Things That Annoy Commander Players MOST

[@stephenball2108]

I remember one time it was a slow night at the game store, only 4 players, and a new guy was there. He only brought one deck, but it was a very tuned Omnath Locus of Rage deck. He won, we moved on. He won again, we moved on. Then he won two more games. The whole time he complained every time we interacted with him. Game 5 I removed a lot of his stuff. He kept complaining and complaining, asking why I’m targeting him. At a certain point I had to cup my hands around my mouth and say “YOU HAVE WON EVERY GAME”. That’s my least favorite winners complaining story.

[@xaxscratchxax926]

Brutal. After game two it would have been fair game for me. If you won 2 games in the same pod you don't get a third.

[@Flyboyminer]

I remember back when I played fps. When people find out you win to much, you have earned a target on you. Get used to it and get better. Hate people that can't get that in far less adrenaline dumping games.

[@stephenball2108]

@@xaxscratchxax926 at one point I was playing a Queen Marchesa deck that was super heavy on interaction. I removed Omnath like, 4 turns in a row, he complained every time. Eventually he drew a Lightning Greaves to protect it and felt safe, passed to me and I cracked off a Council’s Judgment and he learned Shroud doesn’t protect.

[@xaxscratchxax926]

@@stephenball2108 lmao 🤣 😂 😆 💀. Earned

[@byronstier7438]

unless you won game 5 you didn't end up solving the problem

[@alexroel123]

i agree with free attacks, but you WILL carry negative favor 100%. ''You attacked me so i attack you now'' is one of the MOST common things happening in games.

[@lambdalandis]

I think people who pubstomp believe that they are winning so much because they are “better at deck building” or even just “better at Magic” and don’t have the awareness to realize that other people’s decks are weaker on purpose and that Commander isn’t the place to fulfill your power fantasy.

[@silentcalling]

Commander *can be* the place to fulfill your power fantasy, if everyone is on board with it too. One-sided games because your wallet is fatter and your Google skills are better is a separate matter.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Totally agree, we had to recently kick someone out of the FNM's at my LGS because this one fellow legit felt like they made the greatest Jodah deck evah! Pubstomp everyone, instantly complained when anyone interacted with them AND would consistently fall back on the ''I make better decks than you'' trope when you get into a discussion about power lvls and deck building philosophies yet all they did was go to EDHREC and cram every popular card Jodah deck builders would typically include= no individuality ;p LOL

[@shawnpanzegraf5642]

@@lambdalandis Yeah, I can get a little tired of a deck that’s absolute trash, *except* when it hits a Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond and Sol Ring + an OG dual or Shock. Don’t tell me about your awesome deck-building skills when you haven’t won a game that didn’t have a 1,200$ Turn 1 in, well, ever.

[@Bwphotographyy]

THIS

[@Foxribble19]

​@@silentcallingI agree with this

[@Mr_Casey12]

Ok, regarding who has the most life. I think it's really funny to swing at the guy who played a life land turn 1 and is at 41

[@zappyxp1575]

This is literally how my pod behaves lmao

[@HippoInABottle]

Omg I actively stopped playing gain lands in my budget decks because of this 💀

[@VinylJ]

On the topic of respecting other players' time I've had half the pod get up to go smoke the wacky tobaccy in a friend's car in the middle of a game before... they were gone for two hours. Needless to say me and the other player were pissed and not exactly in the mood to play anymore by the time they got back and "Sorry we got super high and forgot" wasn't exactly a good enough excuse.

[@ericfortin559]

In defense of pile shuffling, I have found that doing an initial pile shuffle then mash shuffling at least 8 times afterwards tends to give me randomized hands that consistently give a good mix of mana and spells. Without the initial pile shuffle, I tend to get similar results after mash shuffling about 17 or more times. That said, I usually only pile shuffle once before the first game, and then just purely mash shuffle for subsequent games afterwards. That's because I usually have my decks sorted by card types if I've been changing things around and they may or may not already be shuffled.

[@Zzmj975]

A great video to make as a partner to this one: Things commander players LOVE. I know I have friends who are just a joy to play with for whatever reason. Just an idea for a positive spin on this video

[@DrivingCr00ner]

Love this!

[@michellemoore7829]

If your turn(s) is taking more then 10 minutes and you are struggling to assemble a win con, then I'm scooping despite it not being sorcery speed.

[@KeqinZ]

Thank you for mentioning inappropriate gears. I have spotted so many disturbing NSFW anime playmats in my LGS, and do not have the confidence to stop this.

[@deeterful]

That would be up to the LGS to enforce this as an issue, if they care about it at all.

[@izukukageyama7552]

Wait you said spilling coke on dice once destroyed them? What were they made of? Sugar? Seriously, unless the carbonation some how ate threw the resin I don't see why you wouldn't be able to just wash them off with soap...

[@jeffjordan1242]

This is more my personal issue and not a common thing. I'm new at this game. I'm 62 and a started playing magic with my son and a couple of his friends as a reason to see him more often. After a couple months I tried making my own deck instead of using a precon. Others keep telling me what I should do and what cards to add. What commander I should build the deck around. I don't mind losing as long as I'm learning. Let me win or die on my own. Stop pointing out what you think are my mistakes. Ok. Sorry for ranting. Lol.

