We are Legion

by Puschkin on 14 August 2017

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (9 cards)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

[As usual: My decks are for multiplayer, mostly 2vs2 and Pentagram. I am playing in a regular group of Magic veterans with huge collections, the meta is very mixed and mostly relaxed but sophisticated, no netdecks. No need to comment on manabase because it is always subject to change due to availability of my duals and fetchies, but feel free to suggest non-basics with abilities that fit. We don't use sideboards, cards listed in the sideboard are cards I consider adding and/or cards I don't own yet]

Okay, so this deck started with 4 Fight to Death which I got a while ago and never made use of so far. Main idea is to produce lots of expendable creatures or ones that survive a destroy effect, so I can attack and the opponent has to risk losing his creatures or let them through. Vice versa, I have Guardian of the Gateless and Wall of Glare for defense. They can block any number of creatures, so attacking me is a huge risk since a Fight for Death would take down all of their creatures.

There are more tricks and sublayers, see "how to play" section for a complete rundown. The two cards missing should be Disrupt Decorum but Commander 2017 hasn't been added yet.

The deck hasn't seen play yet and I am a bit torn. On the one hand it does exactly what it should do, on the other hand the only thing I can control is creatures. The deck currently lacks in carddraw, lifegain and removal for non-creature threats.
But if you make suggestions, please try to find something within the theme.

How to Play

ASSEMBLE THE LEGION AND GOBLIN ASSAULT:
Poke your opponents with disposable critters. They will learn to block with caution after they saw the first Fight to Death. Since both enchantments keep on producing tokens for free you don't risk much when they die.

FRONTLINE MEDIC
Once you have enough attackers, also send in the Medic. Your creatures will now have indistructible and survive Fight to the Death! Of course that's also useful without the instant.

HELLRIDER
He assures that you will deal damage no matter what happens to your tokens! Unless you also have the Medic, Hellrider himself should stay at home, though (his ability still triggers!).

GUARDIAN OF THE GATELESS & WALL OF GLARE
Block everything that got thrown at you and Fight them all to Death :). The possibility that you *could* have another Fight to the Death could be enough to convince opponents to not attack at all.
However, smart opponents will start poking you with single creatures that are just strong enough to kill the Guardian. This is why I consider Manor Gargoyle.

BALLISTA SQUAD
Fight to the Death is an instant, you won't always have one and there will be times where only a few creatures block. Ballista Squad is a permanent threat to anything that blocks your tokens.

NAHIRI'S MACHINATIONS
It's like a Frontline Medic and Ballista Squad in one card, albeit with weaker versions of both abilities.

SERENE MASTER
A good deterrant to single attackers poking you, especially when you don't hold a Fight to the Death.

REBORN HERO
Well, it isn't a strong card, just one I like for no apparent reason and it fits somehow. I'll give him a single slot because I want to see him emerging from a Fight to the Death at least once.

VALOUR MADE REAL
I always play against the same bigger group of players and I usually keep my decks for many years. Which means after a while they will know what my decks can do. This is why I run single cards like this one to keep them on their toes. If I played this just once, from now on, even in subsequent games, my buddies will be cautious to attack me, because even if I don't have a Guardian or Wall, I might still be able to block and kill everything.

SUNFORGER & SURREAL MEMOIR
It's hard to build a deck around an instant. The Sunforger helps me fetching Fight to the Death and Surreal Memoir allows me to replay it.

LATULLA'S ORDERS & COLLECTIVE EFFORT
This is the only utility I have in this deck. Latulla's Orders, at least, somewhat fits the theme since my opponents will be reluctant to block my stuff. The Effort is my only enchantment removal with some other options, but I am not set on that. Usually I would play something like Serenity or Purify in a creature based deck like this, but I run too many enchantments myself.

FUMIKO, SKIN INVASION, WAR'S TOLL & DISRUPT DECORUM
As I said, after my opponents know what my deck does they won't do all-out attacks anymore and might even stop attacking except with safe options like dudes with shadow. These cards put an end to this. I especially like the new Disrupt Decorum, which can win on it's own in multiplayer. The other players are forced to bash each other while I am safe for one turn and can watch the mayhem. Skin Invasion? Just like Reborn Hero, I like that card for reasons I can't explain, so it got awarded with a precious slot in one of my decks.
Note that War's Toll also affects mana tapping. This can be highly annoying for some, especially those defensive, reactionary control decks. I am considering adding a 2nd one.

