In this thread im going to break down why group hug is the worst deck in edh and why you should never build it and why if you have one already built you should burn it.
1) you just made everyone's deck irrelevant Casting a turn 3 tempting wurm basically just turned the game into a game of poker. Who ever decided to keep a huge finisher auto wins. This eliminates any type of strategy or thought. Just windmill slam down the best **** in your hand and hope nobody has better. Actually, it's not like poker. It's UNO. My card is better! I win! Thanks.
2) ramp already has enough help... But thanks for giving them more land and more card draw sweet! All my lands tap for tripple mana and I draw 17 cards a turn!? Glad I'm playing green. Suck it mono white guy!
3)politics? Ha there's no point in a game with a group hug deck. When you're being handed free stuff for free all day, why make deals, alliances, or threats? It's all useless when you have 70 mana and 80 cards in your hand.
4) thanks for he hippo, but it's not going to block the 300 40/40 tokens you helped the other guy make this is my biggest issue with group hug. The deck lets the game slide out of countrol in one players favor, then have no way to equalize it.
"Oh gee, sorry. Lol hippos!" isn't a game strategy. It's you being a griefer for no reason what so ever.
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The EDH stax primer When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
Luckely, they've been hated out and all but vanished.
What happened was when some one would slap down Pheldagrif, the table would ask if it was group hug, answer was yes; then follow up question: do you have a win condition? When the answer was no, we asked them to play another deck or kindly relinquish their seat to some one else.
The meta as a whole doesn't like it. I build decks to have fun, be challenging to both myself and the other players, and to learn what my deck needs and doesnt. Group hug just voids that.
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The EDH stax primer When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
Playing against group hug requires some play skill, which I enjoy. You need to evaluate how much the group hugger helps or hurts your strategy and those of the other players. If it's helpful, capitalize. If it's more helpful to others, kill the group hugger. They tend to play little defense, so it isn't all that hard to do so.
Still, I can see what you mean about it being an Uno game when everyone's handed tons of resources and the best hand wins. That can be unfun. But there is still some play skill involved in all this, which makes me usually ok with it. And it's really not that much different than the "Uno factor" of turn 1 Serra Ascendant to me.
we have a guy in the casual who does group hug. he continually gets beat by everyone then whines about why everyone picked him first to get beat on. he doesnt play to win but just builds his deck just to help everyone out. its gets quite annoying to everyone when he joins in with his deck.
What happened was when some one would slap down Pheldagrif, the table would ask if it was group hug, answer was yes; then follow up question: do you have a win condition? When the answer was no, we asked them to play another deck or kindly relinquish their seat to some one else.
The meta as a whole doesn't like it. I build decks to have fun, be challenging to both myself and the other players, and to learn what my deck needs and doesnt. Group hug just voids that.
This really is a personal opinion you can discuss with your meta. If your meta as a whole agrees they don't want to play with/against group hug decks the problem is solved.
But I think the stance you are taking right now is much like the one fattyluvboat demonstrated against Stax decks. Saying an archtype is just plain bad, doesn't work and/or isn't fun is all subjective.
It might not work in your meta, but that doesn't mean it does not fulfill the purpose the creator of the deck wanted it to fulfill. Not everyone wants to win/have a wincon (look at your friend Galspanic rocking the Ghost Ship).
To clarify, I don't really like those decks, but I think you're going too far to say that evryone that has a deck like this should burn it.
So, it's no problem right? Why make this thread if this would be the case?
This really is a personal opinion you can discuss with your meta. If your meta as a whole agrees they don't want to play with/against group hug decks the problem is solved.
But I think the stance you are taking right now is much like the one fattyluvboat demonstrated against Stax decks. Saying an archtype is just plain bad, doesn't work and/or isn't fun is all subjective.
My meta and this board are very separate things. I'm just striking up a conversation.
And please don't compare me fatty. If a group hug deck showed up that actually won the game with its nonsense, i'd be happy. But from what I've seen it's just a deck that goes "free stuff for all! Haha. Wheeeeeeeees, haha hippos!"
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The EDH stax primer When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
But from what I've seen it's just a deck that goes "free stuff for all! Haha. Wheeeeeeeees, haha hippos!"
