Is There Flavor in CEDH?

For the first four years of college, I shared a living space with my friend Chase. We share a lot of interests in common, but we have always looked at many things differently. When we started learning Magic together, it was only inevitable that we would veer in style as well. While I got fascinated with the lore and design elements of the game, Chase dove into the mechanics and structure. From there, I would lean into splashy decks that were explosive and entertaining to wield, while Chase gravitated towards brutally efficient builds that could cripple tables and steal games. Being roommates, we played more 1v1 games of Commander than I could even count– and yes, he won most of them. But in that time, we both grew immensely as Magic players. Now, Chase is a stellar competitive player who might even become accredited in the CEDH decklist archive**!! Even though I'm making him sound like Thanos, he has been a great friend and MTG adversary to have. The Sasuke to my Naruto, for all the weebs out there. He has made me a better player by often forcing me to thoroughly think through my plays and challenging how I view deck building. 

**(link for the specific build here)

I wanted to see if flavor exists in the competitive world of EDH in specific. I have been focusing so much on the casual end of the spectrum, I was wondering if all of the cool aspects of flavor lived in CEDH as well. It is only fitting that I went to Chase for an insight on the CEDH world. Recently, we had around a forty minute conversation over Discord while playing some Arena, and that's when I came up with the idea for this post. Originally, this was going to be a challenge of the conventions of CEDH. Now, it's a reflection of a newly competitive player. 

For those of you who are veterans or CEDH players, this might be old information. I'd like to hopefully reach the casual audience and give them a glimpse into the world of pro strats through a familiar lens. 

What is CEDH and what makes CEDH hit different?

Knowing Chase, he is fond of decks most casual tables would scoop in anger from. Magic as a whole, and EDH in particular, has some loose rule sets that can be tweaked by your immediate friends (or commonly known as your playgroup). For example, banned cards are only so for tournaments. Therefore, if a table allows you to play your Lutri deck, you can. The same concept could apply for strategies. At most casual tables, it is agreed upon that players want to win, but also want to have fun. Players might agree that land destruction is gross, and avoid it. The same might be true for a table that hates stax strategies. CEDH, however, is an entirely different beast. Chase noted that one of his favorite aspects of CEDH is the lack of expectation in that regard. Since everyone is there to win with precision, niceties are left behind. In this “anything goes” environment, Chase won’t feel judged for playing hardcore control or stay, because the fun comes from the intense gameplay. 

There is a proficiency and speed to CEDH as well that EDH does not have. While a four person game of EDH could last hours, a game of CEDH will not last longer than an hour.  When I asked Redditors in the CEDH subreddit about this, a redditor compared the difference in formats to boxing in real life compared to the Rocky films. In the films, things are elevated for spectacle, compared to the reality of the brutally tactical sport. They went on to say, "In reality if Rocky was ever a real boxer, he would not get a championship title by blocking with his face." In addition, I also liked the introduction to their response when they shared, "I think the flavor of CEDH is it's exactly how things would play out in a life-or-death situation regarding two-four mages battle. Degenerate tricks to one-up your opponent so that you may live to tell the tale."

What is flavor?

I have failed every single person who has read this blog by not addressing this sooner. Chase is my closest friend, and has challenged me the most on my statements and opinions. Sometimes man, I'll admit you have a point. Another reason I had a blast with Chase is because he was able to put my view of Magic culture into perspective. Flavor is a phrase used endlessly by the MTG community. Yeah, I'm a hypocrite; I abuse the hell out of it too. So, what does it mean?

Flavor, to me, lies amongst the aesthetics of any given deck build. When building a deck, the most common first step is to figure out a strategy. From there, the deck build consists of cards that aid a strategy or selection of cards that synergies very well together. Flavor doesn't live in that aspect of play, because efficiency doesn't care about aesthetics. Flavor lies within which cards you use, and sometimes how you use them. Using MTG lore, themes from the real world, or other franchises, themes can be created from the card pool. For example, just because you play vampires doesn't mean you have a Castelvania theme. However, creating a deck using specific cards to represent members of Dracula's army while creating a vampire tribal build has flavor. Or, let's say you build a deck using cards solely from Core Set 2021, then there is a bit of flavor, sure. However, having a Tefferi deck build using cards relevant to his Planeswalker abilities from Core Set 2021 has a boat-load of flavor. 

