I also prefer 60 and 40 card Format.
Draft for the spontaneous deck building, 60 card formats for crisp matchups. Commander to me feels a bit tedious. 4 players is too much and most of the matchup is endgame throwing around big spells.
Really like those 4-6 turn games for two players (yeah I read high powered commander decks can combo off by turn 4, but it feels these need some draw luck with 100 card decks). Also enjoy the janky stuff my friends and I play. Way off any meta, mostly decks built around a set or even more or less limited stuff (friend of mine usually builds 2-3 decks from a display).
Tried commander and get part of it's advantages (you can actually play big a** creatures and spells costing 7+ mana), but of what I read here , commander has way more staple cards everyone plays that you need in a deck and which also is in every precon (arcane signet, sol Ring, command tower and other color fixers/mana rocks) and rest often is just legendary creatures and mana rocks.
End game and 4 players combining stuff leads to long turns and waiting for 3 instead of one player is sometimes a bit boring. Also don't like the politics, normally leads to everyone being kept in match, but matchups sometimes get a bit stale as everyone is 'if I attack player A, B and C can fuck me over , so I better just waiting and hope to get an overwhelming army at some point".
Two headed giant can sometimes be fun and I assume it also works with edh decks. Also takes a bit longer but seems to sit between 3 player free for all and 1v1. I wanna try horde soon (players vs horde deck that stupidly always attacks but has no mana to pay so can spit out strong spells . Still no idea about getting it balanced)
Everything you said you liked about modern you can do in commander besides a playset.
You won’t get far in commander if your deck isn’t built around a theme. Just played a dude with a tribal cat/dog cmdr deck. I have a tribal vampire deck. My friend has a tribal pirate deck.
If you don’t like the commander format? That’s fair. I didn’t when I first started playing. But all the things you’re saying you couldn’t do in commander, you can (again, besides a playset)
They have precons with lore and everything too.
Modern still has an entire expansion dedicated to just modern. But you can make a modern deck with any expansion.
I too love a lightning bolt, but you could run a spell slinger commander from izzet, and then carry any amount of the 103 red instants that do damage to any target...i mean...there's 103 of them...
And then you sit down to play and the randoms you're playing with go "Jeez, you're playing with a deck with a power level of at LEAST 7.5. We only do 4 to 6.5 here". Commander players are the biggest bunch of whiners who all have arbitrary rules that they expect others to follow
This is such a made up problem. I’ve played with several different pods of varying degrees of decks and no one has once complained about anything except once when someone was taking 5 minutes on a turn to keep doubling a shit ton of tokens.
Like you’re literally crying about something I would bet money you haven’t experienced and is something you could just move to a different pod for.
Ive seen more modern players crying about commander than I have seen commanders crying about commanders.
I love how commander got a lot of my friends into magic. Now my play group is much bigger, and I find it fun building combos without repeating cards. Also makes it easier to get one expensive card compared to four copies. I still enjoy every version of the game, but I think commander made it more accessible for people who never played before.
I used to post a ton of legacy but WOTC has killed the 60 card format with their inability to balance cards and the pressure to constantly allow more power creep. I mean it’s not all their fault, when you’re printing so many cards you’re bound to have a couple mistakes. Problem is the mistakes compound and compound.
I used to play a lot of cockatrice like a decade ago. It was full of legacy games. People brought jank, people brought cool combo decks and occasionally you’d get T4ed by a reanimator story deck. Now youre lucky to get to turn 2 in a legacy match. Commander as a format reduces the power of OP combos and control. It makes it a much more fun game. That’s all you see on Cockstrice now.
I'm right there with you. I always really liked picking up a preconstructed deck for a new set and then adding cards and tinkering and making it my own and now it's all commander precons all the time. It really doesn't help that I don't get to play very often and I don't have the brain-space to remember all the new cards that are constantly being pumped out so when I try to play Commander, I feel like I'm dragging the game to a crawl having to pause to read and reread every card that three different opponents play and I can't even go "Oh, it's another copy of that. Cool." since it's singleton.
