#gilded wurms | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

panged-lin · 11 months ago

Text

This is gonna be another long one, bare in mind.

Part of me always wondered why Providence wanted the Survivor to not escape the planet. The biggest threat the Contact Light posed was the teleporters on-board - just take those out of the ship and let them pass.

But then I remembered that Providence is no stranger to keeping violent creatures bound to Petrichor V when they could otherwise leave when they want to. From the Black/Portal Imp log:

Unlike the other fauna on this planet, the black imp is aggressive to all other species. Is the imp also stranded here?

And its log fron RoR2:

Worst of all, attempts to return through the portal have been unsuccessful in our weakened state. It takes considerable effort to enter [the between space] - and we lack the strength to stay there long enough to cross the membrane. We are stranded. And then there is the master of this world. Curiously, it is in his presence that we find ourselves most weakened - and when he senses us, he wastes no time in his approach.

The Imp's ability to cross the planes is weakened on Petrichor V, especially when close to Providence. In Risk of Rain and Returns they and the Overlord straight-up die in gory fashion when they're health is depleted, but in Risk of Rain 2 (where Providence is dead) they seem to be sent back to the Red Plane before they can die, their strength no longer as limited by the Bulwark of the Weak's influence.

Providence is hostile to both the Survivor and the Imps but keeps them there by defending the items they need to escape the planet (Contact Light for the Survivor and access to a portal for the Imps, possibly the Artifact of Origin which you get for beating him with a combination of other Artifacts).

It's notable that both of these stranded creatures have access to some kind of warping ability, be it the teleporters or shifting between planes of existance. Teleportation in particular is heavily coveted by Providence and his brother Mithrix, being the only way they can extend their power to beyond Petrichor V.

Something still doesn't add up, though. The Imps I can understand since Providence's possession of their artifact seems to be what's keeping them under. But the Survivor arguably wouldn't have posed a threat if the teleporters were simply removed from the Contact Light and they were allowed to go on their way. I get why he crashed the ship - it was to bring the teleporters back to the planet - but after that point they don't need to stay on the ship. If they couldn't be moved they likely wouldn't be in there to begin with.

Another idea then; did Providence keep these creatures on Petrichor V because of his love of soul? He consistently indifferent about his legendary status amongst the creatures he saves. The only times we've heard of him interacting with or reaching out to his subjects is to cleanse Mithrix's infulence from them - by deadly force in the case of the Beads of Fealty. While they flourish on Petrichor V, Providence never lets them return to their homes or find a new one to regain what they've lost. His choice of creatures to save run the gambit of intelligent almost-human lizard folk, a people fallen to a parasitic Tar (complete with a desert landscape flowing with Tar littered with giant snake (Worm?) skeletons), and even Scavengers who could threaten to rise to the same level of power as the Survivors through their kleptomanic impulses. It's an aclectic mess that - as proven by the Imps - can still include those firmly against Providence's divine rule.

Providence loves soul. He constructed Aurelionite with an excess of it, exhausting himself in the process. He traps Mithrix on the moon out of fear that he was going down a violent path that could destroy the soul-filled creatures he concerned himself with. He has a fondness for worms, which are perhaps the largest creatures on Petrichor V including his own personal Gilded Wurms. Did he keep the Imps and the Survivor from leaving peacefully because they too contained soul? He was certainly interested in keeping humanity on Petrichor V if given the chance as with the Commencement log:

I know the planet you trail – of water and dirt. You fear their stability. That they will consume themselves.

He's a curious one, that much is certain.

At the same time, a peaceful confrontation might not have been on the table with Providence being the one to kill almost all the crew aboard Contact Light to begin with. The creatures on Petrichor V may have recognised that whatever Providence knocked down was a threat to their way of life and moved to attack outside his influence, pushing the Survivor to horrendous means to... survive, the experiences on the way to Providence molding them into a threat that he could not allow to persist lest they kill more soulful beings. And that's likely the solution to the puzzle; a chain of events that led to neither side having an option but to kill the other due to decisions made independant of - albiet influenced by - the other. Providence forcing them to find a means of escape, the creatures thinking they were under threat by something that caused their god to turn his head, the Survivor going to grisly means to leave as a result.

That answer would gel with the running thread of Risk of Rain; flawed people making decisions based on what they see, with those decisions trickling down and creating horrific consequences as a result. Providence's own reluctance to explain himself is one of his biggest flaws and what ultimately led to the downfall of himself, his brother, and the planet as a whole. All because he felt the need to go to dire lengths to prevent harm. Those means would create the very circumstances for the ones hes stifling to seek the same great, often terrible power Providence himself holds in order to exact their own wants more brutally than he could manage. I'm not entirely sure if Providence even knew the Survivor was alive on the planet until they were on - or close to - the Contact Light. With this idea in mind it's hard to believe he kept them there on purpose. He's powerful, sure, but not omnipotent or omnipresent.

Oh right, the Imps. They might honestly be another creature Providence saught to keep and had to deal with the consequences. Or he saw them as a threat to soul and aimed to prevent them from crossing into our plane, from butchering any life they encountered, and picking off the ones that were on Petrichor V when this occured. His relationship with them is very different from other creatures - even compared to the similarly hostile Void which he completely held back to the point they aren't even seen until RoR2 (because they weren't written at that point nor retroactively introduced in Returns). I'm kinda sad we didn't get any further expansion on them like we did with the Void. Ah well.

#helgi's bone stash #risk of rain #risk of rain returns #ror #rorr #providence #ror providence #long post

43 notes · View notes

chopprface · 1 month ago

Text

ive been playing an absurd amount of risk of rain lately and ive started to wonder about a BW au where they ended up on petrichor V (maybe the preds replacing the contact light and the maximals replacing safe travels?) so heres my altmode ideas for the cast

rattrap: blind vermin > spitter

depth charge: one of the wandering vagrant variants (maybe the juveniles from the first game)

inferno: beetle guard (megatron has the queens gland?)

megatron: scorch wurm > magma worm > gilded wurm

dinobot: elder lemurian (dinobot II can be acrid cause i love acrid)

optimus primal: stone golem > stone titan > aurelionite (he fuses with him instead of prime)

tigatron: mini mushrum

airrazor: swift/alloy vulture

tigerhawk: kur ska the heretic (idk just makes sense to me)

cheetor: wisp > greater wisp > ancient wisp

rampage: void devastator (sand crab could work too but i wanted him to be a boss to point out his power)

blackarachnia and tarantulas: mechanical spiders

waspinator: aspid

terrorsaur: blind pest (different from vermin, pests are fliers)

quickstrike: lemurian calvary

silverbolt: evolved lemurian

scorponok: sand crab

ravage: imp

rhinox: bighorn bison

i mightve forgotten one or two of them.. oops

#beast wars #transformers #risk of rain 2 #risk of rain #ive had this in my head for a while but i never sat down and wrote down their altmodes #oh yeah ror ror2 spoilers #beast wars spoilers too but most of my followers are bw fans already

7 notes · View notes

shicom · 2 years ago

Photo

Bulwark of the Weak.

#providence #risk of rain #ror1 #video games #indie games #fanart #gilded wurms #Halloween

105 notes · View notes

inventors-fair · 4 years ago

Text

Shining Stars

So, this contest got pretty wacky and wild. There were a lot of people experimenting with what Characteristic Defining Abilities (or CDAs) could do to a card. I think a lot of people were trying to go as far from the norm as possible without going over, like some card designer’s version of price is right. While I did encourage and appreciate creativity, I wish I had seen a few more people playing it safe and putting new abilities on existing star cards.

But enough of me rambling, let’s get to me talking! If you’re looking for your card, they are sorted top to bottom alphabetically by the name of the entrant. If you were a winner or runner-up, your commentary was on the post marking you as such.

@antmations - Keldon Lightning-Slinger

I like what the star does here. If they’re your only shaman (somehow), it’s an aggressive 3/1 that can get in for damage. If you have a board of shamans, it gains enough toughness to be a defensive wall while you use its ability to start controlling the board. As effectively as you used the star, though, the card has two big issue. The smaller issue is that the card doesn’t really seem green at all, but I can understand how the set as a whole would need it to be green to cement the archetype in two colors and encourage splashing. The bigger issue is that the ability is ridiculously strong. Most cards that can repeatably do 3 damage to creatures are either mythics, 6+ mana, or both. At a minimum I think it needs a mana cost or needs to tap itself. As it is now, your opponent can’t play a creature with <4 toughness as long as you have two shamans, and if you have four shamans they’re practically hard locked from playing creatures.

