Help Request: Managing Playgroup Power Level

[WizardSpartan]

@WizardSpartan: Man, he was playing the KCI loop!
He was shouting at me for dropping a (non-)infinite combo while he was one piece short of going infinite himself.

Ok, so in your original post, you said that they had 3 of the 4 parts of a KCI loop, but now you are saying that they 100% had the loop. Did you see all 4 parts or not? Just because they had 3 cards that are good inclusions in an artifact deck (not even for combo reasons) does not mean they were actively including and working towards said combo.

Also, Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus... I mean, he basically had a cEDH artifact deck with a sub-par commander.

So here's what I've heard about this deck: They won with Blightsteel Colossus and maybe could have won with a KCI loop. The closest cEDH commander I know of to Sai, Master Thopterist is Urza, Lord High Artificer. I am 100% sure that the stock cEDH Urza list doesn't run Blightsteel Colossus and am pretty sure it has better infinite combos than a KCI loop. Just because they have expensive cards does not mean they are a cEDH deck with a non-cEDH commander.

My scarecrow deck has several combos too, it just takes forever to put them together (I've put the list in a previous post).
By the way, I didn't tutor for the combo, I just had it in my hand by turn 2 or 3. I don't play that many tutors.
I also don't understand your argument about the feel-bad of the other guys realizing I had the combo the whole time.
I didn't use the combo against them. The All is Dust destroying everything has been, as you pointed out, an "unhappy accident".

The fact you didn't tutor for the combo and just drew it is exactly why I don't like bringing decks with infinite combos to games where infinite combos are discouraged, even when I have no intention of going infinite. It's not hard to just naturally draw into a 2 card combo, and now you are in the aforementioned difficult place. My Alesha deck has Karmic Guide + Reveillark, and I don't even include them because of their combo potential. Both are just very good individual cards. But, they go infinite, and I have Ravos, Soultender to replace Reveillark in case I am in a pod where infinite combos are prohibited.

I'm not saying it is 100% your fault (I still think it's ridiculous of them to get mad a single Living Death), but I don't think you were wronged as much as you say.

[crimsonking]

Man, of course he had the whole combo!
What's the point in having all the other cards, then? Do you sincerity believe it's been all by accident?
I think I can tell a cEDH deck when I face one.
Speaking about Blightsteel Colossus, his commander was Sai, Master Thopterist, he had Kuldotha Forgemaster, I mean... All he needs is to play a couple of undercosted mana rocks (he had plenty of, as I already pointed out)... i.e. he farts twice, at the end of turn he activates the Forgemaster, he untaps and someone's dead.
You can call the Colossus a "Timmy" play. Whatever,  guys... I'm sorry but you have no clue.
About my deck, it's NOT a casual deck. I play it in casual tables just to combo out these scammers.
Finally, sorry if my tone has been unpolite towards some of you, it's just that this pissed me off a ton.

[jlutzxinc]

@crimsonking and @WizardSpartan: Please stop fighting; both of you were being so helpful.

I'll never be a cEDH player, but Sai, Master Thopterist isn't even close to "competitive", and not only because Urza, Lord High Artificer is insanely better.  Both TappedOut's list and DeckStats.NET's own Soren841's have him as "fringe competitive" at best, and that's without counting all of the obviously better Commanders WOTC put out this year alone.  Blightsteel Colossus is so obviously not "cEDH" that my playgroup isn't even salty when someone has it (even though we don't like Infect) because it's no real threat to us.

On topic, we ran into an Urza Deck but had so many wipes that he couldn't win (which just shows how poorly optimized it was).

[Morganator 2.0]

To put this to rest, Blightsteel Colossus doesn't see any play in cEDH, and it's been years since I've seen a Krark-Clan Ironworks combo. These are cards you would typically see in a high powered meta, but not among the strongest decks the commander format has to offer. A four card combo and a big beater just doesn't cut it.

Now before this gets out of hand I'd like to remind everyone that you're allowed to attack the points being made by people, but not the person themselves. Argument is a part of discussion and I have no qualms with it on this site. Actively trying to be rude or hurtful is another matter. Nothing has come up yet in this thread, so let's not go down that path.

[WizardSpartan]

About my deck, it's NOT a casual deck. I play it in casual tables just to combo out these scammers.

Ignoring everything else that we've argued about, I would like to just hone in on this. Did you know these people when you picked the deck? If not, you made a baseless assumption that they were scammers to make you feel justified in intentionally picking a deck stronger than what was agreed.

Man, of course he had the combo!
What's the point of having all the other cards, then?

Krark-Clan Ironworks: A fantastic source of mana, especially with all the thopters Sai makes.
Cost-reducer: Artifact deck, cheaper artifacts are good.
Myr Retriever: Sai is a decent artifact sac outlet, so Myr Retriever is doubly useful.

Maybe they had other similar Myr Retriever effects. Maybe they didn't. I'm inclined to give benefit of the doubt, especially because they complained about your combo.

I will reiterate: I am not intending to personally attack you (although our argument is sort of having that effect), I just want you to see from another perspective.

[crimsonking]

I don't get your point, guys.
It wasn't the latest Tier 1 list from the cEDH Database, so what?
I already said myself it was "sub-par", but in any case the actual point is: was it a casual deck? Definitely not.
It seems you all agree with that, so what are you arguing about? I honestly don't get it.
@WizardSpartan: if you read my post he DID HAVE Myr Retriever in his list. He played it.
I repeat: he had the KCI, the cost reducers, the Retriever, the only missing piece was either Scrap Trawler or Junk Diver.
C'mon guys, he had the combo in his deck... and was blaming me for going infinite against him... Whatever.
Anyway, I already said sorry for my tone. I think the thread is more than what happened in that game, so I won't bring it up again. Sorry.

[robort]

Besides the entitlement the other thing is online. Using the online areas that allow us to play magic for free. One has unlimited access to all cards printed in Magic the Gathering. It doesn't cost you in monetary value to make a deck. So anything your mind can conjure up one can use. This is where emotions come into play. A person can use any type of commander with any type of cards. No budget!! Woot! Woot!. So casual play is going to take a back seat because of this. This is bringing out more of the competitive nature out of a person. This of course brings the empowerment and entitlement of I can build this, I can play that, I can say casual when I have power to, I can more salty and so on and so on. Yes this is a tad on the extreme side but when one has free reign to basically do as they wish then you will run into these types a tad more then per say your local play group. However when you find someone who enjoys the game like you do then there is nothing wrong if you could play the same time together each week. Making and having a playgroup online can also be just as enjoyable as your local playgroup. I personally would love to play against any of you on this website to say exactly that I have such a playgroup online as well.