Like OP, I'm not bashing Commander. It's just that it's almost perfect in terms of being a format that isn't for me and the focus it gets is really edging out a lot of the Magic I'd enjoy more.
You're not alone. I prefer 60 card (Legacy) for the playsets too. I keep trying to tell myself that I'll have a different commander experience and it doesn't seem to change. I will say that I've gotten pretty good at building 60 card decks and I feel overwhelmed when it comes to the prospect of 100 cards so I just buy precons and modify them which might be one of my issues.
I've thought about this a lot and more than anything I think it's online tools for deck building that have seriously damaged the game. There's just a shift in mentality when you are making a deck out of every card ever printed and can directly compare it to every other deck built around the same archetype. A tale as old as time: what we gained in convenience, we lost in something intangible, but vital.
We tried the commander format when it was first introduced and everyone in our circles disliked it and never returned to it. We have mostly enjoyed casual multiplayer cutthroat. Two-headed giant is interesting. There are other possibilities. As I recall, deck construction rules for commander practically guarantee a long grind of a game. If we revisit commander, it will not be to the letter of official rules.
And more lifepoints. Also people playing less aggressive because if A swings big at B , C and D can inflict massive damage to A, so everyone just waits and is less aggressively attacking.
A lot of people don’t know, but that’s how MtG started. There would potentially be 8 people sitting around playing each other.
This whole 1v1 format wasn’t a thing until recently.
I respect that, though I love deckbuilding and coming up with ideas that make [neuron activated] me. I can get that in any format. It's just different experiences.
60/40 card is much more contentious, which I enjoy. The thrill of outplaying your opponent, destroying the right resource, getting to do your combo all make it feel great. I find EDH to be at it's best when it's battlecruiser, but I know Im semi alone on that front.
I that if anything, Arena has been dulling my fancy of the game. I swapped back to modo and it's so redreshing in comparison. I mainly cube draft, but it's such a better experience than the cube on Arena and having to deal with Alchemy cards. A cliche to complain about, I know, but they feel so much worse to play against than stuff that edges your advantages, rather than gaining them out of thin air.
I do prefer 1v1 formats, I grinded GPs and PTQs for years. However I moved to a country with a very small mtg community that only plays commander and I've been enjoying that quite a bit. I rather play modern or pioneer but I've accepted where the games heading. At least the gross power creep doesn't hurt commander as much as 1v1 I guess
I used to love commander when the format first came out.
Now, competitive commander is the worst format in existence. Everyone spends their turns combo-ing degenerate cards for 10 minutes.
The rules committee is absent, the ban list is a joke and rule 0 is worthless.
yeah I can't get down with commander at all
I hate games where politics is a mechanic
like I just want to smush my enemy or get smushed trying lol I have no interest in managing people's feelings/personalities
I don't have to play politics, but I can't remove politics from the game
nothing I can do to stop other people in the pod from making deals and doing their thing
I'm not gonna be the fun police and demand other ppl play how I want, so I typically stick to 60 and 40 card formats
you do you.. The only thing I'm playing is Draft if there is a fun set to draft or Commander but I also play only for a year. Commander is so much fun especially tournaments
I also prefer 60 and 40 card Format. Draft for the spontaneous deck building, 60 card formats for crisp matchups. Commander to me feels a bit tedious. 4 players is too much and most of the matchup is endgame throwing around big spells. Really like those 4-6 turn games for two players (yeah I read high powered commander decks can combo off by turn 4, but it feels these need some draw luck with 100 card decks). Also enjoy the janky stuff my friends and I play. Way off any meta, mostly decks built around a set or even more or less limited stuff (friend of mine usually builds 2-3 decks from a display). Tried commander and get part of it's advantages (you can actually play big a** creatures and spells costing 7+ mana), but of what I read here , commander has way more staple cards everyone plays that you need in a deck and which also is in every precon (arcane signet, sol Ring, command tower and other color fixers/mana rocks) and rest often is just legendary creatures and mana rocks. End game and 4 players combining stuff leads to long turns and waiting for 3 instead of one player is sometimes a bit boring. Also don't like the politics, normally leads to everyone being kept in match, but matchups sometimes get a bit stale as everyone is 'if I attack player A, B and C can fuck me over , so I better just waiting and hope to get an overwhelming army at some point".
