But this sphinx combo seems really good. No joke I'm going to use it in my Damia deck because I needed a tutor on this scale. I do run more creatures though so I don't know how effective it will really be but its worth a shot.
If you run it in a deck with even one other creature, you will not be rearranging the top cards of your library.
I have mixed feelings about this pairing. The power it generates almost wants to win the game, but what do you do once you Fact or Fiction? Is there a flawless pack of cards you assemble to win the game on resolution? It has many weak points and requires a very dependent build, neither of which are traits of the banned Gifts Ungiven.
I'm impressed with the effect it generates, but a player is better off running Teferi if that's the kind of deck he or she wants to build.
Mr. Hyatt never objected to--or misinterpreted a phrase. He objected to wearing a symbol that carries a religious conotation for him, and he did so in a discrete, timely manner, even approaching his manager weeks before the day in question. Be practical in your discernments.
...
If Mr. Hyatt interprets the phrase differently, he is wrong.
...
No matter how nicely he asked to be exempted, the fact remains that his assertion that that sentence was somehow related to his religious beliefs was simply not correct.
...
Mr. Hyatt never objected to--or misinterpreted a phrase. He objected to wearing a symbol that carries a religious conotation for him, and he did so in a discrete, timely manner, even approaching his manager weeks before the day in question. Be practical in your discernments.
My point is that this specific proposal, wipe away all debt, is stupid and crazy...
We agree! That's nice.
Quote from LogicX »
Sure when you put it like that. But in the context of these being young adults and the problem lies with them getting too much debt, an easily fixable problem (don't go in so much freakin debt) it doesn't sound so idealistic.
How's this for idealistic? "Don't want to be in debt? EASY! Just don't get into debt."
"But what's that entail?"
"Oh, you know... not going to university. Or being a genius. Or an idiot savant. Or a superb athlete. It's no big deal, really."
Quote from LogicX »
You make it sound like they HAD to go get their liberal arts degree at a private college.
No, you make it sound as if I support people who pursue impractical degrees at expensive schools.
Quote from LogicX »
And believe me, work ethic is a problem. I'm supposed to just accept that the kid that goes out and parties all weekend should enjoy equal rewards as me who stays home and studies? What, do they lack the ability to work hard or something? What exactly is holding them back from working hard like me? Just look at the amount of time the average college student puts into studying these days. It is something like 15 hours a week for college seniors, while something like 30% of freshmen put in only 6 hours a week. Should I feel bad for anyone who puts in this laughable amount of time when they can't get a job?
More anecdotes to shoehorn all struggling college grads into your group of people who must have sucked at going to college. Why am I not surprised?
Quote from LogicX »
Ever heard of a rhetorical question?
I see what you did there. Still, don't put words in my mouth.
I've admitted there are problems that need to be addressed. These mostly stem from the bad job market. However, I am referring specifically to the types of people I have spelled out in previous posts.
Crazies and stupids make up a part of the world's population; widely accepted fact. Now what's your point? The fact of their existence certainly doesn't permit us to disregard everyone who suffers from the same problems they do.
Quote from LogicX »
You are being an idealist.
Claiming that everyone has the potential to accomplish whatever they want if they persevere and work hard enough does not sound grossly ideal to you? Because that's the point I was arguing against.
Quote from LogicX »
I also don't understand why you keep bringing up career availability.
Because it's a hot topic and a real issue?
Quote from LogicX »
What do you mean when you imply that limitations on what degree you can get are wrong? When you say "limitations" what you really mean is "someone won't give them a job for their degree".
You ask me a question only to answer it yourself? Putting words in my mouth risks putting a foot in your own; I wouldn't advise making a habit of it.
I'll tell you that what I really mean is that not every school is able to host a great variety of degrees; a school that offers less variety is typically less prestigious (with the exception of specialty schools) and also consequentially less expensive.
Quote from LogicX »
So who exactly in America would you like to single out to have to give their money to a college grad with a degree in women's studies?
Dude, like, what's up with your obsession with women's studies, and why do you keep wrongly associating me with it, bro? Did a WS major break your heart or something?
Student's should be held accountable for the money they borrow. They should pay for the investment they are making into their own lives and be responsible with it. The government should not expect nor enforce a policy of profiteering from students.
This very succinctly summarizes my view of the whole fiasco. Now get out of my head!
