mirrodinrestored

[mirrodinrestored]

(Re)Introducing Myself

If you’re memory is as good as mine, you might well have forgotten I existed, if you had even seen me in the first place.  So now’s probably a good time to say a bit about myself.

I started playing Magic when the newest set was Fifth Dawn.

I play Limited (the wackier the draft, the better!), Standard (currently playing four color Superfriends and also have a Naya Dinosaurs deck), Modern (currently playing a GW Enchantment deck I’ll probably go into more detail on at some point), and Commander (I’ve got a variety of decks ranging from no black border Urza to Azorius lands or not-Black Morphs and plenty of others).

I’m very good with Magic rules and card templating (i.e. what a custom card should say to do what it’s trying to do).

I’m a college graduate (with a degree in math) without much of a plan what to do with my life yet, other than eventually hoping to work at Wizards of the Coast.

I’m very Discord-savvy, both as a user and a moderator/administrator.  Notably, I’m a moderator of a 5500ish person Magic server and server owner of a 20 year old Pokémon game that has no four move limit, among other things, which I have been a member of for nine years and staff of for five years.  I also wrote (most of) and am currently hosting a bot for the latter, after teaching myself the language from the fragments given to me initially.

I am in the US Northeast but you wouldn’t guess it by the times I’m awake.

Despite the Chandra avatar most places and even being named Chandra several places (including Arena), I am male.  Though as you probably guessed, Chandra is my favorite character.

I get very easily distracted in the middle of doing something and often forget what I was doing (which has already happened at least once just writing this).

As I kind of implied in the first part of this, I have a very bad memory and can often barely remember what happened earlier in the same day.

I’m never sure where to start on literally anything and frequently get stuck on stuff but am often great at answer relevant questions (I do a horrible job trying to teach Magic from scratch for instance, but am great at answering all their questions after getting started for instance).

I always try to be as friendly as possible.

So seriously, ask me anything! I don’t bite. (though there are a few real life things I don’t like to share on the Internet, mostly real name, more exact location than “US Northeast”, and birthday)

Looking forward to talking with people more!

#ask me anything #seriously #about me #MtG #There's a lot more I should probably mention #but as I'm writing this #I forget what it is #so feel free to ask and help both of us

[mirrodinrestored]

Returning with Something New

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted here (other than a few reblogs of MaRo’s posts because tumblr didn’t seem to let me reply inline from the post itself anymore, only from dashboard which is usually not where I saw it from), but after talking to @gavinverhey at MagicFest Las Vegas about my desire to eventually work with @wizardsmagic, I’m planning to become more active here again (hopefully) and start writing about Magic here.

Obviously the first question I had to ask myself after that discussion was “In a world where so much content is produced every day, what can I do that the community isn’t already overflowing with?”  After a bit of pondering and thinking about what parts of Magic I have the most to say about, it became clear to me.  I have some very strong opinions on what makes casual Commander that I haven’t really elaborated on, even to myself if I’m being honest, so it seems like the best place to start is to expand on that.  As far as I’ve seen, that’s not actually a topic that gets a lot of attention.

So without further ado, let’s get started on the first part of this.  For now, I’ll call this Keeping it Casual but I’m open to better naming ideas.

Keeping it Casual 0: Introduction

Like many Magic players, I enjoy playing an all-out, no-holds-barred game of Limited, Standard, or Modern anywhere from FNM to a GP.  Anything legal in those formats is fair game there and no one will say you shouldn’t play a deck for being too mean.  After all, we’re all eyeing that top prize whether it’s a couple packs at FNM or a Mythic Championship invite and thousands of dollars at a GP.  But when I get together with friends and just want to hang out and play some Commander, that’s not what I’m looking for.  I just want to have fun, regardless of who wins.  I want a format where everything is possible and every game is different, where we’ll always have the most ridiculous stories to remember forever (or however long our memory lasts).  Recently I played a game at FNM where my opponent was gaining 720 life a turn, and I managed to win with damage, not involving commander damage (I was running Estrid) or any form of infinite combo.

That means that unlike other formats such as Standard or Modern, legality isn’t going to be enough to ensure Commander is a format that can meet this goal.  I’ve set several ground rules for myself on things to avoid as a first step to maximizing fun for the entire table, not just myself.

1. Minimal, if any, tutors (excluding cards like Rampant Growth), and never in the Command Zone.

2. No infinite combos or “you win the game” cards.

3. No extra turn spells or effects that otherwise lock people out of playing.

4. I make my decks as completely on-theme as possible and avoid off-theme “staples” as much as possible.

5. I will actively cut cards for being “too strong” (or “too oppressive”, though that’s more part of point 3).

Join me next time when I discuss tutors in Commander.  Until then, feel free to message me or reply with any questions or comments, about this or anything else!  I’ll probably type up another post soon as a (re)introduction of myself.

