The Planeswalker's Stronghold

Modern on the Horizon for Arena

2023-08-14T13:34:00.001-04:00

The fine folks at arena, amongst other things, announced at GenCon a couple of very impactful upcoming changes for the client. The first I want to discuss today, is that they plan to have "tournament Pioneer" completed on Arena by the end of the 2024 calendar year. I believe this will culminate with Pioneer Horizons in December of 2024. Additionally, the announced that Modern Horizons 3 would be a fully supported release on Arena, and I feel it is most likely the Summer set for 2024. These two announcements, I believe, lay the framework for Modern to come to Arena in much the same way Explorer has brought us Pioneer. This article is a companion piece for my YouTube video on the subject.

With the fringe Modern sets numbering 36 (to the Explore 14 at announcement), it may certainly take a while to have the entirety available on Arena. Thus I believe that will start with the most played cards, and I have assembled a list of potential high impact decks. This include the Top 5 most played decks before and after the release of LotR, the 5 most budget friendly builds in the format, deck archetypes easily built from the resulting card pool.

Rakdos Scam
Merktide
5C Control
Creativity
Living End
MonoRed or Boros Burn or Aggro
MonoGreen Tron
Temur Rhino
8 Whack
Gruul Breach
MonoGreen Stompy
HammerTime
Callab Blast
Gruul Aggro
Affinity

By analyzing these lists, and backing out low hanging fruit like the Fetch and Tron lands, and cards likely to be added to Pioneer, I was able to compile a list of cards needed to create this rough 20 decks. A surprisingly short list at that.

Maindeck Cards 54

Ancient Stirrings

Arcbound Ravager

Architects of Will

Archon of Cruelty

Autochthon Wurm

Calibrated Blast

Cranial Plating

Crashing Footfalls

Dauthi Voidwalker

Daybreak Coronet

Dead // Gone

Desert

Dismember

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Endurance

Fire // Ice

Flame Slash

Fury

Gemstone Caverns

Goblin Bushwhacker

Goblin Guide

Grief

Grinding Station

Groundbreaker

Grove of the Burnwillows

Hexdrinker

Hyena Umbra

Inkmoth Nexus

Kaldra Compleat

Lava Spike

Living End

Manamorphose

Memnite

Mogg Fanatic

Mogg War Marshal

Murktide Regent

Prismatic Ending

Puresteel Paladin

Rancor

Rift bolt

Scion of Draco

Searing Blaze

Shardless Agent

Shriekhorn

Slippery Bogle

Sojourner's Companion

Subtlety

Terminate

Thoughcast

Thunderous Wrath

Treetop Village

Urza's Saga

Welding Jar

Wrenn and Six

Sideboard Cards 37

Blood Moon

Chalice of the Void

Collector Ouphe

Crime // Punishment

Deglamer

Dress Down

Engineered Explosives

Etched Champion

Exquisite Firecraft

Flusterstorm

Force of Vigor

Foundation Breaker

Gaddock Teeg

Gut Shot

Kitchen Finks

Magus of the Moon

Nature's Claim

Noxious Revival

Obsidian Charmaw

Path to Exile

Sanctifier en-Vec

Smash to Smithereens

Sundering Titan

Terastodon

Thrun, the Last Troll

Torpor Orb

Void Mirror

Clearly this is a very short list to establish 20 playable decks in a new format, and could easily be accomplished in a single set. Who knows how much the 10 draftable archetypes in Modern Horizons 3 could add or overlap. When Explorer was announced, most creators recommended between 5-10 decks, so we are talking about a format at least twice it's size, with minimal efforts.

Phase Three of the Stronghold's Development

2023-07-29T06:55:00.000-04:00

Proof of Concept:

Leverage old Laptop out of storage
Learning about production
Reach 100 Subscribers on YouTube
Explore different content options
Video capture is terrible

Phase One:

Upgrade Production Hardware with a $1000 Capital Investment in Production PC, audio quality remains an opportunity.
Reach 500 Subscribers on YouTube
Explore options to broaden the community across multiple platforms
Double down on MidWeek Magic as audience development vehicle
Focus and refine branding to new sets and Budget content

Phase Two:

Add Aetherhub as a deck storage resource, and outlet for content.
Relaunch Blogger as a Behind-the-Scenes style outlet, to free up YouTube for mainstream content
Launch Twitch as Live Play outlet, and a way to record more varied content.
Leverage old phone into a webcam.
Add a second monitor, boom mic and cam mount with $200 Capital Investment
Explore Facebook, as additional outlet for content, and community outreach and growth.
Reach 1000 subscribers on YouTube

Hello, and Welcome to Phase Three!

In short, Phase Three is all about the continued growth of the Stronghold community, and allowing the platform to become financially self-sufficient. Having reached monetization on YouTube is certainly a big step, but initial trending estimates it will only address about 25% of the ongoing costs of the community overhead. This will necessitate exploring other revenue options.

Generate enough revenue to address all community overhead.
Launch new graphics to better integrate personal branding on the channel.
Implement a value packed Patreon offering, with the first $1 of each pledge going towards channel overhead, and a firm commitment that all funds contributed will go towards channel development. Further more, I want Patrean to introduce new value, not shift existing resources behind a pay-wall.
Double down on Twitch, with a firm commitment to a fixed scheduled broadcast each weekday Producing more content for other outlets, and a median goal of reaching Affiliate status. The primary hurdle here is 50 followers. This will create another revenue source, but I have no estimate as to it's impact.
Securing $100 in capital for promotional code giveaways, to help promote the communities growth, and give Patreon time to develop. Research the best options to secure codes for promotional use.
Actively converting MidWeek Magic content, and it's viewer momentum to topics with more appeal and reach after the events end.
Explore Discord as a way to build the community, and possible incentive for Patreon support, but providing value to the community at all levels, not just those pledging.
Explore Reddit, as additional outlet for content, and community outreach and growth.
Explore the option of a community branded Store front, with the profit sharing to the attached artists. Strongholds profit shares going to promotion?
Explore different posting schedules for YouTube and other outlets, to maximize reach.
Accept the possibility of a Go-Fund-Me style drive, if a capital expenditure is necessitated beyond the scope of Patreon support. I see no such need as we launch Stage Three, as production equipment should continue to meet expected needs.
Free up production storage by leveraging unreleased content for Patreon supporters, and teaser outreach. May be pushed to Phase Four
Leverage old laptop into expanded storage for Production PC?
Evaluate affiliate viabilities?
Develope Captial needs/plan for Phase Four
Reimagine office for better shooting
Continue to grow Aetherhub with minimum one deck per week
Post more(?) on Blogger, for behind the scenes access and Patreon crossovers
Can paper Magic be leveraged as a source of capital growth, and/or new content?

Upgraded trade binder
Casual deck
Dandan deck?
Cube?
Commander deck?

Unreleased Limited & Live Play Footage +Twitch Schedule

2023-07-21T16:28:00.000-04:00

I am very pleased to enact something which had been on the drawing boards for some time now. My entire backlog of unreleased Limited & Live Play is being uploaded to the web for my Acolyte and higher Patrons. This is a massive project, representing dozens of files, and over 10GB of footage. I am uploading it in stages, by topic and I anticipate it will be caught up by the end of July. This will also relieve a lot of strain on my production, which only supports 50gb for the Stronghold.

For more information on our Patreon options

Accompanying this move, is a renewed commitment to my Twitch streaming, which will now be daily Monday through Friday, usually at 11am EST. The exception will be Tuesday, which I will stream at approximately 5p, EST and kick off the MidWeek Magic event. Footage recorded through Twitch, will continue to be available there for approximately 7 days. Start times are approximate, as life happens, but I will make every effort to be as timely as possible.

For more information on our Twitch channel

Monday: Rise & Grind with a focus on Budget Deck testing
Tuesday (5pm EST): MidWeek Magic on Giveaway account, see the progress
Wednesday: MidWeek Magic w/ Primary account, the most powerful version
Thursday: Wrap-up Midweek Magic with my Newest F2P account
Friday: Rise & Grind with a focus on Budget Deck testing

I will host a JumpIn themed mass stream the first Saturday after each Standard set release, in which I will do all of budgeted JumpIn events and talk about the packs in real time.

New sets will be featured in a Quick Draft event on the first Saturday after Quick Draft is made available on the client. A portion of each sets budget, will be reserved so that a Quick Draft can be recorded each remaining month until the next set is released. These will be planned for the first Saturday of the new month in which the Quick Draft format is offered. Premier Drafting for each set will be hosted ASAP between the JumpIn and Quick Draft events.

The details of the special Limited events, including a more exact schedule will be released through our Facebook page.

