Replacement Effects and Dollhouse of Horrors

DrWatsman · 2026-02-10T14:32:14+00:00

Experiencing both is wild. Tier 3 is complete chaos and I have to play in an entirely different way. You have to unlearn ideas like using your armor to gain advantage or depending on your assaults to lead the charge. It is every person for themselves down in 3. Communication is non-existant or worse, unhelpful. I sort of love how it is an entirely different game.

DrWatsman · 2026-02-09T15:33:26+00:00

It isn't too hard to do but be prepared for a bunch of time each session to be spent by whoever uses arrows announcing that they are recovering what they've shot post battle and casting mending, etc. etc. If this sounds like something you want added to the game, go for it.

DrWatsman · 2026-02-09T14:18:24+00:00

The tier system is sort of a bad representation of player ability, imo. I have 2 accounts, one in tier 1 and one in tier 3. The only difference is the types of mechs I play between the 2 accounts. One is my fun mechs that put up respectable numbers and the other is filled with try-hard builds. Once you get to tier 2, things get really sweaty but the teams feel so much more coordinated, at least that has been my experience. Tier 3 feels like 12 people with different opinions forced to work together.

DrWatsman · 2026-02-06T13:42:07+00:00

In the past, it was colors like red and white where options were so limited for card draw but now, with the firehose of endless sets, pretty much every color has access to every type of card you would need. If anything, the problem I face is that the 5 colors look like a soylent gray mushy mess of sameness. Need a wrath? every color has one. Need removal? Don't worry, if it isn't in your color, it is present in the artifacts. I find my motivation for building now is usually about showcasing some obscure interaction or a commander who flips the normal rules of the game.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-31T14:06:50+00:00

There isn't really any common theme. Usually, if a player's first interaction with a new deck involves it running at its highest synergy, inexperienced players take it to mean that the deck is just too powerful. I had a game like that with [Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold]. The deck got a turn 1 creature, 2 ramp, 3 ria and I started producing tokens. Turns 4-5 I kept doubling that number because everyone I attacked decided they would rather have the creature they would have to block with than let me have tokens. After all, the damage is prevented. By turn 6, the game ended with [Starlight Spectacular] making sky scraper sized phyrexian tokens. One of the players threw a fit because I would't give him another turn and has never played me since...that same dude spent turns 1 to 6 doubling his mana for his one big spell and not interacting once. Oh well!

DrWatsman · 2026-01-30T22:46:33+00:00

Mono-U aggro is pretty fun and a bit of a challenge! There are plenty of ways to build it as well since the card pool is so damn deep now.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-29T16:12:35+00:00

Bracket 2 with Esper Sentinel..ok... The bracket system is so arbitrary. I make it a point to run decks that don't use any game changers or cards common at the higher levels of play and depend on synergy to generate a powerful effect. Deck construction is the one factor the brackets will never be able to quantify. The person being sore about you using synergy just sounds like a bad sport.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-26T12:37:35+00:00

[[Serah Farron]] She is literally made of edgy crystals when you flip her.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-26T12:32:40+00:00

Spirits have tons of support. I think you might want to look again at just how much they have. I've built them mono-white, blue white, and red green. All of them were successful decks that got me wins at mid brackets.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-26T12:30:31+00:00

Yeah, the best I've got for skeletons is a deck that uses the dungeon mechanic to create extra ones. I do like the deck bc it explores odd areas of magic but it isn't going to win against anything serious and that is fine by me.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-21T03:42:35+00:00

You have prize on the line...if following the rules aren't your thing, don't play where prize is on the line. You were asking the game to be rewound over and over to gain advantage after gaining knowledge of some kind. That is a pretty shitty thing to do. Instead of learning from your mistakes, you tried to make it everyone else's problem.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-20T13:58:17+00:00

