iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Andy Mangold @andy.luckypaper.co · 15/05/2026

Garfield is a perfect fit for Secret Lair! For those who don’t know, Garfield was opportunistically designed to address a gap in the market: there were no popular strips featuring cats. It’s a shallow, artistically bankrupt concept cynically engineered for popularity and designed for merchandising

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 30/03/2026

conspiracy theory: they made this spell cost six mana specifically to maximize the number of judge calls involving casting it with {C} in your cube

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 26/03/2026

I hate this too :( You can turn AI features off in Gmail under Settings > See all settings > General > Smart Compose/Smart Reply! I also recently switched to Firefox partly because they have a nice easy toggle to block all in-browser AI suggestions/enhancements/whatever in settings.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 17/03/2026

@spectaclesinblue.bsky.social @cutemonster.bsky.social and countless others for being brilliant at what you do. your passion for your respective fields and unwavering commitment to getting things right isn't easy to come by, and i'm so grateful for the opportunity to be doing this with you all <3

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 17/03/2026

in a world where it's easy to feel like things are perpetually in decay and forces beyond our control incentivize everyone to cut corners, this event has renewed my belief that talented and knowledgeable people who care about their output can come together and make things that are actually just good

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 17/03/2026

i have a million thoughts about shoebox but the one that keeps sticking with me is what an honor and a pleasure it has been to be working with every single person on the team. admin, judges, coverage, artists, vendors, even venue staff and the local shops who printed our t-shirts and playmats etc

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 02/02/2026

I've allowed this card at Vertex events where I'm actually judging, for larger events I would leave it to the discretion of the head judge(s). It's definitely among the un-cards that offer the most objective rulings, and thus least strain on judge staff.

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 30/01/2026

We are very excited to announce our first wave of Main Event featured cubes, as chosen by our expert selection panel! As it's our first year, cubes will selected in batches to ensure we have the right number of cubes for the attendees. More selections will be released regularly!

Eight cubes and corresponding images as follows:
aquaone powered, by aquaone
100 Ornithopters, by andymangold
Companion Cube, by dinrovahorror
Bodleian Cube, by deinonychus9
Eiganjo Drift, by goblingathering
Hoopin, by dant
The Ball Pit, by janemckinney
The Fire Swamp, by aibretty

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 17/12/2025

I know this is a historically contentious take, but, imo, if drafters are drafting well this is the same thing in most cubes (except you get to peek at the pack the player to your left starts with)

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 03/12/2025

Speaking of our incredibly talented artist community~ Let's welcome our next Shoebox community artist guest... Goldsabertooth! ✨ @goldsabertooth.bsky.social If you've snagged any of his iconic tokens, playmats, or art we'd love to see them! 👀

A colorful bordered graphic featuring a photo of a man holding Magic the Gathering cards. The text reads: "Guest Announcement: Goldsabertooth." Below the photo is the BlueSky social icon, with the text "goldsabertooth" next to it. The bottom bar reads: "Shoebox, St. Paul Minnesota. March 13-15th. Shoebox.gg".

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 24/11/2025

Happy Magic Monday! We're kicking off another exciting week of back-to-back announcements with our next special guest... self-proclaimed "draft fanatic" and Lord of all things Limited™ -- Ethan Saks! ✨ @lordsoflimited.bsky.social

A colorful bordered graphic featuring a photo of Ethan Saks in the center. The text reads: "Guest Announcement: Ethan Saks." Below the photo is the BlueSky social icon, with the text "lordsoflimited.bsky.social" next to it.

The bottom bar reads: "Shoebox, St. Paul Minnesota. March 13-15th. Shoebox.gg".

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 29/10/2025

Save the date, save some cash, and submit some... cubes! 🧊 Early bird pricing for weekend badges AND cube submissions both close at 11:59PM CST this Friday, October 31st! 🎃 #MTGCube

A white graphic with a colorful blocked border. The title reads: "Cube submissions & Early Bird pricing". The body text reads "Cube submissions & Early bird prices for Shoebox weekend badges will close Friday, October 31st! Grab your badge today at shoebox.gg/badges"

The bottom bar reads: Shoebox, St. Paul Minnesota, March 13-15th. Shoebox.gg"

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 29/10/2025

Holy crap, wasn't expecting to get shouted out by name in a TCC video when I woke up this morning! If you want to give Companion Cube a try, you can draft it at, uh, [unannounced] in January, [unannounced] in February, or [unannounced] in March... IYKYK 😅

