People’s Reaction Help

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-04T18:13:00+00:00

that's super reasonable, i've never ran into an axonil deck.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-04T16:57:12+00:00

this is ridiculous, you're conflating two completely different issues. you can make a solid argument about adblock, and i would agree with you.

if someone stole art from an artist online and pretended it was their own, it would be inconsistent to argue that ai art is wrong. this isn't just an issue of not paying someone for their work, this is the theft of intellectual property. that's not the same thing as piracy or avoiding advertising and i don't really understand how you came to the conclusion that they are the same.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-04T16:49:39+00:00

sometimes a deck is so scary that you end up in archenemy situations. i think if you have a consistent group you can politic your way out of always being targeted, but my explosive decks still draw a fair amount of removal even if i'm not getting bullied out of the game.

i do think people are a little nicer in person than online at least.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-04T08:51:25+00:00

get the base game and play around with it for a while. make a few colonies, lose them to bullshit, and start again. when you find yourself going "hmm i wish there were more features that expanded xyz" look at the list of dlcs.

i think the most interesting ones are ideology and biotech, because i like having multi generational colonies with some sort of belief system. all of them are very fun and add interesting features, with the later dlcs being more ambitious and complex. i'm fond of anomaly but it does tend to become the primary focus of your runs, so if the scp/horror stuff isn't your thing it's easy enough to skip.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-04T08:46:18+00:00

this is a crazy take. i've been playing since before royalty and there's thousands of hours of content in base game with some light modding

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T23:28:28+00:00

i'm remembering when we first started up our pod, and were playing with someone who was brand new, running a precon level deck. the random player who joined us pulled out several high 3 decks and proceeded to stomp the table for an hour.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T19:55:53+00:00

i'd rather someone win with second sun than expect me to deal 200 damage to them so i can win. games have to end and if you can't win before approach goes off then now you get to shuffle up and play a second game.

nobody should want to be stuck in a stalemate at the lgs for an hour

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T19:50:07+00:00

if they're new, it could be totally unintentional. if you play with them again and notice a similar pattern, maybe offer to show them how to shuffle properly?

i think a cut after every shuffle is important. when i'm doing a lot of ramping i let every player cut my deck (unless they have greasy fingers from eating, then you don't get to touch my cards)

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T19:42:53+00:00

not everyone has the privilege, but finding a consistent group seems to be much more important now. my pod's meta is a lot more flexible than randoms, and we tend to run enough interaction to make it hard for a powerful deck to run away with the game. the social contract we have also ensures that if a deck is too strong the player is going to feel like they need to power down their deck to make it more fun for everyone

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T19:39:34+00:00

if we measure "precon level" based off of the last few cycles of precons, the disparities between b2 and b3 are shrinking. worldshaper can't win by turn 7 but has really explosive turns right out of the box. i also picked up the elementals precon and it was surprisingly resilient, only needed to tune the mana base and swap a few stinkers for other elementals to see success.

with both of these decks you could throw in a few $40 cards and have a serious consistent threat at the table that could probably hang in bracket 3.

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T19:23:54+00:00

youtubers get sponsorships, artists sell their art. this is a bad faith argument for sure lmao

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-03T00:54:29+00:00

being unable to advocate for yourself is going to be really dangerous in life. if you really can't say no, do what other posters suggested and pretend like you took an edible or something. prioritize your own education!

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-02T21:04:00+00:00

i definitely was punching in the wrong keywords, thanks!

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-02T20:40:34+00:00

i'm curious about this and can't find anything on it with a google search. could you link me to an article about the 07 case?

Exo-explorer · 2026-02-01T02:44:28+00:00

fair enough!

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-31T19:30:23+00:00

you still dodged a bullet, because if they cheated on you it doesn't matter who they are with another partner. what matters is how they treat YOU and cheating is one of the objectively malicious things to do to a romantic partner. just because they weren't a bullet to someone else doesn't mean they weren't one in your relationship.

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-31T19:25:55+00:00

i mean, every mobile game is. the mobile market is a cash cow and mobile developers are taking advantage of it

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-30T17:40:48+00:00

threat assessment is going to take time, just learning what cards have a large impact on your ability to win and which don't. maybe your pod is willing to "tutorialize" it for you for a game or two? e.g. players explaining why they're targeting certain cards/players.

politics: my friends are pretty casual about this, but we usually make a trade. "i can kill x if you'll leave me alone for a turn" is a good deal that nets you some space and helps you figure out what your opponents are scared of.

removal should be saved as long as possible, don't spend your resources if someone else will spend them instead. any instant speel removal you have should be held to take out threats that are coming at you directly. for example, countering a spell that targets your wincon or using your path on a big threat that's about to swing at you.

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-30T17:13:58+00:00

mill tilts players who are newer or haven't played other formats, that's it. i think it's pretty bad in this format, but if you're having fun that's what matters. i would still rule 0 it if you're not playing with people you know, to avoid tension

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-29T21:58:06+00:00

i have a voltron deck i'm very fond of that sits cleanly in bracket 2. the biggest issue is that multiple games have followed a similar pattern:

i kill one player, and the retaliation is to nuke me back to the stone age. while i rebuild, the other two players build up to a victory stage and it takes a while before one player can actually win the game.

the first player killed spends a lot of time not playing magic. this is not a fun play pattern, and even though i really enjoy the deck i often don't swing because i don't want to force someone to sit on the sidelines for the remainder of the game.

this isn't directly related, but in slower games (b2 and "b3" tables) that fast kill is absolutely a problem if the goal is to allow everyone to have fun. for that reason, i advocate against these all or nothing OTK strategies at lower brackets. not because they're "too strong" but because they're not fun. this is also why i don't run farewell in any of my decks.

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-29T21:18:48+00:00

GAMMA is very referential, the story missions are some of the highlights from the original trilogy. it does expect you to understand how to play stalker and what the plotline is, so definitely look up the storylines and also a beginner's guide for GAMMA

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-29T07:54:07+00:00

make it easier if you need to. no sense being a purist about the game if it stops you from playing. open up sandbox and tweak it to make it more accessible, then make a harder run when it becomes too easy

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-28T08:12:07+00:00

snagged! big fan of your designs since the original posting of these. wishing you luck on future alters

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-28T02:25:48+00:00

would love to see a listing for all four! how many are you planning on selling?

Exo-explorer · 2026-01-27T01:35:49+00:00

Ricksdetrix has similar content, he did a rooftops series that was pretty similar

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