#I do still love mtg though

[jeff-from-marketing]

Surprise! It’s not a TTRPG post! ... it’s just another tabletop game instead (I swear I’ll have other things at some point, but I do not control the brain)

In the midst of all the “Wizards of the Coast is the worst” fuckery (and a sentiment that is well justified might I add) I wanna talk about my favourite card game: Magic the Gathering.

I have a very long history with Magic the Gathering, I’ve been playing it since I was very young, usually by playing decks that family members and friends had put together. First set I got into was all the way back in Origins, and the store owner at the time (quick tangent to say: support your local tabletop stores) was kind enough to throw in an old battered box just filled with Tarkir cards to help me get into the game more. Sure at the end of the day they probably weren’t going to sell those cards anyway, and giving them to a newbie as a gesture of goodwill is still a business move, but it’s a kind one and one I support. 

Anyway, that nonsense preamble before the actual recipe aside: I’ve been playing for a long time, and I do genuinely love the game. As someone who absolutely fucking adores theory crafting builds in games and tweaking shit in just about every game I play, Magic is absolutely a dream for me in that regard. Combined with some absolutely gorgeous art, and you have a recipe for a game where I’m like “yup, I’m sold.” Even if I’m not building a deck that’s meta or competitive (because I’mma be honest, that ain’t my thing at all) I absolutely adore finding just one card and being like “oh, I could have some fun with this” and building up decks around a theme. 

Now I’m not 100% clueless on the issues Magic has. I’ll admit, I’m not as in touch with the community and the controversies around it as I am with D&D as of late, but I still keep an eye on things every now and then. But honestly the more recent things aren’t what’s giving me pause at the moment, but they did give me an excuse to sit down and think some things through.

I’ll preface this with one simple thing: I’m not going to stop playing MtG anytime soon. I still find the game very fun, and it’s still very important to me personally. However, I am changing how I’m engaging with it. While the recent controversies definitely don’t help their case, that’s not actually what’s making me pull the trigger. No, the reason for that can be described in two words:

Booster Packs.

I realise I’ve probably elicited one of two reactions from people. One is probably “ah yeah that checks out” and the other is probably “what the heck is wrong with booster packs?” Given how long they’ve been a staple in TCGs, and not just Magic, I would absolutely understand questioning that thought. In fact I would encourage that anyway. So, what’s my problem with booster packs then if they’re such a staple in the genre? Well, my answer is simple: they’re the original lootboxes. While the game industry was in a spot of bother about lootboxes when Blizzard popularised them (even though TF2 and CS:GO did it first) and EA villainised them, the TCG scene was doing basically the exact same thing for decades at that point. I’m not saying this to mean “oh lootboxes aren’t that bad because TCGs have had basically the same thing for decades,” if anything I’m saying the complete opposite. Lootboxes are fucking awful, they’re just straight up gambling at worst and a thinly veiled skinnerbox mechanic at best. If people are so upset at lootboxes, they should be just as upset at booster packs. But they’re not. There’s entire events based around them! 

So why am I only just now coming to this thought, at least a decade after I started playing? Well the recent WotC controversies have put a bit of a spotlight on their business practices in general, but no. What did it for me is their online platform for Magic, Magic Arena. In that game, the parallel between booster packs and lootboxes is even more cut and dry. Hell, they even do the Blizzard thing of “here, have some lootboxes every now and then for free as a reward for playing the game, keep playing to earn more!” as a skinnerbox mechanic, while also encouraging you to buy additional booster packs on top of that. Now you can do that with in game currency, but guess what? That’s more grinding, back to the skinnerbox you go! Plus it’s coupled with my most beloathed recent addition to shitty monetisation practices: a battle pass. Now don’t worry, even if you don’t get the exact cards you want from a booster pack, you can acquire individual cards of your choice... after you open a bunch of booster packs beforehand. Y’see where I’m going here? The entire game revolves around so many psychological hooks designed to get you to pay and keep playing well after you’ve stopped enjoying the game. And I did actually stop enjoying the game playing it like that. Grinding out game after game against opponents who almost entirely play whatever deck gets them the quickest win just to get their rewards (because you get literally nothing for losing). Even playing with friends became a struggle, because I’d often go “oh I have a great idea for a deck!” and then have my spirits crushed at how much I’d have to grind (or the obscene amounts of money I’d have to pay) just to even try it out to see if it works.

Booster packs absolutely suck the fun out of what should be a game that’s filled with fun things to do. I refuse to support lootboxes in games, so I have to do the same for booster packs. Luckily, it’s still entirely possible to play MtG without booster packs.

I recently discovered Tabletop Simulator works surprisingly well for MtG, and you can just import a deck you’ve made from any deck building website with little to no hassle. No need to open a bunch of boosters, no need to grind out games you don’t enjoy just to get an extra card or two to maybe finish a deck, you can just play right then and there! This has absolutely rekindled my love of the game. And besides, flipping the entire table is a lot more fun than just simply hitting concede if someone comes up with an absolutely ridiculous combo. I genuinely recommend it if you’re looking into ways to play Magic.

Though the big question to all this is: if booster packs are so awful (which they are) then what’s the solution?

Honestly... I don’t have one. Obviously companies aren’t going to just stop without someone else stepping in, but I don’t know what the best way to do that would be. I don’t know what to actually replace them with. I just know that, if they ever are replaced, they need to be replaced with something that doesn’t involve gambling; something where you can know exactly what you’re getting before you buy it. 

[scatterpatter]

What if I presented a whole complicated Megaman Classic AU except I didn't give a SHRED of context

Haha, just kidding!

... Unless?

No these aren't being presented in the order they were drawn in but they ARE presented in AU-timeline chronological order so like im at least a LITTLE kind with throwing these all at youse

[starlit-mansion]

after missing out on half of my plans in october. the lost caverns of ixalan prerelease event later this month is holding up so much load bearing weight for my social life

[markrosewater]

Hi Mark. With a lot of talk recently in the online space about the unreasonable outrage and horrendous death threats towards the Commander Rules Committee and Commander Advisory Group, I want to thank you for being the proverbial "shield" for some of the most heinous and grotesque backlash towards WOTC as the unofficial public representative for MTG. I know it can be absolutely draining for your mental health to receive harassment in this position, so I just want to say I am grateful and empathize that you are in this position. With that being said, as one of the most prominent faces of Magic, is it possible if you could say a word or two about the aforementioned harassment towards the RC and CAG to deter these harassers and possibly share your own experiences regarding unconstructive hate to help the victims of such depravity (if you're comfortable sharing)?

There are advantages and disadvantages of being one of the faces for Magic. When people like something we're doing, even when I had nothing to do with it, I get lots of praise. Most players only know a handful of Wizards employees, so they tend to assume that the people they know are responsible for the things that are happening.

There is, of course, a downside to that. When things happen people dislike, I'm also the light rod for complaint. Whether or not I had anything to do with the issue in question, I get the blame. I am Head Designer. Many times, I did have a hand or a say in what happened. And when I'm responsible, or partly responsible, for something, I try to own up to it.

Players are not a unified front though. When we do thing X, some of you will like it while others will not. I often will get complimented for the same thing I'm being yelled at for.

From time to time, we do something a majority are unhappy with. At times, we do things a majority are *very* unhappy with. That's when things can get a bit ugly. There are a lot of civilities built into daily life. There are just things you don't do or say to another human being. Most of that goes out the window online.

For some reason, the anonymity combined with just how social media has evolved has emboldened people to do and say things they never would in person (and I should also acknowledge society has changed in ways that even what's acceptable in person has changed).

What this means is I get a lot of negativity, some of it very personal. I'm not just talking about people criticizing the in-game choices I've made (or often didn't even make), but comments on me as a person, about who I am and what they think of me. People tell me that want bad things to happen to me. Not just getting fired (although that's a popular one), people vocalize, sometimes quite graphically, about things they want to happen to me.

The first few times this happened, I took it pretty hard. Having lots of people attack you online, saying horrible things about you, is tough. Humans look to other humans for approval. It's just built into our DNA to want others to like us. Having people attack you hurts. You have trouble sleeping, eating, it just weighs on you emotionally.

I was bullied as a kid. This really isn't much different except its much higher in volume and very public.

With time, I learned to adapt to it. It's not that I enjoy people saying nasty things about me. It still sucks, but I've found ways to process it. I came to realize that someone being nasty is more a commentary on them than me. And I adopted a philosophy of looking past the words to the message behind it. Most people complaining didn't like a choice we made about the game. I could focus on the feedback and less on the delivery method. But that took years, and it has a lot to do with who I am as a person. I enjoy the things I get to do with a public profile, so I accept what comes with it.

I've made the conscious choice to build a thick skin and weather social media, so I can continue doing what I love. It saddens me that I have to.

I say all this because I don't know if people really process the harm they're doing when they get negative online, especially towards another person. Most people do not have the years of processing angry messages like I do.

Words have an impact and that doesn't matter whether you're speaking them directly to someone's face or typing them in the privacy of your home.

Bullying is not okay. Cruelty is not okay. Making a conscious choice to belittle another human being, especially because they made a choice you disagree with about a game, is not okay.

When you use ugly words, you are doing harm to another human being (sometimes many human beings). Imagine if someone attacked you like that, or a loved one, or a friend. Don't do something to another human being that would cause pain if it was done to you.

That doesn't mean you can't communicate unhappiness. It doesn't mean you can't vocalize that you disagree with a decision made. I would stress two things. One, make it about the decision and not the person who made the decision. Explain why and how the decision impacts you, not what you think of the person because they made the decision.

Two, watch your language. As I said above, words have power. They can be used to build or to destroy. Is the language you're using designed to hurt? If so, don't use it. Use other language. If you need to take time to calm down, do so.

Community is what we as individuals choose for it to be. One of the things I love about the Magic community is how kind it can be, how accepting it can be, how uplifting it can be. But that's because we each individually choose to do that. The Magic community can get ugly, but only if we allow it to become so.

So please, the next time you're making a message designed to do something destructive rather than constructive, take a moment to reflect. Why are you doing this? What is your goal? Is it your intent to hurt someone? Because that's what negative language does.

I ask the Magic community to be better. I know we have the potential. I've seen it.

Be part of the solution, not the problem.

Thanks.

[littleplasticrat]

Behind the canvas: Painting 'Finally getting that drink'

This is a post about some of my thoughts while painting Rugan's pin-up for this month. Some technical ideas, rambling and mild nudity below the cut.

Inspo and references

The pin-ups of Gil Elvgren are on the left, and 'Elspeth Resplendent' by Anna Steinbauer is on the right.