#keeping it casual #commander #mtgcommander #edh #mtgedh #I'm back #I'm sorry if that was kind of rambly #I'm a very stream-of-consciousness person when I write #(and often feel like I need to clarify things immediately afterwards) #but I hope this is something that people will find useful #and I intend to edit those points to be links when there's something for them to link to #and in general I try to be a very friendly person #so don't be afraid to say hello or ask questions #but this is probably enough tag talking so I'll end this here and move onto that (re)introduction I mentioned

[mirrodinrestored]

The Æ cards were mentioned already, but there’s another interesting case.  Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII was errata’d from being italicized to not being italicized.  Yes, I’m serious.

is there any scenario where you would have to errata a card name that's already released?

Not that I know of. The closest I can think of was I had a card in Unhinged called Erase. My editor said we couldn’t use Erase as it had already been used in Urza’s Legacy, so I changed the name to Erase (Not the One from Urza’s Legacy).

[mirrodinrestored]

Like others said, and like I’ve elaborated on here (https://mirrodinrestored.tumblr.com/post/185491217102/id-like-to-arrogantly-submit-that-i-loved), absolutely yes in packs (hopefully including some form of Chandra, whether Torch of Defiance, Flamecaller, Awakened Inferno, or a future Chandra) but am not particularly interested in another Mythic Edition.

Hi Mark. Were the full-art "Mythic Edition" planeswalkers a GRN-RNA-WAR-only thing or can we keep our hopes up for more? Me and my friends would definitely love to see more alt art borderless PWs, they look amazing!

Are others interested in seeing more borderless planeswalkers?

#Still surprised Torch of Defiance wasn't in the WAR MED #Probably kicking Tezzeret or Sarkhan to RNA and replacing Jaya or something from that one #Or just replacing a Tezzeret #Since there were two of them

[mirrodinrestored]

Full art lands make it not feel bad to buy packs (including event entry for limited), and got me to acquire several packs from prize walls of larger events, but it is one of my favorite limited environments honestly and I would still play just as many events if the value wasn’t a concern without the basics.  The problem is, without the basics, it’s unlikely that one Modern+ legal but unplayable card and a set full of cards not legal anywhere could soak up the EV, meaning you’d either be wanting to buy packs at $1 max (unsustainable for Wizards) or losing 80% of your value by buying packs (unsustainable for most customers).

Also speaking of Unstable, if anyone’s curious, check out this awesome Commander deck I’ve got (of course I always carry around other decks in case someone doesn’t want to play with it, but it’s a casual format so most people are fine with it): https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/no-black-border-except-steamflogger-boss-edh/

tl;dr: The set is awesome and deserves all the praise it gets, but the basics are needed to make it realistic for people to actually spend an amount Wizards can afford to sell it at.

Do you think Unstable would still get the same four print runs if it didn't have the full-art basic lands in it? How much do you think where the sales based on them?

I think the full-art lands help, but I believe the majority of sales went to people actually playing with the cards (a large percentage in limited play).

[mirrodinrestored]

Here’s a few of mine that I remember:

“Historic” would start at Origins. Containment Priest would be in Modern Horizons. Gideon would die on Theros, killed by a god, probably Heliod.

I’m sure there’s plenty more, but I have a really bad memory.

Incorrect MTG Predictions

I’ve been on Tumblr for a little over three years now, and in that time I’ve made a lot of predictions about Magic: the Gathering cards, sets, and storylines.

Some of those predictions turned out to be true, and plenty of them turned out to be wrong. I thought it would be fun/interesting to start a thread listing off all of the incorrect predictions I could remember making.

Please feel free to add your own Incorrect MTG Predictions to this list!

Note: I’m not including any silly joke predictions (like Nicol Bolas actually being Tibalt with a tennis ball between his horns) because I think this list works better when genuinely looking at what I actually believed at the time, and got wrong.

