#banefire

[magicjudge]

My opponent casts Banefire, targeting me for lethal damage. In response, I cast Aegis of the Gods (with flash due to some other effect). I am now hexproof. After it resolves, my opponent kills Aegis with a Lightning Bolt. Am I still being targeted by Banefire? Is the legality of targets checked continually, or just when the spell goes to resolve?

You're still a legal target for Banefire and will be roasted to a crisp soon enough.

The legality of a spell or ability's targets are only checked twice: The first time is during the casting process, where they must all be legal for the spell to be able to be cast / the ability to be activated. The second time is when the spell or ability is about to resolve.

They aren't checked at any point in the interim, so even though you wouldn't have been a legal target for Banefire had it resolved while Aegis was still on the battlefield, that doesn't matter because neither of its legality checks happened in that window of time.

[gcldfanged]

... what is our Eikon portmanteau tho, is the real ship question *SHAKING EYES EMOJI*

Hades= 'Venom' or maybe 'Bane' since he uses negative status effects, so...

Jae/Clive= Banefire Jae/Joshua= Baneflames (? idk how the shippers differentiate between Ifrit and Phoenix word descriptors) Jae/Dion= Baneflare Jae/Jill= Banefrost Jae/Cid= Banestorm Jae/Benedikta= Banegale (the spicy forbidden ship, lol...) Jae/Barnabas= Baneshadow Jae/Michal= NOPE EW GROSE (also wtf word would I use for Fenrir that's not like 'sand'... 'trap'? Like a sand trap-)

[thecornwall]

Cornwall’s Random Card of the Day #474: Banefire

Banefire is a rare from Conflux, seen here in its Modern Masters 2015 printing.

This is a cool X burn spell. Everyone loves a good X burn spell, but this one is particularly good through becoming unable to be countered or prevented if X is over 5, which, let’s face it, it probably is. Not much to say other than that. I do love how Sarkhan’s arms turn into a dragon. Not turning into the claws of a dragon. Turning INTO a dragon. It’s a cool take on transformations we hadn’t seen before this point.

[hikorzik]

Built these two bad bois for my EDH pod! What I was interested in is that it's gruul *spellslinging*, which is imo really original for this color pair, and makes me get out of my comfort zone since gruul is my least favorite color combination (I'd rather add some blue or black to the mix).

I built them solely in the combo/storm way : if the commander survives a turn, I try to abuse their abilities to make a lot of mana and chain spells.

- With TWA I aim to make a giant storm count and target him with the likes of grapeshot to ping everyone to death. In the absence of TWA I can still storm off and probably kill someone with a storm ping spell.

- With Wort, I just want to abuse conspire and copying spells to make a ton of mana, draw a lot of cards (Wort is basically a huge value engine) and try to find my win condition before I lose steam (Jaya's immolating inferno, banefire, impact+empty the Warren's, guttersnipe...). I have an infinite mana combo if I get to chain a mana making spell that makes more than 6 (jeska's will, mana geyser, battle hymn) and then using reiterate + buyback infinitely.

Both of these are fun to me and can really go off as quickly as turn 4 if left unchecked. I will have to try them and see if my pod is OK with them!

Bonus : made me aware of a really fun dork

He's so goofy but also... SO GOOD. I don't need them lands give me the sweet sweet mana lmao!

The lists :

[weirdcards-org]

When you splash red to get some free wins. 🔥#banefire #mtg #magicthegathering #nonprofit #mtgarena #arena #magicarena (at MAGIC ARENA - MEGA MALL) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs9OLW5H5XO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3hzgv5756eqq

[innistrahd]

Nice

Hi, hello, I have made a dumb Paradox Engine combo deck on MTG Arena and I cannot stop 69ing people with Banefire.

[razieltwelve]

All Men Must Die (Final Rose x House of the Dragon)

Vanille had been expecting it for years now, the Faceless Men. The growing power of Westeros had drawn the ire of the Free Cities, and they must have paid handsomely to dispatch no less than half a dozen Faceless Men to the Red Keep. She could sense them easily despite their best efforts to conceal themselves.

Magic was not Aura, but the same senses that could detect Aura could detect magic all the same. The magic they used to change their faces made them stand out like burst of light against the night sky, and the touch of their Many-Faced God marked every single one of them out as different from ordinary men. 

Sighing, she set aside the manuscript she was working on and reached for a simple staff made of ironwood and shod with steel. A handful of knives completed the rest of her armament, and she slunk out of her room to greet the would-be assassins.

She found them in one of the corridors that led toward the innermost parts of the Red Keep. She didn’t bother to announce herself. Instead, she simply flung a pair of knives at speeds no human could hope to match. It had been some time since she’d fought seriously using her Aura although she continued to train in private.

The Faceless Men could have dodged arrows or even crossbow bolts. The knives she threw travelled at speeds a bullet would have struggled to match. The two she hit were dead before they even registered the attack. She appeared in their midst a moment later.

Her staff crushed the head of one Faceless Man, and she spun beneath a hurried strike to pulverise the torso of another. There were only two left now, and her staff whipped out like a viper. The blow smashed the spine of one and sent him up into the ceiling with enough force to shake it. The last turned to flee, and Vanille’s staff burst through his chest like a spear.

She took a moment to make sure that all of them were dead and then left. Leaving the bodies there was messy, but it would also lead to increased security... and calls to action against the Faceless Men.

X     X     X

Historical Note:

It is widely known that the Faceless Men attempted to assassinate the Royal Family during the reign of Visery I. Enraged, the normally peaceful king ordered his brother and a delegation to make for Braavos. Their objective was simple: make it clear that any further attempts to interfere with the Royal Family would be met with force.

Records from the time indicate that negotiations went poorly, with the Sea Lord threatening Daemon Targaryen. The delegation would leave shortly after with Daemon swearing that the next time he returned, it would be to raze Braavos to the ground.

That night, the House of Black and White would be completely destroyed in a massive explosion of unknown origin. That explosion would involve a substance that would come to be known as Banefire, a substance akin to Wildfire. It was said to have burned with a cruel, crimson and black flame, and to have melted the very stones of the House of Black and White all the way down to the very bedrock upon which the building was built.

Following the explosion, Braavos would declare war on the Seven Kingdoms. King Viserys would match that with a declaration of his own. The war that followed would be brief and brutal with King Viserys annexing Braavos in the War of Vengeance.

Perhaps the most stunning aspect of the war was the revelation of the Westeros’s naval power. Unknown to Braavos, the Velaryon Fleet and the newly commissioned Royal Fleet had begun building new kinds of ships and taking advantage of new sailing techniques and technologies. This allowed the Westerosi Fleet to best the Braavosi Fleet in a series of running battles with the use of dragons ensuring that retreat for the Braavosi was impossible.

Daemon Targaryen would set the palace of the Sealord alight himself via Caraxes. He would later deliver the Sealord’s crown to his brother, the king, after killing the man personally. When challenged by the First Sword of Braavos, Daemon famously declared that if the Sealord was allowed a champion, then so was he.

Daemon chose Caraxes as his champion, and the dragon made short work of the swordsman.

The War of Vengeance would provide the Iron Throne with a permanent foothold in Essos... and an absolutely colossal sum of coin thanks to the taking of the Iron Bank. It would see Braavos added to the Seven Kingdoms and mark the beginning of the Iron Throne’s ascendancy not only in the west but also in the east.

The War of Vengeance would, in time, be followed by subsequent conflicts as the Free Cities did their best to deal with the growing power of the Iron Throne. Those efforts would persist long after the reign of Viserys I although his descendants would later prove victorious, leading to the creation of the Targaryen Empire, an entity that spanned not only Westeros but also increasingly large swathes of Essos.

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Yeah, Vanille totally blew up the House of Black and White. Banefire is the product of her research into magic, wildfire, and dragons. It is a terrible weapon, one that distills the power of an old dragon’s fire into a liquid explosive of ferocious power. It is something that she and Daemon developed. As for the Faceless Men themselves, they’re certainly very skilled, but they’ve got zero chance against Vanille in combat. Sure, Vanille isn’t in the same league as Fang or Lightning in battle, but she was still considered a truly elite huntress for her combat prowess alone. Her Aura abilities make her capable of truly superhuman feats of speed and strength... she simply hasn’t had much need for them until now.

