Friends, the story I bring to you today is not a fallout, but a crescendo. How years of grassroots promotion and online influencer endorsements led to a once underground fashion brand's rise to power and entry into the hallowed halls of internet ridicule. Or, the time Supreme sold a brick for thirty dollars.
(this post contains a lot of context for what Supreme is and how it works, so if you only wanna know how and why they sold a brick, skip to the brick section)
What is Supreme?
Supreme is a skateboard and lifestyle brand founded by British-American fashion mogul James Jebbia. In an era where skate fashion was known for its eccentricity and garish presentation, Supreme stood out. It's iconic logo is made with stock typeface over a red box, which pushed the brand to the 2-billion dollar empire it is today. While the Box Logo (or the Bogo, as it's known among fans) has seen its share of ridicule (a lawsuit involving the logo could be its own entry) the brand's diehard fanbase, as well as myself, would argue the stripped-back, downright esoteric nature of Supremes' branding is exactly what pushed it to its heights.
But it's taken a long time getting here. Unless you lived in New York, you probably only heard of Supreme in the last couple of years. All in all, there are four stores in the continental United States, two on each coast. Two releases happen per year, spring/summer and fall/winter. Rather than release all merchandise at once, Supreme releases (Drops) happen one week at a time, slowly working through its seasonal inventory. This release model not only maintains interest in new releases all throughout it's season, it perpetuates interest in what will drop next, since not everything coming out is revealed at once, either. It's common to hear about cross-brand and artist collaborations mere days before they release.
All in all, everything Supreme does as a brand is on a need-to-know basis, meaning they've effectively mastered the art of FOMO. This means a diehard fanbase of skaters and fashion collectors. Half the reason a piece of Supreme clothing so cool to own is because only you and a couple hundred people (maybe a couple thousand, Supreme doesn't disclose inventory metrics either) have one. Naturally, a fandom would form.
How Supreme makes a fan.
On drop day, items generally cost what any other brand would charge, maybe a little more. Pieces are only available in store or online, both opening at 11am EST. What follows is a mad dash only Nike can claim to share. The online store operates on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the physical stores do the same, ala lining up for a game console. On a good day, you have maybe three minutes to cart your item and check out. The site does not save your cart so if you take too long, the piece you just added to your shopping cart might already be sold out by the time your payment is processed. If you've spent the past three months trying to buy a PS5, welcome to our world. We do this forty weeks a year.
You lose a lot (take an L). Seventy-percent of the things you want you will fail to get. But when you do finally check out and get your purchase at your door (take a W, a dub, recklessly spend money) the feeling is euphoric. You are now a part of a secret club because, guess what, that was the initiation process. Some people buy one item and never try again. They're few and far between. The majority of Supreme customers have been buying (copping) for years, amassing massive collections. Sooner or later, Supreme would release an item specifically for fans and nobody else. The problem is when they did.
Okay, that's cool, but why the **** did Supreme sell a thirty-dollar brick.
Good question. The best part is that there's several answers. Along with clothing and skateboard decks, Supreme sells a wide, constantly-circulating pools of accessories. These have been a mini bike, a Super Soaker, a pinball machine, a crowbar that at least one guy really wanted, and coming soon, apparently, a bob...sled? Supremes' accessory choice is as baffling as everything else they do. A common riff on the brand is that they could "put their logo on literally anything and it would sell out." These people are not wrong, but I'd argue their accessory choice is more nuanced than this. Their logo alone could sell all kinds of things, but its the things they do sell that begin to send a message. For example, a Supreme baseball bat is nothing profound, but next to a Supreme ski mask, a Supreme crowbar, a Supreme money gun, and a Supreme... brick, the street-smart, underground roots of the brand begin to take root. There's always been an underlying, illicit message to Supremes' aesthetics, coated in a minimalist exterior. This subtext what splits the speculators and the mega-fans.
Those mega-fans bring to life a second answer for why, in Fall 2016, supreme released a thirty-dollar clay brick with their logo etched in: one piece of Hypebeast lingo I've omitted until now is when an item Bricks. This is when any particular item either in-store or online sits in stock, with nobody buying it. No true-blue Supreme diehard would ever wear something anyone else could feasibly get for retail price or, god willing, below retail price. Bricks are poison to many an avid fan, which is why the brand might have thought it funny to sell to them an actual, literal brick. For thirty dollars. You get one brick. it sold out in seconds.
But where's the drama?
At the exact same time the brick was released to fans, two separate parties were growing aware of this once niche fashion label. Online influencers, and everyone else. Supreme was a mainstay among outsider artists, mainly underground New York hip-hop. The start of the 2010s saw the rise of Odd Future, whose alumni such as Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, The Creator were outspoken fans of the brand. While endorsements like these got the word out somewhat, the boom began in late 2016. Online influencers, mainly YouTubers and Instagram stars whose follower counts ballooned as lifestyle vlogs took over online content, were growing quite interested in this exclusive and expensive brand so deeply tied to underground Hip-hop, skateboarding, and having something expensive that everyone else will be totally jealous of. Notably, YouTuber RiceGum, a man with a tendency to flaunt his spending, took an acute interest to the brand around this time, making videos between 2016-2018 where he went on massive Hypebeast spending sprees. Such content includes buying a Supreme hoodie that just dropped and wearing it while walking past people currently in line to buy their own, buying mystery boxes online that just happened to have Supreme in them every time, and giving bootleg Supreme merchandise to his friends. You'll have to forgive the lack of hyperlinks here. I do not have the stomach to watch his videos.
This behavior of course spawned similar in his contemporaries. This is why you started hearing the word Flex in regards to flaunting clothes and accessories around second-graders. Influencers from all spheres, who happened to all start taking off in late 2016, were wearing Supreme. this in turn led hundreds of thousands to trying their luck at the raffle. what followed was season upon season of the online stores crashing on drop day and lines outside the store snaking for miles taking an entire day to clear (this led to a new in-store ticketing system where you pre-register and are given a random slot in line, to mixed results).
Who was mad here? Speculators who couldn't get in on the clothes their favorite LA influencer-person wears, longtime fans who now had to grapple with this unmanageable influx of new customers, and the people who had no interest in these expensive hoodies and shirts or whatever who were free to clown on this stupid, stupid brand.
ThEy SolD a BrICk???
Once the unimpressed got wind of this stupid hype brand selling their customers a thirty-dollar brick, there was no going back. The image of a fashion titan so confident in their ability to sell their mindless followers a clay slab with no utility or value was irreversible for some. One Reddit user calculated the cost of building an entire house out of these bricks, others made memes, and while a lot of these were tongue-and-cheek jokes among fans, the derision online and in-person was inescapable. The image of a Supreme wearer being an in-the-know fashion trailblazer became one of a bandwagon-following consumerist idiot. After all, they bought a brick. Suckers, right?
So what's it like now?
Well, the site still sucks. Crashes are common, especially on days a bogo drops. Lines in-person are still a sweaty, multi-hour nightmare (though, morbidly, Covid restrictions made lines this season a little more manageable) and wearing Supreme isn't impressive to anyone anymore. Maybe a sign you'd spend two-hundred dollars on a hoodie, but nothing interesting to talk about. On my first day of college, my first roommate saw my Supreme tee and the first words he spoke to me were "did you buy the f\**ing brick?"*
Is the brick solely responsible for the attitude shift towards Supreme as a brand? Well, more of a framer for a larger shift in the zeitgeist. Is it a major symptom? Major might be a strong word. Is it funny? It's hilarious. Even the fandom of today laughs about the episode in hindsight. They may be crazy, they may thoughtlessly spend thousands of dollars a month on clothes, they may consider their own worth adjacent to the net worth of their closet, but they are the ones who bought a brick for thirty dollars. This sort of power is something to be commended. Ridiculed, scorned, and commended.

Disclaimer I want to thank everyone for the gilds, replies and suggestions. I just do not have time to reply to everyone, but I am reading everything. I am not sure how much bigger the thread can be, I already typed this but it vanished so I think I'm at the limit. I will try to keep updating, but I don't expect the thread to be up top for much longer and will likely vanish soon, so if you need anything save it.
Yes, it's hard, it sucks, it's depressing. It is something we all have to do if you want to see this virus go. Everyone knows the deal, too many think they're the exception but no one is. However, staying home is hard so maybe I can help at least one or two people with some incentives. I'll try to give links to some things that can help cure the boredom, and some support if you need it.
Most of this might be obvious to some, some might not even have internet and of course, money is a big issue, so I'll try to give some suggestions:
For streaming and on demand things such as Netflix et al, don't forget you can subscribe for free for your first month. This goes for most things in the list. If you are worried about putting in your payment details and forgetting to cancel a month later, don't worry! You can sign up and immediately cancel and you still get your free month!
For people who don't have a smart TV, you can buy a cheap Amazon Fire TV stick or a Roku box. The Fire stick can go as low as £20 often for 1080p. It will drop to £30 for 4k.
I picked up a 4k Roku device for £18 on Amazon once. It's fast and snappy. currently it's going for £33 for the 4k version. Having both, there is little difference between the devices. NowTV also do their own roku powered device.
Subscription based streaming sites that all offer 2-4 weeks free for first timers

• Netflix *According to comments the second month is free.
  
• Amazon Prime You can either get Amazon video on its own, or take prime with other benefits. I strongly urge those who use Amazon for buying off their store front to use [https://smile.amazon.co.uk/] as there is literally no difference except everything you buy amazon donates to a charity of your choice.
  
• Now TV (I believe it's 7 days)
  
• Disney+
  
• Britbox
  
• Amazon channels. I believe you can get all these individually but Amazon offers them as channels bound to your prime account, and they are again either free for a couple weeks (again, take them, cancel instantly) or very cheap. I recently subscribed to Starzplay for £1 for 3 months. It has some good shows on it like Fringe, doom patrol. It also has channels like Curiosity stream and shudder
  

If you have not subscribed to the any of the above, you can get a few months of free TV by signing up and cancelling instantly. I suggest waiting at least 5 minutes just to let it go through the system.
Some tips for Now TV. IF you already have a subscription, I've noticed you can get it cheaper by cancelling. When you cancel they will beg you to stay. Select "I can not afford it this month" and they should beg again, telling you what shows they have. If you say you still want to cancel, they'll beg one last time and offer you the subscription for cheaper. This won't work every month, but I've noticed they'll always offer it the first time, then again after a couple months. If you're subscribed to both films and entertainment do the most expensive one as it may not work both times (but it might!). You can also pick up passes from storefronts a lot cheaper sometimes, before I could pick one up on Amazon for £3 but, they seem to have cracked down on it. If you shop around (or if anyone knows of a legitimate store please let me know) you might be able to pick it up cheaper. Lastly, check their website and under your account they should have an "offers for you" section.
Completely free TV

• Pluto TV
  
• Viki
  
• Roku
  

If you do have a smart TV and/or device, there are some good free streaming apps. One I really love is called PlutoTV. I know this is on both Roku and the fire stick, as well as Ps4/Ps5 and xbox.
Pluto offers a bunch of live channels and now an on demand section, all for free. It has adverts but they are actually short (shorter than regular TV and fewer of them). Some of the channels are just streaming certain shows like Mythbusters 24/7 or Dog the bounty hunter, but it has a lot of old movie channels as well as 24/7 kickboxing and MMA. It also has a 24/7 poker channel I quite like.
Another one I like is Rakuten Viki however, I haven't watched it for a while as my fire stick is only 1080p and I have too many other devices attached. I believe it is on Roku but you have to jump through some hoops and have an account. The last I checked on the fire stick you did not. Viki offers a metric ton of Asian shows, mainly from Japan and South Korea but it does have chinese, Malaysian etc. It has subtitles. Some Japanese shows are hysterical, albeit weird.
Roku also do their own channels with free shows if you own a device.
For those who don't have a smart TV or a Streaming device, you can set up your own computer as a dedicated streaming device with Plex. It's been a while since I used it but I believe it now also offers free movies and TV.
Anime
If you are into Anime there is

• Crunchyroll
  
• Funimation
  
• HiDive
  

The first 2 are free to watch, or offer premium without ads which you can have a trial with. Crunchyroll is the better of the two with more original choice for Japanese voice and subs, while Funimation has more Dubs. I don't believe HiDive is free to watch but you do get a 2 week trial. These are more exclusives than the previous two.
PC Centric software
If you are a gamer or like Audiobooks or anything that uses computers for things like music making, programming or graphic design

• Humble Bundle
  
• Fanatical
  
• IndieGala
  

Humble Bundle offers, as per the name, bundles. A long running site that got bought out by IGN. It offers both single items and bundles you can buy individually/as a pack while also offering a separate monthly subscription for around £8-9. The subscription gives you 12 games on average per month. That's the simplest explanation but it changes somewhat as sometimes you get to pick 10 out of 14 games, or get all 12.
Humble bundle offers more than just games though. Every Tuesday they bring a new bundle of games, while Thursday (I "think) a new bundle of books. They very often have books from the Black Library giving you a ton of Warhammer books. Sometimes it's standard E-books, other times it's audiobooks. A few times a year they do bundles for graphic design, a typical bundle would include programs like Paintshop Pro Corel Painter etc, They usually go for £0.76 for tier 1 up to around £18 for tier 3, which would include 4-6 full titles with 10+ addons. They also often have Music making bundles or video editing software as well as Programming or video game development.
The bundles change often, they usually have around 11 bundles at a time that last for 20 days. Sometimes it's trash but they do often have some very good deals.
Fanatical offers the same as humble bundle except usually not as high quality, but sometimes they do have some incredible deals, and they are very very cheap.
Both humble and fanatical are safe, trusted and been around a long time, and they are NOT grey market key sites. They work with the publishers and developers. You can buy games both old and new for a lot cheaper than you would most other places. Unless it states otherwise, keys are usually for steam.
**BOTH HB and Fanatical (HB much more common) offer free games fairly often. The catch is linking your steam account to them (at least HB). It is safe however.
IndieGala is another site like above. Except, these are much much lower quality. However, they offer a metric ton of free games. Quality is low but it is legitimate, and a lot of free stuff.
Game Store Fronts

• Steam This one is so obvious I didn't add it, but apparently many want me to. It is the best out there, and you can find almost everything, with fantastic deals.
  
• Greenmangaming offers games cheaply. Again, not a grey market site (which are legal but unethical) and they sometimes do bundles.
  
• GoG (Good old games) is a DRM free site run by CDPR, the makers of the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. They offer you games quite cheap and not needing DRM (such as Steam, Uplay etc which is less invasive versions of dodgy DRM from the olden days).
  
• Epic Games Despite the controversy whether you care about their rivalry with valve, they offer free games ever week. Without ever having bought anything I have gained over 170 games. literally. Good games for the most part. They often give you £10 coupons as well.
  
• Twitch Everyone knows twitch, but if you don't, it's a streaming service for watching gamers and girls with low cut tops accidentally bending over in front of the game. However, if you're signed up to prime, you get free games each month (and randomly between the set bunch).
  
• Playstation Store Currently has January sales. Currently the free games for PS+ are for PS4: Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall. For the Ps5 it is Maneater
  
• Games with Gold Bleed 2 and the King of Fighters XIII is available until Janurary 15th whilst little Nightmares is available until January 31st.
  

Gaming Subscriptions
Like the TV versions, you can sign up to these for a free trial (or very cheap). If you do sign up to only one at a time, it should keep you busy for a few months

• Xbox Game Pass You can do this on both/either an Xbox or PC. If you sign up to the regular one, you can get a month (maybe three!) for £1. After you have done that, you can sign up to the premium version for 3 months at £1 a month. Most people know game pass, but you can download a large selection of games for free. The premium version gives you games with gold, allowing you to keep the games forever (but can only play with a subscription)
  
• Ubisoft+ I'm not 100% sure if you get a trial or not. This allows a large collection of Ubisoft titles to play for £12.99 a month. Quite expensive but good if you like Ubisoft titles I guess.
  
