I am trying to make this post consist of more than an apology for lack of content. In a past post I might have mentioned that house hunting is like a part time job. If that is true then buying a house is a full time job. I know it will be done with soon (assuming nothing "interesting" pops up during the home inspection or the bank appraisal) but man, there's like ten or twelve things that need to be done- NOW. Putting an offer in prior to a three day weekend was probably not the wisest of decisions, either.
The bottom line, if you haven't spotted it yet, is that I have been Magic free this weekend (although Harley Fest was worth skipping a draft for). Also, Fugie scooped up the topic of the new Banned and Restricted lists, (also I would have been talking out my ass about them anyway) so no joy there. We will try to strike pay dirt elsewhere.
Fugie also mentioned a regional banned list for EDH, citing Time Stretch winning games, often unfairly. I can't argue that. But hasn't the problem with those turn-taking combo decks always been the consistency? I mean there's a reason that Fugie was excited about getting his Capture of Jingzhou; it's an extra Time Walk in a singleton format. Obviously recursion pieces can also be duplicated as well. I guess my question isn't whether Time Stretch should be banned, but how much of a difference banning that one card would make. Just asking.
I am also very excited that we will be returning to the traditional block formula of one large set and two small sets. This is mostly because I have some unrealistic vision of drafting with packs from three different sets as more "pure" than having to draft with two packs from a large set. Also, there was a beauty to the fact that when you really wanted cards from the large set, you got three packs worth. Then, later, you only get two, so you could finish off your collection that was still missing while adding the second set's booster. By the time the third set rolled around and I'm sick of the large set, I only have to look at a single pack worth. Another positive of the three set block is that the draft format is shaken up two times in the block, not just once, like when Morningtide and Eventide were added. It makes the draft experience new again without necessitating an entirely new card pool. The only downside to the traditional block structure is that us drafters often collect less of the third set. I usually spend more money buying boosters of the third set (in a non-draft setting) than the others for this reason.
Finally, if there are any Magic players who are interested in house music I am probably going to be heading out on Friday night to catch a show at Three, a MKE night club. Some good DJs will be spinning there (John, from the Sound Republic, Chris Grant, and my neighbor from down the street Mr. Timms). It might be fun (read: amusing) to watch ol' TooSarcastic jumping up and down and shaking it on the dance floor. I was at Three last night with the Old Lady and we got two for one Absolut drinks- and it was after midnight. I don't know if the drinks are as economical on Fridays, but we were good and liquored up for cheap.
T
Showing posts with label casual EDH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label casual EDH. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
EDH Holiday
Only have a few minutes for a short post.
This week's been especially bad. I didn't manage to make it down for Old Farte like I had wanted to but won't be able to go next week either (my grandmother passed away yesterday, so I'll be up in the Twin Cities for the funeral on Monday). The rest of my plans for this weekend kind of got kebashed as well. My folks had planned on coming up this weekend, but now I'll be heading up their way instead.
Well enough about me. I do agree that our group has gotten away from our roots in casual limited play and moved whole heartedly into EDH or bust. I admit that I am just as guilty of favoring EDH over draft. I also am more excited to see us moving back to more limited play. With that said, I am proposing that we go on an EDH holiday for the month of August. Please discuss this further @ CBGs on Sunday or in the comments, but I think that we need to take a break and give up the format for the month of August.
Until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.
This week's been especially bad. I didn't manage to make it down for Old Farte like I had wanted to but won't be able to go next week either (my grandmother passed away yesterday, so I'll be up in the Twin Cities for the funeral on Monday). The rest of my plans for this weekend kind of got kebashed as well. My folks had planned on coming up this weekend, but now I'll be heading up their way instead.
Well enough about me. I do agree that our group has gotten away from our roots in casual limited play and moved whole heartedly into EDH or bust. I admit that I am just as guilty of favoring EDH over draft. I also am more excited to see us moving back to more limited play. With that said, I am proposing that we go on an EDH holiday for the month of August. Please discuss this further @ CBGs on Sunday or in the comments, but I think that we need to take a break and give up the format for the month of August.
Until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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
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
"The people for whom the term cultural relativism was invented have rejected it." - Claude Lévi-Strauss
* * * * *
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
Thursday, June 19, 2008
"Kill the guy with Islands"
I have to say that I agree with coyote about blue not being over powered (pause for shock & awe). It is definitely all about how we build our decks. Since our group started playing EDH earlier this year, I've been playing the same general the entire time (Dromar, the Banisher). My choice to play blue was not about abusing blue, but being able to play with Invasion dragons again (for those that don't know, I started playing around the time that Invasion came out and the set holds a special place in my heart).
