Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Shuffleupagus at RCQ (Mediocre Modern)

In the mid-Aughts, I had a long run of 2-X PTQ appearances.  It was after one of those, on a cold walk through the Allston/Brighton neighborhoods of Boston that my friend and I said the name "mediocre magic".  It fits the janky style perfectly.

I don't know if this is still a thing nowadays, but there was a bit of a counter-movement against "netdecking" in the nineties.  Mark Rosewater famously told Zak Dolan, the first world champion, not to tell anyone what was in his winning deck so people couldn't copy it.  That term doesn't mean anything anymore with ubiquitous Internet activity.  I like that there are metas and people scrutinize and optimize specific decks, but I want to create something of my own.  

I don't have illusions of grandeur.  I remember reading about top Extended decks after Mirrodin's release and the Scepter Chant deck (Isochron Scepter + Orim's Chant) had come out of nowhere and made a big top 8.  In a group interview, the creator rightfully got to say their deck was completely new while everyone else explained which version of the well-known deck they'd tweaked.  I'm not about to make something both that strong and unique, but maybe I can at least be known a little bit for getting some fun jank to work.

I have been working on versions of Shuffleupagus since 2003 when Psychogenic Probe was first spoiled before the Mirrodin prerelease.  I've been squirreling away cards that cause your opponent to shuffle their deck for years and have sporadically run it in different forms ever since.  (I was very excited when Modern was announced and the Probe just survived the cut.)

My FLGS, Intergalactic Plastic, ran a Modern RCQ on Sunday, May 31, less than two weeks ago.  I had gone 2-1 (kinda 0-2) on Friday with Spiteclasm, but it was a bit unfulfilling.  My friends knew I had a mono-black version of Shuffleupagus ready to go, but I had chickened out from playing it.  

I blamed it partly on a lack of Volatile Faults.  I had zero and kept hitting dead-ends finding them.  This is not just sour grapes--those faults are in some ways better than Ghost Quarter because that treasure token provides one more copy of Bitter Ordeal--but it's not like the deck is useless without them.

On Saturday the universe gave me a sign that I could not be so cowardly.  While at a yard sale in town, I saw a little bunch of magic cards for sale.  I flipped through and saw a Volatile Fault.  I overpaid for the cards, but was excited as I resolved to take Shuffleupagus to a real tournament. 

I did have some misgivings about running mono-black, but I tried to increase the chance I'd find Psychogenic Probe by including four Serum Powder.  This brought up an interesting rules interaction with London Mulligans: technically you are supposed to put cards on the bottom of your library at the end of each mulligan.  That means that if you don't like your hand with Serum Powder and you're a few tries into mulliganing, you can put cards you don't want exiled onto the bottom of your library and then exile the Serum Powder and the rest of your hand to get a redo.

Okay, here's the mono-black Shuffleupagus build I came up with:

I really struggled with the sideboard and making choices between Lost Legacy, Infinite Obliteration and similar cards. 

I believe 19 people showed up for the tournament, so we had five rounds.  In the first round, I was paired up against someone I knew but had never played before.  They were running Living End, the only deck I'd really prepared for!

I had been disappointed by presumably-good-matchups with Shuffleupagus before.  In the Aughts, when Tooth and Nail was hot in Extended, I thought I had a good plan against it with Cranial Extraction and Bribery.  I went to some big tournament, got matched up against Tooth and Nail right off the bat, couldn't pull off a win in that first round, then never faced it again as I floundered my way through the lower brackets.  This was my chance for redemption!  

Game one started slow.  On their turn three, they cycled Curator of Mysteries.  On my turn, I played Varragoth, but they evoked Subtlety and I put Varragoth on the top.  On turn four they cast Violent Outburst into the Living End, but I responded with Surgical Extraction to get rid of all the Curators.  Subltelty hit the field and I played Varragoth on my turn.  On my fifth turn, I played a Psychogenic Probe.  The game slowed down and I made a critical miscalculation.  Apparently the Living End deck only runs three of them, not four.  I had enough to Bitter Ordeal for two, which would have been enough, but was hoping to get three.  Instead my opponent played Shardless Agent a bit later and won the turn after.

In game two, I swampcycled a Troll on my first turn.  I played Probe on turn two, but my opponent was wise to the game and Force of Negation'ed it.  That left them without a counter for my Lost Legacy next turn.  They played a Curator of Mysteries on turn four, then countered the The End I hit it with next turn with a second Force of Negation.  They played another Curator one or two turns later and I didn't have any way to kill them both.  I got Varragoth out but died shortly thereafter.  0-1.

In round two I faced a remixed affinity deck that didn't actually use the Affinity mechanic at all.  On turn one, they dropped "flipwalker" Tamiyo, which was mostly there to generate clues.  They played Urza's Saga on their second turn and an Aether Spellbomb.  I got a Psychogenic Probe out, but I was clearly behind.  They played a Mox Opal on turn three and created a construct while I got out a second probe.  On turn four, they dropped their Urza's Saga to search for a Shadowspear as well as create a second construct.  I Extirpated the Urza's Saga at the end of their turn and then passed on mine.  I was only one life or one shuffle away from having enough to kill them with shuffles.  Instead, I had to hold for a The End for one of their constructs, but they even had Flame of Anor to destroy one of my probes before I searched on their turn.  I died to the construct soon after.  

In game two, they had a big turn two with Tamiyo, two Mishra's Baubles, and a Mox Opal.  I took out their Urza's Saga with my Ghost Quarter at the end of their turn.  On turn three I hit Tamiyo with a Doom Blade and then Surgical Extracted her on turn four.  Before I could do that, however, my opponent had played a second.  I drew a swamp and hit it with The End on my fifth turn.  My opponent had a better play: Cori-Steel Cutter.  I had Deadly Cover-Up on turn six and had enough to collect the evidence, which I used to get rid of Forces of Negation.  Unfortunately more monks emerged from the Cutter and I died to many of them.  0-2.

