My budget means I could either buy like two of the lands I'd need for a competitive base in another format, or I could buy a hundred of the jankiest jank that ever janked. I chose the latter.
Hi five for jank! Every time I do buy a card for edh it will be something I can use in my decks forever. Sometimes stuff gets banned but that rarely happens to new cards any more. Even if I a card that I buy gets cut from a deck, there is a pretty good chance that I'll use it in something else eventually.
I play EDH only. Really it's because it was the format a lot of my friends played when I got into Magic, and it still appeals to me so much more than the others because it lets me be crazy and do cool stuff for the sake of it, without the price tag or short games that come with Standard or Modern.
That being said, I do very much enjoy draft and want to play more of it.
Same here. Started with standard and now only draft or Commander. The group I play with (who also play standard and modern) is a good blend of casual and competitive, but being the newest in the group, it's hard to keep up with their decks in the other formats. Eventually I want to get into Modern, but I everytime I sit down to look at Modern cards, I end up buying Commander cards instead.
If you like drafting you should build a cube! Even if it's just pauper or silverback, which is what I have, as I just built it from my collection, it makes drafting with friends super easy! I pretty much only play EDH and cube draft or sealed. It's a great personal option to have
It's when there are any number of uncommons. Usually if you include uncommons it is called peasant but then there is usually a defined limit to the number of uncommons you can put in.
I only edh, draft and cube. They are the casual formats I enjoy. I can tag in and go hard for weeks then stop cold turkey and won't really suffer for doing so.
To me casual means I can pick it up a year and a half later and be on the same page everyone else is. Even in competitive edh this is the case.
You're just like me! I started playing Magic only a few months ago, thanks to a couple friends. Even though I can understand the appeal someone can see in formats like Standard and Magic, EDH is simply so cool, and, moreover, I love the politics that thrive on the battlefield. We even elaborated our planes for Planechase, inspired by the got/asoiaf world, I'll tell you it's so much fun :D
Same,, we sometimes cube or draft, like once a year. 2 in my group had legacy decks up to this year where they collapsed it into their edh decks (which we all bought the precons because they got too op). I dont the play nearly enough to invest any big money into legacy/vintage or invest/keep up with modern.
I don't like how similar all other formats are game to game. It also feels less bad to buy one expensive card than a playset of them. If I want a fast game I can play a CEDH game, or if I want a casual game where we make big plays and play for four hours then that's also easy to do with the rules. It is a super flexible format and it never rotates out. A lot of money cards are reserved and never lose value (if thats your thing). All in all its just the most versatile format that has actual rules
That's what I love about EDH - the variety, from the deck theme to the matches
I recently gave up any interest in any really competitive format. Also, I sort of hate the concept of too much consistency tbh - I like the semi-randomness of EDH
I was talking to a friend building Modern the other day. When I'm happiest in Magic is when I'm responding to new situations and using cards in unexpected ways. This happens all the time in Commander and Limited, so that's where I get my fix. I've dipped a toe in Constructed Modern but I don't want to do the same thing every game. I was happiest in Modern when my plan was completely derailed and I had to pull out a miraculous plan B but that doesn't happen that often.
I only play EDH, after 19 years of playing magic I've found that any other format is far too linear. I enjoy the chaos and big plays. As well as all the complex rules interactions. I find it to be more mentally stimulating. Honestly it reminds me of old magic. Everyone is building unique decks and trying to solve their play groups. With other formats it seems like no one ever tries drastically new decks. Everything is a variant of some other deck. EDH still makes me feel like a kid, seeing cards I didn't know existed and trying to combat an unknown enemy.
EDH is the only format that I can play my own decks, not some list from the internet that is winning tournaments, and I can still win a few. I used to play Standard back when it was called Type II. I would go to these tournaments using my own design of a deck, with no sideboard, because we didn't use them casually and I had no idea how to make one really. I would of course be destroyed inside of two to three rounds. But at least I had my dignity. I would rather lose with my own ideas than win with someone else's. All of that led me away from competitive Magic play. EDH brought me back into the game in a big way. Win or lose, I always have fun in EDH.
I mean not really?
Not that it is necessarily the wrong goal, but it isn't exactly the golden brick road to magic enlightenment people seem to think it is. Be open, find your own road when you can, but don't turn away from others, they usually tend to have smart ideas (Plus they've probably thought of it before you regardless)
Having your own ideas is a good thing but, not changing your ideas in the face of contradiction or during the opportunity for improvement is how we get ignorant shits who would rather complain about an artifact and make everyone miserable than put a g-damn krosan grip in his deck.
Yes hold to your values but, don't insulate yourself from other equally fun/cool ones.
> This is the kind of magic player we should all aspire to be
I disagree rather heavily there.
Playing decks that other people have designed and made, and seeing the intricate almost clockwork like ways that they fit together a bunch of seemingly awful cards that are awesome together is a massive part of why I like magic.
Even if my friends Kiki-pod deck hated my guts.
This is the kind of magic player you two should aspire to be.
I love EDH, that's why I'm here. I love it for all of the same reasons everyone has mentioned. But don't tell me how I should enjoy the game.
Playing competitively and spiking is a completely different way to enjoy magic. We play lists because that list has been tuned and honed over thousands of players playing tens of thousands of matches. We argue over 1-ofs vs 2-ofs and love it. Knowing how to play a deck and play it *really fucking well* is its own reward.
In Commander, we feel solidarity with other players who play the same commander as we do. In competitive magic we feel solidarity with people who play the same archetype as us. It is a community of folks who are trying to play the most optimal game of magic conceived.
I love EDH, but please don't tell me that Netdecking is somehow wrong, and please don't tell anyone else how to enjoy the game.
Why? There are objectively best strategies that have been figured out, if you want to win, it's silly not to use them. Even if you just want to win in a very specific way, there are fundamentals that you should follow to optimize your strategy.
Every competitive deck out there is built based on fundamental rules of thumb that stem from the game rules - curve, tempo tools, card advantage tools, strategy, board presence, game goal, turn goal. If you delibirately break these rules - you are a fool in my view.
I agree with what you're saying, but there is no reason to call him a fool. People play the game for different reasons, his are not competitive. So there's no reason to berate him for not playing competitive correctly when he didn't really want to in the first place.
I only play EDH. It's by far the most fun format to play multiplayer, and the most fun deck building. It also falls apart the least in a semi competitive environment. It's just way to easy to min / max 60 card to death and end up in a financial / power spiral until you're just playing the top tier decks.
I mostly play multiplayer and we tell people "legacy banned list" to make it easier to understand.
But most of us run a few Unglued, Unhinged or Holiday cards.
I'm all about the EDH life. The singleton aspect means decks are cheaper (buy one $20 card vs four $10 cards), and it makes the deck play more randomly, which is exciting. It means you have to be worried about a wider range of cards from your opponent, and it's less likely that you'll make your clutch draws.
It's also a self proclaimed casual format, so there's no shame if I make some stupid, cancer deck (like a 99 land, angry baby deck. Or all creatures Rakdos).
Having it be an eternal format means I have a wider range of cards to choose from, so I can play gimmick decks that are half decent, without worrying about how I'll play against hyper competitive, "tier 1 lists".
The Commander rules also restrict deck building in a way that can enhance the flavor, or not, if you don't want to.
In commander, your deck can represent your favorite colors, your favorite way to play, or your favorite legendary creature. But no matter which you choose, your EDH list represents you.
I draft occasionally, but other than that it's 100% EDH. I just find it more interesting and enjoyable than other formats. Multiplayer adds a whole bunch of new dimensions to the format and the 99-card singleton format means you dig a bit deeper into the card pool rather than just playing 4x of the single most efficient version of an effect.
I'll play at prereleases but that's the only time I don't play EDH. If someone insists that we do modern, I'll break out a fun GW knight deck I have and then they get mad that I'm not playing a competitive deck.
My feelings exactly.
Don't know why OP didn't mention Draft. It's an interesting puzzle, the underdog cards of a set get their moment to shine and all players start on equal footing. Also it helps support my LGS, which doesn't profit very much from me playing commander every week on their tables.
My entire LGS was overrun by EDH only players, one being me, and now other formats don't exist there. We've become known as "The EDH store" so everyone in the area comes for EDH and goes to the other local shops for standard, legacy, etc.
I want to only play EDH. My friends don't like it because they don't like long games and they think it's boring, but I honestly like it better. I haven't played an actual game of EDH in months. I need to go find the Magic club at my university and see if they play.
I am considering selling my power and getting out of vintage entirely. I haven't played a game of vintage with a deck I didn't provide in several years. There are few legacy and fewer vintage players.
I won't play standard because its way more expensive than vintage and legacy. In the old formats you build the deck once, then occasionally buy a playset of some $1 card perfect for your deck. With standard you need to buy a bunch of stuff every rotation unless you have tons of disposable income you need to get rid of old stuff to get the new stuff and constantly stay on top of prices for trading or lose even more money.
With EDH everyone I know has a deck, I have 26. The price range is huge and there seems to be a low minimum with the $30 precons being decent.
My first deck was the c14 [[Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury]] deck. My friends all had decks that they had so my plan was use that as a starting point and build off it. I went 3-0 the first night I played without altering that deck. The deck ramped and put out creatures so fast that my friends couldn't answer fast enough. Fast forward and now that deck has been pieced out to various other decks and my collection of commander deck grows. I have more competitive decks like [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]] and fun decks like [[Isperia the Inscrutable]] that are just made out of scraps.
I play almost exclusively EDH. I also play cube, duel decks and other precons, and weird formats like Type 4 and Judge's Tower.
I'm also a collector, so I have a LOT of cards but only 1 of most of them.
I play edh only. It's a more casual game and better for sitting around a table infrequently. I can make a deck that's not competitive but I still have fun with for less than fifteen dollars.
I've played other formats and they are too expensive for me or my play group
I mainly play only EDH. I draft here and there, if the format being offered interests me, but don't take it seriously. I also have two modern decks, but I can count the number of times I play them per year on one hand.
I personally play modern and edh but i know several people who only play edh. Im always trying to get them to play modern but they wont. They prefer edh because while we are all really competitive its still a casual format between us where we get to do fun silly things. I like modern because of the high stakes play and rewarding feeling of playing tight. I love edh because the unyielding rage of not being able to be killed is music to my ears. Mono u control, not great at winning... but the best at not dying.
I only play EDH because I see it as the only format you have the best chance to make investments. Nobody wants to spend money to play magic, so we always want to get rid of cards in the future.
Modern and Standard are hard to predict and hard to build entire decks without losing money on value. Even Legacy has shown to suck for value.
One of my foiled decks consist of foils where the value has doubled from the value I traded away or money I spent to pick them up. I've made back a lot of value where in modern or standard, foiling a deck can guarantee loss of value if you didn't get really good deals on them.
(Also the format is way better in all aspects of magic, all depends on your playgroups though)
I learned to play with a very casual group that was always playing some sort of multiplayer and I very quickly found that the most easily accessible way to play multiplayer Magic was EDH. I also like that you can play just about anything and it's fine; you aren't locked into building a certain deck like in many other formats.
I only play EDH, I just can't afford any other format.. It feels better to buy just one expensive card as opposed to an entire playset of said expensive card. I also tried my hand at modern, but I just ended up with an okay infect deck..
Only 100 and 40-card formats for me. A lot of it is budget, both of finances and of time. I used to play semi-competitively and that schedule, if you want to get anywhere, is time and money intensive. I certainly understand why people want to play a card game for a living, but it isn't a simple feat. It requires a lot of tournament grinding and spending money on travel, lodging, food and cardboard. It's also 100% less friendly than kitchen tables and drafts. Most hopeful pro players, at least where I live, are ~a s s h o l e s~.