Elvgren is one of my favourite artists and I spent some time looking through a book of his collected work to see what ideas I could take for this pin-up project. The things that jumped out at me were:

The women felt like 'subjects' rather than 'objects'. There's some implication of hobbies, an inner life. They're often in the middle of doing something when they're captured on the canvas.

The subjects know they're being looked at, and they are taking it as an opportunity to flirt (signalled through eye contact, coquettish facial expressions and body language). It feels like a conversation between viewer and viewed.

Parts of the body may be exposed, but the eye is drawn back and forth between the subject's face and more titillating parts of the image.

I knew that I wanted to show Rugan in a similar setup, then; in this case, he's halfway through dinner and then catches sight of the viewer. His eye contact and smirk are flirtatious and mirror what you see of him in Act 1.

I initially wanted the pose to mirror Elspeth's in this beautiful Magic the Gathering planeswalker art by Anna Steinbauer, whose work I am obsessed with. Since I started taking art seriously, it's been my goal to paint for MtG, so I often try to study from artists whose illustrations I admire.

However, I didn't want to copy her pose or the composition of the piece. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above doing this - but I felt it just didn't work with the subject. The horizon line (shown in red) is very low. This is a gnome-level view of Elspeth. And I didn't want to place the viewer at the eye level of Rugan's penis.

I kept the composition similar in some other aspects though - there's still a T shape (pale green) that draws the eye to the focal point (pink). I did some sketches where Rugan is leaning forwards/sideways in the same way as Elspeth is, but I feel that this final leaning-back pose demonstrates more dominant body language and allows me to paint the musculature of his torso in more detail. This acts almost as a 'ladder' that draws the viewer's eye up and down between the two focal points of the nude variant.

Painting

I've already said quite a lot on a post that was supposed to be short, so I'll keep it brief here and write more about the painting of Gortash and Raphael (February and March respectively).

It's been quite a while since I've tackled such a detailed painting, so I had to do some research/studies to remind myself of some helpful rendering rules:

Veins beneath pale skin might look blue, but they're actually just a desaturated version of the same colour. There are other parts of this image where the veins are particularly lovely. I'll leave that to your imagination.

2. Highlights on leather are not as saturated as you'd expect until you get to the most reflective part of the material. Also, a good texture brush can work wonders.

3. I try to use as few layers as possible when painting, but I remembered the importance of putting design detail on a separate Multiply layer. Multiply allows the layer to modify/darken the layers below, so you can more easily add detail that follows the shape of the object. For example, the body hair or the snake's head going over the chest. If I were painting traditionally, I'd have had to put in a lot more effort. With Multiply layers, it's one colour. Nice! I got a great tip from @dustdeepsea about the blue-ish tint that tattoos, particularly older ones, can get. I felt like this massive tat is not something that Rugan has had done recently, so I added a Gaussian blur as well.

Well, if you got this far, thanks for reading! This is a great way for me to reflect and record what I've learned from the painting. I want to paint sexy stuff, but I also want to keep improving as an artist!

Keep an eye out for updates on my next pin-up, who will be Lord Enver Gortash. Time to practice using my hair/fur brushes 🥵🥵

[inventors-fair]

Counterplay: Increment Commentary

There were a lot of mechanical variants this past week, and a lot of variations on the same mechanical aspects. Amassing, and card draw, and +1/+1 counters on green creatures... Yeah, there are only so many things you can increment in so many ways. I'm kind of surprised by the amount of variance even within those similarities, though, and it's clear that people liked forging their own paths! 

Decades of mechanics and precedent allow us to select what designs work best, how they work best, and what kinds of aspects of MTG will show up when we need them to be bigger and better. I think the one suggestion I would give generally would be to consider the play patterns based not just on your own imaginations but also experiences from limited, from standard interactions, from the world in which everything is a little bit reliant on everything else. There were big swings between ambitions and precedent, mechanically and flavorfully.

There were also arguable differences between what I consider precedent for increments and what's technically incremented, so keep that in mind. Some of this—actually, all of this, because I'm the judge—is my opinion for what I was looking for in terms of direct increments. So keep that in mind: my opinions are totally fine to hand-wave on that front. I'd like to think you're still here because you care about the parts where I say what I think works and doesn't work otherwise, but that's ego speaking.

See a card marked JUDGE PICK? That meant that I liked it enough to either point out something super specific about it or it was in the running for the podium before paring for space. Read on until you're accumulated all that knowledge.

@bread-into-toast — Sprout of the Hate Seed (JUDGE PICK)

Calling combat triggers "incremental" is technically true, but not precisely what I was thinking of for this contest. That goes even more so for the optional trigger there. But maybe I'm being too narrow with my internal definition of "will happen every turn" versus "may perhaps happen every turn," because some of those example cards did kinda get there. I think part of my internal view was considering that you were the one in control of the increment. BTW, all of this is me waxing and musing, so for you and your card specifically, I'll say that this card really got me thinking about what I wanted to mean by increment and what was unspoken. Kinda on me for that.

I do love this card in general, though, although I'd change that trigger to: "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it had a +1/+1 counter on it, create a token that's a copy of it. Otherwise, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token." The reason is because it could be argued that the "it" in the second sentence could refer to the Saproling, or at least someone might be confused by it. Everything else is perfectly awesome for a Gruul design—swingy, big, potentially game-ending, and the kind of rare that would sway you in limited into these colors. Swell job!

~

@cthulhusaurusrex — Elvish Growthcaller / Embodiment of Growth

Big effects into bigger effects are incremental enough, sure. Transforming into Cathars' Crusade on a stick is pretty excellent, and with enough lords or other effects I think that this card could be absolutely powerful when it transforms. The design itself is fine and would be a snap-pick if you're anywhere near green and/or if you wanted to hate because you didn't have the right removal. Mechanics are fairly standard, and that's all good there. I suppose the world around it and the vibes are what I wanted more of, so let's talk about that.

What this card is depicting is the healing/lifegiving power of a young elf that transforms them into a leader amongst their people. This is one of those cases where I feel that "elves connecting to plants" could have used some kind of emotional crutch to separate it from... The word I'm going to use is "expected." This is all flavor talk, so feel free to skip it, because the only actual chance on the card I'd do is making the T in Trample lowercase. For flavor reasons, though, I don't yet feel that kind of surprise that I need to make these fairly straightforward mechanics feel fresh again. Is this an expected mutation among the culture, or a surprise gift of the world's magic? The flavor text isn't giving me anything new here, and its vague poetic styling needs to provide that sense of strangeness, transformation, or change.

~

@dabudder — The Hype

I get this card, for sure. Totally do. It's absolutely not what I was looking for for increments, as it relies on a lot of non-deterministic factors to do...well, anything. But man. The first thing that comes into my head is Throes of Chaos, but much different. I suppose you could search for The Hypes, get them into the graveyard or whatever, but once they're in the graveyard then you need at least one to get it going... And then, to what end? The hype feels kinda let down by having only one extra copy, but having too many would be way too wild. Chain together The Hype until you hit two five-mana-or-less combo pieces, what a deck. Isn't that basically how this deck would work? Geological Appraiser got banned in Pioneer for a reason.

The main point is that this card can only get so big before the hype dies down, unless you're using The Hype to win on the spot. Limited probably wouldn't use this card (although not every card is designed for it, so that's aight) except as a maybe one-off ramp. "Find your combo piece" is effectively all that you'd be doing in constructed effectively. Maybe the randomness being let down by The Hype copying multiple pieces is okay, but even then, this isn't the kind of scaling that's right for an increment contest. What happens at the top? Via the card itself, nothing much. It's hard to evaluate a card that effectively is designed around only itself without assuming the most broken intentions.

~

@feyd-rautha-apologist — Grassy Gnoll (JUDGE PICK)

I imagined this card to be a build-around sleeper hit for constructed. Pinging your opponents' creatures doesn't have to be massive to be effective, right? And if there are two of these things, well, you're in for a treat. It's the return of Temur Staticaster combo! That's all just hype, though. The narrowness of this card at uncommon meant that it wasn't exactly slated for a podium spot given the fact that we had an immense number of awesome cards. Still, despite the name being something that perhaps wouldn't pass the marketing team, I think this card's pretty wonderful.

And aside from that, there's not much of a second paragraph to add here. The "W" in "Ward" should be lowercase, so jot that down. I do want to say: I think that the shortening of a card name to "this creature" was a mistake on WotC's part. Later pronouns can increase text to decrease the following confusion, although this card clears it up enough with the "that" later on. All the same... Look, this card feels great—it eats, shoots, and leaves. Leaves you with an arrow in the back, anyway. I love hyenas and I love the vibes. What more can I say?

~

@frognarch — Avalanche Elemental (JUDGE PICK)

Conversely to the previous card, you could use "this creature" here and I'd be none the wiser. But! This is one of those copying effects that distinctly feels incremental, and by far stronger in limited for it. Evasion and copying and snowballing, well, that's pretty wild. The only question I have for limited power is whether or not the fact that it can get exponential is too much. Blocking the token copy can wear it down for the moment, but if you get a single copy to stay, the board's basically done for. Every turn, swing and swing and swing again. These days, though, a five-mana 3/3 is pretty low. Maybe the environment would redefine it? Hard to say.

I do really love this design, though. I'd replace the "and" with a "then," or just remove the comma from behind the word "combat." Those are the minor potatoes. As for the flavor text, I'm iffy on a couple counts. Firstly, that's not how avalanches happen so jot that down for your nerd notes. Secondly, though, that line of just "the snow fell" doesn't carry much weight with it for me. The card's intent is that these elementals are rising from the alpine and barreling down uncontrollably, but the flavor text makes it seem like the army just got buried in a particularly heavy storm. It speaks to the aftermath rather than the moment, and the card's energy is carried with that moment. Y'know? Gotta match the energy to the action.

~

@grornt — Mangrove Stalker

I'll start off by saying that it's a generally phenomenal design and you should keep this in the files. No notes there. I'll follow that up with the unfortunate part that it doesn't feel quite as incremental to what I was looking for for the contest. As soon as this comes out, you can pop it and get your benefit if you have enough creatures in the graveyard. Inversely, I was looking for a card that started the buildup itself and used itself as a requirement for bigger effects. There's the technical argument, and then the vibe argument.

I guess that this is a design lesson for me for contests. Most of the vibes were totally met, but this is a card that just doesn't hit that specificity for me. All of the values are subtle and I was actually hoping that people would be less subtle this week. I know, shocker! But if this creature got 'stalking counters' whenever you milled a creature or whatever, then drew for each stalking counter, that would be more in-line with the intended increment. And that would, in my opinion, make for a worse card. What happens when a good design clashes with the bespoke niche? I mean, you get me waffling for two paragraphs, that's what. 

