Nope! You need to play more Wraths.
I keep hearing content creators talking about how they are cutting back on Wrath effects. Some are saying they're playing three - or maybe even fewer ways to clear the board.
Just remember - everything you've been told about Commander is wrong!
Wait! What?!?
For what it's worth, I actually get what is going on here. Content creators need compelling content that plays well with the algorithm to drive traffic and engagement. The need compelling games with a ton of action to get viewers.
Nobody wants to watch a three hour game where the players just stare at empty boards. I don't care how charismatic you are, a wrath-heavy game isn't going to drive repeat views.
As always, "The Medium is the Message."
Also, Wraths make games less fun (to a point). The best part of Magic is playing awesome creatures, building a board state, and forcing opponents to react.
A single Wrath wastes all that hard work.
And on top of it all, they stretch the game out. So instead of getting in two or three games a night, you barely scrape by with a single game.
Maybe we should be playing fewer Wraths...
Not so fast my friend.
Here's the thing - all the above points are true. Wraths do make games go longer, and they do take away from the most fun parts of the game. But you still need an adequate number of Wraths in your Commander games.
Are you worried about value engines overwhelming all your games? Play more Wraths.
How abut a runaway leader problem. Excessive mana ramping? Treasures getting out of control?
Wraths are the answer. Magic is a balancing act, and wraths are the fulcrum.
As much as I see people talking about cutting back on wraths, I hear them lamenting the current prevalence of runaway value engines. Games don't seem interactive anymore. It's a bunch of multiplayer solitaire - waiting around on a player to be the first to find their combo.
They also complain that "EDH has sped up too much," and they can't play all their favorite old cards.
The answer to both of these is just play more Wraths.
Some people will tell you that the increase we see in single-target removal is a reaction to playing less Wraths. That's probably true. But the answer fits in balancing both options.
You need to play good, cheap, instant speed interaction. But in a four-player game, you just can't rely on having enough of it to carry you through the game. You will never have enough Swords to Plowshares to hit everything you need to.
Here's the Truth: You should be playing more Wraths.
I'm not going to give you a specific number. Some decks might be aggro inclined, and only want three. Some mid-range or control decks might want 5. I could come up with some deck ideas where you want a lot more.
But if you ever think you need to cut back on Wraths - stop! Ask yourself why.
EDH was originally created with a similar mindset of the original Type I deck builders who came up with "The Deck."
-- a quick history lesson --
The Deck was one of the first truly powerful competitive decks. It was a primarily UW (but actually 5-color) control deck that won with two copies of Serra Angel or Millstone.
It was also one of the first decks to put forward a coherent theory of Magic - with two axioms that we still live with today:
Card advantage wins games.
Life is just a resource. Winning at 1 life is still winning.
"The Deck" was created when it's designers started theorizing about a format with 40 life. If you could simply extend the game out long enough, and not lose, then you'd eventually win - especially if you had more cards than your opponent.
-- end lesson --
Longer games. Bigger spells. More time. More life. Sounds awfully familiar to the initial structures of EDH.
And just like old Type I, card advantage wins games.
That's the most important part about a Wrath. When played correctly, it is a card advantage machine. Single target removal is essential - but it is also a massive disadvantage against three other players. Best case scenario, you are just down a card to two players.
But a well-timed wrath can put you a dozen cards up on the table. Easily.
Wraths force engagement at the table. If you are relying solely on spot removal, you have to allow value engines and combos to build until that last critical point. You just don't have the resources to handle everything. This leads to both solitaire games and archenemy games - neither are particularly fun.
The New Rules.
You should be playing more Wraths. But you should also be playing them more responsibly - and that means playing them asymmetrically.
I think every new player has one similar experience when they start. We've all looked at Wrath of God and said, "Why would I ever want to kill all my own creatures."
It's a developmental stage in your play when you realize, Wraths are awesome when you don't have any creatures on board - or you have fewer than your opponents.
In Commander, Wraths need to be played in the same way - and with a focus on ending the game. So a couple of guidelines for wrathing:
Don't wrath after the 90 minutes mark, unless you have a follow up play you think will win the game. That's just extending the game for no reason.
