I feel so old...so old that I can remember MTGNews (where I was briefly a mod), which begat MTGSalvation, which will beget...something else, I suppose. End of an era indeed. While never a place for robust strategic conversation, it was THE place for spoilers for the last decade and a half or so, and a place I've been happy to call home.
I will miss this place, and will probably resist creating a new account in the new place before finally relenting in a few years after getting too sad to not be able to discuss Commander and rumored cards.
Farewell and RIP, 'Sally. It's been real.
- Hawk7915
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Dec 4, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on The Dos and Don'ts of Silver-Border CommanderI wish I owned a copy of this little gem, as "My Library is Riding the Dilu Horse" sounds like the most vaguely disturbing and awesome thing in the history of MtG.Posted in: Articles
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Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »See your number one shows why the costume people are immaterial to the community, they only show up at high level events, therefore with CS gone, nothing was lost. No one is cosplaying at my kitchen table or any other. Saying someone playing dress up makes someone buy an intro deck is such a leap of logic even the worst digital marketing hack wouldn't try it.
And your number two, couldn't agree more. Harassment's just not happening at the players playing with cards level that people think it is unless one thinks social media reflects reality. Try going to you local LGS and be a salty POS. People will play the games for an event, but you're not going to participate much beyond pay to play.
If your LGS is rife with rape jokes, name and shame bruh. Can't find Jeremy doing it, though most of his content isn't great, but would love a link.
Fair that we've gotten pretty far into the weeds here. My LGS seems generally great, my wife hasn't run into issues there and has generally bowed out because she hates limited and we're too poor for constructed. I haven't seen much/hardly any of Jeremy's stuff. I've seen a few of Christina's pictures on WotC's social media page but this whole scandal is the first I've really heard of both of them. They'll be gone, and there will be new cosplayers and scumbags to take their place.
I do think there's room for improvement and inclusion, because data says that something like 35-40% of players are women, but only 1% of serious tournament players or even casual "weekend warriors" are women. Some of that may be legitimate gender and cultural differences, but some of it is almost certainly that women feel unwelcome at local FNMs. It doesn't take the extremes of rape jokes and threats to scare 'em off.
Still, we're way off the issue here. It seems like we're both generally in agreement that being civil is good and that we're here for the larger issue and have no actual buy-in on the individuals involved, and I concede that cosplay is a poor/nonexistant marketing tool as it's pretty niche even among nerds. I do think they should be treated with respect, but fair enough that paying cosplayers to come to events like Hascon is probably money better spent elsewhere (like on fixing Gatherer or improving development or getting mainstream press attention). -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »That begs the question, what special accommodations need to be made for non-majority people? As far as I saw from 95-201X, none, but my group and LGS doesn't do any language policing, though we did make fun of the guy with waifu lands until he stopped using them.
I would say the people who demand things non game related do affect the game. Beyond salaries paid by wizards for content managers and other community management roles, money that could be spent on more RnD, better quality product and tourney prize support, we've already seen calls for wizards to pay adults to play dress-up.
So yes people who want to enjoy the game differently are detracting from the game by sapping finite resources. One could say they are growing the pie, but a worse product (ICM and other recent sets) is shrinking the pie more.
1) MaRo doesn't lie, and has repeatedly noted that "casuals" - folks who play for costumes and stories and flinging cards around their kitchen table - are the major audience of Magic the Gathering by a vast, vast magnitude. Super serious players who play professionally, and even semi-serious players who grind FNM every week, are an overall minority of the player population. It is THEIR enjoyment that funds the serious R&D to grind out good products and develop a game that rewards good play at the highest levels. While the recent Standard issues are likely in small part due to overtaxing the development team to serve a story team, the ability to hire new developers and refine/improve R&D with the Play Design team is due to the ever-growing sales from that story change, which has been a huge success for MtG's primary consumers.
