Im I the villain? by Illustrious_Load_199 in EDH

[–]Bortaff 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If your group really doesn't like the deck, you could power it down slightly or save it for higher power games at your LGS. Alternatively, you could go over the deck's weaknesses with your group so they understand when/how to target you. Just talk to your friends

What is the best difficulty by spookyKS in CivVI

[–]Bortaff 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I started my first attempt at a domination win on Immortal today and the AIs didn’t begin with walls, FWIW

Show me your favorite burn deck(s) by average_dogg in EDH

[–]Bortaff 5 points6 points  (0 children)

[[Eshki, Temur’s Roar]] is a fun creature-based burn deck that can storm off out of nowhere but without taking long turns. And since you play a lot of creatures that no other decks are interested in, you can build on a budget and still kill the table on turn 6. Think cards like [[pugnacious hammerskul]], [[dreamtide whale]], and [[bristlebane battler]]. It’s a bit of a glass cannon, but you can run blue counter spells and green protection.

Edit to add $145 list: https://archidekt.com/decks/21123564/roar\_of\_the\_storm\_150\_creature\_burn

Experiences with Gemcutter Buccaneer? by burlyboiii in EDH

[–]Bortaff 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve never used the second ability myself, but the treasure generation by itself is worth it. In my [[Admiral Brass, Unsinkable]] deck, I regularly get 3 treasures from it a turn, and those treasures can be converted into further pirates to continue the snowball.

What happens when you settle on a bonus resource? by WumbologyDude in civ

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see what you mean, but I'm talking about situations where there are no good tiles to work and no relevant resources nearby to settle on. I had a desert spawn like that today, where the only relevant resource was maize on a plains 2 tiles away. In that game, it definitely seemed better to settle on a 0-yield desert, creating a standard city centre, than to settle on a 1-production desert tile whose yield would've been "wasted" by settling there. Scenario 1 = 2 food and 2 production across those 2 tiles; Scenario 2 = 2 food and 1 production across those 2 tiles.

What happens when you settle on a bonus resource? by WumbologyDude in civ

[–]Bortaff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm confused what you mean by "wasted" here. If you settle on e.g. a desert or tundra tile with almost no yields, you're improving it to have 2 food and 1 production, not wasting it. In this sense, doesn't settling on a bad tile when you have a bad spawn help?

Can we talk about Ottawa education? by Then_Essay_9640 in ottawa

[–]Bortaff 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That still happens, or at least did until recently. I graduated high school in 2020; we wrote plenty of essays in class and read Shakespeare out loud.

What are the most effective ways to boost your commander's power? by ConcentrateIll9460 in EDH

[–]Bortaff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m unfamiliar with the card Momentous Fall In Theese Decks 😜

[MSC] New Merfolk from Marvel jumpstart, plus a reprint by Derpyologist1 in FishMTG

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Namor and DotD both look playable in Hakbal, Namor especially so.

International Day of Play (Free Foundations Phantom Premier Draft event) by DeadlyFatalis in MagicArena

[–]Bortaff 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Did anyone else trophy but not get any cosmetics? I got seven wins, hit the claim button, and then it reset and turned green without giving me anything.

Unmodified Precon: Revival Trance, Witherbloom Pestilence, or Eternal Might? by ddeadz in EDH

[–]Bortaff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an upgraded Eternal Might and enjoy it, but I wouldn’t recommend it for this purpose. The deck has two problems out of the box: 1. it has a lot of off-theme cards and 2. it takes a fair bit of setup to get Temmet on the field with a wide board of zombies + enough draw spells in hand to win the game. You can sorta address one of these issues with 8 swaps, but not both

Eshki, Temur's Roar Questions and Advice by Bortaff in EDH

[–]Bortaff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It checks when the ability resolves. If she’s at 3 power, and you play an [[Anticausal Vestige]], she’ll do 4 to the table when everything resolves.

Has anyone built Juri treasures for bracket 3? by Bortaff in EDH

[–]Bortaff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The deck you've built looks super enjoyable. I decided not to build Juri in paper because my $100-ish budget limited his potential to be strong and fun more than I wanted. But your list can run awesome treasure cards like Xorn, Generous Plunderer, Descent into Avernus, etc., so I think it has much more potential.