Free&D Simplified Pantheon

2022-12-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

WotC, faulted or not, have provided a plethora of copyrighted worlds to be enjoyed by Players and DMs alike. Each of these, more often than not, comes along with it's own Pantheon of Deities, ranging from 4th additions simplified list, to expansive multi edition models.

"Each world in the D&D multiverse has its own pantheons of deities. This appendix deals with one pantheon, that of the Forgotten Realms. Dozens of deities are revered, worshiped, and feared throughout the world of the Forgotten Realms. At least thirty deities are widely known across the Realms, and many more are worshiped locally, by individual tribes, small cults, or certain sects of larger religious temples." -2018 Basic Rules, Appendix B

What do you really need to run your campaign?

Well, to be honest not much. If you have a divine player in the party, they most likely will choose a Deity with which they associate. Even if you don't have a divine player in your group, and perhaps more importantly if you don't, the parties Homebase would not be complete without a friendly NPC capable of offering divine assistance. In either situation, this will most likely be your focal "Good Guy " Diety.

Gaea, the "Earth Mother"

This name appears in both IRL, and in Robert E. Howard's pulp fiction classic, Hyborian Age setting, better known as Conan. Both base sources have aged out of copyright consideration, so as long as you don't borrow heavily from other's work, you should be in the clear to include these in your setting.

Model Alignment: Neutral Good

Spheres of Influence: life, nature, agriculture, peace, halflings, family, beasts, spring

Other Names: Chantea ("Mother Nature", Osiris, Eldath, Yondalla[halflings], Freya, Hathor, Jannath), could also represent Tatania, Queen of the Seelie Court.

The default cleric in the Basic Rules, is the Life domain cleric, and it is the cleric you are likely to see most often from the average player group. It's focus on healing also makes it a fine choice for the "friendly local helper" NPC for a homebase, offering a variety of help, information, and hooks.

Dark Powers (Ravenloft)

Strictly speaking, your campaign does not need to have an "evil" deity, but it is often and early addition to a campaign setting. They (and they're resulting "cult" followers) make for easy "bad" guys, especially at lower tiers of play, but even at the highest planar spanning levels of the game. Free content brings a number of my favorite options.

Tiamat: Dragon Queen

Model Alignment: Lawful Evil

Spheres of Influence: arcane, Trickery, Chromatic Dragons, war

Other Names: Tekhesis [Dragonlance]

Supporting sources:

Monsters Compendium 2, distributed Free December 5th, 2022 as part of the Holiday Adventure Calendar

Vecna

Model Alignment: Neutral Evil

Sphers of Influence: knowledge, magic, secrets, evil, destruction

Orcus

Model Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Sphers of Influence: undead, underworld, fire

Other Names: demon prince (Hades, Anubis, Keeper)

Keep on the Shadowfell

Nonhuman Deities Certain gods closely associated with nonhuman races are revered on many different worlds, though not always in the same way. The nonhuman races of the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk share these deities. Nonhuman races often have whole pantheons of their own. Besides Moradin, for example, the dwarf gods include Moradin’s wife, Berronar Truesilver, and a number of other gods thought to be their children and grandchildren: Abbathor, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Dugmaren Brightmantle, Dumathoin, Gorm Gulthyn, Haela Brightaxe, Marthammor Duin, Sharindlar, Thard, Harr, and Vergadain. Individual clans and kingdoms of dwarves might revere some, all, or none of these deities, and some have other gods unknown (or known by other names) to outsiders. -2018 Basic Rules, Appendix B

Oberon Corellon Larethian [Elves] CG sellie fey, art, arcane, war, knowledge

Angharradh [elves] (Selune (Sehanine[elves]), Sune (Hanali[elves], Aphrodite), Akadi (Aerdrie[elves])) "King of the Elves" CG elves, air, beauty, life, light, love, knowledge, moon

Lliira (Titania[elves]) CG joy, life, fey

Mystra (Hala[Ravenloft]) NG knowledge, arcane

Azuth LN Knowledge, wizards

Savras LN Knowledge, fate

Oghma (Ioun, Waukeen) N knowledge, trade, trickery

Denier NG knowledge, writing
Gond N knowledge, craft
Milil NG light, art

Mordin (Crom[Conan]) N, dwarves, giants, smiths, knowledge, miners, earth

Morninglord[Ravenloft] (Pholtus, Andral, Pelor, Mithra, Mitra(Conan), Lathander, Authanter, Ra) NG, birth, life, light, sun, summer

Dark Powers [Ravenloft] LN in

Asmodeus (Bane) LE War, Strife

Bhaal NE death, murder

Loviatar LE death, pain
Talona (Zehir, Sseth, Typhon) CE death, disease, poison, trickery, snakes
Maglubiyet NE goblinoids, war, trickery

Shar (Queen of Air & Darkness[Unseelie Fey], Ibrandul, Mother of Night [Ravenloft]) NE darkness, arcane(Illusion), murder, death, loss

Mask (Leira) CN, trickery, thieves

Silvanus (Forest Father, Silas) N Nature, wilds

Eldath NG Life, Nature, pools, waterfalls, peace
Gruumsh (Talos, Umberlee, Neptune, Poseidon, Eadro, Melora, Devourer) CN/E tempest, war, orcs, storms, seas, merfolk, sailors
Malar (Beast Lord , “wolf god”, Zhakata [Ravenloft]) CN/E hunt, nature, lycanthropes
Mielikki NG forests, nature

Tempus (Thor) N, war, fighters

Beshaba

Torm (Odin, Aslan) LG courage, justice, law war

Cuthbert (Bahamut, Helm, Paladine [Dragonlance], LG Metallic dragons, War, guardians, light, protection, life
Tyr LG war, justice

Ilmater LG Life endurance

Minor Powers, Patrons

Raven Queen (Auril, Badb(Conan), Morrigan(Conan), Hel, Jadis, Wee Jas, White Witch) LN, death, fate, winter, ravens and crows.

Tymora (Avandra, Tyche, Brandobaris [halflings])) CG, luck, trickery

Archfey, Baba Yaga

Free&D Gifts from WotC

2022-12-06T08:07:00.002-05:00

WotC doesn't always give a lot of support for the Free&D players out there, but December looks like it's going to shape up pretty well for us. Thanks WotC, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Make sure to check out the December One D&D drop featuring an interesting update to the Cleric class, as well as updated "species" (aka we don't call it Race anymore) options.
Even more exciting we have seen the launch of the D&D Adventure Calendar for 2022

5th Dragonlance Monster Compendium. 5 Creatures, 3 Cultures, 2 NPCs, and a Magic item all added in a compact D&D Beyond Freebie. A full half of the additions are Tier1, so this really offers a lot for everyone. I am particularly looking forward to using the Traag in my campaigns, as Dragonborn are pretty rare in my worlds. Verminaard and Ember make interesting BBEG, right out of the box, as Tiamat and her cult followers are already prominent parts of our Pantheon.

Zombies: Classic Spooky Content

2022-10-31T09:00:00.007-04:00

The fine folk at WotC were kind enough to give us a single encounter with just the right Spooky theme for Halloween, Drowned Sailors!

This is a very simple encounter, intended to be an introduction to the larger story arch of Storm Wreck Isle. They distributed it free, so we can use what is presented. We always look to get more content than they intended.

Stormwreck Isle Map

Probably the best part of this roughly 4 page freebie, is the map. It shows the jagged 5 mile island, just of the coast of what I resume to be the Sword Coast, and the only identifiable land mark is the High Road. This allows us to place this bit of Geography as we please, but I suppose the intended location is just south of Neverwinter, near Helms Hold. The island itself appears to be mostly rocky peaks, with little vegetation and is described as a center of conflict between chromatic and metallic dragons.

"Ages ago, metallic dragons imprisoned a rampaging red dragon beneath the ocean floor. But the red dragon’s fury caused the undersea volcanic activity that formed Stormwreck Isle, the island on which Dragon’s Rest stands. The imprisoned dragon’s powerful magic has left a permanent mark on Stormwreck Isle. That magic draws other dragons to the island, making it a recurring battlefield. The spiritual scars of dragons who have died there give rise to monsters and unpredictable magic."

Drawing on the Red Dragon Lair description in the Basic Rules, we find number of interesting implications for this island.

Small earthquakes are common within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair.
Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally warm and tainted by sulfur.
Rocky fissures within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair form portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire, allowing creatures of elemental fire into the world to dwell nearby.

Earthquakes make interesting, if minor environmental hazards mid combat, or as the adventurers travel across the small island. The Elemental implications are perhaps the most interesting. I really like the idea of a Cult of Kobolds attempting to free the Ancient Red Dragon, as it gives an opportunity for NPC development and Background for the Dragon. Tiamat's minions are everywhere!

