MTG Salvation

Hello. And welcome to MTGS's art Sub. We do have a Avatar and Signature forum. The main Page are the sig/avvy shops. There is also a Sub there for random requests and crituques. Feel free to post your work there, or continue on here. Just wanted to let you know that there are more resources available to you. That forum can be a bit quiet, just giving you more info. If you have any questions or concerns, don't be afraid to ask. ~29

Also, nice work.

Quote from scubahood86 »

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Apologies if I come off as being harsh, that is not my intention. I just want to pull your attention to where you need to focus on becoming better at this. You did a fantastic job on the art, so you are good there. I want to see your continued growth as an artist and not to scare you away from doing this. So just keep at it.

I always feel bad when posting my thoughts because I'm afraid I'll hurt people's feelings as well as potentially scaring away new artists. I learned the most about my short-comings in my art by listening more to the harsher criticisms than the positive ones. They leave you with nothing to hide and tend to be the most honest, and I'd rather know what I'm doing wrong since I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing right. As for bead posts with decent thickness (< 3mm, methinks) I use these. No need to worry about the gauge differences. I don't recall what I pay for them (a bit more than 25 for 3$), but I tend to get LOTS of them at a time. Coupons Help as well. I also Enjoy doing the physical shopping for items as it allows me to see/touch the items before purchasing. Though, I guess since I know all the items I get, I should see about maybe just getting larger bulk quantities from the 'net.

Quote from DavidWhy »

Finally got around to making another 3D life counter after years away from Magic. Plastic covering protecting the cut art.

Well, hello there. Nice work you have. Only a couple of issues I have with it. You need to use a metal straight edge to get those cuts nice and clean. If you did use a straight edge, I can only suggest more practice with it. Having messy cuts like that kills the sight of having to see that nice artwork you made 3 dimensional. The other is the wire (?) you used for the bead bars. The cleaner the entire piece is, the more professional it looks. The art looks so good that rest of the piece kinda detracts from it.

Apologies if I come off as being harsh, that is not my intention. I just want to pull your attention to where you need to focus on becoming better at this. You did a fantastic job on the art, so you are good there. I want to see your continued growth as an artist and not to scare you away from doing this. So just keep at it.

Sakashima the Impostor Loves him some Nekusar decks. Double your Nek? Sure. Copy some fun creature only to reuse later? sure. He is a really nice addition.

I never ran howling mine. I don't like the false symmetry of it. Fevered Visions seems like a better howling mine. Being that it has the potential to do damage all on its own seems like it would be a better inclusion.

Nope. It's hard to figure out what i would cut to fit it in. I have the Yawg's will spot i could use, but I've got art commissions that have been taking all my time up.

I have the same issue with groans. So My Nek has been turned into digital only. There are more things i could put but the first set of "cuts" is where to best start. Now... what to fill those holes with, I'm unsure. As I would just start suggesting my build, but that is not what I want to do. A while back i did do a "Heart of Nek" build where I listed some of the most important cards to run...

Naugh-Tay's core list http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/575956-nekusar-the-mindrazer-hail-to-the-king-baby?comment=39
DK's Core list http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/575956-nekusar-the-mindrazer-hail-to-the-king-baby?comment=40
reyuval's Core list http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/575956-nekusar-the-mindrazer-hail-to-the-king-baby?comment=41
serrot-29's core list http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/575956-nekusar-the-mindrazer-hail-to-the-king-baby?comment=42

Keep in mind, these lists are from the end of 2014... so they can be taken with a grain of salt...

Wheel of fortune is the best wheel. but there are also ways around that. I tend to not really look at what cards are valued at (most times i honestly don't know), so I may be a bit of a useless resource. Nevertheless, I can suggest cards maybe to kinda get some ideas going. First of, my first card suggestions: Bloodchief Ascension, Liliana's Caress and Megrim. Keep in mind, for the most part, life gain is negligible since commander damage is a thing.

