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[SolidSnakeUS]

♦ = must be colorless mana
(#) or (x) = any mana ("generic mana cost")

If a card asks you to pay ♦, the ♦ has to be paid with colorless mana (which is itself now &#9830. If a card has a number in a circle or an X in a circle, it can be paid with mana of any type. The numbers in circles should going forward only appear as a cost which can be paid with any kind of mana.

That is... Super lame. Why add an entire mana type now after 23 years of the game bring around?

 

[Angry Grimace]

That is... Super lame. Why add an entire mana type now after 23 years of the game bring around?

Because they didn't.

 

[Neoweee]

That is... Super lame. Why add an entire mana type now after 23 years of the game bring around?

You clearly don't understand it. It isn't a new mana. It is an update to a formatting change made during Onslaught.

 

[noquarter]

I think my MTG project for the start of the year might be assembling a cube. Probably starting mostly with proxies but if it is successful with my group will try and replace real stuff in as time goes on.

Is there a good place to see some typical successful standard cube lists to start compiling my own list from?

Cube tutor is pretty good. You should be able to break out top cards by color in cubes they have and see what is popular among with looking at lists.

I rarely go to MTGSalvation anymore but their cube forum used to be a pretty good place to get information. The primer had some good links to cube articles discussing basic philosophy behind different aspects and had a ton of lists. They also were pretty good at putting tags in threads with lists so you would know if it is powered or peasant or whatever.

 

[SigmasonicX]

TBF, they are using it as a "sixth type of mana" in this set, but with the upside that there are already 23 years worth of cards that produce that mana.

I don't want to come off as someone who just complains about everything, but I honestly just don't understand where Maro is coming from these days for his design decisions. Allies triggering off of Ally combat damage is too similar to what they already do? Isn't that what the tribe needs is more support for what it's best at, not some incredibly weak new ability that still fails to diversify the tribe in any meaningful way?

I'm also confused how they thought changing the Onslaught phrasing would make it easier to understand. Instead of both creatures getting to tap regardless of summoning sickness, now only one will. How does that make it easier to digest? It's exactly the same level of complexity if not more.

They wanted to change how you use Allies in order to make Limited different. This block has been encouraging you to get Allies for their enter-the-battlefield effects, and you usually just attacked with them or did nothing, but cohort allows you to make use of Allies in another way once they are already out.

As for the cohort phrasing, I'm not too convinced by their reasoning, but they're the ones with market research and testing with new players.

 

[Lucario]

new favorite tumblr

http://whymtgcardsmith.tumblr.com

http://41.media.tumblr.com/dc340156553cdd3c44d14bfd415d7c2a/tumblr_o0ab90BpTI1tm904wo1_400.png

http://40.media.tumblr.com/8fdd3c022f6161e63c16f8a77b5fb648/tumblr_nyvulnJEpt1tm904wo1_400.png

http://41.media.tumblr.com/d2e21dcd345f9d595a83929324065966/tumblr_o0750ebXch1tm904wo1_400.png

edit: Removed image tags. Sorry, briefly forgot it was spoiler season.

 

[ultron87]

http://www.cubetutor.com has a lot of great lists and resources for building your own cube. You might want to start with one of the MTGO cubes if your playgroup is already familiar with them, though.

Cube tutor is pretty good. You should be able to break out top cards by color in cubes they have and see what is popular among with looking at lists.

I rarely go to MTGSalvation anymore but their cube forum used to be a pretty good place to get information. The primer had some good links to cube articles discussing basic philosophy behind different aspects and had a ton of lists. They also were pretty good at putting tags in threads with lists so you would know if it is powered or peasant or whatever.

Those look useful! Thanks!

 

[Angry Grimace]

TBF, they are using it as a "sixth type of mana" in this set, but with the upside that there are already 23 years worth of cards that produce that mana.



They wanted to change how you use Allies in order to make Limited different. This block has been encouraging you to get Allies for their enter-the-battlefield effects, and you usually just attacked with them or did nothing, but cohort allows you to make use of Allies in another way once they are already out.

