Outlaws of Thunder Junction - Mechanics

Now for the new mechanics. Spree is definitely interesting. I preordered my cards from Thunder Junction today and I picked up a copy of Great Train Heist for Aurelia. I like how the base cost is either one or two and you can pay mana to add more effects. It reminds me of the Escalate mechanic back in Eldritch Moon. I can definitely see these getting a lot of play for added versatility.

Now that we know more about the Plot mechanic I definitely like it. It's like you can pay for it ahead of time using the Plot cost to cast it at the right time or pay the cheaper cost like on Stingerback Terror and cast it the next turn. I got a copy of Slickshot Show-Off for my Adeliz deck.

I'm glad to see the "second spell" effect returning in Thunder Junction. It seems perfect for a setting like this because usually the Old West has a lot of gunslingers but this time it's spellslingers. It goes well with the Plot mechanic because you can cast your spells using Plot and cast them when you need to. If I ever draft it (which I doubt since I haven't drafted a set since New Capenna) I'm definitely aiming for Izzet.

You can't have an old-west-themed set without a mechanic like Mount. in MaRo's teasers he talked about a mechanic that players have been wanting to see for several years but I wasn't expecting it to be Mount. It seems fitting for a set like this because cowboys usually ride some sort of animal like a horse. This is definitely a step up from vehicles because they're still creatures even if they're not saddled and just gain the bonus effect if they are saddled. The only downside is they die to removal while vehicles require artifact hate when now crewed and regular removal if they are.

Also in MaRo's teasers was a set of dual lands with a subtype never seen on dual lands before an it fits the theme for it to be Desert. They go well with the crime mechanic since they deal one damage to a target opponent when they enter the battlefield and since it's on a land it gives you an easy way to do it without having to cast a spell that can be countered. Plus at common rarity they'll be easy to pick up during a draft if you're drafting around crimes.

Besides these the rest of my comments are about the cultural references which I don't have enough room for and don't want to make a separate post for. Some of them are good like Shoot the Sheriff referencing "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley and the Wailers with the flavor text asking where the deputy is. I also like the reference to the Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons from Looney Toons with the artwork connecting to make a whole picture of the coyote chasing the roadrunner. I heard in real life coyotes run faster than roadrunners but this is a card game with all sorts of things that can't happen in real life so I'll let it slide. I also like the references to common phrases found in old westerns like "reach for the sky" and "this town isn't big enough for the two of us."

I think that's it for Thunder Junction. Next time I'll post when we get more previews from MH3.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction

I would say by now most of the set has been spoiled and I think it's time for me to share my thoughts.

First of all I like the "Joins Up" cycle. It seems fitting for a setting like Thunder Junction with villains from all sorts of different planes joining together for one huge heist. From what I ready on the MTG Wiki This set was a villains set before it was a Wild West set. These are definitely a callback to the "Oath" cycle from the Gatewatch arc and it'll be interesting to see if we get any more in the future. These definitely have a lot of potential in commander since they support legendary creatures.

With this being a set that focuses on villains from across the Multiverse thanks to Omenpaths it's not surprising we have some familiar faces in this set but some of them surprised me. Of course we have characters like Rakdos, Oko, Tinybones, and even Eriette but to me the characters that stand out are some of the ones from non-standard sets like Marchesa from Conspiracy and Bruse Tarl from the first wave of commanders with the Partner mechanic. The Cecani siblings I was surprised to see in this set but they seem to be a perfect fit. I also love how in MaRo's traditional teasers he teased at Gisa by referring to her as "a typical card for Skeletons and Zombies" because besides Liliana she's probably the most likely character to be associated with zombies.

Now onto reprints. I definitely wasn't expecting to see enemy fast land reprints in this set but they're overdue so they're more than welcome. I like how we have the allied fast lands in Phyrexia: All Will Be One and now with enemy we're going to have all ten in standard at the same time. With these reprints the prices are sure to go down.

Here are two more welcome reprints. With Archangel of Tithes at around $20 right now this is one reprint I wasn't expecting. I wasn't playing standard back when Origins came out so I don't know how much play it saw but I can definitely see it being used. I still prefer the original printing because of how special it is to me. Terror of the Peaks is also a solid reprint. It was a beast when it first came out and now it's back. I'm definitely expecting it to see play in standard now that it's back.

