Board 8 > Plums 52 favorite Magic cards

(+) Yeah! (+)

Team Rocket Elite posted...

I had never heard of Companion until now. How bad could it be?

"Thus [Lurrus] was banned in Vintage, obtaining the infamy of being the first card banned in this format for power level reasons since Mind Twist was banned in 1996."

Oh.

LOL

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Team Rocket Elite posted...

I had never heard of Companion until now. How bad could it be?

"Thus [Lurrus] was banned in Vintage, obtaining the infamy of being the first card banned in this format for power level reasons since Mind Twist was banned in 1996."

Oh.

Lurrus in vintage is a little extreme because in vintage it was more of an issue of vintage playable cards are all obscenely broken and Lurrus just let you replay obscenely broken cards for basically no cost.

The bigger problem was that in other formats you could build decks around companions like

which played basically nothing but even costed clone effects to keep spinning the wheels over and over again.

While with normal combos you could be screwed by never drawing your combo piece, companions were always virtually in your hand and completely immune to discard like thoughtseize which made the games look exactly the same every single time.

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Companion was such a mess that Wizards changed the rules on how it works. Lutri was also banned in EDH a few minutes after the card got spoiled, which was unprecedented.

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How did people actually verify that decks followed the relevant restrictions?

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Paper events weren't actually happening at the time due to COVID, so that wasn't an issue.

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LordoftheMorons posted...

How did people actually verify that decks followed the relevant restrictions?

Since the companion is visible from the start of the game, I'd assume if you notice any cards that break the deckbuilding rules, it would be an instant loss.

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7. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver



Ashiok was both the first planeswalker I ever opened in a booster pack, and one of the few planeswalkers which is better in higher powered cubes than lower powered cubes. Why? Because higher powered cubes have fewer random ass creatures that can attack ashiok.

In a control mirror this card is a nightmare, and if you can ramp into it with a mox on turn 2 you probably aren't losing because nobody is running cheap planeswalker removal (And sometimes not running removal at all.

Ashiok is certainly not as good as it was a few years ago now that other scary 3 mana planeswalkers are running around in cube (Dack, Oko, Narset) but still a great card with a lot of good memories.

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My Arena Avatar

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6. Arcane Subtraction



I rode this damn draft common to #400 in the world in limited rankings before other people realized how to draft Strixhaven. Unfortunately after people figured out that the Temur Colleges were the best and U/R Tempo was no longer always open I eventually fell down.

Still, being ranked in top few hundred of the worlds best magic players if only for a month was pretty awesome.

Random Aside: The decay on MTG Arena is completely insane. Its pretty stupid you are matching actual silver level players against people who have been top 500 mythic just because they haven't played in a couple months. I mean, its the reason I have over a hundred rare and mythic wild cards each, but that's really not a fair system for people who aren't as good at the game.

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Yeah I was in Silver and played against someone with slip covers that literally said Magic Arena 2019, meanwhile I didnt start playing until it came out on iOS lol.

Still kicking myself I didnt start sooner, should have known progression would carry over.

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masterplum posted...

10. Gonti, Lord of Luxury

Definitely a very cool effect. I'm not sure I understand the flavor here though, but maybe that's because I'm not seeing it in the context of the rest of the set (since I haven't kept up with Magic in like a decade).

masterplum posted...

9. Rules Lawyer

LMAO, this card is ridiculous. It doesn't seem particularly unbeatable though, like doesn't it die to removal just fine since it only protects "other" permanents?

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Yeah rules lawyer dies to removal. It was just nearly unbeatable because we were playing sealed unstable

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LordoftheMorons posted...

How did people actually verify that decks followed the relevant restrictions?

i understand the fear, but... probably the same way that people actually verify you don't have 5 or more copies of a card in your deck

masterplum posted...

The bigger problem was that in other formats you could build decks around companions like [Gyruda] which played basically nothing but even costed clone effects to keep spinning the wheels over and over again.

Gyruda was such a funny, stupid deck. It wasn't even good- it was a giant rock-paper-scissors extravaganza that automatically lost to like 80% of the metagame. I'm glad it fell out of favor quickly, because the 20% of the decks it automatically beat were fun and important to the metagame.

TomNook posted...

Companion was such a mess that Wizards changed the rules on how it works. Lutri was also banned in EDH a few minutes after the card got spoiled, which was unprecedented.

Poor Lutri! It has a genuinely restrictive condition in every normal format. I'm actually kind of proud of wotc for printing it. I know EDH is the cash cow, but I don't want it dictating what can or cannot appear in standard, modern, etc.

masterplum posted...

Gonti

Another proof of diversity of opinions! I'm a fan of 'steal yo card' effects. I'm not a huge fan of gonti because it's an unstoppable ETB effect. Stuff like robber of the rich, hostage taker, and thief of sanity all give your opponent some ability to play around it. Gonti is 'have counterspells or get lucky'

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5. Kolaghan's Command



I opened a foil K command from a dragons of tarkhir booster pack and at the time it was one of the cheapest commands. Then people realized it was great and it spiked.