As for the cohort phrasing, I'm not too convinced by their reasoning, but they're the ones with market research and testing with new players.

I mean, colorless has existed in the game for a long time, it just hasn't mattered for anything other than Converge or Sunburst.

 

[Angry Grimace]

oh god I have the giggles now at this MTG Cardsmith fake card someone made up:

 

[Lucario]

oh god I have the giggles now

he's loose.

 

[Wulfric]

Just grabbed the last cheap playset of Delay on Coolstuff. And they say winter is the slow season in Magic.

It's a shame a lot of the cards in Future Sight are nearly unprintable in standard legal sets. What's the likelyhood we will see Aven Mindcensor or Slaughter Pact ever again? If anything they'll receive a Conspiracy or Modern Masters reprint and that's it.

 

[OnPoint]

That is... Super lame. Why add an entire mana type now after 23 years of the game bring around?

Generic mana =/= colorless mana

There are six types of mana, there always have been. CWUBRG.

Let's look at Sol Ring, a card which has been around since Alpha.

The cost is ( 1 ) -- one generic mana. That means ANY mana of ANY type can pay this cost. Any one of the six types of mana - CWUBRG - can meet this requirement.

Its ability produces two colorless mana, which was represented as ( 2 ). Representing the mana as ( 2 ) was actually incorrect, which is where the confusion is coming from for most people I think. It doesn't make generic mana -- "generic mana" doesn't exist. It makes colorless mana. Which is now represented with ( ♦ ). So now, Sol Ring's ability is visually represented as "Tap: Add ( ♦ ) ( ♦ ) to your mana pool." But nothing has actually changed. It still does exactly the same thing.

This matters now because ( ♦ ) is, for the first time I can think of, being represented as a required cost. So they gave it a symbol.

Basically, it's this: If you see ( 1 ) in a cost (or any number for that matter), it's asking for any mana of any color to pay it, W, G, U, whatever. If you see ( ♦ ), it requires ( ♦ ). W, G, U will not pay that.

 

[G.ZZZ]

Blue get better surge counterspells and upheaval making octopuses, red get flame slash at 5 mana that can be surged at 2 when flame slash costed 1 in the first place.



SeemsGood

 

[Daedardus]

Since we've been discussing MTG Finance recently I thought I'd just give everyone a head's up on Spellskite. Its increased almost 14% since the beginning of December despite that being the slowest growth period of the year for most cards. If you're going to need copies for Modern season and you want to be able to find copies in the low 20s you might want to pick them up soon. It's a pretty obvious pickup prior to Modern season but with supply starting to look constrained on TCGPlayer, despite the lull period, I figured I'd remind everyone that needed any.

When does Modern season start and end? I need to know when it is the right time to buy some extra Modern staples, but I don't know what time of the year the pricest are the lowest and the supply the largest. I have no intent on playing professionally any time soon so I can wait.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Just grabbed the last cheap playset of Delay on Coolstuff. And they say winter is the slow season in Magic.

It's a shame a lot of the cards in Future Sight are nearly unprintable in standard legal sets. What's the likelyhood we will see Aven Mindcensor or Slaughter Pact ever again? If anything they'll receive a Conspiracy or Modern Masters reprint and that's it.

Modern Masters makes lot of things printable, imo. At least eventually.

 

[Haly]

I wonder if they'll ever change the "any color mana" circle color to differentiate it from diamond mana. Maybe white text on black?

 

[Angry Grimace]

When does Modern season start and end? I need to know when it is the right time to buy some extra Modern staples, but I don't know what time of the year the pricest are the lowest and the supply the largest. I have no intent on playing professionally any time soon so I can wait.

July 16, 2016—October 9, 2016. (I think (????) this is later than it was last year) It's called Modern season because all of the PPTQs and RPTQ's are Modern format. Somewhat ironically, the actual PT it qualifies for is in early February.

I would strongly suggest not picking up any Modern staples that get played in Amulet Bloom.

 

[zethren]

oh god I have the giggles now at this MTG Cardsmith fake card someone made up:

That's nuts haha.

