Ideal number of turns

[Moxnix]

SO I played a 19 turn mtgo game yesterday it was the most fun I've had in a mtgo commander game in awhile and despite the victor being determined by TIME OUT of all 3 other players it was still super fun for me. The format was a mtgo one where you do a phantom draft of 5 packs then make a 60 card deck with commander so a limited one and the limited lower power nature slowed the game down in conjunction with one guy being on black white wrath of gods r us. None of that really matters what's interesting to me is the difference in enjoyment between me and the other guys the one guy whos deck was incredible for limited and nearly 3:1ed us was salty he lost on time though if they had properly teamed him when we should have or removed the correct cards he should have died much sooner. The thing is though despite losing and the guy who played the worst scooping a free win by being the least social and clicking ok faster I loved the game I felt I played my lines perfect sure my deck was not the best one but it felt like I was playing a real game with back and forth and lines and politics and not just some race based on opening hand luck. Every other player by the end mentioned how much they did not like the game or its outcome and one guy said at one point 18 turns and 8 board wipes not a good game at all man are you trolling me? So that in mind how long do you like your games as why

Where do you preferences lie on turns? I think the thing that bugs me the most about modern day constructed edh is how fast the games end I long for the days of 5-10 years ago where a 10+ turn grinder was normal not something that happens once in a blue moon. Also the draft as so much fun I kind of want to revive my commander cube as they do it pretty much how I did and man its so much fun. Anyway what feels like an ideal game turns wise to you? Is 10+ too slow and gonna take your whole night is 5-6 too fast since your barley getting going what's an ideal number of turns to feel satisfied for you? I think I'm starting to realize that my desire for epic LOTR like games is not in fact everyone else preference and i may have missed that many people actually like that the games end on t6.

[TheGildedGoose]

Play more reactive decks. Slow the game down yourself. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

[Dunadain]

I just want variety. Fast games are fun in moderation.

[Moxnix]

Play more reactive decks. Slow the game down yourself. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

I mean this is in fact the only way I get the longer games now a days however almost invariably those are the least enjoyed decks both in paper and based on chat on mtgo people HATE when I do this more than just about anything else control strategies are generally considered lame and fun sucking by most the people I know . Kind of like in my example i loved the game being drug out but the other 2 guys acted like this was the worst game of their lives. What's your preference though that's what i want to know what turn do you guys think is the perfect game length 6 turns 7 8 9 10 12? Do you want many fast 5 turn games or is one 12 turn epic grinder better

[Sinis]

I really like 10-15 turn games, though, it's less about the turn count and more about what happens in them. I find that if a game is over too quickly, one or more players didn't get to "do the thing" and the game was more likely to be one-sided, and games that go longer are usually stalemates, or post-apocalyptic results where at least one player got nibbled to death by a bloodghast or something.

[TheGildedGoose]

MTGO sounds terrible, honestly. Just a truly, truly terrible play experience. You all sound like victims of domestic abuse.

That said, I like games with back and forth, and those take time. There's less of a maximum number of turns and more of a minimum, which allows for more interaction and line analysis. Games ending before turn 4 are generally unfun for me, and even 4-5 are pushing it.


I don't mind a long 1v1. I love difficult games, and eking out a win by outplaying someone with a serious advantage over me is a fantastic feeling.

[materpillar]

I personably think the ideal sweet spot is 8-11 turns. Any faster means people probably got blown out. Any slower means the game is probably about to start dragging pretty hard. If the game didn't last between 7-15 it probably means it wasn't enjoyable for at least some of the players involved.

[Moxnix]

I think I'm the same 8-12 feels perfect i wonder if the trend i notice in wanting 5 turn games is more a generational younger person thing or what. But its like if you don't get to at least turn 7ish its like you never get that back and forth that makes it really feel like a game. I kind of loved the almost 20 turn game though i think maybe im a 7+ enjoyer the games just actualy make me feel invested when they go that long where as most turn 2-6 games feel like a blur and not very memorable.

[Lifeless]

My group plays decks that are generally in speed categories. Most games are gunning for 10ish turns and sometimes we declare an "aggro game" that means we're playing stuff that can start knocking people out on 4 or 5. Like a lot of stuff in this format I think it boils down to communication and variety.

[Moxnix]

Yea mtgo is rough i have a dinosaur deck that uses the companion that makes all your spells have to be 3 or more so a terrible slow deck just for fun doesn't typically cast a single card from the deck until t5 meant to be around a precon but with lots of cool dinosaurs. The last time i tried to play it i labeled the game "pre con strength b2 slow casual" someone was drawing 3 a turn off azami in u/b by turn 3 and on t4 the guy before him drops a mana flare and then they cast like 10 spells on his turn i try to mbc the one that will kill my commander it gets countered for free they have now maybe 6 draws a turn off azami a GY engine a secondary engine with commander and about 20 mana on a full grip. Like i would love a space to play that kind of deck online but I'm pretty sure i could host as bracket 1 and I'm pretty sure it would be the same. In this case i know what happened on of the playes who plays sweat b2 i know them by name had a game hosted above me "no gc any deck is fine" mine got to 3/4 they dropped and joined mine. This is the reality of mtgo the people you play is who clicks join and i even like playing this person in a more comp setting but trying to launch a game where no one has a t5-6 deck on mtgo is nearly impossible. So its ok i enjoy paying with this person actually just with my own min maxed b2 deck. Maybe i just have to accept the only way im getting games like that is cultivating them on purpose maybe i move blue and his raptor trainer and my garbage curve deck to a proxy paper deck for the few nights i get to play with buddies or something as that pacing is goign extinct on mtgo. I did have another really fun draft game though I might buy things just to play in them as the pacing is now forced do to the limited nature and you don't have to trust any player and i get the back and forth I'm looking for online its just not free to do.

