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We should have an all-Frog, or even all-Glarb pod in Vegas

@@ManaCritics I got frogs

Thanks! Have you got your hands (literal or metaphorical) on Bloomburrow yet? How are you liking the flavor?

Nevermind, just found your unboxing vids :)

Whoa, I had read something somewhere...maybe the planeswalkers guide...about mining metal from trees, but I was thinking there were, like, iron seams in the wood or something...didn't even consider they might be fully formed metallic components with physiological function! (not sure is "physiological" applies to plants, but I don't know a botanical equivalent)

Is it published somewhere? Feel free to drop a link, if CZcams doesn't prevent it

Can definitely see that - so far, they're just showing fingerprints, but that's only after a couple of games. Someone made a proxy print-n-play version on BoardGameGeek with standard card shape - you just leave the top of each card exposed - looks like that could have been a way to give it more simplicity/longevity, but that ship has obviously sailed.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to have an ongoing community the way Decipher's discontinued Star Wars CCG does (basically a fan-run coop with new sets and everything), but there are a couple of cool things people have posted on the BoardGameGeek page for it - most notably, the card file for what WOULD have been the next set, and a printable proxy set of the Base Set in rectangular form. May take some of these to GenCon in a few weeks, juuuust in case the opportunity presents itself to play...

I didn't know Templesmith before this, but have been perusing his work this mornign - he's crazy prolific.

Thanks so much! We played two games after the video - the first seemed to be nearing a swift end after a few turns, but then started swinging back and forth in an interesting way, and actually lasted quite a while. Until Cthulu hit the board, at which point it ended swiftly. The second game was more of a legitimate snowball, less interesting back and forth. So, tiny sample size thus far, but we enjoyed it quite a bit! Unsure if that feeling will last as we play more games over time - we do not have a good setup for recording gameplay at present, but if Hecatomb in particular ends up being fun to come back to, we might invest a bit to make that possible. We've added it to the video description as well, but here's Julie's channel which she promptly created after recording this: www.youtube.com/@JujusSpecimens

Professionally, I work for a veterinarian! My "black" leaning taxidermy hobby is unpaid and only for myself. Primarily, I work with invertebrates and botanical specimens for that, which I will be covering on my personal channel 🖤

@@ManaCritics Perfect, I've subscribed to JuJu's channel! Thanks for sharing!

@@JujusSpecimens Thanks for sharing this. I'm looking forward to seeing more!!!

Yeah, we are very bad at estimating how long a given topic is going take. We are even bad at estimating how long we've been talking *while* recording.

@@ManaCritics No problem here. I'm listening right now and up to the 38-minute mark. Longer stuff does fill up more of the 8-10 hours of audio I'm looking for each day. As a guy who's done something similar - my game, Clash of Elements, is also basically Magic with the parts I don't like cut out and stuff I wanted added - it's both entertaining and helpful to hear how someone else has done it. It's also helpful to hear y'all translate everything into Magic language, because I do the same thing explaining how my cards work to other people if I know they'll understand. Even though I'm only listening (as I'm at work) the art discussion was nice too, since I at least know most of the cards you mentioned and know what the artwork looks like.

In tabletop RPGs, I will absolutely go for a straightforward martial class like Fighter, but that's a different topic. When you say Imperials in Elder Scrolls, is it that you're dedicated to the Empire as a faction, or does it just line up with your perk preferences and such?

@ManaCritics little of both, the charisma buff is nice especially when not playing a charisma character and Oblivion was my first ES game.

Or, as I like to call him, Dark V'ger

I saw something like that, but I've also repeatedly read that NO lifeforms are native to Mirrodin, and they all came via soultraps. But, I don't have a primary source for that...AND, even if there is one, could be an unreliable narrator or a change in canon. I'd guess, if there's a specific, official answer, it would be "they started as something from another plane, but are sufficiently changed as to be categorically different now"

So they're slivers that don't buff each other got it 😆 Slithers!

@@ManaCritics Primary source is the Mirrodin book trilogy, and I can confirm its almost true. Golems and Blinkmoths are native to Mirrodin, nothing else. The narrator is Memnarch himself before going insane.

Yeah, I know Rosewater describes it as a commercial failure, and I honestly don't remember how I felt about it when it was new, but NOW I remember it as being incredibly flavorful and cool. I want to go back, but I want to see both aspects, and i don't know how that would/will work.

@@ManaCritics Well, Lorywn was when I came back to magic after having quit for years and had to start from scratch again, so it's kinda nostalgic for me for that sense. Also I really liked the merfolk of the block, and my 'lorywn era" merfolk deck/s is still probably my favorite deck. *I got two version of it, one is pure blue to be more aggro in 1 vs 1, and a blue white for multiplayer. Hell old Jace Beleren is still my favourite planeswalker. The original one.

That is applicable to so many...entities. I'm gonna say it a lot.

Yeah, I find myself always playing characters who are physically unlike me, and trying (but abjectly failing) to play them with different philosophies/worldviews than my own. Do you have an easily stated reason WHY you prefer to play humans, or is it just a vibe?