At this point do I even need to mention when a cube card is great? Hint: If it messes with your opponents artifacts its probably good in cube. K command is great because it's extremely versatile. Instant speed discard is no joke, and 2 damage picks off mana elves. It's actually pretty hard not to get a 2 for 1 with it, and at 3 mana instant speed thats a damn good deal.

It gets bonus points for being a color combination that usually doesn't get card advantage. Really great cube cards that are non-blue are always fun given blue is so far and away the best cube color in high powered cubes.

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Random no comment honorable mention dump 2:



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banananor posted...

Another proof of diversity of opinions! I'm a fan of 'steal yo card' effects. I'm not a huge fan of gonti because it's an unstoppable ETB effect. Stuff like robber of the rich, hostage taker, and thief of sanity all give your opponent some ability to play around it. Gonti is 'have counterspells or get lucky'

Yeah but Gonti just draws a card for you. Thief of Sanity dominates games in a way that Gonti simply can't. I don't understand why this is a sticking point for you. Do you just hate ETBs?

EDIT: Or to put it another way, if Gonti was the same stats and costs, but it took the card from your own library instead, do you have the same complaint? Because those cards aren't substantively different, I don't think.

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Love me some K-Command

Sceptilesolar posted...

Thief of Sanity dominates games in a way that Gonti simply can't.

Yeah, Thief of Sanity is a better card powerwise because if you can protect it the game is pretty much over. Just not as fun of a card to have around.

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True!

Getting one card isn't too bad. it's definitely fair to say it is personal preference. Neither is crazy offensive

You were mentioning the card instantly winning games so I thought you thought it was very powerful.

Why did you pick gonti instead of hostage taker if not for power reasons?

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I guess if your deck can't prevent or get rid of a 2/2, thief of sanity sucks.

I enjoyed that era of standard, so I must have been running a deck that countered it

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banananor posted...

True!

Getting one card isn't too bad. it's definitely fair to say it is personal preference. Neither is crazy offensive

You were mentioning the card instantly winning games so I thought you thought it was very powerful.

Why did you pick gonti instead of hostage taker if not for power reasons?

It is powerful, and you can sometimes luck into wins if you hit a combo piece with it.

I honestly think hostage taker kind of sucks

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4. Polar Kraken


LOOK HOW INSANELY HUGE THIS THING IS

THIS THING

IS

SO

BIG

8 (9?) year old me thought Polar Kraken was my best card. The thing was massive. I had no idea what cumulative upkeep meant. Costs didn't matter when games took days because everyone played out 25 lands out of their 200 card decks and never attacked.

THIS THING WAS SO BIG

I didn't realize the card was complete and utter garbage until I got back into magic decades later. But for my entire childhood this was my favorite card.

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Polar Kraken is badly designed garbage and I love it

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I love old, bad, big creatures.

Phyrexian dreadnought is the one that always comes to mind for me

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Fun fact Polar Kraken's arguably even worse bro Leviathan would probably be on my list. I love giant piles of crap too. That pick resonates with me.

And Phyrexian Dreadnaught (who actually isn't that bad these days-- he can be abused with things that suppress come into play effects)

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My first big creature was stormtide leviathan

Good times

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masterplum posted...

4. Polar Kraken

banananor posted...

Phyrexian dreadnought is the one that always comes to mind for me

Pfff, those tiny guys are just jewelry!



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3. Vindicate


Referring back to my love of non-counter control cards. I love vindicate. I love the security of knowing no matter what your opponent possibly plays, it is going to die. Oh, and it can also randomly blow up lands if your opponent stumbles.

Vindicate is another one of those cards that's just (unsurprisingly) been power creeped out over the last 20 years. At the end of the day Vindicate is never better than a 1 for 1, and how many cards just in this list are 2 for 1's? (Or better?) Still, I love shamelessly including it in my esper control cube deck as my 23rd card.

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Vindicate is so cool and would be on my own list for sure.

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If my tallying is right from his previous clue, I believe plum's final 2 is:

1 White Card
1 Gold Card

1 Nostalgia Card

Not really sure. My Serra Avatar prediction could still technically fit, but I think Polar Krakken may have been the answer to the clue about a massive creature you liked more from nostalgic days. No guess on the gold card.

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god damnit. i had vindicate in my guess list and i erased it at the last second for hydroid krasis out of nowhere, i get no epoints now

good choice though!

i remember pulling this from an apocalypse pack (was too young/without income to really go to events still)

https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/large/front/2/a/2a1bfefd-dae8-49e9-9d56-cc852e3dc93b.jpg?1562904968

and thinking to myself "yes"

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I think Apocalypse was the most recent set when I started playing (though I guess it could have been the tail end of Planeshift?) and I absolutely loved it.

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2. Electrolyze



You havent lived as a magic player until you kill 2 mana elves on turn 3 for the turn 3 three for one with electrolyze. How are you losing that game? (You arent)

Electrolyze is that sneaky sort of card that is pretty much always good. Worst case scenario is it cycles for 3 doing 2 damage to your opponent which is still totally reasonable.

