#the downside of the elemental affinity was having to be REALLY careful about your target placement because max damage would kill YOU

[a-queer-little-wombat]

The rules exist to support the story that the DM and the players are collaboratively telling together. All of them.

I am absolutely serious about this.

Now, maybe this was just the group I played with back in the early 80s ...

Sidebar: let it be noted that I was literally a child at the time and the group was my dad (DM and nerd), mom (nerd), and their hard-core nerd friends. They set the bar for RPG groups for me forever and few since have reached it.

... but I'm pretty sure it was broad D&D and AD&D culture back then to just fucking homebrew things when you didn't like a thing in the rules or the rules didn't cover stuff.

My dad wanted a bit more luck in the play so you could recover from a truly bad die roll, so he invented a seventh stat called Luck. He thought elves were wildly overpowered, so he made them in-world cultural outcasts. He saw that low-level magic users were weak as fuck, so he invented elemental affinities that gave them automatic full damage on spells with that element. He let one of the players invent a life-saver deity whose clerics could do heals for max HP BUT the recipient had to do 1 round of fighting only to subdue per HP healed.

I mean, the options were kinda endless then. And yes, a lot of those kinds of homebrew things got folded into later editions or published as supplemental material (Dragon Magazine and these days official-ish books), and some official things got very changed (psionics, I'm looking at you). And yeah, WotC/Hasbro have a vested interest in getting people to buy an infinite amount of official books and stuff.

But the real deep takeaway here should be:

The rules exist to support the story that the DM and the players are collaboratively telling together.

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 15: Illusory Tricks

Back in the day when I was first getting into pauper there was a YouTuber that went by the name of Dan (Fanofhistory). He was part of a channel called MagicGatheringStrat which posted weekly pauper gameplay videos, as well as Dan’s ambitious run of the pauper gauntlet. Oh how I miss their beautiful content and rogue brews. There was one deck that really intrigued me during this time period for me, and that was a deck called Illusory Tricks. Chris Weaver, who now goes by Calpine on MTGO, released an updated deck tech video after the first pauper gauntlet in 2014 which I built this deck around, https://youtu.be/55vOWHPEt8U . Since then, many new cards have been released, and I wanted to revisit the deck with my brewing cap on to see if it could be improved.

4 Cloudfin Raptor

4 Mothdust Changeling

4 Spellstutter Sprite

4 Dream Stalker

4 Krovikan Mist

2 Fathom Seer

4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

1 Moonblade Shinobi

3 Smoke Shroud

3 Preordain

1 Careful Study

3 Vapor Snag

1 Echoing Truth

3 Counterspell

1 Deprive

16 Island

2 Mystic Sanctuary

At it’s heart Illusory Tricks is an aggro deck with some tempo elements. Depending on your starting hand, you could have an explosive start, or a controlling one. There is synergy on multiple axis throughout the deck whether it’s through illusions, faeries, or ninjas. Where the deck lacks in consistency, it makes up for a fun experience where no game truly ever plays out the same.

Mothdust Changeling is the wild card in the deck. This shapeshifter counts as everything we need it to be when it comes to the three main creature types the deck cares about. It also has flying if you have a creature of your own you’re willing to tap down for the cause. The other one drop creature is Cloudfin Raptor. Thanks to the evolve mechanic, whenever a creature with greater toughness or power enters the battlefield, Cloudfin Raptor gets a +1/+1 counter on it. It is the deck’s best Delver impersonation, and if left unchallenged could even outclass it.

In the two drop slot is Krovikan Mist. This illusion on its own is a 1/1 flyer, but it gets bigger the more illusion that are in play. Sometimes all you really need is a 2/2 flyer to really swing things in your favor. The deck technically runs 14 illusions which make this misty boi quite the two drop. Next us is good old fashioned Spellstutter Sprite. Blue decks in the past have played Spellstutter all on its own without any Faerie support because pauper decks run a lot of 1 mana spells that are nice to counter. This wily faerie can give the green light to a surprise Ninja by casting it on an opponent’s end step, has synergy with a turn one Mothdust Changeling to counter a spell with a converted mana cost of two or less, and can be played numerous times over the course of a game when you consider Dream Stalker’s ability. Speaking of Dream Stalker, this is the deck’s utility player. When it enters the battlefield you have to return a permanent you control to your hand. There are so many ways to abuse this “drawback” and turn it into a positive, which makes it essential in this list. You can bounce itself back to your hand if you have a Cloudfin Raptor on the board so it gets bigger; you can bounce a Spellstutter Sprite to be replayed as another counterspell; you can bounce a Mystic Sanctuary to be replayed and put a valuable instant or sorcery from your graveyard back on top of your library; and if you’re really desperate you can return a ninja facing roadblocks to be re ninjitsued in with an evasive attacker. It also doesn’t hurt that being a 1/5 blocks almost every relevant land based creature in the format outside of Gurmag Angler.

