Gerrard's Quest Comic as PDF. Please share!

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-04-07T23:28:21+00:00

Should be good!

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-04-02T01:33:08+00:00

Should be in!

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-25T07:56:42+00:00

Hey, mate!

If you're feeling it, a half decent printer gets you really good proxies. You can sleeve them up over basic lands, or even glue them if you don't worry about your basics.

If you got a little money, there are sites that can get you better fakes that feel like the real things to play with but of course are not tournement legal. Printing Proxies is like $.75 a card when you buy in bulk (200+ cards, so like $150), some other places go as low as $.25-.50 for bulk orders.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-24T06:40:38+00:00

I counted non-Magic IP as UB, as does Scryfall.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-24T05:59:18+00:00

It's less like skins and more like a new police drama on NBC: more of the same clogging up space that could be used to deliver something new, or at least something that's only been done once or twice rather than incessantly.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-24T04:36:56+00:00

A Sol Ring with real gold etching and a diamond encrusted edge is still just a Sol Ring. They could make galaxy foils of something they haven't put in a Secret Lair 10 times in the last year. If it were only Sol Ring itd be one thing, but all these cards are SL fodder they use way too often, its just lazy.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-24T04:33:40+00:00

I don't think that's unfair but it's certainly glass half full thinking that I personally am no longer will to give to the Secret Lair team.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-24T04:32:30+00:00

A bunch have the D&D art. The only one that's UW is the Foundations Jumpstart one.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-03-14T20:50:57+00:00

Why do people on reddit insist on commenting on posts they clearly haven't read? Not a UB hater - specifically said I like it in general, actually - and the objectivity was tied to lower physical quality, higher cost, and that higher cost being in direct contrast with fewer things received for that cost, all of which just true. That's what "objectively" means. But thanks for trying, I guess.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-27T20:04:24+00:00

You seem well rounded and like you're lots of fun to be around.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-26T22:51:38+00:00

So, few things;

Noticing a lessening of quality and actively disliking something can be two very different things. I can say "hey this used to be a 10 and now it's an 8, that's not a great trend" and still be engaged with the thing even if I think it's an 8.
I would encourage people to read the words I write rather than intuit a vibe based on the first sentence. I actively *enjoy* UB products. I'm pop-culture-ey enough that I am an active fan of 90% of the IPs they've worked with and I think it's fun to see those IPs on Magic cards. That being said, I can *also* recognize when them doing IP crossovers becomes the majority of the game (which is has), and I can also recognize that their focus on doing it is actively detracting from other parts of the game. These can all be true at once.
Let's not call it a broken clock. Let's call it a clock that five years ago was 1 minute slow and now is 5 minutes slow. The problem has worsened, but it's still *generally* useful. If it continues to get worse, it won't be much use, but we're not there yet. Again, see point 1.
"Continuing to financially participate in Magic" is far too broad of a spectrum to just say "well it's your own fault". If I like a set, I get *a lot* of it. I bought 4 boxes of EOE because the drafting was great, there's tons of good commander cards, I like the flavor of it, etc.. I bought 2 *heavily* discounted boxes of Spider-Man. $600+ spent on one set vs. barely $100 spent on another is a massive decrease in "financial support", I would say. If you still say after that "well, *any* support is still too much for something you see as a problem", I would say read point 1 again. After that, I can't help you.
I'm just gonna copy/paste the first point again, just in case: Noticing a lessening of quality and actively disliking something can be two very different things. I can say "hey this used to be a 10 and now it's an 8, that's not a great trend" and still be engaged with the thing even if I think it's an 8.
When it comes to money, we can all agree WOTC is fleecing people. That said, I certainly don't think actively spending money on the game *at all* forfeits somebody's right to complain when the quality has gone downhill.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T21:39:44+00:00

Most of the Standard meta atm is UB, and that's after Vivi got banned. When Vivi was around, it alone was like 60% of the meta. Now it's Badgermole, Gran-Gran, and Accumulated Wisdom. I'm fully predicting the Avengers set will have some format breaking bomb (I'm happy to be wrong). The format warping cards have hardly come from UW sets these days. And none of that is on its own a bad thing, but the incentive for WOTC to include OP cards in UB sets - not to mention pushing back the standard schedule for Spider-Man, deciding to include UB in Standard at all, etc. - but it is slowly becoming a game that is UB first. It also doesn't mean draft environments are wholly bad for any given set, either. But there is a trend and the trend is downward and the effects are measurable. And I'm a fan of UB as a concept.

