Comic + Bitching about Draven's Passive

Draven's New Passive

In short, I hate it. But here's a few things why.

First, it ruins the "blood brothers" theme that Riot tried to set.

Second, it's only good if you're ahead. It's useless when you fall behind. Additionally it only grants gold on kills, not assists. Which even if you do get the kill, you still lose half your stacks.

I don't see how Riot saw the old passive being "difficult to balance" and his new passive "easy to adjust" when you could have easily toned down the damage. (It was 34 damage at level one.) You could have made it zero base damage and scale off bonus AD. At least it would have been better.

Anyways, my two cents. Enjoy the comic, it's old but I never got around to posting it on SCS, so it's worth posting.

To anyone viewing from reddit: yes, I am the original author (illustrator?) of this comic.

RCotD #215

Random Card of the Day #215:

City of Shadows
Land
T: Exile a creature: Put a storage counter on City of Shadows
T: Add X to your mana pool where X is the numebr of storage counters on City of Shadows

Hey guys sorry for the late post...got caught up in borderlands and that new Wolverine movie (which is worth a watch by the way). Any way let's look at the card we have here. I'm gonna start off by saying I like it it's interesting and has potential. That being said I dont think it's necessarily a good card. It's a storage land and the gimmick is you don't lose the counters. The thing I don't like about this land is the exile, it's not in anyway abuseable. You don't get a sacrifice effect or a "dies" trigger or an enter graveyard trigger so you can't count it as an outlet for that. Also even if you could get a creature once a turn its a very slow process, The idea is solid but there are just better lands for the slot...I'm sure it could fill a nifty role in a casual deck or a niche trick in edh. 3/5

SCS Live! -- Borderlands 2...Third times a charm (we hope)

It should just be me and Lolzor this time. We're approaching the end of this very captivating game.

We're actually in the process of making a new channel designed for SCS rather than using my personal twitch account. So join and re-follow at our newest channel: http://www.twitch.tv/snowcoveredswamp/old

Also we have a new twitter account: @SnoCoveredSwamp (because appareently the "W" was too much to ask) and don't forget  @Lolzor_SCS and @Baalhrezem. Follow us for up to date info and shenanigans.

Last week on SCS Live:
It may require to load an ad:

Steam Sale Clean Up.

So every time there is a big Steam sale I kinda like to highlight some games that I purchased that I think are really worth while if they come around on sale again (next time I'll maybe write this before had...you know so it's not wasted info <_<). Any way we just had a big summer sale so I'm going to talk about 3 games I really liked.

Let's start with a game you have seen a bit of around SCS lately, Borderlands. Both Borderlands and it's sequel are such fun games for people who like to watch numbers go up. Basically it's Diablo meets Halo. It's got a pretty decent shooter system but is far from realism (what with no falling damage, recharging heath and 30 ft jumps). You damage is determined by your gun and crits are determined by hitting vital area, i.e head shot for humanoids. You have a second wind system where if you are killed you have a short time in which you can get a kill and stand right back up with some health. The whole game is very hectic with a strange but funny sense of humor...and a very annoying dancing robot. It can be casual or addicting but it's a fun game solo but waaaaayyy better with 3 friends.

Next is another game we streamed, Multiwinia. It's an RTS...kinda...but with like human nature elements...and uh. OK look I cant really explain it so if you want a crazy RTS like you have never played you and your friends should grab a copy and look months of your life taking screen shots of the epic battles you have.

Finally I dont believe we have streamed this one yet but we might some day. Dungeon Defenders is the Borderlands of wave defense. You have a class, you constantly get barraged with weapons to compare to your own, and you can't stop playing till you have the highest numbers...with no real end game. This game starts very easy but the difficulty ramps really high but its worth it. Each class is unique in its play and there are far too many combinations of weapons and gear. This game isn't for everyone but if it hits sale again for the 5 bucks i bought it for it will definitely be worth a try.

Alright guys sorry for the day late and I hope you enjoyed my recommendations. As always leave your own opinions in the comments and share this shit with your friends. 

MUCMonday #41

Making Up Cards Monday #41:

And now for our most popular segment of Snow Covered Swamp: MUCMonday.

Lolzor will fill these in with valueable information about how the card was made when he gets the chance.














