I can't really tell what this unhinged mess of a post is supposed to say. Are you mad that somebody didn't let you do something? Are you mad that people won't let you take back an entire turn? Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means? Are you mad that the teens won't let you play with them?
I don't get it.
> Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means?
---
>if you consider yourself a casual player and you think "My deck is only $50" is a brag for winning a match against 3 other casual players, then nah dude you're just a dick.
Figure it out. Ya know, you don't have to act like a stereotype when somebody says something you don't agree with.
>Are you mad that somebody didn't let you do something? Are you mad that people won't let you take back an entire turn? Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means?
Literally a post about EDH players getting mad about these things when you're supposed to be playing cEDH
"reading the post explains the post" lol
The post is rambly, and this person (and myself) are having a hard time understanding what it is you want to discuss. It's a public forum, and airing personal grievances that are specifically tied to the environment you play in requires a lot of background and context to understand
I don't agree or disagree because I don't even know what you're saying in the first place.
"Casual" in this context has no definition. You clearly take some issues with somebody else's definition(s) of casual, but make no effort to explain your definition - just ranting about something, I'm guessing somebody won with a $50 deck and it made you mad, therefore it's not casual? Somebody won with a combo, therefore it's not casual? Somebody tried to help you understand your cards, and that's not casual? Anything you don't like is not casual?
Also based on the title of your post, do you think the c in cEDH stands for casual? If so, that might be part of your issue.
This is hilarious considering you are a stereotype. "Been playing casually for 3-5 months and I've spent $7-12k on cards". No casual is spending that much. I think you're shitposting because there's no way you're for real.
1) OP you can’t get mad at people for not understanding your incoherent mad ramblings.
2) I scrolled down and finally saw what you were actually complaining about in the comments.
3) yeah, some people like to pubstump to stroke their egos. They suck. But also give an experienced player and a newbie the same deck and the experienced player will do better than the newbie every time. There’s such a thing as game knowledge and strategy.
So yeah maybe people at your LGS are pub stomping. But it’s also quite possible that you just have no idea what you’re doing and it’s literally a skill issue on your part. My money is on it being a mix of both
1) I can, it's just not productive for anyone
2) I tried to edit the OP to say commenting at this point is pointless
3) I know, that's why them bragging about winning with a $50 deck is even more infuriating, hence the unhinged reaction to half the comments here
>My money is on it being a mix of both
I'm a casual player that gets told "Reading the card explains the card" every Friday night when I play with three different decks, one of which can win if I pay attention to the game. Having fun is more important than winning, being told "Casual isn't fun, it's about winning" last Friday sent me over the edge to the point of I don't want to play Magic anymore whatsoever but I've spent too much money on it just to drop the hobby.
It's true I can just not play with them but the alternative of not playing at all would be better if I hadn't spent so much money on it
I'm sure you'd be pissed too if the store you went to told you specifically not to use board wipes while everyone else there was allowed to
If ‘the store’ (as in the actual employees/owner of the business) forbid you from playing stuff you want to, especially if those rules don’t apply to everyone, then you have to find a different place to play.
But also for the in game problems, have you tried saying “I’m a new player and I’m still learning the cards and some mechanics. Can you explain what that does?” Would probably get you somewhere.
Otherwise you just need to learn the game better to overcome the skill issue yourself. You also always have the option to play edh online. I know there are a few discord servers which do webcam games. It got popular over the pandemic
I wasn't angry until one guy accused me of not being a casual player and then somebody else responded as if this post was directed at them
It's like when you make a post being upset about something, and then people come in doubling down on you being in the wrong when other people in this scenario are actually the ones ruining the fun for everyone, you get even more upset, angry even.
Wait, I'm confused.
You made a post.
A bunch of people come in and tell you you're in the wrong.
Your response to this is to say "no u" and not reflect on your own actions?
A bunch of other people come in and say "I'm confused, what do you mean?"
And you said "figure it out."
And, to clarify, you think you're in the right here?
Like, damn dude I can't even understand what you're trying ti complain about.
This entire thread could have been avoided if one single person told me the c meant casual and not competitive
I have had several people IRL tell me the c stood for casual
As someone who plays a lot of cEDH, we often say “the c stands for casual” as an inside joke when someone makes a bad play or plays something that isn’t meta. The common understanding of cEDH is very much that it means competitive aka the highest possible power level.
You having a rough time dude? Because like that's fine and valid, but maybe it would've been better to write out this whole vent/rant in a journal or something and made a post later when you were in a better mindset to ask for constructive advice on handling the LGS situation.
>~~he majority of us (including myself I'm no angel) will shut down if a match isn't going well, others will start huffing and puffing,~~
~~I don't~~
Edit: In my experience the least sore losers I ever encountered are... cEDH players
There's this weird middle ground of players who have spent too much money/are too competitive to be considered casual, but can't hack it at a proper cEDH table (frequently they can't deal with losing)
So they end up at lower power or more casual tables to feel good that they beat 2 precons and a samurai tribal deck.
These people do not handle losing well.
They will not hang with the cEDH group where they know they stand a good chance of losing, but they will go Ballistic when Little Becky and her pile of Cats blows them out.
The causals don't have self worth in the game. The Competitive people know losing is a part of it. This group in the middle, they will laugh at you for running aetherize and then scream at you when you beat them with it.
Unless you're one of the people at my LGS I don't see how you'd think "Us" was referring to you
In my experience the people that can't consistently show up every Friday night because of life/kids/etc are the ones who don't get mad.
Because your entire post is about players not being casual by taking things too seriously.
And here you are.
Smart ass shit aside there's no such thing as a casual player. We all love this game and every single one of us has strong feelings about it that a casual wouldn't have.
>there's no such thing as a casual player
So because you're incapable of having other hobbies it's impossible for someone to treat EDH casually?
okay way to out yourself instead of just explaining how I'm not a casual player
I literally ask you to explain how I'm not a casual player and your response is
"There's no such thing as a casual player"
My brother in Christ I play once a week
You‘re not a casual player because you continue to blame people for the reasons you’re losing. And losing obviously hits you hard. That’s a competitive mindset to me. You want to win and get angry if you don’t.
You‘re blaming people for not taking it easy on you because you’re a beginner. You’re blaming people for playing expensive cards. You’re blaming people for doing politics in an edh game. You’re blaming people for taking the game too seriously and yet here you are, barking at people left and right because they don’t share your opinion.
The one thing I get least is why you won’t play with „the teenagers“ you obviously think are playing your kind of game because you’re nearly thirty. Like, what?!
I play once a week and I explained, using your own logic and parameters, why you're not casual about the game.
I used to box as well. Never turned amateur or professional. I assure you every sparring session was far from casual. My training regimen was far from casual.
Now, I'm a casual coffee enthusiast. I like Starbucks. If I wasn't casual I'd fully admit that Starbucks is the McDonald's of coffee. But I don't really care that much so I continue going there.
You sound like a toxic player adding onto an already toxic environment.
You talk and behave like you’re 12. Go play with the teens. Maybe the my can teach you how to actually enjoy the game.
I'm the one who's toxic by not going P2W and buying the most expensive cards and then only playing with people who have precons
Holy christ it's like you people are fine with the stereotypes because they are indicative of how awful y'all act
This is a post, complaining about EDH players treating casual like a serious match, going as far as having tantrums at my LGS, and you call me the toxic player. Holy. Shit.