2) I don't see why not hitting on people, commenting on their body shape and appearance, or "joking" about rape is an undue and unreasonable accommodation to expect in a professional setting, if you are dead-set on being the very best player beating the very best opponents. If your pleasure comes not from winning but from getting to be a dick to your opponents and drink their tears, you are at odds with the intent of the game. The author, and most female/colored/disabled players, are not asking you to treat them like Kings and Queens. They are asking you to treat them like adults and fellow players. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »One major difference, and I hope you can appreciate this: heterosexuality is, FAR AND AWAY, the norm. Your analogy would make more sense if women (lets, for the sake of argument, make them all unattractive women) continually asked me out this poorly at a card tournament. It would be sad. If men hit on me, that would be very creepy, because they are presuming interest in homosexual activity, which is a minority. That would be like me handing out Planned Parenthood fliers in Iran, and wondering why I am getting shot.
There is also a public policy issue. We want humans to live in the US, interestingly enough. For that, we need people to, you know, mate! Unwanted advances are sad, and when made repeatedly, are in fact harassment. One-off failed pickup attempts are not, and punishing them will lead to more introversion from an already-introversive group. Should we not be encouraging players to date each other, rather than making women at Magic events sacred cows??
I can accept a middle ground: flirt with tact. At a bar, grossly creeping at a girl results in a drink tossing. At a card event, perhaps a shove? But banning that behavior is wrong.
I get what you're saying, and am all for tact. The point of the author, and many other eloquent folks in this thread, is that it is never "just you" playfully flirting and dropping it if she says no or says nothing. It is every. single. opponent. Every single time. My wife usually made clear she was with her husband, and got creeped on the few tournaments she has been to back when we were just engaged and long-distance so she was attending alone. The fact that it is a constant barrage from all parties means even the guy who says "Hey, you're cool, that game was great, let's get coffee sometime" (which I'd consider to be respectful, tactful, and focused on positive qualities instead of just having sex ASAP) can feel pretty unwelcome because you are in fact the 10th guy to proposition her that day. The truth is that the far too many men are NOT that tactful and respectful, and I get that's because they're nervous and awkward but that is a reason and not a terribly compelling excuse. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Kryptnyt »That's fair. I didn't know about any Wolfenstein outcry. If there's flamethrowers in that game, it makes a lot more sense I guess. I still don't think Nazism has anything to do with cosplay however.
Yeah, I spend a ton of time on AV Club and most of my friends are hyper-liberal so I saw some of it. There is a legitimate phenomenon of making a tempest out of a tea kettle so I'm not sure how widespread the outcry REALLY was, but it was widespread enough to vaguely ping my radar so I understood that reference. Considering how fresh, and not well-disseminated, the reference is it would probably be good to edit the section to clarify. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »What you just mentioned (that pickup line) is not harassment, and I fear for a world were that is considered such.
Context matters, so consider my post to be "unsolicited pick-up lines that clearly make the recipient uncomfortable" since sure, you might be flirting and it makes sense to drop old gems like this - but also, if all your pickup lines relate immediately to sex with someone who's just there to play Magic, perhaps you should find a few new ones. THAT's the overall point, really, of my thread here - many here are saying "just let me play cards, this is a game, leave politics and identity out of it", then defending dropping cheesy pick-up lines and trolling for sex with their female opponents who are also just there to play cards. You can't have it both ways. It can't just be a game when it makes you comfortable, and be about your out-of-game needs and wants when it makes you comfortable too.
I opted for a clean example in the interest of not getting a warning or infraction. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »No, that is NOT what it is. I never mentioned feminism and its goods/ills once. I just want to be left alone and not having thought policing.
