If you have a Sydri deck of your own, I'd love to hear any stories of how the reservoir plays out for you.

Quote from lastdaysgunslinger »Wait so now we cant play celestial dawn and use other lands as colorless? What the heck BS is this.
Celestial says it right on card " others produce COLORLESS" .
So basically wotc has F'ed up the soup and now we have to eat it.
702.25f When a permanent phases out, any Auras, Equipment, or Fortifications attached to that permanent phase out at the same time. This alternate way of phasing out is known as phasing out “indirectly.” An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification that phased out indirectly won’t phase in by itself, but instead phases in along with the permanent it’s attached to.
702.25k Phased-out tokens cease to exist as a state-based action. See rule 704.5d.
702.25e Continuous effects that affect a phased-out permanent may expire while that permanent is phased out. If so, they will no longer affect that permanent once it’s phased in. In particular, effects with “for as long as” durations that track that permanent (see rule 611.2b) end when that permanent phases out because they can no longer see it.
502.1. First, all phased-in permanents with phasing that the active player controls phase out, and all phased-out permanents that the active player controlled when they phased out phase in. This all happens simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. See rule 702.25, “Phasing.”
502.2. Second, the active player determines which permanents he or she controls will untap. Then he or she untaps them all simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. Normally, all of a player’s permanents untap, but effects can keep one or more of a player’s permanents from untapping.
702.25b If a permanent phases out, its status changes to “phased out.” Except for rules and effects that specifically mention phased-out permanents, a phased-out permanent is treated as though it does not exist. It can’t affect or be affected by anything else in the game.
Quote from Jemolk »One card I haven't seen mentioned (not entirely sure how much it's played, but I play it in every deck I can) is Rakdos Charm. It's basically never dead, it's multipurpose removal: it can remove an artifact, or an entire graveyard, or it can remove that player who just went infinite with squirrels. I originally started running it as a way to deal with infinite combos by killing people who use them, but it has been fantastic as an instant-speed, whole-graveyard exile effect for 2 mana. That, and removing swords, greaves and memorials.
It doesn't fit into any of the categories here, but I felt that it was worth mentioning.
It's Black History Month, people... Making a product themed to that is not pandering, nor political. It's literally the theme of the month, and a Nationally recognized cultural event.
I am going to take this moment to reiterate that MTGS stands behind inclusion initiatives, and increased diversity in Magic, these forums, and in life in general. Statements made against inclusion or diversity hold no place here.
I am also going to reiterate that MTGS is not a place to argue about politics or social issues. Period.
Yes, if race were factored in it is racist. That is why outside of the context of a Mafia game, where the term 'lynch' would be difficult to justify without a racial overtone/impact, and would be disallowed. The very argument you make can be used in favor on allowing the term, as the gameplay usage divests it of a racial connotation in that context.
Your attribution of a stance to the site is likewise incorrect. You are falsely attributing an extreme stance to the site to argue against, and that is incorrect, and also the literal definition of a straw man argument.
We have also received no indication that this issue is as prevalent as you make it out to be. So far it does seem that other users are able to identify that the context of the game term is separate from racial connotations.
For reference, this debate here, seems to agree with this overall sentiment:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/387223/is-lynch-considered-a-racist-word
In addition, even wikipedia does not refer to lynching as a racially charged word. While it explicitly and up front states that lynching of African Americans was common and prevalent, it also shows that lynching has connotations and prevalence across the entire world:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching
That said, wikipedia DID however also tag lynching as part of their series on discrimination, which does show the word to be racially charged.
I will look into this.
This is something to look into. I will admit that we have not discussed what the ideal timeline would be within the staff, and this does seem to be an important piece of information in order to determine what the timeline would look like.
There will always be individuals who, for one reason or another, are resistant to change. Ideally, once the general Mafia group has accepted and transitioned on, we would start to officially send reminders and warnings, and eventually infractions to stop using the term. The mod staff will discuss what an ideal timeline should be.