Deck Tags

  • Casual
  • Fun
  • Multiplayer
  • Boros

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

13
Likes

This deck has been viewed 8,983 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

2500270

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for We are Legion

How about something to make the block/no-bloack decision harder? Like equipments? Nemesis Mask, Quietus Spike, Rogue's Gloves, Infiltration Lens or something like those.
The Hundred-Handed One also has that block-multiple ability once it's monstrous, it's also a nice attacker.
Boros Charm or Valorous Stance seem very useful when you actualyl don't want a certain creature of yours to die. Both also work well with Sunforger.

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Posted 23 August 2017 at 21:36

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Hm, yes, I could do that. A Quietus Spike is even in the mail. However, I already have a red/white equipment deck ( http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/rendered-dead/ )and wanted to do without this time. I might add Grappling Hook, which I got a foiled one that I never used, though ...

The instants you mentioned are fine and work well with Sunforger but the more instants I run, the less reliable Surreal Memoir will be. Boros Charm is great and fits in well, but what to cut? the utility it provides is more or less what the deck does anyway.

Forgot about the Hundred-Handed One. And while we are at it, I also happen to own a Two-Headed Giant (yes, the Unlimited card that one multiplayer format was named after) which I should play in here :)

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 05:35

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Well, if you're not that into equipments for this deck, what about Provoke? With Deftblade Elite you can choose which creature blocks it if you wanna destroy something specific.

Oh. I didn't notice that "random" on Surreal Memoir, hmmm. I think a 1-of Boros Charm would still be good, especially since you're a mini-toolbox with Sunforger.

Generally - but that's getting more complicated - it would be great to give your creatures first/double-strike and trample, so that you can deal damage and still play Fight to the Death afterwards. Wait, now that I think about it, Trample alone does suffice, since creatures are still considered "attacking" and "blocking" in the end of combat step after damage. So maybe the Two-Headed Giant would actually be better suited here. Ha, never knew that the format was named after a specific card, interesting!

Also, I found some more cards that might interest you. Spear of Heliod pumps all your creatures and helps remove your opponents', Heat Stroke is basically "Fight to the Death - The Enchantment" and Tide of War adds a little bit of chaos to the game if you like that. Heat Stroke has the same drawback as Fight to the Death in 2on2, though, also hitting your partners creatures.

Also, for the landbase, I think it's safe to add a few Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion. Fits the theme and gives double strike which would be especially great with Two-Headed Giant. Other nice utility lands are Kor Haven (less on theme, though) and Slayers' Stronghold. With these lands you can also help out your partner in 2on2.

Overall, I like the two Goblin Assaults least (seems like an all-in, 4-of card to me), so I'd probably take those out and one Guardian and put in a Boros Charm and 2 Two-Headed Giants. Also, a few of the utility lands.


Oooohh, BONUS thought: Since you're already adding Disrupt Decorum from the new Commander set, what about Teferi's Protection? Cast it in response to Fight to the Death and save all your creatures. Also, fetchable by Sunforger.

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 11:33

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Disclaimer on Teferi's Protection: I'm not entirely sure if this works how I intended. I know that your own creatures are actually removed from combat by phasing out. What I don't know is, whether the opponents' creatures are still considered blocking (if you're the attacker; if you're blocking the opponents' creatures are clearly blocked). Any idea?

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 15:43

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Hey, thanks for all the input!

I thought about Deftblade Elite, however, it's ability only protects it from combt damage. So he would survive the hit but still die from Fight to the Death ... that's why I consider Grappling Hook as the only equipment for this deck (it basically grants provoke).

Yeah, ok, I'll add a Boros Charm to the sideboard/wishlist thingy. Still have to figure what to cut for the final version.

HEAT STROKE! Why didn't I remember this old chap? Well, in this case there is no bluffing game, it just is always on, and while that would be ideal in 1-on-1, it may be inferior in multiplayer in some situations. However, this is a must-include. Damn, I need deckspace ... will probably cut poor Skin Invasion :P

And you are right about Sun Home, when I was considering it, I only thought "meh, I will mostly likely only attack with power 1 dorks, so double strike doesn't do much", but the "Fortress of the Legion" part means it should be there! I also didn't consider that doublestrike can be used defensively. You always think about doing twice as much damage but it also means half of it is now dealt as first strike damage. The guardian for example might now block and survive single attackers.

I do like the Goblin Assault for the haste part and don't forget that it forces ALL gobos to attack, including my enemies, which fits the theme.

Teferi's Protection is no option here. First, if tokens phase out, they killed. Second, it's way too expensive (money wise) to purcahse it for a goofy deck like this.

