It takes a special kind of writer to write a daily series about a subject, then spend three days before he even mentions the subject. It takes an even more special kind of writer who would have that section of the series being the smallest of the five daily articles. The good news is that all the “serious” readers are tuned out by now. Enjoy your ham sandwich, sir.
Welcome back to Talen Lee telling amateur card designers they suck. Amusingly, I know there’s at least one professional in this field who will almost assuredly be telling me I’m full of crap. But that’s just because he’s an old grouch. Anyway. So far we’ve discussed both what you want to do — make a set — and then, what you’re going to use to do that — the themes and mechanics of a set. Today, we’re going to talk about how everything sits together.
For those of you who just tuned in, yesterday I insulted basically everyone who does amateur card designs and set myself up as an authority enough to tell them how to do it right. Surely nothing bad could come of this degree of hubris.
You can admit it. You’ve designed a card or two. Thinking about combo engines, or ways to utilize cards, you’ve glanced at cards your opponents have, then idly speculated about cards that would interact. Magic is a game about the way things interact, so it’s natural that after some time playing, you find yourself exploring those interactions…
Agent Sargent — Abe, I believe you call him — is, as we speak being mailed in a package through every last British town with a vaguely dirty name, starting with Sussex, then Essex, then Wussex, and well, let’s not bog ourselves down in how clearly filthy-minded the British are. He’s in a large brown package, wrapped with string and tied with paper. And inside that package, my army of crack ninja pirates are extracting that final tidbit of information I need.
There’s a pervading sense of ennui on Magic Online when it comes to problems. Adepts range from nice, well-mannered types with senses of humor and an ability to enforce rules and inform people politely, to hair-trigger pissants to whom a typo’d f in a word is clearly an attempt to mask profanity, and will merit the full punishment that they can deal.
Craig turned up half an hour late. I mulliganed in games 1, 2, 3, and 4… and because that wasn’t enough, game 2 again. I drew lots of land. Craig mulliganed to three in game 3, and still got a turn 2, 3, 4, and 5 Watchwolf. Across four games I saw two Rakdos Guildmages, no Ribbons of Night, one Last Gasp and one Pyroclasm, and something in the district of forty-six lands.
The invincible Talen Lee takes on a fresh challenger… without a Skeletal Vampire in sight! How can this be? Is he ill? Read on to find out…
I’ve never been good at winning. I know I’m terrible at losing, but when it comes to winning, I don’t really know how to react. Most of the time when I win, it’s in the casual room, with nobody watching. I wait until my opponent offers the gg, so I might respond, and after a period of waiting I graciously bow out. If my opponent didn’t have some fun, then to me, it was not a good game… I’m sure baby Tim Aten is weeping at that sentiment.
After thoroughly destroying Ben Goodman in the previous round, Talen turns his laser eyes toward fresh meat. His opponent this week? Josh Claytor.
NOTE: This match has been moved to Saturday July 29th, 7pm EST, in the Anything Goes room on MTGO. Be there!
Talen Lee won. Yeah, you read that right… Talen Lee won. In this classic battle of David and Goliath, plucky David was the victor! So, just how did Casual Mage Talen Lee bring down his formidable foe, Pro Tour Ben Goodman? And will the forums be able to cope with the fallout? The answers, as always, lie within…
Talen doesn’t fancy his chances. I mean, this is Ben freaking Goodman he’s up against, folks… deckbuilder, clan stalwart, and all-round good egg. So, what tools does Talen have in his arsenal? Can he cope with the might of the Ridiculous Hat?
Why read a casual article? I’ve been thinking about that one for a while. Mostly, I keep coming back to the core point that people want to be entertained. Amongst casual gamers, there’s the other angle: not everyone can have every good idea — so it’s nice to have someone talk about their ideas in a public forum, giving others a starting point. Being enjoyable to read is important, after all.
Talen and Fox round off their entertaining look at Dissension. Today, it’s the turn of the White and Split cards. Art critique, card evaluation, flavor text mockery… it’s all here!
When I heard about the Simic initially, I was over the moon; the idea of a guild of individuals who represented Green and Blue together was fascinating to me. The notion of a group of super-magical biologists — those who appreciated a flower for its beauty, and considered every perfectly arranged genetic helix as part of that beauty — was such a flavor kick for me, I was salivating in anticipation.