[@johnboisvert1677]

You’re a cool dad for playing magic with your son. He’s a lucky boy!

[@Temuldjin]

You should play exactly what ever type of deck you think is fun ( keep in mind how fun it will be to play against: easiest example 20 counter spells from a single player will not be a fun game )

[@StateOfShock]

I like to go over mistakes either mine or my friends after the game. During the game the play goes on

[@EvilerOMEGA]

Regarding the "phone distractions", if it takes you 2 minutes or more to decide how to do your turn (or if your turn is 10 minutes of synergy), you can't complain if everyone else starts getting bored enough to get distracted by their phones. Commander takes long enough without you trying to do the absolute most optimal play with a deck you just put together that day. Make the misplays so that there is a next game to do better in.

[@yoyoguy1st]

If you’re a storm player please have the courtesy to bring a coloring book for the other players while you go off

[@MrBread-mg2hz]

@@yoyoguy1st yeah they really should talk for their own group, especially the knowledge one so arrogant. Our group loves new players and don't mind explaining actions and combos so they know for the future,

[@cameronbustos6059]

Woah woah woah. Who is pile shuffling after a mulligan? That is only for before that game and that is it.

[@crawdaddy1234]

Yerrrp - I don’t mind if a player pile shuffles once before drawing their first 7 cards, but after that…. Nope.

[@NitpickingNerds]

It's definitely a thing, maybe we need to hammer that out in Rule 0 lol

[@burnsboy101]

I only pile shuffle if the cards are ordered by type since it takes so long to mix it up otherwise

[@EvilerOMEGA]

People who double sleeve and don't want to bend their cards?

[@crawdaddy1234]

@@EvilerOMEGA ummm… isn’t the reason for double-sleeving, BECAUSE people are afraid to damage the cards? If someone bent my Underground Sea while shuffling or whatever, you’d better believe I would start freaking out.

[@biscuiteaterelliott6367]

"You're really not going to incur any negative favor from two damage." Bull. I once dealt 3 damage to a player across the first 3 turns and then two turns later he swung 9 10/10s at me.

[@dustinremington7791]

Sometimes when i am the threat i actitivly tell people yeh you should deal with me.

[@mitchcieslak9476]

yeah same thats how everyone in my pod is though. we also know each others decks and play styles very well

[@Chilipotamus]

Yeah, we have been dealing with a new guy playing with our pod that is super disingenuous about his board state, then gets very vindictive and uppity when one or more of us start pinging him every opportunity. My brother, you've made the last 2 games you played in last over 3 hours because we let you get your deck online unchecked, and now he just spends our time arguing stack semantics or fairness

[@mitchcieslak9476]

@@Chilipotamus my little brother has recently started playing stacks. And he’s doing the same thing you’re saying your new guy does. And he can’t fathom why everyone takes him out by turn 5. Like, what do you expect when you’re stopping people from playing the game???

[@bmprosser]

Whenever I notify a friend of a free attack they direct it at me.

[@deeterful]

That’s seems to always be the case, at least in my experience.

[@colini6643]

My biggest pet peeve are people who play decks that only have counter spells in them because their commander is based around instants and sorceries. Countering things that have a big impact makes sense, but countering everything is so annoying.

[@AgentFulgoreBasedDepartment]

control decks with no wincon are the worst lmao

[@poweringdom.1552]

So Baral, Chief of compliance?

[@ThePearsPair]

You just gave me a deck idea

[@dwallert]

If someone let's you win and then tells you that, they are an asshole.

[@josephcarey8999]

I’ve been on that side but I realized I miss played a combo and lost 😂

[@Whiplash47]

I don't like the Scooping at Sorcery Speed mantra. I agree with not spite scooping but I feel like scooping anytime the stack is empty or a turn is ending is appropriate. Basically if someone puts 5 extra turns on the stack, I think scooping at the end of the first turn is appropriate.

[@manasync]

My groups rule on takesie backsies is the same as spider mans: everybody gets 1. We're more lenient with new players, especially if the take back involves some weird or unnusual interaction. we also use the rule of thumb of if there's new information or not, and if the new information would impact the take back. It makes using your take back a real decision, and adds a layer of "oh no!" When a player tries to use their take back and the table reminds them they already used it to play their land on someone elses upkeep

[@STS-qi1qy]

One thing I see called 'kingmaking' that I disagree with is making the person killing you pay to the maximum to do so. 'Why are you kingmaking by wasting my resources?' 'Because you're trying to kill me? That has costs.'

[@jonathanpuccetti9258]

I see that as the exact opposite. If you don't make killing you cost the maximum, I would consider that king-making (or at least heavily helping the person that just killed you)

[@japplek]

Personally once I'm clearly about to die I like to avoid taking actions because I want to see how the game is gonna play out - even if I could take someone down with me out of spite. I can see the scenario though where I would tell someone "if you try to take me out I'm going to take you down with me" and then you have to follow through.

[@jonathanpuccetti9258]

@@japplek I get what you are saying, but I think that if you don't at least make intelligent blocks, you are helping the player that is killing you massively. I don't think its fair to anyone else left in the game to leave your killer with a board bigger than they deserve.