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 22:23

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Actually they're reworking phasing so that it won't off your tokens

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 00:14

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Really? I always thought its an abandoned mechanic they wanted to get rid of.

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 15:19

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Hi there. Yup, they reworked the phasing rule with C17's release. Tokens don't cease to exist when phasing out.
Read more here:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?31913-Incoming-Phasing-Rules-Change-(with-C17)

Yeah, I think Sunhome (and Slayers' Hold) are very solid additions to the deck. Especially in multiplayer were you can help out a partner or use them kinda politically.

Also, two more enchantments popped into mind. Just food for thought. :)
Grand Melee - Everything attacks if able, everything blocks if able
Brave the sands - your stuff has vigilance and can block an additional creature

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 15:58

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I was also considering Angel's Trumpet.

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 16:41

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Hm, I dunno about Angel Strumpet. Yes, it forces attacks but it also taps creatures which leads to fewer blocks (and you wanna play the mindgame of block/don't-block from what I gathered). It's more build-around for sure.

Btw: The C17 cards are in, you can add Disrupt Decorum now.

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Posted 31 August 2017 at 21:52

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Check out the newly spoiled Trove of Temptation from Ixalan. Could maybe fit in this deck.

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Posted 11 September 2017 at 18:41

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Hm, interesting card, but no. Most of the time we are 5 players and that means Pentagram. Trove of Temptation would be suicide in that format since the guys left and right of me are still "opponents".

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Posted 11 September 2017 at 21:07

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Oh, wow, really, they can still attack you if they are forced? That's harsh. In that case I wouldn't use it as well.

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Posted 11 September 2017 at 21:47

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Not only when forced ... attacking your pseudo-partners may become an necessity at some point if they are about to win once the first player is out. Or when you want to win alone. Lets say the "green" and "blue" players are dead. If the white one dies, both red and black win. So, if black wants to win all by himself and red is kindof weak, he might want to kill red first, then white.

This is part of he reason why we consider Pentagram the highest art of multiplayer.

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Posted 12 September 2017 at 05:16

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that sounds interesting. I have never played pentagram. it sounds fun.

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Posted 12 September 2017 at 18:16

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You know the rules? It's actually quite simple, players are arranged like the colours on the back of the card. All players are considered your opponents and you can attack whoever you want, however, winners are declared as follows: If the two guys opposite of you are dead, you win, no matter how they died. That makes the guys left and right to you pseudo-partners because you don't have a direct reason to kill them, actually you want them to stay alive. However, as soon as one player is out (sometimes way earlier when someone is weak) politics shift.
Turn order is supposed to be in zig-zag pattern so that it's always one of the active player's targets to play next, however, we found this too confusing and prefer to play in normal play order.
And after some players started to abuse cards like Fact or Fiction we added the rule that you cannot target your "partners" with "target opponnent" cards even though they are your opponents. Untargetted spells like Underworld Dreams still hit them, though.

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Posted 12 September 2017 at 19:24

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I did not know the rules. I think I had heard about pentagram once before, but not recently. either way though it sounds pretty fun. might try it with my siblings.

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Posted 12 September 2017 at 21:19

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Could "Invasion Plans" be viable in this?

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Posted 25 November 2017 at 04:20

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I am still reading this, but I'm not good enough at making decks to leave a suggestion. Cool deck, though. +1 from me.

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Posted 23 August 2017 at 22:20

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interesting. love your team decks.

I wonder if Curse of the Nightly Hunt would be good here? might be an interesting solution in case your opponents don't want to attack, while possibly giving your partner a chance at a free swing.

oh yeah. love Serene master and the flavor from Reborn Hero.

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 03:02

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I run Fumiko and Disrupt Decorum for the reasons you stated (you just can't see Disrupt Decorum because it hasn't been added yet to the Vault database).

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 05:40

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Ah. I see. My reasoning was that since Hunt was cheaper it might have been a tad more appealing than Fumiko, although Fumiko does boost your offense as well. So there is that.

Oh yeah. Love Skin Invasion. Really want that card to work well. It is just so cool and flavorful.

All that being said, have you thought about Ghostly Possession to put on Wall of Glare or Guardian of the Gateless?

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 06:44

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Yeah, Hunt is cheaper, but my creature count is kindof low, so I prefer Fumiko mainly because it's also a warm body. Yes, this also means it's easier to remove, but remember: Multiplayer politics. I shouldn't be too annoying. Ghostly Possession? Nah, I would use the excellent Unquestioned Authority instead.

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 22:27

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hmm... unquestioned authority... spirit mantle? is the draw worth the extra mana?