Play more asymmetric wraths that leave you in an advantageous position. Tragic Arrogance should be played significantly more because it just wins games.
As counter-intuitive as it sounds, if you want more fun and interesting games, play more Wraths. Find new and interesting ways to get advantage from the (Blasphemous Act in Tajic anybody?). Just use them responsibly.
Note: After I wrote this article up, I did a quick Google search to see if there were any other points of interest I should bring up. Instead, I found an article written a year ago bringing up these exact same points. I wrote this article before reading that one, but the similarities are so striking I thought I should link/cite that one as well.
Card Kingdom | You Should be Playing More Wraths
0 notes
The girls are fighting but who brawled first and Who Makes Mew 180 Next Ep? From disgust and disbelief at Rays accusations to Confronting Top...
Seen a couple theories posited that the SandRay fight is actually before the RayMew fight and at first I was like there is no way buuttt now I'm thinking about it more I can see a scenario playing out
Imagine Ray is riled up by that point and hellbent on telling Mew what he discussed with Boston earlier, they argue about Rays choice to tell Mew what he knows about Top and Ton because Sand just seems the person to go that's only gonna make it worse, Ray is refusing to listen and Sand snaps with "can't you focus on me instead" and Ray who is now Decidedly Pissed Treble because Sand is not listening and agreeing, everyone is lying to his best friend and wants him to play along aNd Sand wants to ask him to pick right now to focus on their issues instead. This is quite frankly far too much for Rays smooth pretty rich brain to problem solve at once. He tells Sand he has no business in it and what even are they to each other anyway and when Sand can't really answer the question bc isn't that Rays choice, enough is enough. Sand is in his way and he's on a mission, so an already desperate and exhausted Ray shoves Sand aside. Literally. Goes in all guns blazing to tell Mew a truth he thinks Mew deserves because how can this possibly go wrong? Ray is being good. He is looking after the person he said he would save back.
Mew, on the other hand, does not want and is not ready for this truth especially not from a rowdy Ray who has always had an issue with Top and kissed him just last week anyway. This is jealousy talking right? What else should Mew think when Ray just told Mew he hasn't moved on from him in years and still loves him. Oh the tragedy. But oh the glee. Because if this is the case and Sand follows Ray back in to battle because FFS he's infuriating but he cant leave Ray in that state and seemingly picks Ray up from his mortal kombat style finish him blow from Mew (again literally and metaphorically). There is ample room for Sand taking a hurt and shell shocked Ray home and providing that oh so sweet hurt/comfort. Perhaps we will get SandRay patching bruises up together, finally. Perhaps they can finally have that communication they blocked off last ep. That is, ya know, before Ray realises without Mew as a bluff he might actually be allowed to love Sand and that's impossible, time to push Sand away with five times the force.
Sidenote: It is very interesting to observe that Nick is there as well. Now Sand did not shock me after all he's the bar singer and that is the bar, he may not be there for Mew but this is where we find Sand anyway when Ray isn't with him. But Nick? Nick has never entered that bar space before, in a way it hasn't tainted him the way it has all the others. It's another thing he hasn't been exposed to that sets him apart. But suddenly Nick is there in this world with the core four once again seeing different sides of them. Arguably, he has no business being there, he's not friends with them really and Boston has never made a point of showing him off before unless it benefits Ton to do so (e.g. the pool party where Nick was in charge of a specific job). He could be there for Sand which, again, is interesting.
Even more intriguingly, we can see Title's character in the background of the RayMew fight scene. Evidently, this character is significant somehow, enough to be in the opening credits. I'm very much side eyeing what his role is here and now of all moments. I do think there's a strong chance after Nick witnesses RayMews showdown, he takes it upon himself to confirm what Ray claims to Mew. I don't see Mew believing anyone else but someone seemingly inconsequential, with no reason to lie other than Nick. And we do have the TopMew fight in this ep as well so evidently Mew starts believing Rays talk at some point.
The only other possibility I could see right now is feral protective Sand trying to back Ray up, pissed as hell that Rays pretty face looks so beat up and devastated, by throwing an off hand comment out that makes Mew double take and realise Ray is telling the truth because again he approves of Sand, thinks Sand is lovely and doesn't see why he'd lie. Sand knows as much as Nick does so either of them have the potential to be candidates Mew would rather hear the hard truth from.
