Is there such thing as "competitive EDH" tournaments?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on July 16, 2014, 9:46 p.m. by TheGamer
Commander is a format for fun, not competitive play. But some people (like me) turn their super fun casual Commander deck into a super Combo Deck that wins as early as turn 3.
So, my main question is "are their competitive EDH Tournaments out there?" I don't mean tournaments LGS's run. I mean EDH side events at IQ's or GP's that can really test my deck's true strength... And that also have prizes to be won.
All comments and answers are greatly appreciated! Thanks all and happy deckbuilding!
Ok, ok... You got me Epochalyptik. I didn't exactly mean it wasn't meant for competitive play, I just meant people don't see it that way.
July 16, 2014 10:05 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Most don't view it as competitive, that's true. Still, competitive EDH is alive and vicious.
If you're looking for what to expect in those kinds of games, it's a lot of Hermit Druid and Animar, Soul of Elements . Occasionally, I show up in person with Dominus - Dreamcrusher Edition.
July 16, 2014 10:28 p.m.
That's good to know Epochalyptik, thanks!
Im planning on using my Shattergang Brothers EDH deck (you've reviewed it before). Also, a good friend of mine always playtests EDH with me and he plays Animar. We are both Combo decks, and it seems everytime he wins, I was about to combo the next turn XD
July 16, 2014 11:07 p.m.
SevenSeasAgo says... #7
There are competitive tournaments for EDH. They're almost always French rules though. Which is intended as 1v1
July 16, 2014 11:42 p.m.
Ringleader: do you have a link to "French rules"? I have no idea what that is.
July 16, 2014 11:47 p.m.
SevenSeasAgo says... #11
It's a bigger ban list (note that Sol Ring is banned). Also known as Duel Commander
July 17, 2014 12:21 a.m.
Is it just me Ringleader, or is that most retarded banned list ever? Why the bleep would you ban EDH staples like Sol Ring and Mana Vault ???
July 17, 2014 12:22 a.m.
scopesightzx says... #13
Depending on what your lgs is cool with, they may run edh tourneys (one near me runs a league, it's free to play, runs off a point system for prize payouts, and runs three to four 4 player games a night once a week.) Depending on how they run the point system, they could promote the more social or competitive aspects of magic.
July 17, 2014 12:28 a.m.
Ya, my LGS runs EDH tournaments every Saturday scopesightzx. I don't know what your LGS' home rules are, but we have one free mulligan, scry 2, and follow the WotC banned list.
July 17, 2014 12:29 a.m.
scopesightzx says... #15
I haven't been to that shop in a while except to buy cards (they have nearly anything you could want). Their players are somewhat rude and the customer service is shoddy at times. While my main shop doesn't hold official tourneys, we still have a fairly strong edh presence there. We use the partial paris mulligan method (draw your normal seven, you can place any number of cards from your opening hand face down. The first mulligan is free, and after that you would draw one less than you placed down. If you got really mana screwed, we let you start back at seven.)
July 17, 2014 12:36 a.m.
HorrorAvengers says... #16
they're banned because in multiplayer if you get too big for your briches early on someone will knock you down a peg. In 1v1, that's less likely to happen. Like if I play a t1 forest, sol ring, lightning greives, t2 forest, elvish piper, equpi the boots and drop an avacyn turn 3 with boots, it's more likely that, out of 3 opponents, one will have either terminus (and friends), or one has artifact removal and the other a path to exile, ect.
Against one opponent that scenario will almost definitely win right then and there, barring infini-combos. But I've done that kind of setup at least 3, 4 times with my friends ghave deck, and it's never won the game by itself, and usually even after the combo is dismantled people will target you.
July 17, 2014 12:40 a.m.
I understand now, thanks HorrorAvengers!
And sorry to hear that about that store scopesightzx
July 17, 2014 12:51 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #18
I have never seen a French tournament. That's not to say they don't exist, but they're the minority, not the majority. Events of the kind you describe, TheGamer, are likely to be side event pods at major events, which are 4-player FFA.
If there is an organized French EDH event, it should be advertised as such because that's not the kind of EDH people expect to play.
July 17, 2014 8:18 a.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #19
I'm going to say, you mentioned competitive but not an event at a LGS? I'm going to tell you, my LGS has run Commander events in the past that did indeed get competitive. The rules had four-player games and you could play as many games as you wanted through the day (with a small fee paid for each game) with any legal deck in any game. There were points for winning or achieving specific objectives during games. The hyper efficient combo decks came out of the woodwork, as did the infect decks and monoblue counter decks and ruthless aggro decks and so forth; players came for it from much farther than normal, kids and others who hadn't played commander before showed up, and so on. There were prizes, I think among them a Commander's Arsenal at the time, I forget.
It was alright, an experience, but it was a very different crowd. I don't mind that they're uncommon occasions. That particular one was really a fundraiser for a local who had met some unfortunate times recently and the store manager was helping them out.
July 17, 2014 8:58 a.m.
In my experience, every EDH tournament I've ever seen that wasn't French List 1v1 has had that list of point awards and deductions in place of a normal scoring system which try to enforce casual decks by punishing competitive choices.
The only multiplayer EDH events I've ever seen that don't use the point system get dominated by the 1 or 2 people who are super competitive and make all the ones who thought it would be fun and casual upset.
If you want to play EDH where you are encouraged if not required to play as competitively and efficiently as possible, find out where people are playing French List and play that.
Epochalyptik says... #2
"Commander is a format for fun, not competitive play."
Ahem.
Most major events do have EDH side events. SCG generally runs them after round 2 or 3.
July 16, 2014 10:01 p.m.