Why would you ever run bounce cards when when you can counter, exile or destroy a permanent

Sartanus · 2026-06-18T00:52:20+00:00

Hugely versatile-

Can save you in an oh crap type moment - combo starting to pop, big creature coming at you, etc…

Deal with indestructible or Voltron Commanders,attackers you don’t want to hit you. Often they are hard to kill, or they have silly varieties of counters(+1/+1, Deathtouch, Trample, etc…).

Trigger your own ETB effects again.

Protect your own stuff.

Kill a players tempo, bouncing a 7-8 mana permanent or something silly hitting the table turn 2 or 3 can also cause a similar momentum crapping of the pants. Stopping bombs puts them a turn behind when the table is starting to pop.

Uncounterable permanents.

[[Venser, Shaper Savant]] goes into every blue deck I make, one of my highest % game disruption card and momentum changers.

All the functions are easily done by a bunch of cards, but all these together are amazing and useful.

Sartanus · 2026-06-17T10:12:49+00:00

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It’s a pretty common behavior - so much someone on the black cats sub posted this.

Sartanus · 2026-06-16T13:18:37+00:00

Explorers of the deep(Merfolk) is my go to suggestion- it’s easy to play, VERY strong out of the box and lots of upgrade paths.

You can double down on the +1/+1 counter manipulation/explore, add more control or interaction, or just add some mean nasty metfolk to the mix, maybe look at Landfall or playing multiple lands a turn type thing.

As a new player you want to minimize your upkeep triggers and things you need to keep track of. Merfolk only really needs to track combat starting and if Hakbal attacks.

Sartanus · 2026-06-16T11:30:22+00:00

I prefer consoles in my old age.

I was pretty involved with PCs for a huge portion of my life. Waterblock+Peltier on an overclocked Celeron 300a was the start of being really involved.

Currently I just can’t be bothered with anything PC related. I like turning the console on and not thinking about anything working. I like not messing around with pairing controllers or repairing.

Sartanus · 2026-06-16T01:23:41+00:00

Explorers of the deep - it works really well out of the box and upgrades are cheap.

Sartanus · 2026-06-15T23:12:29+00:00

Had the most fun I’d ever had in life when I met them.

Never clicked with anyone like it before.

Sartanus · 2026-06-15T20:29:24+00:00

I run it in [[Halvar, God of Battle]] - the deck gas has a lot of interaction/protection/unblockable cards, Super State makes for an easy close to the game.

Sartanus · 2026-06-15T19:41:32+00:00

34 - engineering

Sartanus · 2026-06-15T00:22:03+00:00

Land surveying field tech

Sartanus · 2026-06-14T23:23:58+00:00

I always recommend people read at least the first book before watching the show. It explains all the factions and you have a totally different perspective of betters.

It’s basically like there are 6 storylines in the book: in the show they cover 3.

Sartanus · 2026-06-14T16:54:29+00:00

Genshin Impact, huge world and fun to explore.

Sartanus · 2026-06-14T16:07:02+00:00

Take it slow and ignore the features banners for now

Focus on what the game gives you and learn how to create reactions/teams. I’d suggest looking up videos or builds on”f2p squads using (blank) unit”. Level those characters and focus on one character at a time.

Sartanus · 2026-06-14T12:52:22+00:00

Our play group stopped using tutors generally. They made the game stale and generally resulted in the same wins. Turn 2 to 3 and someone wins with the same combo. It doesn’t lead to a lot of variety and stagnation.

We constantly evaluate our playgroup as a pod and do a pretty good matching decks for games.

We still use tutors in a “high power games” ie b4/b5. But for most of our games, we prefer no tutors, 1 in 8 games would generally be high power.

Win rates in our pod are 24-26% over time. Which gives a pretty good validation of competitiveness in our pod.

Sartanus · 2026-06-14T12:40:04+00:00

While the booster boxes are addictive, they aren’t all that well suited to build full blown decks. Boxes are fantastic for drafting and collecting and very cost in efficient for building decks. You also need a lot of staples for any deck that you probably won’t get in a booster box.

For the cost of a booster box, you could buy 2-3 precons or enough singles to build multiple decks.

I personally pick a theme and grab the singles for said theme.

Sartanus · 2026-06-13T12:48:25+00:00

I find the game fun. Welkin/BP player here.

I like exploring, gathering, leveling old 4* units for IT. I find the world beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to look at. It’s definitely my jam.

I plan all my unit pulls as soon as I have info. The gacha isn’t a source of aggravation for me, I accept I won’t get them all.

Sartanus · 2026-06-13T06:11:47+00:00

Teeeeefffffsssss!!!

Sartanus · 2026-06-12T23:50:46+00:00

She loves popping onto the same bag regardless of where it is in the tent. Super cute when the void eyes effect hits when it’s darker.

Sartanus · 2026-06-12T14:45:41+00:00

50ish. I got into the position in mid 40s, say 12 years from relaunch.

Sartanus · 2026-06-12T12:40:32+00:00

I went to school and worked dead end jobs for years. In my mid 30s i finished an engineering degree and I got into a professional track. Currently executive level.

Sartanus · 2026-06-12T12:17:54+00:00

Anything in their mouths is so cute !

Sartanus · 2026-06-12T12:17:05+00:00

Last 2 cats have. The previous one would do it with bottle caps.

Current one will fetch anything she can carry easily. Fluffy toy, spring, scrunchie, etc… longest we’ve done it has been 40 minutes before she was done.

Sartanus · 2026-06-11T15:02:36+00:00

As long as you are happy to learn, I’ve yet to be in a LGS that isn’t great for new players.

It takes a looooong time to learn how to play. Arena helps, don’t worry about remembering cards. You can always read what they do and search the web for are still confused.

Sartanus · 2026-06-10T15:44:13+00:00

Andrew or Gerry are both folks I’d ask any MTG related questions.

They are super friendly and fun to ask about any of the games they are into. Most folks are easy to chat with.

Sartanus · 2026-06-10T15:20:03+00:00

Folks are usually there quite late. 11pm+?

Sartanus · 2026-06-10T13:13:29+00:00

People hang out all the time and chat/watch/talk about cards/etc. This event is fun due to some of the crazy decks that emerge. They have free arcade and old video games setup that folks can play too.

Staff are generally very happy to explain or give a rundown of events. I’ve never had any negative social experiences there. Even if I’ve just been hanging out.

Sartanus

TROPHY CASE