The only cycle you are perpetuating is the excuse cycle. "I can't succeed because my parents didn't succeed," "I can't succeed because I went to an in-state college," "I'm mediocre, but its not my fault."
If your secondary education and potential job market are limited by the obscene (and rising) costs of said education, effectively creating an arbitrary plateau above which you cannot ascend in terms of both degree availability (due to being limited to schools "within your means") and career availability (due to said limitation on degrees you can pursue), and your living wages are essentially capped, I have a question: How do your offspring save enough money to afford a better education than you could by the time college rolls around?
You are grossly misrepresenting the situation. As of my post, the petition currently has 1014 internet signatures, which means that--as Tiax pointed out--an amount of people less than or equal to 1014 would like to see 998,986 more protestors agree to cease repayment of their student loans. Currently, this represents an extreme fringe of the movement as a whole.
It's also dissatisfying that you're willing to write this off as theft without apparently considering that people nationwide are being rob of their secondary education by inflating costs, absurd interest rates on student loans, and the nonexistent option of declaring bankruptcy for said loans.
The government also profits from the sale of property seized by police. It's exactly the same system.
Why would a stolen car be seized and sold instead of returned to its rightful owner? Also, illegimate goods (a tuna in this scenario) are not equivalent with property. Would you be concerned in the hypothetical scenario that federal government agents seized a few hundred kilos of cocaine, and then the government sold it? I would.
Quote from Tiax »
Um...what? The police are agents of the government. I don't see the point of this.
You'll have to forgive me, I rescind that invalid statement. I was unaware that most (but not all) private police are prohibited from enforcing traffic, but this is what I had in mind. More specifically:
Quote from Wikipedia »
Private security firms in the U.S. employ more guards, patrol personnel and detectives than the U.S. federal, state and local governments combined, fulfilling many of the beat-patrol functions once thought central to the mission of public police.
It should be if you are considering going into women's studies. And I shouldn't be punished for your lack or foresight.
If every struggling college grad in the United States had a degree in women's studies, I would see your point.
Quote from LogicX »
I don't go to a community college. I go to a good state school. Now who is taking things to extremes? You don't have to go to a community college if you can't go to an expensive private school.
If every struggling college grad in the United States went to an expensive private school, I would see your point.
Quote from LogicX »
For starters, every person who signs a petition to wipe away all loans.
If every struggling college grad in the United States was lining up to sign this petition, I would see your point.
Quote from LogicX »
Well, if OWS got it's way those music majors would be rewarded for their irresponsible behavior.
If the 1014 signers of this petition comprised the whole OWS movement, I would see your point.
Quote from LogicX »
I have yet to be proven wrong. When I get a test back and I have a 100% while the average is ~45%, the reason is because I put more work in. This has happened on tests where 50% of the questions are like definitions or something silly like that which is straight memorization, but people still get less than 50%. There is no reason for this.
If your state school and the students in it were the only ones in the country, I would see your point.
...But truth be told, I don't accept most of your points.
Moving on, and in addition to the information provided by Zelderex and Daggertooth in their latest posts, there simply aren't enough community colleges in the country to support the majority of its students, much less all of them. So the whole, "you're stupid if you spend money on your education" argument goes out the window, not that it wasn't extremely superficial to begin with.
Quote from LogicX »
You can complain all you want that women's studies is valuable to society but in the end, no one is going to give you their money so you can have a job doing womens studies, whatever that would be. This is the real world. You can wish that everyone could go for whatever they want and make a living off of it, but we don't live in rainbow sunshine land.
Instead of making me out to be an idealist, how about just answering the question: What is the purpose of "unmarketable" degrees?
Quote from LogicX »
No, it probably will. But it will be a slightly below average job. And god help you if you took out anything BUT slightly below average loans to get your slightly below average grades at what better have been a slightly below average school.
If you did all of the above you will probably be fine. But I'm not going to feel bad for you if you went to an above average cost private school and got your below average grades for a degree that has WAY below average job opportunities.
And for a person who followed one of a plethora of different paths between the two extremes you just presented? Suppose you could feel bad for them?
Quote from LogicX »
No, it just represents a lot of them who feel this sense of entitlement.
What does "a lot" mean to you? Less than half? More than half? Some other arbitrary amount you couldn't possibly be equipped to discern?
