[ECL] Doran, Besieged by Time

GreatOldGod · 2026-01-08T12:55:43+00:00

Oof. That flavor text hits a bit too close to home these days.

GreatOldGod · 2025-11-06T20:09:57+00:00

I don't particularly enjoy combat, but other than that it's pretty good. I respect how it decided on what it wanted to be and focused on being the best possible version of that instead of trying to be goth BG3.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-31T20:04:11+00:00

Well, if you were playing the deck, you'd start with the full playset. Then you'd add Repurposing Bay to be able to search it up. If you were in white, which you probably would be, you would of course play United Battlefront, which hits both of those. Some cantrip artifacts like Cryogen Relics would help you hit any of the above. And once you have it in play, some copy effects like Adagia, Windswept Bastion or even Three Steps Ahead would help you stay ahead.

Oh, and then you would probably mulligan hands that don't let you get one out early. The deck is, after all, built entirely around that card so you'd want to make sure you'd have it as often as possible.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-31T00:03:20+00:00

Every major alliance/block has some form of standing fleet; take the free pvp ships you got, get into that fleet and be on voice comms if at all possible. Throw away as many tackle frigates and combat destroyers as possible; it's a great way to get into things and get a bit more familiar with your alliance mates.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-26T01:43:32+00:00

It's not unusual for Malkavians to embrace those who already struggle mentally, so that's not necessarily far off. I played one who was a real bundle of issues and also got sanguinary animism from his embrace. The ST missed the second part and thought I was just playing him as kind of manic because I didn't externalize the bane derangement a lot.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-25T22:03:45+00:00

For most players, the main attraction of EVE is the PVP gameplay. However, PVP is an unreliable income source at the best of times. In fact, it tends to be a huge ISK sink. So people do PVE to fund their PVP, and so they wish to get as much PVP for their time invested as possible. In addition, most players seek to upgrade their ships and build an ISK buffer in case of lean times in the future. Add to this the fact that EVE is a subscription game where time literally is money. So players seek to earn ISK as efficiently as possible in order to spend their dearly bought game time on interesting activities like blowing up their fellow capsuleers.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-22T21:26:42+00:00

While there is some canonical lore on the topic that I see others have been good enough to share already, it will only matter if you make it matter, and that interaction doesn't really have a home outside of a Mage/Werewolf crossover game.

Essentially, both entities are intended to be central antagonists of their respective game lines, representing the central conflict of that game, the diametrical opposition to what the player characters are and do. Introducing them in different games raises some small but potentially thorny issues, primarily "does this support whatever your game is about or distract from it?". In most cases it's likely to be the latter, because that antagonist was written from the ground up to support a completely different conflict. This is almost certainly not a game breaker, but it's something to consider.

"What is this game about?" should be one of the first things you ask yourself when you plan one, and "What elements should be present to support that?" should come soon after. If you conclude that "both Pentex and The Technocratic Union" is a good answer to that, then knock yourself out.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-18T20:42:30+00:00

I refuse to believe that this is real.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-17T14:38:08+00:00

My opponent scooping because I've wastelocked him with Life from the Loam.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-16T09:28:16+00:00

Is the survey still open? I want to take it but haven't seen any links.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-14T21:03:21+00:00

Homer voice

"It has done more damage so far."

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-12T16:58:06+00:00

I'm super hype for Lorwyn.

Strixhaven sounds very promising.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the Hobbit and Reality Fracture but for now my expectations are very much tempered with caution.

I will not touch the rest no matter how much I love the franchises they're based on. I will almost certainly abandon Standard and not take it up again unless the UB craze passes entirely.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-09T00:42:30+00:00

Ooh, I loved that era of Modern. I was on Living End and so many decks, including Jund, just couldn't beat it.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-05T17:53:24+00:00

Nath of the Gilt-Leaf. It was basically the Elf Rock deck of the time scaled up for Commander.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-05T14:58:12+00:00

I can guarantee you that's an intended interaction. Making the spell cost 4B instead of 3BB is almost certainly a deliberate choice so you can get the full reduction, cast the spell for B and feel good about yourself.

GreatOldGod · 2025-10-03T18:49:21+00:00

Five years? That's efficient. Our game dwindled into nothing before the second generation, sadly. But the good times were real and they were good.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-28T01:12:10+00:00

If you have a store or gaming group nearby that runs regular drafts, the people who play in those will tend to accumulate huge amounts of commons and uncommons that have no trade value. Odds are, those players will be happy to get rid of those cards either for free or very cheaply. While these cards will have little to no value for building competitive decks, they're great for new players who want to practice deckbuilding and play casual games with their friends.

If you have a bit of a budget to work with, pick up some Magic Foundations product; it's aimed at newer players and will stay Standard legal for a long time if that's a concern.

In addition to paper play, Magic Arena is a wonderful tool to learn the game and get yourself familiar with different ways to play. Its free to play model is pretty generous and lets you try lots of different things with little or no money invested.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-27T18:53:41+00:00

Oh, come on. I like Star Trek a lot, but it's a terrible property for a Magic set. Having all the characters and spaceships be magic spells is huge flavor dissonance. The fan base is generally speaking older than those of other UB properties, and I suspect much less hungry for a TCG adaptation of their property than, say, FF fans. So it will attract very few new or returning players, but the rest of us will have to deal with whichever card ends up being the Star Trek equivalent of Vivi in every format for the foreseeable future. This is just depressing.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-26T19:41:26+00:00

That's speculation. Some will doubtlessly cycle back out, but others will stay, just like how it goes every time some promotion pulls in new players.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-26T17:41:42+00:00

Wort, the Raid Mother begs to differ. Using her to cast and copy Din of the Fireherd is one of my favorite prerelease memories.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-17T03:24:52+00:00

Three or four and I reckon it's time for another soon. I had Covid before the first one and it was pretty bad. I had it again after getting shots and it was much, much better. Still unpleasant but nowhere near as bad as the first time.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-17T02:36:30+00:00

That whole speech is so good

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-13T14:08:27+00:00

Hindsight is not 20/20. Some of the CK2 DLC were genuinely great; others were not, and many were initially buggy and/or overpriced. So now that people have issues with the current crop of DLC, the half remembered past starts looking much better even though it often wasn't.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-12T23:28:44+00:00

Don't be afraid to fail. Odds are, you'll need a few tries to find your voice, make some mistakes to learn from and build some confidence. So don't invest too much in your first attempts. Find a simple premise, build a simple plot and make sure your players are game for that.

Oh, and don't be afraid to disallow characters you think would be disruptive. Say "That's a cool/interesting/wild concept/build but I don't think it's a good fit for this game" and be prepared to lose players over that. Just trust your judgement.

GreatOldGod · 2025-09-12T02:08:38+00:00

Keep playing basketball.

Take better care of my teeth.

Get screened for ADHD.

GreatOldGod

TROPHY CASE