As my deck has progressed, I have been the target of more hate for blue because I am playing islands. From the very beginning, I have been a target because I played with mostly basic lands, due to a lack of non-basics that make blue, black, or white in my collection (most notably I remember in four of the first five games that I played I lost no fewer than 6 or 7 lands to Sundering Titan). None the lest I pressed on.
Not long after that land destruction fell out of popularity, send in the take a million turns decks. Then it was, hey he's playing blue so he must be able to take a million turns and kill us all at his leggier. Get him (thanks Fugie). Again I persevere.
Send in the combo decks. Here comes Fugie's illustrious Red-white-green Sneak Attack, Sylvan Library, Abundance generate ridiculous card advantage I'm not the threat, go after the guy playing islands. Again I continue to take a beatings with my non-combo, can't take a million turns, can't generate huge card advantage deck, that is playing blue because my general happens to be white, blue, & black. I continue to persevere.
Now the most recent iteration is back to blue decks with combos that can kill everyone on the same turn. Now I continue to get beat on for playing blue. There seems to be no reason to continue to play a generalist deck that happens to include blue. It seems that I am left with with two choices.
1. Continue to play blue and be perceived as the threat. I am not really thrilled to continue to get my head kicked in with my current build. So, I would need to make some rather significant changes to make my deck into the threat that everyone seems to think it is or at least more resilient to unmitigated onslaught I will continue to see.
2. Abandon blue entirely. In order to due this I would likely end up building a deck that is unfun for everyone to play with. More than likely something that punishes everyone for sitting down at the table an makes me the target. Not for being the threat (i.e. the one who will likely win), but for being the obstacle to anyone winning. Not a very attractive option either.
I honestly don't know which road I will go down.
As my deck has progressed, I have been the target of more hate for blue because I am playing islands. From the very beginning, I have been a target because I played with mostly basic lands, due to a lack of non-basics that make blue, black, or white in my collection (most notably I remember in four of the first five games that I played I lost no fewer than 6 or 7 lands to Sundering Titan). None the lest I pressed on.
Not long after that land destruction fell out of popularity, send in the take a million turns decks. Then it was, hey he's playing blue so he must be able to take a million turns and kill us all at his leggier. Get him (thanks Fugie). Again I persevere.
Send in the combo decks. Here comes Fugie's illustrious Red-white-green Sneak Attack, Sylvan Library, Abundance generate ridiculous card advantage I'm not the threat, go after the guy playing islands. Again I continue to take a beatings with my non-combo, can't take a million turns, can't generate huge card advantage deck, that is playing blue because my general happens to be white, blue, & black. I continue to persevere.
Now the most recent iteration is back to blue decks with combos that can kill everyone on the same turn. Now I continue to get beat on for playing blue. There seems to be no reason to continue to play a generalist deck that happens to include blue. It seems that I am left with with two choices.
1. Continue to play blue and be perceived as the threat. I am not really thrilled to continue to get my head kicked in with my current build. So, I would need to make some rather significant changes to make my deck into the threat that everyone seems to think it is or at least more resilient to unmitigated onslaught I will continue to see.
2. Abandon blue entirely. In order to due this I would likely end up building a deck that is unfun for everyone to play with. More than likely something that punishes everyone for sitting down at the table an makes me the target. Not for being the threat (i.e. the one who will likely win), but for being the obstacle to anyone winning. Not a very attractive option either.
I honestly don't know which road I will go down.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Quick Draftstravaganza Recap
I am currently laid low with a virus of some sort, so I will be making this post a short one. It doesn't seem fair to leave the Draftravaganza un-commented, so I will do some quick recapping from my perspective. First off, thanks to CBG for hosting. It was awesome. Second, boo to Wizards for fucking up our Rotisserie draft. Who would have thought the company that makes the cards can't send out an accurate full set to someone who has redeemed it on MODO? And it wasn't just one or two cards off, this sucker had a duplicate common run and no uncommons, to say nothing of the missing rares. I know lots of us were really looking forward to this, and it sucks that Wizards is directly responsible for screwing us out of the opportunity to use the product they sell in the way we had planned. Great marketing, WOTC.
First up was Carroll draft, Which I really do enjoy as a format. Can you imagine a draft where players open packs 360 unique cards? It is still possible to get doubles of a spell, but even that is a rarity in Carroll draft. It totally gets you back to the basics of drafting. It didn't go as I had hoped. I ended up taking B/W weenies, which did not seem like a great strategy. At least I managed to pick a color with some removal. During one early pick from the Guildpact pack I had to choose between a Douse in Gloom and Pillory of the Sleepless. I tried to wheel the Pillory, which was a little too greedy. It would have been great because I was lacking unconditional removal, and I had to be the only one in B/W. I did end up picking up several other "pacificism" effect, the strongest of which turned out to be Cowed by Wisdom. It really forced my opponents into some bad choices. I was surprised. What ended up saving my ass from a 1-2 or 0-3 record was the combat tricks. Guided Strike was cantrip removal all morning, and Douse in Gloom turned out to be pretty good at instant speed as well. Since I had almost no fatties, keeping my little guys swinging was the only way for me to have a shot at winning. Masked Gorgon was the only big guy I had, and he was obviously swingy (but turned out to be good). I did lose to Swizz, as is recapped here. I was happy with 2-1 because I did not expect to do that well with the deck.