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 02:24

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This is just mean. I like it

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 05:11

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This is a brilliant take on a multiplayer deck Puschin.
I was playing in a similar environment a few years back.

You mentioned you where looking for a few unusual card suggestions:
For life gain: Authority of the Consuls & Path of Bravery & Orim's Prayer & Ordeal of Heliod
For removal: Karmic Justice & Gorilla Shaman & Oblivion Ring
for card drawing: Inheritance & (Pursuit of Knowledge + Solitary Confinement )

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 17:26

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Hey, I grew up with Mox Monkeys, Orim's Prayer, Inheritance and Karmic Justice :)
No, what I meant is that I search for utility cards that somehow fit the theme (either thematically in flavour like Sunhome or mechanic wise, something about players not wanting or being forced to block). But Inheritance is close enough and I guess it will put a smile on the faces of my buddies, they haven't seen one for a decade now :)
Thx, mate.

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Posted 24 August 2017 at 22:32

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No problem, Glad to see some of the old Pyrexian crew alive and well over here.

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 02:07

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You are from Phyrexia? Didn't know we are more than 2, though, I only know of WickedDarkman, who else is here?

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 15:36

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I've only noticed he two of you so far.
Yea I haven't been on there in like forever though,
Mostly because my employers started blocking it...
about 10 years ago ..?

Actually I was trying to find some of WickedDarkman old articles
when I stumbled across this site last week.
Only to find that he is still making deck simulations/evolutions.


Ps. If you don't mind check out some of my decks if you get the chance.

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Posted 25 August 2017 at 17:14

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Phyrexia is defunct for many years now. You can still read but you can't login and therefore not post. Unfortunately, search also doesn't work, so finding something worthwhile to read is a pain in the metal ass.

I have very limited time now because of a occupational re-training (and because I am father of a little boy now), but I will have a look at your stuff and comment bit by bit.
You full nick was Nathan, right?

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Posted 28 August 2017 at 21:00

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That's a shame.
Congratulations,
thanks.
and yea, that's me.

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Posted 29 August 2017 at 13:12

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Master Warcraft, Reconnaissance

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Posted 30 August 2017 at 19:37

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Hi, Jessie, welcome back! This time for longer I hope?

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Posted 30 August 2017 at 19:57

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Jessie!!! how goes it?

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Posted 30 August 2017 at 23:45

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Kids...work...will try to visit.

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Posted 31 August 2017 at 01:58

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Congrats on being a dad!

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Posted 31 August 2017 at 01:59

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Right on. :)

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Posted 31 August 2017 at 03:50

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Welcome back, for however long you're here

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Posted 31 August 2017 at 20:59

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Thanks. Any new cards I missed?

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Posted 01 September 2017 at 00:32

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Tons of new cards and mountains of other cards that have been reprinted. The amount of product releases from Wizards is batshit insane.
The newest is Commander 2017 (not on Vault yet) and the craziest cards of that set would be:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=433249
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=433291
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=433287
Actually it's hard to pick. My new favourite (for multiplayer) is
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=433266
The other players will just kill each other, I am unscathed and when my next turn starts, everybody else will have next to no blockers.

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Posted 01 September 2017 at 04:47

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No commander 2017 is in the database. They put it in yesterday

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Posted 01 September 2017 at 06:26

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Also, while I haven't seen the top three in action, I got to see Disrupt Decorum and just how crazy it can get. I was using vampires and cast it, then the wizard deck copied it three more times after that. You could easily make a deck around it and mass chaos would ensue. It's even more fun when you give your opponents creatures for free and make them attack everyone BUT you

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Posted 01 September 2017 at 06:31

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My dear puschkin, war is coming to mtgvault, and I want to plan ahead, and recruit you.
It will be a war won with tags, a war open to those who wants war, just to spark some fire into the rusty veins of mtgvault.

Can I count on you?

Or will you be a warlord on your own?

-2
Posted 04 May 2020 at 14:30

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Don't have time for shenanigans. I hardly visit this site anymore and didn't even have the time to actually build many of the decks I created here.

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Posted 06 May 2020 at 17:05

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Well it's over now :) it was a short but fun power struggle.

-2
Posted 06 May 2020 at 19:19

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Same Puschkin. Came back to visit. Wish I had more time and money to invest and play Magic.

Wife has begged me to try and teach my 7 year old boy and 11 year old girl. They are very smart for their ages. Top of their classes.

So bringing out some of my old decks this weekend, and going to begin process of teaching them.
Any advice Puschkin and wickeddarkman? I made, years ago (I think I posted some of the decks here), one cheap (around 20-50 dollars each), 1 deck of each color: one white, one red, one white, one black, and one green.

