DemonDragonJ on Will Valgavoth be the Next …

13 hours ago

The story of Duskmourn seemed to be fairly self-contained, but there is no way that WotC shall not revisit that plane, at some point, as its concept is far too awesome to not explore in further detail, so I wonder if Valgavoth shall be the next major villain in the story, since an eldritch abomination that feeds off fear is an excellent idea for a terrifying villain, so I wonder what plans WotC has for him, in the future? I have already predicted that Tezzeret shall be the next major villain, so, perhaps, Valgavoth could be the next major villain, after him?

What does everyone else say, about this? Will Valgavoth be the next major villain, in the story? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts, on this subject.

DemonDragonJ on The Ur-Dragon has Surpassed Atraxa

2 days ago

For many years, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice was the top commander on EDHREC.com, but The Ur-Dragon has finally surpassed her, likely because of all the amazing dragons that were in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, so I would like to observe a moment of silence for our blessed lady of Phyrexia, and also offer my congratulations to the Ur-Dragon for claiming the title of top commander!

What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about The Ur-Dragon now being the top commander of all time on EDHREC, and do you predict that another legendary creature shall eventually claim that title? I certainly am very interested to receive your feedback, on this matter!

DemonDragonJ on Mark Rosewater's Statements About Enchantment …

3 days ago

In these two posts, Mark Rosewater spoke of how black is able to interact with enchantments, and I have no problem with black having some ability to destroy enchantments, but Rosewater stated that black's ability to destroy enchantments would always be inferior to those of green and white, and Feed the Swarm certainly meets that criteria, but I feel that Withering Torment is too powerful for a mono-black card, since it is an instant and can destroy its own controller's enchantments, when Rosewater previously stated that black was not allowed to destroy or sacrifice its own enchantments, to require players to be more strategic in dealing with the drawbacks of "deal with the devil" enchantments that are a major part of black's identity, which Devouring Sugarmaw can do, so it is clear that the people at WotC are changing their minds about how black can interact with enchantments, but I hope that black does not intrude too severely on white and green's ability to destroy or otherwise remove enchantments.

What does everyone else say, on this subject? Do you agree with Mark Rosewater's opinions on how black is able to interact with enchantments? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts, about this matter.

DemonDragonJ on How Good is Pathbreaker Ibex?

2 weeks ago

There are numerous variations of Overrun, some of which are also sorceries and some of which are creatures, and my favorite of those is Pathbreaker Ibex, because its ability is reusable, for only one additional mana over Overrun, and it can provide some major increases to the power and toughness of other creatures, in the proper deck, so I am wondering what everyone else thinks about that card.

What does everyone else say, about this subject? Is everyone else here as fond of Pathbreaker Ibex as I am, and why is Craterhoof Behemoth the more popular variant of Overrun, when it has a higher casting cost and cannot be reused without additional support? I certainly am interested to hear what everyone else has to say, on this matter.

DemonDragonJ on Back to the Future: the …

2 weeks ago

This year is the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, one of the most popular movie franchises of all time and one that many viewers regard as one that represents the popular culture of the 1980's.

Time travel is a popular idea in fiction, but I believe that this was the first story to have a time travel machine built into an automobile, and director Robert Zemeckis specifically chose to use a DeLorean for this movie because most automobile enthusiasts regarded the DeLorean brand as a joke or an oddity, at best, an inside joke that today's audiences may not understand, since most viewers now know the brand from this franchise.

Zemeckis had the idea for this film by wondering if he would be friends with his own parents, if he were to travel backward in time and meet them as young adults, so that is what happens, in this film, as Marty travels backward in time and meets his parents, nearly erasing himself from existence but instead altering his life for the better, which is another theme that is prominent in many stories that feature time travel. Although both Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox were established actors by the time that this film was released, most audiences still regard this film as the one that helped Fox to become a major star (as Lloyd had already been acting for several decades, by that point), and their characters in this movie are still perhaps their best-known characters. Some viewers may be aware that Zemeckis had originally cast Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly, but replaced him with Fox, since he (Zemeckis) felt that Stoltz was playing the role too seriously, whereas Zemeckis wished for a more light-hearted tone (but Stoltz starred in Some Kind of Wonderful two years later, coincidentally alongside Lea Thompson, who played Lorraine Baines/McFly, Marty's mother in BttF, so his dismissal from that film was not a complete loss).

Many viewers regard this movie as one of the most significant pieces of popular culture of the 1980's, and one of the major themes of the story is how radically different society was, during that decade, compared to the 1950's, when George and Lorraine were adolescents, highlighting just how drastically society had changed in a mere three decades; if BttF had been made today, Marty would travel backward in time to 1995, which I think would actually be an interesting for a movie, as well.

The movie was so popular that it produced two sequels, which I feel are actually quite good, in their own right, since it is very rare for movie sequels to equal the originals, in addition to a television series, which is not as well-remembered, and it naturally has become an integral part of popular culture, with numerous other media making references to it. Therefore, I hope that Universal pictures does something to commemorate the 40th anniversary of this momentous franchise.

What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about this year being the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future?

DemonDragonJ on Batman Forever: the 30th Anniversary

2 weeks ago

This year is the 30th anniversary of Batman Forever, the first Batman film to be directed by Joel Schumacher and the third film overall in the series directed by Schumacher and Tim Burton.

