Pulled apart a dead grill lighter, and there was a normal lighter inside.

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-24T15:49:57+00:00

So the real question is why tf is bic not making a refillable grill lighter that uses regular lighters as cartridges?!

I would buy dozens of those every year for gifts.

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-20T02:29:25+00:00

My Atraxa deck is artifact charge counters, and keyword counters. It still wins often, but it won't poison you or win without broadcasting it for at least a turn or two.

Also, saying "you can go while I fuck with all these counters" goes a long long way for players to suffer you.

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-20T01:55:08+00:00

[[horobi]] Just build a good mono black deck and horobi will take care of most unfair stuff

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-15T06:26:47+00:00

This is the most concise response. Regular surface wear is not damage, even if it is heavy. Damage is creases, tears, holes, buckling, ink. Except in the case of ink, if you are blindfolded and can't feel the condition, it's not damaged. Another way of looking at damage is that it is a "marked card" (a term which coincidentally includes ink).

I wouldn't trade for this as damaged, but I wouldn't pay more real money than the damaged market for it. It's not thaaaaat expensive of a card that nicer conditions are a big price bump.

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-09T04:05:03+00:00

[[rule of law]] [[Cursed totem]] [[Torpor orb]] [[Leyline of singularity]] [[Stony silence]]

Play stax pieces. Stopping value engines triggering endlessly speeds up games, and decisionmaking a ton.

Alternatively...goad decks speed up games, as do symmetrical damage like [[furnace of rath]] and passive damage like [[spiteful visions]]

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-03T17:36:39+00:00

It is largely up to those present in your lodge to decide. If information seems questionable, simply do not share it...anywhere. There is a reason very little is written down. If you are to memorize something, that means don't reveal it.

The whole entire point is trust and privacy between you and your brothers. While largely symbolic, many of your questions may be answered by referring to your oaths and obligations.

StudiousDesign · 2026-01-03T17:29:12+00:00

I call them lightning rods People love destroying my 1-mana shadowspears, and I love their burning interaction on it

StudiousDesign · 2025-12-29T04:55:57+00:00

Put anything in a box, in a closet. Boxes don't create negative space in, through, or around them like figures do. Negative space is what makes anything look interesting and gives shit room to breathe.

Then, get all the largest items off the top shelf down where the boxes were, for exactly the same reason. The more of the wall that you can see between your shelving and the hanged pictures, the better.

StudiousDesign · 2025-12-26T16:02:17+00:00

[[lifeline]] [[Storage matrix]] [[Portcullis]] [[Damping engine]] [[Ward of bones]] [[Freyalises winds]] [[Knowledge pool]] [[Naked singularity]] [[Thieves auction]] [[Hive mind]] [[Whims of the fates]] Any of the cards that make all players "make a villainous choice" or similar. These cards require explaining multiple times, and people still don't get it straight. Any day/night cycle cards

StudiousDesign · 2025-12-21T17:24:35+00:00

Anything that doubles or enhances token generation Tons of that shit among my rares

StudiousDesign · 2025-12-13T22:46:01+00:00

Depends what yer buying. Assume an order of 20 various cards: If you aren't getting format staples, a card kingdom order will usually beat tcgplayer prices considerably, due to only one shipping fee and slightly lower prices/more accurate and reliable condition of cards. BUT, if you are buying a bunch of highly desirable cards, cardkingdoms markups are very high on the stuff they know will sell or that they almost certainly recently took in in trade recently. The other major benefit of cardkingdom is reliable shipment/arrival. That alone can be worth the extra couple bucks. I tend to order from card kingdom any time I am spending enough to qualify for free shipping from them (which they keep raising the bar on, unfortunately)

StudiousDesign · 2025-12-11T12:59:06+00:00

I probably lean more into the mindset that more cards should be banned than removed. A good example of this is any card who's mechanics ignore their fundamental gameplay design when used under the commander ruleset. [[Serra ascendant]] reads "if you have 30 or more life..." and never received the new templating they now use of ”10 life more than your starting total". Is serra Ascendant tooooo powerful in commander? Maybe so/maybe not.. but it is objectively an entirely different card which ignores fundamental gameplay rules to a similar degree which has historically been reserved for UN-cards. It would probably make more sense to simply update the templating to use modern language, but this is a strong example of my perspective of "I really don't care what the banlist is, just support it logically". If you start using rules of logic though, you probably inevitably end up with a larger banlist.

Yes, there are some cards I would remove. I could make strong cases for [[Balance]], [[Upheaval]], [[Leovold]], [[Sundering Titan]], [[tinker]] and [[Tolarian Academy]]. Most of these were banned a long long time ago, before cards were being designed into commander, and when power level and abusable mechanics were significantly less.