Quote from LogicX »
Believe me, I know enough music majors who spent the summer in Europe when I was here working to not feel bad for those who didn't work hard in college.
So it's safe to add "music majors who vacationed in Europe" to your list of college grads struggling in America's job market. We're cooking with fire now!
Quote from LogicX »
Sure, I admit the job market is hard for everyone right now. But honestly I doubt these people complaining about debt work as hard as I do so it's hard to have sympathy for them.
And if you go on a high speed chase after the guy, PIT maneuver him off the road, and then pull a gun on him and detain him for 25 years in a cage? Turns out the government can do things that you can't.
This seems like a pretty weak deflection considering that no one (barring citizens) benefits from the situation you described, while the government profits off of the illegally trawled tuna.
Also, turns out the police are not the government. A politician could not legally perform the actions you listed anymore than you or I could, assuming you aren't either an honorable officer of the law or a badge-wearing mercenary, of which the latter is unfortunately more common in this day and age.
Obamacare fixed this. Pretty sure anyone can be covered regardless of education status until they are 26. This was partially to help unemployed college grads.
Could you source this? Speaking as a 21-year-old dropout who put himself through a year of university and made a conscious decision to abandon his education on principal because of gross costs depsite his 3.2 GPA and multiple substancial scholarships, only to be subsequently dropped by both of his divorced parents' individual healthcare plans (not an unforseen consequence), this comes across as straight-up misinformation to me. Then again, I would hate to be missing out; I currently don't have health insurance as the more affordable rates for a male my age average out at ~$150/m (after abusing some loopholes).
Well, I made a responsible decision, why couldn't they? Why should they be rewarded for their bad choices?
Your circumstances are not indicative of the "typical college experience," if such a thing can be said to exist. Who are "they," and what makes their choices irresponsible?
I don't care how old you are, you know that a women's studies degree isn't going to get you a job.
So then, the existence of a women's studies degree is simply a ruse? Or are you suggesting that a secondary education is strictly about job security, and not education?
Quote from LogicX »
You know that skipping class and getting C's in all your classes is not going to get you a job.
Sufficiently passing my courses and graduating with a slightly-below-average GPA won't net me a job either? What a bastardly situation for the overwhelming majority.
Quote from LogicX »
And I see so many of my peers going out partying all the time while I am studying, either because they just don't care or because their classes are a joke that require no work.
So to recap, "they" consist of:
-women's studies majors
-people who skip class and party
Yeah, that's a totally accurate representation of all members of the Occupy movements and college students in general.
Quote from LogicX »
I'm supposed to have sympathy for these people and bite the bullet for the reason that I am responsible, and I couldn't possibly expect my peers to be as responsible as me?
Nope, but do you think you could muster some sympathy for the people who exist outside of your biased anecdotes?
Quote from LogicX »
No sir, if you are irresponsible with college debt then you are just going to get what is coming to you. This is what people are talking about when they say protestors embody a sense of entitlement.
I consider stealing money pathetic. Which is exactly what these 1,000,000 people are trying to do.
You are grossly misrepresenting the situation. As of my post, the petition currently has 1014 internet signatures, which means that--as Tiax pointed out--an amount of people less than or equal to 1014 would like to see 998,986 more protestors agree to cease repayment of their student loans. Currently, this represents an extreme fringe of the movement as a whole.
It's also dissatisfying that you're willing to write this off as theft without apparently considering that people nationwide are being rob of their secondary education by inflating costs, absurd interest rates on student loans, and the nonexistent option of declaring bankruptcy for said loans.
What is to stop everyone from just getting outrageous student loans and then going bankrupt? It's early enough in your life that a few years of bad credit could be worth a $100,000+ education.
I'm confused by this question. Either you're serious, in which case it's already been answered: You cannot declare bankruptcy on student loans. The government will continue to sap money from your income well after you've started running on fumes. This is disregarding the widespread implications of thousands, much less millions of students defaulting on their loans.
Or you're being sarcastic, in which case I don't get the point.
Real smart people do not have to limit their options because they get full rides.
Seriously? I doubt that anyone would contend that many, many more professional college athletes receive full rides compared to "real smart people." I'm not going to pull a pretend ratio out of my butt concerning the amount of people who receive a full ride based on merit of intelligence, but you've got to be kidding me if you believe it to be at all fair.
