Cards I Don't Use

Explanation

This is a small list of things that I choose NOT to include in any of my decks, and an explanation of why. You will not find cards of these types in ANY of my decklists, and rather than repeat the explanation for why they are missing each time they come up, I will explain them once here and refer to this document later.

These are mostly groupings of cards which I consider "unfun" in some way, or cards that I've found lead to board states that are not fun. As such, I have decided not to play with them in my decks, but i have no problem with playing against an opponent who chooses to include them! Just because I find them unfun, doesn't mean you have to too.

The List

Mass Land Destruction. Any card that destroys, bounces, or otherwise gets rid of multiple lands at once. This includes cards like Blood Moon and Ruination that only destroy basic lands. I've played with them before, and while mass land destruction is a valid and potent strategy in commander, nobody likes starting a long game of commander and having their lands blown up, as it often means they have to sit there with nothing to do for a very long time, and I hate putting people in that position. Single target land destruction like Strip Mine or Capsize are fine though, and are very necessary with cards like Maze of Ith and Rogue's Passage in the format.

Take an Extra Turn Cards. These are a fun and powerful part of blue's arsenal... for the person casting them. A long multiplayer game of commander can already feel like its taking long enough to get back to your turn, without one player taking multiple turns in  row. There are a few exceptions to this rule that I will allow, but this is pretty much only restricted to cards or combos that will lead to a game win on the spot, like Sage of Hours in my Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck. But that's only because there's no more waiting for your turn if the game is over!

Planeswalkers. Okay, lets get this out of the way right now: I don't like planeswalkers. I started playing the game way before they even existed, and I guess I never quite warmed up to them.They are certainly powerful cards, and in many cases, thematically or mechanically perfect for my decks, but I choose not to run them anyway. This isn't a weird protest against them existing or anything either; I have no problem accepting that they are here to stay as part of the game. I also have no problem understanding how they work, or playing against them if my opponent has them. I simply don't like playing with them, and these decks are first and foremost for my own enjoyment, so I don't include them in my decks. Sorry!

Cards on the Official EDH Banned List. I know there is a lot of debate to the pros and cons of the official EDH banned list, but I find that the cohesiveness that following the single centralized banned list creates is worth more than allowing/banning some cards differently than the main list. Its much easier to be on the same page as your opponents, no matter where you are, if you follow the one cohesive list, so that's what I've chosen to do.

That's it for now! If I think of any other categories I tend to shy way from, I will edit this post to add them in later.