Our Least Favorite Cards

mtg-aggravation -> s0wingsalt Certified pillar of salt, but please call me out if any of my points/posts come off as insensitive or rude. This is meant to be a blog critical of Magic and WotC because I love both and want them to be the best they can be. (Blood Moon art by Frank Vohwinkel, Sowing Salt art by Hideaki Takamura)

[s0wingsalt]

Wotc is really trying their absolute damnedest to get me to revive this blog

[jones-friend]

$300 fucking dollars for a fucking box of magic cards. I remember when everyone flipped their shit when Ultimate Masters came out at $350 for 24 packs. Wotc has extorted their consumers so hard $300 for draft boxes is reasonable now. I think back on triple A microtransactions and how they prey on neurodivergent individuals who are more prone to FOMO style tactics. I also think abt how Magic the Gathering had a record breaking year yet the cost continues to rise dramatically.

I’m just saying, many card prices are at all time highs. There’s never been a better time to close off your collection.

[breya-etherium-shaper]

Wizards of the coast really had me going for part of this spoiler season for commander legends. Really thought we were gonna get a set with a few nice and low power commanders with unique effects and not anything that would become a format staple anywhere.

Anyhow, endless growth is impossible and wotc’s ceo can get fucked

[pearly-plays-mtg]

... you alright there?

[breya-etherium-shaper]

No

[foxgirlintestines]

Ok, so... the thing is that this card is not as good as everyone thinks it is, but the opposite side of that is IT IS STILL WAY TOO GOOD FOR COMMANDER. So, it is a Black Lotus but the caveat is it can only be used for your Commander. It allows you to play your commander earlier or lighten up some Commander Tax. That is not inherently broken, until you play a broken commander. Basically, any deck that uses a high power Commander that has the potential to create a win when cast is going to just see this card as a Black Lotus, and well, Black Lotus is regarded as the most powerful card in Magic for a reason. This card is extremely unhealthy for the game because this is not a card designed to be used fairly, it is designed to absolutely break any deck that can make impactful use of it when drawn. Its broken but not an auto include which is its only redeeming quality in terms of design. You can compare it to Lion’s Eye Diamond which swaps out the restriction for a Drawback, but also that card is rediculously broken and everyone already knows that, so why would WotC print a card that has so many parallels to others that are known problematic cards? So, let us talk about not the card itself, but what the card means when printed. This card is blatant disregard for any respect of the format. It is a chase money grubbing card designed with no intention of doing any good, instead just as bait to make packs sell. Commander has a huge problem and that is accessibility. One of the Cards that shows off this gap is Mana Crypt, an old card that cheats on Mana heavily to gain someone a massive advantage. I do not think Jeweled Lotus is as powerful as Mana Crypt in every deck, but it is a similar card that many decks will want and those who have it will have a massive advantage over the table while those who don’t will feel pressured to need it. This is a card they print at Mythic Rare pushed absurdly to be a Commander staple so they can weave it into supplemental products as a low effort chase card to ensure shit sells. It is as disgustingly transparent as you can get to say “we do not care about you (as in the playerbase) we just want your money and we will do anything we can to milk you dry even if it means potentially making our game worse.” There is no possible reason its a card meant for good, it is a design based of something broken and easily recognizable as a banned card, exacerbates known problems with accessibility by being a Mythic Rare, and there is nothing “fun” about a design that we easily recognize as broken.

So yeah Breya and others are 100% justified, because even if this card is overhyped and not as good as it seems (it is still very good mind you) it is a complete and utter fuck you from WotC to the Commander format, and the CRC are in WotC’s pocket and have been told not to ban the card because the CRC are basically nothing more than corrupt lawmakers taking bribes from their supporters to do nothing but allow WotC to do whatever they want. That is why The Walking Dead Secret Lair is legal, and why this card will be legal.

Fuck WotC, Fuck Hasbro, Fuck the Commander Rules Committee, and a sincere Fuck You to everyone who plays this game because for the foreseeable future we are just all getting fucked.

[askkrenko]

Also, let’s face it, Jeweled Lotus really only has two states: It either powers out your commander so early that you get an absurd lead and start winning before the opponent can play, or it’s a dead card.  There’s no fair or balanced use of this card.  If it’s in someone’s opening hand, you’re guaranteed to have a bad, less interesting, less fun game.