Dynomite Goblin - 2R
Creature - Goblin
Haste
Echo R
When Dynomite Goblin enters the battlefield or dies, deal one damage to each player equal to number of cards you control named Dynomite Goblin.
1/1

Welcome to the barrage of commons and uncommons. We are filling out our set with the less than rares. This one is obvious overcosted goblin flavor









Production Constituent
Instant
(Nonexistent mana costs can’t be paid.)
Production Contituent is green.
Apothic - Whenever you cast a green spell, you may reveal Production Contituent from you hand. If you do, tap an untapped creature you control and put a copy of this spell on the stack. Use this ability only once per turn.
Put a 0/1 green plant token onto the battlefield under your control. Then target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

Green apotic! This one is solid green flavor and decent usability.
 the tokens are good fodder and can be used as a blocker/combat tricks








Train of Virtue - 4
Artifact Creature - Juggernaut
Train of Virtue attacks each turn if able.
Whenever Train of Virtue deals combat damage to a player, you may pay {2}{W}. If you do, Train of Virtue gains lifelink.
3/3

CHOO CHOOOOO LIFELINK YO! TAKING DRAFTS BY STORM!

SCS Live! - Borderlands 2.. again!

It will be just me and Lolzor this time.

Join us www.twitch.tv/baalhrezem

Last week on SCS Live:

It may require to load an ad:

Back when we were new

How to not play Magic:

Today might be different than what we normally do. This is how Lolzor and I got into Magic.

Okay so everyone and their mother's own Magic cards. I had played a little when I was like 11 or 12 years old, including at an FNM. It was a WUBRG-whatever-I-wanted deck. I remember the store owner giving me a bunch of shitty commons like Llanowar Elves to help me out. I was grateful. Even though I had played with my only friend who played Magic at the time, it wasn't a real experience for me because he ran like 6 lands in his deck and didn't know the basic rules.

I didn't actually start playing until bitllorente aka bitlo actually started playing again. It was more like "hey guys look what I found!" and me and Lolzor were like "oh I have some of those cards too! let's play!"

So we did awful, awful things when we started. For example, we thought regenerate worked the same way as Monster Reborn/Rise From the Grave. We thought that Penumbra Kavu/Wurm when it was counterspelled it still entered the battlefield so its shadow would still trigger. Counterspell was basically the most broken card because I had remembered "everything is a spell, except lands" as a rule from the FNM so many years ago. So basically counterspell stopped spells and was a Terminate.

The worst offender was Chlorophant. Who we actually read as "At the beginning of your upkeep you may pay {G}. If you do, add a +1/+1 counter to Chlorophant and repeat this process." 1-for-1s were a broken concept because you could eliminate the biggest threats while you army of 2/2s and 3/3s would build up. Every game ended the same way: either Lolzor won with his 6/6 trampler, or I drew some weird cards that functioned like Pacifism and pinged him to death over 20 turns.

I was astonished to find out my Hand of Death was strictly worse than Doom Blade. I was shocked that Lightning Bolt was strictly better than my Volcanic Hammer.

Despite our shitty cards, we didn't care very much until I found out my friend LightningCount actually played Magic. That's when I started playing more, and showing my other friend how to play, which as it turns out his roommate was an incredibly good Magic player who had already "gone infinite" on MTGO. I learned everything from him, and in turn, when Lolzor and I lived together, I passed all of my commons/uncommons from him and made bad decks so he would learn how to play.

Those were the days. And now we are rules advisors.

SCS Update

SCS Update:

Hey guys so starting this week we are having a bit of a schedule change here at Snow Covered Swamp.

Monday: Magic
Wednesday: Free Article (Written by Sefah/Lolzor)
Friday: Bonus Stuff
Sunday: SCS Live (Stream)


So, why the changes? Well honestly me and Sefah have been dropping the ball on our personal articles and I want to change that. So to try to offer more content while not over burdening our personal schedules we are condensing our personal articles to one day. Ideally me and Sefah will switch off weeks give us 2 weeks to write an article and you guys get an article each week.
Now on top of that we are gonna try and put some bonus content on Friday when we have it. Don't expect it every week but if we have a chance to deliver something check for it on Friday.