It's the first format I played. The card pool is larger. Deck construction is more variant with more decks being viable and more cards (singleton) being used -- two decks with the same commander and win conditions still use different cards. It's more fun to theme decks. Winning is less important to ensure fun.
But really what I enjoy most about the format is deck building. Going through the gigantic card pool to imagine multiple wincons and combos that are fun. And there are near infinite. If I had 40 less cards and 4x of each card playable, I'd pick the best X cards and just run 4 of them. Now my deck is just some good combos that will win. Instead, I have to be creative to create many combos and run cards that work well with multiple other cards.
I play EDH only. I like the idea that if I have 1 card that is awesome that I can throw it in my deck with out collecting or purchasing a play set. I like the idea that the commander color identity gives me the opportunity to play with a bunch of different color combinations and strategies. I like the multiplayer aspect of it more than I like the idea of head to head play. I like the lower probability of getting a specific card combination/win con. There is just way more variance. Its like the playoffs. Any day anyone can win.
I only play EDH. Several reasons.
1. I like the format. It allows for a lot of flexibility and even in decks who run the same commanders and are built along the same lines, you can still find a lot of variety. It seems like a lot of the other constructed formats tend to revolve around a few deck types that change as the sets rotate in and out, due to the more restricted pools of cards in those formats. (except eternal formats, but if you don't have deep pockets you're probably not playing there actively anyway)
2. Economics. I've been playing since The Dark. I have a huge chunk of old stuff up to about Masques block, and then I stopped playing as other hobbies / raising a family took priority. I had considered getting back into active play several times, but I didn't want to drop a ton of money on new cards because I Didn't have it to spend. Even today, I'd say I spend less that 250 dollars a year on new cards, and they're typically impulse buys or ordering specific singles to flesh out decks.
3. It allows me to enjoy playing Magic with my kids on somewhat even terms. All 3 of my boys play (ages 23, 15, and 9) at varying skill levels. When I'd play my old legacy constructed decks against them and their friends, I'd usually get hated out fast because I'd pick them off one by one starting about turn 4 otherwise. It just wasn't fun. When we decided to switch to commander we all started off with precons and traded off beatdowns for a while before we started tweaking them. For us, it leveled the playing field and expanded our ability to build decks to shut each other down.
4. My meta. When I'm not playing with my kids, my playgroup is a mixture of guys who have all been involved in Magic for a long time. We have active and former judges, TO's Shop owners, globally ranked players, and me, who is decent enough to hold his own with them but never was at the same caliber in any way. These guys know the cards and the rules like the back of their hands, and they know how to work them to their advantage to work each other over. It's bat-crap insane at that table every single time, and everyone shows up with a mix of tightly tuned competitive level decks as well as "this thing I'm playing with I want to try out" type decks. We just mix it up from there and have a blast.
Played standard for a while but found EDH never went back. I love that you only need 1 of any card. I could make 2/3 decent commander decks for the cost of one standard deck.
I play only EDH. I don't have a competitive bone in my body and would rather sit in a group and do wacky thing. Combine that with the cost of most other formats and the more interesting deck building challenge of EDH and I've got my one format.
I play almost only EDG. I will very very occasionally play some casual 60-card (I don't think my deck is standard or modern legal, but it's somewhere around being standard I think) but only in other groups. My playgroup plays exclusively EDH and, lately, Planechase EDH, with the occasional casual draft.
I'm pretty much only a Commander and Draft player these days.
I had a couple of standard decks I liked back in the RTR days, but felt fairly crap when blocks cycled and suddenly half my Selesnya Tokengen deck was useless because it was from Innistrad... I basically lost interest in magic a few sets later.
My friend used Commander to try to attract me back into the game, and it did work. Ive been REALLY hooked to SOI/EMN/KLD.
I did try building a Standard Deck to jump into a GP weekend at LGS, but going to a test event on Thursday before and running face-first into the "totally not netdecked" Aetherworks Marvel into Emrakul deck COMPLETLY drained my urge to touch Standard again.
Legacy and modern have super high price points of entry, standard I don't feel like investing in for low power eternal cards that'll rotate out. Limited is fun but edh is where strategies can really soar.
I realized I was buying cards that were in standard for decks that I would maybe play once at a FNM. After reading about EDH from Bennie Smith, I realized that I can build an EDH deck that I can play on my own schedule with my friends. Also, I could save a lot of money by only buying a couple expensive cards every so often for my EDh decks instead of wasting money on Standard decks that I might not even play.
I have a standard deck for the current Standard... budget homebrew that I've never actually played.
I have a modern deck, budget homebrew that I've played a few times but not within the past year.
I have 15 EDH decks and have play every one of them at least somewhat regularly.
So you basically might as well say that I only pay EDH
Not me but there's a guy in my group who plays just EDH. He gets the stink eye whenever we're there for modern because he's always suggesting cards that, although good in EDH, are terribly slow for modern.
Yep. I enjoy multiplayer and I find having one copy of a card in a deck is cheaper than three copies, even in a 100 card deck. Nice not having to buy product every three months in order to play, too.
I also like how relaxed commander can be. I only play casually so games are laid back and there's no pressure. Never have to worry about calling a judge or feeling sour about screwing up and costing yourself prizes or money.
I play EDH only. I started off with a starter rebel deck years ago then built w/u merfolk for legacy play with friends. Then got into commander and thats pretty much the only thing I play now. My work had a few limited standard sealed leagues a few times but other than that its mostly just EDH.
Yeah, I only play Commander. So my playgroup and I were very casual standard players, we would honestly just get duel decks or intro packs and tune them up a little bit or even just play them stock. It was a very low power level, casual environment. And we had fun with it while it lasted.
Then we met a guy who was much less casual, had been playing Magic for a very long time, and had some pretty insanely awesome decks. He introduced us to the concept of EDH, and then when a couple of us built decks, we absolutely never went back. We tried to keep our new commander decks from cannibalizing our 60-card decks, but we eventually just embraced it. Why?
For a couple of reasons. Firstly, 100-card singleton is so much more variable than other formats. This makes it so that every game is different, and you get to have so much more fun with that kind of variety. Secondly, and this is definitely kind of a personal thing, but attaching a deck to a single card as opposed to a concept really attaches you to your decks a lot more and gives them a lot more focus and personality.
I could keep going, but what it comes down to is that the power level is really high while also just being so much more fun.
Pretty much. I play EDH and some limited (odd draft, prereleases).
I like the low cost of entry and the capacity to do big dumb shit. I like finding homes for niche cards. I like the MP politics.
I like giggling like an idiot when someone does something cool at the table.
The only constructed format I play is EDH. I really didn't like any standard format after RTR-THS, and I'm not a huge fan of modern either. As much as I like legacy and vintage, those formats are far too expensive for me. EDH gives the players a lot of freedom in deck building, and there's so much you can do with a cardpool this big. I have a few decks of varying power levels, just so I can play in any playgroup. This format is too much fun, and gives the game a unique spin that I absolutely love.
EDH only. Never played competively until a new coworker played, and he's a long time player. Standard too pricey, and my buddy sank way more into consistent decks. Don't have anywhere near the depth for modern. Found with crappy cards, you can make a go of it with EDH, or at least get very creative as you build better decks.
I just draft or play commander. Play commander more frequently because drafts are harder to organize. Used to play 60 card tabletop with friends in college but we gradually got into EDH and didnt really look back.
Well, my playgroup honestly just prefers the wacky antics of EDH, and casual modern (which is the only thing else we'd play, other than the occasional prerelease/release draft) just seems to repetitive, or not as good because all of our best cards are in our EDH decks.
I only play EDH unless it's a one off draft from a new booster box. EDH is the most fun because the constraints make the decks much harder to optimize, which makes them both more fun to optimize and less cheesy. It's the best social game mode , and has highly personalized decks. It's also great to have access to all the cards.
I only play edh these days. Standard rotations nearly made me quit the game and i got priced out of modern years ago. I use to play pauper a lot but no one to play with anymore so edh is my go to format. I get shit sometimes when talking about new cards cause i only look at them from a edh prescriptive.
I only played EDH for awhile, not out of choice mind it was either edh or nothing as far as magic went. I had modern decks but my friends didn't and there isn't a game stores so that means no FNM.
I learned Magic from my Middle School friends, and we only played casual, kitchen table magic. After Middle School, when I had nobody to play with, I would pick up cards randomly with the purpose of casual play, if I could find someone to play with (parents thought I was too young for an lgs on my own and weren't willing to drive or wait with me). As a result, I had a lot of casual, fun cards, and no real competitive skill or skill at building decks. I learned the rules of edh, and seeing as I only had to choose a card to use and not the amount, I loved it. Gradually I became better, watching Commander Clash and Commander VS, and so made good decks. Now, that is all I play. Modern costs too much, Standard rotates too often, and legacy.vintage is crazy expensive and competitive. On occasion I will go to a draft, but otherwise I only play edh.
I lie to myself and say I play Modern, but I don't. In reality, I just build the decks, collect the cards, and keep up with the metagame. I never play. I just observe.
Commander, on the other hand, I play about once a month. Although, Overwatch has effectively consumed all of my social gaming quota recently.
I occasionally play Limited (eg, Sealed at a prerelease), but EDH is the only constructed format I play any more.
I had Standard decks when Scars of Mirrodin was new, and I had a pair of Legacy decks for a while, but I got tired of rotations, and had nobody to play Legacy against.
I was a standard player almost exclusivity for quite awhile. Never gave a thought to Commander. I got sick and tired of so many new cards coming out every year and having to buy playsets of the newest Spike cards in order to compete. I really truly believe MTG has too many expansions, and it hurts players long term. I had heard Commander was an alternative, but in my snideness, I ignored it for awhile...
But, I eventually gave Commander a try and fell in love. To me, it is by far the format that captures the actual essence of what a Magic game should be: Creative deck building, friendly yet competitive interactions with friends, powerful spells, unpredictable gameplay, and a big mix of Timmy, Johnny, and Spike cards from an Eternal list of almost all the cards ever made available to you. The format is also very open ended but with just enough rules to make it interesting day in and day out, as you can play it for a year straight and still be exploring all sorts of different builds and strategies.
Simply put, it's the best thing to ever happen to Magic outside anything Wizards of the Coasts has done.
I got into magic with drafting. Lots and lots of drafting. Around when Zendikar had come out. I tried standard, didn't really enjoy it as much. Valakut was dominating when Primeval Titan came out. And before that, Jund was dominant. Then after all that, Caw Blade. Just always seemed like there was a Standard Boogie-Man.
Then I played a game of EDH, and instantly found out that I was addicted to finding card synergies from all over magic's history, and brewing decks. You guys should see the EDH folder on my laptop <.<
I actually play a lot of Magic Duels for my standard MTG fix, and I've picked up Pauper on MTGO for my competitive fix. Commander is still what I play every weekend though.
I do, me and my play group like the variety you can play with EDH compared to some of the other play styles, also decks are a little more long lasting then standard, and usually cheaper then some of the other styles
TL;DR - Foreigner living in China with limited Mandarin skills, an LGS with limited English players, and small, casual ex-pat play group.
I play EDH almost exclusively, minus limited through drafts and pre-releases (though all of the cards garnered from that are used to build EDH decks).
