Lurker > pyresword

Hot take: Final Fantasy IX counts as one of these

It's also the best game that I think qualifies, though I guess the best at specifically this I would pick Persona 3.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

+10 Naked Snake/Big Boss (Metal Gear)
+9 Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
+8 Edelgard (Fire Emblem)
+7 Ren "Joker" Amamiya (Persona 5)
+6 Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
+5 Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
+4 The King of All Cosmos (Katamari Damacy)
+3 Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)
+2 Zagreus (Hades)
+1 Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Calling
IMAGE -MATERIAL- <Version 0>
Battle -Threat-

Match 3 good
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

+10 Jecht (Final Fantasy X)
+9 Kirby (Kirby)
+8 Robo (Chrono Trigger)
+7 Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza)
+6 9S (NieR: Automata)
+5 Alucard (Castlevania)
+4 Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper)
+3 Mordin Solus (Mass Effect)
+2 Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)
+1 Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The Mana Sword posted...

game-"winning"

The opponent will deck themselves eventually!
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Yikes. Apparently Book of Exalted Deeds+Faceless Haven is a game-winning combo in Standard 2022 now unless the opponent is running land destruction, which no one is.

(It works in actual Standard also but Field of Ruin is a common-ish answer to it.)

To be clear they can also kill the Haven the turn you make it a creature, which you have to do in order to put the counter on it from the book, but presumably you are going to run protection or wait for them to tap out. Obviously this is realistic counterplay though.

Edited for clarity (hopefully)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Vrdels
High Above the Land
Elegy For Old Identities and Nostalgia
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The Mana Sword posted...

UR Coinflips

This deck definitely felt a lot like it could have been strong if I'd made picks leaning into this archetype instead of ending up in the more traditional red aggro splashing blue
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Yeah I don't think I'm gonna be a huge fan of this limited format but oh well. First draft played one match so far with a mostly red goblin deck since my rare was the Hobgoblin Bandit Lord. Don't think it's that great but I won my first match.

Accidentally clicked on Traditional Draft instead of Premiere Draft though RIP. Hopefully I get to at least 2 wins so I don't just lose most of the entry cost.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

One Last Trial
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Kill Command
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

4 - Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong)
1 - Vectorman (Vectorman)

5 - Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
0 - Crono (Chrono Trigger)

2 - Cave Johnson (Portal 2)
3 - Leah (Stardew Valley)

1 - Hat Kid (A Hat In Time)
4 - Edelgard (Fire Emblem)

5 - Jecht (Final Fantasy X)
0 - Proto Man (Mega Man)

2 - Shantae (Shantae: Pirate's Curse)
3 - Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Tonitrus
Kill Command
Tactical Field

I am consistently impressed every time I listen to Kill Command which is weird because I hardly even noticed it when I was actually playing the game.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

What is it about Embercleave that makes it good against Cycling? Im dumb.

One of the main ways for Cycling to fight back against decks that are faster than it is by making a bunch of 1/1's with either Valiant Rescuer or Improbable Alliance. The deck can make quite a lot of these which it then uses to chump block, but if Embercleave is still allowing the opponent to push through all that damage anyways then the Cycling deck just gets run over before it can assemble a way to win the game. It's not really Embercleave specifically as much as it is just Trample in general. Mono-green aggro has been a bit problematic for me for similar reasons, though mono-green is somewhat slower which makes that more manageable.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I've been playing a fair amount of Cycling in Standard lately. This deck is obnoxious as heck but I actually think it's super well positioned in the current meta where not a ton of people are playing Embercleave. I'm convinced it has winning matchups against the rest of the top decks though*. Weird to say about a deck that hasn't gotten anything new besides lands since Ikoria and is made of almost all commons/uncommons, but that has been my experience.

The deck has a surprising amount of versatility compared to what it looks like playing against it. Lots of decks have trouble answering Irencrag Pyromancer and Improbable Alliance, and the ones that can answer those (like Sultai) tend to be weak to the plan of sideboarding in a bunch of counterspells. (Again, this does not apply to decks with Embercleave which I think all have a good matchup here, as it nullifies the plan of chump-blocking with 1/1's while on the defensive)

*Except possibly Jeskai Mutate. I have not had the chance to play this matchup at all and I have a relatively poor understanding of the Mutate deck.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

4 - Magus (Chrono Trigger)
1 - Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn

1 - Mega Man (Mega Man)
4 - Wheatley (Portal 2)

2 - Hades (Hades)
3 - Goro Majima (Yakuza)

0 - Zero (Mega Man X)
5 - Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

2 - Luca Blight (Suikoden 2)
3 - Pit (Kid Icarus)

3 - Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
2 - Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Balance Slays the Demon
The Best Is Yet To Come
Chrono Trigger

Really not feeling La Mer today, though I guess I was never a super fan or anything in the first place.