In round three I was up against a Charbelcher deck!  It was kind of neat, to have one Mirrodin artifact facing down another.  Their deck played no lands, instead relying on MDF Cards with lands on the back side.  I started off with a Lantern of Insight while they suspended a Lotus Bloom.  I cast a Psychogenic Probe on my second turn, but they had a Spell Snare for it, which was quite disheartening.  I had a second Probe in hand, but correctly guessed they were holding more counters and baited a Counterspell out with Varragoth.  I safely played the Probe and a Lantern on turn four.  They cast Tameshi, a new card to me!  

It combos real well with Lotus Bloom.


I was without a hand and they promptly got out Goblin Charbelcher and killed me with it.  

In game two they suspended the Lotus Bloom right away again.  I cast Lost Legacy on turn three, but they Force of Negation'ed it.  I played Maralen of the Mornsong on turn four and they resolved their Lotus Bloom.  I played Ghost Quarter on turn five and they surprised me with a Whir of Invention for four, bringing up a Charbelcher.  I Bitter Ordeal'ed the remaining three but it was too little, too late.  They activated the cannon on their next turn and killed me.  0-3.

In round four I was up against an Eldrazi deck.  In the first game all I really got down was a Lantern of Insight on turn one.  They used Kozilek's Command to set up for Through the Breach on turn four.  Emrakul came to my town and removed my entire board.  

In game two I had another first-turn Lantern of Insight.  They played Ugin's Labyrinth into a Talisman of Creativity.  I got a second turn Probe and they played Chalice of the Void for one.  On turn three I wanted to both Ghost Quarter and Bitter Ordeal but was one mana short.  Instead I decided to take out the Ugin's Labyrinth and hold on to the Bitter Ordeal.  There was a calm of a few turns and then I dropped the Ordeal on turn five.  Unfortunately they had Untimely Malfunction (sided in) to kill my Probe.  They played Eldrazi Command on their turn for nine.  Their next turn had Emrakul; Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine; and Ulamog all on the same turn.  0-4.

Round five.  My last chance for a win... even a game win.  I was up against a mill deck.  My opponent and I were both in high spirits, clearly there for the fun of playing Magic.  They started the first game by Thoughtseizing one of my Probes.  They cast Fractured Sanity and hard cast Archive Trap.  I cast Deadly Cover-Up to remove a single Hedron Crab as my library withered and then again to take out a single Ruin Crab.  I still got decked.  

In game two they cast Thoughtseize on me again right away, followed up by Tasha's Hideous Laughter on turn three.  On my turn four, I used Ghost Quarter with Bitter Ordeal to remove three Fractured Sanities from their deck.  They had one in hand and used it against me right away, then an Archive Trap on the next turn.  (I was surprised they hadn't sided those out!)  I Extirpated the trap and then they played Ashiok, Dream Render.  My library kept disappearing until it was down to one card, a Swamp.  I drew it with my opponent at 12 life.  It was my sixth land and I cast Ob Nixilis for the first time all day.  I passed the turn and they did the same.  I entered my upkeep and Ghost Quartered one of their lands, with Extirpate in my hand.

They declined to search (obviously).  I cast the Extirpate for good measure and lost the closest game I'd had all day with my opponent at two life.  0-5.  0-10 in games.

Despite the tough record, I had a great time.  I was pretty nervous at the beginning since I hadn't been at such a high-level event in well over a decade, but all of my opponents were wicked friendly and I quickly settled into a great mood.  (The judge was also really good at promoting a chill atmosphere.)  

I honestly don't know what I should have done differently.  I would really like to see how the Orzhov, Dimir, and even Rakdos versions of the deck fare in a real tournament.  I also would like to have had more Volatile Faults!

It was fun to once again be a part of a higher-stakes event!  I think it's important for there to be a layer of jank at these things that sometimes shoots for the moon.  

Happy Magicking, no matter what level you're playing at! 

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Monday, June 8, 2026

A modern night of Spiteclasm (Mediocre Modern)

"Hey, Kyle!  Your blog says 'Playing Magic: The Gathering... without the good cards.' but you don't really play constructed anymore.  I thought your whole thing was playing through the losing bracket at high-level events.  What gives, man?  I don't want to read about dumb Anaconda Chaos Clue drafts, I want to hear about how you killed someone with a terrible card!"

Good news for you: I got bitten by the bug to do this again.  I signed up for a Modern RCQ at Intergalactic Plastic on Sunday, May 31.  They added a little modern practice tournament for FNM two days before, which is what this post covers.  My last post from a constructed event was in 2017.  At some point I went 3-0 with Spiteclasm, and I think that was after 2017, so it hasn't been quite nine years.  It was definitely 2019 or earlier, though, so it's been a long time!  

For FNM, I had to make the tough choice between Spiteclasm and Shuffleupagus.

Spiteclasm pros: 

  • I won that little modern tournament on the back of Blood Moon, which sometimes just wins games all on its own.  (I won the final round of that tournament by playing turn 3 moons in both games against Scapeshift Valakut.)  I had already acquired a playset of Winter Moons and had some other important parts of the deck ready.  
  • It's still a janky deck.  It's not like I'm running some kind of main stream deck.  I don't even have Skred in there right now.  "Without the good cards" would still be a correct statement.
  • The deck deals well with creatures and can close out games.
  • I have the deck mostly ready to go. 

Shuffleupagus pros:

  • This deck is hilarious.  I haven't ever played it in Florida.  I think it wasn't well-liked near the end of my times playing it in central New Hampshire, though.  When I presented the idea, people here were very gung-ho for it.
  • Deadly Cover-Up can help take care of creatures in a mono-black version, so I might not have mana base problems.  
  • This is much more janky than Spiteclasm. 
  • I have been working on this deck since Psychogenic Probe was in the Mirrodin spoilers.  

I chose Spiteclasm for two main reasons:

  • I have a ton of Shuffleupagus cards all saved together across all colors, but I don't know the best way to put them together.
  • I think Spiteclasm is a better deck and more likely to win games.
  • Spiteclasm is still plenty janky! 

Here's a quick deck list:

There were clearly some missing pieces.  Fire Magic is better than Cinderclasm, Fuel the Flames is better than Fiery Cannonade, and that Spitemare should be replaced by an Ill-Tempered Loner but those are the cards I had ready to go.  The Oliphaunts and Mongoose Lizards were in preparation for facing down Living End, which was benefitting from some recent unbannings.  I had played this deck against a Living End deck before, but it was nearly a decade ago at this point.