@arakis-selfinsert - Krark, Thumbless Gambler

You’ve mentioned that the star is really more of a way to track the activated ability than anything, and I respect that. In silver-bordered land, I also don’t mind as much that one bonesplitter massively changes this guy’s math, because it’s all just coin flips anyway. Also, this card doesn’t NEED to be silver-bordered, since black-border has coin flips, but I doubt this would see print there, so I appreciate the fact you did it preemptively. I will warn you though, I don’t like the last ability. Not only is it fairly weak, it’s really slow and tedious to actually perform, and the phrasing means that all of the damage will go to one target that is picked before you flip the first coin. I don’t blame you for missing that interaction, the rules are pretty awkward when it comes to targeting mid-ability. There’s a reason Karplusan Minotaur and the Battlebond coin-flip guys are phrased the way they are.

charmera - Candle-Wrought Caretaker

I was scared at first when I saw the art the fact that it was a two mana 4 power haste creature, but then I realized it has both a skaab-style additional cost (even if not phrased as one, though it probably should be) and a magmaroth-style shrinking effect. Even so, I think 2 mana is just way too cheap for this kind of effect on such an efficient body. That said, I really like the design of the card, and I love the way it interweaves the downside and upside, and how it has an Endless Horizons type risk where if it dies before it does anything you’re out some important resources. I really like the card, but I wish it cost a bit more mana or was a little less aggressive in some way.

@corporalotherbear - Treasure Golem

Seeing this card in the discord made me change my example card, because it looked almost exactly like this, except it was a little cheaper, made one treasure, and counted all artifacts. So that’s a good sign! I like how you make it count itself, and in doing so turn it into a treasure, which seems cool and silly to me. I think this card does have two big issue, though: first, it’s colorless ramp, letting you go from 5 mana on turn 5 to 10 mana on turn two in any color. It’s not too much worse than composite golem or gilded lotus, but it could wreak havoc in some formats. Second, and this is what I was going to bring up in my example, treasures are very fickle. This creature wants you to make a bunch of treasures in your precombat main phase so you can attack with a big creature. However, if it gets blocked, you’e put in a really awkward situation in your second main phase. If you sac too many tokens, your golem will die from the damage marked on it. If you mis-tap mana on a digital client, your golem will die and it won’t let you undo. I think this card is really cool but I worry it might be asking a bit too much from the player.

@dubudder - Chandra’s Firemaw

It takes a little more work than I wish was necessary to play this over spark elemental. I like how the last ability combos with ball lightning effects, but I think most decks playing cards like that are going to have pretty empty boards. I’d really need to know what kind of support this card was getting in the set to know how playable it was. I think the card is a good design, but I think it could afford to be pushed just a little more compared to recent cards.

@demimonde-semigoddess - Erupting Wurm

Wood Elemental… is that you? All joking aside, this card is… weird. I think the two directions to go with this card are either A) ramp a bunch then play this as a massive creature or B) use this to bounce a few lands so you can get more landfall triggers. I think the first version is going to be pretty rare, considering devastating summons doesn’t see much play and would usually be the better card compared to the wurm. The second version, bouncing 2-4 lands, might be nice in decks running llanowar scouts or Azusas, and especially as a flash reach creature to block with. It’s a pretty fringe use card, but not every card needs a perfect home, and I wouldn’t mind this card existing out there in the card pool. You’re also one of the only people to enter a card with a set it and forget it star card, so good for you! That said, if printed it’d probably just use +1/+1 counters.

@dimestoretajic - Riodan, Nature’s Watcher

Not much to say about this guy. I like his simplicity, I like how trample is green, crusader text is white, and countering is blue, but they all work with each other very well. He’s also got a crossbow, which is playing to the judge but you didn’t know that. The closest thing I have to a complaint with this guy is that he protects your other creatures even though it seems like he’d be the main target most of the time anyway. Having him and Shalai out seems hilarious though. He’s just a solid dude.

@dont-wanna-wanga - Extended Ego

I love how much care was put into this card to make it go in the deck that would use it. It needs to go in a deck that keeps cards in hand, which are usually defensive, so it’s a flying defender. It’s also one mana because most control decks need their defenses early, or to leave up mana in the late game. I’m also glad you let players take it back if they accidentally play it after topdecking or get hit with discard. My only gripe is that I wish the death effect were a trigger not a replacement effect, just because it seems like it should be. I also wish the cycling cost were a little higher, since it seems like it’s there mostly to give it a use if you topdeck it, and it might be a touch too strong otherwise.

@driftingthruthecosmos - Mura, the Discerning

An enchantment god that isn’t and enchantment creature. Neat. So this card is based all around enchantments, and being black-white, it cares about them in graveyards as well as in play. I think enchantments is a great thing to track since they are on the board and a lot of enchantment decks need good win-cons, and an indestructible */2 is a good way to get the job done. I don’t understand the combat condition, though. All of the Amonkhet gods had activated abilities that let them trigger attack in some way or another, but yours is about what to do after you trigger it. There aren’t a lot of easy ways to get enchantments to enter graveyards, especially pre-combat (since auras and enchantment creatures can die in combat), and I think the card is just weak enough that it’s hard to justify building around. If she were just a mana cheaper I think she’d be great, and if she had a way to sac enchantments she’d be amazing, but even as is I think she’s very good.

@fractured-infinity - Verdant Necrophage

This is one of the first cards that count counters on both sides that I really like. It still encourages filling your deck with -1/-1 counter creatures like channeler initiate, but its focus is on your opponents creatures. Thanks to how -1/-1 counters work, there will never be too high an amount on the board so it won’t be too hard to count, and when it goes down it’s usually from something dying so it’s all upside. I like how you got around the 0 toughness issue by putting -1/-1 counters on non-creatures on cast. It effectively acts like +1/+1 counters but could have fringe benefits being thrown on enemy creature lands or guardian idols. Giving two -1/-1 counters to anything on cast / every turn would normally be way too strong, so the non-creature rider is a clever way around that. It’s also a great way to dodge the 0 toughness issue, and has some fringe use against manlands and guardian idol type cards.

@ghost31415926535 - Apex Hydra

What a big hydra! I like how the base rate is effectively just a hydra with 2*X P/T, which is pretty good. With even some moderate building around this guy gets really big and strong. Normally I’d say counting counter on creatures including itself can make for some difficult math, but the fact that it’s just a vanilla creature otherwise helps keep it from coming up too often. I don’t know why you let it count your opponents’ counters, though, that seems like it won’t come up often but will get awkward when it does. Still, I really like the design.

@gollumni - Cymede, Claimed by Keranos

Hey, it’s what happened to Cymede! I like the continuation of the demigod cycle, with the implication that there is one for every two color combination. Devotion to two colors might be a little strong, considering Anax already sees play for practically being a vanilla creature, but it’s forgivable. That activated ability also looks like it could be really really strong in the right deck, though it’s awkward that it is at odds with Cymede herself, who much prefers permanents. Also, neither of these colors should be caring about enchantments in graveyard, even if it is Theros. The cards a bit mixed, but I really like it and I’m happy you picked up a trend and worked with it.

@ignorantturtlegaming - Towering Brontodon

What a monster he is! Reach and vigilance make this a great defensive creature while slowly accumulating advantage by dropping lands into play. However, players having extra lands in hand after they hit 7 mana is rare, and can make them feel like they’re wasting an ability. I think this card really needed some way to encourage that last ability to become relevant, either by somehow drawing cards or maybe having an ability that bounces lands to your hand. The dino is nice, and it’s big, but I don’t think anyone would be excited to see this in a booster pack.

@joecurryat - Tuali, Attuned with the Horde

So it’s a Heedless One but you get to choose the creature type. That sounds like a great deal, but I’ve got two gripes. First, this card essentially makes you discard a card when you play it, and worse yet a creature. It would need pretty good stats to make up for that. Second, it’s not very strong. Unless you have a massive board of creatures, this probably won’t even be a 5/5 most of the time, and if you’re playing it in a tribal deck, it would usually be better just to play a card of that tribe. At 5 mana, this card is just too much for too little. Maybe with some keywords or another zone to imprint from it might be more playable.

@jsands84 - Kyuss, the Worm that Walks

Ah yes, eminence, the ability that everyone loves. I love the clear top-down design of this card, and the -1/-1 counter synergy is a cool build-around theme for a worm deck. This card has a lot of overlap with Hapatra as a -1/-1 commander, but the eminence ability pulls it far ahead. Too far ahead if you ask me. A lot of commander players consider eminence a mistake, and a free 1/1 every turn no questions asked is too strong, and making one on every player’s turn is ludicrously broken. A commander deck with Kyuss, 50 swamps, and 50 forests could win a surprising amount of games.

