1 Reply by albonation

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Wow, great card recommendations guys.  I forgot to link to the other list I mentioned!

http://deckbox.org/sets/572218  This one is more about adapting to the decks around it by cloning creatures and stealing their spells with Wrexial.  This one is also within my budget and only gets better with time and testing.

I am very tempted to try and some how merge the two decks that I am posting here.

Perhaps something along these lines.  My creatures clone yours.  My commander copies your spells.  My spells counter yours.  I draw cards and set up enchantments/artifacts that stop folks from attacking me?

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2 Topic by albonation

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Hi there and thanks for taking the time to check out my EDH build.

decklist = http://deckbox.org/sets/549931

I need a few other sets of eyes and minds to check out this  for me.  My buddies and I are entering into EDH territory and I really love the format, its a great chance to take up some of those old cards from magic's history!  I have around $250 to spend from christmas money and would like to get a deck going.  I am having a little trouble with all the options and being new to the format.  Another problem I am running into are the decks my friends have built.  They have dropped quite a bit of dough on them and I am getting seriously out-classed.  They both have a copy of Primeval Titan, one of them has Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and his family; one friend is running Horde of Notions as his commander and has spent nearly $500 putting together an awesome low CC beat down deck that he modifies slightly with higher CC creatures in multiplayer games.  At our table we have decided that Primeval is too much though, they both got him out and we quickly realized that its just too much with the available land base in commander.  We have not come up against an Emrakul on the field yet so for now he is still allowed in play.  The Horde of Notions deck is running Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Armageddon, and some nice removal.  I am fiddling with the 2013 Jund precon right now, and I am just getting stomped on.  I stumbled on the Stax archetype and thought it would be perfect for our playgroup. We need that deck that tries to keep things toned down a little. I would also like to be slightly in control, even if not quite apparent. So here we go, a couple of deck lists that I thought might be fun when up against very high powered decks.  This first one here, I built myself after checking out a few stax primers.

I am going to use Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as my commander because it opens up the colors I'd like to use.  Oloro also opens up a few lands that would normally slow me down a little or dwindle at my life total:

Pain lands:
Adarkar Wastes
Caves of Koilos
City of Brass
Godless Shrine
Hallowed Fountain
Watery Grave
Salt Flats

Utility Lands:
Volrath's Stronghold is listed in the sideboard because I will be finding a spot for it later.  This land needs to be in the deck though as my creatures all have very nice utility and deserve to be recurred.

Academy Ruins  is similar to the Stronghold because all the artifacts in the deck could definitely hit the battlefield over and over.

Creeping Tar Pit  is an awesome manland, especially when I pick up a Sword of Feast and Famine in the next month or two.

Reliquary Tower There is a lot of draw in the deck, and in our games, being able to hold onto all those cards can be huge.

Bojuka Bog Hard to stop graveyard hate right here, and if Crucible of Worlds comes out, recurrable!

The rest of the lands are pretty straight forward.

Now with the mana out of the way, lets hit the creatures.

Creatures:

False Prophet  We see a lot of indestructible, protection, and hexproof creatures on our battlefields and this guy handles it all.

Magus of the Abyss  From what I understand he bypasses hexproof and protection black because my opponent actually chooses which creature to destroy.  This is pretty relevant against Emrakul I think.  I think this guy could help keep the board in check.

Consecrated Sphinx  A nice flyer that lands me quite a bit of card draw.

Frost Titan  I think he fits in the deck nicely.  He can serve to finish after I wipe lands and or creatures, after which it will be hard for them to mount a come back as he can keep things tapped down!

Sun Titan  This guy can bring back a ton of the enchantments in the deck, several artifacts and all those juicy lands after wipes. Oh and he can do a little damage as well.

Grave Titan  There are several things in this deck that have each player destroying, and saccing their own permanents and this guy can keep giving me fodder for those.

Herald of Leshrac  One of the couple land screws in the deck.  This guy is nuts and I just want to see how it goes.

Ok so yeah, a few titans there.  Hey they seem to fit well but that is one of the reasons I am asking for advice, maybe I am just biased.  Lets move on to instants.

Instants:

Path to Exile  Not much else to say about this one.  So much indestructible on our battlefields I prefer to exile.

Swords to Plowshares  Same as Path, I would rather exile.

Cyclonic Rift  I've heard this card can really do some heavy lifting in commander.

Hurkyl's Recall  The Horde deck is running quite a few damned mana rocks to ease the pain of his Armageddons.

Lim-Dul's Vault  The card is pretty sweet when backed up by my commander. I've never used it but I have the feeling that my commander will allow me to dig 15-20 deep very easily.

