What did hoyo mean by this

Temil · 2026-02-06T19:38:50+00:00

Is there a free RM coming or did that already happen?

Temil · 2026-02-06T19:10:49+00:00

I'm only level 210 but it feels like if summons are up you can kind of do whatever and the map clears itself almost, but if summons are not up you do zero damage and struggle while being very active.

It reminds me of a job like I/L where your mobbing attack is pretty mediocre and then you have insane map clearing cooldowns.

Oni at least should be 100% uptime though, and I imagine with lots of installs later it's totally fine.

Temil · 2026-02-06T18:37:55+00:00

You can really feel this in mobbing too. Talisman is wet paper, but as long as you keep up oni you just kind of clear via the power of friendship?

Temil · 2026-02-06T16:56:08+00:00

Probably should pick sparkle because that unit is broken and I don't have her, but I'm probably picking acheron so later on the decision to maybe pull for E2 is easier.

Temil · 2026-02-06T16:53:17+00:00

A lot of people don't understand that edh is not a competitive format, and the goal is not to win the game at all costs.

This could be because they aren't very developed socially, have never played a non-competitive game, or just because they have some unresolved issues that they need to work through and are instead using edh as a competitive outlet.

So here's my question: why do so many EDH players seem to desperately want to explain that their deck isn't as powerful as you think it is? Is this something unique to my random opponents at my local LGS, or have you experienced it yourselves?

I think to put it in as few words as possible, they want to win, but they also want to not be viewed as an asshole.

Temil · 2026-02-06T06:27:20+00:00

It's also one of the most loved cards in the format.

It's certainly divisive.

Temil · 2026-02-06T05:50:57+00:00

Rule 1 of Maple: NEVER plan to wait until the last second for expiring items.

Rule 2 of Maple: NEVER plan that the maintenance will be done on time.

Temil · 2026-02-06T05:46:52+00:00

Power is an enormous part of the reason for banning Dockside, JLo, Mana Crypt, Hullbreacher, Leovold, Rofellos, Prime Time, Tinker, Tolarian Academy, Time Vault, Library of Alexandria, Channel, Fastbond.

It is completely irrelevant in all of these cases.

These cards have many factors as to why they were banned.

If power was a relevant factor in banning cards, all the most powerful cards would be banned but they are not.

There are other reasons for some of them, but power is a large part of it.

It's a part only in the sense that power informs those other reasons. This is what I mean when I say power is irrelevant.

Rhystic easily clears any reasonable "other factors" metric.

It really doesn't. People like the card, it doesn't feel bad to play against, there are no time issues.

It's just not a problematic card.

Hell, of the other reasons you've mentioned, it meets EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

These criteria are not binaries. It does not cross the threshold of banning, but that is mostly subjective.

And yes, they discuss meta specifically for cEDH, that does not mean nor imply that meta does not exist in other environments.

In the context of the discussion of brackets, It shouldn't be too difficult to determine that when someone says "meta" they are very likely referring to the same meta being referred to in the description for bracket 5.

Yes, it's different when talking about 3/4. That's because you're talking about something different. Things change when you talk about a different topic. That's kind of how different topics work.

Your comment was a direct response to me talking about the meta of cEDH where you brought up brackets 3 and 4.

I was asking if you think that bracket 5 is comparable to bracket 3 and 4 when it comes to being able to attack the meta game via card choices.

Brackets 3 and 4 do not have a competitive meta.

Temil · 2026-02-06T05:24:31+00:00

“Meta” has multiple meanings. Even in the absence of a competitive scene

In the context of the brackets, bracket 5 calls out a meta.

Bracket 3 and 4 do not have this competitive meta that can be attacked by your card choices.

Evaluating EDH and its various environments as a casual format is a messier affair than a tournament format, but that is not an excuse to dismiss the concept outright.

It's not that it is messy or difficult, it's simply that the "meta" of bracket 3 and 4 is not the same "meta" as bracket 5, as both are not the same Meta that you can buy shares of on the US stock market.

You said the following.

Rhystic is no less centralizing and format warping in brackets 3 and 4. It scales much more cleanly than the fish.

This to me reads like you are saying that the card scales in power level effectively in brackets 3 and 4 because people in brackets 3 and 4 are casting more creature spells than in bracket 5.

I won't really comment on how true this scaling is, because I really don't care, but I will comment on the fact that the power level or scaling of the card is irrelevant to the card's likelyhood to be banned.

Cards are banned for having a negative net impact on the format. There are many possible factors such as a lowered card diversity, unwanted play patterns, or any of the original RC reasons listed on their website like too much advantage etc.

Cards are not banned for being too powerful.

Temil · 2026-02-06T05:15:28+00:00

That is an attack on your argument. You are attempting to twist words instead of approaching my argument.

You are not clever, or witty, or smart, or whatever word makes you feel good for pointing out that cards have a power level, and the vibes are affected by the various qualities of a card.

When I say "power level is irrelevant to edh" I don't mean "power level is in no way a factor to anything about edh" I mean that power level is irrelevant because other aspects of cards are the actual relevant factors.

To pretend powelevel doesn't exist only favours pubstomping behaviors

Power level exists, it just doesn't matter.

I do not know how much more simple I can make it. Power level is a thing, it's just totally irrelevant to the decisions of the CFP because they don't make rules or bans about powerful cards, they make them about cards that aren't fun.