After two very dark Batman films (although still with some campy elements) directed by Tim Burton, Batman Forever had a distinctly different style and tone from its predecessors, as the film featured bright neon lights, costumes and vehicles that were very flashy and stylish, and villains who were very hammy and frequently used puns in their speech; in many ways, the film was a throwback to the campy 1960's television series, but many members of the audience did not appreciate the drastic change in tone, nor the very different portrayal of the titular character, since Michael Keaton, who had played Batman in the previous two films, had left the role, following Burton's departure; instead, Val Kilmer played Batman in this film, and his portrayal was very different from Keaton's, but this film delved much more deeply into Batman as a character, exploring his past and also his continuing motivation for being who he was, and ended with him choosing to continue operating as a superhero. This movie was also the debut of Robin in the Burton/Schumacher films series, although he was portrayed as being slightly older than the age at which he typically begins his career, but he was a young adult, in this film, likely because the idea of a grown adult forcing a young child into dangerous situations was no longer popular with general audiences. Some people have criticized Kilmer's stiff and relatively bland portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman in this film, and I can understand that, but I also believe that Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey were amazing in their portrayals of the villains of the film, Two-Face and the Riddler (and, as far as I am aware, this was the first time that Two-Face appeared in a live-action production); Carrey was at the peak of his comedic prowess, at that time, so he brought a zany and deranged mentality to the character, perfectly capturing his neurotic obsession. Some people criticized Jones for playing Two-Face in too campy of a manner, failing to capture the full depth and subtlety of Harvey Dent's dual persona and fixation on random chance, but I do like how he actually displayed emotion, in this film, since he usually plays very straight-faced and stoic characters. And, of course, one of the best parts of this film was the focus on vengeance and how it ultimately is an empty pursuit, with Dick's story mirroring that of Bruce, and Bruce attempting to guide him down a different path from what he, himself was taking, but Bruce ultimately deciding to continue being Batman. And, of course, Michael Gough was one of the few actors to appear in all four films, playing Alfred with grace and poise, serving as a mentor and father figure to him, a point of consistency in a franchise that otherwise had a cast that was frequently changing.

I was only eight years old when this film was released, so I have very fond memories of it, and, although I do acknowledge that it certainly has numerous flaws, I still enjoyed it and can respect that it is very much a product of its time. Batman Begins is now my favorite live-action Batman film, but I still have a fondness for this film, as well as its sequel, whose own 30th anniversary is now not very far away, either, so I hope that DC does something to commemorate this anniversary, as well.

What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about this year being the 30th anniversary of Batman Forever? I certainly am interested to hear your feedback, on this subject.

DemonDragonJ on Skulldrifter and Deathless Entity

3 weeks ago

There have been three variants of Mulldrifter, two of which have names that are variants of its own name, Hulldrifter and Nulldrifter, so I am very surprised that there has not yet been a variant named "skulldrifter," so I have created such a card, as seen, here:

This card is very similar to the original Mulldrifter, except that it is black, rather than blue, it has unearth instead of evoke, and its ability triggers under different conditions, so I would like to believe that it is a fair and balanced card that is also an interesting variation of the original creature.

I also have created a black version of Ageless Entity, as seen, here:

This was a fairly easy counterpart to make, since this creature becomes more power when its controller loses life, rather than when they gain life, which is a perfect match for black's philosophy.

What does everyone else say, about these cards? Do you believe that I did a good job, with them? I certainly shall appreciate any feedback that you may have to offer.

DemonDragonJ on Will the Return to Lorwyn …

4 weeks ago

WotC has revealed that MtG is returning to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor at some point in the near future, so I believe that that set would be absolutely perfect for the day/night mechanic that WotC introduced in the third Innistrad block, since that mechanic would be excellent for depicting the transition between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor.

What does everyone else say, about this? Will the return to Lorwyn use the day/night mechanic? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts, about this subject.

DemonDragonJ on Would You Like for the …

4 weeks ago

There are numerous planes that WotC has not yet revisited in the game, and the planes to which I most wish to return are Alara, Kaldheim, and Capenna, but I shall focus specifically on Kaldheim and Capenna in this thread, since Alara already had a full block, while Kaldheim and Capenna each had a only a single set dedicated to them.

I had desired a set inspired by Norse mythology for years, so I was thrilled when Kaldheim (the set) was announced, but I shall admit that I found both the set and story to be somewhat lackluster, although that could be due to my expectations being too high, and a major issue with that is that the plane of Kaldheim is comprised of ten realms, so a single set was definitely insufficient to allow each realm to feel distinct and wholly developed, so returning to that plane would allow WotC to help further develop the identity of each realm, to help them feel distinct from the guilds of Ravnica, in terms of both mechanics and flavor.

I felt that Capenna was too similar to Ravnica, so a return to that plane would help to distinguish the two planes from each other, and I also believe that a return to that plane would help to distinguish the five crime families of that plane from the shards of Alara, in terms of both flavor and mechanics. Also, I imagine that most players are very interested to see how the return of angels to that plane would affect the balance of power, there, since I imagine that the angels would seek to form a legitimate government, since the plane does not seem to have such an entity, at this moment.

Also, I imagine that players are also eager to see how both of those planes have recovered from the Phyrexian invasion, so I believe that the idea of returning to those planes should be very appealing to WotC.

What does everyone else say, about this subject? How do you feel about the idea of returning to either Kaldheim or Capenna? I certainly am interested to hear your responses, on this matter.