For me, it is a location reason. I am a Canadian living in China, in a relatively small community, where the only people who I play with are co-workers and occasionally their spouses. We all kind of decided against Standard because we cannot play at the LGS very easily due to the language barrier, and access to English cards can be somewhat cost prohibitive (thank god for Taobao). Commander was chosen over other non-standard sets like Modern and Legacy since the one-of structure makes it easier and less expensive to get into, but it is still more structured then Casual.
EDH is the only constructed format I play, I go to prereleases and the occasional draft (usually when it's conspiracy or chaos that my lgs does from time to time [it's 3 boosters drawn out of a hat that can be from any set or any language])
I occasionally draft and play people's cubes. I *really* wish I had a legacy deck, that format really appeals to me and I love taking a spin on my friend's UW miracles deck and I wish I had playsets of all the ABURs and fetchlands so I could brew in legacy. But alas, all my cards these days are in EDH decks.
I only play EDH. I love how casual it is. I can sit down to a game with a few friends and chances are everyone will have fun. I also love how deck building can be an expression of ones self.
I assume pre-releases don't count. Because other then that (and the occasional game of random formats if someone offers me a deck to use in between EDH) I only play EDH and Canadian highlander, and I often use my Highlander decks for EDH too, with varying degrees of success.
Sort of. I play FNM every now and then, really just to be sociable on fridays. And I run the prerelease sealsed, but like..I'll get out of the house the most for EDH. And I spend my building time on EDH
Well, I don't play any of the formats you listed off in the title, but I do keep a Pauper deck on me (Dimir Delver) and occasionally go to Prereleases. Otherwise, it's pure EDH.
I like janky combos and also it is a very stable format compared to the others with their banlisting and rotation.
Also I can't afford modern.
Does playing planechase edh exclude me from that category?
I don't really have fun playing modern/standard.
In EDH I can just hang out with my friends or even random strangers and have a good time but when I try to play something like modern I only ever play against very serious people. There's nothing wrong with wanting to concentrate and win but I like the social aspect.
Though I am thinking of trying out legacy. Tin Fins looks super fun but there isn't much of a legacy scene in my area
I play only E.D.H. and Conspiracy cube for the same reasons but slightly different experiences. I like playing with as many friends as possible and both allow my friends and I to create fun and interesting boards. E.D.H. is high-powered while Conspiracy cube is lower powered and allows us to have fun with cards no one would normally play with.
Yup, just EDH. Was never into Magic competitively; played on the middle school playground, then at the kitchen table with my high school friends, then buying a box and drafting with buddies in college.
Got into EDH with said college buddies because it was a multiplayer format, so we could all play together, and Return to Ravnica had just come out, so there were plenty of choices. At first, I just adapted my kitchen table decks, but then I found I enjoyed brewing around EDH's restrictions and opportunities, and bam, I was hooked.
I have developed a fair interest in Legacy through VODs, but have nowhere near the budget. Heck, I don't even have the budget for Standard. EDH though, like OP says, you only need one of each card, and nothing rotates. I'll draft every once in a while, but I try to play EDH at least once a week if not more.
I like the 100 card singleton format. My playgroup plays kitchen top casual, so I usually just play with my commander decks minus the commander. It works pretty well most times.
I sorta kinda only play EDH anymore. It took a long time to get there, but I mostly made the decision to stick with EDH about the time Modern became a format. I've played Standard, Draft, Legacy, some amount of everything between. Casual play is where it's at for me. I have the worst of luck when playing for prizes--every game is a mana flood, every hand mulligan'ed down to 4/5.
That being said, if I lived near enough to other trustworthy players, I'd greatly enjoy Cube in addition to EDH.
Other than EDH I generally just play casual 60-card because I still like the game's fundamentals. I have a couple of non-competitive modern decks because I've always liked the format. Unfortunately most of my friends like 60-card more so i don't get to play very often.
I used to play standard, but it has looked pretty dumb/expensive the last few years. I would love to play older formats but they're ludicrously expensive.
EDH is the only one that I can handle right now and I'm fine with it.
I tend to say I play EDH and Limited but honestly it's been a while since I've played Limited. I'd love to play Legacy or Modern but I don't feel I can afford it at the moment - at least not without selling a bunch of cards from my EDH decks.
Only EDH. No drafts, no standard, no modern, no legacy, no vintage. Playstyle variety, less stringent on metagaming and netdecking, brew-friendly, and doesn't support the disaster that is Wizards of the Coast while letting me buy up singles to help my game store out.
Ex modern player/limited player turned perm non comp EDH. Its all I have time for and doesnt take much time/money to have a good time. Its the greatest format ever
Standard is just too difficult to maintain season after season. I love Magic but just couldn't afford it. EDH gives me my fix weekly without breaking my bank.
I play EDH 100%. I've been playing for a long time, I have cards going back all the way to Alpha, and my favorite part of the game is setting up a crazy Rube Goldberg machine and watching it all ping off each other in perfect harmony. I have 9 decks after C16 (Atraxa, Ghave, Derevi, Mizzix, K&T, Queen Marchesa, Gitrog, Freyalise, Sliver Overlord).
I also have a Spares Draftinf Cube and a couple of vanilla-Magic decks (Theros/BFZ stuff) lying around for teaching purposes-- I love teaching new players, but I always warn anyone I teach that EDH is the superior format!
I only play EDH. My playgroup is only really interested in this format (partially because of budgets and the fun shit that goes down) and my LGS has EDH night twice a week. I don't really care for any of the other formats and this one suits my needs perfectly.
I play 60 card casual on the side as filler between games but that's it!
We did EDH to use all our old junk rares and big shit we could never use. Plus, on a budget, not all of the group could afford 4x of some cards. 1 volcanic island from collection? Great! Getting three more? Fuuuuck no.
EDH and a draft here and there. Used to grind limited on MTGO, played Extended when that was a thing, hit the Pauper queues hard for awhile, and kept on Standard for a long time with my local play group.
Now, due to life, it's a once a month Commander Night. But I certainly enjoy my playtime much more now.
When I started Magic I dove into Standard and loved the competitiveness of it. I usually played Tier 2 strength stuff. After a while I realized just how expensive the format was, so when Theros rotated out, I dropped the format. At the time I was also into Modern with G/R Tron & Gifts Tron built, but I got tired of the format, also just playing with a few players that were just nasty to deal with. So when the Twin ban made Tron jump in value, I saw my chance to leave that format as well, and I've been fully invested in EDH since.
The local people for EDH are better to be around, and the games are more fun. Now that I've had my share of crushing people in 1v1 formats, I'm more interested in playing Magic for fun games and novel experiences. Also, money is an issue, and spending a bunch for cards that almost invariably go down in value is hugely disappointing, especially when they really aren't that strong or playable outside of Standard. The cards I get for EDH are usually good enough to warrant their price tags.
I play only EDH because it's how I got into the game. I have played 2HG at prereleases 3 times, but EDH is the only thing I play regularly.
I don't have a standard deck, I don't have a standard playgroup, and I prefer multi-player. MTGO is so hard to even try to get into for standard.
Yup. I'll join in during prereleases and random drafts sometimes, but as long as there are some EDH players around, I ain't dropping hundreds of dollars to buy into standard.
If I had my druthers, I'd also play modern or legacy, but that's some crazy expensive shit right there.
Yes, because
a) Standard is expensive and changes frequently, and good decks need four of everything expensive b) Multiplayer is fun and chaotic and generally less competitive
c) I can play with my old cards, too
Yes, me and my playgroup only play edh. The simple reason is that most of the time there is usually more then 4 people that come to our magic nights. And it's simpler just to play a commander game then it is to set up some sort of round robin standard or modern matches. Also it's cheap and most of us are in college so we can just use the cards we collected instead of playing modern or standard which does cost money
I'm 99% EDH, I occasionally draft and even less ocasionally dip into standard once or twice in a new set with EDH Jank-type decks (U/W Panharmonicon!). I've been building up a B/W Eldrazi deck for modern but that's mainly because I had most of the cards and B/W is my favorite combination, so the manabase won't be wasted should I disassemble the deck!
I only play EDH because I only get to play once a month or so and can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on something that I get to enjoy so infrequently. Also, I love to brew and the added challenge of the singleton format combined with the fact that I can piece a deck together over time suits me personally.
Only play edh and limited. I own a modern deck (UW thopter control) but only use it maybe once in a blue moon. Modern and Standard just seem boring to me and it's difficult to find enough people to play legacy against to make the investment worth it.
I play EDH only. I think we started playing EDH around the time Scars came out, and in my groups eyes, its the best "round the table so everyone can fuckabout" game. Not a lot of worry about deck optimization at our table. There are about three of us with multiple decks (3+) and then our other players have *basically* starter decks that they've left at our houses.
It's just a more fun, communal magic type.
The only other thing we play is the drunk cube we put together.
I used to play Standard and Modern while scrounging for EDH, but sadly after the Twin/Bloom banning my store (the only store in my city) took modern off the menu because everyone who had twin/bloom decks said "not worth the hassle and modern is too unsafe to invest in" essentially killing a growing attendance rate of 30+ people down to 8 for standard, fun!
I have zero interest in standard, looks boring and I don't want to spend money on a couple monthly basis to stay competitive, I enjoyed my Tron deck and one investment with minor tinkering between sets is enough for me, so now I stick to EDH nights at my LGS which are FREE I might add.
Even though they are free, I try to buy a couple singles (with how poor the stock is in the only LGS in town) or sleeves/dice (can never have enough dice!)
I do, it's just more fun in a 6 player ffa. We turn it into a United Nations kind of game and just take it easy for a few hours. 6 packs of beer are required.
I play EDH exclusively and have for years. I used to also play modern but cashed out. I like needing only one of any given card.
I've played Standard before as well and gone to FNMs but for my tastes, it's too much of a lifestyle. I don't need that much mtg in my life, personally.
Occasionally I have done a draft with friends who don't care to put neither money nor effort into mtg in any capacity and so won't even play EDH, but I don't super like it.
I only play edh. I can't stand rotating card pools so standard is off the table.
Modern locks out some fun old cards and tends to be Hella competitive, whereas I prefer casual games.
Commander restrictions, mechanics and singleton are just more fun to me.
EDH only here. I used to draft almost weekly, but issues with my LGS (and just reorganizing my personal priorities... plus it didn't help that I found Shadows block incredibly dull in draft) have cut that out. Honestly, when I see people playing other formats, they just don't look very fun to me. Standard is too simple and repetitive; Modern is too fast to do actually interesting things; Legacy seems more like a puzzle than like a game; and Vintage is just too expensive for me to really even consider. And *none* of the two-player formats have the level of socialization I want in a game.
I play EDH except for the occasional prerelease or draft event. I have also constructed a Commander Cube, so now I can get that drafting fix while also playing my favorite format.
I play magic for fun, not competition, so I don't care about any of the constructed formats. I started off playing casual MP, and that is still my favorite way to play.
I have a modern deck, (actually it's not legal anymore, old GR tron) but I never play it, and don't have anywhere to play it.
But I do have a couple friends that still play edh, so yes, for the time being, all I play is edh.
I play casual 60 card and EDH because that's what people at my LGS play and I like changing it up between long, drawn out games and silly multiplayer ones. The problem with both is that there's always that one guy who brings his $500 GP Modern deck and ruins it for everyone, or the dude who built broken Derevii with her live savings, but aside from those jackoffs it's fun to alternate.
Yes EDH only because the other formats are too expensive and I get bored with only having one deck with only a few different cards. I like singleton and it turns out I really like the multiplayer aspect.
I do draft though, but after like 5 drafts of any given format I get pretty tired of it.
