As I remember hearing it "the Rock" got its name because of the pro wrestler. There was a line about him floating around years ago that went something like "The Rock and his millions" (or minions, or something). Phyrexian Plaguelord was "the Rock" and token creatures were his "millions".
Rock decks were orignally :symb::symg: but I think adding white got popular after Doran the Explorer came along. Not sure about this last bit, though.
EDIT: Apparently Deranged Hermit's squirrel tokens were "the millions"
PeterGriffin makes some good points. How about first strike for red? You could move flying onto blue (or even green - a flying hippo without flying would be odd). How about shroud for blue?
Thanks to you, TheWarden, I'll have to say "Release the hounds" if I ever cast Belligerent Hatchling.
I also thought it was just an oddly-colored snowflake until you pointed it out, Arminion. Good eye.
Take a look at the original art for Wrath of God. My friend knew a player who never realized there was that angry face in the background (presumably the wrathful god looking over a field of corpses). This player thought that the orc-like fellow in the center foreground was being tackled by the figure above him. This player also thought that the figure doing the tackling was Jesus. Hence, "wrath of (the son of) god (through tackling)".
I never realized that there was more of Krosan Tusker's body in the background of the picture since the front of his body fills up the card and the background is so bright. So I thought that his entire body was just a gigantic head with a big mouth and only two legs. Like Pudgy Pig.
Also, the figure in Abeyance looks like an 80s pop-rock vocalist about to go on stage (her blouse clasp/button looks a microphone in her right hand).
I'm convinced that the art for Descendant of Kiyomaro and Heed the Mists depict Seizo Fukumoto and Hiroyuki Sanada, respectively. Both cards' art were made by Christopher Rush for the Kamigawa block and both actors appeared in the film "The Last Samurai" which was released a few years before the Kamigawa block.
Anyone know of any other art that depicts real people intentionally (like I think the above do) or just happen to look like public figures (probably) unintentionally? camphor and gnomedragondisciple made some interesting observations about Echo Mage :tongue:.
I often don't take a very close look at certain cards and consequently my brain sometimes reacts in ways the artist didn't intend.
Take the moldy old Lich. The art's obviously supposed to depict a scary undead husk-type thing reaching out towards the viewer or an unseen target with its left hand while summoning some sort of magical energy with its right hand.
I see an old man in an awful senior care facility.
This isn't conscious analysis, mind you: for a long time I was wondering what seemed "wrong" about the art to me before I added up all the little subconscious conclusions my brain made.
His light blue robe thing looks like a set of comfortable pajamas (especially with that matching felt cap) or maybe those awful paper muumuu things they make you wear in hospitals. Because of an unfortunately-placed line in the background instead of looking like the lich is invoking some magical ability with his right hand it looks more to me like he's holding onto an IV stand, further adding to the impression that he's in a medical facility (a dingy and poorly-lit one, apparently). That "fold" above his lip, at a quick glance, looks like one of those tubes that goes under the nose of people using liquid oxygen supplementation (like a lot of elderly people). With his dry, jaundiced skin, he looks less like an intimidating undead creature than an uncomfortable old fellow reaching out to us as if to say, "Help me get out of this county-run cesspool, sonny."
Also, Seal of Primordium looks like two people sharing a gigantic cookie.
What cards' art did you misunderstand upon first (or subsequent) glance(s)?
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Here's the GBW instant again, but completely different and redonkulous.
The Siege Tower's Charm :symb::symg::symw:
Instant (Uncommon) Choose one - Destroy target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less, and it can’t be regenerated; or search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library; or target creature gets +0/+5 until end of turn.
I also changed the name of the enchantment to something less artifact-y and used lifeinsepia's more elegant wording. I'm still using my old counter name, though.
"Beat your face" counters doesn't sound appropriate, though (:tongue:) and I don't like the sound and length of "Siege tower counters". "Siege Tower charm" or "The Siege Tower's charm" makes a lot of sense, though.
Thanks for the comments. There's a bit more for me to think about.
