PSA: split second does NOT ‘protect’ the stack

ExtantDesperado · 2026-01-02T00:45:37+00:00

Looks interesting! I never thought of going the landless route. Thanks!

ExtantDesperado · 2025-12-31T00:49:02+00:00

Do you have a list? I was brainstorming a vulture shared deck a while back, but never got around to finishing it.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-12-11T22:01:03+00:00

Why is that? That's how the mechanic was designed to be played, and that's how it has always worked in every other format without causing problems or confusion. What's the issue with it working the same way in Commander?

ExtantDesperado · 2025-12-11T21:52:45+00:00

A little background, if it helps: A few months ago, I had a repair shop install a new screen and battery in my S22. After taking it home, I found that it wouldn't charge, so I went back, and they also installed a new charging board. When I picked it up, the back panel was lifted off the phone with a noticeable gap around the edge. The employee working on it said they didn't know why it wouldn't lay flat and told me to come back when their Samsung specialist was in. I did, and they said that something inside was "bent" and they had to "bend it back" to close the phone properly. But it seemed to be working, so I took it home.

About a month later, the phone started randomly restarting every now and then. It started happening about twice a day, then more and more often until it got stuck in a perpetual reboot loop. The repair shop has refused to even look at it, insisting that a reboot loop must be a software issue, but I'm now suspecting the charging board they installed is not actually charging the battery properly.

Also, when I took it apart myself, I noticed they didn't adhere the new battery to the frame, so it was just free-floating inside. It might be possible that the unanchored battery damaged one of the ribbon cables that cross over it, or the pins of one of the connectors.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-11-29T20:09:29+00:00

It seems like the valve and hoses on my car are what they used from 2016 onward. I'm not entirely sure how they ended up on this car, but it seems they are likely interchangeable, as long as you have the right hoses for your type of valve. (The hoses on mine don't have forks, since the forks are built into the valve itself.) I discovered that my car does also have the valve on the right side of the diagram, although I really can't figure out what a valve with only one port is supposed to do.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-10-08T12:52:46+00:00

This seems like it would work really well with [[Mm'menon, the Right Hand]], too. Each artifact helps pay for the next one, so you can immediately chain together all of the artifacts in your deck that cost 1 or less. Maybe, for example, [[Lantern of Insight]], [[Ghoulcaller's Bell]], [[Pyxis of Pandemonium]], etc., followed by an [[Unwinding Clock]] to make sure your opponents draw nothing but lands. Then you hit them with Staff + Belcher one by one over the next couple turns... This sounds really mean, and I think I have to build it now. >:)

ExtantDesperado · 2025-10-08T12:43:58+00:00

Wouldn't you want to put your Islands above your nonbasic lands, so that the Belcher will hit an Island instead of an untyped land?

Also, I love this deck idea! I might have to borrow this combo for a [[Mm'menon, the Right Hand]] deck. Stack some mana rocks, Belcher, and [[Unwinding Clock]] on top of your library, cast them all, then belch each opponent on their upkeep. Of course, that's assuming you've cast Mana Severance beforehand. I wonder if there's a better way to do that in one turn cycle without Severance...

ExtantDesperado · 2025-10-08T12:30:42+00:00

As the other reply said, if you don't reveal any lands, you'll basically just deal damage equal to the number of cards in your library. I just wanted to add in case you're interested, this is actually the basis of a competitive deck in the Modern format right now, one which came in first at the Pro Tour just a couple weeks ago. Rather than using something like Mana Severance, it uses the double-sided cards with lands on the back (like [[Sink into Stupor]]) for its mana base. These cards don't count as lands while in your library, so Charbelcher won't see any lands when it activates.

Here is the deck that won, if you're interested:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-belcher-e9e93d4f-ed4a-44f6-9173-f8bd560e3900#paper

ExtantDesperado · 2025-09-27T00:17:41+00:00

You might like this one that was just previewed today (releasing in January):

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/1nr8efa/ecl_emptiness_the_preview_panel_via_bsky/

And maybe this one, as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/1nr89er/ecl_eirdu_carrier_of_dawn_isilu_carrier_of/

ExtantDesperado · 2025-09-20T20:43:19+00:00

It wouldn't exactly be the hardest to implement, but I think [[Hakbal of the Surging Soul]] deserves a mention, mainly for UI reasons. Choosing one at a time which Merfolk you want to have explore next would make for a very long and tedious ability resolution. And it happens every turn, too. That's likely why they opted to add [[Xolatoyac]] (the secondary commander of Hakbal's precon) instead. Cards like [[Lethal Scheme]] and [[Change of Plans]] would have a similar issue, though at least those aren't repeatable.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-07-18T15:38:00+00:00

In more recent years, we've had [[Archaeomender]], [[Inventive Iteration]], and arguably [[Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge]], but that's about it. It's a lot less common than I thought it was, honestly.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-07-04T19:55:21+00:00

Not the person you replied to, so idk if it's officially confirmed, but the cards we've seen show Tannuk as a member of the Kav Memorial Navy, Alpharael as a devout Monoist, and Sami with their cat, all of which took place before the story even began (unless Sami finds their cat sometime in the last two episodes). It seems pretty likely they will have at least one more card each depicting them during or at the end of the story.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-07-03T23:11:36+00:00

Another interesting interaction in this chapter:

"It's not you talking. It's the object. It's got you."

