MTGNexus

I got in several Commander games today. The new Omnath is really good, and even though my version has only one of the pricey fetches (I had an extra copy of Flooded Strand), it did just great with the two in-color Panoramas and things like Evolving Wilds, Blighted Woodland and Fabled Passage. Between those sorts of lands and tons of ramp spells, I never really had a problem getting 3+ landfall triggers a turn, and I won one game by having several creatures attack with Garruk's Uprising and Canyon Jerboa in play with six landfall triggers. There is so much good landfall stuff between those four colors, one really can't put it all in the same deck, but I think that's good, as it allows for a variety of different yet effective builds. Mine doesn't include any of the Retreat to Coralhelm tricks or any of the flicker stuff to get value from more than 3 Omnath landfall triggers per turn, but those builds look interesting too, and I might experiment with some of them before I settle down on a final version.

I also got in games with three of my other decks, Rakdos, Shu Yun, and Gahiji.

Is anyone else playing any limited, and if so, how are seeing Party work out? I have done probably about 10 sealed pools now, using prerelease packs, and today was the first time I was able to assemble a full party (black/blue) and only the second time I have seen anyone pull it off.

Btw, Canyon Jerboa is absolutely bonkers in limited. That mouse has beaten me twice now.

JWK wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Is anyone else playing any limited, and if so, how are seeing Party work out? I have done probably about 10 sealed pools now, using prerelease packs, and today was the first time I was able to assemble a full party (black/blue) and only the second time I have seen anyone pull it off.

Btw, Canyon Jerboa is absolutely bonkers in limited. That mouse has beaten me twice now.

I've mostly been drafting instead of sealing, where it is a bit easier to get a full party. Yesterday I actually had an opponent get a full party against me by playing Squad Captain, so not only did he get four 1/1 tokens, he also got the +1/+0 and indestructible bonus. The game lasted a few more turns, but it was pretty much over as soon as it was played.

The funny thing is that wasn't even the best thing an opponent did against me yesterday. Here was my opponent's first five plays:

Turn 1: Land
Turn 2: Land, Stonework Packbeast
Turn 3: Land, Expedition Healer
Turn 4: Land, Ardent Electromancer, Ardent Electromancer, Felidar Retreat
Turn 5: Land, Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature and give them vigilance, Attack for 14

Even if I had removal in my hand it would've been had to overcome that start, but I only had big-ass blockers (emphasis on the Sir Mix-A-Lot). The funny thing about big-ass blockers is that they don't do much when your opponent's creatures have enough power to kill them.

Saturday I had probably one of the best, if not best decks I've ever drafted. I have a screenshot of it, so I might upload it later if I remember. It was RW Wizards. First off, Relic Amulet is busted in any deck with a few wizards and instants/sorceries, it is broken in a deck chocked full of them. Second, when you're first three picks are Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway, Ondu Inversion // Ondu Skyruins, Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge you know you are going to have a good draft (yes I am a filthy rare drafter ).

The deck ended up going 7-1, but it should've gone 7-0. The only loss was because of a mistake on my part. I had Ondu Inversion in hand and my opponent had a Felidar Retreat going. I cast it before I needed to because I was antsy about the Retreat, and only had two mediocre cards in hand, while my opponent top-decked two good cards back to back. If I waited another turn or two I probably would've won.

EDIT: Uploaded screenshots of the deck.
Overall I am having a ton of fun with ZNR Draft (I've done twelve drafts and two sealed so far, all on Arena). My only complaint is that it really feels like a tribal set with a lands subtheme rather than a land set.

It was either this : https://www.yahoo.com/news/london-mansi ... 50188.html or a box of alpha......

JWK wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Is anyone else playing any limited, and if so, how are seeing Party work out? I have done probably about 10 sealed pools now, using prerelease packs, and today was the first time I was able to assemble a full party (black/blue) and only the second time I have seen anyone pull it off.

Btw, Canyon Jerboa is absolutely bonkers in limited. That mouse has beaten me twice now.

Played around 10 games of sealed and i've probably only assembled a full party 2 times. But I do like the mechanic, mostly having 2-3 is enough to make the triggers decent enough. It's a pretty fun mechanic, and I feel it'll be an interesting draft archetype. The Stonework Packbeast are really nice. I've run them in WR warriors and UB rogues and they really pump the value of the party cards in those decks. I'm really liking this limited.