Kolbold Racial Modifiers suggestions for use on NPC Stat Blocks, or adding themed modifiers to the Kobold Stat Block all from the Basic Rules

+2 Dex, opt for ranged weapons
Darkvision 60ft
Pack Tactics advantage on attacks when an ally is adjacent

Fire Elementals from the Basic Rules (Challenge Rating)

Azer (2)
Effreti (11)
Fire Elemental (5)
Magma Mephit (1/2)
Magmin (1/2)
Salamander (5)
Steam Mephit (1/4)

Adding Fire Elemental Flare to mundane Beasts or NPCs

add spell like attack options like Firebolt, Heat Metal can be nasty!
normal natural or weapon attacks could be altered to deal fire damage instead or in addition to their other normal types. This is an empowerment of the user, and should not leave "flame blessed" recoverable magical weapons on the battlefield...unless you want that, perhaps a s a short term effect?
Use Fire Genasi (from Elemental Evil Players Companion) over other races for natives

+1 Inteligence
Darkvision 60ft
Fire Resistance
"You know the produce flame cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell once with this trait as a 1st-level spell, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells."

Lava (1d6/round) and earthquakes (save/check vs. prone) make thematic environmental hazards around the battlefield, and can be used in conjunction to great effect.

Locations:

Clifftop Observatory Southeast tip of the Island

Dragons Rest

Described as an open air temple, on the cliffs overlooking the calm harbor on the north side of the island, and featuring a Statue of a wizened man surrounded by seven song birds. This has all the marks of a Temple of Bahamut, and it's clerics are most likely charged with safeguarding the magic imprisoning the Red Dragon bellow the Sea. Have they noticed a small gathering of Kobolds moving about the island? Is one of the Clerics a polymorphed Silver Dragon aspect of one of Bahamut's bird?

Seagrove Caves Western shore, middle of the island

Wreck of the Compass Rose Northernmost tip of the island

Pregenerated Characters:

These are pretty standard faire, but may deserve future development as long term NPCs

LG Dwarf(Hill) Soldier Cleric

NG Elf(Wood) Folk Hero Fighter

LG Human Noble Paladin

CG Halfling(Lightfoot) Criminal Rogue

NG Elf(High) Sage Wizard

Named NPC

Elder Runara she appears to be a leader with Dragons Rest, and deserves further development

Everything Else:

I intended this to be a Spooky themed Article about a Zombie encounter, but the Elemental nature of the island has proven to be the most interesting part this freebie from Wizards of the Coast. The combat encounter is fairly basic, and does provide a Stat Block for Zombies. In addition, there is a handout for Spells, which is nice for newer players, and there are some good tips for new DMs on how to properly run the encounter. All in all, this doesn't do anything for us which the Basic Rules doesn't already provide.

Merchant, Tradepost: Mearcis Pervay

2022-10-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

Mearcis is a middle aged male which I most often cast as a Halfling, but occasionally as a Tiefling in less traditional settings in which I really want to telegraph the "bad news" vibe. He plays the part of a very respectable looking merchant. His base clothing is sturdy and well made shirt and pants, with shoes which were once very fine, but now are rather worn but clean and polished. He wears a fancy waste coat, taking it off only if manual labor is called for, and replaces it as soon as such work is finished. A casual observer will note a gold watch chain affixed to the coat. The affixed watch appear to be of very good quality, and can be set once per day so that it "chimes" the next time the user is told a lie. He wears a signet ring, with an symbol no one will recognize, and he will speak of a known, but distant land and his mother who was the 3rd daughter of a major trading house, alas little of the family fortune and influence found it's way to him, and he has made his way here to start his fortune.

He is the owner and proprietor of the Dunbar Trade-post, but has only recently arrived in town. Dunbar was his absentee father, and recently passed, and Mearcis has claimed the business as his unexpected inheritance. He traveled to this edge of the frontier, leaving behind some unfortunate financial matters, which he is sure will catch up to him sooner or later. He hoped for some quick cash to settle his affairs, before they settle him, but most of his fathers wealth appears to tied up in the considerable inventory of the business. He simply hopes to convert enough of it to cash to avert disaster, or at the very least keep ahead of it.

The trade-post itself is a sturdy building, painted off-white, but whose age is beginning to show. The main room is cramped, with a L shaped counter, and the remaining walls "stacked" with larger merchandise. The ceiling is high, and a balcony can be seen above the storeroom, which is where his personal quarters are located. This is a simple sleeping loft with little more than the most basic of furnishings, and a ceiling so low, it would be nearly impossible for anyone but a halfling to move about. counter weighted stairs behind the sales counter lead to the loft, abut are always in the up position unless in use. The store room is nearly 3x the size of the shop, though only a portion is topped by the apartment. An observant PC will notice that the store room has been added on to several times, speaking to the prosperity of the business over the years. Despite it's considerable size and high ceilings, it is filled to the brim with crates, barrels and sacks of all sorts. Mearcis himself only has a vague idea of his inventory. A trap door is easily spotted by anyone behind the counter, leading to a roughed out cellar, where food stores would be kept cool. If a PC were to go down, that would find halfling low ceilings, and a high Perception or investigation would reveal that the dirt walls have recently been dug out to a rough circle nearly 20 foot in diameter, and that the crates and shelves (mostly empty) have all been pushed and dragged around the edge, creating an open space. Further investigation would reveal that one of the crates is actually a folding latter, recently built, which extends to 12 feet in length. In start contrast to the roughly 5ft tall room. If discovered and inquired, Mearcis will casually explain that it is to paint the building, but the paint won't arrive for several weeks, and it was put down here to be out of the way. The cellars size, shape, and the odd latter are in fact the only clues that a portable whole is hidden between two sheets of metal which make up the ceiling.

The portable hole is in essence stolen. He was hired to smuggle it, and it's unknown contents out of the city. Unfortunately, the small portion of upfront cash was just enough to arrange discreet passage to claim his inheritance. The remainder can only be claimed on delivery, if only he can somehow explain his delay. The portable hole was found to be filled with all sorts of books, maps and art. He has no idea what it all is, but it's transport appears to have been worth a lot. Little does he know that his clients are actively attempting to locate the contents, but the contents are only detectable when the hole is open, due to the extradimensional nature. Lucky for him, the lead content of the metal ceiling panels, is keeping the portable hole itself shielded when it is hidden away. Though Mearcis is keeping some of the more recognizable illicit good in here, it spends most of it's time safely tucked away.

A high perception may notice a bit of damage over the double doors to the shop. Mearcis will explain that a larger parcel banged into the frame, while lacing in an inquiry if they are here to do "business" in Thieves Cant as the glyph marks a willingness to buy stolen goods. Due to cash flow issues, he is currently paying 25% in store credit, and only 10% in cash and only for items he is confident he can cash out quickly. Most of the locals have no idea, and the only illicit trade he has had thus far has been a small band of local bandits, who hold up or pilfer merchants on their way to do business with the trade post, thus providing much of his incoming inventory for a considerable discount. The Bandit Captain does not like the cash poor terms, but winter is coming and the credit will be used to get his men through the lean months. Mearcis is biding his time once more, as there is barely enough food stored inventory to keep himself fed through he winter much less outfit the surrounding folk. With any luck, he'll be gone before this issue comes to a head.

Rogue: Simply stealing our Hearts...and coins!

2022-10-10T09:00:00.094-04:00

The Rogue:

Equipment:

Very little has changed here, but I do like the elimination of the choice in equipment, providing the short sword as a primary melee and the short bow as a range option. I am a little "concerned" at the removal of the rapier, perhaps it's being removed from the weapon list, or the finesse attribute has been removed? The Rogue also gains proficiency with finesse Martial Weapons, which is a long overlooked opportunity in 5E.

Thieves' Cant, but now they Can!

The simple change to the Thieves' Cant feature is really next level from a world building perspective. This feature previously just gave access to a "secret" simplified language allowing for covert communication. It was one of my favorite world building aspects, creating all those subtle little interactions, and standardized meanings, but it created a "thieves only" corner of the world, and led to separation from the broader world. I think the addition of a Standard or Rare language really goes a long way to cast the rogue as a character who expertly blends into the broader world. This tone is continued with the addition of Charisma Saving Throws in the 15th level Slippery Mind feature.

Thieves' Tools

The addition of Search and Sleight of hand as Bonus or Cunning action, are the perfect upgrade that I never knew I needed in my game. The granting of a climb speed proves just how far we have come as a rules system when compared to the percentage rolls of the olden days Climb Walls ability. The use of Dexterity in the jump action, was already long in use at my table. In fact, I highly recommend giving two options on any skill check, even if it means different DCs and/or results. It's a nice outreach which allows all players to feel enabled to be good at something or contribute in most situations.

