I'm glad that the staff are working on something to continue the community - unfortunately I don't have a phpBB2 forum hosted on a random friend's server to pull out of my pocket, this time
-
- Kelzam
- Registered User
-
Member for 19 years, 9 months, and 5 days
Last active Tue, Feb, 27 2024 20:02:49
- 14 Followers
- 7,182 Total Posts
- 923 Thanks
-
May 28, 2019
Kelzam posted a message on The End of an EraI'm still processing that this is happening. Thank you, everyone, who helped get the forums on it's feet; who has kept them afloat since then; who has used or frequented the forums and added to or been part of the community here. It's been almost 15 years ago now, and it's crazy to think Sally has been around this long.Posted in: Articles
I'm glad that the staff are working on something to continue the community - unfortunately I don't have a phpBB2 forum hosted on a random friend's server to pull out of my pocket, this time -
Dec 29, 2017
Kelzam posted a message on MTGSalvation's Deckbuilder is Here!A few things I feel need to be introduced to make this worth using over other similar resources, that I currently find a little frustrating:Posted in: Articles
- The ability to re-position each section. Right now, no matter what, any section I add using the Add Section widget on the side appears below the Early/Mid/Late Game section. There can be information that is better explained in sections before those. Before I get into the early game, it's probably better to tell them how to mulligan, which I want to be it's own section. Also, I feel like Quick Info makes more sense as a section above the deck list for people to have a quick read about the deck before they start pouring through the deck list to see if it sounds like something they even want to read on about.
- The same ability to add card images to the pre-made text sections that you can add to the sections made with the Add Section feature; as well as the ability to create card links in the input text that appears in the text boxes, like we are able to do on the forums in our existing deck threads.
- Sorting capabilities for the deck list. Custom categories like those on TappedOut and the ability to tag cards with another tag other than it's default type. For example, I might want to use add the tag "Mana Acceleration" to Sol Ring instead of Artifacts, and have the capability of viewing the deck listed using custom tags to make it easier for readers to understand.
-
Feb 3, 2014
Kelzam posted a message on Launch Giveaway!My favorite card is easily Arcbound Ravager. I've always loved Artifact-based decks, so when Mirrodin block was releasing I was in heaven. The deck it was part of was definitely too powerful for Standard (thanks in no part to Disciple of the Vault and the cycle of Artifact lands). But, now I play Affinity in Modern and get the same enjoyment as I did in Standard. The reason Arcbound Ravager is my favorite about all the rest though is that he let's you play both in proactive and reactive manners. The versatility is just amazing, letting you prepare an Etched Champion for an alpha strike or respond to removal of him by pouring all his counters on your Inkmoth Nexus. He's also a centerpiece in one of the few decks that aren't tri-color goodstuff.decs. There's an unfortunate lack of focus in most decks and many are simply piles of good cards that happen to fit into a guild or wedge combinations.Posted in: Announcements
-
Jan 26, 2011
Kelzam posted a message on Project thoughtsIt's always good to see someone getting enjoyment out of their work or projectsPosted in: Nis Blog
While I don't have any suggestions for it personally, I thought I'd post to thank you for essentially doing the forum community a service in the process. -
Jun 23, 2009
Kelzam posted a message on The Moldy, Rusty GoodbyeBasically, after deciding I really want to start playing Magic again, I found that my 8 years worth of collecting cards were victim to a basement flooding, and only 3 cards survived.Posted in: Xenphire Blog
I decided to add a TL;DR summary -
Jun 8, 2009
Kelzam posted a message on Selective ReadingI'll quote the posts I was referring to for clarity:Posted in: Xenphire Blog
Quote from The RiddlerI cannot see the Angel art being a Threaten-like spell, because whatever is threatening the angel into being evil, somehow also gave the angel the dark crown and glowing eyes, and whoever is controlling it isn't even present in the picture. Like the original art, I'd expect the person(s) threatening the victim to actually be present. I would also expect the background to be more in line with the soldier she's beating than the bloody palette selected (If the background were blue or white for example, she'd stick out showing something isn't right, for example).
Judging by the the glow, she's either been possessed by an evil force or she's just evil to begin with. The guy has clearly been beaten, he looks worn down and like he's struggling to get away - just look at his posture. The angle of his legs suggest he's nearly crawling.
While she wouldn't be the typical Fallen Angel what with lacking the black wings, the art tries too hard to make her look evil for it to be used on something like Threaten, IMO. I would have to doubt it's any form of control Magic, because while red might cause rage, she's clearly being driven by magic or has been possessed. The only other color possibility would be blue and blue wouldn't have an effect like that on a creature. Black doesn't do control Magic.