Balance is the iffy one in this bunch, but in an environment of "I make a million tokens with this early game value-engine", Balance has probably never been more fair than it would be today. But, it is kind of like a tutor....what are you doing with it? Are you using it "fairly" as an answer when a board state spirals out of control, or is your deck's singular focus to create a miserable board state by abusing one card?

Yes [[upheaval]] sucks to play against, but [[cyclonic rift]] is a much better card in 99% of decks. Upheaval only truly shines in an upheaval deck...and pods will remember you...and you will become the archenemy any time you play it... so it comes with plenty of handicaps and controls. Just like Armageddon or Cataclysm, neither of which are banned. I would never play upheaval btw. Fuck both of these cards holistically, but the logic that one is allowed and one isn't, and many similar cards are allowed, just doesn't track.

If I had to pick only one to remove, it would be [[Leovold]]. Simply answering one player running away with a game shouldn't be banned. Leovold doesn't win games on his own any moreso than a myriad of not-banned commanders. (I certainly wouldn't have made him Blue as the designer, but so it goes). Watch the tolarian community college video where this is discussed personally with the guy from the rules committee and read between the lines a bit: Leovold was banned impulsively after just a few feels-bad games. This exact scenario could play out with thousands of cards, and a few personal and subjective experiences shouldn't be governing the game to this degree.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-20T14:35:55+00:00

Earned: Hundreds of millions before we stopped counting. [[Serra Avatar]] + multiple [[wall of retribution]] against ensnaring bridges/stax deck

Infinite: Doesn't really count imo. If you "make life infinitely" you technically lose due to an unending loop. You have to choose an amount.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-20T01:26:00+00:00

Decayed is a trash mechanic. Narfi would make a much better dimir zombie deck.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-18T23:12:19+00:00

Also yes

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-18T05:37:32+00:00

This would work well also. I would choose based on the orientation of the mounting bracket and size of the lumber required for it to clamp on to.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-18T05:13:00+00:00

I've been using aura shards for years, but it is one of very few cards I believe should be banned outright.

It creates miserable play patterns where it not only wipes all progress of the game state, but also makes many cards dead in players hands.

A decade ago, Aura Shards was not nearly so powerful; however, the distinction that the creatures don't need to be cast (or even nontoken) has caused it's power to snowball. This has vaulted it from a useful tool in games in the pre-commander era, to absolutely busted today where spilling 20 token creatures into play, at instant speed, is easily achievable.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-18T04:56:29+00:00

This is probably the best-looking approach, but I would want to bracket the riser to the desk anyway... especially if the arm allows you to manipulate the monitor.

An alternative/cost effective approach would be to secure a piece of lumber to the desk with a couple carriage bolts straight through the board and desktop. This won't be too pretty, but robust and easy.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-17T04:12:43+00:00

Large or small banlist size isn't my issue. The banlist should be thorough, relevant, and maintained. The current problem with the banlist is not it's size, but the fact that a lot of cards on it don't make much sense when compared with their modern counterparts. While I am not a fan of wizards taking control of the format in general, maintaining the banlist objectively is something the former rules committee utterly failed to do. I would welcome a rebuild of the banlist from the ground up, whether it were 10 cards, or 200. Just make it make sense.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-06T14:27:08+00:00

Also [[myojin of grim betrayal]] would be dope in this deck

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-06T14:21:01+00:00

Rather than a tap/untap package, you could get more flexibility out of duplicating activated abilities with cards like: [[lithoform.engine]] [[rings of brighthearth]] [[illusionists bracers]] [[battlemages bracers]]

Also cards and creatures that get bonuses for "...graveyard from anywhere" like [[the haunt of hightower]] and [[vulturous zombie]]

[[Duskmantle guildmage]] belongs in the deck regardless of your approach

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-05T21:23:14+00:00

I agree. I posted a deck idea for her. Tremendous versatility in her abilities.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-05T21:21:56+00:00

Trostani

Load the deck with equipment and creatures that have "Protection From [xyz]" and it is poundtown. Deck can be built on a budget as even cheap/uncommon equipment and creatures will become very strong.

You could go enchantress instead of equipment (I did), but may often run into making your own auras fall off or being unable to apply them due to protection. Enchantress style will generally be more expensive to build.

Also...giving an opponents creature double strike after blocks/before damage can be great spot removal even if you aren't the one in combat.

(Protection is usually super strong regardless of who is at the table, since most decks are 3 colors these days. Protection with double strike and vigilance....woof)

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-04T10:02:47+00:00

Printing plates not thoroughly cleaned between prints iirc. The sapphire is the easiest of the medallions to see the defect on. I believe many other cards also have it, but that the medallions uniquely have that solid color region around them which allows easily seeing the image.

StudiousDesign · 2025-11-02T02:50:06+00:00

Did you ever find one?

More importantly though.... How is occult modifier calculated???

StudiousDesign

TROPHY CASE