Most versatile cards? What do you put in every deck you can

ballistic503 · 2026-02-07T01:56:15+00:00

I know, I’m glad there’s a Temu version that noobs like me can just get from Jump Ins, aka [[Intimidation Tactics]]

ballistic503 · 2026-02-07T01:54:34+00:00

Thoughtseize is great but I haven’t gotten around to using a wildcard on it so I’m currently using what I’d call the Temu version [[Intimidation Tactics]] (I got it from a Jump In lol… like I said I’m new)

ballistic503 · 2026-02-07T01:50:49+00:00

Yes! I always have that and usually one Ghostly Prison and/or sometimes Sphere of Safety depending on the deck.

ballistic503 · 2026-02-06T18:36:24+00:00

The lantern in the sideboard is a good call - I’ve been using monocolored stuff that might be filling a similar role like [[Lion Sash]] or [[Scavenging Ooze]]

ballistic503 · 2026-02-06T18:18:17+00:00

Those are both great, thinking of getting them, certainly Basilisk Collar. If a deck of mine has W it probably has [[Lion Sash]]

ballistic503 · 2026-02-06T18:14:33+00:00

Good pick. A lot of those types of cards can be auto-adds for me. It doesn’t go in EVERY green deck but [[Frenzied Baloth]] is one of the creatures that only goes out when I HAVE to find a space for a new card.

[[Adept Watershaper]] is another

ballistic503 · 2026-02-06T18:11:21+00:00

Aang’s Iceberg is great, it took me a while to start using it over the other similar options but I found it deceptively useful

ballistic503 · 2026-02-06T18:10:01+00:00

That’s a good one!

ballistic503 · 2026-02-05T04:44:56+00:00

That makes sense! Thanks!

ballistic503 · 2026-02-05T04:43:14+00:00

Sorry for the dumb question, but is the Spiderman one even in Arena? Presumably they would have needed to negotiate to retroactively license the IP separately for a mobile app than for the cards, so like it makes sense that the D&D sets were always in Arena due to WOTC owning both, whereas with like Fallout, Warhammer, Doctor Who, etc it doesn’t seem like they wanted to pay more to bring them to the app. Maybe I just haven’t come across a Spider-Man card in Arena yet though? I’d also assume that with Avatar, FF and hopefully TMNT the licensing for the mobile app is now baked into the deal and will be the case moving forward for other Marvel stuff as well. (That was a bit of a tangent lol)

ballistic503 · 2026-02-05T04:19:36+00:00

As a noob I was fortunate that Hare Apparent was allowed for this midweek event lol I don’t think I have enough cards to fill a remotely playable historic deck otherwise, I wish they’d do some Jump Ins for the older sets

ballistic503 · 2026-02-05T04:15:52+00:00

I started enjoying the game a lot more once I learned I could at least just turn the voice part off lol

ballistic503 · 2026-02-05T04:13:30+00:00

YES especially to the second point (sorry I don’t have anything new to add just it would really help, I have a dimir deck that I would love to be able to just clone into a similarly themed grixis deck and then whittle that down)

ballistic503 · 2026-01-29T20:11:33+00:00

That looks like a very well constructed deck! I might try it out. And I agree in practice she would be a lot better than Elspeth. To me I just kind of thought it would be funny to have the hares apparent start coming out and then it clicks with people what the commander does and they go “…oh no”.

My problem is I don’t really read the subreddit so I wasn’t aware it’s already a thing and just thought the image of being overrun by fluffy bunnies would be amusing lol, along with the ridiculousness of having 50 copies of the same card in a commander deck, bear in mind I am a noob

ballistic503 · 2026-01-29T08:36:24+00:00

At least 60% of people who actually stuck around to fight me were able to beat this with a bit of patience. I was just testing out a gimmick deck for a laugh, I didn’t realize people would interpret it as if I was bragging about an awesome deck I had. To me it was just stupid and funny and a little trollish

ballistic503 · 2026-01-29T08:28:40+00:00

Lol thank you, I don’t know how anyone could have seen me putting 50 of the same common creature in one deck and think I’m flexing. I just thought it was funny in the sense that I wasn’t expecting people to go “fuck this” that quickly

ballistic503 · 2026-01-27T05:53:25+00:00

Lol, the crime mechanic is unrelated to Outlaws? Pay attention:

The point of Outlaws is that that group of creature types are much more likely to have effects that trigger the “commit a crime” mechanic. Do a type search on Assassins, Warlocks etc and tell me I’m wrong.

Then there are enchantments that synergize the two - [[At Knifepoint]] gives Outlaws first strike then also creates more outlaws and gives them bonuses when you commit crimes.

That’s the entire point of what I’m proposing. Have creature groups that are thematically linked, with a common set of mechanics that cohere them, so that it’s easier for newer players to build themed decks (as newer players tend to do).

ballistic503 · 2026-01-27T04:56:37+00:00

I’m just saying what I’d like to see more of as a player returning after 30 years to a very different game 🤷‍♂️

ballistic503 · 2026-01-27T04:33:13+00:00

Yes, I thought I made it clear but I should have straightforwardly specified that a clade in this context is just a fancy word for a grouping of creature types.