I believe that artwork is by Kekai Kotaki, but that's just at a glance. It kind of reminds me of Progenitus (art by Jamie Jones), and I've always loved creature art on such a massive scale, blending into the atmosphere.

 

[ultron87]

Blue get better surge counterspells and upheaval making octopuses, red get flame slash at 5 mana that can be surged at 2 when flame slash costed 1 in the first place.



SeemsGood

Comparing a Rare and a Mythic to a Common yeaaahhhhhhh.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Comparing a Rare and a Mythic to a Common yeaaahhhhhhh.

Flame Slash is probably more powerful than any of the cards in question lol and it was a common! This spell is just bog-standard limited removal. It sucks, but if you're in red you'll play it because why not? Removal has to be really bad to not play it in limited most of the time.

 

[Firemind]

dat feeling when you want to draft everything at once

 

[Angry Grimace]

good god I hope you also drafted worldknit

Oh and I took that deck I made. And added Jace to it.

Deck: Dark-Dweller Control

//Creatures
3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3 Monastery Mentor
4 Soulfire Grand Master

//Instant and Sorcery
4 Crackling Doom
2 Duress
3 Fiery Impulse
3 Kolaghan's Command
2 Murderous Cut
3 Read the Bones
2 Roast
1 Wild Slash

//Lands
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
2 Mountain
2 Needle Spires
2 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Prairie Stream
2 Shambling Vent
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Swamp

//Sideboard
2 Duress
1 Transgress the Mind
3 Negate
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Read the Bones
3 Kozilek's Return
1 Dark Petition
1 Virulent Plague
1 Ruinous Path

Display deck statistics

 

[Daedardus]

July 16, 2016—October 9, 2016. (I think (????) this is later than it was last year) It's called Modern season because all of the PPTQs and RPTQ's are Modern format. Somewhat ironically, the actual PT it qualifies for is in early February.

I would strongly suggest not picking up any Modern staples that get played in Amulet Bloom.

Period before Pro Tour won't matter right? Since there's only a handful of Pro players who attend the event and they probably have most of the cards they need already. But I can expect some spikes after it has ended since it raises awereness and people will want to try out new decks? So that means this would be one of the better period to do some shopping?

And I would most likely get a couple of staples that are actually useful in more things than just Modern or in other deck archetypes. I lost my previous cards so I need to rebuild my collection of 'cool and nice' cards somehow. Things like Cryptic Command, Dual lands, Blood Moon (if it doesn't get banned, but I don't think so) and so on. I already have a barebones Twin deck, it's playable but it just misses some key staples like the fetches (which I hope they will reprint coming year) and things like Snapcaster Mage. My budget doesn't allow me to spend me more than hundred at a time though .

 

[Angry Grimace]

Period before Pro Tour won't matter right? Since there's only a handful of Pro players who attend the event and they probably have most of the cards they need already. But I can expect some spikes after it has ended since it raises awereness and people will want to try out new decks? So that means this would be one of the better period to do some shopping?

And I would most likely get a couple of staples that are actually useful in more things than just Modern or in other deck archetypes. I lost my previous cards so I need to rebuild my collection of 'cool and nice' cards somehow. Things like Cryptic Command, Dual lands, Blood Moon (if it doesn't get banned, but I don't think so) and so on. I already have a barebones Twin deck, it's playable but it just misses some key staples like the fetches (which I hope they will reprint coming year) and things like Snapcaster Mage. My budget doesn't allow me to spend me more than hundred at a time though .

I mean, it matters a lot because there's a LOT of speculation about the ban list and what new cards could be good in the upcoming set.

The actual pro players themselves don't affect the price of cards beyond if one of them spikes the tournament with a rogue deck that card will get expensive because people rush to buy in.

 

[Santiako]

New cards?

 

[OnPoint]

Bone Saw is a classic, getting a reprint.

And Assault needed to be one mana less. Damn.

 

[Firemind]

why.jpg

 

[darkside31337]

bone saw is a reprint from conflux. seems like an odd reprint, honestly surprised it never was before either.

like the new art though.

