Dehydration could be an issue. Another possibility is eye strain.
The most likely cause is cervicogenic (originating from your neck). This is what actually causes most headaches, even a lot of the ones we think are stress related. Make sure you are sitting up tall in your chair, avoid slumping or your craning your head forward, make sure you keep your shoulders down/back and relaxed.
Imperial painter is a good example, its legacys aggro, control, combo prison deck: tons of little synergies! It can win with the painter/grindstone combo, locking you out with bloodmoon, out grinding you with recruiter, aggroing with little creatures and planeswalkers or counter/killing everything with painter + blasts. List of example: http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=19716&iddeck=150084
Pretty much any survival deck fits well. They usually have 1-2 true combos, like Ooze, Retainer/Iona, or just vengevines and then tons of back synergies and a good aggro/control plan.
"If something damages him" is the key. My argument is that nothing ever does. You'll effectively get a 5/5 trampler with unblockable and protection from red, with a moat effect if he's untapped. That is indeed a lot of value for 4 mana. But, my post tried to imply that that's not why people want to like him. It's the sacrificing permanents deal that makes him notorious, and it usually doesn't happen.
This is a good assessment. He is basically a punisher card which are really bad. Non-spikey players have a tendency to look at punishing cards and thing "OMG this card is busted! Either mode is super good for the mana." But the choice makes them sooo bad in practice. While Obliterater is still pretty good value, 4 mana 5/5 trampler with those effects Baron Mentioned, it's nothing too impressive when you could just play something with the same power for 1 or 2 mana (Goyf, Angler, Tombstalker).
A lot of people are saying stuff like "well he is really good with fight cards". Not only are fight cards terrible outside of creature formats (standard/limited) but there are no black fight cards that I am aware of. Playing Obliterator basically means you are playing mono-black or a light splash with a very greedy non-basic manabase, so fight cards would be hard to play even if they did not suck.
Force of will isnt actually very important. Dont bother with seachromes/fortess, just play more basics or fetches. You don't need mother of runes in a deck like this.
Just to put something forward, let's make a card and let me know how much life gain would make it too powerful.
(random name) W
Sorcery
Gain ... life
That's the card. How much life is too much? 8? 10?
I think anything over 5 would be too powerful. The issue is that when ifegain is good, it invalidates certain strategies (hyper aggressive, burn, etc) but when its bad it does virtually nothing. If your card said gain 20 life, it would still be horrendous in a lot of matchups (most control or combo), but at the same time would be gamebreaking and totally unfun against very aggressive decks.
Lifegain isn't good because it most matchups, it doesn't actually do anything. Against a burn deck lifegain is like card advantage and an extra turn. But against a lot of control or combo decks, lifegain does literally nothing. Lifegain does not help put you in a better position to win, unless you are about to die.
Probably Skullclamp affinity or a UWx deck with some combination of stoneforge, jace, counterbalance/top and skullclamp.
If you are looking for budget, probably skullclamp affinity. You cut Ink/blinkmoth nexuses for 1$ artifact lands so the deck is probably overall cheaper than regular affinity.
When it gets to the point where you need rules to keep things causal, there's a problem that isn't solved by changing/adding rules. You and your group members obviously care too much about winning so forcing things to stay casual is a futile effort. If you make a budget restriction or play a new format a new meta will just develop in your group. Basically your options are to be ok with competitiveness or play limited.
1. Accept your competitive causalism: if one deck is easily hated out, that's a problem with the deck not the players. Make a new/better deck or have multiple decks and switch it up. Recruit more players. When there's only 4 players that play the same deck its super easy to "solve the format" and find out how to beat everyone else. When there are 8-16 player it gets a bit trickier and ever more and things get even better.
Example: Theres a 4 players with miracles, reanimator, and elves and shardless BUG.
The miracles guy is only really loses to the BUG guy so he starts playing 3 blood moons in his sideboard. This kinda sucks for the Shardless BUG guy, but its not the miracles guy fault that his deck is super good in this meta, and even better if he adds moons. The Shardless guy could change his deck, play more basics or have shardless BUG AND another deck so he change it up to throw people off.
Now if there are 4 more players with Grixis Delver, Death and taxes, Dredge and 12 Post. Now Miracles is going to have a lot of trouble with the Delver, D&T, 12 post AND BUG. Infact, every deck is pretty well balance out and cannot really afford to just play 3-4 cards in its sideboard to beat ONE matchup.