@lifeinsepia
What little flavor-related material there is on Doran mentions that he's a great wanderer and comfortable wherever he goes. It suggests someone who doesn't stay in one place too often to me.
Hello there, everyone. Here's a few card ideas I've had floating in my brain. Costs need to be worked out and I have no idea where to go on rarity.
First, my current favorite (but still needs work):
Magma Summoner :1mana::symr::symr:
Creature - Wizard (Rare? Mythic?)
Cumulative upkeep
Islands are Mountains.
2/2
And now the needlessly complicated junk:
Siege Tower Relic :symb::symg::symw:
Enchantment (Mythic Rare?)
At the beginning of your upkeep, add two sojourn counters to ~.
Creatures you control get +0/+X, where X is the number of sojourn counters on ~.
Sacrifice ~: destroy target artifact or enchantment with converted mana cost X or less.
Sojourner's Charm :symb::symg::symw:
Instant (Uncommon)
Choose one - Shuffle target artifact or enchantment you control into its owner's library, then draw a card; or target player discards a card at random; or creatures you control have shroud and can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach until end of turn.
Eye Eater Raven :1mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Bird (?)
Flash
Flying
When you cast ~ you may counter target blue instant or sorcery spell.
2/1
One that really needs a more experienced eye to look over:
Opponents can't cast instants or spells with flash except when they could cast sorceries.
And finally what's probably the most wonky and unlikely to ever see the light of day:
Strength from Adversity :1mana::symw::symw::symw:
Instant (Mythic Rare)
You may cast ~ only if you have been dealt 3 or more damage by sources an opponent controls this turn.
You gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the amount of life you lost this turn.
I recommend checking out the stickied "EDH Resources and Useful Threads" thread on the EDH Discussion main forum if you haven't already. Particularly check out the official EDH website. Three of your cards (Savage Lands, Arcane Sanctum and Jungle Shrine) can't legally be played in a Doran deck because they contain mana symbols that are not in his casting cost.
Bravo to you for picking my favorite 1 vs 1 EDH general.
I notice you've picked up many of the creatures Survival of the Fittest likes but you don't have one. I'd recommend getting it and a Karmic Guide if you can.
Your Treefolk Harbinger can grab Crib Swap for removal. I don't use it in my Doran deck because it focuses on general damage and I don't like giving my opponent a chump blocker.
I'm personally not a big fan of Jareth, Leonine Titan or Indomitable Ancients because neither do much except hit for a lot, and both hit for a lot less unless your general is out in which case you're much more likely to end the game thanks to general damage from Doran than any of your other creatures. You may be going for a different set of tactics, though.
I think in 1 vs 1 lands like Orzhov Basilica, Glogari Rot Farm and Selesnya sanctuary are bigger liabilities than they are helps.
Remember that with Doran out your Lignify gives your opponent a 4/4 blocker (still potentially useful, but not my cup of tea).
If you have the budget and desire EDH standards like Demonic Tutor are very nice. If not consider that Shred Memory is instant speed graveyard nerfing that can transmute for Nimbus Wings, Survival of the Fittest, Gaddock Teeg, Qasali Pridemage, Lightning Greaves, etc.
Since you have cards like Stitch Together and Vigor Mortis, why not try an old-fashioned Animate Dead? You might not always have :symb::symb: for Stitch Together and maybe want the other two mana for Vigor Mortis elsewhere. The -1/-0 doesn't mean much to your creatures and nothing at all when Doran's around.
Well, that was a lot more than I planned to write...
All the things LennonMarx suggested have the potential to be much more helpful from a learning perspective than the things I did. However, your results would be more varied, more subjective, even harder to tally meaningfully and take longer to write and read (most of these things most are relevant if you wanted to make charts or tables, which is what I thought you might be leaning towards). If you go LennonMarx's route it's not unlikely that you'll end up with essentially several dozen to 100 after-action reports, which could be especially useful if you planned out something like that in the first place but wouldn't make for a meaningful table or convenient chart of any sort.
Like Waiting in the Weeds mentioned it's stuff you might want to ask yourself after each loss in any case so either way you should probably ask those questions throughout your project.