Re: the Sphinx: Oh god my eyes.
Quote from Ash316It would be funny then if this turned out to be Ritual of the Machine.;) I don't think it is, but there have been control cards in black. It's just doesn't go along with what they would want to do with a Core set. But as others have said, because of the background it does look more like a Red card. I just think it will be Threaten.
To answer your question, I'm not saying someone can't disagree with someone else, what I'm saying is it'd be nice if people that post in the Rumor Mill weren't so terrible about selective reading. The Riddler made several good points against the already lacking-in-reasoning assumption most of the sheep have made that the artwork has to be Threaten. The one guy who quoted him clearly didn't even bother reading his posts or didn't even try to understand his points. You have one guy posting something logical, breaking away from the mindless masses that make up the Rumor Mill posters and shining a light of intelligence on a thread, and it goes by practically unnoticed. I just find it frustrating, because it's like people there are a bunch of zombies.
You might disagree because of how you feel about reading longer posts, but I personally would rather read some posts with content that are actually logical, than the posts of hundreds of mouthbreathers repeating "Cool card" "This must be X" ad infinitum who don't even think about what they're posting. I do realize the moderators do their best to curb the spam, but I find the very nature of the average Rumor Mill poster to be quite frustrating. Different from person to person I suppose, but I think the quality of poster should be higher in the 'Mill. The Rumor Mill for a lot of new users will be the first impression of MTGS because early spoilers have been an attention-getter that has brought a good chunk of the user base to MTGNews, and now here. You come on as a new user and see a bunch of sheep, you're inclined to register and start the same sort of habits you see.
And yeah I have seen the *** vs. Damnation thread. It's another example of sheep posting the same thing over and over despite any amount of evidence to prove one way or another. Reading people's response to Charlequin's last few posts has been nervewracking at most. -
Jun 8, 2009
Kelzam posted a message on Emotional rollercoasterLife is what you make of it, but ending is never the answer. In a lot of ways, suicide is a selfish thing - you probably know or have heard of many people that have lived much more painful lives, but they've endured it and it made them better people. Love is all around you, and when you end your own life, you hurt those around you.Posted in: Archon Kamigawa Blog
Let me relate your personal life to mine:
I was bullied from my pre-teen years until I graduated because I was gay, I became depressed and went from 150lbs. to 215lbs in a matter of a year and a half before graduating. I finally got accepted to a good college, got in a bad relationship, shot up to 250 lbs., and failed out of college and got terminated. Now, things like a suspension from school or the illnesses I've had seem like nothing compared to the $30,000 of debt over my head.
That is a lot to deal with. But you know why I don't kill myself? Because I'm only human, and I can endure it. We all make mistakes, we go through bad times, but we can learn from our mistakes and endure our tough times and be stronger people for it. I have family and friends that love me, and you probably do too. You haven't even begun your life yet, you're still in school - you have many years ahead of you for things to get better, to be happy and shape your life as you see fit.
Life is a gift, don't throw it away. Taking your own life is only running away from your problems, and should there be a God in the afterlife your karma will follow you. You can endure, and see that maybe things really aren't that bad, and that there's more to life than the negative side of things. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
As far as Commander is concerned, this will very easily stack up counters with regular Black staples in the format. Necropotence, Razaketh, the Foulblooded, Erebos, God of the Dead, Fetchlands, Shocklands, many, many more
Imagine this in a format with all 10 Shocklands available for your mana base:
This... is awful logic. Let's get a bunch of people to trade for or buy cards with the caveat that we may very well just go ahead and decide it was a bad idea? No... just no.
This is how I feel about it. There are many Planeswalkers I don't care to see in the Command Zone, and a good chunk of them would need banned.
As an aside, frankly most of the spinoffs of Commander like Tiny Leaders and Brawl are not great game play and there is a reason they are all but forgotten sans a very tiny, dedicated player base. With that said, they shouldn't be used as examples of "Well X works in Y so it should be fine."
P.S. They stopped marketing Magic as the players being two powerful sorcerers and/or Planeswalkers dueling it out a long, long time ago.
For the record, although Regna, the Redeemer can help find Krav, the Unredeemed with her Partners With trigger, I do not find Regna worth running and tend to run Krav solo in most of my decks.
I really like Liliana, Untouched by Death in my build because Yawgmoth's Will for Zombies has been really good for me, and she helps with filling the graveyard.
