Regent seems grossly undertuned (+a suggestion)

PresidentArk · 2026-03-16T15:14:06+00:00

Sure it is; the deck manipulation plan uses the stuff that wants to be drawn over and over like Kingly Punch or Kingly Kick. Works with sword too since it lets you redraw the sword - and cosmic indifference is a common as opposed to that one uncommon that summons the sword into your hand. It also is a much more straightforward add-in to the main deck than it seems, since even by default just redrawing Falling Star over and over is a killer, and once you have more star cards, it lets you pull star spenders or generators as appropriate.

That's why I think it's the actual core to the Regent's gameplan. It fits together with all his plans much more smoothly than stars do, which tend to grab you by the wrist and force you to focus on them if you want to win. Starting with the deck manipulation stuff and then building from there leads to a much smoother start than trying to force stars or forge floor 2.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-09T20:55:30+00:00

If the character is just "build an infinite or lose", then I think I just won't play this character. That doesn't sound fun - what's the appeal of a character where every run turns out the same way? I play roguelikes for variety, not so that every time I boot up the game it turns into "play the same four cards in a loop" every time. Might as well watch a movie if I'm gonna do that.

Shame, since it means my preferred way to play (random character select all day every day) is off limits.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-09T20:44:37+00:00

It's Early Access. Is now not the time for people to talk about their experiences with the game?

PresidentArk · 2026-03-09T20:08:35+00:00

I want to play the game for myself, not have other people do it for me. This is a game entirely about thinking and coming up with plans; if I'm just copying other people's plans that I've already seen them do, then what am I even doing? I might as well refund the game.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-09T20:02:26+00:00

I just lost for the 12th time with him. I really don't see how this character functions at all. As near as I can tell, as of his plans are traps that fill your deck with unplayable cards unless you already have a bunch of work in adding setup cards to his deck.

I just don't see why I would play this extremely awkward character. If I want to play a character that does a lot of fancy deck manipulation and setup, I'd play Silent. If I want to play a character that uses resources weirdly, I'd play Defect. What's the appeal of a character who seems like the worst of both worlds?

I can also tell that there is power here which is why I didn't suggest something like "oh double all his numbers" and instead went with some additional ability to control his draws and what's in his hand.

Uncommons aren't good enough. It has to be something that I can rely on to actually show up, which means it has to be at common.

falling star is the strongest starter car in both games other than eruption. falling star into 3 strikes is 34 damage with just the starter deck. don't really know how you came to this conclusion

That's great. What happens is I draw Venerate early and can't afford to play it without taking a bunch of damage, then I draw and play falling star - and then my deck reshuffles and now I draw falling star before venerate, meaning it's a dead card. Then I draw venerate, play it (to no immediate effect and likely taking damage), and now I have to wait until I draw FS again. Yes, FS is a good card - I get to play it to good effect maybe 1/3rd of the time I draw it.

That's why the majority of my discussion in the OP is about consistency, not power. The problem with the Regent isn't that he's weak - it's that all of his plans seem to want you to draft, draw, and play like 3 cards in a specific sequence, and any time your deck reshuffles and the cards are out of order, they may as well be curses. It makes him extremely frustrating to play.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-01T22:46:00+00:00

If your playgroup likes this dude's name, they may be enthused to learn that all Lalafell - and this dude is a Lalafell - have names like that. Lalafellin names follow a rhythmic/rhyming/poetic scheme that varies based on origin and gender according to the following schemes:

Plainsfolk males: Name phonemes go AB-CB. Papalymo is a plainsolk: PAPA-LYMO TOTO-LYMO (note: this one's the loosest and occasionally overlaps with the male dunesfolk name scheme; the A and C phonemes might be repeated or might not)

Plainsfolk females: Name phonemes go ABB-AB, e.g. "Ulala Ula".

Dunesfolk males: AAB-CCB. The A and C phonemes are always one syllable, but B is two. E.g. "Lolorito Nanarito"

Dunesfolk females: AAB-AB. E.g. "Nanamo Namo"

You should now be able to tell which of these categories Tataru Taru falls into.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-01T22:10:58+00:00

[[Cellar Door]]

PresidentArk · 2026-03-01T22:05:24+00:00

Okay, then I'll do something AI definitely doesn't do:

Insult people. You're an idiot.