What, precisely, is there to gain? What I see is an action that will have no discernable impact, short of being a position of spite on the way out the door.
When/(if) the Mafia community leaves, I would personally prefer to simply move on from it, and archive the forums. With the Mafia forum gone, this resolves the issue, as there would no longer be a context for the use of the word 'lynch,' and we would be able to unilaterally make it unacceptable. Should users wish to reopen a Mafia forum in the future then, we would be able to do so with a fresh start, and caveat the term as unacceptable from the very beginning. This seems a much more practical solution.
I need to address a few things here:
I suggest you look over the history of lynching to better understand FB's position and stance:
https://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/
Furthermore, as stated above even Wikipedia includes their article on lynching as part of their series on discrimination. See the right hand bar. This further shows that the term is racially charged.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching
Calling someone alt-right was uncalled for FB, and comes awfully close to a personal attack.
First off, there's false equivalency here. The Mafia forum has already indicated a direction from moving away from the term 'lynch' which is the term you are objecting to. Secondly, there is the matter of context, usage, and history involved; as well as the cultural implications in areas which are not the United States, which you seem to be repeatedly ignoring.
What we have here is not a group deciding what is and is not racist, it is the understanding that the term has been used in a separate context with a different meaning. They have accepted that the term has charged usage outside of their context, and have made indications towards moving towards different usages.
Let me give you an alternate example, in the word "Retard." Retard is considered an pejorative and offensive word here on MTGS. We do not accept it as an insult, description, or even passing phrase. However, we also understand that the term holds history as a medical term, which though no longer widely acceptable even in that context, could hold legitimate usages. Despite the word having a legitimate context in medical history - the medical profession has moved onward and discontinued usage of the word due to the negative connotations, which came in from an outside context. However, that change occured over a period of time of phasing out the terminology.
That is what is happening here. They have a word within their context and definition, have accepted there is a charged connotation, and are now in the process of phasing out their vocabulary. At this time, we are allowing this change and phasing to occur naturally. Should this natural phase out stall or not occur in good faith, we shall revisit the topic, but at this juncture we do not see any reason to assume any sort of bad faith.
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In any regard, this entire thing may soon be a moot point, so at current we are awaiting to see how this plays out.
Regarding Birgi, God of Storytelling vs Kykar, Wind's Fury, I think there are enough differences that they don't preculde each other from being played - that said, there's a lot of overlap between them. As far as storm combos go, I think the advantage has to go to Kykar - both have the ability to essentially "refund" 1 mana from spells, but aside from the extra colors, the ability to stockpile spirits in prior turns can give Kykar a significant head start on preparing a combo turn. This can also be achieved with other sources of spirit generation prior to dropping Kykar, as well as the creatures being a threat in their own right, offering more win conditions. Creatures also offer alternate use cases with other sac outlets or value engines. Overall there's just a lot more flexibility.
Where Birgi, God of Storytelling really shines though is her back face. Having both options of mana 'reduction' OR card draw in the command zone lets her fill either half of the equation depending on what's missing. That is insanely powerful as an ability.
Honestly though, considering that any UR commander is storm-viable, and how much Birgi adds to any such deck, I expect to see Birgi in the 99 considerably more than in the Command Zone.
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For Cosima, God of the Voyage, I think both faces are great. Early in the game she can ensure you hit early land drops. You can drop the boat on turn 2, then a 2 drop creature on 3 (such as Ghostly Pilferer), crew and attack, even if you didn't have a third land.
As far as her main face with the card draw, Tireless Tracker is a highly popular card. Part of this is that he gives green some extra card draw, especially some that is not tied to creatures (other than the tracker himself being one). Green also ramps more, so can make more clues...
However... it still costs 2 mana per clue that you crack for card draw. Cosima is a similar effect - Land = Draw, except that she's free.
