one mistake to mention is to always think it through, its perfectly understandable to take your time and not rush it, especially when ur trying to go for the win
This focuses so much on the casual to cedh pipeline, There are a whole host of other mistakes from competitive 60 card format to cEDH pipeline folks go through
On the last one, when I was starting I took pictures of my hands that I was iffy on keeping and asked my pod after the game for advice on my mulligans. I’m still working on it, but that’s been a huge help
My big bit of advice, decide if you want a 'tournament' deck or not, and remember that a tournament deck isn't just strong, it's also able to win fast enough to matter. There are some extremely consistent decks out there, but they often aren't suited to tournament play because they expect to drag the game out more. If your deck has multiple locks rather than win cons, you are probably slow and as nobody is going to frustration-scoop at a tournament with time limits, your best finishes are all draws. It also matters because about the only place you have to worry about proxies generally going to be tournaments, where some care.
Great stuff! Here's my tip: Be a good person and someone that people like playing with, especially if you're newer to the format. You need to get a lot of games in to really start to get better in the format, or even with a specific deck so you need to make sure people will want to keep playing with you and not dislike you as a person.
Also for those that say they can't afford game pieces like Gaea's Cradle, I took alllll my commons/uncommons/bulk rares from commander precons, drafts, sealed decks, and cracking packs over the last couple years (2020-2022) and sent it all into an online store for store credit (every card that was worth anywhere from 10 cents to $5) and used that store credit to get a Gaea's Cradle. So it's possible to get any card you want for a fraction of the cost. Big online retailed don't care cause they'll sell those cards at a profit over time.
Another great episode. One thing is the way Ryan is sitting, you can see the giant window glare in his glasses. Might help to have a shade or blanket to cover up the window
Great podcast. I started to play cEDH when the covid begin because it was much easier to play with friends with bad quality cameras as all the staples are easy to remember. Some of those mistakes you mention I learned by playing a games. Mostly I was skipping the time for other to response as in causal in my playgroup there was almost no counter magic. Or I skipped phases like from main faze directly to declare attackers step. All of my cEDH decks that I wanted to try out started as printed proxies. As I finally ended with two of my favorites and I'm slowly replacing proxies with real cards I don't replace expensive ones. I noticed fascinating difference in my mind set between EDH and cEDH. I own 20+ casual decks that has different play styles and I like that, and I like to build them. But in cEDH my mind set is that I have only 2 decks. Those are my favorite decks and I want to master them as much as I can. keep up good work.
Great video. I’m super green to the cEDH scene, so everything here is highly valuable. It was also super nice to hear, with the info you provided, that I’ve def been improving and making better decisions to play a tighter game.😉
Really good episode! Something I'd also advise is, jumping on the discords and letting people know you're a new player and looking for some games, that way people know and will be more than happy to help. The proxy thing really took me a long time to figure out as I love owning my cards but damn it is expensive if you don't proxy
Knowledge is power! Thanks for the information, we've got a bunch of new players interested in getting to cedh so this will be a nice resource for them to have ^_^
2:30 I don't consider this a mistake, as how would they know unless they tried? Now they know what they have to change to adapt to a cedh deck. When I played my first cedh game, I went in fully knowing I wasn't going to win, but I learned really quickly what I needed to change in order to have a fighting chance.
Casting a losing Pact when it could increase a draw percentage, (in a tournament if you lose but the table draws after you still get the draw) because it might cause the game to go to time, or forcing an agreed draw in a tournament setting seems fine to me.
Omg spite pact of Negation is one of the few things that actually ticks me off. Sure if you have ligitimate outs like maybe someone else wheels you into a stifle or you could topdeck a Simian spirit guide or your trying to bait out their Counters etc....sure...but turn 2 ad nauseaum you have two lands and don't have outs, that's spite !
I think "Well this isn't the fastest hand" absolutely has it's place.. sometimes. Playing Elsha sure you want speed.. but I'd also settle for some ramp, a bit of interaction and maybe something like counter balance with top. Is it fast and going to win quickly? No. Can you deal with everyone else? Yeah probably.
One thing I have seen new people to cedh make mistakes with is who is the most likely to go off first and when is the right point to youse your interaction.
My first tournament, I was going up against a jhoira player that started popping off turn 1. Luckily I mulliganed until I had pongify. When the dude tried recasting jhoira, I countered it. I won that game and took first place and it felt so good. I felt bad for the jhoira player tho. He didn’t get to do anything else that game.
Dudes. Ixalan was 5 years ago. Since Ixalan was 2017 and Rivals was 2018, I can only assume that Ixalan was the Fall set meaning this coming fall, it will be 6 years.