I play causal legacy games with my friends as well. But we play with a different mindset, we are not trying to beat each other necessarily. We are testing our decks to prepare for actual tournaments. If you go actual prized tournaments occasionally, you will want you deck to be turned to be good at those events, not to beat just your friends. It won't matter who wins your casual games because they are really just a fun learning experience. And improving your deck/skill will reward you with winning prizes.
2. Play limited. Cube is particularly fun. If done right you can make the power level similar to legacy but everyone is on an equal playing field and everyone plays different decks every time. As someone who pretty much only plays legacy for constructed, cube is a LOT of fun.
It has started seeing a lot more play in legacy as well, to counteract miracles mostly. MUD plays 3-4 of them and is rising in popularity and now miracles often plays 1-2 to help it win mirrors. Elves in modern was probably the biggest contributor to its spike though.
TCG makes it so easy to make an account, just provide a few emails, list 50 thoughtseize at a buck, rip someone off. No thanks.
None of the situations you have described involve anyone ripping anyone off. If at FNM someone lies and says thoughtseize is selling for 1$, I'll trade you 4 Craw Wurms for it, yeah they are trying to rip you off. If someone says, hey I REALLY need 1$ RIGHT NOW I want to sell my thoughtseize for 1$, no one is getting ripped off. That person is getting what they wanted: an immediate 1$. If someone really wants 50$ they can list it on TCGplayer for 50$. They will have to patiently wait days, weeks, maybe even months, but eventually someone might buy it and again, no one is getting ripped off.
This thread is essentially saying that the crack head who sells his ps4 for $100 brings the value of ps4s down to $100 bc other people saw the price it went for.
Value isn't some set price. Sony saying MSRP for PS4s is 400$ doesn't mean its worth the time/effort equivalent of 400$ to every human being on the planet. "Value" is something we assign as individuals and the price of a commodity is dictated by its supply and demand.
I think your issue with cards prices stems from a basic understanding of how a free market economy works. It has nothing to do with magic.
When selling cards getting 50-95% of the lowest TCG player price of the same condition is normal. Expecting anything more is foolish and you will probably have to wait a really long time for someone else foolish enough to buy your cards. Why would someone pay 50$ for some random person's card when they get the same condition card for less or the same price from a trusted seller on TCGplayer or eBay?
Another major issue that I have been victim too MANY times at competitive REL level events, that is not relevant at all in poker, is your opponent looking at your deck game 1 during the first shuffle. Peaking at what your opponent is playing game 1 is a big deal because it informs your own mulligan and early play choices. It is unfortunate because in my experience, they get away with it every time. I can call them out on it, but that's about all that happens. The judges cannot do anything and the players just deny it every time.
It's not that hard to shuffle a deck with the cards face down, and your head turned away. If you cannot do this, don't pick up my deck.
The most likely cause is cervicogenic (originating from your neck). This is what actually causes most headaches, even a lot of the ones we think are stress related. Make sure you are sitting up tall in your chair, avoid slumping or your craning your head forward, make sure you keep your shoulders down/back and relaxed.
Will NOT be reprinted:
Legacy's Cephalid Breakfast is another great example. Its a Aether Vial, esper aggro/combo deck. List for example: http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=12676&iddeck=92962
Pretty much any survival deck fits well. They usually have 1-2 true combos, like Ooze, Retainer/Iona, or just vengevines and then tons of back synergies and a good aggro/control plan.
This is a good assessment. He is basically a punisher card which are really bad. Non-spikey players have a tendency to look at punishing cards and thing "OMG this card is busted! Either mode is super good for the mana." But the choice makes them sooo bad in practice. While Obliterater is still pretty good value, 4 mana 5/5 trampler with those effects Baron Mentioned, it's nothing too impressive when you could just play something with the same power for 1 or 2 mana (Goyf, Angler, Tombstalker).
A lot of people are saying stuff like "well he is really good with fight cards". Not only are fight cards terrible outside of creature formats (standard/limited) but there are no black fight cards that I am aware of. Playing Obliterator basically means you are playing mono-black or a light splash with a very greedy non-basic manabase, so fight cards would be hard to play even if they did not suck.
