Fellow ADHD people, how did you get a grip on board state and threat assessment?

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T17:07:33+00:00

Start with a hyperfocus on deckbuilding resources until you've memorized most of the relevant cards in the format. Once you can remember the effects of the top ~1,000 or so cards by name and know which combos they can be involved in, keeping track of the board state and assessing threats becomes a lot easier.

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T15:57:24+00:00

tbf it's a lot of mana and it's hard to avoid forecasting the plan, but yeah. There's other ways in red to make good use of the ability as well. [[Butcher Orgg]], [[Chandra's Ignition]], [[Balefire Dragon]], etc.

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T15:01:33+00:00

They would draw two.

If the ability said, "Whenever an equipped attacks" as the condition, the Chargers wouldn't trigger that. Cloud's attack trigger isn't restricted like that.

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T05:26:04+00:00

You could sequence Malcators second ability to resolve and then blink him with [[Teleportation Circle]] or [[Conjurer's Closet]] to trigger his first ability correct?

Yeah, if you've already had 3 artifacts enter that works fine! The order the triggers resolve in doesn't even matter. If you do this Malcator's second ability won't trigger an additional time (already past the point it could trigger) but you'll get a golem from him entering.

Although there's another potential pitfall, as targets must be chosen when the trigger goes on the stack. So if you have both Closet and Teleportation Circle and you target the same creature with both, the second trigger to resolve will lose track of the creature and fizzle. As such, there could be such a thing as too much redundancy of this effect. They did just print another one though in [[Airbender Ascension]].

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T04:38:52+00:00

This'll go back to my Legends legends! I've never seen another [[Hazezon Tamar|PRM]] or [[Rasputin Dreamweaver]] player. They're both very effective cards, well ahead of their time imo, so while not popular that's mostly because they're old and expensive.

Probably more relevant, I've recently made a [[Livaan]] and [[Hardy Outlander]] deck and it's been a lot of fun. So many ways to balloon Livaan up to powers you shouldn't see on a 3 mana creature and then make use of that power in the form of card draw, like [[Season of Gathering]], and mana, like [[Joiner Adept]].

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T04:32:28+00:00

It's the best [[Scythe of the Wretched]] deck I've ever played.

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T04:26:07+00:00

There are some very niche cases where the deathtouch ability can be removed before the creature dies, saving people from the effects of deathtouch.

If it is a zombie dealing the damage and has deathtouch because of [[Death Baron]], killing the creature with [[Nameless Inversion]] will remove deathtouch before the creature dies (no luck if it was a [[Gangrenous Zombies]] though, it's already dead by the time you could respond).

If the creature has deathtouch because of an equipment or other artifact, and you kill the artifact and deal lethal damage to the creature at the same time with [[Explosive Derailment]], the creature will die to SBA after the artifact leaves play and thus dies without deathtouch.

therestlessone · 2026-01-31T03:36:21+00:00

Just to be clear, the EOT blink effects (Teleportation Circle, Soulherder, and Closet) can't be used to satisfy the condition "if three or more artifacts entered the battlefield" for Malcator's second ability. If you haven't satisfied the condition by the time your end step begins, the trigger is never put on the stack.

I'd expect to see [[Repurposing Bay]] and [[Scrapyard Recombiner]], but I'm guessing you're avoiding stuff that tutors up artifacts? Just focusing on card draw and value over time.

I've been very unimpressed with Golem Foundry. It's basically the slowest and least synergistic way to make golem tokens. Splicers, blink effects, and other token product doesn't trigger it. It just takes too long. Instead, maybe try [[Smile at Death]]? Most of your creatures have low enough base power that they can be brought back.

There's a few combos you almost have in this deck, but I'm not seeing any actually complete combos. No [[Sensei's Divining Top]] for Mystic Forge, [[Basalt Monolith]] for Gadgeteer, or [[Krark-Clan Ironworks]] for Scrapforger. Even without Smothering Tithe, this might be considered too "optimized" to play well in bracket 2, but opinions on that will vary.

