Tiny Leaders: Reborn

  Upkeep Steps     Each time I draft one of my cubes, I look for what went right, what could be better, and what did not work according to expectation. While the data I get is limited, through iteration after iteration I can steadily bracket the performance of my cubes toward the ideal (even if that ideal is ultimately unachievable). To this end, I try to take feedback with an open mind and critical eye.     I chose the categories intentionally and deliberately: I want to know what went right, the things that I'm doing right that I should repeat or continue to achieve a desired effect. I want to know what could be better, as opposed to what isn't good enough; a focus on improvement and momentum over failure and inertia. And I want to know what isn't meeting expectations; there are too many reasons why something isn't [doing the thing], and because it didn't work how I wanted and planned for it to doesn't mean it didn't do anything, and indeed it may have had...

Summary of Changes Underworld Breach – Remains on Watchlist Edric, Spymaster of Trest – Unbanned & Watchlisted Metalworker – Unbanned & Watchlisted Underworld Breach - Remains on Watchlist Underworld Breach remains on the watchlist. While it hasn’t made any major waves in recent events, we want to see if the results of this Fall’s SCT tournament has any influence on its future performance. Nearly half of the SCT field is on some form of combo or combo-adjacent strategy, and Breach has historically played a role in enabling those styles of decks. That said, the combos represented were diverse: Ral, Monsoon Mage - Storm 2x Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer - Food Chain Acererak, the Archlich Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice - Auras/Voltron Kemba, Kha Enduring - Hammer Time Saint Traft and Rem Karolus - Jeskai Ascendancy/Intruder Alarm The current Tiny Leaders meta is healthy and fun, and we want to make sure t...

 Foreword      This will be the first of what I hope to be many articles detailing my "beginnings" with TL:R and (mostly) Cube, and will have a lot of my own personal thoughts, impressions, ideas, spin, and, unavoidably, biases. I want to share these thoughts and feelings with you because not only will that help clarify and solidify my own opinions and direction but also hopefully ignite your own spark; a fun and relatable reminder that "bad" art is still art, and the expression and pursuit often matter more than the displayed skill or quality of the result.       I thank you for joining me on this journey, and while you are free and encouraged to depart when it suits you I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts and ramblings as much as I enjoy writing and having them. By relating these stories and lessons and experiences, it is my wish that they are not lost "As Steps and Phases End." As always, let's all have fun and play together! The Beginning (Ph...

  The Short and Sweet of Things Recently, with an announcement focused on changes coming with Foundations (read about it here ), WotC wrapped up by declaring The End of the World As We Know It! More accurately, the article announced then discussed the removal of some old, and arguably archaic and unintuitive, rules regarding combat (more specifically, blocking and damage). Effective with the release of Magic Foundations, damage assignment order will no longer be a thing in Magic. In the Beginning (of Combat) This all started in the beginning of Magic, with LEA rules of damage on the stack. In the old days, when creatures were terrible and spells were either just as terrible or beyond insane (for a long time, the Gold Standard of one-drops was Savannah Lions ), combat damage used the stack. The stack also functioned fundamentally differently than it does today, using a game concept called “batches”, which is why older spells are divided into three categories (technically four) i...

  Quick note on the conventions used before we get into things: while normally “A” and “N” names are used to denote Active and NonActive players, for multiplayer scenarios sequential letters of the alphabet are generally used, with “A” indicating the Active Player at the start of the scenario. Also, typically only items relevant to the scenario are mentioned, and everything is assumed to be both legal and irrelevant. If a detail is somehow relevant and not indicated, this is usually because either it was overlooked during development/recreation and/or was not considered previously. A detail being absent does not necessarily (although usually does) mean it is irrelevant.   The scenario: A mon is trying to determine their options for legal attacks. Previously, B ruh resolved Disrupt Decorum and currently C oin controls Sphere of Safety . D oomed is tapped out with nothing relevant on board. To determine what constitutes a legal attack for A mon, let’s first take a look at so...

       Greetings , friends! Today I am happy to announce the arrival of the Cube Spotlight Series on the TL:R server! This has been a longtime dream of mine, to share my love of this unique format that not only by its very nature almost requires community support, but also thrives on, enhances, and is compounded by the community around it.     Cube is both the most pure form of Magic and the least Magic-like format I have encountered yet. The near-infinite degree to which a Cube can be customized, the fathomless depth of the available card pool to draw from, the boundless creativity of the human spirit, and the expression of these to meet any of a number of varying goals means that no two Cubes are alike, and even the same Cube will play differently each time.     By hosting this recurring, bi-weekly draft series, I aim to continue strengthening our community through shared experience, providing opportunity for creative expression both in gameplay...