I tried to make, in my opinion, each color be a basic example of what each color represents in magic.
Red deck is fast, direct damage, reckless.
Blue is control, card draw, counter.
Green is Mana ramp, creatures, vitality.
Etc etc

Long story short, the idea of teaching them brought me here. To this site. To check out new cards, refresh my mind, and get ideas/advice.

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Posted 06 May 2020 at 22:32

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Try to search on the tag noobcamp I've put two decks in that tag with a guide on how to teach your noob with them.
The easy way to do it is to proxy the decks somewhere with a printer.
I will build up more noobcamp articles.

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Posted 06 May 2020 at 23:08

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Will check it out. Thanks.

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Posted 06 May 2020 at 23:21

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No problem;)

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Posted 06 May 2020 at 23:24

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Ooo, that sounds sweet. I too have a series of decks for teaching new people how to play magic. Would you be interested in seeing them? They are tagged beginner.

The white one is technically the first in the series, figured that was the easiest way to start, then clockwise around the color pie from there.

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Posted 07 May 2020 at 05:25

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Sure, why not :)

-1
Posted 07 May 2020 at 08:30

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Jessie: you might want to check out the tag beginner as well ;)

Kazzong:
Seems like a well built series. I wonder why people only upvoted the white deck.
That's typical mtgvault madness.

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Posted 07 May 2020 at 08:41

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No idea, I guess people are not interested in simple decks or decks that aren't for standard.

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Posted 07 May 2020 at 14:58

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Will check them out, Kazzong.

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Posted 09 May 2020 at 11:55

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i see a lot of 1 and 2 offs, have you considerd making it more consistent?

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Posted 07 May 2020 at 14:10

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Consistency is not for beginners. First they need to learn to deal with the many situations a deck involves, then you teach them consistency, but consistency does not win in the long run. It may win by luck, but in the average battle against a well made deck the deck with most tricks win the game. And that means consistently versatile which is sort of not consistent in using fewer cards, but it's consistent in numbers of game mechanics.

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Posted 07 May 2020 at 22:36

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No, I won't. This is neither for 1-on-1 nor for competition. For one, lots of 1-ofs and 2-ofs is my style, I like to make use of my collection. Secondly, what Wickeddarkman said. Additionally there are more reasons why having 1-ofs is actually a good thing in some circumstances. I have provided a card breakdown and explained every single card choice, have you red it? Probably not since some of them include explanations for this issue. Here is what I wrote about Valor Made Real, a card I run just a single copy of:

"I always play against the same bigger group of players and I usually keep my decks for many years. Which means after a while they will know what my decks can do. This is why I run single cards like this one to keep them on their toes. If I played this just once, from now on, even in subsequent games, my buddies will be cautious to attack me, because even if I don't have a Guardian or Wall, I might still be able to block and kill everything."

In short:
It's a matter of experienced deckbuilders playing in an environment with experienced players. And when I say "experienced" I mean "playing this game since 1994".

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Posted 08 May 2020 at 14:33

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Uh, party like it's 1964 :)

-1
Posted 08 May 2020 at 22:19

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dang, that's a while. my time since 2009 is rather paltry by comparison.

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 02:54

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We were also on the ancient web, bdominia, phyrexia.com, read stuff from the founders of magic theory, ancient stuff like that. My own interest for the web back then was fuelled by the need for knowing what decks were around.
It was actually more complex times, but happier.

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 08:05

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What a time. I wish I had gotten into magic sooner. But I was kind of stupid and thought it had something to do with devil worship, black magic (no pun intended), voodoo etc... Like I said. I was kind of dense.
Oh well, I enjoy the game now and can look back and laugh at myself.

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 16:56

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Wish I would of knew about MTG, sooner, as well. I started around end of Tempest. Believe Black Lotus was around 50 dollars a piece, back then. No way my teenage self could afford a 50 dollar card! If only I could of seen the future!

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 20:05

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Kazzong: the funniest thing back then was that they first attacked the game with christian morality and not soon after they created "redemption" I think it was called? Which had biblical figures and a fight between good and evil.
I laughed a lot ar that game, but from a collecters view it might be worth a lot more now because it's more rare.
Does anyone know the fate of it?

And everyone can be naive, about 15 years ago or so I was pretty certain coala's were evil and the founders of illuminati.
The clues were out there...

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 23:14

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I recall seeing something about that about a month ago. It's still around. Crazy huh?

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 23:34

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Back then it was lilo & stitch that did it for me.
I still keep track of some stuff and the zootopia poster was kinda in that class.
There was true science mixed with it, like coala's have fingerprints.

