IvoryTower
@1vorytower.bsky.social
EDH enthusiast and recovering PhD. Decks: https://www.moxfield.com/users/IvoryTower
Totally fair. I feel like my sense of the set being “too much” is summed up by the doubling (quadrupling?) up on all the clan leaders. Two Uremis, two Eshkis all pulling at different things. Multiplied by all 5 clans. A smidge more focus, and maybe it edges out Edge for me.
December 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Totally fair. I feel like my sense of the set being “too much” is summed up by the doubling (quadrupling?) up on all the clan leaders. Two Uremis, two Eshkis all pulling at different things. Multiplied by all 5 clans. A smidge more focus, and maybe it edges out Edge for me.
Hearthhull is doing a lot of work there. But in the head to head with Dragonstorm, what I think I’m mainly feeling is that there was SO MUCH happening in Tarkir that never grabbed me. More swings, more misses, whereas I feel like EOE played in more unique design space.
December 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Hearthhull is doing a lot of work there. But in the head to head with Dragonstorm, what I think I’m mainly feeling is that there was SO MUCH happening in Tarkir that never grabbed me. More swings, more misses, whereas I feel like EOE played in more unique design space.
But meanwhile (and this was my chicken or egg bit), gating something behind 3 colors is also helpful for keeping something from becoming a standard or commander staple. So you more often wind up with powerful Grixis legends than Rakdos/Dimir/Izzet ones.
December 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
But meanwhile (and this was my chicken or egg bit), gating something behind 3 colors is also helpful for keeping something from becoming a standard or commander staple. So you more often wind up with powerful Grixis legends than Rakdos/Dimir/Izzet ones.
There’s a bit of a chicken or the egg thing going on here, but: Grixis has become WOTC shorthand for “calculating or chaotic evil,” so it becomes a thematic fit for many UB property villains. But once you make something 3 colors, you have to make it powerful to justify the fixing for limited.
December 1, 2025 at 1:13 PM
There’s a bit of a chicken or the egg thing going on here, but: Grixis has become WOTC shorthand for “calculating or chaotic evil,” so it becomes a thematic fit for many UB property villains. But once you make something 3 colors, you have to make it powerful to justify the fixing for limited.
I went back and forth on the top 2, which is itself amazing since I had no prior association with ATLA and a relatively long history with FF. Ultimately I gave FF the edge only because I built more decks from it, but if ATLA had been out for a comparably long period of time, who knows.
December 1, 2025 at 5:15 AM
I went back and forth on the top 2, which is itself amazing since I had no prior association with ATLA and a relatively long history with FF. Ultimately I gave FF the edge only because I built more decks from it, but if ATLA had been out for a comparably long period of time, who knows.
It would be interesting to ask people what they *think* the order will be going into the year compared to where they wind up at year’s end, because I never would have guessed my top picks this time last year.
Final Fantasy
Avatar
Edge of Eternities
Dragonstorm
Aetherdrift
Spider-Man
Final Fantasy
Avatar
Edge of Eternities
Dragonstorm
Aetherdrift
Spider-Man
December 1, 2025 at 5:08 AM
It would be interesting to ask people what they *think* the order will be going into the year compared to where they wind up at year’s end, because I never would have guessed my top picks this time last year.
Final Fantasy
Avatar
Edge of Eternities
Dragonstorm
Aetherdrift
Spider-Man
Final Fantasy
Avatar
Edge of Eternities
Dragonstorm
Aetherdrift
Spider-Man
I mean, to be fair, it’s a 4 mana counterspell on a body with summoning sickness, so it feels like the dude should try a little harder or at least not show up to the party hungover… wait, no, actually that also sounds like Ertai.
November 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I mean, to be fair, it’s a 4 mana counterspell on a body with summoning sickness, so it feels like the dude should try a little harder or at least not show up to the party hungover… wait, no, actually that also sounds like Ertai.
Feels like the Commander’s Herald would take a guest column for this segment in a heart beat: commandersherald.com/what-would-t...
What Would They Play? Rasputin's EDH Deck! | Commander's Herald
Charlie and Dan answer the question: What if the famous Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin played EDH?
commandersherald.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Feels like the Commander’s Herald would take a guest column for this segment in a heart beat: commandersherald.com/what-would-t...
The best part of Brawl for commander players is that it lets you rapidly iterate on deckbuilding choices with real world resistance. The worst part is that it will turn you into a stone cold killer who thinks it’s okay to Stifle fetch lands.
November 29, 2025 at 1:20 PM
The best part of Brawl for commander players is that it lets you rapidly iterate on deckbuilding choices with real world resistance. The worst part is that it will turn you into a stone cold killer who thinks it’s okay to Stifle fetch lands.
Many appear to be from the Jumpstart product.
November 28, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Many appear to be from the Jumpstart product.
Somewhat incredible that the Post is at pains to insist that it is. “But you see, it’s only five football fields away if you’re a bird or capable of walking through buildings.”
