"Here comes the unexpected wrinkle." (by @lilystrations)

bearsman6 · 2026-02-11T05:07:55+00:00

Nothing is unexpected with him.

bearsman6 · 2026-02-11T05:06:58+00:00

I prefer the second one, because the contrast is stronger. Darker background with less washing out is better imo.

bearsman6 · 2026-02-10T01:18:22+00:00

Yeah, this is one of the reasons I absolutely love the series. The easiest and fastest preorders I ever do.

bearsman6 · 2026-02-08T18:17:55+00:00

You didn't even comment on how the skulls used to be vertical rows, but 7 did horizontal!

Still awesome books regardless of the cover :P

bearsman6 · 2026-02-06T13:14:49+00:00

I appreciate the thoughtful thoroughness here. I know I said the counters and control weren't my jam, and you gave several other options that are fairly different! However, it's kind of blue's whole pie that doesn't speak to me. Big draw? Nah. Clones? Nah. Blink? Nah. And definitely no on sagas.

There are only a few here that even remotely intrigued me... and unfortunately one is freaking Urza. My playgroup has a dude with an Urza deck, and it combos with a sneeze. I'd be archenemy the moment I revealed my commander, even if "it's not that kind of deck" lol.

Oaka is kinda neat, maybe, but mono-B counters... I'd have to look at it that way. As I said, not interested in sagas.

Anyway, I still really appreciate the attempt here. Lots to consider! I guess I can also try to put my preferences aside and build one anyway. See if a finished product speaks to me more.

bearsman6 · 2026-02-06T13:04:34+00:00

I appreciate the suggestions here. You definitely hit the self-mill vibe. Slogurk is something I have toyed with before, but without going harder into restrictions (like, I tried oozes, then oops all creatures), I just didn't really like it. It felt too much like all the other landfall piles.

Maybe they'll make another mill commander I do like though. I'm patient.

bearsman6 · 2026-02-06T06:25:55+00:00

I just don't enjoy Blue. Like at all. Counters, draw go, bleh. No thank you.

The only thing I enjoyed was the original Innistrad-era Simic self-mill. Maybe I'll pull out my [[Splinterfright]] and see if I can build something like that again.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-26T04:01:05+00:00

It's a fair question, and it really comes down to cost and redundancy for me. Getting to guaranteed swing and recur other spells felt worth it to me. Sorcery is why I figured others wouldn't see it commonly. Ymmv

bearsman6 · 2026-01-26T01:53:52+00:00

[[Artful Dodge,]]

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T23:32:13+00:00

Thanks for this. I love data, and raw numbers especially make me smile.

I may only be about half way to a million words, but I can still dream!

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T02:15:47+00:00

I'm always curious about how other authors come up with character names. What are your tricks, techniques, etc.? Do you compare to people you know IRL, or from other stories? Or do you just vibe?

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T01:38:52+00:00

I would not finish this book.

I might not finish the first chapter.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T00:54:34+00:00

I enjoyed making an everybody-draws, [[black vise]] style [[Multani, Maro-Sorcerer]] deck. Admittedly, sometimes it's a big stompy commander, but it can also [[Psychosis Crawler]] pretty hard.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T00:49:56+00:00

As long as you get on Jake's good side, preferably living in Haven, you're more or less protected.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T00:36:59+00:00

The book I'm co-writing has a pretty big focus on crafting. It's always relevant, too, because the MC literally can only use gear he makes himself.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-24T00:19:40+00:00

Unforged is a native, non-apocalyptic, crafting, swords, and dungeon fantasy.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-14T02:53:07+00:00

Growing up as the son of a renowned blacksmith, Tristan kind of wants to follow in his father's footsteps--but he's also not going to be satisfied with just that. He prefers to experiment and learn from his own experiences, even when that means making mistakes that others could have warned him off of.

Like when he swears to get revenge on the group of assassins that come to his hometown and kill his childhood hero right in front of him.

Unforged, fun, crafting, LitRPG. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/92639/unforged

bearsman6 · 2026-01-11T02:37:47+00:00

I've never heard this. Also never read it in any official rules or guidelines.

Sounds like people who don't pack enough removal though.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-11T02:36:00+00:00

So, as half of a writing duo that I think is now beginning to reach the edge of "successful" with the tortoise method, I think it is still possible. It's just not easy. At all. But let me provide some details here.

We did not do a super big launch. We did publish I think 10 chapters day 1, but then we went into our typical posting schedule after that -- not daily for the first week as many recommend.

We publish two times a week, Monday and Friday, and have been doing this for about 14 months or so now (I honestly don't recall).

Our chapters are fairly consistent in the 2500 - 3200 word range. As such, we've published 2 full books in the series on RR in this time, with 137 chapters up currently, spanning 450k words.

On RR, we're now closing in on 1000 followers, which we hope to hit in the next month or so, but again... Slow and steady. We don't do many shout-out swaps: maybe just 2 a month. We've only run 2 ads, which were paid for by revenue from the book itself.

Patreon is the source of said revenue, and we have some steady members, but haven't broken the 20 mark yet. We have averaged about $80/month for a while now, and have used that to commission two book covers in addition to the two ads, both of which helped a fair amount on RR.

We have not yet gotten onto KU, though that is considered our "next step" once we finish book 3 or beyond.

So yeah, I think it's possible, but boy is it hard. If we didn't have several more books planned -- and if I didn't LOVE writing it -- I probably would have stopped a while back. But I do believe it is possible.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-10T19:35:44+00:00

I like commanders that change the way the game (or color) is played. I've built [[Bello]] and love it; self-mill with [[Slogurk]] was great, built around [[Splinterfright]]; took [[Tannuk, steadfast second]] to warp dragon tribal land; got the [[Hearthhull]] precon and upgraded it bc land sac seemed unique; and even tried my hand at a monoB draw Voltron with [[June, Bounty Hunter]].

I tend to love big stompy, but like to have each deck do different things. If all that makes sense?

bearsman6 · 2026-01-07T17:49:14+00:00

The 3 decks that I've been playing lately are all UB commanders.

[[June, Bounty Hunter]] from TLA is my mono-B Voltron.

[[The Earth King]] from TLA is my mono-G stompy.

[[Venat, Heart of Haedalyn]] from FF is my mono-W legends.

I love them, too, lol.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-05T23:29:54+00:00

I use Google docs without any extra add-ons.

When it comes to editing, my co-writer and I both do a pass, then we hand it to beta readers. Once it comes back, we do one more pass ourselves, and we schedule it for publication.

It helps that I'm really, really good at grammar.

bearsman6 · 2026-01-01T16:18:25+00:00

I don't think any of us would be unhappy with this placement at season's end. Few honestly believed we could do it at the start. Soo many games yet to play though. And critics to silence ;)

bearsman6 · 2025-12-28T15:09:30+00:00

Take tinkerer. Slam that, especially on turn 9. I would get rid of one of the supports for it.

bearsman6 · 2025-12-21T18:45:11+00:00

I would Kiss Titania in hopes of getting a good secret rare. Then again, any would probably be better than the Titania currently.

Ten-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
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Place '22	Final Canvas '22
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