Method of loss (for those games you lose)? General damage/overall damage, non-damage combo (e.g. getting milled), specific card (Felidar Sovereign, Emrakul blowing your junk up).
It could be a serious pain to quantify but it might prove insightful.
Am I right to assume by "time it took to win/lose" you mean number of turns?
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Rock decks were orignally :symb::symg: but I think adding white got popular after Doran the Explorer came along. Not sure about this last bit, though.
EDIT: Apparently Deranged Hermit's squirrel tokens were "the millions"
Oros, the Avenger, Numot, the Devastator and Vorosh, the Hunter are similarly lonesome.
I also thought it was just an oddly-colored snowflake until you pointed it out, Arminion. Good eye.
Take a look at the original art for Wrath of God. My friend knew a player who never realized there was that angry face in the background (presumably the wrathful god looking over a field of corpses). This player thought that the orc-like fellow in the center foreground was being tackled by the figure above him. This player also thought that the figure doing the tackling was Jesus. Hence, "wrath of (the son of) god (through tackling)".
I never realized that there was more of Krosan Tusker's body in the background of the picture since the front of his body fills up the card and the background is so bright. So I thought that his entire body was just a gigantic head with a big mouth and only two legs. Like Pudgy Pig.
Also, the figure in Abeyance looks like an 80s pop-rock vocalist about to go on stage (her blouse clasp/button looks a microphone in her right hand).
I'm convinced that the art for Descendant of Kiyomaro and Heed the Mists depict Seizo Fukumoto and Hiroyuki Sanada, respectively. Both cards' art were made by Christopher Rush for the Kamigawa block and both actors appeared in the film "The Last Samurai" which was released a few years before the Kamigawa block.
Anyone know of any other art that depicts real people intentionally (like I think the above do) or just happen to look like public figures (probably) unintentionally? camphor and gnomedragondisciple made some interesting observations about Echo Mage :tongue:.
(besides Avalanche Riders and Bob and stuff)
Take the moldy old Lich. The art's obviously supposed to depict a scary undead husk-type thing reaching out towards the viewer or an unseen target with its left hand while summoning some sort of magical energy with its right hand.
I see an old man in an awful senior care facility.
This isn't conscious analysis, mind you: for a long time I was wondering what seemed "wrong" about the art to me before I added up all the little subconscious conclusions my brain made.
His light blue robe thing looks like a set of comfortable pajamas (especially with that matching felt cap) or maybe those awful paper muumuu things they make you wear in hospitals. Because of an unfortunately-placed line in the background instead of looking like the lich is invoking some magical ability with his right hand it looks more to me like he's holding onto an IV stand, further adding to the impression that he's in a medical facility (a dingy and poorly-lit one, apparently). That "fold" above his lip, at a quick glance, looks like one of those tubes that goes under the nose of people using liquid oxygen supplementation (like a lot of elderly people). With his dry, jaundiced skin, he looks less like an intimidating undead creature than an uncomfortable old fellow reaching out to us as if to say, "Help me get out of this county-run cesspool, sonny."
Also, Seal of Primordium looks like two people sharing a gigantic cookie.
What cards' art did you misunderstand upon first (or subsequent) glance(s)?
The Siege Tower's Charm :symb::symg::symw:
Instant (Uncommon)
Choose one - Destroy target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less, and it can’t be regenerated; or search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library; or target creature gets +0/+5 until end of turn.
I also changed the name of the enchantment to something less artifact-y and used lifeinsepia's more elegant wording. I'm still using my old counter name, though.
"Beat your face" counters doesn't sound appropriate, though (:tongue:) and I don't like the sound and length of "Siege tower counters". "Siege Tower charm" or "The Siege Tower's charm" makes a lot of sense, though.
Thanks for the comments. There's a bit more for me to think about.
@lifeinsepia
What little flavor-related material there is on Doran mentions that he's a great wanderer and comfortable wherever he goes. It suggests someone who doesn't stay in one place too often to me.