Capsize  Now this guy can do some late game work!

Dissipate  Running blue, gotta have counters right?  I am also up against several of the legendary Eldrazi so the exile is relevant.  Maybe there are better counter spells, but I thought the exile could help in a pinch. Mana Drain is out of budget, so is Force of Will

Hinder  For tucking commanders.  Will also help against Eldrazi.

Spell Crumple  Also for tucking commanders.  Eldrazi be damned, again!

Rewind  Hey, its funny sometimes.  Like I said, a few other sets of eyes on this build wouldn't hurt.

Sorceries:

Dust to Dust  Both of the fellows in my playgroup are running those Darksteel Plate cards.  This can help with that.

Armageddon  This is for when they both just get out of hand with all the ramping into 12 lands in 7 turns or something, which is crazy but my not be as necessary since we aren't allowing Primeval Titan anymore.

Cataclysm This is cool.  Like I said lots of hexproof, indestructible, and prot guys running around our playgroup.

Replenish I'm running lots of enchantments, lots of game changing enchantments..who wouldn't want to get them back!?

Supreme Verdict  Nuff said.  Counters are out there, and so are lots of creatures.

Wrath of God  Another great wipe.  Buddies play lots of creatures.

Catatrosphe  This card seems really great at its mana cost.  Too many pesky creatures out there?  Don't need to wipe creatures but need to reign things in a little?  I like it.

Merciless Eviction  Lots of Eldrazi in my playgroup, and hexproof, and indestructible..oh and they aren't always creatures.

Terminus Tucking commanders!  And Eldrazi..and well yeah..

Now for my artifacts and enchantments I am aiming for a little pillowfort/light stax action going on.  There are some mana rocks, and some card draw doodles in there..There is a lot going on here and if anyone would take a look and drop me a couple pennies that'd be great.  Like I said going for a pillowfort/light stax package.  I don't want to get too harsh on my buddies but I do want to be able to deter them from attacking me, and be able to knock things down a notch or two from time to time.

The planeswalkers!  These guys seem fun in a deck like this. 

Jace Belern is some nice card draw for everyone at the table.  I would rather this be Jace, the Mind Sculptor but I gotta hold off on that guy a little while. 

Elspeth, Knight-Errant  Agressive mana cost, amazing abilities in this deck.  I don't think she is going anywhere.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad  Three really great abilities giving the other cards in the deck, me thinks.

Liliana Vess  This is so-so, but it could work.  If someone is being selfish with card draw I can try and chip away at that. Her ultimate would be awesome as there are always sweepers being played.

Alright if you've made it this far, great!  Thank you so much for taking the time to check this out. I would really like to get this stuff ordered and throw it together.

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3 Reply by albonation

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I really want blue/black mill to win in standard.  Consuming Aberration can actually make it happen, but you need to survive until he hits the table.

Invisible Stalker paired up with cards like Hands of Binding and Paranoid Delusions can go a really long way in working towards both goals of surviving and milling.  Psychic Strike as well.

Dream Twist ensures early mill, with a late game come back (match one anyway..so much graveyard hate in standard).  You could replace this with Thought Scour though because drawing an extra card is pretty huge.

You are going to need to be largely defensive with only two win-cons, one being the Stalker with a few Cipher'd cards on him and the other being Consuming Aberration and Artful Dodge.  Blue does offer some good defense though, some cheap counters in the form of Dispel, Negate and Essence Scatter can really go a long way.  Black can give you cheap removal, Human Frailty because there are lots of humans out there and you could potentially pair this guy up with Tragic Slip to catch that non-human, and Ultimate Price to catch anything else.  Tribute to Hunger and Devour Flesh can help against hexproof stuff.

The Dimir Charm is an interesting card for a deck like this, but I feel that limiting it to only countering sorcery is going to hurt when someone plays a turn two Rest in Peace, that leaves you a removal option that is only viable early game and a mill that doesn't really compare to thought scour and dream twist.

So yeah that is my opinion, its definitely viable if you pair up Consuming Aberration and Artful Dodge.

Heavy on the defense though, which means mostly counters and removal.

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4 Topic by albonation

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

http://deckbox.org/sets/325021

Just a bunch of un-counterable vamps flying around doing damage.  Let me gain control of your create, and sac it.

I could use some help pin-pointing this decks weaknesses and adjusting the sideboard accordingly.

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5 Reply by albonation

(10 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Yeah they jumped faster than I would have thought.  I was lucky enough to pull three from fat packs and boosters!

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6 Reply by albonation

(10 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Boros Reckoner would work well with some of the board wipes out there, like Rolling Temblor and particularly with Blasphemous Act, red heavy though.