• EA Play EA's version. Goes by a ton of names I think, EA Access, EA Play, Origin Access etc etc. There's a couple of versions of this, and it is across all platforms (PS4/5, Xbox, PC) but not sure about the switch. I "think" the premium allows you to play on all platforms, while the cheaper one on a single platform, but I may be mistaken.
  
• PS Now a once terrible service that is now actually very good. Allows you to download some Ps4 games to your PS4/5 and lets you stream a massive amount of Ps2/3/4 to your PC or playstation.
  

There's more like nvidia's service but you need the Shield device which is quite expensive. I'll leave it at that.
Audiobooks & Ebooks

• Audible Not sure what the current deal is but if you are a prime member you can sign up for a trial and get a free Audiobook each month for 3 months. Some warhammer books are 48 hours long, 3 of those gives you a good 100+ hours of listening!
  
• Comixology Another Amazon company, but lets you download some free comics I believe.
  
• Marvel Unlimited No experience with this. ItFuckingWont wanted me to add it. A subscription service for Marvel.
  

Education

• Sign Language BSL here No experience myself, suggested by n21brown and asked for a few times. Didn't know SL was so popular! Listed as "Pay what you can"
  
• BBC's Bitesize here is apparently good for home learning. Again, no personal experience.
  

If you need some spare change
Okay, I don't generally bother with it, but maybe some of this could be useful to you. These are NOT a quick way to make a fortune. These are small things you can do over time for a bit of pocket change

• If you have prime you can get a FREE FIVE POUND GIFT CARD by literally just streaming a song from Amazon music (which is included in prime) here is the details According to the comments it's only for select people, but it's worth trying If the link doesn't work for you just google "Amazon £5 coupon music"
  
• Now, these sorts of sites have been around for years, I haven't used any other than talkInsights which I must have signed up to 10-15 years ago. Basically they send you surveys and you answer them. They are confidential and don't ask for personal details in the survey. You need 2000 points and you get £20. During the pandemic they've slowed down but I probably get around £40 a year. Not much I know, but it's an email followed by a quick survey ticking boxes. Depending on your answer sometimes you get screened out, I'm not telling you to lie but just be consistent with your answers and you should be able to work out how to not get screened. Some emails are only worth 20 points, others 200. It's slow to get to the 2000 but very quick to just answer a few questions.
  
• Apparently beermoneyuk is a good sub to make some pocket change with.
  
• There is also matched betting. I have never done this, I don't have the patience but from what I've read, it's legitimate, it works and you can make a fair amount of cash from it so long as you do it correctly, and there's a ton of guides. I mention this because people stuck at home could get into it and as long as you're careful (I.E not entering in the wrong numbers) it's risk free AND it pisses off the betting shops. It seems people in comments have had success with it. Disclaimer A couple have complained about gambling. This arguably is not gambling. If you are susceptible to addiction do not do it. However, it's argued that there is no fun or buzz in this, and it's a very tedious and time consuming thing. Others argue you can't make the same money anymore (People were making thousands, now only hundreds if that). It's risk free providing you know what you're doing, the risks are user error, such as entering the wrong numbers. Someone pointed out that due to the lockdown, bets could potentially be cancelled due to sport stopping. So use on a side of caution. We're (mainly) adults so I'll leave it up just because this doesn't have the excitement of regular gambling.
  
• Microsoft Rewards This is an easy way to make pocket change doing very little. Most people have a MS account. The rewards program offers you numerous ways to grab points, by playing free to play games, answering small questions (you don't even need to answer most of the time, just open the link and shut it) and by using bing and searching on it. I've gotten 20k points JUST by answering questions over a couple months. There are many rewards but you can grab a £5 gift card for 6k for example, or a month of game pass (and AFAIK you can make points playing the games)
  
• Google rewards Someone mentioned this in the comments. I have not used it, so can not give any input on it. Sounds similar to TalkInsights which I linked. Google states "Complete short surveys while standing in line, or waiting for a subway. Get rewarded with Google Play or PayPal credit for each one you complete. Topics include everything from opinion polls, to hotel reviews, to merchant satisfaction surveys. We’ll notify you when a survey is waiting."
  

That's it for now. I will try to update as I go along. A long post but I hope that it can help some of you with finding something good to do that's free, cheap or a bargain. I do suggest getting prime, especially since you get free music, free delivery, free TV and music and free video games each month. In fact, there's a ton of perks and I feel I've gotten way over the cost investment.
Hope it helps someone at least
PartTimeCrazy said if you bought an Apple product you get 3 free months of Apple Arcade and Apple TV free for a year
fakehunted is upset I didn't mention wanking. Tesco have 225 sheets of Tissue for £0.75!
tale_lost suggested Project Gutenberg for a collection of free E-Books
Learning Language
Unfortunately, I don't have time to check every link listed so I will link the comments:
Togtogtog Gives a lot of links for Spanish

• Duolingo Numerous people have suggested this So I haven't used myself. Thanks to OhHiGCHQ StephanieMecredy & Allorie_95

Board & Tabletop games
Corporal_Anaesthetic has made a list of Board games
ilyemco suggested these
HEALTH
I'm not a doctor! But if you're a smoker, something I strongly suggest is to quit. I struggled for years but in the first lockdown I quit, technically. I haven't had a cigarette since, however, I do that silly thing millennials do. I vape, but, it made quitting extremely easy. I would not have been able to do it if it wasn't for 88Vape They sell extremely cheap liquids at £1 each. You can find these in B&M but you can pick up 25 for £20 or buy your own mix.
Vitamin D deficiency has been said to be a big problem for the virus. I'd suggest (again, not a doctor!) that you pick some up. Tesco do a 3 for 2 deal. So you can pick up 270 tablets for £7.
If you are vulnerable you MIGHT be able to phone tesco and get put on their delivery saver list (currently it's paused but phoning may help. At the very least they might give you a priority slot. I did this for my mum, we didn't shop at Tesco but I phoned for her, and they put her on with no hassle, so she can always get a delivery.
HELP & ADVICE
The lockdown Rules.
Reasons to leave home include:

• Work or volunteering where it is "unreasonable" to work from home. This includes work in someone else's home, such as that carried out by social workers, nannies, cleaners and tradespeople
  
• Education, training, childcare and medical appointments and emergencies
  
• Exercise outdoors (limited to once a day). This includes meeting one other person from another household in an open public space to exercise
  
• Shopping for essentials such as food and medicine
  
• Communal religious worship
  
• Meeting your support or childcare bubble. Children can also move between separated parents Activities related to moving house
  

I want to add, if you are in danger you are also allowed (and must!) to get away from the situation for some reason, BBC seems to have missed this very important thing (or I am blind)

• To flee the threat of harm or violence.*
  
• CoronaVirus Symptoms
  
• CoronaVirus government site You can check your location and how many cases here.
  
• Worldometers Shows cases around the world.
  
• Interactive UK Map Another easy to read map with cases in counties and local area's.
  
• World Health Organisation
  

Support

• Samaritans
  
• Mental Health UK forum on reddit
  
• Link to above's stick post for support outlets
  
• Mindful
  
• Mind.org
  

FOR THOSE SHIELDING YOU CAN CONTACT THE ROYAL VOLUNTARY SERVICE. These people helped my mother with picking up her medicine from the chemist. They were very helpful and went out their way to keep in touch and do it immediately. (It's the only experience I have with them though)
_riotingpacifist wanted these links added, but I simply just don't have the time to vet and check all the suggestions here, so I will link as is:

• https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/
  
• https://www.goodsamapp.org/
  
• https://vaccinationvolunteers.sja.org.uk/roles/volunteer-vaccinator.html
  
• https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/getting-you-started-guide-steward-volunteer
  
• https://peoplesmomentum.com/evictionresistance/
  
• https://londonrentersunion.org/
  

Update:
Digital Art
These are Free

• Krita Arguably the best in my opinion. It has a load of options, brushes and a decent UI. It works fantastic with a tablet.
  
• Gimp This is a decent program but last I used, the UI was a pain, and it isn't so user friendly while misses features, but it works, and it is possible to do some incredible creations on it.
  
• Medibang Paint This is slightly geared towards Comics and Manga. I really enjoy using this with my drawing Tablet. As far as I know, it also for regular tablets for Android/Ipad and is free.
  

You can pick up a drawing tablet on Amazon quite cheap these days! Small ones that are just a black slate such as the wacom ones are good but takes some practice to get use to, but very worth it if you can't afford a dedicated drawing tablet with a screen.
Office suit software
A couple of free applications for word processing, spreadsheets etc.

• LibreOffice This has most the average user would need to write their own books or to work from home. There's not a huge amount of difference between the two I'm linking (since I last used anyway) so it's more for preference.
  
• Open Office You can pick this up here and again, like above it's just preference.
  

Music Making
I'm going to direct to matthewharris806 for some links as all the programs I've used like Reason are expensive, or cheaper stuff in bundles such as Magix software.
Games development
D_Dad_Default gives some links for that here

/RedDeadOnline Simple Questions & FAQ Thread.

If your question isn't answered below, leave a comment and a community member will try to help!
If there are any frequently asked questions missing, then please comment with that question & what the answer is. Please also feel free to improve on any of the answers below.
We'll reward members who help most often with a special flair / badge to use on the sub!
We'll be redirecting all simple/one liner questions to this thread in the hopes of reducing spam/repeat posts. Please report any you see under Rule 6, commonly posted question.

PC / Next-Gen / Stand-alone Questions

Q) If I buy on Rockstar Launcher, can I play with friends on Steam?

Yes, you can play with friends on PC regardless of what store they bought it from. Even Steam GTA, uses Rockstar to launch the game.

Q) Can we transfer our characters from PS4 and Xbox One to PC?

No, you cannot transfer characters to a different platform, e.g Xbox to PC. The game is cross-gen however, so if you play PS4 you can continue on PS5.

Q) If I buy a next-gen console, can I play with friends on old-gen consoles?

Yes! The game is backwards compatible on console, so you can play with friends on PS4/PS5 or XB1/XBX

Q) If I already own Red Dead Redemption 2, do I need to buy Red Dead Online again when it goes standalone?

No! Red Dead Online is still part of the RDR2 game.

Red Dead Online: General Questions

Q) What are the currencies in Red Dead Online?

Cash, the main currency in RDO that is earned through almost every activity.
Gold Bars, the premium currency in RDO that can be purchased using real money. You earn a small amount of gold for completing activities online.
Role Tokens, earned by levelling up in each role, used to unlock abilities & items for the five current roles.

Q) What is the Outlaw pass?

The Outlaw Pass is an in-game purchase using the premium Gold currency that allows you to earn items/rewards as you level up.
Outlaw Pass are only available for a limited time and once they finish, you can't access them again.

Q) What are Daily Challenges?

Every day at 6am UTC, you are given a new list of 7 daily challenges as well as 15 role daily challenges. They can range from hunting specific animals or finding certain herbs, to completing PVP/Freeroam events.
Initially, you earn 0.1 Gold per completed challenge plus a bonus if you complete all 7 regular challenges.
After completing at least 1 challenge per day for 7 days, you then earn a little more gold per challenge each week before your daily challenge streak resets after 28 days.
Your daily challenge streak will then reset, and you start the process again.
In addition to this, there are also 3 daily challenges for each role available and you can do a max of 9 role daily challenges. Daily challenges for roles will also differ depending on your rank within each role.

Q) What are Free-roam events (role/normal)

Every 45 minutes, you'll receive an invite to a free-roam event. Free-roam events can be activities such as fishing, horse racing, archery competitions, or PVP. You earn XP + cash for completing.
There are also role specific events that happen every 90 minutes, you need to be ranked up and enrolled in each role before you'll see invites for these activities.
You can see the schedule for free-roam & role events here

Q) What are ability cards?

Abilities in Red Dead Online are assigned to a character through Ability Cards. These are divided into two different types. Dead Eye cards that grant abilities only active during Dead Eye, while Passive cards add abilities that are always active, no matter what you do. Passive abilities are further divided into several different categories.
In Red Dead Online, it's not possible to assign all of the available abilities to the character, as there are only 4 slots available. One slot is used for a single Dead Eye card, while the remaining three slots are used for Passive abilities. ^Source.

Q) What are the playing styles online?

Defensive: Players in Defensive mode will be indicated by a shield icon, will take reduced damage from enemy players, cannot be lassoed, melee attacked, executed or targeted with auto-aim. Defensive players will also be excluded from being targeted in PvP-related missions such as Player Assassination. Those who attack Defensive players receive hefty penalties via the Hostility system, while players who initiate conflict while in Defensive mode will be instantly pulled out of Defensive mode and also receive similar Hostility penalties.
Offensive: The Offensive playing style is set as the default and is how most players traditionally interact in Free Roam – free to engage in hostile contact with other players if you are prepared to accept the potential consequences.

Red Dead Online: Other Questions

Q) How do I dual wield?

At rank 25, you can buy an off-hand holster which allows you to equip a second handgun.

Q) How do I change appearance

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to Online Options > Scroll down to Change Appearance

Q) How do I setup camp

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to camp options > Choose location for camp
Camps can be used to access wardrobes, collect items you've ordered via the catalog, craft & cook and fast travel if upgraded.
A small camp is suitable for 1-4 posse members and costs $1 per in game day. A large camp is suitable for 1-7 posse members and costs $2 per in game day.

Q) Where is the gun locker?

You unlock it through the trader role, then purchase it at Wilderness Outfitters in camp, and then it appears at your specific tent in camp.

Q) How do I buy a dog?

At your camp, head to Cripps and access Wilderness Outfitters, from there you can select the dog option.

Q) What can dogs be used for?

Looking cool at your camp and warning you of camp raids when you unlock the perk. Not really much else. (They're not companions like Dogmeat from Fallout 4)

Q) I saw an item, but can't find it on PC or Xbox One.

Some items are exclusive to PS4, so you may see things promoted by Rockstar that aren't yet available on your platform or it may be from an old Outlaw Pass.

Q) What is the best Horse

This post should help.

Q) What are the best Weapons

Captain Balrick's arsenal should help you decide

Q) What is the best ability card loadout

This post in the /RedDeadOnline mega-guide should help.

Q) What is the best way to make money/gold

This post should help.

Q) Where are the treasure maps located?

You can find them all here.

Red Dead Online: Roles

Q) Can I have more than 1 role active?

Yes! You can play in all roles concurrently.

Bounty Hunter Role

Q) What is the Bounty Hunter role?

Get started as a Bounty Hunter when you meet the Legendary Bounty Hunter in Rhodes and purchase the Bounty Hunter License. The standard cost is 15 Gold Bars.
Licensed Bounty Hunters can pick up work by visiting bounty boards located near law offices, post offices and train stations across the states. There is no shortage of criminals to be dealt with and the targets range in difficulty, from lone low-level petty thieves to notorious outlaws with armed protection details and a watchful eye. Taking on an armed gang or bringing multiple targets to justice is made easier with the help of a Posse, who will all earn a cut of the final bounty. And keep in mind, bringing in targets alive will yield a greater reward.
Reaching Bounty Hunter Rank 12 will open up the opportunity to take down other players with high bounties of $20 or more. Bounty Hunters will be notified through an invite about the opportunity to hunt down the wanted player when they’re nearby in a structured pursuit. The wanted player must escape (or surrender) within the allotted time and if captured, they’ll also have opportunities to escape and flee. If the Bounty Hunter brings the target in alive, they’ll receive an award while the criminal serves time.

Q) What are legendary bounties?

Legendary bounties are high-tier bounties, they usually involve a mini-story/cut scene. They're also much tougher than a regular bounty.
There are 10 legendary bounties that can be access as part of the Bounty Hunter role and 3 that can be accessed (when they've all released) by purchasing the Prestigious Bounty Hunter upgrade.