Had Braavos been willing to guarantee that no more Faceless Men would be sent after the royal family, they would not have used it. However, when negotiations broke down, Vanille rigged some to explode once they had left. Due to its power, the creation of Banefire is a secret known only to her and certain members of the royal family. It requires the fire of an older dragon to create, so it’s not something that just anyone can copy. It is also time-consuming and expensive to make, meaning you need to use it carefully and can’t just spam it everywhere.

Somewhat amusingly, this whole debacle results in Viserys being considered one of the greatest Targaryen kings and makes Daemon a hero to the populace. It also gives Vanille a chance to show what she can do when she turns her mind toward weaponry.

[educationtech]

What is benefits and challenges of the paperless classroom

Why traditional classrooms are boycotted?

New technology is significantly making its way into the classroom in order to improve the learning experiences. Many schools and colleges like Arya College use mobile devices and computers in the classroom to enhance the academic performance of the students. This technological use can create a paperless classroom. The different approaches include using iPads in place of books, paper and pens, and supplementing the iPads with Blackboard software along with the overhead projector.

The benefits of technology

There are many benefits of the paperless classroom. It can apply to both teachers and students.

It does not require any physical paper that can be lost or forgotten and that may perish over time. Teachers do not require making photocopies of each handout. It is a very tedious task. Rather than this, a document can be uploaded to the blackboard and allow students of Top Engineering Colleges in Jaipur to access the documents using their iPad’s.

All lecture notes, textbooks and all other work of the students can be stored easily on iPad’s. Teachers can upload the content and the course material that enable students to access the same at anywhere anytime or can interact with the teachers by email. Depending on the family situation, efficiency, learning style, commute, etc. students have different amounts of study time.

When presenting in a traditional classroom, the mentors tend to be at the front of the class. It allows them to write on the board or scroll through Powerpoint slides. The usage of iPad’s mirroring function allows its screen to project it on the projection screen. This is the greatest advantage for the teachers of the List of Engineering Colleges in Jaipur. They can walk around freely while presenting information on the whiteboard.

Students may enjoy working with educational apps on the iPad especially when the course schedule allows. Also, they can use the apps to practice spelling and vocabulary-building exercises.

The challenges in a paperless classroom

Apart from the benefits, there are some drawbacks of the paperless classroom at Engineering Colleges in Jaipur.

Teachers usually find it difficult to set up the student’s iPad, as it takes a few hours of class time.

While downloading an educational application, a lot of time gets consume due to which students forget passwords or being unable to find the app in question.

Students of B Tech College in Jaipur sometimes forget to charge their iPads and most of them come to class with a low battery. Although providing chargers in the classroom could solve this problem, but the available plug sockets may be limited. Not all students have easy access to the internet at home. This also considers by teachers and administrators.

Although students might feel excited to study on iPad, the initial novelty and student engagement with the device can be temporary. Students can also often tempt to use social media and play games, which make keeping them on-task a challenge due to the distractions the iPad present.

Thanks for Read our blog, you can check out full blog on official Page Arya College, Arya College is one of the Best Engineering College In Jaipur Rajasthan. In This College Many Branches for Engineering you can make great future with us. Arya College Provides Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Electronics Engineering’s Branch for our Engineering students with top companies placements in campus.

[dnd5a]

Patch 2.12 - Angelsong

This patch focuses largely on class updates and new subclasses, namely to bard, occultist, and odic. There are also a variety of updates to various spells.

CLASSES

BARBARIAN

Rework - Relentless Chase Reworded to no longer allow infinite use at little cost

BARD

The changes to bard largely aim to add more customisation to early levels and clean up its subclasses.

Reversion - Song of Rest Now functions as in base.

Alteration - Countercharm Now gained at 5th level

Buff - Magical Secrets Now gained at 6th level, with further magical secrets at 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

Rework - Bardic College: College of Choreography Third level features are now more focused to the class as a whole. New features at 6th level. Balance shifts at 14th level.

New - Bardic College: College of Creation Added as a part of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

New - Bardic College: College of Eloquence Added as a part of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Silver Tongue moved to 10th level.

New - Bardic College: College of Fables Give passive benefits by telling stories during a rest

Rework - Bardic College: College of Fates New 3rd level feature allows for additional, progressively smaller bardic inspiration die. 

Buff - Bardic College: College of Lore 6th level feature now instead grants one extra Magical Secret whenever you gain them

New - Bardic College: College of Sword Added from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Blade Flourishes have been adjusted to be more even in power.

INVOKER

New - Holy Visage: Visage of Zeal Grant allies bonuses to their rolls and never go down without a fight.

OCCULTIST

Largely focusing on the binding rites, the occultist changes add new subclasses, rebalance old ones and each of the binding rites.

Buff - Covenant: Covenant of Shadows Shadow Eyes now gives you benefits that align with your Quickening

New - Covenant: Covenant of Silver Get a magic mirror and trap people’s souls in it

New - Covenant: Covenant of Steel Gish occultist time

Rework - Binding Rites Each of the rites has been altered to be more in line with one another

ODIC

Odic has been needing a fresh coat of paint for some time and this update seeks to bring some life into the subclasses.

Buff - Heart Rune: Sigil of the Beast Subclass spells vastly improved. Vigorous Fury increased in power. Can use Wisdom in place of Strength and Constitution checks and saves.

New - Heart Rune: Sigil of the Beyond Based around the night terror cantrip, you can upcast it to do all manner of ghosty nonsense

New - Heart Rune: Sigil of the Forged Summon big magic swords and stab people with said swords

New - Heart Rune: Sigil of the World Alter the world around you by animating the land

WARDEN

Rework - Combat Disciplines: Elementalist Each Limit Break has been altered to have more unique and exciting effects.

SPELLS

This patch’s spell changes consisted largely of spells featured in the Archive of Esoteric Secrets II as it readies for release. These notes will cover as many relevant changes as reasonably expected.

Rework - Accelerate 30-foot range, concentration up to an hour. Allows the target to take the Dash action as a bonus action, along with its previous running on walls effect.

Buff - Affliction Duration increased to 24 hours

Buff - Arcane Door Range increased to 90 feet

Buff - Banefire The necrotic damage is increased to d10s

Buff - Bowgentle’s Transposition Range increased to 60 feet

Rework - Breathsense Reworded to improve clarity

Rework - Clutter Now imposes a 10-foot penalty to the target’s speed

Buff - Crown of Diamonds Now creates four crystals and scales by two per level

Nerf - Date Casting time increased to 1 minute

Rework - Devour Soul Temporary hit points no longer decay

Nerf - Divest No longer can unattune a creature from a magic item

Buff - Divine Insight Casting time decreased to a bonus action

Buff - False Seeing Range increased to 30 feet

Nerf - Find Greater Familiar Familiars with magic resistance no longer grant you their magic resistance

Buff - Gaea’s Planetcleaver Damage increased to 20d12

Buff - Galvan Force Damage dealt is done as a bonus action and changed to a sorcerer exclusive

Note: Characters who already know this spell do not lose access to it, even if it is no longer on their class’ spell list and it still counts as a spell of that class for only that character

Buff - Illusory Bounty Verbal component removed

Buff - Killstar No longer affects you. Saving throw changed to Dexterity. Reduces hit point maximum first, then deals damage.

Rework - Lemalu’s Iron Lance No longer pins to other creatures.

Rework - Mergesort Now lasts 1 minute. Creates statistical clones of you that can’t take actions or reactions. Move up to your speed.

Buff - Mind Palace Level reduced from 8th to 5th

Buff - Necrosis Now deals necrotic damage and lasts for 7 days

Nerf - Pinpoint Level increased from 6th to 7th

Buff - Rouse Dead Level reduced from 2nd to 1st

Nerf - Stepping Stone You can no longer have multiple stepping stones

Rework - Syphon Defences Level reduced from 4th to 1st. Casting time increased to 1 action.

Buff - Transcend No longer stops you from casting spells

Buff - Tutelary Totem The totem creature’s attacks count as magical

FEATS

Buff - Dual Wielder Once per turn, when you miss with an attack roll, you can make another attack with a weapon you’re holding in your other hand.

