Mostly agree with these. And I’m pretty happy with the bracket model so far. It does however require everyone at the table to be using the intent in good faith, and not strictly looking at the letter of the law.

I’m blown away that Mana Drain didn’t make the list. I feel guilty playing it at all, and have even taken decks apart that I felt became too powerful because of it. It’s one of those cards that when I see it used, I’m like “Oh, I didn’t realize we were playing at that power level”.

I’m also surprised to see Gamble & Deflecting Swat on the list. I feel like they looked at the list and said “We’ve got to also include some red cards too. But nothing in red is all that great. Well, shit. What does red have that’s cheap to cast?”

We never really back up and say ‘did you REALLY get that part, because you’re going to NEED it for the next 14 years?’. I can remember I was sick for multiple weeks when we were learning division. I came back, and we were already onto the next topic, and it was just assumed I knew it. Now, I was super-lucky, in that I understood multiplication well enough to puzzle it out. Not every student cares, especially when they are like 8 years old. Just want to learn it enough to pass and be done with Math. ‘What do you mean I have more Math next year too???’

As soon as you miss a single step in the mathematics education train, well, you’re going to be hating math for the rest of your schooling. It’s a series of incremental building blocks, but we never double check that each student really has each piece.

Jesus fucking Christ why didn’t you do this back when the Democrats were in power Bernie? Stop fucking virtue signaling. You could have proposed this 4 years ago and it would have had a good chance of actually passing. And that’s exactly why you waited until now, isn’t it?

It saddens me that Bernie is the least broken politician we have, and he still sucks.

My company tests their fire alarm on Fridays. We are so fucked if we ever actually have a fire on Friday.

Perma-banned, and the worst part is I’m not even sure why. I logged in while away on vacation, got hit with the ‘you’re logging in from an usual location, please confirm with an e-mail code’, and when I did that, boom, locked with no option to appeal.

I find some humor in that a robot decided I was a robot. Perhaps that will save me when the great robot uprising occurs?

I believe it’s a combination of what others here are saying. We live in a world of near instant gratification, getting going on something that requires effort without an immediate payout feels too much like work.

FWIW, I find it helps tremendously to schedule a day / time in advance. For example, I spend the whole week looking forward to “Wrenching Wednesday” so I can go play with my cars. And I actually go do it now, which is something I couldn’t always say before.

No.

But to be clear, somewhere over the last 20 years it seems I’ve also fallen out of the middle class? I bought a new car fresh out of college, and then again about 10 years later. But I look at the price of new cars today, and they’re simply not a purchase I can afford. So, it looks like I’m not going to be buying any new cars anymore, Tesla or otherwise. That feels weird.

I was blown away when my die-hard Republican boomer dad said he thinks climate change is real. There’s a pond behind our house, and he can remember how big it used to get in the rainy season and how small it used to get in the dry season. Now, during the rainy season it comes up to the backdoor, and during the dry season it’s not there at all. If he can still trust his own eyes over what the TV tells him to think, maybe there’s still some hope for the world.

Just played Pauper a few weeks ago with some friends, and pulled out Paralyze as something old school & unique to throw at the group. At the time, I was thinking, hey, here’s a mechanic that I don’t think has ever been revisited. Not sure if I like it more in blue or in black, but the power creep bothers me. And yes, I know, this is small potatoes compared to some of the other shenanigans going on.

Posting in case anyone else didn’t know either. Harmonize is cast from Graveyard, and you can tap creatures to reduce the cost by 1. Had trouble finding it, as there’s also a card named “Harmonize”.

https://www.thegamer.com/magic-the-gathering-mtg-tarkir-dragonstorm-debut-roundup-mechanics-commander/

Heh, one of my favorite things to whine about is that there’s no mana dorks in red, so we have to run mana rocks & spells instead. Guess I need to pick up a couple of these & frame them. ;P

Came here to mention mincemeat. Good stuff.

For those of you who have never tried it - it’s mostly dark brown sugar, cinnamon, & raisins. But it has that fatty aftertaste you normally associate with bacon as well.

For a few brief years, there’s was a men’s alternative to Valentines day. “Steak & Blowjobs day” was held exactly one month later, on March 14.

I have never seen such a surge in love for mathematics since then. Women around the world who barely know what Pi represents were suddenly very aware that March 14 was Pi day.

That actually happened this year to the Punxsutawney Phil from… Tennessee I believe? Not the main one, but another groundhog event on the same day.

(A few moments later)

Looks like it was Kentucky. Link is pay-walled, but here it is if anyone is curious: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2024/02/05/kentucky-groundhog-dies-groundhog-day-2024-major-second-chances-wildlife-center/72477815007/

This reminds me of the first time I ever saw Magic. I was hosting a very small convention at Georgia Tech (Techwood Con, Woo!), and on the last day, two different dudes showed asking if anyone had any Magic cards for sale. Only a few of us even knew what they were talking about. Turns out they were specifically hoping to buy any of what we now call the power 9. And they of course knew each other, since they were both traveling all over Georgia hoping to find & buy these specific cards.

Since the day was a bust for them, they grabbed a table and started playing each other. Keep in mind, this was Alpha/Beta timeframe, the rules were still very loose, we were years away from a restricted list. They each had a 40 card deck with pretty much nothing but Mox’s for mana. Each one of them would draw, win the game on their opening turn, and then start a new game where the other guy would go first and also win on his opening turn. They went back and forth like this until one of them failed to win on their opening draw.

That being my very first introduction to Magic, I totally understand and appreciate why we have rules in place to slow the game down. But there was no denying that these two dudes were having fun. So, no shade at folks who like to play at that power level, it’s just not the reason I choose to shuffle up & play. I’m kinda glad we have so many different variations of Magic available, so that everyone can find the one that’s right for them.

Honestly, this starts out strong. Have a conversation - do you have mass land denial, extra turns, or fast/2 card infinite combos? But then we get to the game changers section, and it feels like they kinda ran out of steam and just said “we don’t like these cards”. I don’t specifically disagree with the list, but there’s too many similar cards that aren’t listed, because - well, where do you draw the line? It would make more sense to focus on function (Fast mana, Tutors, etc.), and THEN provide examples for guidance. And they do sort-of do this at the bottom of the article, but it gets muddy fast. Which is why everyone is looking at the list of “game changer” cards instead. And already mapping out the next best in slot replacements.

Also, ‘Sol Ring should be on this list, but it isn’t, because dad said so’ is not the wining argument they think it is.

$4.30 / dozen. Atlanta, GA.

There’s this scene at the start of War of the Worlds where the hero races his classic muscle car up this tiny neighborhood street at full tilt, exhaust notes at full blast, and I think he even screeches the tires by slamming the brakes pulling into the driveway. Then he walks up to his neighbor and they’re all chill with him. In any other world, the neighbors would have him in handcuffs.

Witcher 3.

Have Red cards in general come down in price since the ban? There’s a view in my group that Red was already the weakest of the 5 colors. And with Dockside gone, now Red is even further disadvantaged. So, we’re expecting to see even fewer Red decks, which ought to mean that the price of other good Red staples would slide.

Now, this is working out great for me - we sometimes play a Commander variant we call Crapmander, where no single card can be worth more than $5. I was just able to build a Crapmander mono Red deck that I’m quite excited about. From my little world, it sure seems like there’s some REALLY undervalued red cards below the $5 point. Just curious if that’s just a ‘me’ thing, or if the whole community sees it too.