Trader Role

Q) What is the Trader role?

our trusted camp companion, Cripps, has long dreamed of starting a trading outpost and you’re going to help him make it happen - by becoming a partner in the fledgling Cripps Trading Company. Combining Cripps’ lifetime of working with animal materials and your skills at hunting and frontier security, you’ll have the perfect ingredients to develop a thriving business.
Once you agree to help Cripps, you can start turning your camp into a business by sourcing items for Cripps to convert into sellable goods. An investment of 15 Gold Bars to purchase a Butcher’s Table will get your business up and running.
Once you’re operational, you’ll provide Cripps with Materials through hunting animals – pristine pelts and carcasses will provide better yields. You’ll also take on Resupply Missions to acquire additional necessities through less than savory tactics. Once supplied, Cripps will begin turning the materials into sellable goods, which can then be sent out on low-risk local deliveries for payment or across greater distances for a premium.
Improve your hunting yields with a Hunting Wagon for larger hauls or upgrade your Delivery Wagons for larger sales. As business flourishes and your presence becomes known in the market, your competition may grow jealous of your success, so keep an eye out for raids on your camp. As your trade grows, you might consider purchasing a camp dog from Wilderness Outfitters. Not only are dogs great camp companions for all players, but a Trader of sufficient rank can teach their dog to warn of incoming attacks.

Q) Can I skip the medium wagon?

No, you need to buy the medium wagon, then the large wagon.

Q) What can I sell to Cripps?

You can sell carcasses & small animals (e.g squirrels). Along with some animal parts, e.g feathers.
Cripps does not accept meat, fish or skinned carcasses.

Q) How long does it take Cripps to make goods after resupplying?

Cripps requires materials and supplies to produce goods. You give him materials by donating carcasses and pelts. He uses two units of materials to produce one good. You either buy supplies or obtain them through resupply missions. Either way, that gives enough supplies to produce 25 goods. As long as both materials and supplies are available, Cripps produces 1 good every 2 minutes (1 in-game hour).

Collector Role

Q) What is the Collector role?

Seek out the mysterious travelling saleswoman Madam Nazar to acquire the Collector’s Bag and get started on the path of the Collector. It will cost 15 Gold Bars for access to collecting and selling rare items.
With Madam Nazar’s help, you will be able to explore the world finding valuable treasures, whether they’re discarded Tarot cards in abandoned camps, buried treasures unearthed with your trusty shovel, hidden family heirlooms and more.
Collect individual pieces and sell them off directly to Madam Nazar or collect entire sets for even more valuable sales. As you progress, you’ll unlock enhanced searching skills; more useful tools like a metal detector; benefits like increased carrying capacities; the ability for your horse to directly pluck and pass herbs to you while mounted, and more.

Q) Where is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar can be located by completing a map/collection for her. Her location is posted daily on /RedDeadDailies - She changes location at 6am UTC time each day.
You can also find her using https://madamnazar.io/

Q) Who is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar is the Collector role vendor, you can obtain maps, cosmetics & other items such as the shovel from her.

Q) Why is Madam Nazar?

...

Q) Where do you buy a shovel?

From Madam Nazar, it costs $350. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Where do you buy a metal detector?

From Madam Nazar, it unlocks at level 5 and costs $700. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Can you sell collector items individually or does it need to be a full set?

Yes, however you get far less money than you would if you sold a full collection

Q) Can you only have one collector map active?

Yes, if you try to open a second map, it may auto-close and almost looks like a bug, however, you should only try and activate one at any given time.

Moonshiner Role:

Q) I already met Maggie but I didn't buy a shack, now I can't find how to buy the shack?

In the options menu (left on the D-pad, or L on PC), select "Camp & Properties" → "Moonshine Shack" → "Shack Location".

Will be expanded upon soon...

Naturalist Role

Will be updated soon...

Useful Red Dead Online Resources

• /RedDeadDailies - A subreddit dedicated to sharing daily challenge information
• /RedDeadCollector - The best place to ask for support with any locations for collector items.
• Collector map.
• /RedDeadOnline mega-guide.
• Free-roam event schedule
• Red Dead Online Discord

This thread will be posted at 6am UTC every Monday. We'll aim to update & add any additional questions in time for the new thread being posted each week.

/RedDeadOnline Simple Questions & FAQ Thread.

If your question isn't answered below, leave a comment and a community member will try to help!
If there are any frequently asked questions missing, then please comment with that question & what the answer is. Please also feel free to improve on any of the answers below.
We'll reward members who help most often with a special flair / badge to use on the sub!
We'll be redirecting all simple/one liner questions to this thread in the hopes of reducing spam/repeat posts. Please report any you see under Rule 6, commonly posted question.

PC / Next-Gen / Stand-alone Questions

Q) If I buy on Rockstar Launcher, can I play with friends on Steam?

Yes, you can play with friends on PC regardless of what store they bought it from. Even Steam GTA, uses Rockstar to launch the game.

Q) Can we transfer our characters from PS4 and Xbox One to PC?

No, you cannot transfer characters to a different platform, e.g Xbox to PC. The game is cross-gen however, so if you play PS4 you can continue on PS5.

Q) If I buy a next-gen console, can I play with friends on old-gen consoles?

Yes! The game is backwards compatible on console, so you can play with friends on PS4/PS5 or XB1/XBX

Q) If I already own Red Dead Redemption 2, do I need to buy Red Dead Online again when it goes standalone?

No! Red Dead Online is still part of the RDR2 game.

Red Dead Online: General Questions

Q) What are the currencies in Red Dead Online?

Cash, the main currency in RDO that is earned through almost every activity.
Gold Bars, the premium currency in RDO that can be purchased using real money. You earn a small amount of gold for completing activities online.
Role Tokens, earned by levelling up in each role, used to unlock abilities & items for the five current roles.

Q) What is the Outlaw pass?

The Outlaw Pass is an in-game purchase using the premium Gold currency that allows you to earn items/rewards as you level up.
Outlaw Pass are only available for a limited time and once they finish, you can't access them again.

Q) What are Daily Challenges?

Every day at 6am UTC, you are given a new list of 7 daily challenges as well as 15 role daily challenges. They can range from hunting specific animals or finding certain herbs, to completing PVP/Freeroam events.
Initially, you earn 0.1 Gold per completed challenge plus a bonus if you complete all 7 regular challenges.
After completing at least 1 challenge per day for 7 days, you then earn a little more gold per challenge each week before your daily challenge streak resets after 28 days.
Your daily challenge streak will then reset, and you start the process again.
In addition to this, there are also 3 daily challenges for each role available and you can do a max of 9 role daily challenges. Daily challenges for roles will also differ depending on your rank within each role.

Q) What are Free-roam events (role/normal)

Every 45 minutes, you'll receive an invite to a free-roam event. Free-roam events can be activities such as fishing, horse racing, archery competitions, or PVP. You earn XP + cash for completing.
There are also role specific events that happen every 90 minutes, you need to be ranked up and enrolled in each role before you'll see invites for these activities.
You can see the schedule for free-roam & role events here

Q) What are ability cards?

Abilities in Red Dead Online are assigned to a character through Ability Cards. These are divided into two different types. Dead Eye cards that grant abilities only active during Dead Eye, while Passive cards add abilities that are always active, no matter what you do. Passive abilities are further divided into several different categories.
In Red Dead Online, it's not possible to assign all of the available abilities to the character, as there are only 4 slots available. One slot is used for a single Dead Eye card, while the remaining three slots are used for Passive abilities. ^Source.

Q) What are the playing styles online?

Defensive: Players in Defensive mode will be indicated by a shield icon, will take reduced damage from enemy players, cannot be lassoed, melee attacked, executed or targeted with auto-aim. Defensive players will also be excluded from being targeted in PvP-related missions such as Player Assassination. Those who attack Defensive players receive hefty penalties via the Hostility system, while players who initiate conflict while in Defensive mode will be instantly pulled out of Defensive mode and also receive similar Hostility penalties.
Offensive: The Offensive playing style is set as the default and is how most players traditionally interact in Free Roam – free to engage in hostile contact with other players if you are prepared to accept the potential consequences.

Red Dead Online: Other Questions

Q) How do I dual wield?

At rank 25, you can buy an off-hand holster which allows you to equip a second handgun.

Q) How do I change appearance

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to Online Options > Scroll down to Change Appearance

Q) How do I setup camp

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to camp options > Choose location for camp
Camps can be used to access wardrobes, collect items you've ordered via the catalog, craft & cook and fast travel if upgraded.
A small camp is suitable for 1-4 posse members and costs $1 per in game day. A large camp is suitable for 1-7 posse members and costs $2 per in game day.

Q) Where is the gun locker?

You unlock it through the trader role, then purchase it at Wilderness Outfitters in camp, and then it appears at your specific tent in camp.

Q) How do I buy a dog?

At your camp, head to Cripps and access Wilderness Outfitters, from there you can select the dog option.

Q) What can dogs be used for?

Looking cool at your camp and warning you of camp raids when you unlock the perk. Not really much else. (They're not companions like Dogmeat from Fallout 4)

Q) I saw an item, but can't find it on PC or Xbox One.

Some items are exclusive to PS4, so you may see things promoted by Rockstar that aren't yet available on your platform or it may be from an old Outlaw Pass.

Q) What is the best Horse

This post should help.

Q) What are the best Weapons

Captain Balrick's arsenal should help you decide

Q) What is the best ability card loadout

This post in the /RedDeadOnline mega-guide should help.

Q) What is the best way to make money/gold

This post should help.

Q) Where are the treasure maps located?

You can find them all here.

Red Dead Online: Roles

Q) Can I have more than 1 role active?

Yes! You can play in all roles concurrently.

Bounty Hunter Role

Q) What is the Bounty Hunter role?

Get started as a Bounty Hunter when you meet the Legendary Bounty Hunter in Rhodes and purchase the Bounty Hunter License. The standard cost is 15 Gold Bars.
Licensed Bounty Hunters can pick up work by visiting bounty boards located near law offices, post offices and train stations across the states. There is no shortage of criminals to be dealt with and the targets range in difficulty, from lone low-level petty thieves to notorious outlaws with armed protection details and a watchful eye. Taking on an armed gang or bringing multiple targets to justice is made easier with the help of a Posse, who will all earn a cut of the final bounty. And keep in mind, bringing in targets alive will yield a greater reward.
Reaching Bounty Hunter Rank 12 will open up the opportunity to take down other players with high bounties of $20 or more. Bounty Hunters will be notified through an invite about the opportunity to hunt down the wanted player when they’re nearby in a structured pursuit. The wanted player must escape (or surrender) within the allotted time and if captured, they’ll also have opportunities to escape and flee. If the Bounty Hunter brings the target in alive, they’ll receive an award while the criminal serves time.

Q) What are legendary bounties?

Legendary bounties are high-tier bounties, they usually involve a mini-story/cut scene. They're also much tougher than a regular bounty.
There are 10 legendary bounties that can be access as part of the Bounty Hunter role and 3 that can be accessed (when they've all released) by purchasing the Prestigious Bounty Hunter upgrade.

Trader Role

Q) What is the Trader role?

our trusted camp companion, Cripps, has long dreamed of starting a trading outpost and you’re going to help him make it happen - by becoming a partner in the fledgling Cripps Trading Company. Combining Cripps’ lifetime of working with animal materials and your skills at hunting and frontier security, you’ll have the perfect ingredients to develop a thriving business.
Once you agree to help Cripps, you can start turning your camp into a business by sourcing items for Cripps to convert into sellable goods. An investment of 15 Gold Bars to purchase a Butcher’s Table will get your business up and running.
Once you’re operational, you’ll provide Cripps with Materials through hunting animals – pristine pelts and carcasses will provide better yields. You’ll also take on Resupply Missions to acquire additional necessities through less than savory tactics. Once supplied, Cripps will begin turning the materials into sellable goods, which can then be sent out on low-risk local deliveries for payment or across greater distances for a premium.
Improve your hunting yields with a Hunting Wagon for larger hauls or upgrade your Delivery Wagons for larger sales. As business flourishes and your presence becomes known in the market, your competition may grow jealous of your success, so keep an eye out for raids on your camp. As your trade grows, you might consider purchasing a camp dog from Wilderness Outfitters. Not only are dogs great camp companions for all players, but a Trader of sufficient rank can teach their dog to warn of incoming attacks.

Q) Can I skip the medium wagon?

No, you need to buy the medium wagon, then the large wagon.

Q) What can I sell to Cripps?

You can sell carcasses & small animals (e.g squirrels). Along with some animal parts, e.g feathers.
Cripps does not accept meat, fish or skinned carcasses.

Q) How long does it take Cripps to make goods after resupplying?

Cripps requires materials and supplies to produce goods. You give him materials by donating carcasses and pelts. He uses two units of materials to produce one good. You either buy supplies or obtain them through resupply missions. Either way, that gives enough supplies to produce 25 goods. As long as both materials and supplies are available, Cripps produces 1 good every 2 minutes (1 in-game hour).

Collector Role

Q) What is the Collector role?

Seek out the mysterious travelling saleswoman Madam Nazar to acquire the Collector’s Bag and get started on the path of the Collector. It will cost 15 Gold Bars for access to collecting and selling rare items.
With Madam Nazar’s help, you will be able to explore the world finding valuable treasures, whether they’re discarded Tarot cards in abandoned camps, buried treasures unearthed with your trusty shovel, hidden family heirlooms and more.
Collect individual pieces and sell them off directly to Madam Nazar or collect entire sets for even more valuable sales. As you progress, you’ll unlock enhanced searching skills; more useful tools like a metal detector; benefits like increased carrying capacities; the ability for your horse to directly pluck and pass herbs to you while mounted, and more.

Q) Where is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar can be located by completing a map/collection for her. Her location is posted daily on /RedDeadDailies - She changes location at 6am UTC time each day.
You can also find her using https://madamnazar.io/

Q) Who is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar is the Collector role vendor, you can obtain maps, cosmetics & other items such as the shovel from her.

Q) Why is Madam Nazar?

...

Q) Where do you buy a shovel?

From Madam Nazar, it costs $350. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Where do you buy a metal detector?

From Madam Nazar, it unlocks at level 5 and costs $700. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Can you sell collector items individually or does it need to be a full set?

Yes, however you get far less money than you would if you sold a full collection

Q) Can you only have one collector map active?

Yes, if you try to open a second map, it may auto-close and almost looks like a bug, however, you should only try and activate one at any given time.

Moonshiner Role:

Q) I already met Maggie but I didn't buy a shack, now I can't find how to buy the shack?

In the options menu (left on the D-pad, or L on PC), select "Camp & Properties" → "Moonshine Shack" → "Shack Location".

Will be expanded upon soon...

Naturalist Role

Will be updated soon...

Useful Red Dead Online Resources

• /RedDeadDailies - A subreddit dedicated to sharing daily challenge information
• /RedDeadCollector - The best place to ask for support with any locations for collector items.
• Collector map.
• /RedDeadOnline mega-guide.
• Free-roam event schedule
• Red Dead Online Discord

This thread will be posted at 6am UTC every Monday. We'll aim to update & add any additional questions in time for the new thread being posted each week.

Signups are now closed! Click here to go to Tribunal.

If you haven't already, please fill out this form to finish signing up for Season 14. If you don't fill out the form, you won't be counted!

The Character Scramble is a writing prompt tournament where people compete to write the best story they can. At the beginning, everyone submits characters that meet specified guidelines. Then, the submitted characters are randomized and distributed evenly to all participants.
After each participant receives their team, the participants are slotted into a single-elimination bracket. Writing prompts are assigned and participants write a story that features their team fighting against their opponent's team. Afterward, everyone votes for whichever story they prefer, and the participant of each match with the most votes moves on to the next round. The pattern continues until only one participant remains: the new Character Scramble champion!
The champion chooses the theme, tier, and rules of the next Character Scramble. They also receive a temporary custom flair as their reward.
Click here to join the email list. If you join the email list, you'll receive an email for every Scramble post that is made.
Join the official Discord channel if you want to be part of a large, vibrant community of Scramble participants, or if you just want a quick analysis of your characters and tips for competing. The majority of Scramble discussion takes place on the Discord and we also make announcements and post links there first, so it's the best way to keep up to date on what's going on in Scramble.

