Thank you for stopping by.

I first became acquainted with Magic: The Gathering during Alpha set. After that initial foray where I was introduced by a neighbor to the game, I didn’t play again until the Tempest block. Then I took a long, 20 year hiatus until 2019 when another neighbor reinvigorated my desire to play by urging me to buy some Dominaria and Core 19 packs for a friendly draft. Since then I’ve found myself addicted to deck building.

I prefer traditional formats like Vintage/Legacy/Modern/Standard/Pauper as opposed to this zany, newfangled “Commander” format all the kids are raving about.

I lean toward the / end of the color spectrum; preferred hubs are Reanimator and any type of build that uses uncommon or otherwise off the wall strategies or win-cons.

God I miss the old artwork and flavor text from the older expansions; some of the new stuff is half decent but it doesn’t hold a candle to the gorgeous art of cards like those found in the Arabian Nights expansion or Mirage block. And then there’s the classical literary quotes on cards like Repentant Blacksmith, Juzam Djinn, Hammerheim, Karakas, Pendelhaven, Revelation...the list goes on! I weep softly when I realize just how lackluster today’s MtG sets are in this respect, by comparison. But, I digress.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have on any of my decks; all upvotes are much appreciated as well.

Andramalech says... #1

If not for how prolific an audiophile I am with modern music, I might very well have been caught off guard by the joke. Always great sharing a laugh with you. :)

March 24, 2025 8:50 p.m.

Andramalech says... #2

Balaam__ the guitar was riffing in my ears within mere moments of starting to read this comment.

Can I really be mad..? I did this to myself, and everyone else here on the site.

March 24, 2025 8:32 p.m.

Balaam__ says... #3

Hey Andramalech.

I made a cup of tea and tried to figure out how to embed a YouTube video link. It took a lot longer than I expected and was quite frustrating (my tea actually went cold). The fact it was raining all morning didn’t help lift my spirits either; the window was clouded over and I couldn’t see outside. I began to wonder why I even bothered getting out of bed today. I started getting more and more frustrated, but then I remembered the instructions you posted on my wall and it reminded me it’s not so bad, it’s not so bad.

And I want to thank you

March 24, 2025 8:21 p.m. Edited.

Please login to comment

Said on Balaam__...

#1

Hey Andramalech.

I made a cup of tea and tried to figure out how to embed a YouTube video link. It took a lot longer than I expected and was quite frustrating (my tea actually went cold). The fact it was raining all morning didn’t help lift my spirits either; the window was clouded over and I couldn’t see outside. I began to wonder why I even bothered getting out of bed today. I started getting more and more frustrated, but then I remembered the instructions you posted on my wall and it reminded me it’s not so bad, it’s not so bad.

And I want to thank you

March 24, 2025 8:21 p.m. Edited.

Said on Doom & Bloom...

#7

Seeing my name caught me by surprise; I had to laugh aloud. I spent the entire time up to that point wracking my mind trying to figure out where the quotations in the description were taken from. I still don’t know. I’m not musically inclined, and they seem like they could be song lyrics? Whatever the case, this looks like my kind of deck—some fringe creature flying mostly under people’s radar with a solid ability to capitalize on. Good stuff! +1

March 23, 2025 11:53 a.m.

Said on Simic Senate...

#8

Somehow, Palpatine returned…

March 21, 2025 11:50 a.m.

Said on Atarka's Atacka...

#9

Who’d you have to bribe at Wizards to get a one mana multibolt? +1

March 19, 2025 7 p.m.

Favorite category: “Should I be Worried?” XD

March 16, 2025 9:26 a.m.

Said on help with this …...

#11

It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to build a deck that does a whole lot of different things extremely well. Most decks with high win rates only focus on one or two things. My advice would be to scale back your expectations and build from there, or else focus on pairs of ideas that were already designed to work well together (goblins/sacrifice triggers, fairies/disruption etc).

March 15, 2025 3:32 p.m.

Said on Boros 43 Lands.dec...

#12

Scroll Rack and Land Tax is old school value.” That made me all teary eyed

March 14, 2025 8:17 p.m.

I’m not too familiar with EDH, but I love decks that stray far from what’s considered ‘normal’. Very interested in the mono and ones you mentioned are in the pipeline.

March 14, 2025 6:29 p.m.

Said on THE BRAVE DO …...

#14

As an avid trophy hunter completionist, I can confirm: The Brave Do Not Fear The Grave; we only fear bad trophy lists. Great build, +1!

March 14, 2025 3:54 p.m.

Said on Faeries Unleashed...

