Have to follow the rest of the mentality here, that HOG would be a much better choice for an early grow than NYCD. However, the HOG is supposedly nothing to really write home about unless you get that ONE prized pheno, and from what I hear, finding the prized pheno of NYCD is much easier than getting the same from the HOG.

About the ECSD though, definitely not clone only anymore. Rez has had the seeds released for awhile (and is supposedly the best ECSD next to the original). Reeferman also has the ECSD seeds, and one other breeder that I can't think of right now.