Then again, sometimes this show blindsides us into thinking there will be more drama than there really is. It's quite possible Mew only starts to believe what Ray claims because one of Tops ex flings crops up and gives mew some sort of vague warning that seems to corroborate things mew had already noticed and ignored and what Ray was accusing Top of. I'd rather it be Nick personally cause I love that crazy gone girl. But I do agree with others who have pointed out Mew and Ton have another confrontation later which is more likely to be about the cheating, in which case it makes sense for Nick to bite his tongue for now esp since Boston is currently where Nick wants and being more "coupley" toward him and if Mew and Top have relationship drama, it may only push Ton toward Top more again.
That does lead me to wonder if Sand being the one to back Ray up in this RayMew showdown and make Mew doubt Top where Ray couldn't is what prompts Nick and Sands fight where Nick claims Sand has embarrassed him and hurt his feelings and Sand argues why should you care, he's an asshole. I could see why Nick would be hurt and annoyed if Sand telling Mew causes issues for Nick and Ton because ya know Boston's in a pissy since Mew is off with him, Tops giving him shit since clearly Boston gave shit away and perhaps Sand even lets something slip like "just ask Nick" which is why HE personally is embarrassed cause now Ton is also onto him. Also Sand stands with the most to gain. It pushes Ray into his arms more to be there for him when everyone else is dismissing him, esp Mew and Sand doesn't like Top in the first place and knows Top has a habit of carelessly fucking other people and putting his feelings first.
But this is only friends, maybe in reality the argument RayMew have isn't even about Top anymore by the end of it, maybe what Ray tells Boston he knows which clearly makes Boston nervous has nothing to do with BostonTop at all. From the small snippets we have we truly have barely any context but these are some scenarios I'd like for the timeline of things.
20 notes
·
View notes
I just finished P:WotR, and HOLY FUCKING SHIT. What the fuck was that??? /pos. Now I understand why people were so pissed about BG3 not having a true epilogue, because oh my god was the P:WotR one good. They really brought up every single decision you made, and all of them had an impact on the worldstate. And they did not pull any punches about making you feel bad for fucking up, lmao.
I stand by my love of Areelu, btw. She's a terrible person, but I love her and I'm obsessed with her. Also, she was kinda-sorta justified?? Anyways, we support women's wrongs in this house. <3
God, I love this game, and I can't wait to play it again!!!!! It truly was an amazing experience, and I'm so curious to see how all the other mythic paths play out. (I did angel for this playthrough. Basic, I know. But it was actually really fun!!!!!!!!)
7 notes
·
View notes
Screaming out into the void of the Internet because my husband doesn’t care about Wrath of the Righteous :P
I’m back on rotating my Azata playthrough in my head like a microwave. Because Amie (tiefling Hunter), the second character I ever created, has never gotten farther than the beginning of Act 2, and I keep playing everyone but her so I’m trying to reassess if I actually *want* to play her.
To that end, I’ve been ruminating on taking Angelina, my planned Trickster until Poetry stole the show, and making her the Azata instead.
(picrew here)
Angelina Qinrieth is a half-elf Bard from Mendev. Her mother, Eveniel Qinrieth, is a half-elf sacred prostitute of Calistria. Angelina married and divorced young (still working out the details on reasons) before joining a traveling circus as a trapeze artist. She was on her way to visit her mother when she was “waylaid by demons” and then found herself in the Market Square of Kenabres.
She’s a CN follower of Calistria. Despite her young age, she’s fairly jaded and the Azata path would be her learning to find joy again. She’d be a Daeran romance (which does leave me without a Lann romance unless Josephine (Lich->Legend) romances him instead of Galfrey). Party would be Seelah, Woljif, Lann, Daeran, and Nenio.
I had been keeping her around in my head with the idea of doing a Secret Ending run through Trickster, but honestly I don’t think I can stomach doing Trickster again. If I make her the Azata, I don’t think I would try to go for the Secret Ending if only because I’m lazy :P
10 notes
·
View notes