In the first round, I was paired up against a cascade deck, but not Living End itself, Temur Rhinos, powered by Crashing Footfalls.  On turn two, they Iced my mountain on my upkeep, which did effectively slow me down.  They played Shardless Agent on turn three, which got the Crashing Footfalls out.  I played a Boros Reckoner down on the next turn.  They attacked with their team and I foolishly blocked the Agent, forgetting the bonus effect of Violent Outburst, which they used to trade with me and get another pair of Rhinos.  Thankfully I had two Pyroclasms that I played on my next turn to wipe the board.  On my next turn I played out a Screaming Nemesis and Humble Defector.  They cast another Violent Outburst at the end of my turn for yet another pair of Rhinos.  They untapped and cast Dead (of Dead and Gone) to take out my defector.  Then they suspended their final Crashing Footfalls and warped in Quantum Riddler.  I played out the Spitemare, but I was down on life 10 to 2.  I lost on their next turn.

In the second game, my opponent had to mulligan once.  I started off fast with a Soul-Scar Mage, but my opponent hit it with Dead.  I cast Humble Defector on my second turn and my opponent suspended Crashing Footfalls.  I played the Screaming Nemesis and thanks to shocks and fetches, I was up 20 to 12.  On turn four I played a Reckoner and on turn five attacked with both and cast two Pyroclasms to win.

In the third game they froze out one of my lands on turn two again and got the Shardless Agent into Crashing Footfalls on turn three.  I risked casting Blood Moon, but they had a Force of Negation for that.  On turn four they played another Shardless Agent, but I again had two Pyroclasms to save the day, though I was down 17 to 10.  They warped in a Riddler again and I played another Nemesis on turn five.  They cast the Riddler for real on turn six and I countered with a Winter Moon.  Sadly, they had enough non-basics that it wasn't a problem and cast yet another Shardless Agent on turn seven, then attacked to kill me on turn eight.  0-1

In the second round I got the bye, the bane of those who are playing in a tournament for fun.  I know that counts as a win for my record, but does it really?  Technically 1-1. 

In the third and final round I was matched up against an Affinity deck.  They started the first game off by playing an Ornithopter, then dropped a Refurbished Familiar on turn two and a Frogmite on turn three.  I played a Boros Reckoner after that.  They then dropped the key of their deck, a Simulacrum Synthesizer.  I cast a Cinderclasm on my turn to clear things out and got in for damage.  On the fifth turn, they cast another Synthesizer and I played a second Reckoner.  After I attacked I was slightly ahead in life, 16 to 12.  On their next turn, they played a Memory Guardian then two Frogmyr Enforcers for free.  Each of those created tokens from the Synthesizer, which had gotten a bit out of hand.

They are 17/17s right now.


I cast a Shake the Foundations but didn't draw into anything that would save me and I got crushed the next turn.  

In the second game, I had four moons in my opening hand, two of each.  They started off with an Ornithopter.  I dropped a Winter Moon on turn two and they played a Refurbished Familiar.  I then played Blood Moon, which did double-duty on their artifact lands, shutting them off from useful mana and removing their affinity power.  They played a Nettlecyst on their turn, which I took out with a Pyroclasm.  I played a Reckoner on turn five and they got enough lands to run out Frogmite.  On their sixth turn they played a Springleaf Drum, Thought Monitor, and another Frogmite, but I played Fiery Cannonade to clear their side of the board.  On turn seven I played a Humble Defector and they played a Springleaf Drum.  I didn't have another wiper, so I just attacked out for two more turns to win.

In game three I had another one-two moon punch on turns two and three, though they did have a big turn three first, playing the Familiar, two Frogmites, and a Memory Guard.  On turn four, they played the Nettlecyst and attacked to put me at 11.  I played a Reckoner, finally getting something on the board.  On turn five they equipped and attacked again with their fliers, putting me to 1 life.  They immediately remarked that they could have attacked with the two extra frogs to kill me.  I cast a Pyroclasm to clear all but one of their creatures and when they attacked on the next turn I cast Fuel the Flames to take out the other and leave my Reckoner alone.  I kept attacking each turn with the Reckoner.  At one point they cast a prototype form of the Frogmyr Enforcer (because they could use their mountains for that red) but I hit it with a Pyroclasm and my Reckoner ended up getting there.  Technically 2-1.  

Okay, so that 2-1 was a lot more like a 0-2, as I should have lost that last game.  

I have a lot of thoughts about this deck and how that went:

  • I miss CardCodex.com, which used to be a site that you could use to find similar magic cards.  It is now something that is used to organize Pokemon card collections.
  • Should I put a few copies of Brash Taunter back in? 
  • Should I go back to the snow-covered version with Skreds?  
  • I should get a copy of Sophim to put in there and probably also a copy of the new Hazoret.  

Coming soon: how did it go at the RCQ?

Happy Modern Magicking! 

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Saturday, June 6, 2026

One Straight-laced Multiplayer Game Still Accentuates the Chaos (WUBRG Drafting)

Last week I did a wacky draft with three other people.  We decided we wanted to play a big multiplayer game, but not play Ravnica: Clue.  I lobbied for some alternate formats to promote attacking people, but that got vetoed.  I was still happy to play in a bigger game.  Here's what we opened:

My second and third packs were calls out to the universe, asking for guidance for which Modern deck to run the following weekend.  Let me know if you think you know which cards I was looking for in each pack.


We used the first-pick-take-two rule so we got to make two picks from each pack but only as the first person.  I was very careful not to make sure I wasn't a fraud and had cards in all five colors by pick six.  Here are all the picks I made:

If you need to get an Ultimatum or Mythos from an Ikoria pack, let me open it.  I have some great (bad) luck with that.


I put together a fun deck with that:

A beautiful rainbow of five colors.


We rolled to see who would go first.  The order was:

  • P1 was running "Take to the Skies" in Bant.
  • I was second up.
  • P3 was Temur, "Free Spells into Suicide"
  • P4 was another WUBRG deck, "Class is Outside Today".  (At least they mused "I don't know how Kyle always plays five colors," partway through the game.)

In the second round of turns, P3 played Ominous Seas and P4 played Chrome Companion.  Both of those became important throughout the game!