[@sabomusicllc8165]

You know, explaining how badly you’ll tax someone for them to take you out might lead to them taking another action and changing the course of the game… Assuming the player wants to win and not simply beat you, they may take another course. I see that as legitimate in commander

[@byronstier7438]

@@jonathanpuccetti9258 this is so dumb

[@Vorusen]

Our group does as many free mulligans until you get "a hand you like" and it's really just up to you. When it gets to like 4 that's egregious and someone will say "ok this is it no matter what". Only time I'll pile shuffle is when I start a SESSION or I get back to back hands of 5 lands/ no lands/ 5 lands/ no lands. We also play super honest so its not like someone is going for a god hand every time, but if we pile shuffled after each muligan someone is catching these hands (in game of course)

[@40Kfrog]

Regarding the hypothetical "I'm being attacked for 100 lifelink so I scoop out of spite" example- how would you feel if that person used in-game actions to kill themselves out of spite, rather than scooping? Say the player getting attacked is at less than 3 life and they bolt themself.

[@SweetOddBoi]

I think that's entirely fine since they used game pieces. They had the bolt, they had the mana. Might still feel spiteful, but it has less "taking my ball and going home" energy.

[@beautifulstrange7057]

i’ve only recently started playing Commander, but honestly, I would find that move Hilarious. Even if I stand to benefit from attacking you.

[@CarbonBase12]

It definitely depends, I usually ask because sometimes people find paying all your life to a toxic deluge hilarious and other times they get mad that you’re ‘king making’ when you pay your last life points to your necropotence. 🤷‍♂️

[@SweetOddBoi]

@@CarbonBase12 Yes but paying all your life to TD is sorcery speed and not something you're doing in response to someone benefitting from attacking you. The Necropotence one is though, and I think it's a valid decision.

[@CarbonBase12]

@@SweetOddBoi That’s kinda my perspective too but based on the variety of responses I’ve gotten I’ve learned to just ask rather than be the reason everyone had a bad night. Ya know what I mean?

[@xXCigarXx]

Most easy awnser....people who put thier land in front......god I hate those people.

[@kenniron6313]

This. And putting your deck up front too. I started with Yugioh as a kid, and the way I lay out my board is similar to how you do it in that game (before pendulums). Deck down to the right, graveyard to the right of that, exile above graveyard, artifacts and enchantments above deck, lands to the left of the deck, and creatures above the lands.

[@DavMat007]

​@@kenniron6313 I used to lay out my board like that, but I usually sit to the left of my girlfriend who puts her library forward left and she knocked my deck over more than once while reaching to draw. So now I put my deck as far forward as I can comfortably reach on a second playmat in the middle of the table

[@SinglExplosiv]

@@kenniron6313 Is deck up front an issue? Everyone at my LGS plays with their deck pretty high up on a corner of their mat, usually just under their commander. Lands up front is whack but I thought that wasn't legal anymore?

[@bradross7488]

Sorry, been playing since 93. Lands in front!! 😅

[@xXCigarXx]

@@bradross7488 and you havent given in to everyone complaining about it yet? I dont think I could make people unhappy for like 30 years.

[@crawdaddy1234]

16:11 What if you said “Modified Precon” when you mean that your deck has payoffs for MODIFIED creatures? 😂

[@NitpickingNerds]

“I’m playing Chishiro modified precon” -last words

[@C1umsyJester]

I would argue your deck should be named better🤣

[@blaze556922]

It isn't takesy backsy if you notice someone didn't put an artifact in their graveyard. That is them cheating and you catching them or everyone not noticing and you rectifying the situation.

[@Mast3rShan31]

OMG I have a pubstomping and mad about being threat story. At an LGS playing with my pod but we were 1 short. Random comes and asks to play. We're like sure, but just so you know, me and my friend are very new to MTG and other buddy is kinda teaching us. He goes I just started recently as well. Cool. Game starts, and dude has like 4 inifinite combos going on turn 3. I'm like cool, this was fun. Then proceeds to get upset next game when all 3 of us target him :D.

[@Sackquaza]

Something to add to your list; locking people out of the game. The pod had 2 mono-black decks, a Selesnya enchantress deck, and a mono-blue artifact deck. The commanders were Horobi, old Tinybones, Sythis, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Selesnya player decides to play Choke on their turn three because the mono-blue player cast Pongify on the creature attacking them. They were locked out for 3-5 turns and the game ended 2 turns after Choke left the battlefield.

[@Chilipotamus]

So what are they to do then, let the mono blue players establish their engine that will shut down theirs? Building a mono colored commander deck is a risky proposition for that reason in particular. Am I not supposed to commander hate the Krenko player and let him spiral out of control by turn 5? Also, if it was so bothersome to the two other players to see that happen, why didn't you band together and help the blue player out by removing the problem card? You didn't, because you know the deck is likely a problem and wanted them to tank the aggro for being locked down, but I bet y'all were happy to get 3-5 turns without an "in response" every time you try to cast a spell. Not to mention traditionally, colors that are across the wheel from each other are antagonistic towards each other, so it (imo) shouldn't be surprising the green player targeting the blue when their entire play styles are pretty much yin and yang.

[@Sackquaza]

@Chilipotamus I was the blue player. The other two didn't draw enchantment removal and couldn't attack the player directly. Edit: Don't assume that you know the decklist of each player. Please ask for information before accusing someone.