Everything else stays the same, streams have been fun they aren't going anywhere. Alright guys I'm done here, Sefah will have his first article tommorow. Remember to share us with your friends...or else.

RCotD #214

Random Card of the Day #214:

Ovinomancer - 2U
Creature - Human Wizard
When Ovinomancer enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you return three basic lands you control to their owner's hand.
{T}, Return Ovinomancer to its owner's hand: Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated. That creature's controller puts a 0/1 green Sheep creature token onto the battlefield.
0/1

Alright so right off that bat, we got 3-cost 0/1 with a drawback. It bounces 3 lands THAT MUST BE BASIC to your hand or it dies. Luckily, it's effect is a recurring Pongify, except... wait, it bounces itself AS PART OF THE COST! YOU CAN'T EVEN TWIDDLE THIS TO MAKE INFINITE SHEEP.

However, Lolzor has mentioned that if all your creatures have haste or for some reason you have Thousand Year-Old Elixir, it can respond to it's own land-bounce ability and be a recurring sorcery speed Pongify for 2U.

Best part about this card: there is an official judge ruling that contains the phrase "and will result in no sheep". This card is so bad it doesn't even combo with Goatnapper

Official Judge Ruling:
10/4/2004 Can target itself. This will cause it to be returned to your hand during announcement and will result in no sheep since it will not be on the battlefield at resolution so the effect fails since it target is illegal.

Constructed: 1/5
Limited: 1/5
Judge ruling: 5/5

SCS Live!: Borderlands 2

Yo Yo! It's time for some HARDCORE WEAPON GETTING ACTION! GUNS ON GUNS ON GUNS...and 1 sword. Me and Sefah and AisforCynics are tackling this game and seeing how many guns we can get!

Join us www.twitch.tv/baalhrezem

MUCMonday #40

Making Up Cards Monday #40:

And now for our most popular segment of Snow Covered Swamp: MUCMonday.

Lolzor will fill these in with valueable information about how the card was made when he gets the chance.














Drudgery Constituent
Instant
Drudgery Constituent is blue.
Apothic - Whenever you cast a blue spell, you may reveal this card from your hand. If you do, put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard and put a copy of this spell on the stack. Use this ability only once per turn.
Target player puts the top three cards from his or her library into the graveyard.

So the blue cycle of this was kinda odd to balance... blue kinda gets the useless one way or broken the other. Honestly this is a weaker one but it is a common so it fits









Supernal Constituent
Instant
(Nonexistent mana costs can’t be paid.)
Supernal Constituent is white.
Apothic - Whenever you cast a white spell, you may reveal Supernal Constituent from your hand. If you do, tap three creatures you control and put a copy of this spell on the stack. Use this ability only once per turn.
Put target creature on the bottom of its owner’s library. That creature’s controller gains life equal to its toughness.

Apparently its post the "difficult to balance Apothic" cards this article. So this one was supposed to be the non rare but the power level would be really freakin high with out a decent drawback, so this cost is heavy to play but its a reoccurring tuck so I think its very worth it.








Train of Pain - 4
Artifact Creature - Juggernaut
Train of Pain attacks each turn if able.
Whenever Train of Pain deals combat damage to a player, you may pay {2}{R}. If you do, Train of Pain gains first strike.
3/3

So here we are more trains. Honestly this is decent but nothing like the others. Again perfect 23rd card.





Thanks for reading! Tune in next week for more!

SCS Live!: Majora's Mask Reloaded

When we last left our heroes they were bickering at each other becuase of a damn crying baby...

Anyway we are steaming the second attempt at finishing our childhood menace Majora's mask.

You can watch us here: www.twitch.tv/baalhrezem
as usual all the previous streams are listed on the channel and Sefah will add an awesome clip here soon.

Lolzor fixes: Red Planeswalkers (Why Chandra disappoints me every set)

Whats up guys so you are gonna get a double magic article this week because I feel like I need to address the power level of mono red planeswalkers. You see none of them really shine in my opnion mainly because their specific flavor being hard to balance on a recurring effect. So I'm going to put my 2 sense on 3 of them: Chandra, Koth, and Tibalt. Lets begin.

