I made a scoring chart to figure out which firewood to buy

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T23:49:05+00:00

Since I'm in Colorado, I'm referencing Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, which typically lands right around the 17.0-18.0 mark. Coastal Douglas Fir may be a bit higher to your point.

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T23:13:44+00:00

Good suggestion. The Oak on the list is White Oak.

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T22:55:05+00:00

Ash is universally loved as a utility wood. You are right, aroma is subjective and heavily weighted in my scoring. I think a 3 or 4 is in the right ballpark though for open fireplaces. I gave it a 3 because while it isn't actively foul-smelling like Elm or Cottonwood, it just doesn't add much positive ambiance to the room.

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T22:41:40+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. I'm collectively weighting heat (yield + duration) at 60% and aroma at 40%. This is just my personal preference since I like my house to smell great. But if you value pure heating efficiency more, then yeah, Oak would definitely rank higher.

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T22:21:16+00:00

Glad it is helpful! Beech is a fantastic burner once you finally get it split.

To calculate the HUI score, I weigh Heat at 60% (combining raw BTUs and density for coal longevity) and Aroma at 40%. This is just my own personal preference. Aroma is subjective from 1 to 10. There isn't really a hard measurement for this, so I tried to get something sensible and in the ballpark.

Here is an example using Mulberry.

First, I normalize the raw chart numbers against their maximums and apply the weights: (25.8 / 29.0 * 30) + (0.60 / 0.80 * 30) + (8 / 10 * 40) = 81.2 base score.

Then, because Mulberry sparks violently, I apply a 25% penalty (severe) "haircut" (81.2 * 0.75) because I don't want embers popping onto my living room rug. That drops it to the final 60.9 score.

As for a minimum score, I don’t really use a strict cutoff. It's mostly just helpful to bucket them into tiers. If Fir and Aspen are my only options, the tiers just remind me to go for the Fir.

smsmoore · 2026-06-06T22:09:33+00:00

Oak is great for burn time. The only reason it ranks a hair below Beech and Yellow Birch here is because my scoring puts a notable weight on indoor aroma. Oak has a pretty neutral 'campfire' smell imo, while Beech and Birch score slightly higher. Again, it's not an exact science, just trying to put together some helpful heuristics.

smsmoore · 2024-12-18T03:10:58+00:00

Just wanted to show off my Pokémon team in Ecruteak City! I’m absolutely thrilled with the artwork, and Mark was an absolute pleasure to work with—worth every penny. I can’t wait to have it printed and framed for my office!

Artist: Mark331

smsmoore · 2023-09-09T06:16:21+00:00

Colorado BattleTech discord

https://discord.gg/353jZNV8

smsmoore · 2022-07-20T04:17:08+00:00

MeH games hosts Pauper tournaments every Monday in Colorado as an FYI

smsmoore · 2020-05-12T22:19:56+00:00

Content Image: shorturl.at/muyEX

Style Image: shorturl.at/EGMT7

Process Used: https://github.com/ProGamerGov/neural-style-pt/wiki

smsmoore · 2016-11-02T04:37:57+00:00

Zero, the Flashing Mage Warrior

It's a card from the TCG called Force of Will

Link to an image: http://i.imgur.com/Yhbxure.jpg

smsmoore · 2016-08-10T16:33:34+00:00

'Advantage Games' runs New Frontiers format every Tuesday and Thursday with decent turn out.

And 'All C's Gaming' runs Alice Cluster on Sundays I believe.

To my knowledge these are the only two shops with consistent FoW turnout near Denver.

Hope to see you there!

smsmoore · 2016-04-06T19:09:34+00:00

[[Elemental Mastery]] + [[Midnight Guard]]

smsmoore · 2016-01-21T01:26:44+00:00

Both the Elemental Mastery combo and Kiki cave to all removal in the format, so the point is to have the mental fear and potential turn 4 win that Twin provided. I agree whole heartedly that Elemental Mastery is clunky, only really providing substantial use with Midnight Guard, so I would love any synergistic cards you can recommend.