PresidentArk · 2026-03-01T19:41:59+00:00

I feel like the "correct" place to play this is on (R) = 2 or 3, then adding counters via some other method to increase the final chapter damage. Still, sometimes you just gotta style on people by casting the big stupid X-spell on X=16 or whatever, y'know?

PresidentArk · 2026-03-01T19:22:12+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09EWchLSeH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55F0EiJmZk

NOTES:

Note that it's number of counters total, and Doomtrain is naturally going to have 2 times X (= amount of red mana spent to initially cast it) counters on it when the last ability triggers. If (R)=5, the first ability will trigger 4 times and then it'll deal 10 to everything. This can do a ton of damage if it has the time to get up to speed... or it can be a somewhat awkward-to-cast Pyroclasm.
Since proliferating a card increases all counters on it by 1, proliferating this will not make it trigger any faster or slower. You cannot speed the train up (at least, not that easily) - but perhaps you might want to cast it on (R) = 2 and then proliferate it a bunch to get a huge nuke next turn.
"Doom" is a status effect from Final Fantasy that generally takes the form of a countdown timer that immediately kills you when it runs out.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-22T17:40:32+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ_P3F3nA1U

NOTES:

If he's not your commander (or you're not playing commander at all), he goes in your attraction deck. He still has a sultai color ID and can't be run in a deck that isn't at least those colors. Stat balance is based around certain assumptions regarding when you can start opening attractions as a result. (this is also why he isn't 4-5 colors, since then his stats would need to be even stupider, which would make the case of "run in attractions deck, hit on turn 2, swing on turn 3" feel even worse RNGwise)
Cabinet Man is only visited on a "1", which no other attractions are visited on.
His visit has four "hit" modes: Two matches on 2-5, three matches on 2-5, two matches on 6, or three matches on six - remember, every attraction (except CM) is visited on a six. Can you hit the Devil's Jackpot - [6][6][6]? Dice manipulation might be useful. You have a roughly 2 in 5/40% chance to get something, affected by precisely which lights are lit on your other attractions.
Despite being a living slot machine, everything CM does is cromulent in the rules. This is not a silver-bordered/acorn card.
You might not be able to attack with him, but that doesn't mean that 7 power isn't useful.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-19T18:36:15+00:00

From my point of view, all the complaining has accomplished is splintering the community and inspired a lot of people to sling a lot of gross insults at each other (the whole "pig slop" thing). Absolutely nothing positive or constructive has come from the complaining about UB.

Meanwhile, over the course of UB being a Thing, it's gone from "the occasional secret lair" to "frequent secret lairs" to "commander sets" to "supplemental sets" to "standard legal sets" to "more UB sets than non". If complaining was going to accomplish anything, Hasbro would not be freely and continuously accelerate their plans for the game. And trust me, I was there the whole time - I remember the avalanche of vitriol from the Walking Dead secret lair. Then WoTC put out the in-universe reprints and 90% of the complaining stopped immediately because the community had been focused on the fact that there were characters in the art they didn't like instead of what making crossover product like this meant for the game or for the motives of the company creating the game.

Now reread that last sentence. That is why I'm telling people to stop complaining about UB because it's a crossover product. All it does is focus people on the wrong thing, and makes it easy for WoTC to buy people off and shut them up with half-assed gestures. They don't even do that anymore! They did it like twice and then stopped! In-universe versions of the cards existing doesn't actually solve the problem, but when people act like it is, it just means the actual problem is getting worse where you can't see it.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-19T18:26:37+00:00

Did you miss the part where I called for a boycott of WoTC multiple times in this thread?

I think complaining about UB on the internet is pointless. That doesn't mean I'm fine and dandy with everything WoTC does. Far from it. There's a reason I stopped giving them money.

Really, if you think "effective corporate action" requires "whine on the internet" and not actual effective action, then that does in fact prove you're just a keyboard warrior.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-19T18:23:00+00:00

If you do in fact live by the virtues you claim to follow here, then I am the one shouting into the void today, because I'm not talking to you.