Frequently Asked Questions

Character Submission List

Basic Rules / Scramble Process

• Sign-ups will be from Friday, January 8 to Friday, January 29.
  
  • PLEASE NOTE: Signups will close at 7pm PST on January 29, and Tribunal will go up. Anyone who isn’t done when Tribunal goes up will have their incomplete submissions removed or will be DQed if they don’t have enough submissions after removal. GET YOUR STUFF DONE WELL BEFORE THE DEADLINE!
• Each user who wishes to participate must submit THREE (3) characters that adhere to the rules listed in the Submission Rules section.
  
• Users may also submit up to TWO (2) back-up characters that adhere to the same set of rules.
  
  • Users must specify in the submission that the character is a back-up.
  • If a main submission is deemed out-of-tier in Tribunal, the submission will be replaced by an entry from the back-up pool.
• Users must also submit ONE (1) Devil Fruit as specified in the FAQ and may submit an additional backup Devil Fruit if they so desire.
  
• Each character must be submitted in their own parent comment in this thread. Don't reply to your own submission comment with another submission; make a separate comment thread for each individual submission.
  
• After you complete your submission posts for all of your main submissions and any back-up submissions, fill out and submit the submission form linked at the very top of this post.
  
  • If you need to make a change, just resubmit the submission form with the same name and new info. We'll use whichever version is newest.
  • DO NOT resubmit after Tribunal; we'll account for any Tribunal changes to rosters.
• After Sign-ups is the Tribunal, a community-regulated place for users to point out characters they feel are over- or underpowered.
  
  • Please keep an open mind when receiving criticism; it is encouraged for you to comment on the characters of other participants as well.
  • Characters with issues that are not amicably resolved may be replaced by a back-up character at the discretion of the GMs and a panel of selected judges.
  • If you would like to apply to be a Tribunal judge, please fill out this form.
• After Tribunal, the characters are scrambled so that every participant receives three characters.
  
  • In Season 14, each participant is guaranteed to receive one of their own submissions, but they will not receive more than one.
  • Participants also have the option to opt out of NSFW submissions and veto ONE submission out of the list of total submissions. (Users cannot veto their own submission.)
  • Links to a form for opt-out and veto will be provided after Tribunal ends and before the scrambling happens.
• Every round, a prompt is posted. Players are expected to write about how their characters would defeat their opponents based on the prompt.
  
• At the end of the round, the thread is locked and the voting thread is posted. Voting is done using Google forms.
  
  • Voting is mandatory; failing to vote in any round will result in disqualification.
  • If you cannot vote due to time constraints, message u/FreestyleKneepad and we can work around that.
• After results are posted, the brackets are updated and the next round begins.
  

Theme & Tier / Submission Rules

The theme of Scramble 14 is One Piece, based on the manga/anime series about the Golden Age of Piracy. Your team will set sail on a globe-spanning adventure, from island to island, searching for the greatest treasure of all time. For more info, check out the Hype Post.
The tier benchmark for this season is Luke Cage (616), using a modified RT we have built specifically for this season's tier.Your submissions must score between a Likely and an Unlikely Victory versus Luke. For more information about what that means, check the FAQ.
The tier benchmark for Devil Fruit submissions is the following: Scramble Luke Cage (as defined above) with the abilities granted by your Devil Fruit must be able to achieve a Draw or Likely Victory against Scramble Luke Cage with the Punch-Punch Fruit, meaning he can launch fist-sized shockwaves at bullet speed that are equal in power to his own punches. For more details on the Devil Fruit submission process, check the FAQ.
You get ONE (1) major change for any character submissions and NO major changes for Devil Fruit submissions. However, we’ll allow you to remove a bunch of out-of-tier powers from a Devil Fruit submission without counting so many changes as a major change like we typically would, so don’t worry about that. Refer to the FAQ for more info.

• If you aren’t competing and only submitting backups, you may submit 3 backup characters and 2 backup Devil Fruits. You must do the writing prompt for all character submissions.

Additionally, please adhere to the following guidelines:

• Characters must be in tier.
  
• Characters must be researchable.
  
  • The show, video game, movie, or other media from which your character originates must be accessible in some way, ideally online.
  • Your character must have a functional Respect Thread, so that people can understand your character's stats and abilities at a glance. It is preferable that your character's Respect Thread is hosted on the Respect Threads subreddit, but CharacteTeam of the Week posts or any real repository of cited feats are acceptable.
  • If your character does not have a Respect Thread of any kind, please at the minimum include a Mini-RT in the sign-up post with at least five combat-related feats that completely cover the character's stats and abilities.
  • VSBattlesWiki pages or similar sources are not acceptable Respect Threads.
• You cannot submit characters that you have created, helped to create, or in any way developed.
  
  • If the GMs believe you have asked someone else to submit a character you created, we might ban that as well.
• You cannot submit a character with feats based on a previous Scramble story. This rule prevents Scramble writers from tailoring characters to be submitted to future tiers.
  
• You cannot submit controversial real life figures. No Trump, no Putin, no Kanye, none of that. The GMs reserve the right to decide what qualifies as "controversial."
  
• While you can submit characters from NSFW series with risqué material (such as an ecchi anime), you cannot submit characters from actual pornography.
  
• The GMs reserve the right to veto specific submissions under the "Dude, come on" reasoning. This clause may sound extremely abusable, but honestly we'll only use it for submissions we feel violate the spirit of the above guidelines or are otherwise deemed unusable, like "disaster movie lava" or "a swarm of bees with the consciousness of Steve Buscemi."
  
• Characters from ongoing series remain at the balance level from when they were submitted.
  
  • If you get Goku on your team and Goku unlocks Super Saiyan Ultra Mega Deluxe with Curly Fries in the anime after the Scramble season starts, you don't get to add that power to your character. This rule applies to new feats, new weapons, new powers, and so on.

Not exactly rules, but some suggestions:

• Because you are guaranteed to receive one of your own submissions at random, submit characters you actually want to write yourself.
  
  • Ask yourself: Will your hilarious meme submission idea actually be hilarious over the course of an entire writing contest, or will the joke get old immediately?
  • If you're only submitting a character because the act of submitting them is funny, don't submit them.
  • Along these lines, while some less controversial personalities like Jerma or Adam Sandler might be submittable, we’d just like to mention that these typically aren’t well-received submissions, as they tend to require deep-diving a Youtuber’s video library or actor’s interviews and movies, which balloons research by a lot.
• If you don't have any ideas for submissions, it's recommended that you try submitting one of the many back-ups we're likely to have.
  
  • Alternatively, here's a community-created suggestions doc with potentially in-tier submissions to give you ideas.
• Sometimes people like different things, and that's okay. Don't hate on a submission just because you personally don't like the character or the series. And on the other end, you don't have to withdraw a submission just because someone else doesn't like them.
  
• You are allowed to make changes to a character for the purpose of making sure they're in tier or otherwise clarifying what gear they have available.
  
  • There are limits to the number and magnitude of changes you can make; check the FAQ for more information.
  • In general, avoid submissions with changes that radically change the character, such as "Ferris Bueller with Iron Man's armor" or "Goku with the stats of Captain America."
• Duplicate submissions aren't prohibited, but try to avoid submitting the fifth Spider-Man submission this Scramble. Check to see if someone else has already submitted your character before you.
  
• Listen to feedback. You don't have to follow it, but if a lot of people are saying the same thing, at least humor the idea that they have a point.
  

Submission Forms

To submit a character, fill out the following form in a comment to this thread. Include either the writing or non-writing prompt. As long as all of the below information is included, you can reformat your submission post however you want for maximum aesthetic.
All three of your main submissions MUST use the writing prompt to count. Back-up submissions may use the non-writing prompt.
If you're not competing and only submitting one or more back-ups, you must use the writing prompt.
The form has changed since last Scramble, so be sure to actually read it.

Character Submissions

Name: The character's name.
Series: The name of the piece of media your character is from. You can add specifications necessary.
Biography: A quick summary of your character. Who are they? What can they do? Where are they from? What are they like? It doesn't need to be a novel, but a good paragraph of information is appreciated.
Research: A link to your RT or RT-substitute, as well as any other links that might help someone understand your character quickly. You may also suggest how much of the series someone needs to read/watch to get a good idea of the character.
Justification: Briefly outline why you think your character is in tier, and where in the tier they fall (Unlikely Victory, Draw, or Likely Victory—See the FAQ for more information). The non-writing prompt already covers some of this information, but to expedite the Tribunal process, at least give a sentence or two.
Motivation: Why has your character set sail for adventure? What great desire calls them to the sea and beyond? This is where you describe what your character is fighting for. Are they a pirate seeking might, fame, or riches? Do they have a deeper desire they seek to fulfill somewhere out there in the world? Perhaps, they don’t call themselves a pirate at all. Basically, why are they here?
Major Changes: Check the FAQ for what to put here. You only get one!
Minor Changes: Check the FAQ for what to put here. You get as many of these as you need, but don't go overboard.

Devil Fruit Submissions

Devil Fruit Name: The name of your fruit. Typical naming scheme is a repeating phrase (1-2 syllables) and then “Fruit” or “no mi”, depending on whether you're naming it in English or Japanese. Zoan-type fruits may have a broader classification, then have “Model: [Species]” at the end. Examples: Gum Gum Fruit, Mera Mera no mi, Ushi Ushi no mi, Model: Giraffe.
Devil Fruit Type: Paramecia? Logia? Zoan? Refer to the FAQ for an explanation of each. The actual function of the fruit only changes if you pick Zoan, which comes with specific parameters as well.
Character Name: The name of the character these powers are derived from.
Series: The name of the media this character is from. You can add specifications as necessary.
Description: What abilities does this Devil Fruit give? Outline them here. If this is a Zoan type, describe what is unique about this new form.
Research: A link to your RT or RT-substitute, as well as any other links that might help someone understand these powers quickly. Please specify which sections of the RT are being drawn from, and if it is not clear, please organize the feats in a comment below. You may also suggest how much of the series someone needs to read/watch to get a good idea of the powers, or what parts they can specifically watch.
Minor Changes: Check the FAQ for what to put here. You get as many of these as you need, but don't go overboard. Remember, you get NO major changes!
Analysis Versus Punch-Punch Luke Cage: What advantages does your fruit offer that can turn the tides in their favour? How does the tiersetting battle play out? What strategies can be used by someone with this fruit in battle? Delve into multiple outcomes, and different ways the powers can be applied. This section should be used as a space to demonstrate what your Devil Fruit can do in a combat setting.
Other Uses: There’s a lot more to life than just fighting. In the broader scope, how might this ability be used while not directly in combat? Perhaps it’s good for espionage, or surveillance, or maybe it’s just useful to turn into a dragon every once in a while. Be creative!
Best Case Scenario: What kind of character would benefit most by getting the powers of this fruit? Would it best benefit a tough bruiser with no ranged attacks of their own, or a flimsy spellcaster who could use the help protecting themselves? This might be helpful for the recipient to decide who to give the fruit to.

Prompts

All of your main character submissions MUST use the writing prompt to count. Back-up submissions may use the non-writing prompt. If you're not competing and only submitting a back-up, you must use the writing prompt.

Character Writing Prompt

Your character’s journey has begun, but there’s a slight issue with this whole thing: Navigation is really hard. Thus, they find themselves stopped in the quaint village of Orange Town, and in order to safely get anywhere else, they’ll need some help.
Luckily for them, if they can find a Log Pose, they won’t have to worry about this issue ever again! These babies make navigation a breeze by just pointing in the direction of nearby islands. How convenient! The only issue is that the only Log Pose on this island is in the possession of a fearsome pirate, and he doesn’t plan on giving it up without a fight.
Your character comes face-to-face with Captain Luke Cage, who’s just like Luke Cage but a pirate and mean and his feats are REALLY specific for some reason. If they want this Log Pose, they’re not going to be able to get it without a fight. Whether they lay down the challenge themselves or Cage decides he wants to make an example out of them, eventually the area clears out of any bystanders. You square off, and it’s time for the showdown.
After finally achieving their victory, your character is free to take the Log Pose for themselves and set off once again. Onwards, to another adventure!
Prompt Rules:

• I’m Gonna Be King Of The Pirates!: There is no bad ending to this tale. For the purposes of Scramble, your story should always have your team or characters on the winning side. Let your story show how your victory is achieved! Even if the chances are slim to none, demonstrate how your crew is able to come out on top.
  
• Cage Match With Captain Luke Cage (Cage Not Included): This fight is going to happen. Your character can’t talk their way out of it, or hightail it out of there before anything even goes down. No matter what your character is feeling about this whole thing, they better put up their dukes, or they’re gonna get rocked right into next Scramble. And they might not even be in tier for that one!
  
• Luke Cage, More Like Colossus The Thing Power Man Mike Tyson of Mike Tyson Mysteries!: Maybe you wanna spice things up a little bit, hey, I feel ya. You can swap out someone for Luke Cage if you’d rather write them, but note that this change is purely cosmetic. The character will still have all of Cage’s stats and abilities.
  
• Where’s Everybody Going? Bingo?: Sure, there may be other people on the island, but you’ll notice it said the area cleared out. For the purposes of tiering and simplicity, the only two around these parts are your character and ole’ Luke. Feel free to get wild; there’s no one else around to hurt.
  

Character Non-Writing Prompt

Analysis Versus Luke Cage: Go deeper into how your character fares against the benchmark. How their abilities match the tier's, how their stats counteract each other, specific instances that are likely to happen in a fight between them, and so on. Because this analysis serves as a replacement for a narrative, you need to communicate how your character fights (for instance, whether they rush in headlong or approach tactically and exploit weaknesses) and what that means for them fighting other characters.
Biggest Strength and Weakness: Discuss the best thing your character brings to the table in a fight (a tactical mind, unorthodox abilities, good stats, et cetera), and also what detriments or drawbacks they might have (a specific stat that's lower than the others, lack of ranged options, inability to work with others, et cetera.)
Character in Setting/with Team: Analyze the flavor of your submission. How does your character deal with other submissions? How does your character deal with the setting? Are they inclined to thrive in a world of piracy, or are their sensibilities suited to something else? How does your character deal with just being in a Scramble? Are they good at working on any kind of team, or will they just be a pain in the ass the whole way?
Role on Ship: This is just for fun, we're not separating the submissions by roles or anything, nor do you need to give a solid title or job to any character. That being said, what skills might your character bring to the table for their fellow crewmates? Are they a natural-born leader who gets the captain's hat, or do they just steer the damn boat? Are they doing that marksman thing? Maybe cooking? Perhaps even doctoring? Ya yo ya yo? You tell us.

