Leading the Charge on a Tiny Endeavor

Covering the happenings in the casual corner of MTG, this is Ariel at Wizardden.com covering a new unofficial format. Tiny Leaders! Recently there has been a lot of chatter about this format so I decided to give it a shot.

What exactly is Tiny Leaders? Simply put it is EDH cut down in size, time, and chaos. 50 card decks, 25 life, one on one, best out of three, 10 card sideboards, and most notably converted mana cost three or less.  If you want the full break down and banlist, those can be found on blogspot under MTG: Tiny Leaders.

When I first heard about this my mind started racing. It began to sink in how much there is to work with. It's like learning to play magic all over again with all these silly new ideas. I was first going to build a deck with Yasova Dragon Claw or Animar Soul of Elements with X cost hydras, but then a truly wacky idea hit me. Jeskai Ascendancy! I actively avoid the card in sanctioned formats since it seems to be working really hard to rival Eggs as the most boring deck ever to sit across from. However I let the Johnny run wild when playing casually. Here is the result.

Tiny Shu
Commander: Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest

Lands (17)
Celestial Colonnade
Clifftop Retreat
Drifting Meadow
Faerie Conclave
Forgotten Cave
Glacial Fortress
Hallowed Fountain
Lonely Sandbar
Mystic Monastery
Mutavault
Remote Isle
Sacred Foundry
Seachrome Coast
Secluded Steppe
Smoldering Crater
Steam Vents
Sulfur Falls

Creature (7)
Blistercoil Weird
Cunning Sparkmage
Enclave Cryptologist
Gold Myr
Silver Myr
Vulshok Sorcerer
Young Pyromancer

Spells (25)
Artful Dodge
Brainstorm
Council's Judgment
Crimson Wisps
Cyclonic Rift
Divination
Elixir of Immortality
Gitaxian Probe
Grapeshot
Idyllic Tutor
Impulse
Izzet Charm
Izzet Keyrune
Jeskai Ascendancy
Mana Tithe
Oona's Grace
Paradise Mantle
Peer Through Depths
Ponder
Preordain
Skullcrack
Spell Snare
Swords to Plowshares
Telling Time
Think Twice

Having played a few games with this I can say I am very happy with how this turned out. Currently this has been made out of cards I already had with a few cheap exceptions. This is one of the best parts of this format, it is extremely budget friendly to build one. There are a couple cards I will be finding room for soon as I pick them up such as Lightning Greaves and Wind Zendikon. Somewhat surprisingly the combo actually works quite well.

Local support for the format seems to be growing quickly. Other than the budget there a number of great reasons to put one together. Don't like the long chaotic EDH games? This is a streamlined singleton format with one on one play and sideboards! Want to teach someone the fundamentals of EDH? Show them how to make a Tiny Leader deck first and cut out all the most crazy cards that are overpowered and hard to understand. The last big point I want to make about this format today is that the games are quick. Sick of waiting for Sneeze Rhinos to keel over at your local FNM? Whip out your tiny leaders and play some Magic while you wait.

Thank you for joining us once again. Share with us here or on Facebook what leaders have your attention. This has been Ariel at Wizardden.com.