Twice as Good

The change of feature at 14th level creates so much more value for the Thief Subclass. Blindsight was restrictively situational in a world win which most races have access to darkvision, and magical light is common place. The switch to a second Cunning action in a single turn, creates a sense of a thief who just never seems to be out of options, and appears to be just out of reach from the world around them. Limiting it's use just adds to the "special" feel of this feature.

Magically Delicious

One D&D appears to be doing a lot to move our shared campaign worlds towards a higher level of magical infusion, and it feels appropriate to make our thief more at home in such a world. No other change speaks to this as vividly as a fourth attunement slot at 10th level, but I suspect this will be a trend which we see in other classes, most certainly the Wizard group. The chance of using a magical item without expending a charge, though only a 1 in 6 chance, is inspired and speaks volumes on the "happy go lucky" rogue which we all tend to adore. I plan to double down on this with Halflings, either allowing them reroll ones or simple having advantage on this role. Automatic ability of 1st Level and Cantrip scrolls again resonates a world where magic is just an everyday thing, and of course thieves just know about it. I also like the clear and simplified guidelines for use of higher level scrolls.

The Can of Worms which is "My Favorite Decks!"

2022-10-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Po Panda recently asked"...what is your number one favorite deck to play?" and this poor innocent soul had no idea what a can of worms they'd opened, so here is my not so brief answer.

Introduction

Wow, this is a really rough question. Speaking a guy who is sometimes sighted as the reason Ante failed, helped make Storm a thing during Time Spiral Standard, and (responcble?) for the Grove of the Burnwillows is still a $15 card ( I attended a PTQ decades ago, oops), my favorite deck is a broad concept, but I'll try!

General format and deck information can be found through the <Stronholds Format information Page> while specific decks will be individually linked to more comprehensive media resources.

Rotating Formats:

Standard... to me is all about the Grind, and the deck I reach for most often these days is...MR Artifacts.

Alchemy...is my real choice of Grinds, I'm still about Mono White Clerics It's a beast, but maybe not as budget friendly for the new guys!

Eternal Formats

Historic was the second format which was added to Arena, to prevent the Ixalon block from rotating off, and the repeat of the public outcry which occured with the prior block. Mono Blue Tempo was my first real deck to invest in, and it continues to evolve. Though I can build dozens of good historic decks, this is one of the few which stays active, only rarely reaching for others due to meta reasons. It's also the blue deck which I use to complete corner case color challenges.

Explorer is still a very recent addition, from a budget perspective. Even though I have the collection to build several decks, I really haven't invested much specifically for this format. I think I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop?! Mono Blue Tempo is an easy answer, and my version really doesn't revolve around any Digital Only Cards introduced with Alchemy. Mono Red is also a solid choice, as the concept is so basic, you can often build a reasonable facsimile of the meta deck while using more budget accessible substitutions for the more wildcard intensive portions of the deck. I really can't think of many "must have" Rare or Mythic cards for this archetype, though several builds lean more heavily than others.

Sub-Format Overlays

Brawl is my favorite format, but sadly the one I don't spend enough time in! Content creation dictates that I'm often chasing the latest thing over my personal favorited. Of late, my most played deck is Gates Combo Sliver Queen. I also have a Shrines/Enchantress build, which I'm dying to talk about. I'm really looking forward to today's MWM, Brawl showcase and it gave me a chance to talk about (shhh, super secret tech) my Atsushi build, which breaks the Singleton nature of Brawl! Jodah looks really interesting, but this early in the season, I've only gotten 2 copies, making Standard out of the question, but Brawl is for All! Brawl deck archives over on Aetherhub, is one of the reasons I'm excited to get to 500 subs on YouTube.

NPC Stat Blocks and their Shortcomings

2022-09-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

NPC Stat Blocks are a wonderful tool for DMs to create simple interactive characters on the fly. While WotC does provide a variety, 21 broad types of characters hardly fills a world. More over, with the expected removal of Racial Bonus from character creation, the primary means of creating stat variety disappears, or at the least shifts to a much harder to convey background. I don't know about you, but when one of my guards confronts a PC, they won't likely go into a story about their early life to convey background information. This can leave an NPC feeling very similar to all the others of that role, and come across flat and flavorless. Lets look at one of the most commonly encountered NPCs, the Guard.

This still leaves a variety of clues a DM can use to convey information to the PCs.

First and certainly easiest, a DM can adjust the quantity. Nothing says force at hand better than the action economy of 2 guards for each PC, but lets face it, groups of Guards greater than 4 are pretty uncommon. Thankfully, there are other ways to convey greater numbers without columns of city watch marching around. Something like a signal horn or flare displayed prominently on the belt of even one member of the squad will convey that this is but a token of the force which can easily be brought down on troublesome PCs. I will often use such an item with the leader of the squad as their first action if serious conflict breaks out. Something as simple as Free Action shout for back up, or a single member of the squad retreating to go get help, can be used to great effect. Local Guards have the advantage of knowing the territory, and patrol roots, thus can summon a force quickly in a believable and immersive fashion.

Commander: "Private, we passed Commander Armstrong's squad 2 blocks back. Go and and fetch them, I think this rabble means to be trouble."

As a DM, you can convey a lot of information through the equipment carried by a Guard like character. While standardized equipment can be a powerful statement of a large force of equally armed Guards at the ready, a more motley appearance can be used to convey an equally daunting signal to your PCs. A small mixed group displaying a variety of garb and equipment can easily send the message that these could be mercenaries of comparable or unknown power. Use of a recognizable sash or other badge will still convey authority.

Variety of Equipment can create a sense of differentiation from region to region, and convey subtle clues about the individuals they are dealing with. Something as simple as observable clues as the condition and upkeep on the standard equipment could convey a sense of how seriously and individual or group conducts their duties.

Lets take a look at the base equipment for our Guard.

Chain shirt (50gp, 20lbs), Shield (10gp, 6lbs)

Spear (1gp, 3 lbs)

This represent a small fortune of equipment in a world where the 1st Level Adventurer only starts with 50Gp of equipment and coin. While this makes sense for the keep keepers, Elven Imperial Patrols, and other powerful and wealthy organization, it may be unrealistic (and situationally powerful) for Tier1 PCs interacting with lesser organizations.

Protection Premiums

I love a good shield emblazoned with the local organization's symbol, but a "sash of office" could be produced for a few silver. This seems like a much more realistic choice for something like city watch, charged with keeping peace with local commoners and the occasional adventurer. Multiple AC16 guards can feel heavy handed. A simple switch to Hide armor represents and 80% cost reduction, while only lowering relative AC by one point from Chain Shirts. Padded armor can give an AC of 11 for only 5gp, and any thrifty noble trying to equip dozens of troops is going to weigh these option seriously. Hide can be "stamped" with organizational symbols, and Padded could receive embroidery, for the same relative cost of a sash of office, and would be much harder to take or lose.

The Not so humble Spear

It is difficult to beat a good spear as a solid universal weapon, giving both melee and ranged option at a reasonable and mass deployable price. Additionally they had a lot of other uses, part of a hobo bundle, or positioning a pot over a fire as part of a soldier's cook kit. Soldiers on the march were often issued a standard issue tarp, which combined with 5 spears, creates a tent shelter. In some regions know to be more tech savvy, spearheads are used which make a shrill whistling sound when wielded or thrown with force, thus eliminating the need to diminish action economy to summon help, or clear away by standers.

It stands to reason that spears won't always fit the bill, so swapping them out for other equipment not only sends a message about the relative affluence of the group, but also it's purpose. One of my favorite options is equipping city watch with clubs, often having a "non lethal" attribute or designed to offer advantage on grapple checks. Not only can these be issued for 1-2 silvers, but sends a clear "subdue rather than slay" message which I often find appropriate for something like City Watch of a civilized cultural center. No one wants blood spilled in their streets.

It was common for a dagger or knife to be carried by almost anyone in fantasy societies, and unless some sort of regulation prohibited, I would expect any guard to have such an item on their person, if only as a tool or desperate backup option. A knife, in game terms, is just a dagger with only a single edged side, dealing slightly less damage. I have used 1d3 or 1d4-1, depending on other aspects of the campaign world.

One D&D's apparent of inclusion of first level feats for everyone as a background feature, and the popularity and utility of options like Initiate, Adept, and Caster, implies that magic should be expected even among the common folk. A conspicuously placed, holy symbol, wand or other magical focus should send a clear message that a guard may be more than a pokey stick. Humans being such a large part of a typical presumed population, and the possibility two such feats, could make a random commoner much more than a CR0 club wielder.

