.

Colorless 3

W 56
U 50
B 55
R 47
G 48

WU 13
WB 3
WR 3
WG 13
UB 13
UR 3
UG 2
BR 13
BG 5
RG 11

WUB 8
WUR 1
WUG 6
WBR 1
WBG 2
WRG 5
UBR 8
UBG 1
URG 1
BRG 6

WUBRG 8

Total 385

See Fugie? We have 385 (probably give or take a few- remember I counted manually) generals to pick from! We’re not running out at all! Heh. Now the obvious is out of the way. Let’s dig in to the real data. For simplicity, let’s exclude all the mono-colored generals as too narrow (despite the fact that we know there are some competitive one-color generals). That chops out about 256, by my count. Still 129 to choose from. Now let’s look at the two-color generals. We have wide variance among the samples. Four combinations have 13 generals to choose from, plenty. But there are also 3 two-color combinations that contain only 3 generals, and another, UG, which contains only 2. Under the old agreement, those four color combinations could conceivably be “locked out” if too many people chose to play one of them.

Now to the real gravy, the three color generals. Many of us play three color generals, since with enough fixing three colors is still quite doable and it allows us a wider range of spells to further whatever strategy we want to push. Sometimes the general is incidental to the actual deck strategy and we just need the color combination. Seems like the actual general is less important than the colors… hmmm. Let’s take a look at the data. Again we have wide variance, this time with a top end of 8 creatures for a few of the three-color combinations. On the low end we have an astounding 4 of the three-color combinations that have a mere 1 general to pick from. If I want to play WUR (and it should be no surprise that I do, since my general is Numot) then I have only one choice.

There are no four-color combinations available.

After looking at this data I propose that Fugie really meant we are running out of three-color combinations.

Let me back up his assertion. After playing lots of EDH matches I decided that the strongest color combination is WBG… but I couldn’t play that color combination because there were two possible generals and both had been claimed previously. (I could have taken one of the 8 five-color generals and only played WBG, but personally that seemed wrong.) So that’s a downside to our old agreement. Under the new proposed agreement people could still be locked out of combinations, since the one guy who reserves Oros as his one general still screws everyone else out of WBR. Still, there would be more ability to switch into different colors. When I wanted to make another 3-color deck, I wanted to include BG because my Numot deck couldn’t use those colors at all. So that reduced my options to WBG, UBG, and BRG. Like I said above, WBG was off the table. No problem, I thought. I’ll just go with UBG… wait, who took Vorosh already? Okay, so I’m down to BRG (which luckily has plenty of options). I decided to go with Sek’Kuar Deathkeeper.

Above we can see the big downside of the old agreement, but here is where we run into a potential downside of the new one. I have spent quite a bit of time making a successful deck built around Numot. In the past few days I have been really excited about building Sek’Kuar, but I can’t possibly give up Numot for the chance that Sek’Kuar will be better. I feel forced to reserve Numot. And what’s the big deal if I can’t reserve SekKuar? Well, I really like the idea of using him as a general, but I also know several other players who told me they had considered building a Sek’Kuar deck too. Now I have to face the prospect of working hard to succeed with a second general and having my work copied by someone else. I don’t know if anyone in the playgroup would do that, but they could, if I didn’t reserve Sek’Kuar. Whether or not it would be good manners to copy another player’s deck is irrelevant. That is what will have to end up happening if we want to play in the same color combinations with the same general, or we could have stuck to the old rules anyway. Maybe I’m being sensitive, but I just like the idea of knowing that the time I took to build a deck is going to pay off for me. I mean, what other format could a guy expect to NOT be copied for having a great build? It’s one more reason why EDH is so awesome; your deck really is YOURS, at least within the confines of your playgroup.
I know what Fugie is trying to do with this new proposed agreement, and I am not saying that I even disagree, at least not wholeheartedly, but I do think that there is a downside to limiting the “reserved” list to one general a person. Is that downside worth opening up color combinations to other people? Tell me what you think. I think it deserves discussion.

Ready for a change.

