MTG Salvation

The reason why I ask this is because when it comes to building an EDH / Commander deck it requires some form of using online resources (a.k.a. netdecking) as in using the Internet to help identify what cards and strategies go with said Commander to make for more optimized builds as opposed to less optimized builds. If you didn't have Internet Access like in the old days of Paper Magic, you literally had to rely on going through books of set expansions to find the right cards you're looking for or dig through thousands of common and uncommon bulk cards at your Local Game Store (LGS).

Online resources are what separates those who are able to brew their decks more creatively as opposed to those who struggle with being as creative as those that are without proven game data or the Internet. When I first started playing MTG we didn't have anyone use online resources as the players at my locals with the best decks were the ones who put more time and effort into crafting their decks as opposed to players like myself at the time who weren't familiar with card type ratios and having the knowledge to build decks in a way that was just as satisfying as those that didn't use online resources.

Without the Internet I can imagine it being incredibly hard for an EDH / Commander player especially a newbie trying to find functionally identical cards in playsets within less time than it is with using the Internet in some way. Imagine If EDH / Commander was invented as a format WAY before 2009 like in the mid to late 90's when our Internet wasn't where it is right now. How would players be able to access the official rules unless it was from a Wizards product or via Strategy Guide that book stores like Barnes & Noble used to sell?

I find a lot of people literally just throw together a deck of things they think are cool from thier rare folder, I have built a deck that way.

So no I don't think the format is reliant on net decking in fact it is probably the format least dependant on it. This is partially because the pre-cons are good that people just start with one and just wing it from there.

not really.

online tools are just that too, tools. poring over binders for hours to find cards that fit your theme, or pulling up edhrec, the end result is largely the same

Nope. I've been playing EDH since it came to the contiguous states from Alaska, and online resources have DRAMATICALLY increased the enjoyment people get out of the format. Pretty objectively a positive influence and in no way a problem I'd say.

I think for EDH it’s almost a necessity. The sheer volume of cards alone dictates that you need a way to search for stuff electronically. I'm not saying it can't be done without it. A couple of the guys that work at my LGS have enough knowledge from selling/trading cards as their day job to do it, but even they would need some help to fully optimize if it involved some of the older odd ball stuff. As a player coming back from a 10 year break just being able to go to Gather and search for similar affects and tribes has been amazing.

You'd think it'd be easier If Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro or someone who sponsors for them would put out a physical paperback book containing all cards printed from Apocalypse up to the new Dungeons & Dragons set. Maybe advertise it on an episode of Game Knights on The Command Zone instead of Raycon ear buds. It might also have something to do with the cost of paper going up as a way to cut costs by saving trees in the fight against climate change. I mean God forbid we can't have physical and tangible sources to look up the cards we want to run in our EDH / Commander decks If we somehow manage to lose our Internet as our smartphones and tablets become temporary paper weights. The best thing we have are the Fat Pack Bundle Player's Guide Books though I can imagine they're being sold for quite a bit on eBay and etsy. The market for these are pretty crazy especially an Onslaught Player's Guide for $60 because there's not as many copies circulating within the Secondary Market unfortunately.

This is one of the reasons why I posted a thread here on the forums asking If there would ever be a follow up to The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering in paperback from 2002 when it was first released. Not many copies of this book were mass produced as a Near Mint Condition copy is worth $300 on Amazon. As for the Fat Pack Bundle Player's Guides, the Comic Book Shop I used to frequent on Fridays had the guides in each set binder with the pages of card singles for sale from the set as well which made it easy to look up the cards without having to use the Internet or a smartphone. I may have to design my own physical encyclopedia though it would take forever as I tried doing this back when I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! back in the early 2000's but by the time I quit the project wasn't really worth pursuing as I had other interests with other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games like Magic: The Gathering of course as well as other card games that are now discontinued sadly.

Why would WOTC print a huge, unsearchable physical book that'll be out of date in a couple months? What a terrible idea.

There has never been a need for internet resources. Even in the early days decklists for tournament play became quite centralized through other methods. In this format, where decks are increasingly designed for personal expression or interactive gameplay with a group of friends, there is absolutely no need for that. I'm sure we've all used it, but it isn't necessary by any stretch.