Match 3 is mean and evil and I don't like it.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Yeah that boss is easily the hardest one compared to the level you're naturally at when you reach it
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

There's a bit you don't know about some of the characters which is evident in some of the comments you made, but at the same time I'm not sure any of that information will change your overall view. (To be clear, I mean things that happen later on--I'm not saying you missed anything)

One thing I will say is that I do believe Dieter is being genuine in basically all of his conversations. Not sure if you were implying otherwise but I definitely don't think he's lying about his own beliefs and ideals just for the sake of a power grab. I think he believes he needs power in order to realize his ideals.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think Iteration is the most impactful card from either set, yes.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The Mana Sword posted...

I think Strixhaven is a significantly stronger set for constructed than Kaldheim tbqh.

This is what my instincts said also, but actually looking through the list I'm not sure. Kaldheim did have Binding, Showdown of the Skalds, and Goldspan Dragon which were really strong, and then a host of other cards like Koma, Vorinclex, and Clarion Spirit which have seen a bit of play
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think Strixhaven had a lot more strength than people initially gave it credit for.

Expressive Iteration and Elite Spellbinder have proved really strong in several formats. Prismari Command and Magma Opus have seen a reasonable amount of play as well. I'm also convinced that Magecraft could be a strong strategy in Standard after Bonecrusher Giant rotates out.

Kaldheim still might have more but I don't think I'd say Strixhaven is significantly weaker.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Op. 13
Stella -Part 2-
POINT OF NO RETURN
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Trails of Cold Steel 4 has 39 playable characters, so...
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

2 - Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil)
3 - Solaire of Astora (Dark Souls)

2 - Alucard (Castlevania)
3 - Joel (The Last of Us)

4 - Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5)
1 - The Prince (Prince of Persia)

5 - Falco Lombardi (Star Fox)
0 - Wario (Super Mario Bros.)

2 - Claude (Fire Emblem 3 Houses)
3 - Link (The Legend of Zelda)

5 - Kuja (Final Fantasy IX)
0 - Ren "Joker" Amamiya (Persona 5)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Well I don't think it needs to be or should be overhauled. (I know Ulti said that, I'm just clarifying what I'm saying.) I do think better systems exist, but the games in question have been designed around those systems from the start. I don't think it would really work to just try and change Magic's system on a dime like that.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I do think Magic's mana system is quite bad. Duelmasters and Kaijudo were both better TCG's for a reason. (well, several really, but a resource system that doesn't randomly cause players to not have access to resources is one of them.)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Fateful Confrontation
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

QuelI->EX[cez]->{kranz};
Brave New World
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Will vote in the last match later if I have time
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

There are other websites? This changes everything.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

4 - The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
1 - Fiona Belli (Haunting Ground)

3 - Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
2 - Guybrush Threepwood (Secret of Monkey Island)

3 - Carmen Sandiego (Carmen Sandiego)
2 - Yoshimitsu (Tekken/Soul Calibur)

4 - Captain Toad (Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker)
1 - Cuphead (Cuphead)

3 - Agent 47 (Hitman)
2 - Yoshi (Super Mario World)

1 - Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
4 - Auron (Final Fantasy X)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I'm wondering if there's something you can do in Historic with Bard Class and Birgi, God of Storytelling. I can't think of anything concrete that seems worthwhile, but there's a ton of random Legendary Commander-esque cards in the format I don't know about.

These infinite mana type decks have always felt close in the format, but I don't quite know if this is the thing to push them or not.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think that the existence of the Genocide route is an essential piece of Undertale as a game, but I don't necessarily think that playing it (or any other particular route, for that matter) is an essential piece of the experience of playing Undertale.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't think the Genocide route improved the experience much from the story standpoint. The boss was fun though.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Sight of Silence
You Were There
Apex of the World (Rain)

And so the second of my noms/supports is fed to Octopunch.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

8.5/10

There's a lot of heart in the game compared to pretty much anything else, but it's a bit too gimmicky to really stand out as one of the best of the best.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

3 - Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)
2 - Kate Marsh (Life is Strange)

2 - Madeline (Celeste)
3 - Yu Narukami (Persona 4)

3 - Edgar Figaro (Final Fantasy VI)
2 - Nathan Drake (Uncharted)

