Thank you for stopping by.

I first became acquainted with Magic: The Gathering during Alpha set. After that initial foray where I was introduced by a neighbor to the game, I didn’t play again until the Tempest block. Then I took a long, 20 year hiatus until 2019 when another neighbor reinvigorated my desire to play by urging me to buy some Dominaria and Core 19 packs for a friendly draft. Since then I’ve found myself addicted to deck building.

I prefer traditional formats like Vintage/Legacy/Modern/Standard/Pauper as opposed to this zany, newfangled “Commander” format all the kids are raving about.

I lean toward the / end of the color spectrum; preferred hubs are Reanimator and any type of build that uses uncommon or otherwise off the wall strategies or win-cons.

God I miss the old artwork and flavor text from the older expansions; some of the new stuff is half decent but it doesn’t hold a candle to the gorgeous art of cards like those found in the Arabian Nights expansion or Mirage block. And then there’s the classical literary quotes on cards like Repentant Blacksmith, Juzam Djinn, Hammerheim, Karakas, Pendelhaven, Revelation...the list goes on! I weep softly when I realize just how lackluster today’s MtG sets are in this respect, by comparison. But, I digress.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have on any of my decks; all upvotes are much appreciated as well.

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Yea, and there came to be playtesting, and an upvote was given. And Balaam__ saw that it was good.

May 11, 2025 10:42 p.m.

Said on Selevesnya combo...

#2

Most decks which run Devoted Druid as part of a combo run something like Vizier of Remedies. While not Pauper legal, you’d need some type of recursive effect like that in order to turn the Druid into anything more than a worse Llanowar Elves. Unfortunately Sigil of the Nayan Gods just won’t do that, not without some other infinite-creature making combo.

What you could do is splash for Midnight Guard. That would combo into Presence of Gond for infinite creatures. But at that point, Devoted Druid + Sigil of the Nayan Gods is redundant.

The problem arises when you mentioned you’d be facing Tier 1-3 decks at your local LGS. These combos are well known, and any player worth his salt would be packing disruption to get rid of either combo piece. Without them, the deck isn’t powerful enough to stand on its own in any meaningful way.

May 11, 2025 8:10 a.m.

Said on leovolt884_...

#3

That last paragraph in your description echoes many of my own thoughts and feelings about this game, where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. I wish I could upvote your profile page lol

May 7, 2025 8:52 p.m.

@Barbarian_Sun_Pope ha, I could see something like that being the case. Although with the state of the gaming landscape since I originally built this, maybe I should rework it to revolve around Donate

May 7, 2025 4:47 p.m.

Said on Dig Hard with …...

#5

Thanks for posting Imaginary_Friend777. You’re most certainly right, I’m sure. A lot of my decks are thought experiments I try to build around, and oftentimes they’re less performant than they could be. I’ll add those suggestions to the maybeboard for now in case we get some future cards that make this more sustainable.

May 6, 2025 10 a.m.

Thanks capwner, I think a variation would be really effective, yes. More proactive too with all the removal red brings. You should build that next

May 4, 2025 9:16 p.m.

Thanks leovolt884_, I haven’t seen Myr Kinsmith before. I don’t really keep up with the more recent sets as of late. I’ll maybeboard him for the deck’s eventual tune up.

May 1, 2025 5:53 p.m.

IMG-4455

May 1, 2025 12:15 a.m.

How’d they get a saddle on that Hippopotamic Landmass?

This is inconceivable!

April 26, 2025 3:06 p.m.

Friends

DestroyerbirbSylvarionSaccox5dollarMTGDaveslab2022Valengetaellie-isjaymc1130MagicMarcJW398CaerwynsylvannosAzdranaxEpicurusSefTheRejectArthurshepard80EastsideRockApollo_PaladinKaziertsDarkMagicianClockworkSwordfishMTG_PlayerDefied-27-Orvos-xxINS4NExWoCOof_MagicChasmolinkerTyrant-ThanatosDoombeard1984wallisfaceProfet93amarthalerGrimlockVIIIDMFFPheardemonsBlackgatezapyourtumortiffanyannzAzen7977DBCooperpsionictemplarDeeLightpassimolespaul977OutspokenFerretChrisHansonBiomancinHeaders13FuglOptimatorJaykamaruparocksteadyYamishiTheWickedOnenathanielhebertDenial048Darth_SavageSeekerofSecretsnbarry223DreadKhanSquee_Spirit_GuideGoldenAgeBatmanAstroAAshadow63Bulldawg1310GandolfiniDelphen7AndramalechlegendofaPauperPowerLordGanondorfslvstrChungRavenroseGattisonAsyrielViscountVonSausageRollKibaAlphaerookBetterThanUrzaKcinPuritanPureeNonetheWeisserOrange+MrHighscoreIcyLightningUltimateRoxas40keizerbunswindwolf1978alchemist4533Infatuated_AmnesiacbobongcapwnerjethstrikerJack-FrostBotaNickillhydrothermiaDrummerGarrettK_DubAltoman000CBomb000vasarto77BlackyMTGLordOfMishapGilmerYesterdaysGhostSniperFrogHexapodCraeterChaosJesterNeoLegacyshoeonthemoonclayperceMadhavaleovolt884_johnmiltMechanicalErrorjwong14Queen_LuluPeatearpanJackfrost23RSJRSturmManaPaulieJ313WallofSleepjashtonrolypolyguyUncanny_GhoulNicklaffy2302Notafox91thomashapp71CoSM0hiddengibbonsRadicalCrawdadxBobFromAccountingBhaalOmegaAeon2000IehovahfloofynewfTom_NeverwinternUKe13X71SFenrisPhillthethrillBlubShlubbroitsjustagameRotzPeeBeeLuckMisesackkgontarioartcwolf22PrincessOfFriendshipElsteroooMaltOMeal

MTG Decks

Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 42 | 21 COMMENTS | 2152 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS

Trouble at the Old Mill!

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 56 | 32 COMMENTS | 1899 VIEWS | IN 11 FOLDERS

Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 65 | 11 COMMENTS | 2795 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Ferngully (Help Wanted!)

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 60 | 59 COMMENTS | 2318 VIEWS | IN 7 FOLDERS

Altar of Despair

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 53 | 28 COMMENTS | 2205 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Exham Priory

Pauper Balaam__

SCORE: 51 | 16 COMMENTS | 3555 VIEWS | IN 13 FOLDERS

Geralf’s Walk-In Clinic

Legacy Balaam__

SCORE: 44 | 6 COMMENTS | 1191 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Darwin’s Dirty Onus

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 33 | 15 COMMENTS | 1592 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

Finished Decks 125
Prototype Decks 8
Drafts 0
Playing since Tempest
Points 1225
Avg. deck rating 25.22
T/O Rank 12
Helper Rank 10
Favorite formats Modern, Pauper, Legacy, Vintage
Suppressed formats Standard Brawl, Historic, Commander / EDH, Pauper EDH, Commander: Rule 0, Canadian Highlander, Highlander, Duel Commander, Leviathan, 1v1 Commander, Pre-release, Penny Dreadful, Heirloom, Hero, Noble, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Block Constructed, Arena, MTGO, Magic Duels, Unformat
Cards suggested / good suggestions 171 / 122
Venues Tales of Adventure
Joined 5 years