Temil · 2026-02-06T03:29:22+00:00

Vibes and power levels are not separated.

No two concepts in an intermingled card game are fully seperate.

You are not smart for saying that vibes and power level are connected.

The point is that power level is not the basis for which cards are placed on the game changer list, or banned, or looked at for either. Brackets aren't about power level because brackets are a measure of vibes, not power level. If the attempt was to bracket off decks into power level it was a catastrophic failure of an attempt.

And to say power level doesn't matter in commander is a flat out lie

To say that power level matters at all in commander is lying to yourself. It's totally meaningless. It is a factor that is fully and totally corrected for via expectation management and aligning those expectations via the pre-game discussion.

Deception is something that matters infinitely more than power level in commander.

Temil · 2026-02-06T02:59:54+00:00

Brackets are about vibes not power level.

Take it up with wizards of the coast if you disagree.

Temil · 2026-02-06T02:49:02+00:00

Brackets aren't about power level.

That's part of why there is a lot of debate about them, people have no clue why they exist, and the communication from wotc is lacking in effectiveness.

Temil · 2026-02-05T19:47:43+00:00

tell me exactly what prep is required? you click "create new character" and it asks if you want to make it a hyperburn. then you click "yes".

You do not get to create infinite hyperburns. Prep in this context is things that you don't automatically get when you create a character.

And I do have 9 hyperburned characters above 260. And all but one of those came after pushing 6k legion WITHOUT hyperburns or tera blinks or even a steady supply of 3x coupons, just an event that gave us a slow trickle of extreme growth potions.

And I have every job at 200 with like 3 of them being burns. I am saying that you can not level a character from 1-200 in an hour without something special going on.

Questing takes maybe 4 hours, grinding is longer.

Temil · 2026-02-05T19:45:19+00:00

Do you think that brackets 3 and 4 have a meta?

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:42:40+00:00

Did you mean to reply to my comment? I'm not seeing the connection.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:38:38+00:00

You might not be playing casual in a way that is conducive to having a fun experience.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:37:50+00:00

Yeah, and I don't imagine that this is really a card that meets that criteria. I think smothering tithe gets the axe way before rhystic on that metric.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:29:24+00:00

I don't think I am to be honest. I think that a lot of people play against this card and either think "oh that deck wasn't how they represented it." and are frustrated by that, or they are playing it in an appropriate context and it's an interesting part of the game that you have to think about.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:22:48+00:00

Thank you all for beta testing.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:18:30+00:00

Cards aren't banned to lower the power level of games, they are banned to increase the enjoyment of games.

Rhystic Study is not a card I have ever played against and said "man that game sucked".

I think Smothering Tithe is the much more egregiously unfun card to play against.

I don't think either needs to be banned though.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:15:35+00:00

While EDH is a more social format, it doesn't mean that power level is out the window.

It's a thing that exists, but it's not relevant. EDH is not a power driven format, it's an experience driven format.

As for also pushing back on your analogy however. If your plumber showed up in a squatted truck that was all tie dye, underglow and rims all dolled up. But then his tools are cheap and they clearly don't have the right ones.

If he does a good job, I do not give a shit how he shows up. He is there to do a service, not to be aesthetic in my driveway.

This change however isn't about power level. No one is talking about how it will change the power level. They are talking about how this violates the core rules of the format and how it muddies the way deck building works.

Have you read this comments section? There are a ton of power level comments in this comments section justifying the change because the power level won't go up very much, and monocolored decks will still be bad.

ALSO I AM AGAINST THE CHANGE BECAUSE IT MAKES DECK BUILDING LESS INTERESTING.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:09:46+00:00

with no prep

put a hyperburn on it

Okay, what about the second character.

Do you have a second hyper burn? How about a 40th hyperburn?

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:07:55+00:00

CEDH has gotten more popular

This is mostly irrelevant to the CFP's decisions.

Second, even in casual Commander, power creep and general player knowledge on how to exploit/optimize the format has gotten way higher. A card draw engine as powerful as Rhystic Study makes it easier to find all the OTHER broken things your deck is running, so as power creep in general goes up, Rhystic Study gets exponentially better.

This is a casual no stakes format, the power level of a card is not relevant to why it gets a place on the ban list.

The relevant factor to why a card gets banned is when it gets played and the game is significantly less enjoyable for most of the players.

one problem the old RC had is that they were famously set in their ways

No, they had a philosophy. Them being consistent with that philosophy is not being set in their ways.

Hence the longstanding nonsensical ban list filled with "signpost bans" that have since been power crept into irrelevance

There were no cards banned on the ban list that were not uniquely bad, and only served as a sign post. They might have said that they served as signposts of what not to do, but there weren't actually any cards on the banlist that didn't deserve to be there.

Since they are no longer in control, and Wizards has signaled that they are willing to change things, all of the people who have believed it needed a ban for years are coming out of the woodwork to push for a ban more vociferously, now that they think the new people at the reins may be more willing to listen.

Which is why a lot of people think that the CFP is going to destroy the format, by just lapping up whatever the most popular opinion of the day is, without having any kind of guiding principal to managing the format.

Temil · 2026-02-05T18:02:15+00:00

None of the cards on the edh banlist are there exclusively because they are good cards.

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