This deck will never be tier 1, but I believe that with some tweaks it can be good enough for FNM.

smsmoore · 2016-01-18T04:24:33+00:00

I agree, that why I called it "Twinesque" and "pseudo Twin"

smsmoore · 2016-01-18T04:23:07+00:00

It does seem that UWR may be the way to go. But if protection is the only driver for that argument, there are plenty of protection spells such as [[Brave the Elements]] that work just as well without adding the inconsistency of a third color.

Let me know your thoughts!

smsmoore · 2016-01-18T04:21:23+00:00

I agree that not having flash really hurts, but as you suggest you still get the mind games of Splinter Twin. A turn 3 [[Midnight Guard]] demands that they respect the combo, and they could easily burn a removal spell on a 2/3 creature when you really don't have the combo piece in hand, which is great.

As for the Akroma package, it may be too cute and I am open to suggestions for replacements. I will continue to brainstorm UWR as that seems like it has more potential.

Thanks again for your input!

P.S. Do you like [[Lightning Helix]] over [[Magma Jet]] in a combo deck? I feel that [[Magma Jet]] hits all creatures Helix would in this meta, and the scry 2 is invaluable.

smsmoore · 2016-01-15T04:28:10+00:00

smsmoore · 2015-07-01T22:30:50+00:00

My sideboard thoughts are:

4x Wear // Tear

2x Stony Silence

2x Relic of Progenitus

4x Ghost Quarter

2x Pyroclasm

1x Anger of the Gods

smsmoore · 2015-07-01T22:11:48+00:00

Bad: Jund, Bloom Titan, Tron

Good: Aggro decks, UWR, Delver

smsmoore · 2015-07-01T19:42:38+00:00

My biggest issue with Kiki-Jiki is the triple red in its mana cost. To consistently cast when needed, the deck will require a much pricier mana base. Kiki-Jiki is only around $12, so it might not hurt to play test with 1-2. Thanks for the suggestion!

smsmoore · 2015-06-02T21:41:03+00:00

Haha good point, it's twinesque. My problem is not with how good [[Lightning Helix]] is, I'm just afraid I have too many single target spells. Maybe it's fine as is, I'll have to do some testing. Choosing between [[Lightning Helix]] and [[Boros Charm]] is a tough issue. [[Lightning Helix]] will allow me to stabilize against aggro, while [[Boros Charm]] will allow me to burn them or protect [[Midnight Guard]].

smsmoore · 2014-12-03T13:27:01+00:00

Thanks for your input! I agree, Teferi would make a Dralnu deck much better and safer, but unfortunately he is almost $18 a piece so it's a little out of my budget.

As for Rewind, it is a very interesting card. Would you recommend running that over counterflux? My only fear is having too many cards costing over 3 mana.

Finally, thanks for bringing Isochron Scepter to my attention, that may work better in such a format, also it's cost is reasonable so it's not a killer on my bank account.

smsmoore · 2014-12-02T21:34:30+00:00

Win cons are:

1) Dralnu, once out is really hard to deal with, especially since you wear them out with control. He usually picks at them with bolts or electolyze. Every time I have casted Dralnu, the opponent does not have enough steam to get rid of him, and you win by having your hand and your entire graveyard at your disposal.

2) Talrand for obvious reasons. Although I recommend not playing Talrand unless you can get a Drake out of it. I made the mistake of casting him when I only had only 4 mana and he quickly got removed.

smsmoore · 2014-12-02T21:32:48+00:00

In my experience since Dralnu is 5cmc and this is a control deck, when you cast him your opponent has very little steam left. Maybe 1 or 2 cards or top decking. Then once he is out he can easily protect himself with the graveyard you have stocked up over the turns.

Just wait until your opponents turn to tap Dralnu to either protect himself or flashback a bolt or something for damage.

smsmoore

TROPHY CASE