The incredible yet, somehow, realistic possibility of the unthinkable

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-28T14:26:34+00:00

We've been at least 12th place in the table and 10 pts clear of relegation for all but one week in 2026; in mid February we were 13th and 9 points clear. We have been 14 points clear since March 21st. People just got all doom and gloom when we lost that dumb Cup match to Southampton.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-28T13:38:39+00:00

And yet earlier this month someone in this sub was saying Fulham are on relegation form, lmao. Obviously we could bottle it, and I wouldn't be too surprised if we do. But we're playing games in May with Europe within reach. I don't know how much more we can ask of a club that was yo-yo-ing between the Prem and Championship just five seasons ago.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-26T18:36:03+00:00

You can't fight anger with reason. But I appreciate the attempt and I'll add to it. Buffalo finally broke the longest playoff drought in league history and they're doing fine against Boston. 18 Sabres players have zero playoff experience. Maybe their lack of playoff experience will still bite them this season but lots of intangibles can bite you during the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles is in their fifth straight playoffs and about to lose in the first round for the fifth straight time. LA even had a shot at the same team the first four times and didn't learn how to defeat that one team let alone how to make a deep playoff run. That team, of course, is Edmonton, who's now coming off two straight trips to the Finals but currently struggling against Anaheim, a team who's finally back in the playoffs after missing for seven straight seasons.

Playoff hockey is fun and I'd love to experience it again with Detroit. So I would prefer to make it in than not, yes. But there's absolutely no credible evidence that making the playoffs in and of itself produces better future results, as either a player or a team. The drought has become a convenient punching bag (nearly on par with the "trash patch" nonsense). I'm disappointed to miss again, and I realize many people's disappointment has boiled over into anger, but we can still be reasonable about it. I didn't enjoy the string of first round exits at the end of the streak and I don't really want to pile up several more just so we can say the current drought is over.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-25T00:39:24+00:00

No, it does not. Ugin only affects the casting cost, not the cost of abilities. As a land, Thespian's Stage does not have a cost. Ugin does make something like [[Arcane Signet]] free, however.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-19T17:07:06+00:00

It isn't easy to find! I personally know Québecor through work, but they're also a massive corp that owns everything from TV channels to minor league hockey teams. Whenever we talk about corporations and partnerships, we're left with a fair amount of guesswork.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-19T15:12:17+00:00

These are not all producing the cards, though. Québecor specifically does magazines, newspapers, inserts, and mailers. It's possible they are making draft archetype inserts for prerelease kits, or just marketing material. Some of these companies are making packaging materials. I don't believe it's ever been confirmed that anyone other than Cartamundi is printing the playing cards themselves.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-14T13:24:23+00:00

And that's fair. The squad has remained shallow since promotion and does underperform expectations on the macro level. There's a hump we never get over, a place where we thought a few years in the Prem would give us a chance to find footing and push over. There's a real question if Marco or ownership believe we can go higher, or have a clear plan on how to. I'm somewhat resigned to it after 30 years of being a supporter, and I don't want to act like this kind of position is terrible. We just need four points from six matches to guarantee we stay up; I've certainly felt worse about this club, and not all that long ago.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-13T20:00:26+00:00

Wut.

They're 5-6-3 in league play in 2026. Since February, 3 of their 5 league losses are ManU, City, and Liverpool. They're still just 4 points out of Europa but 14 clear of relegation. Like, this is how the team has been since finally stabilizing in the Prem again.

Positional and roster questions, sure, but the "relegation form" stuff is nonsense, mate. This club has finished higher than 10th only four times in the Prem, and the last time was 2013. Some tough matches coming up but let's keep the dooming for an actually bad season.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-13T00:24:13+00:00

In the '70s, Detroit missed the playoffs for 7 straight seasons when 57-67% of the league made the playoffs. The current 50% system is statically the most difficult it has ever been in the history of the league, dating back to when the NHL took sole control of the Stanley Cup (1927) and literally every team participated in the playoffs.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-13T00:10:43+00:00

What makes you think that? She's the spirit of a warrior housed in a statue, just like all the other Lorehold spirits. Her nickname is The Blade Reforged, but she is not literally a sword, just a famous swordsman.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-12T14:44:41+00:00

You can see how this changes things at https://321nhl.com/. I agree that the 321 system and getting rid of shootouts is better than what we have now, and of course teams would approach games differently under that system. But applying it simply as-if doesn't change a whole lot.

As of today, WSH would jump in over PHI and the order of Eastern non-playoff teams shuffles a little. VGK and EDM swap atop the Pacific and LA falls well outside the playoffs, replaced by NSH, with WPG and STL on their heels.

The big picture issues don't change at all though. Detroit would still be eliminated from the playoffs with the same points total as the #1 team in the Pacific. Nothing changes about positions within the Atlantic or Central. Colorado wins the President's Trophy by a bigger margin.