The last creature you’re actually casting (90% of the time anyways) is Fathom Seer. You’re typically going to want to cast it as 2/2 morph creature for three, then morph it into Fathom Seer by returning two islands to your hand. When you do this you get to draw two cards which is very nice. The added bonus comes in when you’re returning a Mystic Sanctuary back to your hand, since it counts as an island, and replay it to gain even more value.

Ninja of the Deep Hours is such a good card, so good in fact it becomes a lightning rod for removal. It is a creature that absolutely must be dealt with because if it gets in to deal combat damage to your opponent, you get to draw a card. Normally you would have to pay four to cast it, but the ninjitsu ability allows you to pay two mana instead and replace it with an unblocked attacker. This makes our 8 one drop creatures more valuable and can extend the usefulness of our Spellstutters. The other ninja in the deck is Moonblade Shinobi. It relies upon the same ninjitsu mechanic for three mana, but when Moonblade deals combat damage to an opponent, you get to create a 1/1 blue illusion token with flying which makes your Krovikan Mist very happy. Are you ready for the cherry on top yet? The deck also runs Smoke Shroud which gives the enchanted creature +1/+1 and flying, but has the ability to be returned from the graveyard attached to a ninja that entered the battlefield. It almost acts like a blue rancor since the deck runs nine ninjas when you consider Mothdust Changeling.

I’m running a 3/1 split of Preordain and Careful Study. I love Careful Study in this deck, but running any more than one is risky. It’s at its best when you have excess islands to throw away or a Smoke Shroud you know you’ll get back into play. Preordain is absolutely without a doubt pauper’s best cantrip. Being able to scry 2 and draw a card turns risky one land hands into snap keeps, or can help set you up with answers or more threats depending on the situation.

Blue decks don’t have access to any hard removal spells you’d want to play mainboard. Instead, blue decks rely on bounce spells to help clear the way for your attackers or counter the creature as it gets recast. Vapor Snag is a cheap option that deals one damage to the owner of the creature you bounced. More often than not you’re going to target your opponent’s creatures, be aware however that sometimes the right play could be to bounce a Spellstutter Sprite so you can counter a problematic spell. I’m also running one Echoing Truth as a catch all bounce spell since it can target any non land permanent and not just creatures. It’s also nice to get a two for one every now and then since Echoing Truth returns every non land permanent with the same name as the permanent you targeted. Cast this on bird tokens from a Battle Screech and you’re sure to put your opponent on tilt.

The counterspell suite is made up of three of the OG Counterspells (be sure to have the Tempest art for style points) and one Deprive. Deprive is the deck’s hard counterspell number four, but with the downside of having to return an island you control to your hand. Thanks to Mystic Sanctuary (I love you WOTC) this downside isn’t really a downside at all and you can continually return Deprive back to the top of your library. This often means game over for your opponent if you have an unchecked Ninja of the Deep Hours on the battlefield since the card it draws you is that Deprive.

4 Blue Elemental Blast

3 Coral Net

1 Relic of Progenitus

2 Dispel

3 Curfew

2 Gut Shot

One of the decks I really hate losing to is Burn. To fight that I bring in all four BEBs and both Dispels. I usually end up sideboarding out the Vapor Snags, Moonblade Shinobi, and two Smoke Shrouds. Affinity has the same gameplan except I don’t bring in the Dispels and I leave in two Vapor Snags. Unless I’m up against Ephemeratog, then it’s exactly the same gameplan as Burn.

Against Stompy, Slivers, or white creature based decks I will always bring in Coral Net. This forces your opponent into making two unfavorable choices of sacrificing the enchanted creature or discarding a card. I might also bring in Gut Shot too if they’re running enough targets for it. I usually sideboard out Moonblade Shinobi, a Mothdust Changeling, and a Smoke Shroud for the Coral Nets.

Curfew is there strictly for Hexproof and Mono White Heroic. Oh my is it a great feeling when you’re able to cast curfew and your Hexproof opponent, who thought putting a bunch of auras on a creature was a good idea, suddenly has to watch all of them fall off into the graveyard as they return their creature back to hand. Meanwhile you return a Spellstutter Sprite to counter their next play. I will always sideboard out the three copies of Vapor Snag.

The last deck I consider for sideboarding is Tron. Dispels are both coming in as well as Relic of Progenitus. Taking out all three Vapor Snags is your best option and these three cards give you a fighting chance at least.

That about wraps it up for Illusory Tricks. Trust me on this that the deck is a blast to play and is pretty competitive too. Granted you’re not going to win a tournament with it or anything unless you run unbelievably hot, but the deck can hold up against the best of them. Good luck tricking your opponents. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!