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7 Reply by albonation

(10 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I think the hardest part about playing Bolas is surviving long enough to cast him.  Counter magic and board wipe would most likely be the best bet when running blue/red/black.

Did you consider Dissipate instead of Syncopate?

How about running some Slaughter Games?

I like Killing Wave, Dreadbore, and Mizzium Mortars the most out of your removal spells.

The bane alley broker could keep that bolas safe from discard while you build up for casting it.

Holy flying specter batman! I did not realize you could play the lands they exiled with that specter!! Really amazing option in this deck that desires land like a fat kind desires cake.

Why not drop the keyrune and run 4 gilded lotus?  Ha! Sorry about this question, kind of able to answer it myself.  The keyrune is pretty awesome.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind?  He goes well with the Dimir Charm and the Drownyard.


Yeah a jumbled mess of a response, I am in a hurry right now but just wanted to get a couple opinions out there for ya!  I can edit it later.

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8 Topic by albonation

(0 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

http://deckbox.org/sets/311215

I am looking for help deciding what to cut, what to add and to refine this deck into something solid.  The idea is to keep my opponents creatures tapped, as well as slow down their lands by a turn.  I am not very concerned with budget.

I loves angels, they are my favorite creature type and I keep an ever growing list of angels I want in a deck, sadly it is nearly every angel ever printed and this is quite hard to do!

For now I think Stoic Angel is a great one to build around, with the new card Blind Obedience in Gatecrash.  As I dug deeper and researched more cards that may work with this angel I feel as though a very strong deck could be built.  One of the first things I found in my research is that Blind Obedience is nothing new, and there are in fact two other cards that would fit the bill and are quite a ton better in the slot, Loxodon Gatekeeper and Frozen Aether.  There is a third, Kismet, but I am trying to keep this modern.  Keeping it modern brings up another concern, the current deck list here on deckbox.org is not referring to this deck as a modern deck, what gives?

Creatures:

Ramp:
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Noble Hierarch
Silver Myr
Steward of Valeron

Several great choices for simple ramp here, and deciding which to go with is slightly difficult.  I get the feeling that only one of these is necessary.  The Noble is most likely the strongest of the bunch, the $25 price tag makes me cringe though.  With only one ramp creature a turn 3 stoic angel should be fairly consistent.  The mana curve is not high at 5, and the build idea lends itself to stalling your opponent while continuing normally on your own. Your thoughts?  Is a ramp creature even needed at all?

Three Drop:
Geist of Saint Traft
Loxodon Smiter
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers

This brings me to the three drop slot because with a ramp creature these become turn two drops, and all three of these creatures are going to make my opponent quiver on turn 2.  The smiter is going to be very reliable as it will not be countered and may even be a freeby.  The geist is just a very fun card, and the cavaliers have a lot of synergy with the deck idea as it can operate on its own if a stoic angel enters the battlefield and i still have not gotten to cast Murkfiend Liege yet.

Four Drop:
Stoic Angel
Thoughtweft Trio
Loxodon Gatekeeper

The Stoic Angel isn't going anywhere.  The Gatekeeper is a great way to keep my opponent slowed down. Do I run the gatekeeper on top of the Blind Obedience and/or Frozen Aether, or just go with 4 copies of one of the enchantments and not clog up the four drop slot?  There are other four drop options as well, some are in the idea/sideboard.  The thoughtweft trio is jut neat, and kithkin offer some completely different ways to build the deck. I tried to link to a gatherer search for kithkin within the colors of this deck, but could not get it to work because of conflicting issues with the underline formatting.  There are some really cool kithkin ways to build this deck as well, so do a quick search and speak your mind!

As for the five drop slot the Murkfiend Liege is really the superstar here because he allows me to attack with creatures that do not have vigilance and still be able to untap them.  With a ramp creature, or two, on the battlefield this allows for the charms to be much more easy to cast on my opponents turn.  He also has the potential to give my creatures a +2/+2 bonus!  The Baneslayer Angel could be a sideboard card in times of need, I do not know, I just like angels!

Spells/Enchantments:
Azorius Charm
Selesnya Charm
Cryptic Command
Blind Obedience
Frozen Aether

I really like the Azorius Charm and believe it is definitely a 4 of in this deck.  The Selesnya charm is more situational and may not be necessary.  The Cryptic Command is simply another way to achieve the goal of the deck.  The other two fall right into the theme of the deck as well, to keep my opponents creatures tapped and slow their lands down by a turn!  What would you do with spells and such?