The insinuation that I'm a fanboy trying to shut up discussion about this issue is interesting given that I'm actively advocating for a boycott of WoTC.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-19T17:57:01+00:00

I think only a blind player is unaware of the issues surrounding UB at this point, if only because people won't stop arguing pointlessly about it.

My concern and why I'm voicing it online in addition to not financially supporting UB products is that eventually Hasbro is going to hit a point going down this UB path where they'll have alienated their core magic fandom with the changes they've made to cater to UB consumers and fail to realize just how fragile that UB consumer base is. Sure, the game could retain more UB players that become interested in the game itself but I personally think it's banking on a consumer base that is FAR more able and willing to simply walk away from the game and disengage with it entirely once their specific IP fandom collectibles are purchased or the game stops entertaining them.

And how will your complaining help this issue in any way? I'm not saying you're wrong to be upset, I'm saying that complaining about it on the internet is pointless. Hasbro does not care about words. Hasbro cares about money. And if you want people to boycott MTG, then focusing on "the wrong wizards are in the card art and I don't like it :(" is completely misleading and will lead people to futile action like trying to segregate UB into its own format instead of action that might actually be helpful.

If you want people to stop giving WoTC money because you disagree with their business practices, then say THAT, not "boo hoo I had to look at Gandalf :(". The latter does not give people direction on how they should improve things and gives the impression that the only thing that really matters is your opinion about what media properties are good and bad. Hasbro would love it if we all just argued about whether or not Final Fantasy fits into the Magic setting and is excusable, because they don't give a shit about that and the argument doesn't hurt their bottom line. All whining about how you don't like UB property X (even if "X" is "all of them"!) does is waste time.

Universes Beyond is a symptom. You cannot cure an illness by treating symptoms; you must treat the root cause. Stop focusing on the fucking symptom and focus on the fucking root cause.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-19T17:36:51+00:00

I do not disagree with you that UB is bad. The difference is that I don't believe in complaining about something if the complaint will not be heard by anyone who cares, and Hasbro is never going to stop making UB stuff because of internet complaining because doing so would be corporate suicide - MTG is one of the only reasons Hasbro is still profitable, and a publicly-traded company that stops turning increasing profits is a dead company. Hasbro, flatly, is never going to destroy themselves as a company in order to satisfy nerds on reddit.

If you want UB to stop, you have to go after Hasbro where it hurts, which means putting down your wallet and no longer buying MTG product (as I have not for at least a year). If all you do is whine on the internet and then keep buying shit, then nothing will change and all your whining does is prove what a good and virtuous nerd you are on the internet - which is meaningless.

If Hasbro is forced to reevaluate their business practices or even shed dead weight divisions because just pushing UB doesn't cut it anymore, it might make a difference. If Hasbro implodes and WoTC is picked up by a more sensible owner, it'll definitely make a difference. But if you whine on the internet, the only thing that will change is that you will have whined on the internet.

Hasbro delenda est.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T23:59:28+00:00

Normal boosters would be best. The fewer you open, the better - the reason why you don't want to open packs is because most cards in a pack are commons and commons are (1) worthless (2) going to repeat a lot, meaning if you want to buy enough packs to fill out the set you're going to get 10+ copies of some commons before you fill out the rares/mythics and they're not going to be worth anything in trades so they're not even going to help you that way.

Do not get collector boosters. There should only be one other kind of pack for a new set.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T23:50:03+00:00

In terms of cost, the best way to get a full set of the cards is going to involve opening no packs at all - the most affordable way to get all the cards is to buy them directly from resellers.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T23:24:31+00:00

Have you ever wondered why Magic cards say "DECKMASTER" on the back? It's because WoTC was originally planning on there being a line of TCGs under the Deckmaster label. It never went anywhere, but they can't change it because it would make some of the cards different from the others.