It’s not a FUN CARD. 

[death-burst]

I’m curious about the comment one post above on the CRC. Did they say anything about this and/or the Walking Dead fiasco? Seems pretty easy to say “well, nope, this is banned, thank you very much WotC, but nope.”

[askkrenko]

They basically said “while we agree that there are issues, they’re not issues that warrant a banning.”

[s0wingsalt]

I think the most ridiculous thing about Jeweled Lotus being printed isn’t even the power level, but the play patterns it creates. The way I see it there are three outcomes for Lotus being involved in a game: 1. someone powers out their commander super early and gets a dominant advantage (especially if the commander was printed in 2019 onward), crushing everyone or turning it into a game of Archenemy where they get ganged up on 2. Lotus is drawn when the commander is in play/late enough in the game that the mana is irrelevant, in which case it’s a dead card, in many ways worse than a land 3. Lotus is used to pay for a commander’s tax/high base cost in the midgame, when the impact of the commander is moderate. This feels like the intended use case (besides enabling commander centric builds early) Of those three cases, two are actively bad gameplay (either letting one player stomp the others/get targeted immediately, or being a dead card). The third is like, fine? I guess? But is also, in my opinion, a relatively rare use case, and furthermore there are even fewer situations where Lotus does something that other cards, like a ramp spell or even just a land, couldn’t do. It just... isn’t a good design. It doesn’t make the game more fun for having it involved. It shouldn’t go in your deck for a huge number of reasons, but it’s a notorious enough effect that it feels like you have to at least CONSIDER IT for any deck that’s 3 or less colors. It just makes me angry because to me it’s one of the most textbook examples to date of WoTC not giving half a shit about the actual state of a format beyond some nebulous idea of power level, and instead just printing things meant to push packs.

[s0wingsalt]

how am I supposed to make a brand out of being unreasonably angry about magic when wotc keeps making decisions that justify ever-increasing anger? smh me hearties

[s0wingsalt]

[celebrity-pharmacist]

Saw this on Twitter but it got deleted before I could remember who did it

[jones-friend]

Print the Reserved List

Slivers are a more popular strategy and sliver queen is nearly $200. The reserved list has become this hoard for collectors who want to treat the game like stocks and bonds and it makes certain cards 100% inaccessible.

“But the reserved list is the backbone of the market!” Bruh are you serious? It’s a cardboard trading card game. It only holds value so long as people play it. It’s not the stock market. It’s a game people play over the kitchen table or at local tournaments.

“But then wizards can just reprint anything and damage the value of all the cards I hoarded!” Yes. That’s the point. Its your fault you looked at a card game and saw an investment opportunity instead of a card game. You played yourself.

“But the high end collectors are the backbone of the game! That’s who MTG should cater to!” We’re literally in a casual boom. Honestly, most high end collectors wheel store credit with standard legal cards to make their collection while casual players tend to flat out buy more product. High end collectors also tend to be spikier snd create an unfriendly, clubhouse like environment that discourages people from playing the game.

And in 2002 some cards were lifted from the reserved list, so clearly there can be some pick and choose element of what stays reserved if wotc decided to keep it. Otherwise y’all wouldn’t have access to Demonic Tutors under a few hundred dollars.

[s0wingsalt]

It’s true and you should say it

[doctor-roman]

First Annual MTGNexus Commander Climate Survey

This survey is intended to get a feel for what the greater community likes and dislikes about Commander. Please answer all questions honestl

HEY

IF YOU PLAY COMMANDER GO FILL THIS OUT

[rodimuses]

Hey, im trying to help someone find the cool, lgbt side of the mtg fandom. Reblog if you consider yourself part of that. This will be a masterpost of urls

[loreleywrites]

*waves*

[commandertheory]

MTGCommander site appears to be down, but here’s the changes to the banlist.

HE IS FREE

[jones-friend]

PARADOX ENGINE BAN

[dalecooper-official]

Good riddance Paradox Engine. I understand why Iona was banned but was it really that big of an issue?

[hazoret]

Honestly I’m the only one I know who plays it and I only use it when the game gotta end or someone is being a jerk ^^; I understand why they banned it though.