@@ManaCritics That makes sense! Yeah if you wanted to go for something completely different, lizards are a good start. I play humans for a couple reasons. One, I feel like every character I play is "Me" to some degree, they've all got little touches of what I'm about. And two, I just think there's something fun about being the "normal" one. Elves and dwarves make sense in a fantasy setting, and they play by those rules. You kinda expect that an elf can shoot ice out of their hands, or at least its not surprising, but when a human can do it, that's a superhero. Whatever I do, it feels a bit more impressive cause its a theoretically normal person doing it. And also as a side-bonus, most other people want to play the weird and out-there races. You don't play a tiefling because you wanna blend in with a crowd, you wanna stand out. Having a regular person to compare to makes me feel more normal and makes them feel more unique.

@@kaleidoslug7777 That's a fantastic answer. I mean, "because I want to" is all anyone needs, but I really appreciate that you've considered it at this level.

@@ManaCritics Thank you!

I think I'd prefer that as well, but I'm not too hopeful. With the first two episodes of Bloomburrow story out, we are mostly focused on characters and issues of that plane, but we've got our first visit from an outsider (Ral) already...and they've outlined how this is the start of the DragonStorm arc, which is a part of a larger 3-part mega-arc. As long as the focus stays primarily on the stories WITHIN the planes, I think I'm happiest...it's when focus is on a bunch of established planeswalkers bouncing between missions that the story feels the worst to me...the most "designed by committee", like a heavy-handed comic book crossover.

@@ManaCritics Huh. That dragonstorm arc sounds like it could be neat. If it actually wraps up for the most part by the end of the 3rd set. That's basically them going back to the old style of 3 sets forming a block. If they break the story into 3 arc chunks, I'd be really happy for a few years. Then they can do the bigger arc for a few years again.

I'd guess that primarily a flavor thing for Ikoria, to separate mechanics into "Humans" vs "Monsters" abilities? It definitely makes it obnoxiously tricky to use...I've totally forgotten about it (and been called on it when trying to mutate onto an Doomed Necromancer or Eternal Witness) when playing Nethroi in EDH.

The next time mutate comes up, they'd better errata the past cards into saying "Mutate a non-Human" or something, so we CAN mutate Humans - or be otherwise selective - with future design.

I totally forgot my phone tracks that. Going to GenCon in a month, and Vegas in October, will have to keep an eye on it then.

I've never been able to stomach buying more than a single Collector's Booster at a time, and I don't *think* this is going to push me over the edge, but...it's not a definite no - and absolutely getting at least a Play booster box, probably a couple of bundles, and hoping to draft it in paper like crazy.

@@ManaCritics yeah, it's a disgusting price. I've also known I wanted one and have been saving up. Don't expect it's a thing I'll ever do again. Maybe....MAYBE for an Amonkhet revisit (it's currently my favorite plane).

They're shrimply the best

Nice, I see it in Wanderer's Strike! Was on a break from the game during War of the Spark, so haven't looked at those cards much. In terms of "present day" Amonkhet, I know there was a two-paragraph blurb in the "Legends of March of the Machine," but it poses more questions than it asks! Particularly the last sentence, "In the aftermath, the inscrutable insect gods departed for the deep desert without a word." And there's the Naktamun Planechase Plane card from MOM Commander...no text, but does give a visual of the state of things.

You're a national treasure

Ohhh, I love this. Honestly, I suspect they ARE just doing "what if?" scenarios, but it would be incredibly cool if your explanation is established as cannon.

Yay! But also, sorry

I...huh. Well, it's a good think I'm physiologically incapable of experiencing shame! I even had the folder on computer mislabeled "Dust Elemental" when I started working on this. My confusion runs deep. I stand by the conclusion re the art, though.

I find this surprisingly comforting

I have had to much fun with both Corpses of the Lost (in Standard) and Throne of the Grim Captain (in Curiosity in paper and the Standard Play queue on Arena) since this video. I really hope we get more cards/story around The Grim Captain in the future.

Yeah, I just reread The Brothers War, and I had *thought* they'd abandoned this model of lands powered spells worked after they moved the novel publishing in-house, but was surprised to find the passages where Hurkyl is discovering Magic echo the same concept. Anyway, I agree that you've described what lands represent in the narrative correctly, but I now think my thesis statement should have "...and isn't that weird?" Or, perhaps not "weird," but "unique" or "interesting." I mean, this is a game full of land cards and creature cards, where the creatures never go to, encounter, reside on, defend, or attack the lands. There is indeed an explanation for that, but it still really stands out.

Thanks - I'm surprised you relate to it, I sort of assumed it just wasn't a thing for you since you've been willing to put yourself out there and stream a bunch. In that case, amazing work pushing through it!

@@ManaCritics oh no no no. I have to hype myself up everytime.

We owe you a cookie. Collect in Vegas.

@@ManaCritics Yo where's my cookie?

@@MtGCritical Yes, you may have one too

I had to look up "Cassidy", seems like I last played right before his rename - but yes, he absolutely is ;)