I know it's a tough line sometimes, but the issue here is that your privilege to be left alone ends when you harm someone else. If you say "hey, you look great in that dress but it'd look greater on my floor", your female opponent calling you on it or reporting you to a judge for unsportsmanlike conduct is no longer a "Thought Police" issue, it is an anti-harassment issue. Treating people with respect, decency, following the golden rule, etc, shouldn't BE a political issue, and the point of the article is that if you take this as an attack on your personal beliefs and politics, perhaps it is time to do some real soul searching regarding those beliefs and politics. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemThe full, in-context quote is:Posted in: Articles
"It should go without saying that if you feel personally attacked when someone denounces the Nazis, you ought to take a good, hard, long look inside yourself to find out where that Nazi sympathy comes from. And then you kill it with fire from a good, old-fashioned, American-made M1A1 flamethrower, a fine weapon responsible for killing many Nazis in the actual World War II."
In context, she refers to killing "those feelings of sympathy" with fire, and there is no advocacy of violence against Nazis. "Kill it with fire" is a common turn of phrase, and is here directed entirely as a metaphorical fire-bombing of negative attitudes some may possess, internally.
The "shoot Nazis in Normandy but not New York" bit is specifically referencing the outcry over Wolfenstein's recent release, which a handful of conservatives decried despite Wolfenstein being a long-running series predicated on shooting the hell out of Nazis (something it has in common with many, many, many other Triple A shooter titles on the market), as the context of a Nazi-controlled US still featuring Nazi-shooting was apparently too close to home for some. I admit the messaging is muddled by the long gap (she mentions the game in paragraph one, and the line, with no reference to the game, in her final paragraph), but there is no advocacy of violence here. An edit to make it clear she's referencing Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, however, may be beneficial. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI suppose I can appreciate the desire to "face only the strongest". Christina doesn't even play so that's whatever. I would challenge the assumption that welcoming women, people of color, disabled people, etc to the community somehow will give you less worthy opposition. I'm also not sure that folks who enjoy the game differently (for its art, costumes, flavor, etc) should be made to feel unwelcome or be treated poorly when they won't ever dilute your tournament experience or environment.Posted in: Articles
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Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI find it interesting that many posts here are to "keep politics out of my escapism". I understand and empathize with the sentiment. I come here to get away from the horror show that is modern politics and news. I generally prefer to tune out and avoid confrontation.Posted in: Articles
Here's the thing though; folks like Christina and the author are "bringing their liberal politics into your game" because you, or folks like you, started it.
I am a white man, so I have a limited perspective on many things, but I am also disabled and in a wheelchair. I have 100% had folks talk...real...real...slow to me, or make cracks about "feeling bad beating up on a cripple" at tournaments. I've let it mostly roll off my back or taken them aside and gently told them that that is very uncool of them, as my physical disability does not overly impact my cognitive functioning and it's a bit insulting to assume othewise. Are my opponents who do this immune to criticism? Am I injecting my "SJW politics" into the game by correcting them, or by posting this?
I would hope logically you'd answer "no, that's all fine and fair" - but then why is it wrong for Christina or Alexandra to similarly share their perspective and defend themselves? I would personally not have been as violent or blunt as the author either, but as someone who can only generally imagine what its like to be treated as "less than" every. single. minute of the day, since I get treated as "less than" a few times a week, I also don't really have the right to tell someone that their anger or protest is inappropriate. We can't endorse a community that does stuff like ask women "are you hear with your boyfriend/husband? You look GREAT in that dress. Are you free later? Do you know how to play? Do you just play for the pictures? Are you just doing this for attention from men?" AND also say "whoa, calm down lady, it's just a game" when they get upset at that treatment. -
Nov 30, 2017Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI was a bit nervous about the title here, but this article was dead-on. Many here are quick to say we need to protect valid criticism, but that wasn't the issue here. Christina didn't leave because of "criticism" - it's not like people were telling her she got the colors wrong or ought to have used metal instead of foam on her costume or she should switch to "Urban Decay" for makeup because it doesn't look as tacky and smeared after being in costume all day, or whatever and she couldn't take it. She left because of persistent harassment that crossed the line from respectful criticism to personal attack. The defense of criticism is a borderline non sequitur - it's like leaping into a discussion of how to prevent arson by adding "hey, just remember, roasting marshmallows in your backyard is great though. Let's just remember that some fires are helpful and maybe be a little easier on the arsonist, okay?"Posted in: Articles
The fact that there are so many comments here on MTGS are in defense of Jeremy, or a leap to "if you tell me I can't do as I please to others you are the oppressor and problem!!!!" is as depressing as it is utterly unsurprising. You hit the nail on the head. If you choose to spend your days protecting and defending Nazis, Fascists, rapists, misogynists, and internet trolls, even if you yourself feel you are NOT a Nazi, Fascist, rapist, misogynist, or troll, you can't be surprised to find that you are unwelcome in private communities due to the company YOU have chosen to keep, and the hill YOU have chosen to die on. You really should take a long, hard look at why you feel that this is the side you want to be on if you are uncomfortable with the labels that it entails.