@kavinika - Eldrazi Gravelurker

Goyf got Eldrazi’d. While I’m not a huge fan of interacting too much with the exile zone, I think this might be the best way to do it. Making it count exile instead of graveyards fix a lot of issues with lhurgoyf; mainly that the graveyard is so volatile. I also like the ability, giving it some corner cases uses but also letting it interact with itself. I do worry that the card might be a bit too powerful, seeing that it counts ALL cards in ALL exile zones, meaning this could be a 4 mana 10/11 with upside in any color. I still think this would be a great fit for a set aimed at modern.

@legs-diamond - Spellbane Blockade

Someone wanted to get wacky! Good job figuring out just about the only way to make a card like this work. I like how, if you put a lot of work into getting a lot of spells on the stack, it limits your mana enough that you can’t just spam the ability and murder everyone. My big issue with this card is that it really doesn’t want to be a star card. If it had said RR: deal damage to any target equal to the number of spells on the stack, it would better serve its supposed function. As it is, slapping a bonesplitter on it just seems so much easier. At uncommon, one +1/+1 counter and waiting for your opponent to cast a spell just lets you pick off everything for little to no investment. I really appreciate you shooting for the moon, but I think you may have shot too far.

mardu-lesbian - Yarr-Harmogoyf

Great name, great creature type. So, let me get this out of the way: the adventure is way too strong. It’s Role Reversal with a free Misguided Rage tacked on and no card type restrictions. The creature half by comparison is just tacked on, and I suspect won’t usually be larger than a 5/5 unless you are already handily winning the game. I also think this isn’t a very good star card, and would probably be better off as just saying “this gets +X/+X” but I know this was a tough contest and you wanted to make to work. I think if you would have swapped the mana costs and dropped the 2s in place of the goyf’s traditional */*+1 this would have been a much more solidly designed card. And no matter what, this card is probably the entry that made me smile the most.

@milkandraspberry - Orphanage Watchdog

Good boy, friend of the children. I appreciate the attempt to stop the card from bugging out, though hopefully no one plays sakshima the imposter on it. I love the flavor and the cool effect. I think you could have made it a mana or two cheaper, though, considering it’s worse than crusader of Odric 90% of the time, I’d also be worried about this card dying as soon as it enters play. There’s also going to be awkwardness with it being pumped by your opponents creatures, meaning killing then will shrink your dog. I think this card would be really cool if only it’s power or toughness changed, and it checked creatures for the other stat. You were sadly one of the only people to submit a P/T card before the ask came in about the rules not allowing it.

@nine-effing-hells - Vengeance

Wow this card packs a wallop! So all you have to do is lose 10 life all at once and you get a 10/10+ with haste for two mana? Well, that actually doesn’t seem that bad. It can always just be chumped, and you are now at half your life or less. Still, it’s got fling and warstorm surge value. This is a really hard card for me to judge, because it’s sort of a death’s shadow for twice as much mana but with +7/+7, but it’s also sometimes a 7 mana 0/0. It also seems off color, since white usually wants your life high, not low. I think only the most dedicated of Jennies would try and make this card work.

@real-aspen-hours - Omnath, Hammer of Life

I like the throwback to classic Omnath, back when he had weird cool abilities instead of generic ones. That said, this card’s got issues. This star can get really high really quickly, and has some very unintuitive interactions with effects like prophetic prism. I also think the mana ability, while nice, is not really needed, since every player is already going to have a way to “turn on” the stars. I like what you were going for, but I think you picked something a little too challenging to keep track of and a little too easy to go off the rails with.

@reaperfromtheabyss - Eminent Belphagor

Grave Pact as a flyer with upside. I don’t see why not. A unique star value, to be sure, and I think the card does well to support it. At first the “dies” trigger instead of “is sacrifice” trigger seemed odd to me, since any death triggers the grave pact but only sacrifices change the power, but I can understand it as a way to push the card’s power a little. As much as I like the card, I think the mix of counting your creatures dying versus any creature sacrificing makes the card a little too hard to track, and the fact that it is generically good means it will go in decks that aren’t focused enough on sacrificing to keep track of the number normally. A high pick for most unique star value.

@shakeszx - Knowledge Piercer

I started reading the card and got scared but by the time I got to the end I was impressed. This is a really cool Viashino Sandstalker type ability that just gets bigger and bigger and can be a heavy hitter in the right decks. I think that this card might have a few tracking issues, since a player might draw into it in the middle of their turn, and be confused because they can’t remember how many cards they’ve drawn already. It shouldn’t be too bad, because those cards have got to have gone somewhere, but brainstorms and X costs draw spells can make this really difficult in the decks that need it most. However, I think this one is possibly the most helped by digital formats, since it’s almost closer to a burn spell than a creature, so you don’t really need to know the number, you just want it to be big. There’s also already some precedent, if small, to count card draws because of thundering djinn and thought sponge. I like the card, and could see it being printed and played.

@shandylamb - Daghatar, Eternal

I still have my daghatar EDH deck, for some reason, so I’m glad to see some abzan rep. There’s a couple of errors in the formatting (“are each equal” not “is equal”, capitalizing the keywards), but I like what you went for. I think you could have been fine doubling his P/T, considering he’s starting as a 2 mana 1/1 and then a 4 mana 2/2, but he makes up for his small size with his very good activated ability, which is a good way to incorporate his green color identity. I’m a little worried about how he will play, though, since most players will end up putting a die on him when he enters so they know his P/T, then might end up putting counters on him and lose count.

@snugz - Realmbreaker Demon

Having to sink 29 mana into a creature just to have it turn into a 5/5 flampler doesn’t seem worth it, especially when it starts as just a vanilla 4/4. Having to spend 54 mana to make it a Marit Lage also seems not worth it. If the level up cost were, say 1BB, I think this card could be really cool. I think it’s cool that the stars let you keep using level up as a sort of Carnivorous Moss Beast ability. I like how you accepted the challenge, I just wish you would have pushed the card a little more.

@socialpoison - Lurking Replacer

So, that last ability is clearly the focus here, and buy is it weird one. I like how it plays into the first two abilities, and in general I think it’s a cool effect. I will say it’s not clear to me where this card goes. In theory the star would like it to go in mill decks, but the unblockability makes me think tempo decks, and the last ability makes me think… control decks? I don’t know, it’s hard for me to figure out where that ability goes. I like the card, and the flavor is crazy good, but I just don’t know what to do with it.

@starch255 - Spirit of Vigor

I figured I’d see a card like this, and you did it in a really cool way. I like how you recognized that a lot of lifegain comes from lifelink, and tried to adjust for that with the ability that I THINK works. Granting first strike is different than a lot of other keywords because there is exactly one point in the turn phase where it is checked. I think it’s one of the only reasons Kwende works. Anyway, the card is cool! I honestly wouldn’t have minded if you just used last strike, but calling out lifelink at least makes deckbuilding with this card clever. And it needs to be, because this might be the most difficult star to track (that doesn’t break the rules) of all the cards entered this week. Life gain regularly happens in almost every phase of the game, and so does life loss, making it insanely hard to remember how much life you’ve gained over the course of a single turn. I still really like the card, but I don’t think it would ever see print.

@teaxch - Spirit of Discovery

Keyword stone soup. You get a bunch of abilities on your 5/5 but only if you put in the work. You listed Matca Raiders and Tek, but this also gives me a strong chromanticore and woodland wanderer vibe. I think this is a solid card that’s very easy to track and is fun to play and likes being put in the right deck. That said, a 5/5 for 4 with a bunch of keywords is just not that exciting. It will either die to removal immediately or run away with the game, but that’s just what green does nowadays so who am I to say.

@tmstage - Fiery Orator

This is a fun, very strong card. A couple slower burn decks might run this as a finisher, and in standard this could wreak havoc. I just don’t think there’s any easy way to track this card’s power. It counts all damage to players, planeswalker, and creatures, no matter how much and whenever it happens, which is going to be an absolute pain if you’re playing anything but the most straightforward of burn decks. I also think this card might just be too strong. Compared to war elemental, it trades off the sacrifice downside with having the power be temporary instead of permanent, but also gains trample and a lot of toughness and triggering off of ALL damage, even to you. Maybe I’m overselling this card, but I think at a minimum it would just be unfun to play against and linear when you are playing it yourself.