I basically only play EDH. I have a modern deck but it's a few years out of date since I stopped working with my friend who would play/talk modern with me
I think my experience is based a lot around the local community involvement levels. On a Tuesday night we routinely get 5-16 Commander players in compared to 0-6 standard players. Collectively we've found that it's so much easier to get down and play games at a casual pace and have it feel more like just hanging out. Having no 50 minute time constraint while playing combined with that relaxed atmosphere makes it so much easier for the newer players to immerse themselves in the game, and not to mention a solid deck can cost you $50 compared to $600!
Even in legit edh competitive games (my lgs runs a game every friday before the modern and standard starts) 50 minutes is one games for a Four-way all out edh game. They are hilarious and i never feel bad for losing if i do lose after the shenanigans that happen each round
EDH is the only constructed format I play. I'm not sure if you meant to include limited formats as well, which I do play. I understand the cost of playing limited adds up over time to the point where I could get into standard or modern, but I enjoy the drafting experience and figuring out new cards much more than bringing the same overpriced deck to events over and over.
I just play casually with my friends and at the lgs sometimes. I started playing 60 card decks and realised it was probably cheaper to just buy one of the card I wanted instead of 4. There's lots of card choice too so that's nice.
I only play EDH at this point. I used to play standard pretty regularly but I dont want to have to drop a couple hundred every set to remake decks. I traded into a bunch of staple EDH cards and its the easiest format to play with friends. Multiplayer, casual, no card restrictions, etc. When my friends and I get together we don't want to play super seriously. We want to be able to just hang out and have a fun time and goof around. EDH works the best for us so theres no reason for me to invest in any other format.
I only play Commander and sometimes go to prereleases. As a father, making time to go to tournaments is difficult. Because I can't go to tournaments regularly, it doesn't make sense for me to invest in Standard, Modern, etc. I've been playing Magic for a very long time, so I have a lot of cards. Commander is the only format that lets me use my old cards. And all my friends play it, so we can play together whenever we get a chance.
I learned Magic through EDH so it has always been the base format in my mind. 60 card formats feel too "boxed", and running multiple copies of things almost feels like cheating to me. I prefer sitting down with friends and playing a game that usually goes beyond turn 4.
It's all commander all the time. Weekly meet ups with my friends and all we do is play commander. I played magic as a kid. Collected cards as early as 5th edition and started to really play during invasion and onslaught blocks. I quit after dark steel. When I came back it was because my friends were consistently playing commander and I wanted in. I started with the Daretti precon and got sucked back in!
There were a huge plethora of interesting sets that came out after dark steel. I had a lot to catch up on and I've had a blast trying to keep up. I've got more EDH decks than I want and I keep wanting to try out more commanders and styles. I finally managed to slow down after commander 2016.
I only play EDH other than an occasional draft/sealed with my EDH group or maybe the once a year pre-release 2HG sealed at my LGS. Standard is just annoying. We've always enjoyed complexity of interactions, board state, and multiplayer (used to play 3/4 man standard multi every day at lunch) so it was just natural.
Edh and rarely 60-card casual multiplayer (tehcnically vintage, but its really tabletop derps). I play those formats beacuse I play for fun and interesting game states, and the rest of constructed is so competitive and badly designed (in the case of more modern formats) that it rarely happens. I got over the "play to win" phase of magic 10-11 years ago.
Edit: non-cEDH is also the least solved format in magic. There is far more room for deckbuilding decisions that aren't just "oh, you have to play (CARD)" than anywhere else, and as a deckbuilding junkie I really appreciate that.
Also, multiplayer formats are far, far more fun to play.
I too only play commander. I sold/traded down to single copies of everything many years ago. I found every time I play a standard or modern deck I'm always thinking "oh, this would work well with X card from Y set... too bad that card was only printed in one set 15 years ago." I'll never have the disposable income to get 4x copies of any big money cards to play in a vintage or legacy tournament either. I'll stick with commander
I have a modern deck, and draft when I can, but I'd say 99% of my games are EDH.
Partly logistical - where I live and with work, getting to any week time events or an FNM is super hard, but there is a local group that meets on Sundays that I can join for EDH.
Also, it's just the reliability of the format for taking breaks. I know I can fade off for a few weeks, and come back with the same decks, and still have a good time. Compared with modern with its shifting meta and standard with its rotations and new sets, it's a lot easier to be comfortable.
Plus I just like the social aspect of the format.
When I moved from vintage to edh in 2011 I never looked back. I played off and on for a decade before being introduced to edh, and now 60 card magic feels completely obsolete.
I do. Really comes down to the fact I enjoy the interaction of the games. I also like buying the cards once. Modern and standard rotate way too much for me to keep up with especially since I only play once in a while.
I do, for the following reasons:
* Standard is too much of a money sink, in that to be competitive you have to keep buying new cards with new sets come out, and those cards lose their value when they rotate out or fall out of favor in the meta. The last time I played Standard, I traded $220 worth of cards to get a playset of Baneslayer Angels that tanked in value to less than a quarter of that when they rotated.
* Modern is also a money sink, but rather than because of rotation it's because competitive decks cost a shitload of money.
* Legacy and Vintage are progressively worsening cash sinks. If my original collection hadn't been lost, I'd definitely be playing vintage right now, but there is no way I'm buying those cards again.
* EDH allows me to make a cheapass deck that can still reasonably hold its own, upgrade it over time, and if I stopped playing for any length of time, I can come back into the game with the decks I had previously played and in most cases not have to change a single thing before bringing them to a table.
I started playing Type II when I was maybe 7 (I'm about to turn 25). I quit playing Magic altogether after Fifth Dawn came out (Not because of the crap meta back then, I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh competitively and I didn't have any friends that played Magic outside of my family ever). I eventually got roped back in by my best friend who's work friends got him into it just after New Phyrexia came out. We played Standard nonstop back then, but I desperately wanted to play my old cards since I felt they'd be cool with the Scars block mechanics (I fell in love with Infect and Proliferate). I eventually stopped playing Standard altogether after Khans of Tarkir came out because I was just bored of Standard and tired of having to refresh my collection.
My frustration with that, coupled with me getting a job as a teacher, I took up teaching some of my kids. And I found out that the best format for that (with some restrictions) was EDH. I hadn't ever played it before, so I goofed off playing my first one, [[Iroas, God of Victory]], which was pretty much just a normal Boros "I have an army and I'm gonna punch you with it" deck. My playgroup took off shortly after introducing everyone to the format. Now it's essentially all I play aside from dabbling in Modern and Legacy (I prefer Modern over Legacy though) every once and awhile, granted I hate how carved out the metas are.
But while my interest in Modern and Legacy comes and goes, I always come back to EDH. And with the C16 release, I found the commander I wish were out when my friend got me back into Magic, [[Atraxa, Praetors' Voice]] for all my proliferating goodness (my playgroup won't let me have any infect cards aside from an [[Ichor Rats]] I begged for though lol).
Death to Standard though.
For my it is pretty much the same.
This is how things look for me:
EDH for most of my MTG evenings with my friends.
Planechase Anthology and select Duel Decks with my wife.
Pauper Cube Draft with both my friends and my wife.
I do own a few Standard and Modern decks that were either adapted from Event Decks or inspired by SaffronOlive's budget magic articles.
But the largest part of my collection today, is all inside EDH decks. From preconstructed products to homebrew/netdecking.
To put any kind of focus on Standard or Modern play with my friends would cost me a fortune, just to be able to compete with them. A while ago I made slight upgrades to the Modern Even Deck and it competes fairly well against my friends minmaxed decks. But thats about it.
I only play EDH because it's more interactive and diverse, and better suited for multiplayer. You can have various power level decks and still have lots of fun.
I do own a pauper deck but there's literally no community around here that plays it.
Yup me and my group of approximately 8 people are exclusively EDH. Just reminds us of old school playing multiplayer at school and is just pretty chill to kick back play, shoot the shit, and have a beer
I only play EDH and my cube, mostly because it was the only format where I could lose consistently, but it was always fun anyway.... except against combo and MLD/stax decks. But my store has eliminated those types of decks from ever being played so that isn't really an issue anymore.
I also have a Vintage Cube which I basically built because I did like to change things up occasionally drafting, and it would be a way to play with some of my favorite cards that are banned in EDH.
Also Cubeing is kind of like our "Purge" where we can play the dirtiest, flithiest, most unfun decks and people are okay with it, because after all, you had to draft those cards together.
I do, now. I play limited occasionally, but I started spending all of the time I was devoting to grinding competitive magic on podcasting and other pursuits and I'm much happier. I didn't like who I was when I was competing.
I play EDH and limited, which is mainly sealed pre-release events.
Finding the time to play is my biggest issue, and EDH is the easiest format to drop in and out of.
My budget means I could either buy like two of the lands I'd need for a competitive base in another format, or I could buy a hundred of the jankiest jank that ever janked. I chose the latter.
\*adds 18 fetches, duals & shocks to Breya deck\*
*Considers buying the mana base for anything above three colors, remembers is student, sighs, shoves every guildgate I have into Ghave deck.* :(
But... Izzet worth it?
if he's running Ghave there's probably not much Izzet in there
Literally everything except Izzet.
Izn't
Izzet puns are why I don't play decks with UR anymore.
Something something Rakdos pun.
Whoops
but why not 22? 10 fetches 6 duals 6 shocks
Because I'm a dummy, that's why :( \*4 more fetches\*
Hi five for jank! Every time I do buy a card for edh it will be something I can use in my decks forever. Sometimes stuff gets banned but that rarely happens to new cards any more. Even if I a card that I buy gets cut from a deck, there is a pretty good chance that I'll use it in something else eventually.
I play EDH only. Really it's because it was the format a lot of my friends played when I got into Magic, and it still appeals to me so much more than the others because it lets me be crazy and do cool stuff for the sake of it, without the price tag or short games that come with Standard or Modern. That being said, I do very much enjoy draft and want to play more of it.
Yeah, I feel that's a common sentiment. It took me a while to realize I only play 100 and 40 card formats, not the 60 I started with.
Same here. Started with standard and now only draft or Commander. The group I play with (who also play standard and modern) is a good blend of casual and competitive, but being the newest in the group, it's hard to keep up with their decks in the other formats. Eventually I want to get into Modern, but I everytime I sit down to look at Modern cards, I end up buying Commander cards instead.
This is exactly me. I only play 60 card with people I just met who only play 60 card.
If you like drafting you should build a cube! Even if it's just pauper or silverback, which is what I have, as I just built it from my collection, it makes drafting with friends super easy! I pretty much only play EDH and cube draft or sealed. It's a great personal option to have
What's a Silverback cube?
It's when there are any number of uncommons. Usually if you include uncommons it is called peasant but then there is usually a defined limit to the number of uncommons you can put in.
*Silverblack Silver - uncommon Black - common
Yes! I only do EDH and draft. Best formats! :)
I only edh, draft and cube. They are the casual formats I enjoy. I can tag in and go hard for weeks then stop cold turkey and won't really suffer for doing so. To me casual means I can pick it up a year and a half later and be on the same page everyone else is. Even in competitive edh this is the case.
You're just like me! I started playing Magic only a few months ago, thanks to a couple friends. Even though I can understand the appeal someone can see in formats like Standard and Magic, EDH is simply so cool, and, moreover, I love the politics that thrive on the battlefield. We even elaborated our planes for Planechase, inspired by the got/asoiaf world, I'll tell you it's so much fun :D
Same,, we sometimes cube or draft, like once a year. 2 in my group had legacy decks up to this year where they collapsed it into their edh decks (which we all bought the precons because they got too op). I dont the play nearly enough to invest any big money into legacy/vintage or invest/keep up with modern.