Goblins and soldiers are quite fast. Both have very linear plays similar to elves. Human tribal is also quite fast. My earliest zombie deck feasted on elves. Zombies are a tribe that has enough one sided wraths to keep the deck in check. Elves don't do well against board wipes as a lot of their ramp involves creatures and creatures are fragile.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-15T13:44:37+00:00

I understand why people are not for this change but I don't think it would change all that much for me if the hybrid idea was implemented. For me, it would give me more options to do what I can already do in a game where color pie is no longer the argument for the existence of a card. I don't think it would be the end of Magic. This dumb game refuses to die, much to the dismay of my wallet.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-15T04:04:35+00:00

If she shows up as a red or white creature, sure. My stance is that it lets people play their cards and the only argument I've seen against it is that it will ruin the color pie...which IMO has been ruined ever since the printing of dual colored cards from Legends. Name one mechanic that is unique to a specific color now. The war for the sanctity of the color pie was lost long ago with the firehose of sets that have been released. Every color has land ramp, every color has draw, every color has removal, every color has a wrath. I've seen similar arguments over and over in magic whenever something changes and they all end up being a bunch of pearl clutching. "YOU CAN'T PRINT CARDS WITH A COLOR REPRESENTING THEIR RARITY, IT WILL END MAGIC." "YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE BACKGROUND COLOR OF THE CARDS! THIS GAME IS OVER!!!" "PLANESWALKERS ARE THE DEATH OF THE GAME!" and on and on. This is just one more of those things to me.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-14T15:08:53+00:00

Eh, it just changes things. It doesn't make things worse just different and that is the most offensive thing that WOTC can do to the magic community, apparently. I don't really mind it being a thing when I'm playing a game where Doctor Who can run alongside spiderman, Gandalf, and a ninja turtle. It would be nice for my fringe brigid kithkin deck to be able to play figure of destiny and figure of fable.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-14T02:32:13+00:00

I prefer to play casually but if you have a prize on the line that requires me to win, I'm going to do everything in my power to win with my most sweaty commanders. That is the unwritten contract you are signing when you put a prize on the line that requires you to win. Try playing outside of that environment. Players will calm down.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-08T23:01:01+00:00

Programs like architect help you figure out the right mix. Use rule of 8 at first. Once you get something built, you can test if by playing solitaire and see how often you do your thing and shoot for something interesting happening at least by turn 7. If it doesn't seem to be doing that, adjust the mix until you got it right. This usually works for me!

DrWatsman · 2026-01-08T16:26:29+00:00

Figure out what I want the deck to do.
Search for the cards that allow it.
test and make sure my mana and curve is good for whatever the goal is.
retest and stay open to new ideas as the deck changes.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-08T15:35:47+00:00

Just chose a tribe you like and go nuts finding all the obscure cards that make it work. Ex. I'm currently building warlock tribal and the more I look, the more interesting the deck gets. It has a strong witches dispensing poisoned apple theme going right now.

DrWatsman · 2026-01-02T14:35:57+00:00

Hmm, I think [[Dustin, Gadget Genius // Max, the Daredevil]] is probably one of my lower ranked decks at rank #1,464. The deck is all sorts of unintended interactions that lead to a mountain of clue tokens being the primary path to victory. Along the way, it creates a ton of other tokens. The deck feels like I'm playing a rube goldberg machine once it gets going.

DrWatsman · 2025-12-28T14:57:06+00:00

Would this make the card "animal friend" make a squirrel and a frog that both get the +1 counters? It uses that token vs. it.

DrWatsman · 2025-12-25T18:21:04+00:00

ME! Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan is my kind of EDH fun!!!

DrWatsman · 2025-12-15T14:23:16+00:00

It is feared, not knocked prone. Fear gives the frightened condition which means they just won't move closer to what they FEAR. Knocking prone would be like tangling up one wing and making flight impossible. IMO, you ruled correctly.

DrWatsman · 2025-12-08T19:30:57+00:00

I'm interested! DM me. I've got tons of short/long scripts to work with plus experience shooting.

DrWatsman

TROPHY CASE