@wolkemesser - The Marovore

So, I’m pretty sure, as discussed in an ask on Tuesday, that this doesn’t work within the rules. The stars are there for humans playing the game: once they’re in the game, the stars essentially stop existing and the P/Ts are just what they are. Ignoring that, I appreciate that you put effort into turning the contest on its head. I think this could be a fun build around commander. “Draw a card when you do thing” is a tried and true commander formula, and the surveil rider is a cool way to make the card work with your theme. I think it may be a little basic, but I could see it being a fun card if the rules allowed it. Also, I like the name.

And I think that’s everyone! Thank you all once again for participating in the fair, I think everyone did a great job. It was fun running the fair for a week, hopefully it won’t be the last time.

-Mod @mistershinyobject signing off, for real this time

#mtg #custom magic card #inventor's fair #seeing stars #proving grounds #mistershinyobject #thank you #commentary #magic the gathering

17 notes · View notes

rannadylin · 5 years ago

Note

💌 for Dal and Nona?

This ended up being way harder than I expected. Dal liked Nona but after everything that happened - all Nona’s secrets and lies just beginning to be revealed (I mean, Dal would still assume Nona was a priestess of Skaen; I don’t think the comment in that last meal together about the amulet helping her blend in would have been enough for Idalia to figure out just what kind of blending in Nona meant), and Eothas’ rather firm insistence on Nona as part of the great evil he’s trying to fight - which, to be fair, is totally true, just way too nonspecific - Dal’s final impression of Nona is a lot more suspicious than at the beginning. And she still sort of likes her and isn’t sure why, or if she should, so it was difficult to come up with a reason why she would try to write to her.

So...after pondering what was left of common interests for them...Nona’s getting a recipe in the mail. (And a bit of friendly concern, despite all.)

Dear Nona,

I hope this letter finds you well, wherever your dutieshave taken you since we saw each other last. I hope this letter can findyou at all, really; I’m not all that certain about this address. If not, Isuppose that’s all right. I’m sure your duties keep you busy and it will not bethe end of the world if you are beyond reach of a letter from me. For my part, I’vebeen busier in the kitchen than in priestly duties since we came to Ixamitl,and that makes me think of you sometimes, of all the meals we prepared togetherat various campfires. I learned a recipe here recently that I think you would enjoy.In Ixamitl they cook chicken with a marinade unlike anything I’ve ever had inthe Dyrwood (and really, Dyrwoodan food in general seems very bland now; I’vehad to learn so many spices and sauces and vegetables and fruits that I hadnever heard of in Gilded Vale, but they’re very fun to experiment with). It’scalled Whitecoast Chicken and I’ve enclosed the recipe, should you wish toexperiment as well.

Have you heard anything from your mother since we leftReadceras? I hope someone was able to bring her word that you made it to safety.Mathis would have, I’m sure, if the Dyrwoodans ever let him go back toWaidwen’s camp. She seemed so distraught after your escape. I know it must havebeen hard to see her again after she left you. I think it has been easier forme, with scarcely any memory of my parents, to begin a relationship with themnow and forgive them for the same, but even that has been more complicated thanI would have guessed. So I’m sure it is even more so for you. But still, it isso worth the effort. (Forgiveness never is about their needs so much asabout yours, after all, about not blocking a door to healing andhappiness, about refusing to poison yourself on sickly-sweet resentment.) Ihope, anyway, you and your mother will have another chance somehow. And I hope,again, you are well, and that Sînwen has been kind to you, and that your wurmthrives. (I suppose it must be very large by now, actually, so perhaps you hadbetter not tell me if it does.)

May your god look on you with favor,

Idalia

[What does my muse say about yours?]

#idalia #nona #pillars of eternity #poe god squad campaign #thanks for asking!#aban-ataashi

6 notes · View notes

queen-scribbles · 7 years ago

Text

30 Day Watcher Meme: Day 21

21. DRAGONS: how many of the dragons did your watcher seek out? did they utilize diplomacy with any of them, or fight them? did they go searching for dragons to hunt, or did they only confront them to solve the various problems they caused? were there any other foes your watcher felt particularly accomplished about defeating?

Tavi killed the Sky Dragon and Cail the Silent. She tried to kill the Alpine Dragon, wiped twice, and I said forget it. xD I think she was too low level. And there was a bunch of drakes and wurms, obviously, but those were the only big ones she killed. She always felt very accomplished when she took down Eyeless, though, those things are hard.

Khel only killed Cail the Silent. Not big dragon hunters, my kids. (Mostly bc I play for the story and those fights are too much of a pain for me to bother with if I don’t have to xD) He felt pretty accomplished about taking down that bear on the way to Gilded Vale, seeing as it was just him and Fletch, no party, and very tight quarters that hampered use of a bow.

#tavi illani #khellin illani #watcher meme #forgot to do this yesterday #and it doesn't fit well with today's so i'll do this now today's later :D

2 notes · View notes

mtgbracket · 7 years ago

Text

Round of 8192 - Batch 92

You can now vote in Batch 92!

Currently open batches:

Batch 92 Batch 91 Batch 90 Batch 89 Batch 88 Batch 87 Batch 86

Batch 85 results will be up shortly.

Feature match: Fringe Modern combo card Restore Balance takes on Imperial Seal’s big brother, Vampiric Tutor.

Full list of matchups:

Tidal Bore vs Cradle of Vitality Slayers' Stronghold vs Harvest Gwyllion Pulse of the Forge vs Firestorm Hero of Bladehold vs Seeker of the Way Darigaaz's Charm vs Fight to the Death Vanquish the Foul vs Atogatog Basalt Golem vs Fevered Visions Urge to Feed vs Aeon Chronicler Sigiled Starfish vs Humble Defector Testament of Faith vs Rakdos's Return Whirlpool Drake vs Citadel Castellan Patchwork Gnomes vs Archetype of Courage Demonic Collusion vs Lava Dart Spell Shrivel vs Ghost Hounds Parting Thoughts vs Clone Shell Valor vs Ash Zealot Shauku's Minion vs Eater of the Dead Trespassing Souleater vs Mnemonic Wall Nightguard Patrol vs Freewind Falcon Sanguinary Mage vs Vapor Snare Pearl Medallion vs Maga, Traitor to Mortals Mutavault vs Szadek, Lord of Secrets Pyrewild Shaman vs Soulless One Silvos, Rogue Elemental vs Tenza, Godo's Maul Invoke the Firemind vs Luminarch Ascension Hideous Laughter vs Soul Snuffers Restore Balance vs Vampiric Tutor Acid-Spewer Dragon vs Arcbound Overseer Roiling Horror vs Maggot Therapy Magus of the Will vs Gild Mindless Automaton vs Deathcoil Wurm Oblivion Strike vs Chandra Ablaze

#mtg #magic the gathering

3 notes · View notes

loreleywrites · 7 years ago

Text

The Limited Archetypes of Hour of Devastation

Another new set, another new limited format. Hour of Devastation builds on the themes established earlier in the block, so definitely go read my article about Amonkhet limited if you haven’t yet. That said, the God-Pharaoh’s return is bringing a few changes to the format.

Today’s article will walk through all ten two-color limited archetypes. Each one has a strategy associated with it, but remember that these aren’t the end-all-be-all of drafting or playing sealed with these color pairs. They’re more like guidelines, as a wise pirate captain once said.

White/Blue: Embalm & Eternalize

Hour of Eternity by Tyler Jacobson

While Hour of Devastation introduces a new mechanic in eternalize, it’s only half-new. In Amonkhet, we had the embalm mechanic, which let you mummify one of your dead creatures as a White Zombie. Eternalize does something similar. You get to armor your dead creatures with lazotep, turning them into 4/4 Black Zombies instead. Eternalize is just an advanced version of embalm.

This archetype will play very similar to how it did before. You’ll get lots of value in the late game thanks to your undead army, but your creatures will be better because they’ll always be a 4/4. This strategy rewards you by allowing you to always use your mana in the most efficient way possible.

Key cards: Steadfast Sentinel, Sunscourge Champion, Strategic Planning, Vizier of the Anointed

Blue/Black: Cycling Control

Without Weakness by Alex Konstad

Basically nothing has changed with the Blue/Black archetype. You’re still looking for two things: cheap cyclers and payoff cards. There are a number of cards that care about your graveyard in this block, so don’t forget those too.

There are a lot of build-around-me cards in this color pair, so it can be a little difficult to make a deck that works. The idea is to be patient and win by hitting your land drops and having better card value than your opponent. Slow and steady survives the apocalypse.