On turn three, P1 played Glider Kids, I played Lumbering Laundry face down.  P3 dropped a Magnifying Glass, and P4 attacked P3 with the dog. 

P1 turned their attention to me on the fourth round of turns.  I did not take it personally and attacked P4.  P3 ramped with Zimone's Experiment and P4 cast Pensive Professor, another value generator described as the Instructor who would be teaching today's class.  

Player 1 played Bristling Boar to start off the fifth round of turns.  I played Deepcavern Imp but didn't attack with it.  P3 cast Rapturous Moment into Elemental Mascot and Spore Crawler.  P4 finished the round with Sanar, Unfinished Genius, one of the students.

In the sixth round of turns, P1 made another move for air superiority by casting Empyrean Eagle and attacked P4, recognizing the value engine that was spinning up.  I played Water Tribe Captain.  P3 hit P4 as well, then played Frilled Sparkshooter.  Player 4 reacted, but to me, taking out my imp with Blooming Blast, then playing Abigale, Poet Laureate (I just noticed the pun, ha!) and Hydro-Channeler.  

P1 cast Angelic Quartermaster to claim the dominion of the skies.  They attacked me, bringing the life totals to P1: 20, Me: 8, P3: 15, P4: 14.  I responded by attacking back for two damage, then cast Nebula Dragon to take out the Quartermaster.  P3 cast Improvisation Capstone and this was the first time I'd ever seen the Paradigm keyword.  (It's like Epic but better.)  With that they dropped Knowledge Seeker and Zaffai and the Tempests.  

Time for those free spells to shine!


P3 then also attacked P1 now that their defenses were down.  P4 out WUBRG'ed me and cast Prismatic Undercurrents for five.  They then played Lluwen, Exchange Student and announced that all three students were prepared for class!  Ha!

On turn 8, P1 passed.  I attacked P3 with the Nebula dragon, they blocked with the Frilled Sparkshooter, I activated the Water Tribe Captain, they cast Aquitect's Defenses on their lizard, and I cast Harsh Annotation on it in response.  I definitely overspent my resources on that battle!  P3 activated the Ominous Seas at the end of my turn.  They cast Tenured Concocter then attacked me with the 8/8, the Knowledge Seeker, and the Elemental Mascot.  I blocked the 8/8 and went to 3 life.  P4 cast prepared spells and re-prepared things and got Spirit Mascot out.  They then played Tester of the Tangential.

Congratulations, P4, on becoming the Archenemy!


At the end of P4's turn, P1 cast Ajani's Response on P3's 8/8 Kraken token.  The life totals were P1: 16, me: 3, P3: 15, P4: 14.  

P1 passed on their ninth turn, keeping all their mana and creatures open.  I finally played the Lifecreed Duo that had been in my hand all game, followed by my Iguana Parrot.  P3 cast Disruptor of Currents, bouncing P4's Pensive Professor.  They swung into P4, which went okay.

There was a lot of text on P4's board.

 

P3 continued by casting Icecave Crasher and Stock Up, but realized their deck was living up to its name: they only had ten cards left in their library.  They replayed the Pensive Professor and put Aetherize into their hand.  (I don't remember how that happened.)  They were also low on cards in their deck.  At this point I realized that everyone was out landing me.  Urf!

P1 passed to open the tenth round of turns.  I attacked P4 with my Iguana Parrot, which happily flew over, then I cast Crovax, Ascendant Hero.  That notably took out P4's Chrome Companion, which had been putting in a lot of work all game.  P3 cast Dreadlight Monstrosity and already had eight counters on Ominous Seas again.  They attacked me and I had to throw my now 1/1 parrot in the way.  P4 cast Fire Nation Warship, then Biblioplex Tomekeeper.  They attacked P3 with their 7/7 Spirit Mascot, but P3 cast Gone on it.  The life totals were now P1: 16, me: 5, P3: 15, and P4: 9.

P1 was sitting pretty and passed again on their eleventh turn.  I cast Tributary Vaulter, hoping I could stay alive.  P3 attacked me with Dreadlight Monstrosity, making it unblockable.  That would have been three damage, but P4 intervened.

Wait, not like that!


P4 really wanted Crovax off the board, and the Auspicious Arrival was enough of a boost to take me out.  On their turn, P4 cast Pinnacle Emissary and attacked P1 with their 4/6 Pensive Professor.  After combat they replayed their Spirit Mascot.  The life totals were: P1: 4, P3: 15, and P4: 9.

On turn 12, P1 cast Finch Formation, but didn't offspring it.  P3 declined to use the Capstone's Paradigm ability this turn, then attacked both opponents.  P1 used their untapped mana to cast Uncharted Voyage on the Dreadlight Monstrosity to stay alive.  Then P3 used Calamitous Tide to get some of P4's students off the board.  P4 cast Sanitation Automaton and attacked P3.  They cast Sanar's spell, Wild Idea, but failed to find a card in their small library.

P1 shocked the table on turn thirteen with Avatar's Wrath!  They kept Bristling Boar, cast Treeguard Duo, and swung into P3.  P3 cast their Dreadlight Monstrosity and P4 cast a Chaos Spewer.  The life totals were: P1: 4, P3: 8, P4: 9.

In the fourteenth round of turns, P1 recast the Finch Formation with the Offspring.  They went to attack, but P3 cast Frostveil Ambush, which P4's Chrome Companion had tucked many turns ago.  P3 attacked with their player-killing Dreadlight Monstrosity to take P1 out.  P4 recast Tester of the Tangential as well as many of their other creatures.

On the fifteenth turn, P3 recast more of their creatures, but P4 had more on the board and attacked.  P3 went to three life.  

On the sixteenth turn, P3 didn't have enough and P4 swung for the win. 

This game was great!  I do really enjoy the social aspect of playing in one large multiplayer game and it was fun to see everyone's decks fire off.  Although we didn't add any wacky formats, we didn't really need them.  We had lots of aggression and interaction and it was exciting to see all the different cards interact with each other across so many different sets.  

Happy Multiplayer Magicking, whether you add rules spices or not!

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Sunday, May 31, 2026

WUBRG Fraud Exposed! (UBRG Drafting)

This never happens to me.  I... I don't really know what happened, but my fraudulent ways have been exposed.  