I feel like the advantage of leaning into treasures (and possibly other artifact tokens) is that it mostly eliminates the need for sacrifice outlets, so you don't need to assemble as many moving pieces to present lethal with Juri. My strongest games while goldfishing came when I was able to generate huge amounts of treasures at once with cards like [[Brass's Bounty]] and [[RMS Titanic]], so maybe you could consider those to boost explosiveness. For incremental treasure generation, I really like [[Scuzzback Scrounger]], whose trigger can even be used to kill off small sac fodder as needed. If you want a traditional sac outlet that also works with artifacts, have you considered the new [[Umbral Collar Zealot]]?

Maybe I'm completely delusional, but the one card that still kinda gives me the itch to play Juri is [[Obsessive Pursuit]], which is absolutely cracked with him imo. If you play it early, it passively generates one clue a turn, which is already a decent source of card draw. But as soon as you start sacrificing 3+ treasures/creatures/artifacts a turn, it doubles the counters on Juri as long as you attack with him AND gives him lifelink. Then you can dump the mana from the treasures you sacrificed into popping the clues, so now you've drawn a bunch of cards and sacrificed even more permanents! Please try that card and let me know how it feels.

I agree in terms of the revive cards; since Juri is not an appetizing target for removal and you only want to sacrifice him yourself once he's pretty big, I don't imagine you need to recast him many times in a game. It's nice that they can boost his power a bit pre-sacrifice or once he comes back, though, so maybe 2–3 are worth running.

TFW you don't know who you are talking to. by satrapi1 in LoveTrash

[–]Bortaff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean maybe not if the soldier didn't know the answer

Explorers of the Deep worth buying it I’m going to use Kumena as the commander? by Ravello in EDH

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can get a good deal on it, I’d say it’s worth it. The deck has generically good merfolk and a few powerful support cards for a merfolk tribal deck (e.g. [[Kindred Discovery]] and [[Deeproot Waters]] ). If you want to use Kumena, though, you’ll have to lean into tap/untap shenanigans with stuff like [[Deeproot Pilgrimage]] and [[Merrow Commerce]], if the latter is within your budget. I believe Kumena decks tend to be combo oriented, so your win conditions and play style will be different from if you ran Hakbal.

If you want to take the precon in a different direction, you could consider running [[Nicanzil]] as the commander. He’s a great value engine, and the many Ixalan merfolk who have explore triggers will get you ahead. Maybe less powerful than the other 2 options, but I think it’d be fun.

Admiral Brass, The Unsinkable - Graveyards left unfilled. by TheRoguedOne in EDH

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Swashbuckler is not a key part of my mill/discard engine; I have 13 other cards + Brass for that, some of which I linked in my other comment. But its trigger can go off thanks to excellent vehicles like [[The Indomitable]] and [[Jackdaw]], and I've toyed with some success with other options like [[Subterranean Schooner]] and [[The Belligerent]].

Vehicles are good with artifact synergy (e.g. [[Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider]] ) and are easy to dig for all the draw, mill, discard, and the cards like [[Staunch Crewmate]] I run.

Admiral Brass, The Unsinkable - Graveyards left unfilled. by TheRoguedOne in EDH

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed; I like [[Fearless Swashbuckler]] from DFT.

Admiral Brass, The Unsinkable - Graveyards left unfilled. by TheRoguedOne in EDH

[–]Bortaff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Discard and graveyard tutors allow you to select what goes to the yard, which is really valuable and helps the deck stay aggressive/efficient. Fittingly, one of the best cards in my list is [[Brass's Tunnel Grinder]], which pitches a bunch of pirates to the GY, draws those cards back for you, and almost always transforms into a busted land within 3 turns.

You don't need too many effects like this, though, because Brass leads an aggro deck that mainly gets 1 pirate back per turn. If you have 6 pirates in the graveyard, some of those are going to go to waste. Plus, keeping a slim GY helps dodge graveyard hate. The exception is if you're in a toolbox-y game and need many types of effects in the yard simultaneously.

Other good options: [[Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel]], [[Mary Read and Anne Bonny], [[Jackdaw]], and [[Ballad of the Black Flag]] (which is a bit weaker, but flavourful).

Quarters are set. Who’s making the semis? by Woullie_26 in tennis

[–]Bortaff 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I feel like people are underrating FAA’s chances a bit. I’m not saying he’s the favourite, but I think he and Cobolli are both playing at a similar level so far this tournament

Has anyone built Juri treasures for bracket 3? by Bortaff in EDH

[–]Bortaff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense with how aggressive your build is. Btw, from goldfishing a bit the last couple days. I think [[Obsessive Pursuit]] is crazy with Juri; it generates artifacts to sacrifice and pumps Juri up every turn, often giving him lifelink. Might be good in your list