MTGNexus

Dunharrow wrote: ↑

1 year ago

@Jemolk and @3drinks The man is a neo-nazi. As a jewish person, I refuse to display his art anywhere. It's just personal preference. I don't think the art is bad in these cases. It's not Invoke Prejudice.
I just refuse to play a card that shows his art. It makes me sick.

That's totally fair. I did also think about including a bit in there about how if your playgroup includes people that the art makes feel bad, you should also probably avoid it, but didn't because I was concerned about being overly preachy or provocative, but it's something I also think. It's just sort of a complicated line to draw for all sorts of reasons. A somewhat similar scenario is how I also play cards with Terese Nielsen art, because I think it's pretty, but if (for example) a trans person didn't want to, or even wanted me to choose other versions of the cards for the times when we played together, I think that would be 100% fair. At the end of the day, it's about doing what makes people happy, and while nice art makes me happy, it's not remotely comparable to the bad of coming across as pseudo-endorsing evil ideas.

How's that for extra complexity?

3drinks wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Yeah, invoke prejudice is all sorts of messed up. Like man. How is that even okay. The 90's were wild I guess?

Lots of things will be really awkward in hindsight as our culture continues to mature and evolve.

To this day it is really funny to me that of all Timeshifted cards to break standard in half, it wasn't this card. It was Dragonstorm of all things. Friggin' Dragonstorm...

Thursday, January 26th, 2023; Murktide Regent

hmm, so it's an Ethereal Forager with an inferior creature type o:3

Jemolk wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Dunharrow wrote: ↑

1 year ago

@Jemolk and @3drinks The man is a neo-nazi. As a jewish person, I refuse to display his art anywhere. It's just personal preference. I don't think the art is bad in these cases. It's not Invoke Prejudice.
I just refuse to play a card that shows his art. It makes me sick.

That's totally fair. I did also think about including a bit in there about how if your playgroup includes people that the art makes feel bad, you should also probably avoid it, but didn't because I was concerned about being overly preachy or provocative, but it's something I also think. It's just sort of a complicated line to draw for all sorts of reasons. A somewhat similar scenario is how I also play cards with Terese Nielsen art, because I think it's pretty, but if (for example) a trans person didn't want to, or even wanted me to choose other versions of the cards for the times when we played together, I think that would be 100% fair. At the end of the day, it's about doing what makes people happy, and while nice art makes me happy, it's not remotely comparable to the bad of coming across as pseudo-endorsing evil ideas.

How's that for extra complexity?

If the person in question wants to buy me a new one I'd use it. Until then, like I have a Japanese 5ED sylvan library|5ed that I'm not gonna not use. It's foreign so you can't sell it for more than bulk either. You know how much library goes for? I'm not buying a new version of a card I already have, that's not fair to me to punish my wallet over the actions of a jerk that I can't even control. I think that's just as valid a counterpoint as the one levied against it.

Igzex wrote: ↑

1 year ago

3drinks wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Yeah, invoke prejudice is all sorts of messed up. Like man. How is that even okay. The 90's were wild I guess?

Lots of things will be really awkward in hindsight as our culture continues to mature and evolve.

To this day it is really funny to me that of all Timeshifted cards to break standard in half, it wasn't this card. It was Dragonstorm of all things. Friggin' Dragonstorm...

Invoke Prejudice was a big "whoa, really?" card even in the 90s

I don't mind controversial, challenging, or morally subversive material, but I really hate Murktide Regent.

TheGildedGoose wrote: ↑

1 year ago

I don't mind controversial, challenging, or morally subversive material, but I really hate Murktide Regent.

The goose speaks truths. This card isn't so bad in EDH, but I %$#% despise this thing in Legacy.

I want to know what they were smoking when they decided to make another Delve card. It worked out so well last time!

Overly pushed chase rare made to sell packs? This card everything I hate about modern card design in a nutshell. Give me more Eater of Days.

Folding Music does a good job bringing up Ethereal Forager. The two cards are both powerful and play in a similar space, but Forager is a lot more interesting. Regent is a big problem outside of EDH because it's lightning fast, it's just such a cheap yet enormous beater. In EDH, it's more balanced, simply because cheap but huge isn't very broken in this format. It's an 8/8 flier for 2 mana that grows as you cast instants and sorceries in it's best case scenario, which is quite strong but not breaking the game in half, and delving away those spells is a real cost when so many spellslinger decks have plenty of ways to retrieve them from the yard and recast them. The Forager, on the other hand, is always going to be a 3/3 flier unless you do something else to modify it, which is perfectly serviceable for 2 mana but nothing special. Getting the delved cards back to your hand if they are instants and sorceries, and if you are able to keep it alive long enough to attack with it, makes it an interesting option. It's best case scenario is a 3/3 flier for 2 mana that recurs 4 spells to your hand, which is awesome, but it does so over 5 turns (or 4 if it has haste) and will often be putting itself at risk to get those cards back, which makes it very fair.

