Basket of Infinite Snakes

Even though the Magic card isn't so great, the art makes it playable.

Snake Basket, by Roger Raupp, 1996

When found, the Basket of Infinite Snakes is typically closed, and likely covered by a thin coating of dust.

At about 3 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter, the basket appears to be tightly woven, sturdy, and with a removable lid and a pair of handles near the top, just below the lid.  It weighs about 10 pounds.

Removing the lid brings the snakes.  The lid will not fit back on unless the command word is spoken - fortunately, the command word is on the bottom of the basket, viewable by either upending the basket (and dumping its contents) or by lifting it above one's head - awkward, but easily doable by folks with two arms.

Opening the basket and peering in reveals darkness and the smell of a snake house.  Leaving the basket upright and open allows 1d4+1 venomous snakes to crawl out each round until closed.  

Turning the basket on its side releases snakes - 3d4 come slithering out each round until sealed.  These snakes are venomous and attack anything not snaky.  When slain, the snakes disappear.  Survivors disappear after 8 hours - just long enough to cause a bit more trouble.

Upending the basket dumps 12 venomous snakes out, as well as the contents of the basket.  

Reaching into the basket allows a full dozen venomous snakes to get free attacks on the arm(s).  Armor may deflect some, but the fangs punch right through cloth, skin, and the lighter leathers.  

A curious byproduct of the magic that created the Basket of Infinite Snakes is that it can hold several hundred pounds without rupturing, similar to a bag of holding.  Unlike a bag, though, the basket's volume doesn't become deeper, so the only things that fit are what would fit in a normal basket of this size.

Rupturing or piercing the Basket of Infinite Snakes takes some doing, but a persistent (and/or unlucky) soul can do so.  Unfortunately, doing so opens a rift that sucks ALL things not nailed to the floor into the demiplane of snakes.  The terrain runs from jungle to desert to ocean - all overrun with snakes.  The smell of snake hangs heavy in the air.

Ophidians (snake people) rule this large demiplane, treating mammals as food and slaves.  

This rift stays open until sealed, allowing all sorts of snakes to drift through.  Ophidians and Yuan-Ti will no doubt thrive, but all other sorts of sentients will likely find their lives brutally cut short.

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Let me know if this makes it into one of your games, either as-is or in some related form. For the record, the Basket of Infinite Snakes rests in my megadungeon, containing some valuable loot and providing a valuable lesson to incautious adventurers.

Missed Opportunities from Commander Starter Decks 2022

WotC has announced another batch of Commander Decks, due in December 2022.  Billed as starter decks and with a $20 price point (based on Amazon), these decks have potential to make everyone happy, which means they'll make few people happy.  

Now that decklists are available, we can see several expected cards, as well as all the missed opportunities to make these decks actually useful how they'll be played.  After all, it's not going to be these decks playing against one another, but a player bringing one of these unaltered to a seasoned table at a game store and being blown out of the water.  

Then if those players are nice to the starter player, they'll point out cards that may help with the strategy, then the starter player will see the price tag of many of those cards and say 'screw it.'

The good news with these starters is that if a person buys all 5, they'll end up with a solid start on staple ramp and point removal, as well as a few other useful cards - all of which can be purchased for less than $100 individually.  Such is life.

But I want to talk about missed opportunities.  These decks provided a chance to get more copies of desirable cards into circulation, as well as a chance to show new players what decks should strive to be.  WotC opted to not do this, so under each deck, I comment on cards that could have been, but obviously weren't - and not all of my suggestions are bank-breakers (although many are).

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With the themes of mill, zombies, and reanimation, this deck kind of does all these, but badly.

The good news is that the Wilhelt BU Zombie Commander deck (a video breakdown) is still readily available, so between that one and this new starter, you have a solid Zombie deck. 

