I also like manticores, I guess just because it's a space that could be fleshed out. We haven't really seen manticores that weren't just some flavor of vanilla manticore, but spirits have been done in a variety of ways. So, it might be fun to expand them into a true creature type.

And, I'm just throwing out ideas here, but what if Ajani was somehow corrupted into a BW manticore? Maybe with some kind of Sanguine Bond type ability that makes life gain into damage. I don't know, I'm just thinking that he could be the leader of the "pride" of manticores, or something like that : )

Anyways, making a custom set sounds really fun. Best of luck with it!

This looks like a really fun card to play with.

Maybe something with Bident of Thassa to make them attack and then Isperia, Supreme Judge to profit if they attack you.

You could use Cultural Exchange to completely upset the board. One person gets tokens that are going to die, and the other gets creatures that might be good but they can't use the synergies. Only problem is that you just might make two people mad : )

Maybe Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant to create a ton of tokens and then give everyone an incentive to not attack you.

Honestly, it seems like a hard card to build around, but at the same time, such an awesome one. I feel like you need ramp for the upkeep, removal or mill to fuel graveyards, and then still a way to pay it off.

And, Sundial of the Infinite might work, but you'd really need ways to untap it like Unwinding Clock and even then, the payoff may not be so great.

Lolth, Spider Queen might go nuts with death triggers and her ult is really good with any small evading creatures.

I guess if it was me, I'd be on the plan of, make everyone make tokens, give them reasons to swing at each other, then when everyone is beat up, swoop in with something to win.

Oh, also, Braid of Fire could help you pay the cumulative cost, at least in part.

It would be fun to see what it looks like when it's all together : ) Super creative!

As somebody who knows nothing about Monster Hunter, maybe Monster Hunter? They could do a story something like Bolas is traveling the planes and ends up in the Monster Hunter world, then he has to run away from a bunch of oddly dressed dragonslaying warriors and try to get home. Also, I feel like Garruk could find his true love in Monster Hunter. Tamiyo could take field notes. Huatli wins a blue ribbon for her raptor mount. And, Nissa and Chandra could just have a campfire date night. It might work : )

Caerwyn Wonderland would be an awesome one to do.

Lovecraft would be very fun. I always thought of the Eldrazi as very Lovecraftian in design, but it would still be cool to see the real deal in there.

For me, and it's just my opinion, but availability does matter but so does flavor. I think Godzilla and Dracula fit a lot better into the magic universe than Walking Dead or Stranger Things. They just do, you know? I can't explain it 100%, but I guess it feels more like an add-in to magic rather than a magic tie in to something else. Like, Stranger Things, they definitely sat down for 20 mins, threw out ideas, and made some cards to go with the new season of the show coming out. But Godzilla feels really fleshed out to fit into the set. I don't even think that the Godzilla cards have amazing design, but they do fit at least. Dustin on a card just feels like Dustin on a card, Godzilla feels like Godzilla.

Honestly, I'm not against tie ins, and I'm not for them either, but I think my criticisms for the secret lair ones is that they feel lame. No one thought, what would make an awesome card? They thought, how can we make Darryl a card. Complete opposite from AFR which was so awesome and deep in the flavor.

The worst one for me, by far, was Strixhaven. I haven't bought a single card from that set, even if they might be good, just because of how so bad the flavor of the set is. Teenage magic school is not a genre, it's just not, no matter how many writers want it to be. Plus, when they have their own quidditch knock off, and someone is spitting up coins rather than slugs, and it' all...it's all so like something I don't want to be a part of.

So, I think, all in all, for me it's the effort more than the availability. I'd much rather have a secret lair that kills it rather than a set that's a knock off, but really, I'd rather have really good magic sets than either.

As a huge RE Howard, Conan the Barbarian fan, I'd love to see the original Frazetta art come to magic. The oil painting style would be so different from magic that it would stand out, but on theme enough to blend in.

And maybe Final Fantasy would blend well with Kami Neon Dynasty. Or maybe wheel of time. You can't tell me that Brandon Sanderson wouldn't love to make some Wheel of Time magic cards, and having someone who would be super into it is really what they need.

I agree with the sentiment that swords is slight better. They're both great, but it's usually better to give life than a land. That being said, it's somewhat situational to your meta. You wouldn't want to give certain decks life and certain decks lands. I don't think you can go wrong, really : )

And, side not a bit, bit is it strange to anyone else that swords to plowshares is the ones that gives life and path to exile is the one that gives a land. I feel like it would be good flavor to have them switched, but oh well.

Oblviom That first game sounds awesome. My good friend has a similar deck that snowballs really hard with Memnarch It's definitely one of those decks that starts as, ah it's Memnarch, then, wait I forgot about Memnarch, and finally, oh no...Mem...Narch...

30 years? Really : ) Ha, that makes me feel a little old, but that's bound to happen eventually.