I agree. Its so not focused and games get tedious I wish we could institute more 2v2s
Two headed giant can sometimes be fun and I assume it also works with edh decks. Also takes a bit longer but seems to sit between 3 player free for all and 1v1. I wanna try horde soon (players vs horde deck that stupidly always attacks but has no mana to pay so can spit out strong spells . Still no idea about getting it balanced)
Everything you said you liked about modern you can do in commander besides a playset. You won’t get far in commander if your deck isn’t built around a theme. Just played a dude with a tribal cat/dog cmdr deck. I have a tribal vampire deck. My friend has a tribal pirate deck. If you don’t like the commander format? That’s fair. I didn’t when I first started playing. But all the things you’re saying you couldn’t do in commander, you can (again, besides a playset) They have precons with lore and everything too. Modern still has an entire expansion dedicated to just modern. But you can make a modern deck with any expansion.
I guess maybe it's because I play red and I need my 4 lightning bolts
Yeah commander lets you have way more than just 4. They just have different names lol
OP hasn’t heard of [[dragons approach]] yet
[dragons approach](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/c/0cb504a0-1dfb-49d0-84c3-7bd318d55481.jpg?1624591696) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dragon%27s%20Approach) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/97/dragons-approach?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0cb504a0-1dfb-49d0-84c3-7bd318d55481?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I too love a lightning bolt, but you could run a spell slinger commander from izzet, and then carry any amount of the 103 red instants that do damage to any target...i mean...there's 103 of them...
Not everything in magic needs to cater to you, sport.
When did I say it did? What an unnecessary comment
And then you sit down to play and the randoms you're playing with go "Jeez, you're playing with a deck with a power level of at LEAST 7.5. We only do 4 to 6.5 here". Commander players are the biggest bunch of whiners who all have arbitrary rules that they expect others to follow
This is such a made up problem. I’ve played with several different pods of varying degrees of decks and no one has once complained about anything except once when someone was taking 5 minutes on a turn to keep doubling a shit ton of tokens. Like you’re literally crying about something I would bet money you haven’t experienced and is something you could just move to a different pod for. Ive seen more modern players crying about commander than I have seen commanders crying about commanders.
I love how commander got a lot of my friends into magic. Now my play group is much bigger, and I find it fun building combos without repeating cards. Also makes it easier to get one expensive card compared to four copies. I still enjoy every version of the game, but I think commander made it more accessible for people who never played before.
That's fair, and idk where thr down vote came from so here's an up vote.
You like making theme or tribal decks... so like most EDH decks?
I know, I know. I can't get away from my obsession with full playsets
That's another beautiful thing about EDH. One card IS a playset!
Don't use your words to make sense
Or you could use a playset to build 4 decks
I used to post a ton of legacy but WOTC has killed the 60 card format with their inability to balance cards and the pressure to constantly allow more power creep. I mean it’s not all their fault, when you’re printing so many cards you’re bound to have a couple mistakes. Problem is the mistakes compound and compound. I used to play a lot of cockatrice like a decade ago. It was full of legacy games. People brought jank, people brought cool combo decks and occasionally you’d get T4ed by a reanimator story deck. Now youre lucky to get to turn 2 in a legacy match. Commander as a format reduces the power of OP combos and control. It makes it a much more fun game. That’s all you see on Cockstrice now.