RULES

Clarification - Ability Scores Adds official rulings for ability scores higher than 30

Clarification - Line of Sight Spells that have effects that manifest at a specific point ignore cover.

Alteration -  Injuries Scars have been separated from the rest of the Major Wounds and are now a subcategory of Major Wound.

[therealmadblonde]

October 31

And so the day arrived, cloudy, and with a small wind out of the north. I told myself that I was not nervous, that as an old hand at this there were no jitters of anticipation, rushes of anxiety, waves of pure fear. But I had gone down to the basement to begin my rounds when I realized that there were no rounds to make, and I found myself returning to check our assembly of ingredients and tools over and over again.

Finally, I went out and visited Larry’s place. He was gone from his grove and the house seemed empty.

I went looking for Graymalk, and when we met we took a walk together.

We hiked for a long time in silence before she said, “You and Jack will be the only closers there.”

“It looks that way,” I said.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“Jill and I will be going to a meeting at the vicarage this afternoon. Morris and MacCab will be there, too.”

“Oh? Strategy session?”

“I guess so.”

We climbed to Dog’s Nest and looked around. An altarlike raised area of boulders had been built up before the big stone. Heavy boards lay across it. Some kindling for the banefire was already stacked, farther off.

“Right there,” she said.

“Yes.”

“We’re going to protest the sacrifice part.”

“Good.”

“You think Larry will be able to do what he plans?”

“I don’t know.”

We climbed down a different way than we’d gone up, discovering some fresh misshapen footprints. “I wonder what’ll become of the big fellow now,” she said. “I feel sorry for him. That night he picked me up he didn’t mean to hurt me, I could tell.”

“Another lost one,” I said.

“Yes, sad.”

We walked again in silence, then, “I want to stand near you in the arc,” she said. “I believe the vicar will be at the left end, with Morris and MacCab next to him, Tekela and Nightwind with them, then Jill. I will stand to her right. I will assume a position three paces forward. That would put you and Jack beside us.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I’ve been working for this arrangement. You must be to my right and slightly back— that is, to Jack’s left.”

“Why?”

“Because something bad may happen if you stand to his right.”

“How do you know this?”

“My small wisdom.”

I thought about it. The old cat in the Dreamworld was obviously on her side, and she was an opener. Therefore, he could be setting me up for something. However, his remarks concerning the Elders had almost seemed disparaging, and he had seemed kindly disposed toward me. Reason stopped here. I knew that I had to trust my feelings.

“I’ll do it.”

When we neared our area, I said, “I’m going to walk over again to see whether Larry’s back. Want to come with?”

“No. That meeting…”

“All right. Well — It’s — been good.”

���Yes. I never knew a dog this well before.”

“Same with cats and me. I’ll see you later, then.”

“Yes.”

She headed home.

I searched all around Larry’s place again, but there was no sign of his return. On my way home, I heard my name hissed from a clump of weeds.

“Snuff, old boy. Good to see you. I was on my way over. Saved me a trip…”

“Quicklime! What have you been up to?”

“Hanging out in that orchard, eating the hard stuff,” he said. “Just stopped by for a quick one, on the way over.”

“Why were you coming to see me?”

“Learned something. Wanted you to know.”

“What?” I asked.

“I picked up a bad habit from Rastov, I guess. Look at me. I feel like I’m shedding my skin.”

“You’re not.”

“I know. But I really liked him. When I left you, I headed for the orchard and just started eating the old, fermented ones. It was — snug — with him. I felt like somebody needed me. The fruit’s almost gone now. I’ll come around. I’ll be all right. But I’ll miss him. He was a good man. The vicar got him — that’s what Nightwind told me. Wanted to narrow the field. That’s why the Count disposed of Owen — to send the vicar a message. You’ll get the vicar, won’t you?”

“Quick, I think you’ve had too much. Owen was killed after the Count was staked.”

“Clever, isn’t he? That’s what I was coming to tell you about. He fooled us. He’s still around.”

“What? How?”

“When I reached the peak of my indulgence the other night,” he replied, “I suddenly felt terribly lonely. I didn’t want to be alone, so I went looking for someone, something— lights, movement, sounds. I went over to the Gipsy camp, which was perfect. I curled up beneath a wagon, planning to spend the night there and sleep it off. But I overheard parts of a conversation from the wagon which led me to make my way up between its floorboards. I had chosen the wagon, and a pair of guards were in it. Sometimes they’d speak in their own tongue, sometimes in English — the younger one wanted the practice. I spent the night in there instead of below. But I learned the story. I even found an opening that gave me a view of the casket.”

“He’s with the Gipsies?”

“Yes. They guard him by day as he sleeps, guard the casket at night when he’s away.”

“So he’d faked it,” I said. “Dressed the skeleton we’d found in his garments, put the stake into it himself.”

“Yes, the crumbly skeleton that was already there.”

“…And that’s why the ring wasn’t on it.”

“Yes, and he was safe in that, too. Anybody finding the remains would assume that the staker had taken it.”

I felt a chill.

“Quick, he did make this arrangement after the death of the moon, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Your calculations would be unaffected.”

“Good. But this I don’t understand — the Count killed Owen because the vicar killed Rastov. Owen was an opener. Does that reflect a particular sympathy on the part of the Count? Or was he simply out to check the vicar and keep the violence from spreading?”

“I don’t know. Nothing was said on the matter.” I growled softly.

“This is a complicated one,” I said.

“Agreed. Now you know everything I do.”

“Thanks. Want to come with me?”

“No. I’m really out of the Game. Good luck.”

“’Luck, Quick.”

I heard him slither off.

It rained a little that afternoon, and stopped shortly after sunset. I went outside to look for the moon, and Bubo came with me. The clouds still veiled her, however, and all we could see was the big area of brightness she shed in the east. The wind blew chill.

“So this is it,” Bubo said. “By morning it will all be decided.”

“Yes.”

“I wish I could have been playing all along.”

“A wish on the moon,” I said. “It may be true. You have been playing, in a way. You’ve traded information, you’ve watched things develop, same as the rest of us.”

“Yes, but I didn’t really do important things like the rest of you.”

“It’s mainly the little things — all added up — that give us the final picture, that make the difference.”

“I suppose so,” he said. “Yes, it was fun. Do you think — Could I possibly come with? I’d like to see it happen, however it goes.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “We couldn’t be responsible for a civilian, too. I think it’s going to be a rough one.”

“I understand,” he replied. “I’d guessed you’d say that, but I had to ask.”

I left him there after a time, watching the sky. The moon was still hidden. And so…

We left before midnight, of course, Jack and I, he in a warm coat and carrying a satchel containing the equipment. Under his other arm, he bore a few small logs for the fire. We left without bothering to lock the door.

The sky was beginning to clear overhead, though the moon was still masked. There was sufficient light just from its glow-through, however, to show our way clearly. There was a chill, damp breeze at our backs.

Soon, Dog’s Nest was before us, and Jack decided we should circle it and mount its eastern slope.

We did that, and as we came in sight of the top a small glow was already apparent off in the circle toward the stone with the inscription. Moving nearer, we saw that Vicar Roberts and Morris and MacCab were tending a small fire they had obviously just gotten going, nursing it to achieve greater compass. The vicar’s ear was unbandaged now, and light showed through two high perforations in it. The heap of kindling was much larger than when Graymalk and I had been by earlier.

The banefire is a necessary part of our business. It goes all the way back into the misty vastness of our practices. Both sides require it, so in this sense it is a neutral instrument. After midnight, it comes to burn in more than one world, and we may add to it those things which enhance our personal strengths and serve our ends. It attracts otherworldly beings sympathetic to both sides, as well as neutral spirits who may be swayed by the course of the action. Voices and sights may pass through it, and it serves as a secondary, supportive point of manifestation to whatever the opening or closing object may be.

Customarily, we all bring something to feed it, and it interacts with all of us throughout the ritual. I had urinated on one of our sticks, for example, several days earlier. There are times when players have been attacked by its flames; and I can recall an instance when one was defended by a sudden wall of fire it issued. It is also good for disposing of evidence. It comes in handy on particularly cold nights, too.