~

@helloijustreadyourpost — The Book of Grudges

Multiplying your power as a punishing effect for attacking hurts a lot. Even though your creatures can't block, a single attack from your opponent the turn after you play this will create an additional four power on board, and then six the next turn, and so on and so forth. Yeah, it's a three-mana can't-block token. But we've all heard the adage "math is for blockers," and that really makes this card feel like it's doing more than it should be able to. Landing this early in limited is a game-ender without removal. Landing it late can change the parity immensely—if you have parity. I will say that the can't-block addition is the best choice for ability balance. (Or in this case, cannot-block. You should change that to the contraction.)

Personally, I'd do one of two things: either I'd limit the number of counters that can be placed on the book (which would be okay but not great for the contest, and would add a lot of text), or I'd make the creatures 1/1s. I am also curious about the flavor here, because I want to praise the subtle humor and the cool worldbuilding piece you've made here. Presumably, you have a group of dwarves on whatever world (I'm thinking Eldraine or Kaldheim) with a massive tome of their wrongs that incenses them to combat in a way that's more aggressive than thoughtful. Shortsighted and grumpy! That's a great way to use names and abilities together to create a sense of grounding without even needing art direction.

~

@horsecrash — Bubbling Brew

The design: super cool. The flavor: perfect use of those counters. The math: weird. Too weird. Hold on, I'm actually going to get out a deck and muck around and see how it feels. ... So, I just tried this in a Sultai midrange kind of deck. Played it on turn three. Turn four: basically no hand, played out a card. Turn five: lost a lot of life, but drew cards. Didn't want to play anything because of the life loss. Turn six: draw a lot, lost a lot. I basically didn't want to play any of the cards that I drew because that meant the next turn I'd be incrementally losing all of the other resources.

Quite frankly, I want this effect to be symmetrical. Smokestack-style. Standard can handle it. Or there has to be some other kind of way to mitigate the life loss, because you're discarding so many cards that you're losing basically everything you get at the cost of your life and eventually there's no way to play out all that you have so you just mill yourself or drain yourself. I think this was the first time I've actively played a card in a deck that it was probably intended for, and lemme tell you, it's worth for anyone to do for a card this ambitious. Pros: ambition, flavor, uniqueness. Cons: my life total :(

~

@hypexion — Ignition, Errant Arson / Cataclysm, Vengeant Inferno

The design is decent, but I'm left with a lot more questions than answers. Let's go through those first, because the second paragraph here is for sure going to be talking about the cool stuff you're doing. I feel that the increment-specific design is intended to be like Animar, in that your costs go down with the incremental uptick, so that's understandable. But it feels so localized, and this is a personal thing, but I think the intent of the contest was more universal to the board? Still, out of the technicalities, it makes a lot of sense to me with the buildup. The names are baffling me, though, because I can't place them at all. I assume these are chosen names, but they're... I don't want to say that they're "obvious" for the archetype. "Telling" is the closest adjective I have.

Mechanics are surprisingly in-depth, though, so let's have some fun. Firstly, menace plus potentially killing a small blocker is a great combo, and depending on how much an opponent is forced to block, that may be a perfect way to get those counters, discounting burn/combat tricks. Could even be worth making the front side a 3/3. "Non-player target" is also a great choice on the backside—accounting for Battles, I assume? The only wording choice on the back side I'd change would be to switch first strike and menace (see Kari Zev et. al); I thought "they" should be "that player" but I guess your wording is accurate as well! Both work even if I prefer "that player." The bombiness and dedication to the theme is on point, even if some of the details are evading me.

~

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Tyvar, Hero in the Dark

Sorry about not saving this one the first time—I definitely saw it, and I went through the inbox a second time, and it just flew under the radar. So let's talk about it now! And part of that is me wanting to hear the thought process for this card, because as a mythic, it's possible that it's really good, but I'm not entirely convinced. Omen Hawker was the first card to come to mind, although this one is distinctly more powerful—but just as narrow. Here's the question I'm left with: in what environment would this be considered a mythic in terms of gameplay versatility? Where are the most activated abilities that one would want to do postcombat or during combat?

Maybe it's just me, but I feel that this would've been a fine rare instead of a mythic. The general design is fantastic, though, and it works quite well with the other Tyvar. And, I can see from the past precedent that Tyvar has a little bit of "activated abilities matter" from the past. Everything shows that you've done your homework here. I feel 'whelmed' by the overall effect, though. Attack, counter, make mana—that's all fine. Where do we go from here? Boasting is potentially valid, I suppose, but again, I would liked to know a little bit more about your vision. I'm imagine there was a lot build up in the process that maybe didn't translate into demonstrating this card's utilitarian strength. (Also: love the name, 10/10)

~

@melancholia-ennui — Creeping Misery (JUDGE PICK)

Yep, that's an alternate wincon for black, very much in the spirit of the contest. Once more we're delving into the world of black enchantments. Was there a particular reason we had six mono-black enchantments this week? I'm not creeping on anyone's misery here, but I find it fascinating. Anyway! Underworld Dreams is one of the first cards that come to mind when people think about BBB punishing enchantments, but this card's more along the lines of... Well, it's got quite a pedigree! Bloodchief Ascension, Fraying Sanity, and more... And yet it's not until you start to pick apart the card that you see how all these influences turn into something original. I think that it's reasonable to call this card more of a constructed build-around but the limited potential is there.

And in limited, you're going to have a lot fewer chances to save yourself and find answers if this hits the board, because things will be trading all the time. You only need one copy to lock someone out of the game, because everyone's going to be getting rid of creatures, especially you. Having that BBB restriction to prevent this from being even remotely splashable ensures that only dedicated decks can make it work. Obviously it's a pain in the butt to deal with for limited, but some cards are just like that. With our limited space this week, I still wanted to showcase this card for being overall just plain good. Pedigree matters sometimes, and this is a well-worded well-executed enchantment. Thumbs up!

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@nine-effing-hells — Exponential Grower

I completely forgot what expend was for a moment there. For anyone reading this who also happened to forget, expending was the raccoon-themed mechanic of Bloomburrow where you expended X as you spend your Xth mana to cast a spell in a single turn. I think I understand expending as a mechanic that would be reasonable for Strixhaven! You have these students who are putting a lot of mana into casting bigger and better spells, so that's fair, or maybe Quandrix could just be that home, as they're a growth-themed school. I think reminder text might've been appropriate, though, because let's be real, expend was...not a memorable mechanic.

As for how this card works, I think incremental growth is a little bit problematic, because it essentially tops out at eight unless you're playing a massive EDH game, and this card isn't especially playable except in those unworldly dedicated decks, which have other and better options. Having a 16/16 trampler isn't bad by any means, of course, but in terms of incremental cards... Well, maybe I'm being too strict with the definition, because getting that 16/16 is pretty rad. I guess between the top-off and the expend stuff, this card feels decent—but that's about the limit. I'd like to see this card in a Quandrix-expend-Strixhaven world, and it's a fair design. Having the limit be pragmatic instead of mechanical doesn't feel great for this contest, but I wouldn't really change the design.

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@piccadilly-blue — Press Gang

You said it yourself in your submission, so I'm not gonna go gushing over this card as a paramount of progress. It's good, though so liiiiiike... Anyway. Getting more and more power with your Pirate Army is going to get out of hand pretty fast, but not in a way that's not deal-with-able, considering, like... They're two creatures that can be fought against with the various tricks in black and white via combat and in green via big stuff. But, you have extra help with evasion to get your Treasures in these colors, so you're gonna have that going for you. Is it any surprise that this card's pretty much exactly what's reasonable for a set that would call for it?

The flavor text is good as well. I can see the head of a gang walking down the port with a sword in hand, smirking as they lead a hooting and hollering band of miscreants. It feels a little off that there's no Threaten effect with this card, though, and considering that there were other effects like that in the Ixalan era of piracy, I wonder if there was an opportunity to have that come up here? Maybe the flavor text could've been more in reference to bigger crews having more fun or whatever. I guess that's not the point, though, and again, not bad at all. Take a pat on the shoulder and don't check your pockets until your wallet and I are at least two states away.

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@real-aspen-hours — Incremental Research (JUDGE PICK)

Remember to get your rarity on if you're doing text submissions, folks. But that's neither here nor there, because I imagined and hoped that this would be a rare card. Plenty of research goes into making this work for sure, and it's one of those things with high risk and high reward. After a certain point, there aren't going to be many spells left unless you're doing X spells. Where I really see this popping off is with extra turn spells. From mana values 5-10, there are a number of excellent ones. I guess that's if you're playing solitaire, though; normal burn/control/value stuff is fine too.

I think this card significantly rewards strong deckbuilding. It's possible for this to be playable in limited if you really work for it, even if it becomes not very useful after a certain point. But isn't that part of the flavor? You have to do your research, you have to really make it work, you have to use your knowledge. It wouldn't fit this contest, but I think this card could've been even stronger if you were forced to either add OR remove a counter from the enchantment. Still, that's messing with other powers, and doesn't help for this card for this specific contest. It's pretty good overall, and I like the choice of skill intensity.

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@roxbot — Furnace, Fierce Protector

This card could be perfectly fine in the right environment. The major issue is that, for all intents and purposes, it's a french vanilla mythic that doesn't do anything but get bigger. It doesn't necessarily affect the board, but it plays into a couple of specific strategies, perhaps. Looking at what's in Standard right now, there's not a great comparison. The question of what this card does hangs over it. As I was reading it, I actually thought that these were oil counters and not charge counters at the beginning, and that's a whole other thing—what kind of deck do you have to build to make this work, really, and is it worth it just for this kind of body? I'm not entirely convinced, even in a set that would use an immense amount of charge counters.

Couple of wording changes, by the by. Names are usually replaced by "this creature" as of Foundations, and that would work best here. The "on permanents" should be "among permanents" in the first line. Rules things: if you have no charge counters out when you play this card, it'll actually die as a state-based action, because when the spell itself resolves the P/T check will see it as a 0/0 before the trigger goes on the stack. That's why cards like The Mimeoplasm are worded the way they are. Last note, "start" should be "beginning" there. Overall, I think there were a few tweaks, but the base judgement is that I feel the power level is too low and too narrow for the impact it needs.

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@sparkyyoungupstart — Detesting Beast

I think that this card would be awesome in a multiplayer set or in a Commander precon! I also think that introducing the monarch mechanic in 1v1, for which you are designing, has led to several problems and I'm not gonna wax poetic about an issue that everyone and their cat has been talking about for the last thousand years. Anyway. Let's look at the design choices from THAT perspective. The general take: this card's fun and you're gonna be pretty detested by the end of the game assuming that nobody has removal for it. Nobody wants to be hit by this, and nobody wants to give you the monarch for sure. Everyone suffers. I like that. Puts a good threat out there.