That's all for now. Next time I'll talk about the mechanics and other miscellaneous cards.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Modern Horizons 3

I know these have been out for a couple of weeks but I never really got around to writing about them until now. I've been busy with work and it was my birthday last month and I went on a trip to Las Vegas where I first saw these. So here are my thoughts:

Outlaws of Thunder Junction

I've been looking forward to this set since it was revealed late last year because we've never had a wild west set before. After the war with the Phyrexians and Omenpaths now a thing which nonplaneswalkers can use to get to other planes it was kind of given that we would see other characters in this set like Tinybones and Fblthp. Fblthp seems perfect for this set because he's always ending up in places he shouldn't be and with Omenpaths I'm expecting to see him pop up in other places (assuming he doesn't die in this set). I'm not surprised to see Oko in this set since he was in the preview art but his Planeswalker card is a little underwhelming which to me is a good thing. This is nowhere near as powerful as Thief of Crowns (remember when he was all over standard before he got banned in Standard, Modern, AND Legacy because he kept turning things into elks?) but he has potential. I've already come across a three-card combo with him with Doubling Season to get infinite Oko tokens and card draws but I can't remember the third piece. I'm also not surprised to see Vraska in this set for the same reason as Oko. I like the artwork that's been revealed so far with her sitting at a poker table with everyone else petrified. I also can't tell if she's still compleated but with her tentacles she might still be. One of the cards I'm most excited for is the new Sword. I have a Sword collection of all 11 Swords (including Sword of Dungeons and Dragons) so I'm excited to add a 12th Sword to my collection. I can definitely see myself putting it into Kess because it fits right in. I can't wait to find out more about this set. We already know what crimes are (for those that don't know you commit a crime is when you target something of your opponent's with a spell or ability) but I'm curious to learn what Plot is as seen on Fblthp but based on the text it's an alternate casting cost of some kind.

Modern Horizons 3

Here we go for round three of Modern Horizons and from what we've seen so far it's going to be as good as the previous two. Hopefully it won't be as format warping as the last one but we still have a lot to find out about it. First of all I'm glad we're getting allied fetchland reprints. They're long overdue for a reprint and since we got the enemy set in two it's fitting we have allied in three. Considering they usually go for $20 to $40 right now these are much-needed. Just like last time it also seems there's a cycle of cards that you can pay an alternate cost for. So far all we have is the green one but it seems like you have to sacrifice a nontoken creature. For the debuts from vintage sets I'm glad to see Priest of Titania getting reprinted in this set because it'll really go well in my elves deck I built way back when I played at Tradesmart. It was my first "netdeck" and was recommended to me by another player because I built a general elves deck using cards from the Freyalise commander deck. It still has a place in my heart because one of my favorite colors is green so I might have to find room for it. Laelia I'm a little surprised to see in this set. I play Magic Arena on a daily basis and sometimes I see her in historic mono-red. She has potential in modern in some decks like mono-red prowess but we'll have to see.

That's all for now. My next post will be when we have more cards spoiled from Thunder Junction or MH3, whichever one comes first.

Really like the YuYu Hakusho reference. I dressed up as him for Halloween last year.

Some of the references in Murders at Karlov Manor! There's probably more that I'm missing, this set is chock full of everything from murder mystery to noir.

Murders at Karlov Manor

What's up everyone? It's been a while since I did a set review and I figure Murders at Karlov Manor has enough interesting cards in it for me to write about so here it is.

I'm SUPER excited for this card. You can't go to Ravnica and not have Aurelia show up. Aurelia, The Warleader was my first ever commander because my cousin has a daughter named Aurelia. I'm definitely adding this one because it's a perfect fit for extra combats and with enough of them she can cause some serious damage.

This has to be one of the best cards in the set if you ask me. I wasn't expecting to see a mechanic like wither appear in a standard-legal set but here it is on Massacre Girl. I've played some games with Scorpion God and some of the cards underperform so I'm definitely adding this one to my Scorpion God deck.

You can't have a set in Ravnica without some sort of fetchable dual-land cycle. I still have my fingers crossed that we'll get the enemy cycle of the lands from BFZ that come into play untapped if you control two or more basic lands but these ones aren't bad. They're definitely better than the Temples because these ones are fetchable and instead of putting the top card of your library if you don't like it you can put it in your graveyard where it could be more useful. I can definitely see these replacing Temples in commander.

Cases are interesting to say the least. It's not the first time we've seen a new type of Enchantment introduced but these ones are like Sagas that stay on the field after their last chapter resolves. I can't wait to see how these do in constructed formats. For most of them they suit specific decks like Case of the Ransacked Lab suiting spellslinger decks.