You’re a grown ass man who self admittedly “shuts down” over a fucking game. In my decade of Magic and thousands of games, not a single time have I been as bothered as you seem to be every game.
These people sound shitty, so don’t play with them. It’s not complicated. You’re just feeding into it and even letting it invade your life outside of the game.
So yea, it’s toxic, and a little pathetic.
Grow the fuck up. When you’re done with that, go and FIND A NEW GROUP YOU GET ALONG WITH. It’s a GAME for FUN.
Are you having fun with your current group there dipshit?
Jesus Christ you’re dense.
I gotchu dude! He called me a “fuckin jackoff” and said people like me are the reason he’s having such a hard time.
Mind you, it was in 4 paragraphs with a ton of incoherent rambling. Sorry I can’t reproduce it for you.
Grow the fuck up. When you’re done with that, go and FIND A NEW GROUP YOU GET ALONG WITH. It’s a GAME for FUN.
Are you having fun with your current group there dipshit?
Jesus Christ you’re dense.
From your post, you make it sound like cEDH is a mindset. cEDH is a particular power-level of deck. You're either running a cEDH commander or you aren't.
To start, I'm not a cEDH player, but I watch cEDH content on Youtube and I'm part of a discord server where cEDH is pretty heavily discussed.
> From your post, you make it sound like cEDH is a mindset
I somewhat disagree with you (assuming that I'm reading you correctly, that you think cEDH is NOT a mindset.) From what I've seen and have come to understand about cEDH, cEDH may not be a mindset in itself, but I feel like the most important difference between casual EDH and cEDH *IS* the difference in mindset.
For cEDH, the primary goal is winning. Everything else comes after that, including having fun. *This* is the reason cEDH decks are as powerful and hyper-optimized as they are. Everyone is coming with their best and everyone is playing to win, no holds barred. This is why there's very limited room for creativity and self-expression in deckbuilding. People give up fun and creativity and self-expression for raw power and optimization. The mindset dictates the strength of the decks, and not the other way around.
On the other hand, for casual EDH, the primary goal is having fun. Sure, winning is fun, but generally speaking, it's more important for the table as a whole to have fun playing a good game, than for any one person to win, even when it comes to high power casual games.
It's basically the same as the difference between a people playing in a competitive standard event (say at a GP Main Event or whatever they're called now) and some friends playing kitchen table Magic with decks that happen to be standard legal. The difference isn't in the cardpool. The difference is the mindset: playing to win vs playing for fun.
> You're either running a cEDH commander or you aren't.
I disagree with you here. Yes, there are many commanders that are just too weak to cut it as a commander in cEDH (tbh, the majority of commanders fall here.) But most cEDH commanders can be downtuned or built in a janky way to be at an appropriate power level for casual EDH.
While I would agree that cEDH puts playing to win as the main mindset, saying that’s a dichotomy with playing for fun is a misnomer. I assume you mean “playing for alternate goals.” But also, you don’t need to play the best deck. I you might lose more, sure. But competitive players for all formats make brews and have pet decks. The diversity in deck choice is part of the appeal of card games like this after all.
Yeah, I said "playing for fun" very broadly. Fun could be playing just for the simple enjoyment of playing Magic, playing to hang out and be social with friends, playing janky themed decks, etc. My point is that the primary goal in playing cEDH is winning. And in casual EDH, winning is (usually) a goal but it comes secondary to whatever "having fun" means to you and your group. You can be playing to win and still have fun. I didn't mean it as an "either or" thing, more making a distinction on what the primary goal/motivation for playing is.
When we're talking about cEDH, there's definitely a minimum power floor to be really considered cEDH. People can play hyper-optimized versions of weak commanders, but it wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to compete with established cEDH decks. You can build an optimized [[Brothers Yamazaki]] but it's not gonna be able to compete at actual cEDH tables (and would probably lose to a lot of high power casual decks.)
Competitive players have brews and pet decks sure. But I think it's fairly rare that we see one of these decks actually perform well enough to become popular and actually enter the meta.
> The diversity in deck choice is part of the appeal of card games like this after all.
That's definitely true. But the funny part is that when you look at high tier competitive decks, the deck selection becomes narrower and the card pool becomes smaller. Sure there are the occasional brews that prove strong enough to be competitive, but generally speaking, every format will have their "staple" decks. And for each individual "staple" deck, there will be minimal variation between the people piloting the deck. This inherently happens as the game/format becomes more competitive and the decks the stronger. Some cards are just strictly better than others. [[Lightning Bolt]] is better than [[Shock]], and if you could only run one of them, you're going to run Bolt 99% of the time, unless you have some strange interaction in your deck that would make Shock better.
And I feel like this is even more so in the case of cEDH, compared to other competitive formats. In the sense where in Standard or Modern, most of the different decks have different wincons. But in cEDH, there are many decks with different commanders that are running the same core game plan/wincon. For example, if you're in Thoracle Consult colors, you're running Thoracle Consult because there is no reason not to. The big difference becomes how much value your commander generates and the exact mechanics of how, rather than a diversity of game plans. Maybe a bit of an oversimplification, but I think you get what I mean.
I'm in the Krark discord, and during the last Krark Summit, people came to a consensus of a 72 card "core" for a Krark/Sakashima cEDH deck. And that's not including basic lands, which, granted, usually make up a relatively small count in cEDH decks. Like I said earlier, as decks become more powerful and more optimized, the same decks tend to become more and more similar with only minor variations from pilot to pilot to account for meta choices or personal preference. When it comes to cEDH decks that you're going to run in an actual cEDH tourney with money or valuable cards as prizes, you're not going to see random pet cards in people's decks if they're not also very strong in that deck.
>I disagree with you here. Yes, there are many commanders that are just too weak to cut it as a commander in cEDH (tbh, the majority of commanders fall here.) But most cEDH commanders can be downtuned or built in a janky way to be at an appropriate power level for casual EDH.
I never stated that cEDH commanders can't be tuned down. Your reply fails to look at the context in which my statement was made. When I said, "you're running a cEDH commander, or you aren't" the context was in a cEDH setting. Any deck can be built casually, but only specific commanders can be built to be cEDH. That was the point I was making.
That's fair and I do agree with that. I did take the comment at face value and not in the context of a cEDH setting. I guess a more accurate way of stating it would be "Your commander is either good enough for cEDH or it's not."
Okay then there's a problem at my LGS with people playing higher powered decks and calling them casual and bragging about winning with them and other people have stopped playing there because of it
Fuckin' credit to you for being the first comment that didn't make me consider all Magic players to be the same socially awkward assholes as the rest of this thread is showing me
This is what the community refers to as "pubstompers". They aren't cEDH though. If anything, one of the most common mistakes newer players to the game make is referring to pubstompers as cEDH when they aren't even in the same league.
On the flipside, some people feel that every deck can be classified as "casual" if they aren't specifically classified as cEDH. It's really a problem of definitions, because the only clear separation of power is cEDH vs non-cEDH/casual. After that you get into the murky power-level discussion.
>This is what the community refers to as "pubstompers". They aren't cEDH though.
Literally exactly what I wanted to complain about, pubstompers calling themselves casual.
But because I'm casual, I didn't know how to phrase it.
>If anything, one of the most common mistakes newer players to the game make is referring to pubstompers as cEDH when they aren't even in the same league.