[@valun360]

This is honestly the best placed Moxfield ad I think you've ever done. Bravo

[@zappyxp1575]

Yeah that was smooth and criminal 😎

[@erichunt1974]

See I know for sure a lot of the players at my tables are annoyed by removal, and I'm certain there are several who are annoyed by a 4 mana 3/3 named Krenko Mob Boss who can be tapped to create a 1/1 goblin creature token for every goblin you control.

[@EvilerOMEGA]

I'm not sure they're annoyed by the removal itself. They just might be annoyed that their 4 mana 3/3 mono-red commander costs 20 mana because they are the only ones getting removed. At that point, it's a game of archenemy with no extra life or scheme cards for the archenemy

[@bobdebando]

@@EvilerOMEGA then you should not play Krenko.

[@EvilerOMEGA]

@@bobdebando I didn't know you were the only one allowed to enjoy the game.

[@joshhill8894]

I’ll say that the Krenko player should understand though that by having him in the command zone he is sort of asking to be archenemy from the get go. Just like some of my decks that have a reputation people are aware and play against it accordingly. I just try my best to play around the hate and have fun

[@bobdebando]

@@EvilerOMEGA well if thats what you made of my comment. if someone plays krenko its kinda a main target for everyone at the table, and if ppl complain about it being removed fast then they should not play commanders like Krenko. But if you do you should not be salty everytime its gets targeted or removed.

[@bananaboy2373]

Shout out to the pub stomper at my store who made me so mad i went on a 45 min rant in the mtg group chat

[@vegetableoil1383]

My biggest pet peeve is that i dont know what a whorl is but i really want to know. Just wish someone would tell me

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thank you for the tip! I am more than happy to tell you: A WHORL is actually the spiral shape on a snail’s shell! Can you believe it? Also something about fingerprints!

[@vegetableoil1383]

Wow thanks NN. Im glad i finally know. Unfortunate that i will never know which one of you knows this secret

[@alicetheaxolotl]

On the topic of open containers...I've literally seen someone flip a coin and it landed in their drink.

[@darksquirel]

I once sat down at a table at my LGS an a guy declared his deck an "upgraded precon" then proceed to play mostly $40+ staples/powerful cards like rhystic study, sheoldread the apocalypse, orcish boowmasters, and the one ring. Then had the audacity to be upset when called out for calling that an "upgraded precon". like I know technically it was "upgraded" but when we were discussing power level he 100% made it sound like 5-10 on theme cards to tighten up the deck not high power edh deck wearing a precon as a mask.

[@N4chtigall]

Kingmaking is in my opinion not that simple. I would say there is a social aspect to it. In the end commander isn't competetive game, people play to have fun and sometimes having fun means you don't play super optimally and consider everything on the table. Sometimes kingmaking is just "you ruined my chances of winning, therefore I'll make you lose before I lose myself" in the lategame and I think it's completely fine. Commander is social game, you dont' get a trophy for winning so as long as you have fun and you aren't an asshole it's fine in my book.

[@acidcrow4051]

When it comes to holding back the win, I often do it with my spellslinger deck, because it goes infinite in so many ways, and my pod wouldn't want me to play with it anymore. If it's late in the game though, and I haven't found a non-inf wincon, I will just pop off and end the game. We have a Rule 0 against tutor for infinite combos, especially 2 card combos, but late game the pod are usually happy for the game to be over and start a new one, maybe with a different deck they really want to try out.

[@harrisonwilloughby712]

Another caveat for Takesies Backsies is if there are any prizes involved. In normal games yes, but in prize games I am a lot less forgiving.

[@shawnpanzegraf5642]

@@harrisonwilloughby712 My caveat for this caveat is, “Unless the person introducing new information to the situation hasn’t done, or even allowed time for the player they’re responding to to clarify the nature of the changed boardstate. Last night, I had a guy Flash in a Tishana’s Tidebinder in response to my playing a 5/5 Walking Ballista w/ a Branching Evolution and my commander, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider out. While I’m trying to prove to him with a documented ruling via my phone that his attempt to cause my Walking Ballista to lose all abilities before 2 stacked replacement effects take the place of the “base” 5 +1/+1 counters I paid 10 mana for to become 20 +1/+1 counters I can remove at instant speed w/ 20 effects put on the stack in response to his Tidebinder, he and the other opponent are trying to insist we’re past that point. A phase doesn’t end because one person is mentally past the point where everyone else is still in dispute/trying to get onto the same page about what happened in the step under contention. If someone jumps the gun and starts doing stuff because they’ve decided they believe they know how it’s all going to go, I’ll push through a roll-back even if I have to be a bit of a sick about it. Once people normalize jumping ahead of the rest of the table, nothing but conflict is sure to follow.

[@nickcarballo6039]

I think when it comes to take backs a big problem is the amount of information can be overwhelming and it’s hard to keep track even on arena with all the emblems and reminders misplays can occur. I really believe keyword markers could help games go smoother when I can see from across the table “that creature has a heart and a skull so it has lifelink and death tough”

[@acidcrow4051]

Takesy-backsies, in my pod are usually the kind of "ok, I have 9 mana, I want to cast these two spells", but you realize that you tapped the wrong lands for the first spell, and don't have the right color mana for the second. It's no biggie, unlimited takes backs on that, it's noticed and fixed in seconds. However if it happens every turn it gets annoying, but it usually only happens when a player is trying out a new brew or something, and even then, they learn fast. To your example, max 1. Many newer players, myself included, aren't familiar with that card, so a friendly reminder is ok. But not more.