Here are other cards I think are interesting and noteworthy. For Undergrowth Recon I can see it being used in Landfall decks. For me it stands out because the artwork is the same as the promotional art when the 2024 release schedule was revealed. Anzrag is insane. Just the extra combat ability makes this card powerful but the activated ability to make your opponent block it with whatever they have can come in handy to get rid of problematic creatures. Trostani I'm including because (spoiler alert) the middle one is the killer and the flavor text and card itself doesn't even hint at it. Leyline of the Guildpact I can definitely see being used in 60-card constructed but not commander because the chances of getting it in your opening hand is pretty small. The new Niv-Mizzet is good but only if you can get as many different color pairs as you can get out. I can see it being a popular commander though.

Next week is prerelease and I don't know if I'll go or not. I already preordered the new Aurelia, Massacre Girl, and some of the Surveil lands for my commander decks. Next is Outlaws of Thunder Junction which I'm excited for because there's a chance that Oko will return as hinted by the artwork.

I'm Back (Again)

What's up everyone? Or at least the people who still read this blog after so long. I was expecting to do a post on Wilds of Eldraine but here we are with Lost Caverns of Ixalan out and Murders at Karlov Manor coming out next month I never got around to it. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of merfolk so I was super excited for Lost Caverns. One of the biggest additions was of course Tishana's Tidebinder which I'm not surprised with how much play it's seeing. I always preorder my cards from Card Kingdon and I got it when it was less than $10 and now it's almost at $20. I don't play modern merfolk anymore so I just got one for my Kumena deck. I also got a copy of Deeproot Pilgrimage to make 1/1 Merfolk tokens. I've won a couple of games with it but these two will really improve it, Tidebinder especially.

Since I finished my Sarkhan, Soul Aflame deck I planned on it being my last commander deck but I was wrong. To make room I decided to "retire" my Adeliz wizard-tribal deck but couldn't because I've grown attached to it even though it's the only deck of mine I haven't won with. For my new one I was thinking about doing Totentanz from Wilds of Eldraine but settled on Fezzik, Rhyming Giant instead. I've only seen The Princess Bride once in high school and back then I didn't know who Andre the Giant was but now that I do and he's the only professional wrestler who's actually been made into a card I decided to build him. For the theme I thought about doing giant-tribal using the precon from 2015 but decided on the classic steal-and-sack using card like Act of Treason to take control of my opponent's creatures and fling it back at them which I heard is the better and more fun strategy.

Not only that but the deck itself is super cheap compared to some of my other ones. My cheapest one is Adeliz which is over $100 and my most expensive is Yisan (with more than half of it being Gaea's Cradle, Survival of the Fittest, and Mox Diamond) so a deck like this that's over $160 is nothing. One of the most expensive cards is Thornbite Staff at $20 which is telling of how cheap it is but for me it's worth it for the ability to untap the equipped creature after it dealt damage. I already ordered the cards so I just need to wait for them to get here so I can put the deck together. I also plan to rewatch The Princess Bride once I have the deck put together.

That's it for now. I just wanted to give a short update to what I've been up to. I wanted to keep this blog active since I haven't posted in a while. I'll try to post again once we get more spoilers from Karlov Manor but all I can say right now is I'm SUPER interested in the new Aurelia. I definitely can't wat.

First New Commander in Two Years

I haven't built a new commander since Gwafa Hazid two years ago but this week that changed. I have a rule of thumb to try not to have two commanders of the same color combination (so far the only exceptions I have are Narset and Elsha) so to make room I decided to retire my wizard tribal Adeliz, The Cinder Wind since I haven't been doing that well with it and I feel it relies too heavily on instants and sorceries like three other decks I have (Narset, Elsha, and Kess). At first I decided to dismantle it altogether but I couldn't find the heart to after how much I put into it as my first tribal deck.

Sarkhan has always been one of my favorite planeswalkers because Sarkhan Unbroken was the first planeswalker I ever pulled from a pack back in 2015 when I was still grieving the loss of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper so it was extra special. With MOM Aftermath he lost his spark and I can finally build him as a commander which I couldn't be more excited for. My Adeliz deck cost around $100 and this one is four times that. I got the cards last night and I can't wait to put it together and bring it to casual commander to test it out. I even got a DTK championship playmat a few years ago which I haven't touched since.