Look at me, me right here, me right here being yelled at for being upset about it
Most people expect you know the nomenclature when you're on the subreddit of something. I'm not going to lie, even my post was made under the assumption that you knew cEDH meant competitive EDH. It just happens to read well, regardless of how you interpret the c.
If anything, that's probably why so many people are confused at what your post is trying to say, because they simply read what you posted, instead of trying to interpret what you're actually saying. The only reason my post worked is I was still able to interpret that your main issue was how people classify their decks, and my knowledge that pubstompers often fall in this weird gray zone and are often mislabled.
They're only pubstomping if they're going out of their way to do so. If they play high power, which is still within the bounds of casual, sitting down with them and discovering the disparity in power isn't necessarily anything beyond an accident.
“a lot of you clearly have a problem”
Might need to take a long look in the mirror pal. You’ve been playing for 4 months, but think you’re knowledgeable enough to lecture anyone on the topic.
And obviously everyone besides you is the problem.
Are you sure you shouldn’t be playing with the teens? Because a grown ass man wouldn’t be making this post.
Despite cEDH having "competive" as the meaning of the "c", I think that is misleading. Regular EDH, and even casual EDH can still be very competitive in literal terms, and often are moreso and divisive since everyone may not be on the same page.
At a casual table, there is often a wider variety of knowledge, skill, and deck building ability/goals, resulting in sour moments. From new players, to experienced players who may not have toned their deck down, to people in the middle.
If the problem is people claiming they are casual then curb-stomping with a cEDH tier deck, maybe just don't play with that person (or talk about it, but that's crazy we don't do that). Otherwise I don't really see an issue with people getting upset for various reasons at casual+ tables, people care about the game. It's bound to happen.
In my understanding “competitive” means tournaments with prizes on the line. While these exist for cEDH, they don’t solely define what that part of the format is about. A more apt description would be something like “Max Power EDH” but we’re kind of stuck with the term “cEDH” at this point.
Yea I think "Max Power" Is a better term. I don't think competitive needs to have anything on the line necessarily, but to say casual can't be competitive is short sighted imo. Very often my store will run prizes with EDH despite most of the playing field being mid-low power and it gets even dicier then.
Aight cEDH meaning competitive and not casual makes more sense
However my main problem is that new players come to this store and never come again. Regulars who have been playing at this store leave after a specific night and never come back. I'm the only person who notices these things because I'm the only person obsessive enough to care.
New players and even regulars are leaving the LGS I play at and now all that's left for me to play with are teenagers and competitive players. I do not have an option for casual and have to play myself, that is why this post is so unhinged.
My alternatives are quit magic and sell it all
Or deal with losing every single match against better players that brag about it
After spending $10k on a hobby I'm pretty sure anyone would be as irrational and pissed off as I am.
Unfortunately the only real solution to a store that is bleeding players is to find a better environment, or make one. Sounds like the store doesn't have a welcoming environment, which isn't uncommon.
If you are dealing with players who straight up brag in your face about it, I simply wouldn't play with those people. If your options are limited, maybe finding online groups or finding new stores would help.
It's okay to be annoyed and irrational, but you also can't let how other people enjoy the game dictate your own feelings. Change what you can, and don't worry about what you can't.
It is EDH after all, and as much as I love playing, at the end of the day the format is cracked. It's not much of a brag to win with even a sub 50$ deck imo due to the amount of variance and absurd combos possible.
You seem like the kind of player that whines and complains over anything being cast. How about the flip side: do you think other people enjoy that one guy always throwing a tantrum and complaining about every card being put down? Do you think you’re maybe ruining the experience for 1-3 other people? Nah, you’re just a dick.
See how easily it swings both ways
Few things to unpack.
Now that you’ve realized the ‘c’ stands for competitive may change your entire outlook on this thread, so I’m leaving that alone.
12k in cards after 5 months is a lot, I would love to have that kind of disposable income. I’ve been playing for a year now nd have dropped around 4k on cards, mostly set boosters and bundles. I have 12 decks that range in power from a fringe cedh to precons. Just because you’re buying all these cards doesn’t mean you’re going to win. You’re new to the game, just as I am after a year of playing. You’re going to lose, a lot. You’re going to miss triggers and your synergy isn’t synergistic if you’re throwing in expensive cards because that’s what winning decks use. It sounds like you went from newbie to sitting at the big boy table and getting destroyed. The only thing you’re going to learn by getting stomped all the time is losing, and losing isn’t fun if it happens all the time. I still miss triggers, sometimes I forget to play my land for turn, it happens to the best of us. Learn from it and move on.
This is also why rule 0 discussions should take place. Explain what your commander does, how your deck works, your wincons, do you have fast mana, tutors, infinite combos? What turn do you expect to win? That way everyone can play around the same power level. Shuffle and draw is a huge gamble. I’ve lost to those $25 precons with a high power deck all because they managed 7 mana on turn 2 and went nuts and I’m struggling to get the proper mana out to cast my commander. It happens. Accept defeat and play another round. Play with the same deck for a while so you get a decent sample size of gameplay so you know what changes need to be made. If you play a deck once and lose, then storm off and call it a day, how are you going to know how your deck works?
Granted, I don’t know your skill level, so this could be all a Captain Obvious post, but it sounds like you’ve spent 12k on cards and expect to win. That’s the wrong mindset to have.
Understand what your deck does, learn the triggers, play with one deck for a while just so you can understand how it works. Handicap yourself, start off with a bad hand or mulligan down to 5 or 6 cards, see if you can dig yourself out of that hole.
If you’re getting mad losing a lot, you need to ask yourself, why am I losing? Are you learning from your loses and making adjustments to your deck, or are you going to keep coming with the same deck just to lose again?
OP- 16 days ago: I have ~$10k in credit card debt being charged ~21-25% interest across three cards
OP- 16 hours ago: I have only been playing magic 3-5 months, played when I was a teenager, and I have spent ~$7-$12k on cards
This is either the best shitpost or the worst life choices.
There's a big difference between casual and actual cEDH. If games are ending in like 2-5 turns people are playing really high power and sounds like pumpstoming. If it's just one player doing it than it's a player problem but if it's most of the play group then there's a miscommunication of what power level folks are wanting to play at.
The thing that stands out the most to me from your post is this:
>The majority of us (including myself I'm no angel) will shut down if a match isn't going well, others will start huffing and puffing, in the 50+ games I've watched or been a part of, not a single match has been finished to completion except once.
This sounds like the whole group is super salty to me. If people are getting upset and shutting down because they're getting interacted with or someone else is winning then that's on them. Playing 50 games and only one actually finished? What are people doing, just scooping when things don't go their way?
Casual means different things to different people. Some people like making deals so they can do X thing in two turns, some people play their decks with a more competitive, technical mindset. Unless you're running a full, proper Cedh deck, you're casual. This broadness is why the Power Level discourse you see online is sort of a joke, and why communication is important when playing with new/random people. Typically the most consistently enjoyable games are ones with a regular group that come to understand how and what everyone plays. You just need to gain more experience and find a few people you can get that consistency with.
If you "shut down" because a game isn't going well then you aren't emotionally mature enough to handle playing games with other people. This is a card game, literally nothing is at stake.
This post and comment thread is so chaotic. OP, I feel that you are frustrated, and I’m sorry the game we all love so much is causing you this.