All these synergies makes me really wish that you had actually gone and done a Questing Beast variant with three different mostly unrelated takes like how the original QB had done, though. I think part of QB's strength is the fact that it's just a pain in the butt for different reasons, as opposed to this card with has many reasons but one specific track for it to be awful. The only wording change is to change the 7s to "seven"s. I also like how damage to ANY opponent will yoink the monarch back, BTW, very subtle. I hate this card! I would love to play with this card.

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@tanknspank — Rats' Nest (JUDGE PICK)

Very curious if you were going for Eldraine or Ravnica here, but either way it's a great use of the name and of the typal agenda. I think Army technology makes a lot of sense for increments overall as well, so I'm glad that folks were using that a lot this week. I'm okay with it being used here not just because having "amass rats" is an awesome thing to see on a card, but also because, yeah, it's just what this contest could want. Get a big enough rat and you're forcing your opponent to make the rat bigger. That's pretty great!

There's just no guarantee that this card's going to get going, and for that reason I wouldn't make a P1P1 out of this in limited. Not that you'll never have rats or that things won't die, but with the right kind of evasion and alternative removal, it makes it difficult for you to 100% guarantee that you'll find a large enough rat to make this card really pop off. It's not a bad rare; it's a slow rare for sure, but eh, what're you going to do. The general vibes are exact, the card's going to do what you want it to in a dedicated rat deck that's not one of the gimmick decks, and so we're all happy with what we see here. I'm really feeling more sewer-y Ravnican rat nonsense with this, but I couldn't tell you why.

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@wildcardgamez — Benevolent Scalelord

Cumulative upkeep and bolster are two mechanics that I really don't see being that great together, even with the things that you use to make it...well, this. The reality is that cumulative upkeep isn't a great mechanic and wasn't that good even in its heyday; it's a 10 on the storm scale for a reason. Bolster is also one of those mechanics where you're stuck in a strange spot with the kind of creatures that you're able to put counters on, but that's one where I'm more of a personal meh-sayer. As it is, though...why is this a dragon hydra? What kind of weirdness justifies that? A dragon without flying could have hydra-ness in it, but if the two are coming together you bet I'd rather see a flying hydra than a grounded dragon.

The idea of big counters that transfer over to another creature upon death isn't a bad idea at its core. This particular card has a mishmash of strangeness that leads me to wonder why they'd ever be together for a premier set. I feel that the lesson to be learned here is to focus the backwards-looking lens on what should be returning rather than what would be good for a contest. On top of that, the excitement of ideas should reflect the best of both worlds rather than a compromise. Did this need to be a dragon at all? Could you have brought bolster to another creature type?

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@xenobladexfan — Bloody Knowledge

"If you would draw one or more cards during each of your draw steps, instead put two deal counters on this enchantment. Then you draw X cards and lose X life, where X is the number of deal counters on this enchantment." is how I would word it. There are a few precedent-y cards to go with that, but this is a pretty convoluted card as it is. Drawing two and losing two, then four, then six, then eight... I mean, hey, that late in the game, you better be ready to make some sacrifices. I think that the addition makes some really rough deals out of this spell, but it's a mythic black card draw thing, so for standard sets it's as powerful as you're gonna get. Maybe 2BB would be fine, but that's pushing it just to keep things even.

I guess that the most important thing about this card to critique is the fact that it's pretty much a stripped-down flavor for bargaining, to the point where there's little meat left on the bones. Bare bones are good for chewing, but there ain't much blood in them any longer. Sometimes the basics are important, but there's zero context for what's happening beyond all the "give up blood for knowledge and power" spells that we've seen before. I think that this card needed a little bit more of a personal story touch for me to feel something beyond the good-mechanics. Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with the tropes—it's me personally that's wanting more.

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@yd12k — Sphinx's Grasp

I'm ashamed to say that I'd build around this card. It's a looping wincon, where you can play one, counter a spell, then hold up counterspells in your hand for the rest of the game and then just loop them once or twice a turn until you have literally all the power you could possibly need to strip them of their resources. As a limited card, nobody would play this. Constructed? Absolutely revolting as a wincon and I'd play four of them in a bounce-control deck. The gist is that this just isn't a good play pattern for constructed at all.

Even an uncounterable meta would have a difficult time if this were combined with literally any other aspect. Oddly enough, I'm reminded of Lullmage Mentor, although the ceiling for that card was significantly higher than here. But for that, it's a once-a-turn possible lock. This card is an active wincon that permanently removes further resources. I don't think that there's a world where I can really justify this card, as much as I like it.

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@yourrightfulking — Invasive Briar

The give-and-take is interesting as a card. It's definitely not what we're looking for for increments. What's increasing, exactly, and by what? The lands that you get to put on the plants can be replayed if you draw into them, but nothing gets bigger the more that something happens. The more lands you play doesn't necessarily correlate to the increase in plants, and the growth of the plants isn't necessarily tied to the fact that you're playing the lands. Give-and-take is a different kind of technology here. I do like this card, though, so take that for whatever you will.

I actually really like this as a limited bomb, to be honest. You can drop this and then do absolutely nothing but play out the rest of the game until you can get a plant army going to annihilate your opponent with your spare lands. Like, that's a fine game plan that requires forethought and survival without being a brainless exercise in abundance. Multiples are a pain and can get overbearing quickly, but there are far more answers in constructed. I think that there are other ways to flavor this to make it a little bit scarier or funnier or more immersive, but that doesn't take away from the mechanical cohesion. Good card...for a different contest.

~

Have fun with myths this week! @abelzumi

[subbyfoxelf]

my 20 favorite 2024 mtg stories

greetings, fellow planeswalkers and/or omenpath travelers! since the days of antiquity, days whose memories have either been lost to oblivion (livejournal) or written on the face of a fragile eternity (letterboxd, goodreads, comicbookgeek) an extremely dumb thing i have always enjoyed doing to help me reflect on the end of the year is to make ranked lists of some of my favorite media i’ve consumed.

since official mtg story is basically the only kind of media i’m remotely current on (well, with one notable exception which i might get to in a forthcoming post! who can say?), i decided to continue this tradition by making a list of my top 20 favorite stories from 2024!

please note that this is just to celebrate some of my favorite stories of the year, i’m not saying that if i ranked something #1 it’s objectively better than something i ranked #10, or that any story that didn’t make this extremely self-indulgent list wasn’t also spectacular. this was an incredible year for magic story, and it was frankly super hard to narrow down my list of favorites to even this somewhat ridiculous length. so just consider this me spending a few pages flailing about how great mtg story is using an internet-friendly numbered list to give it some structure.

cool? cool. let’s get to the good stuff.

20. outlaws of thunder junction, episode 3: a train to prosperity by akemi dawn bowman

you'll have to excuse your son, oko. he has a train to catch.

kellan stopping a train full of innocent people (or non-innocent people; the kid is not the kind of hero who purity tests those he saves) from toppling into a ravine with nothing but fae magic and sheer determination even though his heroism is likely to earn him nothing but a jail cell is such a perfect distillation of why i (and so many others) love the kid so much. annie flash swooping in to make sure he doesn't receive that unjust reward is an equally revealing moment for her. i'm so glad they're looking out for each other.

we always knew kellan was going to be disappointed by his father, but you still have to feel for him when the cracks start showing.

19. duskmourn: house of horror, episode 1: don't go past the old dark house by mira grant*

the opening flashback does a ton of work just immediately establishing a much different tone than your average magic story. but what i particularly loved about this first duskmourn main set story was our reintroduction to niko aris. niko is not thriving since losing their spark. and the kind of justified bitterness they're carrying with them adds some really interesting texture to a character i'm really pleasantly surprised to see returning to the story in a fairly major role.

(*yes, we literally all know who mira grant is, but i asked and she does want to be credited that way when she's using that pen name)

18. duskmourn: house of horror, episode 6: don't die by mira grant

BEHOLD THE POWER OF MATH!

the odd-couple heroic duos that work so effectively in the duskmourn main set story reach their zenith with the hunky elf prince's unlikely battlecry. i cannot wait to hopefully read about the further adventures of smartypants & himbo upon our return to arcaivos.

as is often the case, the story-ending setpiece action scene was awesome, especially kaito planeswalker-ex-machinaing to do one of those badass “i drove my sword through the bad guy's back just when you thought all was lost” action movie entrances. plus it's part of the continued dance of him & the wanderer saving each other, see also the echo of him getting dragged away from the group and her reaching for him in episode 2.

oh, and MAKING A HECKING ARTIFICIAL OMENPATH sure is a reasonable payoff for proft's repeatedly-established genius. really wasn't expecting that.

but of course what really lingers about this story is the incredibly heartwrenching final goodbye between nashi and his mother. even knowing it was coming on my reread, it still made me cry. i'm having to steel myself not to cry even just trying to write about it in very general terms here. it's just a moment of so much heart, it says so much about the two characters involved. it's the absolute best way for narrative fiction to hurt you.

oh also i had totally normal feelings about the chapter opening by describing a tightly bound, helpless enby. have i mentioned how enby i am lately.

17. duskmourn: house of horror, episode 4: don't give up by mira grant

this is the episode where we find out how the fateshifters aminatou equipped the party with work, and i gotta say it's a dang creative way to let us have our cake & eat it. it's hard to do an 80s horror-vibe story without watching some of our favorite characters getting sliced & diced.

jace's betrayal of kaito was also just incredibly well-written. the kind of villain who says “i'm so sorry” while stabbing you in the back is such a good look on that emo boy.

the wickerfolk are in a dead heat with the razorkin for my favorite horror monster in this setting, and we don't get to see the razorkin be nearly as sadistic as they are in some of the flavor text in the main story, so other than getting tied up by cultists, all the wickerfolk stuff was a high point for me in terms of this setting's promised horror content.

16. bloomburrow, episode 4: soothsaying and stormcalling by valerie valdes

there’s a lot of action and advancing the plot in this penultimate episode of the bloomburrow main set story, but what i really loved was all the little character moments of the adventuring party growing more comfortable with each other, especially with otterified outsider ral zarek becoming more fully entangled with the party’s actual animalfolk.

there’s some extraordinarily brief but still lovely gay fluff in episode 1 showing ral & tomik as a married couple, but ral being slightly embarrassed to admit that he missed his husband in this episode was hecking adorable and i deeply appreciate that valdes went out of her way to find time for little moments like this throughout the story.

helga also continues to be the most wonderful bean ever, and watching her continuously overcome her anxieties to be an effective member of the party (whether she gives herself credit for it or not) honestly just rules.

