Search found 105 matches

by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Pet decks or commanders you keep retrying
Replies: 24
Views: 2474

Re: Pet decks or commanders you keep retrying

My labor of love that I just can't quit is making instant-speed tribal decks. The extremely limited card selection and the ability to leverage the rest of the table makes them all play differently each game. My attempts so far have been: Surrak Dragonclaw - Mostly failed, this is where I learnt that...
by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Eye of Vecna
Replies: 14
Views: 1414

Re: Eye of Vecna

I think it's a great option in draw-poor decks. Sure there are a lot of five and six mana alternatives that are more effective and efficient over time, but the low cost and the immediate card return makes it a solid early game safety net card. If your draw-poor deck wants to hit it's fifth land drop...
by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: The collectible game vs the playable game
Replies: 36
Views: 5937

Re: The collectible game vs the playable game

I like the duality idea of collector game vs game piece game (in fact I think I touched on it on my gold border card discussion so long ago). Continuing that train of thought, though, both games are not equal. Game piece game is a game, and as a game a fundamental requirement is that the rules must ...
by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Previews
Topic: A very condensed version of the resent MTG presentation.
Replies: 14
Views: 1362

Re: A very condensed version of the resent MTG presentation.

Wow, the banner for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is a real work of art. First, the kanji in the title translates to "Shining World", which just sounds like something an elementary schooler came up with for their class motto. Second, the font used isn't a Japanese font but a Chinese font, the kin...
by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Trying to better understand how to optimize for non-cEDH play style (LONG!)
Replies: 9
Views: 1056

Trying to better understand how to optimize for non-cEDH play style (LONG!)

Or alternate title: "Why do metas rule-zero ban table kill combo while at the same time allowing (saltily at times) interactions that behave like table kill?" big tl;dr for a bigger post: To better understand how our decks behave in non-cEDH metas, we should consider the primary winning in...
by gilrad
2 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Unreleased and New Card Discussion
Replies: 9398
Views: 638571

Re: Unreleased and New Card Discussion

Lots of people are talking about his combo potential, but an interesting thing to consider with Garthy-boy is that casting spells off his ability ignores timing restrictions. I can totally see him being a powerful reactionary toolbox in a more controlling deck; just leaving him untapped with six man...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Rules and Philosophy
Topic: Gold bordered cards
Replies: 16
Views: 4904

Re: Gold bordered cards

Maybe I over-estimated my personal perspective on proxying? I assumed when I created this topic that a major consideration in peoples' views on proxies is the desire to play with cards as tradable objects that have value. From that perspective, the potential availability of cheap yet still-tradable ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Rules and Philosophy
Topic: Gold bordered cards
Replies: 16
Views: 4904

Re: Gold bordered cards

What is the point of officially allowing gold-bordered, if the community already tacitly accepts proxies? I'd venture to say that anyone who doesn't want to play against proxies and vocalizes it will probably be pressured into accepting it because people will not want to play against you. Perhaps I...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Rules and Philosophy
Topic: Gold bordered cards
Replies: 16
Views: 4904

Gold bordered cards

There was a recent Commanders Quarters video on this and it spurred me to action writing my own thoughts about GB cards. I'll refrain from reiterating the points made there, as I want to approach the topic from a different direction. Additionally, to prevent this from turning into another proxy disc...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Leonin Shikari
Replies: 16689
Views: 1046168

Re: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Crucible of Worlds

I kind of don't like this card simply because it's another payoff-card that heavily incentivizes running as many fetch lands as possible. If fetch-and-shock mana bases were simply about consistently hitting your color requirements one could argue they're a luxury and can be ignored for a "good ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Unreleased and New Card Discussion
Replies: 9398
Views: 638571

Re: Unreleased and New Card Discussion

The new Radha doesn't seem like something I would want to play as a commander, but in an "extra land drops" deck like Mina and Denn, Wildborn , you're going to want to have as many cards as possible in the 99 that can play lands from extra zones. Same goes for, say, Haldan, Avid Arcanist a...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Viable Judo Commanders
Replies: 19
Views: 3162

Re: Viable Judo Commanders

I like to play all-instant speed or almost all instant speed to make a judo-focused strategy really work. I found having too many sorcery-speed things causes the unfortunate situation of me having to pre-emptively react to the changing board, tying down my mana that could be held up for reaction on ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names
Replies: 210
Views: 22235