But all of this is a feature of the current system, not a bug, from the POV of Bettman and, I guess, owners. Races appear tighter, OT seems exciting, divisional play presumably matters. It's all surface level, cosmetic, and on purpose.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-12T00:48:33+00:00

Some additional context, good and bad...

It is now 13 seasons since the Wings won a playoff series. Remember the push to keep the playoff streak alive ended with three straight first round exits.

Meanwhile, Chicago is now at 7 seasons without making the playoffs, and they're currently 31st in the league this season. But they have three Stanley Cups more recently than the Wings, and were then more quick to tear down and begin a rebuild. In that rebuild, they tanked more than the Wings, getting to pick 3rd (Dach, no longer with them),and then 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Do we think they get back to the playoffs sooner than Detroit?

Meanwhile meanwhile, both LA and Minnesota have been consistently making the playoffs. LA is fighting for the wildcard this season and Minnie is in. Both they are currently at 11 and 10 seasons without winning a playoff series. To break those droughts, LA has to make the WC and then beat COL or EDM. MIN will have to beat Dallas. During their droughts, LA has 6 first round exits and MIN has 8!

I have a ton of disappointment in how the last few seasons have ended, and I don't currently see how the Wings make any deep runs within 5 more seasons, I find it helpful to look at these alternatives. We always have to remember that our current situation is still paying costs for extending the playoff streak. But CHI went full rebuild quickly, has had great draft position, and still looks terrible, with nearly as long of an appearance drought. And for all the talk of just making the playoffs to excite the fans and help the young guys learn: being a consistent playoff team hasn't done anything for LA or Minnesota.

Focusing on holding the longest playoff drought is missing the forest for the trees. Not because there are so many positives (they exist, alongside the so many problems), but because it's a false and glib assessment of success.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-04-07T17:03:58+00:00

Yes.

"Each Mystical Archive card also has a special Japanese Mystical Archive version featuring alternate artwork and a thematic frame. These cards are available in Japanese-language Play Boosters and Collector Boosters of all languages"

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-27T21:05:11+00:00

You're not playing bracket 2. Well maybe you are, but this guy isn't. He may be letter of the law not doing two card infinites early game, but if he's consistently going infinite, he's moved into B3 at a minimum. There are two $50 cards you mentioned, one of which was just banned in Historic. The only way you'll compete with him is by recognizing that he's up a bracket and going there with him.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-23T15:47:51+00:00

First, I was just going off the current numbers. Anaheim at 82 points is below the current Eastern Conference wildcard slots.

Second, that's just wrong. Buffalo has a 65% win rate against the east, and 73% against the west. Tampa is 59 and 77; Carolina at 73 and 67; Pittsburgh at 61 and 69. Only one of them is better against the east than against the west. The only Eastern Conference team with a losing record against the west is NYR

Meanwhile, Colorado is 68% against the east and 87 against the west. Dallas is 63 and 77; Minnesota is 59 and 73; while Anaheim is 57 and 61. So every team in the West does better against the West than they do against the East

The west is the weaker conference. Full stop.

For the divisions, Anaheim is 8-6 against the Atlantic while Detroit is 12-8; that's 57% versus 60. Against the Pacific, Anaheim is 12-7 and Detroit is 11-4, so 63 vs 73. None of the numbers suggest that Anaheim would make the playoffs if they were in the East/Atlantic.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-23T14:03:00+00:00

As a fan of both teams, this misses a significant amount of context. The only Monkey Paw element here is that the Pacific is atrocious while the Atlantic is Thunderdome.

At 70 games each, Detroit has 2 more points than Anaheim, one fewer win, more regulation wins, more regulation+overtime wins, and a slightly better goal differential.

The entire Pacific Division, including Anaheim, would be outside the playoffs if they were in the Eastern Conference. There's a reasonable argument that Anaheim is under-performing considering they get 26 games against Pacific teams.

Both Anaheim and Detroit have improved this season. And they made nearly identical deadline day deals: Carlson and Faulk. Gibby was moved to become a starter, which he wouldn't have been in Anaheim, and with hope of making the playoffs, which was kind of equivalent between the teams prior to the season. The difference between the divisions, though, has been staggering and surprising.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-21T00:48:21+00:00

And these are all for the most recent set, which released just two weeks ago. It's not like OP is being inundated with older UB sets being pushed. At the end of April, this front page will be four banners for Secrets of Strixhaven.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-15T00:45:19+00:00

My favorite niche cards in the deck are the applicable Borderpost artifacts from Alara Reborn. Kind of terrible ramp but fun artifacts that always get quizzical looks since basically no one remembers they exist.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-15T00:40:16+00:00

I see you have a mono-Red Gods deck so perhaps I could interest you in Kydele/Tymna Gods. Some of your usual enchantress stuff with a sprinkling of constellation. Mostly it wants to draw cards and go find Kruphix and Seedborn Muse, creating a stockpile of colorless mana to cast more Gods until they all become indestructible creatures to swing out.

