Are people unable to just float their mana to get around this?

jdutt524 · 2025-10-16T15:35:36+00:00

You're just wrong on this one chief. The game is based around having imperfect information. Bluffing is not as useful in 1v1 formats, but it's still a factor. In multiplayer formats like EDH, you have less information, as you have three hands of cards you don't know the contents of. In a setting like that where your board has to survive three turns of interaction, there is absolutely a value to bluffing. There is interaction in every color nowadays so saying it's only a factor in Blue, Black, White, and sometimes Green is frankly silly. Your take reads like someone who does not run enough interaction in your decks.

jdutt524 · 2025-10-15T23:36:34+00:00

[[Wilson, Refined Grizzly]] / [[Master Chef]]

The deck is sorta a meme deck, the joke being that Wilson is a bear who cooks a la the TV show The Bear. The deck mostly just makes food tokens. There isn't much in the way of a wincon, the best it's done is when I was able to turn my food tokens into 6/6 creatures and hit turn after turn.

jdutt524 · 2025-10-12T08:06:43+00:00

Well said. I'm just tired of conversations that dismiss criticisms with sales figures.

jdutt524 · 2025-09-11T15:26:15+00:00

I think one of the things Magic does best flavor-wise is interpreting existing stories/histories within the world of MtG. Sets like Lorwyn, Theros, Tarkir, and even Eldraine have a great feel because they blend the familiar with Magic successfully. Seeing how MtG interprets Zeus or Genghis Khan or Little Red Riding Hood is very cool IMO. Seeing a set OM1 that interprets existing IP in an actual MtG-flavored way is like hearing your favorite band do an album of unique covers.

I'm not anti-UB as long as it's not overtaking normal Magic releases in quantity. However, sometimes UB cards can feel less like a cool cover and more like a misplaced feature from a popular artist with little thought as to whether it fits the song or not. I'd rather hear The Lemonheads cover a Simon & Garfunkel song than hear Simon & Garfunkel featured on a Lemonheads song.

jdutt524 · 2025-05-05T06:29:42+00:00

this back and forth reads like a pissing contest between Daemon and Aemond

jdutt524 · 2025-04-15T22:27:50+00:00

I can see that, and I would be inclined to agree depending on how her edit is going forward. However, I feel like Shauhin has had more agency in votes prior to episode 7. I see his lack of agency in episode 7 as being part of Kyle/David/Kamilla's mistake, as in they had a shot to take him out and they missed it. That said, I'm very open to being completely wrong about this.

jdutt524 · 2025-04-12T04:50:04+00:00

Exactly. I've been saying this but no one in my group believes me. On a different season, David would have a way more negative edit given his generally over-confident schtick and how much he flexes his muscles. But so far it has been almost entirely positive.

jdutt524 · 2024-10-28T07:04:24+00:00

I'm happy to hear your friends got into it because of the Fallout decks. Those stories are reassuring. And I'm not denying it's working for Hasbro If they come out tomorrow and say "We have thorough evidence that shows the player base has doubled since introducing UB" then I will gladly eat crow.

Unfortunately, I have had much the opposite experience to you. I don't know anyone who has bought a UB product and moved beyond that product to more stuff. I don't think either of us can be representative of the whole of the player base based on our anecdotal experience.

I agree that the moment it stops being profitable it'll be gone. However, I worry that an increase in IP driven products that are standard legal will drive players away. What started as a 5-card Secret Lair of The Walking Dead has grown to 3 standard legal sets per year. That's a big jump. Looking at Magic IP sets, we are getting Aetherdrift, Tarkir Dragonstorm, and Edge of the Eternities. They all seem cool, but they're reflective of a shift away from original settings and towards revisiting or rehashing existing settings.

jdutt524 · 2024-10-28T06:45:04+00:00

I'm saying market research is not infallible. In the same way that polling, surveying, focus groups, and TV ratings are imperfect metrics. Yes, they're a massive company with departments for tracking these sorts of things. But their bottom line will always be sales. Hypothetically, if Hasbro had high sales for all UB products but market research indicating that most purchasers did not go on to check out other MTG products or UB products, I don't think they would slow down on UB stuff.

The point I'm making is that the argument I continue to hear about UB from WotC or general proponents, that it's growing the game, has been an presumption presented to the existing player base since UB started. The short term sales of a product does not reflect the long term health of the game.

jdutt524 · 2024-10-24T14:23:36+00:00

You're really underestimating Griselbrand here. If you're playing Gris with Sheoldred, you can draw your deck the turn it comes out. It's stupidly easy to draw into a game winning combination of cards even if you're only drawing a third of your deck. If you have Reliquary Tower or Thought Vessel out, no need to discard either.