That doesn't make sense yet, but it will very shortly.  I got to participate in a bonus chaos draft after the Foundations Draft at Intergalactic Plastic last Friday.  I brought three packs to use just in case it fired and the other five players also brought good stuff to play with.

An excellent smattering of packs for a draft!


I thought I did a pretty good job drafting.  Here were all my picks: 

There's a big problem here!


I am a drafter with a gimmick.  That's what I have going for me.  The gimmick is that I need to play with a five-color deck.  In order to do that, I have to draft cards that either include all colors or make explicit use of each of the colors in some way.  I first stared WUBRG drafting around Shards of Alara, but I've really been dedicated to the bit for the last six or seven years.  A few times I've only had a color represented in a deck by hybrid mana or an important ability on a card.  This time, I got nada.  There're no white spells, no white-mana abilities.  No nothing.

I don't know how I messed up this bad.  

 

I understand if you stop reading from here.  The whole reason you read this dumb blog is probably to enjoy my struggles running five colors in limited all the time.  I have failed you as well as myself.  I won't hold it against you if you eject now.

 

 

 

Okay, you stayed.  There are some real good parts of this deck.  Most notably I got good landcyclers (the two Canyon Crawlers with Bebop) and raise-dead-effects with Vanille, Unbury, and the super lucky last pick of Fight On!  Here's the... uhhh... four color deck I built:

It does look a lot like decks I normally build.  Despite the colors, there is no happy glint in my eye.


As I got up to sit down against my first round match-up, I asked (to no one in particular): "Are we doing single-game rounds or normal matches?"  I didn't get a response from the no one I was addressing, but I didn't wait very long.  "Normal matches, I think." I responded.

All my friends I was engaged in conversation with are just out of frame. 

 

In the first round I was up against an opponent who was running Ink-Treader (WURG).  In the first game, they played Jem Lightfoote and put me in a bad position.  I was able to keep them from drawing a ton of cards with it, but that meant they were instead playing big threats on their turn.  I did not survive those threats.

In the second game, my opponent was stuck on Azorius colors, but I was simultaneously stuck on three lands.  They chugged out of the trap first and started playing efficient threats.  I got Omega late in the game, which might have got me back into competition, but it got Petrified.  0-1.

At this point we found out the other groups were just doing single-game rounds.  Oops!  We didn't finish that much later than the other two groups, but... oops.

In the second round I was up against Bant "Farquaad of Duloc".  They played a turn three Brigid, Clachan's Heart, into a different (Tempest) Hart.  I was on the back foot most of this game, and played Omega on their Swiftwing Assailant as I didn't have any flying blockers.  Late in the game I actually used the cycling ability on Migration Path and flavorfully drew into Migrating Ketradon, which was much-needed support.  In addition to the Omega and Ketradon, I played both Canyon Crawlers and won off of them and their delicious food.  1-1.

At this point the jig was up as the store was closing.  It has been over a week and I have not yet taken apart the deck.  (Mostly because I got to do a bunch of other Magic events and I just kept these cards together.)  If I get in another match, I'll update the post here.  Otherwise, I'll try to add an update when I take the deck apart.  I am kind of hoping for that second one, just so the shame of my failure can end.

Happy Non-Fraudulent Magicking to you! 

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Thursday, May 28, 2026

Wacky Worlds 2026: A Sealed Journey

Some friends of mine used to run Wacky Worlds, which was an event where they held a bunch of wacky-style magic events.  I never attended one, but I still asked whether now, far in the distant future, I could reuse the name for my own purposes.  I got the green light.

So, here we go!  Wacky Worlds 2026: A Sealed Journey is on!  The basic idea is that players will build a sealed deck and use it in different wacky events, earning points.  The player who earns the most points over the course of the day wins a small prize.

One of the reasons I like to run drafts is because I dislike opening packs without "using" them in some way.  There are some packs that don't really afford opening for drafts (e.g. Collector Boosters) so this is a venue for them to get used.

This post will act as the official Wacky Worlds resource.  I will make updates as necessary.   

 

General Rules:

  • Wacky Worlds is taking place on Saturday, June 13.  

  • Players can arrive as early as 10am and cannot start a new game after 8pm.  

  • Players must wait to open their packs at the event.  They are allowed to bring their own packs (as normal) or get them from me (as normal).  

  • I will have land and sleeves available for players to use.

  • There are sevent different event options: Face the Hydra, Battle the Horde, Defeat a God, Ravnica: Clue, Planechase Eternities Map, Kingdom, and Explorers of Ixalan.  These are all described below.  

  • Players must make a good-faith effort to finish every game.  (E.g., players should not concede a game against a horde deck just because they're in a disadvantageous position.)
     
  • If a player is eliminated from a game but they still have a teammate in the game, they should not start a new game.  Otherwise, it is okay to join a new game with other players.

  • For their sealed pool, players are allowed to use six packs of booster packs, collector boosters (up to 15 cards), draft boosters, set boosters, Jumpstart boosters, and play boosters.  There are some special cases:  (I expect I'll be adding to this list.)
    • Homelands, Fallen Empires, Assassin's Creed Beyond, and March of the Machine: The Aftermath Epilogue and Collector Booster packs each count as a half of a pack. 
    • Starter Deck and Tournament Deck packs each count as three packs. 
    • Ravnica: Clue (Jumpstart) packs each count as two packs.
    • UPDATE (June 5, 2026): Commander booster packs each count as 1.5 packs.  (This includes packs of Commander Legends, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, and Commander Masters.)

  • Players who compete in at least six different event formats earn three bonus points.

  • Players who open six different packs from six different sets earn six bonus points.

  • Players can compete in the same event multiple times, but they can only score points equal to the number of boxes for that event on the score sheet.  If a player participates in an event more than that many times but gets a higher score, they can replace one of their prior scores.

 

Score Sheet.  The image above links to the pdf.


Face the Hydra:  

  • This format supports one to four players.  

  • I have one physical set of these cards for players to use.  If a second group wants to play, they can play using this site.  (I have one iPad that a group can use.)  I think the site is pretty correct.  

  • If the players win, they earn points based on the number of players and number of starting Hydra Heads. 

