MTG Salvation

I read Ender's Game and enjoyed it way back when, but I won't go see this movie and I have no qualms about that decision.

It's one thing for Orson Scott Card to have views that I disagree with, that would not be enough for me to want to boycott a movie. But regardless of what he says about same-sex marriage being a "moot" point he serves on the board of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), one of the most active groups fighting against same-sex marriage (and by extension LGBTQ rights and equality). Card has every right to espouse whatever views he wants to, but he is coming from a position of wealth and influence, and ultimately I have no issues with anyone boycotting him for utilizing that position to the detriment of many others.

Quote from IcecreamMan80

These kind of movements really seem silly to me.

Does anyone ever take into account the hundreds of movies we have watched over the last 95 years that were probably made by racists, homophobes, bigots, sexual deviants, closet pederasts, pedophiles, etc.
Seriously.

Yes, in fact there has been much discussion about this surrounding DW Griffith's Birth of a Nation and Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. Something can be problematic and still be valuable, groundbreaking, or good in other ways. That still doesn't mean there aren't good reasons to boycott them by a certain group.

Quote from Dechs Kaison

So... Prop 8 is gone. California does not have legal gay marriage yet, but it will at least recognize a legal gay marriage from some other state, correct?

Based on the ruling California does now allow for same-sex marriage. Prop 8 was the only thing stopping it.

Quote from bLatch

Now, SCOTUS has come out and basically given the state government a defacto veto on all initiatives.

Yup, essentially. If the states with initiatives decide not to defend a passed ballot measure then it dies on appeal. At least that would be my interpretation.

Though I'm quite happy that Prop 8 will be going away as a result of the decision I would totally agree with you that the logic for "no standing" seems flawed in this case.

Quote from bLatch

The part that (partially) bothers me is that the ruling holds that individuals do not have the standing to defend the constitutionality of laws.

Read Justice Kennedy's dissent, he agrees fully about the unique position of California's ballot initiatives.

Quote from bLatch

As I admitted, I haven't read the full opinoin yet, but my impression form the holding (and the scotusblog immediate commentary) is that the 5th amendment equal protection didn't factor into it much.

2. DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of
persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment. Pp. 13–26.

Definitely, the 5th Amendment piece was pretty limited in scope to DOMA itself (ie. basically not saying that denying same-sex marriage in general was a constitutional violation)

Still they could have probably made the decision without invoking the 5th Amendment and basing this solely on state's rights issues.

I couldn't be happier

DOMA was struck down both under federalism principles (each state has a right to define marriage) and under 5th amendment equal protection principles.

It may not make same-sex marriage legal or possible everywhere but it's a big step, especially for those of us living in stat's that do allow same-sex marriage.

My advice? Seek some counseling.

You understandably have a difficult relationship with alcohol, but if you trust your girlfriend, have a good relationship with her, and she has no alcohol abuse issues then the problem is on your end.

Find a therapist to talk to who can help you manage your anxieties.

RE: Corpse Hauler, not particularly excited about it.

Quote from Windux

I'm thinking on supporting combo in my cube. Is there a cubelist already, who supports combo?
Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Temporal Fissure (combined with rituals, cost reducer etc).

I just want to know if this works out good or is a corner case to draft

I support combo in my cube. Go ahead and take a peek.

I've got Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, and Temporal Fissure supported by a number of cards (I think Nightscape Familiar and Goblin Electromancer might be the two linchpins to making that combo work).

I also run Midnight Guard & Presence of Gond because it's simple, fantastic, and both cards are okay on their own (though way way weaker).

All great suggestions, I've definitely used the flankers before in the BR iteration of the deck. Right now I'm kind of leaning towards BG since I haven't spent a lot of time with that particular variant and think it could be fun.

I love the idea of Vesuva as Desert 5-8, but it's a little out of budget. I thought about Thespian's Stage but it feels off-theme.



I know the Outlaw/Dervish overlap but I'm curious to see if they can play together. I like them both a great deal.

Shriekmaw can't hit artifacts, so it's probably not the best choice for the deck. Liquimetal Coating decks played Ancient Grudge heavily, and while I know you're not currently running red, you might want to give it some consideration. Going RG would give you access to things like Stone Rain as well as plenty of cheap/easy artifact removal.

My main criticism of your list is that it skews too much into the 4/5-drop territory leaving you many fewer early game plays. The other piece is that your deck seems to want to put lots of trolls into the graveyard, which is reasonable, but at the same time trolls like to regenerate and stay out of the graveyard. I don't know if that internal tension will really help it play as effectively as it could.

Quote from Ascalonslion

Also I was just wondering: Does Homeward Path work with Hunted troll?

Nope:
9/22/2011: The owner of a token is the player under whose control the token was put onto the battlefield.

Trolls seem plenty viable to me, maybe something like this as a framework? Might consider more pump instead of disruption, but regeneration on the trolls should make them pretty solid creatures.

A couple quick thoughts. I really like Pristine Talisman in my life-gain deck, works very nicely with Ajani's Pridemate, Survival Cache has also performed very well for me, though it's a little slow. The card advantage and life gain stapled together can be a helpful combination. Both of those options are 3CMC so might be a little off-curve for your lower curve deck.

I'd definitely consider running Martyr of Sands regardless of what else you decide to do. Being able to sac and recur it many times over is brutal against aggro.

One of my oldest decks is one that I've called "What's for Desert?" which is basically a thematically Middle Eastern deck. It's gone through a lot of different variants, and is by no means a competitive deck, however I want to keep playing with it casually and want to improve it.

The bulk of the cards in the deck come from Arabian Nights, the Mirage Block, and then a handful from elsewhere.

The deck has seen BR, BW, and BG variations.

The core cards (which are not going anywhere):
x4 Desert
x4 Erg Raiders
x4 Nekrataal
x4 Snake Basket
x4 Contagion

From there, I'm open to lots of possibilities, just keep them on theme (Middle Eastern: deserts, turbans, scimitars, etc.), reasonably budget, and casual.

Hey Dolono, thanks for the input! Yes, I have played Pauper EDH! Fun format. I've considered using the guildmages as well as an alternate set of generals. Occasionally when we've drafted I've also let people pick their pools and then pick any legend as the general, can be kind of swingy but it's fun.