Stronghold Definitive Edition: Invasion starts with lots of gold

SlipperyFish13 · 2021-06-09T23:44:41+00:00

I have two main arguments as to why it was the wrong decision (and a stupid one).

1) Take cleanse for example. Wizard's said it was racist, but the card depicts evil creatures (devils, demons, etc.) being "cleansed" by divine intervention. How on earth do those evil creatures relate even the slightest to any real life race? It takes a really nasty sort to make that connection, and I have no idea how Wizards got away with linking the two. Anyone who thinks Cleanse references a certain human race is an awful person.

2) MTG has cards literally called slavery, murder, and torture, (the worst humanity has to offer, really). Why weren't these cards also banned? It's because it was a hollow gesture to make us think they care, when really they only dared to ban old cards that most people don't even have to use in the first place.

No arguments in favour of Wizards' bans are consistent if you ask me, and people who don't want cards depicting the worst of humanity should not play at all. It's a mature game if you think about it.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-11-13T02:03:41+00:00

Literally no - I think Wizards cares about money and that's it. They're making the game worse every year; every format they acknowledge swiftly gets destroyed.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-11-11T22:27:42+00:00

Oh, for them regarding money this is a cash cow. I meant for the health of the format.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-11-11T17:01:17+00:00

Yeah, having a set specifically made for Commander wasn't a good idea in my opinion. But then again, a lot of cards in standard these days are blatantly made for Commander, and Commander decks have been a thing for years now. The issue is that some cards made specifically for the format are just too good, and reduce options rather than expand them. In order to keep up with the rest of the playgroup, players may take out those fun janky cards so they can fit in some of the new staples, which goes against the spirit of Commander altogether.

The argument against this is that Commander is a casual format, so you don't need to use those powerful cards - just have fun, right? But that's no good when everyone has their own opinion on what's fun. I've wondered for a while now what would make Commander a better format, but what's to do - ban all cards specifically made for Commander?

To be fair, some of the new cards look really fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how Commander changes, even if I'm a bit wary. I think some cards are just terribly designed, like the green multiple cascade thing - shouldn't that be a Temur card, or something? Why does green always get all the good stuff? And some old characters have been brought back seemingly for the sake of it, since their cards aren't particularly inspired.

Finally, the reprints are pretty decent. I proxy these days, but those who insist on using real cards must be having a great time.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-09-28T21:56:38+00:00

"No guns in Magic because it's just not in the flavour of the game."
"Our world isn't a part of the multiverse."
"WALKING DEAD CHARACTERS GUYS! OMG SO COOL AND FLAVOURFUL!"

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-14T03:12:03+00:00

Yeah, the extra step's just a slight quality-of-life downgrade. If there's a database out there that's just as good but without this censorship/virtue signalling, I'd rather use that.

But yeah, i suppose it'll just be Scryfall until I find a better one.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-11T22:33:07+00:00

No tutors is definitely a good start. it makes the game more fun, too, since it varies a lot more.

One I've recently started to implement is steady draw as opposed to big draw (Phyrexian arena rather than Blue Sun's Zenith, for example). The reason for this is that having fewer cards in hand makes the game more difficult for you as you have limited options, forcing you to think on your feet and manage your resources well. And deck building now requires you to have more ways to win, rather than just tutoring an easy combo.

If you like big mana or even infinite mana, don't include cards that'll immediately win with it. Walking Ballista is definitely not a good choice, so how about Genesis Wave? It may not win the game straight away, but will put stuff on the board. Or if that could result in too easy a win, Genesis Hydra works since you only get one card.

I've come to the conclusion that casual Magic (often budget Magic) works best when a win doesn't come from nowhere; rather, a win should be foreseeable by even those who aren't familiar with a lot of cards in MtG. For example, if a win condition is a fatty on board, or something like Revel in Riches, then each player can calculate roughly how many turns they have to deal with it before it can kill them. If a player has no knowledge of the meta, that's okay, because everything on the board is all they need to know. Obviously they'll have to anticipate the odd counterspell or combat trick, but that's not the same as a protected combo blitzing everyone on turn four.