Key cards: Striped Riverwinder, Ominous Sphinx, Lurching Rotbeast, Vile Manifestation

Black/Red: Afflict Aggro

Neheb, the Eternal by Chris Rahn

Black/Red revolved around a mechanic nicknamed heckbent, which cared about you having one or fewer cards in hand. That’s gone in Hour of Devastation.

Instead, Black and Red are the colors most focused on the new afflict mechanic. This ability causes your opponent to lose life even when they block your creatures.

While these two themes don’t directly overlap, they play in the same hyper-aggressive space. You want to play out your hand and turn creatures sideways. Kill spells and burn help clear the way and finish off your opponent. Be! Aggressive! B-R! Aggressive!

Key cards: Grisly Survivor, Merciless Eternal, Frontline Devastator, Burning-Fist Minotaur

Red/Green: Desert Beatdown

Dunes of the Dead by E. M. Gist

In Amonkhet, Red/Green was sort of a theme-less curve-out deck. Play your Red two-drops, Red or Green three-drops, and Green four-drops. Create an overwhelming board presence of high-power creatures and force your opponent to find their premium removal. Exert helped a lot with this last set, but wasn’t as tight a theme.

Hour of Devastation brings a little more cohesion to this pair. Deserts matter more than ever, and Red/Green is the archetype best suited to take advantage of them. Red has the rawest power in its Deserts-matter cards, and Green’s ramp can help find those needed lands. This is still a curve-out beatdown archetype, but the Desert subtheme gives you something to build around.

Key cards: Gilded Cerodon, Sand Strangler, Ambuscade, Quarry Beetle

Green/White: Exert Midrange

Pride Sovereign by Ryan Yee

Green/White was very flexible last set, and this trend continues. It can be a low-curve aggro deck that prioritizes two-drops and cheap combat tricks, or it can be a beefier deck that slings removal before dropping resilient and evasive threats.

The main mechanic to focus on is still exert. Green and White have access to vigilance and the ability to untap creatures. This helps eliminate the cost of exert, allowing you to have the most powerful creatures on the board. Master combat and you will assuredly defeat your enemies.

Key cards: Rhonas’s Stalwart, Overcome, Dauntless Aven, Desert’s Hold

White/Black: Zombies

Adorned Pouncer and token by Slawomir Maniak

This tribal archetype continues in Hour of Devastation, though I think it’s a little more flexible than it was before. Last set, this was a grindier strategy. This time, the Zombies have more of an aggressive focus.

Thus, there are two main ways to build this deck. You can key in on low-cost Zombies to attack your way to victory as fast as possible. Alternatively, you can combine White and Black’s powerful removal with graveyard recursion for the same grindy archetype from before.

Key cards: Mummy Paramount, Unconventional Tactics, Marauding Boneslasher, Accursed Horde

Blue/Red: Spells

Swarm Intelligence by Daniel Ljunggren

If you’re noticing a theme in archetypes being a little more aggressive this time around, good! It’s true. Even the spells deck has a number of two-drops and three-drops that can bring the pain when combined with cheap removal spells.

The Amonkhet payoff cards in these colors rewarded you for filling your graveyard with spells. That theme has been reined in. There are more prowess creatures in Hour of Devastation, simply rewarding you for casting instants and sorceries. Purposefully, slinging cheap spells around also gets them into your graveyard. Overlap!

Key cards: Unsummon, Riddleform, Thorned Moloch, Inferno Jet

Black/Green: -1/-1 Counters

Banewhip Punisher by Scott Murphy

Amonkhet used -1/-1 counters on your own creatures to show the harshness of training in Naktamun. Hour of Devastation opens up the flavor, and thus mechanics, of -1/-1 counters by refocusing them as tools of destruction.

Either way, most of the cards that care about -1/-1 counters will still care about them. You can produce overpowered threats by dumping -1/-1 counters on your creatures with death triggers. Then load up your opponent’s creatures with -1/-1 counters to bust through their defenses. Once you get rolling, you’ll be difficult to stop.

Key cards: Lethal Sting, Banewhip Punisher, Feral Prowler, Tenacious Hunter

Red/White: Exert Aggro

Crash Through by Izzy

This is probably the archetype that has changed the least. Prioritize two-drops. Even snatch up one-drops. Cheap removal is your best friend. Hit hard, hit fast, and no mercy!

Easily the most aggressive pair in this block and one of the most aggressive of all time, it’s also important to have somewhere to put your mana if you don’t win quickly. Embalm and eternalize are great ways to do that. They also give you ways to fight through removal-heavy decks.

Key cards: Kenra Scrapper, Fervent Paincaster, Djeru’s Renunciation, Vizier of the True

Green/Blue: Ramp

Hour of Promise by Jonas De Ro

If you liked the Green/Blue ramp deck in Amonkhet limited, you’ll be glad to know that it’s mostly the same. Cycling helps you hit all your land drops. Blue’s delaying spells buy you time to drop your huge Green creatures to finish off a game.

The new angle? Deserts. Green has the most Deserts-matter cards, and the archetype all about building up lands will have plenty. If you can build up your defenses, these colors can even put together a decent mill strategy with Seer of the Last Tomorrow and Ipnu Rivulet. However your destiny leads you to victory, just find the cards that let you spend all your mana every turn.

Key cards: Beneath the Sands, Sifter Wurm, Unquenchable Thirst, Supreme Will

Die and Let Die

Amonkhet is going to hell in a handbasket, and you can knock that basket out of Bolas’s claws this weekend at the Hour of Devastation prerelease! Prerelease format is always sealed deck, so treat this article as a loose guide on what synergies to look for in your card pool.

Good luck surviving the devastation this weekend, initiates, and may you find yourselves worthy of living to see another day.

#Magic The Gathering #MTG #Hour of Devastation #MTGHOU #limited #draft #sealed

66 notes · View notes

dhb912 · 5 years ago

Photo

#conswag continues: Modern Horizons Serra the Benevolent booster: Art Series 12 Zhalfirin Decoy 008 Elemental Token/012 Elephant Token 013 Giver of Runes [Rare] 008 Face of Divinity [Uncommon] 159 Conifer Wurm [Uncommon] 190 Wall of Blossoms [Uncommon] 252 Snow-Covered Swamp 002 Answered Prayers 012 Gilded Light 024 Rhox Veteran 062 Phantom Ninja 072 String of Disappearances 093 Gluttonous Slug 135 Magmatic Sinkhole 144 Reckless Charge 190 Spore Frog 187 Trumpeting Herd #ocalacomiccon #occ #ocalacomiccon2019 #magic #gathering #mtg #tcg #boosters #modernhorizons #modern #vintage #legacy #edh #oathbreaker #artseries #serrathebenevolent #urzalordhighartificer #ayulaqueenamongbears https://www.instagram.com/p/BzFKuO8DMKt/?igshid=1839isvau8pv1

#conswag #ocalacomiccon #occ #ocalacomiccon2019 #magic #gathering #mtg #tcg #boosters #modernhorizons #modern #vintage #legacy #edh #oathbreaker #artseries #serrathebenevolent #urzalordhighartificer #ayulaqueenamongbears

0 notes

dailymtgflavortext · 8 years ago

Text

EDH Decks: Amonkhet Overhaul

Hello everyone! Another Magic set means another massive list of changes for many of my EDH decks! Below, I will outline some of the changes I made, as well as talk a bit about some of the new cards I think are interesting or worth using.

I hope you enjoy my musings!

Here we go!

1. Thromok, the Insatiable

I want to make more changes to this deck in the near future, so I haven’t added much yet. But for now, I added Sheltered Thicket and Vizier of the Menagerie. The thicket isn’t a particularly exciting addition by any means, but it’s kind of cool to have the entire family tree of Forest/Mountains in the deck. The vizier is a super cool card though. This is a very creature-centric deck, but I’ve found the overall CMC of the cards to be a little on the higher side. I replaced Garruk’s Horde with this card, since it does the same thing but at a much lower cost. In the longer run, I want to make this deck a little less about big stuff as my Iwamori deck becomes almost entirely about big stuff. Speaking of which...

2. Iwamori of the Open Fist

Iwamori got a lot in this set, he seems to get along really well with Rhonas and friends. First of all, obviously Rhonas himself found a place in the deck since he will always be a creature and he can pump up the commander. Good stuff. Mouth // Feed is also a really good card in mono-green I feel. I mean, the 3/3 Hippo for 3 isn’t super great or anything, but getting Feed into the graveyard so you can use it whenever you want is pretty nice. Prowling Serpopard is another card I added, but I haven’t had a chance to use it yet. It seems like a decent utility card in a deck full of creatures, particularly since I don’t have access to Vexing Shusher in this deck like I do in Thromok. It can be fetched with Woodland Bellower too, so that’s something.