Hey you. Yeah, you. You tired of playing the same Golos deck, playing two lands a turn, drawing into your combo pieces, and winning while the entire table finishes War and Peace on their phones? You bored with your Sultai landfall deck, where you play solitaire for three hours? Board police getting too much to bear?
Well, let me introduce you to your new best friend: [[Neheb, the Eternal]].
Now, if you've never seen Neheb before, I know what you're thinking. "Wow, that card looks absolutely absurd", and buddy, you're right. Neheb decks aren't as much EDH decks as they are high-score attempts, seeing how much damage they can dish out in a single turn. Damage doublers, triplers, pingers that only go face, and enough X spells to make Zaxara cry in a little Sultai corner.
You want infinite combats? Neheb. You want to [[Comet Storm]] for 80? Neheb. You want to burn that lifegain deck right back to the pit it crawled out of? YOU WANT TO PUT THE FEAR OF GOD INTO ANYONE WHO DARES CONTINUE TO LIVE? N E H E B.
STEP ONE: RAMP
While Neheb himself is both a beeftank of a man and creates mana like he's eighty mountains strapped to a rocket sled, Neheb works best when he's out, and five mana isn't exactly cheap. So, what do we need? The standard rocks and ramp, like [[Sol Ring]], [[Wayfarer's Bauble]], [[Mind Stone]], [[Arcane Signet]], [[Ruby Medallion]], you get it. We do, however, run a few interesting ramp cards.
[[Cryptolith Fragment]] comes in tapped, sure, but once we have our big Lazotep Lasher out, we can tap it for one mana in the main phase, and three (3!) mana in the 2nd main phase. The good news is that if it transformed, something has gone horribly wrong, so we're not even gonna talk about the back. If it does flip, though, nine mana in the 2nd main isn't bad at all.
[[Everflowing Chalice]] isn't a rock, it's a bank. If you have a ton of mana floating in the second main, and you will, Everflowing Chalice is a way to keep some of it and use it on turns going forward. You can replace this with [[Horizon Stone]], I guess, but Everflowing is just a bit faster, and remember: Horizon Stone is based on Kruphix, and he's Simic, and we blow Simic players into small chunks. Oh, also, we have better Horizon Stone.
THAT'S RIGHT WE HAVE [[Leyline Tyrant]] BABY. You want to float mana? Leyline Tyrant. You want an evasive beater? Leyline Tyrant. You want protection from removal in the form of Leyline Tyrant choosing violence and blowing up someone's face? Ley. Line. Tyrant.
You want mana? You want it NOW? Cool. We got [[Seething Song]] and [[Jeska's Will]] for all your mana needs. Turn 2 Neheb is always a bucket of fun. Black can keep [[Dark Ritual]], I bet they're casting single target removal with it, what a bunch of nerds.
Our mana doubler is [[Extraplanar Lens]] and [[Snow-Covered Mountains]]. We want mana. Not them. If they have snow-covered mountains, blow them up first. Cowards.
[[Chandra, Torch of Defiance]] has two +1 abilities: gain red red, or deal two damage to each opponent, draw a card, and get six red mana. She's here for her good +1.
Now that we have our mana online, let's talk about our two plans: Nukes and Dukes.
STEP TWO: DUKES
PART ONE: BOXING GLOVES
Neheb is a commander that likes to attack. Once he's out, we're going to want to have him swing probably ever turn, because even if he's blocked he goes right over the top. The issue, however, is that while he has 6 toughness, that's not a lot going into the late game. So, we've got some boxing gloves for our beeftank.
[[Darksteel Plate]] lets us not really worry about Neheb. Slap some darksteel on that lazotep and watch the haymakers fly.
[[Sword of War and Peace]] and [[Sword of Sinew and Steel]] give him protection from white and black, and also importantly, RED. We can use our X spells that also hit creatures with impunity once we give Neheb one of his twin blades.
[[Shadowspear]] gives Neheb trample, which lets him smack harder, and also, for two mana, you can remove indestructible and hexproof from an opponent's permanents. A glorious piece of tech. The lifelink can be nice, but it's, there to punch through. Speaking of punching through
[[Embercleave]] needs no introduction. If you're turning something sideways, Embercleave is always a great way to make sure it damn well hurts.
[[Swiftfoot Boots]] makes killing Neheb harder, and anything that makes Neheb stickier is good in my books. Haste is also an absolute plus. We don't have [[Lightning Greaves]] because we want to give Neheb more equipment than just lightning greaves, and shroud makes that harder than it needs to be.
PART TWO: SIDEWAYS CREATURES
If we're swinging more than once a turn, and we WILL be swinging more than once a turn, we want to swing with things that create effects that benefit from multiple combats. Enter our beaters:
[[Tectonic Giant]] swings once and deals three damage to everyone, or impulse draws. You swing multiple times with him and with Neheb in play, and boy howdy did you just draw and make a ton of mana. An absolute unit of a card.
[[Etali, Primal Storm]] is four free draws per swing. You swing multiple times with Stompy McCardsteal, and you've basically cast Villainous Wealth in red.
[[Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion]] is both real and not impulse draw and mana ramp. Swing, dump bad cards, get mana, repeat. EZ Clap.
PART THREE: TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT
[[World at War]] and [[Savage Beating]] gives us extra combats, with World At War having rebound to guarantee us extra combat the next turn and Savage Beating giving us double strike to combat trick like an absolute madman if we need to really add insult to injury.
[[Aggrivated Assault]] takes a small amount to explain. So, if we swing with Neheb, and he's unblocked, we get four mana. Tap a mountain, five mana, get an extra combat, swing with Neheb, go to the next main phase, EIGHT MANA, because Neheb cares about total damage of the turn, and checks every post-combat main phase, not your first one. That's right. We go infinite. Blow up the world, send out Neheb, and swing for infinite gaining infinite mana.
Also do not shout the names of the cards in this section because most of them are absolutely crimes and your pod will call the cops to stop you from beating their life totals into the dirt.
STEP THREE: NUKES
PART ONE: PRIMING FOR FISSION
Before we can bow up the world, we need to prime ourselves for it. To do this, we need to damage our opponents, and get our damage increasing abilities online.
[[Acidic Soil]] and [[Price of Progress]] are pretty much free damage. That guy who spent all game mana fixing? Yeah, he's getting shot for 16. The Golos deck? 30. Acidic Soil is there because it also counts basics, so the budget player who thought he was safe can get slapped for daring to play Magic as well.
[[Chandra's Ignition]] is 5 red mana for 12 red mana if you hit Neheb with it. It also board wipes. Slap it on Etali if you have protection for Neheb, and watch the world go down in fire.
[[Flame Rift]], [[Slagstorm]], and [[Fiery Confluence]] hit our opponents for dirt cheap costs. Three mana to get nine mana? two mana and four life for 12 mana? Treasonous Ogre is crying, he's been unemployed. Fiery Confluence is also a board wipe and a removal spell, which is super neato, as we're a mono-colored deck, so our toolbox isn't super diverse.
[[Combustible Gearhulk]] says "Give me draw or give me mana''. It's our Fact or Fiction, and much like Fact or Fiction, there are only bad answers. With an average CMC of 3, we're going to either draw three or get our mana back when someone takes 6 damage.
[[Pyrohemia]] says "pay one red mana: Gain three red mana". It's literally just Dark Ritual that is also removal. If you can't see why that's good I have no idea what you're doing in a red burn deck explanation.
[[Heartless Hidetsugu]] deals damage to each opponent equal to half their life total, rounded down. Deals damage. This isn't loss of life, this isn't 'becomes', Hidetsugu takes their life totals outside with a baseball bat and teaches it to fear the color red. Shadowspear on him makes you gain all the life they lost. If you have a damage doubler out, Hidetsugu says "Tap this creature, Win the Game." If he taps, and Neheb is out, one X spell almost guarantees a player death.
PART TWO: ROCKET FUEL
[[Torbran, Thane of Red Fell]] is not a damage doubler, but it does make our smaller pingers like Flame Rift, Fiery Confluence, and Pyrohemia absolutely backbreaking. Think of him as the initial charge.
[[Insult // Injury]] often time reads "Pay 3 mana: Your next spell kills a player". Injury is nice, but we're really here for the cheap damage double and to stop any damage prevention shenanigans. We're casting Insult when we know we can go off.
[[Fiery Emancipation]] Is here because, honestly, we make so much mana we'd be stupid not to run it. Six mana to triple damage when we make dozens of mana a turn is an incredible deal, and because it's one-sided, we don't have to worry about people killing us immediately with their tiny creatures. [[Furnace of Rath]] is two mana cheaper, yes, but importantly it doubles instead of triples, and also, uh, it doubles on US. We're trying not to self-destruct.
PART FOUR: DETONATION
[[Rolling Earthquake]] hits everything without horsemanship, so it hits everything. It's strictly better than Earthquake, because if we're casting an X spell, 80% of the time we're casting it because either A) We're about to lose or B) We're about to win.
[[Molten Disaster]] has split second, which makes it uncounterable, unreturnable, and uninteractable. It's our "YOU DARE PLAY BLUE?!" card.
[[Jaya's Immolating Inferno]] targets up to three targets. You will have three opponents in your pod. The math works.
[[Comet Storm]] is flexible, in that if you've already blown someone to kingdom come, it costs one less mana! So that's nice! It's also great target removal, and great with our newest card...
[[Toralf, God of Fury]]. Oh yeah. In this deck, a deck where we overkill everything, Toralf becomes an absolute monster. Earthquake everyone, and have the excess damage dealt to their creatures finish them off. The flip side of the card also goes mana-positive with Neheb, if we really need to get there and are just out of reach. This is a card this deck loves like your opponents love not being blown off the face of the earth by fireballs.
PART FIVE: CLUSTER MUNITIONS
[[Primal Amulet]] lets us copy our damage when it flips, and makes our damage spells cheaper before it does. It's easy to see why it's an all-star here.
[[Reverberate]] lets us copy something. Sometimes it'll be the counter that's trying to stop Jaya's Immolating Inferno. Sometimes it'll be the Immolating Inferno itself.
[[Reiterate]] is a multi-use reverberate, and we have the mana to use it.
STEP 4: THE REST OF THE DECK ^{ThisIsn'tAStepButShhhhhh}
HASTE
We want to give our creatures haste. [[Generator Servant]], [[Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded]], we can wheel away an [[Anger]] with ease, and [[Ogre Battledriver]] gives us a bit of oomph when our creatures enter the battlefield. Purphoros also functions as a sneak attack for when we want a creature to attack, but we don't have the mana to get it out.
DRAW
Look. We're in mono red, which means we have... one tutor that's halfway decent for our plan, and that's [[Gamble]]. We need draw. We're running a lot of it. [[Valakut Awakening]], [[Reforge the Soul]], [[Molten Psyche]], [[Magus of the Wheel]], [[Commune with Lava]], [[Cathartic Reunion]], [[Faithless Looting]] whatever we need to draw a whole ton, we have.
The real all-star draw card is [[Knollspine Dragon]]. Draw equal to damage to target opponent? In a burn deck? In a burn deck where our burn makes mana? Oh baby you best believe that when you slam this puppy down people are going to quake in their boots. From the dragon. And maybe from the Rolling Earthquake. Or the Molten Disaster. Whatever.
REMOVAL
We're not running much actual removal, because, well, A: Mono Red, and B: We're a player removal deck. If you want board control, or if you want a deck that doesn't feel like piloting a crashing roller coaster that is currently on fire, go play [[Zada, Hedron Grinder]]. We're here for the boom boom.
[[Vandalblast]] and [[Shattering Spree]] let us remove pesky artifacts, [[Blasphemous act]] removes board states for dirt cheap, and [[Chaos Warp]] lets us deal with one of anything.
[[Deflecting Swat]] is for anyone trying to touch our Lazotep Loverboy or for stack interaction when our [[Pyroblast]] fails to stop a counter.
LANDS
[[Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx]] is pure gas, [[Ancient Tomb]] gets Neheb out fast, and [[Rogue's passage]] gets us through chump blockers and deathtouchers if we need to swing with Neheb. Other than that, it's mountains, a [[Myriad Landscape]], and a [[Smoldering Crater]] to remind our opponents of the fate that awaits them and also some draw if we need it.
SIDEBOARD
For some, four X spells isn't enough. [[Fall of the Titans]] and [[Earthquake]] are easy to slot in, and for those who want more combat, [[Fury of the Horde]] is easy enough to get. [[Mana Geyser]] is great against landfall decks, [[Red Elemental Blast]] is good if your meta includes people who try to stop you from throwing the sun at them (Cowards.). If you want more draw, [[Apex of Power]] is a free draw 10 spell, and [[Dragon Mage]] is a [[Wheel of Fortune]] on a stick. Well, Magus of the Wheel is Wheel of Fortune on a stick ALRIGHT YOU GET IT.
UPGRADES
The easiest upgrade path for this deck is fast mana. [[Mana Crypt]], [[Grim Monolith]], [[Mana Vault]], [[Jeweled Lotus]] the faster you can pump out Neheb the better. They're not on this list because they're pretty goddamn expensive, and if you turn two Neheb people are going to focus you into the absolute dirt. [[Doubling Cube]] is neat, but honestly, it's just a but overkill.
Otherwise, upgrades include [[Wheel of Fortune]], your favorite Eldrazi Titan as a big ol' beater if you like the multiple combats, [[Sword of Fire and Ice]] is just the best damn sword we can get, and I'd say get [[Gauntlet of Might]] but for many people that card costs more than rent for the month, so just skip it.
GAMEPLAN
Step 1) Cast Neheb as fast as possible.
Step 2) Deal symmetrical damage, swing in.
Step 3) Go infinite with Aggressive Assault or cast a spell where X is, like, six trillion.
We're not interested in things like "Midrange" or "Control". No. We're Neheb. We're here to get high scores on the "How much damage can I make without going infinite" leaderboards. This is not a deck that does anything besides slam into people. It explodes. It goes absolutely haywire, totally off the rails, you'll need a calculator to check your mana.
This deck exists for one reason and one reason only: This deck is for Burn Timmies. Is it competitive? Eh. Does it win a lot? Eh. Does the fear in the eyes of your opponents make this deck worth it? Yes.
For your consideration, Nuclear Neheb: https://www.archidekt.com/decks/1072303#NUCLEAR_NEHEB

/RedDeadOnline Simple Questions & FAQ Thread.

If your question isn't answered below, leave a comment and a community member will try to help!
If there are any frequently asked questions missing, then please comment with that question & what the answer is. Please also feel free to improve on any of the answers below.
We'll reward members who help most often with a special flair / badge to use on the sub!
We'll be redirecting all simple/one liner questions to this thread in the hopes of reducing spam/repeat posts. Please report any you see under Rule 6, commonly posted question.

PC / Next-Gen / Stand-alone Questions

Q) If I buy on Rockstar Launcher, can I play with friends on Steam?

Yes, you can play with friends on PC regardless of what store they bought it from. Even Steam GTA, uses Rockstar to launch the game.

Q) Can we transfer our characters from PS4 and Xbox One to PC?

No, you cannot transfer characters to a different platform, e.g Xbox to PC. The game is cross-gen however, so if you play PS4 you can continue on PS5.

Q) If I buy a next-gen console, can I play with friends on old-gen consoles?

Yes! The game is backwards compatible on console, so you can play with friends on PS4/PS5 or XB1/XBX

Q) If I already own Red Dead Redemption 2, do I need to buy Red Dead Online again when it goes standalone?

No! Red Dead Online is still part of the RDR2 game.

Red Dead Online: General Questions

Q) What are the currencies in Red Dead Online?

Cash, the main currency in RDO that is earned through almost every activity.
Gold Bars, the premium currency in RDO that can be purchased using real money. You earn a small amount of gold for completing activities online.
Role Tokens, earned by levelling up in each role, used to unlock abilities & items for the five current roles.

Q) What is the Outlaw pass?

The Outlaw Pass is an in-game purchase using the premium Gold currency that allows you to earn items/rewards as you level up.
Outlaw Pass are only available for a limited time and once they finish, you can't access them again.

Q) What are Daily Challenges?

Every day at 6am UTC, you are given a new list of 7 daily challenges as well as 15 role daily challenges. They can range from hunting specific animals or finding certain herbs, to completing PVP/Freeroam events.
Initially, you earn 0.1 Gold per completed challenge plus a bonus if you complete all 7 regular challenges.
After completing at least 1 challenge per day for 7 days, you then earn a little more gold per challenge each week before your daily challenge streak resets after 28 days.
Your daily challenge streak will then reset, and you start the process again.
In addition to this, there are also 3 daily challenges for each role available and you can do a max of 9 role daily challenges. Daily challenges for roles will also differ depending on your rank within each role.

Q) What are Free-roam events (role/normal)

Every 45 minutes, you'll receive an invite to a free-roam event. Free-roam events can be activities such as fishing, horse racing, archery competitions, or PVP. You earn XP + cash for completing.
There are also role specific events that happen every 90 minutes, you need to be ranked up and enrolled in each role before you'll see invites for these activities.
You can see the schedule for free-roam & role events here

Q) What are ability cards?

Abilities in Red Dead Online are assigned to a character through Ability Cards. These are divided into two different types. Dead Eye cards that grant abilities only active during Dead Eye, while Passive cards add abilities that are always active, no matter what you do. Passive abilities are further divided into several different categories.
In Red Dead Online, it's not possible to assign all of the available abilities to the character, as there are only 4 slots available. One slot is used for a single Dead Eye card, while the remaining three slots are used for Passive abilities. ^Source.

