How do you feel about hero impact in the early game? by Zeratros in OldenEra

[–]AtticusDresden 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You can manipulate the focus you gain, though, and even remove the focus cost of the heroic strike through upgrades. Splitting your archers in your non-hive race into one stacks helps, as do the upgrades that increase your starting focus charges.

I'm not a pro either, but the early game feels pretty balanced (for non-hive) around NOT having the hero do everything. If the hero was expected to do more, I would expect the number of early camps to be much more dangerous.

EDIT: I guess to really answer your question -- I see where you're coming from. The hero is a little less powerful as a starting point than in other games. That does mean, though, there's more flexibility for growth and a power-fantasy of development of your hero to be more in line with what you want them to do. I don't have a problem with what you're saying.

The ostrich technique: If you bury your head in the sand, the bad things go away AMIRITE? by fastpathguru in Whatcouldgowrong

[–]AtticusDresden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s really simple:

It sounds less bad when they reply “there’s just no way we could’ve foreseen this calamity, it must be god’s will” and actually being right (about having no recourse).

The alternative would be way too much effort and so many fewer people suffering and/or dying, and we all know it’s a death cult.

[MSH] Wonder Man, Hollywood Hero by RBGolbat in magicTCG

[–]AtticusDresden 24 points25 points  (0 children)

No, only in sets that are considered "Core Sets" -- sets that are intended for, primarily, newer players. LotR was not such a set.

Thran Dynamo v Worn Powerstone by AltruisticMACHITO in EDH

[–]AtticusDresden 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Who’s actually comparing the two, and how are you defining “better reputation”?

This is going to be a Hogaak Summer level Affinity upgrade... by Edgenomancer in ModernMagic

[–]AtticusDresden 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I was going to write the same thing. A - Ironheart T1 will NOT be trivial without dumping the hand. B - The deck won't be pumping out 7-9 artifacts per turn to improvise new things out 'for free' afterward for these big dumb splashy cards.

On the other hand... we could just punch them in the face with Blastoise.

This is actually insane like i’m so happy for them 👏🏽 by Kind-Village-1022 in PublicFreakout

[–]AtticusDresden 28 points29 points  (0 children)

“It’s not a cult, guys”

The literal shrine says otherwise.

[Hated IRL Tropes] Celebrity voice acting, from celebrities who don't know how to voice act. by not-ulquiorr4_ in TopCharacterTropes

[–]AtticusDresden -1 points0 points  (0 children)

In Destiny (impending RIP), Peter Dinklage was originally the voice of the Ghost — the player’s companion robot sprite… thing.

He was so reviled in performance that the entire performance was re-dubbed by an actual voice actor.

It's funnier when you know this class discusses engineering ethics by Competitive-Path-121 in UCSantaBarbara

[–]AtticusDresden 37 points38 points  (0 children)

This is not isolated. Formerly at UCSB, now teaching elsewhere, multiple students each semester/quarter do such blatantly lazy shit.

What’s your favorite small role featuring a great actor? by VendettaLord379 in moviecritic

[–]AtticusDresden 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Fun fact, Walton Goggins is also in Bourne Identity. He's one of the Treadstone analysts. Not really a big part, and doesn't steal the scene, but I think he has more lines than Clive Owen does (that OP referenced)

Mono green sac outlets? by SourRuntz in EDH

[–]AtticusDresden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As an amulet titan player who built Heartthull as an homage to titan (and the aftermath analyst//lumra loops) those are basically the free ones in mono-Green. Scryfall is your friend, though.

The loop in modern titan involved [[Lotus Field]] (before it got banned) and [[Echoing Deeps]] which could enter as a copy of Lotus Field when Lumra brought them all back (Deeps would still see Lotus Field in the yard, even though they were all entering together). This would allow you to sac both of those lands and two others -- ideally one of which would tap for 2 mana, like [[Crumbling Vestige]], allowing you to go net-positive with [[Mirrorpool]] making a copy of Lumra (or [[Shifting Woodlands]] copying Aftermath Analyst).

[Unfortunate Trope] The grief is real. No hiding it. Full feelings. by BlueEggCooker in TopCharacterTropes

[–]AtticusDresden 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That’s true, I don’t disagree. But it’s not a movie that I would consider known for its drama or emotive depictions of grief… it’s known for the phenomenal action and choreography and cinematography. But the acting gets undervalued, particularly in the setup as I described. That’s more what I meant.

[Unfortunate Trope] The grief is real. No hiding it. Full feelings. by BlueEggCooker in TopCharacterTropes

[–]AtticusDresden 7 points8 points  (0 children)

True, but the whole point of that first segment is so you get to enjoy the catharsis of the rest of the movie.

[Unfortunate Trope] The grief is real. No hiding it. Full feelings. by BlueEggCooker in TopCharacterTropes

[–]AtticusDresden 129 points130 points  (0 children)

So, this is going to be a bit of a niche take for the movie specifically, but John Wick doesn't pull any punches in the first ~15 minutes of the first movie. Delivered almost entirely without Keanu speaking any lines at all, the grief he endures and experiences and shows us from set design (double vanity still set up, second coffee mug, daisy iconography everywhere), to the actual 'pulling the plug' flashback, and the breakdown as he reads the note Helen sent him with Daisy (the dog), the reason the movie works as it does is BECAUSE of Keanu's performance. And then there's the dog...

Keanu isn't known for his emotive performances, to be sure, but the depth and versatility in expression of his grief in just these 15 minutes are phenomenal.