I'll start by going over what I think are off theme (mind you, I'm trying not to build my Nek for you):
Breathstealer's Crypt: If you are running this card, you need significantly less creatures. So as the build stands, this is off theme. I would suggest pruning some critters before running this. Also, when choosing creatures to put into the deck, you have to think "Is this creature worth the 3 life to *ALWAYS* put it into my hand?" If you are willing to pitch a critter to the Crypt instead of casting it, then it is not worth running in this deck.
Phyrexian Tyranny: I understand why you *want* to run this card. I just don't see the need to run it. Yes, it hurts everyone, but it also hurts you. The best strategy is to not run a suicide version of Nek as you can draw LOTS of cards.
Spiteful Visions: As with Tyranny, this card hurts more than it helps. Yeah, i see you run lifegain, but you then move away from the them you are wanting to run, which is "Kill the opponent with all the draw".
Kothophed, Soul Hoarder: Might as well just run a better demon and drawing cards Bloodgift Demon. Kotho is just junk unless you are running LOTS of removal to make him worthwhile. There's another demon that does something similar to Bloodgift I just don't recall the name off the top of my head.
Notorious Assassin: Spellshapers aren't very good. Might as well just run a removal SPELL here. I understand the ability to repeat is nice, but this hurts you in the long run, via BS's Crypt and Summoning sickness.
Urborg Syphon-Mage: Again, spellshaper. Run Bloodchief Ascension as repeatable life gain (which can get out of hand quickly), or Exsanguinate for a one time use life drain. If you run Cabal Coffers/Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Exsanguinate can get out of hand.
Waterfront Bouncer: If you are gonna remove something, might as well be everything (bounce it all, then wheel) or just kill/exile it. And again, Spellshaper. If you are wanting to discard something rather than cast it, it probably should not be in the deck.
Alexi, Zephyr Mage: Again, spellshaper requiring 2x cards discarded. Spellshapers are great if you are running reanimator. We are not. We are running Draw/Discard Pain.
Typhoid Rats: A one drop with no evasion... yeah, he can go.
Pontiff of Blight: I ran this in my Obby build. Yeah, he's not great. If you are spending mana to gain life, you are not spending your mana to win. Over time, the incremental life steal can get you there... but 3 mana to have them lose at minimum 7 life is a bit better use of your resources.
Wall of Frost: No evasion. It's just meh to be honest.
Tunneling Geopede: How many lands per turn are you dropping to make this worth running? It's nice incremental damage, but not worth the slot.
Walking Atlas: I'd rather run another mana rock instead of this guy. He becomes useless without lands in hand. It happens, even when drawing mitts of cards, but it happens.
Alloy Myr: I'd rather run another mana rock instead of a rock that has summoning sickness.
Hover Barrier: See Wall of Frost
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I'm torn here. Gary is good. but is best when reused or in monoblack decks.... Not sure how well he'd work here.
Nekrataal: I'd rather run a strict removal spell here.
Dakra Mystic: I'm honestly unsure of this one. I'm not sure its worth cutting, but I'm not sure I'd pay the 3 life to let it past BS's Crypt. I've never used the card so I'd like to hear your input on this one.
Whirlpool Warrior: Some people run this, I don't. I only run 10 critters outside of Nek. I'm not against it, but keep in mind if you can get more spell versions of wheels, then this is an easy cut.
Kederekt Parasite: While it is not hard to activate this guy, the fact that it needs another perm to make it active is bother some. My build doesn't run much red outside of nek an wheels, so this is hard to activate for me. You have to build your deck as such to accommodate cards like this.
Graveblade Marauder: As you begin to thin your creature base (even with your current creature base) this card becomes less relevant.



[edit] IF you want repeatable spell, use Yawgmoth's Will or Past in Flames or any spells that shuffle your grave into your library. Also, I would highly suggest Fevered Visions in your build.

Quote from DementedKirby »

Quote from serrot_29 »

I could see caress being reprinted, not sure about a functional reprint. If i recall, Lili is on at least one piece of art. Also, I really doubt they will make a functional reprint of Lili's Caress, but hey what do i know.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Liliana's in Innistrad and she's in the art for the card and it's her namesake as well plus it's a good SB against madness decks. A guy can dream, though... Innistrad v.1 had a wheel so maybe with the discard theme we could have another one?

