Messages

1

Commander Discussion / Re: So say you're on the Commander Rules Committee....

« on: September 25, 2024, 11:03:43 pm »

I have a long list:

• if you mulligan, you shuffle afterwards (so that you're not stacking the bottom of your library)
• combat damage uses the stack, you just check that the source is still in play upon resolution (the same way you do with if clauses)
• mana burn applies (cards where this doesn't make sense will be errataed)
• tribal cards are tribal (not kindred or any of that silliness) but tribal is not a card type the same way world and snow aren't.
• berserkers are barbarians, kithkins are halflings and other creature simplifications

I have a long explaination for each of these points, but I don't think any of you is interested in reading it. I've tried to keep it short.

Only changes to banlist, deck building restrictions, and other commander-exclusive stuff, please. Other rules should be consistent across formats. If you really want mana burn back, bring it back in every format.

2

Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Banlist Update.

« on: September 25, 2024, 10:43:54 pm »

I liked very much the analysis made by Tomer from mtggoldfish.
He says back in the day you could have a fast start with Sol Ring and such to drop something like Thraximundar on turn 5.
Now, dropping Atraxa as soon as turn 3-4 isn't something unheard of.
You can easily see the difference.
Plus, a lot of bad design choices have been made by WotC to aggravate this situation. One example: the printing of Arcane Signet in Throne of Eldraine and the enemy-color Talismans in Modern Horizons. They made 3cc mana rocks completely irrelevant and any color combination can essentially ramp as efficiently as green.
Time ago, Dockside Extortionist would have been fine, now by turn 3 the board is so clogged of mana rocks that it  could easily get 2-3 mana positive.
Tomer says they rule-0ed out all these cards time ago to avoid "non-game" situations. I do the same, unless I'm aiming at competitive and I'm sure most of people does as well.
Again, poor timing choices aside, these bans feel quite "natural" to me.

I agree on Arcane Signet, but not on the enemy talismans being a bad design. Why should Azorius and Dimir be allowed to ramp on T2, but not Orzhov?

About the timing of the ban, this has been under discussion for almost a year. WotC needed time to make sure they had no unsold boxes of Double Masters22, Commanders Masters and LCI.

3

Commander Discussion / Re: So say you're on the Commander Rules Committee....

« on: September 25, 2024, 06:51:33 pm »

Isochron Scepter is a great example of why Panoptic Mirror should be unbanned, actually! It's just significantly better for combo wins, while not being as fun for jank because you can't put Army of the Damned or Eternal Dominion on it (I don't think that last one works but you get the point). Painter's Servant got unbanned, and yet only 52% of the 0.11% of decks on EDHREC that run painter's servant run Grindstone (and that's a colorless combo thats 5 mana cheaper and can go in literally any deck). There is no excuse for Panoptic Mirror. It's not even competitively viable, like the Grindstone combo arguably is.

Edit: 4 mana cheaper, not 5. Still.

Panoptic Mirror is banned because you can imprint extra turn spell

4

Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Banlist Update.

« on: September 25, 2024, 06:44:55 pm »

As part of the rational for not hitting Sol Ring with the BANHAMMER, they mentioned that they wanted to make these types of gamestates less common, not eliminate them entirely.

Because they are less frequent, people will be extra salty when they do (eventually) happen.

I had the luck of opening Jeweled Lotus from a (reasonably-priced) Commander Legends box and Extortionist from the (reasonably-priced, at the time) C19 precon, so I did not lose much money, and I wasn't jamming those cards into every deck in the first place.

In the end, I think Dockside had to go because it's a massive early-game mana boost that doubles as a combo piece. However, I think the Lotus and Crypt ban won't affect gameplay that much, and this ban will open the gates for more "staples" to be banned once people realize the format hasn't slowed down at all.

5

Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Banlist Update.

« on: September 23, 2024, 09:14:07 pm »

And please anybody explain how does Lightning Greaves interact badly with Nadu?