“Good evening,” Jack said as we approached, and he added his contribution to the woodpile.

“Good evening, Jack,” the vicar said, and Morris and MacCab nodded.

Lynette lay on her back upon the altar, head turned in our direction, eyes closed, breathing slow. Well drugged, of course. She had on a long white garment, and her dark hair hung loose. I looked away. Obviously, the protest had been overridden. I sniffed the air. No sign of Jill or Graymalk yet.

The fire bloomed more brightly. Jack set his bag down and moved to help with it. I decided on a quick patrol of the area, and I made a big circuit. There was nothing unusual to be found. I went and stared at the huge stone. Just then the edge of the moon appeared from behind the clouds. Its light fell upon it. The markings had become visible again — dark, upon the illuminated surface. I went and sat by Jack’s satchel. The vicar had on a dark cloak which made a swishing sound as he moved. It did not conceal the fact that he was a short, slightly fat man, and it neither added to nor detracted from his appearance of menace. That was all in his face, with its intense expression of controlled mania. The moon was doubled in his glasses.

Under their joint ministrations the banefire grew to a respectable size. The vicar was the first to toss something into it, a small parcel which crackled and flared bluely. I took a sniff. It involved herbs I’d encountered before. Morris added two parcels, which I could tell involved bones. Jack added a very small one which produced a green flash. I tossed in one of my own, along with the pissed-on stick. The moon slid completely free of the clouds.

The vicar went and stared at the inscription, not even glancing at his stepdaughter. Then he backed away, turned to his left, took several paces, halted, turned back toward the stone. He adjusted his position slightly, then scuffed at the ground with his bootheel.

“I will position myself here,” he stated, glancing at Jack.

“I have no objection,” Jack said. “Your associates will be to your right, I presume?”

“That was what I had in mind. Morris here, MacCab to his right, then Jill,” he said, gesturing.

Jack nodded, just as a dark shape swept past the face of the moon. Moments later, Nightwind dropped out of the sky, coming to rest atop the woodpile.

“Hello, Snuff,” he observed. “Care to switch?”

“No, thanks. Yourself?”

He did one of those unusual rotations of his head.

“I think not, especially when we outnumber you in all respects.”

Shortly, Tekela swept in with a caw, landing upon the vicar’s left shoulder.

“Greetings, Nightwind,” she said.

“A good Game to you, sister.”

She looked at me and looked away. She said nothing. Neither did I. Everyone added more kindling and more ingredients to the fire. Finally, a pair of fairly large logs were set upon it. Many-colored flames played about them, and soon the logs darkened and the fires danced upon their surfaces. A mixture of odors reached me as powders, bones, herbs, fleshy samples of anatomy — both human and other — were added. A few vials of liquid were also dumped upon it, to smolder and produce heavy, crawling ropes of smoke, to flare brightly, briefly. Within the crackling, I seemed to hear a subliminal whispering begin.

I heard Jill’s footsteps mounting the northern slope long before she appeared. When she did she was hard to distinguish against the night for several moments, as she had on a hooded black cloak over a long black dress. She looked taller, more slim; and she carried Graymalk, though she set her down immediately when she achieved the level area.

“Good evening,” she said, in general. All four men responded.

“Hi, Snuff,” Graymalk said, coming up beside me. “It’s a good fire already.”

“Yes.”

“As you can see…”

“You were overridden.”

“Did you find Larry?”

“No.”

“Oh my.”

“There is a backup plan,” I said, and Nightwind came by just then, to greet Graymalk.

I felt a strong desire to howl at the moon. It was such a howlable moon. But I restrained myself.

The smell of incense reached me. Jill had just begun casting parcels into the banefire. The moon moved nearer to midheaven.

“How will we know when it is time to begin?” Graymalk asked me.

“When we can talk with the people.”

“Of course.”

“How’s your back?”

“It’s all right now. You look fit.”

“I’m fine.”

We watched the fire for a time. Another log was added, and more packets. The smells became a sweetly seductive bouquet. The flames leaped higher now, changing colors regularly, flickering in the wind. Sharp, tinkling musical sounds came sporadically from their midst, and the sounds of voices rose into and out of audibility. Looking away from it, my gaze was attracted by a new light source. The inscription was beginning to glow. Overhead, the moon had reached midheaven.

“Jack, can you hear me?” I called.

“Loud and clear, Snuff. Well-met by moonlight. What’s on your mind?”

“Just checking the time,” I said.

Suddenly Nightwind was talking to Morris and MacCab, Tekela to the vicar.

“I guess it’s time,” Graymalk said, “to take our places.”

“It is,” I replied.

She went off to collect Jill, who was tossing a final packet into the fire. The air was distorted above its colored flames now, as if it were burning in more than one place simultaneously, and in the shimmering area just about it one could catch glimpses of some of those other places. From somewhere to the north, I heard the howl of a wolf.

The vicar went and stood at the spot he had indicated. Morris and MacCab moved to take up their positions to his right; Nightwind stood atop a rock between them. Then Jill moved to stand beside MacCab, Graymalk next to her but three cat-paces forward. I went and stood near her, Jack to my right. The line was bowed, out away from the big stone, with Jack and the vicar across from each other. Lynette dozed on the altar about ten feet in front of me.

From somewhere within his cloak, the vicar removed the pentacle bowl, which he placed on the ground before him. Then he withdrew the Alhazred Icon, which he propped against a rock to his left, facing the glowing stone. Nightwind moved to a new position, back behind the pentacle. The openers always begin things, as the closers’ work is purely reactive.

Jack’s satchel, to his right, was already open, from the removal of various ingredients for the banefire, but he leaned and spread its mouth fully, for easy access.

MacCab knelt and spread a piece of white cloth upon the ground before him. As it was windy, he weighted its corners with small stones. Then, from an ornate sheath which hung from his belt beneath his jacket, he drew a long, thin blade which looked to me like a sacrificial knife, and he placed this upon the cloth, point toward the altar.

Then the moon went out. We all looked upward as a dark shape covered it, descending, rushing toward us. Morris shrieked shrilly as it fell, changing shape as if dark veils swam about it. And then the moon shone again, and the piece of midnight sky which had fallen came to earth beside Jack, and I saw that vision-twisting transformation of which Graymalk had spoken — here, there, a twist, a swirl, a dark bending — and the Count stood at Jack’s side, smiling a totally evil smile. He laid his left hand — the dark ring visible upon it — upon Jack’s right shoulder.

“I stand with him,” he said, “to close you out.” Vicar Roberts stared at him and licked his lips.

“I would think one of your sort more inclined to our view in this matter,” the vicar stated.

“I like the world just the way it is,” said the Count. “Pray, let us begin.” The vicar nodded.

“We shall,” he said, “to its proper conclusion, with the Gate thrown wide.”

The Count tossed a twig and a small parcel into the flames. The fire moved in its colorful dance, crackling and chiming, burning a hole in the night, through which the voices — now chanting — emerged. Shadows constantly moved past us, over the altar, and across the face of the stone. I heard the howl again, much nearer.

I looked at the vicar and saw him flinch. But he straightened and performed an opening gesture. He spoke a word of power, deeply, slowly. It hung in the air and resonated afterwards.

The inscription on the stone began to glow a little more brightly, and now — very faintly — I could discern the formation of the door-like rectangle come to frame it, that configuration which earlier had sucked Graymalk and me through to our Dreamworld adventure.

The vicar repeated the word and the rectangle came clear.

Within the chanting, I could now hear faintly “Iä! Shub-Niggurath!” being repeated, as if in response. Ahead of me, Graymalk had risen to her feet and was standing very stiffly.

The vicar turned then, rather than proceeding to the next phase, and moved slowly to the cloth on which the sacrificial blade rested. To his rear, I noted that the Alhazred Icon had also begun to glow. He knelt and raised the blade with both hands, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. Then he rose and turned toward the altar, Tekela still upon his shoulder.

And there came a movement from my right, beyond Jack and the Count. Another dark shape was moving to join us.

The vicar had taken but a single step ahead when a great, gray wolf moved into the firelight and rushed past him toward the altar. Larry Talbot had arrived, apparently in reasonable control of his faculties.