Missed Opportunities: Rot Hulk, Conjurer's Closet, Cloudstone Curio, Court of Cunning, Apprentice Necromancer, Rise of the Dark Realms, Reanimate, Cackling Fiend, Exhume, Living Death, Patriarch's Bidding, Coffin Queen (with the sweet Kaja Foglio art), The Scarab God, Gravecrawler, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Relentless Dead, Grimgrin, Corpse-born, Noxious Ghoul, Kindred Dominance, Grave Pact, Finale of Eternity, and Necroduality.

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Draconic Destruction is the name, and Dragon Tribal is the game.  Between this deck and the Forgotten Realms Draconic Rage deck, you can get something solid.

Missed opportunities are Terror of the Peaks; Hellkite Charger and Bear Umbra; Court of Bounty; Stormbreath Dragon; Herald's Horn; Balefire Dragon; Dragonborn Champion; Goldspan Dragon; Green Dragon; Mana-Charged Dragon; Moonveil Dragon; Old Gnawbone; Red Dragon; Scourge of the Throne; Utvara Hellkite; Wrathful Red Dragon; Carnelian Orb of Dragonkind; Jade Orb of Dragonkind; Draconic Intervention; Orb of Dragonkind; Rhythm of the Wild; Urza's Incubator, Aggravated Assault, Savage Beating, Seize the Day, and Nature's Will.

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This deck's theme is flying creatures, as well as proof that WotC is willing to reprint the Game Night exclusive cards, as both Inspired Sphinx and Sphinx of Enlightenment are within.  There is also quite a bit of card draw based on creatures swinging.

Missed opportunities: Court of Grace, Brainstorm, Ponder, Consecrated Sphinx, Luminarch Ascension, Serra the Benevolent, Valkyrie Harbinger, Sunscorch Regent, Reliquary Tower, Supreme Verdict, Cyclonic Rift, Fractured Identity, Azorius Charm, Thoughtweft Gambit, Drogskol Reaver, Elite Guardmage, and Swans of Bryn Argyl.

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Random damage? Chaos? Destruction? A collection of neat, but unrelated Black and Red cards? At least there are a few solid cards in the mix.  Still, leaning into the 'random neat cards' strategy could have been done so much better.

This deck's greatest Missed Opportunity is a focused strategy; as for cards... Teferi's Puzzle Box, Winds of Change, Exquisite Blood, Repercussion, Last Laugh, Archfiend of Despair, Calculating Lich, Fiendish Duo, Wound Reflection, Shadowgrange Archfiend, Silverclad Ferocidons, Court of Ire, Court of Ambition, Exsanguinate, Torment of Hailfire, Revel in Riches, Massacre Wurm, Polluted Bonds, Insurrection, Fiery Emancipation, Imp's Mischief, and Mogis, God of Slaughter.

Given that WotC took the 'no cohesive strategy' route, they could have jammed in lots of solid cards and kept to 'no cohesive strategy.'  To be honest, I am most disappointed with this deck - I love BR decks and know how much fun they can be, yet we get this pile.

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Spamming the field with token creatures is a time-honored strategy in GW decks and is one I enjoy, so I know that many of this deck's inclusions are poor choices.

Missed opportunities: Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives, Aura Shards, Hero of Bladehold, Triumph of the Hordes (I knew this wouldn't be included, but it should be!), Earthshaker Giant, Devout Invocation, Divine Visitation, Finale of Glory, Court of Grace, Burgeoning, Cryptolith Rite, Arachnogenesis, Midnight Guard (to go with the already included Presence of Gond), Drumbellower, Join Shields, Mobilize, Vitalize, To Arms!, Soul Warden, Essence Warden, Soul's Attendant, and Daxos, Blessed by the Sun.

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Granted, jamming all those cards into the decks wasn't expected, but a few per deck would have been nice.  The right mix (something currently pricey) in each deck would assure that all the decks would be sold at a higher volume, if only to break into pieces.  What's more is that new players would stumble across the bombs and huge powerplays that make Commander so much fun.

But no.  Players get to bounce creatures off one another until they win except for that BR deck - I am still not sure what it is going to do to secure a victory.

In short, WotC blew it with these starter decks.  If nothing else, readers can use my bitching about missed opportunities as a wishlist for improving these decks.

Thanks for reading.