Moving on, and in addition to the information provided by Zelderex and Daggertooth in their latest posts, there simply aren't enough community colleges in the country to support the majority of its students, much less all of them. So the whole, "you're stupid if you spend money on your education" argument goes out the window, not that it wasn't extremely superficial to begin with.
For all the Riku people, would you copy the Wanderer? Just for the cascade, cascade, cascade, cascade, but no Wanderers, or copy whatever you cascade into? I'm just curious about that.
After you resolve the initial two cascade triggers and Maelstrom Wanderer enters the battlefield, copying it with Riku would net you exactly zero bonus cascade triggers and zero 7/5 hasty legends.
My point is that, at CC=1, GSZ can only search for Dryad Arbor, which is not something that's a "big payoff", unless it stops you from being mana screwed. (Which is not something you can possibly predict.)
My point is that Green Sun's Zenith has a CMC of 1 and to list it under any other heading would simply be erroneous. Me listing it under that slot doesn't mean you aren't allowed to cast it for anything other than 0.
If you have ways to pump and the such (Swords, counters)
Cephalid Constable can make people outright scoop. Returns the opponent's entire feild with Hatred. It's amazing in Rafiq. Super awesome tech. Best in multiplayer. Not so sure about 1v1
Personally I think Portent's power level is generally pretty far below that of blue's other 1cmc cantrips, just because of the fact that it slow-trips. It might not always be game-breaking and there are certainly ways to get the card you stack on top, but getting it RIGHT THEN is why Portent isn't restricted/banned in several formats like the other three are.
"But Deadboots, this is EDH!"
Has nothing to do with the overall power level that a card possesses. The shuffle and option for peeking at an opponent's top 3 are fine qualities, but I'd never play this over any of the other three.
That's a compelling argument; I have similar complaints about the sorcery speed "top-tutors" like Sylvan Tutor. Besides the risk of an opponent shuffling or milling my library with some effect or another, I occasionally sabotage myself by forgetting that I cast these types of spells on my own turn.
I dunno - I'm not sure what this list is going for. It seems to just be some cheap tutors and random other playables.
There's no need to list removal/counterspells as all decks/blue decks rely on these to some extent, and players will choose the most appropriate ones for their builds. This is a list of swiss-army knives and/or advantage generators/enablers. Your filter/dig suggestions are appropriate.
Wayfarer's Bauble is largely useless in the late game, but your other three suggestions seem solid. Standstill is on the list because no matter how it's played, it obscenely alters the game tempo.
In a format where "when ~ enters the battlefield" is king, Flash is a kingmaker.
I could be the minority here, but I think Oblation is an overlooked sleeper, and I run it in nearly every white deck I build. I can tuck a general, use it in a pinch to get rid of something nasty, or two-for-one my opponent's attempt at removal--seems pretty awesome.
So yeah.... I completely agree with this outside of the oblation;
A couple of your suggestions were on par and some of them were way off (Lighthouse Chronologist is realistically a 9-mana investment, Dragonmaster Outcast doesn't go online until you have 6 lands, and Vedalken Aethermage isn't much outside of Wizard tribal), but most of them were just too dependent. Cards like Shadow of Doubt and Redirect don't make this list because they rely on something else to enable them (and for these two cards in question, you're relying on an opponent); this list is mostly concerned with enablers. Yes, it has the potential to be very long; no, not everyone and their mothers are going to be on it.
Mana Crypt and Sol Ring, I those two are in their own class when it comes to little investment, big payoff. No other cards give you mana for nothing and stick around for nothing.
These are good suggestions for early (extreme) value, but ones that become worse and worse as the game progresses.
If you run it in a deck with even one other creature, you will not be rearranging the top cards of your library.
I have mixed feelings about this pairing. The power it generates almost wants to win the game, but what do you do once you Fact or Fiction? Is there a flawless pack of cards you assemble to win the game on resolution? It has many weak points and requires a very dependent build, neither of which are traits of the banned Gifts Ungiven.
I'm impressed with the effect it generates, but a player is better off running Teferi if that's the kind of deck he or she wants to build.
I just don't know what more I can say. Let me try this:
Mr. Hyatt never objected to--or misinterpreted a phrase. He objected to wearing a symbol that carries a religious conotation for him, and he did so in a discrete, timely manner, even approaching his manager weeks before the day in question. Be practical in your discernments.
