Lately, the only LGS that is around my area has started to make some decisions that have led to a massive drop in Commander attendees causing there to be several nights where Commander just ends up being a 3 man Pod with no one else attending. This seems to be the result of:
1. The LGS no longer holds prize support for the format despite having done before. Although, I am not sure WOTC ever insisted on LGS' supporting Commander with prizes so I can't say that this is unfair.
2. My LGS used to put up the winners of each Pod with our commanders on the wall, as a sort of prize for having won. Now they have stopped that completely, except for other formats. (This is nit picky, however it helped keep players wanting to come to play.)
3. My LGS is pushing Modern really hard right now. Offering high prize pools and even sponsorship for high tier players who wish to play at tournaments. This causes even Standard to never fire off, another format I used to play until no one showed up for it.
4. The amount of toxic players was drastic and it pushed away most of the common players, and now that no one comes, the toxic players have left, but the damage is already done.
Me and my friends have turned to just going over to each other's houses and playing commander since the format seems to be dead there. This is all really unfortunate too. I enjoyed talking to people and checking out people's decks and seeing the ideas they come up with. I really love this format and it really is a shame to see all of it kind of come tumbling down locally.
Is anyone else having similar issues? How do you guys feel about the current state of your LGS' FNM for Commander?
Your opinions on the state of FNM Commander
I don't think my LGS does FNM Commander, we just have our weekly Commander League night along with pretty much any day it isn't uncommon to see at least one group of people playing Commander.
Sheldon wrote:You're the reason we can't have nice things.
Current Decks: Brago | Breya | Edgar | Jalira | Karador | Mathas | Marisi | Meren | Mizzex | Muldrotha | Rubinia | Wanderer | Commander Cube | Zombie Horde
Forum Resources: Commander FAQ | MTGNexus Commander Deckbuilding Guide | MTGNexus Twitch Channel | TCGPlayer Affiliate Link
Follow me on: Twitter: @cryogen_mtg
Forum Resources: Commander FAQ | MTGNexus Commander Deckbuilding Guide | MTGNexus Twitch Channel | TCGPlayer Affiliate Link
Follow me on: Twitter: @cryogen_mtg
I think my LGS technically does FNM commander but it's pretty informal? It's been steadily growing as I've been attending. There's no prize support or anything that I see. I think they collect names of most of the players and then do a random give-away of some kind but I haven't really followed that closely since I'm just there to jam games.
I haven't really seen any issues with toxicity. I have seen a few people jamming pubstompy builds get run out of town through game mecahnics recently (e.g. I saw a guy pout and leave after he got hated for playing a cEDH Animar deck at the same table with a spider tribal, cat tribal, and another guy's 75% rafiq).
The cEDH scene at my shop seems to be going nuts. There's always a crew of 8-12 cEDH guys playing though a few of them will roll over and pubstomp from time to time if their crew isn't there. They have pretty big competitive tournaments, I want to say there were 15-20 people last time for a win-a-box (as it took over one half of the store).
There was lots of paradox engine pouting but most people adjusted pretty fast from what I could see.
I haven't really seen any issues with toxicity. I have seen a few people jamming pubstompy builds get run out of town through game mecahnics recently (e.g. I saw a guy pout and leave after he got hated for playing a cEDH Animar deck at the same table with a spider tribal, cat tribal, and another guy's 75% rafiq).
The cEDH scene at my shop seems to be going nuts. There's always a crew of 8-12 cEDH guys playing though a few of them will roll over and pubstomp from time to time if their crew isn't there. They have pretty big competitive tournaments, I want to say there were 15-20 people last time for a win-a-box (as it took over one half of the store).
There was lots of paradox engine pouting but most people adjusted pretty fast from what I could see.
My most frequented LGS recently switched the day Commander is 'officially' held from Wednesday to Tuesday. FNM is usually draft.
Turnout is a little worse than usual, but there have never been stakes or anything like that. It's only 'official' in that people show up expecting to play a game, which is a self-reinforcing thing.
Turnout is a little worse than usual, but there have never been stakes or anything like that. It's only 'official' in that people show up expecting to play a game, which is a self-reinforcing thing.
Wizards changed some of the sanctioning rules for retailers/tournament organizers a while back, with an emphasis on improving turnout specifically for Draft, Standard, and Modern, so it's not surprising that your store's focusing more on Modern... It's important for their retailer metrics, which can affect things like how much product they can buy and how much prize support they get.
