Why not something like Confluxing for 2x Conflux, Transguild Courier or whatnot, Gaea's Blessing, and Tendrils of Agony? Neither Conflux nor Dream Halls removes everything from the game, so as long as you can fetch and cast Conflux and Gaea's Blessing each time, that's infinite spells right there. Actually not quite, as the Blessing is drawing you cards each time... but still more than sufficient for a Storm kill.
It's a new month, which means it's time for you to pick the best of last month!
You have before you all of December's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here! Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
Unfortunately, RancoredElf.com is no longer offering store credit as prize. The winner will receive front-page recognition, as well as a happy little trophy to spiff up his or her profile!
You have a week from this posting to vote.
You may discuss the contest and the articles here.
I don't have any stones for the color wheel on the top, I just continued the motif. I considered painting the inside of the holes, but that would have looked busy; some people suggested putting LEDs inside the holes corresponding to the colors, but that would look to kitschy I think.
Very nice, Urza would be proud. I've always wanted to build a cabinet/table in the same way to house my console collection... However 32 drawers with room to insert and remove cartridges + store cartridges might be a little expensive and time consuming.
Gratz on getting your article featured! I've enjoyed a few of yours quietly to myself (Creepy indeed!)
Urza would be proud of the craftsmanship, but dissapointed I didn't need to kill countless millions to get it made. Oh, that Urza...
That is way too cool, VestDan!!! I would be nerding out if I were you as well! So of course something this awesome makes me curious about a few things...
1) How much did it cost to make? I'm sure it was more than worth it, but it doesn't look cheap!
2) What is the general reaction people have to it? Most Magic players would probably find it pretty neat but when you have non-magic playing people over, do they ever comment on the furniture?
3) When can you sign a deal with Wizards to mass produce these gems?!
1) Just in parts, I'm not sure. The wood was fairly expensive as we got something nice that would work and take stain well. I'm pretty confident saying it's between $250 and 400, but that doesn't include all the labor.
2) It looks classy enough it's not obvious at first it's magic related. Magic players tend to love it though.
3) And make it less unique! Nebbar! My cabinet is a Legendary Artifact.
Gerrard was fine at first, but his utter refusal to develop as a character, ever, choosing instead to wallow in endless wangst, shall we say colors my opinion a bit, eh? He could have been a strong Campbellian hero, but wound up being Annie Skywalker.
It's a new month, which means it's time for you to vote for the president of- wait, vote for Article of the Month!
You have before you all of October's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here. Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
The winner will receive $25 in store credit from http://www.rancoredelf.com and front-page recognition, as well as a happy little trophy.
ALSO NOTE: Accounts with fewer than 10 posts or that signed up after October ended are not allowed to vote. Also, hanging chads are not allowed.
You have a week from this posting to vote.
You may discuss the contest and the articles here.
The problem hasn't been the judging, so much as the judges. We'd get judges who would sign on, post that they've started reading the stories, and vanish for 5 weeks. We've had professional Magic writers judge from time to time, but they have to fit us into our schedule. Once, the judge running the contest up and disappeared, and it was 6 or 8 weeks before enough of us finally admitted he had flaked out to figure out some other method to wrap things up. And that's not mentioning the time a judge posted half his results and was never heard from again...
Every time I've judged, it takes me most of a day to do all the stories. My schedule is/wasn't as full as some, but some people just stink with time management.
Whoops, I did forget Coldsnap--or at least, the manner in which they unveiled it. The set itself is an entire separate set of issues. That wasn't really a policy change or product decision though, so much as a hugely misguided/poorly executed PR failure. I'm not sure how well it would have fit in the article, because like I said it wasn't the decision that caused a stir or had much impact (other than increasing the size of Standard even further).
Perhaps I should do a follow up article on points where the game really was weakened. There seems to be demand for it. Perhaps after I move.
Fallen Empires was also oddly useful BECAUSE it was so damned cheap--I remember splurging on the 99 cent packs to grow my collection a bit, and the creatures were actually pretty darned solid for the day. It wasn't profitable for WotC or the stores that sold it, but most old school players I know have fond memories of the cards themselves.
About Fallen Empires and Urza Block--these WERE problems, but I wasn't focusing on 'problems the game has had'. That wasn't the point of the article. It was about announcements/decisions that had an initial, highly negative reaction. Neither Fallen Empires nor Urza Block fell into that category--it took a while for people to realize what a problem they caused, and it wasn't all at once.
Also, little known fact, but Fallen Empires wasn't entirely WotC's fault. They vastly overproduced it, yes, but they sent a substantial amount of their stock off to be destroyed so the market wasn't saturated. Unfortunately, the company they hired to destroy it all instead turned around and sold it instead. Whoops.
This article is not objective at all. Magic has lost a ton of players because of these changes and they are having a hard time keeping the ones they have. The game hasn't died yet, and it may yet live for a long time, but soon this game and its community will be unrecognizable to those who played it during the golden years. Your point about players whining and complaining is obvious - we have all seen it for years. But the game is changing, quite dramatically, and a lot of people don't like it enough to stop spending money on it.
And the 8th edition card frames still look terrible. I think that part of your article is just absurd. We have to live with these new frames but that doesn't make them any less riduclous. The old ones are elegant, respectable, and are permanently associated with golden years of Magic. If a redesign was necessary, making them look incredibly ugly wasnt.
I must say, this response is no more objective than the article itself. Please, define the 'golden years' of Magic, and why you think of them as that. I'm not saying you are wrong--we will probably have to agree to disagree on several points. And I must agree the game is changing dramatically, but I disagree that that is a bad thing.
This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, The Game that Wouldn't Die!. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
You have before you all of December's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here! Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
Unfortunately, RancoredElf.com is no longer offering store credit as prize. The winner will receive front-page recognition, as well as a happy little trophy to spiff up his or her profile!
You have a week from this posting to vote.
You may discuss the contest and the articles here.
-The Editorial Staff
Urza would be proud of the craftsmanship, but dissapointed I didn't need to kill countless millions to get it made. Oh, that Urza...
1) Just in parts, I'm not sure. The wood was fairly expensive as we got something nice that would work and take stain well. I'm pretty confident saying it's between $250 and 400, but that doesn't include all the labor.
2) It looks classy enough it's not obvious at first it's magic related. Magic players tend to love it though.
3) And make it less unique! Nebbar! My cabinet is a Legendary Artifact.
* VestDan squees like a fangirl, and is unashamed
It's a new month, which means it's time for you to vote for the president of- wait, vote for Article of the Month!
You have before you all of October's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here. Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
The winner will receive $25 in store credit from http://www.rancoredelf.com and front-page recognition, as well as a happy little trophy.
ALSO NOTE: Accounts with fewer than 10 posts or that signed up after October ended are not allowed to vote. Also, hanging chads are not allowed.
You have a week from this posting to vote.
You may discuss the contest and the articles here.
-The Editorial Staff
Every time I've judged, it takes me most of a day to do all the stories. My schedule is/wasn't as full as some, but some people just stink with time management.
Perhaps I should do a follow up article on points where the game really was weakened. There seems to be demand for it. Perhaps after I move.
Also, little known fact, but Fallen Empires wasn't entirely WotC's fault. They vastly overproduced it, yes, but they sent a substantial amount of their stock off to be destroyed so the market wasn't saturated. Unfortunately, the company they hired to destroy it all instead turned around and sold it instead. Whoops.
I must say, this response is no more objective than the article itself. Please, define the 'golden years' of Magic, and why you think of them as that. I'm not saying you are wrong--we will probably have to agree to disagree on several points. And I must agree the game is changing dramatically, but I disagree that that is a bad thing.