"Fortunately" my experience has been a little different, with Zedruu, the Greathearted running Howling Mine, Font of Mythos, Kami of the Crescent Moon, etc. to garner everyone's favor and then either insta-gibbing someone by passing them an enchantment of some crippling nature or dropping Insurrection when we all had tapped out with childish glee. I hated losing to it, but at least he was playing group hug to win, right?
i dont think extra draw would be considered group hug, but i could be wrong on this. ive seen a group hug deck play all extra draw, mana flare/heartbeat of spring, and that big spell where everyone genesis waves. its stupid.
If a group hug deck showed up that actually won the game with its nonsense, i'd be happy. But from what I've seen it's just a deck that goes "free stuff for all! Haha. Wheeeeeeeees, haha hippos!"
This is exactly why I compared your earlier statement with that of fatty. He claimed he hasn't had a single game where Stax did not slow the game down to a crawl and that Stax decks always lost those games in the end. and that''s why he said it should never be played. I know he went even farther by calling everyone that played it stupid, and you are definetly not going that far, but the reasoning you two demonstrate is similar.
You can't claim a deck shouldn't be played just because you never enjoyed playing against it and you have never seen it win.
In my opinion breaking down why the deck sucks and you should never ever play it is not the way to start an open discussion...
This is exactly why I compared your earlier statement with that of fatty. He claimed he hasn't had a single game where Stax did not slow the game down to a crawl and that Stax decks always lost those games in the end.
You can't claim a deck shouldn't be played just because you never enjoyed playing against it and you have never seen it win.
The difference is Group Hug is effectively no longer MtG. Magic is a resource driven game, so a deck like Stax plays 100% on that fact. It attempts to limit resources to make it harder to play. Group Hug ignores resources because it makes them no longer restricted. It's not a game when everyone has access to everything.
Group hug was a cute har har idea when EDH first started getting popular, but it just blows. It is essentially the most ultimate troll deck ever.
Best part I love about playing against Group Hug -
I'm about to kill the guy with 3847893478364 Avenger of Zendikar tokens who will undoubtedly win next turn, but the group hug player counters my kill spell. The GH player starts laughing and says "hugs for all"!, yet doesn't understand the cruel irony that he just made everyone hate everyone else at the table, especially guy playing Mr. Pheldagriff. The GH guy claims up and down that he did it because he has to, he is a group hug deck. The guy with the plant tokens wins next turn. I get frustrated and the GH dude does that "U mad bro" internet nerd meme bull crap. Yeah dude, you can do stupid plays and get off watching people get upset because you have the mind of a 12 year old. Go die in a ditch.
So now, whenever I see that stupid purple hippo, I take it away from who ever is playing it and use it for toilet paper.
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BBe the broke or the breakerB
Be the giver or the undertaker
Unlock and open the door
Be the healer or the breaker
The keys are in your hands
Realize you are your own source of all creation BOf your own master planB
The difference is Group Hug is effectively no longer MtG. Magic is a resource driven game, so a deck like Stax plays 100% on that fact. It attempts to limit resources to make it harder to play. Group Hug ignores resources because it makes them no longer restricted. It's not a game when everyone has access to everything.
I like playing Stax, I dislike Group Hug, let that be clear.
But what playing cards are group hug decks using? Pokémon? Of course it changes the whole game, and yes you can think that it ruins it. But that still does not give you the right to say no one should ever play it. You can refuse to play against it, that's all you need.
The difference is Group Hug is effectively no longer MtG. Magic is a resource driven game, so a deck like Stax plays 100% on that fact. It attempts to limit resources to make it harder to play. Group Hug ignores resources because it makes them no longer restricted. It's not a game when everyone has access to everything.
So let me get this straight. If Magic is resource driven, how can you say that an archetype whose strategy is to deny resources and not let everyone play ok, but an archetype which gives everyone extra resources bad? Stax and Group Hug are two sides of the same coin. Even the win cons are the same - one can only win with a giant Purple Hippo, and the other can only win from people scooping out of frustration.
Magic is primarily a game about resource management. Group hug makes those decisions, both in deck making and in playing, largely meaningless. Stax restricts the players and makes them make more decisions (until lockdown occurs) about how they use their cards and mana.
