Like many others I use EDHREC for card ideas when building decks. This got me thinking - does it essentially reinforce itself?
Often times I pick many of recommended cards that others have chosen with a given commander - which in turn reinforces those cards as synergistic cards for that particular commander. Note: I build using moxfield (which I believe is used as a data source for EDHREC). More recently I’ve been using scryfall as an additional resource for deckbuliding, and I was really surprised how many cards that work well with a particular commander / archetype are not listed on EDHREC.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think EDHREC is a wonderful tool, but now I wonder if it’s essentially narrowing down the cards that people consider when building EDH decks due to it’s reinforcement loops.
Thoughts?
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I think it definitely homogenizes deckbuilding, but I also think a lot of the folks who use EDHREC are also folks who would be more likely to be looking at existing primers or decklists anyway, at least to start with. EDHREC just makes it easier and more convenient. But the folks who are really interested in brewing/trying new things still are doing those things, and if the decks or combos they come up with are popular enough, they will get integrated into the EDHREC stats in their own time (and move from innovation to homogenization in their turn).
Yeah it totally is reducing deck diversity overall, but it’s also benefiting the brewers who care about deck diversity. Like if I don’t want to build another good stuff version of some commander, EDHRec helps me figure out what’s a novelty and what’s a staple.
Plus the salt scores are directionally helpful, as someone who tries to consider overall table fun.
Edhrec isn’t doing anything that wasn’t already available on the internet. You could easily replace EDHRec with another website and the question is the same. As power level grows, diversity decreases. I think it has to do with commander being more casual of a format. With no real power levels defined people are more likely to bring stream lined decks to an unknown pod then home brew jank. If you want more card diversity you need lower power levels or some other kind of restrictions.
Yeah, a lot of commanders’ pages are with the cards that saw play in their decks right when they released.
For example, Mairsil has gotten a ton of cool toys since it released, but the page is almost entirely stuff people put in the deck when he came out.