Comments on: Insider: Evaluating EDH Cards

By: Martin Khan

Martin Khan — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 20:02:02 +0000

I find it so odd that EDH as a format has not been as harsh with certain card types as I would like. Its seems a bit out of wack to ban cards like : Biorhythm Kokusho, the Evening Star (as a commander) Gifts Ungiven But keep Magister Sphinx Repay in Kind Sorin Markov People say land destruction is cruel, but that usually requires some grand build up of loyalty counters, mana or combo cards. I cant tell you how often on turn 8, there is board build up on all sides of a 4v4 and one guy plays Magister Sphinx, flickers it and kills the table with one guy each of us cant block. Yet the format seems only concerned with Sway the Stars and Sylvan Primordial... The only argument to ban cards that makes sense to me, but isn't enough in my opinion is when a card becomes such a staple that broken enough to be in every EDH deck and of set the balance of the format. Too broken is not a valid argument when there are so many more-- much more broken cards left legal. Not much a fan of infinite combos either for a predominately casual format.

By: pi

pi — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 13:20:51 +0000

In reply to David Schumann. Chromatic Lantern is a recent card that I was thinking of. Also consider creature based ramp.

By: Carl Tremblay

Carl Tremblay — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:07:33 +0000

The color pie also has a role in this. If the commander you play is mono color, obviously you will have to find cards to fill the roles you listed even if they are not as good as the alternatives of other colors. This also has an effect on the value of colorless card like All is Dust or Oblivion Stone. I mostly play mono black or grixis and enchantment removal is quite scarce. Still using black as an example, I sometimes play Withering Boon or Gate to Phyrexia just to deal with specific cards. These cards are very narrow for general magic but in the context of EDH they are perfect fillers for color pie weaknesses.

By: David Schumann

David Schumann — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 11:13:30 +0000

In reply to pi. I actually put "ramp" under tutors, but I did neglect artifact "ramp" (your darksteel ingots, sol rings, etc) which should also be considered.

By: pi

pi — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 10:57:48 +0000

Actually all 3 creatures in Visions that introduced comes into play abilities to the Magic world could make a creature disappear (Man-o’-War, Nekrataal & Uktabi Orangutan).

I think you may also want to consider ramp, any Legend and perhaps a few other categories. I agree with those you have described though. EDH is much more than high casting costs and big creatures, in fact, I personally have a tendency towards cheaper cards compared to most EDH players, relying on synergy to carry my strategy.