[@tanneroneal5388]

I always pile shuffle in the beginning after a game, because my lands are all stuck together from last game. Im pretty quick at it tho.

[@taurincochran3398]

One of my "house rules" is that you can only scoop at sorcery speed.😂

[@jesse8654]

Forget the most life! I attack the one with either the most cards in hand or the one with the most permanents on the battlefield

[@Gorene]

Speaking of pubstomping, I once played a casual FNM at my LGS. My first game I was I a four person POD with two guys who pulled out-of-the-box precons out. My deck was not CEDH but it was quite stronger so I decided not to take advantage of a special partner mechanic. The fourth guy pulled out a 10-15k sliver deck. Killed me to poison. Also insisted to look at every single card I played, read it for five minutes, and question if I was playing my commander costly every single time. Next round I played 3 more precons. I pulled out my barely upgraded Shallai Hallar Precon we had a great time.

[@lordxenu25]

For me it’s when people are being petty and also when people counter everything anyone does and they don’t even win like bro please if you’re gonna stop everything then please win

[@GrizzneyGames]

Mia's "liars" always makes me laugh because I'm picturing someone hearing that for the first time with no context. 😂

[@thriftypsgr]

I have killed myself by tapping a fetch land when somebody attacked me so they didn’t get their attack triggers. It was definitely a spite play, but I also didn’t scoop. I used a game action that was available to me to take myself out of the game.

[@deeterful]

And that is perfectly respectable.

[@seandun7083]

Just a note, they do still get attack triggers if you do it after they have declared attacks, but they still won't get damage triggers. I definitely don't mind that.

[@thriftypsgr]

@@seandun7083 that’s what it was. I stopped him from drawing cards off of dealing damage lol my bad

[@frozentyphoon2049]

For takesies backsies, it's usually only once for a certain mistake. If you make the same mistake several times, then you dont get it back.

[@CTimmerman]

I'm not paying attention while blue searches their deck for minutes.

[@hermodnitter3902]

Hates on pile shuffling, then immediately proposes to put seven KNOWN cards on the bottom and draw a new hand... Ouch.

[@jackcook3471]

I kind of disagree with your point about the Ashiok example. Your card is still certainly functioning, it's forcing your opponents to make different plays due to its restrictive ability. I personally don't think that the card's power comes from "my opponent wastes mana and spells sometimes because they forget this effect is on the table."

[@hiygamer]

Yeah. That's the difference between Ashiok and Shadow of Doubt.

[@julianstrnad222]

If you play with friends and you complain about pile shuffling or even consider them to cheat that way you need to chill 😂

[@WiiTara]

@@julianstrnad222 if you play with people you know, yes, totaly. My general attitude with casual commander is anyway "takes as much mulligans as you want. I want to play against players who can play the game. I trust you are not searching the perfect hand". In any other setting like strangers or tournaments id be very careful

[@JoeyDCote]

I like to pile shuffle when I build a new deck because the mana will be clumped together due to the manner in which I build my deck.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Once you mash shuffle enough times, the deck will be random no matter how clumped it was

[@weeklyweeks7545]

Rule 0: - Read your card on cast. - If it’s discussed that people don’t want staxs or two card combo, then don’t play those decks. - if your first main phase is taking longer than 5 minutes. Spend more time with rule one and goldfish.

[@thebigbear4696]

I totally agree about complaining when you are the threat. I am often the threat at the table. Either I’ve put out a fast board state that demands to be answered or I’m known to carefully sculpt my board state and hand to just win on one turn with certain decks. So my play groups rightfully target me. The funny thing is that they apologize for it sometimes. I’m like, “no, you did the right thing. I was the threat. Make me use my counters, destroy my stuff, attack me. Do it.” With that said, I do get improperly targeted because of what I might do sometimes. In those cases I wait until after the game and politely point out that so and so won too easily because of all the focus put on me.

[@Asante_13]

I find that sometimes people get so engrossed in conversations (which is a good thing) that no matter how loudly or how many times I try to announce what am doing or playing they just don't hear/listen and its at that point I do stop trying to talk over them in order to save on having a sore throat later. They usually start paying attention at the I'm attacking you part. End point, yes playing your cards without talking is bad but likewise if people aren't listening after a number of attempts to inform them then what will be will be, thankfully it doesn't happen to often.

[@DeadxReckon]

Note to self: Don't reveal my a.d.d. brain to Beezy.

[@kozakytheabsurd8467]

Pub stomping is my favorite thing to discuss, we had a player who never understood why no one wanted to casually play with because homie had infinite loops and one shot tricks in his Edgar markov deck and said it's not that good. He had easily put a big amount of money and thought into it

[@adriansawyer3174]

My friends love to talk very loudly on my turn so I stop announcing my cards because no one will shut up and listen.

[@mitchcieslak9476]

i play a very aggressive Caesar, legion's emperor deck. it's all about burn, doubling up on Caesar's triggers, and getting 1/1's through for damage. there's one person in my play group that complains every time i bring it out, and every time he loses to it, or to a couple certain card, he'll non-stop hate on the deck and target me out of saltiness for the rest of the night. I've only played the deck 3 times in the last 5 months. I think that's definitely the most annoying thing I've had to deal with over my couple years of playing.