Was this thread started simply because you lose whenever Group Hug is at the table? The OP certainly makes it sound that way, and not in a logical or thoughtful way, but just complaining...
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Amazing Avy & Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios [4/22/11]
The difference is Group Hug is effectively no longer MtG. Magic is a resource driven game, so a deck like Stax plays 100% on that fact. It attempts to limit resources to make it harder to play. Group Hug ignores resources because it makes them no longer restricted. It's not a game when everyone has access to everything.
I like to think of it this way: Your "average" MTG deck that neither attempts to restrict or expand the normal rules of the game (draw 1 card per turn, play 1 land per turn, etc.) in any extreme way is in the middle of the spectrum. Stax decks, which attempt to greatly restrict resource generation and usage, are on the extreme left-hand end of the spectrum, and Grup Hug decks, which attempt to greatly expand resource generation and usage, are on the extreme right-hand end of the spectrum. Both are equally legitimate in their own ways. Both can be played to win. And both can be played with no intention of winning whatsoever. You may prefer one or the other, but both are legitimate manipulations of the rules of MTG. I mean, Wizards printed the cards, clearly they think both archetypes are parts of their game.
If your deck is designed to win with its normal amount of resources, then it should have no problem winning when everyone at the table has hyper-resources. It's not like group hug decks usually give one person more resources than anyone else. What Shoopdawoop is saying directly above me rings true. Coincidentally, the only people I know personally that dislike group hug decks play mostly Stax-related decks. It's no wonder, as group hug decks completely invalidate Stax.
Come on, Phil. Do I need to make a thread entirely devoted to stuff I don't like that hoses me? I have a tough time playing certain decks against specific decks in our meta, but I'm not going on record saying that something you might enjoy sucks. Watch. I can do this, too:
1) You just made everyone's deck irrelevant: Casting multiple Stax effects early basically means I don't get to play the cards in my deck. Who ever decided to keep a bunch of land in hand and some ramp auto wins. This eliminates any type of strategy or thought, because if I can't cast the cards in my hand, I can't play the game. If my deck isn't designed specifically with a low curve, a bunch of mana rocks, and a ton of ramp, then I'm sitting at the table twiddlng my thumbs, waiting for the molasses-slow Stax deck to draw into one of its drawn out, resource denial win-cons.
2) Ramp already has enough help, but thanks for giving them the only playable board position. I played out my lands like a normal person, only to watch them get blown up. Now I can only put out one land a turn, and that's if I'm drawing into them. Too bad I'm not playing green. Suck it mono white guy!
3) Politics? Ha! There's no point in a game with a Stax deck. When you're being denied of playing anything over 4 mana all day, why make deals, alliances, or threats? It's all useless when you have no mana and 7 cards in your hand.
4) Thanks for the Armageddon, but now I can't cast anything to block the 300 40/40 tokens you helped the ramp guy make. This is my biggest issue with stax. The deck lets the game slide out of countrol in one players favor, then have no way to equalize it.
I don't dislike Stax personally, but I don't usually play green, and I'm known for building janky decks that people usually don't like. You know I love you, Phil, but this argument can be said for anything that anyone else doesn't like about anything.
My group hug list can combo out with infinite cats, draw an opponent out, or deal infinite damage with Squall Line.
We exist, I promise.
Also, sounds more like you're butthurt because your version of "fun" doesn't jive with another person's version of "fun". And we all know where that argument leads.
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If I played stax at a table full of bug Combo players is hate group hug too. That being said its a perfectly viable strategy and makes for quick exciting games with less turns sounds awesome to me. If they have no wincon that kinda lame but my jenara hug deck usually takes infinte turns by turn 4-5
So let me get this straight. If Magic is resource driven, how can you say that an archetype whose strategy is to deny resources and not let everyone play ok, but an archetype which gives everyone extra resources bad? Stax and Group Hug are two sides of the same coin. Even the win cons are the same - one can only win with a giant Purple Hippo, and the other can only win from people scooping out of frustration.
The belief you have is a false one. Magic is pushing the toxic belief that "more = good" and "less = bad". This is why new players can't react properly to stax or permission. The game design does not prepare them for it. It's an increasingly common gaming trend. Pretty sure I ***** about it once a week at least.