Additionally, I too run Mystic Remora and Tombstone Stairwell, as well as Glacial Chasm. I realized that it would be a really good time to run Solemnity, because the deck can be pretty mana hungry without having to worry about the Cumulative Upkeep costs. When I added this, I also added Glacial Chasm because when I get going, I draw a lot of hate. So many of the pieces in an Esper Zombie deck are really scary by themselves that it doesn't take much to draw the table's attention, which is also why I run Solitary Confinement.
After that I realized I could run Mikaeus the Unhallowed, which I had planned on running anyway since it was reprinted so not as cost prohibitive, but Mikaeus, Geralf's Messenger, Solemnity and a sac outlet is a win condition by itself
But to keep it on topic, have you tried Zacama, Primal Calamity? I like it's utility in my list
Looking pretty sweet! How are you liking Treasure Keeper? I've personally passed over trying it because it's a pretty big gamble without setting up the top and I'm afraid of feel bad moments where I see cards I could cast, but don't want to quite yet and end up putting them on the bottom of my library instead of drawing them to use for later :x I see you decided to try Dawn of the Dead
Recent Discussion!
On card draw:
I used to run Promise of Power and it was pretty great for me. Ultimately it was cut while trying to lower the overall CMC over time. I did also run Disciple of Bolas back when I was still filling in holes for stuff I was waiting to put in the deck. The amount of draw power I got out of it felt a bit too situational for my taste. There were a lot of factors before I'd want to cast it, i.e. a decent sized creature on the battlefield, that I also wanted to sacrifice at a given time. In the late game I could recur it and draw a lot of cards by by that time between my other draw options and the tutors available it didn't feel too necessary. Morbid Curiosity isn't bad but not great either and suffers from the same kind of situational thing where you're waiting for a good time to use it. But I'm not saying any of these are bad by any means - this has just been my experience with all of them that lead to me not running them in my own list.
Exsanguinate vs Debt to the Deathless
I've gone over these at an earlier point in the thread, but I prefer Exsanguinate because the mana cost at which it and Debt to the Deathless meet parity is pretty high.
1WWBB = 2 life loss
3BB = 3 life loss
2WWBB = 4 life loss
4BB = 4 life loss
3WWBB = 6 life loss
5BB = 5 life loss
So, outside of using either with infinite mana combos that will kill the table regardless, you have to spend 3WWBB (7 total for it to escape parity with Exsanguinate. That takes it farther out of situations where you may want to use either of these to save you if you're drawing heat or in a pod with a lot of aggro decks. In a pod of four players, for an Exsanguinate casted at 4BB you're gaining 12 life back and need less of a colored mana investment to use for other things. Maybe a situation arises where you want to activate Vizkopa Guildmage where having the extra colored mana you used to cast Debt to the Deathless could have been important. With the extra colored mana investment and needing to cost 7 mana total before it's better than Exsanguinate, this is why I personally choose Exsanguinate
Phyrexian Altar
I'm super glad that this got reprinted and is a bit cheaper now! It's quickly bouncing back to nearly $20 again :/ I don't think I'll be adding one to the deck, myself. In my build the colorless mana from Ashnod's Altar goes a lot farther (Nim Deathmantle, sac engine loops, Corpse Dance, etc) and the 3CC slot is pretty full up to consider just adding it outright. I certainly don't blame anyone for running it, though!
Mana Acceleration
I still want to get a Mox Amber to test out in the deck. With typically playing Ayli on Turn 2 it seems like it'd be active most of the game. I certainly am never sad to see it in my Yuriko, Tiger's Shadow deck. I don't run Land Tax or Boreas Charger in my build because I run so few basic lands, and I tend to already draw more lands than I can play because of Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena and Weathered Wayfarer. I however am considering replacing Wayfarer's Bauble with Land Tax. It's not a card I've been super happy with and the price on Land Tax is much less prohibitive at the moment.
Crypt Ghast and similar effects I don't run mostly for reasons I've discussed before with y'all, or in the main post. Without Urborg it feels like a dead Creature, and I get a lot of mileage out of my utility lands in a given game where I need to use the extra abilities rather than tap them for BB. Again a card that's not bad by any means but not my preference
I order custom tokens from rk post's website for $0.50 each and they're way cooler. Should check it out
No doubt people were disappointed in a few of the guild leaders and champions last time around, but overall most of them were not bad. I do think Commander has and Brawl have some influence on the lower-costed Legendary Creatures in Ravnica this time around because 1.) When Return to Ravnica was being designed, Commander hadn't manifested itself as being near as popular as it was and they didn't have a good idea yet of what it needed or what players wanted, and 2.) Although Brawl is basically already a dead idea, it no doubt had influence on the mana costs and tuning of Legendary Creatures if only to a limited extent. It feels bad to play an high cost Brawl Commander in Standard when you have very little good ramp to work with.
