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TheCasualOblivion
Guest
I've come up with some more thoughts on the casual player's hatred of blue. First, some history:
I started playing during 4th Edition/Ice Age. Mono-Blue control didn't really exist back then. The game didn't have enough efficient counterspells and efficient card drawing then. There were generally 3 Blue decks. There was U/W control based on Counterspell/Wrath-Swords-Disenchant, as well as Fish and Big Blue, which were based on creatures backed up by countermagic. Blue didn't have nearly as bad a name back then, and I remember playing those three decks all of the time and never getting any lip over it.
With Tempest Block, we get Draw-Go and Forbiddian, and that's where all the hate really started. These were the Blue decks that would counter nearly every spell someone would cast, gain card advantage, and win. These are the decks that really started the blue hate, and are a big reason I find people having no idea how to play blue. At their worst, these decks can be brainless with the countering every spell no matter what it is, and is one of the reasons playing less counterspells and the art of deciding when NOT to counter something is largely a lost art. I blame these for the people I see countering a spell for the sake of countering it when they don't have 20-25 more counterspells in the deck.
Meanwhile, people tend to associate blue with those sort of decks, and playing other sorts of decks with counterspells, or even Islands prompts people to raise eyebrows and start making comments.
I started playing during 4th Edition/Ice Age. Mono-Blue control didn't really exist back then. The game didn't have enough efficient counterspells and efficient card drawing then. There were generally 3 Blue decks. There was U/W control based on Counterspell/Wrath-Swords-Disenchant, as well as Fish and Big Blue, which were based on creatures backed up by countermagic. Blue didn't have nearly as bad a name back then, and I remember playing those three decks all of the time and never getting any lip over it.
With Tempest Block, we get Draw-Go and Forbiddian, and that's where all the hate really started. These were the Blue decks that would counter nearly every spell someone would cast, gain card advantage, and win. These are the decks that really started the blue hate, and are a big reason I find people having no idea how to play blue. At their worst, these decks can be brainless with the countering every spell no matter what it is, and is one of the reasons playing less counterspells and the art of deciding when NOT to counter something is largely a lost art. I blame these for the people I see countering a spell for the sake of countering it when they don't have 20-25 more counterspells in the deck.
Meanwhile, people tend to associate blue with those sort of decks, and playing other sorts of decks with counterspells, or even Islands prompts people to raise eyebrows and start making comments.