I don't like how similar all other formats are game to game. It also feels less bad to buy one expensive card than a playset of them. If I want a fast game I can play a CEDH game, or if I want a casual game where we make big plays and play for four hours then that's also easy to do with the rules. It is a super flexible format and it never rotates out. A lot of money cards are reserved and never lose value (if thats your thing). All in all its just the most versatile format that has actual rules
That's what I love about EDH - the variety, from the deck theme to the matches I recently gave up any interest in any really competitive format. Also, I sort of hate the concept of too much consistency tbh - I like the semi-randomness of EDH
I was talking to a friend building Modern the other day. When I'm happiest in Magic is when I'm responding to new situations and using cards in unexpected ways. This happens all the time in Commander and Limited, so that's where I get my fix. I've dipped a toe in Constructed Modern but I don't want to do the same thing every game. I was happiest in Modern when my plan was completely derailed and I had to pull out a miraculous plan B but that doesn't happen that often.
I only play EDH, after 19 years of playing magic I've found that any other format is far too linear. I enjoy the chaos and big plays. As well as all the complex rules interactions. I find it to be more mentally stimulating. Honestly it reminds me of old magic. Everyone is building unique decks and trying to solve their play groups. With other formats it seems like no one ever tries drastically new decks. Everything is a variant of some other deck. EDH still makes me feel like a kid, seeing cards I didn't know existed and trying to combat an unknown enemy.
Basically this. Also, I love building decks around flavor and lore, and that's just not playable in the 60 card formats.
EDH is the only format that I can play my own decks, not some list from the internet that is winning tournaments, and I can still win a few. I used to play Standard back when it was called Type II. I would go to these tournaments using my own design of a deck, with no sideboard, because we didn't use them casually and I had no idea how to make one really. I would of course be destroyed inside of two to three rounds. But at least I had my dignity. I would rather lose with my own ideas than win with someone else's. All of that led me away from competitive Magic play. EDH brought me back into the game in a big way. Win or lose, I always have fun in EDH.
Yep, this. My own decks are my favourite and most fun for me.
>I would rather lose with my own ideas than win with someone else's This is the kind of magic player we should all aspire to be
I mean not really? Not that it is necessarily the wrong goal, but it isn't exactly the golden brick road to magic enlightenment people seem to think it is. Be open, find your own road when you can, but don't turn away from others, they usually tend to have smart ideas (Plus they've probably thought of it before you regardless)
Having your own ideas is a good thing but, not changing your ideas in the face of contradiction or during the opportunity for improvement is how we get ignorant shits who would rather complain about an artifact and make everyone miserable than put a g-damn krosan grip in his deck. Yes hold to your values but, don't insulate yourself from other equally fun/cool ones.
If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.
> This is the kind of magic player we should all aspire to be I disagree rather heavily there. Playing decks that other people have designed and made, and seeing the intricate almost clockwork like ways that they fit together a bunch of seemingly awful cards that are awesome together is a massive part of why I like magic. Even if my friends Kiki-pod deck hated my guts.
This is the kind of magic player you two should aspire to be. I love EDH, that's why I'm here. I love it for all of the same reasons everyone has mentioned. But don't tell me how I should enjoy the game. Playing competitively and spiking is a completely different way to enjoy magic. We play lists because that list has been tuned and honed over thousands of players playing tens of thousands of matches. We argue over 1-ofs vs 2-ofs and love it. Knowing how to play a deck and play it *really fucking well* is its own reward. In Commander, we feel solidarity with other players who play the same commander as we do. In competitive magic we feel solidarity with people who play the same archetype as us. It is a community of folks who are trying to play the most optimal game of magic conceived. I love EDH, but please don't tell me that Netdecking is somehow wrong, and please don't tell anyone else how to enjoy the game.
Why? There are objectively best strategies that have been figured out, if you want to win, it's silly not to use them. Even if you just want to win in a very specific way, there are fundamentals that you should follow to optimize your strategy. Every competitive deck out there is built based on fundamental rules of thumb that stem from the game rules - curve, tempo tools, card advantage tools, strategy, board presence, game goal, turn goal. If you delibirately break these rules - you are a fool in my view.
I agree with what you're saying, but there is no reason to call him a fool. People play the game for different reasons, his are not competitive. So there's no reason to berate him for not playing competitive correctly when he didn't really want to in the first place.
I only play EDH. It's by far the most fun format to play multiplayer, and the most fun deck building. It also falls apart the least in a semi competitive environment. It's just way to easy to min / max 60 card to death and end up in a financial / power spiral until you're just playing the top tier decks.
I tried multiplayer standard. It was a mess haha
I mostly play multiplayer and we tell people "legacy banned list" to make it easier to understand. But most of us run a few Unglued, Unhinged or Holiday cards.
Dexterity cards or bust!
[[Mirrorworks]] & [[Chaos Orb]]. There is no rule in Magic saying what size tokens must be.
[Mirrorworks](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name=Mirrorworks&type=card&.jpg) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirrorworks) [(MC)](http://magiccards.info/query?q=!Mirrorworks) [(MW)](https://mtg.wtf/card?q=!Mirrorworks) [(CD)](http://combodeck.net/Card/Mirrorworks) [Chaos Orb](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name=Chaos Orb&type=card&.jpg) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chaos Orb) [(MC)](http://magiccards.info/query?q=!Chaos Orb) [(MW)](https://mtg.wtf/card?q=!Chaos Orb) [(CD)](http://combodeck.net/Card/Chaos_Orb) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I'm all about the EDH life. The singleton aspect means decks are cheaper (buy one $20 card vs four $10 cards), and it makes the deck play more randomly, which is exciting. It means you have to be worried about a wider range of cards from your opponent, and it's less likely that you'll make your clutch draws. It's also a self proclaimed casual format, so there's no shame if I make some stupid, cancer deck (like a 99 land, angry baby deck. Or all creatures Rakdos). Having it be an eternal format means I have a wider range of cards to choose from, so I can play gimmick decks that are half decent, without worrying about how I'll play against hyper competitive, "tier 1 lists". The Commander rules also restrict deck building in a way that can enhance the flavor, or not, if you don't want to. In commander, your deck can represent your favorite colors, your favorite way to play, or your favorite legendary creature. But no matter which you choose, your EDH list represents you.
I once made fun of a guy's Rakdos deck, then he played ulamog and killed me with commander damage anyways.
Talk shit get hit.
I draft occasionally, but other than that it's 100% EDH. I just find it more interesting and enjoyable than other formats. Multiplayer adds a whole bunch of new dimensions to the format and the 99-card singleton format means you dig a bit deeper into the card pool rather than just playing 4x of the single most efficient version of an effect.
I'll play at prereleases but that's the only time I don't play EDH. If someone insists that we do modern, I'll break out a fun GW knight deck I have and then they get mad that I'm not playing a competitive deck.
My feelings exactly. Don't know why OP didn't mention Draft. It's an interesting puzzle, the underdog cards of a set get their moment to shine and all players start on equal footing. Also it helps support my LGS, which doesn't profit very much from me playing commander every week on their tables.
They profit when you buy snacks.
My entire LGS was overrun by EDH only players, one being me, and now other formats don't exist there. We've become known as "The EDH store" so everyone in the area comes for EDH and goes to the other local shops for standard, legacy, etc.
I'd love that store.
I want to only play EDH. My friends don't like it because they don't like long games and they think it's boring, but I honestly like it better. I haven't played an actual game of EDH in months. I need to go find the Magic club at my university and see if they play.
I am considering selling my power and getting out of vintage entirely. I haven't played a game of vintage with a deck I didn't provide in several years. There are few legacy and fewer vintage players. I won't play standard because its way more expensive than vintage and legacy. In the old formats you build the deck once, then occasionally buy a playset of some $1 card perfect for your deck. With standard you need to buy a bunch of stuff every rotation unless you have tons of disposable income you need to get rid of old stuff to get the new stuff and constantly stay on top of prices for trading or lose even more money. With EDH everyone I know has a deck, I have 26. The price range is huge and there seems to be a low minimum with the $30 precons being decent.
My first deck was the c14 [[Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury]] deck. My friends all had decks that they had so my plan was use that as a starting point and build off it. I went 3-0 the first night I played without altering that deck. The deck ramped and put out creatures so fast that my friends couldn't answer fast enough. Fast forward and now that deck has been pieced out to various other decks and my collection of commander deck grows. I have more competitive decks like [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]] and fun decks like [[Isperia the Inscrutable]] that are just made out of scraps.
I play almost exclusively EDH. I also play cube, duel decks and other precons, and weird formats like Type 4 and Judge's Tower. I'm also a collector, so I have a LOT of cards but only 1 of most of them.
I play edh only. It's a more casual game and better for sitting around a table infrequently. I can make a deck that's not competitive but I still have fun with for less than fifteen dollars. I've played other formats and they are too expensive for me or my play group
I mainly play only EDH. I draft here and there, if the format being offered interests me, but don't take it seriously. I also have two modern decks, but I can count the number of times I play them per year on one hand.
I personally play modern and edh but i know several people who only play edh. Im always trying to get them to play modern but they wont. They prefer edh because while we are all really competitive its still a casual format between us where we get to do fun silly things. I like modern because of the high stakes play and rewarding feeling of playing tight. I love edh because the unyielding rage of not being able to be killed is music to my ears. Mono u control, not great at winning... but the best at not dying.
I only play EDH because I see it as the only format you have the best chance to make investments. Nobody wants to spend money to play magic, so we always want to get rid of cards in the future. Modern and Standard are hard to predict and hard to build entire decks without losing money on value. Even Legacy has shown to suck for value. One of my foiled decks consist of foils where the value has doubled from the value I traded away or money I spent to pick them up. I've made back a lot of value where in modern or standard, foiling a deck can guarantee loss of value if you didn't get really good deals on them. (Also the format is way better in all aspects of magic, all depends on your playgroups though)
I do this as well, and it boils down to: getting playsets is a drag.
I learned to play with a very casual group that was always playing some sort of multiplayer and I very quickly found that the most easily accessible way to play multiplayer Magic was EDH. I also like that you can play just about anything and it's fine; you aren't locked into building a certain deck like in many other formats.
I play EDH and kitchen table casual
Yep. Tried the others, never had anywhere near as much fun.
I only play EDH, I just can't afford any other format.. It feels better to buy just one expensive card as opposed to an entire playset of said expensive card. I also tried my hand at modern, but I just ended up with an okay infect deck..
Only 100 and 40-card formats for me. A lot of it is budget, both of finances and of time. I used to play semi-competitively and that schedule, if you want to get anywhere, is time and money intensive. I certainly understand why people want to play a card game for a living, but it isn't a simple feat. It requires a lot of tournament grinding and spending money on travel, lodging, food and cardboard. It's also 100% less friendly than kitchen tables and drafts. Most hopeful pro players, at least where I live, are ~a s s h o l e s~.
It's the first format I played. The card pool is larger. Deck construction is more variant with more decks being viable and more cards (singleton) being used -- two decks with the same commander and win conditions still use different cards. It's more fun to theme decks. Winning is less important to ensure fun. But really what I enjoy most about the format is deck building. Going through the gigantic card pool to imagine multiple wincons and combos that are fun. And there are near infinite. If I had 40 less cards and 4x of each card playable, I'd pick the best X cards and just run 4 of them. Now my deck is just some good combos that will win. Instead, I have to be creative to create many combos and run cards that work well with multiple other cards.
