Welcome to the EDH in Ottawa blog! A
little background about myself before I get to the meat of things. Pierre
DuPont, early middle-aged, casual Magic player since Legends (I've tried to
quit but they keep dragging me back...foils, Mythic Rares, you name it) and
have fallen in love with the format once known as Elder Dragon Highlander and
now bearing the moniker of Commander.
So, you must be asking, what makes
Ottawa's EDH scene different from yours? We likely have the usual mix of
oddballs and casuals but we have an excellent mix of competitive play that can
fill your need to throw together a 100-card stack and just fling some overpowered cards
at your opponent to hopefully generate some laughs and bitterness. Bitterness,
oh how I love you. You are the sweet siren that keeps me coming back to the
Comic Book Shoppe's tournaments or even to our Saturday group. That lingering
feeling of having had a good game with lasting memories of THAT GUY that did
THAT THING (Constant Mists, Living Death, interacting with you when your board
of Sylvan Primordial, Iona and Gisela can't possibly be threatening...but I
digress!) that put a bug in your ear to improve your deck or find a
counter-deck that essentially leads to an interminable MTG Cold War.
Right. Where do we play? Who do we
play with? What are our zany strategies? Will I be listing any decks? (Yes I
will, mostly because I'm terrible and they need tweaking.) Read on to find
out...
Word of mouth tells me there are a
good half-dozen places where people might be congregating to play EDH on any
given day of the week. Algonquin College on Woodroffe Avenue (Former
Alma Mater, oh how I miss vegetating in the agora and other unmentionable
activities), Saturdays at WIzard's Tower on Fallowfield Road in
Barrhaven, Sundays at the Comic Booke Shoppe on Bank Street
(Competitive, $5 entry starts at noon but be there earlier!) and Game Breakers
on Baseline Road on Thursdays (Casual tournaments, $5 entry starts at six p.m.)
My habitual haunt is the Wizard's Tower, a spacious store with a wide variety
of singles and sealed products, seating for 40+ and a good mix of casual and
competitive players, leaning toward the casual. There is likely some EDH going
on in Eastern Ottawa and Gatineau as well, which I'd be glad to promote given information
through my Facebook account or a quick email to crazypierre@hotmail.com
(Subject: EDH please).
"But Pierre," I hear you clamoring "What
kind of EDH do YOU play? What are your preferred strategies? Are you THAT guy
who infinite combos (No) or just sucks all the fun out of any game? (There's a
good 3% fun left at any of my tables.)" I generally have three to four
decks on me at any time. They range from Mayael the Anima with some harsh
punishers to the more casual Ezuri, Renegade Leader and the combo-y Iname,Death Aspect. I'm currently building Thalia, Guardian of Thraben for something
simple yet aggravating. I'll readily admit that I have a strong griefer streak
to my gameplay, which I'm slowly trying to curtail (It's a 12-step program. The
first step is getting chased around the parking lot by an Angry Mob. No more
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for me!) Our meta at the Tower is fairly casual, so
casual that yesterday one of our players, Chris, smashed into me with a Bruna
that had so many enchantments on her that she looked like Uril's kid sister.
Oh, he was at 280 life as well, just for kicks. In the end, that's what EDH
comes down to. Big splashy plays, groans when something like Obliterate or
Winter Orb hits the table or a barrel of laughs when that theme deck actually
gets there.
In the end, EDH is about the stories, but to paraphrase The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “No
sir, this is EDH sir. When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Next week we take a quick look at legends...the card
set and the creature supertype. Until then, may a Sol Ring light your path.
Resources and Events:
EDH events this week:
This
week’s event is at the Canadian MagicTour on Saturday, August 10th! $20 pre-reg 3:00
p.m. registration time at the Westboro Legion at 391 Richmond Street! Judge
foils to be had!
Game Breakers: 6-780 Baseline Road
1-800-279-4115 Thursday, August 8th, Casual tournament starting around 6 p.m.
$5 entry, booster pack prizes. Please register early.
Wizard’s Tower: 3350 Fallowfield Road
613-843-0705 Saturday, August 10th. Casual starting around Noon.
MTGCommander: The place to look up banned list updates, discuss with fellow players and petition for your least favourite card to get the axe (I'm looking at you, Carrier Pigeons!)
Magic the Gathering in Ottawa Facebook group: Join this to keep up with events in the national capital.
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