You are incorrect about this. Having 40 life and multiple opponents is absolutely enough to help someone cast expensive spells. As evidence, I point to this entire format. And no, cheap cards are not just better. I mean, obviously if you take identical rules text and slice a couple mana off the cost, the card is strictly better. But that's not our decision, that's up to the people designing the cards, and the cards are designed in such a way that more expensive spells are more powerful, beyond even proportionality. A single well designed 6-drop is worth more on the field than 6 1-drops. I'm sure you understand this, you're talking about Pathbreaker Ibex. A threat that costs more comes down later, but most likely deals as much damage in the first 2 turns on the field than cheaper threats have with all of their head start. In other formats, you don't see many Pathbreaker Ibex type cards being played because the smaller threats are capable of killing people, a card dealing more damage than them is overkill that doesn't do anything. But when it takes 120 damage to kill a field of opponents, it's not longer overkill. Yes, people playing dragons compete with people playing lower cmc things. I really don't know what format you think you're talking about.umtiger wrote: ↑4 years agoEven in a 40 life format, cheap cards are still better. Just having 40 life isn't enough to help someone cast expensive cards. Besides, 40 life is not some unassailable barrier. Even low power decks can deal +40 damage by turn 6 with one straight forward, scaling threat like Pathbreaker Ibex.
If you look at all of the decks where people are trying to T3-T4 each other, they are chock full of cheap cards, not expensive ones. They would play many, many, many more Deathrite Shamans and cards like it before playing their one Sylvan Primordial. Just having 40 life isn't enough to help someone cast expensive cards.
I did not do that. You are the only person in this thread calling things "anti-social". As an aside, please don't put things in quotes that aren't actually quotes, that's just a fast track to misunderstanding. What I said was "Your joy at playing things out ahead of when you're supposed to is neither the joy of socializing nor the thrill of competition." That's not saying it's anti-social to play Sol Ring, just that it isn't enhancing the social experience. Playing Sol Ring has about as much effect on the social aspect of commander as what color shoes you're wearing. That doesn't make it anti-social, but if you're having more fun because of turn 1 Sol Ring, it isn't because you've made the experience explicitly more pleasant for your opponents.Yay! Me too. But you can also lay off of the people who choose not to make the same choice. And not paint them all as "anti-social," win at all costs-type of people who are out to ruin anyone's experience.