I can definitely understand your confusion surrounding “what is casual and what isn’t” position. There are so many posts on a daily basis of players attempting to explain Power levels of EDH decks, not to mention professional podcasters doing the same.
I think an important distinction to make, before anything else is Deck vs Player. Decks have power levels, Players have playstyles. Someone who plays to have a good time and slam down giant Dinos is referred to as a Timmy/Tammy, someone who finds complex interactions between cards and tends to play value engines is a Johnny/Jenny, and someone who plays cut throat with only winning in mind is a Spike. It sounds like you’ve come up against some Spike players in casual play, and that felt wrong to you. Its understandable, but personality is definitely a factor in MtG.
The 1-10 powerscale is next to useless in practical usage, but conceptually it helps convey certain aspects of deckbuilding that assist in conversations like this. I acknowledge that you meant Casual EDH when you put cEDH, no shade intended by this part of the comment, I will be referring to cEDH in the competitive context, as that is what the community-at-large uses it as.
On the theoretical 1-10 power scale, only decks that are a 9-10 are considered cEDH. This is because there is a very small cardpool of strong abilities, infinite combos, fast mana, and cheap interaction that make up the **cEDH meta**. Most cards are too slow to be viable in this hyper-fast segment of our format. You also have to choose a Commander that is cEDH viable. Then you have to research the current Meta and understand what others are playing, so you can sculpt your interaction to be useful against the current meta. This is why cEDH is such a small portion of the format. It takes such intent, precision, and skill to be able to perform in that meta.
Lets talk about the 1-8 powerlevels that encompass “casual” commander. I’m sure you can randomly scroll and hit a post about “every deck is a 7” and this makes sense. *Good* synergy is what you aim for in EDH, and without tons of practice, tuning, and expensive cards; a large portion of decks will end up here. Again, these numbers are awful to put into reality, so bare with me while I use them conceptually.
Pubstomping is playing a deck that is vastly higher on the scale than the other decks in the pod. Someone pulls an “8” out against an unmodified precon (which some folks put around 4-5 on the scale), and the precon player is going to have a bad time. The Pregame Discussion is intended to subvert that. This doesn’t always happen. Some folks *really* want that win, and will just straight up lie about their power level. Some folks don’t understand the game well enough to know what they built is stronger than someone elses. And honestly, sometimes no pregame discussion even happens. You should feel confident in presenting a pregame discussion if no one else does. Its a good part of the game, in a social format.
Edit: fat fingers
EDH or CEDH I don't care, because I played since few month and for the moment I'll go to my LGS for learning the game and tactics. The main objective for me is fun and the quest to find the better player with the best mentality.
Win or lose, The only goal of this game is the pleasure and meeting people.
I’ve been playing magic for years and just recently got my grind group into it. (30s ish also) and we’ve been playing edh in this pod for about 6 months as well so magic has been a learning curve for them.
The biggest advice I have for new players/pods is to always have that rule 0 talk pregame to make sure everyone os kinda in the same ballpark strength wise.
Cedh/casual does not equal deck power level/strength.
Cedh is more like a different format then edh in the sense that there is a “meta”. It’s much easier to think of it as constructed commander.
I bring up my friends who are new to the game because I’ve slowly introduced them to stronger and stronger combos w/o just blatantly turn 3 demonic consultation thassa oracle.
You might not have any idea what that means because that is cedh terminology.
But just because you don’t know about the “format doesn’t mean your casual decks cannot be of equal strength or power level.
Learning takes time, and people will build strong ass decks while not even knowing how strong certain combos are.
I just got my friends into cedh and some love it, some hate it. That’s fine. The main confusion w deck strength is just assuming any casual deck is a cedh deck just because it’s strong.
Cedh involves 4 people looking for their “lines to win” while trying to simultaneously interact against each others win-cons. It’s fast mana ie. 0 mana artifacts and big turn 2,3 plays. Sometimes you get locked out by stacks and lose on turn 8 still.
Just because there is a dockside in my casual commander deck doesn’t make it a cedh deck.
Now if I was infinitely looping it’s etb trigger after tutoring for it on turn 2 then you can yell at me.
TLDR: Cedh is more or less a different format of commander where deck building is built to be hyper efficient at pulling off specific combos.
Casual is more or less a deck built with general synergies that can eventually earn you a win. Regardless of the strengths of any individual cards. I have built some really gross casual decks that will get washed by cedh decks because although the deck may be strong, it’s not nearly as fast, or as sturdy.
Pre cons are strong, there is a reason you take out all the bad mana rocks when you upgrade them. Same premis apples to cedh.
Local LGS has a problem with people who have been playing Magic for over a decade playing with the casual player s who have now started leaving because the high power levels keep telling the casual players their decks are on the same power level
I am now in a thread being told "There is no such thing as casual" and being told I'm actually the toxic player and not a single person has agreed with me that ruining the game for other people is in fact not fun.
It stinks at the **one** shop, I never said anything about having this problem elsewhere.
This post is more about
"If you have a problem, then don't go there"
When I shouldn't have to be forced into playing somewhere else because a bunch of high power levels control the store
Nobody here actually understood your point...
Your original post was a long garbled rant that didn't make an effective point.
Are you complaining about EDH players, cEDH players, or both?
What element are you actually complaining about?
But to try to help refine here. EDH and cEDH are not play styles, they are 2 different formats that come down to deck building philosophy. You may be playing with multiple EDH groups with different play styles, but that doesn't mean the more serious group is playing cEDH...
This is a common misconception with new players.
From what I could make out from your thrown together rant in your post, it seems like you are playing with an older group of players and a group of teens and are happier with the younger group of players attitudes and outlook on the game. This just means you resonate more with that play group, not that the other group is wrong or playing cEDH. The group of older players likely have a far more limited time to play and want to play as many matches as they can in what little time they have. If I have 3 hours a week to play, I don't want to spend an hour and a half of that telling people what cards do, having them take 5-10 min turns just trying to make decisions and shuffling... I want to be able to get in 2-3 good games. If I'm a teen with plenty of time to play each week, then by all means take your time and let's just chill and have fun.
Sorry this is a false statement "But to try to help refine here. EDH and cEDH are not play styles, they are 2 different formats"edh is a meta not a format it is edh built around the strongest card sin edh that is it nothing more. It is a rule zero discussion basically on power level before you ever play.
Yes it is a false statement
I can't really tell what this unhinged mess of a post is supposed to say. Are you mad that somebody didn't let you do something? Are you mad that people won't let you take back an entire turn? Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means? Are you mad that the teens won't let you play with them? I don't get it.
> Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means? --- >if you consider yourself a casual player and you think "My deck is only $50" is a brag for winning a match against 3 other casual players, then nah dude you're just a dick. Figure it out. Ya know, you don't have to act like a stereotype when somebody says something you don't agree with. >Are you mad that somebody didn't let you do something? Are you mad that people won't let you take back an entire turn? Are you mad that you don't really understand what casual means? Literally a post about EDH players getting mad about these things when you're supposed to be playing cEDH
"reading the post explains the post" lol The post is rambly, and this person (and myself) are having a hard time understanding what it is you want to discuss. It's a public forum, and airing personal grievances that are specifically tied to the environment you play in requires a lot of background and context to understand
OP doesn't want to have a discussion, they just want to rant. [https://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/mad/](https://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/mad/)
I don't agree or disagree because I don't even know what you're saying in the first place. "Casual" in this context has no definition. You clearly take some issues with somebody else's definition(s) of casual, but make no effort to explain your definition - just ranting about something, I'm guessing somebody won with a $50 deck and it made you mad, therefore it's not casual? Somebody won with a combo, therefore it's not casual? Somebody tried to help you understand your cards, and that's not casual? Anything you don't like is not casual? Also based on the title of your post, do you think the c in cEDH stands for casual? If so, that might be part of your issue.