Or did you mean redemption :)

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Posted 10 May 2020 at 23:40

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Redemption. But... Koalas are a bit suspicious...

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Posted 11 May 2020 at 00:56

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Yup, looking at aboriginal art koalas have space helmets.

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Posted 11 May 2020 at 01:15

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What the .... you guys did a great discussion about the good old times in one of MY decks THIS year and I didn't get any notification? And I thought the site was as dead as a Suicide Black player on turn 10!

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Posted 14 October 2020 at 17:34

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Yeah, it's a bug of a sorts.
These days you have to remember how many comments you have in each page :)

-1
Posted 14 October 2020 at 20:33

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I took a look at some old 4cb battles.
It's funny how wd bot always managed to win more than me.
It's like getting told that you might as well be better of by being more random.
I did my best to secondguess everyone but myself at a random day.

-1
Posted 17 October 2020 at 02:01

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I did not read all comments but cathedral membrane + valor made real seems fun +1

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Posted 17 October 2020 at 09:36

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Phyrexia.com may be lost, but there is an infinitely small chance that wotc has bought it.
If they have, it will probably be restored to it's old glory in a way that isn't very dignified.

I'm currently fighting a troll in here and has suffered a -1200 reputation as a result.
It's only a number, but I do think about how often phyrexia.com dealt with trolls like a real community.
Somehow identifying as phyrexians made us all behave as a group rather than individuals.

While I fight the troll I'm also still creating great articles, though a very few see them because the troll destroys the visibility of almost all decks.

As a result I've started to weave almost everything together, and the current part I work at now is a series of 64 decks from 2018, and each deck will host an article, so I will be trying to make new discoveries to write about. The latest discovery I have had has been observing that planeswalkers seem to define the line between aggro and control.

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Posted 22 January 2021 at 01:01

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Well, Phyrexia was a unique place. You came in comparetively late. I was not first generation either (came in around the Exodus) and it took a very hard, long and rough road to earn their respect. Yet, it was one of if not THE most sworn in community I've ever met.
On surface, almost every Phyrexian behaved like a troll itself, but within the unwritten rules a true troll sticks out like a sore thumb and was the natural loser of any and all fights. Nothing unites better than a common enemy.

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Posted 22 January 2021 at 21:58

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I think one thing that's in the trolls favor in here, is that downvoted are unonamous. If downvotes had s name behind them, people won't downvote unless it's serious.

Phyrexians sort of knew who was who by a stricter admission.

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Posted 23 January 2021 at 08:20

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Dude, you should know that the best way to get rid of them is to ignore them. Every time you mention him, you feed him.

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Posted 24 January 2021 at 23:33

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In my oppinion, a troll invented that phrase to be able to leisurely take out people at his own pace.
Think about cultural invasions. Has any civilisation won by letting the aggressor do what they wanted ?

Nah, I believe in exposure and over working the troll.
He can't both downvote my statements and hide my posts without an effort.

He's probably used to not being opposed, and the rate of opposition I can tolerate is pretty much above his level.

He's done some moves, but I've countered everyone of them, and the more he intensifies his efforts I simply push back. You may have noticed the post "downvote troll can't get it up-" ?

To begin with he covered by upvoting lots of other decks.
These days people know enough about this war that it is kept up at the top, which must be like a slap in the face of the troll everytime he upvotes at random to bury it.

Alfred says he might have an idea who the troll is, so it might be time to contact gary who can probably double check and slam one door in front of the troll.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 01:56

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No, trust me, it's a kind of game for him and the attention you give him fuels him.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 07:04

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Then how come he was trolling when noone knew he was here ?
Anyways, do you think he can even follow my pace ?
Just search for the decktag: wdm prison
Each of those were designed both to increase my own gaming, but also to cause awareness of the troll.
Each time I released one, he quickly upvoted random decks to cover it (I kept track of the "normal" pace at which we upvote) then I would post another, and another, and frankly I was just getting my gears warmed up.
He retaliated by downvoting even more of my comments, and in return I have increased my rate of discussion.
I doubt that he can compete with me because at some point he will lose track of which posts he's randomly upvoted. I've seen him have his first cool downs, and he will only increase my activities by resisting.
I'm basically giving him more attention than he can absorb. He will be frustrated by not being in control anymore.
I fought plenty of trolls in bdominia and in my Danish forums as well. I've been battling several trolls at the same time in the past, and I'm inventing new weaponry by the day.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 07:30

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In all honesty, if you spam content just to give him too muhc to do, you are essentially a troll yourself. And you posting and ranting all over the place is most likely one of the reasons why you got that personal stalker in the first place ... I mean, I like you and find many of your projects fascinating, but at the same time it gets tiresome at some point because whatever you do, you do it obsessively. For example, your obessession with mill had the sideeffect that you suggested to add mill cards to some of my decks that had no intention to mill whatsoever. This, as well as your tendency to pluck your projects to everything, basically just replying a one-liner as an excuse to make advertisement for your own project, all of this can be annoying at times.
So, for everybody involved, please tone it down and don't fight fire with fire.