Quote from FetalTadpole »

Why would WOTC print a huge, unsearchable physical book that'll be out of date in a couple months? What a terrible idea.

cancelled

The main reason why I brought this thread to attention was to discuss how Paper Magic players would be able to construct and tweak EDH / Commander decks in the event of a Global Internet Shutdown which may be imminent. We have to understand that today's Internet is run by algorithms. Algorithms are the best censor-gatekeepers you could possibly produce. There's really nothing you can do because every company that develops an algorithm also has Intellectual Property (IP) rights which means that NO ONE is allowed to look into the algorithm and actually see how it works. Not even government agencies are technically allowed to check the algorithms, so they wouldn't know If the algorithm works in a fair and balanced way or If it works in a very one-sided way which they do and so what has happened over time is that no matter how many algorithms we've received, no matter how much censorship and control there was, people have always found a way around and we keep communicating with each other. We keep exchanging wisdom and information and we keep the Internet fairly free for now. Now in recent months and years we've seen a large increase in structural cyber attacks.

These aren't your regular, "We're gonna steal credit card info and try to funnel out some money" kind of cyber attacks. No. This is about REAL structural things where big structures, big corporations, big platforms, and big government websites were being attacked with U.S. Government Homeland Security being completely blindsided by this. You may assume that these are nothing more than random events because these glitches have been happening all across the world whether it's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United States, or Canada and Asian countries. It's been happening all over the place. There is a common theme and that these are preparation attacks so the possibility of a Internet Shutdown Event where such structural cyber attacks becoming the new normal isn't too realistically far off. For most of the world nobody would have access to the Internet and we won't have access to 80-90% of all the services because everything now is Internet based: Your TV, your Smartphone, your Next Gen Video Game Console, even your Bank Account. Now this wouldn't be a coincidental event If it does happen as it would be a planned event and for a very particular reason.

The plan is to completely restructure how we use the Internet. It's been tried before but countries up until now have fought against too much control on the Internet and they've fought off the idea of something called a "digital citizenship" where every human being that wants to access the Internet needs to have a Digital Passport. This is because the Internet is big enough to be it's own country. A digital country If you will. A digital entity. If you want to enter that entity then you will have to have a Digital Passport and you will be required to give your credentials including all your movements from as much as they're tracked now. Thoughty2 on YouTube posted a video about how your own Internet History can be used against you so I suggest you go check that out. So all your Internet Data that hasn't been deleted by cookies or is automatically tracked by Google searches will be tracked by a centralized power which will have a name like "The World Internet Federation or Association" or "The World Internet Council" or something like that and they'll be treated like a central government figure because EVERYTHING is happening In and On the Internet.

So the plan is to bring the current Internet down to show that it's too vulnerable and too accessible to bad actors. That it's too much of a threat to keep it as open as it is and that we need to establish stricter rules as to how who can access the Internet. So that's what they're going to try to bring in. One thing's for sure is that we will have a real big comprehensive Internet Attack Shutdown where nothing will really work anymore. Don't know If it will happen when it's a matter of when it will happen. It'll affect our daily lives outside of what we perceive the Internet. ATM's won't work. Anything that's now connected to the Internet which is pretty much everything won't work. It'll be much bigger and have a much bigger impact in a much shorter time than what we've experienced over the last year with the global pandemic. As soon as these ideas about a Digital Citizenship Passport comes to the public eye then you're going to see the biggest mass exodus of people leaving the Internet like never before. Millions of people will pledge to leave the Internet for good. They'll say they won't go along with this "Super Control System".

People won't care about the economic fallout of their lives. They don't care about the social fallout from this scenario as they won't use the Internet If that's the way it's going to be. The good news is that there's an alternative to the Internet in the works by the guy who invented the concept of the World Wide Web as we know it being Tim Berners-Lee. He's been working tirelessly on a NEW Internet where we will be 100% in control of our own personal data as it will be encrypted in a special way. So it'll only be us who will have access and we will be in charge once again because we know that data. All the data that we transmit onto the Internet is the most important currency today. So Tim and his team have been working tirelessly for years on this NEW Internet alternative. They're ready because they know a Global Internet Shutdown is inevitable. They're going to launch this Internet alternative and it will be revolutionary (hopefully not like Elon Musk's Neurolink invention). There is a possibility with the Old Internet going down someday that between this new Digital Citizenship Passport idea and the launch of Tim Berners-Lee's really private and data secured Internet there might be a gap between the two.