Cultural Variations

The nature of Dwarven society implies that they may use more individualized and well made equipment, are less likely to retreat, and take their duties very serious. Traditionally, Dwarves are proficient in Axes, Hammers, and often Light and Medium Armors, and are likely to decked out accordingly. In my own worlds and campaigns, Dwarves receive a small combat bonus for Armor or Melee Weapon which they crafted themselves, so while common items and visual clues exist, they tend to be far more motley in appearance than other regulars.

Elvish guards in even the smallest settlement will most likely appear in highly standardized well kept gear. Elves are traditional proficient in Short/Long Sword/Bow, so it is very likely they will carry a mix of these as their major variation. Members of the Elven Imperial Military are well appointed at any level or location. High Elven racial access to a cantrip, and Feats at first level, make spell wielding guards a virtual expectation from the Elves.

Halflings in my worlds are most oven is small family centered agricultural villages. Their guard compliment is most often a single "sheriff" who wears his badge of office (I like a large hat, steeped in tradition). Larger communities may have a contingency of deputies, but it's a nearly entirely a volunteer organization. Members work in singular shifts, if at all, summon help as needed, and are most likely to be found tending their farms or gardens when not on watch. This does not make these communities pushovers for wrong doers, as every able bodied member of the community will rally as best they are able to the defense of their community. Their neighbors are most likely family as well after all. Communities which have a history of trouble, or have unfortunately found themselves in an area of dispute of conflict will still to tend towards these norms, but I will use the Bandit Captain stats and Bandits in place of my more traditional toned-down Guards for rural communities. Hard times make for hard halflings, as the elders will tell you.

Conclusion

There is a lot a DM can do to differentiate common NPCs, and signal expectations to the PCs, and similar standards and norms can be developed for other basic NPC designs. The Stat Block and these suggestions are just the beginning. What is your favorite way to spice up an NPC Stat Block?

"Your" going to love the MidWeek Magic refreshes!

2022-09-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

I think every good story begins at the beginning, and for this one we are going all the way back to 2021!

A member of our budget community gave me a shout out in appreciation of the MidWeek Magic content, and it inspired me to make special intro/outro and put more focus on the content. The intro segment included a graphic I made using the direct quote from the supportive viewer. The cute part was the common English grammatical error between "You're" and "Your". I actually delayed putting this into production for over a week, as I wrestled with this issue. There were a lot of factors here to consider. For instance, a lot of my viewers are from other parts of the world, and I presume English is not their primary language. Hell, I grew up speaking this nonsense, and make error of this caliber more often than I'd like. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make someone feel bad about having made the error, so I left the quote as is. Despite several people pointing it out, including my mother.

Fast Forward nearly a year later, and the video carrying the original comment is no longer visible to the general YouTube search, and I can rest assured that it won't reflect on the well intentioned soul who posted it. Despite the error, what ever the cause, this comment was the spark for much of the growth my channel is currently experiencing. I will forever be thankful for "you're" generosity in recognizing my efforts. The new graphic attempts to preserve the the matter while poking a little fun at myself for having allowed it for so long. I hope you Stronghold vets get a little chuckle when you see it.

Fall rotation also felt like a good time to refresh these intro/outro efforts. I have diversified their use, so different category of videos are approached uniquely. Making these shorter, more focused on a targeted message, and creatively interesting is an on going effort for myself and the channel at large.

Announcing the Free &D initiative!

2022-08-22T09:00:00.010-04:00

This concept has been bouncing around in my head for nearly 10 yrs, since shortly after 5E was released. It is powered from a simple, yet compelling concept;

What if you play D&D with only the materials provided for FREE by Wizards of the Coast?

I know the first question most people are going to ask is, Why?

There are many Socio-Economic reasons why this may be a reality for any number of people out there;

This hobby is not cheap. While I definitely think Wizards of the Coast (WotC) makes a number of fine, fairly priced products, and I encourage the purchase of many of them to meet your needs. I also recognize that many, ranging from young people who aren't yet in control of their financial destiny, to those who struggle to provide for themselves and those around them, will not be able to purchase the many products put out by WotC.
Some fans and players may live in parts of the world where a fairly priced product becomes unattainable due to factors beyond their control. Logistic costs, tariffs, copyright, and even internet access could hinder some peoples access to the Intellectual Property which drives this game.
Others may just like the simplicity of the minimalistic restriction, a way to avoid the book bloat that often accompanies each edition.

Just to be clear, I think you should pay what is asked and fair for what you make use of. Stealing is generally bad, and before you make use of a seemingly free material, please make an informed decision about the legalities wherever you hail from. In short, just because you found it on the internet doesn't mean its Free of being distributed legally.

Long story short, I am proud to announce the Free &D Homepage!

In the sort term, I will be reviewing the Playtest Materials as they are released, with an eye for how they serve to shape Game governed by Free. In the Long term, I plan to launch a specific YouTube channel on this subject, and hope to publish Pay What you Want materials in this vein of thought.

Free &D: Character Origins- Backgrounds

2022-08-22T08:30:00.002-04:00

Based on the UA Character Origins published by Wizards of the Coast, August 2022. Copy right material belongs to their respective owners. While I discuss the IP for educational purposes, I make no claims to the IP.

Backgrounds have gone from a rough outline in 5E, to a major defining aspect of a character.

Background Features

Ability Scores. When you determine your character’s ability scores, choose two of them, and increase one by 2 and the other one by 1. Alternatively, choose three ability scores, and increase each of them by 1.

Skill Proficiencies. Choose two Skills. Your character gains Proficiency in them.

Tool Proficiency. Choose one tool. Your character gains Tool Proficiency* with it.

Language. Choose one language from the Standard Languages and Rare Languages tables (these appear later in the document). Your character knows that language.

I tend to run Language a bit differently in my campaign worlds, but more on that once the One System has been flashed out a bit more.

Feat. Choose one 1st-level Feat. Your character gains that Feat.

This is a wonderful increase in Tier1 power level, and makes it potential much more interesting as well as survivable.

Equipment. Your character gains 50 GP to spend on starting equipment. The character keeps any unspent GP as spare coin.

I prefer this flat 50gp approach over the Equipment Packs from 5E

I miss the "Characteristic" section, and I think Trait, Ideal, Bond and Flaw deserve a place in the game, but perhaps in a less structured manner.

Sample Backgrounds

The following are included sample backgrounds, which I have group for potential simplification of similar concepts. Bolded entries indicate backgrounds present in the 5E materials, and are likely to be in Basic Rules. It may be worth noting, that Folk Hero has not made the transition from 5E?

Acolyte, Cultist, Pilgrim- this tells us that temples and other religious sights exist.

Artisan, Laborer

Criminal

Entertainer

Farmer

Soldier, Gladiator, Guard

Guide

Hermit

Noble

Sage

Sailor

Urchin

Free & D: Character Origins, Race

2022-08-22T08:00:00.002-04:00

Last Updated based on UA Origins August 2022, which is sighted in this post. All rights are given to the owners.

Core Races form the base of the societies in the campaign, will represent the majority of people encountered and are not restricted to player character creation.

Please note: With the December 2022 One D&D playtest release, WotC has made it clear they are moving away from the concept of Race, and will instead refer to "Species" moving forward. I will make an effort to follow this branding decision, but please forgive the occasional slip -up.

Unrestricted Species

These four races can be played by everyone. They are supported by the 5E Basic Rules document (2018) and are presumed to be supported by One D&D free materials

Dwarves tend to be Lawful in their nature, living to serve Crom (Mordin in Dwarvish), family and craft.

Dwarven society is heavily influenced by Norse and Scottish culture. They live in mountains carved out into clan-holds, thus everyone in a settlement is family if only on a figurative level. Clan-holds only admit trusted allies into its walls, and even then on a highly restricted, trust but verify basis. It is very common for a town of outsiders to exist near a clan-hold, for the purposes of trade and diplomacy. Dwarves are known for their hatred of Goblins and Orcs, which are viewed as a threat to their clans and way of life. The default Dwarf of the setting is the Hill Dwarves of the Bor-Blick clan. Famous for beating back the Giants of ancient times, and the clan to which the other 6 great clans (Flick, Glick, Snick, Plick, Whick and Quee) have all sworn fealty. Duergar can be found under Monstrous Races below, and are not considered dwarves by other sub-races, despite origins from the ancient Quee. It is not uncommon for a female Dwarf to produce facial hair, and is considered a sign of noble heritage. Use of the Dwarven language by other races is often offensive to Dwarves. Dwarves, born of the Earth, tend to be water averse.

Elves hail from the Feywild, a bright chaotic mirror of our own world in which they do not age beyond maturity.Elves do age in our campaign world, but have life spans of 1000 yrs. Elves killed in the campaign world have their souls returned to the Feywild and may be resurrected or reincarnated into a new being.