 

[Hero]

Blue get better surge counterspells and upheaval making octopuses, red get flame slash at 5 mana that can be surged at 2 when flame slash costed 1 in the first place.



SeemsGood

Why the hell are they nerfing red burn so bad? Creatures are absurd right now.

 

[Santiako]

bone saw is a reprint from conflux. seems like an odd reprint, honestly surprised it never was before either.

like the new art though.

It's a good way to get surge I guess.

 

[kirblar]

Limited removal, direct rage elsewhere.

 

[OnPoint]

Could have been good though. All it needed was "If Surge cost was paid, deal 5 damage instead".

 

[Hero]

Limited removal, direct rage elsewhere.

Did BFZ even give a half decent cheap red burn spell?

 

[kirblar]

This isn't really a block where pushing mono-red is a priority.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Please tell me people aren't mad that Mono Red isn't good enough. They printed Bone Saw for Surge I bet.

 

[OnPoint]

I'm not mad. I was just suggesting that they could have made it a decent card and not limited-only removal.

 

[darkside31337]

And for a set so far with some really terrible flavor text I appreciate the humor in Bone Saw. Really gonna stick it to the eldrazi with a gardening tool.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I'm not mad. I was just suggesting that they could have made it a decent card and not limited-only removal.

But limited-only removal is kind of a thing that needs to exist

 

[OnPoint]

But limited-only removal is kind of a thing that needs to exist

Agreed 100%. I'm not upset over this. Was just having the conversation. Red mages are getting Kozilek's Return. They've got little to be salty over (until Chandra's Oath is confirmed awful).

 

[Wulfric]

That's nuts haha.

I believe that artwork is by Kekai Kotaki, but that's just at a glance. It kind of reminds me of Progenitus (art by Jamie Jones), and I've always loved creature art on such a massive scale, blending into the atmosphere.

You're right, reverse image search shows it's Guild Wars 2 concept art, so it's probably him.

Boulder Salvo makes me a sad panda. 4R... >_>

 

[SigmasonicX]

Boulder Salvo makes me a sad panda. 4R... >_>

Yet it will probably still be premium removal in Limited.

The Bone Saw reprint is nice for both surge and the Eldrazi that trigger off of colorless spells.

It's hard to say how good Pyromancer's Assault will be in Limited without seeing more commons.

 

[Firemind]

Yet it will probably still be premium removal in Limited.

The Bone Saw reprint is nice for both surge and the Eldrazi that trigger off of colorless spells.

It's hard to say how good Pyromancer's Assault will be in Limited without seeing more commons.

i mean it's an enchantment that only does something when you play two spells a turn

in limited, that's probably pretty unplayable without flashback

 

[Angry Grimace]

It's pretty comical how much PV hates Amulet Bloom.

 

[Daedardus]

I miss Lightning Bolt a bit. Was it that bad when it was back in Standard? Sure, it's one of the best (of not the best) instants in the whole game but it's also not insanely broken, just efficient. I guess they had trouble balancing creatures around it?

 

[kirblar]

I miss Lightning Bolt a bit. Was it that bad when it was back in Standard? Sure, it's one of the best (of not the best) instants in the whole game but it's also not insanely broken, just efficient. I guess they had trouble balancing creatures around it?

Its creaturs, yeah. Messes w 1-3 drop stats.

 

[OnPoint]

It's pretty comical how much PV hates Amulet Bloom.

I mean, is something definitely getting banned?

 

[Jhriad]

When does Modern season start and end? I need to know when it is the right time to buy some extra Modern staples, but I don't know what time of the year the pricest are the lowest and the supply the largest. I have no intent on playing professionally any time soon so I can wait.