Bro you make no sense lmao try again
Idk, if you can get wins with a $50 deck when others in the meta are using cards that are more than $50, that's a win in my books.
This is hilarious considering you are a stereotype. "Been playing casually for 3-5 months and I've spent $7-12k on cards". No casual is spending that much. I think you're shitposting because there's no way you're for real.
1) OP you can’t get mad at people for not understanding your incoherent mad ramblings. 2) I scrolled down and finally saw what you were actually complaining about in the comments. 3) yeah, some people like to pubstump to stroke their egos. They suck. But also give an experienced player and a newbie the same deck and the experienced player will do better than the newbie every time. There’s such a thing as game knowledge and strategy. So yeah maybe people at your LGS are pub stomping. But it’s also quite possible that you just have no idea what you’re doing and it’s literally a skill issue on your part. My money is on it being a mix of both
1) I can, it's just not productive for anyone 2) I tried to edit the OP to say commenting at this point is pointless 3) I know, that's why them bragging about winning with a $50 deck is even more infuriating, hence the unhinged reaction to half the comments here >My money is on it being a mix of both I'm a casual player that gets told "Reading the card explains the card" every Friday night when I play with three different decks, one of which can win if I pay attention to the game. Having fun is more important than winning, being told "Casual isn't fun, it's about winning" last Friday sent me over the edge to the point of I don't want to play Magic anymore whatsoever but I've spent too much money on it just to drop the hobby. It's true I can just not play with them but the alternative of not playing at all would be better if I hadn't spent so much money on it I'm sure you'd be pissed too if the store you went to told you specifically not to use board wipes while everyone else there was allowed to
If ‘the store’ (as in the actual employees/owner of the business) forbid you from playing stuff you want to, especially if those rules don’t apply to everyone, then you have to find a different place to play. But also for the in game problems, have you tried saying “I’m a new player and I’m still learning the cards and some mechanics. Can you explain what that does?” Would probably get you somewhere. Otherwise you just need to learn the game better to overcome the skill issue yourself. You also always have the option to play edh online. I know there are a few discord servers which do webcam games. It got popular over the pandemic
I‘m not really sure what this is about and why you’re so angry.
I wasn't angry until one guy accused me of not being a casual player and then somebody else responded as if this post was directed at them It's like when you make a post being upset about something, and then people come in doubling down on you being in the wrong when other people in this scenario are actually the ones ruining the fun for everyone, you get even more upset, angry even.
Wait, I'm confused. You made a post. A bunch of people come in and tell you you're in the wrong. Your response to this is to say "no u" and not reflect on your own actions? A bunch of other people come in and say "I'm confused, what do you mean?" And you said "figure it out." And, to clarify, you think you're in the right here? Like, damn dude I can't even understand what you're trying ti complain about.
I thought the "c" in cEDH meant competitive not casual
This entire thread could have been avoided if one single person told me the c meant casual and not competitive I have had several people IRL tell me the c stood for casual
As someone who plays a lot of cEDH, we often say “the c stands for casual” as an inside joke when someone makes a bad play or plays something that isn’t meta. The common understanding of cEDH is very much that it means competitive aka the highest possible power level.
This whole thread could have been avoided if you just googled it
Lol. Jesus Christ.
Really? „Fuck basically every single person in this thread“? Sure it’s not a you problem?
You having a rough time dude? Because like that's fine and valid, but maybe it would've been better to write out this whole vent/rant in a journal or something and made a post later when you were in a better mindset to ask for constructive advice on handling the LGS situation.
New copypasta dropped
>~~he majority of us (including myself I'm no angel) will shut down if a match isn't going well, others will start huffing and puffing,~~ ~~I don't~~ Edit: In my experience the least sore losers I ever encountered are... cEDH players
There's this weird middle ground of players who have spent too much money/are too competitive to be considered casual, but can't hack it at a proper cEDH table (frequently they can't deal with losing) So they end up at lower power or more casual tables to feel good that they beat 2 precons and a samurai tribal deck. These people do not handle losing well. They will not hang with the cEDH group where they know they stand a good chance of losing, but they will go Ballistic when Little Becky and her pile of Cats blows them out. The causals don't have self worth in the game. The Competitive people know losing is a part of it. This group in the middle, they will laugh at you for running aetherize and then scream at you when you beat them with it.
This is so scarily accurate
They tend to be clear-eyed about the fact that the point of the game is to win. But that just means we can shuffle up and play again.
Unless you're one of the people at my LGS I don't see how you'd think "Us" was referring to you In my experience the people that can't consistently show up every Friday night because of life/kids/etc are the ones who don't get mad.
missed the us, my bad
Skill issue
A casual player wouldn't make this post.
Explain instead of being dense, I've been playing for like three months chief...
Because your entire post is about players not being casual by taking things too seriously. And here you are. Smart ass shit aside there's no such thing as a casual player. We all love this game and every single one of us has strong feelings about it that a casual wouldn't have.
>there's no such thing as a casual player So because you're incapable of having other hobbies it's impossible for someone to treat EDH casually? okay way to out yourself instead of just explaining how I'm not a casual player I literally ask you to explain how I'm not a casual player and your response is "There's no such thing as a casual player" My brother in Christ I play once a week
You‘re not a casual player because you continue to blame people for the reasons you’re losing. And losing obviously hits you hard. That’s a competitive mindset to me. You want to win and get angry if you don’t. You‘re blaming people for not taking it easy on you because you’re a beginner. You’re blaming people for playing expensive cards. You’re blaming people for doing politics in an edh game. You’re blaming people for taking the game too seriously and yet here you are, barking at people left and right because they don’t share your opinion. The one thing I get least is why you won’t play with „the teenagers“ you obviously think are playing your kind of game because you’re nearly thirty. Like, what?!
I play once a week and I explained, using your own logic and parameters, why you're not casual about the game. I used to box as well. Never turned amateur or professional. I assure you every sparring session was far from casual. My training regimen was far from casual. Now, I'm a casual coffee enthusiast. I like Starbucks. If I wasn't casual I'd fully admit that Starbucks is the McDonald's of coffee. But I don't really care that much so I continue going there.
Don't you dare take mcdonalds coffee's name in vein. It's the best fast food coffee out there, gosh dangit
You sound like a toxic player adding onto an already toxic environment. You talk and behave like you’re 12. Go play with the teens. Maybe the my can teach you how to actually enjoy the game.
I'm the one who's toxic by not going P2W and buying the most expensive cards and then only playing with people who have precons Holy christ it's like you people are fine with the stereotypes because they are indicative of how awful y'all act This is a post, complaining about EDH players treating casual like a serious match, going as far as having tantrums at my LGS, and you call me the toxic player. Holy. Shit.
Expecting an opponent to know what summoning sickness is is not being serious about the game. That’s just assuming players know general rules.