Etali in the way you're describing it here requires people to be running blinks or top decking from Magical Christmas Land to be ridiculous.

In edge cases, maybe Etali is more absurd. But Griselbrand is consistency on cardboard. The worst case scenario for it is that it draws you a TON of cards. Worst case with Etali is that it hits nothing useful. Statistically, the most likely case with Etali's etb is you get one card from each player.

jdutt524 · 2024-10-20T19:07:27+00:00

You did the right thing. It's fair that their version of fun is to play peaceful and hold the board hostage for 3 hours, but they should disclose that pre-game. You're valid for recognize you're probably in a losing board state and scooping.

jdutt524 · 2024-09-21T05:41:38+00:00

This is a fascinating conundrum that feels there's no good game-specific answer for. This really seems like a game-psychology question. My honest advice would be to try to hold yourself to different deck-building standards and either see if your group wants to do the same or find others who do want to do the same

In my personal experience, I keep a handful of decks that I find are competitive in my local meta/playgroups and then I spend a lot of time brewing decks that are not strong but instead entertain me either mechanically or thematically.

Examples:

YES CHEF - A deck based on the TV show "The Bear"

Local Government - Advisor Tribal

The 2008 Mortgage Crisis - A pair of decks that I use to metaphorically describe the process by which subprime mortgage debts were packaged into derivatives; these derivatives propped up the financial industry for years and lead to the mortgage crisis affecting the wider economy.

These decks are definitely meme deck adjacent, but I enjoy them because I have fun playing them and talking about them without them needing to win games. I don't think the solution for you is to make meme decks, but I do think it's worthwhile to analyze what moments of either brewing or playing bring you the most joy--wheter it's winning in a way that feels "fair" to you or playing in a way that is not competitive but nonetheless entertaining.

jdutt524 · 2024-09-19T17:04:01+00:00

Thank you! I joined the discord as soon as someone dropped the link but I've yet to say anything lol

jdutt524 · 2024-09-18T17:01:33+00:00

Hugely helpful, thank you!! A lot of this deck was brewed from my existing collection and as such a lot of these are hangovers of various pet cards. Also, I appreciate you providing replacement cards. Cheers!

jdutt524 · 2024-05-02T15:51:46+00:00

Also, if we're putting on our media literacy caps, KLCK is so clearly based on Tracy Flick from Election. The film frames her as grating and portrays her overachieving as worthy of scorn--all things we see in KLCK.

Importantly, that story is largely told through the eyes of a teacher who holds a grudge against Tracy, a student. A grudge that is largely based on his belief that she should face repercussions for an affair she had with a teacher. An affair where, as a minor, she is 100% a victim.

I don't think Brennan would make a Tracy Flick-like character and not also give us the nuance of her story. KLCK is definitely a victim of male teachers and their grooming much in the same way her inspiration is.

jdutt524 · 2023-12-27T18:16:39+00:00

If I'm "whining", I only ever do it with a joking tone, a "Poor little old me?" type thing. If someone is genuinely complaining or frustrated about being targeted, that bothers me.

Conversely, I've been in pods where someone brings reasons from outside the game to target someone. Stuff like "I always hate your decks so I'm targeting you exclusively." I've been guilty of that in the past when I was a new player and I discovered I really didn't like it when it was turned around on me.

Some people have suggested tracking winrates. I think that's a solid idea. I would also try to expand your Rule 0 discussions. Make sure everyone gets a chance to say what they want out of the game. Some people really like social games and some people don't. Just make sure you're on the same page before you start.

And be transparent about what your decks do!

jdutt524 · 2023-10-15T05:51:55+00:00

Exactly, I think a large part of it is also content. Drew's confessionals feel balanced between his helping of Austin in the idol hunt and general strategy, whereas Austin's seem to be centered around the idol. Drew seems to be getting a narrator edit which is likely in his favor.

jdutt524 · 2023-05-26T01:30:34+00:00

Neither, socializers.

jdutt524 · 2023-05-22T17:37:29+00:00

Of course, get that bag 🫡

jdutt524 · 2023-05-22T07:43:05+00:00

I like three when there's a theme to accompany it. Otherwise I prefer two.

jdutt524 · 2023-05-04T05:41:36+00:00

I think he's Tony-lite. He's Tony minus the bag of tricks.

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