didn't expect so much feedback guys, thanks!

The Accelerated Dragon would be a great choice, with the plan of forcing white to castle short and not getting crushed by white's kingside pawn storm.

Hey Brendan, long time!

Well, I'm a Sicilian player myself and I have to admit I'm not sure if it's the ideal choice for beginers and amateurs. For it to be a succesfull choice you have to understand and sometimes memorize too many variations. It's a very unfriendly defense for those who don't have the time or patience to sit for hours studying openings.

Over the board, I also find myself going back to more linear e4-e5 choices like 4 knight game or the petrov.

I've been a Dragon sicilian fan for a long time but too often found that when facing a decent oponent one or more of these things would ruin my day:

-White gets too much space

-White can easily exchange blacks strong g7  bishop and ruin his counterplay

-Whites kingside pawn pushes are way more dangerous and faster than blacks queenside counterplay

So...when you feel like going back to the sicilian, I'd suggest you try the Schveningen Sicilian (with pawns in e6 and d6). This variaiton is somewhat more passive but a lot more solid and gives white some non-simetrical situation to deal with, different from most e4-e5 systems.

ohhhh I thought you meant Sicilian w e5...

@Joseph 1.e4 e5

plain old e5? what is that?

(try najdorf...it's fun!)

Dragon.

Really? And plain old e5??? (What Sicilian did you play?)