Here's the first draft. Once I get the cards in the mail I might make a few adjustments to balance it out but I was up late last night working on it before ordering the cards. I've played Izzet pretty much since I started playing Magic and it feels different yet good to have an Izzet-colored deck that doesn't revolve around noncreature spells. This deck relies so much on creatures I actually had trouble finding instants and sorceries that would fit in this deck that didn't support dragons.

With most of Wilds of Eldraine spoiled I'll probably make a post about it soon.

Fun Day at my LGS

This is (former) UFC and current BKFC fighter John "The Magician" Dodson (the winner of season 14 of TUF) who did a signing at my LGS this past Saturday. I've been getting a lot of hours at work lately but I had to get my hours changed to see him. He's my favorite UFC fighter and I've met him so many times he knows who I am and always greets me when he sees me because he regularly does shopping at the store I work at. The main reason I wanted to see him was because I wanted him to sign a Dark Magician (because of his nickname). While I was at it I brought my Kess EDH deck just in case anyone wanted to play some commander.

I ended up playing one game and lost to Aminatou Superfriends when my opponent kept taking extra turns with Ichormoon Gauntlet. I still had fun and before I left I asked Dodson to sign my playmat since I brought it for the owner to sign to keep as a memento like my green one from my last LGS. His brother Eric (also an MMA fighter) was also there and they both signed the combat zone. I never officially used that playmat yet because I like my Roddy Piper and Active Imagination ones but now that I have it signed by my favorite UFC fighter and his brother I definitely plan to use it more often.

So that's what I've been up to for the past few weeks. I haven't been able to play because I've been so busy on Mondays and Fridays but I'm glad I was able to get in one game of commander at least. Dodson's next fight is next Friday which I happen to be off for so if I can't go I plan to play some casual commander.

I’m Back

Hello everyone. I know I haven’t posted in a while because I doubt anyone actually reads these but I decided to start posting again for my own benefit. From now on I’m writing just for me and me alone to track my progress kind of like a diary or journal.

Overall I decided to stop going to FNM on a regular basis but I go to my LGS’s casual commander events which are every day but I go mostly on Monday and sometimes Friday depending on my work schedule. I bring two decks depending on my mood and so far I have at least one official win for each one except for Kumena. My most recent victory is one of my favorites. A few weeks ago I brought Yisan just to take him for a test run and to my surprise I actually pulled off a win. I got his infinite mana combo (Karametra’s Acolyte/Circie of Dreams Druid + Temur Sabertooth + Wirewood Symbiote + any low cost elf) which I was proud of. I think the reason I won was because I got Seedborn Muse in my opening hand and was able to get it out quickly with mana dorks allowing me to quickly get Yisan to eight verse counters and win with Craterhoof Behemoth like any mono-green deck.

Speaking of Yisan I can’t express how excited I am for the etched foil version in the upcoming Commander Masters set. I have every printing of it so far so I’m glad to be able to add at least two more to the collection. I still have my fingers crossed there will be a borderless profile version like with other legendary creatures in this set. I keep refreshing the preorder page for the etched foil version for when they’re in stock and the variants for when new ones are added.

Other cards I’m looking forward to are, or course, a MUCH-NEEDED reprint for Capture of Jingzhou for another extra turn spell to put into my Narset deck. To make room I’m cutting Aminatou’s Augury because I don’t feel like it fits the theme of the deck.  I also got four copies of Personal Tutor since I have so many blue commanders built around noncreature spells. During my hiatus I decided to upgrade Gwafa Hazid by adding five fetch lands and cutting the cards like Evolving Wilds and the cycling lands that come into play tapped. If I see any use for Personal Tutor it’s Gwafa Hazid to use it to tutor my win con spell Approach of the Second Sun. I’m definitely looking forward to this set.

I don’t know when I’ll post again but that’s it for now. Since I don’t go to FNM anymore I’ll just post when the mood strikes just to share my thoughts.

The Brothers’ War Spoilers Part 3: Other

Here’s the third and final part of my previews for The Brothers’ War. 

First off two characters who have appeared early in Magic’s history but have never had their own cards: until now.  A lot of players know Hurkyl for her famous “Hurkyl’s Recall” which destroyed three dragon engines during the Brothers’ War because Hurkyl’s Recall sees a lot of play in modern sideboards for artifact decks. I remember being introduced to that card five years ago when Affinity was still a tier one deck and was building Merfolk. At the time I was unfamiliar with a lot of cards like that so I thought it was cool. It’s also cool to see her husband Drafna as a card. Considering that they’re husband and wife I wish they would both have Partner.