Q) What are the playing styles online?

Defensive: Players in Defensive mode will be indicated by a shield icon, will take reduced damage from enemy players, cannot be lassoed, melee attacked, executed or targeted with auto-aim. Defensive players will also be excluded from being targeted in PvP-related missions such as Player Assassination. Those who attack Defensive players receive hefty penalties via the Hostility system, while players who initiate conflict while in Defensive mode will be instantly pulled out of Defensive mode and also receive similar Hostility penalties.
Offensive: The Offensive playing style is set as the default and is how most players traditionally interact in Free Roam – free to engage in hostile contact with other players if you are prepared to accept the potential consequences.

Red Dead Online: Other Questions

Q) How do I dual wield?

At rank 25, you can buy an off-hand holster which allows you to equip a second handgun.

Q) How do I change appearance

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to Online Options > Scroll down to Change Appearance

Q) How do I setup camp

Press Left on the D Pad (Keyboard TBC) to bring the Online menu up > Scroll down to camp options > Choose location for camp
Camps can be used to access wardrobes, collect items you've ordered via the catalog, craft & cook and fast travel if upgraded.
A small camp is suitable for 1-4 posse members and costs $1 per in game day. A large camp is suitable for 1-7 posse members and costs $2 per in game day.

Q) Where is the gun locker?

You unlock it through the trader role, then purchase it at Wilderness Outfitters in camp, and then it appears at your specific tent in camp.

Q) How do I buy a dog?

At your camp, head to Cripps and access Wilderness Outfitters, from there you can select the dog option.

Q) What can dogs be used for?

Looking cool at your camp and warning you of camp raids when you unlock the perk. Not really much else. (They're not companions like Dogmeat from Fallout 4)

Q) I saw an item, but can't find it on PC or Xbox One.

Some items are exclusive to PS4, so you may see things promoted by Rockstar that aren't yet available on your platform or it may be from an old Outlaw Pass.

Q) What is the best Horse

This post should help.

Q) What are the best Weapons

Captain Balrick's arsenal should help you decide

Q) What is the best ability card loadout

This post in the /RedDeadOnline mega-guide should help.

Q) What is the best way to make money/gold

This post should help.

Q) Where are the treasure maps located?

You can find them all here.

Red Dead Online: Roles

Q) Can I have more than 1 role active?

Yes! You can play in all roles concurrently.

Bounty Hunter Role

Q) What is the Bounty Hunter role?

Get started as a Bounty Hunter when you meet the Legendary Bounty Hunter in Rhodes and purchase the Bounty Hunter License. The standard cost is 15 Gold Bars.
Licensed Bounty Hunters can pick up work by visiting bounty boards located near law offices, post offices and train stations across the states. There is no shortage of criminals to be dealt with and the targets range in difficulty, from lone low-level petty thieves to notorious outlaws with armed protection details and a watchful eye. Taking on an armed gang or bringing multiple targets to justice is made easier with the help of a Posse, who will all earn a cut of the final bounty. And keep in mind, bringing in targets alive will yield a greater reward.
Reaching Bounty Hunter Rank 12 will open up the opportunity to take down other players with high bounties of $20 or more. Bounty Hunters will be notified through an invite about the opportunity to hunt down the wanted player when they’re nearby in a structured pursuit. The wanted player must escape (or surrender) within the allotted time and if captured, they’ll also have opportunities to escape and flee. If the Bounty Hunter brings the target in alive, they’ll receive an award while the criminal serves time.

Q) What are legendary bounties?

Legendary bounties are high-tier bounties, they usually involve a mini-story/cut scene. They're also much tougher than a regular bounty.
There are 10 legendary bounties that can be access as part of the Bounty Hunter role and 3 that can be accessed (when they've all released) by purchasing the Prestigious Bounty Hunter upgrade.

Trader Role

Q) What is the Trader role?

our trusted camp companion, Cripps, has long dreamed of starting a trading outpost and you’re going to help him make it happen - by becoming a partner in the fledgling Cripps Trading Company. Combining Cripps’ lifetime of working with animal materials and your skills at hunting and frontier security, you’ll have the perfect ingredients to develop a thriving business.
Once you agree to help Cripps, you can start turning your camp into a business by sourcing items for Cripps to convert into sellable goods. An investment of 15 Gold Bars to purchase a Butcher’s Table will get your business up and running.
Once you’re operational, you’ll provide Cripps with Materials through hunting animals – pristine pelts and carcasses will provide better yields. You’ll also take on Resupply Missions to acquire additional necessities through less than savory tactics. Once supplied, Cripps will begin turning the materials into sellable goods, which can then be sent out on low-risk local deliveries for payment or across greater distances for a premium.
Improve your hunting yields with a Hunting Wagon for larger hauls or upgrade your Delivery Wagons for larger sales. As business flourishes and your presence becomes known in the market, your competition may grow jealous of your success, so keep an eye out for raids on your camp. As your trade grows, you might consider purchasing a camp dog from Wilderness Outfitters. Not only are dogs great camp companions for all players, but a Trader of sufficient rank can teach their dog to warn of incoming attacks.

Q) Can I skip the medium wagon?

No, you need to buy the medium wagon, then the large wagon.

Q) What can I sell to Cripps?

You can sell carcasses & small animals (e.g squirrels). Along with some animal parts, e.g feathers.
Cripps does not accept meat, fish or skinned carcasses.

Q) How long does it take Cripps to make goods after resupplying?

Cripps requires materials and supplies to produce goods. You give him materials by donating carcasses and pelts. He uses two units of materials to produce one good. You either buy supplies or obtain them through resupply missions. Either way, that gives enough supplies to produce 25 goods. As long as both materials and supplies are available, Cripps produces 1 good every 2 minutes (1 in-game hour).

Collector Role

Q) What is the Collector role?

Seek out the mysterious travelling saleswoman Madam Nazar to acquire the Collector’s Bag and get started on the path of the Collector. It will cost 15 Gold Bars for access to collecting and selling rare items.
With Madam Nazar’s help, you will be able to explore the world finding valuable treasures, whether they’re discarded Tarot cards in abandoned camps, buried treasures unearthed with your trusty shovel, hidden family heirlooms and more.
Collect individual pieces and sell them off directly to Madam Nazar or collect entire sets for even more valuable sales. As you progress, you’ll unlock enhanced searching skills; more useful tools like a metal detector; benefits like increased carrying capacities; the ability for your horse to directly pluck and pass herbs to you while mounted, and more.

Q) Where is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar can be located by completing a map/collection for her. Her location is posted daily on /RedDeadDailies - She changes location at 6am UTC time each day.
You can also find her using https://madamnazar.io/

Q) Who is Madam Nazar?

Madam Nazar is the Collector role vendor, you can obtain maps, cosmetics & other items such as the shovel from her.

Q) Why is Madam Nazar?

...

Q) Where do you buy a shovel?

From Madam Nazar, it costs $350. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Where do you buy a metal detector?

From Madam Nazar, it unlocks at level 5 and costs $700. If you need help finding her, check /RedDeadDailies

Q) Can you sell collector items individually or does it need to be a full set?

Yes, however you get far less money than you would if you sold a full collection

Q) Can you only have one collector map active?

Yes, if you try to open a second map, it may auto-close and almost looks like a bug, however, you should only try and activate one at any given time.

Moonshiner Role:

Q) I already met Maggie but I didn't buy a shack, now I can't find how to buy the shack?

In the options menu (left on the D-pad, or L on PC), select "Camp & Properties" → "Moonshine Shack" → "Shack Location".

Will be expanded upon soon...

Naturalist Role

Will be updated soon...

Useful Red Dead Online Resources

• /RedDeadDailies - A subreddit dedicated to sharing daily challenge information
• /RedDeadCollector - The best place to ask for support with any locations for collector items.
• Collector map.
• /RedDeadOnline mega-guide.
• Free-roam event schedule
• Red Dead Online Discord

This thread will be posted at 6am UTC every Monday. We'll aim to update & add any additional questions in time for the new thread being posted each week.

Famitsu Magazine's January 2021 issue had released the results of its Genshin Impact Fan Survey that they run on their 3 platforms: Famitsu website, Famitsu mobile app, and Dengeki Online. The survey ran between Nov. 6 to Nov. 15, 2020. There were (less or more than) 1850 people who responded to the survey.
Survey Demographics: 82% Male, 18% Female. Most responses are in their 20's, followed by 30's and 10's.
Take note that this survey is mostly influenced before the Patch 1.1 update.
Original article here: 『原神』ユーザー1850人が回答したファンアンケートの結果を公開！ 好きなキャラクターやいちばん苦戦した魔物は？ - ファミ通.com (famitsu.com)
Note: Take note that I use machine translations here, so these translations are kinda bumpy. Feel free to comment if you spot any mistakes or correct some translations.

Who's your favorite character?

​ There are some who liked them because of their cuteness or coolness, but more than that, they like them because of their strength and utility. There are also people who like them because of their mobile Elemental Skills, which can be useful for exploration.
10.) Jean (85 responses)
9.) Barbara (89 responses)
8.) Noelle (101 responses)
7.) Fischl (107 responses)
6.) Mona (121 responses)
5.) Lumine/Hotaru/Traveler (Female) (131 responses)

• Her idle animations are so cute! (30's / Male)
• She can conveniently change elements and at the top of that, she's cute! (40's / Female)
• Excellent elemental skills for both combat and exploration. It's very convenient and can be incorporated into any kind of team formation! (10's / Female)

4.) Qiqi/Nana (139 responses)

• I like the feeling of 'breaking the seal' on her compelling voice when I raise her friendship level. (20's / male) (Thanks Tsumaranchan)
• I like her cute appearance, her cute personality, Yukari Tamura's pretty voice, and her ability to use both as an attacker and as a healer. All in all, I love it. (30's / female)

3.) Diluc (156 responses)

• He's so cool and has a lot of firepower. (30's / female)
• I'm attracted to a "dark knight" who protects Mondstadt behind the scenes while running a winery. (10's / male)
• His elemental skills are easy to use, and can deal a lot of damage within its reach. (10's / female)

2.) FBI bait Jean bait Klee (207 responses)

• She's so powerful you'd want to pursue (her damage) to its limit! (40's / male)
• Lolis are the best! (10's / male)
• Cute is justice! (20's / male)
• Because she's both cute and strong! (20's / male)
• I like the piquant character and because she is cute. I thought the "Fleeing Sunlight" would appropriately describe her. (30's / male)

1.) Keqing/Kokusei (238 responses)

• Consistent DPS and good for exploration due to her mobility. No other character can replace her. (30's / male)
• She's strong; doesn't have any problems dealing in melee or ranged combat. ()20's / male)
• She's easy to cause Elemental Reactions and works well with other characters. Also, she's cute! (20's / male)
• Because she's my first 5-star I pulled (10's / male)
• The fact that I can move in any direction with her Elemental Skill, I can do plunging attacks to the ground. (20's / male)
• She's cute and strong! (10's / male)
• While her Elemental Skills are useful for exploration, her powerful Charged Attack is really appealing. (10's / male)

Which female character would you like to have as your girlfriend?

​ Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius/the West Wind (Zephyrus), takes the first place. Rather than citing her attractiveness, many people praised her perseverance.
1.) Jean (238 responses)

• I like the fact that she is rational and calm. (20's / female)
• She seems to care for the family and she would cook for me. (10's / male)
• She's sincere and honest. I would like to support on her side. (30's / male)
• She usually gives the impression of being serious, but when she "switch off," she seems to be surprisingly soft. (20's / male)

2.) Keqing/Kokusei (224 responses)

• I like the fact that she's very serious and works harder than anyone else. (20's / male)
• She seems to be able to point out on what's wrong. (30's / male)
• I want to see her embarrassed face! (10's / male)
• I like her dignified appearance (20's / male)

3.) Barbara (192 responses)

• Her looks and personality are just right (20's / male)
• She's kind and cute; and can cook too. (20's / male)
• She can heal me mentally as well. (20's / male)
• White pantyhose/tights are the best! (50's / male)
• I want to listen to her singing all the time (30's / male)

4.) Lumine/Hotaru/Traveler (Female) (176 responses)
5.) Noelle (157 responses)

Which male character would you like to have as your boyfriend?

​ Cool, strong, and wealthy, Diluc is an overwhelming favorite! Regardless of gender, many players like him.
1.) Diluc (612 responses)

• Tall, rich, strong, and handsome! (30's / male)
• After reading the official manga, I found out of his kindness, and I liked him even more! (20's / female)
• An ideal hero. I can trust him. (40's / male)
• I'd like to shoulder some justice that he bears. (20's / female)

2.) Kaeya/Gaia (173 responses)

• I'd like to be his drinking buddy and have a quiet conversation with him. (30's / female)
• I'll be having a good time with him. (30's / female)
• I would like to talk to him, because he seems to know a lot of things. (10's / male)

3.) Venti (150 responses)

• Whenever I feed sad, he'll cheer me up with his songs and ballads. It doesn't matter what troubles I have whenever I see his flippant attitude. (10's / female)
  
• He's cute, it's so unfair. (20's / female)
  

4.) Xingqiu/Yukuaki (139 responses)
5.) AetheSora/Traveler (Male) (88 responses)

Which characters do you use more often?

​ While the top three remained the same as in the favorite character ranking (but not in the same slots, sans the other one,) the fourth and fifth places are different.
​ Ones who made it in are Venti, with his powerful Elemental Burst, and Fischl, with Oz as her excellent support.
1.) Klee (225 responses)
2.) Keqing/Kokusei (217 responses)
3.) Diluc (202 responses)
4.) Venti (147 responses)
5.) Fischl (134 responses)
6.) Lumine/Hotaru/Traveler (Female) (110 responses)
7.) Noelle (107 responses)
8.) Qiqi/Nana (99 responses)
9.) Jean (87 responses)
10.) Razor (86 responses)

What's your favorite weapon type?

1.) Swords (One-handed sword) (692 responses)
2.) Claymores (Two-handed sword) (622 responses)
3.) Catalyst (TL note: Original Japanese word for catalysts are hurting my brain) (277 responses)
4.) Bow (173 responses)
5.) Polearms (86 responses)

Which weapon type do you often use?

1.) Swords (One-handed sword) (699 responses)
2.) Claymores (Two-handed sword) (546 responses)
3.) Catalyst (363 responses)
4.) Bow (222 responses)
5.) Polearms (20 responses)

Tell us which relic set you like the most in terms of design!

​ Gladiator's Finale, a relic with a gladiator motif, received more responses than second place's responses.
​ This relic is relatively easy to obtain with its excellent +18% Attack stat two-set effect. It's possible that many players voted not only by its aesthetics, but also the power it gives.
1.) Gladiator's Finale (407 responses)
2.) Berserker (176 responses)
3.) Crimson Witch of Flames (Witch of the Blazing Flames) (175 responses)
4.) Wanderer's Troupe (Wandering Troupe of the Earth) (173 responses)
5.) Maiden Beloved (155 responses)
6.) Bloodstained Chivalry (96 responses)
7.) The Exile (84 responses)
8.) Martial Artist (77 responses)
9.) Retracting Bolide (65 responses)
10.) Noblesse Oblige (56 responses)

Which enemies do you have the hardest time to deal with?

