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Magic: the Gathering |OT10| Aether Revolt - That shit that make your Soul Burn slow

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Jump to Modern Masters 2017
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Official page
Aether Revolt set information
Aether Revolt trailer
Previous topic: Kaladesh (OT9)
Next block: Amonkhet

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Intro
--Getting Started
--Prerelease
--Changes
Set Details
--Story
--Characters
--Card Themes
Resources
Previous Threads
Schedule
Highlights

INTRO
Welcome to the Multiverse! Multiple worlds exist side by side in different dimensions, known as planes, and they are as different as night and day. All of them, however, have a form of magical energy known as mana, which can be channeled into powerful spells. Residents of these planes are usually unaware of other worlds, but there are some special beings with the ability to safely travel between them, known as Planeswalkers.

Magic: the Gathering is a Trading Card Game, the first of its kind, developed by Richard Garfield and his playtesters for the gaming company Wizards of the Coast in 1993. The game quickly became a hit, and it is currently bigger than it has ever been. In the standard game, you and your opponent play the role of dueling Planeswalkers, using customized 60-card decks made up of your spells, the creatures you can summon, your mana bonds with lands, and even other Planeswalkers you can call in to help out. Whoever can get his or her opponent down from 20 to 0 life, wins.

In Aether Revolt, the bright world of Kaladesh has fallen into chaos, as the governing Consulate has established marshal law and the rebelling Renegades are fighting back harder than ever. The elegant artifacts of peacetime have been converted to weapons of war.

Due to holiday conflicts, we're only getting four days of previews before the full set reveal. Yes, really.

One thing to note about discussion in this thread is that a lot of us are specifically looking for cards that will change up Standard, a playing format made up of the past several sets. In the past, people complained that set themes didn't get a chance to shine in Standard, since it was too easy to shut them down, so Wizards has been trying out a philosophy where set themes don't have strong "answer" cards. However, for many players, this has backfired and made certain decks too strong. Wizards has acknowledged this, but they work too far ahead to make quick changes. Thus, people here are hoping for Aether Revolt to have cards that exile cards from graveyards and destroy artifacts, among other possible effects, and a lot of discussion will likely revolve around that.
There turned out not to be any good ones.

Banned and Restricted List Update - For the first time in years, cards have been banned in Standard:
* Emrakul, the Promised End
* Smuggler's Copter
* Reflector Mage

GETTING STARTED
If you're a beginner, feel free to come in--that's why this is in OT, after all. Spoiler season is one of the most exciting times for a Magic player, and it would be great for more to join in. Us regulars can get a bit technical with card evaluations and use a lot of jargon, and many of us will loudly proclaim that a cool-looking card is junk, or say that a lame-looking card is really powerful, but feel free to ask us if you want an explanation.

To see what a game is like, check out Geek and Sundry's Spellslinger series (now discontinued), where Day[9] battled various geek celebrities, often losing, using simple and easy to follow decks.

To get started, check out the official page. Basically:
* It's recommended that new players play Magic Duels (thread). It's a great way to learn the game on your own, and it's free!
* After that point, the act of deck building can be intimidating, so it's recommended that you try out a preconstructed deck and customize it with other cards you get, before you start making your own from scratch.
* Before you start entering any tournaments, or building decks for tournament formats like Standard, it's strongly recommended you stick to playing casually against friends for a while. Not only will you have an easier time with deck building, since you don't have additional constraints, but it will usually be much cheaper.
* For your first deck, starting with Kaladesh, you can buy a Planeswalker Deck, These preconstructed decks come with four new cards unique to the decks, including a new Planeswalker card. If you have a friend to play with, there are also Duel Decks that provide two decks for a game right out of the box, but are a bit more complicated. Third-party company Card Kingdom also releases Battle Decks, at a similar level of complexity to Duel Decks, but at a higher level of power and consistency. Note that those last two aren't built for the Standard format, but are good for casual play.
* To get your physical collection started, buy a Deck Builder's Toolkit, which includes not just a starting collection of cards (including a lot of lands), but also some booster packs and a good box to store cards in. The Holiday Gift Box provides an even larger starting collection and better storage.
* The different play formats can be found here. The most popular formats where you start out with no deck and have to make them from scratch (Limited) are Draft and Sealed. The most popular formats where you bring a 60-card deck ahead of time (Constructed) are Standard, Modern, and Legacy. Casual play has no restrictions other than what your friends decide.
* To learn about the theories behind deckbuilding and gameplay, check out Level One.
* Once your skill advances, another popular way to play Magic casually is Commander. Wizards provides prebuilt decks for this format too.
* While game stores will often hold Magic events at other times, every store that has Magic events will have Friday Night Magic. There, you will be able to find other players in your area to both have matches with and trade with. Find game stores here. And to get started participating in your local game store (LGS) scene, attend a prerelease!