Monastery Swiftspear. I don’t know what Wizards was thinking reprinting this card in Standard. All I can say is I can expect to see it everywhere on Arena considering how popular mono-red decks are. It was already a good card when it was printed in Khans of Tarkir but with all of the cards on Arena it’s sure to see a ton of play.

As of the writing of this post this card was spoiled today. When I first saw it I thought it had potential but to me it’s just a watered-down Omniscience. Sure the ability to cast spells and play lands from the top of your library is strong but only being able to cast one spell without paying its mana cost per turn is a big downside. Omniscience is a much better option.

I don’t know much about Gix as a character but I’m glad he’s finally getting his own card. I only know him from Rona, Disciple of Gix from the previous Dominaria and that he has something to do with the Phyrexian invasion. Diabolic Intent is a card that’s sure to shake things up. It’s basically Demonic Tutor but with the additional cost of sacrificing a creature which a lot of decks can easily do.

As soon as I saw The Stone Brain I knew it was going to be seeing a lot of play in sideboards. This card reminds me of Lost Legacy from Kaladesh but colorless so any deck can play it.

This card is interesting. I can see this being used as both removal for both opponents’ permanents and on your own permanents to utilize ETB triggers. It’s going to be interesting to see how people use this card.

This is another card I’m excited about. If I draft this set I’m going for Izzet and picking up as many of these as I can to make tokens every time I cast a noncreature spell.

And finally the planeswalkers. When Mark Rosewater teased there would be a Teferi with a new way to gain loyalty I wasn’t expecting it to be for drawing cards. This can be killer in the right deck with a ton of card draw spells but for the most part like most of the recent Teferis I don’t see him getting much play.

What would an artifact-themed set be with Saheeli, our favorite artificer planeswalker from Kaladesh? I assume that’s the copy of the Golgothian Cylex in her left hand that she made before Ajani was revealed as a Sleeper Agent and destroyed the original. Her ultimate is perfect for an Izzet artifacts deck. Plus it doesn’t cost a lot so you can easily get an emblem out after at least two turns.

Overall I’m pretty excited for this set but I’m WAY more excited for the next few where we actually see the war against the Phyrexians that’s been built up for the past two years. I can’t wait to see the new Elesh Norn since she’s the last praetor we haven’t seen.

The Brothers’ War Spoilers Part 2: Green Cards

Even though this set has a heavy artifact theme I like how there are a lot of green cards. First the third meld pair of the set: Titania, Voice of Gaea and Argoth, Sanctum of Nature. Earlier this year I got a Gaea’s Cradle on eBay for my Yisan commander deck and ever since I’ve had an interest in the character and concept of Gaea on Dominaria. I decided to start a collection of Gaea-related cards including a proxy of Gaea’s Cradle that’s as close to the real one as possible. I’m glad to get a few new additions including Gaea’s Gift and Gaea’s Courser. Hopefully in the future we’ll get an actual card for Gaea just like Svyelon in MH2. I also can’t talk about green cards without talking about Fade from History. I love the artwork but the effect is pretty good. A 2/2 green Bear token seems like a pretty good deal for destroying all artifacts and enchantments. I’m not sure if any cards from this set will make the cut for Yisan but regardless I’m happy to see more Gaea cards. Titania, Gaea Incarnate would be killer in Yisan but I feel getting her out would be a pain. Next time I’ll talk about some of the best and most notable cards from the set.

The Brothers’ War Spoilers Part 1: Urza and Mishra

Previews for The Brothers’ War are here and so far it’s looking like a solid set. I wasn’t playing in the early years of Magic so I’m not familiar with the full story of the feud between Urza and Mishra but all I know is that it pretty much destroyed the plane of Dominaria and pretty much everyone who lived on the plane at the time had to choose a side. With the set revolving around Urza and Mishra I was expecting to see them in this set but I wasn’t expecting to see three versions of each at different rarities. It’s interesting to see the meld mechanic make a return because we haven’t seen it since Eldritch Moon. Back then GIsela was a force to be reckoned with and this time around it looks like Urza will take that spot (assuming you can get him out). That ultimate is insane.

Mishra isn’t looking too bad either. Like I said earlier I don’t know much about The Brothers’ War from a lore standpoint but I like Mishra and his transformation into a Phyrexian machine. Once Mishra, Lost to Phyrexia hits the battlefield your opponent might as well scoop because there’s no way to beat something that powerful without instant removal.