If you make your own logical preparations then you're going to have a better peace of mind. What's really ironic is that we were never really meant to use the Internet in the first place as it's actually mimicking capabilities that we have within ourselves. The problem is that we've forgotten all about them over time. They're just dormant but eventually we will awaken those abilities as human beings as our species evolves. To communicate with each other over long distance. Mind to mind you know. To transmit visions and data. All of that, we couldn't have invented the Internet (no not you Al Gore) If we didn't have this natural vision within us. It comes from a place and it comes from knowing that we as human beings can do these things. Without technological help, we're not quite there yet. So we're still using the Internet and technology to help bridge that gap. I know this might be a bitter pill to swallow but it's best to prepare than to be unprepared and panic while we plan ahead for what is yet to come within our society. I wish Tim Berners-Lee and his team all the best to help maintain our right to free Internet as much as Americans value the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Quote from Card Slinger J »

The main reason why I brought this thread to attention was to discuss how Paper Magic players would be able to construct and tweak EDH / Commander decks in the event of a Global Internet Shutdown which may be imminent. We have to understand that today's Internet is run by algorithms. Algorithms are the best censor-gatekeepers you could possibly produce. There's really nothing you can do because every company that develops an algorithm also has Intellectual Property (IP) rights which means that NO ONE is allowed to look into the algorithm and actually see how it works. Not even government agencies are technically allowed to check the algorithms, so they wouldn't know If the algorithm works in a fair and balanced way or If it works in a very one-sided way which they do and so what has happened over time is that no matter how many algorithms we've received, no matter how much censorship and control there was, people have always found a way around and we keep communicating with each other. We keep exchanging wisdom and information and we keep the Internet fairly free for now. Now in recent months and years we've seen a large increase in structural cyber attacks.

These aren't your regular, "We're gonna steal credit card info and try to funnel out some money" kind of cyber attacks. No. This is about REAL structural things where big structures, big corporations, big platforms, and big government websites were being attacked with U.S. Government Homeland Security being completely blindsided by this. You may assume that these are nothing more than random events because these glitches have been happening all across the world whether it's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United States, or Canada and Asian countries. It's been happening all over the place. There is a common theme and that these are preparation attacks so the possibility of a Internet Shutdown Event where such structural cyber attacks becoming the new normal isn't too realistically far off. For most of the world nobody would have access to the Internet and we won't have access to 80-90% of all the services because everything now is Internet based: Your TV, your Smartphone, your Next Gen Video Game Console, even your Bank Account. Now this wouldn't be a coincidental event If it does happen as it would be a planned event and for a very particular reason.

The plan is to completely restructure how we use the Internet. It's been tried before but countries up until now have fought against too much control on the Internet and they've fought off the idea of something called a "digital citizenship" where every human being that wants to access the Internet needs to have a Digital Passport. This is because the Internet is big enough to be it's own country. A digital country If you will. A digital entity. If you want to enter that entity then you will have to have a Digital Passport and you will be required to give your credentials including all your movements from as much as they're tracked now. Thoughty2 on YouTube posted a video about how your own Internet History can be used against you so I suggest you go check that out. So all your Internet Data that hasn't been deleted by cookies will be tracked by a centralized power which will have a name like "The World Internet Federation or Association" or "The World Internet Council" or something like that and they'll be treated like a central government figure because EVERYTHING is happening In and On the Internet.

