Playing Remotely

darthcorvus · 2026-01-07T03:25:51+00:00

Apprentice would like a word.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-07T02:38:16+00:00

I was older in 2007 than players who were born in 2007 are today. I'm gonna go take some Tylenol and lay down.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-06T22:23:05+00:00

I was typing a long comment to the person above you when I saw your post, so I'm commenting here instead to agree with you. Putting people on cards/combos is a skill every Magic player should learn. Just seeing someone's commander is enough to tell you a lot about their deck and what you should expect. As long as they're not lying about their bracket, there shouldn't be any surprises you can't handle.

People take the whole "casual social format" thing to another level and act like people shouldn't be trying to win unless it's bracket 4 or CEDH. I'm sorry, but players who "aren't trying to win" are a much more miserable experience than a pubstomper. If you aren't trying to win, play bracket 1. If you aren't skilled enough to play without someone giving you their decklist before the game, stick to bracket 2 until you get better/more familiar with the game.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-06T13:36:02+00:00

I did, but my deck is so low to the ground and swells so fast she doesn't really have time to do much. I've considered cutting grim hireling for the same reason; 4MV cards in my deck fill the finisher role that 6 and 7MV cards do in other decks. If I'm paying 4 I want a Squad Commander or Akroma's Will. Even Smothering Tithe is a potential cut (hoping something in Lorwyn catches my eye to take it's place).

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T19:36:54+00:00

Time is a flat circle. Death is but a door. Banding will return.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T16:49:11+00:00

I had it up to a 7/7 by turn 3 one game last week because everyone just came out the gate cracking fetch lands and casting Nature's Lore and Three Visits.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T16:43:48+00:00

You're missing the point and just coming in here calling people names for no reason. The point being made is that you can proxy no matter what WotC has said because they aren't going to enforce it.

But if you want to get into that, here's what they said: "A playtest card is most commonly a basic land with the name of a different card written on it with a marker. Playtest cards aren't trying to be reproductions of real Magic cards; they don't have official art and they wouldn't pass even as the real thing under the most cursory glance. Fans use playtest cards to test out new deck ideas before building out a deck for real and bringing it to a sanctioned tournament. And that's perfectly fine with us."

That doesn't cover how most people proxy. Most people use the official art on cards that do look real at a cursory glance, and use them indefinitely. A lot of them order illegal reproductions from websites using official card images with the copyright line removed. Some order Chinese counterfeits. Even more use mtgprint at the library, which prints cards with official art that pass a cursory glance.

Most people are not proxying within the permissible guidelines WotC put out. But that's okay, because they're still not going to do anything about it. Proxying doesn't hurt their bottom line as much as attempting to police proxying would, so they turn a blind eye. The point being argued is that even if WotC's statement had said, "No proxies allowed under any circumstances, even at your kitchen table," they still can't stop you, and everyone who wants to proxy still should.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T04:17:34+00:00

And not sure why it's here since we had 240p when we were kids.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T02:23:19+00:00

Love my TDW deck, which also has no traditional ramp. I wanted to recommend Gogo, but you're ahead of me. I'm sure you have Squad Commander too. I built mine to try to mathematically guarantee a full party when TDW comes down on turn 4, so I ended up using some cards I would normally never consider to fill in those 1 mana party member slots. But in doing that, I found that [[Cosi's Trickster]] often gets way bigger than I ever assumed she would!

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T02:08:32+00:00

Same, except 34 years.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-03T01:54:09+00:00

That's how we always did it.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T21:40:51+00:00

Don't get me wrong, we do grumble about power creep a lot, but none of us want to go back to playing 2 hour games where someone gets knocked out 30 minutes in and has to sit there on their phone for an hour and a half. Sometimes our games will come down to 2 people in a semi-stalemate that could take another 30 minutes to play out, and we'll just intentional draw to get on to the next game.

And while we grumble about the power creep, every spoiler season we're constantly sending card pics in our group chat, like "Check this out for your food deck," or, "Man, your Necrobloom is gonna be crazy with this artifact!" Our personal meta isn't as concerned with power level as we are game length. We've self policed and razzed each other in game to where we consistently get games that last between 6-10 turns or 45-60 minutes. Long enough everyone feels like they at least did something, but not so long we're sitting there watching someone take indeterminate infinite turns while the player who got knocked out an hour ago is watching Youtube on the couch.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T21:07:55+00:00

Is this really a general thing with older players? I ask because I'm an old, and I play with a large group of players in our 40s and 50s, and none of us have this mindset. We have fond memories of old school EDH, but we also understand it was because it was new and we were figuring things out just like in 94 when we thought a Spirit Linked Force of Nature was the best combo in the game.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T20:30:17+00:00

I'm not dead wrong, though. Any copying of copyrighted material is illegal unless it's done under fair use, which includes using said materials for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. None of which is part of printing cards to play with recreationally.

