Getting tiny leaders into your local shops

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on July 5, 2016, 10:20 p.m. by demonicgrizzly

I have just started getting into tiny leaders. Just built an anafenza, the formemost deck and want to play but there is no play group or events at my shops. I am super interested in the format.

How do I go about getting my local shops into tiny leaders? Does anyone else's local shops hold tiny leaders events?

DrFunk27 says... #2

Tiny Leaders died at my LGS almost as quick as it was started. It's just too easy to abuse certain decks and players were frustrated. I sold out of all of my decks for those reasons. Nothing beats EDH and Modern.

July 5, 2016 11:06 p.m.

Sadly, no my shops don't. I wish, I'd be all up on that. EDH is just more commonly played.

July 5, 2016 11:11 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #4

I think its just a matter of going around and asking if anyone is interested in it and talking about it. The best way to get something started at a shop is to get enough people interested in it and then talk to the owner

July 5, 2016 11:39 p.m.

Aztraeuz says... #5

I wouldn't get your hopes up. The format is stale because it was figured out really fast. At the end of the day you end up with cookie cutter decks with minimal differences between them.

July 5, 2016 11:55 p.m.

demonicgrizzly says... #6

I do have a buddy who plays it, and he knows another guy. But I'm afraid that with the lack of diversity amongst decks between the three of us would get old.

I might try to start a craigslist thing, but then again how many people are looking to craigslist for playgroups

July 6, 2016 12:10 a.m.

chirz2792 says... #7

@demonicgrizzly: You could post in the social forum here on tappedout to see if you can find anyone in your area.

July 6, 2016 1:23 a.m.

Arvail says... #8

Tiny leaders is incredibly frustrating to play at high levels as a select few strategies dominate the format. Just play Legacy or EDH.

July 6, 2016 2:45 p.m.

TheRedMage says... #9

The format sadly was put to the test to see whether it could be a reasonable competitive format... and failed. The metagame evolved in such a way that only a couple decks were really viable, and after the format was solved everybody kinda moved away.

Right now you can have two out of these three: 1v1 competitive, singleton, and commonly played.

If you want something that is very established, don't particularly enjoy multiplayer and you don't intend to go crazy brewing like you would in a singleton format then Legacy is what you want.

If the brewing aspect that a singleton format requires is something you crave, and you don't mind a less competitive experience then EDH might be better for you.

Finally, if you want to play a singleton format that can be played competitive and has been so far proved to be a bit more robust than Tiny Leaders, and you don't mind doing some work to kickstart a local community (since this format is not as established as the other two), I would go with Canadian Highlander. It's a format that scratches a lot of the same itches that TL did for me (i.e. play competitively but also play with sweet cards).

July 6, 2016 3:36 p.m. Edited.

Guys, I see a lot of "tiny leaders is a narrow format", despite the fact that most formats are dominated by only a handful of decks. Affinity, Zoo, Burn, Infect, Tron, Scapeshift, Jeskai Tempo, Grixis Delver, Soul Sisters (kind of), Death and Taxes, Grishoalbrand, Ad Nauseum, Merfolk, Jund, Eldrazi: there may be a few top tier decks but the card selection within each is very limited. I think it's just a part of the game unfortunately, and the best way to find variety is to play at multiple LGS's.

As far as introducing the format, I'd recommend making 2 decks and bringing them with you. People always play around before tournaments and between rounds, and you could offer to play and let someone use your deck. Gradually you can drum up interest and get a group of people always carrying a TL deck like they do with their Standard and Modern (and sometimes EDH) decks. Eventually you should see other people with decks playing each other, as seeing you always playing will gather onlookers. Once you get enough people with decks that play regularly in a social setting, then you can talk to store owner about setting up a day to play competitively. Worse comes to worse you ask to set up a playgroup/league that meets on set days to play. You may not get a shop to offer Tiny Tuesdays with $5 entry abd prize support but you'll have people you can play the format with, and playing for the fun of it should be a large part of the sport. Good luck with your endeavors! Be the not-so-tiny leader and others will follow suit!

July 8, 2016 2:06 a.m.

Legacy is fun, but is SUPER expensive to play casually. I don't think most people have expendable income sufficient to allow for $250-a-land decks. Would certainly be cool if it was more affordable but a playset of Tropical Islands is just too much for almost everyone. I like the idea of trying to bring a new format to a community and think we should actually encourage such endeavors by answering the question of how to introduce rather than just saying "don't do it" or "it's not worth it, try X format instead". Just my 2 cents.

July 8, 2016 2:12 a.m.

TheRedMage says... #12

Kickatarting a local community for a new format is a lot of work. I was the local "tiny leaders" guy when the format became popular and all that work turned out to be for naught because the format was just not fun. Just trying to save the poster the same experience is all.

July 8, 2016 2:21 a.m.

I firmly disagree with the other posters who rip on Tiny Leaders--my friends have all been playing the format since it came out and, especially since Origins, the first has become very diverse! How can you "solve" a format that is drastically changed every time a new set is released anyway? Nobody plays Ezuri anymore, for example, because everyone packed their sb with a strong variety of removal.

I currently have all five flip walkers as commanders and they're so much fun! Alesha, Jori En, Shu Yun, Doran, Grenzo, Maga... the list goes on. All very fun, and all competitive. I don't know why so many of you gave up on it so quickly!

July 11, 2016 11:33 p.m.

I personally think that the format is a blast.

I really want to build a TL deck around the flip Liliana

As for the local shops, I actually reached out and one flat out told me no. The other ignored me.

July 12, 2016 12:23 a.m.

TheRedMage says... #15

The format is fun if you give it the "EDH treatment" i.e. you play it casually, and create an environment where suboptimal decks can exist. EDH is good at doing it because of the multiplayer aspect for example.

The problem is that that is not what the format was marketed as. The TL committee said that this format was something that could be played competitively. Like for all competitive formats, an established metagame formed and it proved to be vastly unhealthy. At that point the format quickly faded into obscurity, and for good reason.

Did the world give up on it too quickly? Perhaps. It's always hard for new formats to become established, and if you fail as badly and as quickly as TL did, it's going to hamstring your chances.

If you only have a local community playing it, since there isn't a wealth of internet resources to draw from anymore, probably you are not going to have enough brains to actually solve the new metagame after it has evolved with the sets that have come out in the past few years. But why risk it? Wouldn't you rather invest your energies in a format that hasn't shown itself to be potentially very fragile?

July 12, 2016 2:51 a.m.

I do t care if it's potentially fragile. I already mentioned that I find it interesting and entertaining. So I clearly want to invest my time and energy into it.

I can also honestly not care less about the "meta." That term sucks all the fun out of the game for people like me who don't care about competitive play.

Just because a Format is played at a local shop doesn't mean it has to be competitive - one of my shops has a casual EDH league. They als have a casual two headed giant league. So why not have a casual TL playground?

The negativity here is really disheartening and I am regretting brining this up at all.

Also, thank you Jimmy_Chinchila for the advice. I like that idea.

July 12, 2016 7:34 a.m. Edited.

Argy says... #17

I'm new to the format.

I played it with a couple of friends who caned me, but now I've built a stronger deck I am looking for a time to play them again.

At my LGS the employees said they've all got decks. They are probably very strong, but I thought I might have a play some time.

If my deck doesn't go well I can always shelve it.

Better to regret something you've tried, than to regret not trying (except for hard drugs).

July 28, 2016 10:38 a.m.

This discussion has been closed