My biggest mistake was that I didn’t accept proxies to begin with and spent over 10k on my first deck without ever playing a hand. Let’s just say that I have been humbled and would rather play against the opponent instead of their bank account. (It also allowed me to play tons of decks that I would have never been able to try.)
If "proxy" cards are fine or not depends entirely on the tournaments you want to play in. Sure, a lot allow proxy cards, some do not. Might set up very ugly expectations if someone brings all proxy decks (which stores usually also dont like, as they sell cards, singles and such, so having people and a "community" around that wants everyone to play proxy cards is as toxic as it gets for a store).
I disagree with your take on "spite plays". If someone is casting Thassa's Oracle and I'm about to lose the game I'm 100% going to pact that card even if I can't pay for it because we're supposed to make plays that increase our win rate right? There's a 0.01% chance that I get wheeled into my Tale's End before my upkeep, and a 99.99% chance of losing is better than a 100% chance of losing. I consider it playing to my outs.
I don't believe in spite plays. There's nonzero advantage to casting Pact; it may draw out a counter from the player going for it, making it easier for other players to stop them.
Cedh is not edh, and edh is casual and non competitive format. Its fine if you like to play cedh with friends or a playgroup, BUT please do not show up to an lgs or edh night and bring only cedh and high power decks…..its not default high power win before turn 6. Every other format of mtg is competitive; go play that with a hard on, not in a casual format meant for fun and enjoying a mtg game. Always have a casual option(s) and if you want a high power or cedh deck then make one, but not every damn deck; it’s disrespectful to others to have cedh only and not have a precon or something casual.
Biggest mistake as magic player in general but more so in CEDH remembering all of my triggers..... Gotten a lot better at it but still miss one from time to time. Can be detrimental to the outcome of the game
I will die on this hill... Commander needs to be a separate format from CEDH. Commander have a larger more intensive ban list and CEDH has what we have now or less. This change fixes so many debates.
I personally don't think so. Maybe the creature you block is a big problem for the other players in the pod as well, and killing it helps other players. The alternative is just not delcaring blockers and dying. At least if you're getting attacked for lethal, regardless of blocking, you should block and potentially kill problematic creatures.
I think it can be. Kinda depends on the situation. There's a difference between using your blockers as a deterrent for your opponents to attack you in the first place, and blocking in a way that crosses deeper into the grey area of kingmaking. My rule of thumb is to play to my outs to the best of my ability. Even if I think I am 99.999% chance gonna die, I will make the blocks (and plays in general) that gives the other players at the table the maximum chance to save me if they so choose. Who knows, maybe there is a crazy corner case where another player would prefer you to be alive. And hey 0.00001% chance to win is better than a 0% chance to win. But yeah avoid kingmaking as much as possible. You can pretty much never go wrong with trying to make the play that gives you the highest chance to win, even if that chance is extremely marginal. Tough question though. Really depends on the context of what's going on at the table.
No, it's the logical consequence of attacking you. You could easily kill a snake with your bare hands, but its bite should normally be enough of a deterrent that you wouldn't
I'd argue that often times cEDH decks are too optimized, and to say that high power decks can't hang is shortsighted when they can definitely get upset by a mid deck that is more versatile
I disagree, if your opponent is going for alpha, and you tell them you’re going to remove some of their resources if they do, and they still attack you: should def use your cards. This is like war, my enemy needs to know they will suffer if they go after me. They should take into account possible loses and the impact it will have on the rest of the game. Also, pact a win, you go from a ZERO percent chance of winning to possibly drawing dark ritual, or a spirit guide. It’s not spite, it’s playing to your outs. But most everything else I agree with.
Certainly agree! There's some ways we could have better articulated ourselves around the issues of kingmaking/spite play, etc. These discussions are hard. I'm always casting my Pact, personally. And yeah, my opponents are always going to be threatened with resource destruction if they attack me, the same as you said!
@@PlayingWithPowerMTG it’s certainly hard trying to cover every possible situation in a one hour video lol. But I am glad that y’all try to. A great resource to the community as usual.