It is quite possible that we could see something in the next block if we don't see something in this one.

I could see caress being reprinted, not sure about a functional reprint. If i recall, Lili is on at least one piece of art. Also, I really doubt they will make a functional reprint of Lili's Caress, but hey what do i know.

You could ask her. I'm pretty sure she has a fB account, among other things. She also has her own website, if i recall correctly. www.tnielsen.com

Keep in mind she did do the art for the new FoW, so she has that going for her, which is nice. And the pair of Akromas.

Also, they may have wanted to try out new artists to keep things fresh. It doesn't mean that she's being slowly pushed away, it could be her decision to slow down. There are many factors that could lead to this, but only Terese would know the answer to what you ask.

Quote from BetweenWalls »

Quote from kampfer3233 »

These new DFC style here is truly great!! But it would be even better if the art of the transformed part can be put upside down (just opposite to the regular one) so that when the creature transform, the render can be just turned around for 180 degree and easily be seen by the user.

Thanks for sharing!!

They're not actually meant to be used on the battlefield, but rather as proxies (instead of official checklist proxies) primarily for cube drafts. When drafting, it's important to be able to see all the card info without having to resort to revealing the card by removing its sleeve. A regular card in a clear sleeve can be substituted once the proxy is cast - I find flipped (transformed) cards to be more easily understood at a glance compared to the Kamigawa-style rotated cards.

Visually, I feel that the Kamigawa style is better looking than these above. Though, it makes sense to just make the card as a stand in until the real one is cast. Makes it easier to know what's going on on the card without having to give away that you have a DFC/Kami style card in your hand. So the design choice is understandable. The Cube I've played has stand in cards like this for all the DFC cards, with the DFC cards in a pile off to the side in clear sleeves so that there is no need to pull the cards out to use them. I may suggest this style of stand in card as the idea behind it is rather solid.

Quote from scubahood86 »

To stick on little bits and detailing I usually use any old white, fast drying craft glue. This is because I want those pieces to sit and never be touched and clamping them is a pain.

For layering I use gorilla glue. It's fairly thin so can absorb into cards. Works better if it gets into the stuff under the ink layer. It dries slow and expands so you often end up with a mess. Still, it holds better than anything else I've tried and goes rock hard preventing twisting of the cards; which is what usually causes layers to separate.

These are the little nuances about glues that you have to find out for yourself. Personally, I did not know this about Gorilla glue. By playing with different glues, you are able to find something that works with your style of putting these things together. I'm honestly unsure of what my first glue was, as it was an unlabled bottle that looked like the elmers glue I currently you. Though it had a fantastic tack, dry time and sturdiness. My current glue comes close, but even with the aging of the glue, it can only come close and not be spot on.

This is a question that comes up A LOT. I use Elmer's Craft Bond Tacky Glue. I also "age" my glue a bit to give it more thickness. To age a glue, I tend to leave the bottle open for extended periods of time, allowing the glue to become thicker. Whether this actually works or not I'm not sure of. All I know is that after I've done this a few times, the glue sticks better AND dries faster. Though, I may just be a bit out of my mind and just making things up.

The general answer is this: If you want instant fixing, you want a CA glue (Super glue) that is a bit thick. If you want some amount of pliability you want a liquid Tacky glue. There are pros and cons to using any glue. I hate to say this, but it's really a matter of finding something you like and what works for you.

• Rubber cements are bad, they aren't very strong and do not like smooth surfaces. They can easily become unbonded. They are also very hard to work with
• Epoxy types (the ones that require 2 liquids to mix) are messy and you have very little control. Some also have an exotherimc reaction which can cause the glue to get warm as it dries. Not sure how this affects the cards, but it happens.
• Spray glues are the messy of messy. They get everywhere. Some people actually use them. I avoid them. You really want to have a well ventilated area and a large area to spay because of overspray. Since you want to stand back and spray instead of being up close and making a clumpy mess.

I always seem to forget that planeswalkers are a thing. It's always nice to pop some off when you can or need to.