We agree! That's nice.
How's this for idealistic? "Don't want to be in debt? EASY! Just don't get into debt."
"But what's that entail?"
"Oh, you know... not going to university. Or being a genius. Or an idiot savant. Or a superb athlete. It's no big deal, really."
No, you make it sound as if I support people who pursue impractical degrees at expensive schools.
More anecdotes to shoehorn all struggling college grads into your group of people who must have sucked at going to college. Why am I not surprised?
I see what you did there. Still, don't put words in my mouth.
Crazies and stupids make up a part of the world's population; widely accepted fact. Now what's your point? The fact of their existence certainly doesn't permit us to disregard everyone who suffers from the same problems they do.
Claiming that everyone has the potential to accomplish whatever they want if they persevere and work hard enough does not sound grossly ideal to you? Because that's the point I was arguing against.
Because it's a hot topic and a real issue?
You ask me a question only to answer it yourself? Putting words in my mouth risks putting a foot in your own; I wouldn't advise making a habit of it.
I'll tell you that what I really mean is that not every school is able to host a great variety of degrees; a school that offers less variety is typically less prestigious (with the exception of specialty schools) and also consequentially less expensive.
Dude, like, what's up with your obsession with women's studies, and why do you keep wrongly associating me with it, bro? Did a WS major break your heart or something?
This very succinctly summarizes my view of the whole fiasco. Now get out of my head!
If your secondary education and potential job market are limited by the obscene (and rising) costs of said education, effectively creating an arbitrary plateau above which you cannot ascend in terms of both degree availability (due to being limited to schools "within your means") and career availability (due to said limitation on degrees you can pursue), and your living wages are essentially capped, I have a question: How do your offspring save enough money to afford a better education than you could by the time college rolls around?
Also, would you care to address this?
Why would a stolen car be seized and sold instead of returned to its rightful owner? Also, illegimate goods (a tuna in this scenario) are not equivalent with property. Would you be concerned in the hypothetical scenario that federal government agents seized a few hundred kilos of cocaine, and then the government sold it? I would.
You'll have to forgive me, I rescind that invalid statement. I was unaware that most (but not all) private police are prohibited from enforcing traffic, but this is what I had in mind. More specifically:
But I digress.
If every struggling college grad in the United States had a degree in women's studies, I would see your point.
If every struggling college grad in the United States went to an expensive private school, I would see your point.
If every struggling college grad in the United States was lining up to sign this petition, I would see your point.
If the 1014 signers of this petition comprised the whole OWS movement, I would see your point.
If your state school and the students in it were the only ones in the country, I would see your point.
...But truth be told, I don't accept most of your points.
Foresight is 20/20? I think not.
Instead of making me out to be an idealist, how about just answering the question: What is the purpose of "unmarketable" degrees?
And for a person who followed one of a plethora of different paths between the two extremes you just presented? Suppose you could feel bad for them?
What does "a lot" mean to you? Less than half? More than half? Some other arbitrary amount you couldn't possibly be equipped to discern?
So it's safe to add "music majors who vacationed in Europe" to your list of college grads struggling in America's job market. We're cooking with fire now!
Empathetic and modest! I like your style.
This seems like a pretty weak deflection considering that no one (barring citizens) benefits from the situation you described, while the government profits off of the illegally trawled tuna.
Also, turns out the police are not the government. A politician could not legally perform the actions you listed anymore than you or I could, assuming you aren't either an honorable officer of the law or a badge-wearing mercenary, of which the latter is unfortunately more common in this day and age.
Could you source this? Speaking as a 21-year-old dropout who put himself through a year of university and made a conscious decision to abandon his education on principal because of gross costs depsite his 3.2 GPA and multiple substancial scholarships, only to be subsequently dropped by both of his divorced parents' individual healthcare plans (not an unforseen consequence), this comes across as straight-up misinformation to me. Then again, I would hate to be missing out; I currently don't have health insurance as the more affordable rates for a male my age average out at ~$150/m (after abusing some loopholes).
Your circumstances are not indicative of the "typical college experience," if such a thing can be said to exist. Who are "they," and what makes their choices irresponsible?