Re: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names

It's often my first clue someone is in the right these days when they get accused of virtue signalling. Yeah most of the arguments against this I've seen so far are pretty wild: "Wizards/Hasbro isn't a paragon of racial inequality so therefore any action they take to improve their image is jus...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names
Replies: 210
Views: 22235

Re: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names

It's often my first clue someone is in the right these days when they get accused of virtue signalling. Yeah most of the arguments against this I've seen so far are pretty wild: "Wizards/Hasbro isn't a paragon of racial inequality so therefore any action they take to improve their image is jus...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names
Replies: 210
Views: 22235

Re: Banlist update: 7 cards banned for offensive imagery/names

Invoke Prejudice is the most outstanding of those listed and I'm happy to see it go. Most of the others feel a bit like "while we're at it let's do this one too", but I'm not going to let whattaboutisms bog down the real victory here, de-normalizing a card with %$#% imagery made by a %$#% ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Unreleased and New Card Discussion
Replies: 9398
Views: 638571

Re: Unreleased and New Card Discussion

Elder Gargaroth looks like part two of M21's mythic cycle that includes Baneslayer Angel . Similar to the old [card]inferno titan[\card] cycle, these guys all likely share similar traits: - five CMC - almost no removal protection - rapidly creates an unwinnable situation for each turn it's not deal...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Previews
Topic: [M21] Angelic Ascension, a little too pushed?
Replies: 18
Views: 3364

Re: [M21] Angelic Ascension, a little too pushed?

It'll be a good removal spell for commander circles that care about incremental combat damage. Removing a non-combat utility dude like Oracle of Mul Daya and replacing it with 4 damage per round is a pretty good deal as long as you're not the easiest target to attack.
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Unreleased and New Card Discussion
Replies: 9398
Views: 638571

Re: Unreleased and New Card Discussion

I like cards like tidal whale . Little filler cards that help grease your deck up while also offering some solid synergy for decks that want a high creature density ( sidisi, blood tyrant ), creatures in graveyards ( The Scarab God ), or just filling the graveyard up without relying on instants or s...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Leonin Shikari
Replies: 16689
Views: 1046168

Re: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

...It feels like the busted M20 stuff was also made with R&D's new brainchild in mind, as the standard card pool is shallow and you wouldn't get the same exciting gameplay you're used to from commander. The solution apparently was to make beast mode goodstuff demigods that synergise with air. A...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Interesting post on r/EDH
Replies: 24
Views: 3599

Re: Interesting post on r/EDH

imo, necessary presumption must be made to all rule zero discussions (both in theory and in practicality): that rule zero is being observed in good faith. What do I mean by "In good faith"? Let's take a commonly rule-0'ed house rule: no mass land destruction. The intent of the rule is to a...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: Are Booster Packs Loot Boxes?
Replies: 73
Views: 9570

Re: Are Booster Packs Loot Boxes?

WRT point four: A real big factor that reels in gambling addicts is environment. Casinos and scummy lootbox games (not even on EA level, think clicker-type mobile games) purposefully construct an environment that triggers all those compulsive tendencies in a very deliberate way. There are literally ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [SCD] Reliquary Tower
Replies: 34
Views: 4574

Re: [SCD] Reliquary Tower

The goreclaw example is pretty indicative of why this card is so heavily played: All you need is some scalable draw spells that can grab 12+ card in the correct circumstances, and without having to discard you're at a massive advantage (like, if you're not dead or discarded in two or three turns mos...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Leonin Shikari
Replies: 16689
Views: 1046168

Re: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Fires of Invention

I'm flip-flopping on running this in my Lathliss, Dragon Queen deck. Two free dragons a turn plus being able to pour loads of mana into her pump (or Balefire Dragon if it's around) seems pretty decent, but I'm convinced there's a catch somewhere. Dragonlover I think Lathliss-style commanders are on...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Leonin Shikari
Replies: 16689
Views: 1046168

Re: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Treasury Thrull

I thought about this, and I'm just coming back to it. This "obsession" with CA is what leads this format to so many games that abruptly end because no one has removal. "Well it's cArD dIsAdVaNtAgE!!1111!!" So is losing the game. This is what happens when we stop playing removal ...
by gilrad
3 years ago
Forum: Commander
Topic: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Leonin Shikari
Replies: 16689
Views: 1046168

Re: [mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Harrow

Looks like a pretty solid benchmark to determine how cutthroat your meta is: It's a very powerful ramp and color fixing spell all in one package with many strengths going for it on a great budget card. But, if yours is the kind of playgroup where countering this turn three is a good play, you're bet...

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