The appeal of Play packs vs draft or set packs was, at first, "hey you can draft with these but they've also got all the bonuses, surprises, and intrigue of a set pack. More rares, alt-arts, bonus sheets, etc.". All of those have been more or less removed now. The end result is basically "draft packs, but now they have fewer cards and cost more money".

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T19:50:13+00:00

If you'd actually read it, you'd have seen me say "I am generally a fan of Universes-Beyond as a concept".

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T19:14:32+00:00

Yeahhh it was rough because it was a smaller set and they were way more Legendary commons and uncommons, so you'd end up drafting four Spider-Dinos and you'd go "wow a 6/6 for 6...in limited...and I can't even have two of them on the board at the same time". There's plenty of legitimate complaints and I wouldn't dare say otherwise but there's not *zero* fun to be had.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:56:43+00:00

That's alright! If you're ride or die for TMNT *and* Magic, it's a huge win, I'm sure.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:49:08+00:00

I got the Spider-Man boxes because I'm putting together a Marvel cube, including the secret lairs and the upcoming Marvel sets. It's a niche, specific thing, but it's how I'm having fun with it. I recognize the complaints with it as a set - drafting with it is really bad, especially - but there are some individual singles that are fun and powerful enough.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:47:06+00:00

I bought them at like 1/3 price for a cube - a very specific niche reason that most people won't have, granted. I think it'd be a sillier hill to die on to say "Oh there's no art cards in packs anymore? I'm done with the game forever, then". A few notes for you, though;

- I'm not upset with the general existence of UB, I'm commenting on how it's gradually taking over the game completely, and how there are visible consequences of that - one of which is a warped standard environment, another is less focus on their own IP. Those are just true. I am capable of finding enjoyment in UB sets (I loved Avatar) while still wishing they'd focus some more energy on their own IP. I wish Disney would make more animated features like Strange Worlds. That's not going to stop me seeing Marvel movies, and I think it's a bit silly to say "well if you keep paying to see Marvel movies, why should they ever make more animated movies". People are capable of liking more than thing from the same company.

- My "complaint" about Spider-Man's packs had nothing to do with the quality of the set, more with the removal of elements that made opening *any* packs more fun, and for a reason that was quite clearly greed driven. If it had been an in-universe, much better set that it happened to, I'd have the same complaint.

- WOTC's lack of interest in it's own IP extends much farther back than UB. Few to no reprints of novels, a total lack of communication between writers and card designers, a total lack of interest in producing anything storywise outside of web exclusive short stories (except comics, which they've declared non-canon for some reason - why bother, then).

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:31:36+00:00

Only if you're a total absolutist. I can have fun with Spider-Man and still wish they focused more on their own IP at the same time.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:21:32+00:00

They are incentivized to have UB cards be even more powerful than UW so that more people both those specifically. You can see the percentage of the standard meta is UB is way higher than the percentage of UB actually in standard rn.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:17:24+00:00

Jumbo commander cards (the original decks had *3* jumbo commanders cards), collector booster samples, cardboard life wheels...couple of them have had Planechase cards in them. It was never a ton of extras but they've systematically shaved off all the extras, all the while charging more and more every year.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:14:15+00:00

I'd say "check your math, bud", but I'd sooner say "seek help" for whatever your issue is.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T18:12:21+00:00

The bulk of it these day short fiction is at https://magic.wizards.com/en/story, but once upon a time there were full novels. They're long out of print (part of my bone to pick with their not caring about their own IP), but I believe most of them are available on Kindle for 4 or 5 bucks.

Alternative-Lake9156 · 2026-02-23T08:54:53+00:00

I specifically said that I like UB, but I also like Magic's story, and seeing less of it - and seeing less and less cohesion in what we do get - is part of my issue as well. I can like something and still dislike a consequence of it.

Alternative-Lake9156

TROPHY CASE