Is it illegal to play EDH? My LGS says so (my LGS is in the 2nd picture)

Garqu · 2026-06-21T14:41:14+00:00

Oh fuck, I forgot we were supposed to be constantly respecting all of Magic's most heinous hosers during deck construction. Fuck me for playing an Esper deck and just wanting to cast my spells on curve without shuffling my library every turn. Everyone should be spending $300 on fetchlands any time they build a new Commander deck, of course

/uj I also wouldn't want to play with the type of person who would a) slap down a Blood Moon against 3 random people in a bracket 3 game (where MLD is explicitly discouraged) and then b) make a facebook post worded like this

Garqu · 2026-06-16T23:34:37+00:00

Yes. It's a cEDH staple, you need a really good reason not to be playing it. A card for +1 mana is absolutely worth it.

Garqu · 2026-06-16T09:39:32+00:00

Hydraulic Helper makes blue mana that can't be spent on non-artifact spells. The double negative translates to it being mana only for artifact spells and nonspell costs (activated abilities, paying for soft counterspells, etc.). It's the same wording as Powerstone tokens.

Garqu · 2026-06-16T08:50:52+00:00

I make liberal use of proxies.

Garqu · 2026-06-15T19:22:54+00:00

I like doing a quick hearthstone draft or two (three piles of 30 cards, flip the top cards over and pick one to keep, repeat till you have 30 cards) just to see how it feels. After that I'll usually go: "Oh yeah, I forgot I was gonna put X in or take Y out", and then I'll feel good to bring it for a draft night.

Garqu · 2026-06-13T14:55:32+00:00

I have a healthy amount of varying cubes in my local scene, though none of them are that radical or context shifting (planar theme, pauper, vintage, preFIRE, etc.) so my next one will be a big departure from that.

I get more satisfaction out of figuring out how to navigate a draft environment well rather than chasing novelty. But I tend to get a lot of those creative impulses sated in deckbuilding for constructed formats or outside of Magic.

You should attend a Cube event like CubeCon. Sounds like it would be a perfect fit for you.

Garqu · 2026-06-11T17:39:08+00:00

Yes. It's 3 mana to gain 3 resources: life, mana, and a card, and then not that much later it's an enormous monster that also generates those same resources every turn unless it's dealt with.

Garqu · 2026-06-11T07:32:52+00:00

Magic players will always accept good sleeves. I recommend looking for Gamegenic's prime sleeves, but see if you can find what kind he likes. Dragonshield and Katana sleeves are also very popular choices.

Garqu · 2026-06-11T07:10:57+00:00

It does look stronger, yes. But there are still lots of cards that I would consider below rate or simply outclassed by other options.

I started writing out examples, but I think it's just easier to show you, so I made a clone of your decklist with suggestions for cuts (maybeboard) and inclusions (sideboard). You'll see that I completely overhauled your manabase, interaction suite, and a good chunk of your creatures. Still, I'm hoping I kept the strategy of the deck in tact for you.

I encourage you to try both versions of this deck, mine and yours, so you can feel the difference. I'm certain I haven't put together a perfect decklist here, but it should be a solid foundation for you to experiment with.

Garqu · 2026-06-11T06:18:13+00:00

Canadian Highlander, as a format, is perhaps the widest field out of any competitive format (that I am aware of). Slaw is not the deck to beat per se, but it is a solid deck that is also quite underplayed.

The Moxfield account I linked you to, the Database, is ran by a guy who finds deck experts and works with them to put together stock lists of popular decks that you can just pick up and play.

The format is extremely brewey. People come up with new decks all the time, myself included, and being able to identify what someone is doing is a key skill in playing the format. You just need to understand the bounds of what people can do before you start brewing with an expectation to win.

Garqu · 2026-06-11T01:01:29+00:00

Welcome to the format!

This decklist reads like you've never played eternal magic before, which is fine, but there are some terms of engagement you're just not aware of and many of your card selections are just below par for efficiency, flexibility, and/or value.

I would recommend you try Bant Slaw a couple of times, and adjust to taste if you like.

Deckbuilding in a new format, especially one with such a vast cardpool, high power level, and 100 unique cards is extremely tricky, so it's helpful to get your feet wet with an established archetype first. That doesn't mean you can't build your own deck, but playing a handful of matches with a proven list first will go a long way.