I am enjoying the Zendikar Rising sealed play quite a lot. I hope to get some draft in soon and see how the set functions there, as it looks to be a blast.

I finshed the newest Dresden Files book and I did not like THAT or THAT or THAT.

Music Talk:

Gorillaz just released a song with Sir Elton John (who gets the rare honor of being Fabulously Animated in a Gorillaz music video):



The song is great. My only criticism is that I think the autotuned part by 6LACK might be better if it wasn't autotuned, but we don't have the non-autotuned version so I digress. Hopefully once concerts start back up they will play this live and there will be a non-autotuned version to compare.

Their Song Machine project has been amazing. I've been waiting with baited breath for each new part to drop. This is probably their best album since Demon Days. There hasn't been a bad song yet (though I think Friday the 13th is the weakest song so far, but it's good enough to be the second or third best song on most albums, so I digress). And that's not to say Humanz or the Now Now were bad albums (Humility and Saturnz Barz are songs I've listened to over and over again, and any song with Mavis Staples is automatically good in my book), but they lacked the consistent quality that Gorillaz albums haven't had since Plastic Beach. And don't get me started on The Fall. It's acceptable background music for the most part.

But going back to Song Machine, highly recommend Pac-Man, Désolé, and Momentary Bliss.

Currently listening to Cab Colloway (Minnie the Moocher is a %$#%$#% treasure).

That is all.

You know, I wonder if TWD SL was meant to be tied into the fact that season's 10 final is airing tonight along with the start of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Hermes_ wrote: ↑

3 years ago

You know, I wonder if TWD SL was meant to be tied into the fact that season's 10 final is airing tonight along with the start of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Yes. It was timed with that in mind.

So I restarted playing Breath of the Wild again. Actually, how I started playing again is a very, very, very mildly funny story. The new Hyrule Warrior game gives you an additional weapon if you have BotW save data on your Switch. Well I have BotW for the Wii U (didn't have a Switch when it came out). But I know my sister does and that she has never played it (She claims she will play it once she has beaten Twilight Princess. That was over two years ago. She blames grad school. I blame Tik Tok.). So I borrowed it from her and was like I will just play it enough to get some save data, and then I start playing and, well, I couldn't put it down.

I forgot how much I missed just experiencing the world. I do feel like I am going through the world faster this time, but that is probably because I remember where a lot of the stuff is. Or time dilation. Either or.

It's been a nice change of pace to, because grinding to Diamond in Arena with Mono-Red and doing a ton of drafts with Zendikar sort of burned me out of any serious Magic playing for a bit.

I never actually finished BotW. I picked up a switch for Fire Emblem and Pokemon and didn't make it through BotW before those dropped. I should actually get back to it someday.

I've been playing the hell out of Hades. It's the best game I've played in a long time and I'm not sure I could point to a single serious flaw with the game, as hyperbolic as that sounds.

I haven't managed to play much of any game recently, MtG, video, or otherwise, but I've had a bit of streaming under my belt on the train trip into work recently. This one is new to me but I know it's been out a little while - Castlevania is simply amazing. If you're into vampires, gothic fantasy or horror it'll have something for you. It's gory, so be warned, but it's so good I finished the content that was available to date and started right from the beginning again immediately.

@toctheyounger are you talking about the netflix Castlevania show? It is quite good. I think every time they release new content I have completed it in like one sitting lol.

I've only seen the first 2 seasons but I've really enjoyed it. As a big fan of the games there are a few moments where the score kicked in and it literally gave me goosebumps. One of the best game adaptations of all time.

ISBPathfinder wrote: ↑

3 years ago

@toctheyounger are you talking about the netflix Castlevania show? It is quite good. I think every time they release new content I have completed it in like one sitting lol.

Yeah I am. I've never played the games, but the show was soooo good. Gore aside the acting talent is great, the animation is awesome and the story holds up really well. I look forward to the train to watch it.

Lifeless wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I've only seen the first 2 seasons but I've really enjoyed it. As a big fan of the games there are a few moments where the score kicked in and it literally gave me goosebumps. One of the best game adaptations of all time.

The third season is great too. The last couple of episodes are really spine tingling with plenty of action. I finished a week ago and was like 'right, where's season 4. 2021?? Well dammit, better start again.'