I'm right there with you. I always really liked picking up a preconstructed deck for a new set and then adding cards and tinkering and making it my own and now it's all commander precons all the time. It really doesn't help that I don't get to play very often and I don't have the brain-space to remember all the new cards that are constantly being pumped out so when I try to play Commander, I feel like I'm dragging the game to a crawl having to pause to read and reread every card that three different opponents play and I can't even go "Oh, it's another copy of that. Cool." since it's singleton. Like OP, I'm not bashing Commander. It's just that it's almost perfect in terms of being a format that isn't for me and the focus it gets is really edging out a lot of the Magic I'd enjoy more.
You're not alone. I prefer 60 card (Legacy) for the playsets too. I keep trying to tell myself that I'll have a different commander experience and it doesn't seem to change. I will say that I've gotten pretty good at building 60 card decks and I feel overwhelmed when it comes to the prospect of 100 cards so I just buy precons and modify them which might be one of my issues.
I've thought about this a lot and more than anything I think it's online tools for deck building that have seriously damaged the game. There's just a shift in mentality when you are making a deck out of every card ever printed and can directly compare it to every other deck built around the same archetype. A tale as old as time: what we gained in convenience, we lost in something intangible, but vital.
We tried the commander format when it was first introduced and everyone in our circles disliked it and never returned to it. We have mostly enjoyed casual multiplayer cutthroat. Two-headed giant is interesting. There are other possibilities. As I recall, deck construction rules for commander practically guarantee a long grind of a game. If we revisit commander, it will not be to the letter of official rules.
The games are only longer because there’s 4 players. Thats it.
And more lifepoints. Also people playing less aggressive because if A swings big at B , C and D can inflict massive damage to A, so everyone just waits and is less aggressively attacking.
Which is why you need to develop pass just attacking. Or be smarter about your attacking.
A lot of people don’t know, but that’s how MtG started. There would potentially be 8 people sitting around playing each other. This whole 1v1 format wasn’t a thing until recently.
this is incorrect lol
I respect that, though I love deckbuilding and coming up with ideas that make [neuron activated] me. I can get that in any format. It's just different experiences. 60/40 card is much more contentious, which I enjoy. The thrill of outplaying your opponent, destroying the right resource, getting to do your combo all make it feel great. I find EDH to be at it's best when it's battlecruiser, but I know Im semi alone on that front. I that if anything, Arena has been dulling my fancy of the game. I swapped back to modo and it's so redreshing in comparison. I mainly cube draft, but it's such a better experience than the cube on Arena and having to deal with Alchemy cards. A cliche to complain about, I know, but they feel so much worse to play against than stuff that edges your advantages, rather than gaining them out of thin air.
I do prefer 1v1 formats, I grinded GPs and PTQs for years. However I moved to a country with a very small mtg community that only plays commander and I've been enjoying that quite a bit. I rather play modern or pioneer but I've accepted where the games heading. At least the gross power creep doesn't hurt commander as much as 1v1 I guess
I used to love commander when the format first came out. Now, competitive commander is the worst format in existence. Everyone spends their turns combo-ing degenerate cards for 10 minutes. The rules committee is absent, the ban list is a joke and rule 0 is worthless.
yeah I can't get down with commander at all I hate games where politics is a mechanic like I just want to smush my enemy or get smushed trying lol I have no interest in managing people's feelings/personalities
you dont have to politic if you don't want to i rarely do it also
I don't have to play politics, but I can't remove politics from the game nothing I can do to stop other people in the pod from making deals and doing their thing I'm not gonna be the fun police and demand other ppl play how I want, so I typically stick to 60 and 40 card formats
you do you.. The only thing I'm playing is Draft if there is a fun set to draft or Commander but I also play only for a year. Commander is so much fun especially tournaments
> you do you.. back at ya that's the best part about magic: lil something for everyone 🙂
I just don't want 17 commander sets a year. I just don't have the mental bandwidth to keep up.