Rival’s Duel 14- Leaving on a Jet Plane
March 27, 2014
By Eric Bonvie and Nole Clauson
Welcome back to another episode of Rival’s Duel. In this episode, Eric and Nole are going pretty deep into the philosophy of EDH, where they will discuss which is better, Battle cruiser magic (where the game is all about big threats, haymakers, and “moments”) or fighter Jet magic (where the about Tempo, pacing, and the feeling of the competitiveness of 60 and 40 card formats). As always, shownotes after the break.
0:00 – 14:02 News? I guess we’ll call it that: So in the two weeks since the last episode, nothing has really happened in the world of MtG. OK, #crackgate happened, but Eric and Nole have no desire to talk about that. (We are not that kind of show.) Instead, they blather on about the price of Modern staples, as well as contemplate why Imperial Recruiter has suddenly spiked in price.
Also, Nole will be at GP Minneapolis in May. If you’ve ever wanted to meet him, this is your chance. (He’s a nice guy, we swear.)
14:02-40:23 Battlecruiser vs Fighterjet, Two takes on EDH Philosophy: So anyone who has heard Eric or Nole talk about commander knows what is coming. In this segment, Eric argues that fighter jet style play is the way to go, while Nole argues that Battlecruiser magic is the way to go. Take a listen and let us know what you think in the comments below.
40:24-End Closing and Outro
Contact Nole: noleclauson@gmail.com // twitter @MtGNole
Contact Eric: ericbonvie@gmail.com // twitter @thatBonvieGuy
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Thanks for listening!
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Well, I play both battle cruiser and fighter jet. It all depends on the mode I’m in at that time. At this time I do have 12 commander decks. Two of them are pauper commander. Let me tell you that is really fun at times. I have 3 fighter jets and 7 battle cruiser decks just because of the group I play with likes that. Thanks for all the hard work.
Usually it ends up being fighter jet around here. Early turn plays are either ramp or very cheap creatures, after which crazy early turn shenanigans ensue that are often twarted by those 1-2 decks on the table that are playing control. Even the control decks tend to be playing walkers early when they are able to.
I play and enjoy both
Another great episode and interesting discussion on varying definitions of fun and power level and game progression.
Battlecruiser has its place. Fighter Jet has its place. As a primarily Limited player, most of the high-powered Constructed Magic I get to play is in EDH form, and as such I tend toward Fighter Jet styles. As a community in my area, we’ve gotten a lot older and found a lot more obligations to fill out lives with, so we generally had to take a step back from competitive Constructed in general.
That said, even in the decks I build that are more toward the Battlecruiser end of the spectrum, I think they’re misbuilt if they don’t have ways to interact with opponent’s game plans in the early game. My Karametra deck that want to finish with a ton of Rampaging Baloth tokens under an Avacyn and a True Conviction still play Oblivion Ring, Swords to Plowshares, Fiend Hunter and Beast Within, because I feel like you’re not playing to your full potential without the ability to interact with your opponent in early turns. It helps my Battlecruiserish decks still go toe to toe with my friends’ Fighter Jets.