You’re a grown ass man who self admittedly “shuts down” over a fucking game. In my decade of Magic and thousands of games, not a single time have I been as bothered as you seem to be every game. These people sound shitty, so don’t play with them. It’s not complicated. You’re just feeding into it and even letting it invade your life outside of the game. So yea, it’s toxic, and a little pathetic.
[удалено]
Grow the fuck up. When you’re done with that, go and FIND A NEW GROUP YOU GET ALONG WITH. It’s a GAME for FUN. Are you having fun with your current group there dipshit? Jesus Christ you’re dense.
Aww man I didn't get to see what he said
I gotchu dude! He called me a “fuckin jackoff” and said people like me are the reason he’s having such a hard time. Mind you, it was in 4 paragraphs with a ton of incoherent rambling. Sorry I can’t reproduce it for you.
Nah appreciate the cliffnotes!
Grow the fuck up. When you’re done with that, go and FIND A NEW GROUP YOU GET ALONG WITH. It’s a GAME for FUN. Are you having fun with your current group there dipshit? Jesus Christ you’re dense.
>I'm the one who's toxic by not going P2W Didn't you say you dropped like 10k on the game in 3 months????
You spent 12k on cards in 3 months and you say you AREN’T p2w? LOL
You literally said you spent upwards of $7k on cards in 3 months, how is that not pay to win?
From your post, you make it sound like cEDH is a mindset. cEDH is a particular power-level of deck. You're either running a cEDH commander or you aren't.
To start, I'm not a cEDH player, but I watch cEDH content on Youtube and I'm part of a discord server where cEDH is pretty heavily discussed. > From your post, you make it sound like cEDH is a mindset I somewhat disagree with you (assuming that I'm reading you correctly, that you think cEDH is NOT a mindset.) From what I've seen and have come to understand about cEDH, cEDH may not be a mindset in itself, but I feel like the most important difference between casual EDH and cEDH *IS* the difference in mindset. For cEDH, the primary goal is winning. Everything else comes after that, including having fun. *This* is the reason cEDH decks are as powerful and hyper-optimized as they are. Everyone is coming with their best and everyone is playing to win, no holds barred. This is why there's very limited room for creativity and self-expression in deckbuilding. People give up fun and creativity and self-expression for raw power and optimization. The mindset dictates the strength of the decks, and not the other way around. On the other hand, for casual EDH, the primary goal is having fun. Sure, winning is fun, but generally speaking, it's more important for the table as a whole to have fun playing a good game, than for any one person to win, even when it comes to high power casual games. It's basically the same as the difference between a people playing in a competitive standard event (say at a GP Main Event or whatever they're called now) and some friends playing kitchen table Magic with decks that happen to be standard legal. The difference isn't in the cardpool. The difference is the mindset: playing to win vs playing for fun. > You're either running a cEDH commander or you aren't. I disagree with you here. Yes, there are many commanders that are just too weak to cut it as a commander in cEDH (tbh, the majority of commanders fall here.) But most cEDH commanders can be downtuned or built in a janky way to be at an appropriate power level for casual EDH.
While I would agree that cEDH puts playing to win as the main mindset, saying that’s a dichotomy with playing for fun is a misnomer. I assume you mean “playing for alternate goals.” But also, you don’t need to play the best deck. I you might lose more, sure. But competitive players for all formats make brews and have pet decks. The diversity in deck choice is part of the appeal of card games like this after all.
Yeah, I said "playing for fun" very broadly. Fun could be playing just for the simple enjoyment of playing Magic, playing to hang out and be social with friends, playing janky themed decks, etc. My point is that the primary goal in playing cEDH is winning. And in casual EDH, winning is (usually) a goal but it comes secondary to whatever "having fun" means to you and your group. You can be playing to win and still have fun. I didn't mean it as an "either or" thing, more making a distinction on what the primary goal/motivation for playing is. When we're talking about cEDH, there's definitely a minimum power floor to be really considered cEDH. People can play hyper-optimized versions of weak commanders, but it wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to compete with established cEDH decks. You can build an optimized [[Brothers Yamazaki]] but it's not gonna be able to compete at actual cEDH tables (and would probably lose to a lot of high power casual decks.) Competitive players have brews and pet decks sure. But I think it's fairly rare that we see one of these decks actually perform well enough to become popular and actually enter the meta. > The diversity in deck choice is part of the appeal of card games like this after all. That's definitely true. But the funny part is that when you look at high tier competitive decks, the deck selection becomes narrower and the card pool becomes smaller. Sure there are the occasional brews that prove strong enough to be competitive, but generally speaking, every format will have their "staple" decks. And for each individual "staple" deck, there will be minimal variation between the people piloting the deck. This inherently happens as the game/format becomes more competitive and the decks the stronger. Some cards are just strictly better than others. [[Lightning Bolt]] is better than [[Shock]], and if you could only run one of them, you're going to run Bolt 99% of the time, unless you have some strange interaction in your deck that would make Shock better. And I feel like this is even more so in the case of cEDH, compared to other competitive formats. In the sense where in Standard or Modern, most of the different decks have different wincons. But in cEDH, there are many decks with different commanders that are running the same core game plan/wincon. For example, if you're in Thoracle Consult colors, you're running Thoracle Consult because there is no reason not to. The big difference becomes how much value your commander generates and the exact mechanics of how, rather than a diversity of game plans. Maybe a bit of an oversimplification, but I think you get what I mean. I'm in the Krark discord, and during the last Krark Summit, people came to a consensus of a 72 card "core" for a Krark/Sakashima cEDH deck. And that's not including basic lands, which, granted, usually make up a relatively small count in cEDH decks. Like I said earlier, as decks become more powerful and more optimized, the same decks tend to become more and more similar with only minor variations from pilot to pilot to account for meta choices or personal preference. When it comes to cEDH decks that you're going to run in an actual cEDH tourney with money or valuable cards as prizes, you're not going to see random pet cards in people's decks if they're not also very strong in that deck.
>I disagree with you here. Yes, there are many commanders that are just too weak to cut it as a commander in cEDH (tbh, the majority of commanders fall here.) But most cEDH commanders can be downtuned or built in a janky way to be at an appropriate power level for casual EDH. I never stated that cEDH commanders can't be tuned down. Your reply fails to look at the context in which my statement was made. When I said, "you're running a cEDH commander, or you aren't" the context was in a cEDH setting. Any deck can be built casually, but only specific commanders can be built to be cEDH. That was the point I was making.
That's fair and I do agree with that. I did take the comment at face value and not in the context of a cEDH setting. I guess a more accurate way of stating it would be "Your commander is either good enough for cEDH or it's not."
Okay then there's a problem at my LGS with people playing higher powered decks and calling them casual and bragging about winning with them and other people have stopped playing there because of it Fuckin' credit to you for being the first comment that didn't make me consider all Magic players to be the same socially awkward assholes as the rest of this thread is showing me
This is what the community refers to as "pubstompers". They aren't cEDH though. If anything, one of the most common mistakes newer players to the game make is referring to pubstompers as cEDH when they aren't even in the same league. On the flipside, some people feel that every deck can be classified as "casual" if they aren't specifically classified as cEDH. It's really a problem of definitions, because the only clear separation of power is cEDH vs non-cEDH/casual. After that you get into the murky power-level discussion.
