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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   3240 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 12, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Completely disagree on commander. 60 card is great for learning with your kid, but for playing with more than one person it's just a way better format. The pre-cons are slow and weak, but extremely understandable for a kid. You can both upgrade them with printed proxies as he gets smarter, or leave them intact and see if you can rope the wife/other kids into playing!

When you buy those pre-cons they come with the tokens you need. People use dice on top of cards, post-it notes, and Infinity Tokens.

Over the past 5 years Magic has gotten worse, in my estimation. More woke, worse print quality, tougher balance. I don't pay for cards anymore, or at least very little. However it's still the best game ever made. I'm seriously considering paying aftermarket prices for the warhammer 40k precon commander deck that I played with recently, it was a blast.

Finally if he wants to get into the social aspect of FNM etc. I'd suggest it, eventually. But the reputation of MTG nerds is well-earned. He will find and meet cheaters and assholes - he'll also potentially find some of his best, lifelong friends. I think it's worth the risk once he's good enough to give it a shot. Be prepared to spend $ to keep up with the meta-game though.

More woke

How is this coming through in the game? Black elves? Trans paladins? Or do you mean that WotC woke corporate politics is a spectacle?

To be clear, there's general inclusivity (good, IMO) like them committing to half male half female characters, a ton of different races, etc.

Most local game stores you go to are also going to be woke. The game is good enough it wouldn't stop me from going, but I played regularly at a kitchen top with more average people.

Perhaps my biggest issue with the progressiveness of WotC/Magic is that the whole game's culture is hypocritical towards the aforementioned cheaters and assholes. There's millions of people who would love to play MtG professionally, I think it should be without question that anyone caught cheating a single time in a qualifier level tournament is banned for life.

IIRC, black Aragorn was one of the most egregious instances. I think there have also been some complaints about ugly (overweight) women in the art, but I don't recall any specific examples.

Lol they actually went for it.

I'll just kind of treat this like the planes walkers are in a Rick and Morty multi-verse and stumbled on the DEI dimension and summoned a black elf and be amused.

shuts eyes

crosses fingers

trans paladin. trans paladin. trans paladin

Be prepared to spend $ to keep up with the meta-game though.

Meaning, like, usual costs of socializing? Cover fees, food, etc? Or something else?

No - when you play 60 card at a game store, you'll generally be playing "Standard". This is a format with cards just in the past two years. As they print new cards, you won't be allowed to play with older ones (in that format). So minimum a couple times a year you'll have to adjust or fully rebuild the deck.

If you want to be competitive, you'll have to build more than one deck and adjust it mid-season.

Remember though, nobody is forcing you or your son to take it very seriously. You can spend $500 on a standard deck or $10. A competitive deck will be something like $50, and if you crack packs and go to pre-releases you can sometimes trade for what you want etc.

If he loves it it's absolutely worth a shot of going to pre-releases first and then diving into FNMs.

Power creep

Be prepared to spend $ to keep up with the meta-game though.

This probably depends pretty heavily on what level you're playing at and what particular deck you're playing.

I have an Imoti deck that I built for like $12+shipping+sleeves that had a much better win rate, back when we were tracking, than several friends' decks who spent hundreds. That's an extreme case, but the principle (you can make capable decks under budgetary constraints) stands.

True, and I always prioritized fun over winning.

I still remember my favorite play of all time - swinging for 36 on the final turn of an FNM with a tier 3 deck with Jarad when that was exactly his life total. The look on that guy's face is seared into my mind.

Also holy shit that was almost 10 years ago.

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