 

Battle the (Minotaur) Horde: 

  • This format supports one to four players. 

  • I have one physical set of cards for players to use.  If a second group wants to play, they can do so using this site.  (I still only have one iPad that groups can use.)  I think the site is pretty correct.  

  • If the players win, they earn points based on the number of players and base number of spells the horde casts each turn.   

 

Defeat a God: 

  • This format supports one to four players.

  • I have one physical set of cards for players to use.  If a second group wants to play, they can do so using this site.  (Guess how many iPads I have.)  I think this site is pretty correct.

  • If the players win, they earn points based on the number of revelers Xenagos starts with.  

  • This format is considered more difficult than the other two "horde decks" so the point values for winning are higher. 

 

Ravnica: Clue: 

  • This format supports three to five players.  

  • I have three sets of clue cards for players to use, or a group can use this site.  I'm confident that this site works fine.

  • Players start with 25 life.

  • We will use the rule that combat-damage-based suggestions are made at the end of the combat phase.  

  • Players get one point for participating.  The winner gets four points instead. 

  • Before any player makes an accusation, they must wait for all other living players to write down one guess for the solution.  Do not look at the envelope until everyone has written down their guess.  If the accusation is correct, then any living players who guessed correctly earn two points instead of one.

 

Planechase Eternities Map: 

  • This format supports two to four players.

  • I have one set of planechase cards for a group to use.  I do not have all the Universes Beyond planes, but I have a lot of them!

  • If a player moves to a Phenomenon card, then the card resolves and then the group moves to a new plane, which replaces the Phenomenon on the map.

  • Players get one point for participating.  The winner gets four points instead. 

  • If a player is still alive after the game moves to a sixth plane, then that player earns two points if they don't win instead of one. 

 

Kingdom: 

  • This format supports five players at a time.

  • I have one set of cards that a group can use.  Players can also use this site, which is phone-friendly.  (Enough, anyways.)  This site definitely works.   

  • We are not using the original Kingdom cards (King, Knight, 2x Barbarian, Usurper).  This replaces the Usurper with one of four random cards.  All the roles are on the page linked above.

  • Players get one point for playing.  The winner earns four points instead.

  • If a losing player is still alive when the game ends, they earn two points instead of one. 

 

Explorers of Ixalan: 

  • This format supports three to five players at a time.

  • I have one set of tiles that a group can use.  There may be someone bringing a second set of tiles.  

  • Players get one point for playing.  The winner earns three points instead.

  • If a player flips over the tile with the Golden City, then they earn an additional point, whether or not they win. 

 

Grand Prize: 

The player that scores the most points wins a Quantum Riddler and a pack of Journey to Nyx.

Part value, part wackiness, and part matching the Theros-theme.

If two players are tied at the end of the day, because they have the same total sum of points, the tiebreaker will be the one with the higher product of their individual scores.  The second round tie breaker is... the player that played in more events.  If they're still tied... um... the winner is whoever played a card with the higher set number.  (I'm trying real hard not to have a deciding game/match in case one player left the premises earlier.)

 

I hope this answers all your questions!  Let me know if there's something else I need to rule on.  Check back here for updates.

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Sunday, May 24, 2026

Foundations Draft #3 or "Electroduplicate Doesn't Work with That" (WUBRG Drafting)

I made it out to Intergalactic Plastic's draft on Friday night where we drafted Foundations.  In wacky drafts, I'm never disappointed when I open Foundations, so I was excited to get another one in.  There were seven of us in total and the draft went pretty crazy.  A lot of really fun cards came around and I just kept picking them.  I tried a couple of different ideas, but didn't put together a real solid strategy.  Here were all my picks:

Heavy on Red tonight.


I really don't know whether I built well, but here's the deck I put together, "Electroduplicate Doesn't Work with That":

That empty sleeve is the second Electroduplicate, which I had already traded away before I took the picture.  If you want to predict how the rest of this will go, count the creatures that don't work well with Electroduplicate.

 

I realize there was an opportunity for me to use both Hare Apparents with the Electroduplicates, but that didn't come to me at the time.  Is that even good enough?  Maybe not.  The original build I had didn't include both Electrodominances, nor both Shivan Dragons, but this is how it was at the end of the night.  

In the first round I was matched up against "Go Wide Gruul".  I started off the first game with a Fanatical Firebrand and Gleaming Barrier in the first two turns.  My opponent played the first real threat, however, with a Squad Rallier on turn four, followed by a Helpful Hunter.  I cast Kykar, Zephyr Awakener, who doesn't work well with Electroduplicate because it's legendary.  My opponent fished up a Skyknight Squire with the Squad Rallier, and I had to use my Fanatical Firebrand to take it out before it got to be too big of a problem.  They played an Elfsworn Giant, I responded with a Shivan Dragon, but they had Bite Down to take care of that as well as a Banishing Light for Kykar.  We alternated two more creatures each: Angel of Finality from me, a kicked Gnarlid Colony from them, my Spinner of Souls (which Electroduplicate doesn't work well), then their Felidar Savior.  They attacked and I got my Juggernaut in hand from Spinner of Souls and a creature's death.  I played the Juggernaut and Wardens of the Cycle (Electroduplicate doesn't combo with this because the tokens die too late to trigger the Wardens' morbidity) but they got Guarded Heir and then Condemned my Juggernaut on the following turn.  I also cast Tatyova, Benthic Druid (legendary; Electroduplicate doesn't work with it) which they followed up with Cackling Prowler.  I played an Island and drew into Bulk Up.  I had plenty of mana to cast it twice, but they were at 14 and only my Angel of Finality would be able to get in safely.  Instead I cast my Icewind Elemental and drew Ghalta (Electroduplicate doesn't work with it).  With only the Ghalta and Bulk Up in hand, I decided to discard the Bulk Up.  I had enough on the board that I could cast Ghalta for GG.

I think this is the first time I've ever cast a Ghalta for GG.


They played more blockers, but on my next turn I swung in.  They threw a ton at the Ghalta to stay alive, but I still bulked it up and traded with a small army.  

I think these were the best blocks.


I won the following turn with my fliers.