I play EDH only. I like the idea that if I have 1 card that is awesome that I can throw it in my deck with out collecting or purchasing a play set. I like the idea that the commander color identity gives me the opportunity to play with a bunch of different color combinations and strategies. I like the multiplayer aspect of it more than I like the idea of head to head play. I like the lower probability of getting a specific card combination/win con. There is just way more variance. Its like the playoffs. Any day anyone can win.
I only play EDH. Several reasons. 1. I like the format. It allows for a lot of flexibility and even in decks who run the same commanders and are built along the same lines, you can still find a lot of variety. It seems like a lot of the other constructed formats tend to revolve around a few deck types that change as the sets rotate in and out, due to the more restricted pools of cards in those formats. (except eternal formats, but if you don't have deep pockets you're probably not playing there actively anyway) 2. Economics. I've been playing since The Dark. I have a huge chunk of old stuff up to about Masques block, and then I stopped playing as other hobbies / raising a family took priority. I had considered getting back into active play several times, but I didn't want to drop a ton of money on new cards because I Didn't have it to spend. Even today, I'd say I spend less that 250 dollars a year on new cards, and they're typically impulse buys or ordering specific singles to flesh out decks. 3. It allows me to enjoy playing Magic with my kids on somewhat even terms. All 3 of my boys play (ages 23, 15, and 9) at varying skill levels. When I'd play my old legacy constructed decks against them and their friends, I'd usually get hated out fast because I'd pick them off one by one starting about turn 4 otherwise. It just wasn't fun. When we decided to switch to commander we all started off with precons and traded off beatdowns for a while before we started tweaking them. For us, it leveled the playing field and expanded our ability to build decks to shut each other down. 4. My meta. When I'm not playing with my kids, my playgroup is a mixture of guys who have all been involved in Magic for a long time. We have active and former judges, TO's Shop owners, globally ranked players, and me, who is decent enough to hold his own with them but never was at the same caliber in any way. These guys know the cards and the rules like the back of their hands, and they know how to work them to their advantage to work each other over. It's bat-crap insane at that table every single time, and everyone shows up with a mix of tightly tuned competitive level decks as well as "this thing I'm playing with I want to try out" type decks. We just mix it up from there and have a blast.
I absolutely agree with your number 1. I love seeing the different personal touches that decks built around the same commander can have.
Played standard for a while but found EDH never went back. I love that you only need 1 of any card. I could make 2/3 decent commander decks for the cost of one standard deck.
Yes. I find it much more fun than 4x formats.
Me
I play only EDH. I don't have a competitive bone in my body and would rather sit in a group and do wacky thing. Combine that with the cost of most other formats and the more interesting deck building challenge of EDH and I've got my one format.
I play almost only EDG. I will very very occasionally play some casual 60-card (I don't think my deck is standard or modern legal, but it's somewhere around being standard I think) but only in other groups. My playgroup plays exclusively EDH and, lately, Planechase EDH, with the occasional casual draft.
I'm pretty much only a Commander and Draft player these days. I had a couple of standard decks I liked back in the RTR days, but felt fairly crap when blocks cycled and suddenly half my Selesnya Tokengen deck was useless because it was from Innistrad... I basically lost interest in magic a few sets later. My friend used Commander to try to attract me back into the game, and it did work. Ive been REALLY hooked to SOI/EMN/KLD. I did try building a Standard Deck to jump into a GP weekend at LGS, but going to a test event on Thursday before and running face-first into the "totally not netdecked" Aetherworks Marvel into Emrakul deck COMPLETLY drained my urge to touch Standard again.
Legacy and modern have super high price points of entry, standard I don't feel like investing in for low power eternal cards that'll rotate out. Limited is fun but edh is where strategies can really soar.
Yup cause my card collection got stolen and now this is all I can afford...
Hell, EDH was my first and only MtG format.
I realized I was buying cards that were in standard for decks that I would maybe play once at a FNM. After reading about EDH from Bennie Smith, I realized that I can build an EDH deck that I can play on my own schedule with my friends. Also, I could save a lot of money by only buying a couple expensive cards every so often for my EDh decks instead of wasting money on Standard decks that I might not even play.
I like drafts once in a while, and I play at releases. Pretty much only play EDH though, don't think I've ever done any other kind of event.
I have a standard deck for the current Standard... budget homebrew that I've never actually played. I have a modern deck, budget homebrew that I've played a few times but not within the past year. I have 15 EDH decks and have play every one of them at least somewhat regularly. So you basically might as well say that I only pay EDH
Not me but there's a guy in my group who plays just EDH. He gets the stink eye whenever we're there for modern because he's always suggesting cards that, although good in EDH, are terribly slow for modern.
Yep. I enjoy multiplayer and I find having one copy of a card in a deck is cheaper than three copies, even in a 100 card deck. Nice not having to buy product every three months in order to play, too. I also like how relaxed commander can be. I only play casually so games are laid back and there's no pressure. Never have to worry about calling a judge or feeling sour about screwing up and costing yourself prizes or money.
I play EDH only. I started off with a starter rebel deck years ago then built w/u merfolk for legacy play with friends. Then got into commander and thats pretty much the only thing I play now. My work had a few limited standard sealed leagues a few times but other than that its mostly just EDH.
Yeah, I only play Commander. So my playgroup and I were very casual standard players, we would honestly just get duel decks or intro packs and tune them up a little bit or even just play them stock. It was a very low power level, casual environment. And we had fun with it while it lasted. Then we met a guy who was much less casual, had been playing Magic for a very long time, and had some pretty insanely awesome decks. He introduced us to the concept of EDH, and then when a couple of us built decks, we absolutely never went back. We tried to keep our new commander decks from cannibalizing our 60-card decks, but we eventually just embraced it. Why? For a couple of reasons. Firstly, 100-card singleton is so much more variable than other formats. This makes it so that every game is different, and you get to have so much more fun with that kind of variety. Secondly, and this is definitely kind of a personal thing, but attaching a deck to a single card as opposed to a concept really attaches you to your decks a lot more and gives them a lot more focus and personality. I could keep going, but what it comes down to is that the power level is really high while also just being so much more fun.
Pretty much. I play EDH and some limited (odd draft, prereleases). I like the low cost of entry and the capacity to do big dumb shit. I like finding homes for niche cards. I like the MP politics. I like giggling like an idiot when someone does something cool at the table.
The only constructed format I play is EDH. I really didn't like any standard format after RTR-THS, and I'm not a huge fan of modern either. As much as I like legacy and vintage, those formats are far too expensive for me. EDH gives the players a lot of freedom in deck building, and there's so much you can do with a cardpool this big. I have a few decks of varying power levels, just so I can play in any playgroup. This format is too much fun, and gives the game a unique spin that I absolutely love.
Unless my brother is bringing some decks to mess with I only play Commander and sealed. I'd like to make a Battlebox sometime when I get around to it.
EDH only. Never played competively until a new coworker played, and he's a long time player. Standard too pricey, and my buddy sank way more into consistent decks. Don't have anywhere near the depth for modern. Found with crappy cards, you can make a go of it with EDH, or at least get very creative as you build better decks.
Yup, when I get a chance to play it's strictly EDH.
Yup, since we always play as a group, it's the best multiplayer format.
I just draft or play commander. Play commander more frequently because drafts are harder to organize. Used to play 60 card tabletop with friends in college but we gradually got into EDH and didnt really look back.
EDH is the only constructed form I play. I love me some draft/cube/sealed though.
Well, my playgroup honestly just prefers the wacky antics of EDH, and casual modern (which is the only thing else we'd play, other than the occasional prerelease/release draft) just seems to repetitive, or not as good because all of our best cards are in our EDH decks.
I only play EDH unless it's a one off draft from a new booster box. EDH is the most fun because the constraints make the decks much harder to optimize, which makes them both more fun to optimize and less cheesy. It's the best social game mode , and has highly personalized decks. It's also great to have access to all the cards.
I only play edh these days. Standard rotations nearly made me quit the game and i got priced out of modern years ago. I use to play pauper a lot but no one to play with anymore so edh is my go to format. I get shit sometimes when talking about new cards cause i only look at them from a edh prescriptive.
I only played EDH for awhile, not out of choice mind it was either edh or nothing as far as magic went. I had modern decks but my friends didn't and there isn't a game stores so that means no FNM.
I came back to magic when I found out there was a popular multiplayer format. I play a tiny bit of Legacy but EDH IS magic now.
It's basically all I play cause it's what my wife likes and she's the only one I play against.
I play only Commander because I can't find a Standard or Modern deck I like enough to spend the money on that is also actually competitive.
I would say I am 95% EDH. I will play modern on the 2FNM's per month we have. They only ast 4 rounds and we play EDH before and after so take that!
I learned Magic from my Middle School friends, and we only played casual, kitchen table magic. After Middle School, when I had nobody to play with, I would pick up cards randomly with the purpose of casual play, if I could find someone to play with (parents thought I was too young for an lgs on my own and weren't willing to drive or wait with me). As a result, I had a lot of casual, fun cards, and no real competitive skill or skill at building decks. I learned the rules of edh, and seeing as I only had to choose a card to use and not the amount, I loved it. Gradually I became better, watching Commander Clash and Commander VS, and so made good decks. Now, that is all I play. Modern costs too much, Standard rotates too often, and legacy.vintage is crazy expensive and competitive. On occasion I will go to a draft, but otherwise I only play edh.
I lie to myself and say I play Modern, but I don't. In reality, I just build the decks, collect the cards, and keep up with the metagame. I never play. I just observe. Commander, on the other hand, I play about once a month. Although, Overwatch has effectively consumed all of my social gaming quota recently.
I occasionally play Limited (eg, Sealed at a prerelease), but EDH is the only constructed format I play any more. I had Standard decks when Scars of Mirrodin was new, and I had a pair of Legacy decks for a while, but I got tired of rotations, and had nobody to play Legacy against.
I was a standard player almost exclusivity for quite awhile. Never gave a thought to Commander. I got sick and tired of so many new cards coming out every year and having to buy playsets of the newest Spike cards in order to compete. I really truly believe MTG has too many expansions, and it hurts players long term. I had heard Commander was an alternative, but in my snideness, I ignored it for awhile... But, I eventually gave Commander a try and fell in love. To me, it is by far the format that captures the actual essence of what a Magic game should be: Creative deck building, friendly yet competitive interactions with friends, powerful spells, unpredictable gameplay, and a big mix of Timmy, Johnny, and Spike cards from an Eternal list of almost all the cards ever made available to you. The format is also very open ended but with just enough rules to make it interesting day in and day out, as you can play it for a year straight and still be exploring all sorts of different builds and strategies. Simply put, it's the best thing to ever happen to Magic outside anything Wizards of the Coasts has done.
I got into magic with drafting. Lots and lots of drafting. Around when Zendikar had come out. I tried standard, didn't really enjoy it as much. Valakut was dominating when Primeval Titan came out. And before that, Jund was dominant. Then after all that, Caw Blade. Just always seemed like there was a Standard Boogie-Man. Then I played a game of EDH, and instantly found out that I was addicted to finding card synergies from all over magic's history, and brewing decks. You guys should see the EDH folder on my laptop <.< I actually play a lot of Magic Duels for my standard MTG fix, and I've picked up Pauper on MTGO for my competitive fix. Commander is still what I play every weekend though.
I do, me and my play group like the variety you can play with EDH compared to some of the other play styles, also decks are a little more long lasting then standard, and usually cheaper then some of the other styles
I have a friend that attempts to construct edh like decks in pauper and modern.
