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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2281 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 15, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I still have my old Pokémon binder. The outside is pretty beat up but the cards are all perfectly preserved in their 9 card page sleeves. It’s a pity they didn’t have the xeno skin quad row’s back at the time I was collecting. The collector industry has considerably stepped up its game in the decades since. I still have all my old MTG decks but WOTC has changed far too much to desire to play a Friday night game at the card shop with friends. I hate EDH and the move from competitive to casual formats has increased market share but greatly diminished the diehard fan base and pool of serious players. Used to occasionally check out TCC but not much anymore and in years.

What’s wrong with EDH?

It’s hard for me to tell what a more accessible, casual format does to the other formats.

I'll go against the grain and say I like EDH. But you need to find a group of people who have the exact same tolerance for competition AND who play quickly AND who don't meet enough to develop a mini-meta. It's too tough to find that IMO but when it hits it hits.

I don't enjoy EDH either. I haven't played cEDH, it might be more my speed, but the casual EDH games I've played are all about each player durdling around to put together their fun theme or whatever, and I get the clear impression that people dislike interaction or even attempting to win. For me the whole enjoyment of MTG is the challenge and puzzle of outplaying an opponent. EDH in my opinion just doesn't have that.

This is exactly my take as well. The game exists more for the spirit of the social interaction among the players, and not enjoyment of the intellectual challenge of the game itself. I don’t get why “competition” is so frowned upon in this way. Literally no one thinks this way when watching a football game. I’ve actually gotten stared at, blank face by people when I say this. I used to think, “There’s no possible way on Earth it can only be just me.”

I recall playing EDH at a local game store once. I don't recall if it was advertised as a competitive session. I brought a store-bought EDH deck. Another guy brought some Teferi blink deck that exiled all of my permanents (including lands) by turn 4-5 or so. I didn't get to actually play a whole lot.

In a duel game, you lose and move on, but getting knocked out (or effectively knocked out) of an EDH game that is supposed to last much longer appears to be much less interesting. If you watched a football game where one guy with super-long arms herds the entire opponent team in the corner while his teammates walk the ball through the goal repeatedly, you probably wouldn't want to watch that, let alone play.

I don’t like EDH specifically because it’s a more casual format. I used to play the game semi-seriously but also occasionally followed the professional circuit back in the day. Brian Kibler was my guy to watch back then. Loved his deck constructions because he and I built in a similar way. It’s meant over the years that less ordinary people are interested in serious competitive play, to really bring to bear the kind of ingenuity a smart player can bring to his opponent.

I still have all my old MTG decks

What era(s)?

7th to Ravnica or a little beyond. Also have a minority collection of Alpha and Beta.

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