Second format was 2HG Rav-Gpt-Dis draft. It was super fun remembering how the pick orders changed based on playing two opponents. Major Luck and I did pretty well in 2HG with this format, I was looking forward to it again. But my partner this time around was CBG. We argued a lot, took too many bouncelands (hard to play six in a single deck...) and generally figured we'd lose. We did have Sunforger and Lightning Helix (in my W/U/R deck- I guess I heart Numot even in different formats!) and double Mortipede (in CBG B/G/W/R? deck, I don't remember which color he didn't play). Those Mortipedes kicked ass all day for us. Not only did they usually give us a two for one trade, they also let the rest of our team get in there. We lost our first match, but the joys of round robin play dictated that if we beat our final round opponents we still take first. Sunforger on a Mourning Thrull is all business, let me tell you. We got there and with a 2-1 record took first. Too bad there was only one dual land in the pool.
We ended by with EDH 2HG. I was really tired by this time but luckily partner Swizz did not need very much help after powering out Niv-Mizzet on turn 2. His deck is sick. After we won one game it was Swizz's turned to be distracted- by the thought of leaving soon to party with a lady. He decided to jet, and surprisingly, none of our opponents seemed to mind that the team with the turn-2 Legendary Dragon was disbanding. I was ready for bed, and packed it in as well.
I would love to hear other people's experience of the night. I would also heartily recommend Carroll draft and limited 2HG to anyone looking for a different way to spend their draft night. I wish I could recommend Rotisserie because it sounds like it would be awesome, but... you know.
T
First up was Carroll draft, Which I really do enjoy as a format. Can you imagine a draft where players open packs 360 unique cards? It is still possible to get doubles of a spell, but even that is a rarity in Carroll draft. It totally gets you back to the basics of drafting. It didn't go as I had hoped. I ended up taking B/W weenies, which did not seem like a great strategy. At least I managed to pick a color with some removal. During one early pick from the Guildpact pack I had to choose between a Douse in Gloom and Pillory of the Sleepless. I tried to wheel the Pillory, which was a little too greedy. It would have been great because I was lacking unconditional removal, and I had to be the only one in B/W. I did end up picking up several other "pacificism" effect, the strongest of which turned out to be Cowed by Wisdom. It really forced my opponents into some bad choices. I was surprised. What ended up saving my ass from a 1-2 or 0-3 record was the combat tricks. Guided Strike was cantrip removal all morning, and Douse in Gloom turned out to be pretty good at instant speed as well. Since I had almost no fatties, keeping my little guys swinging was the only way for me to have a shot at winning. Masked Gorgon was the only big guy I had, and he was obviously swingy (but turned out to be good). I did lose to Swizz, as is recapped here. I was happy with 2-1 because I did not expect to do that well with the deck.
Second format was 2HG Rav-Gpt-Dis draft. It was super fun remembering how the pick orders changed based on playing two opponents. Major Luck and I did pretty well in 2HG with this format, I was looking forward to it again. But my partner this time around was CBG. We argued a lot, took too many bouncelands (hard to play six in a single deck...) and generally figured we'd lose. We did have Sunforger and Lightning Helix (in my W/U/R deck- I guess I heart Numot even in different formats!) and double Mortipede (in CBG B/G/W/R? deck, I don't remember which color he didn't play). Those Mortipedes kicked ass all day for us. Not only did they usually give us a two for one trade, they also let the rest of our team get in there. We lost our first match, but the joys of round robin play dictated that if we beat our final round opponents we still take first. Sunforger on a Mourning Thrull is all business, let me tell you. We got there and with a 2-1 record took first. Too bad there was only one dual land in the pool.
We ended by with EDH 2HG. I was really tired by this time but luckily partner Swizz did not need very much help after powering out Niv-Mizzet on turn 2. His deck is sick. After we won one game it was Swizz's turned to be distracted- by the thought of leaving soon to party with a lady. He decided to jet, and surprisingly, none of our opponents seemed to mind that the team with the turn-2 Legendary Dragon was disbanding. I was ready for bed, and packed it in as well.
I would love to hear other people's experience of the night. I would also heartily recommend Carroll draft and limited 2HG to anyone looking for a different way to spend their draft night. I wish I could recommend Rotisserie because it sounds like it would be awesome, but... you know.
T
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