Elves gifted the world with arcane magic, and have formed mighty Empires which have spanned the planes, and often hold root allegiance to their home. The Elves own chaotic nature will change the finer points of the Empires from campaign to campaign, but nearly all will be grounded in a strong military service of its citizens.

High elves are the default in the campaign world, and may take Arcane Proficiency in place of a common language.

Elves form a balanced society with the Patriarch as the social figurehead, and the Matriarch as the power behind the scenes.

Drow can be found under Monstrous Races below.

Halfling are the society that isn’t. They have no great empires, but exist in the fringes of other societies especially those of humans. Often form towns consisting of 5-6 generations of three or more families. Halflings tend to either be homebodies or overcome by wanderlust, with little middle ground between. Some Halflings tending towards the wanderlust side of the spectrum form roving family nomadic camps.

The default Halfling of the campaign is the lightfoot.Male Halflings are capable of growing facial hair, but it is often unfashionable to do so though beards are occasionally worn by high-elders, or those of exceptional Arcane prowess. Halflings often have hair on their feet, and are unapologetically apt to forgo shoes even in adverse conditions.

Halflings are mostly sociable creatures regardless of where they are encountered, but are equally likely to have an anti-social vice like smoking a pipe, belching, or putting feet up on tables regardless of how others view this behavior, and are often surprised if others object to their natural and normal behaviors. This has been known to extend to an unusual lack of regard for personal property and ownership in some cases.

The Halfling language isn’t secret, but halflings rarely share it. They write very little but have a rich oral tradition and are often impressed by other races able to speak the language.

Human

Secondary SRD Races represent the fringe of organized society. They occur as a rarity, but often enough to be recognized by society in general. These are recommended for experience players with aspiration of DM level influence on the game, as the player will have heavy influence on that races place in the campaign, with the DM’s hand reserved for the broad strokes outlined below. Each of these races is restricted to one in each party, no duplication. Example: The party may have a Dragonborn and a Gnome, but not two Gnomes.

I expect the outdated idea of "Evil" races is going away, so anything a player owns the support material for becomes playable as a secondary race.

Dragonborn and Tiefling are both inter-planar refugees from a version of reality where the Dragons never lost their war against the Giants, and thus most of the Core races were never seeded there. Dragonborn where created by the Dragon gods as soldiers in their own conflicts. Their civilization survives and has outgrown this initial place in the world, as they are able to reproduce, and have existed for generations. They are very competitive, and perfectionists by nature. They form proud families, and hold themselves in regard above other families. Of course Humans existed in this reality, but didn’t thrive well in a reality ruled by Dragons and battling Dragonborn.

The fiends saw this reality as a prime place to continue the infernal war, but were unable to reach the plane directly, instead manipulating the humans into entering pacts to save their species. In time this gave rise to the plane-touched race of the Tieflings.

Both races can expect mistrust to outright violence from the common masses outside of their own small territories. No one seems to know how or why they have come here, fueling the general mistrust. They are just above Monstrous Races in civilized society.

Gnomes are an extra-planer species from Bytopia, and have ended up in the campaign world artificially. They are often mistaken for Elves or Halflings based on their physical traits, and can expect to be treated as such by the majority of people who don’t know any better. Gnomes can not produce offspring with other races, even through magical means. All Gnomes are born as twins, and have a nearly psychic bond with their counterpart, and strong family ties to their extended family. Gnomes most often mate for life, and any given pair is only able to have children once, thus any Gnomes only true sibling is their twin. Twins may be a mix of genders, and there is no expectation that they are “Identical” in nature, though more than half are. Cousins in Gnome society are often treated similarly to siblings, as at least one the parents is twin to their own parent.

Halves (Elf & Orc) do not occur naturally, requiring magic to make the union productive. This magic is the privy of Elven arcane spells and Orish Shamanistic rituals.

I have never loved this aspect of Racial Character creation, and it is looking like a welcome change. Below are my campaign worlds(s) assumptions, until such changes become more official.

The offspring of such a union is always sterile, and unable to reproduce even through magical means. Halves are easily mistaken for members of their non-human ancestral race, or can expect base reactions heavily influenced by the assumption regarding that non-human race.

Half-Elves can be the product of love, but are often created for strategic reasons. Elves reproduce infrequently, and have a long road to maturity, thus a Half-Elf can serve the Empire in a much shorter time frame. A Half-Elf with an elven mother is considered an elf by elven society, but treated as a human if not.

Half-Orcs on the other hand are very rarely a product of a loving encounter, and most often the result of a group violation of a Human female, under the supervision of an Orcish Shaman. In such cases the Human female is held captive, and either killed as a result of the un-natural birth, or murdered shortly after, so the the Half-Orc is raised with only Orcish influence. Half-Orc are often created to become leaders of the tribe, most often combining the Orcs superior physical traits with the Human’s superior mental traits, but a half-Orc may have its own ideas regarding their future once they come of age. These are the norms and expectations of the society, but not a limiting factor in character creation. Any given Half should feel free to work with the DM to define their backstory, but be aware of what people are going to assume when they walk in the room.

Monstrous Races

again this appears to be going away, and I look forward to deleting this place holder!

Goblin

Kobald

What We "Know" about Dominaria United

2022-08-15T09:00:00.166-04:00

Inportant Dates

Previews Begin August 18, Conclude by August 26

Arena Release Sept 1

Set Specific Special Factors

30th Anniversay returns to Dominaria

How will Legends Return Boosters be conveyed on Arena, if at all? IRL, this is only done in Collector boosters, so I doubt we will see a Strixhaven sort of set. I suspect we would have heard about it by now?

Upcoming Content

Budget Perspective of the set on September 1st

Comprehensive Codes will set up for this set's giveaway video on September 2

Yargle Day September 3?

Jump In Tier List Update on September 4th

Future content will include Top 5 Jumpin in Options of Renewing Players and Top3 for New Players!

Midweek Magic Phantom Draft begin September 6th, with Live Play events on Twitch for Primary Account on 9/6 at 8pm EST, and the F2P Account on 9/7 at 2pm EST!

Mastery Pass showing exactly how I determine value for 2023 on September 10th!

Budget Deck Tier List, a first for the channel and will kick of this periods deck building efforts on September 11th! I am targeting one video a week, attempting to take a "Bad deck" and make it "Good".

Quick Draft of the set begins on Spetember 16, with content expected to begin posting on 9/22!

Mechanics and Themes

Confirmed

Kicker: Not only does temperal firstrom confirm Kicker as a mechanic, it also hints at support of enemy color pairs!

Legendary

Phyrexian: Confirmed on multiple fronts, probably a continuing theme through the Brother's War

Coalition (5 color matters? Based on Jumpstart naming conventions, this appears to be the White based concept)

Jumpstart Color based "keywords"

Blue: Mischief - suspect an instants matter or flash theme?

Black: Totally?

Red: Ready? suspect this is just a reference to HASTE

Green: Territory? Land matters?

Teferi, Ajani, Jaya

Suspected

Historic (mechanic)

Artifacts Matter? (Historic as a mechanic, has a lot of crossover with Artifacts as a concept)

Sagas

Jodah, Archmage Eternal and Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy, Liliana, Braids

Why I don't do Preview Content.

In short, I just don't have much to add to the conversation. Preview Season mostly revolves around powerful Rare and Mythic cards, and as a Budget Player and Content Creator, I know that I get what I get in this category. Spending a lot of time and effort talking about cards which I know only about 50% of this community are likely to own, just feels out of place. This is why my Budget Perspective content. at the beginning of each new release, focuses instead on Uncommon cards. These are often powerful or synergistic enough to influence Budget Decks, while being perfectly attainable to everyone with minimal efforts. You will see a plan to double down on this viewpoint this year, as we focus on a much smaller list of decks. Just going to be talking about the best of the best for the newly broadened formats on Arena. Time freed up from trying to make marginal decks better, instead will be used to expand conversations on why I think the best decks are the best. Teaching has always been a cornerstone goal of the community.

Don't get me wrong. I think the preview season is important, and I consume it eagerly every time. I get my preview content from Dev over on SBMTG, and look forward to each daily video he produces on the content.

Stronghold Content and Activity Schedule

2022-08-01T09:00:00.002-04:00

Stronghold Schedule

Updated July 2022, all time are Eastern Standard Time

Monday

Blog Articles once per month

11:00am Rise and Grind on Twitch

Tuesday

10:45am Midweek Magic on YouTube

08:00pm Midweek Magic Live play on Twitch, if the video hits it's challenge goal.

Wednesday

02:00pm Midweek Magic Live play on Twitch with secondary account, mostly on weeks which don't present a decklist.