One of the great lies of the 20th century is that all opinions are equal and sacred, that your ignorance is as valuable and valid as my knowledge, and that there is no objective truth. You are absolutely entitled to the opinion that Jeremy is right, that Christina is a crybaby, and that perhaps to go further, women are objects for your amusement or should only wear things that conform to your standards of beauty. You are also entitled to the opinion that the Earth is flat, but that isn't going to help you pass an Astronomy class or leap off the edge of the planet, and you are entitled to the opinion that gravity is a lie but that isn't going to let you take to the air on your own power. You're entitled to the opinion that all medicine is quackery and all nutrition is part of a conspiracy - take a decade off eating healthy and visiting doctors or taking any medicine and get back to me on how you feel. And you will face criticism by those that actually study, learn, research, and listen instead of forming a snap opinion based on their personal, anecdotal, and frequently privileged evidence. That criticism 100% means you will face consequences for sharing the opinions that underline and define Nazis, Fascists, rapists, pedophiles, and misogynists around the world.
I'd say that's the only misstep here. I am not calling you a Nazi - but your spirited defense of them is cause for concern and says a lot about your underlying beliefs and attitudes. If being lumped in with someone that, 10 years ago, we almost all agreed was synonymous with "punchable jerkwads and universal villains" is making you feel discomfort, perhaps it is your beliefs, and not my connecting of the dots, that is the problem. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
More tellingly, these effects only kill 5 of the top 20 commanders, and I'd say they only kill 4 reliably (since we can't count on Animar, Soul of Elements being a 3/3 or less when we drop this). As these are the cards we WANT to answer, it makes them risky.
Also we must consider that we have Toxic Deluge in black as a scalable effect, and that if we're willing to pay 1 more we can get better effect from stuff like Damnation or get the same effect but more flexibility off of, say, Rolling Earthquake in red.
That makes these effects metagame calls. If your meta has a ton of small tribal decks (especially decks like Elves and Humans that are likely to run x/1 and x/2 mana dorks) or token decks these effects can be worthwhile, but otherwise I think they're dead cards too often.
I imagine the alternative is to power up the ban list a little and also include some sort of restrictions that encourage folks to fill their decks with bad nonsense that allows them to turn dudes sideways and pummel each other as God/Sheldon intended.
- Your deck must include at least 10 creatures.
- Your deck must include at least 5 cards of each CMC 1-7.
- Your deck must include at least 3 creatures with power 6 or greater.
TIER 1: Auto-include if owned, in this priority order
The ABU Dual (Tundra)
The Shockland (Hallowed Fountain)
The On-color Fetchland (Flooded Strand)
The Battlebond Land (Sea of Clouds)
Command Tower (Command Tower)
The Cycling Land (Irrigated Farmland)
The Zendikar Tango Land (Prairie Stream)
The Canopy Land (Does not currently exist in Azorius)
The Check-land (Glacial Fortress)
I like these because they are relatively draw-back free, often enter untapped and generate advantage or are fetchable if they don't. From there, I ask a few questions to determine which duals, if any, I include.