Nahiri helped Sorin make Avacyn

Contraptions would be like Equipment, but attached to other artifacts instead of creatures and tapping creatures is how players would pay to assemble them

Tarkir would end up better overall with the dragons there

Sorin has turned Nahiri into a vampire

Tezzeret would get a UBW card in Aether Revolt

Dominaria would have Masterpiece cards for legendary permanents

Sorin created the first vampires on Zendikar

Belzenlok would be a 9/9 creature

Samut would become a GRW planeswalker

Azor would be a cool dude

Angrath would be an uncool dude

Amonkhet would be a “planeswalker factory” with the trials set up to ignite latent sparks

Commander 2016 would have double-sided commanders with different two-color pairs on each side

The Amonkhet gods would have three-color identities, and each would have a watermark for the shards

Kaladesh would have Contraptions

Tibalt would be on Ixalan

Ob Nixilis would get a RB planeswalker card for Oath of the Gatewatch

Nissa’s origin story would include more than a couple of hours on Lorwyn

Amonkhet would be an “animal creature types matters” tribal set

Emrakul would be weakened by ghosts on Innistrad (similar to the way Doctor Strange weakened Galactus with ghosts in Marvel comics)

Unstable would include a red legendary Vorthos card and a white legendary Mel card

Marit Lage was responsible for the corruption and eldritch abominations in the Shadows Over Innistrad block

OK, that’s all I can think of for now. Anybody else want to add some of yours?!

#I was so sure it would start at Origins #I was really looking forward to using my Oath of Nissas in it #But it's not hopeless yet #They did imply they might add more later #And Containment Priest seemed like such a shoe-in for Modern #So much it would help with in Modern #As for Gideon #I guess I took Hazoret's quote a bit too literally

[mirrodinrestored]

I would very much like to see a return to Masterpieces randomly in packs.  I went very in depth on my thoughts about it in a previous response here: https://mirrodinrestored.tumblr.com/post/185491217102/id-like-to-arrogantly-submit-that-i-loved

Do you think there's any chance of seeing more Masterpieces (in packs) in the future, or have they been replaced by the mythic edition?

What would you all like to see us do?

[mirrodinrestored]

I think three color is usually the sweet spot between restrictive enough to lead to interesting decisions and open enough to use most of what you want to use for the deck.  It of course depends on the theme, some that have been strongly spread throughout the colors like Elementals are fine with their more colorful   I also very strongly agree with another comment about keeping tutors out of the command zone because it leads to too repetitive gameplay, which goes against why I personally play Commander (Raff Capashen Legends is one of my favorite decks and I had been hoping to broaden it a bit, but Sisay being a tutor is just too much so I’ll be sticking with Raff for now, likewise when Unstable was legal I refused to put Jumblemorph in command zone even though it was the theme that most interested me).  I can’t speak for everyone, but I play Commander because of how different each game can be, not to watch someone reliably win in the exact same way every single game.

I have also come to feel that a lot of the cards designed specifically for commander (Oloro/Derevi, Meren/Ezuri, Edgar, Yuriko, etc.) hurt the format more than help it.  Many of them are able to cheat around the basic rules of Commander that keep the format in check (Oloro and Eminence commanders giving effectively free emblems, experience commanders generating permanent value that can be answered with exactly one card, that didn’t even exist when they were at their most popular, Derevi and Yuriko being able to cheat on commander tax so you just can’t keep them off the field, etc).  In some ways it feels like a card that says (and actually works) “This card can’t rotate out of Standard.”  If that’s on a Naturalize or something, sure, that’s pretty much around forever anyways.  But imagine if that text was on Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or Siege Rhino.  Would you really want to deal with a card that breaks the spirit of the format (ignoring rotation) and is also just miserable?

Additionally, cards which are too flexible overshadow several other options at once.  For instance, Breya took the large variety of artifact decks (which I would argue didn’t need help in the first place, but I’ll save that discussion for another post), offered all of them access to basically every card they could ever want, and put an easy way to combo kill in the command zone to boot.  Before that, there’s a colorless option (Karn), various mono-blue options (Arcum, Muzzio, Padeem, Memnarch), mono-red options (Daretti, Feldon, Kurkesh, Slobad, both versions of Pia), an Azorius option (Hanna), a Golgari option (Glissa), two Esper options (Sydri and Sharuum), and a Grixis option (Mishra), as well as probably some others.  Other than Glissa, none of those have to give up anything to change to Breya, and only a few can really compete power-wise.  Mishra was a great example of getting more colors at the cost of a more difficult to use Commander.

tl;dr: I used to think more colors on everything would be nice.  Turns out, “restrictions breed creativity” really is a good thing.

I would BOLDLY like to request a snow commander that isn't 5 colors. I'm tired of "everything and the kitchen sink" commanders. I want something that has restrictions to build around. I want something that rewards me for constructing my deck and playing in a unique way.

This leads to an interesting question. When making a commander for a theme, do you prefer us hitting every color that has the theme or using just the ones with the majority?

