A few hours after my initial post regarding Stoneforge Mystic, etc. I received a Facebook message from a local cohort. He asked me when I had made my decision in my blog post, before or after I played Eldrazi Green at a local PTQ. Here is my response.
"Thanks Danny! I actually wrote this piece initially as a response to Sam's post on the very same subject @incontention.com, but it started getting long-winded and realized it would be better off written on my blog. You actually made me realize I made some errors by leaving out a few things as I didn't check everything before I posted it.
For some time I had been listening to everyone's reaction to Caw-Blade. I knew how good SFM was as I played it in an affinity list some time back in extended to tutor up Plating or Sword of the Meek for the other half of the combo. I also played a Boros list borrowed from Beecher one FNM night and got second just as Caw-Blade was rising up in popularity. I wanted to withhold judgement on the format until I actually played it.
Beecher mentioned something to me about Eldrazi Green beating the snot out of it and he's pretty much winning a lot of packs at FNM so I felt he might be on to something. I decided I needed to play it and soon he told me how to sideboard in a few matchups and why he beat them and what he lost to in particular.
I borrowed it for a win a box at the Star City Games event and my games didn't even seem close. It was actually fun playing again! I hadn't realized how much I missed it or how powerful Primeval Titan was in play even if my opponent had a Go for the Throat. I split in the finals for the box and gave Beecher his deck back where he rolled people as well before he split for half a box as well.
It's at this point I started to wonder why people were even complaining. Everyone was packing more Spell Pierces than Mana Leaks. No one ran Journey to Nowhere. I asked around why nobody played Valakut. It had Primeval Titan as well. Why was Caw-Blade winning against it? Why was a mono green deck winning more vs Caw-Blade when the other played Bolt, access to Shatter/Crush, a land that bolted every time, and had the same basic tools Eldrazi green deck had? Spell Pierce. E-Green has Summoning Trap and Growth Spasm and isn't scared of Go for the Throat or Doom Blade.
Beecher, and his relentless love for the fatties, made me realize people were just not accepting the fact casting an Eldrazi was viable. People have had it beaten into them relentlessly from pros, grinders (Flores, Pat Chapin, Jon Medina, Gerry Thompson, etc, etc) SCG coverage, and FNM spikes, there is no other deck choice.
That night in FNM made me realize I needed to play in that PTQ. I was going to have fun no matter what. I knew that no one was going to be prepared for Eldrazi Green. And several opponents said to me as they signed the slip "Yea, that deck is awesome. I used to play it all the time but it was too easy and boring to play." That made me laugh as all I could think about is "if it's too easy to play why not play it? Weren't Caw-Blade mirrors more boring?" But I shrugged, carried the slip up, and went for a smoke."
Magic players have a sort of mental requirement for social acceptance. Most have been an "outcast" in "normal society" and the last thing they need is to feel "outcast" or "wrong" in their safe haven of feeling normal for the first time in the lives. We as magic players are not normal, we are extra-ordinary people. We are the people that change lives. We are the nerds that make life better for others.
+1UP
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