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I just want to point out that Goblin Mechanic is not the name of a real Magic card and neither is Statis.

Interesting example. I do think there are some strong parallels. Although I will point out that while both MMA and M:tG did homogenize and that some of the homogenization was probably for the same reasons, there are important distinctions. I think that a lot of the evolution of MMA was less...

Hm, yeah, the pool of commanders in those colors isn't all that big, and none of them really scream, "Beatdown!"

There was another Rector-based deck that I had for a while, but this part takes me on some tangents. I think that's fitting for this sort of thread, so I'm not going to let it stop me... Firstly, one of my favorite decks, probably my very favorite deck, that I had in high school was a...

While I did get a lot of mileage out of Burnt Offering/Sacrifice/Culling the Weak on Academy Rector into the Yawgmoth's Bargain + Skirge Familiar combo, I think the stronger version would have been to ditch the Skirge Familiar in favor of another enchantment, also fetchable with Rector...

In 1999, a friend I used to trade with a lot took a fancy to my playset of Necropotence (I think he wanted to play Necro in Extended) and tried to sell me on Yawgmoth's Bargain as a better version, but I didn't go for it. Later Nick (Al0ysiusHWWW) got those copies of Bargain. From late 1999...

Even though Yawgmoth's Bargain was banned in Extended, Type 1.5 (later Legacy), and Vintage, the card actually survived in Standard, where Rector Bargain decks were allowed to run rampant. Here's a "Sabre Bargain" list... 4 Academy Rector 4 Grim Monolith 3 Voltaic Key 3 Tooth of Ramos 4 Soul...

Reviving this topic again, I'm not sure what to make of Gitaxian Probe. Most of my experience has been with Legacy. Based on that experience and just common sense, the card seems like a perfect card for Storm. It reveals what disruption the opponent has in-hand, ticks the storm count up by one...

I don't think I follow. Surely the pool of good black cards is deep enough that if you want to keep the beatdown deck WBG, you can do so. It's personal preference, so why would have to cut black from the deck if you do not wish to? :confused:

I have a lot more that I'll probably share about Yawgmoth's Bargain. Over the years, I had multiple decks that used Academy Rector to fetch Bargain and then set up a combo finish. Yawgmoth's Bargain was a very important card to me for a variety of reasons, and some of that is really more of a...

Oh hey, totally forgot that I already wrote an entire article about Academy Rector, way back in 2008. It was for the "Type Fun" blog that Al0ysiusHWWW and I used to maintain. Later, when we were getting more serious in our focus on Legacy tournament decks, Nick (Al0ysiusHWWW) wanted to purge the...

To be clear, I wasn't so much trying to rebut what you said, but more pointing out that this whole thing is a mess and that there are a lot of ways to look at it. I do think that there is a sentiment I've seen elsewhere, which I don't really think you espoused even if you did remind me of it, a...

I think the better example of that specific point would be (the actually defunct) Magic Deck Vortex. Ten years ago if I'd been seeking out wacky casual decklists and off-the-wall formats, I'd have gone there. But they were probably already waning in relevance even then. While I obviously...

Yeah, I'm definitely rethinking Persist guys more, now that I'm focusing so much on sacrifice loops. Mazirek is certainly the sort of card that could have strong interactions in any black/green deck that sacrifices its own stuff. My deck was envisioned as a "start dredging right away and have a...

I didn't realize that Abe Sargent was aware of our existence! Kind of makes me appreciate him more. I wonder if he was ever a member here, and who out there making a much bigger splash in Magic than we do here has posted at the CPA. Most prominent case is probably NorrYtt?

Great article. Well, it identifies the problem anyway. I don't know if it could be solved at this point. It would be nice if the mothership brought back the Arena League system, although that's probably too far-fetched. I used to think that what we needed was a more community-driven approach...

But do we really need to wait for Spidey? We could just assume that Dorgath charges in on his own and draws the attention of whatever is in the room so that everyone else can sneak up on it or something... :p

Huh, I see a lot of particularly positive and particularly negative stances toward Astral Slide. I wasn't involved in Standard or Extended, which is where the card seemed to live, so I have no strong opinions either way. I do find it a bit amusing that Fluctuator was the one cycling-based card...

No need: my little sister stole them all in 1991. :p

The Pattern-Rector approach has come a long way since the days of Symbiotic Wurm, and there's plenty more to be said about the combo potential of Academy Rector and Pattern of Rebirth. But Symbiotic Wurm could still be a very good creature in a casual deck with Academy Rector, thanks to a...