Category Archives: Uncategorized

June 22, 2020 one hit wonder – noun : a performer, group, etc., that is popular or successful only once for a brief time For the first time since starting this blog, a week (in the “Sunday-Saturday” sense, not “7 days” sense) went by without me posting. Not that anyone was likely missing my content,Continue reading “Rielle’s Top 40 Hit”

6/11/2020 I’m going to interrupt my scheduled blog post about my current favorite deck on Arena to say a few words about the current U.S. climate and Wizards of the Coast’s response. I don’t know how many people will read this, or will find it thoughtful or well articulated. But I felt like saying nothingContinue reading “Change Must Come”

June 2, 2020 power creep – noun : (collectible games, computer games, role-playing games) The situation where updates to a game introduce more powerful units or abilities, leaving the older ones underpowered Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, has Magic become a mountainous mess recently. Yes, yes, of course it’s “been a mess” for the bulk ofContinue reading “Riffing On Rifts”

May 22, 2020 domineer – verb : assert one’s will over another in an arrogant way I have never played EDH/Commander. I’d like to, but I have no current playgroup (apologies to my son, but he’s not sufficient.) The LGS I’ve visited for prerelease tournaments since Ravnica Allegiance hosts a Thursday night Commander event, andContinue reading “Middling Magic Gets Mooshed”

May 14, 2020 maleficent – adjective : causing harm or destruction, especially by supernatural means Having covered Arena’s shoddy matchmaking in a previous column, I’m going to turn to the second reason for my recent disappointment with casual play on Arena: Meta decks in the unranked “Play” queue If Arena’s matchmaking was better, I wouldn’tContinue reading “Middling Magic vs. The Meta Deck”

May 5, 2020 tryhard – noun : a person who is perceived as putting too much effort into something recreational, such as a game 0-12 That’s how my evening on Magic Arena started. Twelve best-of-1 games in the unranked “Play” queue with my favorite Mardoom deck. Twelve losses, all of them solidly bad, all inContinue reading “Middling Magic Matchmaking”

May 1, 2020 engagement – noun : emotional involvement or commitment In a previous post I briefly mentioned a concept I am going to start exploring over the next few months: “middle class Magic.” No, not the format. Wait, you aren’t familiar with the format? The weird, uncommons-only sibling of Pauper, that no one plays?Continue reading “Middling Magic – An Introduction”

April 22, 2020 lemming – noun : a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement, especially a headlong rush to destruction Last Thursday, the day Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths became available on Arena, I shoveled 100,000 gold into the store and walked away with 100 packs of the new set. As someone who has beenContinue reading “Trading Gold For Salt”

April 15, 2020 foretaste – noun : a sample or suggestion of something that lies ahead Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths lands on Arena tomorrow. I’ve banked (read as: hoarded) over 100,000 gold in order to flood my account with packs as soon as the set is available. Though the lack of crinkling foily wrappers isContinue reading “Snarfing Ikoria”

April 10, 2020 hamartia – noun : a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine Every parent (at least the non-psychotic ones) wants their children to beat them at games (until a certain age, at least.) I’m included in that group. To be fair, I root for the Dallas CowboysContinue reading “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Splash the Bomb”