#commander #edh #commanders #color identity #rant #inquiring minds answers #also hi everyone I still exist #and have still been reading Blogatog constantly #though I really hate how tumblr doesn't let me respond without replying from the post itself anymore

[mirrodinrestored]

Masterpieces were awesome and I’d love to see them every set honestly.  However, since I know that is unlikely and understand the frustrations people had with Invocations, I’ll settle for whenever there’s a good theme available.  I think Dominaria would have benefited from a legendary-themed Masterpeice series, for instance.  Mythic Editions probably would’ve made sense as masterpieces for WAR (and maybe with a few more slots, such as for Chandra, Torch of Defiance?).

As far as why, post-HOU sets honestly do have a lot less excitement from opening packs.  In BFZ/OGW/KLD/AER/AKH/HOU, there was always that slim but tempting chance of pulling something amazing.  Even when there’s good value in the mythics (like when DOM Karn was $60 and Teferi was $40), it’s just not the same.  They don’t really feel that special to pull.  I will say it actually does increase the packs I open and my enthusiasm to keep drafting the set.  When I was at an Aether Revolt grand prix and got a box from the prize wall, I only waited until the car ride to open it and only because other people I was with were eager to leave.  For Guilds of Ravnica, I got two boxes at a grand prix and held onto them for months without much excitement for actually opening them.  I’ve since opened one and still have the other sealed, whereas those would have both been opened in the car ride back like the AER box if the Mythic Edition walkers or some other masterpieces could be in them.  (That’s also the first time I actually managed to hold sealed product that long, I usually don’t have nearly that much self-restraint.)  Likewise, at a more recent MagicFest, I got two boxes of WAR and just sold them to a vendor before leaving, whereas those would have also been opened if Mythic Edition walkers or other masterpieces could be in the packs.  WAR is an amazing set, it’s just missing that extra little bit of excitement masterpiece sets had.

(Also mostly unrelated, but at the end of a long post about Masterpieces I feel obliged to mention something I’ve been thinking about for a while, even if nothing can really be done about it: I really wish the 2010 foil change to the Reserved List never happened.  FTV and Duel Decks felt like using it as a loophole.  Masterpieces would have been the right place to do without feeling that way imo.  And just imagine OG duals in Zendikar Expeditions, no text box necessary.  Would have been a great way to increase supply of the cards without actually plummeting their values.)

I'd like to arrogantly submit that I loved masterpieces and I only came back to the game after they had been discontinued, so I am sad. Are any products like Masterpieces ever going to come back?

That sounds like a good question for you all to answer. Would you like Masterpueces to return and why or why not?

[mirrodinrestored]

Definitely B.  It’s annoying having to keep saying “original Mirrodin”, “original Zendikar”, etc. when I want to make sure people know what I’m talking about.  I bet if I said “I started the summer after Mirrodin block”, half the people I tell would think I meant the summer after Scars of Mirrodin block.  I prefer having the qualifier to ensure clarity.

Can I request that first sets on new worlds have more interesting names more often? More like "Ravnica, City of Guilds" and "Shards of Alara" and "Khans of Tarkir" than just "Kaladesh", "Amonkhet", "Ixalan".

Let’s see what all of you think. When we first visit a world, would you prefer:

a) Just the world’s name as the set name (Innistrad, Theros, Kaladesh, Amonkhet)

or

b) Modifiers along with the name of the world as set name (Khans of Tarkir, Scars of Mirrodin, Shadows over Innistrad)?

(I’m aware some of my examples of the second aren’t first time visits, we just don’t have lots of examples.)

[mirrodinrestored]

I’m a bit on the fence.  One major thing that kind of annoys me about Hydras is the lack of tribal support.  Angels and Dragons both get quite a bit of tribal support, while Demons and Sphinxes have at least gotten a little (Kaalia and the HOU legend come to mind, respectively).  As far as I am aware, Hydras have gotten none at all.  Treefolk got some back in Lorwyn, so that does endear me a bit on the side of the trees.  It’s been pointed out that it’s easier to have common and uncommon Treefolk than Hydras, so I could see that as a reason to leave Hydras as the iconic.  That said, I think either could fit well and I wouldn’t want the other to go away in either case.

ahzoh suggested using Treefolk over Hydra as the large green iconic. Can you do a poll? I find more often than not, I have anecdotal evidence that is directly counter to "market research". Also, you need to make palm-treefolk.

Online polls, like here on Blogatog, are a bit skewed because the audience heavily leans towards being enfranchised. Even with that bias, I’m not sure Treefolk beat out Hydra.

But why hypothesize. Which would you prefer as Green’s iconic creature?

a) Hydra

or

b) Treefolk

Also, why do you choose what you do?