- Do I have an incentive for running lots of basics? If so, I may actually not run any other non-basics. E.G., I have a G/x deck with Nissa, Who Shakes the World, or a U/x deck with High Tide and Caged Sun, or a B/x deck that wants to use Dread Presence and doesn't want to rely on Urborg to do so.
- Do I plan to attack with my commander at all, and do I suspect they may die for doing so? If so, in goes Opal Palace.
- Is my deck pretty low-to-the-ground? Is my commander low CMC? IF so, I might run more lands that don't enter tapped, such as the painlands (Adarkar Wastes, City of Brass and Mana Confluence), the fastlands like Seachrome Coast, the reveal-lands like Port Town, or any tribal lands like Wanderwine Hub that I can reasonably support.
- Is my deck slow and grindy? Am I just passing my first few turns? If so I will often add temples (Temple of Enlightenment) and the bounce-land (Azorius Chancery, and will add man-lands like Celestial Colonnade and the other tribal land of Path of Ancestry if they provide any value at all to my deck's gameplan.
- Is my deck Greedy? Am I trying to be able to cast Cryptic Command and Planar Cleansing reliably on-curve? If so that pushes me to include filter lands like Mystic Gate and even rely on "bad" duals like Tranquil Cove and Sejiri Refuge just to improve my odds of assembling my colors. Ridiculously, I will not include Azorius Guildgate and friends even here - but add 1 life and I'm in!
I am a poor as I mentioned, so I only include off-color fetches and Evolving Wilds or Terramorphic Expanse if my deck has a heavy Dredge, Landfall, Delve, or similar theme (like Gitrog Frog).
Yuriko draws a lot, so it's not hard to build a few more comboes into the deck without sacrifice that Plan A consistency. A few I'd also consider that seem like natural fits for Yuriko:
Hex Parasite + Decree of Silence lockdown (A bit slow, but both cards fit well with Yuriko's usual gameplan anyways)
Pili-Pala + Grand Architect infinite mana (Architect isn't awful in your deck as a way to pump your ninja/flying man swarm and get extra chip out of your Ornithopters and Memnites and Signal Pests and Universal Automatons)
Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top + any effect that reduces costs of artifacts by 1 (Etherium Sculptor, Jhoira's Familiar, Foundry Inspector, etc).
I'd probably include Palinchron for various infinite mana comboes. Once your mana is infinite you can loop the 'chron himself or loop Cavern Harpy or Shrieking Drake ad infinitum to kill with Altar of the Brood.
Trinket Mage is also a fun card to find Parasite, Sensei's Divining Top, dorks, Altar of the Brood, Runed Stalactite, and other utility.
In general, I am defining best as "so good that it should be in every deck capable of using it". Some cards might be more powerful, but more niche. These are the staples that you just jam when you need, say, 3 more ramp spells or 2 more draw spells and don't care about any specific synergies.
RAMP AND FIXING: To me the key is to be as low in CMC yourself as possible. Paying 4 mana to ramp is hardly ramping. Paying 3 mana is a heavy cost and should come with heavy advantage to justify it. That's not to say cards like Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, and Explosive Vegetation are bad but they aren't what I'd consider "best" and I do think they get run a little too often. At the same time, I don't love most creatures who tap for mana outside of specific decks - I think it's a mistake to play, say, Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elves if your deck doesn't have some extra value from the body.
2 Farseek
2 Nature's Lore
2 Rampant Growth
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Three Visits
3 Cultivate
3 Kodama's Reach
3 Wood Elves
0 Mana Crypt
0 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Mana Vault
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sol Ring
2 Coldsteel Heart
2 Azorius Signet (and the rest)
2 Talisman of Dominance (and the rest)
2 Mind Stone
3 Coalition Relic
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Solemn Simulacrum
REMOVAL: To me, great removal hits as many of the following as possible. 1) Cheap - you are at a card deficit every time you use targeted removal in a multiplayer format, so you need to make that up in tempo; 2) Versatile - you come up against the weirdest threats in EDH and cards that hit a lot of things are valuable. 3) Instant - sorcery speed removal is awful in a multiplayer format. 4) Advantageous - again, you are at a card deficit so anything that soaks that by hitting several things OR drawing cards/leaving bodies gets a second glance. It's also a bit relative, as Black and White in general have more efficient removal than other colors and thus can be a bit more stingy in my picks.