Since we’re getting three versions of both Urza and Mishra it’s fitting we get younger versions of them as young adults. With both Urza and Mishra being artificers it’s expected that this set would have a strong artifact theme which goes well with rare Urza. Urza, Lord High Artificer from Modern Horizons is already a strong commander for artifacts but this one is a much cheaper alternative. I actually considered making Urza my next commander just to use cards like Mox Opal and Tolarian Academy (which I didn’t know was banned in commander) but decided it would be much too expensive. Plus I have too many blue commander decks and don’t need another one.

And finally the youngest version of both brothers. I couldn’t help but notice how both of these are mono-colored which means this was before they chose their destined path and gained their secondary colors: white for Urza and black for Mishra. I like how they both have the ability where you can pay one and tap to discard and draw which to me symbolizes their brotherhood but each having different effects when you discard artifacts.

That’s all for part one. Next time I’ll talk about Green cards in this set because there’s always been a lot of green on Dominaria.

Dominaria United Spoilers Part 3 - Personal Picks

This set is going to be one of the biggest ones in recent history for my commander decks. When I first saw Silverback Elder a couple days ago I knew it would be a good fit for Yisan. Right now I feel like it’s just right but for this I might have to make room. It has everything a green deck could possibly need: artifact and enchantment destruction, ramp, and life gain and with how many creatures it has it can definitely be a powerhouse. I was literally refreshing the page on Cardkingdom for this card to be available for preorder so I could get mine as soon as possible. I’m going to have to go through my Yisan deck and hopefully find another five-drop to cut for this because it’s seriously a perfect fit.

This is another one high on my list. With Dominaria home to a lot of merfolk it’s no surprise we’re getting a card like this. Emperor Mihail II is definitely going into my Kumena deck.

This one is kind of “meh” for me. I got a few copies just in case for my decks that rely on instants and sorceries but at four CMC I think it might be a little too expensive.

These ones are for Adeliz (also from Dominaria). Casting sorcery spells at instant speed is good enough but paying two to copy them is pretty much a guarantee I’ll put Najal in. Adeliz feels like the only deck I have that would run this because Kess already has cards that copy instants and sorceries and she’s more of a noncreature deck while Adeliz is focused around wizards. Same with Balmor because cheap instants and sorceries can really add up when combined with Adeliz.

This one I got just in case for either Adeliz or Kess. I feel like Adeliz can take advantage of this card the most even though it’s not a wizard because Kess can cast cards from the graveyard and already has cards like Baral and Goblin Electromancer to make instants and sorceries cheaper.  If it drops in price I’ll pick up another copy but so far I feel like I only need one.

That’s it for DMU. I haven’t been this excited for a set since Strixhaven and I might even go back to FNM to draft it when it comes out.

Dominaria United Spoilers Part 2 - Color Cycles

Now for the color cycles of Dominaria United. First the “Defiler” cycle which turns colored mana into Phyrexian mana. I think it’s a cool concept and I can definitely see them being played in different formats, especially commander. I like how they all have keyword abilities associated with their color and have abilities that trigger whenever you cast a spell of the same color. I got Defiler of Vigor as a candidate for my Yisan deck which might not make the cut since it’s so good at generating green mana anyway so the cost reduction wouldn’t really be necessary.

We knew we were getting a cycle of rare lords in this set but this completely blew away my expectations, especially the Merfolk one. I got myself a playset with an extra for my Kumena EDH deck. I saw someone post a combo with Lullmage Mentor where you basically keep sacrificing merfolk tokens to counter noncreature spells and get them back with Lullmage Mentor. Shadow-Rite Priest is absolutely overpowered with its ability to tutor up any black creature by paying 3BB and sacrificing another cleric. I can definitely see it being abused in formats like modern to tutor up cards like Griselbrand.

Since Tumblr has a limit of ten images per post my next one will be my personal picks.