15. duskmourn, episode 3: don't look back by mira grant

it's unsurprising that kaito is taking the primary blue-aligned heroic planeswalker torch from jace, but rarely do such exchanges get so explicit an in-text acknowledgement as kaito cold-cocking jace in the face and giving him a bloody nose. the fact that this moment wasn't immortalized on a story spotlight card is one of the biggest whiffs in the history of story on the cards imo.

kaito & jace aren't the only odd couple we get here, as the rescue party has been split into pairs of characters who know each other the least and who provide very interesting contrasts to each other. the standout here is clearly zimone & tyvar, truly one of the most iconic pairings of intellectual & himbo i've ever seen in any text. while this isn't the chapter that showcases them the most effectively, i still wanted to call out what a great structural choice it was to pair up the characters who provide the most contrast to each other, even when they're not threatening to break each other's noses.

14. duskmourn, episode 5: don't give in by mira grant

yes hello where do i sign up to be cruelly betrayed by a cute gay boy with an asymmetrical haircut and then tightly bound by cultists so i can be held captive until i'm consumed by an unnervingly powerful demon, thank you yes i'll stay on the line.

tyvar's shuddering realization at the beginning of the chapter that they're inside of a massive living thing is extremely effectively unnerving. it really helps drive home the existential & visceral horror of this place.

13. outlaws of thunder junction, epilogue: bring the end, part 2 by alison luhrs

i understood but didn't agree with jace's choice when the sylex was thrumming to terrible, death-bringing life in his hands, the spectre of phyrexia's imminent victory confronting him even as its oil spread through him, unmaking him. he had to choose now, he had to do something now. i don't agree at all with his choice, but i understood how much pressure he was under to make one.

his decision to essentially run it back because he's Tired Of This Shit is simply unforgivable. you're not a god, jace. i'm sorry your life has been hard, but you simply do not get to decide the destinies of billions of people because things have been rough for you. go be a hermit. let vraska rail you senseless. you can just be Done heroing if that's how you feel.

yelling at fictional characters aside, this is the second part of a two-part epilogue filling us in on what jace & vraska have been up to behind the scenes since the phyrexian invasion. (perhaps part 1 will appear later on this list! who can say?) it isn't quite as dramatic as the first part, but i'm glad jace & vraska's recovery got so much space to breathe, and that vraska got to be much more active in part 2 than in part 1.

it was also just such a glorious surprise getting these two epilogues. i wasn't expecting anything of this scale as the otj story was winding down, and i felt genuinely kind of breathless reading them the first time. no matter how i feel about jace's actions, these stories did a lot of heavy lifting in making me care.

the lesson, as always: magic story good.

12. murders at karlov manor, episode 8: gods of chaos by seanan mcguire

a thing about me that i think a lot of folks can relate to is that i just love a good-old dramatic detective summation. that agatha christie-core moment where you gather all the suspects and the detective dramatically reveals their solution.

so yeah, this was always going to be a chapter i loved, but like everything about the karlov manor story, this thing has layers. there’s always at least like three things going on in every scene, no matter how small it feels. and while the grand detective summation is what i was excited for, i think the lead-up to it is some of the best writing of the story. kaya broodily contemplating the sunrise while guild leader after guild leader arrives to witness the dramatic conclusion of the investigation. the whole thing is just crackling with potential energy, like so much of the rest of the story is.

and heck, the character-writing. proft relishing in his crowning moment. judith trying to make everything about her. kaya’s ptsd. (that’s not a guess on my part, mcguire has repeatedly said she wrote her that way on purpose.) aurelia literally hauling massacre girl around on a leash. massacre girl being completely incapable of not bratting while on said leash. me not being remotely jealous wait i'm not a character in this whoops.

the karlov manor story is criminally slept on, y’all. 10 episodes is a pretty luxurious amount of space for what seems like a pretty small story on the surface, but mcguire just absolutely crams every moment of the story with something compelling and it just absolutely makes you want more. i don’t care that your lgs is probably slipping karlov manor play boosters in your bag just to get rid of them, the story kicks so much butt.

11. murders at karlov manor, episode 3: shadows of regret by seanan mcguire

proft is the kind of character who could easily come off as Kind Of The Worst in the wrong circumstances, so mcguire makes sure to place him in the right circumstances basically immediately when he breaks a wrongly accused murder suspect out of azorius custody and has this incredibly metal exchange with her right before doing so:

"will you help me clear your name?" etrata looked at him. "the guilds need their pound of flesh. there is no clearing my name." "swear you'll help me," said proft insistently. "you can't fix this." "i am alquist proft, and i will risk my name to clear yours. now swear."

seriously, y’all. this guy kinda rules.

this is interwoven brilliantly with kaya struggling with her conflicted feelings about being back on ravnica and steeling herself to nope right off the plane until she discovers there's been another murder and it's her Very Platonic Friend teysa. the passages describing kaya’s mounting dread as she strolls through the eerily deserted halls of karlov manor are just an unfair bit of writing from mcguire, and fully earn kaya’s reluctant decision that she’s In This Now.

10. duskmourn: house of horror, side story: dead end by mira grant

this is the haunting story of one of the last people alive on the plane that duskmourn was before the house consumed everything. one of her world's twin suns has already been claimed by the house, bathing what little of the world is left unconsumed in an eerie twilight under which the last remaining free elves can do nothing but keep watch and wait for the inevitable end. truly gripping stuff here.

9. duskmourn: house of horror, side story: keep them alive by mira grant

simply one of the most unique stories we've had in mtg story. “keep them alive” is from the perspective of a “beastie,” one of the more benign but nevertheless disquieting denizens of the titular housebound plane. it's addressed directly to the reader as though you're a beastie that's come of age and are about to go out into the terrifying world of duskmourn to find your person, your “keep-alive” to whom you'll be bonded. this story is aching with hope & heartache, with encouragement & warning. it does such a tremendous job of bringing this little corner of duskmourn worldbuilding to life with such powerful feeling.

8. outlaws of thunder junction, episode 6: the ballad of thieves and thunderslingers by akemi dawn bowman

the jace reveal had me, and most of the people i know who read magic story, reeling. it was a genuine gut punch of a moment in the best possible way.

i especially love how many clues there were in retrospect. i felt vindicated for feeling like “ashiok” didn't seem like themself at all earlier in the story. my misgivings about vraska just sort of being… there, with no explanation, were immediately assuaged. everything just clicked into place and i just had to shake my head and think, “wellp, you got me.”

i’m going to miss kellan being one of the major p.o.v. characters of the story, but this was a very satisfying ending (for now) to his story. i think everyone who touched his character did an incredible job with him, he’s pretty easily one of my favorite mtg characters of all time, but i’m also glad he gets to live a more peaceful life full of simple, rewarding labor and pie for a while. the kid earned it.

(also, amalia showing up with an umbrella to protect her from the sunlight was hecking priceless, and her turning kellan into a blushing, stammering mess was freaking adorable. 11/10, no notes.)

7. bloomburrow, episode 5: nightfall in fountainport by valerie valdes

helga getting to tell off glarb not once but twice is not something i saw coming. mabel really gets to shine the brightest in this one, but she simply would not have been able to save the day without helga’s help. and i love that the ultimate solution is mabel righting what was wrong by returning the calamity beast egg to its mother. this was an incredibly satisfying end to one of magic's best main set stories.

6. outlaws of thunder junction, side story: blood is thicker than venom by h.e. edgmon

annie flash was amazing in the main story, so i'm really glad she was given a further chance to shine in this solo outing. like a lot of thunder junction stories, there are themes of learning to overcome the weight of one's past to be the person you want to be. in annie's case specifically, this sees her cautiously stepping out of the role of the outcast loner and finding a place in a new community.

i really love the way this story approached annie's character. she's clearly traumatized and expecting the worst from everyone, but she's also a genuinely kind & brave person. the push/pull of her understandable fears and the town's genuine desire to embrace her as one of their own is excellently depicted, and it helps illustrate that beneath it all annie really does want to belong.

an interesting parallel is drawn between annie’s journey and that of her nephew tommy. both of them heal in much different ways, and there is some genuine pain when their paths ultimately diverge. but that pain comes with a greater catharsis, and you really get the impression that both of them are getting to where they need to be.

5. bloomburrow, episode 1: calamity comes to valley by valerie valdes

there are few feelings more satisfying than the mixture of excitement & relief that comes from something you're worried you're unsustainably hyped for resoundingly living up to that hype. my anticipation for bloomburrow could defensibly be described as “rabid,” but i was nevertheless underestimating just how much i was going to love this story.

i am simply in awe of how valdes brought this plane to life in a matter of paragraphs. the world immediately feels so lived in, the characters feel so rich & textured. i fell for this plane even harder than i already thought i would. the bloomburrow story is really something special. it tells such a tight, approachable story while just absolutely brimming with flavor and personality. this is just my absolute favorite kind of fantasy storytelling.

4. murders at karlov manor, episode 10: roots of decay by seanan mcguire

i know for a lot of us (myself included) the pendulum on superhero movies has swung pretty decisively towards disinterest. so please understand i mean it in the best possible way when i say kaya fighting her way through everything an enraged worldsoul's avatar could throw at her was straight out of the most dramatic superhero movie climax.

it also has one of my favorite things for a badass action scene to have, and that's an escalating momentum of emotional catharsis. as kaya marches purposefully towards the unbelievably powerful architect of the murders that have shaken an entire plane to its very foundations, and shaken kaya herself on a deeply personal level, and mcguire starts peppering deeply personal callbacks to everyone that's helped her get to this point… seriously y'all, the scene is just sublime. imo it's mildly upsetting that it isn't represented on a card.

and as if that isn't enough, we get teysa's ghost helping her finish the fight, and kaya being too desperate & gay to look and see if it's really her. and then that elegant bitch just making the most perfectly understated entrance to her own damn funeral.

(the first time i read it, this is also the moment that it clicked that killing off teysa actually made shipping them EVEN EASIER, because now teysa is the only living person who can be physically intimate with her, and for whatever reason i just don't think teysa is going to fuck a fellow ghost. i don't have any textual justification for this, it's just a vibe thing.)

3. bloomburrow, episode 2: an expected party by valerie valdes

i would protect helga with my life and i would follow mabel into an actively erupting volcano and fully expect to make it through unscathed thanks to her. so seeing the latter take the former under her wing throughout the course of this set’s story was simply some of the most satisfying character relationship writing you will ever see.

the moment when mabel rallied the people of goodhill to render aid to pondside was such a great fulcrum for this entire set’s story. we learned so much about mabel in this moment, and helga’s genuine shock at having someone believe in her really sets the stage for the aforementioned relationship to blossom.

i’m just so floored by how perfectly the first two episodes introduced this new world and immediately made us care about the characters inhabiting it. bloomburrow might be a “smaller” story than a lot of the other sets this year, but taken as a whole it’s my favorite main set story of the year and it isn’t particularly close.