[PrimevalCommander]

8-12 is my ideal. If a game ends by turn 6-7 we don't whine, unless we get a few in a row. Last game session we had a few games only go 30 minutes coupled with two games that were 2+ hours. So there was a mix that still helped us average 1-1.5hrs per game.

[Jemolk]

I'd say 10+ turns is my ideal. I don't really have an upper limit, either. Game goes for 25 turns? Cool with me! I love long, grindy games that go back and forth, every which way, where everyone gets a chance to be the threat. Sometimes some/all of us need a faster game, and I have decks that can do that, too, but in general, I want the turn count to hit double digits at the very least.

[RxPhantom]

I'd say 10+ turns is my ideal. I don't really have an upper limit, either. Game goes for 25 turns? Cool with me! I love long, grindy games that go back and forth, every which way, where everyone gets a chance to be the threat. Sometimes some/all of us need a faster game, and I have decks that can do that, too, but in general, I want the turn count to hit double digits at the very least.

This is where I am, too. I love the back and forth of games where all players get to matter, with big, crazy plays, where victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat, where interaction is the order of the day, etc. I don't even care if I win as long as I mattered.

[materpillar]

I'd say 10+ turns is my ideal. I don't really have an upper limit, either. Game goes for 25 turns? Cool with me! I love long, grindy games that go back and forth, every which way, where everyone gets a chance to be the threat. Sometimes some/all of us need a faster game, and I have decks that can do that, too, but in general, I want the turn count to hit double digits at the very least.

I don't know. Game hits 3-4 hours and I start to get real over it.

[Jemolk]

I'd say 10+ turns is my ideal. I don't really have an upper limit, either. Game goes for 25 turns? Cool with me! I love long, grindy games that go back and forth, every which way, where everyone gets a chance to be the threat. Sometimes some/all of us need a faster game, and I have decks that can do that, too, but in general, I want the turn count to hit double digits at the very least.

I don't know. Game hits 3-4 hours and I start to get real over it.

The 3-4 hour games are the most fun and memorable, I'd say. Sure, you don't get very many of them, but with all the back and forth, they end up being a lot more satisfying to lose than 30-minute games are to win.

[materpillar]

The 3-4 hour games are the most fun and memorable, I'd say. Sure, you don't get very many of them, but with all the back and forth, they end up being a lot more satisfying to lose than 30-minute games are to win.

I'd soooooo much rather play two 2 hour long games than either one 4 hour long game or eight 8 half-hour games.

I feel like 4 hour long games have devolved past epic back and forth into everyone's value engines have been wrathed away for the 6th time and people are just struggling to assemble anything. Less a memorable back and forth and more of a bland top deck war with a stalled board state.

Also, I usually play weeknights. If I start a game at 8pm I'm probably going to just concede so I can get to bed well before it hits midnight.

[Moxnix]

Yea well i managed to win a few games with my slow dino deck on b2 over the weekend of the maybe 8 games played in b2 only 1 got to turn 8 and 5 of them ended on turn 6 or sooner even with my tag of "b2 casual chill" but i wish there was still some slower casual tables online but pacing just faster now a days. I love the epic 4 hour games i wish i got more of those.

[3drinks]

Don't think I've counted turns in awhile. But I enjoy a game that will grind out in around 90min. The kind of game where I don't feel like a fool because I can't let go of my JP Phyrexian Arena|APC, not the kind of game where someone slammed Smothering Tithe into Windfall. The kind of game where one player is resolving a 30 card Replenish and the next resolves a Glimpse of Tomorrow and ends up with an Avenger of Zendikar + Smothering Abomination on the board.

That limited format is fun. I've done commander draft before and it's a blast. A bit time consuming to set up in paper but MODO is the best way to handle it. Anyway to cap power levels and make you scale down but play what you got. Not unlike the Kaalia blog I'm doing.

[Moxnix]

Yea its crazy ive played alot of b2 games recently the modal average game turn is without a doubt 6 you almost never see "turn 7" unless one of the good decks is a wrath of god based deck. But man do i love commander draft i played my deck a few more times until i had to redraft and god it felt good to play 15 turn games. i just picked up a booster box to draft next week with my kids and my brothers kids over vacation we like to draft an entire box then play commander with it when we do our family vacation its really fun.

[ISBPathfinder]

8-12 would probably be my ideal game length. I see far too many games end sooner than that and its mostly someone running away with the game unopposed. Beyond turn 12 and it often feels like someone was wrathing every turn or something to really slow things down.

[RowanKeltizar]

For me 60-90 minutes seems to be the magic number. But i also will say it really depends on the content of those turns. Long games are fine if they are engaging, and the same goes for short ones.... but one sided games will always suck for the person that just doesn't draw into what they need to interact or create a board presence or stuck on lands, etc...

Ideally, each player has an opportunity to do their thing and to respond to others doing their thing but that isn't always the case.