So then, the existence of a women's studies degree is simply a ruse? Or are you suggesting that a secondary education is strictly about job security, and not education?
Sufficiently passing my courses and graduating with a slightly-below-average GPA won't net me a job either? What a bastardly situation for the overwhelming majority.
So to recap, "they" consist of:
-women's studies majors
-people who skip class and party
Yeah, that's a totally accurate representation of all members of the Occupy movements and college students in general.
Nope, but do you think you could muster some sympathy for the people who exist outside of your biased anecdotes?
Blanket assumptions won't get anyone anywhere.
You are grossly misrepresenting the situation. As of my post, the petition currently has 1014 internet signatures, which means that--as Tiax pointed out--an amount of people less than or equal to 1014 would like to see 998,986 more protestors agree to cease repayment of their student loans. Currently, this represents an extreme fringe of the movement as a whole.
It's also dissatisfying that you're willing to write this off as theft without apparently considering that people nationwide are being rob of their secondary education by inflating costs, absurd interest rates on student loans, and the nonexistent option of declaring bankruptcy for said loans.
I'm confused by this question. Either you're serious, in which case it's already been answered: You cannot declare bankruptcy on student loans. The government will continue to sap money from your income well after you've started running on fumes. This is disregarding the widespread implications of thousands, much less millions of students defaulting on their loans.
Or you're being sarcastic, in which case I don't get the point.
Seriously? I doubt that anyone would contend that many, many more professional college athletes receive full rides compared to "real smart people." I'm not going to pull a pretend ratio out of my butt concerning the amount of people who receive a full ride based on merit of intelligence, but you've got to be kidding me if you believe it to be at all fair.
Moving on, and in addition to the information provided by Zelderex and Daggertooth in their latest posts, there simply aren't enough community colleges in the country to support the majority of its students, much less all of them. So the whole, "you're stupid if you spend money on your education" argument goes out the window, not that it wasn't extremely superficial to begin with.
After you resolve the initial two cascade triggers and Maelstrom Wanderer enters the battlefield, copying it with Riku would net you exactly zero bonus cascade triggers and zero 7/5 hasty legends.
My point is that Green Sun's Zenith has a CMC of 1 and to list it under any other heading would simply be erroneous. Me listing it under that slot doesn't mean you aren't allowed to cast it for anything other than 0.
This is a list for cards that are advantageous/useful in and of themselves. While Cephalid Constable is awesome when paired with something like an evasive pump spell, it's cards like Strike itself that I'm looking for; cards that allow the rest of your deck to get there or are just exceptionally brutal in any given game state.
The great thing about Zenith is that there's no turn without a potential payoff.
That's a compelling argument; I have similar complaints about the sorcery speed "top-tutors" like Sylvan Tutor. Besides the risk of an opponent shuffling or milling my library with some effect or another, I occasionally sabotage myself by forgetting that I cast these types of spells on my own turn.
Portent gets the axe.
Do Quicken, Scout's Warning, or similar cantrips belong on this list? Saffi Eriksdotter?
There's no need to list removal/counterspells as all decks/blue decks rely on these to some extent, and players will choose the most appropriate ones for their builds. This is a list of swiss-army knives and/or advantage generators/enablers. Your filter/dig suggestions are appropriate.
Wayfarer's Bauble is largely useless in the late game, but your other three suggestions seem solid.
Standstill is on the list because no matter how it's played, it obscenely alters the game tempo.
In a format where "when ~ enters the battlefield" is king, Flash is a kingmaker.
I could be the minority here, but I think Oblation is an overlooked sleeper, and I run it in nearly every white deck I build. I can tuck a general, use it in a pinch to get rid of something nasty, or two-for-one my opponent's attempt at removal--seems pretty awesome.
A couple of your suggestions were on par and some of them were way off (Lighthouse Chronologist is realistically a 9-mana investment, Dragonmaster Outcast doesn't go online until you have 6 lands, and Vedalken Aethermage isn't much outside of Wizard tribal), but most of them were just too dependent. Cards like Shadow of Doubt and Redirect don't make this list because they rely on something else to enable them (and for these two cards in question, you're relying on an opponent); this list is mostly concerned with enablers. Yes, it has the potential to be very long; no, not everyone and their mothers are going to be on it.
These are good suggestions for early (extreme) value, but ones that become worse and worse as the game progresses.
Well done!