Fugie has gotten us some Lorwyn boxes for rock-bottom prices, and I couldn't be happier. The same skill testing that caused some other bloggers unmitigated success with Xth draft pretty much relegated my performance to mediocrity. I don't know why. I had drafted Xth about 10 times when Quentin Martin finally ran his Xth walk-through draft, and I still had no idea why he thought any of the cards he picked were any good. Card evaluation with expert level sets is somehow different; everybody starts on the same naive ground and works their way forward. With base sets I get all fouled up by having played with the cards (in different environs) since 95. Last weekend I went to a final Xth edition sealed event and went an awful 1-2-1. I'm just finished. I used up all my Xth packs drafting and I won't draft it no more. I have not been very excited by Lorwyn thus far, but have not actually played with any of the cards yet. I imagine having a couple boxes of product tomorrow night will help me get into the mood.
T
In a totally unrelated aside, those for a taste of double geekitude in other environs might want to track down Jacob London's track "Interest Rates Just Fell Again (the Sound Republic Lost In Translation Mix)." I just got done watching Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars again and I swear somewhere on Tatooine there are two beat-up service droids that make this abrasive, techy funk music while their master sleeps. All the other droids are dancing...

It's the end of the world, boys.

Have you louts seen this shit? Unbelievable. The small child that everyone loves to hate, Owen Turtenwald himself, has written a review of Lorwyn's red cards on the somewhat respectable Brainburst.com . The boy is like what, 15? He's on his way to one measly Pro Tour and now he's getting writing gigs. Here's the thing; he's not really half bad. Now before you shout me down, let me explain. No, his article is not Flores-esque beauty. It ain't even Peter Jahn-esque solid writing (man is from the WI. Gots to give him a little credit). But picture in your head the smelly, profane, and cocky sumbitch who we all know as Owen and you see that this kid is a fucking Voltaire given where he had to start. I don't know about you guys, but I'm willing to read him. Some of his metaphors are strained, and he seems to be obsessed with some marginal combo, but I listened to Owen when he talked about strategy in person, even though he was arrogant and a dick. The kid usually saw interactions that I had missed, and was thinking about two levels above me strategy-wise. The fact that his article is almost unreadably long is a function not of his writing style but of the assignment given him (or did he have to beg for it? We don't know). Besides, you can't blame a guy for writing incredibly long, boring magic treatises. Really, his article (which admittedly has had the advantage of being professionally edited) is on par with the best of what being written over here and ya'll know it. I haven't played with the new set and so have no place criticizing his analysis, but I saw little that raised my eyebrows; most of it seemed spot-on. But hey, I want to know what you guys think. Does he suck? Should he never write again? Does this make him somewhat redeemable? Is it possible our little asshole is... maturing? Wait, check out the last little throwaway paragraph at the end of the article. Owen seems compelled to remind us all that he went 7-1 at the prerelease- and won two boxes of Lorwyn as a result. Totally gratuitous bragging. Well, maybe things don't change.
T

My Last Draft as a Free Man

The title isn't technically true, as I haven't been "free" for four years, but hey, there's some sort of marriage next weekend and I'm told I will be there in a tux waiting for some chick to walk down the aisle. So I am supposed to be shopping for wedding supplies (just like I'm supposed to be cleaning my old apartment right now) but instead I play Magic. XXXth draft, to be exact. We have six people, so no sanctioning, and cheap packs. Tony McRome wants to team draft, so we randomize and sit down. First pick is a Civic Wayfinder over Sift and Midnight Ritual. I feel like forcing blue and end up passing some quality red (Shock) and green (Craw Wurm) to do so. I get a Cloud Elemental, Dehydration, and a Counsel of Soratami for my troubles. I see no black removal. My last four picks are middling red cards. Pack two I have a tough call between Sift and Mogg Fanatic. I pass the Sift reluctantly, knowing that it's the worse card. Six picks later the Sift comes around and I'm fine with taking it on the lap. I also pick up some decent green including Spined Wurm, Rampant Growth and Enormous Baloth. Looks like Civic Wayfinder might be getting to the deck after all. Third pack opens with a foil Reya Dawnbringer. I take the Guerrilla Tactics and ship her. Then I pass a Lord of the Pit. Geez, guys, can you not draft the good cards in my colors? I am finally rewarded for cutting blue up front with a third pick Air Elemental. Hot. Then I am forced to hate a foily Lord of the Pit. He eats your opponent's whole team, but he also 7/7 flying and trample. I would hate to kill one of them and then have the dude lay down another. As it turns out, the first Lord of the Pit tables. In the end I draft a Green/Blue deck with a heavy splash for Shock, Guerrilla Tactics and Lavaborn Muse. I had double Rampant Growth and the Civic Wayfinder for fixing. Turns out my whole team drafts base blue. Good job guys! We know what the best color in Xth is. Collin (skinny kid with cool glasses) drafts Doubling Cube. With double Looming Shade. And Consume Spirit. This is not actually terrible. It's pretty damn cool. Tony McRome does okay; the usual, double Merfolk Looter, Platinum Angel, and Whispersilk Cloak to make her stylish. Seems okay.

