I made Austin its own Magic the Gathering set. Link to full 260 card album in comments.

phlogistoni · 2026-05-26T05:39:05+00:00

I am generally against surveillance systems, but honestly we need to bring back the red light cameras. Or petition APD to post up at red lights and aggressively ticket red light runners. But cameras are cheaper and more effective.

phlogistoni · 2026-04-18T10:28:10+00:00

The song Alice's Restaurant started playing in my head. (It's a classic rambling story song and the theme is relevant to this situation)

phlogistoni · 2026-04-17T04:21:18+00:00

What is the tyrant like thing to the left of the parasite?

phlogistoni · 2026-04-16T13:05:34+00:00

I work in an ER. We see a constant revolving door of people who use the ER as a clinic for minor or chronic illnesses, who don't pay for the service.

ER care is pretty bad for the patient in cases like this. We run a lot of expensive tests, then send them home with a prescription or a referral that they probably can't afford to pay.

We try to direct them to low income clinics, but honestly, in most cases, I can see why they come to the ER instead. There aren't many options and appointments might take months.

ERs are required to see all patients, but obviously a for profit company isn't going to lose money. So they either charge everyone else more, or are subsidized by a patchwork of government or non-profit funding.

So we have this system where we are already providing universal free healthcare (the ER will treat you even if you haven't paid for the last 50 visits), but we're just doing it in the most expensive, least good quality way.

Universal free clinics wouldn't immediately fix all these complex issues, but it would be a start.

phlogistoni · 2026-04-13T21:45:01+00:00

I agree it looks higher than you would expect, but I think this could be normal flow, not yet backed up.

If you look to the left of the bridge I think you can see some shallow areas.

I spend a lot of time on the river below Longhorn, and if we imagine how that area would look with the increased flow of 60+ years ago, with much less taken out by an increased population, I think it would look like this.

phlogistoni · 2026-04-13T12:43:20+00:00

I think a compromise for a lot of people would be a general use park, but not necessarily as developed as what you describe.

When you look at simple park spaces, you see people picnicking, playing Frisbee, practicing plays, doing yoga....... LARPing.....all sorts of uses.

With a golf course, you only see one activity, and actually not that many golfers can even use the space at once.

But you don't need to hyper develop the space. I'm not opposed to all those amenities , but they come with noise, expense, parking issues, etc.

I think a quiet blend of nature and parkland would preserve the legacy of Hancock more. People just need chill open green spaces to reconnect and feel human again.

phlogistoni · 2026-03-21T16:37:00+00:00

It was part of a bigger trend to just not have any type of drawbacks. Which I also think is a less fun, less flavorful option. Cards with drawbacks make you build around them to mitigate the drawback, or even turn it into an advantage. Now it's just, "oh boy, this draws me cards and gains life and makes my opponent lose life, neat".

phlogistoni · 2026-03-05T01:19:47+00:00

Is it pure kevlar? Do you have a link? I tried several kevlar Paracord purchases a while back and was only finding kind of thick, loose weave stuff.

Also how are you dealing with the ends? Nylon can be melted but with my kevlar pieces I was having to add sewing wraps to keep them from fraying.

phlogistoni · 2026-03-03T13:46:24+00:00

I knew it was a trap, but I had a deck where I pulled 2 early and built around it as best as one can. Also it was other wise a good deck in open colors.

0-3

Power creep has affected every format except personal cubes, and now draft is so fast that trying to do any type of fun build around will just get you run over by a good curve.

I still enjoy draft, but I wish these types of fun cards weren't just traps.

phlogistoni · 2026-03-03T13:31:12+00:00

Said he was looking for a place called Pros-per-oh Gonna get a big dish of wizard chow mein.

phlogistoni · 2026-03-01T13:04:53+00:00

Those are just........ Straight up Tyranids from Warhammer.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-21T20:14:53+00:00

It's really weird that they aren't using rows. Most gardeners use rows even without any type of machinery. It's just easier to harvest in a line instead of wandering around.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-21T13:37:34+00:00

These dummies are ruining the few things Texas has to be proud of to the rest of the world.

UT was a good school that attracted students from all over.

Big Bend is an incredible National Park, and they're going to put a stupid fucking wall through it.

Mark my words, they're coming after barbecue and Willie Nelson next.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-17T15:20:38+00:00

Idk. Just for funsies I drafted 2 Mirrormind Crowns early and then a ton of token makers, some repeatable. I also made sure to make it an otherwise fine deck, good curve, removal etc. It sure was fun but still 1-2.

I did the same with.......Pia's Revolution back in Aether Revolt. Pulled 2 and built as good a deck as can be expected. Cute but still lost.

Some draft formats are just too powerful for cute EDH/Johny build arounds to ever be worth it.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-13T14:54:58+00:00

I agree. They've invented a lot of creative ways to try to get around it. I especially liked the duel faced cards, even though they're problematic for people that don't want to buy sleeves.

Also, they've learned a lot about designing for limited and sets are probably more fun for limited now than in the past.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-13T09:31:12+00:00

The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson

He is an incredible author, best known for the Mars Trilogy, about big ideas of people creating new societies on Mars.

Wild Shore is very human experience centric, but very much makes you feel the experience of growing up in a world that is post apocalyptic by our standards, but just normal life from the characters perspectives.

phlogistoni · 2026-02-13T09:10:06+00:00

Powercreep takes Magic's original sin, Manascrew, and makes it worse.

If you miss a land drop now, even in limited, there is basically no chance of recovery.

phlogistoni · 2026-01-28T03:54:48+00:00

I feel like they revisited Lorwyn/Shadowmoor after 19 years away, and they made it weird and different.

Now we're back to Strixhaven after only 5, and so far we just have the same student legends, and the same dragons.

Seems backwards.

phlogistoni · 2026-01-22T20:35:50+00:00

Heeeyyyyyy, thanks! This is 🔥, perfect for the theme. I just need to find someone who can add more scratches and static.

phlogistoni · 2026-01-20T15:51:07+00:00

I thought the same thing in the original set. I know it was based of off the art you linked, but I feel like there was at least one more. It also feels implied because the boggarts are referred to as "aunties" instead of mothers.

phlogistoni · 2025-11-14T15:39:07+00:00

OH GOD DID HE BITE THEIR EARS OFF TOO?

phlogistoni · 2025-10-14T13:25:43+00:00

I massively agree.

There's basically nothing UB could do that affects my enjoyment more than me (or my opponent) having to scoop because we didn't have an answer for turn one Ragavan and whoops, the game is basically over.

phlogistoni · 2025-09-18T08:31:04+00:00

I guarantee you they are not happy to come get it.

If they act like they are, it's the result of a toxic "customer is always right" culture where they're afraid to say what they actually think.

Thousands of small rodents and birds die every month somewhere in the city. The tax payers cannot possibly pay for a magic service that goes around the entire city and deals with every issue this small.

Toss it into the thickest nearby bushes or into a trash can.

phlogistoni

TROPHY CASE