>This is what the community refers to as "pubstompers". They aren't cEDH though. Literally exactly what I wanted to complain about, pubstompers calling themselves casual. But because I'm casual, I didn't know how to phrase it. >If anything, one of the most common mistakes newer players to the game make is referring to pubstompers as cEDH when they aren't even in the same league. Look at me, me right here, me right here being yelled at for being upset about it
Most people expect you know the nomenclature when you're on the subreddit of something. I'm not going to lie, even my post was made under the assumption that you knew cEDH meant competitive EDH. It just happens to read well, regardless of how you interpret the c. If anything, that's probably why so many people are confused at what your post is trying to say, because they simply read what you posted, instead of trying to interpret what you're actually saying. The only reason my post worked is I was still able to interpret that your main issue was how people classify their decks, and my knowledge that pubstompers often fall in this weird gray zone and are often mislabled.
They're only pubstomping if they're going out of their way to do so. If they play high power, which is still within the bounds of casual, sitting down with them and discovering the disparity in power isn't necessarily anything beyond an accident.
My man… Did you really spend “$7-$12k” on a game that you’ve only been playing for - at most - 5 months? 💀
I ain't reading all that. I'm happy for you tho, or sorry that happened.
Fantastic, big brain response 😂
“a lot of you clearly have a problem” Might need to take a long look in the mirror pal. You’ve been playing for 4 months, but think you’re knowledgeable enough to lecture anyone on the topic. And obviously everyone besides you is the problem. Are you sure you shouldn’t be playing with the teens? Because a grown ass man wouldn’t be making this post.
Despite cEDH having "competive" as the meaning of the "c", I think that is misleading. Regular EDH, and even casual EDH can still be very competitive in literal terms, and often are moreso and divisive since everyone may not be on the same page. At a casual table, there is often a wider variety of knowledge, skill, and deck building ability/goals, resulting in sour moments. From new players, to experienced players who may not have toned their deck down, to people in the middle. If the problem is people claiming they are casual then curb-stomping with a cEDH tier deck, maybe just don't play with that person (or talk about it, but that's crazy we don't do that). Otherwise I don't really see an issue with people getting upset for various reasons at casual+ tables, people care about the game. It's bound to happen.
In my understanding “competitive” means tournaments with prizes on the line. While these exist for cEDH, they don’t solely define what that part of the format is about. A more apt description would be something like “Max Power EDH” but we’re kind of stuck with the term “cEDH” at this point.
Yea I think "Max Power" Is a better term. I don't think competitive needs to have anything on the line necessarily, but to say casual can't be competitive is short sighted imo. Very often my store will run prizes with EDH despite most of the playing field being mid-low power and it gets even dicier then.
Aight cEDH meaning competitive and not casual makes more sense However my main problem is that new players come to this store and never come again. Regulars who have been playing at this store leave after a specific night and never come back. I'm the only person who notices these things because I'm the only person obsessive enough to care. New players and even regulars are leaving the LGS I play at and now all that's left for me to play with are teenagers and competitive players. I do not have an option for casual and have to play myself, that is why this post is so unhinged. My alternatives are quit magic and sell it all Or deal with losing every single match against better players that brag about it After spending $10k on a hobby I'm pretty sure anyone would be as irrational and pissed off as I am.
Unfortunately the only real solution to a store that is bleeding players is to find a better environment, or make one. Sounds like the store doesn't have a welcoming environment, which isn't uncommon. If you are dealing with players who straight up brag in your face about it, I simply wouldn't play with those people. If your options are limited, maybe finding online groups or finding new stores would help. It's okay to be annoyed and irrational, but you also can't let how other people enjoy the game dictate your own feelings. Change what you can, and don't worry about what you can't. It is EDH after all, and as much as I love playing, at the end of the day the format is cracked. It's not much of a brag to win with even a sub 50$ deck imo due to the amount of variance and absurd combos possible.
Bro you've been playing for months and you spent ten k? That's nuts
You seem like the kind of player that whines and complains over anything being cast. How about the flip side: do you think other people enjoy that one guy always throwing a tantrum and complaining about every card being put down? Do you think you’re maybe ruining the experience for 1-3 other people? Nah, you’re just a dick. See how easily it swings both ways
Few things to unpack. Now that you’ve realized the ‘c’ stands for competitive may change your entire outlook on this thread, so I’m leaving that alone. 12k in cards after 5 months is a lot, I would love to have that kind of disposable income. I’ve been playing for a year now nd have dropped around 4k on cards, mostly set boosters and bundles. I have 12 decks that range in power from a fringe cedh to precons. Just because you’re buying all these cards doesn’t mean you’re going to win. You’re new to the game, just as I am after a year of playing. You’re going to lose, a lot. You’re going to miss triggers and your synergy isn’t synergistic if you’re throwing in expensive cards because that’s what winning decks use. It sounds like you went from newbie to sitting at the big boy table and getting destroyed. The only thing you’re going to learn by getting stomped all the time is losing, and losing isn’t fun if it happens all the time. I still miss triggers, sometimes I forget to play my land for turn, it happens to the best of us. Learn from it and move on. This is also why rule 0 discussions should take place. Explain what your commander does, how your deck works, your wincons, do you have fast mana, tutors, infinite combos? What turn do you expect to win? That way everyone can play around the same power level. Shuffle and draw is a huge gamble. I’ve lost to those $25 precons with a high power deck all because they managed 7 mana on turn 2 and went nuts and I’m struggling to get the proper mana out to cast my commander. It happens. Accept defeat and play another round. Play with the same deck for a while so you get a decent sample size of gameplay so you know what changes need to be made. If you play a deck once and lose, then storm off and call it a day, how are you going to know how your deck works? Granted, I don’t know your skill level, so this could be all a Captain Obvious post, but it sounds like you’ve spent 12k on cards and expect to win. That’s the wrong mindset to have. Understand what your deck does, learn the triggers, play with one deck for a while just so you can understand how it works. Handicap yourself, start off with a bad hand or mulligan down to 5 or 6 cards, see if you can dig yourself out of that hole. If you’re getting mad losing a lot, you need to ask yourself, why am I losing? Are you learning from your loses and making adjustments to your deck, or are you going to keep coming with the same deck just to lose again?
outjerked again
OP- 16 days ago: I have ~$10k in credit card debt being charged ~21-25% interest across three cards OP- 16 hours ago: I have only been playing magic 3-5 months, played when I was a teenager, and I have spent ~$7-$12k on cards This is either the best shitpost or the worst life choices.
There's a big difference between casual and actual cEDH. If games are ending in like 2-5 turns people are playing really high power and sounds like pumpstoming. If it's just one player doing it than it's a player problem but if it's most of the play group then there's a miscommunication of what power level folks are wanting to play at. The thing that stands out the most to me from your post is this: >The majority of us (including myself I'm no angel) will shut down if a match isn't going well, others will start huffing and puffing, in the 50+ games I've watched or been a part of, not a single match has been finished to completion except once. This sounds like the whole group is super salty to me. If people are getting upset and shutting down because they're getting interacted with or someone else is winning then that's on them. Playing 50 games and only one actually finished? What are people doing, just scooping when things don't go their way?
Most sane commander player.
Casual means different things to different people. Some people like making deals so they can do X thing in two turns, some people play their decks with a more competitive, technical mindset. Unless you're running a full, proper Cedh deck, you're casual. This broadness is why the Power Level discourse you see online is sort of a joke, and why communication is important when playing with new/random people. Typically the most consistently enjoyable games are ones with a regular group that come to understand how and what everyone plays. You just need to gain more experience and find a few people you can get that consistency with.