[@maxmagnus377]

Probably my biggest pet peeve is people who play "solitaire synergy machines" with too few wincons and/or too few interaction spells. Some people will happily take 20 minutes to accomplish very little. Adding and subtracting counters, saccing all sorts of things, drawing 7-8 cards, incorporating all that new information, drawing some more, saccing some more, only to say "pass" at the end of it having done nothing but develop a board state regardless of any threats other players might have. I tend to be the only guy a lot who removes threats, and when asking the solitaire player why he never removes anything, I'll always get the answer "I run removal I just haven't drawn it yet!" Every time, when I go through their deck after, there's like 1 counterspell, 1 spot removal and a boardwipe in there... Second biggest pet peeve: playing an infinite combo and not explaining how it works before the game. Lamest "gotcha" way to lose is out of nowhere by a guy just saying "Oh, I go infinite now btw." I don't get how they can also then be disappointed when the table goes "No need to play it out, we believe you" and starts resetting as they start going through the motions of their infinite loop. Third biggest, and one that more competitive players might take issue with: Just because you can take someone out doesn't mean you always should. The WORST feeling is sitting down to play commander, being the arbitrary target of some early wombo combo swing for lethal, to then have to sit out on a game that takes upward of an hour and a half. Had this happen to me once where I had been pinging everyone for small bits of damage using some aristocrat deck, someone stumbled into playing a discounted craterhoof and just went "You did the most damage, full swing at you." Had to just sit on my hands for like 95 minutes as that game dragged on.

[@joshuakuester2633]

I definitely see what you’re saying about attacking the person with the most life. It can be frustrating when there’s clearly a threat. However, I notice that it happens a lot earlier in the game because it’s an easy justification to attack someone without singling them out as the threat otherwise. It can be a way to keep neutral while still progressing the game by attacking.

[@BirdCaramel]

Agreed- I think in different contexts this can be appropriate. It could be part of your strategy to try and seem neutral maybe? There might not always be a “right” player to attack so you pick an opponent for a seemingly arbitrary reason, which might not garner too much attention . But sometimes it’s VERY clear who should be attacked haha

[@ryanmann5497]

Holding back the win is a major pet peeve of mine, my brother does this all the time, he will set up some annoying lock to stop you from playing the game, very CLEARLY be able to just win and he just doesn’t…. Then at the end of the game he will brag that he could have won 5-6 turns ago and everyone else groans because we already knew that

[@flukenukeem]

I don’t really agree with “free attacks” either. I would prefer to block a dashed ragavan than mark 1 damage

[@borklazer5907]

I once knocked over a monster I was drinking and damaged an 80+ dollar jeweled lotus. Bought it off of him at full price so he could get an undamaged replacement, but it taught me to set my drinks on the floor.

[@Dskinny23]

I'm sure you'd agree, but it's very common in this community for people to have social anxiety. So yes, it's nice if someone talks you through their cards and play, but also keep in mind some people might have a hard time doing it. I've played with a few people that were about silent game 1 - 3 or better, then night 2 or 3, they're talking like they're your best friend from pre k. At the same time, I've played with people who have social disabilities and often don't talk much or at all. That might not change but can still make for a great pod member.

[@BlazeHeroic]

RE: Missing Free Attacks, "free" attacks aren't always free and/or isn't "missing" the attack. You could be anticipating a hasty creature (Aftermath Samut, OG Urabrask, etc commander), or not want to make yourself an enemy early. You are making an assumption on the part of the other player when you aren't in their head, which isn't really great. It's the same as assuming what a deck does based on the commander. You can make an educated guess on what a deck does, but you don't know for sure, and assumptions can hinder more than help.

[@westonwright5029]

Be okay with not playing perfect and making mistakes. You will always remember you butchering a combo or sequence in your deck over taking back and "Oopsie". I tell my playgroup to focus on playing the game more quickly and learning, over perfect and slower. We get like 4 games in a night when before it was 2 long drawn out games that got boring.

[@ryanmorris5923]

I ALWAYS pay someone back if they fuck with my board early, and I'm a big fan of "proportional response". Hit me for 1? Hold 4. Blow up my card draw engine? Hold 8. But like, once they get theirs, were even

[@bonesaw9832]

I hate when people try politicking their way out of overextending. Swinging out a being tapped out whining to be left alone. Like incessantly whining. Also just straight up lying. Saying youre going to do something and then do the opposite. "Im going to give you so many vampires with that card you just played" then kills that card the next turn and reanimates it for themself. Like cool, ya got me bud.

[@stevenwells1450]

When I play, scooping can only be done at sorcery speed. It solves most of the problems mentioned. The exception is in emergency situations.

[@OmegaMTG]

18:00 I agree that "modified precon" is a blanket term. If you've changed out one card or all the way up to 20 cards (including landbase) it falls under modified. If you've replaced more than that you've rebuilt the deck and can no longer call it a precon in any way.

[@Pestilence021]

I think my biggest issue here is pile shuffling. i guess i roll with way more casual folks that yall but one pile shuffle before cuts isnt a big deal. it really doesnt take that long. it really does great at breaking up the lands if you get screwed on lands one game.