In game two, I got my Gleaming Barrier down on turn two again and my opponent played a Mossborn Hydra immediately.  I played Spinner of Souls, they played Prideful Parent, and then I Imprisioned the Hydra in the Moon.  They played the Guarded Heir and then the Squad Rallier, which I Banished in the Light.  I played my Mild-Mannered Librarian, they played Gnarlid Colony (kicked) and then the next turn their Felidar Savior and the next turn their Sun-Blessed Healer.  They attacked and I was far behind.  I played Ruby (Electroduplicate doesn't work with that), my Shivan Dragon, and Bushwhacked their Felidar Savior all in one turn.  Nevertheless, they attacked and killed me in two more turns.

We were short of time for the third game, so we played much more quickly and I didn't take great notes.  They got the Sun-Blessed Healer out on turn two and never let up.  We went to time but I died only a few turns in.  0-1.

In round two, I was matched up against "Slow Dimir", which was packed with value.  In the first game, I got Ruby out on turn two and swung in a bunch while they used Pilfers to make me discard first my Gleaming Barrier, then Kykar.  I had black cards in hand, but no swamps.  They played Mischievous Mystic on turn four, but I drew into a swamp on turn five and killed it with Tragic Banshee.  (Without flash, the Banshee doesn't combo with Electroduplicate because you can't use the token dying for the morbid.)  The Banshee did work well with Ruby, who started swinging in for more damage.  My opponent played a Dreadwing Scavenger and later Gutless Plunderer, but I was able to keep the pressure on to win.

In game two, my opponent Pilfered my Spinner of Souls on turn two.  I dropped Fanatical Firebrand and then the Mild-Mannered Librarian.  Starting on their turn five they played Soul-Shackled Zombie, then I played Icewind Elemental, then they cast Billowing Shriekmass, thankfully without threshold.  I Electroduplicated the Icewind Elemental (that does work!), swung in, then played Kellan, Planar Trailblazer (Electroduplicate doesn't work with him.)  My opponent played Fleeting Distraction, then Think Twice to give themselves threshold.  I played Kykar and upgraded Kellan but couldn't safely attack.  My opponent played Abyssal Harvester, which threatened to be a real problem.  I cast Electrodominance on the Icewind Elemental again and had a big attack, holding Bulk Up in my hand.  My opponent Pilfered it, then used the Harvester to bring back the Soul-Shackled Zombie.  Thankfully I had enough air support to fly in for the win.  1-1.

In the third round I was up against Golgari "Sacrificial Elves".  Back in the drafting phase, I took an Elvish Archdruid, which they had really wanted to wheel.  (We played much faster this round, so my notes are not as thorough!)  I started game one off well with Mild-Mannered Librarian into Gleaming Barrier, but my opponent dropped their own Mossborn Hydra on turn four.  I dealt with it, but late and they amassed enough other strength to take me out.

Prior to the round starting, my opponent told me they already knew what they were going to side in and got those cards ready.  They added blue, complete with four islands!  The plan worked and the added value really showed up.

I did not keep up.

1-2.

This was not a great showing for me but I still really like this draft format.  I'm still over 500 in Foundations drafts at 5-4.  Other than that, I'm not sure what other lessons I should take away.  

Nevertheless, I had a great time!  I hope I'll get to draft Foundations again.

Happy Magicking, even if Electroduplicate doesn't work with what you're running!  

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Thursday, May 14, 2026

The Clues Come Together in the Chaos (WUBRG Drafting)

I got a group together for a five-player Clue draft last night.  We decided to play starting at 25 life, though we forgot about that until after the game had started.  I actually think 20 would have been fine.  Here's how it all went down.

We had a real good mix of packs for this Wacky Draft:

We had already divvied out the Clue cards.


With five players you reveal and remove three of the room cards before you deal out the Clue cards to all players.  I was dealt Emissary Green, Mastermind Plum, and the Kitchen.  (I didn't start filling out my sheet yet because I like to put the players in turn order.  I waited and then almost forgot to do it afterwards.)

During drafting I did pay attention to mana fixing, but I also had some other priorities.  I pulled Homunculus Horde in pack two, so I looked for ways to draw extra cards and get that trigger.  I also dipped into some life gain combos after getting Pest Mascot later on in that pack.  I got real lucky with vivid cards, though, including the second-to-last pick of Wildvine Pummeler.  Good mana fixing came around late too, including the Bebop and Entish Restoration.  Here were all my picks:

Sadly I didn't get enough Legends to make the Delighted Halfling a powerhouse.


I made cuts pretty quickly and put this deck together.

I had to run the Ruinous Ultimatum, right?


I rolled to go last.  Against me were:

  • P1 playing "American Robots" 
  • P2, running "Orzhov Othello"
  • P3 on "Azorius Merfolk", and
  • P4 with a defensive Jeskai build.

In the first round of turns, P2 cast Dream Beavers to get the only creature on the board.  

In the second round, P1 played Knowledge Seeker, an excellent card for the format.   P2 cast Sanguine Syphoner and then hit P3 with their Beavers.  They guessed Apothecary White, Knife, and Ballroom.  P3 passed.  The case was on!  I ended the round by casting my Delighted Halfling.

On their third turn, P1 played Flaring Cinder, immediately buffing their Knowledge Seeker, which they sent at me.  I didn't want to lose my Halfling yet, so I took the three.  They guessed the same trio: White, Knife, and Ballroom.  I had to pass.  P2 kept up the attack on their turn and hit P4 and me, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room.  I gulped, but P4 revealed a card first so Emissary Green was safe in my hand.  P3 cast Farfinder, P4 cast Brazen Scourge (but didn't attack!), and I cast my Homunculus Horde.  

P1 started the fourth round by playing Gathering Stone, naming Warrior, and immediately getting a card off of it.  (I don't remember what it was.)  Then they hit me with the Knowledge Seeker again, guessing Mustard, Pipe, and the Library.  I passed again, but I had already leaked a ton of information.  P2 attacked and snuck in Oroku Saki to hit P3 and P1.  They guessed Scarlett, Wrench, and Secret Passage.  P3 showed a card.  P3 hit P2 back and guessed everyone's favorite: White, Knife, and Ballroom.  P2 passed.  P3 then dropped a Chitinous Graspling.  P4 also hit P2 and guessed Green, Pipe, and Billiard Room.  P2 passed again.  Then they dropped Tanufel Rimespeaker.  The tide had turned away from me, but I played Dreadwing Scavenger and my Homunculus got a copy, expecting I might get a target from that.  P2 still had lots of life and I could get through on them, so I joined in on the dog pile.  I guessed Peacock, Rope, and Kitchen; P2 passed.  