​ Oceanid (Pure Water Spirit) took the top, beating out Stormterror Dvalin and the Lupus Boreas!
​ It seems that many players had a hard time to deal with Oceanid with disappearing platforms and monsters of various forms.
1.) Oceanid (Pure Water Spirit) (497 responses)

• The disappearing platforms were hard to deal with (40's / male)
• Enemies are gradually becoming stronger and more troublesome. (10's / male)
• Simple yet fierce. The type of attack, range, and moveset are all far better than most elite monsters. (20's / male)
• It's hard to deal with those flying monsters. (40's / male)

2.) Lupus Boreas (King of the North Wind, Dominator of Wolves) (250 responses)

• Even if you're getting used to it, if you're not careful, you'll easily lose this fight because of its unpredictable attacks. (40's / male)
• Its attacks on its second phase are difficult to avoid (30's / male)

3.) Stormterror Dvalin (231 responses)

• Because its ranged attacks are so strong. (10's / male)
• I couldn't figure out the gimmick on moving between platforms. (20's / male)
• With a limited movement range, the battle's hard. (10's / male)

4.) Ruin Hunter (110 responses)
5.) Cryo Abyss Mage (Magician of the Abyss, Ice) (103 responses)
6.) Stonehide Lawachurl (Rock-Helmeted King Hilichurl) (88 responses)
7.) Geo Hypostasis (Formless Rock) (85 responses)
8.) Fatui Skirmishers (64 responses)
9.) Ruin Guards (59 responses)
10,) Electro Hypostasis (Formless Lightning/Thunder) (52 responses)

How far have you cleared the Spiral Abyss?

When they asked about Spiral Abyss clears, the most common answer was that they had already cleared up to the 3rd Floor.
As it is the end-game content, preparation is required to conquer the Abyss. For this reason, it seems not that many players have taken the challenge seriously yet.

• Abyssal Corridor Floors:
  • Uncleared 1st Floor : 174 responses
  • 1st Floor: 80 responses
  • 2nd Floor: 151 responses
  • 3rd Floor: 448 responses
  • 4th Floor: 274 responses
  • 5th Floor: 192 responses
  • 6th Floor: 206 responses
  • 7th Floor: 91 responses
  • 8th Floor: 106 responses
• Abyssal Moon Spire Floors:
  • 9th Floor: 43 responses
  • 10th Floor: 32 responses
  • 11th Floor: 25 responses
  • 12th Floor: 28 responses

What are some of the dishes in Genshin Impact that you would actually like to try?

​ There are so many delicious-looking dishes in this game that you can almost drool over them. One of the most popular dish is the Sticky Honey Roast (Honey Sautéed Carrots and Meat,) which can be created with beast meat, carrots, and sugar.
The thick meat of the beast and the generous amount of sweet sauce stimulated the appetite and won the hearts of many players.
1.) Sticky Honey Roast (Honey Sautéed Carrots and Meat): 204 responses
2.) Sweet Madame (Baked Chicken with Sweet Flower): 196 responses
3.) Jade Parcels (Jade Lucky Bag): 159 responses
4.) Mondstadt Hash Brown (Mondo-style hashed potatoes): 155 responses
5.) Adeptus' Temptation (Calypso Orchid/Fairy Slipper): 144 responses

How many characters did you train as your main?

​ Most of the players answered that they train 4 characters as their main characters.
In this game, there are a lot of materials required for training, and in some cases, you need to use Resin to obtain them, so it takes a lot of time to train them. This result reflects the reality of the scenario.

• 1: 3%
• 2: 12%
• 3: 14%
• 4: 28%
• 5: 18%
• 6: 14%
• 7: 4%
• 8: 4%
• More than 8: 3%

Do you do Co-op/Multiplayer on a daily basis?

Yes: 31%, No: 69%
What do you think of their survey? Do you agree or not? What do you think of their choices as well?
I left out some questions and results as I'm getting lazy.
Happy Holidays everyone!
EDIT: Formatting and minor edits.
EDIT 2: Edited one of Qiqi's comments with translation provided by Tsumaranchan.

Hello All-Happy Sunday. I hope this finds you well and optimistic for the week ahead. I've gone ahead and put together a pretty substantial list with summarized breakdowns that are current as of 1/24/2021. This took a good bit of time today, but I feel good about it, and believe this will benefit many of you. Plus, I'm a Broadway performer, and since we aren't getting back on stage anytime soon, that means I have plenty of time...so until then, I'll put my efforts into helping others!
Everything below is completely subject to change, and could have changed over the course of the day, since I've worked this out. Take a good look through these locations, as you will find some pretty pertinent information.
Most notable finds: 1/26 UPDATE Paterson Health - Walk-Ups Allowed - Wed is for Paterson Residents Only / Thursday All NJ Eligible Residents Allowed - Weekly 930am-3pm.
Info Re: Gloucester County Megasite (Thanks to BD for the insight)-**The way they are doing walk-ins is if you don't have an appointment scheduled, you wait in the walk-up line in-person. If they have any vaccines left over after all appointments are done for the day, the people in the walk-up line will get them in order of who arrived first. It seems like some people wait quite a while (my appointment was at 2.15 and I overheard a few people in the walk-up line mention they had been there in the cold since the morning). Like you mentioned, walk-ups are definitely not guaranteed.
Info Re: www.essexcovid.org/vaccine/vaccine_availability **- This website will sporadically add one or two different slots as cancellations come in. Be sure to refresh this if you are a resident or worker of Essex County. ID has been required as per sources.**As always, I hope this can help you secure vaccine appointments for yourselves and/or family in need. Don't forget to do your own research. Use this in combination with your other resources.
Follow Me - https://twitter.com/C19VaxxUpdates
If you have any questions, please let me know.Best,b.
Atlantic County-AC Megasite - No updates
https://medilinkrxcare.com/ - No update until more doses
http://sjfmc.org/ - No update until more doses
Bergen County-
https://haworthapothecary.com/covid-19- No New Vaccine Appointments for next several weeks
http://riversidemedgroup.com/- From their Facebook page - "Given the high demand for vaccines and the limited supplies throughout the State, Riverside Medical Group will not be scheduling any new appointments for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at this time. All of our vaccine appointments are fully booked at this time. We will begin to schedule new appts once our vaccine supplies are replenished. Feel free to email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) to add your name to our waiting list and we will reach out as soon as appointments become available. Anyone scheduled to receive their second dose will be guaranteed an appointment."
https://www.valleyhealth.com/services/covid-19-vaccine- No new appointments available until new doses come into the state. This is the webpage to keep looking at when it does eventually update.
Burlington County-
http://www.boydsrxs.com/ - No update until more dosesThe rest of the county has mostly the same info as Bergen currently, so no luck until further notice.
Camden County-
CamCare - http://www.camcare.net/camcare-appointmentsAs of Jan 13th (which was a while ago relatively speaking) they posted on FB:"We are able and ready to administer COVID Vaccines to the community! Please call (856) 583-2400 to schedule your appointment today! We can answer any of your questions concerning the vaccine -- let's do everything we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones! #CAMcareWeCare"Could be worth a shot to put a call through. I believe they are closed today.Rowan - No update here.
Cape May County- Not much happening here. Shoprite and their DoH, but via state website.
Cumberland County-http://health.vinelandcity.org/vaccination-registration/ - No update here yet, but this is a page to watch.CompleteCare - No information yet Re: Vaxx Appointments
http://www.co.cumberland.nj.us/ccdoh- Keep an eye out for new appointments potentially popping up for after Feb 9th. You can self register on their website when it does open up.
Essex County-
https://www.rwjbh.org/patients-visitors/what-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19/schedule-a-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine-appointment-request-form/- Standard registration form
http://www.essexcovid.org/- These appointments are full currently, and have gone through Feb 24th. Essex Co wants you to be someone who works in the county (you can live outside of it), but tbh, I don't know if they ask for any documentation, or if it's based on merit.
https://jrmc.us/ - Will be reopening appointment website at some point, not much clarity though.
http://www.nchcfqhc.org/ - Call 973-323-3669 for appointments. Not sure if any are remaining, but that's the info on the website.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=IDqIJHuvrU6bTJAKINqJM725e6R7vRVLusqxgCFeFMFUOE5ERERGRVNPSjFCRFNKNU1OOUhIVEdHWC4u- This is Newark's Dept of Health form to fill out. I'm sure it will be a waitlist, but worth a go.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D44A4AD2BA3FBCF8-sign2- All appointments filled through Jan 29th. Could have more opening thereafter. Keep an eye on this page.
https://vanguardmedgroup.com/news/covid-19-coronavirus-update/- Appointments are still available to those who fit their parameters. Click link for more info.
Gloucester County- All locations are via state registration at the moment (plus shoprite, but that's filled up).
Hudson County-
Hoboken is working through online form appointments and they will contact you: https://hipaa.jotform.com/203635517088156http://hudsoncovidvax.org/ - No appts atm
https://www.metropolitanfhn.com/ - state website link only
Hunterdon County-
Hunterdon Health Dept - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D44A4AF23A3F5C25-covid- They have appts through 1/28. I'd assume new appts could open up soon, potentially.
Hunterdon Healthcare - https://www.hunterdonhealthcare.org/when-can-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine/- "If you are interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine here at Hunterdon Healthcare and meet the criteria listed above, please call Hunterdon Healthcare’s Vaccine Call Center at 908-237-4238 to schedule an appointment at one of our clinics." - As of Jan 18th.**
Mercer County-
PrincetonNJ.gov - This form here is for keeping updated when appts become available through their website:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=KYsA8CiSVU2MMS2zkzTXf0kbZSHHBghPrxpnyA65-tdUQk5DMktWSzg1TFc5TEFLMTJVTjVXRUE3Uy4u
Middlesex County-
All of Middlesex County is currently only Pre-Registering through the state covid vaccine hub
Monmouth County-
https://vnachc.org/ - The website says that they will release appts between 24-48hrs, however, not sure how accurate that is. Feel free to check in on this daily.
Monmouth County Waitlist - https://hipaa.jotform.com/210134615105137- Fill out this form to be on their waitlist.
https://ohinj.org/vaccine-consent-landing/ - This page will likely reactive the schedule button once appointments become available again.
Morris County-
Megasite Appointment Alerts - https://www.atlantichealth.org/conditions-treatments/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-vaccine.html?utm_source=multiple&utm_medium=multiple&utm_campaign=vaccine#alerts
Ocean County-http://www.chemedhealth.org/ - No appts available currently, but updates possibly weekly.
Passaic County-
Paterson WALK-UP Vaccine Available
https://www.patersonnjhealth.gov/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=69- Walk-ups are ALLOWED here. Anyone can wait in line Wed & Thurs 930a-3pm. Friday is Paterson RESIDENTS Only - 930a-3pmWayne - Program still operating, rollout is slow - https://www.waynetownship.com/health.html
Union County-
UC DoH - https://ucnjvaccine.org/index.php/vaccine/vaccine_availability - Appointments are through 1/29, but currently filled up. Keep an eye here for February dates.
Warren County-
Warren County DoH - https://booknow.appointment-plus.com/cn4yzzk2/- You MUST be a resident of Warren County if appointments open up here. Currently, nothing is available, but keep an eye out.
Shoprite - http://vaccines.shoprite.com/Shoprite is completely booked still. As more doses become available statewide, this will probably change.....
Hope this helps someone in need out there.
Follow on twitter - https://twitter.com/C19VaxxUpdates

Howdy folks! Zaalo here. I wanted to put a list together of what I think will be the most impactful cards in Historic as well as discuss the strategies that get better and some fringe/new decks that may get enabled. I’m really excited for the set and think the card flexibility of the MDFC Gods will allow for exciting games with multiple lines of play and a varied meta game, the likes of which we haven’t seen in Historic. There is also some mainboard Uro hate that slots perfectly into both popular existing archetypes and exciting new ones. Being impactful doesn’t necessarily equate to power. I considered the following criteria when evaluating these cards for Historic:
-How often it will see play. If it slots into multiple archetypes, I tended to rate it higher
-Whether or not it enables a new archetype and/or causes a fringe deck to become Tier 1-3
-How it interacts with the meta; if an archetype or card will have a heavy warping effect on the meta
-Flexibility & raw power
Lets jump in!
Honorable Mentions: Pathway Lands/Snow Basics
Smoother land bases for Simic, Azorius, Rakdos, and Golgari. 'Nuff said. While I don’t think we’ll see snow decks running rampant, there’ll be a few good ones in the meta, even if they only end up seeing fringe play. There is one snow deck that I expect to be VERY good.

10) [[Niko Aris]]

Tempo decks are coming back! All of Niko's abilities are solid. Their first -1 will have more relevant targets than people realize, and it'll be very easy to pop off a shard or get some other card draw to take out a creature. [[Paradoxical Outcome]] hasn't really seen any play since the release of Kaladesh Remastered, but I think Niko could make that happen. I like the idea of running [[Authority of the Consuls]] on 1, controlling the early game with [[Seal Away]] and [[Baffling End]], getting down Niko, and then casting Paradoxical Outcome to get your early removal and Niko back, wiping their board next turn. I think Niko will be much better in Pioneer where you can T3feri, Spell Queller, Niko durdle to lock your opponent out. Still, I think this does enough, pairs well with Kaya, and has lots of building potential to make some waves in new Azorius/Esper tempo archetypes. Of note: one thing that makes this card a huge liability is that it is the only Planeswalker with a triggered ability, which means your opponent can destroy it before you get to activate them. Additionally it can get blown out if you pop a shard to kill an x/3 or x/4, and then get targeted by removal before you can activate.

9) [[Cosima, God of the Voyage//The Omenkeel]]

This is one of the more difficult cards in the set to evaluate, but I think it will end up being really strong in addition to its flexibility. Firstly, the stats on this are good; having a 2/4 body on 3 can stall a good amount of decks, and a 3/3 is a clock against control decks. You're reliably going to be able to hit land with your Omenkeel attacks, and even when you don't, you've taken away their spells. Vehicles line up really well in the format already, since they dodge removal, and can leave you a blocker even if your other creature gets removed. The best ability here is clearly being able to exile Cosima and use her as an engine to go toe to toe in the long game. Like Niko, I think this card's natural home is a tempo deck where you've got powerful ETB creatures, but probably most naturally fits into Simic where you're ramping anyway.

8) [[Reidane, God of the Worthy//Valkmira, Protector’s Shield]]

Wizards did a brilliant job on the design of this card. I can’t think of a more flexible hate card in the history of Magic. The problem I see with it is that it’s not doing work a lot of the time. In the current meta, it’s only punishing 25-30% of decks, with Goblins, Sacrifice, Control, and Paradox Engine being the most commonly played strategies that it nerfs. That would probably relegate it to SB play, right? Probably, but the reason the design of this card is so great is because it serves to balance the meta game should particular strategies become popular; this card allows for a constantly shifting meta since it can become a frightening mainboard threat against some dominant and powerful strategies.
Some things to keep in mind that are keeping my expectations tempered:
-I can’t see this being played mainboard in non-aggressive strategies. A 2/3 isn’t what you want in a control deck. I’m not sure what a W/X midrange deck looks like in Historic, but maybe it would have a natural home in Orzhov Angels if that becomes a thing. Right now it only slots into G/W CoCo, and once Kaldheim gets released, I think a white weenies deck is viable.
-it begs you to hit it on curve. The tax on 4 CMC is the most relevant ability.
-Valkmira's target taxing effect will likely be largely irrelevant...the taxing effect doesn’t come down til T4 (or maybe T3 in CoCo). If you get it down on three it could do some work, but is taking a turn off for a marginal tax that your opponent can play around a good play? Probably not. And by T4 the effect is largely obsolete.
-the snow mana clause will likely be largely irrelevant. The Historic builds that will make use of snow are: Sultai/DimiTemuSimic, which will often already be online or have access to removal by the time Reidane gets down; Mono U Tempo is probably going to be the best snow deck and can easily counter or bounce her. The other potentially viable snow strategies are likely to be fringe: Mono B/Dimir Zombies and Big Red - both of which have some great support cards and ARE prone to getting punished by her snow hate ability.

7) [[Usher of the Fallen]]

WOTC has nerfed 1-drops the last few years, so seeing an above rate creature with upside that slots perfectly into White Weenies makes me think we’ll be seeing a lot of this card in any aggressive, go-wide strategy. Also, the Spirit and Warrior types matters and may enable some tribal or party decks down the line. We’ll see how far these strategies go in the format, but this lil guy can at least bring them to the brink.