He seized hold of the girl’s left shoulder with his teeth and dragged her down from the altar. With that rapid backing motion I had seen him employ before, he dragged her quickly before us toward the north, whence he had come, to my right.

The report of a gunshot filled the air and Larry staggered, a dark blot appearing and spreading high upon his left shoulder. The vicar held a smoking revolver, pointed in his direction. Larry continued moving almost immediately, however, and the vicar fired again.

This time there was blood on the top of Larry’s head, and he uttered a moaning sound as his jaws fell open and Lynette dropped to the ground. Larry slumped forward then, and the shiftings of firelight and shadow swam over him. The chanting continued — “Iä!

Shub-Niggurath!” — against the strange music. The vicar pulled the trigger again. There followed a clicking sound from the pistol, but no discharge. Immediately, he drew it near and worked the hammer. Suddenly, as he released it, there was a sharp report and the round kicked up dirt near the south end of the altar. The vicar hurled the weapon to the ground, perhaps having cast only three rounds. Homemade bullets…

“Get her back onto the altar!” the vicar ordered. Morris and MacCab immediately departed their positions and moved toward the supine girl. Larry’s sides were still heaving heavily, and his eyes were closed. There was a lot more blood, on his head, neck, shoulder, now.

“Stop!” the Count said. “Players are forbidden to move a sacrifice once the ceremony is in progress!”

The vicar stared at him. Morris and MacCab halted, looked back and forth from the vicar to the Count.

“I never heard of such a restriction,” the vicar said.

“It is a part of the tradition,” Jack stated. “There must always be a small — even if only symbolic — exit open to a sacrifice in this. They may go as far as they can. They may be stopped. The place where they fall becomes the new altar. Do otherwise and you destroy the pattern we have created. The results could be disastrous.”

The vicar pondered for a moment, then said, “I don’t believe you. You’re outnumbered. It’s a closer’s bluff, to make things more awkward for me. Morris! MacCab! Put her back!”

The Count stepped forward as they advanced.

“In a case such as this,” he said, “the opposing parties are permitted to resist the desecration.”

I heard heavy, clumping footsteps in the distance, but they seemed to be passing the hill rather than approaching it.

Morris and MacCab had hesitated but then they moved forward, reaching for Lynette.

The Count flowed forward. No single limb seemed to stir, but suddenly he was there beside them. Then he raised his arms, out to the sides, his cloak dependent therefrom; and he moved them forward, completely engulfing the men within its folds. He stood thus for only an instant, arms across his chest, before a succession of snapping sounds could be heard.

He opened his arms and they fell to the earth, to lie at odd angles, blood emerging from their ears, noses, and mouths. Their eyes were wide. They did not breathe.

“You dare?” the vicar cried. “You dare to touch my people?”

The Count turned his head slowly, raising his arms again.

“You presume,” he said, “to address me so.”

He flowed toward the vicar, but much more slowly. The music came clearer and clearer, the chanting louder, the inscription brighter. And as he moved, I beheld a silent form in the shadows to my right, whose presence had first reached me in the form of his scent, which I recognized from an encounter in a wood by moonlight. He approached soundlessly, the stranger wolf.

The vicar’s hand snaked out from beneath his cloak, casting something toward the Count. Immediately, the flowing ceased and the Count stiffened. In the meantime, shielded from the vicar’s view by the Count’s body, the stranger wolf entered the firelight, took hold of Lynette’s shoulder and continued what Larry had begun, dragging her back into the darkness.

The Count was suddenly less than graceful. He swayed. He took an awkward step toward the vicar, whose hand dipped beneath his own cloak to emerge and repeat whatever he had done.

“What — is it?” the Count asked, reeling toward the vicar, who retreated before him. Then the Count fell.

“Dirt from one of your own caskets,” the vicar replied, “mixed with pieces of my church’s altar stone relic, left over from more papish times. Fingerbone of St. Hilarian, according to the records. You require your consecrated soil, but overconsecration is like the difference between a therapeutic and a debilitating dose of strychnine. Do you not agree?”

The Count muttered a reply in a foreign language, as the wolf disappeared with Lynette; and I realized that, from all his talks with Larry, plus his knowledge of drugs, and the samples he had obtained, he had succeeded several days ago in developing his own ideal dosage, and I had just witnessed the Great Detective’s greatest disguise yet. I howled a “Well done!” into the night. Later, a “Good luck!” came back to me.

The inscription glowed brilliantly now. Whether the deaths of Morris and MacCab had contributed to this was hard to tell. The vicar looked up and saw that Lynette was gone. He glared at Jill.

“You should have told me,” he said.

“I didn’t notice till now,” she replied.

“Neither did I,” said Nightwind.

The vicar picked up the sacrificial knife which he had dropped, moved back to his position, and drove the blade into the ground at his feet.

He straightened then, repeated the word of power, and said another. Immediately, his face became the snouted, tusked visage of a boar with a shredded ear. This lasted for perhaps a minute before Larry’s eyes opened. He turned his head, saw that Lynette was gone, looked immediately to the altar, saw she was not there either. He tried to rise, failed. I wondered how serious his condition was. True, there was a lot of blood, but head wounds are often that way. Even a silver bullet still has to hit something major.

Larry tried to crawl forward, succeeded in moving perhaps half a foot, paused, and panted.

The vicar spoke another word. Graymalk was suddenly striped like a small tiger. This, too, passed quickly. Tekela was starting to look like a vulture. Suddenly, Jill was an ancient hag, bent far forward, hooked nose almost touching her jutting chin, strands of white hair hanging about her face. I glanced at Jack and saw that he suddenly wore the shaggy head of a great brown bear, yellow eyes staring forward, saliva running from the corners of his mouth. Looking downward, I saw that my fur was blood-red and moist; and I felt as if horns jutted from my brow. I had no idea what I might resemble, but Graymalk drew back in alarm. The boar spoke again, and the word rang like a bell in the chill air. The Count was suddenly a skeleton wrapped in black. Something unseen  passed high overhead, laughing like a demented child. Pale mushrooms sprang up all about us, and a shifting of breezes brought me sulfurous scents from the fire. A green liquid flowed outward from that blaze, spreading in bubbling streams. The chanting now seemed to contain all of our names. MacCab had become a woman whose painted face began to peel off in long strips. Beside him, Morris was now an ape, his long hairy arms reaching to the ground, and he leaned to rest upon his knuckles. His mouth was opened wide, showing an enormous expanse of teeth and gums. Larry was now a bleeding man sprawled upon the ground. The air before us shimmered and became a mirror, giving this entire prospect back to us. Then our reflected heads detached themselves and drifted leftwards. It was a strange feeling, passing out of one and into another, for I seemed unmoved, though I felt the sudden weight of the bear-head, saw the hog’s drift by to settle upon Jack’s shoulders. Graymalk suddenly wore an overlarge one, horned, demonic; Jill, a small striped cat’s head — and so on along our crescent. Then the bodies shifted to the right, and I was a cat with a bear’s head, lying flat because of its weight, my heart thudding like a steam engine. Jack had become a boar-headed demon. Again, the laughter rang from overhead. If I were not my body or my head, what was I — sprawled there amid the mushrooms and the stench, another wave of chanting rolling in my ears? Illusion, it must all be illusion, mustn’t it? I never knew before and I still didn’t know. The mushrooms blackened, shriveled, and fell when the hot green flow reached them. Our images in the mirror wavered, became splashes of our dominant colors, flowed together. I looked downward again, but everything was hazy. Upward then, at some half-noted change. The moon had gone blood-red and was dripping upon us. A shooting star cut past it. Another. Another. Soon multitudes of them rained down the heavens. The mirror cracked, and Jack and I stood alone at our end, our forms returned to us, as a great gust of wind out of the north blew away the haze. The others came clear, also, restored, in their piece of reflection. The starfall lessened. The moon grew pink, then turned back to butter and ivory. I sighed and held my place, felt Graymalk’s gaze pass over me. The green tendrils from the fire began to congeal, lavalike. For a moment, I seemed to hear a collection of animal sounds from within the flames — baas, nickers, whinnies, whimpers, a sharp barking, several varieties of howling, the coughing of a giant cat, a croaking, a mewling cry. There followed a stillness, save for the fire’s own cracking and snapping.