Let's star with Koth shall we? Koth has always seemed like the mid range side of red to me so I'm going to try and keep with that

Koth - 2RR

+1 Up to one target creature cant block this turn

-2 Add R for each mountain you control

-5 Deal X damage to each creature an opponent controls where X is the number of mountains you control, then deal 1 damage to target player for each creature destroyed this way

3 Loyalty

Ok so the first ability seems solid keeps you swinging and keeps the hits on. I actually liked his second ability it's strong and in flavor so I kept it. Now his 3rd is a one sided board wipe at the right time, it scales with the game which is what I like also it keeps you in a mono red deck which is where i believe he should be.

So now we are on to Tibalt. Now everyone hates on him but he is damn near perfect actually, he has but one fatal drawback that I will fix. Now he is staying at a 2 cost planes walker...there is not really a great way to balance that with out him being a bit weak.

Tibalt - RR

+1 Discard a card at random, then draw a card

-4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded deals damage equal to the number of cards in target player's hand to that player.

-6: Gain control of all creatures until end of turn. Untap them. They gain haste until end of turn.

2 Loyalty

As you can see it was just his first effect. The random part is really rough but by switching it we can do 2 things, one you can abuse it with no hand which fits his kind of chaotic rakdos feel, and two you don't lose the card you draw so you at least will always have a fresh card in your hand after his ability. Besides that he is perfect I love him I actually run him in an unleash deck so there is use after all. Any way that slight change keeps his utility/burn/rakdos feel. I almost changed him to be a R/B cost.

Now on to the main lady, Chandra. Seriously I don't think I've seen a Chandra I like, they are either too expensive for the deck they are meant for or just not useful. My version is far from perfect but I believe its a step in the right direction.

Chandra - 3R

+1 Put a 3/1 Elemental token with haste on to the battle field. Exile it end of turn

-2 Deal 2 damage to target creature or player

-6  You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a red instant or sorcery you may pay RR, if you do copy it and choose new targets for the copy.


3 Loyalty

Ok as you can see all of her skills are other spells or abilities in the game, but she is a pyromancer it makes sense. Anyway as much as Koth is mid range she is blitz. Now a planeswalker will just not work in a strict burn deck for the most part cuz she is an investment with no damage right away and at turn 3 or 4 when she would hit you should be winning, but that doesnt mean she isn't fast. Her first ability is a version of Rakka Mar, its easy damage and can be done each turn. Her minus is shock...no not bolt too strong. And her final ability is an emblem that gives you all the reverberate you need to finish the game, fitting I think.


Any way those are my thoughts, I hope you enjoyed reading and please leave your own opinions in the comments. See you next week!

MUCMonday #39

Making Up Cards Monday #39:

And now for our most popular segment of Snow Covered Swamp: MUCMonday.

Lolzor will fill these in with valuable information about how the card was made when he gets the chance.














City of Echoes - 0
Legendary Land
Imprint - When City of Echoes enters the battlefield, exile a land you control.
T: Add any color to your mana pool that the imprinted card could produce.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield, if it shares a basic land type with the imprinted card, untap City of Echoes.

Lolzor Edit: This is the second of the 2 colorless lands I made. I really like this one, it has just enough to be abuseable but is nothing grossly over powered. I imagine things like harrow would be simple ways to get value out of this if not just neting you an extra mana a turn









Dismal Constituent
Instant
(Nonexistent mana costs can’t be paid.)
Dismal Constituent is black.
Apothic - Whenever you cast a black spell, you may reveal Dismal Constituent from your hand. If you do, lose two life and put a copy of this spell on the stack. Use this ability only once per turn.
Target player discards a card.

Still coming out with these cards, the interest "Forecast" mechanic.

Lolzor Edit: More in the apothic cycle, obviously black flavored. This is a very powerful card in a mono black deck or any deck with black really...just adding discard to a card for life is very very scary







Train of Growth - 4
Artifact Creature - Juggernaut
Train of Growth attacks each turn if able.
Whenever Train of Growth deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 2G. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Train of Growth.
3/3

Lolzor Edit: CHOO CHOO MOTHER FUCKER! More in the "23rd Card Trains" cycle and here we have the other good one. Unlike the others this has a reoccurring effect to it and a decent one at that...this gets in the deck in draft no doubt easily castable and can win the game with a few free swings









Thanks for reading! Tune in next week for more!