[@25_Cats_in_a_Trenchcoat]

Yea i mean sometimes im playing a landfall and a few shuffles wont break up 34 lands back to back very well and only realize my mistake after drawing 7 lands and then top 3 being lands when i go to mulligan lol

[@IceSki117]

The only time I do a pile shuffle is if I've just been working on the deck to get an initial spread of cards before shuffling.

[@nicholaslovelady8258]

There's no issue with pile shuffling unless it's in the middle of the game? why are they doing it? Otherwise there's no reason to be mad over it

[@bmprosser]

Kingmaking is knowing you are going to lose, then using your last chance to favor someone specifically as the winner

[@FortheKing31415]

sometimes if my decks got organized in order to look for and at cards and separate lands out I will pile shuffle but after I get the piles I mash shuffle those piles

[@somewhatinsignificant]

I swear ya'll are talking about my LGS. For real though, why do so many people cast a spell and just say the name then move on like everyone knows exactly what it does!?

[@zekeman2615]

The Ashiok search example reminds me of a problem I have playing Kira, Great Glass Spinner. It never fells, even when I’ve explained the card, if I have Kira out for more than 2 turns someone tries to path one of my creatures and I say, “ok that tiggers Kira to counter that spell” and that person always wants to take it back. Now every one knows the path to exile is there and you can feel the game shift.

[@amaized]

When it comes to "modified precon", our playgroup considers "upgraded" as 10-15 cards or less!

[@Grimkahn1901]

One of my most annoying king making moments was when a guy I have issues with almost every game but have to put up with him because I don't run my LGS and he's usually ending up in the same pod as me. I was playing a mazerik sacrifice deck, he's playing otter instant sorcery tribal, guy across from me I don't remember much, but the guy next to me was playing zulodoc the void gorger. Otters had the chance to remove the zulodoch player from the game because he had a way to remove a vexing bauble from the game that was stopping him from cascading and winning on his following turn, but for some odd reason he decided to kill me when I've done little to nothing most of the game and was telling him if he doesn't kill the other guy the game is over. Zulodoch of course won right after the swing on me. All I told him was the game could've gone on and he could've won if he had proper threat assessment and didn't choose to make it a joke coming after me all the time.

[@kenniron6313]

I’ve lost to a food deck because I didn’t see a mana rock mixed in with lands and they were able to sac one more food than I realized. I was seriously disappointed, especially after having soloed the cEDH Korvold player on turn 5 who was trying to pubstomp while the other 2 players just sat back setting up engines. They did a collective 1 damage, he took like 6 from his mana crypt, and I dealt the other 43.

[@RogueBullhead]

I love this token take at the end. I could paragraph into the subject of people without tokens and how it effects everyone.

[@The_Grimsun]

Excuse you! My honorable Wilson, King of the Bears, must attack the player with the most life. He is honor bound to his Agent of Shadow Thieves to do so. Joke aside I do hate that logic. It often just lets stronger fields stay online longer and just chips off enough that sometimes lets that way more dangerous deck kill off your allies who might have been able to stop them.

[@RoscoeKane]

For ashiok, takesies backsies all day. It's easy to forget when board states are complex and there are a lot of things modifying how it all works. People are already salty about a stax effect like that, why make it worse for them. I had an opposition agent on the field for 2 rounds of the table, then someone cast a rampant growth type effect. I was like "opposition agent" and they just scooped and walked off in a huff. Our rule zero was just about power level, and no one brought up concerns about stax or combos. That deck has like 3 effects that make opponents games harder, but does not deny them mana. Should I have mentioned that I have a few things that try to make life harder for opponnents?

[@thekillers1stfan]

The Blood Feud thing for sure. I went to my friend's place to play one time and he kind of pissed off his gf with a play, she then just went only after him, then he won and pissed her off even more, and it made the whole afternoon awkward.

[@JLKaizen]

I only pile shuffling when I haven’t shuffled after I tune it. That’s when everything is grouped together.

[@Pigotti94]

I big taksie backsie issue nowadays is ward. Normally it's like "do you pay ward X?" "No can i take that back?" Over and over again. Kind of the same Mindset with ashiok the table gets 1 then the spell gets countered

[@NitpickingNerds]

So has the one-time rule been working? Or do people get mad?

[@LastAlmasty]

Thanks for this :) 3 of our 4 pod members are going to Magicon in Vegas this fall and most of this seems like common sense but we really haven't played with random people much and we all want to have fun and play 'right' in that environment

[@under1085]

10 Cyclonic Rift-like effects coming from every deck with blue in it grinds my gears.

[@Kaiser-S0ul]

I really appreciate the 'Ashiok Takesies Backsies' point. It's the same with Ob Nixilis Unshackled and Leonin Arbiter and anything with Ward, like it's almost like non-functional text because everyone just undoes it and I ALWAYS communicate what them being on board means.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I’m gonna try out the “one freebie” rule as a test, because I don’t want to screw anyone over, but I also want my card to like, do what it is supposed to do. Tricky situation 🤔

[@Clouded-Logic]

A lot of this comes across as "not having fun the right way." People are like, "its a casual format," and then complain when people are casual about it.

[@breezyday10]

Holding the win. I can see where people say there power levels and they are off. The higher power player. Decides the pump the breaks. To actually have a game.