I felt a familiar tingling in the air. The time had come for the opening. I glanced at Jack and could tell that he felt it, too.

Larry dragged himself another foot forward.

I was looking at the vicar as he spoke the final word. I saw the Count’s left hand twitch. But apparently the vicar did, too, and he stooped and raised the pentacle. Something dark fled forth from the Count’s ring, but the vicar caught it in the pentacle bowl and it was reflected off into the night. It was probably too late for killing the man, anyway, for the opening was definitely beginning. The vicar stooped again, raised the icon, and placed it upon the Count’s chest. The ring did not flare again. All in all, as I regarded both Larry and the Count, I was forced to a sort of grudging respect for the fellow. He was much better at his business than I’d have guessed.

“Jill,” he called out, “use the wand now.”

Jill reached inside her cloak, produced the wand, raised it. Oddly, the growing brightness of the stone halted for a moment. Jack had his wand out in an instant, raising it and training it upon the same target. I heard the heavy footsteps again, this time approaching us. The rectangle began to brighten once more, and a great depth occurred within it, swimming with colored lights. The cries from the banefire grew louder and louder: “Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Hail to the Black Goat!” The music also increased in intensity, and the moon blazed like a beacon overhead. Larry began dragging himself farther along. The experiment man came into view off to the right, heading toward us. I glanced at Jack. Beads of perspiration had formed upon his brow. I could tell that he was pouring his will and spirit into the wand, but the opening continued. The experiment man lumbered up to us.

“Pret-ty kit-ty,” he said, pausing in front of Jack, which might have killed anyone else, but he already smelled of death and seemed aware of nothing untoward.

Suddenly, the opening was arrested, the Gateway lost some of its depth. The experiment man stooped and quickly snatched up Graymalk.

“Pret-ty kit-ty,” he repeated. Then he turned and walked away in the direction whence he had come.

“Put me down!” she cried. “I can’t leave now!”

He sat down just beyond the firelight and commenced petting her.

Larry continued his crawl, steady now. Depth returned to the Gateway. I thought I saw a tentacle stir within it. Then something large and amorphous seemed to be drifting our way.

“This isn’t working well,” I heard a small voice say. I sought its source.

Bubo’s head had emerged from the left side pocket of Jack’s coat.

“Bubo, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I had to see it,” he said, “to learn whether what I’d done was right. I’m not too sure now.”

Yes, it was a tentacle, extended from the dark, approaching mass, reaching for the Gateway…

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m a pack rat,” he said. “I thought you were outnumbered and outgunned, and I wanted your side to win. So I did the only thing I know how — ”

“What?” I asked, already beginning to guess.

The dark mass was much nearer, and I smelled a deep reptilian musk. The experiment man had put down Graymalk and risen. He was approaching us again. Larry had moved much farther to my left. A tentacle emerged from the Gateway, groped about, located Morris’s right foot, wrapped about it, dragged him back inside. A moment later, it returned for MacCab. Slurping sounds followed.

“I fixed it so they’d defeat themselves after they’d disposed of you,” Bubo said.

“How?”

There were great masses of tentacles now, all of them writhing toward the Gateway.

“I sneaked about last night,” Bubo said, “and I switched the wands.”

I seemed to hear the odd sounds of a cat’s laughter. It’s so hard to tell when they’re smiling. The old cat hadn’t been telling me to fetch a stick…

Carpe baculum: Seize the wand.

I sprang into the air, catching it in my teeth, twisting it out of Jack’s grip. I could see the astonished expression on his face as I did so.

A terrible wind began to blow past us. I heard the vicar cry “No!” Tekela sprang up from his shoulders, wings beating.

Turning my head, I saw that the Gateway was closing.

There followed a roar Growler would have been proud of as Larry leaped at the vicar. They rolled upon the ground, passing right over the Count, knocking the icon from his breast. Then the mighty wind caught them and they were carried toward the closing Gateway and on through it. Jill looked puzzled as she continued to wield the closing wand, hair and cloak streaming forward. Jack had braced himself. Then his arm moved, hand dipping into the satchel and out, emerging quickly, casting the wine bottle of slitherers into the Gateway, to gunk it up. He grinned at me. “Any port in a storm,” he observed. I felt the wind pushing me forward. Nightwind was trying to get behind a rock.

Then the experiment man came up and halted before us and the pressure was suddenly eased.

“The — Count?” he asked. Had Graymalk sent him after our ally?

“The man on the ground!” I replied. “Take him away!”

He continued past us, swaying but holding his own against the wind. He stooped and caught hold of the supine figure, raised it in his arms. I glanced at the Gateway. It had already grown somewhat darker. The fire, scattered, flamed at a dozen small points, glowed from as many more. A few of these faded and winked out as I watched.

Jill stared at the wand that she held, and I could read the realization coming into her expression.

I heard Graymalk’s voice from the shadows:

“Come on!” she called. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Bubo had already ducked back out of sight into Jack’s pocket as we moved to take her advice.

A single note, as of a crushed crystal goblet, filled the air. The stone was blank again. Abruptly, the wind ceased. The voices had already died away.

We made our way northward toward the slope. Overhead, the moon seemed enormous.

“Let’s go!” Graymalk urged, as we came up beside her. And she was right. The hilltop would remain dangerous till dawn.

I turned and looked back in time to see the experiment man start down the southern slope, carrying the Count.

“Hi, cat,” I said. “I’ll buy you that drink yet.”

“Hi, dog,” she said. “I think I’ll let you.”

Jack and Jill went down the hill. Gray and I ran after.

[witcher-not-quitter]

🧠 🍵⚡️ for Dessi!

🧠 Talk about your OCs mental health! Do they have any specific triggers or ways to practice self care? What are some things that are more difficult for them to do because of their mental health? Arguments with and the raising of voices of those she cares about tends to shut Dessi down pretty quickly. Because of this, she has a hard time voicing her feelings on the matter of any situation. She prefers to keep everything internalized and private while giving off the air of not being affected. It gets worse if someone genuinely cares back and tries to coax away her defensive layers.

Sure Dessi can discuss something vulnerable. Just that she will talk about something that is somewhat of a vulnerable topic without being truly vulnerable on what is bothering her. For example, being touched. Her first reaction is to say she doesn’t like any contact as she says she reacts badly to it, insinuating sudden contact would shock her into lashing out..When in actuality, Dessi is quite touched starved and doesn’t want that to be known. She hates that she is needy.

To work around it, Dessi sometimes needs a bit of time to come around to actually say what she should communicate so things are more clear and for that person to be patient enough to wait for her to do so.

🍵 Are there any rumours about your OC hanging around? Nasty ones or just good humoured? Got any gossip to share about them? There are some particularly nasty ones about her. One of those times was when Dessi took a contract from a gang leader in Roggveen. This gang leader used the image of a well respected head priest as a front, and hired Dessi to get rid of some of his competition. Dessi completed the task but when receiving her reward, she caught a scent of what “fun pass times” her employer loved to exploit. Dessi knew the man and his gang did terrible things but they had always paid good coin so she often led it slide. Though this particular time was the straw that broke the mule’s back. Dessi snapped. At the end of what she had done, the temple burned with the gang inside.

Under the notion that this cat witcher slaughtered several priests and burned the temple, the city and surrounding villages dubbed her “Banefire of Roggeveen”. Dessi doesn’t really speak of what had transpired that night as she finds trying to convince the already distrustful masses to be not worth the effort. After all, she is a mutant freak, an abomination. A monster that kills monsters.

⚡ What are your OC’s phobias? Is there any reasoning behind these? How do they calm themselves down after getting scared? What are they like when they’re afraid? Is there any chance of them overcoming their fears? Dessi is pretty adverse to the thoughts of drowning. She is a pretty good swimmer as all witchers are trained to keep their cool while dealing with drowners yet if there is a way around a body of water then Dessi will take that route. Dessi was once tortured for information and the methods that were used to try to crack her were simulated drownings. She was already not keen on swimming in general but that event made her all the more wary of deep water. Her way of dealing with her fear is to simply bury it and ignore it to the best of her ability.