So the plan is to bring the current Internet down to show that it's too vulnerable and too accessible to bad actors. That it's too much of a threat to keep it as open as it is and that we need to establish stricter rules as to how who can access the Internet. So that's what they're going to try to bring in. One thing's for sure is that we will have a real big comprehensive Internet Attack Shutdown where nothing will really work anymore. Don't know If it will happen when it's a matter of when it will happen. It'll affect our daily lives outside of what we perceive the Internet. ATM's won't work. Anything that's now connected to the Internet which is pretty much everything won't work. It'll be much bigger and have a much bigger impact in a much shorter time than what we've experienced over the last year with the global pandemic. As soon as these ideas about a Digital Citizenship Passport comes to the public eye then you're going to see the biggest mass exodus of people leaving the Internet like never before. Millions of people will pledge to leave the Internet for good. They'll say they won't go along with this "Super Control System".

People won't care about the economic fallout of their lives. They don't care about the social fallout from this scenario as they won't use the Internet If that's the way it's going to be. The good news is that there's an alternative to the Internet in the works by the guy who invented the concept of the World Wide Web as we know it being Tim Berners-Lee. He's been working tirelessly on a NEW Internet where we will be 100% in control of our own personal data as it will be encrypted in a special way. So it'll only be us who will have access and we will be in charge once again because we know that data. All the data that we transmit onto the Internet is the most important currency today. So Tim and his team have been working tirelessly for years on this NEW Internet alternative. They're ready because they know a Global Internet Shutdown is inevitable. They're going to launch this Internet alternative and it will be revolutionary (hopefully not like Elon Musk's Neurolink invention). There is a possibility with the Old Internet going down someday that between this new Digital Citizenship Passport idea and the launch of Tim Berners-Lee's really private and data secured Internet there might be a gap between the two.

If you make your own logical preparations then you're going to have a better peace of mind. What's really ironic is that we were never really meant to use the Internet in the first place as it's actually mimicking capabilities that we have within ourselves. The problem is that we've forgotten all about them over time. They're just dormant but eventually we will awaken those abilities as human beings as our species evolves. To communicate with each other over long distance. Mind to mind you know. To transmit visions and data. All of that, we couldn't have invented the Internet (no not you Al Gore) If we didn't have this natural vision within us. It comes from a place and it comes from knowing that we as human beings can do these things. Without technological help, we're not quite there yet. So we're still using the Internet and technology to help bridge that gap. I know this might be a bitter pill to swallow but it's best to prepare than to be unprepared and panic while we plan ahead for what is yet to come within our society. I wish Tim Berners-Lee and his team all the best to help maintain our right to free Internet as much as Americans value the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

I don't normally profane the lord's name but Jeeeeezus Christ!

1. You ask if people think that there is too much reliance upon online resources for EDH.
2. You ask if Wizards might consider releasing another physical book with all of their cards in it.
3. You reveal that the reason you want a physical book is because the presence of cyberattacks shows that the infrastructure of the internet is weak to the point where failure is imminent (while simultaneously claiming that nobody who could verify your claims is able to "look under the hood", as it were), assert that the collapse will be done not as part of a cyber attack from an enemy nation but for the express purpose of showing us how vulnerable our infrastructure is for the purpose of driving us toward a "new internet", predict that nobody would want a new internet that more effectively monitors and controls us... and report that you would still want to be able to brew commander decks effectively under those circumstances.

You are literally doomsday prepping for Magic The Gathering and I find this hilarious.

As a serious answer, though, the end of internet does not mean an end to electronics. Even if the internet vanished tomorrow, wizards is infinitely more likely to produce CDs with searchable databases than a thick old book (similar to old electonic encyclopedias). I personally use Forge quite a bit, which doesn't require any online connectivity to function. While lack of connectivity keeps me from seeing the card images, I can still search through all cards in the current database for key words, colors, and mana costs as I see fit and that type of electronic resource beats out a book any day of the week.

If the next logical question is "what if all electricity becomes inaccessible"... then most people around you probably have much more important matters to worry about than MTG even if you are personally prepared (AKA good luck finding a play group), especially as WotC would probably collapse in a world without technology (as would most companies).