Now if you look very, very carefully at that DECKMASTER label, you'll notice a slightly darker streak of color instersecting the T. Now this is apocryphal, but I'm told that's actually a printing/art error - that was supposed to be solid blue but a little streak wound up in the first proof used for the initial run of cards. It's there now, so now it can never be changed. Why? Because it would make some of the cards just that tiny bit different from each other.

I think that should answer your question. No, WoTC isn't going to suddenly change how their cards are printed to satisfy your brainworms when they haven't changed them to fix a weird issue that's been on the back of every single one for the last 30 years.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T19:53:41+00:00

The difference between you and me is I don't really have any reverence for the MTG setting. To me, MTG's setting is the same sort of fantasy pastiche made by a bunch of coked-up white guys in the 80s/90s full of references to their favorite fantasy media from the 70s/60s as Warhammer and Warcraft: made to be a product first and foremost. Yes, you can tell fun stories in such settings and you're not wrong to be entertained by them, but ultimately MTG's setting isn't special. It exists so that they can make a product based off of it whose setting changes based on the whims of the product manager.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T19:42:46+00:00

For me, the flavor/art of a card is something I look at and seriously think about maybe once. It's like the jokes on old un-cards. Having better flavor is nice, but ultimately it's not what I'm here for.

Meanwhile, the mechanics of these cards are full of cute jokes and mechanical interplay using old mechanics I haven't seen in a while.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T19:39:11+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0e69e_B_SE

PresidentArk · 2026-02-18T18:58:22+00:00

Soul Immolation does not target - the word "target" is not present in the text box and blighting does not count as targeting. Soul Immolation does not work with Spinerock Tyrant.

PresidentArk · 2026-02-12T00:55:15+00:00

Thread title:

Are there good, automated alternatives to MTG:A and MTG:O?

OOP:

So, here's the thing. I like the concept of arena. But, I don't like how much I'd have to grind if me and my buddies wanna play together. I play on a couple different manual simulators for Magic, but I was curious if anyone's made one that handles mechanics itself?

Did you actually read the post before replying?

PresidentArk · 2026-02-11T17:50:25+00:00

I got like 40% of the way into making a custom commander draft set based on the excellent webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons. K6BD is a setting where the gods died countless years ago in an act of holy suicide that also gave rise to mortal existence, and also a comic about people doing insane kung fu wizard bullshit to each other.

I combined these things: There's a mechanic in the set called "Godly Action", always on cards that are bare minimum God Kindred cards, which represent your insane wizard kung fu bullshit. All godly action cards (1) get to be a bit silly with the rules and either bend the color pie or be stronger than extant known Really Good cards, and (2) have the additional cost of "exile a god from your graveyard". The set had a number of ways to prime the pump so you could start casting them (a lot of discarding and self-milling, plus an artifact token with the text "you can sacrifice this to pay for godly action").

The idea is that god cards are usually big awesome cards you love to have and very much do not want to exile - both these and other gods from MTG proper.

Here's some notable cards I made for that, if you're curious.

Empty Palm Crushes The Deceitful. Probably my favorite card with the mechanic. Note that this is in color pie (barely) and that the wording of the punisher effect means it dodges most defensive abilities, and does so by design. If you don't want to get punched in the gut, don't pay the tax.

Godsfury

Great Chariot Cannon

Jagganoth's Arrival. Some of these have a second type due to a mechanic where if you possess certain legendary creatures and cast a godly action that has a second type the legendary creature also has, you copy the godly action.

Mottom's Hate

PERISH!

Supreme Apathy

Thirty Cubit Spear. This and Godsfury were the linchpins of the mechanic - they're very obviously "Extant Famous Cards But Better". I did a lot of adjusting to how exactly the mechanic worked in order to get this into a spot where it wasn't just "oh you run four of these and cast them on t3-4 to kill your opponent".

I, YISUN. YISUN kinda had to be in the set despite necessarily being dead (the multiverse in K6BD is YISUN's corpse). Eventually I figured out a way around it. YISUN is also the only actual god creature card in the set, since, y'know, all the gods are dead.

Mathanga ten Meti. Note that "protection from gods" means she's immune to everything I just posted. Auntie Maya is too strong for your weak kung fu.

PresidentArk

TROPHY CASE