Also, he might be using a bot to downvote, in which case you can't exhaust him anyway.

But, the way you talk about it, I sense that you see this as a kind of fun pasttime to battle him, amyright?

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 14:51

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I 100% agree. This is escalating to a point that its hard to ignore. There is wdm and his hunt for a troll that may or may not exist all over this place. Its getting pretty annoying by now

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 15:12

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Over the years I've become less "ranty" than I've used to be.
I make sure that my content is much more versatile and try to rein myself in.

I've also called for changes to the site that would diminish the effect of someone being overly active, by asking people if it wouldn't be preferable that posting a comment on someone's deck didn't put them on the top of the stack of decks. Instead letting likes do that, but overall, the troll would probably just increase his number of likes to compensate.

I think of myself as the lesser evil here, to rephrase a sentence used, "all it takes for evil to triumph is letting good men do nothing" and I certainly ain't in the nothing category.

You are right that this is becoming just another hobby. It's been a while since I've had anything to do with my mind, because of the Corona, and I develope my strategies and tools better during pressure, so I have been using the event as a means to fine tune my tools.

I'll lower it down, some nudges.
I expect the number of deck pages to got down to three, for a while when the chatting sort of subsides, then it will return to four when the troll begins his old habits again.

Splinter: the disagreements between you and me are known widely. If you think the troll is a fantasy, then how do you explain my reputation switching from a 1.000 to a minus thousand within a month ?
I sort of hope the troll targets you next...

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 15:23

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Why not learn an instrument then? Or write blogs about all your thoughts, but somewhere else maybe.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 15:35

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Well, if this is your new hobby, then don't complain about it, ok? And maybe don't weaponize other users, dragging them into it.
See, Phyrexia died, which is something that really struck me. You came here to one of my decks and wrote something comforting about this topic - a single sentence. Then you started ranting about your personal troll and that's what we are discussing now, in one of my decks. Can't you see the problem here? That would have been thread-hijacking in a forum like Phyexia. And I am in no mood for your troll infestation problems right now when I am mourning Phyrexia.
And no, you haven't become less ranty. You just split them up now and veil them more. Again, a friend here telling you maybe uncomfortable truths:
I much much prefer an occasional big but coherent and on point rant about a specific topic, preferably in it's own thread/deck, over dozens of smaller ranty snippets across as many threads and other people's works.
EDIT:
And yes, I am aware that these replies suddenly catapult this deck on top of hot decks and therefore might get attention but that's not what I want.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 15:49

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Well, we all deal with sorrow differently, and I'm not good at comforting people.

I'll stop chasing the troll, too few people seem attached to this site anyways.

I'd like to think I brought phyrexia with me, maybe not the users, but at least the idea of a thriving community building on each others discoveries.

But maybe I'm just dragging a corpse around.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 16:42

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You can't force communities. And the community of Phyrexia was already established when you came around. Most importantly: Deckbuilding was only one of the Nine Spheres and not even the most important one. That place was build on stories and as such it attracted different folks with different mindsets and very different needs.
MTGVault, however, has a single purpose and focus on deckbuilding. Even without the wolrd around us changing, generation clash and all, that's still a huge difference. Deckbuilding means competitiveness, even in a more casual setting like Vault, and that has huge impact on community building.

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Posted 25 January 2021 at 17:34

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There are not that many competitive players in here.
A majority is more or less deckbuilding as a sort of artistic hobby, and I frequently see people staring that they are more casual/kitchen when competitive cards are suggested.

There are studies that reveal that positive communities become creative, while negative communities stops growing. Large numbers of newcomers may change the direction of a community, but few people choose to move into a negative community. That's why the overall solution by most governments is to tear down slums and rebuild the area.
The "problem" is then that a negative group of people is forced to move on, and they will bring a bad mood with them, which is sort of understandable when their already troubled lives are complicated by being without a home.

