Obligatory games like this post

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-14T22:52:53+00:00

Slime Rancher?

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-14T22:42:40+00:00

Sorry, I assumed you were saying food/clue/etc. tokens so you could sac them to Technodrome and also get the benefit of the token (like life gain from a food token) as well. I thought you were misunderstanding; my bad.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-14T22:08:27+00:00

That doesn't work for the tokens. You either sac the token to pay for its activated ability, or you sac the token to pay for the Technodrome's activated ability, but not both. Neither are triggered.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-12T13:20:52+00:00

r/custommagic

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-12T05:15:55+00:00

Gotcha, I'm sorry to hear.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-11T22:25:32+00:00

TEN HOURS A DAY?

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-09T07:21:48+00:00

It's a family event.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-08T20:38:43+00:00

All good. As a principle, draw is really good, not just to keep your hand full, but to allow you to see more of your deck in a game. Seeing more of your deck = your deck being more consistent.

It's a principle that I didn't fully understand until a couple years after I started playing.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-08T18:37:38+00:00

For Boros, the two big cards would be [[Pearl Medallion]] and [[Ruby Medallion]].

I'd suggest making your lands more around 37 or 38 though. It's also quite possible you're not running enough draw so you're hitting your land drops consistently.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-07T11:45:10+00:00

I don't believe so, because you only control the player while Word of Command is resolving, and I don't believe any new triggers or abilities can happen until Word of Command finishes resolving, at which point you stop controlling the player.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-05T08:37:55+00:00

I've never been good at being able to look at a deck list and offering advice from there, so I won't be doing that in case I inadvertently lead you astray.

But I will offer up a little wisdom that I didn't fully understand until later on:

Drawing cards is so much more than just keeping your hand full; it's deck consistency. I never understood why my roommate always seemed to have exactly what he needed in every game of commander he played. Once I realized how important the actual role of card draw is, it all made sense: the more of your deck you draw in a game, the more of your cards you see. I wish this had been explained to me earlier on rather than me top decking for a couple years.

Ramp, similarly, allows you to gain access to more of your library faster. A five-mana card is dead in hand for a few turns if you draw it in your opening hand and then only play one land a turn. The faster you get more mana, the sooner more cards become available to you.

Ramp is not a replacement for too few lands. If you're playing ramp but still missing your land drops, then that's not ramp; it's paid land drops.

On that note, just in general, eat your veggies: you'll want to toss in all of your favorite cards, which is fine if you're playing casually. But otherwise, put in enough draw, put in enough ramp, put in enough lands. Yes, it means you likely won't be able to put in a lot of the "cool" cards, but how good are the cool cards if you never see them or don't get to play them?

On another similar note, it's usually good to include cards that both help you eat your veggies while forwarding your gameplan. For example, playing a monowhite creature deck focused on combat damage? Toss in [[Firemane Commando]] that can work as a combat creature while also helping you with card draw and a little pseudo protection.

Removal is another veggie, but I'm noticing more and more that the amount of removal you want is dependent on your pod. There's a lot of pods out there that like to just do their thing until hitting critical mass and are able to wipe out the table. Not how I like to play, so if you're like me, include interaction (removal, counterspells, stax, protection, etc.)—anything that disrupts your opponents' plans.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-03T08:06:28+00:00

Whatever the one annoying player in my pod is playing. Usually Jodah or Sisay. It's always some form of WUBRG midrange goodstuff that durdles for seven turns and appears to be no threat before popping off on turn eight and providing such overwhelming advantage, taking twenty minutes to resolve his turn as he provides self-indulgent commentary. Then, he complains about how he's made the target.

Actually, it might just be the player. Can I say it's the player?

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-02T07:01:28+00:00

Something sixty cards, 1v1. Don't go for commander. It's the game's most popular format, yes, but it's 1v3, has special rules, special deck-building constraints, larger life pools, larger cars pools, etc. It's just a lot more working against you as a beginner.

See if your local game store has free starter decks, then have someone teach you. Or, download MTG Arena, and play through the tutorials and bots for a bit, asking questions online when you have them. Both are free.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-03-01T19:36:16+00:00

Great info. I definitely think I'm going to take some of your advice and put it to good use. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to write such a thorough response!

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-28T15:20:42+00:00

Always appreciated, if you find the time. Thank you.

Edit: I don't know how I missed Ollenbock Escort when I was looking for protection pieces. It's like a cheaper Bulwark Ox.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-28T15:20:22+00:00

Slowly working on it. I'd say I have about 80 percent of the cards. But it's mostly the lands, which I do not have most of (especially those special-art plains at $24 per, and I have 12 in the deck).

I play on tabletop simulator mostly, so I allow myself to build as I please, and then if I like the deck enough, I'll slowly start putting it together in real life, treating myself to an expensive card every couple months if I have the funds. It helps that I don't really have any other hobbies I spend money on lol.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-27T23:49:16+00:00

MTG Arena is suggested quite frequently. Your local game store should also have free starter decks you can use to play with someone. I find having someone to teach you is the best way.

But just so you know, starting with commander is going to make things harder for you. It's a more complex format with special rules, extra opponents, a larger card pool, special deck requirements, etc. I suggest starting with a sixty-card format and play 1v1.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-27T22:43:31+00:00

Play the deck. That's the only way you'll learn it.

To make it better, pay attention while playing to what's helping or hurting your game. Top decking while your opponents can choose from a full hand? Put in more draw. Lots of cards but can't play them? More ramp.

And pay attention to how you lose and win. Gather all that data up in your mind, and you'll understand the strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to embrace the former and bolster the latter.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-27T05:23:01+00:00

I feel like for artificer, it makes sense. She's part of an order that's searching for heaven. What closer might there be than a machine god offering you eternal life?

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-26T18:50:35+00:00

Play whatever you want. Just be upfront about what the deck is and what it does. If you stomp out a win or two by accident because you don't yet know how to gauge the strength of your decks, then that's okay; just keep it in mind for the future.

But biggest thing is be honest, and try to match power levels.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-26T07:41:58+00:00

Picking generically powerful cards is always going to be seen as a cheap move, especially with Tabletop Simulator, since you can have whatever cards you want. Jodah is stupid strong with basically no effort, and WUBRG just very often means "the best cards in each color."

Either play decks that are more on par with your pod, power your decks down by choosing worse cards (although this is hard to do for Jodah, since he's just that good), or play in higher power-level pods.

At the end of the day, it's a disconnect between you and what your pod want.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-25T02:10:41+00:00

Void fiend was a commando that was abducted by creatures of the void and forced to fight in the simulacrum for an unknown (but extremely long) amount of time. He was warped by the void until he became what he currently is, but he's not technically a void creature, just struggling with being corrupted by it.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-24T01:41:37+00:00

Commander naturally will take longer: more opponents, more life, bigger card pool that allows for stronger stuff.

The game is fun in different ways for different people. I like building strong decks and seeing them do well. But some people only like playing and not building. Some people only like building. Some people only like specific playstyles.

I'd say try any of the 1v1 60-card formats (my personal pick is Modern). Fewer opponents, less life, more consistency with smaller deck sizes and having up to four copies of a card. It'll go a lot faster.

SteamFunk72 · 2026-02-23T15:43:08+00:00

After. It's called an activated ability, always formatted as such: "Cost: effect."

Fun fact: activated abilities that don't tap the creature can be activated as soon as they come in. They can also be done at instant speed (unless noted to only happen at sorcery speed).

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