November 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Somewhat incredible that the Post is at pains to insist that it is. “But you see, it’s only five football fields away if you’re a bird or capable of walking through buildings.”
Going to give a shoutout here to @maustermuhle.bsky.social and @51st.news for doing that exact work in the DC market.
November 27, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Going to give a shoutout here to @maustermuhle.bsky.social and @51st.news for doing that exact work in the DC market.
Maryland remains the bluest of blue states despite Larry Hogan’s recent existence as governor. That Virginia’s gubernatorial elections trail the presidential cycle by a single year also produces unusual voting patterns.
November 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Maryland remains the bluest of blue states despite Larry Hogan’s recent existence as governor. That Virginia’s gubernatorial elections trail the presidential cycle by a single year also produces unusual voting patterns.
How do we feel about adding in every conceivable form of fetch land, even the Evolving Wilds and the like? With a high enough density of earthbending options, the ability to double up on every sacrifice is just so tempting.
November 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
How do we feel about adding in every conceivable form of fetch land, even the Evolving Wilds and the like? With a high enough density of earthbending options, the ability to double up on every sacrifice is just so tempting.
Even with this framing up front, I truly wasn’t prepared for what I was about to see when I opened the video.
November 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Even with this framing up front, I truly wasn’t prepared for what I was about to see when I opened the video.
Constantly thinking about the episode of Nickelodeon’s Doug where Quailman slows the rotation of the Earth to create a new 3rd weekend day, Funday.
November 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Constantly thinking about the episode of Nickelodeon’s Doug where Quailman slows the rotation of the Earth to create a new 3rd weekend day, Funday.
Doesn’t it seem like we should reach Omashu after encountering more generic Earth Nation stories? Well, maybe, but the point of the episode is mostly to introduce Bumi. The needs of production, in other words, get to take priority over world building. Which, for what it is, seems okay by me. 3/3
November 16, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Doesn’t it seem like we should reach Omashu after encountering more generic Earth Nation stories? Well, maybe, but the point of the episode is mostly to introduce Bumi. The needs of production, in other words, get to take priority over world building. Which, for what it is, seems okay by me. 3/3
The episodes tend to be tightly bottled, since a kid might not catch every episode in order. I wonder if this looseness wasn’t passed on to the writing and animation teams. There isn’t any reason that the episode with Jet (Fire Nation village) needs to precede the one with Earth Nation refugees. 2/3
November 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The episodes tend to be tightly bottled, since a kid might not catch every episode in order. I wonder if this looseness wasn’t passed on to the writing and animation teams. There isn’t any reason that the episode with Jet (Fire Nation village) needs to precede the one with Earth Nation refugees. 2/3
This is perhaps partly tied to something @golgariglenross.bsky.social caught last week: that as a show for kids, geography is consciously downplayed, to the point that almost place names are generic. But there’s maybe a related narrative logic at work. 1/3
bsky.app/profile/golg...
bsky.app/profile/golg...
Interesting bit of worldbuilding in this universe: there are very few place-names, everything is descriptive. Republic City, Fire Nation Capital. Accessible to a young audience by not having an impenetrable wall of proper nouns to learn.
this card is absurd in the best possible way
November 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This is perhaps partly tied to something @golgariglenross.bsky.social caught last week: that as a show for kids, geography is consciously downplayed, to the point that almost place names are generic. But there’s maybe a related narrative logic at work. 1/3
bsky.app/profile/golg...
bsky.app/profile/golg...
He has senior status, so he was already replaced by an Obama appointee. Permanently retiring does not create a new vacancy.
November 15, 2025 at 3:06 PM
He has senior status, so he was already replaced by an Obama appointee. Permanently retiring does not create a new vacancy.
In the 99, it feels significantly better in cEDH, where your opponents don’t always drop early creatures and where you can see way more noncreature spells cast consecutively. The lower power you go, the less likely it is that this would generate more than a handful of cabbages, err, food tokens.
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
In the 99, it feels significantly better in cEDH, where your opponents don’t always drop early creatures and where you can see way more noncreature spells cast consecutively. The lower power you go, the less likely it is that this would generate more than a handful of cabbages, err, food tokens.
Was this your doing or the bar’s?! Bummed I can’t make it 😭
November 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Was this your doing or the bar’s?! Bummed I can’t make it 😭
I’d been contemplating the Temur allies concept from this deckbuilding challenge a little ways back as a fun shell, but completely blew past this Mai and Zuko until now. 🤔 edhrec.com/articles/dec...
Deckbuilding Contest Finalists - July 2025 | EDHREC
The July Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest finalists are here. Come see which three Commander brewers created the coolest sideboards.
edhrec.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:25 AM
I’d been contemplating the Temur allies concept from this deckbuilding challenge a little ways back as a fun shell, but completely blew past this Mai and Zuko until now. 🤔 edhrec.com/articles/dec...