[@SaintAbsol]

Might be related to complaining about being the threat, but my biggest annoyance is people who constantly downplay their own threat level, especially when playing decks the whole table is familiar with and know are high power. Have a friend who does this CONSTANTLY; he plays decks like Xenagos, God of Revals, with multiple ways to trigger extra combat steps and can steamroll the whole table very early in the game, and we all know how quickly the deck can go off, but he never owns up to it. Gets insanely annoying every time. Also, on the Blood Feud thing, have another player (more acquaintance than friend), who recently admitted that he hated one of my decks and would target me specifically whenever I played it. And it wasn’t even a good deck, it was werewolves! The only thing I can think of is I managed to make my own extra combat steps to go off exactly once against him (and literally never again for as long as I had the deck) and he held a grudge ever since.

[@acidcrow4051]

I am that Xenagos player! 😂 Well, almost, I only have one infinite attack combo. But the deck is full of ramp and big creatures with trample and/or flying. It has almost no interaction, and you can see what is coming long before it happens. If I play out Xenagos and will have 8 mana on my next turn, someone is going to take a lot of damage if there is no interaction. While the deck is scary, it is made to be easy to play for beginners, and vs 3 people there is usually enough interaction to keep it not dominating games.

[@SaintAbsol]

@@acidcrow4051 Honestly, it's not the deck itself I have a problem with (mostly), it's genuinely just his attitude of 'I'm not the problem, I'm just here'. Like, his tone makes it clear he's TRYING to joke about it, but when he does it literally every time he plays the deck, or has put together any other scary board states, the joke isn't funny anymore.

[@acidcrow4051]

@@SaintAbsol yeah, I know a guy like that, with his Voja deck. "They are only little elfs, just mana dorks really". Meanwhile there is a maskwood nexus on the table, and you take 26 damage and just curse at how much you hate Ward 3.

[@drocka36]

Does your werewolves use night/day? Cause id target it for that alone

[@thriftypsgr]

If I can’t find the tokens, I will end up printing proxies for tokens. I had to do that with my Roxanne deck because I did not open a single meteorite and all of outlaws of thunder junction.

[@RoscoeKane]

In my combo decks, I never take free attacks. I don't want people to be worried about what I am doing, and if the game ends to people running out of life, 99% chance I did not win. If you are playing normal midrange value packed decks, free attacks are free value. But my combo doesn't care if they have 30 like or 3, or 300. Free attacks are helping other people more than me if I am playing combo. Plus, when people see their life total ticking down, they get concerned and want to do something to stop you from doing that. I don't want to draw attention sometimes. Also, there are haste creatures out there, better watch out! It might not be as free as you thought.

[@danielgoldberg2129]

My unintentional Pubstomping story: I like Gargoyles. When I’m traveling I photograph them on buildings. I have several on my bookcases and in my yard, so over the years I’ve collected all the Gargoyles I’ve come across in Magic and put them in the back of one my binders. Last month I finally decided to make a tribal deck out of them, and let’s be honest here, Gargoyles are not a strong synergistic type, but I was very happy to have built the deck. At my lgs for FNM and after the main event game my group decided to have fun low-power game and I pulled out my Gargoyles and explained what it was. Well, I ended up with a bunch of flyers on board that nobody had answers for and just picked everyone off fairly quickly and people seemed disappointed. I was as surprised as everyone else how well it did but I’m pretty sure they felt pub stomped. (On a side note I want to mention a pet peeve for people that have holdover resentment for the previous game and attack someone because of something that happened in the last game. Do you feel it’s justified to attack a player just because they won the last game?)

[@Cybertech134]

Attacking me because I won the last game is the fastest way to be my archenemy for the rest of the night/month.

[@thebigbear4696]

As a side point to the players playing silently point, I get frustrated when everyone at the table is talking about other things and not paying attention to the active player. There have been many times where I’ve announced a play and it gets drowned out. Most of the time I wait for a lull in the side conversation to then restate my play, especially when it’s a heavily impactful play, but having to do that more than once or twice in a game is very frustrating.

[@bonesaw9832]

Last one for me. When the player before me takes 15-20 minutes on their turn and then when they finally pass IM the one that gets told to hurry up. Had one guy loudly yawning during my turn after the guy before me took 4 extra turns.

[@Shimatzu95]

My priority in playing the game is not winning but rather testing my deck (cause i always tinker) to see how it feels in an actual game. Sure i'd like to win but its secondary.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Same, I am like a scientist: I just want fun interesting games and afterwards I spend the week tinkering for the next FNM. LOL my catch phrase at my LGS is: I came, I saw, I durdled :D

[@Shimatzu95]

@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 i play mostly token or trial decks so durdling isn´t exactly what i tend to do. Usually i get at least 1 guy dead, if ust to prove a point

[@The_medicine_frog]

So you play the game to see how playing an acual game feels?

[@Cybertech134]

@@The_medicine_frog To see how his deck feels.

[@The_medicine_frog]

@@Cybertech134 then what is the point of playing in the first place? If you only ever play to get a feel of how the deck plays then what are you really doing that for? Why do you care how it plays if the end goal isn't to do its function and win?

[@UGDMchris]

omnath is my pet peeve haha, my group all ignore him cause he doesnt look like a big threat. then 5 turns later 25 plant tokens are going wide