#15

Oh wow is Brazen Borrower really that cheap now? I need to grab a few. Last time I checked it was $12+. Anyway, yeah it’s a faerie staple so I’ll join those saying ‘run it’.

March 13, 2025 2:57 p.m.

Said on Godsiren...

#16

@Sliverguy420 thanks for the clarification. I must be getting rusty—I thought just now it would count toward the cost of all 3 colors, but I looked it up and you are indeed correct in that it does not work that way. Second guessing myself, I reread my deck description and it seems I did know that at the point I built this, so it appears I’m regressing, ha.

Thanks again to everyone contributing, I do value any and all input. I have other decks in the works and some older ones which I think are worth revisiting more than this one, so idk when I’ll ever get to overhauling this.

March 12, 2025 10:17 p.m.

Said on Godsiren...

#17

@kamarupa quick question about Naya Hushblade, can I sack her if I have a second in play? I’m still fidgety on certain specifics in this game. Since Behemoth's Herald just says “sacrifice a red, green and white creature…” my instinct says yes because I’m not “targeting” Naya Hushblade—but this game has some obtuse, illogical rationale every now and again so it might turn out to be a No. Thoughts?

March 12, 2025 9:34 p.m.

Said on Godsiren...

#18

kamarupa it is pretty old, it’s probably in need of revision regardless. Quite a few relevant cards would have released in subsequent sets, so there’s probably a few branches the deck could split off into. As for Game 2, I only play multiple games per set with decks I build to win (or at least try to win with). Something like this was only ever really a thought experiment. That said, if it can be made more playable, why not right?

March 12, 2025 9:13 p.m.

Said on Godsiren...

#19

@kamarupa you might very well be right, but this was a fairly old project so I’ll have to take a good close look at it to see what exactly my thought process may have been (also, some of the cards suggested didn’t exist at this point, ha).

My initial thoughts are mixed. I like the recursive ability built into Hall of Heliod's Generosity, but its main function of tapping for is pretty useless.

Interaction is obviously good, but this will never be competitive in any sense of the word so I’m guessing I was leaning heavily into speed to try and stay ahead of anything onerous. So the mana dorks—they’re there for ramp yes but also so I wouldn’t have to sack Behemoth's Herald to its own tutor function (Godsire isn’t Legendary, so theoretically if you could get two out then all the better). So throwing an Arbor Elf away at that stage is better value than losing the Herald and missing out on two Godsires…es. Of course, that’s probably unlikely since it would require two copies of Figure of Destiny in play simultaneously, so maybe your idea is for the best after all.

March 12, 2025 8:44 p.m.

Nice build. Reminds me of Obi-Wan’s assessment of the Cantina in Star Wars: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

There’s definitely room for fine tuning the manabase; I can only presume you aren’t running fetches or duals for cost reasons. If that’s the case, I’d definitely tag this as Budget, you’ll probably get more views that way. Competently built Legacy decks under $50 aren’t exactly common, so this stands out.

March 12, 2025 6:21 p.m.

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MTG Decks

Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 41 | 21 COMMENTS | 2097 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS

Trouble at the Old Mill!

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 54 | 32 COMMENTS | 1872 VIEWS | IN 11 FOLDERS

Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 65 | 11 COMMENTS | 2761 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Ferngully (Help Wanted!)

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 59 | 57 COMMENTS | 2299 VIEWS | IN 7 FOLDERS

Altar of Despair

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 52 | 28 COMMENTS | 2190 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Exham Priory

Pauper Balaam__

SCORE: 50 | 16 COMMENTS | 3400 VIEWS | IN 12 FOLDERS

Geralf’s Walk-In Clinic

Legacy Balaam__

SCORE: 44 | 6 COMMENTS | 1185 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

Darwin’s Dirty Onus

Modern Balaam__

SCORE: 33 | 15 COMMENTS | 1545 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

Finished Decks 124
Prototype Decks 8
Drafts 0
Playing since Tempest
Points 1935
Avg. deck rating 24.96
T/O Rank 7
Helper Rank 8
Favorite formats Modern, Pauper, Legacy, Vintage
Suppressed formats Standard Brawl, Historic, Commander / EDH, Pauper EDH, Commander: Rule 0, Canadian Highlander, Highlander, Duel Commander, Leviathan, 1v1 Commander, Pre-release, Penny Dreadful, Heirloom, Hero, Noble, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Block Constructed, Arena, MTGO, Magic Duels, Unformat
Cards suggested / good suggestions 170 / 121
Venues Tales of Adventure
Joined 5 years