I have to disagree 100% with the proxy points. While I agree a casual cedh game can be the time for proxies and testing, commander as a whole and specifically cedh is picking up steam for tournament level events. Part of being skilled in something is putting in the work to get that skilled and while a job or sport or something physical not only has to have knowledge of how to get better but also be able to physically practice your skills. Physically purchasing the cards is part of that process for a tournament. If I go to a sport and I know how to swim but I’m not a Olympic level swimmer but I hired an Olympic swimmer to compete for me do I still deserve the trophy since I won via proxy swimmer? I don’t think so. Same concept applies to commander and cedh. Testing fine….tournament not fine We can even go down the moral route of an LGS. If I only ever have to proxy any card in the format, why would I ever spend a dollar on sealed or single product if I can proxy anything? I show up with the proxy best deck in the format, pay my entry, win/lose and leave. I never spend money, I never engage in the social interactions unless I have to and ultimately the LGS and community as a whole suffers for it. Having a deck without proxies can also show other players that these decks are obtainable with enough time, energy and dedication and that even if they don’t like the deck they bought the card for, more than likely that $100-$1000 card they bought can go into any future decks they build
First of all. as they mentioned they arent talking about tournament play. second if you want the format to grow you kinda must allow proxies cause there arent enought real dual lands or timetwisters printed by WotC to supply that demand of cards. i got most of the expensive cards cause i started playing 25years ago and they where dirt cheap compared to now, but that is not a reason to tell someone who is like 18years old:"you gotta spend 30k on mtg to play with me scrub". third i even think they should allow proxies in tournaments to support the people who want to join a community but cant if they have to buy into it. it is still a game.
I've been playing magic for over 20 years and I'm just starting into CEDH and this was a HUGE help! Thank you sooo much!
one mistake to mention is to always think it through, its perfectly understandable to take your time and not rush it, especially when ur trying to go for the win
This focuses so much on the casual to cedh pipeline, There are a whole host of other mistakes from competitive 60 card format to cEDH pipeline folks go through
agreed. would love to hear more on moving from comp 60 to cedh
Path to exiling a dork has the same energy as using Dark Bribe on Upstart Goblin.
🤣😆😂😂😂😆😂
On the last one, when I was starting I took pictures of my hands that I was iffy on keeping and asked my pod after the game for advice on my mulligans. I’m still working on it, but that’s been a huge help
My big bit of advice, decide if you want a 'tournament' deck or not, and remember that a tournament deck isn't just strong, it's also able to win fast enough to matter. There are some extremely consistent decks out there, but they often aren't suited to tournament play because they expect to drag the game out more. If your deck has multiple locks rather than win cons, you are probably slow and as nobody is going to frustration-scoop at a tournament with time limits, your best finishes are all draws. It also matters because about the only place you have to worry about proxies generally going to be tournaments, where some care.
I was watching gameplay of the Mox Masters here on YT, and those deals are seemingly made pretty often from what I've seen.
Brought my Markov deck to a cedh game. Lost in two turns. Very humbling. Made me get into cedh. I can’t even play OG Commander anymore 😆
Great stuff!
Here's my tip:
Be a good person and someone that people like playing with, especially if you're newer to the format. You need to get a lot of games in to really start to get better in the format, or even with a specific deck so you need to make sure people will want to keep playing with you and not dislike you as a person.
Also for those that say they can't afford game pieces like Gaea's Cradle, I took alllll my commons/uncommons/bulk rares from commander precons, drafts, sealed decks, and cracking packs over the last couple years (2020-2022) and sent it all into an online store for store credit (every card that was worth anywhere from 10 cents to $5) and used that store credit to get a Gaea's Cradle. So it's possible to get any card you want for a fraction of the cost. Big online retailed don't care cause they'll sell those cards at a profit over time.
Another great episode. One thing is the way Ryan is sitting, you can see the giant window glare in his glasses. Might help to have a shade or blanket to cover up the window
I just played my first cedh this week and watching this after I realized I’ve made almost all these mistakes by week one 😅
We’ve all been there!
Great podcast.
I started to play cEDH when the covid begin because it was much easier to play with friends with bad quality cameras as all the staples are easy to remember. Some of those mistakes you mention I learned by playing a games. Mostly I was skipping the time for other to response as in causal in my playgroup there was almost no counter magic. Or I skipped phases like from main faze directly to declare attackers step.
All of my cEDH decks that I wanted to try out started as printed proxies. As I finally ended with two of my favorites and I'm slowly replacing proxies with real cards I don't replace expensive ones. I noticed fascinating difference in my mind set between EDH and cEDH. I own 20+ casual decks that has different play styles and I like that, and I like to build them. But in cEDH my mind set is that I have only 2 decks. Those are my favorite decks and I want to master them as much as I can.
keep up good work.
Attitude, sportsmanship, ethical play. Knowing common win cons and how to stop them.
Understanding when to respond to a threat.
Yes, mox opal, I think I have a counterbalance trigger for that and...oh no, i will draw a land :(
I'm coming to represent the high power casuals at Baltimore this weekend!!
Love the advice in this video. Too bad for me then that my local CEDH community doesn't allow proxies...