1 Condemn
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Winds of Abandon
3 Oblation
3 Generous Gift
4 Return to Dust
BLUE:
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Pongify
1 Swan Song
2 Arcane Denial
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Drain
2 Reality Shift
2 Negate
2 Tale's End
3 Force of Negation
3 Imprisoned in the Moon
5 Force of Will
5 Treachery
1 Tragic Slip
2 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
3 Ashes to Ashes
3 Reckless Spite
3 Bone Shredder
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Snuff Out
5 Shriekmaw
6 Curtains' Call
RED:
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Vandalblast
2 Lava Coil
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Chaos Warp
4 Aftershock
1 Caustic Caterpillar
3 Beast Within
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Song of the Dryads
4 Force of Vigor
5 Acidic Slime
MULTI:
2 Hull Breach
3 Anguished Unmaking
3 Mortify
3 Putrefy
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Vindicate
4 Decimate
6 Casualties of War
I'm interested in Constellation as well for sure - just a shame that Yarok won't trigger Enchantress's Presence, Argothian Enchantress, or Verduran Enchantress. Only 14 constellation cards may not be enough, especially when a few of them are draft chaff (Goldenhide Ox, Dreadbringer Lampads) and a few more don't functionally benefit from a double-trigger (Agent of Erebos, Daxos's Torment).
Even so I think that Eidolon of Blossoms and Doomwake Giant are strong enough to make it tempting. There's also a fair amount of enchantments (mostly auras but still) with ETB triggers. I also wonder how does Yarok interact with, say, Frontier Siege? Can I choose Khans AND Dragons? For Engineered Plague do I get to choose two creature types? Interesting if so.
Seems like a possible sideboard player in Standard as well given all the Sparks currently at War but on balance I imagine that Negate is going to be best.
As a result he's a lot less interesting, although Urza's Ruinous Blast or Kamahl's Druidic Vow every. Single. Turn. Is still pretty good.
- There are lots of excellent Elementals with EtB abilities thanks to Lorwyn so it's naturally great to include Mulldrifter, Cloudthresher, and Shriekmaw. The only "Elemental Lord" in existence, Master of Waves, is also preeettty good with Yarok.
- Yarok makes for a nice little synergy with Fertilid + Evolution Sage.
- Yarok is clearly insane in an Elemental shell alongside Risen Reef.
- But we can go deeper! If we have Yarok, Risen Reef, and Zendikar's Roil we have a chance to go full infinite durdle. Let's say we have Roil + Reef out and cast Yarok (they curve well, after all). Yarok triggers Risen Reef twice, so we get to look at the top two cards of our library, put any lands onto the battlefield, and draw the rest. If we hit any lands, we make two 2/2 elementals...and now we get to look at 4 more cards. Any lands there, and we make two 2/2s and look at four more cards a piece. This combo can't kill us because Risen Reef doesn't "draw", but in theory we can "draw" our entire library, put every land in our library onto the battlefield, and create twice as many elementals. Spicy stuff. We can make it even more consistent with Cream of the Crop or newcomer Season of Growth (which also curve perfectly), which allow us to view several more cards on each run through the triggers and near-guarantee it all works. We're in the colors to rig the deck with Insidious Dreams too, if we really want.
Best of all, because you are so inclined to be running landfall synergies anyways between Risen Reef, Fertilid, Silverglade Elemental, and Explore synergies alongside Wildgrowth Walker all of these pieces are pretty reasonable to include on their own, and it just gets super sick if we assemble the infinity gauntlet.
I actually made Homer Simpson noises this morning when I saw this card. Panharmonicon on a stick in the best three colors in EDH is so...so...gross. I wanted to detail all the magical things Yarok can do because he can do so many of them, so I figured I'd start a thread.