[oldtumblhurgoyf]

Minotaurs? As You Wish

Ok, so MTGGoldfish published this hilarious deck. It’s janky fun that’s pretty hit or miss, especially for me since I don’t have all those cards on Arena and I spent all my wildcards getting what pieces I could to make this deck.

But now I’m looking at a Grixis control deck and an Izzet control deck and Fae of Wishes or Mastermind’s Acquisition and some gears are grinding together.

So if we’re wishing for our combo pieces, automatically we cut Arcane Adaptation, Irencrag Feat, and Deathbellow War Cry to the sideboard. Well, except that Irencrag Feat is still really useful for casting the big “minotaurs” of the deck, for the Izzet deck I’m main decking three copies and leaving one in the sideboard to wish up. On the Grixis front if we want copies of Irencrag Feat main deck then I’d probably drop the Fires of Invention but that deck is going to function better with Fires of Invention in place.

Now I think both the Izzet and Grixis builds have potential; it depends on what sort of land base you have access to and if you prefer the Fae of Wishes or Mastermind’s Acquisition. Whichever you choose, know that this is still a jank deck and we are intentionally taking a well-functioning deck and jankifying it with this silly win con. We’ll be dropping the actual useful win cons and some important threats the decks normally pack in order to shove in a bunch of creatures that look a bit like a minotaur if you squint real hard.

Expansion of Expansion // Explosion is going to be important for making the most of your wish spells in either of these lists. Definitely important to note that this is all theory crafting so far. If you get a chance to play either, let me know how things go or if you’d recommend any further changes.

One final note--I’m opting for 8 of the “minotaur” from the MTGGoldfish deck above. But, I’d seriously consider cutting it down to just 4 of those creatures: Drakuseth, Angrath’s Marauders, Purphoros, and either Agent of Treachery (my personal favorite) or Burning Sun’s Avatar. This leaves you in an awkward position if you draw into any of them, but otherwise getting the War Cry for those usually ends the game immediately. And that would leave you with 4 other slots to put control spells back into these decks.

Two deck lists under the cut. I include the full lists from above, cross out the cuts and list the replacement cards in bold directly underneath them.

Grixis Control List

2 God-Eternal Kefnet 2 Expansion // Explosion 1 Murderous Rider 3 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager 1 Agent of Treachery 1 Angrath’s Marauders 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames 2 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Enter the God-Eternals 1 Dream Eater 1 Etali, Primal Storm 4 Mastermind’s Acquisition 3 Ritual of Soot 2 Thought Erasure 2 Thought Erasure 2 Expansion // Explosion 2 Bedevil 2 Tyrant’s Scorn 4 Fires of Invention 2 Search for Azcanta 3 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God 1 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar 1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded 1 Burning Sun’s Avatar 3 Blood Crypt 1 Castle Vantress 1 Dismal Backwater 2 Dragonskull Summit 4 Drowned Catacomb 1 Fabled Passage 1 Island 1 Mountain 3 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls 3 Swamp 4 Watery Grave

Sideboard 1 Vraska’s Contempt 1 Sarkhan the Masterless 1 Moment of Craving 1 Arcane Adaptation 1 Irencrag Feat 1 Deathbellow War Cry 1 Cast Down 1 Mass Manipulation 1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno 1 Casualties of War 1 Planewide Celebration 1 Star of Extinction 1 The Elderspell 1 Thought Distortion 1 Time Wipe 1 Ugin, the Ineffable 1 Kaya’s Wrath 1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Izzet Control List

4 Crackling Drake 1 Rekindling Phoenix 2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun 4 Fae of Wishes 3 Irencrag Feat 4 Opt 2 Dive Down 1 Banefire 1 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar 1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded 1 Burning Sun’s Avatar 2 Negate 1 Dream Eater 1 Etali, Primal Storm 4 Lightning Strike 1 Lava Coil 1 Agent of Treachery 2 Flame Sweep 2 Sinister Sabotage 2 Chemister’s Insight 2 Sinister Sabotage 2 Chemister’s Insight 1 Angrath’s Marauders 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames 2 Sulfur Falls 2 Expansion // Explosion 2 Search for Azcanta 1 Ral, Storm Conduit 1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy 2 Expansion // Explosion 9 Island 6 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls 2 Temple of Epiphany

Sideboard 1 Arcane Adaptation 1 Irencrag Feat 1 Deathbellow War Cry this one didn’t actually list a sideboard. follow your heart

[dungeonmastersconsortium]

Op literally has banefired for a silly amount of damage but go off I guess

I don’t think 300+ damage is silly but go off I guess

[wolfthebard]

Top 10 creature cards in Core Set 2020 that I’d like to see reprinted -within reason-

With Modern Horizon’s on the horizon of release, I thought we should talk about Core Set 2020. Because you know that’s how this works. What with a constant ever hype machine...seriously Wizards, let people breathe and play the cards for two months, before you do spoilers for the next set... Now while many would talk about cards they want to see reprinted; Goblin Guide, Doubling Season, etc. (Myself included). I want to talk about some cards that are less likely to warp a format, that desperately need a reprint, and might breathe some life into Standard. Now in Core Set 2019, Wizards of the Coast gave us two highly sought after Modern Cards in Scape shift, and Crucible of Worlds, so I hope that’s a continuing trend. This also aids my choices. Both those cards never touched Standard at all.  This will be a multi-part article, with enchantments, lands, artifacts, instants, and sorcery’s. To follow at a later date. All will be top 10′s as well. With a follow up of what mechanics I’d like to see in Core Set 2020 So, shall we? We’ll start with the least likely of reprints, to the most likely.

Number 10 

The least likely of reprints to grace us. Let’s talk about why. MT here is a colored artifact, and while yes, Bolas’ Citadel is one, Wizards might consider that a bit too “complicated” for a Beginner level set. Now let’s talk about why MT should be reprinted. There’s very little artifacts that MT could bring in that could warp the format. Given the example above of Bolas’ Citadel, this brings it out at the earliest a turn early, and yes there’s other implications, but that doesn’t break standard. My other reasoning is the price tag. While TCG player has Transmuter at a reasonable price of $9 - $12, it has applications in Commander, and a lower price and some new art would be great.  Also this let’s us play some fun head games, given what Wizards could print in the Artifact department over the next few sets. Number 9

A mythic, that saw tons of play in its Standard tenure. MotWH can interact with the new Tolsmir, Arlin, etc. More of a Timmy deck, and a great way to keep slower control decks in check, and can help in the Mid-range Vs. Mid-range decks. While not expensive in the $4-$6 range, it could stand a reprint at a rare slot this time around. Number 8

The Sad robot, has seen countless reprints. Solemn doesn’t break standard, and the decks it does help; Mid-range/ control decks, there’s better slots that this card. This card ranges from $5- $8. This is merely to stable that price, and yeah, maybe help budget Standard decks get some mana fixings.

Number 7

Got Elk? Control is annoying...Says everyone who doesn’t play it. While this should be lower on the here. We need a solid replacement when we lose Carnage Tyrant. The can’t be Countered and the low mana cost is what really sells this card. Protection I think is still easy for a beginner to understand. Also, it’s an Elk. Smash face and avenge Bambi. Number 6 

With 46 Auras in Standard, at least half will rotate out in October. Kor Spiritdancer allows us to have a Voltron/ Enchantress Standard deck for Standard. It’s a simple, and sweet card for beginners. I do not think this will break Standard. Most Aura’s don’t achieve much, and even in Core Set 2019, we have the White and Green Enchantress, and that had no impact on Standard. This card is less than $5, but can, under the right conditions. Make for some fun budget Standard decks.

Number 5

So with rotation, we might lose Shock and Lightening Strike. While Unlikely, Wizards did at one point think Shock was “too good”. So if those do Cycle out, let’s bring back another red classic. Ball Lightening at best is six damage on turn three, at worst it does nothing. It’s a fine card to reprint. Rather hard to splash in other decks. Seeing as how we’re losing a large portion of our “perfect” land base. It’s also what red and most aggro decks want to be doing on turn 3. Tons of damage. Seeing as this card is less that $3, I couldn’t see why this card can’t be reprinted. Other than Wizards not wanting to hear players scream “I came in like a Ball Lightning~” at Mythic Championships.

