Sheldon not again..Wheels

[Valmias]

In the end, whatever Sheldon or other members of the RC say won't change the fact that we can play EDH however we like to, and that's why we love this format so much.

This is a good reality check.

And am also glad that he pressures Wizards against printing "full package" commanders. I would much rather see higher design standards from the start rather than banning cards for "philosophical" reasons that often feel subjective. And I do respect his position on the Reserved List (i.e. he's not responsible for a deal that Wizards cut with collectors).

I do, however, think that with Wizards pushing commander into the mainstream and adding a ton of players with diverse motives and backgrounds, it would be great if Sheldon relied less on what he thinks is fun as a valid metric for changes. He generates a lot of unease in the community because he gives the impression of someone with a certain amount of influence who does not consider his positions carefully. If he wants to just officiate his janky little corner of the game, he can do whatever he wants. But if he wants to influence how game events are run and what cards get printed, then he loses the right to say "just imo lol". He's gotten a lot more power than he started with, but I haven't seen his philosophy grow to include that. He mentions that he's conscious of it, but then he writes that he's thinking about the logistics of banning wheel spells when he is specifically not.

I guess I feel that enforcing low-power is not the same as casual. Plansewalker commanders are casual. Proxies are casual. Free mulligans are casual. I don't think Sheldon wants casual; I think he wants commander to play the same way as when we were playing with Chromium, and that's not really on the table anymore.

[WizardSpartan]

And, to be clear, if I could could get paid to be ambiguous on social media and write a weekly article of "water is wet" level takes, I absolutely would.

Hot diggity damn that's a sentence and a half.

I never had respect for Sheldon tbh. I follow the banlist and that's it.

[robort]

Well at least he starts off good this time and quoting Sheldon "here were probably some days when just some of my judge friends and I were playing and we had no worries at all.  It’s probably too easy to be idealistically and even naively nostalgic about those bygone times."

After reading the article you're demeanor in the article shows and tells otherwise.

Then the next quote " I want to make sure that you understand that these are concerns, not problems, and will be addressing them that way—with the caveat that the final one is likely drifting into the problem area."

You can get rid of this notion right now because it was you Sheldon that said it was problems not the community. So drop any hint of being snide/crass and accept the fact you were the one who said there was problems.

Last quote "A few weeks back, I somewhat hyperbolically suggested that Wheels (Wheel of Fortune, Windfall, et al.) were Commander’s most pressing issue. "

You didn't somewhat suggested . You actually did suggest that it was the most pressing issue. I continually see you having this issue of apologizing when you make mistakes.

Onto Wheels " One of them was the Wheel problem (as in cards that combo really well with Wheels are bad), " Ahem I thought it was a concern not a problem. Make up your mind cause it is becoming confusing when you go back and forth.

"The good news is that the RC gets to see cards as they come down the pipeline, giving us opportunity to call out things that we see as potentially problematic." Again with problem not a concern.

Then he switches back and starts calling things concerns.

This puts it all in a nutshell "Although folks are doing a pretty good job of self-selecting into the style of games they like and having good Rule 0 chats, and there’s help from various online services, matching in untrusted games (those in which the players don’t know each other) is still a bit of a concern."

Sheldon is continually trying to live the glory days of when you first started playing. The nostalgia of those days can be remembered but you need to accept the fact that the format has changed a lot since those glory days. With more cards to choose from, more players to play the game, with more games happening. Commander has evolved from those glory days. To continually to try to reel it back into those formal glory days is your downfall Sheldon. I say embrace it with open arms. While the community is bigger then when you first initially started. You need to trust the community to do the right thing. Isn't that what rule 0 is about trusting us to do the right thing?
You can monitor commander and even show concerns about it. But allow the community to do their own thing. Allow us to have our glory days as well. I want commander to be happy and healthy as well but I can't and won't look over my shoulder wondering if you are watching because you can't trust me or trust the community.