1. #value
I list this just so it's out of the way - yes you can just jam a goodstuff Sultai deck loaded to bear with Ravenous Chupacabra and Shriekmaw and Wood Elves and Baleful Strix and Coiling Oracle and Solemn Simulacrum and Mulldrifter and Eternal Witness and Acidic Slime and have a good old time with double rainbow value. You can add blink effects like Conjurer's Closet for even greater value. This is for sure powerful. But we can do more.
2. Enter the Infinite (as in combos, not that card)
Due to his color limitations Yarok doesn't go quite as infinite as Panharmonicon, but then again you do get the redundancy of Yarok being in your Command Zone instead of your 99. As far as I can tell (so far!) there are no 100% easy-mode infinites with Yarok but there are some extremely powerful comboes that should effectively BE infinite with good enough deckbuilding.
- We can chain together gross amounts of mana with Peregrine Drake, Cloud of Faeries, Palinchron, and Great Whale. This can allow us to draw deep with Mulldrifter, Sphinx of Uthuun, Demonlord Belzenlok, and Sphinx of Lost Truths as well as tutor creatures like Sidisi, Undead Vizier and Rune-scarred Demon, drawing into more untappers or clones until we can cast an extra turn effect or a Clone Legion or kicked Rite of Replication. That's certainly a deck.
- It should also be pretty infinite with a few mana dorks alongside Intruder Alarm and some sorta token maker or Cloudstone Curio. Indeed I think that Yarok + Imperious Perfect + Birds of Paradise or anything else that can tap for G or untap a single land is infinite, and it is also much easier to go infinite with say Shrieking Drake if you just need a single card to tap for U. I have no doubt there is an infinite with Earthcraft and token makers too but Earthcraft comboes with all cards so that hardly counts.
But that's all just what you can do with Yarok that you could also do with ol' Harmonicon. Crucially Yarok triggers off of PERMANENTS, and not just "creatures and artifacts". That opens us up for...
3. Land-harmoni-fall
Yarok is now the best Sultai lands commander because it also doubles your triggers of Courser of Kruphix, Retreat to Coralhelm, Rampaging Baloths, Field of the Dead, Avenger of Zendikar, and any other landfall card. This is unprecedented, spicy territory and I'm excited to play with it. I don't know if there's an infinite there (maybe some sorta jank with Patron of the Moon, Lotus Cobra, and Meloku the Clouded Mirror?) but it seems like a blast.
The Lists
I'll try to keep a running tally of fun stuff to do with Yarok.
1 Faerie Seer
2 Cloud of Faeries
2 Fblthp, the Lost
3 Man-o'-war
3 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Spellseeker
3 Trinket Mage
3 Treasure Mage
3 Trophy Mage
3 Tribute Mage
4 Archaeomancer
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Mnemonic Wall
5 Mulldrifter
5 Peregrine Drake
5 Prosperous Pirates
5 Sphinx of Lost Truths
6 Torrential Gearhulk
7 Great Whale
7 Palinchron
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
2 Burglar Rat
2 Yarok's Fenlurker
3 Bone Shredder
3 Liliana's Specter
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Nekrataal
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
5 Shriekmaw
6 Demonlord Belzenlok
6 Noxious Gearhulk
6 Phyrexian Gargantua
7 Rune-scarred Demon
GREEN:
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Sylvan Ranger
3 Eternal Witness
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Wood Elves
5 Acidic Slime
8 Terastodon
2 Baleful Strix
(to be finished later)
What are you excited to experiment with using Yarok?
Daretti, Scrap Savant
Must-have:
- Goblin Engineer (I'd probably run a recurrable Entomb effect; the ability is gravy).
Interested in Testing:
- Magmatic Sinkhole (seems better than Roast as a "cheap" removal spell)
Probably Not Good Enough, But Keeping an Eye On...