I don't remember the second one much other than I enjoyed it as a kid. And I mean, sure both movies had a formula, but they did it well, and in the end doing it well is all that counts. Indiana Jones absolutely has a formula and they are all good. All of them except the one that doesn't exist. There are no extradimensional aliens in Indiana Jones, and no matter what anyone shows me, it's going to stay that way : )

Ha, so yeah, I agree about the second home alone, even if I don't remember it much. But I like Ghostbusters 2 and Temple of Doom, and people sometimes turn their noses at those movies. I'd never say that any of these sequels were as good as the originals, but given time we've seen what the worst case scenario of sequels can look like, and these sure aren't it. Looking at you Creed 2/Rocky 7

Oh and one of my absolute favorite plays is in my legacy ventures into the dungeon deck that uses Willbreaker as an endgame. Once willbreaker is down, weird things happen. I've had an opponent scoop to me playing Tolaria and that just felt kinda amazing. It's probably the one place where "target creature loses banding" is the last thing an opponent wants to see happen. Countering an ability from a land is just backbreaking, and one willbreaker has hexproof or something similar, it's not so much if I can take their creatures, but more of, which creatures do I want to take? : )

Such awesome responses to this! I really like how everyone has something different and fun and completely unique to themselves. One of the things I really enjoy about magic is that, sure, there's one goal that all players share, but there have been so many cards over time that it's possible to take whatever you want to do and do it. It's like if a group of people got paints and canvases, each one would make a picture, but they'd all be so different.

Also, it makes me smile a bit to see Mox Tantalite mentioned. I feel like it's the one everyone scoffs at, but it's still pretty good. I spent way too long trying to make it work in a Rashmi, Eternities Crafter deck just because I really wanted to make it a moxy-mox. It definitely seems like one of those cards that at some point will get something printed that will turn it up to 11.

I don't know a ton of the lore, but from the bit I've read Jace always come off as a very try hard character. Not so much from his personality or actions, but I mean from a design standpoint. He's always written as a character who is trying to be something. Which, I mean that isn't always bad, but my favorite characters are always ones who are trying to be themselves. My favorite planeswalker by far is Huatli, and a big part of that is that she always came across as uniquely Huatli. Jace, more often, is whatever somebody thinks will be cool in the story. They're two very different styles of character creation, and I'm not saying either is better, but I sure prefer the way they did Huatli : )

I mean, that name though...even as a joke, I feel like it's an odd pick.

This has probably been discussed to death, to absolute death, but still, it's fun, so...what are some of your favorite plays, combos, turns, or strategies in EDH? It could be anywhere from thoracle wins to ninjas ninjitsuing in out of nowhere.

I think one of my favorites is playing Concerted Effort before combat and watching my boardstate evolve : ) Pristine Angel all Akromas, Radiant, Archangel they're all pretty good, but they all go a little nuts with the effort. I especially like pristine angel because usually I can get vigilance onto it and then my board is really mean looking. Plus, angels are powerfully classy, in my opinion, and I do love a good angel deck.

That being said, what are some of your favs. I guess I meant this for EDH because that's where big plays make their beds, but anything and everything is welcome.

Have a good one today, everyone!

Ahhh, Cover of Darkness! I remember you : ) That's a really good find and brings me back to that era of magic. Glad you are having fun and experimenting with the deck. This definitely feels like one of those, take cards I love and make them work as best as possible decks, and those are my favorite too.

And yep, Maralen stacks is so oppressive : ) The fact that they can't draw under Maralen combined with hand disruption and the fact that you totally control the pace is painful/wonderful. It's not just that you are Winter Orbing people, it's that you can grab it with Maralen and you always get to choose when to winter orb people. That plus the fact that she's always a Jeweled Lotus away makes it really precarious playing against Maralen. I know, I've played against her many times and it's a total mind game down to the last mana.

Oppression looks like a really sweet add. I've never seen that before but I can imagine it's just nuts.

Ha, I'm really liking this deck. I may actually borrow a few ideas for the future if that's cool with you. It's like power, but totally unique power : )

Nice deck! I really like the idea of playing a lot of Rat Colony in EDH because it's so unique, you know? Really awesome stuff.

I'm not sure, but maybe Locket of Yesterdays might be neat. Probably not a worldbeater, but it can get some value for your rats maybe.

And there are definitely some shenanigans that Maralen can get up to as a commander. Giving your cards flash with something like Vedalken Orrery Winding Canyons Emergence Zone to flash her in on an opponent's endstep and get the first tutor is amazing. Getting Opposition Agent with maralen is almost game over. She also can pair well with stacks and things. If your opponents can't cast things because you put down a well timed Winter Orb then they can't do much. I've seen games go down to Maralen's life loss killing people : )

And maybe some ways to get rats through for damage. I'm not really sure what would be the most effective, but even just swords and protection or equipments to give evasion. Not really sure on this, but there might be some good options out there. Marrow-Gnawer is great, but maybe more options?