2. outlaws of thunder junction, epilogue: bring the end, part 1 by alison luhrs

i wouldn't say i was a jace beleren hater before this story, more of a… jace beleren apath? but i fully admit that that’s a Me problem. it was just hard to see the two dudes of the core gatewatch squad as especially interesting considering the three women they shared the spotlight with. but this story made me see everyone’s favorite blue mage emo boy in a whole new light.

jace goes through it in this. and no matter how much i fundamentally disagree with his actions immediately before his compleation as well as his current trajectory… it’s not difficult to see how he arrived there.

luhrs does an incredible job showing a prodigiously powerful mage using every last ounce of strength to overcome something that should have destroyed him (and came within a hair’s breadth of doing so), and anyone who thinks jace & vraska surviving phyresis “cheapens” its effects… just plain didn’t read this story.

1. outlaws of thunder junction, side story: no tells by isaac fellman

this is, quite simply, an all-timer.

the narrative voice pulls you in immediately. my favorite lit professor often referenced ezra pound’s definition of literature (“language changed with meaning to the utmost possible degree”) and one of my favorite things is when genre fiction fits that bill. and this story is absolutely an example of exactly that.

as a transgender fan of magic the gathering, “no tells” was always going to be an enormously important story to me. any time space is made for us in the story of this world it's going to matter to me. but what this has in common with “the truth of names” before it is that it's also just one of the best individual stories ever written in this setting.

very early on i could tell that this one really was going to be something special. i ended up reading the story out loud to partners of mine who don't read mtg story, that's how meaningful it was to me. come for the representation, stay for the profoundly moving ruminations on guilt and forgiveness and whether those concepts even mean anything when you lose something you can't replace.

i leave you with one of the rawest lines i've ever read in a work of fiction: “she smiled a little, and for a moment, it was just like old times, in the way your reflection in a mirror is just like you—you can't hear it or smell it, it's got no warmth, but you feel something anyway.”

simply an incredible year of magic story. thank you so much to all the writers and everyone else who continue to make this world mean so much to so many people. i'll see you across the blind eternities.

[thecursivej]

SOTU - 2024

Well, I'm forcing myself to watch the State of the Union while I grade speeches, so I figured I'd record my reactions and thoughts here.

Do I hope for the words "Immediate Ceasefire"? Absolutely. Will we get them? Looking at the track record, probably not. But I remain optimistic because otherwise I'd be six feet under by now; ANYWHO here is a list of my reactions/thoughts/general feelings of the evening's watch.

I do want to give a point of clarity: I technically am identified as a democrat; truly, I'm a socialist, but seeing as how the U.S. is stuck in this godforsaken two-party-system, that is where I am. Though both sides have me feeling very french-revolutionary-esque.

Of course the first thing I see if MTG rifling through her purse on screen. I quite literally despise her.

AP is discussing Ukraine's need for weapons and funding; I would truly rather us align with Ukraine than Isr@el. I will stand unapologetically firm for Palestine and Ukraine.

Who is actually in the cabinet? I know Blinken, Garland, and Buttiegeg. Damn, wish he was running again. Would rather have him than Biden.

How insane is it that the Sec. of Defense didn't even let the White House know that he had to go in for surgery because of cancer. Like, that's just bonkers to me.

Republicans truly look like fucking robots right now. No warm greetings, no hellos, simple nods.

Republicans out here wasting fucking time with that impeachment of Mayorkas. Like how about we house the homeless populations with the money they wasted on this circus.

Oh funky fresh look at the Ultra-Mormon(TM) Mitt Romney.

MTG with that stupid fucking MAGA hat on is just... disgusting. Like this bitch is crazy.

Okay Joe, speed it up down the fucking aisle please. I got papers to grade.

Lowkey Joe looks like he might have had a five-hour energy drink with that big-ole look in his eyes.

I do appreciate that Joe still smiles and is kind to MTG. She truly doesn't deserve it.

Okay this is getting just a wee bit too monarchy for me.

MTG holds up a button saying "Laken Riley..." (couldn't read the rest). Riley was a 14 year old girl murdered by a man who was an illegal immigrant of venezuela, and instead of handling this situation with grace, empathy, and love; MTG and others seem to be capitalizing on her death to push their anti-immigration rhetoric.

Okay, cool selfie skills Joe, but let's get on with it.

ALSO HOW IS JOE BIDEN GONNA BE SO IN DEPTH WITH TECH AND "Savvy" WITH IT WHEN MOTHERFUCKER WANTS TO BAN TIKTOK!? Hello?!

BERNIE AND RAPHAEL! I feel like I haven't seen these guys in 10 million years.

Oh thank god we're starting.

Aww the little hand shake thingy he does with Kamala makes my heart happy.

Did Joe just yell "tony"?!

Wow, even got some republicans clapping for him (probs not a good thing but here we are)

Okay, good bit of humor at the top; and a throwback to the 40s. Funky fresh.

Yeah we ain't living in ordinary times for damn sure.

Interesting point of democracy being attacked here in the U.S. AND Internationally. (Mentions Ukraine and Putin; no word on Gaza yet).

Someone busted out a Ukrainian flag and shook it; rock on.

OH SHIT HE GOT MIKE JOHNSON TO CLAP!

Appreciate the insistance that the U.S. won't send troops to UKR.

Good use of Reagan to connect with the Repubs; and compare to the predecessor (aka Tr*mp).

Mike Johnson nodding instead of clapping about the predecessor comment, trying to save his ass in Orange Man's eyes.

Welcome to NATO, Sweden!

If there is one thing that should connect Democrats and Republicans; it's hatred for Putin. Yet there's a mix of Repubs standing in agreement and sitting to back up the predecessor's comment on Putin doing "whatever the hell he wants"

Talking about Jan 6. What breaks my heart? My parents still believe it wasn't an insurrection. Yikes on Bikes for me.

The line "You can't love your country only when you win" hits hard and even got Mike Johnson to applaud in agreement.

Foreign AND Domestic. Need a hefty focus on that with the right-wing republican group (@ MTG, Gaetz, Cruz, etc.)

Discussing IVF in Alabama; good connection to the overturning of Rowe v. Wade. It sucks that Republicans HAVE THE POWER to protect IVF nationally but shot the damn bill down not even a week ago.

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT. BODILY AUTONOMY IS A HUMAN. FUCKING. RIGHT. (@ The Missouri Senators who support taking away bodily autonomy).

WOMEN AREN'T WITHOUT ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL POWER; WE ABOUT TO TURN UP IN FORCE MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Bring back the strats from the 1900s; time to use our power and go bonkers.

Someone get Joe a glass of water please. Motherfucker looks a bit parched and keeps coughing. I get that when my throat goes dryyy

Can Biden not restore RvW? Can he not by an executive order make RvW the law of the land already?

Revisiting COVID's start from 2020 (Next week is the four year anniversary since the global pandemic).

PFFT idk who just yelled "LIES" but that was comical AF.

Well, the pandemic still controls a big part of our lives... so...don't agree with that shit.

Man, everyone sitting-and-standing must be getting a HELLA calf work out.

Sure, unemployment is down and new jobs are built; but corporate greed is quite literally killing us. Can Congress or Biden do something, damn it?!

Are we beginning to feel it, though? Are we feeling good economics? I doubt we are.

Good job pointing out how both parties have failed to buy american products, but how this admin has established that.

There's a good two rows of Republicans who stand in applause; but the rest just... sit there. Like robots. It's freaky as fuck.

Joe is actually doing pretty great with the flow of this speech. Only a couple of stumbles, but overall pretty gucci. (He'd get a 9/10 on delivery in my public speaking class).

God these fuckers are really gonna make me run for office at this damn point.

Removing poisonous lead pipes... but there's still a water crisis in Flint, Biden. Like, what the fuckeroni do you mean?

Yes, let's invest in family farms; lets stop selling our farmland (especially in Missouri) to foreign countries (@ China buying up TONS of Missouri Farmland).

I love that the UAW president is here, because he straight up is my kind of people. Dude wears eat-the-rich shirts and calls out the unethical-ness of billionaires.

UAW President pointing to Biden saying "It's you!"; nah dawg, it's you Sean.

MIDDLE CLASS DID BUILD THE COUNTRY AND UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

Yes we get back up but right now...we might be getting more french revolutionary-esque if y'all don't stop PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES.

Oh jesus not the 4-more-years chants.

Oh now we talking about the future

YES PLEASE END TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMIES.

Says he's not anti-corp; but points out how trickle down economics has only helped the wealthy.

Yeah, how the fuck does it hurt the wealthy to pay just a weeee bit more in taxes? Like dawg, what are you gonna do with another million? What's the point?

Ooooh is Biden about to rope the repubs into some bipartisan shit? Please do.

What is Republicans huge issue with capping insulin? Truly? Who does it harm? Billionaires still get billions.

[mk-writes-stuff]

Get to Know the Writeblr Questionnaire

Rules: answer the questions!

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks and @willtheweaver for the tags :)

Basics

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I’ve had a tumblr for like… six months now? It’s been a writeblr for four or five of those

What led you to create it?

I don’t remember why I made the account originally. I made it into a writeblr because I wanted someplace to ramble about my first original WIP in like five years

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

Y’all are so friendly and supportive! I love how nice people are and every comment I get :)

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I jump around between projects more than I’d like. I swear I am still working on Seven Stations, I’m just also doing a bit of other stuff and being hella busy, which is why I haven’t made much progress on it. I haven’t forgotten it, I swear!

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Can’t think of much, I’m pretty happy. I do love polls though. Something about clicking buttons makes the brain go brrrrrr

WIPs

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Always Seven Stations and Pirates’ Roost. They never leave me. I do also have another fanfic short I’m working on because it possessed my brain, but that’s a very short-term project

How long have you been working on them?