Now, for a couple cards I’m not completely sold on. Rhonas’s Monument was super wreck in sealed, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It makes my creatures cheaper, so that’s good. It also pumps my commander. Again, not bad. I feel like it should make the cut, but I haven’t used it yet. Finally, I also added Champion of Rhonas, kind of on a whim. I really want to make attacking more important to the deck since people in my playgroup rarely attack if they don’t plan to win the game by doing it, and this seems like a pretty good card for that. I dunno, I had the foil version from the prerelease. I wanted to use it.

3. Melek, Izzet Paragon

Yeah, my green decks got the most from this set. Just one thing here: Commit // Memory. Really, I’m surprised I don’t see more talk about this card. Commit is a pseudo-counterspell as well as nonland permanent removal. I mean... that sounds great! I like it a lot. Memory is less exciting, but it’s a solid card to cast from a graveyard. All in all I like this card a lot, but somehow I didn’t even know it existed until I got one in a prize pack.

4. Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice

I’m still trying to get this deck to work well. It looks nice. I enjoy the whole aesthetic of the deck. But, it doesn’t really compete super well with the decks my friends run. However, Amonkhet seems to have just the cards that I need: cards that give free stuff! More specifically, cards that give free stuff that are based on counters! As Foretold and Oracle’s Vault are perfect for this deck, so I’m really looking forward to trying them out. I also added Bounty of the Luxa because I think it’s a cool card, and I could always use a bit more card draw/mana. It might go out of the deck later, but for now it’s there.

5. Karona, False God

This isn’t Alara, so 5-colour matters isn’t a theme that pops up often. Having said that, this set has Cascading Cataracts. It’s not a particularly good card, but I have a foil one. I dunno, I could see it maybe being useful if Chromatic Lantern isn’t in play. Possibly. It just looks pretty, okay?

6. Zur de France (Zur the Enchanter)

This deck is getting a lot of goodies, but it’s still a work in progress. Lots of cycling going on. Stay tuned for a deck list eventually!

And yeah, I think that’s it for cards I’m using. Of course, there are other good cards that I think are worth mentioning:

Sandwurm Convergence looks pretty good in a green deck, and I am considering it. The best thing about it is the fact that you actually get a wurm on the turn you play it, so it starts paying off right away. It’s a 5/5 tied to a Gravity Well for 8 mana that keeps generating more 5/5s. Sounds good if you can ramp to it well enough.

Glorious End is a funny card that I’m sure a silly mono-red deck out there somewhere will enjoy.

Samut, Voice of Dissent is a really weird card, and I personally hate that she has White in her activated ability. She’s better as a general that way, but it also means that I can’t use her as a Haste engine in Thromok. What a shame. For me.

Harsh Mentor looks like a card that will get a lot of use in some formats. Turns off a lot of combos, so it’s something to use if those are running rampant in your meta.

Annointed Procession looks really good. I don’t have a White token deck to use it in, but I’m sure it will become a staple in many of them. Can’t complain about as colour-shifted Parallel Lives.

Nissa, Steward of Elements looks super good. Might even find room for her in Atraxa. Probably should, actually.

Pyramid of the Pantheon is a card I really like, but I just have nowhere to put it. It’s a build-your-own Gilded Lotus, but I have no reason to use it over an actual Gilded Lotus. Even in Atraxa, I’d rather use Prismatic Geoscope. It’s a shame too, because I really think it’s a cool card. I mean, Gilded Lotus isn’t very cheap though, and the Pyramid is like a bulk rare. That should help it find a place in a lot of decks out there.

Heaven // Earth is another card that slipped by under my radar. It’s two board wipes in one. Can’t go wrong there.

Reduce // Rubble is a card I mention not because I think it’s good, but because of how disappointed I am in it. It’s fine for what it is, but I was reeeeealllyyy looking forward to the R/U split card for Melek, and I got this. Why is Rubble so... underwhelming? With a name like Reduce to Rubble, you’d think it would at least destroy a land, not just ice a couple down. Ugh.

Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons looks like a sick general. One of my friends is building a deck around her. I even might have if he didn’t.

Liliana, Death’s Majesty looks really good in a reanimator deck. I like her a lot. Not sure what else there is to say about her, she’s just a solid planeswalker.

Cut // Ribbons looks pretty good. Exsanguinate is used in a lot of decks, so if you are also running Red, might as well use this one as well. It’s removal on one hand, and a win-con on the other. Pretty solid.

And, that’s that. If you made it this far, I congratulate you! I hope you enjoyed what you read! I do enjoy talking about Magic cards, even if it means writing these long posts that people may or may not read.

#mtg #magic the gathering #amonkhet #edh #just me talking

2 notes · View notes

solsticesungod · 8 years ago

Text

My first look at 6 packs of Amonkhet

Amonkhet WIP

Vizier of the Menagerie: Nagas on the plane. Doesn’t give away any new mechanics. Interesting that it is look at and not reveal.

Fan Bearer: No class on this Zombie, which art wise is a mummy. Your basic white tapper, nothing too special.

PACK 1

Tah-Crop Skirmisher: Seems like a regular 2 drop but introduces me to the Embalm mechanic. Which is interesting that it makes it white. I guess white is the reanimation zombie color because of this and Fan bearer. Embalm seems really strong in limited with like fliers or on anything with an ETB.

Minotaur Sureshot: Goatlike minotaur, similar to Zedruu?? A red archer with firebreathing seems pretty decent.

Blighted Bat: Black tertiary haste. Decent limited flier. Amonkhet has 2 suns and doesn’t have nighttime?? Seems really cool.

Haze of Pollen: Shows that Cycling makes a return and is variable costed like last time. Fog effect for 2 so its okay, cycling is an upside.

Cradle of the Accursed: DESERT LAND TYPE HYPE. Taps for C and makes a 2/2 if you need it, seems really good.

Floodwaters: 6 mana sorcery speed bounce spell, but it hits two things. Is just okay and could be good in limited, has cycling which vastly improves the card. Viziers are important.

Stinging Shot: Upgrade to leaf arrow. Cycling is really good. Also -1/-1 counters are a thing in this set. Second time initiates have been mentioned, what are they initiates for?

Wasteland Scorpion: 3 cmc 2/2 with deathtouch is good for limited, and it cycles. Gods are mentioned? Are important names like Kefnet gods?

Electrify: Surprised this name hadn’t been used yet. Limited removal spell.

Zenith Seeker: Bird wizards are fun. Cycling and discard matters so maybe that is a sub theme this set? Makes dudes fly so it seems pretty good.

Sixth Sense: Green Curiosity, but grants it and fixes the text so no infinite with Niv-Mizzet.

Baleful Ammit: Crocodile Demon is a badass creature type. 3cmc 4/3 lifelink with downside, but could it be upside in some cases with other cards this set? Mentions initiates again, gives this one a location they are from, and mentions another name, Samut.

Throne of the God-Pharaoh: WOW WHO IS IT? IS IT BOLAS? IDK I HAVENT SEEN ANY OF HIS HORNS THIS SET. Legendary artifact that seems like a really strong clock for agro decks. Gives a lot of lore in the flavor text.

Tah-Crop Skirmisher TOKEN: It’s the embalm dude from earlier but it’s a token and has mummified art. NEAT.

PACK 2

Naga Oracle: Lore flavor text. Scry 3 but dump in your grave instead of bottom of library, seems good with stuff like embalm.

Tormenting Voice: Reprint, lets you dump to grave. More God-Pharaoh stuff.

Supply Caravan: Return of camels. Makes a token if you have a tapped creature, is that a theme? But the 1/1 it makes has vigilance so it can’t enable other stuff, but makes sense flavorfully. Oketra is one of the gods.

Illusory Wrappings: Really strong “removal” card. Kefnet is god of Knowledge, the gods have trials, so maybe that’s what the initiates are doing?

Wander in Death: Great name. Great Flavor Text. Raise Dead effect that hits two and can cycle, seems pretty good.

Greater Sandwurm: SANDWORM HYPE. Big dude that you can’t chump, and it cycles, amazing common.

Unburden: Reprint but it seems strong. Bontu is another god.

Pouncing Cheetah: Ambush Kitty. Flavor text tells some lore.