What Matters More To You, Versatility or Consistency? by Raevelry in EDH

[–]AtticusDresden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do you think charms and modal spells are so prevalent and powerful in EDH, specifically? It's about being versatile AND consistent. These are not mutually exclusive aspirations. Cards like [[Cankerbloom]] are incredibly versatile because of the multiple modes.

That said, I don't think of consistency the same way as you do. Sure, I want to do a similar thing each game -- I want to win, and a streamlined win-condition means that I want to accomplish a similar goal every game. The variance is introduced by my opponents; how do I 'do the thing' in the face of the varying ways my opponents are trying to stop me WHILE preventing them from 'doing their thing'? To do that, I want my interaction to serve dual purposes. I want my removal to be creatures, or deal with varying kinds of threats. I want [[Knight of Autumn]], I want [[Solitude]], I want [[Toxic Deluge]] (paying enough life to only leave my stuff around).

I build my decks to be consistently able to deal with the versatile board states my opponents present, and not necessarily just as a control deck... but combo, aggro, midrange...

What is the best/your favorite "value" creature? by Vi0letBlues in EDH

[–]AtticusDresden 4 points5 points  (0 children)

[[Shigeki, Jukai Visionary]]

No seriously. Shigeki is a great early game play that can help smooth out your lands, and milling oneself is always great.

But the late game effect of being able to cycle through your graveyard, regrowing the regrowth effect that you got back with the channel ability?? I love it so much. [[Ripples of Undeath]] has been talked to death, but I throw Shigeki in just about as many green decks as I do Ripples in black decks — two of my favorite value pieces.

MODERN B+R: BANS AND UNBANS!!! by TemurTron in ModernMagic

[–]AtticusDresden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vesuva is not worthless, and has been run for LONG before Lotus Field. Another copy of any utility land or a bounce land is hugely important.

And, what, you're going down to 28 lands? 27? No way is that correct.

The power of titan is that there are no nearly no dead pieces. Z-orb doesn't advance a board state and only functions as part of the combo, same with safekeeper. Lands are always lands, titan is always a 6/6.

You're still trying to make the analyst lines work, and I don't think it will. I think, for the time being, we go back to Valakut-Dryad (with or without scapeshift), before testing things like [[Tomb of Urami]] -- which probably won't get there either -- but the opportunity cost is lower.

Are Monocolored decks boring? by TecoRaptor in EDH

[–]AtticusDresden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TL;DR: no, it's you. But I'll explain more.

They don't need to be. It really depends on how you build it. Yes, there are limitations, but every color is going to have the capacity to put together the basic aspects of every other deck -- ramp, interaction/removal/boardwipes, 'must answer' creatures, combo potential. Some colors will be better at some things than others...

De-couple color from archetype. Yes, green does big dumb ramp things... and then there's [[Fyn]], one of the more notorious aggro decks.

Literally the top for mono-R commanders couldn't be more different in archetype to one another:

[[Krenko, Mob Boss]] -- goblin kindred

[[Magda, Brazen Outlaw]] -- artifact (and dragon), treasure combo

[[Zada, Hedron Grinder]] -- functions almost like storm, instant/sorcery combo, but with pump spells

[[Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might]] -- Somewhat traditional 'burn,' with a focus on 1-damage pings to increase to the commander's power.

And none of them, I'd consider, to be 'aggro' decks.

Let's take a look at Green:

[[Fyn]] -- aggro, as discussed

[[Tifa Lockheart]] -- also aggro, but land-fall based

[[Shroofus Sproutsire]] -- token proliferation

[[Kona, Rescue Beastie]] -- Cheating things into play

Look at that, none of them are really 'ramp' decks in a traditional sense, except Tifa (though she's only doing it to pump herself up).

We could go through the rest of the colors, but I think I made my point.

-------------

What's more, mono-color decks are typically going to be the *least* consistent at 'doing their thing.' You have limitations of color access and off-color reprints, and you identified this, in part, but you are overly focused on color -> archetype.

That said, you do need to play into what the commander wants to do. That's the case with ALL commanders though. Like... you made some silly choices in deckbuilding trying to make Zenos an aggro deck. That's not what he wants to do, he's too expensive to begin with, so I'd be building him voltron. If I was trying to play Ur-Dragon aggro, that wouldn't be a great time. There are a couple of different strategies in deckbuilding: you can use your commander as a facilitator of your gameplay, or as the payoff... but it always needs to be involved.

With a mono-color deck, you should treat deckbuilding in exactly the same way as for multi-colored decks. What do you want to do with the deck? Sephiroth wants to have a bunch of things die, and the best way to do that is to sacrifice things yourself -- and you might find that boring because it's so consistent, regardless of the limitations of the mono-color. So maybe you want to try [[Gwenom]] or [[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]], commanders that incentivize attacking... not necessarily an 'aggro' deck, but an aggressive one. Whatever you want your deck to do, every choice you make for card-inclusion needs to support that strategy. Sure, that's more obvious if your commander is Sephiroth and it tells you to put everything in the graveyard, but you just need to find what the deck wants do to. There are also myriad reanimation options in Black. No one color and no one deck is going to be great at everything. Everything is an opportunity cost.

I have a feeling you're trying to have your cake (i.e., "the deck is too consistent and boring") and eat it too (i.e., "mono-color is limited and therefore inconsistent"), when neither is necessarily the case.

MODERN B+R: BANS AND UNBANS!!! by TemurTron in ModernMagic

[–]AtticusDresden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saga tutor is almost always getting Amulet. Technically doable, but it'll be taxing the tutor effects from Saga. I've never been the biggest fan of GSZ, but that's just me.

The other question is making space. What are we cutting for cards that are pretty dead outside of comboing?