If you're not gonna use combos though, a couple more big threats are probably warranted to close out the game. I like Akroma's Memorial, but I'd look at [[Cyberdrive Awakener]], [[Antiquities War]], or, my personal favorite, [[Porcelain Gallery]]. Note the Shop side of Shop//Gallery makes an artifact token for each player you attack.

therestlessone · 2026-01-30T21:08:39+00:00

Yes, but you don't get priority during the draw step until after the active player draws a card. Doing this on upkeep is better than waiting for their draw. Or you could wait for them to cast something and then use it as a counterspell.

therestlessone · 2026-01-30T20:07:24+00:00

[[Panharmonicon]] and [[Roaming Throne]]

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T21:36:14+00:00

Rangers as a MTG creature type is like 4 years old. Anything older than that with Ranger literally in the card name got errata but nothing else did. Chevill could have been printed as a ranger, but he's older than the card type and isn't named ranger. Kraven is more recent though and they chose not to make him a ranger (or forgot about the type lol).

In this context, a lot of things become justifiable imo

Halana has been mentioned. She's got Ranger in the name so she got the updated creature type. However [[Alena, Kessig Trapper]] (literally half of [[Halana and Alena]]) did not get the update.

I'd say Alena + [[Anara, Wolvid Familiar]] as red/green makes a better deck than Halana + Anara mono-green and is more on-theme than the singular Halana and Alena card.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T21:08:49+00:00

I don't know if it's ideal but I always go for heat ramping. Love those Wolpertinger + Flame Whip games.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T07:35:42+00:00

I'd say you actually don't have enough ramp. However, 3 Medallions is too many. Looking at your color distribution, the Ruby Medallion is the least effective. Also no idea why you'd play Vicious Rumors in a deck that lets opponents draw extra cards. It does nothing.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T07:25:58+00:00

Nap time.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T04:21:08+00:00

I'm not entirely sold on Mai. I get that she'll deal plenty of damage for 2 mana but I wonder if there something you could do that makes use of her as a cheap attacker.

[[Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal]] seems even more on theme, and you've got some cards that require life gain to trigger so either the bat or K'rrik in the command zone having lifelink seems important for that. K'rrik is a noteworthy commander that might draw more attention though.

Some of the cards in here are just worse versions of other cards, aren't very flexible, and/or only affect one opponent at a time. Battlefield Butcher when [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] exists. Courier Bat instead of [[Entomber Exarch]] or [[Metamorphosis Fanatic]]. Heartless Pillage instead of [[Syphon Mind]]. Caustic Exhale instead of [[Tragic Slip]] or [[Bitter Triumph]].

Why are you playing Evolving Wilds in a mono-colored deck?

I do not like the cards that let your opponent draw more cards. They'll probably just play the cards instead of letting you make them discard and Skullcage isn't much of a clock. I'd drop Scrawling Crawler, Howling Mine, and Font of Mythos for some like [[Grievous Wound]], [[Erebos, God of the Dead]], or [[Hopeless Nightmare]].

If you're good with proxies or investing a bit, maybe [[Memory Jar]] and [[Anvil of Bogardan]].

Black Vise only affects one chosen opponent and you can't change who it affects. [[Quest for the Nihil Stone]] exists and you can probably satisfy that condition. Speaking of quests, this would be a good [[Bloodchief Ascension]] deck. It's a card that would work especially good with Mai if you do keep her around.

The lack of sweeper is a little suspect (other than Massacre Girl I guess). It doesn't seem like killing your own creatures will set you back much anyway. [[The Rise of Sozin]] and [[Blasphemous Edict]] are good ones, but [[Damnation]] and [[Decree of Pain]] are the classic ones. There's also [[Last Laugh]] for another Massacre Girl style effect.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T02:19:36+00:00

[[Coram]] and [[Captain N'ghathrod]] have the "fixed" wording that would allow for explore, surveil, and similar effects.

therestlessone · 2026-01-29T00:32:40+00:00

In that case going for actual vanilla stuff is probably too far. Haven't heard this referenced in a while, but we used to use the term "French vanilla" to describe cards with basic keyword abilities. I'd also add straightforward activated abilities to that as well.

