Your controversial opinion

[Aetherium Slinky]

Ah yes, MLD doesn't let people play Proper Magic^(tm), stax makes people's lives miserable and combo is just lame because there's no warning. Popular thoughts, at least on Reddit.

What are some of your controversial opinions you need to argue for ages and ages to get your point across?

Mine is that the aformentioned play styles are okay. I don't see why people should limit themselves to one or two popular strategies. Let's break this down:

• MLD: is a good way to limit resources. Preventing card draw is somehow okay but restricting available mana is not. Why? Both approaches prevent players from casting too many spells hence both stall the game allowing for the player in question using this strategy to pull ahead by breaking parity or just outvaluing other players in a longer game. I think it's a completely valid approach and touching people's lands shouldn't be a taboo.
• Stax: kind of the same thing... Denies resources, lets you pull ahead and break parity somehow. Why is this so bad? From my point of view stax decks provide a puzzle that the other players must solve in order to continue playing Magic normally. Hard lock means you've reacted too late and the game is over. Just scoop and move on to the next game, accept that you've been defeated. No need to keep playing if you can't do anything. Soft lock...well, if you can't break it soon then also just scoop and move on. The stax deck should always provide a proof of a winning state so it's not like they get a free pass but there's absolutely no reason to play 40 turns manually if there's no way out.
• Combo: is a thing. There are nearly 22 000 commander legal cards (whoa, ApothecaryGeist) so finding combos isn't exactly hard. It's a real part of the game. Besides - combo decks usually have weaknesses like being vulnerable to combat damage, removal or counterspells. There are ways to stop combos. The "setup" for a combo deck is to draw and tutor. Leave mana open for your interaction and you're safe. Don't waste it on mediocre value engines or threats. Hate on tutors. Hate on excessive card draw. Every colour has access to some sort of hate - if not then colourless artifacts can be really powerful. Know that a combo deck is always waiting for the right moment. Don't give them that. Aggro them to death, there's absolutely nothing a combo deck can do if you're holding up mana for a removal spell or a counterspell and you're attacking them. Convince the rest of the table to do the same.

[Korlich]

I don't understand why CEDH is a thing. Just play Modern or Legacy (Vintage if you are that lucky).

I don't understand why so many people strive towards CEDH levels. EDH used to be a casual format, some how it rarerly is any more.

[The Golgari Guy]

I couldn't care less about proxies. You want to proxy an entire deck, with Timetwister, Cradle and Angus Mackenzie as a commander? Sure, I don't mind. As long as the cards are printed or anyway recognizable.

Mill is a perfectly fine strategy and totally not a feel bad. Actually, I play a lot of graveyard decks so... Keep them mill decks coming 

Counterspells are perfectly fair and fine removal spells. There's basically no difference between Counterspelling your Llanowar Elf or Doom Blade-ing it.

Chulane and Korvold suck, they're bad designs, and I'm not gonna believe you when you say that your Korvold deck is "not that kind of Korvold deck". I'm gonna try my hardest to murder you or to keep your commander out of the battlefield.

[Landale]

Not strictly a Commander opinion, but all of Magic in general: Infect was a mistake that makes the game so miserable someone should've lost their job over it. Made worse by having Proliferate being able to increase counters on players.

[jlutzxinc]

Block Constructed, Brawl, Commander, Historic, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Planechase, Standard and Un should be the only formats, official or otherwise.  Play whatever you want with your friends, but don't drag the rest of us along with you.

"Guilds of Ravnica Block" is a legitimate option for Block Constructed, and so shall Innistrad: Double Feature be.

[ApothecaryGeist]

There's Commander.  And then there's those weird formats that let you use more than one copy of a card.   

[Potato Chop]

There's Commander.  And then there's those weird formats that let you use more than one copy of a card.   

Disgusting, I know. Imagine playing 4 copies of a card in 1 deck!

[Dav984]

I don't understand why CEDH is a thing. Just play Modern or Legacy (Vintage if you are that lucky).

I don't understand why so many people strive towards CEDH levels. EDH used to be a casual format, some how it rarerly is any more.

This.

Standard, Modern, Legacy etc are competitive formats, Just play one of those if you want to play competitive.

- it is more difficult to play well and read the board correctly in Commander than in competitive formats because it is much less predictable and you have more than one opponent at the same time

- A good Commander deck is not necessarily a deck that wins often, but a deck that frequently manages to set up the strategy for which it is designed and which forces other players to team up against one

[Aetherium Slinky]

- it is more difficult to play well and read the board correctly in Commander than in competitive formats because it is much less predictable and you have more than one opponent at the same time
- A good Commander deck is not necessarily a deck that wins often, but a deck that frequently manages to set up the strategy for which it is designed and which forces other players to team up against one

There's just an additional dimension to it. I can't put my finger on it quite precisely but essentially the game extends beyond the table, i.e. the board state. You need to look up and open your mouth and talk with the other players. A good commander deck does not dictate how well the game goes, you also need to be a good player. And by a good player I mean you need to have both: a good understanding of how decks and probabilities work (just like poker, vintage, legacy) and you need to be socially suave in order to be able to push your own plan through the table. It's not random, it's more about waiting for the right moment instead of just rushing your plan. So...yeah, playing in a commander pod is inherently different from playing in a legacy table.

[Morganator 2.0]

I don't get to have a legendary creature next to my deck in Legacy and Modern. I also don't get to face off against multiple opponents at once. It's a different experience.