Great video. I’m super green to the cEDH scene, so everything here is highly valuable. It was also super nice to hear, with the info you provided, that I’ve def been improving and making better decisions to play a tighter game.😉
Really good episode!
Something I'd also advise is, jumping on the discords and letting people know you're a new player and looking for some games, that way people know and will be more than happy to help.
The proxy thing really took me a long time to figure out as I love owning my cards but damn it is expensive if you don't proxy
Great advice!
people think its all ambiguous decks until they die to 420,000,069 2/2 swans
It's so nice to own the physical cards but it's true, some cards are just out of budget. Proxies it is!
Knowledge is power! Thanks for the information, we've got a bunch of new players interested in getting to cedh so this will be a nice resource for them to have ^_^
Phenomenal video and all great points
Those dice are 🔥
2:30 I don't consider this a mistake, as how would they know unless they tried? Now they know what they have to change to adapt to a cedh deck. When I played my first cedh game, I went in fully knowing I wasn't going to win, but I learned really quickly what I needed to change in order to have a fighting chance.
Really good episode!
The case for "spite pacting" is usually when you either know they have SBI in hand or you think it's very likely they have SBI in hand.
Casting a losing Pact when it could increase a draw percentage, (in a tournament if you lose but the table draws after you still get the draw) because it might cause the game to go to time, or forcing an agreed draw in a tournament setting seems fine to me.
The word “casual” and then what ever comes after it makes me want to fight someone. “CEDH is still EDH” proceeds to emphasis the difference……
Omg spite pact of Negation is one of the few things that actually ticks me off.
Sure if you have ligitimate outs like maybe someone else wheels you into a stifle or you could topdeck a Simian spirit guide or your trying to bait out their Counters etc....sure...but turn 2 ad nauseaum you have two lands and don't have outs, that's spite !
I think "Well this isn't the fastest hand" absolutely has it's place.. sometimes. Playing Elsha sure you want speed.. but I'd also settle for some ramp, a bit of interaction and maybe something like counter balance with top. Is it fast and going to win quickly? No. Can you deal with everyone else? Yeah probably.
One thing I have seen new people to cedh make mistakes with is who is the most likely to go off first and when is the right point to youse your interaction.
My first tournament, I was going up against a jhoira player that started popping off turn 1. Luckily I mulliganed until I had pongify. When the dude tried recasting jhoira, I countered it. I won that game and took first place and it felt so good. I felt bad for the jhoira player tho. He didn’t get to do anything else that game.
I wish I had a playmat with just Cal surrounded by gamecubes.
huh maybe this is a product i need
Dudes. Ixalan was 5 years ago. Since Ixalan was 2017 and Rivals was 2018, I can only assume that Ixalan was the Fall set meaning this coming fall, it will be 6 years.
It really all runs together :(
My biggest mistake was that I didn’t accept proxies to begin with and spent over 10k on my first deck without ever playing a hand. Let’s just say that I have been humbled and would rather play against the opponent instead of their bank account. (It also allowed me to play tons of decks that I would have never been able to try.)
Thank you for accepting those mistakes of yours. There's so many people that are anti proxy that miss out on such a organic playing experience.
If "proxy" cards are fine or not depends entirely on the tournaments you want to play in. Sure, a lot allow proxy cards, some do not.
Might set up very ugly expectations if someone brings all proxy decks (which stores usually also dont like, as they sell cards, singles and such, so having people and a "community" around that wants everyone to play proxy cards is as toxic as it gets for a store).
Going to 5 running partners and you still start with 8 cards.
I disagree with your take on "spite plays". If someone is casting Thassa's Oracle and I'm about to lose the game I'm 100% going to pact that card even if I can't pay for it because we're supposed to make plays that increase our win rate right?
There's a 0.01% chance that I get wheeled into my Tale's End before my upkeep, and a 99.99% chance of losing is better than a 100% chance of losing.
I consider it playing to my outs.
I don't believe in spite plays. There's nonzero advantage to casting Pact; it may draw out a counter from the player going for it, making it easier for other players to stop them.
Cedh is not edh, and edh is casual and non competitive format. Its fine if you like to play cedh with friends or a playgroup, BUT please do not show up to an lgs or edh night and bring only cedh and high power decks…..its not default high power win before turn 6. Every other format of mtg is competitive; go play that with a hard on, not in a casual format meant for fun and enjoying a mtg game. Always have a casual option(s) and if you want a high power or cedh deck then make one, but not every damn deck; it’s disrespectful to others to have cedh only and not have a precon or something casual.