Somewhere in turn four.


P1 played Oreplate Pangolin on their fifth turn.  P2 cast Leering Onlooker and then hit P3 and P1 again.  They guessed Mustard, Rope, and Kitchen, and P3 showed a card.  P3 played Mondo Gecko but couldn't swing in safely.  P4 cast Kavaron Skywarden and also held off.  (We knew nothing about their hand yet!)  I attacked with my bird, which doubled my Homunculuses to 4.  I hit P1 and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Study.  He showed me the Wrench.  I played Larval Scoutlander and tapped three of my Homunculuses and the Halfling to immediately fully station it.  Although I had picked up the Archenemy mantle, P4 was still way ahead on relative Clue-knowledge.

On the sixth turn, P1 played Hovel Hurler and Burdened Stoneback.  They attacked but didn't get through.  The Gathering Stone had been packing their graveyard, however, so they were able to Collect Evidence 6 and made a guess on everyone: Scarlett, Candlestick, and Conservatory.  P2 passed, but P3 revealed a card.  P2 cast Bile-Vial Boggart and Dream Seizer, then hit P1.   They guessed Peacock, Wrench, and Study.  P1 showed a card (maybe the Wrench?)  P4 cast Tablet of Discovery and continued to hold back.  I realized I couldn't just keep doubling my Homunculuses or everyone would start swinging in to me.  I attacked, but sent some of my horde to their death so that I was attacking everyone.  They still doubled at the beginning of combat.  Out of all the attacks, I only hit P1.  I guessed White, Pipe, and Kitchen.  P1 passed.  I cast Squawkroaster and Foraging Wickermaw and ended the turn with six Homunculuses.  I also had lands to generate two white, one red, and one black (among other colors).  There's no reason that's important.

At this point people were talking about being close to solving the murder.  I did not feel that way.  I don't know if that's because I was too busy taking notes and not analyzing the situation, but there was still a lot of empty space on my sheet.  I had deduced very little.

The seventh round of turns started and P1 dropped Sourbread Auntie and then Collected Evidence 6 again and guessed White, Pipe, and Library.  P2 immediately showed them a card.  P2 continued the gravy train and also Collected Evidence 6 to guess Plum, Pipe, and Lounge.  P3 and P4 passed so I had to show Mastermind Plum to P2.  I took my treasure token.  P3 played Honorbound Page then hit P2 and guessed Mustard, Wrench, and Secret Passage.  P2 showed a card.  P4 played Stone of Erech, really good at slowing down players using their graveyards to make guesses.  They cast Temporal Cleansing on my bird, ending my combo with the Homunculus Horde (I put it second from the top) and finally Collected Evidence 6 themselves to guess White, Knife, and Kitchen.  I showed them the Kitchen and took another treasure token.  White, White, Red, Black, Foraging Wickermaw for another Red and then my two treasures: I cast the Ruinous Ultimatum that had been in my hand all game.  P4 immediately used the Stone of Erech against me, dumping my graveyard.  With a clean board, I hit everyone with creatures.  I guessed White, Rope, and Secret Passage.  P1 passed and P2 showed me the Secret Passage.  I ended my turn, but everyone was still at above ten life.  I didn't want to kill anyone because I figured I would lose the Clue battle.

The unexpected downside of that play was that everyone now had a full graveyard.  To start off the eighth round, P1 Collected Evidence 6 for Mustard, Candlestick, and Lounge.  P2 showed a card right off the bat.  P2 killed my Scoutlander and then Collected Evidence 6 for Green, Wrench, and Study.  P3 passed but P4 showed a card, saving me from having to reveal Emissary Green.  P3 also Collected Evidence 6, guessing White, Candlestick, and Study.  P4 showed another card.  P4 cast Kinbinding and also Collected Evidence 6 for White, Pipe, and Ballroom.  Pass, pass, pass... pass.  Thankfully there was a bluff in there.  They spent their accusation and guessed White, Pipe, and Billiard Room.  The checked the envelope... incorrect!  I took my turn and played the Dreadwing Scavenger again to put my Homunculus count to 12.  I was pretty confident about Apothecary White and the Pipe, but I didn't know between the Ballroom, Lounge, and Study.  (I should have been able to rule out the Ballroom, but I didn't realize that yet.)  I didn't think many people knew that I held Mastermind Plum, so I hit everyone with creatures to guess Plum, Pipe, and Lounge.  (I didn't have a weapon to cover up that guess.)  All four of my opponents passed!  It was the Lounge.  I accused White, Pipe, Lounge, and was correct.  I won!

I know I got lucky in this game.  I got the Scavenger with the Horde at just the right time so I could start doubling them.  If I hadn't had all those Homunculuses, I couldn't have been attacking to make two wide guesses at the end.  I also got super lucky with the two treasures right in time to cast the Ultimatum.  Finally, I got lucky that things lined up so I could solve the murder right at the end.  

It sounded like if I hadn't won, it would have been won by any of the next three players.  Whew!

Here are my takeaways:

  • I think 20 life is probably best with five players.  No one was in any danger of losing to life loss, which might have been different if we'd all had 20 instead of 25.  I still like 25 for four players and I'm not sure for three players.
  • We didn't make any mistakes this time!  The last two clue drafts had had a mistake on each of them, which changed who won.  I'm not sure what we did that prevented an issue this time.  I said at the beginning that I wanted to be very deliberate with resolving guesses, but I'm not sure I actually did anything to slow us down and be more careful.
  • On that note, it was really helpful that I was taking notes about each guess.  Many times people asked me what had just been asked.   
  • This is my favorite format and I don't know why.  I like big multiplayer games, but why this Clue thing specifically?  I'm not even particularly good at the Clue part!  I think it's because the game doesn't go too long and anyone can pull out a win in the end.  It also does work really well with chaos drafting.

Happy Magicking and Murder-solving! 

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