Hooded Brawler: This is the creatures tapped sub theme. Introduces Exert mechanic. It grows into a 5/4 but doesn’t untap. It seems like a very strong mechanic in some ways.

River Serpent: Cheap cycler but is a creature with a downside that seems big but with stuff like cycling you should be able to have 5 in grave by turn 6.

Vizier of Remedies: Nerfs -1/-1 Counters and you could combine this with Baleful Ammit to just have a big dude with pure value and no downside. Seems really strong.

Watchful Naga: Exerter that draws a card, 2/2 body. Seems good in limited.

Seraph of the Suns: lel flavor text. 7 cmc flying indestructible 4/4. Doesn’t seem as good with stuff like Stinging Shot but still seems like a tough card to get through in limited.

Pyramid of the Pantheon: Uses brick counters to build the pyramid and filter mana which then turns into a Gilded Lotus. Flavor Text is very ominous.

Punchout Token with mechanics and bricks: One of the coolest tokens ever. Very very good idea to whoever thought of it.

PACK 3

Fan Bearer: Tap Target creature could be a downside now that I see it again.

Tah-Crop Skirmisher

Scarab Feast: Can eat cards before embalming or turn off other cards, and it cycles for the same cost as casting so you can exile 3 or draw a card.

Pouncing Cheetah

Blazing Volley: hits all opponents’ dudes but doesn’t seem like much, could deal with Tah-Crop skirmisher and other stuff that seems annoying.

Painful Lesson: Good Flavor text. Worse Sign in Blood/Night’s Whisper

Emberhorn Minotaur: Really strong exert card. Hits for 5 or probably takes 2 dudes with it.

Cradle of the Accursed

Floodwaters

Stinging Shot: Really strong.

Ruthless Sniper: Cycle or Discard seems to be a cycle? This has you pay 1 to drop a -1/-1 counter on a creature. For 1 cmc this seems real good.

Bontu’s Monument: Wow. Gods get monuments, and this one makes you drop creatures earlier and drains when you cast them. Really cool.

Weaver of Currents: 3 cmc mana dork that taps for CC. Seems good. Cool art and flavor.

Glory-Bound Initiate: Exert turns it into a 4/4 lifelink. Seems real good when that swings on turn 2. This is one of the previously mentioned initiates and I was right in that they go through the trials.

PACK 4

Manticore of the Gauntlet: Manticore type return. -1/-1 as an upside? Bolts if you make your dude weaker. Seems like a strong card.

Singed Shepherd: Weird looking angel, has Avacyn the Purifier’s wings. Flying Vigilance 3/3 seems good and it cycles if you can’t play it early. Good card. FT talks about Accounting of Hours more and some other lore.

Essence Scatter: Reprint. Talks about Kefnet

Desert Cerodon: Cerodons like from Alara? Big dude that Cycles for 1. Not much to say.

Miasmic Mummy: Works with the Cycle/Discard guys. Jackal type comes back. Bear with slight upside ?

Colossapede: Badass name. Badass Flavor Text. 5 cmc 5/5 Dece.

Hooded Brawler

Luxa River Shrine: OH. You build things with bricks and when they have 3 bricks they get better. Seems pretty fun.

Compulsory Rest: Pacifism that taxes with an upside to opponent to remove it. Very interesting design.

River Serpent

Trial of Ambition: One of those trials I’ve been hearing about. Good ETB effect and what the fuck is a Cartouche, but its repeatable with whatever that is.

Trial of Zeal: “And another one”. Bolts on ETB and Cartouche makes it repeatable. Really cool design, I guess you can undergo the trial repeatedly.

Decimator Beetle: Good body that turns -1/-1 counters into upside for you. I would not want to run into this bug. Seems REALLY strong.

Harsh Mentor: Damn this is a strong card. Really hurts all kind of decks. Legacy/Modern playable??

Full Art Land !

Hippo token: WHAT MAKES THESE

Pack 5

Rhet-Crop Spearmaster: Swings as a 4/1 First Strike if you need. 3cmc for a 3/1 is weaker but seems strong.

Hieroglyphic Illumination: A draw spell that’s also a draw spell. Cool design and can be what you need at times. Really pretty art.

Fling: Reprint. Seems really good with some of the big creatures rolling around this set. Standard will use it with RG energy. Cool flavor text.

Mighty Leap: Reprint. Evasion spell and pump. That second sun thing is ominous.

Dune Beetle: 2cmc 1/4 good blocker I guess. That’s a damn big bug though.

Ornery Kudu: Hard to pronounce antelope. Good body for the cost and drops a -1/-1 counter on a dude to mess around with.

River Serpent

Unwavering Initiate: Really strong embalm for limited. 3/2 vigilance is nothing to mess with especially when it comes back.

Sunscorched Desert: Desert that ETB pings your opponent and doesn’t enter tapped. Very playable.

Wayward Servant: Zombie tribal drain card. In WB which is zombie colors this set. Is a bear so that seems like a really strong card.

Consuming Fervor: Colorshifted Unstable Mutation. Seems really strong as it’s a semi-permanent but diminishing Giant Growth that eventually kills the creature; BUT you could stop it with stuff like that one beetle or the Vizier.

Galestrike: Conditional Unsummon that draws a card. Cool name and flavor.

Champion of Rhonas: UHHHHHHH. This card is insanely good. Drops a free creature turn 4/5 at the cost of not untapping your 3/3. AND if it lives you get to do it again and again every other turn, if you don’t have untap shenanigans.

Glyph Keeper: FOIL Kira ability and it comes back?! This card has insane value and will probably be a control finisher.

Wurm Token

PACK 6

Brute Strength: Reprint. Seems like a good combat trick. Fun flavor.

Sacred Cat: 1/1 lifelinkitty with flashback. Seems fun.

Cancel: Reprint. LOL flavor text.

Bloodlust Inciter: Haste on a stick. Seems like a good aggro card. Cool flavor.

Quarry Hauler: Camel. Proliferate or De-Proliferate on one target card? Seems pretty good with that body.

Winds of Rebuke: Bounce a card and everyone mills 2 for 2cmc. That seems really good especially in a graveyard matters set.

Final Reward: Black instant exile with no drawback! That’s sorta weird but I guess its in their color pie. Good limited card as it stops embalm. Just misses constructed playable IMO.

Dissenter’s Deliverance: Destroys buildings and such and cycles. Seems like a good shatter type card. More ominous hours in the flavor text.

Cartouche of Strength: Cartouche for the Trials has finally showed up and it comes with its own type. Its an aura that has an ETB and pumps your dude. Removal and can synergize with your trials. Seems like a really good deal especially at its cost.

Labyrinth Guardian: Illusion drawback on a good body and it comes back. Seems like a pretty sweet card in any deck.

Protection of the Hekma: Urzas armor makes a comeback in the form of this enchantment. I am not too sure what the Hekma is except it’s a barrier of some sort but this card seems pretty cool and flavorful. I am a fan of urzas armor so I’ll try this out sometime.

Crocodile of the Crossing: Really efficient creature even if it has to hit itself with its -1/-1 counter. I’m always a fan of Crocodiles. I like the snarky flavor text from mr Rhonas.

Cruel Reality: Story Spotlight. Really hard taxing on a player with the return of the Curse type. Strong but high cost. I assume from the Gideon and crop-mate part that the Gatewatch are running the trials on Amonkhet for whatever reason and this is a big moment where he realizes how screwed up everything is.

Grim Strider: FOIL Seems like a very interesting card. If you play on curve this should be a 4 cmc 3/3 but if you build around it it seems like it could get places, like a weaker death’s shadow. Cool flavor and lets you know more about the Hekma and how terrible things are on Amonkhet outside of the main city.

Dusk//Dawn: AFTERMATH. Modified flashback. This is very flavorful and seems really strong. I will be playing this in my Alesha EDH deck.

4 notes · View notes

sigrun23 · 8 years ago

Text

Music Shuffle

I was tagged by @accio-hogwarts-a-history Thank you! Rules: Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people.

1. A Thief in the Night - Howard Shore, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies OST

2. Arrival of the Trio - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Love Never Dies

3. O Tyle Proszę Cię - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Upiór w operze (Polish version of The Phantom of the Opera)

4. Vera - Pink Floyd, The Wall

5. Symphony No. 9 in D minor - Ludwig van Beethoven

6. The Lightsaber/The Ewok Battle - John Williams, Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi OST

7. Gilded Cage - Blackmore’s Night, Secret Voyage

8. See Emily Play - Pink Floyd, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

9. Riesen - Wurm Winde Sich Ringelnd - Richard Wanger, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold

10. All the Fun of the Fayre - Blackmore’s Night, A Knight in York

@bounding-heart @itsmusicalphan24601 @kingdomforscorbus @a-crossthestars @dailyanakin @fangirl-by-night @ohscorbus @plati-arts

#music shuffle #tag game

4 notes · View notes

mediocremagicman · 7 years ago

Photo

Wednesday night draft!