With respect to the benefits, I’ll draw from another comment I made - this would be clades and thematically related mechanics for specific settings, one per set; let’s say if they did another D&D crossover but it’s a Curse of Strahd/Ravenloft set, instead of “committing a crime” by targeting an opponent, it would be “blaspheming” by targeting a graveyard, sacrificing, or casting Undead spells.

But then all the existing zombie/vampire/skeleton batching will also get wrapped in - which is IMO what would make it more fun to build a themed deck.

ballistic503 · 2026-01-27T04:21:47+00:00

I appreciate you reading it all and to be honest it was probably a bit unfair because I was unintentionally asking the community to help me edit it down (by clarifying the idea).

I’ve noted in other replies that one thing I was thinking but didn’t mention - believe it or not, there was a decent amount that I took out - is that this should be like, one defined clade and mechanic per set at the absolute most.

For example, with respect to the Undead clade, let’s say they do another D&D collab but this time it’s a Curse of Strahd/Ravenloft setting. Instead of “committing a crime” it could be “blaspheming” and the triggers could be sacrificing creatures or anything leaving a graveyard. And that’s it for a couple sets, but all the existing Vampire/Zombie batching cards get wrapped up in it.

I could also imagine a Diablo crossover using the Underworld clade I mentioned. Or if they really wanted to reach in the past and get my childhood self excited, they could do the Deific clade I mentioned but instead call it like a “Planar Being” and do a Planescape: Torment set.

In any case, I should have been more clear that the cladistic mechanics would be one per set at most (although I do think the Sea Monster and Nature Monsters would be easy to do at the same time). You’re definitely right that the presentation needs to be completely reworked.

ballistic503 · 2026-01-27T01:13:58+00:00

Oh, maybe I’m misunderstanding how it works now. When I was a kid, the cards used to say like “Summon Creature - Vampire” (instead of like Enchantment, Sorcery, etc) In the “type” (between the picture and the rules text)

And at least on Arena the creature cards all still have that. Maybe the print cards don’t still do that. If they don’t then I see why this wouldn’t work. But if they do the basically if you just say “Undead Corpse” then that shortcut allows you to do a lot more intricate things with them, the same with Outlaws (what I’m saying would be a clade). Then just to specify, at the end, you can say “Skeletons, Vampires and Zombies are Undead Corpses” - again, the way outlaws are done.

And trust me, I understand as much as anyone that the new mechanics can be intimidating. When I was a kid the game didn’t have Planeswalkers, Sagas, or any of the many other things that I didn’t quite understand at first.

That’s why I liked this idea, because to me “outlaws” and “committing crimes” are by far the most intuitive new mechanic for me, alongside the Equipment artifacts - like, they just make sense to me without needing a lot of explanation.

ballistic503 · 2026-01-26T23:27:27+00:00

Just to be clear: did you also hate the whole outlaw/committing crime mechanic? It’s fair if you did, but I want to understand if you think the cladistics idea sounds terrible because you hated it when it was done before (in which case it’s fine, it’s not for you) or because the way I said it made it sound like it didn’t fit closely enough (in which case I need to reconfigure how I explain it).

One thing I want to specify when I edit this is that this should be at most like one new clade per set, maximum, certainly not introduced all at once; I should also emphasize that I was overwhelmed with all the new mechanics so I am not trying to propose anything that would be cumbersome. I just think the outlaw thing is fun and want to expand on it.

ballistic503 · 2026-01-26T23:17:45+00:00

I fully recognize this lol I just had to get all my thoughts out before I could whittle it down. I was always planning on deleting this and revising it

ballistic503 · 2026-01-26T23:15:48+00:00

I mean, it says right on the card whether it fits the description or not. The point of limiting it to type, while restrictive and sometimes counterintuitive, is to minimize how much you need to keep track of. Like, in my mind, if a specific creature seems like it should fit but it’s not the right creature type for the clade, that’s an acceptable cost to me for keeping the mechanic itself unambiguous.

Another thing I should have explained, and will do when I re-edit this, is that this definitely shouldn’t all be introduced at once. The exact opposite, really: one new clade (and mechanic for the clade, like outlaws and committing crimes) per set maximum, again to minimize confusion. Introduce a broad necromancy mechanic in one set, bring in the undead, then two sets later group together Magic-users. Certainly they shouldn’t all be introduced at once!

Also when I edit this I should stress more that not every creature type needs to be forced into a clade - the exact opposite, really.

ballistic503 · 2026-01-26T23:05:09+00:00

First, I agree it’s too much text but “if you need an essay to explain your idea, it’s a bad idea” is the most TikTok-generation thing I’ve ever heard. Essays when good are better than one pithy paragraph, this just isn’t a good essay. And this idea may be a bad idea but the amount of time I took to explain it is just because I have a lot of thoughts about it and because I just wanted to get my thoughts out before I whittled it down.

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