Both are good but not insane in EDH. Regent is terrible design, just over pushed linear nonsense with a powerful but boring payoff, while Forager is one of the best Delve designs, one that makes use of the mechanic as more than just a cost reducer, and they were able to control the pace at which a player can reap it's benefits.

TheGildedGoose wrote: ↑

1 year ago

I don't mind controversial, challenging, or morally subversive material, but I really hate Murktide Regent.

On the one hand, it's cool to see a dragon as a top creature. On the other hand as a modern player, man does this thing terrorize me. Well kinda - I play burn.

3drinks wrote: ↑

1 year ago

TheGildedGoose wrote: ↑

1 year ago

I don't mind controversial, challenging, or morally subversive material, but I really hate Murktide Regent.

On the one hand, it's cool to see a dragon as a top creature. On the other hand as a modern player, man does this thing terrorize me. Well kinda - I play burn.

Hot take, the art in this makes me think it's a weird bird. It doesn't come remotely close to triggering the "cool dragon" part of my brain.

Is it time for the "is a big stat stick viable in commander?" discourse again already?

To me, besides it just not being that great in this format, it also just doesn't seem like a payoff that any spellslinger decks are likely to be interested in.

I do concur that the whale is way cooler design. But Skyway Robber is probably my favourite iteration. I like recursion, but gating it behind interactivity makes it way more fun and way less obnoxious.

Another card in a Modern Horizons set that's kinda a mistake? You don't say...

At least in other formats. Here in EDH the card is kinda inconsequential.

Murktide Regent is a Baneslayer, but EDH is a format of Mulldrifters. It also doesn't really lean into what Ux spellslinger decks want to do in this format, which usually leans towards combo, storm, or some other non-combat strategy - even if you use it to deal 10+ damage, that may not matter. I'll also note that unlike in other formats, in EDH it has to compete for delve fuel with Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise.

...that said, I've certainly died to it in other formats, so I'm okay with it not being great here.

There are definitely slinger decks that would want a huge beater. Talrand wants to beat down with drakes, and Regent is basically a gigantic drake. Prowess decks that focus on instant and sorceries as triggers would want Regent because a cheap huge flier that grows off instants and sorceries fits their game plan. It's just a subsection of decks, and they aren't exactly top tier, but it has it's uses. It's not great here, just good, which is fine. It has some competition but the competition isn't mutually exclusive.

Personally, I want generic, big stats to always remain a part of competitive magic, if that means blatant power creep, so be it.

Having said that, Murktide Regent was probably a little TOO much.

Saturday, January 28th, 2023; Tawnos, Solemn Survivor

There are so many words on this card. GET ON WITH IT. I'm also sick of tokens and counters everywhere.

Having said that and now having spent half my life reading this card, he might be a good clue/investigate general. You miss some decent green cards, but at least he can use Eloise, Nephalia Sleuth.

I like how much setup he requires - first you need some random artifact token to copy, then you can sac them to make a token of something spicy from your graveyard, then you can copy the spicy artifact. You've also gotta get a good card in the grave, though that might happen on its own if you get lucky with the first ability.

Low mv + high setup is fun imo, since it means there are more complex hoops to jump through than just "ramp a bunch" before you can start getting value from your commander.

My biggest complaint is probably that he can also copy creatures and just makes them artifacts. I thought we had to do an artifact thing, but now we can just cheat and do any old boring creature. Boo.

Anyway, he's definitely way more fun than Urza, Chief Artificer.

Tawnos, Solemn Survivor is sort of interesting. You need to jump through a few hoops to get him started... but once you get a nice token, he's quite efficient at pumping out more copies every turn. I would say my main concern is just getting started - he doesn't do anything unless you already have a token to copy or two to sacrifice, which means you'll need to play a fair amount of clue / treasure / etc. creators to support him, and that takes away slots that could be spent on sweet things to copy and ways to get them into your graveyard. Hmmmm....

Still, there are plenty of strong ways to generate artifact tokens - Smothering Tithe, Tamiyo's Journal, Myr Battlesphere, Wondrous Crucible... I'm currently running Sharuum the Hegemon as my artifact/graveyard commander, but I could see Tawnos being an interesting alternative.

Sunday, January 29th, 2023; Liliana's Standard Bearer

Liliana's Standard Bearer is a good card but I'm not sure what deck wants it. Zombie tribal would prefer a zombie lord or Undead Augur.

I don't run it in Nymris, Oona's Trickster, but that deck isn't creature heavy.

Maybe a deck with a lot of sacrifice effects? My cleric tribal deck has sacrifice effects but I wouldn't run this card in it.

NZB2323 wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Liliana's Standard Bearer is a good card but I'm not sure what deck wants it. Zombie tribal would prefer a zombie lord or Undead Augur.

I don't run it in Nymris, Oona's Trickster, but that deck isn't creature heavy.

Maybe a deck with a lot of sacrifice effects? My cleric tribal deck has sacrifice effects but I wouldn't run this card in it.

Varina wants it. If you're running a Haakon, Stromgald Scourge package even better. It is, granted, sometimes a dead dawn but it's often pretty crazy for a deck that wants to see as much of itself in play or the yard as possible.