Most of my controversial takes are very heavy stuff that could be entire discussions on their own. If you're really interested... I'll think about it. For now, some of the lighter stuff.

I think that the order of the colour pie is wrong. WUBRG makes no sense. It should go GURWB, so that way the basic lands are in alphabetical order; forest, island, mountain, plains, swamp. I also think the alphabet is in the wrong order, but that's this whole other thing.

From a flavor standpoint, counterspells make more sense being white than being blue. White is the colour for defensive and protective abilities. It's also associated with law and regulation. Counterspells work here.

More specific to commander, I think that green makes a better support colour than blue, and if it wasn't for Urza, mono-green would be dominant to mono-blue.

Kenrith, the Returned King should have also bit the dust along with Golos. He's also just 5 colour goodstuff that can easily be used for any strategy.

We need another commander set with 4-colour commanders (that aren't partners).

[WizardSpartan]

Most of my controversial takes are very heavy stuff that could be entire discussions on their own. If you're really interested... I'll think about it. For now, some of the lighter stuff.

...

I also think the alphabet is in the wrong order, but that's this whole other thing.

I'd like to hear more about both of these.

Also, the people downvoting people for giving their unpopular opinions (as OP requested) should really do some critical thinking and understand that the purpose of this whole thing is to get opinions people disagree with.

My unpopular opinion: This game is slowly dying due to oversaturation (it's not irreversable, though). When too much s*** is being added, it's less likely new players will stay with the game (too daunting for them) and veteran players will get exhausted trying to keep up. Combined, the audience should start shrinking if the game continues the way it's going.

[Bonethousand]

From a flavor standpoint, counterspells make more sense being white than being blue. White is the colour for defensive and protective abilities. It's also associated with law and regulation. Counterspells work here.


We need another commander set with 4-colour commanders (that aren't partners).

I completely agree with the white/blue flavor argument, but I do sort of appreciate just how well blue currently fits the role of the snobbish wizard you love to hate, compared to a benevolent sage, a wild druid, a self-destructive necromancer, and a reckless sorcerer.

In regards to 4-color commanders, I think they're super important for the format and at least every other set should have one; slow leak them out, but leak them consistently. 5-color commanders should be super rare, and both narrow and powerful to reflect that. 4-color gives you options while preserving the flavor of variety.

[Slyvester12]

Not strictly a Commander opinion, but all of Magic in general: Infect was a mistake that makes the game so miserable someone should've lost their job over it. Made worse by having Proliferate being able to increase counters on players.

This seems like the least controversial opinion here. So, here's mine: I love infect. I think WotC did a great job by making it a really powerful, horribly undersupported mechanic. Sure, Grafted Exoskeleton, Phyresis, and Triumph of the Hordes probably could have been better off not existing, but most cards with infect are really weak and overcosted. The notable exceptions being Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and Blightsteel Colossus, MAYBE Putrefax. The rest are basically garbage like Tine Shrike or Tel-Jilad Fallen.

It's really fun trying to put together a win with nothing but otherwise unplayable cards, proliferate effects, and combos like Putrefax + Chandra's Ignition in Xenagos. It's even better that infect doesn't affect other players' health; it feels like playing on a different axis from normal magic. Plus, it's a mechanic that was intended for standard and got a huge boost in power when it came to commander, as far as still only needing 10 counters to kill. That's EXACTLY the kind of thing people usually like in commander.

I know, I'm practically the only one that thinks this. I don't care. Infect is great.

PS. Combos are cool, too. Infinite mana Rube Goldberg machines are the reason I play commander.

[Korlich]

I don't get to have a legendary creature next to my deck in Legacy and Modern. I also don't get to face off against multiple opponents at once. It's a different experience.

Maybe it's just me and my freinds, but we play three player together whenever we are three that wants to play Modern or Pauper.

[The Golgari Guy]

Not strictly a Commander opinion, but all of Magic in general: Infect was a mistake that makes the game so miserable someone should've lost their job over it. Made worse by having Proliferate being able to increase counters on players.

This seems like the least controversial opinion here. So, here's mine: I love infect. I think WotC did a great job by making it a really powerful, horribly undersupported mechanic. Sure, Grafted Exoskeleton, Phyresis, and Triumph of the Hordes probably could have been better off not existing, but most cards with infect are really weak and overcosted. The notable exceptions being Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and Blightsteel Colossus, MAYBE Putrefax. The rest are basically garbage like Tine Shrike or Tel-Jilad Fallen.

It's really fun trying to put together a win with nothing but otherwise unplayable cards, proliferate effects, and combos like Putrefax + Chandra's Ignition in Xenagos. It's even better that infect doesn't affect other players' health; it feels like playing on a different axis from normal magic. Plus, it's a mechanic that was intended for standard and got a huge boost in power when it came to commander, as far as still only needing 10 counters to kill. That's EXACTLY the kind of thing people usually like in commander.

I know, I'm practically the only one that thinks this. I don't care. Infect is great.

PS. Combos are cool, too. Infinite mana Rube Goldberg machines are the reason I play commander.

I agree with you actually. I find infect to be perfectly fine and actually a bit underpowered in commander.

Apart from Triumph of the Hordes, which usually has a similar effect to other cards like Overwhelming Stampede anyway, it's super difficult to kill three players using Infect, also because as soon as you kill one you're usually immediately targeted.