First, my current favorite (but still needs work):
Magma Summoner :1mana::symr::symr:
Creature - Wizard (Rare? Mythic?)
Cumulative upkeep
Islands are Mountains.
2/2
And now the needlessly complicated junk:
Siege Tower Relic :symb::symg::symw:
Enchantment (Mythic Rare?)
At the beginning of your upkeep, add two sojourn counters to ~.
Creatures you control get +0/+X, where X is the number of sojourn counters on ~.
Sacrifice ~: destroy target artifact or enchantment with converted mana cost X or less.
Sojourner's Charm :symb::symg::symw:
Instant (Uncommon)
Choose one - Shuffle target artifact or enchantment you control into its owner's library, then draw a card; or target player discards a card at random; or creatures you control have shroud and can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach until end of turn.
Eye Eater Raven :1mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Bird (?)
Flash
Flying
When you cast ~ you may counter target blue instant or sorcery spell.
2/1
One that really needs a more experienced eye to look over:
Brainleech Infestation :1mana::symb::symb:
Enchantment (Mythic Rare?)
Cumulative upkeep
Opponents can't cast instants or spells with flash except when they could cast sorceries.
And finally what's probably the most wonky and unlikely to ever see the light of day:
Strength from Adversity :1mana::symw::symw::symw:
Instant (Mythic Rare)
You may cast ~ only if you have been dealt 3 or more damage by sources an opponent controls this turn.
You gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the amount of life you lost this turn.
I recommend checking out the stickied "EDH Resources and Useful Threads" thread on the EDH Discussion main forum if you haven't already. Particularly check out the official EDH website. Three of your cards (Savage Lands, Arcane Sanctum and Jungle Shrine) can't legally be played in a Doran deck because they contain mana symbols that are not in his casting cost.
Bravo to you for picking my favorite 1 vs 1 EDH general.
I notice you've picked up many of the creatures Survival of the Fittest likes but you don't have one. I'd recommend getting it and a Karmic Guide if you can.
Your Treefolk Harbinger can grab Crib Swap for removal. I don't use it in my Doran deck because it focuses on general damage and I don't like giving my opponent a chump blocker.
I'm personally not a big fan of Jareth, Leonine Titan or Indomitable Ancients because neither do much except hit for a lot, and both hit for a lot less unless your general is out in which case you're much more likely to end the game thanks to general damage from Doran than any of your other creatures. You may be going for a different set of tactics, though.
If you do end up shooting for general damage, though, consider adding cards that make Doran evasive: Nimbus Wings, Shield of the Oversoul and Whispersilk Cloak. I use all but the last of those. Riding the Dilu Horse is just funny (it makes Doran ride that horse!) You can also protect Doran with something like Gaddock Teeg.
Lightning Greaves is also great (potentially makes Doran swing on turn 3 with shroud). You can add trample with Loxodon Warhammer, Behemoth Sledge or Armadillo Cloak if you feel you need it.
I think in 1 vs 1 lands like Orzhov Basilica, Glogari Rot Farm and Selesnya sanctuary are bigger liabilities than they are helps.
Remember that with Doran out your Lignify gives your opponent a 4/4 blocker (still potentially useful, but not my cup of tea).
If you have the budget and desire EDH standards like Demonic Tutor are very nice. If not consider that Shred Memory is instant speed graveyard nerfing that can transmute for Nimbus Wings, Survival of the Fittest, Gaddock Teeg, Qasali Pridemage, Lightning Greaves, etc.
Since you have cards like Stitch Together and Vigor Mortis, why not try an old-fashioned Animate Dead? You might not always have :symb::symb: for Stitch Together and maybe want the other two mana for Vigor Mortis elsewhere. The -1/-0 doesn't mean much to your creatures and nothing at all when Doran's around.
Well, that was a lot more than I planned to write...
Like Waiting in the Weeds mentioned it's stuff you might want to ask yourself after each loss in any case so either way you should probably ask those questions throughout your project.
It could be a serious pain to quantify but it might prove insightful.
Am I right to assume by "time it took to win/lose" you mean number of turns?