Quote from Rosy Dumplings »

Quote from Card Slinger J »

The main reason why I brought this thread to attention was to discuss how Paper Magic players would be able to construct and tweak EDH / Commander decks in the event of a Global Internet Shutdown which may be imminent. We have to understand that today's Internet is run by algorithms. Algorithms are the best censor-gatekeepers you could possibly produce. There's really nothing you can do because every company that develops an algorithm also has Intellectual Property (IP) rights which means that NO ONE is allowed to look into the algorithm and actually see how it works. Not even government agencies are technically allowed to check the algorithms, so they wouldn't know If the algorithm works in a fair and balanced way or If it works in a very one-sided way which they do and so what has happened over time is that no matter how many algorithms we've received, no matter how much censorship and control there was, people have always found a way around and we keep communicating with each other. We keep exchanging wisdom and information and we keep the Internet fairly free for now. Now in recent months and years we've seen a large increase in structural cyber attacks.


These aren't your regular, "We're gonna steal credit card info and try to funnel out some money" kind of cyber attacks. No. This is about REAL structural things where big structures, big corporations, big platforms, and big government websites were being attacked with U.S. Government Homeland Security being completely blindsided by this. You may assume that these are nothing more than random events because these glitches have been happening all across the world whether it's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United States, or Canada and Asian countries. It's been happening all over the place. There is a common theme and that these are preparation attacks so the possibility of a Internet Shutdown Event where such structural cyber attacks becoming the new normal isn't too realistically far off. For most of the world nobody would have access to the Internet and we won't have access to 80-90% of all the services because everything now is Internet based: Your TV, your Smartphone, your Next Gen Video Game Console, even your Bank Account. Now this wouldn't be a coincidental event If it does happen as it would be a planned event and for a very particular reason.

The plan is to completely restructure how we use the Internet. It's been tried before but countries up until now have fought against too much control on the Internet and they've fought off the idea of something called a "digital citizenship" where every human being that wants to access the Internet needs to have a Digital Passport. This is because the Internet is big enough to be it's own country. A digital country If you will. A digital entity. If you want to enter that entity then you will have to have a Digital Passport and you will be required to give your credentials including all your movements from as much as they're tracked now. Thoughty2 on YouTube posted a video about how your own Internet History can be used against you so I suggest you go check that out. So all your Internet Data that hasn't been deleted by cookies will be tracked by a centralized power which will have a name like "The World Internet Federation or Association" or "The World Internet Council" or something like that and they'll be treated like a central government figure because EVERYTHING is happening In and On the Internet.

So the plan is to bring the current Internet down to show that it's too vulnerable and too accessible to bad actors. That it's too much of a threat to keep it as open as it is and that we need to establish stricter rules as to how who can access the Internet. So that's what they're going to try to bring in. One thing's for sure is that we will have a real big comprehensive Internet Attack Shutdown where nothing will really work anymore. Don't know If it will happen when it's a matter of when it will happen. It'll affect our daily lives outside of what we perceive the Internet. ATM's won't work. Anything that's now connected to the Internet which is pretty much everything won't work. It'll be much bigger and have a much bigger impact in a much shorter time than what we've experienced over the last year with the global pandemic. As soon as these ideas about a Digital Citizenship Passport comes to the public eye then you're going to see the biggest mass exodus of people leaving the Internet like never before. Millions of people will pledge to leave the Internet for good. They'll say they won't go along with this "Super Control System".

People won't care about the economic fallout of their lives. They don't care about the social fallout from this scenario as they won't use the Internet If that's the way it's going to be. The good news is that there's an alternative to the Internet in the works by the guy who invented the concept of the World Wide Web as we know it being Tim Berners-Lee. He's been working tirelessly on a NEW Internet where we will be 100% in control of our own personal data as it will be encrypted in a special way. So it'll only be us who will have access and we will be in charge once again because we know that data. All the data that we transmit onto the Internet is the most important currency today. So Tim and his team have been working tirelessly for years on this NEW Internet alternative. They're ready because they know a Global Internet Shutdown is inevitable. They're going to launch this Internet alternative and it will be revolutionary (hopefully not like Elon Musk's Neurolink invention). There is a possibility with the Old Internet going down someday that between this new Digital Citizenship Passport idea and the launch of Tim Berners-Lee's really private and data secured Internet there might be a gap between the two.