Thursday

01:00pm Limited content on YouTube. Quick Draft, Jump In etc

Friday

future Aetherhub Development

Saturday

01:00pm Educational Video on YouTube.

Sunday

01:00pm Wildcard Video on YouTube

State of the Stronghold: August 2022 update

2022-07-30T09:00:00.025-04:00

State of the Stronghold: August 2022

Wow, am I really doing this? My YouTube channel was started after a number of frustrating conversations about the economics of MtG Arena. Many content creators were giving well meaning advice to new players, which I none-the-less, thought was wrong or at the very least, short sighted.

Advice like;

"Using your Wildcards to get the Rare Dual Lands in Standard is the best things you can do."

"Here's how to use your wildcards to upgrade your New Player Experience deck..."

"Put everything into the one deck, it's all you need."

The most frequent regret I hear from Arena players is how they didn't understand the Economy, and misused resources early on, and had to overcome those setbacks. I made it my mission to use my background in business, economics, statistics, and game theory to offer different perspectives about MtG Arena. I didn't even own a computer for daily use, but despite that, I found an old laptop in storage which I had intended to destroy, and forgotten about. I posted my first video in April of 2019.

Fast Forward to January of 2021, I had decided that if this was worth doing, I could do it better...which isn't saying much from the perspective of the low production quality which defined my efforts. I invested some of my JOB bonus money into a Gaming Desktop, and took things to the next level with the ability to record game play. I began to explore different content and styles. Mistakes were made, but I like to think I'm learning a lot along the way.

Fall 2023 Renewal Cleanup

Would you believe that at any given time nearly 40% of the YouTube videos I've made can't be seen by you. That's right, each Summer I go through and "unlist" the videos which don't do much for the community moving forward. Not to worry though, I have plans to continue making these available in more appropriate venues. More on that later.

The time has come to diversify the digital footprint of the Stronghold.

When I first started to take the YouTube channel seriously, folks told me at some point it would reach a critical mass and it would start growing of it's own volition. I read someplace that the time it took to reach 100 subs, would be be the same time it would take to reach 1000 subs. While monetization was never a serious goal, I am beginning to see the YouTube channel reach that sort of critical mass, and I'm intrigued at just what could be accomplished.

I'm re-launching this Blog, from the depths of more than a decade ago, as a place to put behind-the-scenes style content, which I've found doesn't perform well on the YouTube channel. It also gives me the potential to explore similar content like Table Top Role Playing Games. Dungeons and Dragons immediately comes to mind. While I have a passion for this, I just don't have the time (or enough meaningful content?) to support another YouTube channel at this time. This Blog also gives me a place to publish/link resources and data which viewers often ask for, but is hard to make available on a platform like YouTube. Lastly, I like the idea that I may be able to give a voice to other creative people out there which may have something to say on these subjects, but haven't developed their own platform. I currently find myself with a lot of time on my hands, and the need to work remotely a couple of days each week. This platform is perfect to allow me to be more productive in a wider variety of efforts, including focused formatting of some of those unlisted videos exploring past years of NPE collections, older Draft formats, and which Historic sets best create Budget Historic decks.

I launched a Twitch channel recently as tool to explore new content avenues. Live play, and Interactive Audiences are significant areas I have notably lacked thus far. This platform seems perfect to Live Play events like Midweek Magic, especially in formats which I want instructional clips, but most people don't seem compelled to watch "my play experience" content. Twitch also allows me to develop more of an on-screen presence and persona which will be important for any future "Brand". I also want to explore the idea of viewer interactive event through Arena's Direct Challenge option. Who Wants to play? Twitch has a two week retention, and not everything will make it over to YouTube, so you may want to check in on it from time to time.

I am also VERY excited about a recent development of a mentoring style of content in which I will collaborate with another player to discuss topics from their varied perspectives. Discord is being explored to support this effort, and potential community interaction.

I've had Aetherhub for a long time, but haven't really integrated it into my content. It has always felt easier to just post the deck list in the description. I find that in the course of doing Budget content, I produce a lot of decks that revolve around cards from Standard or the current New Player Experience (NPE) decks. This lets new players participate in formats like Historic, without needing to use a bunch of wildcards. The problem I am now encountering is that Standard rotates, and NPE changes every year. While the deck strategy remains valid, the reasons for the specific deck list does not. I've always been hesitant to publish YouTube content which may distract from the Budget mission. Aetherhub seems like the perfect place to re-address this type of content, with less risk of leading new Free to Play (F2P) viewers off the path, while still offering more to my long term and more established audience. I project that YouTube will reach 500 subscribers in December of this year, and Aetherhub becomes even more exciting as new creator support unlocks. Once we hit this milestone, you can look forward to a curated Historic and Brawl collection on this platform.

YouTube remains my primary focus, which I hope will be enhanced by these other things. I feel like the 4 video per week schedule continues to be the right fit. These other fronts allow me to enhance, without oversaturation. I can't even conceive of a state where YouTube isn't my strongest asset, and I think it is the right vehicle for the budget focused content.

Future Development in the works

Monetization on YouTube begins to look more like a question of "When" rather that "If'". Patreon seems lie the next logical step on this path, but I want to find away to offer real value and not just sell out for the money, this is budget content after all. I'm looking at other creators, and thinking about how this tool could do work for my audience, aspiring to create a higher volume and higher quality of content. YouTube has it's own version of support, but I really haven't looked it.

Who knows what the future may hold;

Merch Shop?

Free&D content, a streamed game?

Altered Art Soltari Guerillas

2012-06-23T21:03:00.003-04:00

This looks much better in person, but its not bad, in my opinion. I kinda wished I didnt do teh goofy looking gun on the botton. Maybe I'll go back and make it not look like a baloon animal? Oh well.

Fall 2011 Rotation Update: Welcome to Innistrad

2011-10-07T08:28:00.000-04:00

So Fall has come around, and along with the cool weather is the annual rotation. So Zendikar has rotated out of, wait what do you call it, oh yeah Standard. The good news is, this has next to no impact on me at all. I've slowly come to the realization that Standard just holds no interest for me, so I've written it off completely. I've been toying with the ideas of waiting until after the Standard rotation of a set before even really worrying about picking up any new rares or mythics for my casual deck. This should allow me to miss out on all the Standard price inflation, and pick up some much better values on the cards. Secondly, I should have a much better idea of what cards I really want, and cut back on things that end up in the bulk sell bin before they are even used. When I go back over my notes from Zendikar block, I find that my initial lists are much larger then what I really want now.

So what is there on my acquire list for the rotated block? Great question, glad you asked! The good news is this list is really small, since I have already managed to trade into a one-of-set of all the lands I wanted. The mythics consist of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and a Lotus Cobra. Only two mythics out of a block containing over a 100. Wow, I only want less the 2% of the magic cards being printed. It's a shame that these two cards carry a combined price of $65, if I'm lucky enough to find used copies, but that is still way better then getting these even a month ago. When it comes to rares, I find that not only is there not a single one I want that I have not already traded into, but that I have dozens which I no longer want.

This brings me to the annual Fall purge of cards, and wow do I think this is going to be a big one! I expect I will be down to a little over 1000 cards total after this one. This will basicly be an even split between proven casual cards, my Standard legal cards plus my Legacy Zoo deck. This sell off should not only cover everything on my acquisitions list, but also all the organized play I expect to do for the next year, with a good bit left over.

Next up, the Innistrad set. I opted not to play in any of the Prerelease events, primarily as the promo card was not of interest to me, and thus the event didn't represent stellar value for me. My son and I did decide to play in the release draft, mostly as a source of entertainment, not as a Magic decision. We both played miserably and dropped with 1-2 records after the 3rd round. I did manage to draft 2 of the new rare dual lands, essentially covering my cost of entry, and we did have fun despite our miserable win record.
I found the set to be very flavor full, and fun to draft. I found the new flip cards to be a hassle from a play perspective, because of the constant upkeep checks in every turn. I expect the up coming seasons including these cards will be filled with many game state warnings.

Lastly on my magic mind today, are some updates to the site. Extended has again proven to be less then relivent over the last year, not only to me but to the community at large. For this reason it is being eliminated as a searchable article tag. In related new, the new Modern format has not yet proven it's relivence to me, and I have opted not to add it at this time. I am going to keep the Standard blocks as searchable tags at this time. Despite my own lack of interest in the format, the vast majority of organized Magic played in the world continues to be in the Standard format.

Welcome Back?

2011-09-01T11:35:00.001-04:00

Man, it has been such a long time since I wrote anything for this outlet, mostly because it has been a really long time since I carried enough to have anything to say. I really had to look back over my last few posts to even remind me what had been going on, then I remembered why I hadn't cared in a while.

