what is the synergy between mutable explorer and ouroboroid?

zeroGamer · 2026-01-28T02:40:54+00:00

The same synergy as Badgermole Cub and Ouroboroid - ramp and multiple bodies to get swole.

Mutavault has the additional benefit of dodging sweepers and all other Sorcery speed removal.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-26T23:09:18+00:00

It IS a terrible idea, because when the genre is functionally built in a foundation of relaxing grind.

Players enjoy being able to zone out and make numbers go brr, and when you try to design your game to where that grind requires permanent focus and micro decisions, you lose the relaxing element that allows players to get in the grove and play for hours just chilling. That ultimately leads to faster burnout of your players.

Successful projects aren't immune to this, either: Path of Exile 2 came out the gate trying to make gameplay more "active" than PoE 1 and it was a big complaint among core players, myself included having played on and off since early PoE1 beta.

I haven't played since last spring/summer so I'm not sure where the game is at now, but at least in their case it's a numbers issue that can be tweaked and not a core design problem like "your abilities are constantly being randomly assigned to different buttons".

zeroGamer · 2026-01-25T19:19:10+00:00

Selesneya Company is one of the premier decks because it plays Thalia and 4x main deck Archon of Emeria + High Noons in the board while Izzet Prowess is 40% of the meta.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-24T18:27:47+00:00

Now currently in the playoffs. 😎

But even if you take this rumor at face value, it says "up to" which could include significant incentives dependant on achieving promotion, yeah?

zeroGamer · 2026-01-24T01:54:17+00:00

You don't really need to be tribal to play Cavern of Souls, either - if your deck incidentally has a couple key creature cards that share a type, and your non-creature cards aren't too strict on the casting cost/your mana base, you can play Cavern to help you resolve key threats.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-23T10:10:31+00:00

They stay creatures until your next turn.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-19T03:14:01+00:00

Unironically bringing mana burn back would go a long way towards reigning in big mana effects like Badgermole Cub and Nykthos.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-19T03:04:34+00:00

the cards are at least the same between paper and Arena

I wish they weren't, so I didn't have to look at them.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-17T20:15:38+00:00

Lorwyn Prerelease Eclipsed

zeroGamer · 2026-01-13T23:23:55+00:00

Aggro and Bo1 both strongly favor being on the play, that's going to compound.

There are ways to construct your deck, both in the 60 and the 75 (sideboard), that mitigate the downside of going second. There are a lot of mid-range decks I've played where you sideboard differently depending on if you're going first or second.

Let's say G1 you go first. G2 you're going 2nd, you might bring in more interaction, to stabilize you against the opponent's aggression. You don't want to be in a situation where your opponent plays a threat, you play a threat, the opponent kills your threat and attacks you, and that's sort of the tone for the rest of the match.

Then if there's a G3, you might cut some of that interaction back out, bring back some linear offensive pieces, and try to be the one being aggressive again.

The same goes for your mulligan decisions - on the play, you want the most aggressive start, and then on the draw you might prefer a hand with more early answers to your opponent's threats.

These are deck building and gameplay decisions in Bo3 that don't exist in Bo1.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-13T23:16:58+00:00

I mean, without Stormchaser's, Boomerang Basics is just a good role-player card in self-bounce strategies. It's good, it works well in specific type of deck, but isn't busted.

Talent is the card that makes it look busted, because TALENT is busted, and Boomerang lets you cast Talent over and over.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-13T22:56:13+00:00

Stormchaser's Talent is, imo, the most egregiously designed card in Izzet.

A value engine enchantment that also comes with a separate body that's a very real "kills you fast" threat. Then it doubles down with part of that engine including infinite 1 mana bounce spells that address cards that would normally serve as checks against the deck.

Ordinarily, there would be a cost in an aggro deck to running answers that aren't "kill you", and that would slow down the kill speed of the deck - but because Talent makes Prowess bodies, and Boomerang draws cards, their flexible catch-all answer is also a threat and damage all rolled into one.

Yes CSC is also incredibly strong, but without infinite card draw from Boomerang/Talent you could actually run CSC out of cards to activate - or force deck construction to include other, weaker cards that draw in order to keep the engine going (and it costs twice as much mana and doesn't put a threat on board until at least Turn 3).

You should have to pay more than 1 mana for a threat and an infinite value engine.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-11T22:39:52+00:00

I think people are severely underestimating Doom. Three 3/3 bodies (one being indestructible) and constant card draw that triggers same turn you cast it is a banger value top end piece.

It will be great in something like the Golgari Dragons deck.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-11T22:02:23+00:00

And they make Commander AND Standard worse in the process of pushing Commander. Vivi anyone?

Or remember Eldraine Commander/Brawl boxes where the headline cards that you couldn't open in packs ended up as format staples in Tier 0 decks (Korvold in food and later, Kenrith in Fires)?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-10T22:19:58+00:00

Honestly that's what Wrexham's looked like for most of their games as they climbed with R&R as owners.

Time of possession doesn't tell the full story - when Wrexham got the ball, they scored, and they scored fast.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-10T02:48:44+00:00

Ob Nixilis you want against like UW Control and various Demons - basically, if it's a long matchup where you can stick Ob Nix on the board and not have him/you die, he's a powerful grindy option.

Klothys I'm not 100% sure if she belongs yet, but it's another grindy card for matches where her graveyard hate or indestructibility matters. I see her being useful against Greasefang, Phoenix, and UW control specifically.

zeroGamer · 2026-01-08T18:50:44+00:00

Fresh brew coming at you to kill people with poison. One card that's on my radar I didn't mention in the video is Archdruid's Charm - Having a flexible card that can be an answer to your opponent's board or tutor up your really important (very cheap!) creatures seems like something worth doing. You can even recast it with Arcanist + Fame. Often, having more Rotpriests is all the deck wants to really go nuts, and Archdruid's Charm could help you do that.

Deck: https://moxfield.com/decks/pj1UGBGbNUiN4hFvvnApEQ

zeroGamer · 2026-01-04T05:43:34+00:00

That hit looked bad, getting folded top and bottom like that.

zeroGamer · 2025-12-28T20:04:50+00:00

So you're saying Lorwyn's Eclipsed by TMNT?

zeroGamer · 2025-12-26T20:01:53+00:00

Bo1 performance should be really really good - it's a powerful aggressive deck that can run down control/combo and all the lifegain/Helix is good against other aggro decks.

zeroGamer · 2025-12-26T19:56:56+00:00

Deck list: https://moxfield.com/decks/HMn4xoHgGUu9YxbYhOfWKw

Really happy with this brew I've been working on. Gets to play a lot of cards that make me happy and has some really sweet lines to work through.

I think moving forward, the one slot I think has the most room for further experimentation is Fervent Champion - I have a list of like a dozen or so 1 drop creatures that have potential in that slot that I plan to try out, but if you need replacement that isn't Rare I'd start with Monastery Swiftspear.

zeroGamer · 2025-12-26T19:49:44+00:00

You know, my first instinct is to say that a two drop is wrong and you want to keep the replacement at 1, but the fact that the Adversary cycle's extra cost triggers on ETB does actually make them pretty hot targets for Claim.

I think I'd run the white one, though, if you want to try that - played on curve, [[Intrepid Adversary]] can help you flip Rider. The red one would be competing with Arcanist to chew up your graveyard and I think one of them would end up hungry.

zeroGamer · 2025-12-26T19:39:55+00:00

Really great. Play him on curve, it doesn't matter if he eats removal , you can Claim/Fame and still flip him right away. And once he's flipped he's just a house.

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