If you make your own logical preparations then you're going to have a better peace of mind. What's really ironic is that we were never really meant to use the Internet in the first place as it's actually mimicking capabilities that we have within ourselves. The problem is that we've forgotten all about them over time. They're just dormant but eventually we will awaken those abilities as human beings as our species evolves. To communicate with each other over long distance. Mind to mind you know. To transmit visions and data. All of that, we couldn't have invented the Internet (no not you Al Gore) If we didn't have this natural vision within us. It comes from a place and it comes from knowing that we as human beings can do these things. Without technological help, we're not quite there yet. So we're still using the Internet and technology to help bridge that gap. I know this might be a bitter pill to swallow but it's best to prepare than to be unprepared and panic while we plan ahead for what is yet to come within our society. I wish Tim Berners-Lee and his team all the best to help maintain our right to free Internet as much as Americans value the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

I don't normally profane the lord's name but Jeeeeezus Christ!

1. You ask if people think that there is too much reliance upon online resources for EDH.
2. You ask if Wizards might consider releasing another physical book with all of their cards in it.
3. You reveal that the reason you want a physical book is because the presence of cyberattacks shows that the infrastructure of the internet is weak to the point where failure is imminent (while simultaneously claiming that nobody who could verify your claims is able to "look under the hood", as it were), assert that the collapse will be done not as part of a cyber attack from an enemy nation but for the express purpose of showing us how vulnerable our infrastructure is for the purpose of driving us toward a "new internet", predict that nobody would want a new internet that more effectively monitors and controls us... and report that you would still want to be able to brew commander decks effectively under those circumstances.

You are literally doomsday prepping for Magic The Gathering and I find this hilarious.

As a serious answer, though, the end of internet does not mean an end to electronics. Even if the internet vanished tomorrow, wizards is infinitely more likely to produce CDs with searchable databases than a thick old book (similar to old electonic encyclopedias). I personally use Forge quite a bit, which doesn't require any online connectivity to function. While lack of connectivity keeps me from seeing the card images, I can still search through all cards in the current database for key words, colors, and mana costs as I see fit and that type of electronic resource beats out a book any day of the week.

If the next logical question is "what if all electricity becomes inaccessible"... then most people around you probably have much more important matters to worry about than MTG even if you are personally prepared (AKA good luck finding a play group), especially as WotC would probably collapse in a world without technology (as would most companies).

Honestly I'd much rather brew EDH / Commander decks effectively under Tim Berners-Lee's New Internet more than corporations and enemy nations hijacking the Old Internet with way less anonymity and privacy involved. Sacrificing freedom and liberty for safety has never gotten us anywhere. If Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro did produce CD's with searchable databases for Paper Magic cards how would you be able to access it? You wouldn't have Internet for the time being so your Local Game Store (LGS) would be your next best option since they'd no longer have to worry about Amazon replacing their local distributors where they might actually gain back the players they lost from Arena.

Maybe from a Print Magazine you'd find at your local retailer or a Toll Free Number like in the 90's? Also care to post a link for Forge by any chance? I tried looking it up on one of my web browsers and didn't find anything unfortunately. Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro didn't rely as much on technology before MTGO was conceived and years later Arena managed to outperform it in every way possible while still allowing MTGO to co-exist when there's really no need for it. Guess it gives Modern, Legacy, and Vintage players something to do online but why can't they just merge the two gaming apps already? I don't understand why Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro hasn't done anything about it.

Look I know I'm coming off as doomsday prepping for Magic: The Gathering. I'm not trying to do this as a way of being offensive toward others when I'm actually trying to help inform people of what's going on behind the scenes with the company at Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro, how it's affecting the Local Game Store (LGS) business model that made Paper Magic what it is today, and why it's critically important to defend the game we love spending time with playgroups for. It has gotten out of hand I'll admit but sometimes it's hard when real world events have a way of affecting how we live and enjoy our own personal lives. When those two aspects collide it's very difficult to separate the two without someone actually getting emotionally sensitive about it.

