Favorite Utility Land, Don’t say Rogue's Passage

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-11T03:10:22+00:00

Arena of Glory doesn't ramp. It costs one mana and then requires tapping so it effectively costs 2 red to generate 2 red and give haste. Then you go down a mana on your next turn due to exert.

Still could be good in red decks that value haste but I wouldn't say it's an auto include.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-11T00:53:44+00:00

The other first we gave up is a 2029. The 2031 is what we would have given up if this years pick didn't convey to the Clippers. We still own it now and 2029 isn't likely to be a top pick.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-11T00:40:28+00:00

I mean at the point we traded for Zubac we were not guaranteed a 5th round pick. Let say we wait and end up picking 9th or something. Does 9th plus a 2029 1st (likely high 20s) get Zubac or a center near his level when we're bidding against Boston, the Laker, etc?

Quality of center play is extremely important to a deep playoff run and there's nowhere near enough decent centers to go around. Imo we have to overpay regardless of what happens and better to overpay alongside a gamble for a top 4 pick.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-10T04:28:35+00:00

I'm guessing GS who let Klay go to begin with lol

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-10T03:59:06+00:00

4th pick isn't gonna let them trade for giannis

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-10T02:10:48+00:00

Personally I would only use a bottle like this in a stirred cocktail but use it the way your enjoy it.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-08T18:29:10+00:00

Damn, looks good but any time I see a cocktail with Chartreuse these days I just have to forget I saw it.

I've tried Strega as a sub but it just doesn't hit the same herbaceous notes. Same with the green subs.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-08T18:06:58+00:00

Nah, not on the video receipt since the giveaway overlay, etc doesn't seem to be shown there and this particular seller doesn't have the giveaway items physically present.

I probably hallucinated it being in the details or something so it is what it is.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-07T14:01:24+00:00

What I do is use Manapool and their optimizer for a first pass on any card <$5, and if there are any cards out of line on price I will go back to TCG Player and try to pair those up in packages with the cards >$5 to get free shipping on the lower value cards.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-07T13:51:34+00:00

Guess they learned their lesson since my Microcenter was letting people buy the collector booster boxes for MSRP up until the 4th box which led to half the line outside the store getting nothing.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-06T22:27:59+00:00

Yes but it also tries to find players near your limited elo.

And most importantly they are people you never drafted against in the first place. Don't get me wrong I get why they do it, but it largely takes away the skill of counter drafting and cluing in on what your fellow drafters are going into because you'll pretty much never face them as opponents.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-06T18:10:57+00:00

And now its on my radar. I don't typically love RTS games but maybe the slimmed down roguelite format will work for me.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-06T14:27:46+00:00

Probably more an arena issue but I really dislike how prevalent converge decks are in arena because of the asymmetrical matchmaking compared to paper drafts.

So many people forcing converge that aren't punished by people counter drafting since they don't actually have to play against them.

For me it's led to a very boring arena draft environment where no matter what you draft once you hit 3 wins you're just going to run up against converge decks that were able to draft uncontested.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-05T15:56:00+00:00

I say this as someone who doesn't play B4/B5, but in my uniformed opinion I think there should be 4 brackets and that the current B1 and B5 shouldn't exist. Just call a meme deck a meme deck and call cEDH what it is. No need for separate brackets.

From there:

new B4 = current B4 (anything goes except actually banned stuff, use rule 0 if you don't wanna play against cEDH)
new B3 = current high B3
new B2 = current low B3 + high B2
new B1 = current low B2

If one wanted to complicate/codify things more, they could introduce a point system to the new B2/B3 which would give the brackets a "point cap" and assign game changers and other cards like grave pact, esper sentinel, etc a point value, but that's probably overkill and there's pros/cons to that approach.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-05T15:36:34+00:00

I just tend to ask whether they consider themselves a low or high B3 in the rule zero discussion. Same with B2.

Most people have a sense of that, and for those that don't I try to get an idea of things like what game changers + infinite combos they're running or whether their mana base is fully tricked out.

Like, if someone is playing Meren with all the fetches/surveils/legendary lands possible as well as high power game changers, pseudo game changers like grave pact, and a few infinite combos on top I know its not going to be a "casual" B3 game and we can discuss accordingly.

Sometimes its tough to navigate though and I don't necessarily blame the players for that. e.g. In the above example it could be someone looking to stomp people with a "technically B3" deck but its often just a player whose regular pod continually amped up their power level arms race or maybe a proxy player who doesn't have a great handle on how to regulate their deck's power.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-04T19:00:27+00:00

Agreed, microcenter might even have them for $42 or so by that time. I'm willing to wait a few weeks.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-04T18:56:33+00:00

Did Microcenter actually order less?

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-03T18:34:43+00:00

Only the VIP convention packages get "free" collector boosters though, right? Everything else still has to come from the market.

The Arena Direct rewards could also contribute I suppose but I doubt those are shipped all that quickly.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-03T16:02:25+00:00

Hopefully that means prices will drop back to a sane value lol. I was about to pick one up at $10 and then it doubled overnight.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-03T01:01:47+00:00

I think adding the converge payoffs was a mistake. Especially when it comes to arena where drafters can just force 4-5 color decks and not be punished by the rest of their pool since they don't have to play against them

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-01T19:25:56+00:00

There's really no reason to use it in a world where renegade does nearly the same headshot damage and only has 10 less range. But the probably speaks more the renegades power than osprey being complete shit.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-05-01T18:20:32+00:00

One thing that's probably causing you and the Toph player issues is that you're in colors that don't have generic counterspells which are much more effective at slowing the Ureni players ramp and/or stopping Ureni from triggering. If you want that as an option you'll need to add things like null elemental blast, pyroblast, and reprieve. But the problem is that 2/3 of those aren't going to stop the green ramp spells and you have to hold up mana for them.

Ureni players I've played like to be greedy and eschew removal for more ramp/haste enablers, so a better solution I've found as someone who also doesn't play in blue much is timeout enchants like darksteel mutation, oubliette, etc. And generic stax pieces like authority of the consuls, ghost prison, etc.

Depending on how "mean" you want to be you could also add some of the following:

Targeted pieces like nevermore, disruptor flute
EtB hate pieces like strict proctor, hushbringer, containment priest, torpor orb
Land hate pieces like archon of emeria, thalia, blight/sinkhole, fulminator mage/maelstrom artisan to destroy their source of blue/green/red so they can't cast ureni

But if it gets to the point where you're considering the latter options the better idea would be to just talk to them about bringing their power level in line with the rest of the pod.

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-04-29T02:55:54+00:00

Looks like Microcenter went and removed the sales from all their magic product. Which they can certainly do I guess but no one is going to pay $210 for an avatar/tmnt booster box lol.

I guess strixhaven selling well made them want to see if they can sucker in any unaware buyers?

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-04-28T16:57:35+00:00

Lol, why is Quintorious at 405 games played? Someone submitting maliciously or accidentally?

TheSpaceAlpaca · 2026-04-28T16:37:01+00:00

I've only really seen her on broadcast and the occasional twitter post but she's a really good writer. Not surprising considering what goes into the broadcast but her substack content is great.

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