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| On the telenovela El Amor Prohibido, it is revealed in this scene that Silvio's freckles and hair were actually part of his mother's dead dog, and that Silvio is actually part dog because his mother had her Ob/Gyn inject dog DNA into Silvio in utero. Silvio's padre, Umberto, would've been really pissed to find this out, but he's in the bed next to Silvio, in a coma, of course, because Silvio found out his dad was having an affair with his mentally handicapped and incredibly beautiful fiancee, Rosalita, so he beat it out of him and into a car wreck. Not really. (Dramatic Pause) This is a scene from Arrested Development. But I think you get my point. After all, I am your Uncle. |
It's like my favorite robot Optimus Prime (Sorry Solemn Simulacrum...) says, there's "way more than meets the eye" to our nonsense.
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| Sometimes there's the unusual case where there's "Less Than Meets The Eye," which happens because if you believe old adages, you know that Less is More. But if you agree with the little girls in Sprint commercials that more is better because it's "Really good" and "You really like it," you can be all like "We Want More! We Want More!" What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. This picture. It's funny, right? I like it. In no way do I believe this man is OP, but he gets full marks for perfect execution of the word, "Bitches." Aside from that, let's split shipping and send him back to Cybertron. After all, he's literally packed himself. |
...Anyway, I got carried away. I know. But we've got a good one here folks.
We've got a land that kills, a land that likes to stash stuff, a creature that doesn't cycle like it should, and a staff that's probably too cute for its own good. That rhymed. Unintentional.
Which means it's now time for the Stuh-Stuh-Stuh-Stuh-STACK!
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
So, I really wanted to talk about Strip Mine/Wasteland. An act that I try to perpetrate on a daily basis. For the sake of everyone else on TGZ and the greater internet community, I will restrain myself.
Instead let's talk about another colorless dork land!
I like to play limited. I recently came upon a situation in my Cube where I elected to play Quicksand over Maze of Ith. Bet you don't do that too often. Tapping for mana is an overlooked and undervalued aspect of lands. Think of how many cards would be so much more awesome if they just tapped for mana until you wanted to use them...
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS DOWN
Although Quicksand may be instrumental in killing off one of those pesky Latch Seekers or other low toughness creature, it's just doesn't seem worth the effort of using it for that purpose. Anyone who's seen quicksand in real life knows that you can easily get out of quicksand by carrying a four or five foot stick with you parallel to the ground at hip level. Maybe that should be the next card Wizards makes: The Stick of Un-Quicksand.
Uncle Landdrops- EWW NO
My snobby side will show through on this one. Most of my mana bases are constructed around tapping for color, few taplands, and then serious utility. So in the immortal words of Sweet Brown, I just can't see how anybody "Got Time Fuh Dat." I know I don't, and I can't play this as a result. I would snap pick this over Maze too in Limited, but there's wayy too many better options in almost every EDH variant (including Pauper) to justify finding a slot for this in a deck. And I'm playing Vhati il-Dal right now.
Johnny Confidant - NOT SURE, BUT LIKE IT
It's unique for sure. being able to put this card in an Aggravate type deck can help destroy some utility creatures just with a tap but for this card to really sing to me I'd pair it with effect that synergizes with lowering toughness.
It's definitely something I would consider but it would really need to fit the theme.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Me gusta Gustha's Scepter. This is some rather hot tech recommended to me by a guy in my play group.
I've been rocking the scepter in my Lazav deck, where I'm trying to Windfall into oblivion, and it's a really good way to hide other Windfall effects or other important cards to leverage card advantage, or provide you a place to put extra cards if you don't have a Reliquary Tower.
Though it won't totally hide your hand against people who like to play Mind Twist and other discard effects, it's a nice card that helps you better your timing and planning, cause it kinda plays like a cantrip, but it gives you an extra hand through the game. Not for every deck, I know- but definitely a replacement for Spellbook, in my opinion.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
Definitely an odd card. I have seen similar cards, but didn't know how far back hiding cards went.
For me, this seems impressive with the growing use of discard and stealing cards a la Mindclaw Shaman. Ever been at the wrong end of this guy? Scepter can help hide away what you'd rather not have stolen, which seems as good a defensive maneuver as it is functional in UL's Windfall themed deck.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I used to play this card in a few different decks. I have gotten away from it recently because I am no longer into playing decks that could leverage cards like this. It has a few things it does well. Defense against discard is not one of them, but that is a use. Investing a card for this privilege alone may not be worth it, but once you get around to abusing it, you can rack up a few extra to boot.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS DOWN (But the art's really cool!)
When taking into consideration what UL is trying to do with Windfall, I can totally see how this would be useful. Especially if you don't want to discard one important card.
However, it is such a niche card that the only way I can actually see this as being more than a space filler would be if your deck revolved around Windfall effects and discard.