Look at a highly competitive game like starcraft or dota where resource denial is a major part of the game. In fact, it's the reason that they are so competitive.
Also, sounds more like you're butthurt because your version of "fun" doesn't jive with another person's version of "fun". And we all know where that argument leads.
That's exactly what it sounds like Jack. Again, I don't know why this was even made into a thread.
The belief you have is a false one. Magic is pushing the toxic belief that "more = good" and "less = bad". This is why new players can't react properly to stax or permission. The game design does not prepare them for it. It's an increasingly common gaming trend. Pretty sure I ***** about it once a week at least.
At least.
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Amazing Avy & Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios [4/22/11]
I don't have a problem with group hug in general, but I do have a problem with a couple group hug cards.
Nullmage Advocate- This card is HORRIBLE. You are already making people draw more cards and the likelihood that this gets cloned goes up excessively as each turn goes by. It recurs counter spells for other players to keep the game "In check" and easily allows for two players to regrow GY's for hours (I say this because its happened every time this card has been played).
Trade secrets - It's a combo card disguised as group hug that has the opposite problem, it just ends the game flat out if two people want it to.
That said there are a couple of stax cards that I just hate too.
Sphere of resistance- Thorn and Thalia are both fine as they serve a purpose (Slow down non creature spells) or cards like glowrider which make a type of spell cost more. Even trinisphere is ok. This card just slows up the game which is not ok.
Iona, shield of emria - This card just locks players out in a boring uninteractive way.
The belief you have is a false one. Magic is pushing the toxic belief that "more = good" and "less = bad". This is why new players can't react properly to stax or permission. The game design does not prepare them for it. It's an increasingly common gaming trend. Pretty sure I ***** about it once a week at least.
Look at a highly competitive game like starcraft or dota where resource denial is a major part of the game. In fact, it's the reason that they are so competitive.
Please elaborate on how I'm wrong on my belief that Stax and Group Hug are two sides of the same coin (make sure to tell Shoop too, since he said the same thing I did).
Yes, Wizards pushes the more=good less=bad. You know what? Because the majority of players think its true. And yes, resource denial is a competitive (and advanced) strategy.
You say players can't react properly to resource denial? Well I say they can't react properly to Group Hug. In the case of both, doesn't it boil down to adapting to the game state and managing it?
1) you just made everyone's deck irrelevant Casting a turn 3 tempting wurm basically just turned the game into a game of poker. Who ever decided to keep a huge finisher auto wins. This eliminates any type of strategy or thought. Just windmill slam down the best **** in your hand and hope nobody has better. Actually, it's not like poker. It's UNO. My card is better! I win! Thanks.
2) ramp already has enough help... But thanks for giving them more land and more card draw sweet! All my lands tap for tripple mana and I draw 17 cards a turn!? Glad I'm playing green. Suck it mono white guy!
3)politics? Ha there's no point in a game with a group hug deck. When you're being handed free stuff for free all day, why make deals, alliances, or threats? It's all useless when you have 70 mana and 80 cards in your hand.
4) thanks for he hippo, but it's not going to block the 300 40/40 tokens you helped the other guy make this is my biggest issue with group hug. The deck lets the game slide out of countrol in one players favor, then have no way to equalize it.
"Oh gee, sorry. Lol hippos!" isn't a game strategy. It's you being a griefer for no reason what so ever.
The EDH stax primer
When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
Luckely, they've been hated out and all but vanished.
What happened was when some one would slap down Pheldagrif, the table would ask if it was group hug, answer was yes; then follow up question: do you have a win condition? When the answer was no, we asked them to play another deck or kindly relinquish their seat to some one else.
The meta as a whole doesn't like it. I build decks to have fun, be challenging to both myself and the other players, and to learn what my deck needs and doesnt. Group hug just voids that.
The EDH stax primer
When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
Still, I can see what you mean about it being an Uno game when everyone's handed tons of resources and the best hand wins. That can be unfun. But there is still some play skill involved in all this, which makes me usually ok with it. And it's really not that much different than the "Uno factor" of turn 1 Serra Ascendant to me.