I have no idea what to do with the sideboard and have just been placing cards in there that seemed like great fits, they were also being heavily used within standard and modern sideboards by top 8 decks. big_smile

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9 Reply by albonation

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Well too bad about the stab wounds. Crippling Blight may pair well with Pyreheart Wolf, if I am correct in thinking pyreheart forces your opponent to block each attacking creature with two or more, or not at all.

Yeah I mean Rakdos, Lord of Riots. I just want to drop this 6/6 flyer on turn 4!

I am going to fiddle with this deck until I save up for a couple gatecrash booster boxes and build a red/white battalion with Aurelia, the War leader making an appearance.

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10 Reply by albonation

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Hey TyWoo, definitely some awesome feedback.  I am beginning to look forward to your posts.  So Rakdos, Lord of Riots really isn't  being played much?  I sort of gathered that because he is not priced very highly at all.  Then I say it is time to put our heads together and try to work out a decent standard deck around this guy.

That being said today we now know everything to come in the Gatecrash expansion, and there are some amazing cards on the way.  So all of this is pretty much just smoke in the wind, but here goes anyway.

When it comes to guaranteed damage I think the Tormented Soul is a great idea, and another one I had was Stab Wound, but there just doesn't seem to be room for this.  It could help trigger morbid abilities by decreasing the toughness of my enemies creatures.

Ok I think the Mark of Mutiny is out for 2 copies each of Slaughter Games and Rolling Temblor.  I may even take out Flames of the Firebrand all together and add 2 more copies each of Games and Temblor.

I really like Griselbrand. That is a serious dude to be able to get out onto the field for 4 mana.  Sadly I had to opt for Harvester of Souls because Griselbrand is $10+ per card and out of stock at card kingdom.

Ok this is quite a lot to read already, but I would like to explain what I am doing.  The idea behind this deck is Rakdos, Lord of Riots.  Rakdos embodies the spirit of the best defense is a great offense.  He is an amazing creature to summon in Magic. 4 mana for a flying/trample 6/6 is crazy.  At present the 8 one drop creatures can easily deal me some damage to ensure a turn 4 Rakdos.

The 6 two drops are solid as well.  The Ash Zealot coming in with first strike and haste at a 2/2 is a great turn two play, as well as making flash back a hard decision.  So with that card I have a few different ways to ensure damage to be dealt for a Rakdos cast.  The other two drop, Lightning Mauler, is actually in this deck to make things happen after Rakdos has been cast.  The idea is to be able to cast a Balefire for two mana and swing immediately, or a Harvester for 2 and kill a creature on the spot triggering morbid and hopefully taking out another with tragic slip.

The Pyreheart Wolf is resilient to board wipes with its undying mechanic, but also serves as a way to limit my opponents choices when it comes to blocking.  If I can keep their creature count low then I can essentially walk right in ensuring a Rakdos cast, or better yet a bigger creature.

Now the fun part, the heavy hitters.  The Thundermaw is really the highlight because it could potentially be hard casted in this deck and will most definitely fly right in for 5 on a good day.  The Harvester is slightly out of reach in this deck because by the time I have 6 mana and rushing offense so hastily things are going to either be looking great or grim.  But! If things go well and Rakdos lets him in on the cheap and the Lightning Mauler gets him swining quickly I can hopefully do some damage.  Then we have the Balefire whom would greatly benefit from the Mauler!

Now for spells.  I took your advice on the card draw and threw in some Sign in Blood.  I like this card for a couple of reasons. One it could help me speed through my deck, two it could deal some much needed damage to my opponent.  Tragic slip can ensure their creatures do not survive the turn if they block and kill one of mine, nuff said.  Brimstone Volley, is well, Brimstone Volley.  Now Tribute to Hunger is a little on the fence here.  It can bypass a lot of shenanigans out there like hexproof and indesctructible and net me some life at the same time!

Well just something I was thinking about.  I would like for a Rakdos deck to get some love, and I think there may be better options out there within Gatecrash.

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11 Topic by albonation

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

http://deckbox.org/sets/292646

I bought a couple of the Rakdos Raid event decks and really liked some of the things that came in there.  I knew that Rakdos, Lord of Riots and Cryptborn Horrorcould be fun.

However, I am also thinking that I could drop all three Cryptborn Horror in favor of another Thundermaw Hellkite ( I have 3 total) and then my one and only Balefire Dragon.  Thus potentially taking advantage of Rakdos, Lord of Riots in a very powerful way.

Another route could be to drop the three Cryptborn Horror in favor of another Thundermaw Hellkite and two Thunderous Wrath.

Essentially I am asking for a way to improve upon the idea I have here.