Number 4

It ramps, it blocks, and it even has a lion. This card isn’t super expensive, nor is it flashy. We had a Knight sub-theme in Dominaria, and this is a sweet tie-in to that. Another card that’s under $5, it won’t go crazy for the market. White’s issue is the lack of land searching, this is a fine balance. If you’re going first, you’re not playing this on your turn 2, or even 3. It’s a great draft card, and could even stand to be dropped to Un-common, because I don’t think that warps sealed too much either. Beginner friendly, and just some great art.

Number 3

Alright, this card should be at like number 9, but here me out. 42 elves in Standard with 17 rotating out (possibly less). Even if let’s say Wizards reprints Nettle Sentinel in the same year. What are we currently ramping to? We’re losing Banefire, and other go big strategies. This card ranges from $6-$9, and can help people trying to build Elves for Modern. Also, this was a rare in Eternal Masters. Bring this back to Uncommon and just leave it be. Again, there’s no win-cons that people have access to. This is a perfect Standard to reprint it...I dunno, help the elves. Number 2

Bring back Young blaz-y. Spell decks could use a legit win-con...because infinite turns and doing nothing is dumb...give them this $1-$2 uncommon, and let combo/ control decks win with creatures.

Number 1

We’re ending with an uncommon.

One of my all time favorite cards. This card is everything. A great sealed card, a sideboard answer to problematic cards like lands and such. No reason for this card to not be reprinted. This is at most $1, but it can help push green decks into a more stable playing field. In limited, this is fine late game drop, that helps those aggro mirrors. Also, it’s oozing with potential~ Well that’s a wrap on the creatures I’d like to see reprinted that are within reason. What are some cards you’d like to see reprinted? I know I didn’t hit many top dollar rares and mythics, but I am doubtful that Wizards will be doing that in Coresets. Next we’ll s tart on the top 10 Sorcery’s that I think could be reprinted (Within reason). Thanks for reading. I’ll catch you all next time. You can follow me here as well~ Twitter @ WolftheBard Twitch: WolftheBard

[magicalgirlmindcrank]

You ever tap for 27 mana, downtick karn for a masterminds acquisition, cast it getting banefire from sideboard and cast that x=22? It feels great.

[adashofstarshine]

It’s Aderyn!

Pronouns - They/Them/Their Race: Elf  Age: 21 Plane of Origin: Shadowmoor Current Residence: Ravnica Mana Alignment - UW

Aderyn is a flying-matters themed planeswalker! Their magic centres around understanding, buffing, and if in doubt, taking control of flying creatures. Their speciality is birds. Personality wise, they are sweet and innocent, naive to a fault and exceptionally eager to please. They work as a messenger for the Azorius and a post-elf for planeswalkers across the multiverse.

Aderyn’s Backstory is under the cut!

Aderyn was born in the Wilt-Leaf Forest on Shadowmoor. Their parents were Safehold guards and died on patrol when Aderyn was five. From then on, Aderyn was constantly berated and pushed around by the members of their safehold. They found it incredibly difficult to concentrate on class, drills, or even keeping the same schedule as their peers. Once they lost concentration, Aderyn had one main desire - to climb as high as they could to the top of the woodland fortress and play with the bats and birds that lived there.

By the time they were fifteen, they were the best climber in the entire fortress. They often slipped out over the roof and explored the neighbouring treetops, despite the danger. The Immaculate of their safehold realised that this could be used to the safehold’s advantage. The purpose of elves on Shadowmoor was to preserve the little beauty the night-plane had left. Aderyn was given the new role of Skyscout - a position that would take them climbing through the canopies of the Wilt-Leaf to find new sources of beauty.

Aderyn loved this role, for they were able to spend nights at a time, exploring the canopies and sky above, without having to face the judgement of their peers. They swiftly became friends with all the birds, bats, and elementals that flew above the topmost branches and made their homes there. Aderyn regarded these airborne species as the most beautiful of all, as they were free to enjoy the star-strewn sky. They resolved to help these species flourish, to reintroduce beauty back to the forest.

Whilst protecting a family of birds, Aderyn made enemies of a clique of faeries, who wanted to steal the birds’ eggs to pelt boggarts with.  The faeries got fed up of the eggs being unavailable, so summoned a few more cliques and caught Aderyn by surprise, pushing them from the treetops. The fall should have been fatal. Yet as Aderyn plunged to their death, they suddenly emerged into a place full of light. They caught themselves from the fall and abruptly found themselves hovering above a tall spire. They were on Ravnica.

Frightened and overwhelmed, they struggled with their flight for a moment, before a trio of doves found them and introduced themselves. Aderyn had never actually fully spoken to a bird, with mutual understanding, and was thrilled by the discovery. The doves introduced the area to them, and offered to show them round. They eagerly accepted. What followed was a tour of Ravnica, where Aderyn was guided about by everything from Selesnyan doves, to Azorius griffins to Rakdos gore-crows. Halfway through the tour, Aderyn was approached by a Bird of Paradise, they would later name Milo.

Milo, who had lost their mate to poachers, begged Aderyn to help him find him again. Aderyn, and his giant entourage of birds, helped Milo, amassing more and more flying creature to their cause. Soon a huge army of birds, drakes, griffins, dragons, hybrids, pegasi, and imps, all accompanied Aderyn in pursuit of this lost BoP.  This drew the attention of the Azorius, many of whom had lost their griffin mounts, who charged the flying force on mass. Aderyn and Milo did manage to find Giles, Milo’s mate, but in the process, Aderyn was arrested for disturbing the peace.

They were brought before Lavinia, who recognised that the strange hooved elf was a planeswalker, like the Living Guildpact. Lavinia locked Aderyn away, saying that when the Guildpact returned, Jace would judge Aderyn for their crime, one planeswalker to another. Jace did not come back and Lavinia was forced to release Aderyn for the time being, as they hadn’t actually caused any harm. They were released with the punishment of community service - which was in fact service to the Azorius. Aderyn became a errand-elf for Lavinia, running messages, fetching her coffee and delivering her post.  

They never considered leaving Ravnica, due to being enamoured with the concept of day and night, loving to watch the sunrise and sunset. They also didn’t want to leave all their bird friends behind. Milo and Giles guided them to an abandoned floating tower, which Aderyn then made their home. After a little while, Aderyn began to draw the attention of other planeswalkers, who used them to deliver post throughout the multiverse. Aderyn’s first delivery was to Innistrad, which they hated. However they did get to help a lonely Banefire Dragon meet the love of his life.

Up to War of the Spark, Aderyn waited and waited for the Guildpact to come back, so they could face rightful legal judgement. Throughout this, Aderyn was given plenty of time to consider their own existence. As months passed, they suddenly realised there was something lacking from their life - Order. When Lavinia vanished off the radar, even to Aderyn, and everything started changing very fast, Aderyn didn’t know what to do with themself. Scared, confused, desperate to be told what to do but not knowing who to trust, they hid in the shadows, helping their bird friends take down the plague of thopters that were filling their skies.

They hid with many of their flying friends when the invasion happened. Their tower formed an ark of sorts, cramped with numerous flying species, trying to escape the carnage. Everything from Healers Hawks to Pteramanders, Senate Griffins to Milo and Giles the Birds of Paradise. Adeyrn turned their home into a sanctuary for fliers, even accommodating and caring for a few traumatised angels.

When the war ended, and the Guildpact changed hands, Lavinia released Aderyn from needing to stand trial, and her service. Now they travel Ravnica lost and confused, trying to work out what their point in their life is, besides delivering parcels.

Personality notes

Aderyn is bubbly and optimistic, however this is coupled with an innocence and naivety that could be a danger to themself. 

After living such a rigid and controlled life style in the safehold, then under the Azorius, they are now desperate for orders and someone to serve. They love nothing more than to please, and are unquestioningly obedient. This is dangerous amongst the less savoury sorts in Ravnica, and can be unhealthy when they try to form relationships.

Otherwise, they are extremely kind and generous. They love to help where they can, and are excellent at listening to those who need to get their woes off their chest. 

They are also adorable.