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I'll be honest, I just skimmed the article. I'll go back and actually read it in a bit.

The reason I'm posting here is two-fold. First, to say that the rainbowish colored background doesn't suit you at all, and second, because I feel bad that all the other articles I've seen have at least one post on their respective thread.

Oh, and I'll make sure to send your twin a bunch of hate mail (as in one letter).

Wait, Valleymaker is a reference to something, not just in the transparent Ravnica love of the flavour text, but in the name itself? Deep Analysis' flavour text was supposed to be a pun and not a dry, detached comment on the grotesquely deformed creature under study? I guess the reason these actually do work is that they don't hinge on people getting the in-joke to work. I honestly like Deep Analysis' flavour text a lot, but frankly I find the implication that the flavour text is a reference to game balance concerns somehow diminishes it.

Oh, and I prefer the right to arm bears. I'll definitely look forward to next week's article.

And there's no reason we can't have a dragon that's both monored and smart. Red has cleverness and creativity in its slice of the colour pie, after all, and I for one would love to seem Creative play up that angle more.

Thallid_Ice_Cream_Man wrote:

Agreed on the Valleymaker curiosity, but Deep Analysis's flavor text is a reference to Masticore specifically -- that's what the specimen is supposed to be.

Man, I just got that joke. I feel ashamed.

Anyway, good article. We should have Evil Doug around more often. Just keep him away from sharp objects.

I agree with non-Evil Doug that fourth-wall-breaking flavor should be kept to a minimum, and I certainly believe it shouldn't be so obvious that it's impossible to understand without knowing the reference, but I see no reason why all self-references should be verboten. Werebear and Deep Analysis works wonderfully even if you don't make the connections, as does Valleymaker, and it's just that kind of "hidden extra" that makes being a long-time player so fun.


One of my favorite fourth-wall-breaking flavor texts appears on Time Warp:
[indent]"Let's do it again!"
--Squee, goblin cabin hand[/indent]
It's my favorite because it's subtle enough and makes enough sense on its own that most people won't realize that it actually is an outside reference.

My second-favorite appears on Un-card Fowl Play:
[indent]"I feel like chicken tonight!"[/indent]
Mainly because I think the thing it's referencing was hilarious on its own...and for some reason nobody else I've ever talked with remembers them.




Oh, and chalk me up as one of the folks who hated Gerrard and company.

...Well, more like hated the Yawgmoth, the Phyrexians, and everything associated with them in any way. I've never been one for H. R. Giger or the whole "evil undefeatable all-powerful mastermind is always behind everything" trope.

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