10 Person Hour of Devestation (2xHOU,1xAKH)

There was an appetite to play anything but Ixalan so this week we settled on Hour of Devastation draft. I started this draft off with a greedy first pick and while luck seemed to be in my favor throughout the draft the winds of fate changed during the games. In the end I just wasn't able to get there in two matches for a 1-2 record.

The Draft (Each pick in order from top to bottom, then left to right)

So in pack one I had not one but two fairly decent rares to choose from. An Earthshaker Khenra and foil Ammit Eternal. Those are good aggressive cards that win games in limited with the bonus of being in a single color. That may have been the best choice strategically but just isn't what I wanted to do. After the non-stop aggressive decks of Ixalan I want to play something different. River Hoopoe is exactly the kind of card I want to play. It's slow for sure but that lets me play bigger things and do something else than just race with my opponent. It was less good, but more fun. The next pick, Ambuscade, is one of the best green commons in the set. Since the damage is one way it is works as removal. It has the downside that you have to have a creature but the upside of being an instant and works great as a combat trick. It's a solid reason to go into green. Aerial Guide is a solid pick on the blue side of things. It works well in an aggressive stance but also breaks board locks later in the game by letting the big creatures you played earlier finally get through. Another Ambuscade is as fine as the first. Bitterbow Sharpshooters is mid grade of the mid range. Works solid as a 5 drop but doesn't blow minds. Third Ambuscade lets me know green is wide open to my right because by this point because anyone who was even thinking about being green would have taken it by this point. A second River Hoopoe coming down the pipe brought a sense of justification in taking the first one. Although there weren't any clear signs blue as a whole was open it meant I was almost certainly the only player in both blue and green. Spellweaver Eternal is a vastly underrated two drop in this format. The afflict trigger means they often don't block and prowess lets you capitalize on that to get more damage in. Plus 4 is the general top end for toughness so when combined with Ambuscade it kills nearly everything in this set. Wall of Forgotten Pharaohs is exactly the kind of card my deck needs right now. The four toughness blanks most two or three drop attackers which lets me get to the late game I'm targeting and the ability lets me win that late game when the board gets stalled. Rampaging Hippo is a another important piece to the puzzle I'm constructing. The River Hoopoes buy time in the mid game and ensure I can find things for the late game, but only if I have things for the late game to find. It's not a game ending bomb so I'll need more of it but seeing cards like it this late in the pack means I'll likely see more. Unsummon is a decent card that works toward what I want. It puts my opponent off tempo slightly and buys time. Survivor's Encampment is nice to see since it lets give me the option to splash colors. The rest of the back is just unplayable through.

Pack two starts off with one of the greatest top ends I could get in the format. Assuming I live long enough to get more than one 4/4 out of it then God-Pharaoh's Gift is an enormous bang for my buck. Plus it's the kind of card just having alters how you make decisions. It incentivizes me to trade and make decisions that my opponent might not easily predict. This is not only very good for my deck but leads back into what I said pick one in that it lets me get off the race tracks of Ixalan and explore the game. Another Hippo works fine for me. I'm not always going to find the Gift so I need to have other top end outlets. It plus I can cycle it when I need to where it will sit as a good target for the Gift if/when I get there. A second God-Pharaoh's Gift has me in awe. I know not every deck can support a 7 drop but the sheer power if it makes it worth taking over most commons and uncommons. I could see one player letting it go but two not wanting it has be blown away. Sifter Wurm probably the best non-rare top end. I don't think there is a creature that a 7/7 doesn't just smash to bits. Strategic Planning is a card that has suddenly gone way up in value. Since my deck is now straight a God-Pharaoh's Gift deck I want to fill up the yard and find what I need to get to the Gift. Strategic Planning does exactly that. Aven Reedstalker is a middle of the road playable. Eternal of Harsh Truths can generate some card advantage if you're lucky and isn't the worst blocker. Spellweaver Eternal is just as good now as it was pack one. Desert of the Mindful (and all the cycle deserts) are all just great. The ability to toss it when you don't need it is far greater than the downside of having a tapped land in every deck. It's even better in my deck where missing the tempo matters less than just having the lands. Harrier Naga is decently playable but the rest of the pack just didn't have anything I needed.

Rhonas greeting me pack three is the nicest welcome to the Ahmonkhet pack I could have hoped for. The activated ability turns literally every creature into a threat and turns itself online. It's very hard to get rid of and at an absurd value of only three mana. Bitterblade Warrior was one of the premium two drops in triple Ahmonkhet where blocking was near impossible and everyone just wanted to swing. Now that the hour of devastation is upon us our warrior here just isn't as good as they used to be. Winds of Rebuke is another card in the same vein as Strategic Planning. Now that my goal is to make it to Gift while filling up the yard cards like this that work toward both of those goals are so much better than they would be in an average deck. River Serpent works under the same logic. Although is less of a prime target for the Gift's ability since my graveyard will be getting thinner as time goes on once the Gift comes down. Shimmerscale Drake costs more on the cycling end but comes back with a bonus. Ramp is the only component I haven't gotten so I was extremely happy to take Naga Vitalist. The rest of the pack while chock full of cards in my colors didn't have the kinds of things I needed for my deck.

The Final Decklist

Enchantment/Artifacts: 2x God-Pharaoh's Gift Instant/Sorceries: 1x Unsummon 1x Strategic Planning 1x Winds of Rebuke 3x Ambuscade Creatures: 2x River Hoopoe 2x Spellweaver Eternal 1x Wall of Forgotten Pharaohs 1x Naga Vitalist 1x Harrier Naga 1x Aerial Guide 1x Eternal of Harsh Truths 1x Rhonas the Indomitable 1x Bitterbow Sharpshooters 1x Shimmerscale Drake 1x River Serpent 2x Rampaging Hippo Lands: 1x Desert of the Mindful 9x Forest 7x Island

Round 1 (1-2) I played against a R/W deck. Game one played River Hoopoe turn two and chipped away in the air while they got in with an Rhet-Crop Spearmaster. Other than the Spearmaster though there creatures didn't have enough power to get through my three and four toughness creatures. They used some things like Sandblast to keep things relatively even for awhile but eventually I found the Gift which turned things in my favor. Game two they came out even more aggressively than the first game and put me on the back foot. Luckily I found the defenses I needed and started to stabilize. I got the Gift down and the Hoopoe and was drawing all kinds of cards. The board was still locked down so I couldn't swing without leaving myself vulnerable to a lethal crackback. Just as I was reaching the critical mass that I could start attacking they played Hour of Revelation. While my hand was empty they were playing around it and had a creature to follow it up with since the Hour only cost them three mana. Game three I started off aggressively as time was short in the round. Just as I reached the point where I realized I had to stop attacking and start blocking they played Gilded Cerodon and put a stop to my effective blocks. I never got to enough mana to cast my big things (such is the risk of this kind of deck)

Round 2 (0-2) I went against a U/R spells deck. They had flyers to get in and tricks to slow me down but I played a River Hoopoe early and had it live long enough to draw a bunch of cards. They also blanked my late game plan by having a Crook of Condemnation so even when I got to the Gift they would just remove my target in response. I almost punted the game by cycling my desert instead of playing it while I had Wall of Forgotten Pharoahs out. By cycling it they were able to get rid of it with the Crook and turn my clock off. This did let me get on creature in with the Gift after they removed the Desert on their turn. They had managed to find and Enigma Drake, hit me with it and follow it up with another. I started what I knew would be my last turn with 15 lands and three cards left in my library. I drew for turn and drew the last land. I activated my Hoopoe and drew Rhonas which made my two power flyer exactly lethal. Game two I had three Ambuscades and they drew nothing but lands outside of their opening hand. A Blur of Blades nerfed my Hoopoe and did some damage to me but I had enough to play I never even had to activate the Hoopoe and quickly took the game.

Round 3 (0-2) was a R/G exert deck. They had all the exert creatures that prevent blocking plus multiple pieces of removal, most of which was instant speed. I got some attacks in since blocking wasn't an option game one but they simply ran me over both games.

#original #pics #hour of devastation #MtG Draft #magic the gathering #mtg #mtg limited

0 notes