Counterfeit Collector booster? One of these things is not like the other

They are now producing the fake collector boosters complete in a fake box and shrinkwrap. This video shows the differences to look for. Forewarned is forearmed. 

Hasbro/Wizards doing stupid shit... again

 

Once again Hasbro/WotC is doing stupid shit that people are getting a bit angry over. Although this time it's affecting peoples lives directly. Hasbro seems to be so fucking stupid that they thought the really high sales of 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic would continue on as the new bar to measure sales by. Even after 2022 told them otherwise. So now they are laying people off right at Christmas because (gasp and shock) sales are down. 

Yet all the mother fuckers at the top are still making 5+ million a year. Remember when Nintendo had the WiiU bomb? Yeah it was pretty rough. But the company didn't go through cutting people. Instead the people at the top gave up their bonuses and some of them gave up their pay just so everyone could keep working. But the greed here in the states is WAY to huge for that. 

But I'm hoping that a few more folks see just how shitty Hasbro/WotC is based on how they treat their employees. I mean if they treat the people who make the products they sell like garbage then just imagine of how they think of consumers. We've already seen that, they think of people as little walking wallets to pick from. They are a shit company.

More folks need to finally more away from their crap. Move out of that warm snuggly DnD blanket, creep away from the MtG crack dealers. Move on to other games out there on the market. We saw it happen earlier this year when they stuck their whole damn leg in their mouths with the OGL debacle. Now this. More people need to look around at other options. Maybe to a company that actually treats their customers well. 

Cash Strapped - Magic for DnD

Welcome to my first 'Cash Strapped' post on my blog. These posts will be for those of us who are rather limited on how much we can spend on our table top roleplaying hobby. Linking to places where we can LEGALLY obtain free or discounted resources for our games.

So for this first post I will linking to a collection of items over on DrivethruRPG for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. Wizards of the Coast was releasing pdfs for using various Magic the Gathering planes in 5th edition rules up until the most recent Ravnica block. These were called the Plane Shift series and are completely free. Even if you are not a fan of the Magic settings they are great resources to have your GM toolbox.


Plane Shift: Zendikar
Plane Shift: Innistrad
Plane Shift: Kaladesh
Plane Shift: Amonkhet
Plane Shift: Ixalan
X Marks The Spot A Plane Shift Ixalan Adventure


If you have any other suggestions for products to be put up in future Cash Strapped posts please just let me know in the comments section below.

Mana Screwed - Take some control

Back in the original days of Magic the Gathering some of common cards were quite good.  Some becoming staples in decks almost as soon as they came out or becoming more sought after than some rares.  This led to a common phrase "Common cards and common sense".  Basically telling people not to get wrapped up in chasing the rare cards for your decks and instead looking at what you have plenty of how they can work really well for you. 

So I'm going to try to follow up with that a bit with some common cards worth using in Commander that get overlooked by many.

Let's look at something wonderful for people who like red.  Hijack is a card most people have but never use (or Act of Treason, Traitorous Blood, Traitorous Instinct, etc. as it gets reprinted with slight differences and name changes often).  The simple basics, you take control of an opponents creature until end of the turn and it has haste.  Now why this may not seem like a lot of awesomeness at first glance it is something to hold onto until later in the game. 

Don't blow these cards on something small. Somebody always seems to go Voltron and pumping up a creature into a real ass beater.  Laying down devastation every chance they get.  So grabbing that which somebody else has spent a lot of time and mana on and swatting them (or somebody else) with it for only a handful of mana is a really good feeling. Especially if you've been playing many red right and your opponents have their life already knocked down a bit. 

I've won games by suddenly dropping one of these cards and suddenly taking out the very person who was about to take the win by ousting me. Nothing like seeing their face when they are suddenly snatching defeat with what they thought was their victory. 

Some not so common cards that work well are any cards that let you sack a creature (hello Ashnods Altar) to toss their big bad into the graveyard or Willbreaker and take them permanently.

Mana Screwed - A Saga that can cause a stir

One of the new card types from Dominaria will be Saga's.  They come into play and create an effect, then after each of your next two draw steps it does an additional effect before being sacrificed.  Some aren't all the great, some are more Lore than anything else. However this one has caught my eye.

Being a big fan of artifact decks this will be going into the next one I build.  Usually most of the creatures I run in those decks are already artifact creatures.  But decks like that aren't super common and tend to have a slow build along with a weakened sorcery/instant game.  However this changes that up a bit.  A creature wipe for only four mana that, if you build a deck right, won't affect you at all.  On top of that it cleans out your opponents graveyards on it's farewell... but not yours.  Not to mention that graveyard cleanse is only one turn after the wipe so it limits how many cards a player can save. For the price you pay it is well worth it.

Of course other artifact creature heavy decks won't be affected except by the graveyard flush.  But honestly you don't really see people playing many of those.  So honestly for me I see this as more useful than Urza's Ruinous Blast.  Now if only it wiped Planeswalkers as well....

Mana Screwed - The new limited board wipe

With Dominaria comes a few cards that change things around a bit.  This is a board wipe that does just that.

While I do like this card there are some limitations to it that any player needs to be aware of.  Especially in the first few months following it's release. 

Mainly Dominaria is a legendary heavy set, really heavy.  So that means most people will be loading their decks up with them.  Thereby limiting the damage this card can do.  I mean if you are running all legendary stuff it does cut down how bad your board wipe can hurt yourself but if everyone has stacked their decks the same.  It just won't do much good over all.

My advice would be if you see people starting to do this very thing then you need to change up tactics really quickly. *cough*sideboard*cough*  Toss in some old fashioned board wipes that don't care about the legendary status along with a few cards to help you recover from the wipe.  So when people are popping of Ruinous Blast and doing next to nothing you are taking them to the cleaners.

But this card is obviously useful.  Either to start with and switch out when it's not viable or to keep in your sideboard for when you go up against the guy who is legendary light. 

Mana Screwed - the new Mox is not so Mox

With the new expansion for Magic ramping up a lot of excitement with the return to it's original world people have been jumping at all the spoilers and leaks.  I'll admit that I have as well.  But sometimes I don't think the cards people are raving about are really all that special. 

Take for instance the Mox Amber.

While I'll admit it is a useful card people are freaking out about it being an all new Mox.  When really, it isn't.  It has that casting cost that made the original Mox cards really popular but unlike those of old this one is absolutely useless on the first couple of turns.  Which was pretty much what everybody loved about the originals when the game first came out.  First turn you had the chance to draw up a Mox or two and drop them in addition to a basic land and start pumping out mana faster than you opponent could.

This one absolutely does not do that.  It can be dropped on the first turn BUT it can't produce any mana until you get a legendary creature or planeswalker out on the battlefield.  Most of which cost more than a couple mana.  Later in play it can become useful as a generator for different colors but it is also weakened by the fact that a board wipe taking out creatures could render it, yet again, useless.  Especially with more and more cards targeting planeswalkers. 

Now if I get one I'll use it (or sell it if the price gets stupid high on it for some reason) but I don't see it becoming a stable in many of my decks.  Maybe those with a lot of legendaries or in Commander deck or two.  I'm not sure how many people will be making it a staple once the new and excitement wears off.

Just my two cents.  Your mileage may vary.