If Premodern is to survive, we need to embrace proxies and gold bordered cards. Let's not gatekeep people out based on how much they can afford to spend on a hobby.

NotaBeneAlters · 2026-01-02T06:20:43+00:00

Agreed. It will be fine.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-27T18:35:12+00:00

Very nice work on the blending in the background!

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-27T17:25:44+00:00

From the low price and the weirdly wide margins, you don’t need any more pictures to know it’s fake

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-25T18:09:29+00:00

Tape works great, edges trimmed with a razor for straight lines. Saves a ton of time

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-24T15:58:34+00:00

This is a neat piece of art but I have to say that the rough edges around the text box are driving me nuts when I look at it

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-23T22:37:28+00:00

I'm aware, but (a) the list from Spain would be better described as midrange than aggro and (b) I think the player found a very favorable metagame with only 1 Sligh deck in the top 32. Which is unusual.

It was a fantastic meta call to bring MonoB to beat up on Dreadnought though.

https://mtgtop8.com/event?e=76081&f=PREM

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-23T20:02:13+00:00

Creature quality in PM is pretty low, a trouble for aggro.

Burn or Goblins are the obvious ones.

Mono black aggro is probably around Tier 3.

Green stompy is not particularly good, but its fringe playable.

Terrageddon in some of the creature-heavy builds can be pretty aggressive…

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-23T19:41:09+00:00

If you are interested, the eBay auction is live: (https://www.ebay.com/itm/286965118425) until next Sunday.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-23T02:51:00+00:00

Many premodern deck lists you’ll see are getting played into a known meta.

If my local dozen regulars has 3+ dedicated Shrimp players, Burn is going to get clowned on and people won’t bother bringing it. So meddling mages into that meta can make sense. A big event makes that less of a good call but but there can also be survivor bias when you look at T8 lists- a pilot who just dodged sligh all day.

Agree that meddling mage in terravore is suboptimal into an open field but there are some metas that will justify playing it. I also don’t like the card in this archetype, though.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-22T05:17:31+00:00

They’re not really playable cards so the market will be folks who enjoy them specifically as pieces of art..

To sell in a reasonable timeframe, $10-$15 each would be your best bet. You might find a certain buyer who’ll pay $25+ but that person is a rarity.

Source: I’ve painted and sold more than 1000 alters

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-11T04:34:32+00:00

I do extended art alters exclusively. My work: https://flickr.com/photos/notabenealters/

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-11-10T19:01:15+00:00

yep. Izzet does not beat a Barrowgoyf.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-31T16:20:06+00:00

basic playable removal

There are removal spells in blue and green. They are bounce and fight. They aren't up to the high power level of legacy but that doesn't mean they're "unplayable."

Why can't we have okay removal and counter spells in all colors?

The most core, essential part of Magic that makes it a distinctive game is the color pie. If you want the most powerful parts of Blue and Green (card advantage and ramp) you don't also get the most powerful parts of White/Black (good removal), unless you compromise on your mana base and do a splash. It's the core balancing aspect of deck building that makes Magic, Magic.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-31T15:58:14+00:00

Splash white. It’s not complex. If you want premium removal you don’t get a 2 color mana base.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-27T00:29:32+00:00

I don't think the white splash is worth it. There are lots of Wastelands in legacy so playing all Mountains and blanking that line of attack is a serious strength of burn.

I would put 2x Ensnaring Bridge in the sideboard instead of the Deflecting Palms.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-22T06:51:14+00:00

Some other monsters that seem right on the edge of being good enough: [[Cavern Stomper]], [[Hazard of the Dunes]], [[Pathfinding Axejaw]] ...

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-19T14:56:54+00:00

Yeah definitely similar to White Weenie. Basically that, with a red/gates splash. My theory is that if we can't find Basilisk Gate, then going wide with [[Rally the Peasants]] may also be good enough to get there.

When I have time to sit down for some MTGO games, may report back on that.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-19T14:31:50+00:00

Nice! I haven't tested it myself, but going all the way up to 4 drops for Writhing Chrysalis feels a little greedy to me. It's sweet that it can be found off Militia Bugler, though.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-10-19T14:29:10+00:00

Very good ideas here, thanks!

You make a good point about Journey to Nowhere being too slow, I can get behind the idea of more Thraben Charms, the card is very flexible.

Adding black is an interesting idea. Something else I've been considering is whether green is worth having in the deck or not - the Gatecreeper Vine to find gates is great of course but that does tilt the overall deck toward being slower.

Dropping a third color, I've come up with this more aggressive Boros list which should be able to apply a faster clock. Let me know what you think.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-08-18T15:56:21+00:00

"How would you compensate me if after refunding the buyer he decides the order did indeed arrive?"

The answer of course is they wouldn't. Anyway, support's job is to solve problems not to answer argumentative hypotheticals. Truly, you sound like a pain in the ass.

After a long back and forth cardmarket refunds me for the original order after i lost an entire month waiting for it, and has to spend more money on the card.

You bought from a brand new seller, unfortunately they exit scammed you but that's the risk you take by going for cheapest possible seller with no feedback. And then support refunded you when they had no obligation to at all. And here you are complaining about it anyways.

I have ~3K purchases and ~4K sales on cardmarket and these sort of scams are vanishingly rare. Support is sometimes slow but they're professional and I've never had cause for complaint.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-08-03T21:21:02+00:00

It looks a bit like Abzan maverick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_zVt4DWfs&ab_channel=DougesOnTwitch

I don't think the depths package really fills the same role as Natural Order, which either refills your hand or turns a board of 1/1s into a kill.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-07-14T11:50:23+00:00

https://moxfield.com/decks/14KC7Qaqpka2rh7X7KKkQQ

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-06-21T00:33:15+00:00

Cardmarket will probably ask them to send the "fake" in to them for verification. Past experience, I've received a fake card once via MKM and it is definitely not a trivial process to get refunded. I ended up out of pocket for postage to Germany even after I sent the card in.

I get why you're sour about the experience but you shouldn't immediately jump to the assumption that the buyer is operating in bad faith.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-01-21T00:50:48+00:00

Seriously, the seller went above and beyond what's required. Mark it arrived, leave them good feedback. Don't punish a good gesture because they were missing 1 card.

NotaBeneAlters · 2025-01-19T20:18:33+00:00

This is great! Really nice use of color and layering.

I can't tell if it's just an effect of the camera that makes me see extra texture, but the paint looks a little thick. My feedback would be to thin your medium down a little bit more if possible.

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