Essential Magic Articles

EDH is the s#*t.  Casual, competitive, multiplayer, fun, engaging, and badass-like-Chuck-Norris all rolled into one.  Each deck is unique and a direct reflection of the person wielding it.  I don't know about your play group, but PortlandEDH can be cutthroat with a laugh and smile.  As such, we have players//decks with excessive mana acceleration, combos, HULK SMASH, and straight up shenanigans.  In a world where each deck tries to be unique + competitive, how many options are there to keep up with cards like Palinchron and Terastodon?

That was my question.  This is my answer.  Those players who focus on jumping ahead, utilizing the best non-basic lands, and accelerating into a Tooth and Nail or Time Stretch... those players are all focused on ensuring that you are +4 turns behind them - never to really catch back up.  So I built a deck that turned mana production and resource management on its head.  I call the strategy: "Sharing is Caring FTW".

These are your Weapons
Veteran Explorer
Oath of Lieges
Collective Voyage
New Frontiers

Give all my opponents lands?!  Are you insane?!  Why yes, yes I am.  Here's the thing, giving everyone lands has many benefits:
1.  Epic games are frequent
2.  Mana acceleration is no longer an issue
3.  Power-players lose their jump-ahead advantage
4.  Not all players benefit equally
5.  Opponents become overconfident
6.  You get the resources last.

#6 & #5: Give some people pause.  The benefit to receiving the resources last is that you are in the best position to respond to the overall board position and make the most educated decisions.  Most players, when given excessive resources freely, will overplay and overstep themselves - leaving them exposed to an attack on their flank.  You are effectively drawing them into a trap.  If they fall for it, you win.  If they wise up to your strategy and play fewer cards, you can make that educated decision to play it cool or jump ahead at lightning speed.  Either way you win.  Only thing to remember is that those same power-players will have the excessive mana and could combo off.  So time your "Sharing is Caring" carefully or reveal your intentions to the table early so they can be prepared with Counterspell.  Politic.

#4 & #3: Roll this one around in your head.  The "best" players utilize a plethora of non-basic lands, sometimes limiting their basic land pool to ~6.  So when you cast Collective Voyage and it spikes to 12 mana invested, everyone has the option to search their library for TWELVE basic lands and put them into play tapped.  In this example, you get 12 lands, "best" players gets 6.  You've turned the tables on them and put them on the defensive, their jump-ahead advantage has been effectively nullified, and an equal playing field has been established.  It follows that after giving everyone lands, there is a short period of time when you are perceived of as "friendly" or at least "neutral".  I've found that I take the least damage at the table for the next two turns and can bide my time for that opportune moment of victory.

#2 & #1: The obvious benefits are, well, obvious.  You just accelerated the game TWELVE turns, forcing the early-game into late game, nullifying decks specifically geared to ramp excessively, and opened the door for larger + more potent spells to be cast.  You are in control of the game and they don't even know it.  Remember that you've built your deck to function in this environment.  Suddenly cards like Capsize, Insurrection, Exsanguinate, Martial Coup, and Genesis Wave are yours to exploit excessively.  Suddenly you are not drawing lands every other turn, you're drawing power-cards to turn the tide of any battle.  Suddenly you are winning, and your opponents are smiling while you do it.

That's what this strategy does, it puts a smile on people's faces.  It enables the weakest and strongest players to exist at the same table on equal ground.  The games will always be epic, because people can play everything in their hand.  The table will be FULL of awesome!  Shenanigans, laughter, and politicking will thrive like you wouldn't believe.  You feel good for creating this environment.  They feel good for existing in it.  But little do they know... you're going to win in the end

Demonico