The minor gods are all gold too (5 per each of the small sets.)
It's following up RTR, so gold is to be expected.
Magic: the GAFering |OT2|
- Thread starter The Technomancer
- Start date
It's following up RTR, so gold is to be expected.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Also we have a good image of this guy now:
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Also we have a good image of this guy now:
...Drogo?
Putrefy, Devour Flesh, Turn/Burn, Azorius Charm, Detention Sphere, Verdict, Izzet Charm, Selesnya Charm, Far/Away.
narcosis219
Member
Limited needs those kinds of cards to work properly. "Bad" removal is actually good for the limited format because it means that you'll always be able to find something in the draft for your deck that can kill stuff.
Another new card:
Also, Smite the Monstrous was common and 4 cmc for the same effect. Unless you're telling me scry 1 is worth 2 mana and being slower and being harder to pick up in a draft.
Sooooooo bad
divisionbyzorro
Member
There appears to be a lot of scry in the set. It's hard to say right now, but it looks like the limited format is going to give you a ridiculous amount of control over your topdecks; at least, compared to normal sets. It also looks like it's going to be a fairly slow format, otherwise Monstrosity would be a complete wash in limited. So hitting six mana is likely to be pretty easily achievable.
By no means is it a "good" card, but it's not indicative of some foul trend in card design.
First one to pull the Rita Repulsa is in a very good position. Set feels massively midrange-y right now.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Which...is actually really clever now that I think about it. Greek myths are always huge on the prophecy and predestination stuff, so making games feel like players have a much better sense of what's coming is kind of genius.
And development had to add it, lol. Probably because some decks are going to need to hit a LOT of land drops.
acheron_xl
Member
Also we have a good image of this guy now:
The dude is practically made for voltron EDH, and not in boring ways like Sigarda. Absolutely love it.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
So much mediocre, situational removal. Only consistent one is Putrefy.
Selesnya Charm is about to be much, much better though
Selesnya Charm has been a "secret top tier" card in the format for a while, actually.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
You misspelled "Kill target Thundermaw" wrong.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Also I can't tell if this is any good or not:
I mean, it looks fine in Limited, but most things do
I mean, it looks fine in Limited, but most things do
Blowing out the 5/6 angel was also a big game.
divisionbyzorro
Member
It's not good for Constructed. It could be good for the Limited format if it's really slow, or if there are enough effects that trigger off "When you scry..."
acheron_xl
Member
Also I can't tell if this is any good or not:
I mean, it looks fine in Limited, but most things do
It's kind of a worse Darksteel Pendant, so I'd say it's not great. I'd think about playing it with Gilder Bairn, but that's it.
In a format that seems to be dominated by huge creatures (via monstrous, enchanted creatures and heroic triggers), it only makes sense that they'd make Reprisal a little harder to play.
Holy fucking shit
I fucking love this. So awesome.
BlewHedgehog
Member
I don't understand all the hate for the gods. The green one probably leads you into big time over-extension, but not every deck is going to be playing Supreme Verdict or be capable of reliably overloading Mizzium Mortars. Especially in terms of the white one, white permanents are going to be all over the place. The best removal spell they've shown so far is a white permanent. I think these guys are going to be good.
narcosis219
Member
You know what, speaking of Smite the Monstrous, that would have been an excellent reprint. It even says monstrous lol.
The Gods themselves are too slow/overcosted for the amount of setup they need.
So the demigods could be better than the actual Gods? Weird.
No, I mean that they didn't start previews off with splashy cards. They started with relatively boring ones and, now that the world/mechanics are established, are starting to get the more exciting stuff out there.
Jace, AoT is the best card of the set so far
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
No, I mean that they didn't start previews off with splashy cards. They started with relatively boring ones and, now that the world/mechanics are established, are starting to get the more exciting stuff out there.
Jace, AoT is the best card of the set so far
Your love for Worst Jace is amusing.
BlewHedgehog
Member
Exactly how cheap does an indestructible 5/6 need to be? The guy's even got a manasink ability to help recover from sweepers if you're going the aggro route. If you're playing a control style game, this guy plus Elspeth only requires a single other non-token permanent to turn him on and he doesn't even die to her -3 ability. Of course, whether or not Elspeth is playable is another argument (I think she is), but the set up to get this guy active is a couple of WW costed weenies on the board. Hardly seems outside the realm of possibility.