You can juggle it between your creatures for 0 mana.
Yes, you need at least one other creature, but you need multiple creatures anyway for Nadu to work properly.
Ideally, you protect Nadu with other cards that grant hexproof instead of shroud, and you use Graves to target your other creatures for free.

6

Commander Discussion / Re: Commander Banlist Update.

« on: September 23, 2024, 08:58:50 pm »

In the past few years, notably since Strixhaven: School of Mages, we have seen a pattern of stronger mid-game cards that allow the player who skips past the early game to snowball their advantage straight through to the win.

So they did realize that the format was somewhat OK when WotC was not pumping out new commander cards every two months.

7

Commander Discussion / Re: Losing interest and keeping it fresh

« on: September 18, 2024, 07:25:21 pm »

I have recently sleeved up a few Jumpstart half-decks to play some 1v1 games with my friends.

8

Commander Discussion / Re: So say you're on the Commander Rules Committee....

« on: September 12, 2024, 07:32:49 pm »

If you want to ban super-fast mana and tutors, the Centurion banlist is a good starting point, imho. (I need to know who decided that Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary is a balanced commander, though...)
https://www.centurioncommander.eu/ban-list/

Note that this is a variant of Duel Commander (so 1v1), so some cards that scale with the number of opponents are less problematic/powerful (Dockside, Rhystic study,...)

9

Commander Discussion / Re: Toys, will they suck and do I care?

« on: September 04, 2024, 09:30:03 am »

TBH, they should've used the "contruct" subtype. This is another of those choices that will come back to bite their butts when in 2028 they decide to make Commander Construct tribal a thing and suddenly there are not enough playable constructs.

(Note: this is the why they turned viashinos into lizard right before Bloomburrow's release)

10

Commander Discussion / Re: Universes Beyond- I sold out

« on: September 04, 2024, 09:25:04 am »

I bought a few singles from Warhammer 40000 and Fallout (I liked Tyranids and rad counters) and purchased some LotR packs.
However, I completely ignored Doctor Who and Assassin Creed.

11

General Magic / Re: Which Booster Packs are worth buying to open :-)

« on: August 24, 2024, 08:03:14 pm »

Eh, what gives you a "thrill" is highly subjective.
I liked Strixhaven for the mystical archives and Theros 2 for the guaranteed Nyx basic land (now you only find full art basics in about 1/3 packs).

PS: keep in mind set boosters and draft boosters no longer exist. They have been merged into "Play Booster". AFAIK, they are set boosters but with a slightly lower chance of opening multiple rares (if anyone knows the detail, feel free to correct me)

12

General Magic / Re: When did you start playing?

« on: August 24, 2024, 07:53:29 pm »

My very first pack was from Ravnica City of Guilds (when I was 12).

13

General Magic / Re: Duskmourn: House of Horrors- What are we hoping for?

« on: August 24, 2024, 07:43:37 pm »

Man, I'm still picking up stuff from Bloomburrow...

Delirium is one of the main mechanics, so I'm expecting lots of graveyard goodies spread across card types for my Muldrotha deck.
The Zimone commander deck will also have plenty of stuff for my Temur flash deck. I am also interested in the Valvagoth deck.

Of course, I will try to complete the full-art basic lands cycle.

14

General Magic / Re: Games you've enjoyed

« on: August 24, 2024, 07:32:27 pm »

During the holidays, I returned to my hometown and played a couple of games with my old playgroup.
G1 I played Sram, Senior Edificer against Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and Oona, Queen of the Fae. The Phelia player won so, for G2, he switched to Xira Aryen (while the third player and I kept the same decks). I won G2.
Both games were long (for being only 3 players), grindy and interactive. Power level was fairly high but no one was playing infinite combos.
The funniest moment was when the Oona player cast Evil Twin on the Phelia player's Silent Arbiter thinking the effect was asimmetrical (he needed to attack with all his fearie tokens but did not have enough chump blockers to survive the counter-attack).

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[it] Richieste recensioni mazzi / Re: [Modern] Hollow Phoenix

« on: August 01, 2024, 10:03:59 pm »

Ok. Thank you