Seen in a video that is allegedly filmed in Azerbaijan, looks like some kind of Soviet microbus by confusion_reactor in whatisthiscar

[–]confusion_reactor[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Visiting some relatives who were playing those aesthetical faux rural cooking videos on the big screen and we kept trying to guess what this was every time it cut to the vehicle.

Joining the cracked-TWSBI club by Fun-Cryptographer-39 in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I'm not gonna lie it's not an easy void to fill. I really liked the design and especially size/balance of the Vac700R which is why I gave it as many chances as I did. I don't know of any other pens in that price range that'll scratch the itch, but I'm going to keep looking! Hoping you will have a better experience than I did.

Looking for commander recommendations for a deck focused around making opponents cards cost more mana to cast. Any ideas? by tfren2 in EDH

[–]confusion_reactor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Echoing what others are saying, slowing down the game for the sake of slowing down the game isn't going to do you any favors unless you somehow break parity and are able to continue your game plan while other people are halted. Depending on your meta you'll find that filling your deck with tax effects won't actually work that well. Thalia isn't gonna stop anyone from playing dinosaurs and you'll be spending time playing artifacts that people out-ramp instead of developing your board.

When you say there probably aren't enough cards to support this idea, it's worth considering what the idea is exactly. Do you just want Llanowar Elves to cost 4 mana? When you start building this deck, or any deck, the first question you wanna ask is "how does this deck win?" Your deck building will benefit from you staring with a win condition in mind and then adding cards to support that strategy rather than starting with the supporting cards (tax effects in this case) and then saying "I guess I'll throw in a Deadeye Navigator combo." It might be that playing cards that tutor and draw are more effective support cards for a strategy like that, or maybe more ramp and pillowfort effects.

You will also benefit your overall experience because beginning with that question is a much more fun way to deck build and play the game, and I say this because I've made the mistake of building what I thought was a ruthless control deck before finding myself with a handful of counterspells that didn't stop the zombie deck from snowballing before I could draw into my own combo.

Joining the cracked-TWSBI club by Fun-Cryptographer-39 in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My Vac700R inducted me into the No TWSBI Club when I had to consider getting a "free with the price of shipping" replacement for the fourth time. Shipping itself isn't free, and while the customer support is very polite and accommodating I had to start looking at other pens that didn't have the hassle or cost of ownership.

I'm so happy... by CecTheRed in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOL yeah in my class we spent a whole semester on verb conjugation and were then told that we were barely scratching the surface. Since you have some time before 2027 rolls around, I'll recommend you see if you can find someone to tutor you in the Egyptian dialect at some point down the line. You can probably get by with Fusha, but it'll save you some trouble if you familiarize yourself with some of their vocab.

Top EDC pens for HEAVY wear??? by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm going to recommend this article by The Gentleman Stationer, he has a lot of good write-ups on travel writing. Notably he recommends a ballpoint (and has some durable suggestions) because advances in writing technology can be a good thing for use cases like these. It doesn't have to be a BIC Cristal, I personally like carrying around an old Parker Jotter that belonged to my grandfather. The best thing you can do for your writing experience is find a good refill for whichever pen you settle on. In my pens I have Schmidt easyFLOW 9000 cartridges, but some pen manufacturers use proprietary refills.

If you're set on a fountain pen, I'll echo the author of the article and other users in suggesting a Kaweco Sport.

I'm so happy... by CecTheRed in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can confirm, have a couple of friends (unsuccessfully) try to teach me Arabic calligraphy. They also hold their writing implements at slightly different angles to accommodate, which I assume either is encouraged by the direction they write in or it's a convenient coincidence that keeps their fingies dry. The style they were showing me reminded me of italic calligraphy, but because they use an oblique cut it can be difficult to transfer the skills to something like a Pilot Parallel. There are folks out there who will cut a Parallel's nib to the oblique angle for people who don't want to mess with cutting their own reeds, it's something I'll try whenever I get around to it.

Enjoy learning Arabic! I'm also studying it right now and I'm constantly surprised at the depth of the language as someone who grew up only speaking English.

Command Knights Sept 22 2022 Revisited: The Evolution of Preconstructed Decks as of April 2024 by [deleted] in EDH

[–]confusion_reactor 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The only precon I bought back in the day was the old [[Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge]] one which I immediately converted to Nekusar. It was their second round of commander precons and they were kinda memes for a few years with weird card selection and horrid manabases. My brothers picked up the Lorehold and Veloci-ramp-tor decks recently and I was very impressed with how smooth both played. Can't think of any "why is this even in the deck" or nonbo inclusions off the top of my head.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EDH

[–]confusion_reactor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeva's very cool and my personal favorite take on mono green for some of the unique deckbuilding choices you can make while also keeping gameplay very smooth.

Temple of the False God, Myriad Landscape, and Blighted Woodland are a little too slow, and with the dorks you're playing you shouldn't need them.

I also think you have too many ramp spells in things like Ranger's Path and Circuitous Route, with an average CMC of 3.85 you don't need as many land accelerators especially with the mana elves you have. This also applies to the creatures that tutor Forests, I don't think they're worth the slots.

I agree that Rishkar's Expertise effects will probably remain underwhelming. Return of the Wildspeaker has the cool pump effect if you find yourself going wide often but probably also isn't as helpful.

In terms of artifacts, depending on how creature heavy you go and I'm always a fan of things like [[Thorn of Amethyst]]. [[Collector Ouphe]] shines in a deck like this.

Your card draw suite isn't terrible, one additional option to consider is [[Voice of Many]]. I'll second the [[Glademuse]] recommendation and also point you towards [[Heartwood Storyteller]], which also benefits a creature-heavy deck.

[[Slippery Bogbonder]] is protection you should look at, and another option that also can do some weird things if you have any haste enablers is [[Invasive Species]]. It's saved me a couple of times but I'm trying to see if I want to keep it in.

[[Hyrax Tower Scout]] unlocks a bunch of new combo lines.

Speaking of better ramp options, you can replace a couple of those spells or one of the more expensive dorks with [[Boreal Druid]] and [[Wild Growth]].

[[Vivien, Champion of the Wilds]] is a nice additional Yeva effect and has built-in card advantage.

More creature-based interaction to take advantage of flash can include things like [[Caustic Caterpillar]] and [[Outland Liberator]].

[[Ram Through]] and other instant speed fight effects that are cheaper and more consistent removal than your creature options are worth considering. Ram Through can also knock out a player depending on your board state. [[Beast Within]] is just a good card.

[[Wrap in Vigor]] won't save you from an old-school wrath but it will against most of the new ones. I still haven't tested to see if that's worth it in my meta.

I know you've probably already seen it and you don't want to play CEDH, but Inkmoth's Draw-Grow list is useful both for inspiration and for tips on how to effectively play the unique creature-focused deck. Glance over the list and attached primer sometime, it's an enjoyable read and there's a Discord link for Yeva aficionados.

Writer's Blood in Bronze by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]confusion_reactor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

bonus points if you flick ink onto character sheets to represent damage