A 5/6 indestructible that can be "turned off" by sniping a creature isn't really something I want to play on turn 4-6.
These gods will go "online" at maybe turn 5 on average. And that's a very precarious "online" because you'll, usually, be on the cusp of activation. This brings back the old "2 for 1" problem of Auras. If they bounce/kill your guy with the most mana symbols in its cost, guess what? You just "lost" two creatures. And woe unto he who decides to activate the gods with Auras, cause that's just asking for an ass whupping.
I mean, coming off of Thragtusk, Huntsmen, Geist, and Aristocrat they leave a lot to be desired.
These gods will go "online" at maybe turn 5 on average. And that's a very precarious "online" because you'll, usually, be on the cusp of activation. This brings back the old "2 for 1" problem of Auras. If they bounce/kill your guy with the most mana symbols in its cost, guess what? You just "lost" two creatures. And woe unto he who decides to activate the gods with Auras, cause that's just asking for an ass whupping.
I mean, coming off of Thragtusk, Huntsmen, Geist, and Aristocrat they leave a lot to be desired.
At least the R and W gods are well positioned thanks to Boros Reckoner.
Early game: They are pretty much dead cards unless your curve was both spectacular and uninterrupted
Late game: They're nigh useless unless you already have board presence in which case they become hard to kill "win more" cards
That leaves a very slim window of opportunity for them to to do their thing, and they are really not strong enough to justify being so unreliable.
Using the current GW shell, Nylea might be able to replace Thragtusk come rotation but honestly I wouldn't be very happy to make the switch. It does nothing other than provide a big resilient body which doesn't really matter because you're going to Craterhoof them anyway.
Early game: They are pretty much dead cards unless your curve was both spectacular and uninterrupted
Late game: They're nigh useless unless you already have board presence in which case they become hard to kill "win more" cards
That leaves a very slim window of opportunity for them to to do their thing, and they are really not strong enough to justify being so unreliable.
Using the current GW shell, Nylea might be able to replace Thragtusk come rotation but honestly I wouldn't be very happy to make the switch. It does nothing other than provide a big resilient body which doesn't really matter because you're going to Craterhoof them anyway.
If you're talking about Standard, Thragtusk and Craterhoof are rotating out.
Right, so, people will play Nylea if there's honestly nothing better to play but by last year's standards Nylea leaves my wanting.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Unsurprisingly, it was not possible to convince people to join the second MMA draft in the middle of the night in the US.
Not when the EV is the actual worst possible. I'm a sucker and will try to join the next one, but I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't fire either.
Not when the EV is the actual worst possible. I'm a sucker and will try to join the next one, but I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't fire either.
I require your advice, MagicGAF. I've just come across a whole box of commons (and possibly uncommons, I'm not sure) of Magic cards that I collected back when I used to play (which basically spans 7th Edition to Ravnica, and then possibly a bit of random stuff here and there).
Is there any point keeping this, and not sending it to the recycling centre? I doubt it's likely that I'll start playing the game again any time soon, I'm keeping my decks and all my rares (and other flashy cards), and I don't see what use a charity shop could make of it. Maybe take it to the local independent game store?
Is there any point keeping this, and not sending it to the recycling centre? I doubt it's likely that I'll start playing the game again any time soon, I'm keeping my decks and all my rares (and other flashy cards), and I don't see what use a charity shop could make of it. Maybe take it to the local independent game store?
divisionbyzorro
Member
Drafted this in the "For Suckers Only" 64-man MMA draft:
It's not the nuts Rebels deck, but it's pretty damn sweet. Maindeck Ivory Giant was a little loose; it ended up getting sided out a lot.
Round one I straight dreamcrushed what looked to be a pretty solid UG Suspend deck with a Thallid subtheme. He was abusing Perilous Research on Thallid tokens, getting insane card advantage. Unfortunately, I was also drawing a card every turn with Blightspeaker. It was sweet.
Round two I was paired against a nuts Domain deck. Game one I couldn't assemble enough pieces in time and lost to a full Domain Tromp. Game two I aggro'd him out; it felt more like White Weenie than Rebels. He tried to get clever by using Cryptic Command to tap my whole team when low on life and return an Eternal Witness (presumably to recur a Feudkiller's Verdict), but my Gleam of Resistance foiled that plan.