So, it's no problem right? Why make this thread if this would be the case?
This really is a personal opinion you can discuss with your meta. If your meta as a whole agrees they don't want to play with/against group hug decks the problem is solved.
But I think the stance you are taking right now is much like the one fattyluvboat demonstrated against Stax decks. Saying an archtype is just plain bad, doesn't work and/or isn't fun is all subjective.
It might not work in your meta, but that doesn't mean it does not fulfill the purpose the creator of the deck wanted it to fulfill. Not everyone wants to win/have a wincon (look at your friend Galspanic rocking the Ghost Ship).
To clarify, I don't really like those decks, but I think you're going too far to say that evryone that has a deck like this should burn it.
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
My meta and this board are very separate things. I'm just striking up a conversation.
And please don't compare me fatty. If a group hug deck showed up that actually won the game with its nonsense, i'd be happy. But from what I've seen it's just a deck that goes "free stuff for all! Haha. Wheeeeeeeees, haha hippos!"
The EDH stax primer
When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
"Fortunately" my experience has been a little different, with Zedruu, the Greathearted running Howling Mine, Font of Mythos, Kami of the Crescent Moon, etc. to garner everyone's favor and then either insta-gibbing someone by passing them an enchantment of some crippling nature or dropping Insurrection when we all had tapped out with childish glee. I hated losing to it, but at least he was playing group hug to win, right?
R.I.P. Sundering Titan (6/20/12) and Braids, Cabal Minion (9/12/14)
In my opinion breaking down why the deck sucks and you should never ever play it is not the way to start an open discussion...
This is exactly why I compared your earlier statement with that of fatty. He claimed he hasn't had a single game where Stax did not slow the game down to a crawl and that Stax decks always lost those games in the end. and that''s why he said it should never be played. I know he went even farther by calling everyone that played it stupid, and you are definetly not going that far, but the reasoning you two demonstrate is similar.
You can't claim a deck shouldn't be played just because you never enjoyed playing against it and you have never seen it win.
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
The difference is Group Hug is effectively no longer MtG. Magic is a resource driven game, so a deck like Stax plays 100% on that fact. It attempts to limit resources to make it harder to play. Group Hug ignores resources because it makes them no longer restricted. It's not a game when everyone has access to everything.
Best part I love about playing against Group Hug -
I'm about to kill the guy with 3847893478364 Avenger of Zendikar tokens who will undoubtedly win next turn, but the group hug player counters my kill spell. The GH player starts laughing and says "hugs for all"!, yet doesn't understand the cruel irony that he just made everyone hate everyone else at the table, especially guy playing Mr. Pheldagriff. The GH guy claims up and down that he did it because he has to, he is a group hug deck. The guy with the plant tokens wins next turn. I get frustrated and the GH dude does that "U mad bro" internet nerd meme bull crap. Yeah dude, you can do stupid plays and get off watching people get upset because you have the mind of a 12 year old. Go die in a ditch.
So now, whenever I see that stupid purple hippo, I take it away from who ever is playing it and use it for toilet paper.
Be the giver or the undertaker
Unlock and open the door
Be the healer or the breaker
The keys are in your hands
Realize you are your own source of all creation
BOf your own master planB
I like playing Stax, I dislike Group Hug, let that be clear.
But what playing cards are group hug decks using? Pokémon? Of course it changes the whole game, and yes you can think that it ruins it. But that still does not give you the right to say no one should ever play it. You can refuse to play against it, that's all you need.
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
So let me get this straight. If Magic is resource driven, how can you say that an archetype whose strategy is to deny resources and not let everyone play ok, but an archetype which gives everyone extra resources bad? Stax and Group Hug are two sides of the same coin. Even the win cons are the same - one can only win with a giant Purple Hippo, and the other can only win from people scooping out of frustration.
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Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
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I like to think of it this way: Your "average" MTG deck that neither attempts to restrict or expand the normal rules of the game (draw 1 card per turn, play 1 land per turn, etc.) in any extreme way is in the middle of the spectrum. Stax decks, which attempt to greatly restrict resource generation and usage, are on the extreme left-hand end of the spectrum, and Grup Hug decks, which attempt to greatly expand resource generation and usage, are on the extreme right-hand end of the spectrum. Both are equally legitimate in their own ways. Both can be played to win. And both can be played with no intention of winning whatsoever. You may prefer one or the other, but both are legitimate manipulations of the rules of MTG. I mean, Wizards printed the cards, clearly they think both archetypes are parts of their game.