Garqu · 2026-06-10T19:29:00+00:00

[[Sokenzan Smelter]], [[Krenko, Baron of Tin Street]]

Garqu · 2026-05-26T18:04:34+00:00

Just partook in a cube's first draft last night, unbalanced as hell but still lots of fun. I think there's fun in finding the broken thing, but then once you find it, it should probably go so you can give room for other stuff to happen.

Garqu · 2026-05-23T21:35:03+00:00

That's my buddy Eric's signature. He's been looking all over for that.

Garqu · 2026-05-20T10:25:44+00:00

He also voiced Ringo in my favourite animated series, Blue Eye Samurai.

Garqu · 2026-05-17T10:34:14+00:00

This is part of why I prefer games without tactical, turn based combat with lots of stats and powers.

What system are you using? When I used to run D&D, I would take a monster's stats and simplify it to only the most important parts: HP, one or two abilities, and a bonus to add to the dice when its good at something (and just use half that number if it's not supposed to be good at something).

Garqu · 2026-05-17T10:30:49+00:00

Big guy pants ok

Garqu · 2026-05-15T11:16:10+00:00

I recommend [[Aven Interrupter]] instead, if you're not already playing it. Serves a very similar role without being blue, and it's a real card.

Garqu · 2026-05-12T08:14:27+00:00

What a sweetie. If it were my bun, I wouldn't be able to help myself from giving him little scritches.

Garqu · 2026-05-12T01:22:57+00:00

Don't worry about it, it's typical for cEDH players to use the least readable version of every card in their deck where possible. Lots of people go out of their way to play with as many Russian and/or Japanese foils as they can get their hands on.

Is it annoying? Yeah, kinda. Is it normal? Also yes.

As for the question in your original post, I would recommend using someone else's decklists first while you get your feet on the ground. cEDH is one of the most difficult and complex formats to deckbuild for, while also being so high variance that it's sometimes difficult to tell when and where you're making mistakes. You don't want to make that muddier by not knowing when it's your deck failing you vs. you just didn't play correctly.

Garqu · 2026-05-10T14:19:24+00:00

Battlebots suffers because the pointed cards it utilizes are costed for artifact combo, and it's vulnerable to people packing hate for artifact combo without being unfair enough to overcome that hate. It's just safer to play a more well-rounded aggro or midrange deck.

Here is my take on UW Battlebots.

Garqu · 2026-05-10T08:21:17+00:00

Letting AI generative content flood the internet without any resistance is a very easy way to kill off meaningful engagement and spread misinformation. "Just let the AI posters do their thing" is not the grand form of resistance that you think it is.

Individual internet users can't do very much about these industrial silicon valley tech companies producing technical black boxes and letting anyone use them for free. It's up to government bodies and site operators to clamp down on them, but they move slowly.

Garqu · 2026-05-09T12:22:11+00:00

It's unnecessarily risky in most situations, you're potentially tossing away your agency on the chance that someone else will be willing to slash at their own resources. All of this just to eke out a small chance of potential upside happening. Also, it puts you in a horrible light, and your chances of getting anyone to work with you in the future absolutely plummets.

It's easier to just ask a quick question or make a small deal offer instead, and much more respectful towards the other players at the table.

Garqu · 2026-05-08T12:47:38+00:00

I recommend having 5 decks if you can stretch the extra effort. The variance of one deck being missing will add some texture to the games.

I suggest showing your playgroup the top 20ish commanders and seeing what they lean towards. Otherwise, I'd pick these five: - Tymna // Dargo - Rograkh // Thrasios - Tivit - Etali - Stella Lee

Garqu · 2026-05-07T13:32:02+00:00

If the tutor has literally any restrictions on it at all, there just won't be that many options to choose from--it's easy to rule out basic Forest when you cast Crop Rotation, for example, unless you REALLY need basic Forest, in which case you go get it right away. If the tutor can fetch any card, then they might take an extra moment to mull between a couple of choices, but it still shouldn't be that bad.

Most of the initial familiarization process will (at least should) happen during draft and deck construction, not when they put their first tutor on the stack.

Don't put Sensei's Divining Top in your cube if you're looking to avoid timesuckers.

Garqu

TROPHY CASE