3 player edh vs 4 player edh vs 5 player edh
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Feb. 14, 2020, 11:01 a.m. by griffstick
So I recently came to a conclusion that 3 player edh is it's own format.
I know edh is a format where you can play with as many players as you want but for the most part when people think edh they think 4 players.
Theres also 4 player two headed giant edh, and that's fun but not the same as edh. But some times when your inviting people to play magic you invite lots of people and sometimes those people dont show up so you invite more than you would need for a 4 player game of edh. That leads to games of edh with 5 players or more. But for some reason almost every time a 5 player edh game is started it turns into a variant of edh with a set of rules making it something else. Like you can only attack the person to your right or left. Or your allies are next to you. Or secret partners. Or my favorite (I dont know the name of this) there is a deputy, 2 outlaws, etc. Etc. And so on and so forth. These are all fun and these are games I sometimes prefer over regular 5 player free for all edh. And 6 player edh always turns into emperor. A game that is very unique to cmdr.
All of this brings me back to 3 player edh. It was a couple days ago when I realized that maybe aggro decks do have a place in edh. Boros, mono white, mardu, and sometimes red all struggle to win in 4 player edh because of the game going for so many more turns than an aggro deck would prefer. In addition trying to knock out 3 or more opponents with aggro is tough. Especially if you dont run blue or black. So 3 player edh is where these aggro decks shine. Only having to knock out 2 players is more feasible then 3 or more. 3 player edh allows for shorter games too. 3 player edh almost always becomes 2v1. And that fun too. Where as 4 player edh can be 3v1 and the threat can be delt with rather easily. Sometimes. The more people you add to a multiplayer game the more the game becomes balanced. The aggro strategy begans to fail. And combat based decks also falter. And the game becomes unbalanced for aggro decks and combat based decks.
I have one aggro deck (its boros) that I've been playing for 6 yrs. I've lost so many games with it, to either a well timed board wipe or I ran out of cards. However when I play it in a 3 player edh I win 60% of the time. Making 3 player edh the aggro format.
4 player edh is classic edh as we know it. 5 player edh is not serious edh. However I bet cEDH would do better in a 5 player pod. But that's a different discussion.
Well that's my thoughts as of recently. And I just think that if you are an aggro player. Save your aggro deck for the smaller games.
Happy V day everyone and have a great day.
griffstick says... #3
This is the version I use. I went to staples and printed these out and sleeved them up.
February 14, 2020 4:35 p.m.
I'm a huge pentagram/star fan for 5-player subformat. My buddy bitched & moaned about how either mono U or mono B would win, but the unusual political structure made it pan out the mono W suboptimal Nahiri won!?! I don't think he really thought through how overloading 2 points of the star really affects things. It gives me a wacky environment for Etali mono R too
February 15, 2020 2:23 a.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #6
Not entirely relevant to the point you're making, but if you like aggro for EDH, build Neheb, the Eternal. He actively scales to get stronger against more opponents, and can very, very quickly build a terrifying board state, while also having late-game staying power thanks to some of the high-CMC cards (most notably IMO Sunbird's Invocation) that he makes easy to cast. He also makes small amounts of damage pay off huge dividends - casting Purphoros, God of the Forge turn four, then Neheb himself turn five gives you a free six-drop in a four player game. Flame Rift, for example, pays for itself six times over against three opponents.
February 16, 2020 1:24 a.m.
dingusdingo says... #7
griffstick big thanks mate, without a doubt one of the best contributions I've received from tappedout yet. If you have any other interesting EDH variants I encourage you to post them here or make a thread somewhere.
dingusdingo says... #2
Wowee do you have any more information on the EDH variant with sheriffs and outlaws?
Also my advice for playing Aggro in 3 or 4 or 5 or any number of people pods is to run effects that splash damage to other players or that slurp the entire board of life at once. I have been brewing and playing Adriana, Captain of the Guard with lots of extra combat step cards in order to try to solve the aggro problem. You keep the melee triggers from previous combats, so the first combat everything gets +3/+3, second combat its +6/+6, so forth. Other combat oriented decks I've seen that are successful use combat almost like a combo payoff. I'm sure most people are aware of
I also recommend looking at cards like the new Tectonic Giant which hit all opponents. Compare to Inferno Titan. The giant is coming out on turn 4 instead of 6. It has 3 power and does 3x3 damage each attack for 12 per attack without combat bonuses. Inferno tit is doing 6+3 for 9 total, although it has firebreathing. Cards with extort like Blind Obedience are another good way to go because they expand well into multiplayer formats. Gaining 4 life and taking 4 away from your opponents collective 160 (if you in a 5 player pod) makes a big difference for 1 mana.
My final pet card mention would be Jaya's Immolating Inferno. This is some straight up efficiency for EDH and my go-to X spell in EDH aggro.
February 14, 2020 2:20 p.m.