Theres a book that connects to the upcoming Strixhaven set. Although the books have been gone for a while, there are still digital stories with each premier set that's Universes Within. The story isn't mostly in flavor texts.

Thanks for the pointers Femme_Fatale, I appreciate it. I wasn't sure how much info was required beyond the obvious stuff on the cards. I usually err on the side of including more than is likely needed. I'll keep that all in mind for future submissions.

Kareful with alliteration sequencing on those Ks lol

I've added about 10 cards from ECL & ECC and had them approved over the past few days. Mostly been working off mobile recently since my new job is more strict about their browser usage.

Will add some more when I get home. I've def been more active this spoiler season than the past few.

"I'm over this thread, just drop it."

"I'm still waiting for someone to change my mind."

These seem like conflicting sentiments.

Everyone is entitled to their various opinions about what they do or don't like about Universes Beyond or Secret Lairs. It seems fruitless to try and convince anyone, let alone someone internet rando, about changing their opinion on a hobby.

theNeroTurtle based on your comment about LotR "fitting the lore" of MtG, I think you mean it fits the themes/aesthetics/motifs of MtG.

Lore is more so the stories and narrative. Themes, aesthetics, and motifs are more so about the settings and art directions.

LotR fits the fantasy themes of MtG, but it is not part of its narrative lore.

I don't think that Secret Lairs have any impact on Lore compared to mainline In Universe sets. Secret Lairs are mostly reprints in a variety of different styles, but they're not telling a narrative, or really interacting with existing lore beyond "Here's existing stuff with new art". Compared to Universes Beyond, I think Secret Lairs are easier to ignore; I couldn't tell you which Secret Lairs dropped last year without looking them up.

My feelings on Universes Beyond have changed since it debuted. I was initially very put off, but now have mostly positive feelings to them. I agree that Magic would be fine without IPs like Spiderman, Marvel, TMNT, and Star Trek. It's definitely off-putting to have two different mainline sets in NYC. All that being said, it's easier for me to ignore these sets since I don't play stuff like Standard, but it's super unfortunate for folks who do play those formats and don't have the option to ignore them.

My general thoughts on Universes Beyond are as follows:

• I think UB would have been more warmly received if WotC rolled out either the D&D or Lord of the Rings sets as our initial dive into UB. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but I think players would have been more receptive to the overall concept with those as intros instead of the Walking Dead Secret Lairs.

• As cool as it is to see some IPs like Final Fantasy, LotR, and ATLA to a lesser extent fleshed out in full sets, I wish that these sets weren't a part of Standard or Modern, and were instead supplementary sets like Conspiracy or Battlebond. I think having some IPs relegated to just EDH precons or Secret Lairs would also serve them better instead of trying to squeeze a full set out of them.

The general sentiment I've seen around various corners of MtG social media is that the more magical/fantasy adjacent IPs are more warmly received, and anything further from that isn't.

Your (wife's) list is solid greyninja. I've checked it out a few times before, and upvoted it sometime in the past year or so. How do you feel about Phyrexian Arena and Twilight Prophet? They're not bad by any means, but cards I've personally moved away from.

Only other thing I can think of is maybe swapping out Ravenous Chupacabra for another instant piece of removal, especially since the Chupacabra has equal P/T and doesn't really fit that aspect of the theme either.

Lol yeah, I saw your recent Doran cycle greyninja, and that's what jogged my memory. Your wife has a solid new option to potentially slot into the command zone; the +X/+X buff caught my attention.

I'm waiting for more of the set to be revealed before I really start brewing, but I've got a couple of things in the works.

Have you seen the new Doran yet? Not sure how you feel about it as someone that pilots OG Doran.

miracleHat, The Endless Punishment precon is a lot of fun. Around the time that Duskmourn debuted, two of my friends bought it and both brought it to a game night. We played at least one game with both decks in play; each one helmed by either Valgavoth or Lord of Pain. It was a really silly group slug fest. I had a lot of fun playing against it, and eventually piloting it for a few games since then when we exchange and play each other's decks.

GrimmOfTheHollowZone, in regards to your question of focusing more on (direct) damage and attrition type strats, each of the individual colors and color combinations you listed can be controlling in different ways. It's not a super long read, but I'd recommend reading up on the MtG Color Pie to have a more general idea of what are in each color's individual toolboxes, and where Colors share mechanical overlaps to their strategies. This Mechanical Color Pie article is still fairly accurate in listing which mechanics are most common across individual colors, and by extension, their combinations.

I think by better understanding each color individually, you will get a better sense of what they have in their toolboxes and how they compliment each other. Here's some more wiki links to individual colors:

• article

• article

• article

• article

Of all the color combos, I'd recommend starting with , since it has various attrition and damage based strategies available to it. Black utilizes attrition through creature destruction, forcing opponents to sacrifice their own creatures, direct life drain effects, and forced discard effects. Red has the most focus on direct damage effects to creatures and players. I think it's easier to learn the game via two color decks first, then branching out to three color eventually.