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

it should play really fast by looking at the list. I absolutely LOVE these aspects of the cube, but it definitely comes with a downside in the specific context of 1. timed rounds and 2. a higher-than-normal proportion drafters unfamiliar with the cube.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

shut the door by turns 5-7, but spend more real time figuring out which removal spell lines up best here, or when and how best to resolve hand attack. Aggro decks have to think more about what order to deploy threats when they all cost 1-2 mana. It tends to add up, even if the cube seems like-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

boards and fast aggro decks. There are always tons of things to do out of your hand and important sequencing choices, even if there aren't a million triggers and planeswalkers and trinket tokens to keep track of, which can create analysis paralysis of its own sort. Control decks usually aim to-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

have each turn (which is helped by lots of cheap cards and lots of ways to spend mana that aren't spells) than it is by game speed. I think the skill ceiling on decks of all speeds is pretty high in Atomic Cube, which undoubtedly has contributed to its slow pace at events, in spite of its small-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

toward small-game cards, but fast decks are still fast enough to punish stumbling with bad curves or manabases, and when two decks that want to do that run up against each other, it's definitely a race. Generally speaking, I think decision density is more affected by the number of options you-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

are not at all at odds with high decision density, especially if players have a lot of control over mitigating the variance of their draws (cantrips, mana sinks, etc). Slow decks are undeniably powerful, and cards that are capable of gumming up the board are at a premium because the cube trends-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

I don't have a tidy, 300-character answer to this question, but a few thoughts: Atomic has an abnormally high removal density, but this tends to help both fast and slow decks, so I see a lot of races and a lot of standoffs depending on matchup. I also think long, grindy games-

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 25/10/2025

Definitely one of the more interesting takeaways from seeing this cube in the context of events. Short games (turns) =/= short games (clock time).

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 23/10/2025

the world needs more cubes where this card is good

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shivam Bhatt @shivambhatt.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

And when the designers come and say, hey, you aren't using the pieces we made correctly, is that a genuinely valid concern? People are having a blast working within the rules they made with your toys. They are still buying Legos, just not building the picture on the box

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 22/10/2025

In game, I'm a border enjoyer, but holy crap is this an amazing piece

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 21/10/2025

What DOES the back of Jace's coat look like again? 🤔 Compete to see who can draw Magic characters from memory ""better"" (no artistic experience required)! Please welcome @myhandsareblank.bsky.social, @byjacobparis.bsky.social, and @legdotegg.bsky.social presenting their iconic D00D-L Off event! 🎨🖌️

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 21/10/2025

Narcomoeba, Faerie Macabre, other plans that cheat permanents or spells (Sneak Attack, Omni, Creativity, Greasefang, Rector, S&T), Street Wraith, Phyrexian mana, MDFC lands in Oops/Belcher, Land Grant, Pacts, Leylines, Mindbreak Trap, Spirit Guides, every Dredge/Hollowvine payoff

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Reposted by Greg, Tired Pilgrim

Shoebox @shoebox.gg · 16/10/2025

Let's start our guest announcements with a very special event host! Wait, uh... who was it again? 🐟 💭❓ Please welcome Nick Floyd @magicstorytime.bsky.social, the original creator of Forgetful Fish / DanDan! Catch him in the Carnival playing DanDan variants and hosting competitive DanDan side events!

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 15/10/2025

Dandan means we can make whatever we want with Magic cards, with no regard for what formats they're good in, how valuable they are, or what WotC designs them to do, and still create rich, strategic, and fun games. Dandan means Magic belongs to the players.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 13/10/2025

This is such sick Cal lore, can I hit you up for outdoor mushroom advice after I'm done moving 👀

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 10/10/2025

the most ambitious crossover event in history

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

have you heard about our lord and savior, cube?

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

The last category is just Chaos Orb, too subjective to say anything concrete. Many players love playing with it, I happen to really dislike it. I remember the first time I met you and drafted this cube, and my feedback was just "I don't really think Chaos Orb is fun." 😂

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

Splashy, but not strong enough in this cube (Memory Jar). This is such a powerful effect that I think it's fun to let players try to break it, even if it's not cutting it on winrate. Plus, if you're powering down anyway, it might start to shine.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

Powerful here but nowhere else (Tower). I love these cards. If the Black Lotus of this cube is at best a fringe Legacy card from a decade ago, that's awesome. Where else do you get to even play this card, let alone get excited about opening it?

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

I see these cuts in four general categories: Powerful here and everywhere else (TOR, Clamp, Shadowspear, sol lands, etc). These tend to not be that interesting because we've seen them take over games many times before in many different places.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 08/10/2025

Big words coming from the guy that put this card into my hands p1p1 and forced me into UB control 🤔

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

For sure- I don't mean to imply Mentor wins because it makes a bunch of prowess guys. I think it's cool that Mentor uses prowess in a way that isn't just face value tempo spellslinger, which I think is in the spirit of the question

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

It's funny to hear you say that about a card that was printed years before Arena was even in closed beta 😂

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

Moreso than Mentor? I think it's really interesting how either card provides a specific and fairly unique reason to cast a bunch of noncreature spells. Both good options imo

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

Tinged a bit by nostalgia, my submission for hexproof: I like that this card doesn't have hexproof, meaning it's still interactive, but also promises a dream of making a second one to give them both hexproof, which really accentuates the power of the keyword without being broken/unfun on its own.

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

Griselbrand is such a good answer 🤩

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Greg, Tired Pilgrim @dinrovahorror.mtgcu.be · 07/10/2025

Not a mechanical reason, but I like this guy for Reach and Deathtouch. Pretty tame for a Futureshifted card, right? That's because this is the first instance of both the Reach and Deathtouch keywords!

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