6) [[Tergrid, God of Fright//Tergrid's Lantern]]

This card is insanely powerful AND synergistic. The problem is that it costs 5 mana, so in order for it see play and not get blown out, you need to have free sacrifice and/or discard outlets (and ideally away to ramp into it). Rakdos builds will likely fall by the wayside, and give way to Jund Food and Jund Sacrifice, which will reliably be able to cast this and [[Immusturm Predator]]. These decks will be way more powered than the Rakdos builds and likely just as consistent. Tergrid breaks mirror matches wildly in your favor, punishing your opponent's game plan. Another place this could see play is Discard decks...[[Skull Raid]] is exactly what those decks were craving and I think we'll see Tier 3 [[Tinybones, Trinket Thief]] builds that use this as a payoff. Doom Foretold decks could also

5) [[Birgi, God of Tales//Harnfel, Horn of Abundance]]

Could we finally see a good storm deck in Historic? There’s already some decent burn decks that use Thermo-Alchemist — if they splash blue for Curiosity, that could be a house. It seems decent in Mono R without having to go all-in on cantrips. And those aren’t the only archetypes this could see play. Rakdos Midrange will love this card. If this survives T3, they’re able to have much more productive T4’s than they otherwise would — often times they’ll have to choose between dropping a Chandra, Torch of Defiance and having it die the next turn, or using a Fatal Push and falling behind on tempo. This allows those decks to double spell, stabilize the board (kill 2 creatures) AND have a Chandra, Torch of Defiance in play, ready to tick up. The back side will be amazing and help close out games in which it’s stabilized but doesn’t have any answers in hand. Graveyard decks can also maybe make use of this to; being able to multi-spell in the decks is really good. I’m thinking of dropping something like a Venture Deeper (Merfolk Secretkeeper) and Unburial Rites in the same turn. I think this will be a heavily played 2-3 of in a variety of decks.

4) [[Mystic Reflection]]

this is my favorite card in the set, and hell, probably my favorite blue spell ever printed. This does so much:
-turns an upcoming Elder Giant into a dork that can’t Escape its new destiny
-is an effective conditional counter spell against planeswalkers
-can upgrade your creatures/downgrade your opponent’s; this has all sorts of fun build around implications and can flip tempo on its head (I’m most excited to brew a donate style tempo Role Reversal deck in Pioneer with Firedrinker Satyr, Faerie Impostor, Bonecrusher Giant, Brazen Borrower, etc.)
-is an instant-kill combo piece (this + Terror of the Peaks + double token generation = 20 to the face)
-is affordably costed and can become even cheaper to set up your combo turns
Where it’ll see play:
u/x Combo Decks - the current Lukka deck is not good, but I think with the addition of Mystic Reflection, we’ll be seeing this all over Historic (and Standard)
Mono-U Tempo - functioning as a more flexible counterspell that can transform your weenies into beaters and your opponent’s beaters into 1/1’s that they won’t have much use for
Azorius Control/Esper Tempo - I think the control decks will want to move toward a more creature-laden tempo-oriented build. Mainboarding Skyclave Apparition is really good and being able to get them and other strong ETB back to your hand with Niko and Kaya can help you maintain control of the game.

3) [[Ascendant Spirit]]

I’ve spent too much time on Reddit trying to get people to see the light on this card
This is exactly what Mono U Tempo in Historic was missing. Having a mana sink on turns where you don't counter a spell or flash something in is really huge for that deck. It doesn't immediately pair well immediately with Curious Obsession, but it doesn’t need to since you’re still running your other evasive creature suite. This also allows you to lower the curve of the build.
Now let’s in to play pattern — if you play it out T1, your T2 you have the option to either cast a flashy boi, counter their spell, bluff a spell, play a non-flash flyer (likely the weakest option in most scenarios), or pump this. If you’re playing against Valki or another incredibly strong 2 drop, you can keep that mana open to counter it. If you’re playing against aggro you can leave it open to bluff blocking their T1 threat with a 2/3. If you’re playing against control or removal, you can drop an additional creature and bluff [[Spell Pierce]]. Now let’s look at what happens when you draw this card T3 (or later). Play it on 3 with two mana open, leaving up mana for a counter spell. If you don’t counter anything, you invest the mana to make it a 2/3. Your next turn: you can make it a [[Tempest Djinn]] on their turn (or yours if you really want to push through damage). So you’re turning this into a creature that’s going to have about the same stats as TJ most of the time and allowing yourself to stay on game plan by leaving up mana to counter problematic cards and win gain incremental value.
I've seen some people talking about this in Spirits or multi-color builds, but I'm skeptical that you could make the land base reliable enough to take advantage of the mana sink.

2) [[Doomskar]]

I think this just straight up replaces Wrath of God in control. Being able to cast this on T3 is a huge upgrade and gives the deck a fighting chance against aggressive decks, where it has been struggling lately. It also grants you a certain amount of bluff equity since most control decks will want to run [[Behold the Multiverse]] in conjunction. Being able to hold it up if your opponent doesn’t commit to the board and you have other answers in hand further lends to its flexibility. Having a solid control deck in the meta is a strong check on the other decks in the format.

1) [[Valki, God of Lies//Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor]]

I was initially pretty disappointed in the card. I thought it would have pretty narrow building restrictions because I believed that any deck that wants this has to care about casting the Tibalt side reliably (this still may be true). As a result, I had thought that Jund and ramp strategies were the only options. I’ve since come around and think that it’s completely busted and will see a lot of play in several archetypes. Here’s my overview on the card:
Unlike most legends, he’s rarely dead in multiples since you can have Valki permanently copy their creature and then drop another Valki.
While copying an Uro on T3 is great, how about casting Tibalt on T3?! [[Release to the Wind]] builds seem very real to me in both Historic and Pioneer, and will only continue to get more great targets with the MDFC’s abound in upcoming sets through the year. Adventure cards play really nicely with RttW as well and I could see a new type of Reanimator build with Merfolk SecretkeepeStitcher’s Supplier. Doom Foretold decks may also want to splash red for Tibalt/RttW. The best Grixis decks that include him, I think will want to focus on cheating him out rather than controlling the early game to cast him late. I believe that the best decks that make use of him will be the ones that try and ramp or cheat him into play as opposed to more classic control strategies.
There are so many ways to cheat Valki into play from your graveyard- Lurrus, Call of the Death-Dweller, Inscription of Ruin, Elspeth Conquer’s Death, Claim//Fame. It’ll be interesting to see how effective a reanimator deck is, and with all the GY fillers/and way to recur creatures, I think we’ll get a few decks with intersecting archetypes.
Play patterns: I think most people are a little too high on the Valki side. Playing this on T2 is what you want to be doing against a lot of decks. It’s too fragile to just about any removal spell and paying 2 just to see your opponent’s hand and draw out a removal spell doesn’t seem great. It seems much better as a midgame card, where you can activate the ability the same turn it comes down. The play pattern will likely change depending what you’re playing against, but I predict that more often than not, playing Valki on curve isn’t what you want to be doing.
I think Tibalt will boost the popularity of these fringe Jund Midrange, Grixis Control, and possiblyRakdos Midrange, and will likely give birth to a “Release the Adventures Reanimator” deck pairing Release to the Wind with DFCs.
Other Cards Worth Mentioning

[[In Search of Greatness]]

I was initially a sour-sport to the players who were bullish on this card. And while it’s been incredibly overrated, mostly because people seem to miss that the free cast only counts other permanents (so you can’t play a free 3-drop on T3), this does have some powerful implications, albeit incredibly narrow.
In order to effectively build-around it, you need to:
-have ways to keep refilling your hand and/or tutor cards; the enchantment asks A LOT to go off. Not only do you need to curve out and keep your permanents on the battlefield, but you have to have the right card in hand at the right time AND an additional good spell in hand to gain a tempo advantage.
-only play high CMC creatures (if at all); as payoffs. Taking a turn off to play ISOG and then curving into a three-drop creature only to have it die before your upkeep means you’ve probably already lost. To avoid this, I’d only be playing enchantments (which dodge most removal spells) and spells at the 1-4 CMC slots.
Thus, the only place I think this could see play is in Abzan, Bant, and 4-Color Doom Foretold decks or Selesneya Prison decks. It’s far more likely to succeed in a Doom Foretold deck, since there’s good card draw options in Omen of the Sea, though having access to Idyllic Tutor to get the Solemnity + Nine Lives lock online is pretty janky and if you HAD to play a 3-drop creature, Setessan Champion does what you want it to do. That said, I still think this card asks too much, and that it’ll be bad if you don’t play it early.

[[Skull Raid]]

This card is a major role-player that the Tinybones discard strategies were desperately missing. When testing Mono B, Dimir, and Grixis discard decks post-Jumpstart, I was usually losing because I wasn’t drawing enough discard when I needed it, had dead discard spells in hand, or was not able to draw into my finishers fast enough for my opponent to stabilize. This card is so flexible and plays great on curve. Foretelling this on 2 into Waste Not and Thoughtseize T3, and having a flexible spell on 4 can destroy a lot of more powered decks. Tergid is also a solid top-end for the deck. I think in order for this to be a tier deck, it’ll need a symmetrical draw effect that doesn’t punish or tax you too badly.

[[Immersturm Predator]]

A resilient flyer and free sac outlet that breaks the mirror match in your favor and snipes Elder Giants from GY's will definitely see play and keep sac decks in the top tier. Jund Food/Sacrifice will be the go-to builds.

[[Old-Growth Troll]]

There's no denying this card's power and it will definitely see play in the Mono G stompy (and possibly even G/b decks). The problem is that those decks are already really crowded at the 3-drop slot, so while slightly upgrading the deck, it doesn't really do anything to break new territory.
Tribes
It's hard to say how well tribes will fare in Historic, since we haven't really seen how well the new tribal payoffs play. Most of the decks don't seem to have enough support or be powerful enough to make the cut in Historic. Here's my breakdown of the Kaldheim tribes and their potential impact on Historic:
Elves: [[Elvish Warmaster]] seems underpowered - it fights for a slot with [[Dwynen's Elite]], but has no immediate impact. I could see the decks including 1-2 still, but its hardly an all-in card. [[Tyvar Kell]] is a sideboard card that can help play the long game against Midrange and Control. [[Realmwalker]] is crazy good ([[Experimental Frenzy]] on a stick) and what I like best for this deck. It'll be meta dependent, whether it's a mainboard or sideboard card, but if the deck sees any significant tier play, it will be because of this card. Golgari elves doesn't seem to make sense in Historic, since there's not any really payoff for doing so, and Mono G may also be able to make use of snow cards. Overall, I'm not all that impressed with the deck, but could see it bumping up to T3 on the back of Realmwalker.
Giants: I could maybe see an Izzet or Grixis Giant control deck being a thing. You don't need that many Giants in your deck for it to tick, but I think there's better and stronger things to be doing in the format, and a lot of the Giant payoffs you'd be in for are just prone to getting turned off before you get the benefit. Probably fringe play, but nothing special here.
Angels: Of all the tribes, I think Angels got the most best cards, but not synergistic for an Angel-tribal deck. That said, I think there are enough lifegain pieces for a Tier 2 or 3 deck to be viable. It would likely be very different than the [[Soul Warden]]/[[Heliod, Sun-Crowned]] decks floating around. The curve plays really strongly here with [[Speaker of the Heavens]] and [[Bishop of the Wings]] with [[Resplendent Marshal]], Reidane, and [[Righteous Valkyrie]] all viable options on turn 3. These decks will also have access to two really good anti-control cards in [[Glorious Protector]] and to a lesser degree Redaine, who can delay their board wipes. If any of the tribal decks get there, I think this will be the one.
Zombies: [[Narfi, Betrayer King]] is Death Baron’s best buddy: a lord that’s great fodder for [[Cryptbreaker]] and ETBs at instant speed. This is so powerful. Zombies may very well make some waves in Historic in a Mono B or Dimir build. There's still a few pieces missing for this to be a top tier deck, but I think it could see some play and will eventually get there (WOTC, I think Gravecrawler is acceptable for Historic Masters 4). The deck wants an additional discard outlet, another good 1 and/or 2 drop zombie, and could’ve benefited from an additional cheap snow card. The downsides of a Mono B vs a Dimir build is up for debate: on the one hand, Mono B has a consistent snow mana base so you can reliably cast him from the GY but get punished if you get him stuck in hand; on the other Dimir has more building options and a way to hard cast him (not what you want to be doing) but an unreliable snow base for recursion. If I were going to build this deck, I'd start with Mono B, but I'm likely going to wait until we get the things I mentioned.
Berserkers: While [[The Bloodsky Massacre]] is one of the best sagas on its face, there just isn't enough tribal support for Historic. In Standard and Pioneer though...
Warriors: There's some good Warriors in the set, but nothing strong enough that I'd choose it over another aggressive strategy.
Changelings: These are roleplayers to make other tribal strategies work. Not happening.
Dwarves: Magda's day in the sun will come, but there isn't enough support for her yet. I think she's the card to watch in anticipation of the D&D set.
Trolls: LOL...nope
Sagas
The Sagas are interesting in that the Uncommon cycle is likely to see more play than the rares. I think in general, most of the sagas won’t see play except occasionally in fringe archetypes. The only ones I think will see play in any tier decks are:
[[King Narfi’s Betrayal]] - This is a great enabler for graveyard strategies and feeds into your game plan right away as opposed to [[Battle for Bretagard]], for example. It’s second and third modes are also extremely powerful for three mana, and still does a lot of work if you only get one creature or PW out of the deal. Yes, it's slow, but it does everything a Reanimator deck wants to do for only 3 mana.
[[Showdown of the Skalds]] - Could very likely be a two of in the top end of some aggressive Boros strategies. I haven’t seen any decklists that would suggest a tier player here, but there may be enough in this set for some party decks to thrive…a Naya CoCo deck similar to the G/W lists we’ve seen could also makes use of a card draw beefer-upper like this.
[[The Trickster-God’s Heist]] - Switcheroo is a unique effect, and this is a great tempo flip in [[Doom Foretold]] lists against midrange decks that could also break the mirror; I’m here for swapping a [[Treacherous Blessing]] for an [[Elspeth Conquers Death]].
[[Arni Slays the Troll]] - I don’t see too many Gruul lists running [[Domri’s Ambush]] anymore, but depending on how the meta shakes out, this could be successful in a hyper-aggressive, weenie/mono R dominated format (which I think we’re unlike to see).
[[Kardur’s Vicious Return]] - This is likely too slow for the sacrifice decks, but with discard decks getting an upgrade in [[Skull Raid]] and Tegrid, I think this slots in wonderfully. Sacrificing a [[Burglar Rat]] to stabilize the board and then further fuel your game plan in the coming turns is solid.
A Beloved Archetype Gets Tools
Big Red snow gets a lot of things to bump this archetype up! Unfortunately, as long as Aether Gust is in the format, I don’t think this deck has a real shot. That said, it gets a lot of great cards that will almost certainly get better with the D&D set this fall. [[Goldspan Dragon]] is probably on par with [[Glorybringer]]; and in some situations, ramping will be the stronger option. [[Toralf, God of Fury]] can upgrade your board wipes out of the SB. [[Tundra Fumarole]] allows for some tempo blowouts, especially when paired with Chandras. [[Frost Bite]] is an amazing piece of early removal to help you control the early game before you go off. [[Birgi, God of Tales//Harnfel, Horn of Abundance]] is very powerful in helping you go off with two big spells in the same turn and get you a card advantage engine in the late game. It also has access to Demon Bolt (which is probably worse than Redcap Melee out of the SB). Magda is very good too, but doesn’t have enough support yet.
Sign-Off
While Kaldheim took a fairly big power dip overall compared to recent sets, I think there are some brilliantly designed/flexible cards that will give birth to a diverse and powerful metagame.
I also predict that Uro will NOT be banned, and think that may even be the right call (I hate the card as much as the next player). This set offers powerful maindeck answers that are part of your game plan in Valki, Mystic Reflection, and Immersturm Predator.
Let me know what y’all think! Did I overlook a card? Am I overrating certain strategies? What do your top 10 lists look like for the format?