Dominaria United Spoilers Part 1

With most of the set spoiled at this point I feel it’s time for me to share my thoughts. All I can say is this is going to be HUGE. When I saw the initial livestream with the release schedule for next year I was in shock. Ever since I built Modern Affinity five years ago when it was still tier one I got super into the lore for Mirrodin and New Phyrexia so when they announced Phyrexia: All Will Be One and March of the Machines I could barely contain my excitement. I’ve had suspicions that we were going back to New Phyrexia since Kaldheim with the war against the Phyrexians being the next major event in the story and it turns out I was right. I made the decision a couple years ago if we were going back to New Phyrexia I was going to get a custom hat from Etsy to wear to prerelease and I ordered it a couple weeks ago. Once I get it I plan to get the Mirran and Phyrexian symbols embroidered on the side and wear it to prerelease. I’ll definitely post a pic when I get it.

First of all the reprint a lot of players are excited for. Back when I built GDS I got an original Innistrad one for about $100 on a trip to Colorado with my father to see one of my favorite bands at Red Rocks so it has more sentimental value so I’m not as excited for this reprint but I know a lot of players are because it’s practically a modern staple.

Next we have the Praetor for this set. Starting with Vorinclex in Kaldheim we knew the Praetors of New Phyrexia were up to something and in most core sets we’ve seen one show up on different planes so it’s no surprise we’re getting Sheoldred in this set. I like the effect where it gives  you an upside and your opponent an opposite downside like the original Praetor cards in New Phyrexia. Needless to say I preordered the Phyrexian-text variant in both foil and non-foil for my collection. I’m super pumped to get them.

Now onto the Ajani we all knew was coming since the artbook leak on Amazon. When I first heard it had been leaked and Ajani had become the second planeswalker to become compleated and killed Jaya Ballard I was a little shocked because he was always a source of justice in the Multiverse. I haven’t read the stories since War of the Spark so I had to find out how he became compleated and when I found out he was a Phyrexian sleeper agent I was pretty shocked. Then I read how he destroyed the Golgothian Cylex that Karn excavated in the previous Dominaria story (but Saheeli Rai was able to make an exact copy using plans Karn dug up because of course she would) with the purpose of detonating it on New Phyrexia so there’s still hope. My prediction is that in March of the Machines the Phyrexians will finally be defeated due to the “aftermath” set coming afterwards. I was right about the next big event being a war against the Phyrexians so let’s see if I’m right this time.

Now onto the new Lotus. When Mark Rosewater announced in his teaser that we would be getting an new “Lotus” artifact I didn’t know what to expect but now that we know all I can say is this was practically made for commander. With a CMC of five and coming in tapped I doubt it’ll see much play in constructed formats like modern or pioneer but it’ll be killer in commander.

FINALLY The Raven Man, Liliana’s mortal enemy, is getting a card. Pretty much since her inception people have been wanting him as a card and in Dominaria United it’s finally happening. His effect suits him well with the discarding and the bird tokens. Supposedly even on Strixhaven Liliana/Professor Onyx hears his voice in her head and that’s what causes her to go back to Dominaria so it’s fitting he’s in this set.

It’s always fun to see Squee in a standard set. I love how he has his little toy in his right hand in the artwork like even though he’s this important person he’s still the same old Squee we’ve grown to love. Before upgrading my Aurelia deck I had a copy of his Dominaria version because I thought it was a good fit.

And last but not least a green version of Gifts Ungiven. As a storm player I’m a huge fan of Gifts because of its ability to find combo pieces but this one I’m not too sure about. The only decks I can see this being used in are reanimator decks.

That’s all for now. I’ll do part two later today where I talk about the color cycles.

The End

I just got back from the “farewell” party for Active Imagination where we demolished the marble countertop that’s been there for over 30 years.  From what I was told the first LGS in my state opened in 1979 selling miniature figures and in 1993 when Magic: The Gathering was released business started picking up.  For almost 30 years a game store was at that location but it wasn’t until 1998 when Active Imagination moved in and stayed there until tonight.  I remember in 2003 my mom took me and my sister there to play Yugioh and I barely won one game.  I still remember my opponent was a slightly overweight blonde guy with glasses and smelled like cigarette smoke who used a lot of cards from the Pegasus Starter Deck.  I remember the year because the latest set at the time was Legacy of Darkness which had a darker feel to it.  I can’t describe it but a lot of the earlier sets had a certain “feel” to them for me.  At the time I was still uncomfortable in that kind of setting but looking back I enjoyed it.

Then in 2014 I started playing Magic and a few months later when I had a decent deck (I didn’t even know what a sideboard was because I was used to playing BO1 since I mostly played Magic Duels) I started going to stores to test it out.  I rarely won any games since I didn’t know about different formats or tier-decks and just used cards I owned that I thought worked well together.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2015 that I started building my Jeskai deck which was my first combo-based deck built around the Prowess mechanic.  It took a while but I was able to win some games with it.  I also built mono-green elves based on MTGGoldfish’s budget build and Naya Allies based on the deck you use in the BFZ story in Magic Duels.  That’s when I first started delving into past sets and cards that work well with each-other.