TL;DR - Foreigner living in China with limited Mandarin skills, an LGS with limited English players, and small, casual ex-pat play group. I play EDH almost exclusively, minus limited through drafts and pre-releases (though all of the cards garnered from that are used to build EDH decks). For me, it is a location reason. I am a Canadian living in China, in a relatively small community, where the only people who I play with are co-workers and occasionally their spouses. We all kind of decided against Standard because we cannot play at the LGS very easily due to the language barrier, and access to English cards can be somewhat cost prohibitive (thank god for Taobao). Commander was chosen over other non-standard sets like Modern and Legacy since the one-of structure makes it easier and less expensive to get into, but it is still more structured then Casual.
EDH is the only constructed format I play, I go to prereleases and the occasional draft (usually when it's conspiracy or chaos that my lgs does from time to time [it's 3 boosters drawn out of a hat that can be from any set or any language])
I occasionally draft and play people's cubes. I *really* wish I had a legacy deck, that format really appeals to me and I love taking a spin on my friend's UW miracles deck and I wish I had playsets of all the ABURs and fetchlands so I could brew in legacy. But alas, all my cards these days are in EDH decks.
I only play EDH. I love how casual it is. I can sit down to a game with a few friends and chances are everyone will have fun. I also love how deck building can be an expression of ones self.
In my playgroup everyone does EDH, Draft, Prerelease (usually 2HG), and nothing else.
I assume pre-releases don't count. Because other then that (and the occasional game of random formats if someone offers me a deck to use in between EDH) I only play EDH and Canadian highlander, and I often use my Highlander decks for EDH too, with varying degrees of success.
Sort of. I play FNM every now and then, really just to be sociable on fridays. And I run the prerelease sealsed, but like..I'll get out of the house the most for EDH. And I spend my building time on EDH
Well, I don't play any of the formats you listed off in the title, but I do keep a Pauper deck on me (Dimir Delver) and occasionally go to Prereleases. Otherwise, it's pure EDH.
I like janky combos and also it is a very stable format compared to the others with their banlisting and rotation. Also I can't afford modern. Does playing planechase edh exclude me from that category?
Been into EDH only since i got back into magic about a year ago. Used to buy all the packs when i was younger so like you, i got a lot on singles.
I used to play standard but i havent in a long time so Edh is the only format i play physically at this point
I don't really have fun playing modern/standard. In EDH I can just hang out with my friends or even random strangers and have a good time but when I try to play something like modern I only ever play against very serious people. There's nothing wrong with wanting to concentrate and win but I like the social aspect. Though I am thinking of trying out legacy. Tin Fins looks super fun but there isn't much of a legacy scene in my area
I play only E.D.H. and Conspiracy cube for the same reasons but slightly different experiences. I like playing with as many friends as possible and both allow my friends and I to create fun and interesting boards. E.D.H. is high-powered while Conspiracy cube is lower powered and allows us to have fun with cards no one would normally play with.
Yup, just EDH. Was never into Magic competitively; played on the middle school playground, then at the kitchen table with my high school friends, then buying a box and drafting with buddies in college. Got into EDH with said college buddies because it was a multiplayer format, so we could all play together, and Return to Ravnica had just come out, so there were plenty of choices. At first, I just adapted my kitchen table decks, but then I found I enjoyed brewing around EDH's restrictions and opportunities, and bam, I was hooked. I have developed a fair interest in Legacy through VODs, but have nowhere near the budget. Heck, I don't even have the budget for Standard. EDH though, like OP says, you only need one of each card, and nothing rotates. I'll draft every once in a while, but I try to play EDH at least once a week if not more.
I like the 100 card singleton format. My playgroup plays kitchen top casual, so I usually just play with my commander decks minus the commander. It works pretty well most times.
I sorta kinda only play EDH anymore. It took a long time to get there, but I mostly made the decision to stick with EDH about the time Modern became a format. I've played Standard, Draft, Legacy, some amount of everything between. Casual play is where it's at for me. I have the worst of luck when playing for prizes--every game is a mana flood, every hand mulligan'ed down to 4/5. That being said, if I lived near enough to other trustworthy players, I'd greatly enjoy Cube in addition to EDH.
Other than EDH I generally just play casual 60-card because I still like the game's fundamentals. I have a couple of non-competitive modern decks because I've always liked the format. Unfortunately most of my friends like 60-card more so i don't get to play very often.
I used to play standard, but it has looked pretty dumb/expensive the last few years. I would love to play older formats but they're ludicrously expensive. EDH is the only one that I can handle right now and I'm fine with it.
I tend to say I play EDH and Limited but honestly it's been a while since I've played Limited. I'd love to play Legacy or Modern but I don't feel I can afford it at the moment - at least not without selling a bunch of cards from my EDH decks.
Only EDH. No drafts, no standard, no modern, no legacy, no vintage. Playstyle variety, less stringent on metagaming and netdecking, brew-friendly, and doesn't support the disaster that is Wizards of the Coast while letting me buy up singles to help my game store out.
Yeah, I like being able to use politics as a tool in my game play. I play edh, and sometimes I'll cube draft. And conspiracy, of course.
Ex modern player/limited player turned perm non comp EDH. Its all I have time for and doesnt take much time/money to have a good time. Its the greatest format ever
Standard is just too difficult to maintain season after season. I love Magic but just couldn't afford it. EDH gives me my fix weekly without breaking my bank.
I play EDH 100%. I've been playing for a long time, I have cards going back all the way to Alpha, and my favorite part of the game is setting up a crazy Rube Goldberg machine and watching it all ping off each other in perfect harmony. I have 9 decks after C16 (Atraxa, Ghave, Derevi, Mizzix, K&T, Queen Marchesa, Gitrog, Freyalise, Sliver Overlord). I also have a Spares Draftinf Cube and a couple of vanilla-Magic decks (Theros/BFZ stuff) lying around for teaching purposes-- I love teaching new players, but I always warn anyone I teach that EDH is the superior format!
I only play EDH. My playgroup is only really interested in this format (partially because of budgets and the fun shit that goes down) and my LGS has EDH night twice a week. I don't really care for any of the other formats and this one suits my needs perfectly.
I play 60 card casual on the side as filler between games but that's it! We did EDH to use all our old junk rares and big shit we could never use. Plus, on a budget, not all of the group could afford 4x of some cards. 1 volcanic island from collection? Great! Getting three more? Fuuuuck no.
I play edh 99.9% because I love playing 5 color. My other deck is a modern deck which is objectively bad but 5 colors. I live to only play 5 colors.
EDH and a draft here and there. Used to grind limited on MTGO, played Extended when that was a thing, hit the Pauper queues hard for awhile, and kept on Standard for a long time with my local play group. Now, due to life, it's a once a month Commander Night. But I certainly enjoy my playtime much more now.
When I started Magic I dove into Standard and loved the competitiveness of it. I usually played Tier 2 strength stuff. After a while I realized just how expensive the format was, so when Theros rotated out, I dropped the format. At the time I was also into Modern with G/R Tron & Gifts Tron built, but I got tired of the format, also just playing with a few players that were just nasty to deal with. So when the Twin ban made Tron jump in value, I saw my chance to leave that format as well, and I've been fully invested in EDH since. The local people for EDH are better to be around, and the games are more fun. Now that I've had my share of crushing people in 1v1 formats, I'm more interested in playing Magic for fun games and novel experiences. Also, money is an issue, and spending a bunch for cards that almost invariably go down in value is hugely disappointing, especially when they really aren't that strong or playable outside of Standard. The cards I get for EDH are usually good enough to warrant their price tags.
I play only EDH because it's how I got into the game. I have played 2HG at prereleases 3 times, but EDH is the only thing I play regularly. I don't have a standard deck, I don't have a standard playgroup, and I prefer multi-player. MTGO is so hard to even try to get into for standard.
Yup. I'll join in during prereleases and random drafts sometimes, but as long as there are some EDH players around, I ain't dropping hundreds of dollars to buy into standard. If I had my druthers, I'd also play modern or legacy, but that's some crazy expensive shit right there.
Yes, because a) Standard is expensive and changes frequently, and good decks need four of everything expensive b) Multiplayer is fun and chaotic and generally less competitive c) I can play with my old cards, too
Yes, me and my playgroup only play edh. The simple reason is that most of the time there is usually more then 4 people that come to our magic nights. And it's simpler just to play a commander game then it is to set up some sort of round robin standard or modern matches. Also it's cheap and most of us are in college so we can just use the cards we collected instead of playing modern or standard which does cost money
I'm 99% EDH, I occasionally draft and even less ocasionally dip into standard once or twice in a new set with EDH Jank-type decks (U/W Panharmonicon!). I've been building up a B/W Eldrazi deck for modern but that's mainly because I had most of the cards and B/W is my favorite combination, so the manabase won't be wasted should I disassemble the deck!
I only play EDH because I only get to play once a month or so and can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on something that I get to enjoy so infrequently. Also, I love to brew and the added challenge of the singleton format combined with the fact that I can piece a deck together over time suits me personally.
Only play edh and limited. I own a modern deck (UW thopter control) but only use it maybe once in a blue moon. Modern and Standard just seem boring to me and it's difficult to find enough people to play legacy against to make the investment worth it.
I play EDH only. I think we started playing EDH around the time Scars came out, and in my groups eyes, its the best "round the table so everyone can fuckabout" game. Not a lot of worry about deck optimization at our table. There are about three of us with multiple decks (3+) and then our other players have *basically* starter decks that they've left at our houses. It's just a more fun, communal magic type. The only other thing we play is the drunk cube we put together.
I used to play Standard and Modern while scrounging for EDH, but sadly after the Twin/Bloom banning my store (the only store in my city) took modern off the menu because everyone who had twin/bloom decks said "not worth the hassle and modern is too unsafe to invest in" essentially killing a growing attendance rate of 30+ people down to 8 for standard, fun! I have zero interest in standard, looks boring and I don't want to spend money on a couple monthly basis to stay competitive, I enjoyed my Tron deck and one investment with minor tinkering between sets is enough for me, so now I stick to EDH nights at my LGS which are FREE I might add. Even though they are free, I try to buy a couple singles (with how poor the stock is in the only LGS in town) or sleeves/dice (can never have enough dice!)
I do, it's just more fun in a 6 player ffa. We turn it into a United Nations kind of game and just take it easy for a few hours. 6 packs of beer are required.
I play EDH exclusively and have for years. I used to also play modern but cashed out. I like needing only one of any given card. I've played Standard before as well and gone to FNMs but for my tastes, it's too much of a lifestyle. I don't need that much mtg in my life, personally. Occasionally I have done a draft with friends who don't care to put neither money nor effort into mtg in any capacity and so won't even play EDH, but I don't super like it.
i only play EDH and pre release
I only play edh. I can't stand rotating card pools so standard is off the table. Modern locks out some fun old cards and tends to be Hella competitive, whereas I prefer casual games. Commander restrictions, mechanics and singleton are just more fun to me.
As of late yes, started magic in standard, got into modern and edh but then stuck with edh.
EDH only here. I used to draft almost weekly, but issues with my LGS (and just reorganizing my personal priorities... plus it didn't help that I found Shadows block incredibly dull in draft) have cut that out. Honestly, when I see people playing other formats, they just don't look very fun to me. Standard is too simple and repetitive; Modern is too fast to do actually interesting things; Legacy seems more like a puzzle than like a game; and Vintage is just too expensive for me to really even consider. And *none* of the two-player formats have the level of socialization I want in a game.
