Braden Gardner
Mana is the foundation for all forms of gameplay in Magic: The Gathering (MTG). Whether you’re playing with powerful mana rocks like Mox Ruby in Vintage, tapping a mana dork like Llanowar Elves in Modern, or searching for extra lands in Standard with a ramp spell like Cultivate, mana ramp is the method many decks …
Creatures that have a cool ability that triggers when they enter the battlefield (ETB) can be found as far back in Magic: The Gathering‘s (MTG) history as Alliances, but Visions, released in 1997, was the first MTG set to truly lean into this area of card design. Powerful spells like Unsummon and Terror were stapled …
Cards with strong abilities that activate simply for entering the battlefield are often beloved by Magic: The Gathering (MTG) players, regardless of your favorite way to play the game. When you think about it, this makes total sense. The ability for a creature to do its cool thing, even if it eats an immediate removal …
Sometimes, a board state is simply too complicated for its own good. The token deck has a huge swarm of creatures, but is being held in check by a pillow fort deck that taxes attackers with mana payments. An artifact combo deck watches this balance with interest, looking for an opportunity to combo off and …
In a singleton format like Commander, where you’re only allowed to play 1 copy of any card that isn’t a basic land instead of 4, you’re often forced to look for alternate means of redundancy when tuning your deck to help it run more consistently. Periodically, you’ll be able to run 2 functionally identical cards …
Variable menus, new types of cards, and familiar card drafting come together to make Sushi Go Party! an enticing upgrade to the standard Sushi Go! tin. While the base Sushi Go! game is great (check it out on Board Game Arena if you haven’t treated yourself yet), the party edition adds layers of depth and …
Healing in 5th edition D&D is a series of contrasts. It’s a thankless job – until it isn’t. It isn’t a role anyone wants to play – until it’s needed. It’s not the way a player character (PC) wants to spend their turn – until doing so makes or breaks a battle. Since dedicated healing …
Darkness fell on the druids’ grove, and the orcs attacked soon after. Skirmishes were intense, with shapeshifters and beast masters fighting tooth and claw to hold every inch of the sacred area they had called home for so long. The elder was seemingly waging three battles at once with her magic, giving her allies the …