General Shuffling in Limited

Hello all!

I'm a big lover (and lurker) of this forum and I have a question that y'all with more limited/cube experience might have an opinion on.

One concern that is frequently brought up with fetchlands is that they require players to shuffle many more times than normal.

However, this concern is mostly directed towards 60-card constructed decks. Do you feel like the time wasting effect of shuffling is notably reduced in the smaller, 40-card limited and cube decks?

Thank you!
 
It isn't as bad with 40 card decks. I don't mind a few shuffles per game, but imo it is one of Magic's weaknesses. I'm happy running fetches but I like having my green ramp be more creature-y and I exclude Ponder because its so unnecessary for that kind of card to have a shuffle.
 
I prefer land-based ramp in green because that works so well with the landfall theme I support. And shuffling has never ever felt like an issue for us.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
A lot of the problem with shuffling has to do with proper randomization in tournament settings. 7 riffles, then present, then your opponent does 7 rifles, then cuts, then you cast Thoughtseize, go.

In casual magic I just play the fetch land, play my t1 play, pass, and find the land I need whike they take their t1. Plus nobody cares enough to do the full actual randomization, so actual shuffling takes less time.

There's other considerations. Fetch./shock is probably the most powerful you can have your mana, so opting for another land base (scry/bounce lands, for eg) could be a better fit for your format, shuffling aside.
 
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