I've been on a creatureless kick for a bit now. The idea is I don't want to waste resources on dudes because if the deck is firing the field is razed. I am making an exception for Solemn Simulacrum. Format staple is format staple. I am anxious to try the new "burn" spell and I am hoping the addition of some catch all wraths I'll gain some resilience.
French is one of several extensions of EDH. These aren't apples and oranges. It has it's own banlist and the life totals are lower. Those are game changing differences but not enormous differences. It is true an aggro deck optimized for duel commander is going to get lost in translation in a mutliplayer setting. Combo and control, however, only get better when broken mana rocks, cheap tutors, and busted generals are reintroduced. The culture of the metas are different, not so much the composition. Again, French EDH was only brought up after your claim that mono red is "only ever viable in a non-competitive setting." My point is valid. There is only one sanctioned competitive setting for all of EDH. It is duel commander. Aggro decks do well there. Zurgo was one of, if not the best general for that genre. I am not making a case for a multiplayer Bellstriker deck, simply stating a fact.
As for the Indy 500, no one would bring a moped. Because it's stupid. It's a poor analogy. You would bring a moped to a Scooter Cross. Where like minded cycle enthusiasts meet for... scooter stuff... But even there the competition is divided into cc classes for fairness sake. The average player is not driving an Indy car. There will be people who bring a Lamborghini to a random Friday Night (Magic) drag race but something tells me you'll be seeing many more mid sized sedans. Maybe even a Volvo or two..
Anyway, competitive red... relative from meta to meta.
Puts us at an impasse but I am OK to agree to disagree. Enclosed is one digital high five and good vibes!
I know what forum we are in. The fact still stands that when it comes to sanctioned and competitive and EDH there is only one option. French. Arguably the best in Aggro but certainly the most represented deck is Zurgo. Saying mono red is just bad and only ever viable in a non-competitive setting is just not true.
Back to the topic at hand... I can spend the rest of the night agreeing with you about how inexpensive mono red is compared to other colors or combinations.
I get the picture you are trying to paint. I just don't think it's an accurate portrayal of EDH. The thing that makes it tricky is all of this is relative to the player's meta. I know there's a huge spectrum of levels of competitiveness. I also know that super casual players aren't sitting down to play with cut-throat competitive ones... At least not for long. Nobody has fun when Derevi, Empyrial Tactician mops the floor with Ashling the Pilgrim and 99 Mountains in every conceivable game. On the flip side, I played the archenemy so many times it got boring with Purphoros, God of the Forge.
As for the OP, I will give you there are some expensive red cards. Every single red deck gets better with the inclusion of Gauntlet of Might. Imperial Recruiter and Blood Moon were very pricey until the recent reprints. Of course those aren't auto includes. Wheel of Fortune on the other hand has gone in all of my mono red decks. There simply aren't better options. Hell, Goblin Lore is a 30 dollar uncommon.
So I will agree with you Dirk, a moped won't win the INDY 500, even if all the other drivers are scrubs. But if you ever find yourself at a stop light and you see me revving the engine of my buddy's Volvo, you better buckle up... It's going to be a wild ride!
Great callback to Academy Rectum. Very powerful effect. Curious if it's good enough for Legacy. But iirc Rector is mainly played in Legacy for Omniscience, and there really aren't any build around PW decks in Legacy like that. Really cool card, though.
I can't speak on the enchantress part, but I ran a discard Pharika deck for a while and really enjoyed it. She's super defensive, just having the mana open and a target is enough, and having the option to dole them out to an opponent to kill an annoying ground threats is oddly satisfying.
Torment of Hailfire is on a short list of cards I want to cast without the Hive Mind. Obligatory Exsanguinate, Debt to the Deathless and some all-purpose removal. I love Possibility Storm, I am just worried I'll flip up a Vindicate and lose my entire board or one of my X spells fizzling. I don't doubt I could come up with an unwhiffable list that still will play out crazy fun, I will just have to find some win conditions. Also, I think Grip of Chaos is on point for theme and great protection for Hive Mind.
Thought of you, Tiro as soon as I saw this.
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Khorvath's Fury
7 All is Dust
7 Karn Liberated
8 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
3 Reiterate
4 Haunted Plate Mail
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Trading Post
7 Scour From Existence
As for the Indy 500, no one would bring a moped. Because it's stupid. It's a poor analogy. You would bring a moped to a Scooter Cross. Where like minded cycle enthusiasts meet for... scooter stuff... But even there the competition is divided into cc classes for fairness sake. The average player is not driving an Indy car. There will be people who bring a Lamborghini to a random Friday Night (Magic) drag race but something tells me you'll be seeing many more mid sized sedans. Maybe even a Volvo or two..
Anyway, competitive red... relative from meta to meta.
Puts us at an impasse but I am OK to agree to disagree. Enclosed is one digital high five and good vibes!
Back to the topic at hand... I can spend the rest of the night agreeing with you about how inexpensive mono red is compared to other colors or combinations.
As for the OP, I will give you there are some expensive red cards. Every single red deck gets better with the inclusion of Gauntlet of Might. Imperial Recruiter and Blood Moon were very pricey until the recent reprints. Of course those aren't auto includes. Wheel of Fortune on the other hand has gone in all of my mono red decks. There simply aren't better options. Hell, Goblin Lore is a 30 dollar uncommon.
So I will agree with you Dirk, a moped won't win the INDY 500, even if all the other drivers are scrubs. But if you ever find yourself at a stop light and you see me revving the engine of my buddy's Volvo, you better buckle up... It's going to be a wild ride!
Damn near Academy Killed 'em.
Knowledge Exploitation seems like much fun... Until someone searches for a Disenchant. This is why we can't have nice things.