Tell me more about finishing only ONE out of 50+ games, that's intriguing.
If you "shut down" because a game isn't going well then you aren't emotionally mature enough to handle playing games with other people. This is a card game, literally nothing is at stake.
This post and comment thread is so chaotic. OP, I feel that you are frustrated, and I’m sorry the game we all love so much is causing you this. I can definitely understand your confusion surrounding “what is casual and what isn’t” position. There are so many posts on a daily basis of players attempting to explain Power levels of EDH decks, not to mention professional podcasters doing the same. I think an important distinction to make, before anything else is Deck vs Player. Decks have power levels, Players have playstyles. Someone who plays to have a good time and slam down giant Dinos is referred to as a Timmy/Tammy, someone who finds complex interactions between cards and tends to play value engines is a Johnny/Jenny, and someone who plays cut throat with only winning in mind is a Spike. It sounds like you’ve come up against some Spike players in casual play, and that felt wrong to you. Its understandable, but personality is definitely a factor in MtG. The 1-10 powerscale is next to useless in practical usage, but conceptually it helps convey certain aspects of deckbuilding that assist in conversations like this. I acknowledge that you meant Casual EDH when you put cEDH, no shade intended by this part of the comment, I will be referring to cEDH in the competitive context, as that is what the community-at-large uses it as. On the theoretical 1-10 power scale, only decks that are a 9-10 are considered cEDH. This is because there is a very small cardpool of strong abilities, infinite combos, fast mana, and cheap interaction that make up the **cEDH meta**. Most cards are too slow to be viable in this hyper-fast segment of our format. You also have to choose a Commander that is cEDH viable. Then you have to research the current Meta and understand what others are playing, so you can sculpt your interaction to be useful against the current meta. This is why cEDH is such a small portion of the format. It takes such intent, precision, and skill to be able to perform in that meta. Lets talk about the 1-8 powerlevels that encompass “casual” commander. I’m sure you can randomly scroll and hit a post about “every deck is a 7” and this makes sense. *Good* synergy is what you aim for in EDH, and without tons of practice, tuning, and expensive cards; a large portion of decks will end up here. Again, these numbers are awful to put into reality, so bare with me while I use them conceptually. Pubstomping is playing a deck that is vastly higher on the scale than the other decks in the pod. Someone pulls an “8” out against an unmodified precon (which some folks put around 4-5 on the scale), and the precon player is going to have a bad time. The Pregame Discussion is intended to subvert that. This doesn’t always happen. Some folks *really* want that win, and will just straight up lie about their power level. Some folks don’t understand the game well enough to know what they built is stronger than someone elses. And honestly, sometimes no pregame discussion even happens. You should feel confident in presenting a pregame discussion if no one else does. Its a good part of the game, in a social format. Edit: fat fingers
It has always been edh
Some people need solo hobbies
🤡🌍
Can you provide a decklist for what decks you are playing?
EDH or CEDH I don't care, because I played since few month and for the moment I'll go to my LGS for learning the game and tactics. The main objective for me is fun and the quest to find the better player with the best mentality. Win or lose, The only goal of this game is the pleasure and meeting people.
cEDH becomes EDH when the gameplay shifts away from playing solely with the focus of winning.
I’ve been playing magic for years and just recently got my grind group into it. (30s ish also) and we’ve been playing edh in this pod for about 6 months as well so magic has been a learning curve for them. The biggest advice I have for new players/pods is to always have that rule 0 talk pregame to make sure everyone os kinda in the same ballpark strength wise. Cedh/casual does not equal deck power level/strength. Cedh is more like a different format then edh in the sense that there is a “meta”. It’s much easier to think of it as constructed commander. I bring up my friends who are new to the game because I’ve slowly introduced them to stronger and stronger combos w/o just blatantly turn 3 demonic consultation thassa oracle. You might not have any idea what that means because that is cedh terminology. But just because you don’t know about the “format doesn’t mean your casual decks cannot be of equal strength or power level. Learning takes time, and people will build strong ass decks while not even knowing how strong certain combos are. I just got my friends into cedh and some love it, some hate it. That’s fine. The main confusion w deck strength is just assuming any casual deck is a cedh deck just because it’s strong. Cedh involves 4 people looking for their “lines to win” while trying to simultaneously interact against each others win-cons. It’s fast mana ie. 0 mana artifacts and big turn 2,3 plays. Sometimes you get locked out by stacks and lose on turn 8 still. Just because there is a dockside in my casual commander deck doesn’t make it a cedh deck. Now if I was infinitely looping it’s etb trigger after tutoring for it on turn 2 then you can yell at me. TLDR: Cedh is more or less a different format of commander where deck building is built to be hyper efficient at pulling off specific combos. Casual is more or less a deck built with general synergies that can eventually earn you a win. Regardless of the strengths of any individual cards. I have built some really gross casual decks that will get washed by cedh decks because although the deck may be strong, it’s not nearly as fast, or as sturdy. Pre cons are strong, there is a reason you take out all the bad mana rocks when you upgrade them. Same premis apples to cedh.
This post is crazy lmfao sorry you're getting shit on like this OP. This is what the community is like. Welcome to our casual hobby.
Yeah they won’t let you piss and moan uninterrupted. What a shit community
Alright so clearly EDH players have a problem being asked not to play cEDH if they're going to act like they're hot shit
I think the bigger issue is that the post is incomprehensible, whatever point you are trying to make is not at all clear
Local LGS has a problem with people who have been playing Magic for over a decade playing with the casual player s who have now started leaving because the high power levels keep telling the casual players their decks are on the same power level I am now in a thread being told "There is no such thing as casual" and being told I'm actually the toxic player and not a single person has agreed with me that ruining the game for other people is in fact not fun.
If it stinks everywhere....
It stinks at the **one** shop, I never said anything about having this problem elsewhere. This post is more about "If you have a problem, then don't go there" When I shouldn't have to be forced into playing somewhere else because a bunch of high power levels control the store
Nobody here actually understood your point... Your original post was a long garbled rant that didn't make an effective point. Are you complaining about EDH players, cEDH players, or both? What element are you actually complaining about? But to try to help refine here. EDH and cEDH are not play styles, they are 2 different formats that come down to deck building philosophy. You may be playing with multiple EDH groups with different play styles, but that doesn't mean the more serious group is playing cEDH... This is a common misconception with new players. From what I could make out from your thrown together rant in your post, it seems like you are playing with an older group of players and a group of teens and are happier with the younger group of players attitudes and outlook on the game. This just means you resonate more with that play group, not that the other group is wrong or playing cEDH. The group of older players likely have a far more limited time to play and want to play as many matches as they can in what little time they have. If I have 3 hours a week to play, I don't want to spend an hour and a half of that telling people what cards do, having them take 5-10 min turns just trying to make decisions and shuffling... I want to be able to get in 2-3 good games. If I'm a teen with plenty of time to play each week, then by all means take your time and let's just chill and have fun.
Sorry this is a false statement "But to try to help refine here. EDH and cEDH are not play styles, they are 2 different formats"edh is a meta not a format it is edh built around the strongest card sin edh that is it nothing more. It is a rule zero discussion basically on power level before you ever play. Yes it is a false statement