Magic: The Gathering (Spoiler-free)

Of course the powerful Monored card gets banned because Monored can't have nice things

I just saw that Oko is now literally only legal in Vintage and Commander. He's a card on par with Sol Ring and Mishra's Workshop.

Lotus Cobra Is Evil question:

What's the third creature that Jace insults here in "Enemy Colors"◊?

Your Mom needs to know.

Edited by Malady on Apr 21st 2021 at 5:39:01 AM

That's a Vengevine.

So, who here is looking forward to their LGS reopening?

I've admittedly kind of made my Commander decks much more streamlined and powerful, including more ways to shut off my opponents from interacting with me in prospective game ending turns.

Pulled triple mythics in the one and only STX collector booster I bought today: foil borderless Will/Rowan, extended art Gyome, extended art Crackle with Power.

My first triple mythic pack!

Wow man, I ended up with a lot of new Commander decks.

Strixhaven got me a mostly upgraded Willowdusk - replete with both Doubling Season and Branching Evolution - Dina Soul-Steeper with a version of Chain Combo, Tanazir Quandrix, Esix, Breena, Veyran and Osgir.

My Osgir precon looks like it's becoming an Osgir deck and an Alibou deck...

Currently just waiting for Beledros and Doom Whisperer among others.

Willowdusk is a surprisingly capable Commander when it comes to one shot attacks.

So I ordered some new cards, including an obscure Ice Age card that lets me turn my creatures into Cancels. It's called "Brine Shaman", and I can't believe it's not seeing more play in Muldrotha.

It's a way for an all permanent Muldrotha to counter spells, plus that first ability can be just a sacrifice outlet.

It's Essence Scatter, not Cancel.

EDIT: Probably still worth running in Muldrotha though!

Edited by disruptorfe404 on May 28th 2021 at 1:56:11 AM

Oh - I guess I missed the "counters only creatures" bit.

Though yeah it is still worth the time for the deck.

So, this is the thread for general MTG talk, correct? I'm thinking of getting into MTG: Arena and I want to know if I can come here for noob advice.

Yeah this is the general Magic thread for any non-spoiler MTG discussion.

Me personally, I'm majorly in Commander. Honestly looking forward to the game stores reopening in California and getting to go back in.

What's the third creature that Jace insults here in "Enemy Colors"?

Forget that, Suika's apparently a magic card now

Well, Hullbreacher (a perfectly good card) got banned because of Sheldon Menery being a hack that bans everything he loses to. He's the worst thing to ever exist in the Commander format - if there's anything unhealthy about it, it's the presence of Sheldon Menery.

I just looked Hullbreacher up and I've never been so glad to have never played against a card. It looks both obviously overpowered and extremely boring to play against.

"Do you have removal in hand? I hope so, because if you don't, good luck drawing enough cards to find it!"

It really comes off like "Do you enjoy resource denial strategies? Yes? WELL TOO BAD YOU DON'T PLAY COMMANDER THE RIGHT WAY!!!"

A number of my decks now completely lack a winning combo due to Hullbreacher's ban.

Yeah, I mean it's almost like they want Commander to be fun to play or something.

I've decided in the wake of this I'll play more resource denial rather than less - rejecting the signpost established by the banning.

That seems unfair to the people you play against. Like, they didn't make the ban; why are you punishing them for it?

All my spite is directed at Menery - considering his article where he described Wheel strategies as the "most unhealthy part of Commander", it's obvious this is his brainchild.

What's the difference between winning on the back of a Narset-Wheel and winning through a Laboratory Maniac, Thassa's Oracle, or some infinite combo?

But you're not harming Menery, unless you think he suffers some kind of psychic backlash every time someone quits Commander rather than play against a toxic and unfun archetype.

I mean, if they're planning on nerfing other awful deck archetypes that go against not just the "casual fun" spirit of Commander but the basic notion that playing a game should be an enjoyable experience, I say more power to them.

Hullbreacher-Wheel is generally just GG on turn 4 (and that's conservative). Narset-Wheel is at least still playable out of for the table.

I should clarify that I mostly object to this in Commander specifically.

Like, I don't necessarily want it to exist in competitive formats like Standard or Modern, but if it has to, that's where it should go. In tournament settings, where the goal is simply to win? Yeah, sure, go ahead. Can't say that it would motivate me to play, but if we have to have it, here's where it makes sense.

But, frankly, given that Commander is a format designed to be casual and fun, one where deckbuilding guides often encourage deliberately suboptimal deckbuilding, I don't think strategies founded on preventing the other players from interacting with the game in any meaningful way have a place there.