[magicjudge]

Iona wasn’t banned because she was heavily played. If she saw heavier play, she likely would have been banned a long time ago.

Rather, she was banned because Iona never creates a positive gameplay experience for anyone and is capable of singlehandedly ruining a monocolor player’s whole game. The card is miserable and goes against the spirit of format where everyone should get a chance to play Magic.

[saeiouth-deactivated20230618]

Today’s B&R announcement in a nutshell

[jones-friend]

So this isn’t something I’ve brought up here before

But I hate 90% of all MTG players. Like. The crowd here on tumblr is here for story and fun kitchen table play which is why I’m here too.

Whenever I go to a card shop to play casual EDH I get hit by infinite combos, degenerate proxies, overbearing control, and one shot kills. “Oh great Magister Sphinx. Please tell me again how you used it for control against lifegain when you hit me at 40 life. Clearly I was out of control.”

Its like 90% of MTG players can only have fun if no one else is having fun. One shop owner literally told me my most prized deck (Riku hugs) wasn’t winning because it didn’t run the expensive staples every deck uses. Like, I get that it works but its boring and kills the game’s creativity.

That selfishness goes into the game’s market, too. Notice how anything in low supply suffered hoarding buyouts to resell at the raised price. One of the best tracking sites is literally called mtgstocks. I also get that without a secondary market there’s less incentive for players to buy sealed product that pays the bills so we can keep playing with cardboard but a $250 Mythic Edition is fucked. It just feels like a mad dash to take as much as you can for yourself instead of playing the game like a normal person.

I love playing mtg for its extensive library of cards and fun interactions that make for an exciting game.

I hate playing mtg for first place, for who spent the most money on the shiniest cards that win the fastest.

[bace-jeleren]

[jones-friend]

Bringing this back after the past few games I had

[jones-friend]

ITS BACK BABEY

[atlas-sinner]

Just want to mention that the mere fact that this gets brought back on a repeated basis goes to show that this is a nasty, unhealthy problem.

[jones-friend]

Yup. And people have recommended to find a new LGS but

I’ve been to multiple in Chicago, the suburbs, and Iowa City. I have not had fun.

[jones-friend]

THIS POST IS AN OPINION

I think Cyclonic Rift should be banned in EDH.

Now, EDH promotes flexible deckbuilding and cultivates a small banlist to provide tons of options on how people want to play. Cards aren’t really banned unless the multiplayer, 40 life rules of the format really warp the card beyond what its original purpose was.

If you look at Sway of the Stars, you’ll find the reset to 7 life is so much more powerful here. As is Worldfire’s everyone at 1. Cards really aren’t banned unless their power is severely boosted by the high mana, altered life totals/libraries of the format.

So some things about Cyc Rift. What stands out to me is it outclasses every single boardwipe in the game. There are hardly any downsides to it and it shows.

First of all, its a one sided boardwipe that only hits all of your opponents things. The comparison I have here is Plague Wind. Destroy all your opponents’ creatures but let yours live for a high mana cost. Plague Wind only hits in black’s colors, when you look at Cyc Rift it hits every permanent on your opponents’ field. That’s an incredible range of coverage.

On top of that, Mass Calcify, In Garruk’s Wake, Plague Wind, these are all at sorcery speed. Cyc Rift is not only substantially more powerful but it also can be cast during your opponents’ turn.

The card gets two times better when you have three opponents for it. Hitting every nonland permanent only your opponents control in blue at instant speed is absurdly powerful, especially in EDH where boardstates take time to assemble and reassemble. Its a much different impact.

Lastly, how is Cyc Rift used? Similar to how Worldfire can be used to instantly win. My problem with cyc rift in game (is opinionated) is that either the game ends or takes another hour that turn. Either you negate the entire game of magic the gathering by removing the combat element for an OHKO for a win in the least fun way or the game drags on for another hour.

Cyc Rift is a miserable card that makes miserable games and any genuine positives it has can be filled in by another boardwipe for more balanced gameplay.

[magical-leak]

Green creatures be like

[magical-leak]

Muda muda muda muda muda!

[s0wingsalt]

So if magic is getting a big budget animated series with big name directors, producers, etc, what are the odds that they get the cast of critical role to voice act the characters?