//20 Lands:
3 Hallowed Fountain/Tundra
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted delta (cheapest)/other blue fetch
2 Windswept heath (cheapest)/other white fetch
4 Island
3 Plains
//Creatures (10)
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Monastery Mentor
2 True-Name Nemesis
//Spells (27)
2 Back to Basics
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Preordain
3 Counterspell
3 Spell Pierce
3 Dig Through Time
1 Council's Judgment
2 Supreme Verdict
//Noncreature Permanents (3)
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
//Sideboard:
4 Meddling Mage
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Disenchant
1 Pithing needle
2 Relic/cage
2 Path to exile
2 ???
Force of will isnt actually very important. Dont bother with seachromes/fortess, just play more basics or fetches. You don't need mother of runes in a deck like this.
I think anything over 5 would be too powerful. The issue is that when ifegain is good, it invalidates certain strategies (hyper aggressive, burn, etc) but when its bad it does virtually nothing. If your card said gain 20 life, it would still be horrendous in a lot of matchups (most control or combo), but at the same time would be gamebreaking and totally unfun against very aggressive decks.
Lifegain isn't good because it most matchups, it doesn't actually do anything. Against a burn deck lifegain is like card advantage and an extra turn. But against a lot of control or combo decks, lifegain does literally nothing. Lifegain does not help put you in a better position to win, unless you are about to die.
If you are looking for budget, probably skullclamp affinity. You cut Ink/blinkmoth nexuses for 1$ artifact lands so the deck is probably overall cheaper than regular affinity.
1. Accept your competitive causalism: if one deck is easily hated out, that's a problem with the deck not the players. Make a new/better deck or have multiple decks and switch it up. Recruit more players. When there's only 4 players that play the same deck its super easy to "solve the format" and find out how to beat everyone else. When there are 8-16 player it gets a bit trickier and ever more and things get even better.
Example: Theres a 4 players with miracles, reanimator, and elves and shardless BUG.
The miracles guy is only really loses to the BUG guy so he starts playing 3 blood moons in his sideboard. This kinda sucks for the Shardless BUG guy, but its not the miracles guy fault that his deck is super good in this meta, and even better if he adds moons. The Shardless guy could change his deck, play more basics or have shardless BUG AND another deck so he change it up to throw people off.
Now if there are 4 more players with Grixis Delver, Death and taxes, Dredge and 12 Post. Now Miracles is going to have a lot of trouble with the Delver, D&T, 12 post AND BUG. Infact, every deck is pretty well balance out and cannot really afford to just play 3-4 cards in its sideboard to beat ONE matchup.
I play causal legacy games with my friends as well. But we play with a different mindset, we are not trying to beat each other necessarily. We are testing our decks to prepare for actual tournaments. If you go actual prized tournaments occasionally, you will want you deck to be turned to be good at those events, not to beat just your friends. It won't matter who wins your casual games because they are really just a fun learning experience. And improving your deck/skill will reward you with winning prizes.
2. Play limited. Cube is particularly fun. If done right you can make the power level similar to legacy but everyone is on an equal playing field and everyone plays different decks every time. As someone who pretty much only plays legacy for constructed, cube is a LOT of fun.
You can take the commons out of the search if you want to, but there are some pricey commons too.
None of the situations you have described involve anyone ripping anyone off. If at FNM someone lies and says thoughtseize is selling for 1$, I'll trade you 4 Craw Wurms for it, yeah they are trying to rip you off. If someone says, hey I REALLY need 1$ RIGHT NOW I want to sell my thoughtseize for 1$, no one is getting ripped off. That person is getting what they wanted: an immediate 1$. If someone really wants 50$ they can list it on TCGplayer for 50$. They will have to patiently wait days, weeks, maybe even months, but eventually someone might buy it and again, no one is getting ripped off.
Value isn't some set price. Sony saying MSRP for PS4s is 400$ doesn't mean its worth the time/effort equivalent of 400$ to every human being on the planet. "Value" is something we assign as individuals and the price of a commodity is dictated by its supply and demand.
I think your issue with cards prices stems from a basic understanding of how a free market economy works. It has nothing to do with magic.
It's not that hard to shuffle a deck with the cards face down, and your head turned away. If you cannot do this, don't pick up my deck.