The best time to buy Modern staples is now (Late Nov - January). It's a quieter period for events, Modern season has long since fully wound down, and everyone has been withholding major Magic purchases in favor of Holiday spending. Since Oath is a Modern Pro Tour we'll probably see some movement caused by whatever happens to do well there and afterwards things will start to tick up, accelerating as we close in on Modern PPTQs and whatnot. Typically you want to try to get into Eternal staples prior to tax season as folks like to "invest" their tax returns into expensive cards they've been waiting on buying. This is particularly true of Legacy/Vintage cards but holds true with expensive Modern staples as well. With the exception of a few things that are heavily played, like Spellskite, you've still got a little time before things start moving back up across the board. The current period is probably about as good as you're going to see for cards reprinted in MM2015 so if you're interested in any of those you might consider getting in on them now and ideally those would be your first targets when budgeting for acquisitions. This is particularly true of things that are format staples and, in the decks that run them, are used in multiples. For example, Noble Hierarch, because of its use in multiple archetypes and the volume they're typically run in those decks, will probably see healthy gains as we close in on Modern season.

Period before Pro Tour won't matter right? Since there's only a handful of Pro players who attend the event and they probably have most of the cards they need already. But I can expect some spikes after it has ended since it raises awereness and people will want to try out new decks? So that means this would be one of the better period to do some shopping?

And I would most likely get a couple of staples that are actually useful in more things than just Modern or in other deck archetypes. I lost my previous cards so I need to rebuild my collection of 'cool and nice' cards somehow. Things like Cryptic Command, Dual lands, Blood Moon (if it doesn't get banned, but I don't think so) and so on. I already have a barebones Twin deck, it's playable but it just misses some key staples like the fetches (which I hope they will reprint coming year) and things like Snapcaster Mage. My budget doesn't allow me to spend me more than hundred at a time though .

As AG said, the Modern Pro Tour will cause things to spike prior to the event itself because of all the speculation about what is going to be banned/unbanned. A lot of those spec gains (E.g. SFM, SotM) are already built in since that speculation began in earnest last month and we're really close to PT Oath. A few other notable dates would be the weekends of March 4th (3 Modern GPs), May 20th (2 Modern GPs), and August 26th (3 Modern GPs). All of those will bump whatever does well. Remember, you want to buy in with a healthy bit of lead time before they start spinning up Modern interest and you're better off being patient than rushing into whatever spiked the latest event.

As for Blood Moon I'd probably hold off until the Ban announcement has been made as that probably has the highest likelihood of a ban outside of Bloom.

 

[charlequin]

Yeah, you're right. I should have read that more closely. I guess I'll just continue my years-long hate for the Magic development team and the trepidation with which they approach developing this game.

At this point I think the development team is almost unambiguously more consistently good at their job, so this strikes me as a dint grudge to hold.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I mean, is something definitely getting banned?

"Ban Amulet" has reached a fever pitch not helped by Amulet displaying its ugly side at the most recent Modern events on camera. Most professional players seem pretty united in favor of getting rid of it because its un-fun and virtually impossible to interact with when it goes off.

WOTC for its part hasn't said anything, but very few people were surprised by Treasure Cruise's ban or Birthing Pod's ban last year. The only real reason not to ban Amulet of Vigor is the fact that Primeval Titan was in MM2015, but the card itself is like $10. I don't think the question is whether they're banning something from the deck, its whether the card is Amulet of Vigor (deck is completely dead and buried) or Summer Bloom (a blatantly unfair card that would just make the deck less good as opposed to necessarily killing it).

 

[El Topo]

I miss Lightning Bolt a bit. Was it that bad when it was back in Standard? Sure, it's one of the best (of not the best) instants in the whole game but it's also not insanely broken, just efficient. I guess they had trouble balancing creatures around it?

That's certainly the main issue. I assume it's also problematic given how flexible the mana base is (in Standard).

"Ban Amulet" has reached a fever pitch not helped by Amulet displaying its ugly side at the most recent Modern events on camera. Most professional players seem pretty united in favor of getting rid of it because its un-fun and virtually impossible to interact with when it goes off.

WOTC for its part hasn't said anything, but very few people were surprised by Treasure Cruise's ban or Birthing Pod's ban last year.

Biggest reason to ban the card (for me). I'm not under the impression the deck is tearing the format apart, but it seems so... dreadful to play against.