R.I.P. Sundering Titan (6/20/12) and Braids, Cabal Minion (9/12/14)
Come on, Phil. Do I need to make a thread entirely devoted to stuff I don't like that hoses me? I have a tough time playing certain decks against specific decks in our meta, but I'm not going on record saying that something you might enjoy sucks. Watch. I can do this, too:
1) You just made everyone's deck irrelevant: Casting multiple Stax effects early basically means I don't get to play the cards in my deck. Who ever decided to keep a bunch of land in hand and some ramp auto wins. This eliminates any type of strategy or thought, because if I can't cast the cards in my hand, I can't play the game. If my deck isn't designed specifically with a low curve, a bunch of mana rocks, and a ton of ramp, then I'm sitting at the table twiddlng my thumbs, waiting for the molasses-slow Stax deck to draw into one of its drawn out, resource denial win-cons.
2) Ramp already has enough help, but thanks for giving them the only playable board position. I played out my lands like a normal person, only to watch them get blown up. Now I can only put out one land a turn, and that's if I'm drawing into them. Too bad I'm not playing green. Suck it mono white guy!
3) Politics? Ha! There's no point in a game with a Stax deck. When you're being denied of playing anything over 4 mana all day, why make deals, alliances, or threats? It's all useless when you have no mana and 7 cards in your hand.
4) Thanks for the Armageddon, but now I can't cast anything to block the 300 40/40 tokens you helped the ramp guy make. This is my biggest issue with stax. The deck lets the game slide out of countrol in one players favor, then have no way to equalize it.
I don't dislike Stax personally, but I don't usually play green, and I'm known for building janky decks that people usually don't like. You know I love you, Phil, but this argument can be said for anything that anyone else doesn't like about anything.
My group hug list can combo out with infinite cats, draw an opponent out, or deal infinite damage with Squall Line.
We exist, I promise.
Also, sounds more like you're butthurt because your version of "fun" doesn't jive with another person's version of "fun". And we all know where that argument leads.
Thanks, Heroes of The Planes! You guys are great!
Actual Truth:
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
The belief you have is a false one. Magic is pushing the toxic belief that "more = good" and "less = bad". This is why new players can't react properly to stax or permission. The game design does not prepare them for it. It's an increasingly common gaming trend. Pretty sure I ***** about it once a week at least.
Look at a highly competitive game like starcraft or dota where resource denial is a major part of the game. In fact, it's the reason that they are so competitive.
That's exactly what it sounds like Jack. Again, I don't know why this was even made into a thread.
At least.
Nullmage Advocate- This card is HORRIBLE. You are already making people draw more cards and the likelihood that this gets cloned goes up excessively as each turn goes by. It recurs counter spells for other players to keep the game "In check" and easily allows for two players to regrow GY's for hours (I say this because its happened every time this card has been played).
Trade secrets - It's a combo card disguised as group hug that has the opposite problem, it just ends the game flat out if two people want it to.
That said there are a couple of stax cards that I just hate too.
Sphere of resistance- Thorn and Thalia are both fine as they serve a purpose (Slow down non creature spells) or cards like glowrider which make a type of spell cost more. Even trinisphere is ok. This card just slows up the game which is not ok.
Iona, shield of emria - This card just locks players out in a boring uninteractive way.
Wizards in relation to modern.
"The bannings will continue until attendance improves."
Not sure if trolling or just very stupid.:fry:
Please elaborate on how I'm wrong on my belief that Stax and Group Hug are two sides of the same coin (make sure to tell Shoop too, since he said the same thing I did).
Yes, Wizards pushes the more=good less=bad. You know what? Because the majority of players think its true. And yes, resource denial is a competitive (and advanced) strategy.
You say players can't react properly to resource denial? Well I say they can't react properly to Group Hug. In the case of both, doesn't it boil down to adapting to the game state and managing it?
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Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
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