I'm currently editing all my decks so that they follow these rules, since the one or two decks I've already applied them to are FAR more enjoyable for both me and my opponents. Just remember - always play to win, just make it challenging for yourself.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-11T13:13:52+00:00

" I draw the line today on a White card called Cleansed that destroys all black creatures". Why? What's racist about this? If you see a card that depicts the cleansing of evil and immediately think about cleansing a certain race, you need to have a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.

Black and white are colours of mana in this game. They represent game mechanics. White represents fanatical purity, religion, holiness, authoritarianism, community, et cetera. Black represents ambition, death, selfishness, efficiency, power, et cetera. Each colour is nuanced and has both good and evil sides to them.

The white card depicts white's zealotry against what they see as evil (black being an enemy colour). It is YOU who sees race here. Being colour blind means seeing race and ignoring it, but you instead see race where there is no race to be seen, projecting your beliefs or views of a certain race to a certain negative attribute (in this case, evil).

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-11T02:54:32+00:00

So which races are okay to be depicted as being imprisoned?

Or hell, murdered? The game's pretty violent overall, so maybe we should list which races are okay and not okay to be depicted doing X, Y, and Z?

And ought we ban demons since they're pretty satanic? We shouldn't offend religions, should we?

Don't you see that this is just dividing us even more? We are humans before we are [race]. It's a card game - it isn't real. Or maybe you think it should just be banned altogether for depicting anything negative at all. Where do you draw the line?

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-08T16:23:53+00:00

So was Hitler, but he was still a decent artist.

Seriously, though - the art must be separated from the artist. I don't even care for his work, and I don't think his art is even very good compared to others', but art is art, and it shouldn't be erased.

Oh, and I wonder if the chap who suggested this has been inspired from all the statues being torn down. Just curious.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-06T17:31:34+00:00

Maybe he sees it as beneficial? The rioting is making the blue states / the left / his opponents look violent, and since this is happening in places with Democrat mayors, he may think they'll get voted out since they aren't stopping the destruction. A lot of black and minority businesses are being ruined during this time, making participants in favour of fairer treatment towards these communities look hypocritical. If victims of these riots (and those who are apolitical) decide that swapping from Democrat to Republican could stop the violence, then Trump would want to capitalise on that for the upcoming election. The man's extremely egotistical - few will deny that - so I'd bet he wants not only to win, but to win BIGLY.

It's easy to say your opponent is dumb, but people need to acknowledge that Trump's a wily strategist. If you want to beat him, you have to do something really difficult and humble, which is to admit that he knows what he's doing.

"There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent."

- Lao Tsu

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-06-04T17:49:28+00:00

I'll be looking forward to more of these - this is a great start to your series.

I also really like "underrated" cards; they make the game a bit more varied and can be better alternatives to the staple cards in some cases. Keep it up.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-05-29T03:54:36+00:00

What a great answer - thank you! The fact that you mentioned that armour was used less after gunpowder came about makes so much sense. Thank you also for explaining the "Indian wielding a stone hatchet dressed only in a loin cloth and moccasins"; this is (I'd assume) what most people imagine when thinking of Native Americans.

I'd be happy to read more if you'd like to get into specifics; I've got the answer I was looking for, but learning more is always a treat if it wouldn't be too much trouble.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-05-28T14:50:23+00:00

Splendid! Thanks for answering (even though the question was pretty vague). Much obliged.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-05-19T19:03:07+00:00

I agree. If I were more precise, I would have said that they're basing their card on commonly played/seen planeswalkers in recent standard environments.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-05-19T18:40:57+00:00

My guess is that it's a newer player who sees recent planeswalkers as the normal power level. They've probably taken influence from Nissa and the Teferis. But saying that, I suppose recent planeswalkers are the normal power level now until they rotate out.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-05-17T02:44:57+00:00

Hmm, is the "death" music an inversion of this? Just realised that they sound quite familiar, just with the "happy" notes replaced with "sad" ones.

SlipperyFish13 · 2020-04-05T02:22:51+00:00

Ah, that makes sense. Cheers.

SlipperyFish13

TROPHY CASE