I can't really call it a good substitute to Reliquary Tower, since you can only retrieve or put cards under it one at a time (unless you have an Unbender Time) and having a couple available responses is key to winning a game. I'd rather have a Tower or a Library of Leng. Let's just say I prefer buildings to scepters (even a scepter that appears to have the entire Moon on its end).
JOHNNY CONFIDANT'S PICK
Welcome to Animar's new hangout. When I first glanced at this card I mistakenly read "a" creature 10 or greater. Now, having properly read this, all I have is
EXCITEMENT!
Free casting anything in Animar is awesome. Players already hate the idea of mid-game cards coming out in the early turns with discounts and Cascades.
Now I've got stuff for free! Since no one really plays land destruction in my meta, I'm good to go. The negative here is shadowed by the positive; Scry 4 -> exile any card -> cast for 1.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS DOWN
Don't get me wrong. I Love Animar. I Love Land. And No, I'm not just looking around my room at things and saying I love them.
For starters, I'm not into tap land. If you've seen any of my more recent lists, I try to play as little of it as possible. If I'm running forty, I try to run less than four tap land- and that's on a need basis. More of a personal preference, I guess- but it allows me to focus on making decisions about the board state without being distracted about timing my land drops properly. While non-basics are cool, staying basic has its own rewards.
As far as Mosswort and other Hideaway land goes, I've tried them. For no particular reason, I tended to draw them when I need something better, or when I didn't want to trigger Hideaway, so I ended up cutting them from my decks. I felt more frustrated, so it didn't feel like value to me.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
The Hideaway lands are good. They are situational, so if you get situational feel bads like UL then they are easy cuts. Mostly because there are, in fact, better ways to get free stuff out of your lands.
It is a little tilting when you need to draw lands and you see a bunch of other lands on the top your deck with Hideaway. Not only do you brick on your land drops, but you also kind of brick on your future activation.
I don't use my copy of Mosswort Bridge very often. Mostly because I wouldn't bother playing decks that require a bunch of creatures in play to win. And on that note...if you have a brute squad, why don't you just get to the going and kill your opponent. Silly Green lands! Card advantage is for kids.
Venser's Journalist- NOT SURE
Maybe I'm a little jaded by hideaway lands because of pure dumb luck, but almost every time I've hidden a card I had to make some tough choices, ones that may have cost me the game. As a result, I'm not the biggest user of hideaway; however, I do see the merit in having a really awesome card that you only have to pay one to cast (assuming you meet the conditions), and I've seen some nasty trolls lurking under the Mosswort Bridge.
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
In EDH, card advantage is a big deal. Once opening hands are drawn, you have ninety-two cards in your library to go through, and some of those cards will win you the game. In the meantime, you need something to protect yourself with. This is not only good defense, but it is invaluable card draw, assuming you have blink or bounce mechanisms in your deck. I almost always do...
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS NEUTRAL
Were looking at a 2cmc draw card for white here folks, and there aren't many of those. Pair him with blue and flicker mechanics though, and be ready to have a ball.
As is, 1W Defender 0/4 isn't too shabby and a creature like this won't draw hate so it'll sit there until it saves you from a fatal no trample blow, or dies to a wrath. It's a solid choice for a mono white deck but with any other color added there is usually better support for drawing.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Been rocking this in Doran, where it gets a nice power bump from the big ol' Travellin' Tower. Like Lion-O's famous Sword of Omens, I like to play Wall and say, "GIVE ME SIGHT BEYOND SIGHT!" and proceed to draw my card. 2-for-1s, ThunderCat puns, and drawing cards. That's how Doran gets work done.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
This card isn't fair. What I mean by that is: This card is under-costed. Cycling a card you don't want has an established value of about two mana. If you get any benefit on top of that fresh card, the benefit should also be appropriately costed. In this case the 0/4 is free. And almost always relevant. It usually prevents several damage over the course of a game and flat out stalls some decks that rely on early damage or hitting with powerful equipment. In short, I am Grandpa Growth and I approve of this card.
And this is an improvement on the previous Optimus design.
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| I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm posting pictures of people dressed up as Optimus Prime. I'm still kind of wondering that, but I think it's pretty awesome. A little too Canadian for my tastes, but let's be real- OP's got some pretty utopian thoughts about community. |
Tuesday, I will be hosting a Special Edition of The Stack to discuss the incoming rules bomb that WotC stork dropped on our doorsteps Thursday like it was a baby.
Well, hopefully, the aftermath hasn't worn off too much, so we'll be talking about how you're going to be living in a world where Clones don't kill Legends and P-Dubs can see themselves.
Mostly, we're just going to tell you to ask yourself, W.W.O.P.D.? But not really. So you'll have to come find out what we're really gonna say.
And Johnny Con's gonna wrap up his Budget tech series Thursday with his third installment. He's had some great stuff to share, so be sure to look at his first two if you haven't seen them already.
Till then, keep calm about the m14 Slivers and the new shit that's come to light. Embrace the change, and do what OP would do.
Vote For Optimus in 2016. #ATruckYouCanBelieveIn
-UL
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