- Arcum's Astrolabe, Alpine Guide, Frostwalk Bastion (I'm toying with a "Snow" deck but Scrying Sheets is expensive)
- Lesser Masticore (good sac fodder and mana sink but my deck doesn't necessarily need any of that)
- Planebound Accomplice (not interested in the Cloudstone Curio infinite Chandras combo; I prefer my 'walkers to stick around)
- Throes of Chaos (seems fun, but also bad)
Doran, The Siege Tower:
Must-have: Nothing
Interested in Testing:
- Webweaver Changeling (we get good Treefolk so rarely that I'm willing to consider it)
- Kaya's Guile, Force of Vigor, Winds of Abandon (versatile two-for-one removal is the name of Doran's game)
- Etchings of the Chosen (I don't necessarily WANT to sac my treefolk constantly, but it is an interesting effect)
- Nurturing Peatland, Silent Clearing (Being able to T3 Doran is really really good. I like having Forests too, but I'd probably try these)
- Talisman of Hierarchy, Talisman of Resilience (I'm not 100% on these but, again, it helps me more reliably slam T3 Doran)
The Gitrog Monster
Must-have:
- Springbloom Druid (Not quite Harrow on a stick but will replace Harrow anyways to increase my dude count)
- Winding Way (Strictly better than Mulch)
- Nurturing Peatland, Prismatic Vista (more triggers of both Landfall and Gitrog...the dream! Peatland is especially important to help loop Life from the Loam)
Interested in Testing:
- Excavating Anurid (This is like basically Mulldrifter once Gitrog is out. Mulldrifter is good. Is this good? I don't know.)
Probably Not Good Enough, But Keeping an Eye On...
- Ayula's Influence (It's my very own Seismic Assault, but the space for non-creature, non-land cards in my deck is pretty constrained)
- Talisman of Resilience (I don't run Golgari Signet so this probably also doesn't make the cut)
- Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis (ultimately he's just another beater, and one that doesn't play well with Boneyard Wurm and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord)
Yuriko, The Tiger's Shadow
Must-have:
- Changeling Outcast (The single biggest add to the deck. Unblockable 1/1 Ninja is a HUGE game)
- Fallen Shinobi, Ingenious Infiltrator, Mist-Syndicate Naga (I think these are the best of the actual Ninjas. I run more casual so I'll just add them but for lean decks these seem just better than Silent-blade Oni, Ink-eyes, Servant of Oni and Ninja of the Deep Hours)
- Force of Negation, Force of Despair (I tend to have a full grip and no free lands, so a way to convert excess cards into protection and board-clearing seems really, really good)
Interested in Testing:
- Throatseeker (A raw 3-drop with no Ninjutsu or Evasion is a tough sell, but this is a spicy card)
- Azra Smokeshaper, Moonblade Shinobi, Ninja of the New Moon (I don't know if these are good enough since currently Walker of Secret Ways isn't, but will probably test it)
- Smoke Shroud (I run Aqueous Form and I suspect this is better, but I'll need to test it to be sure)
- Cunning Evasion (Is this better than Crystal Shard? I am not sure. Worth testing!
- Cabal Therapist, Faerie Seer (More evasive 1-drops that have later game utility is great. Not sure what these replace yet but will be taking a deep look)
Probably Not Good Enough, But Keeping an Eye On...
- Phantom Ninja, Venomous Changeling, Graveshifter (These are probably a bit too pondrous to run)
- Universal Automaton (It's a 1-drop ninja that I can find with Trinket Mage! But it's also just a 1/1 vanilla dorkling. I doubt it is worth running in my list)
- Mob (I do like removal I can cast for 0 or 1 but that looks like 5 for Yuriko, but this is probably a little too clunky)
I don't really play Gahiji to win so no upgrades for him this time. Lots and lots of upgrades for Yuriko though - this was her set! And a few goodies for others as well.
I also won't complain about getting Sword of Truth and Justice, Sword of Sinew and Steel, and any of the legends as possible new commanders.