Quote from Rosy Dumplings »

1. You ask if people think that there is too much reliance upon online resources for EDH.
2. You ask if Wizards might consider releasing another physical book with all of their cards in it.
3. You reveal that the reason you want a physical book is because the presence of cyberattacks shows that the infrastructure of the internet is weak to the point where failure is imminent (while simultaneously claiming that nobody who could verify your claims is able to "look under the hood", as it were), assert that the collapse will be done not as part of a cyber attack from an enemy nation but for the express purpose of showing us how vulnerable our infrastructure is for the purpose of driving us toward a "new internet", predict that nobody would want a new internet that more effectively monitors and controls us... and report that you would still want to be able to brew commander decks effectively under those circumstances.

I've gotta admit, I did not expect this twist!

I thought this was just another "oh no the internet is ruining EDH!" thread (understandable, but fallacious IMO) and then, bam! Nope, it's a tinfoil hat thread! Brilliant!

Also, Sir Tim is inventing a new internet? I'm dubious, but maybe he will do a better job this time. I mean, have you looked at HTTP?

Also also, humans are... psychic? So we don't need the internet in the first place?

10/10, this is the best thing I've heard since they claimed the Earth was round.

I have to assume this thread was created because Card Slinger J really wanted to ramble on about deranged conspiracy theories with naught but the flimsiest YouTube evidence, but had to figure out some way to tangentially relate it to magic to justify posting it here. And in the process he created a true work of art. Bravo.

Forgot that I already posted a similar topic on here awhile back titled, "Is This Format Too Dependent on Netdecking?"

Pretty stupid on my part I know. But I felt that this thread in particular went a bit deeper into the subject matter for better or worse when applied to what could actually happen in our society at large. I was too busy taking extra precautions of what could happen to Paper Magic under those dire circumstances even though it might not sound realistic when it's an actual possibility. Otherwise what's the point of spending millions of dollars on Paper Magic If you're unable to use them without having access to the Internet for information? MTG is so complex of a game to the point where you're going to check on card rulings from time to time to know If you're playing correctly and having a Print Media option wouldn't be a bad idea per say.

Yes I'm aware that Paper Magic thrived LONG before the Internet became a thing in the early 2000's but it was also a time where players had to really think for themselves more when it came to deck building instead of just having the information already being handed to them through the Internet by copying and pasting deck templates and card type ratios for better consistency and win percentages. There was also a real sense of reward for those who thought outside the box that made it hard for others to duplicate for the decks they were building at the time as well because If it hadn't been for the Internet I think Paper Standard would've looked A WHOLE LOT different than it is today with EDH / Commander being non-existent.

I mean I don't need the internet to make decks anyway since I already have all the cards (although my collection is a little out of date for the past couple expansions, bleh new zealand problems). If the internet went down for some insane tinfoil hat bull***** reason, though, I guarantee that my absolute lowest concern would be "how am I going to optimize my commander deck building?"

Anyway even if you were right (which you aren't) why would anyone give a ***** about magic card search engines? I could imagine the internet getting restructured at some point to reduce bootlegging, dark web drug trade, etc, but p sure nobody is trying to stop us from searching for magic cards. As long as the internet and magic both exist, there will be a way to search for magic cards.

I only search online to identify thematic cards and artwork that I admire. I build based on cards I prefer and themes, but there are a lot of people who utilize online resources to optimize their decks as much as possible, which is an utter bore.

My gosh, what have I stepped into on this day I happened to stumble back onto MTGS......

"Is this format dependent on the internet?"
- No, of course not. I find it an invaluable tool especially for new players that may not be educated on the ridiculous old powerhouses of yore, or those that rather not sink the time it takes to properly brew such that they rather just "grab and go". But a necessity? Hardly.
- In the same vein, even if it were dependent, is that a problem? People have varying degrees of time and many would rather not spend it researching deck ideas like some nerd when they can be...idk...playing the new Pokemon Legends: Arceus, or what have you. Some would however, but that's for the individual would-be-player/deckbuilder to determine how they wish to spend their time.
- Had you asked if the internet was "ruining" commander with the rampant over-homogenization the internet brings with the shared ideas of other like-minded players, however, then I'd say this is a much more interesting discussion to wax poetically about. But alas, that is not the topic of discussion at-hand.