Oathbreaker and Me

A Fitting Introduction

The Oathbreaker Thoughtcast is a blog I started in order to create more written content about my new favorite mtg format, Oathbreaker. If Oathbreaker is new and unfamiliar to you, I would highly recommend going here to read up on the rules, banned list and philosophy of the format.

Seeing as how I made this blog for written content about Oathbreaker, I thought it fitting to start by sharing a bit about my playgroup’s experience with the format, as well as some of my own personal thoughts on the format.

Once Upon a Time

After the release of War of the Spark, my EDH playgroup began experimenting with Oathbreaker as a sort of supplement to our game nights. The concept of building around a planeswalker and a signature spell was very appealing, not to mention the idea of playing games shorter than two hours apiece.

For myself, the most exciting part of Oathbreaker at this point was the brewing. I never kept an exact count, but I’m sure I must have come up with at least a few dozen different, random lists online within my first few weeks of trying out the format.

In the months since my EDH playgroup began playing Oathbreaker, my new favorite part of the format has become the gameplay, hands down. Almost all of our games have ended up lasting an hour and a half or less (which is much shorter than our typical EDH games), and the gameplay has been diverse and interesting. I can’t speak for the rest of my playgroup, but recently I have actually found I enjoy playing Oathbreaker more than EDH.

I am still the only person in my playgroup to have built any lists in paper, with everyone else using a website like tappedout or archidekt to run a list they have been working on or a just random list they found online. This factor hasn’t had a negative effect on our gameplay; if anything, I would say we’ve benefited from it since it gives us all more room to experiment. Being able to shift and adjust how we approach our deckbuilding has been important to my playgroup’s growing understanding of the format, particularly during our first handful of games.

Oathbreaker and Commander

When I first began playing Oathbreaker I made the common assumption that the format was just another variant of Commander, but in hindsight, I believe this assumption was a mistake. Although the two formats certainly overlap in various areas, Oathbreaker feels very distinct from Commander. Here is a brief outline comparing the two formats:

Similarities:

• Use of the Command Zone
• Singleton card rule
• Color Identity rule
• Eternal formats
• Multiplayer
• Primarily casual

Differences:

• Starting life total
• Deck size
• Planeswalker + Signature Spell
• Separate banned list
• Different deckbuilding

Before highlighting the differences, I want to be perfectly clear; I am not implying that there is only one way to play this format. Similar to EDH, gameplay in Oathbreaker can look very different from playgroup to playgroup. I will be covering trends and tendencies I have noticed both in my own playgroup’s experience, as well as common views I have seen in online discussions, such as in the Oathbreaker subreddit.

Many of the factors that make Oathbreaker distinct from EDH are very fundamental to the format’s structure; life totals start at 20, decks contain 60 cards (including the Oathbreaker and Signature Spell), decks are built around planeswalkers paired with spells, and the format even has it’s own separate banned list. These overarching aspects of the format also make deck building and gameplay noticeably different from EDH.

The first time my friends and I played Oathbreaker, the gameplay felt a bit awkward and unbalanced. The main reason the games felt this way was that a number of us tried building our decks the same way we would build EDH lists; run a certain amount of ramp, card draw, etc. Some of us also thought we would have more setup time in the early turns like in EDH, where the beginning of the game is often dedicated to everyone setting up their mana ramp. As it turns out, 20 life is significantly lower than 40 life, and number of us found our life totals hitting zero before our strategies had really got going. Our playgroup isn’t competitive and neither were these lists, but some of our first decks were just too slow.

This isn’t to say ramp and card draw is bad in Oathbreaker, but the use of them is not quite as universal as in EDH. Cultivate is fine, but not every green Oathbreaker list wants to run it. The biggest reason for this difference is the faster pace of the format. Life totals are much more vulnerable in Oathbreaker than in EDH, and this level of vulnerability often demands a bit more caution when choosing what to spend one’s mana on. Playing against decks built around planeswalkers also encourages one to be more proactive in building a board state, lest an opposing Oathbreaker get out of control or an opponent use their signature spell to “go off”.

After recognizing these differences, my playgroup has been enjoying the format much more. The faster pace makes us interact with each other more and keeps things exciting, and shorter game lengths have made it possible for us to play more games in one night. In recent weeks we have actually been playing more Oathbreaker than EDH, and we’ve even had nights where we’ve played Oathbreaker exclusively. We still play and enjoy EDH, but Oathbreaker has been a refreshing and unique format to add to our game nights.

My favorite part about playing Oathbreaker is that in many ways it feels like it has my favorite parts of other various formats all merged together into one. It has the multiplayer factors, creative deckbuilding and casualness of EDH; but it also has the fun of playing “smaller”, 60-card magic. Oh, and I get to play Recurring Nightmare, which just so happens to be my favorite mtg card.

What Now?

The Oathbreaker Thoughtcast is my first blog, and I am admittedly making some of this up as I go along. I do not have a regular plan or schedule outlined yet, though I am aiming to post about one or two times a week. I will definitely mention any updates in this regard in future articles, as well as on my Twitter page. The majority of my posts will be about different ways to build around various Oathbreakers, my playgroup’s gameplay experiences, as well as my own musings on the format. I also plan on writing about selected new cards during preview seasons.

Thank you for following me through this little delve into my own thoughts on Oathbreaker. I am open to any constructive feedback and criticism, as well as any recommendations for future content. I look forward to sharing more Oathbreaker experiences with you!