Anyway, I myself prefer low-cost Commanders so I'm definitely happy. I'm sure something else is that the Guild Leaders/Champions are very important to the plane/setting and Wizards most likely wanted them to be more likely to see play. It's surely part of the optics of their branding and making the story a larger part of their focus with the game. It feels bad when your favorite guild's Champions or Leaders are completely unplayable and over costed. In the recent past they've mentioned that's why cards like Emrakul, the Promised End were tuned so aggressively.
P.S. I'll be back to reply to y'all's recent posts here soon!
Outgoing
-Faith's Fetters
-Mangara of Corondor
-Nezumi Graverobber
-Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
Incoming
+Leonin Relic-Warder
+Gift of Immortality
+Gray Merchant of Asphodel
+Krav, the Unredeemed
1. Mangara of Corondor OUT; Leonin Relic-Warder IN
For quite a while, I haven't felt great about drawing Mangara. While they has been the occasion where I've been able to machine-gun down permanents by combining Mangara with combo pieces, the turn it takes to make him active has too often resulted in him being removed or no longer around to do his job. Enter Leonin Relic-Warder. The deck has plenty of ways to deal with Creatures, but only a small number of ways of dealing with Artifacts and Enchantments. He can use the Fiend Hunter trick to exile his targets permanently, but also comes down for WW allowing you to put a giant wrench in the gears of decks that use Mana Crypt and such to ramp ahead fast. He is also an infinite loop with Necromancy or Gift of Immortality and a sac outlet.
2. Nezumi Graverobber OUT; Gift of Immortality IN
The Graverobber has been a long time patron of the deck since it's inception. However, he has lost favor over time with his mana intensive ability and the difficulty of getting him to flip outside of Turn 1-3. His reanimation ability is fantastic, but ultimately the problem is that the format has sped up since the days he made it into the list. The format has become extremely popular since the early days of this deck, and so more and more content creators and players are pushing optimized decks. More "tier" decks and "competitive" lists means being unable to afford such a large mana investment that looks uncertain, now. Hell's Caretaker was up for consideration for it's place, but ultimately Gift of Immortality felt the best in testing. It combos with Sun Titan, Fiend Hunter and the newly added Leonin Relic-Warder, and is great for recovering from a board wipe, and costs little mana to do so.
3. Faith's Fetters OUT; Grey Merchant of Asphodel IN
"Gary" has long been a consideration for the deck, but it's always been a matter of what to take out for him. Over time with the addition of Anguished Unmaking and Utter End, I've increased the total single target removal that can hit any problem permanents. Occasionally Faith's Fetters would come in handy, particularly in niche cases where I didn't want whatever the permanent was to die. This scenario has become so few and far in between, however, that it finally made sense to take it out and bring in Gary, especially because life drain has become more important. As mentioned in the case of Nezumi Graverobber above, the speed of decks in Commander has been on the rise. Not only is Gary often times a win condition in himself with reanimation shenanigans, but the life drain can offset hits taken early in the game or the use of Necropotence and Toxic Deluge.
4. Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter OUT; Krav, the Unredeemed IN
Another part of the speed of the format rising is attempting to shed large expensive cards that don't do much by themselves, as well as finding more card draw. Vish Kal has been a staple sac outlet in the deck since very early on, but in truth has aged poorly. He is neat and flavorful, but Krav has come to replace him as not only a sac outlet, but life gain and card draw, for significantly cheaper mana investment. I have been very impressed with Krav. I have no plans to run his partner.
Recognition
A few of the regulars that stop by and participate in the thread and discussion have asked about or suggested some of these before. I confess - if it weren't quite obvious - that I can be stubborn about hanging on to what I'm used to for sentimental reasons or because "it works", although I usually do have good reasoning for my own choices. As time has gone on, I've learned to be even more objective with deck building because at my LGS I've found a lot of people come to me for deck advice or to discuss ideas and the meta is maturing on a month-by-month basis as the format has grown. But most of all, thank you to everyone who continues to offer their input and ideas here! I'm thankful for your support for the ideas presented here and positivity as we explore ways to make our opponents bend the knee!
The structure looks a lot like the Thran superstructures found across Dominaria in the updated style guide and backgrounds of a lot of the new art, so I'm pretty sure it's Dominaria. If it were Vryn they'd probably have asked for the Mage Rings in the artwork since that's the only real way we can identify the plane at this point.