#core concepts

Psychodynamic Counselling: Core Concepts and Therapeutic Application Introduction Psychodynamic counselling is one of the foundational theoretical frameworks in psychotherapy, originating from the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud and further developed by theorists like Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, and Object Relations psychologists. It provides a structured yet deep exploration into the…

With the release of Core Set 2020, we see familiar faces and new ones with it, old worlds and new creatures. There are fantastic reprints and interesting takes on archetypes, cycles of mythics and keywords once thought lost. But it feels like a core set still. Why? Well, that’s because, despite everything, it’s broad and interesting without intense complications at its center. When you open a rare card from a booster pack, you’ll see the kind of card that any player can understand, more or less, or at least ones that introduce concepts that they can use in almost any deck from a regular expansion.

Design a rare card that you feel best exemplifies the feeling of a “core set rare” - broad, but exciting, powerful but not warping. Look to the most recent set as well as sets like Magic 2010-15 core sets to see the kind of cards that exist in that vacuum.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday, as usual, and winners and commentary will follow. Submit your entries >>> HERE <<<

Destructuring assignments allow you to quickly unpack values from data structures like arrays and put them directly into variables or constants. For example:

const [a, b, c] = [1, 2, 3]; console.log(a, b, c); // 1 2 3

Variables or constants can be on both sides of the assignment, so it can be used to swap values without using temporary variables:

let d = 1, e = 2; [d, e] = [e, d]; console.log(d, e); // 2 1

This tends to be useful when iterating over arrays of objects:

const cars = [ { id: 'miata', value1: 155, value2: 2400 }, { id: '4c', value1: 237, value2: 2465 }, { id: 'elice', value1: 217, value2: 2000 } ]; function swapProperties(arr, property1, property2) { for (const ele of arr) { [ele[property1], ele[property2]] = [ele[property2], ele[property1]] } return arr; } console.log(swapProperties(cars, 'value1', 'value2')); // [ { id: 'miata', value1: 2400, value2: 155 }, // { id: '4c', value1: 2465, value2: 237 }, // { id: 'elice', value1: 2000, value2: 217 } ]

abigail “abby” fox // entp // rosamund pike

defining traits: knowledgeable, enthusiastic, curious, quick thinker, original, charismatic, energetic, argumentative, disorganized, unfocused, impractical, creative, artistic, sarcastic, laid back, confident, witty, friendly, whimsical, protective, loyal, lazy, procrastinator, chaotic, unstructured, caffeinated, unrealistic

aesthetics: lattes in a hand painted mug, scattered manuscripts, stargazing, staying up so late you can hear birds chirping, handmade leather satchels, sunny days, organized chaos, ink stained hands, purple everything, all nighters, effortless chic, a bookshelf full of unread books, leather oxfords

WHOA COOL! 

---At least I think so ;)

Here is an excellent chart to help you decide if something is Ortho-Para or Meta Directing!

Wtf does that mean? --- Well, when you are adding molecules to an aromatic ring, the structures already attached to that ring have a lot of say in how that addition will occur (if at all). 

If a structure on the ring is deactivating, the addition will occur in the meta position 

If a structure is activating, the addition will occur in the Ortho or para positions

*Why is this the case? First, make sure you understand what ortho, para, and meta means. A quick google search can clear this up. Next, draw out three aromatic rings with a methyl on one carbon. Place a carbocation in the ortho, para, and meta positions (one per aromatic ring). Now draw the resonance structures for each molecule. 

Hopefully this will demonstrate that the ortho/para positioned carbocations place the carbocation right next to the methyl group. 

Now that you see our resonance of the carbocation is depended upon ortho/para/meta placement, we can discuss deactivation/ activation. 

ACTIVATION: Do carbocations want more or less electrons? They want MORE! So if they are able to resonate next to one of the electron donating groups, it will be happy.

What makes a group “electron donating”. An electron donating group will have an abundance of electrons. Atoms like Oxygen and Nitrogen are electron hogs, but they are donating because they are resonating their electrons towards the aryl carbon 

DEACTIVATION: Carbocations do not like to be next to other electron hogs! They are hunting for electrons so they want to avoid electron withdrawing groups at all cost.

A structure will be electron withdrawing if they are stealing electron density away from the aryl carbon. Carbonyl groups are a good example of this because a resonance structure exists where the oxygen has ALL the electrons, leaving the neighboring carbocation super electron hungry! this makes the aryl carbon electron deficient, and the carbocation really hates to be next to him now. 

Winners to the Core

Congratulations to @pretentiouslimericks and @gollumni for winning this week’s contest!

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@pretentiouslimericks - Tatbir, Consul of Strategy

Well, it’s aggressive, but not “win the game” aggressive, and a build-around-me card if I ever saw one. Works with small fliers and dorks, elementals and zombies, and certainly fits white’s niche without being so insanely overpowered that it breaks the pie. Scry is a tiny bend, but the nontoken clause makes it worth it for that. I feel like someone would build a legacy commander deck with this card, and I love them a lot. Just the kind of thing that a new player might be interested in, seeing white’s small creatures and wondering what to do with them!

@gollumni - Marrow Melder

I’m reminded of Nantuko Shade, personally, with some aggressive blends of vampires and shades alike. I’m not a massive fan of the mutant clause, and I wish there was flavor text, but as a concept? This card is just what I’d love to see in limited and is at a powerful enough level to be a rare for new players while occupying black’s slice immensely. I’m just a fan of this card in general, and that might be a personal bias of mine. It still, to me, captures just what a card from an older core set might have been, and it’s that feeling that I enjoy seeing emulated.

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1. Fleshwrend Slicers is my “”entry”” slash brainstorming card for the Swiss Equipment contest last week. I really like the utility of equipment, although their difficulty to grok, especially when cards like Umezawa’s Jitte break formats, can be hard. How do I move equipment? What if I don’t want to be equipped and I only have one creature? I’m still not positive on some of those answers. 

However, the fact remains that the coolness of equipment flavorfully makes their occasional difficulty worth it. I designed Fleshwrend Slicers mostly for limited, honestly, keeping in mind that artifact entry, token creation, instant-speed effects and charge counters are all part of difficult and interesting choices in any Mirrodin set. The life that the Slicers has in itself, the way that it tears its host open for new and more powerful beings, is the main focus.

2. This is my design for our current contest, Core Concepts (LINK). What do core sets like? Callbacks! What’s better than callbacks? Utility callbacks times whatever you want to throw in! Fauna Shaman was and is an insanely good card, and I think getting a potentially huge creature plus more creatures that you might need is a great mechanic for new and returning players alike. 

At rare, the shuffling isn’t too much of a problem. Commander players will also love this card, as well as casual players who like consistency. That’s the one drawback of this card, but considering that you don’t know what you’re discarding all the time - and that your opponent might certainly have answers in other games - I don’t think it’s beyond broken.

EDIT: Thank you, @naban-dean-of-irritation for pointing out the wording error in the hydra. Fixed!