If you are in a control deck this sweeps up pesky 2 drops before you are able to play your wraths or planes walkers and in an izzet tempo deck this can just cantrip while taking away 10% of your opponents life points. This card being good in both situations is why I always slam it in cube (or Strixhaven draft amusingly enough)


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The last card is a white non angel. I think Ive given enough hints in the rest of my write ups to guess!

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Akroma, Angel of Fury?

Non angel.

its not an angel

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I can't read

Wrath of God

Lopen posted...

Fun fact Polar Kraken's arguably even worse bro Leviathan would probably be on my list. I love giant piles of crap too. That pick resonates with me.

Leviathan was my childhood's giant monster. I think I paid some kid 10 bucks for one

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Angry Mob

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Im guessing Swords to Plowshares

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1. Ephemerate



I think if there was a running theme in my list of cards it would be

1. Plum likes cards that can provide immense value in the right circumstances
2. Plum likes cards that require interesting deck building decisions
3. Plum likes cards that make your opponent realize they are going to lose the game, but the loss is going to be slow and inevitable

And ephemerate is one of the only card that really checks all 3 boxes. I recently bought back into modern just because of how incredibly disgusting the Ephemerate +


Combo is.
Like is it the best deck in modern? No.
Is it competitive? Yes.
When you turn 1 Evoke Grief play Ephemerate does your opponent just hate life? Absolutely

It's hard to build a good ephemerate deck, and honestly thats one of the charms of it. It's a card that on its own does practically nothing and is solely reliant on the cards around it. And that's what makes the card interesting and exciting.

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I was close-ish, lol.

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I can see an argument for Companion being fine, but not with the companions we got. Most of them were just too powerful always have in your opening hand every game, even in spite of the deck building restrictions they come with. Let's not forget that Zirda also had to be banned in legacy along side Lurrus (banned in Legacy and Vintage) and the fact that Yorion was ever present in Standard (and kind of still is).

Before the rules change Companions were warping formats around them. It wasn't just Lurrus, which created a one deck meta in Vintage, it was every format they were playable in. Even after the rule change Keruga, Kaheera, and Obosh still got plenty of play, so really half of them (give or take) are perfectly playable cards at a cost much higher than printed on the cards.

That means the only fixes to Companion that there could be (without the rule change) are make them all universally more expensive (and thus unplayable if not a companion), make the deck building requirements significantly more restrictive (Lutri gives a good example of that), or water down their power level so much no one would want to play them anyway.

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masterplum posted...

Lurrus in vintage is a little extreme because in vintage it was more of an issue of vintage playable cards are all obscenely broken and Lurrus just let you replay obscenely broken cards for basically no cost.

The bigger problem was that in other formats you could build decks around companions like

which played basically nothing but even costed clone effects to keep spinning the wheels over and over again.

While with normal combos you could be screwed by never drawing your combo piece, companions were always virtually in your hand and completely immune to discard like thoughtseize which made the games look exactly the same every single time.

I was looking up the other companion cards and saw that there was basically identical card called Gigan, Cyberclaw Terror with Gyrudas name under it. Since Im apparently terrible at googling, I guess Ill just ask here: whats the deal with that?

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LordoftheMorons posted...

I was looking up the other companion cards and saw that there was basically identical card called Gigan, Cyberclaw Terror with Gyrudas name under it. Since Im apparently terrible at googling, I guess Ill just ask here: whats the deal with that?

They made Godzilla themed cards that were just renamed versions of some of the other cards in the Ikoria set

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Electrolyze and Ephemerate have the coolest boarders I've ever seen. What's with them?

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ChichiriMuyo posted...

I can see an argument for Companion being fine, but not with the companions we got. Most of them were just too powerful always have in your opening hand every game, even in spite of the deck building restrictions they come with. Let's not forget that Zirda also had to be banned in legacy along side Lurrus (banned in Legacy and Vintage) and the fact that Yorion was ever present in Standard (and kind of still is).

Before the rules change Companions were warping formats around them. It wasn't just Lurrus, which created a one deck meta in Vintage, it was every format they were playable in. Even after the rule change Keruga, Kaheera, and Obosh still got plenty of play, so really half of them (give or take) are perfectly playable cards at a cost much higher than printed on the cards.

That means the only fixes to Companion that there could be (without the rule change) are make them all universally more expensive (and thus unplayable if not a companion), make the deck building requirements significantly more restrictive (Lutri gives a good example of that), or water down their power level so much no one would want to play them anyway.

I think they really thought using a sideboard slot was a big cost, when it really wasnt.

Honestly I dont think there is a really good way to fix companion. Its not a very good idea to have pivotal cards always available. I guess if they were significantly weaker it would have been fine, but I think its one of the most questionable mechanics theyve done in a while. I like Yorion because the restriction is huge and thre payoff is lower, but most of the other companions Im not a fan of.

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Waluigi1 posted...

Electrolyze and Ephemerate have the coolest boarders I've ever seen. What's with them?

Mystical archive style from their Strixhaven printing.

I also think they are awesome

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