Are the games worth going back in time for? I'm guessing they're probably a bit too retro to hold up really well, but you never know I guess.

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

3 years ago

The third season is great too. The last couple of episodes are really spine tingling with plenty of action. I finished a week ago and was like 'right, where's season 4. 2021?? Well dammit, better start again.'

Are the games worth going back in time for? I'm guessing they're probably a bit too retro to hold up really well, but you never know I guess.

2D side scrollers in my opinion aged very well. I think most of the handheld ones are worth revisiting but some of the more original versions back on NES might be a bit rougher. I think the game got a lot better after they started adding leveling and inventory setup rather than just having one or two abilities. I have played a good number of them and I would say the handheld versions were probably the better ones to look at. There was a console one like 10 years ago too that was decent but I can't really recall what that one was offhand lol.

Stay the hell away from the like..... single one that wasn't side scroller. Oh man they went three dimensional and it was HORRIBLE.

For my buck the best Castlevania games are Symphony of the Night style (often referred to as Igavanias based off one of their designers). Symphony itself is a great game well worth the time, although I personally enjoy any of the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS Castlevania games just as much. The designer of these games recently made Bloodstained Ritual of the Night for current gen consoles and that's also a really good game.

ISBPathfinder wrote: ↑

3 years ago

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

3 years ago

The third season is great too. The last couple of episodes are really spine tingling with plenty of action. I finished a week ago and was like 'right, where's season 4. 2021?? Well dammit, better start again.'

Are the games worth going back in time for? I'm guessing they're probably a bit too retro to hold up really well, but you never know I guess.

2D side scrollers in my opinion aged very well. I think most of the handheld ones are worth revisiting but some of the more original versions back on NES might be a bit rougher. I think the game got a lot better after they started adding leveling and inventory setup rather than just having one or two abilities. I have played a good number of them and I would say the handheld versions were probably the better ones to look at. There was a console one like 10 years ago too that was decent but I can't really recall what that one was offhand lol.

Stay the hell away from the like..... single one that wasn't side scroller. Oh man they went three dimensional and it was HORRIBLE.

Lifeless wrote: ↑

3 years ago

For my buck the best Castlevania games are Symphony of the Night style (often referred to as Igavanias based off one of their designers). Symphony itself is a great game well worth the time, although I personally enjoy any of the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS Castlevania games just as much. The designer of these games recently made Bloodstained Ritual of the Night for current gen consoles and that's also a really good game.

Thanks team. This is all assuming I even have a relevant console or emulator to get them on, or spare time to contribute to them, but you never know. I enjoyed the series enough to at least look into it.

ISBPathfinder wrote: ↑

3 years ago

2D side scrollers in my opinion aged very well. I think most of the handheld ones are worth revisiting but some of the more original versions back on NES might be a bit rougher. I think the game got a lot better after they started adding leveling and inventory setup rather than just having one or two abilities. I have played a good number of them and I would say the handheld versions were probably the better ones to look at. There was a console one like 10 years ago too that was decent but I can't really recall what that one was offhand lol.

Stay the hell away from the like..... single one that wasn't side scroller. Oh man they went three dimensional and it was HORRIBLE.

You're thinking of Lords of Shadow. 1 is solid, 2 not so much although as a fan of the series I found things to like about it.

The 3D one is either Castlevania 64 from the Nintendo 64 (almost unbelievably bad) or one of the PS2 era games (ok but nothing special).

Oooh, hell yeah that Netflix Castlevania show. Season 3 is out now? Awesome sauce, something to actually look forward too

Reminiscing for a moment on the overall fighting in the last episode or two of Season 2. *chef's kiss* A thing of beauty.

Similar to toc, never played the games to any great extent, but always loved the universe. I swear I picked up SOTN on my PS4 but just never got around to it. I really should...

Sanity_Eclipse wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Similar to toc, never played the games to any great extent, but always loved the universe. I swear I picked up SOTN on my PS4 but just never got around to it. I really should...

I just found it on Google play, so that's me for a little while.

And yeah, S3 is awesome. Bill Nighy, of all people, is in it. I love that guy's voice, he's just so suave.

Stopped thinking about Magic. Took a step back. Thinking about doll making.

Much happier for it.

@cryogen are there...... maybe a touch many sticky threads right now? I get that many of them have relevance, it just feels like all of the first page is stickied on there.