LaplaceDaemon
New member
There seems to be a sizable and growing community of cedh players who at the moment don`t have a place to go on Mtgo. They can always make a lobby and label it ,,cedh" but in my experience is that this system is flawed, if you are looking for a very specific experience: People often ignore the lobby description. This isn't really a solvable problem for casual lobbies labeled ,,no land destruction/counters/timewalks power level 6/10'', but for cedh, where the idea is just to play to win, a League with prizes that inherently incentivizes this, should solve this issue. Here are the pros and cons of my suggestion with possible solutions:
Pros:
-Cedh players can easily find the environment they are looking for on Mtgo.
-They also don`t have to share a room with casual players who are looking for a very different experience, which would benefit both sides.
-It could turn out to be a significant revenue stream for Mtgo. Cedh player actually want the expensive and powerful cards and are invested enough to also want premium versions of them. Also Mtgo is not currently making any money from edh play (besides card acquisition) even though edh is Magics most popular format. Leagues could also be a great way to test the water for possible future cedh events.
-Almost all big Mtgo Streamers on Twitch play mostly in competitive events/leagues. Edh doesn't have those on any digital platform at the moment. This could be a way to actually give edh players something to watch on streaming platforms.
Cons:
-Planned collusion between 2-3 people is a major issue in 4 player games, in a way that it isn't in a 1v1. And that is problematic with prizes.
-One player doing something spiteful (for example conceding so that permanents another player stole from the vanish) can feel very bad in a competitive 4 player game.
-Those and other things are generally fixed irl by people following a code of honour. You can't expect random people online to follow such a code or the basic requirements for sportsmanship.
Solutions:
-Make the prize structure relatively flat. That way collusion isn`t worth it and losing, because a player wants to screw you at all cost, doesn't hurt as much.
-Clearly communicate what people are signing up for: if the participants understand that they are signing up for a game, in which they can lose not because they played bad or got unlucky, but maybe just because somebody else did something irrational, it should be fine. Maybe just say so in a public statement or in a bit of text that pops up when you view the league details.
In Conclusion: Although multiplayer edh is not designed for competitive there are very real benefits to giving people a good way to play it like that on Mtgo and the problems are in my opinion not severe enough to not give it a try.
Pros:
-Cedh players can easily find the environment they are looking for on Mtgo.
-They also don`t have to share a room with casual players who are looking for a very different experience, which would benefit both sides.
-It could turn out to be a significant revenue stream for Mtgo. Cedh player actually want the expensive and powerful cards and are invested enough to also want premium versions of them. Also Mtgo is not currently making any money from edh play (besides card acquisition) even though edh is Magics most popular format. Leagues could also be a great way to test the water for possible future cedh events.
-Almost all big Mtgo Streamers on Twitch play mostly in competitive events/leagues. Edh doesn't have those on any digital platform at the moment. This could be a way to actually give edh players something to watch on streaming platforms.
Cons:
-Planned collusion between 2-3 people is a major issue in 4 player games, in a way that it isn't in a 1v1. And that is problematic with prizes.
-One player doing something spiteful (for example conceding so that permanents another player stole from the vanish) can feel very bad in a competitive 4 player game.
-Those and other things are generally fixed irl by people following a code of honour. You can't expect random people online to follow such a code or the basic requirements for sportsmanship.
Solutions:
-Make the prize structure relatively flat. That way collusion isn`t worth it and losing, because a player wants to screw you at all cost, doesn't hurt as much.
-Clearly communicate what people are signing up for: if the participants understand that they are signing up for a game, in which they can lose not because they played bad or got unlucky, but maybe just because somebody else did something irrational, it should be fine. Maybe just say so in a public statement or in a bit of text that pops up when you view the league details.
In Conclusion: Although multiplayer edh is not designed for competitive there are very real benefits to giving people a good way to play it like that on Mtgo and the problems are in my opinion not severe enough to not give it a try.
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