#mtg #treefolk #hydras #iconic #green #Doran wants to keep seeing new friends #Animar and Rosheen aren't quite tribal no matter how effective they are with hydras #Also hi I've been trying to keep up with Blogatog but not really much else here

[mirrodinrestored]

What gave you that idea?

Mark, you always seem to get complaints about worlds being changed (like tarkir being taken over by dragons or eldrazi on zendikar), but do you get many complaints about new phyrexia? Because from what I've seen basically everyone loves new phyrexia (myself included)...

There are many who want the Mirrans to take back their world.

#MtG #points to url #FOR MIRRODIN! #Mirrodin

[mirrodinrestored]

“Signet” lands were all I was hoping for in terms of the “rare duals” they mentioned.  Now is there any chance in the Multiverse they might add the enemy colored ones to go with them...?

New art for Reins of Power!

Plus the rare lands that were mentioned in an earlier article! We have the pain lands, which are problematic reprints due to Dominaria-specific names. Those filter lands are an ally-color cycle from Odyssey. The check lands are just all-around useful dual lands. Great to see them all in the new border!

(Source)

#mtg #C16 #It would make sense because that way they're all legal in the same formats #Since the ally color ones aren't Modern legal

[mirrodinrestored]

100% this.  I may end up sticking to Daretti for Artifacts.

Am I the only one a little underwhelmed by Breya? Perhaps I do not realize her full potential…

#I should post an image of all my commanders (at least the ones with sleeved decks) soon #mtg #EDH

[mirrodinrestored]

This is a Sorcery that hits your stuff too.  Not nearly as broken as Cyclonic Rift, perfectly fine for this to exist.

I still think Cyclonic Rift itself needs to be banned.  All the variants that bounce your stuff too are fine, even as a Sorcery Cyclonic Rift might be okay.

Man I wish I had more than one Cyclonic Rift, ya feel me?

WARNING: this recurs your stuff too. Handle with caution. A control deck is advised.

#mtg #EDH #Cyclonic Rift #It hits everyone but you as an Instant that is not okay #I've seen it do way too much basically every time it's overloaded

[mirrodinrestored]

I had a fun game recently where I stopped a Jarad/Lord of Extinction kill using Voidmage Husher.  It was wonderful.

Deer trader Yeen, I have a confession. My favorite commander was Jarad, and I used him with Bonehoard to kill everyone at the same time. I was a killer of fun times. Is there a way to play Jarad that doesn't kill the fun?

NO

JARAD HAS PROBLEM THAT DEALS DAMAGE PLAYERS CANNOT STOP

SACRIFICE IS DIFFICULT TO HINDER AS CANNOT RESPOND

HOWEVER

FIND WAT YOU ENJOY ABOUT JARAD. THINK HARD. YEEN GUARANTEE IS OTHER WAY TO DO THING!

#I have a lot of random unexpected cards with useful abilities thrown in my decks #mtg #EDH

[mirrodinrestored]

4 Year Anniversary Giveaway!!

Over the past four years here on tumblr, I’ve had a good time. I’ve made some friends, reblogged a thing or two, and even posted a few original things of my own. I’ve seen memes come ad go, watched how cat videos seem eternal, and above all I’ve really enjoyed the generosity of the community itself, not just in sharing things, but in the numerous giveaway I’ve come across my screen, for all sorts of things, from stickers to artwork and to Magic the Gathering cards.

I have been playing Magic pretty much since it came out twenty some years ago. I started with Beta edition, and while I’ve taken a break or two from the game here and there, for the most part I’ve slowly but surely accumulated a fairly decent sized collection of cards. While I sadly have no Power 9 cards, probably the thing I am the most proud of is my collection of Revised Edition dual lands. I have one of each of the ten different ones, except for Savannah (the G/W one) which I have a play set of.

Or so I thought…..

Turns out, I actually have FIVE Savannahs! Amazing what you learn when you take the time to do some long put off sorting. Take a look –

Check out that shoddy camera work! Woot! Now, this card is by no means in mint condition; it has seen play outside of sleeves. But by no means is it shoddy or torn in any manner either. It’s in a good solid condition, and it will be good for another twenty years of play.

Rules of the Giveaway!

One entry per person max, please

Reblog to enter

Winner will be chosen randomly from all entries

Deadline is when I wake up on Sunday, October 30th (noonish)

.You do not have to be a follower of my blog to be able to enter

North American entrants only please; shipping something farther than that costs more than I want to spend.

After I determine the winner, I’ll send them a message, and we can get the mailing information exchanged. Again, a big thank you to everyone who’s path I’ve crossed over the past four years! It’s been fun, and here’s to four more!