If you're interested in a precon that has elements of control, attrition, and damage/life loss, then I'd recommend checking out the Endless Punishment precon from 2024.

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls and The Lord of Pain are both solid options to sit in the command zone. I've played and played against this precon out of the box, and it plays fairly solidly without needing too much upgrading. Red/Black as a two color combo tends to lean into control, damage, sacrifice, and attrition type strats if it isn't combo focused.

To miracleHat's point, you could add Blue as the 3rd color to Red/Black for counterspells and some of those control options. I'd recommend starting with two color first before branching out and adding more factors into the mix.

Also, a quick comment preview edition before posting, but I agree with clayperce's suggestion for the Blame Game precon. I've had an upgraded version of that deck in my rotation for about a year now. It can be fun in more combat focused metas.

1. Cast Herald's Horn, picking Rat/Merfolk/Elf/Goblin/etc. Pass turn.

2. Following turn starts, go through phases beginning with Untap.

3. Upkeep, look at the top card and it is a creature of your chosen type. You may reveal it and then put it into your hand. Even if it is a creature of that chosen type you may also choose to not reveal it and place it back on top.

4. Upkeep phase is done, go to Draw Step and draw for turn. At this point you will either draw the next card if you revealed and kept the previous one, or you will draw the card you saw with Herald's Horn, then placed back on top.

You only do this once per turn. If you could repeat, the text would probably have a clause stating you can repeat the process, kind of like Cultivator Colossus for example.

Edit addition - Last nit-picky bit, but Herald's Horn places the card into your hand and doesn't specifically say that you draw that card. That matters mostly for effects that check drawing.

Ruling text from the Scryfall pagefor Heralds Horn:

"If you don't put the top card of your library into your hand, you put it back on top of your library without revealing it. You'll draw it in that turn's draw step."

I agree with Mattio38. Shifting more of the creature and interaction/removal into the 1-3cmc range, and minimizing stuff in the 5+ range really does wonders for a deck like this.

Welcome to the Isshin club. 2025 was a pretty solid year for Isshin between all the new stuff in Dragonstorm and Firebending in Avatar to a certain extent.

Have you had a chance to play this deck irl yet? All in all your deck is solid and has a lot, if not all, of the great staples for Isshin. I have a few general suggestions for your consideration as you get more reps in with this deck, if you haven't had a chance to play it yet:

• If you're ever looking for future slots to edit, I'd recommend starting with your 5 mana and higher slots. In my experience playing Isshin, he really benefits from keeping a lower curve for quicker starts and easier rebuilds after board wipes.

• On the note of a lower curve, I think you could benefit from including a couple more 2 cmc rocks. I also run 35 lands in my Isshin deck, no MDFC lands, but 3-4 mana rocks for ramp has felt like a general sweet spot without detracting from other aspects the deck needs.

• Once you start on your first round of edits after getting some games in, I'd recommend adding a bit more removal. Nothing crazy, but definitely some cheaper stuff like Swords to Plowshares.

• Lastly, as you play the deck, make note of which attack triggers feel most fun for you or are most successful in your meta, and really lean into those. Editing out attack triggers that aren't as beneficial or fun is another great way to free up slots for whatever you feel the deck is lacking.

I hope these broad suggestions are helpful. Happy to talk shop if you're ever looking for more specific suggestions on swaps and edits.

Sorry Balaam__, I cashed in for the panda a year or two ago. You might have to settle for either a sticky hand or a slinky.

I think the points are just another indicator for how active someone is on site, in addition to the site rankings. Points can go down if you're not as active, so that's why I figured they're tied to general site activity, much like how site rankings also decrease if you're not as active.

I'm not sure if votes on comments are factored into all of the above as well. Similarly, I think Helper rank increases if more suggestions are accepted. Regardless, points and the site ranks are more so indicators of overall activity on site, and are not static in any way. I don't think any of them count for anything beyond being cosmetic aspects to profiles, or to give others a rough guess as to how much any other person regularly posts. At least, those are my guesses after being on here 10+ years.

It's kind of like Whose Line Is It Anyway?

I know this thread has been thoroughly discussed already, but just wanted to share a recent post from Mark Rosewater himself on this exact topic.

TL;DR- He says that Combustion Man isn't a strong bend since it is a Punisher effect in Red.

/Thread

Thank you for the clarification Neotrup. I had a similar-ish scenario with Agate Instigator in a game a few months ago.

Damage wise:

• Parent Agate enters, and Offspring cost was paid, creating an additional Offspring token from Roaming Throne.

• Two Offspring tokens ETB. Parent "sees" 2 tokens enter and triggers for 1 damage each, plus the additional triggers from Throne for a total of 4 damage.

• Two Offspring "see" each other enter for 2 damage each off the additional Throne trigger = 4 damage, for a total 8 ETB damage this turn.

Stuff like Panharmonicon would also give you additional Offspring tokens since they are created when the Parent enters after paying the cost, as well as additional ETB damage triggers.