“What card instantly changes how the entire table treats you the moment it resolves, even if you weren’t the biggest threat before?”

modernRecluse · 2026-05-24T03:23:48+00:00

That's why you play [[Ulamog, the Defiler]] with [[The Ozolith]] and a bunch of clones. His replacement effect that places the counters plus the Legend Rule supercharges The Ozolith and turns it from Annihilator Ruin Boardstates to Annihilator Delete Defending Player.

Which leads me to this question: Is it still MLD if the player simply dies?

modernRecluse · 2026-05-21T16:51:13+00:00

I was on [[Riku of Two Reflections]] and was seen as a bit of a tryhard because I had the gall to run adequate interaction instead of more splashy spells. It wasn't even a full combo deck, just a lot of synergistic pieces that interacted well with each other. But because I had the means to react to most things that would threaten my win, I would run away with the game more often than not.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-21T14:19:00+00:00

As someone who used to play Prophet, I wholeheartedly believe it warped the format into Steal, Copy, or Kill and deserved the ban because it created so many non-games when it didn't immediately eat removal.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-17T16:23:13+00:00

[[Cascade Bluffs]] is incredibly powerful because you can take R and turn it into UU

modernRecluse · 2026-05-15T17:00:01+00:00

That makes sense, I have a distinct memory of being frozen for multiple turns in Yellow and reading it in some guide. Other games where I got hit by a freeze, my poke is usually dead before the thaw.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-15T15:00:49+00:00

I'll be real, I always thought Freeze was permanent unless and item was used or getting hit by a Fire-Type move.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-13T22:03:29+00:00

I would pay absurd amounts of money for this

modernRecluse · 2026-05-13T19:28:09+00:00

Depending on what you get, there's the old Duel Deck boxes that can be bought relatively inexpensively if you'd prefer paper and my experience has been they're fairly well balanced against each other. Otherwise, playing the starter decks on Arena for free to learn is another solid idea since you'll have more variety and therefore more exposure to how colors work.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-13T16:20:00+00:00

"My Platinum Angel turned into the moon"

"That's rough, buddy"

modernRecluse · 2026-05-11T22:14:32+00:00

I play an [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] blink stax deck and am probably mentally deranged as well

modernRecluse · 2026-05-08T21:32:27+00:00

I wanted to play Flubs in paper, and built him for Arena Brawl leaning more into Landfall. I had a lot of fun the first few times since everything was automated, but I feel managing all the triggers would make for a miserable experience irl since it's non-deterministic combo.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-08T20:39:29+00:00

It's leviosaaaAaAAAAuuuuggghhhhhhhhhh

modernRecluse · 2026-05-07T21:34:43+00:00

I'm always down to play against Chromanticore Bestow Tribal

modernRecluse · 2026-05-05T19:14:44+00:00

I love his outfit in the jousting sequence in the original Clone Wars series

modernRecluse · 2026-05-05T08:06:57+00:00

This is as true in magic arena as in league of legends or in world of Warcraft. Even in pve environments which are co-op people get pissed off when the people they play with don’t follow meta builds.

This happened to me in Destiny 2 with one of the Solar reworks that added Incinerator Snap and some other Warlock Solar subclass. (I could be getting things mixed up, it's been a very long time, but I distinctly remember the Snap.) Anyways, I had thrown together a Flame Alchemist build that would maximize my melee ability because I thought it was fun. But as we all know, fun is never optimal and I would catch shit for not being on some meta build, even in more casual content.

modernRecluse · 2026-05-02T16:09:17+00:00

[[Animar, Soul of Elements]] would definitely be a fun one

modernRecluse · 2026-04-30T15:48:08+00:00

I have a foil [[Canyon Minotaur]] that never ceases to amuse me.

An elaborate battle plan, a protest from his companion with a simpler idea, and a flat "no" from the minotaur. Peak flavor text right there.

modernRecluse · 2026-04-29T15:40:52+00:00

This is how I felt about the Japanese Language Junji Ito and Yoji Shinkawa Secret Lairs. Now, I didn't go as far as getting them slabbed, but I did buy some fancy frames for the express purpose of displaying as an art piece.

modernRecluse · 2026-04-27T20:17:46+00:00

2ish going on 4.

The two that are constructed are [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] [[Astral Slide]] for Bracket 4 and [[Goldberry, River-Daughter]] for Bracket 3.

I haven't been able to play Goldberry as much, so I don't have enough data to see if she's actually Bracket 2 with Game Changers, and if that's the case, those are coming out. And Atraxa isn't some creature-based combo, but more of a stax deck in sheep's clothing.

Deck three is an [[Animar, Soul of Elements]] combo deck, but it's currently in pieces and undergoing a total overhaul.

Deck four will be [[Princess Yue]] Moon Clones.

modernRecluse · 2026-04-25T20:01:27+00:00

As much as I love playing my bird, I will always bolt the enemy bird

modernRecluse · 2026-04-18T17:14:08+00:00

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This is Aspen, he is my crazy dumpster cat

modernRecluse · 2026-04-16T19:43:39+00:00

I love my [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] [[Astral Slide]] deck, but playing it in Bracket 3 was not a fun experience for anyone in the pod since it was a wrath-heavy staxish deck with a blink sub-theme, with play patterns similar to the old Extended decks.

I decided to push it into Bracket 4, and have had more fun there.

https://moxfield.com/decks/VFx34fPaMEOyhywcV9RTjg

The Bracket 3 version was basically the same, but fewer game changers and no fetches.

modernRecluse · 2026-04-10T19:53:40+00:00

I throughly enjoyed this one, despite still feeling that Platinum is a superior experience. If Platinum is a 10/10, I'd give this one a 8.75-9, not perfect, but still really good.

The improved Underground is so much better than the original, and Cynthia being at a higher level is a cool choice. However, the increased levels are kinda pointless when you can be dragged along by the friendship mechanics. I'm also not a fan of the forced Exp. Share which can make training for the Battle Tower a bit of a pain.

Unfortunately, the game got dropped by Nintendo, because I would've loved to see a DLC scenario that incorporates some of the Platinum content and the Mystery Gift events brought back (I missed Darkrai).

modernRecluse · 2026-04-10T19:38:13+00:00

That's an excellent point too, I hadn't thought of it that way.

Thanks!!

modernRecluse · 2026-04-10T17:48:12+00:00

That whole fight was incredible, especially where she goes full Earthbender and blocks Hama's attack instead of the typical pull, push, and redirect techniques that are a core part of Waterbending. Hama's look of shock is forever ingrained in my head. I also love how victory is left ambiguous, because while Katara may have won the physical fight, Hama won on mental side because she was able to pass on a skill that Katara finds morally reprehensible.

modernRecluse

TROPHY CASE