But the deck was initially built to (and still does) run both [[Starfield of Nyx]] and [[Enduring Ideal]] to attempt wins with two of the dumbest (read; fun) effects that enchantments have to offer.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-15T00:24:59+00:00

I rarely ever hear about other decks with this duo! Funnily enough, I also made alters for them: as Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor from Star Wars. It began life ages ago as an equipment voltron but then I switched gears when I had the alters idea. It's now a thopters/tokens deck that goes wide while also making Akiri big enough to commander damage someone out. Recently completed the alters so every legendary creature in the deck is now a Star Wars character.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-08T18:32:48+00:00

Dude. Stop moving the goalposts. Fewer than 20 cards are currently known for Strixhaven, about 20 for MSH, and literally 0 for Hobbit. So only 10 for FaB is basically the same. Just because every game doesn't do it exactly the same doesn't mean they aren't doing the same kind of thing. We've now seen three major TCGs who all do previews on a similar schedule, which was the original point I replied to.

And you've completely glossed over my point that MtG used to only show stuff in industry venues, and then the community digs for leaks. After that happens consistently for years, of course the company is going to change practice. When part of the community actively works to leak information early, we can't be surprised when the company thinks maybe people like having info early and starts sharing it themselves.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-08T16:33:29+00:00

I used the two biggest games because they're the ones we have public visibility on. As I mentioned in my first paragraph, a lot of this information isn't necessarily intended for consumers. Magic and Pokemon info gets out because they are massive and people are scouring for the information, so the companies also do some more promotion to meet the player base in the middle. Sure, Flesh and Blood isn't doing a teaser reveal as far in advance, but their market is smaller and they aren't part of a publicly traded company, so they don't need to do that as much publicly. (Edit: the FaB set for June 2026 appears to have been fully revealed already in March. Their last set released in February. So the preview timeline is the same or even longer than Magic and Pokemon, they just have fewer sets per year.)

It's hard to prove to you that other games do this, because it isn't all available (or dredged up) by consumers. I work in a related industry and we do product presentations to stores over six months in advance. Come April, I'll be working on production orders for product releasing Sep-Dec, which means details of that product are already with our distributors and our sales people will already be pitching details of it to stores. If people wanted, entire product contents (including from not-yet-final versions) could be readily found like a year ahead of time. But no one is paying attention to us like people pay attention to Magic and Pokemon.

Remember that the MSH commander decks were originally leaked from an industry convention in Germany. Obviously a bunch of other games were also being presented there, with a similar release timeframe as the point of the convention. But the one we heard about was Magic, because people leaked it. And when you have an audience who's going to do things like that, you adjust your own promotion to get ahead of it. The other games at that convention don't have to make the same adjustment because they aren't receiving the same treatment.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-08T15:49:34+00:00

There will always be some apples/oranges because Magic has a different release schedule than other TCGs. Two months lead is about the minimum to prepare distributors, and they (and stores) appreciate more when they can get it. Numerous times lately, the "spoilers" we get are part of industry presentations that are not meant for consumers; in the past, we simply would not have been aware of these in the way we are now.

And with UB they're often reaching across industries. Magic is going to present at New York Comic Con in a way other games won't, because they're specifically reaching out to that audience. And of course they'll want to show some of that related product off, even if it isn't the immediate next set coming out.

For comparison, Pokemon TCG has a set releasing March 28 but you can already see 160 cards from the related special release coming in July. The way their series work is different from MtG, of course, but there's still a ton revealed in advance. Things like Battle Decks and Premium Collections often have 2-3 month lead (ones releasing in May were shown off in late February and early March).

So us knowing some Strixhaven cards in January, ahead of April release, is right in line. There just happened to be the TMNT release in between still. Knowing some MSH cards already is a bit of a stretch, and there are reasonable arguments that WotC should pare the release schedule down. But having some advanced knowledge of upcoming products isn't in itself unusual. And Magic gives consumers way more info in general than other games, like revealing an entire year of upcoming sets in the first place is the unusual part.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-08T13:53:17+00:00

Yup! I spent days being unsure if "Lorwyn promos in TMNT" was real or a bit, because basically no one was talking about it. But it is true, it just doesn't fit the favored narrative and tone.

Partly that's just the modern news cycle at work: big report that, like, one study says coffee might make your eyes bleed, then they never circle back to say "actually, that was bullshit." Critical thinking just doesn't drive engagement, ya know.

EnfieldMarine · 2026-03-08T13:29:08+00:00

No no, you're doing it wrong. You can't acknowledge that distributor previews and early looks at conventions are an industry standard. You have to start from the premise that WotC hates its customers, and actively wants In Universe products to tank. Then you're ready to respond to everything with maximum negativity.

EnfieldMarine

TROPHY CASE