Seven Stations (the original idea) is about five months old now. Pirates’ Roost has existed in one form or another for about four years, and has existed in its current form for about two. My random short is a week old lol

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Seven Stations was inspired by the concept of “lesbian noblewoman and her bodyguard who hates her enemies to lovers in space fantasy.” Pirates’ Roost was inspired by my obsession with Magic: the Gathering and started taking shape in its current form when my gf introduced me to her OC Merry and decided to move him to Ixalan. My short is inspired by the fact that I can’t stop thinking about Star Wars: the Clone Wars

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Uh. A lot. My WIPs are my special interest, so probably at least several hours a day

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

“Fantasy and sci-fi.” Sometimes if we’re in a longer conversation I’ll give them a little Seven Stations blurb, although it rarely goes longer than “space fantasy political drama on a set of space stations”

Characters

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Oh boy, okay. This is interesting because my gf created or had such a strong creative influence on so many of the characters I write about that I can’t lay claim to a lot of them. But here’s some that I at least came up with the initial baseline for, although she’s probably had her influence on most of them too (I can’t exactly remember for sure but I’m pretty sure on these ones):

Seven Stations: Belladonna, Cassie, Cassiopeia, Stellaris, Ricinus, Goldenrod

Pirates’ Roost: Len, Favin, Finley Albertson, Julian, Kiali, Morrigan, Skipper

Other MTG: Amaranthe, Viveri “Viv” Evern, Andreia Kozlov, Salas Nivar, Tendrii Lenira, Sorcil, Adana, Estrill, Astrilla, Valentine, Remi, Kaine Belnatsky, Ettie Strubins

Other fandoms: Brin Damson, Baresh, Trax

Other original characters: Celestine, Maia, Fellise, Rhea, Ashlin, Medlar, Dravite, Rokku, Falcon, Jesker

There are definitely more but there’s a sampling :)

Who’s the most unhinged?

For Seven Stations, it’s Cassie. In general, Viv and Astrilla are probably vying for the top slot. I haven’t introduced y’all to them but they’re both CRACKED

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Once again it’s Cassie. And Stellaris, he’s very relatable

Do you ever cringe at them?

All the damn time

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

They refuse to cooperate on a semi-regular basis. I can usually tell when I’m fighting to justify the action I want them to do. That means it’s time for a change-up

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

Literally anytime for any reason. I love it. Asks and reblog dare my favourite, but I’m not picky :)

Interaction

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I follow writeblrs if I like the look of their stuff enough that I want it on my dash

What makes you decide against following?

Anything that makes me uncomfortable (ranging anywhere from weird takes to content I just don’t like). Or if I’m just not vibing with their stuff. But sometimes I miss cool blogs too because I don’t have time to check out everything

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Not super often because I don’t often see their stuff but I’m not opposed to it. Feel free to come chat with me even if you’re not my mutual :)

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Oh yeah. Both the people who tagged me in this have characters I think about. But also @illarian-rambling has phenomenal OCs - Sepo lives in my brain on the little shelf of my favourite traumatized fictional little guys

This was a fun game! @somethingclevermahogony @nixwithapen @touloserlautrec want to play? Blanks below the cut :)

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine! What led you to create it? What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community? What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you? Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash? Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately? How long have you been working on them? Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started? How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them? When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say? Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like! Who’s the most unhinged? Who comes the most naturally for you to write? Do you ever cringe at them? How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others? Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc. What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes? What makes you decide against following? Do you interact with non-mutuals often? Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

[syntheticmortal]

I got tagged by the lovely @crownedinmarigolds! Thank you so much mate!! I'm absolutely charmed 🥰

Now my rat bastard spouse stole most of my tagging options on their post so to not double-tag I will add:

@skaerdir, @klaciate, @tzimizce and @vamp-orwave!!

If anyone who sees this wants to be an honourary tagee, then go for it XD

For those who don't know - Hi I am Alex! (He/They) and I'm a writer and an English immigrant to the USA!

3 ships: oh mate all of these are OCxOC with @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

Victor and Gloria – A Nos and his unbound Ghoulfriend. Making your touchstone one of your mission Ghouls is dangerous af but live fast love hard, lads.

Jeff and Lamb – Another of Vic's unbound Ghouls and the Thin Blood Nos that joined the Warren. Disgustingly fucking cute injected into the den of the rejected and disgruntled.

Ventan/Taakur Rig and Rozanin Rig – My and Daz's SWTOR PCs respectively. A Chiss Cipher Agent that ends up having to go hide with his Mandalorian hireling with her Clan and Roz's unrequited love becomes hella requited and suddenly Ventan/Cipher Five-now-Taakur has step kids??

I love it so much.

first ship: Oh god this takes me back to being little. Probably a Sonic one??

Shadow and Rouge if I had to take a guess??

last song: Temptation by Sean Paul! A proper bop

But honestly massive shout out to the second Nostalgia Synthwave mix by Odysseus on youtube

This thing keeps me sane, and has all the songs marked! – that opening one, Realign by Cerulean, can usually just melt my brain into peace whenever I hear it

last film: Snatch – Like VTMB it's a problematic fave that oozes style and characterisation throughout. Watched it as prep for a Setite I'm going to play in a V5 game >:D

currently reading: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan as part of genre research. Finished The Vampyre recently too! Really I should pick AC up today, I've been working hard on my editing and outlining of my own pieces and neglecting the reading part of the craft for a few weeks >.>;

currently craving: So I'm drinking far less booze to save money whilst I'm out of work trying to get some Proper Writing done. So when I hit a good worthy milestone I'm getting a bottle of whiskey and I am ready.

fav color: Green! Sometimes purple!

relationship status: Maaarriiied to @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

last google search: I had to double check the spelling of Taakur for the ship section, so it was 'mandoa' :')

and before that I'm pretty use I searched Scryfall last night to go look at MTG cards even though I have no one to play with right now :'D (at least it's saving me money >.>)

current obsessions: Was tempted to add my own work here but I'll tag that on the very end XD

There's a lot of fandoms I don't leave – World of Darkness and Warhammer 40k predominantly as settings I always have another angle I want to see explored in!

I do however have the Magic the Gathering bug, even though I haven't really played in years and years now – but card interaction as a generation for narrative has always kind of captivated me? Like there's a couple big mean Ogre cards that make Rats more dangerous, but due to the way the systems work they also empower the Ratfolk of Kamigawa, the Nezumi, as they count as 'Rat' cards still. So big Ogre spellcasters improving Rat people as part of a contained bit of narrative kind of fascinates me as a concept.

Plus each deck presupposes a Planeswalker character who's casting those spells – and I was always intrigued by that notion and so most of my OCs are representative of decks I played (or wanted to :P) and then in turn each Planeswalker needs a Plane to come from, probably from a still existing culture on that Plane too, and so it can kind of wonderfully reverberate inspiration.

Like how every VTM Kindred OC presupposes a Sire!

BONUS ALEX SECTION

So if you want to get to know me, let me tell you about what writing I'm working on/have made recently.

Out now!

The Mutilation of Finley Reid

A short story of masculine horror, about a young man by the name of Finley who suffers in the pursuit of having his place as a man affirmed by his peers.

The world of Torranham Nights is an anachronistic reflection of England set in the coastal city state of Torranham, drawing from contemporary culture and folklore as well as the legends and reality of the cultures that came before – without being fetishistic about it like a lot of stories will.

Handle It

A short retail horror, about working the cash register of a butcher's counter, and the customer who orders increasing amounts of ground beef...

Inspired by my own work in a same spot, anyone who's done service work should get a kick out of this – plus it's free and only takes 20 minutes to read! XD

On the way!

Defector – name subject to change

A short story of grief, shame, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, and community. On the moon.

A Special Recon mech pilot, “Crash”, from Earth has defected to the Moon rebels, and now lives in Magnolia City, rotting away in her tiny apartment. Then the Provisional Government sends one of its elite commanders, a former enemy of Crash's, to pull her out.

Elhart: Arrival

The first of a short story fantasy anthology about a city of refugees at the edge of time and space, hiding from the end of the multi-planar universe. A super soldier has washed up with a near-fatal headwound and no memory, and she must learn to live in a far more peaceful world than the one her instincts suggest she came from. But who was she? And can she earn the trust of people who fear her potential to kill?

Neon Sun

A novel! Cyberpunk Vampires! If we're mutuals you can come ask about this but I'm not ready to share things too publicly for this one yet, but the outlining has gone beautifully in my opinion, and the worldbuilding is singing.

Speartip

I'm making a TTRPG!! It's a Powered by the Apocalypse engine game, about serving as the primary field agents of a faction of people who need your support and protection. Because if you're going to be a hero, who are you doing it for if not your kin?

Setting agnostic as hell, excluding some implicit need for magic in the class moves – I'm prepping to playtest this in sci-fi and fantasy settings to see how well my mechanics hold up in both swords and firearms based stories. Plus I'm going to explore a variety of perspectives of what the faction can be – from ethnic groups, to gangs, to guilds, to neighbourhoods.

I'm VERY excited about all this!!

[orinthered]

Minthara to me is a perfect character in a bad setting. I feel like only now that the game has been out long enough for people ( youtubers, guides etc ) to show case minthara that people are seeing how incredibly well written of a character she is. Yes she isn't a good person but she has so many shades of grey similar to what astarion and lazel are. People who were brought up in a terrible harsh world but deep down still want to love and be loved in return. I don't want her to be fixed in a way that takes away who she just so we can recruit her easier. But I do want the ability for the pc to recognize her as someone important to the story and have the ability to try for her. To much thought and effort went into her to be such a miss. And compared to halsin whos very empty and only there for sex basically its a crime that he gets more attention then her.

considering the fact she was never concepted as a companion (hell, her mtg card still has her old design + class) i'm amazed at how good minthara's writing actually is, tbh.

i wouldn't say that halsin is there only for sex, (though he definitely got the himbo rubdown in terms of his character backstory, lmfao. warrgh nature. warrgh i used to be a sex slave. warrgh i got my scar because a bear tried to fuck me. warrgh.) but as opposed to minthara, he doesn't really have many ties to the plot after act 2. minthara is probably the companion with the most ties to the plot, outside of lae'zel — she was literally in a relationship with one of the chosen and was manipulated by them! that's SUCH an interesting position for a companion to take, and far more interesting than i could have possibly dreamed of given what little we knew of her from early access!

i genuinely don't mind that you HAVE to be evil to recruit minthara, i like that and almost wish some of the 'evil' companions left you if you were too good, but it is strange that they made minthara so sympathetic after you explicitly have to side with the people who have been.... essentially abusing her? not to mention my constant annoyance at how her introduction was done. i mean, the fact that even she chastises you for doing murderhobo shit felt somewhat like a slap in the face after all of that. like yeah, of course i did murderhobo shit... the game wouldn't let me do anything else!

[flameshadowconjuring]

The first printing of 'Destroy All Humans They Can't Be Regenerated' comes with a promo card, which is really cool. Thing is though, I kinda expected the promo card to be, you know, Wrath of God. It literally has the text 'Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated.' that the title references. Hopefully it is one of the promos of the later volumes.

The actual promo card is Diabolic Edict by the way, which I guess is still fitting, since our protagonist loves black.

The volume itself is awesome. All the cards shown are shown as the english original cards, and the book comes with a card index for the cards shown and plenty of context/translation notes in the back. I have no clue how good the footnotes would be at explaining the game to a reader who hasn't played the game, but I love reading them and imagining what impression they would give someone outside of Mtg.