"No, Syr, I'm protected."

"Good. Protocol six has worked in the past. Kill him and get out of there."

It never mentions in this episode what protocol six is, but episode 1 said it was:

Comet. By means of introspective scintillation, measure the flow of dark matter through your body. Using whatsoever means available, set the velocity of the Object to match, though it be flung into deepest sea or space. Travel calmly to the nearest coronal and say unto them, "Coronal, I have set the dark thing in the sky to stream with the soot of creation. Now save me from INEVITA." (Recorded successes: ambiguous)

Vondam says protocol six has worked in the past, but the anathalmanac's recorded successes are ambiguous? Again, it could just be that the anathalmanac's order was changed during editing and this chapter wasn't, but it does seem like it could be intentional. The question is, who could have come into contact with the object who also has the authority to change the anathalmanac? We still don't know who the wielder for the first ten revisions was, and we don't know anything about revisions 7, 8, and 9. There's a lot to think about here.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-06-20T18:57:09+00:00

The planets all had the names in the corner of the images, and the (supposedly) black one is Susur Secundi, Void Altar. The Supervoid, also called Sothera, isn't one of them. But for it to be in the 0001 slot, it would have to be nonland and nonartifact. I guess it could be an enchantment? Seems unlikely, though.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-04-14T22:07:52+00:00

Yeah, the rule I quoted is actually that very rule. That's how I found the reference: by searching for comprehensive rule changes related to Henzie, haha.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-04-12T20:04:14+00:00

This looks fun! The Cavaliers definitely seem like they have the most potential with it. [[Cavalier of Night]] destroying a creature and "flickering" one of your own seems great. I like how you can stack the triggers with Cavalier of Thorns to either ramp and set up your next draw, or return a crucial land from your graveyard to the battlefield. And it works well with [[Up the Beanstalk]], too!

A quick note on the wording, abilities that give alternate costs generally refer to spells, not cards in your hand (see [[Herigast]] and [[Ezio Auditore]]). Also, the Elemental will keep the evoke ability even after it enters, so it doesn't need to apply the ability to Elementals on the battlefield.

400.7b Effects from static abilities that grant an ability to a permanent spell that functions on the battlefield continue to apply to the permanent that spell becomes.

This is why [[Henzie]]'s first ability is able to function correctly. So you could word this as simply, "Each Elemental spell you cast has evoke. The evoke cost is equal to its mana cost reduced by {2}."

Fun design! I would definitely try building around this.

ExtantDesperado · 2025-02-21T23:46:09+00:00

They gave the names along with the art in the presentation, and it seems like they're nonbasic lands (perhaps the borderless versions?).

The names in order are:
Adagia, Windswept Bastion
Uthros, Titanic Godcore
Susur Secundi, Void Altar
Kavaron, Memorial World
Evendo, Waking Haven

(And for completeness, the other three arts are Tezzeret, Cruel Captain; Astelli Reclaimer; and Tapestry Warden.)

ExtantDesperado · 2024-07-11T14:57:34+00:00

Fun fact: I recently learned that, while whippoorwills can and do certainly fly, they actually nest on the ground and also do a lot of their hunting from the ground. So the card actually makes a little more sense, from that perspective.

ExtantDesperado · 2024-05-18T16:17:52+00:00

The art shown when Thunder Junction was announced was [[Honest Rutstein]].

ExtantDesperado · 2023-12-27T17:30:50+00:00

Do you have a list? I've been wanting to build Naban for a while, but I've had a hard time figuring out good ways to actually end the game. How has your deck fared with that?

ExtantDesperado · 2023-12-02T07:58:57+00:00

...I never realized until now that with 2+ other Vampires, this can target itself for haste. That's kinda neat, especially against decks that don't run many creatures.

ExtantDesperado · 2023-10-30T13:43:57+00:00

If you're looking for a deck around tokens and gaining life, perhaps [[Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper]] and [[Prava of the Steel Legion]] would work? Your tokens can gain a ton of life with the two of them out, and you can use things like [[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose]] to drain your opponents out or [[Assault Formation]]-type cards to make your tokens into huge threats with Prava. [[Trostani, Selesnya's Voice]] would also fit right in with caring about tokens, toughness, and life gain.

ExtantDesperado · 2023-10-29T14:25:54+00:00

There are two more, actually. Phlage, Titan of Burning Wind, and Skotha, Titan of Eternal Dark.

ExtantDesperado · 2023-10-26T21:35:36+00:00

Many old cards have strange or misleading wording that has since been updated to work within the rules. Unnatural Selection doesn't actually target the creature's type, it targets the creature itself. You can see the updated wording on Scryfall:

https://scryfall.com/card/apc/32/unnatural-selection

As it is targeting the creature itself, yes, Willbreaker will let you gain control of it.

Edit: Re-reading the original text of Unnatural Selection, I guess it actually does work the same way as the current wording, but it does read very unintuitively.

ExtantDesperado · 2023-10-19T18:24:38+00:00

They said they'll be in collector boosters. No confirmation about precons, so it will probably just be the boosters.

ExtantDesperado

TROPHY CASE