When Tradesmart closed in 2016 along with Hastings I was devastated.  After a few weeks I started going to Active Imagination because it was familiar and close to my house.  I still remember my first draft was Kaladesh and I pulled a Skysovereign and my first standard deck was built around Prowess which later became my Jeskai Fevered Visions deck.  Then Amonkhet came out and I immediately fell in love with it because of the Egyptian theme.  I still remember when I drafted it and the guy diagonal from me pulled an Invocation Force of Will which at the time was over $500 (it’s dropped by a couple hundred dollars since then thanks to reprints).  My first “tier” standard decks were Electrostatic Pummeler and Approach of the Second Sun which I took a liking to almost immediately.

Then COVID hit and they had to sell the space next to them because they couldn’t keep up with the rent and I was devastated because I thought I would never get to play there again until last year when they reopened using their remaining space and I drafted Strixhaven, Kamigawa, and Streets of New Capenna.  It wasn’t as fun as it used to be but at least I was getting out and spending time with people instead of in my room all alone.  Even though I wasn’t enjoying myself as much I was still crushed to find out that Active Imagination was closing for good.  I got all of the remaining regulars to sign my playmat and now I have a piece of the marble countertop that was there for over 30 years that the people who were there signed for me.  I consider myself fortunate to (literally) have a piece of my favorite LGS.  Hopefully I’ll see the friends I made at other places but I definitely plan to take a week or two off to process this big change.  I’m truly grateful for the friends and memories I made there and I’ll miss my Friday nights there.

The Final FNM (For Now)

This past Friday I went to my last FNM at Active Imagination Family Arena.  It was bittersweet because it’s been my home LGS for almost six years but I feel like it’s time to move on.

I came a little earlier than usual to savor the little time I had left and to mingle with the regulars for the last time there.  A few weeks ago which was my first FNM after the announcement I came up with the idea to get a playmat and have all of the regulars sign it.  Here’s the final result:

The top signature is the owner Mandy.  I saved her for last.  Also the top right corner is my sister’s high school chemistry teacher so I’m glad I got him to sign it.  I still remember overhearing him saying he was a teacher at the high school she when I asked my sister if she knew him she said he was her chemistry teacher and actually wrote a letter of recommendation for her.  I didn’t play him in matches that often because he’s a lot more experienced than I am but we still would talk every once in a while.

It was my first chaos draft so I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what to expect.  We drew our packs out of a box and I got M21, AFR, and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.  My first pack I pull a Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse so I decided to go for Simic colors for the blue card-draw spells.  I was able to activate her ability a few times but most of the time I didn’t have that many cards in my hand.

For my final FNM prizes I got a few promo packs and a D20 of my choice.  I had quite a few to choose from but I chose Dominaria because it was part of my favorite period of Standard from Kaladesh to Rivals of Ixalan.  Plus it was my first time learning about the older lore and characters like Karn and Urza.  I’ll never forget pulling a Teferi back when he was around $50 because he was pretty much a staple in every UW deck in both Standard and Modern.  I even decided to build UW Approach even though it was only for a few weeks before Kaladesh and Amonkhet were rotated out.  Even now it’s still one of my favorite decks I’ve played in Standard because it perfectly captures my playstyle and love for the 2017-2018 Standard.

In my promo packs I asked Mandy to pick for me because last time I got a Meathook Massacre and foil Assassin’s Trophy and I wasn’t disappointed with my pulls.  I got a Xander’s Lounge for my Kess EDH deck (I already had one but I put the one I got just as a memento) and a Realmwalker which I’m contemplating for my Kumena deck if I can find the card to cut.

This Thursday is the last day it’s open and they’re having a farewell party which I definitely plan to attend because they’re going to demolish the marble countertop which has been there for over 30 years.  Hopefully I can take a piece home to literally have a piece of my old LGS.

I’m Facebook friends with a few of the regulars and from now on they’re going to be hopping around different LGSes and when I’m ready I’m going to join them.  For now I plan to take July off and maybe go to the other LGS I went to for New Capenna prerelease just to hang out but I don’t plan to play in tournaments for a while.

Thanks for everything Active Imagination.