3 - Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
2 - Balthier Bunansa (Final Fantasy XII)

2 - Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)
3 - Delita Hyral (Final Fantasy Tactics)

3 - Handsome Jack (Borderlands 2)
2 - Mordin Solus (Mass Effect)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Neuchatel
Tellur Town (Autumn)
Gentle Slope Cave
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I am getting a bit tired of Adventure creatures also but I don't think it's true that standard lacks diversity. There's about 10 different decks right now that are all viable at the top level such that it wouldn't be a surprise to see any of them win the next big tournament, and there's at least a handful of others in whatever the "almost as good" tier is.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

5 - Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)
0 - Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot)

3 - Locke Cole (Final Fantasy VI)
2 - Bartz (Final Fantasy V)

5 - Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid)
0 - Octodad (Octodad)

3 - Kat (Gravity Rush)
2 - Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog)

3 - Robo (Chrono Trigger)
2 - Kaine (Nier)

3 - Joshua Bright (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)
2 - Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Oh no my perfect attendance. Think this is the first time I made it through round 1 to >.>
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't think the current rogue lists will use Krydle. The mill effect is too weak and too slow. It might be possible to use in the more midrange creature oriented rogue lists where the 2nd effect pairs also well with Zareth San, but I'm not sure about that either. Rogues are already hard to block anyways so like the ability use 2 mana and prevent my opponent from blocking doesn't sound that appealling.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

5 - Estelle Bright (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)
0 - Giovanni (Pokemon)

1 - Ryu (Street Fighter)
4 - Andrew Ryan (Bioshock)

1 - Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)
4 - Olivier Lenheim (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)

5 - Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
0 - Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)

4 - Irvine Kinneas (Final Fantasy VIII)
1 - Bayonetta (Bayonetta)

4 - Nenji Ogata (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)
1 - Spyro the Dragon (Spyro the Dragon)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Reddit telling me there's now (technically) a turn 2 kill in standard where turn 1 you play Minion of the Mighty, then turn 2 play two Infuriates and use the Minion to cheat into play Terror of Mount Velus.

It requires you to have a pretty specific opening hand (2 untapped red sources + 2 Infuriates + a copy of the Minion and the Dragon), but it does exist.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't quite agree with that but I do think this is pretty much where Azure started kicking things into overdrive. The final chapter is long enough though that I think it's inevitable some parts don't hit as hard.

(Azure Chapter 3 spoilers) I unfortunately don't really like what they do with Wald in this game, but yeah everything else is great. Love Randy's scene after the fight with Shirley. Also this probably didn't surprise you as much after having played Cold Steel 4, but I definitely remember getting chills going to the marshlands for the first time and seeing them filled with pleroma grass. Also some great Rixia content here and the more Rixia the better as far as I'm concerned.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I remember 1 having significantly better pacing than 2, though it's possible that opinion changes if I played them both back to back.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Inevitable Struggle -Super Arrange Ver.-
The Explosion
Fly to the Leaden Sky
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Outer Wilds stuff

Yeah I meant that the game just doesn't have answers for some pre-existing questions, not that the ending sequence itself was confusing or poorly explained.

Non-ending was probably a poor description, yes. I do think the ending is a poor ending from the standpoint that it doesn't really provide closure on any existing plot threads* and just goes off and does its own philosophical thing. It's fine if you want to make an allegory but I really don't get that impression from the rest of the game and it's not like there aren't easy things that could have been changed if that's what the intent was. (edit: Putting in spoilers just in case)

*I suppose it does provide closure to the story of the player character themselves, but it's very hard for a story arc of a featureless self-insert character to even register on my radar. Maybe this is why I don't see eye-to-eye with the fanbase--to me the meat of the story does not involve the player character or even any of the other Travelers; it's all about the Nomai.

Just for the record, yes I did explore The Interloper before finishing the game, though I could easily see this post giving the impression that I didn't.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Tag

I usually don't have much input in topics like this but I'll be reading at least.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think the egg metaphor has not gained widespread use outside of lgbt circles in the way that "coming out of the closet" has. I could be wrong, but the only way I knew about it was from browsing a particular lgbt subreddit, and I've never heard the term anywhere else.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

2 - Zagreus (Hades)
3 - Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium)

3 - Edith Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)
2 - Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)

1 - Jessie (Final Fantasy VII: Remake)
4 - Palutena (Kid Icarus)

2 - Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)
3 - Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

4 - Pablo Sanchez (Backyard Sports)
1 - Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)

1 - Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
4 - Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.