Rule 0 Conversations

What it is and What to expect?

Why do we have Rule 0 conversations?

We really want to make sure everyone at the table is on the same page when playing! That way, people aren't left feeling out of place at the table. Communication is key!

Prerequisite:

To start this off, a note we wanted to add was that there is not a "correct" playstyle or deck style! That's the beauty of EDH, is that it is not a monolith and expression of creativity is highly encouraged.

This is why we've founded this resource, for players to have a rough outline of these conversations.

What does that look like?

We're glad that you've asked! down below are some Do's and Don'ts of having a constructive conversation!

Do:

  • Ask players what their expectations are for what is and isn't off the table.

  • Discuss ROUGH gameplans

  • Mention if you are running proxies/banned cards/silver-bordered, etc.

  • Focus on those boundaries set by players!

Don'ts

  • Berate or attack players for their playstyle

  • Purposely hide information that might be useful

  • Complain about a user's choices

  • Play with the intention to cause salt or toxic behaviors

In the next section, We'll run through an example of a snippet of a good conversation, in which player B clearly outlines their deck and playstyle.

The are 4 players at this table, and this is before everyone has chosen their decks:

Player A: "Hey everyone! thanks for making time for us to play-before we start, let's run though a rule 0 conversation, that way we know what we're gettin' into."Player B: "So I know we are all roughly playing an higher powered optimized deck, so I wanted to bring my Alesha reanimator deck. There's a couple of stax and hatebear effects alongside it.I'm proxying a copy of Esper Sentinel and Dockside Extortionist in this deck since they're in my other decks that I own.I'm not really looking for a instant win combo game like Worldgorger Dragon. I'd like to just have a more relaxed game!Player C: "Oh cool! I'll switch decks then, I could play my Alela Value deck. Basically, enchantments + artifacts matters and generates a big board. I'm not proxying anything in this deck but if yall wanna proxy things, that flies w me!Like you, player B, I'm not running any combo pieces, and I don't really wanna get infinited out of the game."Player D: "I wanna test out my new brew! It's a Teysa Karlov aristocrats deck. Double important death triggers, get cool stuff from them. Most of this deck is proxied because I wanted to playtest it before buying some of the cards.No infinites or compact combos, so that's cool with me.

Attached below is a template of points that you'd want to cover.

Rule 0 Rundown:

The deck I'm running is [DECK] and I win by doing [INSERT ROUGH GAMEPLAN]
[MENTION PROXIES/ETC HERE]
I would prefer not to play with [THINGS YOU DEFINE AS BOUNDARIES HERE(combos/infinites/etc)]

Any other questions? You can contact me via socials below!