I may have misstated that on Hybrid. It is only the 12 dice you brought plus whatever you opened, though you don't have to use all 12 of the ones that you took with you.

Please tell me about some MTG stuff! I stopped playing around Kamigawa block because I just didn't care for the theming. Ravnica ALMOST brought me back, but ultimately that was it.

Okay, some of the MtG stuff that I thought was a bit dated, off the top of my head, from all the articles / podcast I've binged on in the last couple of days.

1- In the discussion on the timing of attack effects clarified in the FAQ, there were some comments about having clear points in which to inform your opponent what effetcs are triggering. This is great, but then someone comments that in MDM there's nothing like the multiple hazy times to announce things like there are in MTG. In truth, MTG has a VERY clear and strict procedure and framework for such timings and announcements, and as such the MDM parallels are second nature to anyone with a working knowledge of Magic.

2- In a discussion about life gaining effects, someone claims that there are a whole host of life gain effect in MTG. I guess that's strictly true, but anyone that plays at FNM store tournaments and above plays with a limited cardpool that massively reduces ALL types of cards, including life gain. In actuality, there's likely 0-1 relevant lifegain card in any constructed format. Also, the use of life gain cards is generally seen as unviable in MtG, unless they are part of huge swingy combos that allow infinite gains or similar. While I get that the strategies in MDM are different and life gain could be the bee's knees, the way the whole discussion was delivered made it sound like MtG players sit around in circles gaining life and dribbling :-)

3- In an aside about cards as an investment, the whole team said that MtG cards are not an investment, as that ship had sailed fifteen years ago. That's just not true at all. There's been a recent spike in the game's popularity, and older card formats have seen the expensive cards double, triple and even quadruple in price, some of them as recently as last week. The science of buying new cards on their release, and speculating on their price rises and falls as they see tournament play, has articles and entire websites dedicated to it. The secondary market for MtG is huge, and money can be made by such speculation, with both cardboard and electronic cards.

4- The one that irks me the most (irrationally, I admit) is the discussion of the so-called "Bad Bargain" mechanics on the Punisher cards. These say that a player can do X ability unless their opponent plays Y life. In MtG, there is a set of popular cards released in the Odyssey block (circa 2002) that share an identical mechanic; cards like Browbeat, which lets a player draw some cards unless their opponent pays some life. This mechanic was called... the Punisher mechanic (because the opponent was 'punished' for making the wrong decision). To me, the designers of the game have included this as an Easter Egg for anyone with a knowledge of MtG, and to hear the mechanic on the MDM Punisher cards called anything other than the Punisher mechanic seems very wrong :-)

There were many more things I noticed at the time (I honestly think it was every time someone mentioned MtG, heh), but the above were the ones that I can recall without research.

There are many things parallels between MtG and MDM. Sometimes, those similarities are really helpful as the skillset required is transferable. Sometimes, however, the 'obvious' MtG strategies (such as when to attack and block, and how to use resources) are traps that lead to losses in MDM. MDM is a great game, like MtG. Simple to learn, tough to master. There's a depth of strategy, and a great flavour, in both. I honestly think there's a decent article / blog post to be had showing the parallels between the games, and how the MtG mindset can both help and hinder a player's quest for wins in MDM. Also, Spider Man yay.

Anyway, enough yakkin' from me. Looking forward to more content :-)