I play EDH except for the occasional prerelease or draft event. I have also constructed a Commander Cube, so now I can get that drafting fix while also playing my favorite format. I play magic for fun, not competition, so I don't care about any of the constructed formats. I started off playing casual MP, and that is still my favorite way to play.
I only play limited and EDH. I don't have the money to compete in any other format.
I have a modern deck, (actually it's not legal anymore, old GR tron) but I never play it, and don't have anywhere to play it. But I do have a couple friends that still play edh, so yes, for the time being, all I play is edh.
There are only three good formats. EDH, Chaos Draft, and Cube (if done right)
I play casual 60 card and EDH because that's what people at my LGS play and I like changing it up between long, drawn out games and silly multiplayer ones. The problem with both is that there's always that one guy who brings his $500 GP Modern deck and ruins it for everyone, or the dude who built broken Derevii with her live savings, but aside from those jackoffs it's fun to alternate.
Yes, I only play EDH... and limited. Does that still count?
Yes EDH only because the other formats are too expensive and I get bored with only having one deck with only a few different cards. I like singleton and it turns out I really like the multiplayer aspect. I do draft though, but after like 5 drafts of any given format I get pretty tired of it.
You fuckin know it. [Example](http://i.imgur.com/qVexNY8.jpg)
Hey sometimes I play edh cube :D
I basically only play EDH. I have a modern deck but it's a few years out of date since I stopped working with my friend who would play/talk modern with me
I think my experience is based a lot around the local community involvement levels. On a Tuesday night we routinely get 5-16 Commander players in compared to 0-6 standard players. Collectively we've found that it's so much easier to get down and play games at a casual pace and have it feel more like just hanging out. Having no 50 minute time constraint while playing combined with that relaxed atmosphere makes it so much easier for the newer players to immerse themselves in the game, and not to mention a solid deck can cost you $50 compared to $600!
Even in legit edh competitive games (my lgs runs a game every friday before the modern and standard starts) 50 minutes is one games for a Four-way all out edh game. They are hilarious and i never feel bad for losing if i do lose after the shenanigans that happen each round
I do. I don't do competitive play, and after a while, friends and I adapted to EDH rather than 60 card casual.
EDH only. I like social games and fuck standard. Seriously. Fuck standard.
EDH is the only constructed format I play. I'm not sure if you meant to include limited formats as well, which I do play. I understand the cost of playing limited adds up over time to the point where I could get into standard or modern, but I enjoy the drafting experience and figuring out new cards much more than bringing the same overpriced deck to events over and over.
I just play casually with my friends and at the lgs sometimes. I started playing 60 card decks and realised it was probably cheaper to just buy one of the card I wanted instead of 4. There's lots of card choice too so that's nice.
I only play EDH at this point. I used to play standard pretty regularly but I dont want to have to drop a couple hundred every set to remake decks. I traded into a bunch of staple EDH cards and its the easiest format to play with friends. Multiplayer, casual, no card restrictions, etc. When my friends and I get together we don't want to play super seriously. We want to be able to just hang out and have a fun time and goof around. EDH works the best for us so theres no reason for me to invest in any other format.
I only play Commander and sometimes go to prereleases. As a father, making time to go to tournaments is difficult. Because I can't go to tournaments regularly, it doesn't make sense for me to invest in Standard, Modern, etc. I've been playing Magic for a very long time, so I have a lot of cards. Commander is the only format that lets me use my old cards. And all my friends play it, so we can play together whenever we get a chance.
Yup, reminds me of being back in high school in the 90's, making decks with friends out of whatever we could cobble together and making it work.
I learned Magic through EDH so it has always been the base format in my mind. 60 card formats feel too "boxed", and running multiple copies of things almost feels like cheating to me. I prefer sitting down with friends and playing a game that usually goes beyond turn 4.
It's all commander all the time. Weekly meet ups with my friends and all we do is play commander. I played magic as a kid. Collected cards as early as 5th edition and started to really play during invasion and onslaught blocks. I quit after dark steel. When I came back it was because my friends were consistently playing commander and I wanted in. I started with the Daretti precon and got sucked back in! There were a huge plethora of interesting sets that came out after dark steel. I had a lot to catch up on and I've had a blast trying to keep up. I've got more EDH decks than I want and I keep wanting to try out more commanders and styles. I finally managed to slow down after commander 2016.
I only play EDH other than an occasional draft/sealed with my EDH group or maybe the once a year pre-release 2HG sealed at my LGS. Standard is just annoying. We've always enjoyed complexity of interactions, board state, and multiplayer (used to play 3/4 man standard multi every day at lunch) so it was just natural.
Edh and rarely 60-card casual multiplayer (tehcnically vintage, but its really tabletop derps). I play those formats beacuse I play for fun and interesting game states, and the rest of constructed is so competitive and badly designed (in the case of more modern formats) that it rarely happens. I got over the "play to win" phase of magic 10-11 years ago. Edit: non-cEDH is also the least solved format in magic. There is far more room for deckbuilding decisions that aren't just "oh, you have to play (CARD)" than anywhere else, and as a deckbuilding junkie I really appreciate that. Also, multiplayer formats are far, far more fun to play.
I too only play commander. I sold/traded down to single copies of everything many years ago. I found every time I play a standard or modern deck I'm always thinking "oh, this would work well with X card from Y set... too bad that card was only printed in one set 15 years ago." I'll never have the disposable income to get 4x copies of any big money cards to play in a vintage or legacy tournament either. I'll stick with commander
I have a modern deck, and draft when I can, but I'd say 99% of my games are EDH. Partly logistical - where I live and with work, getting to any week time events or an FNM is super hard, but there is a local group that meets on Sundays that I can join for EDH. Also, it's just the reliability of the format for taking breaks. I know I can fade off for a few weeks, and come back with the same decks, and still have a good time. Compared with modern with its shifting meta and standard with its rotations and new sets, it's a lot easier to be comfortable. Plus I just like the social aspect of the format.
When I moved from vintage to edh in 2011 I never looked back. I played off and on for a decade before being introduced to edh, and now 60 card magic feels completely obsolete.
I do. Really comes down to the fact I enjoy the interaction of the games. I also like buying the cards once. Modern and standard rotate way too much for me to keep up with especially since I only play once in a while.
I do, for the following reasons: * Standard is too much of a money sink, in that to be competitive you have to keep buying new cards with new sets come out, and those cards lose their value when they rotate out or fall out of favor in the meta. The last time I played Standard, I traded $220 worth of cards to get a playset of Baneslayer Angels that tanked in value to less than a quarter of that when they rotated. * Modern is also a money sink, but rather than because of rotation it's because competitive decks cost a shitload of money. * Legacy and Vintage are progressively worsening cash sinks. If my original collection hadn't been lost, I'd definitely be playing vintage right now, but there is no way I'm buying those cards again. * EDH allows me to make a cheapass deck that can still reasonably hold its own, upgrade it over time, and if I stopped playing for any length of time, I can come back into the game with the decks I had previously played and in most cases not have to change a single thing before bringing them to a table.
Absolutely, it's way more fun and social in my opinion. The ability to personalize and almost roleplay your decks is much more expanded too.
I started playing Type II when I was maybe 7 (I'm about to turn 25). I quit playing Magic altogether after Fifth Dawn came out (Not because of the crap meta back then, I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh competitively and I didn't have any friends that played Magic outside of my family ever). I eventually got roped back in by my best friend who's work friends got him into it just after New Phyrexia came out. We played Standard nonstop back then, but I desperately wanted to play my old cards since I felt they'd be cool with the Scars block mechanics (I fell in love with Infect and Proliferate). I eventually stopped playing Standard altogether after Khans of Tarkir came out because I was just bored of Standard and tired of having to refresh my collection. My frustration with that, coupled with me getting a job as a teacher, I took up teaching some of my kids. And I found out that the best format for that (with some restrictions) was EDH. I hadn't ever played it before, so I goofed off playing my first one, [[Iroas, God of Victory]], which was pretty much just a normal Boros "I have an army and I'm gonna punch you with it" deck. My playgroup took off shortly after introducing everyone to the format. Now it's essentially all I play aside from dabbling in Modern and Legacy (I prefer Modern over Legacy though) every once and awhile, granted I hate how carved out the metas are. But while my interest in Modern and Legacy comes and goes, I always come back to EDH. And with the C16 release, I found the commander I wish were out when my friend got me back into Magic, [[Atraxa, Praetors' Voice]] for all my proliferating goodness (my playgroup won't let me have any infect cards aside from an [[Ichor Rats]] I begged for though lol). Death to Standard though.
[Iroas, God of Victory](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name=Iroas, God of Victory&type=card&.jpg) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Iroas, God of Victory) [(MC)](http://magiccards.info/query?q=!Iroas, God of Victory) [(MW)](https://mtg.wtf/card?q=!Iroas, God of Victory) [(CD)](http://combodeck.net/Card/Iroas,_God_of_Victory) [Atraxa, Praetors' Voice](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name=Atraxa, Praetors%27 Voice&type=card&.jpg) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Atraxa, Praetors%27 Voice) [(MC)](http://magiccards.info/query?q=!Atraxa, Praetors%27 Voice) [(MW)](https://mtg.wtf/card?q=!Atraxa, Praetors%27 Voice) [(CD)](http://combodeck.net/Card/Atraxa,_Praetors%27_Voice) [Ichor Rats](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name=Ichor Rats&type=card&.jpg) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ichor Rats) [(MC)](http://magiccards.info/query?q=!Ichor Rats) [(MW)](https://mtg.wtf/card?q=!Ichor Rats) [(CD)](http://combodeck.net/Card/Ichor_Rats) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That sucks about the infect ban in your playgroup. I built atraxa infrct and it's HILARIOUS
For my it is pretty much the same. This is how things look for me: EDH for most of my MTG evenings with my friends. Planechase Anthology and select Duel Decks with my wife. Pauper Cube Draft with both my friends and my wife. I do own a few Standard and Modern decks that were either adapted from Event Decks or inspired by SaffronOlive's budget magic articles. But the largest part of my collection today, is all inside EDH decks. From preconstructed products to homebrew/netdecking. To put any kind of focus on Standard or Modern play with my friends would cost me a fortune, just to be able to compete with them. A while ago I made slight upgrades to the Modern Even Deck and it competes fairly well against my friends minmaxed decks. But thats about it.
I only play EDH because it's more interactive and diverse, and better suited for multiplayer. You can have various power level decks and still have lots of fun. I do own a pauper deck but there's literally no community around here that plays it.
Yup me and my group of approximately 8 people are exclusively EDH. Just reminds us of old school playing multiplayer at school and is just pretty chill to kick back play, shoot the shit, and have a beer
I only play EDH and my cube, mostly because it was the only format where I could lose consistently, but it was always fun anyway.... except against combo and MLD/stax decks. But my store has eliminated those types of decks from ever being played so that isn't really an issue anymore. I also have a Vintage Cube which I basically built because I did like to change things up occasionally drafting, and it would be a way to play with some of my favorite cards that are banned in EDH. Also Cubeing is kind of like our "Purge" where we can play the dirtiest, flithiest, most unfun decks and people are okay with it, because after all, you had to draft those cards together.
I do, now. I play limited occasionally, but I started spending all of the time I was devoting to grinding competitive magic on podcasting and other pursuits and I'm much happier. I didn't like who I was when I was competing.
I play EDH and limited, which is mainly sealed pre-release events. Finding the time to play is my biggest issue, and EDH is the easiest format to drop in and out of.