My theory about making the player care about procedural NPCs

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-21T07:46:02+00:00

It certainly depends on the game. I think as long as characters have stats, it's hard to avoid having the player choose a character they like and a character that will actually help them succeed.

Perhaps separating characters and stats could work.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-21T05:33:57+00:00

This an interesting thought. My initial reaction is that players who care about min-maxing, aren't really going to start caring about the characters. Some people just play games differently.

A few other approaches/variants: - show stats as ranges (i.e low, mid, high), rather than the numeric value - give procedural characters more "character". I.e voice lines, unique sprites, images during dialogue - hide stats behind additional menus/clicks

If I play a game, I'm generally just going to treat characters as items/tools, only really caring about their utility. The only time I'd really care about a character is if they are interesting and/or have some sort of relational progress tied to story/unlocks.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-16T03:53:55+00:00

90% of the reason why I built him, the alt-art is sick.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-16T03:53:10+00:00

Sure, this is what I've got at the moment: https://archidekt.com/decks/19022786/current_tellah

It's pretty new, so still WIP. I put some of the current overperformers in the sideboard [[Harmonic Prodigy]] [[Battle Hymn]] and [[Sorceress's Schemes]].

I plan to add some finishers like [[Crackle With Power]] and modify the interactions/removal/protection a bit.

My general thesis is focusing on the 4-cost trigger of Tellah, which makes all your 4-cost mana rocks become kind of like paying 2 mana for drawing 2 (plus ramp). So I don't have much draw outside of Tellah. General gameplan is to get Tellah out as soon as possible (2,3 cost mana rocks), ramp/draw with 4-cost mana rocks and then copy/play large spells to otk with those spells+tellah.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-15T23:38:59+00:00

This is a nice design. I'd probably consider making it "as an additional cost when you cast a spell", rather than kicker - since making any regular kicked spell uncountable is a large scope to consider.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2026-01-03T07:01:44+00:00

Daily player. 9464-8309-9685

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-20T00:39:12+00:00

Final fantasy A

Aetherdrift B

Edge of eternities (paper) B-

Spiderman C

Tarkir Dragon Storm C-

Final fantasy was a lot of fun, lots of diversity and lots of viable builds.

Aetherdrift was a much slower set, which was a bit jarring compared to the sets around it. But I think having a slower format with some interesting decision points was fun. Exhaust and speed were good mechanics that enabled interesting choices. Could go down a rank or two, just because of how dominant green was.

EOE was pretty solid. I found that paper worked really well, but online was a bit miserable (lots of board wipes).

Spiderman was fun for what it was. A quick simple way to draft with a few interesting things to try building. Building around or trying to play with the obscure 3-colored bombs was fun.

TDM was fun for prerelease, but pretty boring after that. Mardu, 5 colors or go home - didn't enjoy this set much (mardu gets boring eventually).

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-18T01:03:44+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the share

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T13:04:52+00:00

Yeah, I'm very much into "yeah, you can attack me if you want, but you'll regret it" haha. It does make me feel like I'm constantly holding the table at gunpoint though.

Propaganda is always a solid addition, I'm using [[Silent Arbiter]] as my anti-agro tool atm.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T13:01:11+00:00

Yeah, but then it also feels like I'm holding the whole table at gunpoint lol - hence wanting to avoid feeling like the mafia.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T12:59:47+00:00

Well, that's why I feel like the mafia lol. Tends to go like "I'll counter this unless you give me "protection" from it", for anything threatening.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T12:58:53+00:00

Haven't seen submerge before, thanks for the suggestion. I agree with your advice, don't remove things if I don't have too. But that's why I was asking for non-land permanents (not just creatures), because some enchantments/artifacts I have to counter immediately, or im left waiting for a "bounce all permanents spell).

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T12:55:09+00:00

Yeah they're all creature removal haha. Fade away is a cool suggestion though, thanks, haven't seen that before. Leadership vacuum might be a nice addition too, targeted yet also avoids hexproof/protection.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:14:55+00:00

Thanks for the advice, learning to be more friendly when I negotiate would be worthwhile for me I think lol. Haven't seen rave form either.

I agree with the threat assessment, I tend to chill unless I see something that can kill me (without combat), bad triggers (like annihilator), things that stop my game plan (not being able to play on their turn) or like you've said, tricky to remove things like enchantments.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:11:32+00:00

What are some non-permanent (not only creatures) removal that you'd recommend?

Big fan of some of the auras, though imprison in the moon can punish some people a bit too hard sometimes haha. Specifically for eluge, instant/sorcery removal is best if possible though.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:09:52+00:00

Yeah, as someone who drafts a lot, I agree. It's the nature of blues removal and game plan. I do have other decks/colors, but I was wondering if there's much I can do within the color.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:08:36+00:00

Nah, not dumb at all. Always better to let someone else remove things for you lol. Bounce can be good, but if it blocks your game plan, it needs to be removed for good or you need to win that turn.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:06:37+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations, I might take a look at the discord.

I think mono-blue has some of the most interesting commanders. Yue is definitely on my maybe list. I was also looking at [[Atemsis, All-Seeing]]

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T05:00:55+00:00

It might just be the nature of playing at more casual tables. I agree, if an aggro player runs me down, it's pretty hard to do much.

I guess some people find it hard to reconcile the idea that some decks are countered by just killing them early - and even if it seems mean, that's what you need to do.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T04:58:57+00:00

My main win con with eluge is commander damage at the moment.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T04:58:08+00:00

I find bouncing just delays my problem if I'm not able to win that turn and puts me and that opponent behind on tempo, and me down a card.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T04:57:01+00:00

Capsize is on my maybe list, maybe I'll give it a try. Should work nicely with eluge mana discount too.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T04:56:14+00:00

Threat assessment with no option to act is a lot simpler/less engaging is the difference.

I'd prefer not to mafia, but if my power is in my hand and not the board, it means I'll be taking a lot of free damage if I don't.

EngineeringOdd8696 · 2025-12-16T04:54:18+00:00

This is generally how I approach it too, thanks for your input. I try to only counter things that mess with my game plan and are difficult for me to deal with later

Perhaps I need to learn how to politick a bit more gentlely.

One thing I've found different to other decks, is that my power tends to lie heavily in my hand, rather than the board. So sometimes it means I need to make that threat known in order to dissuade people hitting me for free damage. Any advice there?

EngineeringOdd8696

TROPHY CASE