Magic: The Gathering (Spoiler-free)

Apparently BTE isn't as strong as it once was, thanks to new cards.

What's the difference between supsension and banning?

According to the article where they first announced that Historic would have suspensions;

So, some of you might have heard about Captain, an attempt by an MTG Content Creator to...make a joke? Set up an alternative format to EDH? Well, apparently the first time a Discord got set up for it, it turned into a toxic heap of far right lunatics. Then Mitch - the content creator in question - nuked the server, nuked the reddit, and apologized for being involved at all.

Then some people tried to bring Captain back. They said the admins would try and weed out the fascists and make a fair format for the people who felt cheated and exploited by the Walking Dead Secret Lair.

Let's check in and see how they're doi—-Oh. Oh...well. They rolled over for the fascists posthaste.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Oct 19th 2020 at 10:06:26 AM

This is why you drive out Nazis at the first opportunity.

Captain is now dead yet again due to the Discord being run by Nazis. I'd make a joke about history repeating, but it's pretty obvious.

This is what happens when you make a format out of spite. These creatures can smell the potential in that from a mile away.

Apparently users on the Discord were making spreadsheets and using them to track, blackmail and harass other people for "ideological differences".

Spreadsheets? At least they're organized.

You should see how quick they were to photoshop the art of Teferi's child (from the new Secret lair) into the art of the cards they love so much. It's genuinely impressive (and also, you know, repugnant).

I heard about that.

I think there needs to be a more thorough general disinfection of Nazis from this hobby.

MTG Arena: State of the Game - December 2020

The most important part of this article is a change in how Arena handles tokens, in response to Scute Swarm overburdening their servers.

BOO!!

If your servers are so rickety they can't handle a card Wizards made, then they need to do more work on the servers not cap off the number of tokens.

This is basically online Magic not playing the same as paper Magic.

250 tokens. What.

I was not aware of this card/strategy but that's just absurd.

Infinite token strategies have been a thing since forever.

Did they not have combo issues before?

I can't imagine a situation where 250 tokens isn't functionally "as many tokens as you could possibly want for any purpose," unless your opponent is also swinging 250 tokens at you.

I assume the issue isn't "infinite tokens exist" as much as "this one card creates a ridiculous number of tokens by itself, so lots of people are playing it". The server can handle one player with 5 million tokens, but it probably can't handle 1000 players with 5 million tokens.

So does anyone have any story about which format you prefer?

I vastly prefer Commander due to a very bad experience I had early on with Standard during the first Ravniva block.

I must've been like 12 or 13 and playing a 60 or 70 card Gruul Aggro deck. No Shock Lands, just like 12 Forests and 12 Mountains.

I went 0 - 4 or something and went away from it hating Standard, scared off of ever playing competitive Magic again. The Ravnica Standard decks just seemed like rich boy piles of good stuff and far too efficient removal, and I lost each time to Yosei.

Then I came back and tried out Commander due to Game Knights, and enjoyed Commander a lot more.

January 14, 2021 Banned and Restricted Announcement

• Pauper:
  • Fall from Favor is banned.

...That card wasn't out very long...

It's just pauper. They don't tend to design with pauper much in mind.

I prefer Commander tho I havent been able to play in over a year.

Wow, same here.

I'd love to play some Commander on Spelltable, but a number of my decks are not exactly spelltable friendly.

Commander is the only format I actually play (not counting the cube my playgroup drafts out of).

Having a non-rotating format makes me more likely to go for bling cards. And I like bling cards...

Yeah, maybe we could make a Spelltable Discord representing TV Tropes Commander players.

February 15, 2021 Banned and Restricted Announcement, along with a change to Cascade.

• Historic:
  • Omnath, Locus of Creation is banned (was formerly suspended).
  • Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
• Pioneer:
  • Balustrade Spy is banned.
  • Teferi, Time Raveler is banned.
  • Undercity Informer is banned.
  • Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
  • Wilderness Reclamation is banned.
• Modern:
  • Field of the Dead is banned.
  • Mystic Sanctuary is banned.
  • Simian Spirit Guide is banned.
  • Tibalt's Trickery is banned.
  • Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
• Legacy:
  • Arcum's Astrolabe is banned.
  • Dreadhorde Arcanist is banned.
  • Oko, Thief of Crowns is banned
• Vintage:
  • Lurrus of the Dream Den is unbanned.

There's also a change to how the Cascade ability works, due to its interaction with modal double-faced cards.