Anyways, looks awesome! Hope it's a fun deck to play.

TypicalTimmy I'm pretty new here but I know for sure that there are a bunch of people who are always going to be wishing you the best and happy to see you around and chatting about cards and things. It's hard to say how magic will be and if it will ever feel as good as those real best sets, but I guess all we can do is see what comes out and hope for the best. 'I do feel like magic is in a current limbo. Like, they don't know if they want to be arena or alchemy or flavor or power or whatever else. A lot of the older sets might have had bad cards in them by todays standards, but at least they knew exactly what they wanted to be. Now it's just like they throw everything at the wall and try to see what sticks, and I think it leads to boom/bust feelings for everyone, which is, I don't know.

Heh, sorry, I don't mean to go on about sets and things. TypialT, feel free to PM me if you ever want to chat about, well, anything. How AFR was awesome? How Ikoria felt actually powerful? Or whatever, really. It's cool either way, but if you do want to chat, feel free to shoot me a "Hi"

One interesting thing is that you are not casting ninja creatures into play so you could throw down combo pieces to avoid counters. Off color, but ninja in Grand Abolisher to never deal with counters. Or Ninja in both Leveler and Thassa's Oracle. Heh, maybe a little clunky, but there's some potential at least. It might be a decent way to get an uncounterable wincon into play, I just can't think of what that is in UB.

Sorry to hear TypicalT. I guess sometimes it can be just as hard for us to put a finger on what draws us to something as it is to put a finger on what keeps us interested in it. That being said, I always enjoy your comments and here, so I hope that you might continue to post about the game, even if you feel at a lull with it, which is completely understandable : )

Honestly, I think it's very unrealistic for most players to keep up with the pace of sets unless they have a vested interest in doing that. Tournament players or content creators might feel the need to jump into every set, but as a run of the mill magic player, I know I'll skip sets or blocks at a time, and it feels a little dull sometimes.

That being said, there is a certain unspoken quality to a lot of magic sets. The new visits to Innistrad felt very underwhelming to me even though I'm a big fan of classic horror and the setting in general. I went in with a lot of enthusiasm, but then looked at everything and shrugged, meh. Commander sets recently feel very samey even if they are giving us new stuff, and modern horizons seems to be the land of bombs, which in itself does make it less appealing. There is an unspoken quality, and I feel like it's that as a player, all of us can feel something about a set. I always feel a sense of, how much excitement went into this set at design, and honestly it shapes a lot of my experience. It's kind of like seeing live music. If the band on stage is really into it but they're not the best, it still might be a lot more engaging for the audience than an amazing band who couldn't give a fluff.

AFR had so much fun in it. Every time I look at my cards from that set I find something new. Even down to the little details like, Split the Party That's a throw away card in any other set, but you put some love into the design and the flavor and it's one of my favorite cards. Minsc and Boo even showed up and did exactly they do; be a little nuts and throw hamsters : ) Not everything in AFR was perfect, but there was so much good. But then I look at that and I look at Crimson Vow and it's like seeing Die Hard Bruce Willis vs Live Free or Die Hard Bruce Willis. One of them just stopped caring : )

I just think it's interesting TypicalTimmy, because it seems like we like the same sets and have similar downswings. It's probably fair to say that every set will never be a hit for everyone, and people are always welcome to like whatever they like, but at the same time there is a tangible difference in the creative energy that goes into different sets. I guess when it comes down to it, it's hard to judge the game by it's worst set, but it's also hard to judge the game by it's best set.

Either way, best of luck with everything in the world, and have a wonderful day today : )

Looks like a good deck that can play out in a number of ways, and that's always the most fun. Plus, Wulfgar is an awesome character with a long history, so it's always awesome to see him come out and play.

The only thing I can think of is maybe Blade of Selves and Sword of the Animist They both trigger on attacks, so I could be wrong, but they should work with Wulfgar. Plus, blade of selves could get nuts on double trigger, creating more copies, and getting more extra triggers off more copies. It might actually get hard to keep track of : ) But if something like Bane of Bala Ged attacks with Blade of Selves then goes double myriad, then each of those copies triggers attacks...yeah...maybe pretty good : )

Other that that, I don't know, it looks great. So many big beaty creatures that will pull double duty with Wulfgar and all the support they need to come out and play.

Yep Mairsil! Such a fun card. I actually saw some things recently where Marisil was being played in no ban list cEDH and was kinda crazy. I think the idea was to get Grislebrand on Mairsil, the Pretender and draw, or get Time Vault or Voltaic Key on Mairisil to combo out. Really, it was just interesting to see a commander that is not usually in cEDH being really good in no ban list.