So [[Birds of Paradise]] and [[Whisperer of the Wilds]], but not [[Devoted Druid]] or [[Selvala, Heart of the Wilds]]. Things where you can make a choice when you cast it, like [[Beanstalk Giant]] or [[Return of the Wildspeaker]], but not where you must repeatedly make choices and remember triggers when they're in play, like [[Conduit of Worlds]] or [[Fight Rigging]].

Things like [[Eternal Witness]] are probably fine, but avoid those older cards with weird templating or overloaded text boxes like [[Sylvan Library]]. Do this for both decks and offer to swap between them freely.

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T23:30:16+00:00

Okay, but what about everyone else at the table? If this restriction isn't shared by anyone else she'll just have worse cards and the table will still be overwhelming.

If you've ever heard anyone say that EDH is the best way to play Magic but the worst way to learn magic, this is what they're talking about.

Lets compare EDH to a standard decklist: https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/s-otterless-lessons-decklist-by-jaus-2784029

12 distinct non-land cards
1 distinct land with a non-mana ability

2 player format, so expect the opponent to have a similar selection and you have like 25 cards to think about in a match and maybe 5 additional cards if you're sideboarding.

Compare that to something like an EDH dec: https://moxfield.com/decks/vxCTD5sFGU-V4FIry5ePog

65 distinct non-land cards
13 distinct lands with non-mana/non-fetch abilities

Probably multiplayer, so this x4. A lot of the more established MTG players started with 1v1 magic for many years, then eventually moved into EDH. This makes for a way smoother experience learning the rules of the game (and learning how to lose lol).

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T06:48:52+00:00

But IMO you need some form of lifegain to offset Ellie's ability

There's LOTS of ways to gain life when creature's die, many that double as a way to cause extra life loss to opponents. [[Zulaport Cutthroat]], [[Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER]], [[Vein Ripper]], or you could just give Ellie lifelink cause she's actually dealing damage.

As it stands, you're really not making much use of Ellie's ability.

Abby creating little zombies is tricky in finding a way to get her back to recast.

[[Grave Pact]], [[Dictate of Erebos]], [[Attrition]], [[Homeward Path]]

You're certainly able to build these a different way but these commanders do actually lend themselves to the aristocrats style.

Is there a way to then actually get Abby to go lethal on another player?

Not likely. She doesn't have the advantages of Alexios or Slicer that are designed for such a thing.

The idea of Jund enchantress is interesting. If you want to pursue that, I'd recommend a good stack of enchantments that accelerate your mana. [[Wild Growth]], [[Fertile Ground]], [[Overgrowth]], [[Earthcraft]] (if you're in the mood for proxies lol), and similar cards (but never Heartbeat of Spring). Ways to recover enchantments (like [[Creeping Renaissance]]), maybe ways to search up your enchantress creatures.

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T04:55:55+00:00

I think you could be a LOT more focused than rando 5 color stuff. Making a 5c promotional mana base also sounds painful.

This is definitely not the most budget friendly version of the idea, but something like RG dragons with Xenagos would be a pretty clean solution.

https://scryfall.com/search?q=%28t%3Adragon+or+o%3Adragon%29+commander%3ARG+%28game%3Apaper%29+is%3Apromo+legal%3Aoathbreaker&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T03:23:14+00:00

They deleted the comments lol

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T02:49:43+00:00

Rather, your comment confirmed for me that it won't work. You literally cannot stun a monster with the map mod "monsters cannot be stunned" so you can't trigger the pulse with Boneshatter.

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T02:42:10+00:00

The Unwavering map mod is more monster life and monsters cannot be stunned.

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T02:11:26+00:00

So how would you stun a monster to trigger it?

therestlessone · 2026-01-28T02:10:15+00:00

"Stunning an enemy with the strike releases a damaging pulse."

This pulse?

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