Game three was remarkably close. He had turn 2 Glacial Ray, then chained two Eternal Witnesses together to keep recurring the Glacial Ray (and spliced it once onto a Peer Through Depths). I domed him for 10 with Pthisis when he tapped out for a 5/5 Skyreach Manta, and his Penumbra Spiders had to be his aggression. I had some power plans in hand; unfortunately, he had Cryptic Command for my Death Denied on 6, then killed me with Tribal Flames and recurred it with Eternal Witness (the third one of the match). His deck was really good; I still feel like if a few cards fell slightly differently I could have pulled it out anyway.
So I exchanged 15 tickets for 6 "Phantom Points" and the chance to draft Modern Masters once. Not exactly good value, but hella fun.
It's not the nuts Rebels deck, but it's pretty damn sweet. Maindeck Ivory Giant was a little loose; it ended up getting sided out a lot.
Round one I straight dreamcrushed what looked to be a pretty solid UG Suspend deck with a Thallid subtheme. He was abusing Perilous Research on Thallid tokens, getting insane card advantage. Unfortunately, I was also drawing a card every turn with Blightspeaker. It was sweet.
Round two I was paired against a nuts Domain deck. Game one I couldn't assemble enough pieces in time and lost to a full Domain Tromp. Game two I aggro'd him out; it felt more like White Weenie than Rebels. He tried to get clever by using Cryptic Command to tap my whole team when low on life and return an Eternal Witness (presumably to recur a Feudkiller's Verdict), but my Gleam of Resistance foiled that plan.
Game three was remarkably close. He had turn 2 Glacial Ray, then chained two Eternal Witnesses together to keep recurring the Glacial Ray (and spliced it once onto a Peer Through Depths). I domed him for 10 with Pthisis when he tapped out for a 5/5 Skyreach Manta, and his Penumbra Spiders had to be his aggression. I had some power plans in hand; unfortunately, he had Cryptic Command for my Death Denied on 6, then killed me with Tribal Flames and recurred it with Eternal Witness (the third one of the match). His deck was really good; I still feel like if a few cards fell slightly differently I could have pulled it out anyway.
So I exchanged 15 tickets for 6 "Phantom Points" and the chance to draft Modern Masters once. Not exactly good value, but hella fun.
I'm really liking almost all of the Theros cards spoiled so far. Toning down creature power is a good thing. Thragtusk, Huntmaster, and cards like them are just plain ridiculous. Bestow is pretty lame, but I love Hundred-Hands-Man, Daxos, and Artisan of Forms. Wingsteed Rider is probably going to be the nuts in limited.
Spell-wise, that 6cmc sorcery probably should have been 4cmc (or just Smite the Monstrous), but Curse of the Swine, Rescure from the Underworld, Read the Bones, Voyage's End, that RG Shock/Naturalize, and of course Thoughtseize are all really great, either in flavor or playability.
New Elspeth also makes me happy. She could maybe cost one less or have one more loyalty, but that's probably just my mono-white-walker bias talking - Elspeth and Gideon are my favourite walkers. New Elspeth seems better than New Gideon, and I loved playing with New Gideon, so that's good enough for me.
Spell-wise, that 6cmc sorcery probably should have been 4cmc (or just Smite the Monstrous), but Curse of the Swine, Rescure from the Underworld, Read the Bones, Voyage's End, that RG Shock/Naturalize, and of course Thoughtseize are all really great, either in flavor or playability.
New Elspeth also makes me happy. She could maybe cost one less or have one more loyalty, but that's probably just my mono-white-walker bias talking - Elspeth and Gideon are my favourite walkers. New Elspeth seems better than New Gideon, and I loved playing with New Gideon, so that's good enough for me.
I suggest you spread them out into rows and take a nice pic so we can admire your collection and pick out the valuables, if any.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
We'll let you know the worthless ones so you can send them to us. Like, if you find a Doubling Season its worth about 40 cents but I could use a copy
My concern with the gods isn't that they aren't powerful (Marque cards often aren't), but that they are also really dull. As a top down driven design I'm quite disappointed with how unremarkable they are, and compared to what we saw in Innistrad with the werewolves, the approach to Vampires etc. they just seem remarkably tame and uninteresting.