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Posted 27 January 2021 at 00:08

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Vault might be more casual than most deckbuilding sites, nevertheless, less competitiveness is still competitiveness. "Artistic hobby" or not, the goal of a deck is still to win the game. Phyrexia, however, was built around the LORE of Magic and there simply is zero competition in that.

Also, tell me why a deck with "1st turn kill" in the title gets more views and a deck description with flashy openings gets more likes. Or why budget is such a big issue here. Heck, even battle for attention here is competitive, who gets more replies and likes, who makes it front page etc. You can't deny that. You have complained about it yourself time and again. The entire place's structure is fostering competition. And they crowd here is eating this up. NOBODY uses tags to search for older decks - otherwise I would get replies for older Decks. I have almost 100 public decks, all of them with detailed descriptions and proper deck tags and they date back as far as 2013. But they only receive comments when they are new. And that means nobody ever searches for anything, nobody looks back. If they truly cared, if they really were artists, they would. Because there are gems buried there and in casual decks don't really age. But alas, that's not the case. You have one shot when you publicize the deck for the first time and when it doesn't crate a buzz immediatedly, it'll get buried. Which is why there is a competition for attention and indirectly also for quality of the decks because casual or not, you won't get that critical mass of attention with a shitty deck or an incoherent pile.

So don't tell me there is no difference.

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Posted 27 January 2021 at 16:28

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Yeah, likes and comments do create an attention economy in here, but not everybody goes that way. And I'd say a majority of the artistic builders aren't in it for the competitive game, more for the view competition. I've asked a couple of the art builders what they get out of it, and it's more or less for themselves that their deck follows the theme more than competitiveness.

One of my "rebuild the community" schemes were to let some people track down users with a very unique take on the game, and then act as tour guides showing newcomers throught both new and old.

Since I aired that idea, I've been through three personal posts that were about uncovering the pasts.
All three of them were covered up by one of the trolls who does not want anyone to dig into the past.
One of my theories are that it might be a pedophile trying to avoid that his flirts get uncovered.

Search for the decktag: wdm 2018
The deck "why I still test against 2018" lists that one of my reasons is to have a wider range of cards to think about.
By keeping in touch with past designs I'm having a lot more info about how a meta is woven together.

My decktag system is designed to compensate for the trolling.

When you searched for past decks on your own, didn't it stump you why so many decks were tagged as one thing, but were clearly another ?

This place has a very old troll that blends random decks into the tags in use to make it harder to search the past.

Try searching for death and taxes and count the decks there that are tagged as d&t but are not.
The troll has even done this with some of my earliest tags.

There is a clear intent to keep people looking into the past.

Then there are all the fake accounts.
You reach out to say something and never get a response. That kills the newcomers. They have a very hard time tracking down who takes an interest in them, and soon gives up.

The reason why this place has fallen appart is simply because noone gives a damn about the place anymore.

If the troll isn't a pedo, then he's likely on a payroll to take out this site.

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Posted 27 January 2021 at 18:47

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So you did it again - twisting the topic until you can talk about your trolls again. Please stop and let this deck rest in peace.

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Posted 28 January 2021 at 14:15

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I didn't promise to stop talking about the troll.
I promissed not to hunt him. Theres a difference, and I sort of have to put things in context, how else am I going to explain things to you? You ask why people no longer dig in the past, how can I give you an answer if I can't use the past to give that answer ?

And don't forget, they ARE my trolls because I choose to paint a large red "target this guy" on myself. I'm taking a beating for a community, with this -1200 reputation. What are you doing ? Berating me for resisting.

You've changed...

All things aside, if you want your decks to be seen, go with the self referential method.
I've never been more visible since I started to link my past posts into a web.

Go through your old stuff, think about how you would group some of them together and then let each of them refer to each other by links or tags. I've seen some of the older guys link the same tag, so that anyone can see all the tags at the same link.
It was either muktol or northern warlord grouping their budget links, which is quite a neat way to do it.

It may take a while before enough people have seen your tag/link, but once that happens it simply gains it's own momentum.

I'd recommend that you make a tag/link that covers your best pieces of work.

Once enough people have started to put up these kind of links it will be easy to start referring to each other and strengthen the effect of those links.

A community rebooted :)

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Posted 28 January 2021 at 17:13

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I haven't changed, I never liked it when my threads get spammed but I tolerated it as long as I can see the merit and the frequency doesn't exceed a certain limit. But in here I explicitly told you that you are crossing a line and yet you keep on going. You claim to fight trolls but at this point, from an outside perspective that isn't you, you are acting like a troll yourself.
Last warning, further posts about trolls in this deck will get deleted!

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Posted 29 January 2021 at 11:02

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