There's also a trend in the U.S. where local event attendance has been gradually declining for about two years, despite strong sales and strong turnout for large events. (No one really has a good answer for why.)
Have you talked to your local store manager? They might be willing to set up a week night for you guys, and maybe even do separate events for competitive-for-prizes and casuals-for-hangouts.
There's also a trend in the U.S. where local event attendance has been gradually declining for about two years, despite strong sales and strong turnout for large events. (No one really has a good answer for why.)
Have you talked to your local store manager? They might be willing to set up a week night for you guys, and maybe even do separate events for competitive-for-prizes and casuals-for-hangouts.
It's always the internets guys 
-
boliver5463
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 4 years ago
- Pronoun: he / him
I'm part of the lucky few. My LGS has competitive FNM commander and casual Saturday commander each week. Started off small, now it's 8-10 people. It's actually hard for us to fire a Draft or Modern than it is commander at my LGS.
We had some people stop coming because of that. The recent bans have kind of left a bad taste in some of the player's mouths.
We've tried talking to him about several things regarding the commander group, but it seems like he is just a vessel for the owner and the owner is really stingy with moving things around or doing anything to help with the commander group.
My lgs never introduced any prizes for Commander and as such people just tend to show up on Fridays if they are available to play people of all skill and deck levels too.
I feel that making it about prizes changes it more than power creep ever could.
I feel that making it about prizes changes it more than power creep ever could.
Are those really the people you want to worry about? Those who quit over 2 cards, and wont just make the decision to play what they want within their group?
-
t0rture_d0ct0r
Not an actual doctor. - Posts: 7
- Joined: 4 years ago
- Pronoun: he / him
- Location: United States
My LGS has a casual commander night once a week where you just go in and get a pod together on your own.
Last edited by t0rture_d0ct0r 3 years ago, edited 3 times in total.
Not really, honestly it helps. We have too many people around here coming in with borderline cEDH decks that really cause too many issues. Either you come in with a $2000 deck with very intense cards or you end up losing every game you play on turn 4 or 5. I've thought this over and honestly I am fine with leaving the LGS and just playing at a friends house. There's no power creep, just jank builds which makes for a much more fun night.
My LGS sets aside Thursday for EDH but there are always 2-3 pods on Fridays as well. I am told that several players meet up on Sundays to play as well.
As for the decks one sees... We have everything from people playing precons straight out of the box to some very tuned, powerful builds that might not be cEDH decks but are more powerful than the typical 75% deck. The biggest problem for me is trying to pick which deck to play in any given pod. I have decks at all power levels (except cEDH, not interested) and I have found that players are sometimes less than honest about the power levels of their decks, replying "It's casual" as long as it is not cEDH.
As for the decks one sees... We have everything from people playing precons straight out of the box to some very tuned, powerful builds that might not be cEDH decks but are more powerful than the typical 75% deck. The biggest problem for me is trying to pick which deck to play in any given pod. I have decks at all power levels (except cEDH, not interested) and I have found that players are sometimes less than honest about the power levels of their decks, replying "It's casual" as long as it is not cEDH.
Of my two LGS', one does FNM Commander. The unfortunate reality is that that LGS has long established its atmosphere as being extremely toxic. The mindset of it and the people who go there has always been 'win at any cost', and I can't bring myself to go back there to see if it's changed. They list prize support(mostly promo cards), but again...bad experience. It doesn't help that the guy in charge of selling Magic there doesn't really follow pricing on TCGplayer or StarCityGames or any other pricing site...effectively 'what he paid for the card is what you'll pay'. He hates losing money(which begs the question, why did he get into the business of selling MTG cards?).
The other LGS has casual Commander just about all the time(I go 'officially' on Wednesday), with raffles for custom token cards and occasionally(if we get more than a set amount of players) promos, donated cards, even playmats. The guy running the store has some great cards, gave myself and others very reasonable prices when we sold cards to him, and even participates in a game or two now and then(mostly Oathbreaker).
I think it's pretty obvious which one I'm staying at for the foreseeable future. lol
The other LGS has casual Commander just about all the time(I go 'officially' on Wednesday), with raffles for custom token cards and occasionally(if we get more than a set amount of players) promos, donated cards, even playmats. The guy running the store has some great cards, gave myself and others very reasonable prices when we sold cards to him, and even participates in a game or two now and then(mostly Oathbreaker).
I think it's pretty obvious which one I'm staying at for the foreseeable future. lol
