by Hathsin
A Small portion of the legion has taken to playing MTG. Affectionately known as “Wizard Poker” all manner of silly takes place at the table. Ranging from custom decks featuring a more in-depth look at Warhammer Orks from our own Techx1 to the endless zombie hordes of NotoriusBEN. We have found the format of choice to be Commander, a singleton format that highlights one card and supports them in a deck of 99 cards.
In the truest fashion of expression through gaming, we have removed much of the financial burden found in the collection of powerful magic cards by playing a lovely set of mods found for Table Top Simulator. Allowing us to play at tables of as many as 8 players at once, these game nights go long into the wee hours of the night. As a fantastic topic of debate, the entertainment doesn’t start and stop with game night itself. We have found many further hours of conversation in the building process of these unique deck building formats, and the topic of such decks themes. RalphieNoPants has more than a few clever takes, including an all Crab themed deck that has “clutched” its fair share of un-expected victories. You haven’t lived until you have seen Phage the Untouchable not only resolve into play through more trick doors than a fun house, but to then be goaded into killing someone else by an angry crab that refused to stay in Vegas. Speaking of Vegas, StarMute has found an excellent favorite in a deck built around Mr. House. The collection of themes now in MTG has exploded and results in combinations you wouldn’t expect. Digi has a new one that’s Sci-fi themed based around warping things into play much earlier than they should be!
We could be here all day talking about the unique decks and conversations we have shared, this group truly is a creative brain trust of shit posting in the most excellent of ways. I would like to however share some of our methods to hopefully spread this growing weekly ritual in the legion. The TTS mod we have been using was created by “Oops I baked a pie” and the traditional 4 player table can be found Here and will work off many deck building sites. We have played using decks from Moxfield (Personal fav), Archidekt, and the time tested Scryfall. We have also found in the next level shit posting, embracing the lower power level of MTG. Building around fun ideas rather than optimizing to “best in slot”, it has made many great moments and slowed down the game pace for everyone to participate. For those who follow the Commander space of MTG, we often play in brackets 2 or 3 power level.
We have lastly taken it one step farther, and started to have a specific build around theme on the first Friday of the month. July’s being Jeskai (Red/White/Blue) only decks. We saw everything from token swarms to a “fireworks” theme and even a Liberty Prime theme deck from the Fallout series! I hope this small insight into our newest wizard poker habits will inspire others to try of take another look at the current state of MTG. I have never enjoyed the game more than knowing I can play without mortgaging a house, and sit down at a table of friends to round out the end of the week.
Hathsin forgot to send the editor a photo and an About the Author blurb. Boo this man!