In my opinion, what makes the term nuanced lies within its definition, not the use. In the two examples I gave above, most players who would agree that the Tefferi and Dracula decks have flavor to some extent. Nevertheless, Chase and I had to come to this understanding after a discussion on what flavor meant to us. With him coming from the Tefferi perspective, and myself coming from the Dracula perspective, we assigned flavor to different aesthetics. There is no flavor definition that fits every magic player's view of it, only ones that fit the player. This revelation not only creates a whole new conversation, but provides validity for flavor to exist even in CEDH. 

Can Competitive formats have flavor?

Chase is gonna hate me for this, but yes, it can. Chase brought up a good point during our discussion, challenging me on what I defined flavor as. Flavor changes definition from player to player, but can it also work the same for different formats? Our definitions are similar, revolving around any aspect of deck building that isn't for efficiency, but for aesthetics. While I see flavor in references to outside the game along with MTG lore references, Chase considers only MTG lore references/aesthetics to be true examples of flavor. So let's run with that foundation by getting meta with it.

CEDH's flavor lies in the attitude of the players, and the environment itself. I think that’s where completive formats shine. It reminds me of when I was interested in competitive Overwatch and Pokemon Sword and Shield. The shift in mindset changed the way I view those games, and created a new world within a pre-existing one. Granted, the flavor might not show up in the card pool, but it sure as hell will give you the sense of walking into a Beyblade Arena in the anime. In that arena, your opponent's main goal is to kill you as efficiently and quickly as possible. In competitive historic play, I was able to take a home-brew into high-ranked matches, and stayed tuned in with the meta via upgrades. The deck felt like me, even though white life-gain is one of the most commonly used competitive builds, according to Aetherhub. Nevertheless, I don't think I sacrificed flavor for power at all. Chase even shared a CEDH deck build with me that I think has flavor as well. Even though he likes to consider it more of a meme, the Transmogrify-Sire deck (linked here) is pretty hilarious. The main goal is to get to Tergrid or Sire of Insanity ASAP, making it so no one (yes, including you) has card advantage. OR CARDS AT ALL, REALLY. A key part of CEDH is having a hand that can lead you to victory since there aren't many turns around the board, so it’s hilarious that this deck completely handicaps all speed required to win. The way the deck parodies the format reminds me of how the show One Punch Man parodies popular Shonen animes. This is one of many great examples of how flavor isn't just a one-dimensional concept. 

My Final Thoughts

I feel myself torn in between the casual and competitive communities of MTG. That being said, I think there is something to be gained from the CEDH world that I think is overlooked by most people who cast it aside for the "try-hards.” Being a casual EDH player for most of my Magic career, I learned from the perspective of having fun. Having big laughs at tables when someone makes a dumb play, being able to play unique home-brews against your friends, and getting to politic amongst the table creates some of the best Magic memories. Having CEDH players in Chase and I's play group in college, we would usually play to win. We still never forgot to have fun along the way. 

Even though I don't play CEDH, I do play the competitive Historic format on Arena. As a recently ranked Platinum player, I have grown to love competitive play. I get it now, Chase. You were right about this all along. The feeling of proficiency in a game that you love makes you feel like you're playing on the hardest difficulty of your favorite video game. The satisfaction from defeating tough opponents and maintaining consistent wins in your format feels exhilarating. As a longtime player, there comes a point where you want to get better, you want to grow and master your craft. Competitive formats are the main source to that growth. Even though I still don't like Stax (and don't even get me started on Esper control), I am not afraid of them anymore. CEDH can teach you lessons causal tables can't, purely because there is no pressure at times to evolve. And after all, it feels good to master something you love.

For some people sticking to casual play, playing for fun is what works for them. And for those people, I salute you and can't wait for you to see my Harley Quinn theme deck (of course the deck tech is getting written too, I can't help myself). Some people, however, are driven folk that crave competition and challenge. And for those people, I am now right there with you. Just virtually; I am not dumping a grand into paper magic in a pandemic. Let's settle this on Cockatrice like adults!

- Harland

- Editor: Gem Díaz Velázquez

NEXT TIME IN FLAVOR TOWN:

I mentioned Harley didn’t I? I did, welp. It’s happening.