Again though, as with Birgi, being able to fix early lands, or late game draw, is a powerful ability to have in the Command Zone. I think that flexibility is what will really make Cosima interesting.
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I hope you have a sac outlet out or some other way to interrupt that Maja, Bretagard Protector combo, otherwise you just drew the game... =D
As always, you can read the official announcement on the Rules' Committee's mtgcommander.net site:
https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/2021/01/25/2021-january-update/
Aside from just Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction shenanigans, you're overlooking another Red signature: Furnace of Rath effects.
If you have Furnace out, Toralf starts murdering people. Let's say an opponent has 3 1/1 goblins out. You lightning bolt one, doubled, for 6 damage. 5 excess means Toralf doubles to 10 damage to the next. That leaves 9 excess, doubling to 18 on the third. Finally, that 17 excess damage can now go to anyone's face for 34 damage.
This is not going to be a super consistent combo... nor high amounts of play; but this is not relegated to simply being a spellslinger commander.
If you have concerns about the site's directions, or have ideas for improvements, please let us know in the staff inbox. We would love to hear your feedback as to how to make the site a more welcoming experience.
This is not the thread for that though. Thanks.
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/community-forums/community-discussion/staff-inbox
Not only that, but one reason they could all (mostly) be white is to keep the numbers closer together. Right now the four white cards are set at numbers 22, 24, 26, and 29... all with titles starting with R or S. that means that 23, 25, 27, and 28 all also start with R or S. That's a lot of R's. I could see a few "Runeforged" getting repeated. But that's still intriguing as well.
If you, or anyone else, finds comments they feel are unsafe, harmful, or go beyond the bounds of our community, we urge you to bring these comments to our attention with the Report feature, and include why you feel the comment is inappropriate.
Our moderators are volunteers, and are only human as well. Sometimes we make mistakes, or simply do not have the knowledge on certain matters. I once received a report based on a derogatory word which I had been previously unaware of, but was able to understand the context of from the explanation of the reporter as well as a bit of research. More explanation is always good.
If a person take issue about a character being in the set because of their race. That is racism. There is no other word for it. It's literally the issue being discussed. Her race.
This is a fictional game, where Planeswalkers are travelers. They are foreign elements into ANY of these worlds they visit. That's the whole point of Magic. Jace can visit Ixalan, Sorin can visit Zendikar, Arlinn can visit Ravnica. To say that a foreign tourist ruins the immersion or historical accuracy of a world? Because of their RACE?
No. Those statements are not acceptable. It is literally an argument about exclusion based on race, which is the literal definition of racism.
Nevermind historical realities that the Vikings sailed all the way into the Mediterranean, and traded with, and fought, in that region. Considering that Vikings dealt with, dealt in, and took slaves, having Black characters would even NOT be out of context, if we were going for historical accuracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_slave_trade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_expansion
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Calling someone a Nazi is Flaming, and will be infracted. If you see this behavior occur, please report it.
I disagree. Not every statement is equally correct, moral, or impactful. We are under no obligation, morally or otherwise, to allow a platform to every kind of speech or opinion. For example, outright hateful speech will never be permitted on this site. The question is thus not about "whether" we can or should moderate, but about "where."
Finding the line between allowing polite and insightful discussion can sometimes be tricky. Sometimes, such as with racism, it's not.
This is hyperbole. Of course not everyone will accept or connect with everything about every character. I have criticism on how many aspects of Magic have been handled, such as the retcon of Ugin, and how the Bolas arc ended.
However, when the critique of a character is based upon their race, or their gender, or their gender identity... That's not a critique. That's prejudice.
[card]Ideas Unbound[/card] = Ideas Unbound
As the question is answered, I'll just close this thread.
Some of this conversation seems to no longer be about site concerns. I will reiterate the following:
I hope to make my way through this thread and answer any concerns arisen, however, there are a number of open tickets, so it may take some time to get back to this.
Thank you,
-bobthfunny.
I'm shutting this down.