I had come to the conclusion to stay an active force in this game, as a budget player, you had to play Standard and win packs. Then I was reminded how, with just a little resources, I had managed to brew up a fairly original Standard deck. It was really coming along, developing a winning record, and the ability to bring home packs consistently. Then...they banned my deck. Well, they didn't ban the whole deck, but the one card that made the the whole thing work.

I simply will never understand why DCI takes the approach of banning utility cards, which allow for creative deck building instead of banning the problematic work horse card. Stoneforger Mystic was a utility card that made budget decks possible. A few copies of this allowed you to play with single copies of expensive Mythic cards, and still have a working deck. The banning of that card forced the acquisition of hundreds of dollars in cards in order to keep the design viable. In other words, the ban-hammer closed Standard to budget players. I guess it really comes down to Wizards doesn't want players to be able to function with out having hundreds of dollars of Mythic cards?

I guess that leaves me with Legacy. My Zoo deck, will be morphed back to Grove Level Zoo the next time I pick it up. My Merfolk deck can probably still be finished over the next year. Merfolk gives me a more controlling option to go along with my agro deck. Goblins, despite being almost fully completed, will most likely be sold off. I just can't see it ever being as good of an agro option as Zoo is, and it's components just aren't used in much else. The same case can be made for Affinity, were the very existence of Nullrod, makes the deck too inconsistent.

I find the Fall rotation approaching, and all I want to do is get rid of even more cards. I estimate my collection to be about 10000 cards right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if that drops by 50-80% this fall. I've found that my lack of investment in new cards really hasn't diminished my ability to play, because even my highest levels of investment simply weren't enough to stay viable in today's Standard environment. I now find myself becoming comfortable with the thought of just having one transformable Eternal deck. My current thinking is that Tendrils could be viable in both Eternal formats with very few cards which didn't overlap. My other thought is to sell it all off, maybe keep a casual deck, and just play limited when the block formats are fun.

This leads my thinking even further down the road. If I can be comfortable today with 2000 cards, how low am I really willing and able to go.?

Could 500 cards be enough to address the occasional need to play:

DoMT/EDH collection ..............300 cards
Transformable Eternal Deck.......100 cards
Transformable Warp World........100 cards

Or could I be happy just not owning any cards, counting on friends to spot me a deck for those few times a year that I wanted to play constructed?

If that's the case, should I even play limited, knowing I'm just going to get rid of most or all of the cards?

I don't know what the magic number is, but I am really beginning to think that the step I am prepared for this Fall, is really just another stepping stone in this journey.

What a Difference a few tweaks make, back at my Standard.

2011-06-18T11:11:00.000-04:00

So after a strikingly unimpressive, and bordering on humiliating showing at FNM a few weeks ago, I tuned my deck up again, and decided to make another run at it. Special props to my little Mage for cracking a Batterskull and a Mental Misstep from a a pack during packwars. Hooray for $30 packs! I made some last minute tweaks to the manabase which I hadn't talked about yet, so let me start with a full list.

19 Plains
2 Mox Opal

4 Signal Pests
4 Ornnithopter
4 Memnite
4 Steel Overseer
4 Porcelain Legionaire
3 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Etched Champion
Hex Parasite
Darksteel Juggernaut
Triskelion
Wurmcoil Engine
Myr Battlsphere
Vault Skirge

4 Tempered Steel
Sword of Vengence
Sword of Body and Mind
Sword of Feast and Famine
Batterskull

This build did so much better. It had less explosive potential, but far higher consistency. The multiple Tempered Steels were crushing when backing multiple affected creatures. The combination of Stoneforge, and Batterskull was nothing short of amazing. I ended the night 3-1, having 2 shutout rounds, and only folding to RDW. WTH is that about, the mono-budget deck I refused to play kicked my teeth in? Got to do something about that. Time to brew a side board, but first the tweaks to the main.

First thing is my missing sword, which I was so missing during the RDW match. Making a creature proRed, and getting life swing would have been so good! I lucked up that someone there was happy to take my extra Doubling Season straight up for a Sword of War and Peace. That finished my cycle of Swords, and adds a much needed tool to this Standard deck. It should be a clear upgrade from the existing Sword of Vengeance I also want to pick up 2 additional Etched Champions, as it simply walks across so many tables, and shakes off most board removal. I have a line on the missing two, and with any luck should be able to trade into them with little relevant outlay this Wednesday at casual night. I've also really been underwhelmed with the one of toolbox finisher package I've been running, and plan to either refine it a great deal, or scrap it all together for more aggro options. These may be better off in the board?

What this deck really wants is a 4th Stoneforge, and a 3rd Opal, but each has it's problems. Opal is pretty clear cut, $20 is just too much for a third copy of this card right now. Standard has it's price inflated, and while it is used in Legacy Affinity, it will be cheaper later. Stoneforge faces a similar problem with it's $15 price tag, plus the added complication of the rumored ban-hammer, and expected rotation with the Fall set. In addition, this deck may also loses Overseer, and Thopters with the Fall rotation, which may easily make the deck unplayable in it's current concept. In short I wont be putting any cash into this deck for the time being, depending instead on trade prowess to tweak it up. In any case it looks like I have a Standard deck for the foreseeable future

Standard and I are still not Friends

2011-06-04T10:12:00.000-04:00

I tried folks, I really tried. I found myself with no plans for a friday night, and a desire not to sit at home. So I decided to play constructed FNM. After a bit of research, and a quick glance through my meager Standard collection, I found that I could put something together drawing on the affinity concepts, and throw in a blade package for a certain leg up.

The synergy between certain low cost artifact creatures, Signal Pest, and Steel Overseer is simply too strong to be denied. Toss in some singleton cards I wanted to test out like Tempered Steel, and a variety of high end threats, and I felt like I had a deck worth plopping down 5 bucks and trying to make a run at it. Turns out I was on the right track, but still falling short.

The deck was capable of some explosive starts, often having 3+ power on the aggro available to swing on turn2. I was very often able to put my opponent on their back foot right out of the gate, but lacked the ability to finish out the game, no matter how good my opening position was. Eventually I would watch my team dissolve to removal, and couldn't survive their counter attacks long enough to drop any of my high end threats. If not for the consistent blade package, I don't thing I would have one a single game.

What this deck really wants is an early Tempered Steel. Dropping one on turn 2-3 just pushes the team over the top, shaving at least one one, and often multiple, turns off the kill. Potentially more important is it pushes the artifact weenie team out of the rang of much of the removal floating around out there, allowing the team to simply win on their own merits, or buying enough time for the high end hitt3rs to drop. My singleton copy of Tempered Steel simply was not going to cut it, so after an unremarkable 0-2 Drop evening, I set on making the deck better. A quick trade with a strong Standard player, looking to make the break into Legacy, turned two extra StP into another 3 copies of Steel, and I look forward to testing the improved build.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Pink Saturday!

2011-05-28T08:38:00.000-04:00

Skipping the Hype

2011-05-09T01:01:00.001-04:00

So I managed to not attend a Prerelease even, and some how I survived. I don't even feel like I really missed out on anything. My Sealed skills have been so poor for so long, I mostly saved myself the frustration of watching my pool laugh at me all day long.

I've been giving the card selections for the new set a bit of thought. I've found that I can get a un/common set for about $35. Given that the one playset I know I want will run $20, this seems like a good way to go, and all but eliminates the need to open packs, or attempt to draft the set. In other words, for the cost of one playset, and one draft, I can have the whole set. Seems good.

I'm also thinking about doing the release event, but will most likely come down to what Tater wants to do. The draft could be a lot of fun for us both, and the promo card seems like a good addition to both of our collections.What ever excess cards we happen to get, could simply go to tater's box, as fodder for what ever deck he wants to builds at the moment. It would at the very least be a fairly inexpensive, and entertaining way to spend a Saturday.

In all, I've been very please with my decision, and ability to simply consume less cards. My collection for this block to date, still fits in a 500 ct box, making it roughly half the size I would normally have at this point. While I have resigned myself to not actively purge my collection again until next fall, I really find myself beginning to question my "need" for anything in the Extend field. My current collection is about 1/3 per Standard, Extended and Vintage. Dropping one format, which is really not on my radar int he first place, could easily allow me to drop three to four thousand cards with the fall rotation. Certainly worth considering. As much as I would love to drop another 80% this fall, I think anything over 50% may simply be too aggressive. Oh well, time will tell.

Doing Something Different

2011-05-07T09:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is something you have never seem on this blog before:

Put down the Magic cards cause it's free comic book day!

In a more topical vein, Wizards has released a Magic related comic as on of the freebies.

What a great way to encourage reading in kids of all ages.