Edit/Update: Holy shit batman! Yeah I was getting ready to go to bed and made a few mistakes on this post, should have slept on it and then posted it tonight.

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12 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I got it down to 60 cards!

Now to just settle the Blasphemous Act spot. 

Edit: Dropped Blashpemous Act and added Evacuation.  It will ruin tokens no matter their toughness, which is actually a problem for me because my buddies white token deck really beefs them up.

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13 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I own 4 Drowned Catacombs, so maybe just buying 4 Dragonskull Summit, and then using basic lands beyond that would be best?  That way my land base is a bit faster.

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14 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

@TyWooOneTime - Yeah I copied that deck list into my profile.  I have read that forum thread a few times in which you and a few other guys discussed it.  I really like it, it would crush my friends I think.  It is being priced out less than $100, I actually had all the cards in that deck in my shopping cart and ready to check out over on Card Kingdom.  I decided to hold off just a second to see if anyone had replied here to my forum post and..holy moly!  The friggin guy whose deck list I was about to purchase replied to me!  Crazy stuffs.

I can totally swing the dollar amount that deckbox is projecting for your decklist TyWooOneTime.  That is what I am after getting Bolas in play in multiplayer for $100 or less.

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15 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Cool.

Large deck at 65 cards however.  25 lands and 4 artifacts able to keep the mana coming is crucial. 

What do you think of the Ponder and the Foresee?  I think the card draw and topdecking is crucial in this deck, a key component?

Six counter magic spells, and 4 instants to help against flying attackers as well as throwing first strike on my deathtouch.

I am on the fence about Blasphemous Act.  I think Rolling Temblor would stomp the tokens and is more friendly with my own creatures.  If this is the case then I can drop the Blasphemous mainboard the Temblor and that opens 4 spots on the sideboard.

Edit: Mizzium Mortars is really what I need to be playing as a board wipe, but only because of the overload.  I just am afraid that I will not be able to consistently produce 3 red mana in one turn like that.

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16 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Thanks. I have 4 Counterspell and 4 Mana Leak here at the house, so that helps.  Mana Drain looks like the pimp of all pimps for counter magic.  I really just don't much like Force of Will, the 1 life is not a big deal but removing a card in your hand from the game seems like a steep cost to counter something.  I just look at it like you are using two cards to deal with one of theirs.  However needing 0 mana to counter a spell is pretty damned crunk.

Ha! But yeah total cost is a big deal, so the cheaper counter magic will have to do.

Edit: Oh should I be running Gem of Becoming and Gilded Lotus?

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17 Reply by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Awesome! Very nice feedback guys, even with nearly eight hours scouring through gatherer adding in and taking out cards you both came in and opened my eyes.

@TyWooOneTime - I recently stumbled upon your deck using the Paradox Haze way of quickly reducing the number of suspend counters on very large creatures.  I am tempted in going for this deck it looks very awesome.  Compared to my two would you choose the Paradox Haze way as the better way?  I am aiming at building a Nicol Bolas multiplayer deck, so we are talking using it in 2 headed giant games and 3 or 4 person free for all matches.

I considered Vampire Nighthawk, as well as Tidehollow Strix.  There are just so damned many options out there when you are opening yourself up to 3 three colors, and not just 3 colors but Red, Blue, and Black!


@drgolovacroxby - Thanks. Those are some awesome suggestions for the zombie side of things. Cemetery Reaper looks like the shiznittle against my friends little undying deck.  Do you have some suggestions for counter magic?

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18 Topic by albonation

(12 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

http://deckbox.org/sets/296019  This is a deck list focusing on chump blockers with deathtouch to keep their creatures at bay.

http://deckbox.org/sets/296382  This deck list is cheaper (always better) and focuses more on drawing what I want, and Grimgrin.

Update: I now have a couple deck lists with Nicol Bolas as the highlight, each of which do similar things with the spells, but the creatures are totally different.  These two deck-lists are exactly what I am after though.  I like the deathtouch chump blocker deck. I think it has survival, and may even make my opponent stall which plays highly in my favor once Bolas enters the battlefield and I yank a creature.  The other is actually an aggressive front using zombies and beefing Grimgrin but ultimately bides me time until I can get Bolas on the battlefield and start locking them down.

So far what I have put together is under $150 and I would really like to stay within that price range.  This would be a deck I use mostly in two headed giant games, and perhaps one on one with the knowledge that it will not be very powerful in a 1v1 situation.

I like some help maybe combining the two ideas, or pointing out which is actually more powerful during play.

Several views, no feedback. What gives? Please folks, any criticism is good criticism in my opinion!

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