I play Kelvin round one, who wins the first game with one card in his library. Then my deck comes to play the next two games and flyers get in there. 1-0.

The next match is against the guy with 15 removal cards and 8 creatures. Seriously, the dude has dubs Terror, Essence Drain and is still splashing white for Pacifism. His two Gravediggers cycled around while he searched for his two Ghost Wardens to make them 4/4. Awful. No, actually what's really awful is when I swing with my Civic Wayfinder into his Severed Legion. The man has an active Ghost Warden, but it's cool, I have the Guerrilla Tactics in hand, and frankly I need to kill the Legion before it starts swinging away. He blocks my Wayfinder with the Legion, pumps with the Warden, and I respond with the activated ability on the stack, hitting the Legion with the Tactics. He bins the Legion, then tells me to bin the Wayfinder. I then realize that I have not specified where in the combat phase we were when this whole routine unfolded. I argue that we had not yet stacked damage, since neither of us said anything to that effect and if I were pumping a guy I'd do it prior to damage. He calmly replies, "Yeah, well actually I always pump after damage in situations like that." Whatever, I am mad at myself for obviously not specifying where we were at (since then we both would have seen if he really would have waited until damage was stacked or if he would have walked into the 1 for 1 trade). I let it go mostly because I feel like it was shoddy play on my part (I really think most guys would take a prompt like "it's declare blockers and I'm ready to move to damage" and throw the +1/+1 on there right away) but I also feel like the dude was slimy for weaseling it into his favor. Am I out of line here? At any rate, the fact that I can't either a) trade with the Warden the next turn or b) get an extra two damage in that next turn becomes very relevant when I have him at one life and can't quite off him before his Grave Pact with recycled Gravediggers overwhelms my team. So now I have to win the next two games. I mull the six and keep a four-lander with a Rampant Growth for the double blue on the Air Elemental also in my hand. Turn four, right on schedule, down the Air Elemental comes. I'm really pinning a lot on this fatty but it seemed like a better play than mulling to five. Yeah, he has the Terror. Yeah, that's pretty much game.

Next match. This gentleman is playing lots of weenies, which my big guys outclass. He's running light on creatures but has just enough to hold my land borne monsters back. Eh, I could start making some big swings, but I have Mr. Cloud Elemental doing okay for me. I get him down to 8 and then he plays Reviving Dose to go back up to 11. (Who plays Reviving Dose? Honestly, a few of his creatures seem pretty sub par, so I think it's an easy win and see if he can actually find an answer to my flyer instead pressuring him. He's at 5 now (still Cloud Elemental all the way) and then he plays Natural Spring going to 13! I actually say to him, "Don't you know that life gain is bad?" and continue my air assault. Then he plays Wrath of God and drops four weenies, the first of which happens to be Soul Warden. I have been sandbagging guys so it's not a blowout, but all that life gain turns out to be good for him. He swings all out and I elect to go to four, then he Lava Axes me. Ouch. Game Two I mull again to six. I drop a Spined Wurm and Cloud Elemental early, but he just Wraths them away. I proceed to draw one more creature the whole game. But I'll tell what I did draw, land. Fourteen of them, to be exact. Now, this is not a bad beats story. This is a "see how making stupid mistakes in the first game of your last two matches have caused you to get screwed by bad luck later" story. If I win the games I should have, I go to game three and we see if the deck can get there or not. But instead, it's my first 1-2 draft in a month. All my fault.

This story does have a happy ending. My team pulls it out (Collin goes 3-0 with Doubling Cube.dec, and Tony 2-1, winning more than one game with no cards left in his library and/or at negative life. Platinum Angel with Whispersilk Cloak gets things done)! Collin takes the Wrath, Tony, the Plats, and I get... a Battlefield Forge. Could be worse. Thank you team drafts. Hey, if you have to go 1-2, at least do it a team draft. You've got a shot at a decent pick that way.