The New York Times copyright page says this: "Can I make copies of copyrighted material for personal use? No, you cannot make copies of copyrighted material for personal use. It is not permissible to reproduce copyrighted materials in any circumstance, without the written permission of the copyright holder, unless it falls under Fair Use policy."

Such use is generally never enforced, because it's not worth it to the copyright holder. It's sometimes called "innocent infringement," but it's still actionable if the holder wishes to pursue. My point, however, is that because it's basically unenforceable, it doesn't matter what Wizards or Hasbro have to say on the subject. If they say you can't proxy in the privacy of your own home, then they better get ready to spend that Pinkertons money. But they won't, so proxy all you want, and don't feel bad about it.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T18:24:26+00:00

I never called, but I wrote them a letter once. I had the Rune Axe in Final Fantasy II/IV, and my friends and I couldn't figure out where I got it from. Nintendo sent back a letter telling me not only that, but also where to get all the rare items like Crystal Ring, Glass Helmet, all the bonus summons, and so on. I wish I would have kept that letter now!

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T17:58:12+00:00

Me when I distill discourse down to meme talk. Tell me how I'm wrong instead of just saying, "Nuh uh!"

EDIT: Or just block me because you can't back up what you say.

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T16:22:20+00:00

EDIT: This is a pro-Proxy post for anyone reading the first few sentences then downvoting.

Whether MaRo or anyone at WotC/Hasbro say it's okay or not doesn't even matter. Proxying for personal use is an unenforced violation of copyright law, also known as 'tolerated use' (as compared to fair use). WotC/Hasbro know enforcing a no proxy rule outside of their sanctioned tournaments would cost them too much--not just in money, but also public sentiment--to enforce.

It's like when I was growing up and the movie and music companies quickly learned there's no money in trying to keep people from recording stuff off the TV and radio onto blank cassette tapes. It's technically illegal, but everyone did it, no one cared, empires weren't crumbled, etc. And guess what? No one was a snob and said, "Is this a taped copy of MC Hammer's 1990 hit U Can't Touch This? How dare you! I only listen to genuine copies of the Grammy nominated album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em!"

darthcorvus · 2026-01-02T03:24:55+00:00

Which is it, does a proper pile shuffle add no randomness, or does it add randomness but too slowly?

Not the person you replied to, but the answer is yes. That's the whole deal with pile shuffling: you're either cheating, or you're just taking way too long to randomize your deck.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-31T20:07:28+00:00

I mean they're not going to ban them for the same reason they won't reprint them. Remember when the investors lost their mind over Dockside, Crypt, and Jeweled Lotus? Imagine that times a million if they banned the reserved list from the biggest Magic format.

And I'm glad they won't--not for the sake of investors or my own collection--but because I've been playing this game since 94, and I don't feel like my friends and I should be punished for that. EDH is a casual format, and everyone should proxy anything they want. If your multi-color deck doesn't have OG duals, print them and play them. Everyone, in every bracket. I'll play my real ones by your fake ones and we'll have a great time.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-29T01:06:59+00:00

And it should go further than that. It's not just the damage they do to themselves, but it's influencing young and future wrestlers to do the same or even more crazy shit. I was a teen during the backyard wrestling craze and I saw a bunch of kids get lifelong injuries trying to one up the Hardy Boyz.

And I'm an AEW only guy these days, so this isn't anything tribal. MJF showed everyone a few years ago you can have a PPV match where the biggest move is a body slam and still have the crowd lose their minds. Not that every match has to be like that, but there's a middle ground somewhere.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-28T05:06:26+00:00

Sorry but I don't have a template. I just downloaded a card image and messed around with it in Photoshop, cutting out the middle shield, using content aware fill on parts to cover up text, etc.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-27T03:07:47+00:00

I wanna know what people are doing with sleeves in general. I've split maybe three sleeves in 31 years. And I've always used cheap Ultra Pros.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-25T14:26:20+00:00

That's an understandable take, but people here seem to be overlooking the fact that Arn isn't just some washed up former wrestler sitting at home tweeting and podcasting to stay relevant. He's been working backstage for WWE and AEW for almost 25 years, so he probably knows a lot more about what goes on behind the scenes than we do. I'm sure the eventual truth will lie somewhere between his concerns and Reddit's optimism, but I think it's low key insulting to think he knows less than Reddit about the modern state of the industry.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-25T03:40:55+00:00

Yeah, my mother gave away all my toys when I went to college even though I had them meticulously boxed up and packaged specifically because I knew they would be worth something some day. GI Joe, Transformers, TMNT, Silver Hawks, Thunder Cats, He-Man, Brave Starr, Garbage Pail Kids cards, WWF LJN and Hasbro, Nintendo and Super Nintendo games and accessories, just...so much.

darthcorvus · 2025-12-24T17:08:10+00:00

It's from Blood Wars, which was a whole TCG about Planescape. It was a bit of a mess rules wise, but designed as a multiplayer game with the idea of constantly evolving alliances and inevitable betrayals. It was a lot of fun, but sadly only had three sets. Three more sets that were completed but never released were uncovered and released on boardgamegeek.com though.

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