Biggest mistake as magic player in general but more so in CEDH remembering all of my triggers..... Gotten a lot better at it but still miss one from time to time. Can be detrimental to the outcome of the game
I will die on this hill... Commander needs to be a separate format from CEDH. Commander have a larger more intensive ban list and CEDH has what we have now or less. This change fixes so many debates.
is blocking and killing one of their creatures knowing even if you do, youll still die, spite?
I personally don't think so. Maybe the creature you block is a big problem for the other players in the pod as well, and killing it helps other players. The alternative is just not delcaring blockers and dying. At least if you're getting attacked for lethal, regardless of blocking, you should block and potentially kill problematic creatures.
I think it can be. Kinda depends on the situation. There's a difference between using your blockers as a deterrent for your opponents to attack you in the first place, and blocking in a way that crosses deeper into the grey area of kingmaking. My rule of thumb is to play to my outs to the best of my ability. Even if I think I am 99.999% chance gonna die, I will make the blocks (and plays in general) that gives the other players at the table the maximum chance to save me if they so choose. Who knows, maybe there is a crazy corner case where another player would prefer you to be alive. And hey 0.00001% chance to win is better than a 0% chance to win. But yeah avoid kingmaking as much as possible. You can pretty much never go wrong with trying to make the play that gives you the highest chance to win, even if that chance is extremely marginal. Tough question though. Really depends on the context of what's going on at the table.
No, it's the logical consequence of attacking you. You could easily kill a snake with your bare hands, but its bite should normally be enough of a deterrent that you wouldn't
rolling dice to attack is for cowards, even in casual games
My pet card would be Mana Crypt 😜
Your faces in the thumbnail made me more likely to click
How can a cEDH deck have an identity when they’re all staple piles with the same 6 wincons? Idk, sounds pretty homogenized.
Because that not an accurate description of the meta
45:19 This goes for women to yall.
I'd argue that often times cEDH decks are too optimized, and to say that high power decks can't hang is shortsighted when they can definitely get upset by a mid deck that is more versatile
I disagree, if your opponent is going for alpha, and you tell them you’re going to remove some of their resources if they do, and they still attack you: should def use your cards. This is like war, my enemy needs to know they will suffer if they go after me. They should take into account possible loses and the impact it will have on the rest of the game. Also, pact a win, you go from a ZERO percent chance of winning to possibly drawing dark ritual, or a spirit guide. It’s not spite, it’s playing to your outs. But most everything else I agree with.
Certainly agree! There's some ways we could have better articulated ourselves around the issues of kingmaking/spite play, etc. These discussions are hard. I'm always casting my Pact, personally. And yeah, my opponents are always going to be threatened with resource destruction if they attack me, the same as you said!
@@PlayingWithPowerMTG it’s certainly hard trying to cover every possible situation in a one hour video lol. But I am glad that y’all try to. A great resource to the community as usual.
Thank you very much!
I think cards like mox diamond and mana crypt should be competitive only. Seeing a mana crypt in a casual deck just feels like garbage.
Some really bad analogies in this episode
I have to disagree 100% with the proxy points. While I agree a casual cedh game can be the time for proxies and testing, commander as a whole and specifically cedh is picking up steam for tournament level events.
Part of being skilled in something is putting in the work to get that skilled and while a job or sport or something physical not only has to have knowledge of how to get better but also be able to physically practice your skills. Physically purchasing the cards is part of that process for a tournament.
If I go to a sport and I know how to swim but I’m not a Olympic level swimmer but I hired an Olympic swimmer to compete for me do I still deserve the trophy since I won via proxy swimmer? I don’t think so. Same concept applies to commander and cedh.
Testing fine….tournament not fine
We can even go down the moral route of an LGS. If I only ever have to proxy any card in the format, why would I ever spend a dollar on sealed or single product if I can proxy anything? I show up with the proxy best deck in the format, pay my entry, win/lose and leave. I never spend money, I never engage in the social interactions unless I have to and ultimately the LGS and community as a whole suffers for it. Having a deck without proxies can also show other players that these decks are obtainable with enough time, energy and dedication and that even if they don’t like the deck they bought the card for, more than likely that $100-$1000 card they bought can go into any future decks they build
First of all. as they mentioned they arent talking about tournament play. second if you want the format to grow you kinda must allow proxies cause there arent enought real dual lands or timetwisters printed by WotC to supply that demand of cards. i got most of the expensive cards cause i started playing 25years ago and they where dirt cheap compared to now, but that is not a reason to tell someone who is like 18years old:"you gotta spend 30k on mtg to play with me scrub". third i even think they should allow proxies in tournaments to support the people who want to join a community but cant if they have to buy into it. it is still a game.