The story itself is awesome. You can really tell that the authors played Magic during that time frame themselves. The duels shown in the story could have happened in real life - there is no discrepancy with the official rules, or what cards were available back then. It is also very cool because the writer is much more limited in their ability to do an ass-pull. They have to use existing cards and game mechanics to cause cool reversals and such, and they do it well. The dramatization of the duels is just super fun. So chuuni.

The entire manga is essentially one big love letter to the game. The only sad thing is that it will take forever for the english edition to catch up to the scanlations. If it ever gets an anime (Wizards please, this would be the best ad of all time) I will be ecstatic.

[rnoonsetter]

i have a lot of complex feelings on arcane, but since i don't like it very much, i can put it in the background while i'm drawing

thought 1: i saw most of this show when it came out since someone forced me to watch it and i did not like it. but even though i've heard the dumb imagine dragons song like six times before, the only version that exists in my brain is the "uhoh the fuckery" meme

thought 2: part of the reason i don't really like cgi animation that much is that you can pose the characters and do camera movements and stuff you can only do in live action. this sounds like a good thing, but it's actually not. (i want to put it into words but i'm only 5 minutes into episode one. i'll give them time to cook)

thought 3: if vi and jinx are supposed to have natural pink/blue hair, why tf are their eyebrows brown?

thought 4: put it into words a little, it's like because they have to adhere to realism too much, they feel they can't do things in a "cartoony" sort of way. it's hard to express without showing specific shots, but i think the best example in reverse is that one shot from the beginning of kill la kill where ryuko and satsuki fight for the first time and they just scale satsuki's png up and vice versa, leading to this really efficient demonstration of ryuko's emotions at the time. (it's episode 2 at 21:50 for those curious). but this can be applied in a lot more subtle ways too, like the shot of the kids on the balcony. the buildings, in my mind, should have crowded around them, hemming them in, making the space feel more constraining, but it's a 3d map, and that's way harder to do.

thought 5: i thought it was just the imagine dragons song but this other insert song is very very bad

thought 6: that pipe is very poorly designed.

thought 7: i've been reading too much grrm and sanderson when i think that this show's depiction of the sociology of seedy bars is inaccurate

thought 8: ekko has dyed hair so i guess vi and jynx do too

thought 9: i'm not opposed to edge, i mean look at the art i enjoy. but still i feel, like most things, edge has to be subtle to be good. and this show isn't subtle, it's just edge for the sake of it.

thought 10: i thought this before when i saw the city, and idk how true this show is to lol's actual designs and architecture and stuff but someone somewhere really fucking loves mtg, specifically ravnica.

11: i like how expressive the faces are

12: why are you british

13: vander's a class traitor now that he's petite bourgeoisie

session 2/second batch of episodes:

14: maybe i'm a little drunk but i hate that this show made me like a modern imagine dragons song (i was an og fan and i like some of their old stuff)

[iwriterobots]

Which MTG card do you think blurs the line on robot most? Like, which card do you think has the best arguments both for being a robot and for not being a robot?

Also related-ish question, how does multiple art printings of a card affect its robot status? Are there any cards that are definitely robots but have a Secret Lair printing that isn’t?

I loved your two videos, keep up the good work!

I don't know about a single most debated card for Robot vs. Not, but I do think the folks from Esper are heavily debated, and a lot of white Phyrexians also play with being in-between flesh/machine in a way that's hard to pin down. So something in one of those two realms.

I talk about the art changing our evaluation of a robot card in my Defining Robots video essay. My system only defines robots on a by-card basis, and because art is a major diagnostic criteria, a cards definition of being a robot can change from printing to printing depending on the artistic representation of the creature. The example I gave in the video is something like Juggernaut: original juggernaut is definitely not a robot in that art, whereas M19 juggernaut art sure is. This is a bad example though, because both cards still pass the robot test by virtue of being artifacts and Juggernauts.

But a better example (that also answers your question with secret lairs) is Solemn Simulacrum. Solemn has 10 arts now (with the just previewed MTG Foundations), and not all are the most robotic. Which means a different art for Solemn *can* disqualify it as a robot, because it's creature type is Golem. For example: this secret lair promo. Definitely not a robot, even though I'd consider other printings of the card to be.

Cards like this (non legends) don't have a "canon" appearance really (hell, even legends have flexibility in their design from artist to artist), so there isn't really any point trying to define whether *all* Solemn Simulacra are robots across all printings/planes/etc. It's much easier to look at one isolated card and make a judgment.

Hope this answers your question :)

[bbarican]

october 21, 2023; 8:59 pm - weekend

hi tumblr, happy weekend! kamusta naman kayo? how are your weekends so far?

as usual, just dropping by to post some updates here (usually and mostly for myself but if you do end up reading these, thank you ♡)

personal:

today was super lovely, we ended up going to makati for lunch and a bit of shopping

my mom bought us new sunnies and im super happy kasi i have new pair to wear to our trips soon

we tried sunnies coffee's spanish latte and tbh sobrang sarap niya as in super high quality ng lasa niya not like pick up coffee or but first coffee (imo!) which i kind of expected na ganun yung lasa niya kasi theyre primarily not a brand that sells drinks talaga to begin with but it was a 10/10 for me; im excited to try their matcha tho

i decluttered my closet and i feel so light and happy about it kasi super konti nalang talaga yung natira and im 300% sure na yung mga tinira ko is sinusuot ko naman talaga

the clothes i took out, i plan on donating sa h&m since they do offer vouchers in return so im excited to do that too

food today was good too, we had shake shack for lunch, then i made my favorite cheesy bread with hot honey for dinner

im excited for tomorrow kasi my dad is finally back from japan!

im so excited for 1989 taylor's version too! i keep forgetting na i really like the songs on this album pala talaga

its my mom's birthday next week and im just excited to spend it with her; im sad na i dont have extra money to get her anything this year pero babawi nalang ako sakanya for sure

work:

i have quite a bit to do tomorrow to prep for my end of the month mtg on monday

again, for some reason kinakabahan ako pero i know naman na everything's gonna work out

we also have a sponty general assembly kasi we need all the help we can get from the designers na hindi masyadong loaded to help those who are busy to turnover their projects this and next month

im just always excited to see my office besties; i love how makulit we all are tapos nag tutugma talaga ugali naming lahat

oh my god you guys may kinaiinisan ako na officemate kol; tamad na ko to make another post about him pero long story short super tanga niya and i hate him

im so excited as in super super super excited for our company outing

friends:

this is a shocker even until now pero i really feel like 100% break na yung best friend ko and his boyfriend of 7 years

its really sad and heartbreaking kasi the guy even planned on proposing to my bestfriend na pero i know my bestfriend deserves better talaga especially with how theyve been these past few months

i miss them! noel and chesy are officially on their own and chevy is still doing her thing and i will forever be grateful na they are safe and happy

id love to meet new people though; i feel like meeting new people would be so exciting

love:

i still have bumble on my phone and the biggest update i can give yall is the fact na i just adjusted the ange range to 27-40 i think HAHA

cause i really dont want to date younger men UNLESS theyre super mature and not super bata pa talaga ng pagiisip

but yeah other than that wala as in wala akong kausap and sometimes it takes a toll on me but most of the time im fine

again, thank you for reading and caring about my updates, i love you ♡

[inventors-fair]

Settling at the Top: Hybrid Legend Winners ~

Our winners this week are @grornt, @horsecrash, and @izzet-always-r-versus-u!

@grornt — Vhati en-Dal

Someone never read the Weatherlight saga story—and that someone is me. Whoops. Hard to imagine a point at which novels were the main way to consume MTG lore and whatnot, but that hardly matters now that we have this moment of defection. I guess the only issue is that this card feels split from the timeline more than it is an alternate timeline—i.e. this is the card that could've followed instead of Diabolic Edict. That said, there's the placement of where a timeline truly becomes an alternate one, and I really don't want to get into the semantics of it. Vhati deserves differently.

And what a card you've made of it, too. The lifelink overlap is pretty low-hanging fruit for WB hybrid but that doesn't mean that it ain't still awesome. Utilizing tokens is one of the ways that this becomes significantly better, and Ball Lightning-types would absolutely love to have this card in their arsenal. With the card draw, it's definitely a bend in white, but not so much a bend that it's not understandable. Limited draw with something that white cares about is more than enough to see it through. As both a potential commander, a good limited build-around/utility card, and a neat mechanical callback, I'm really happy with the design sensibilities on display here.

@horsecrash — Sythis, Havoc's Hand

I think the shorthand works here, because honestly, the only thing throwing me off is the fact that some cards like Karametra's Blessing add a whole lot of words in there. Not that this card is hard to grok my any means, but it's a lot of text and there's only so much I'm willing to encourage adding for the sake of specificity. Let's back up. Mechanically, this is a limited powerhouse and I can imagine the work that it would do in a heroic-style standard/pioneer shell for sure. Double strike is rather powerful, but in-pie for both colors, and ramping up auras, flash enchantments, upper-curve creatures—pretty crazy powerful but only as much as a body can be.

What's interesting here is the difference in the flavor from Theros' usual fare. I can picture this moment where schwoop, planeswalkers gets taken to an alternate timeline or something, and the once-peaceful Sythis was created with a little too much wildness in her. Touching the monstrous wilds imbued her with the power to protect through force. It's a bit of a departure from Akroan valor, and yet there's a cool concept there about everything in Theros being topsy-turvy. What happened to the rest of the plane and the gods? What happened to that devotion to have the Nyxian entities suddenly change their form? Great use of the prompt.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Winota, Martial Force

You, on the other hand, can go to your room and think about what you've done. Good grief, this card is heartbreaking. Like, in terms of alternate universes or whatever, there's now a world where the once-revered bonder Winota is a stoic, severe, militant figure who uses her powers to destroy the creatures that she once would have loved. That activated ability... I'm honestly a little unsettled! Perhaps Winota still has that bonding ability, turning monsters against each other for the sake of Drannith. Unless I'm reading that very wrong, anyway. Our timeline's Vivian meeting this timeline's Winota wouldn't end well.

I don't think that much is going to end well for your opponent if you manage to land a Winota on board either. Creating non-Human tokens with things like Resolute Reinforcements or Anim Pakal ensures that the sacrifice will get all the indestructible that you need (except for Winota herself, good balance) in the competitive Human shell. Limited will make almost all your humans so much better, and on-board removal is always incredibly powerful. Mythic legends are both of those things for a reason, though. I think that this is pushed but far from unbalanced. I also appreciate how the similar abilities/triggers utilize completely different play patterns than the original Winota.

Great job, everyone. Runners coming up. @abelzumi