PRERELEASE
While the set won't officially be sold until the release date, that isn't the first time you can get your hands on the new cards. Game stores hold prerelease events for every set in the Sealed format, where every player is given a box with six booster packs and a random additional rare card. From this pool of cards, all of which you keep, each player builds a deck of 40 cards and participates in a Swiss-system tournament. This is a fun and casual event, where everyone is still trying to figure out the set, so don't worry about messing up. In addition to normal duels, there are also Two-Headed Giant events, where you pair up with another player and face off against another team.

Prerelease events will be held on January 14–15, 2017. Call your local game store a few days ahead of time to register, or they might just run out of room. Find local game stores here.

CHANGES
Magic now has a rarity even rarer than mythic rare! Sort of. The Masterpiece Series is a "set within the set" made up entirely of reprints or cards printed at a lower rarity in the normal set. These cards won't be in Standard, unless they're also printed in the normal set, but you can play them in Limited. Masterpiece cards are always premium (with foil) and have a special frame treatment and set symbol. There are around 50 cards each block, spread across the two sets, with more in the large set. You can find a Masterpiece card in roughly 1 out of every 144 booster packs, which is slightly more often than opening a premium mythic rare. They'll be available on Magic Online, but not Magic Duels.

This is completely opt-in. You don't have to get any of these cards for tournaments, and they are simply a way to bling up your deck.

Every block from now on will have a Masterpiece Series, after the success of the wallet-sculpting Zendikar Expeditions in Battle for Zendikar. They will be thematically tied into the block they are attached to. For example, Kaladesh's Masterpiece Series, Kaladesh Inventions, will be made up of artifacts that flavorfully seem like they could be made on Kaladesh.
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In addition, Standard rotations have changed--in some ways, a shift back. There will still be two blocks released a year, but Standard will only rotate with the start of the second block of the year (the fall set). This means that after the release of Amonkhet this spring, Standard will not rotate. The blocks in Standard will be Battle for Zendikar, Shadows over Innistrad, Kaladesh, and Amonkhet. When the "Ham" block releases in fall, BFZ and SOI will leave Standard. Standard will then be made up of Kaladesh, Amonkhet, and "Ham".

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STORY
Aether Revolt trailer
Lore introduction
Guide to Kaladesh

Aether is the raw energy that exists between planes, and while it's present on many worlds, it is available in vast quantities on Kaladesh. The environment itself curves and flows in reaction to streams of the energy, forming delicate twisting patterns in everything. Some time ago, a genius inventor discovered a way to process this aether into fuel that could run automatons and other mechanical devices, launching an age of innovation and progress.

Kaladesh is ruled by the Consulate, a nominally pure meritocracy, and it provides aether to all to promote invention and artistry. However, during this time of apparent prosperity, there is a faction of renegades who feel that they have been left behind. They disagree with the strict rules and regulations the Consulate places on the people, and know the government isn't as benevolent as it presents itself.

When we arrived there, the plane was running the extravagant Inventors' Fair, where people from all over came together to pit their creations against each other. At the end of the Inventors' Fair, the Consulate seized all inventions, and captured several inventors, claiming they are protecting them from the Renegades. An evil Planeswalker named Tezzeret has become an influential part of the government, and is taking advantage of this to perfect his own creations. The heroic Gatewatch have joined the Renegades, and are preparing for a final confrontation with the Consulate.

Aether Revolt story
Story archive

CHARACTERS
Planeswalkers:
Chandra Nalaar - Red - A chaotic human pyromancer Planeswalker who does what she wants, damn the consequences. Given that her parents were killed by them, she has no love for the Kaladesh government.
Liliana Vess - Black - A ruthless human necromancer Planeswalker who only looks out for herself. Despite her youthful appearance, she is hundreds of years old.
Nissa Revane - Green - A spiritual elf druid Planeswalker. She used to be a racist elf supremacist, but Wizards of the Coast wants you to forget that. Her magic allows her to control plants, summon nature elementals, and channel mana.
Ajani Goldmane - White/Green - A leonin (cat person) Planeswalker who lost his friends and is now righting wrongs where he finds them. He is skilled at both healing and physical combat.
Saheeli Rai - Blue/Red - A renowned human inventor Planeswalker who can skillfully manipulate metal into the lifelike animal shapes that do her bidding. Though fiercely competitive, she is kind to her friends and fans.
Dovin Baan - Blue - A member of Kaladesh's government, this cold and calculating vedalken Planeswalker can instantly determine the weaknesses of any machine, and he believes living things are no different.
Tezzeret - Blue/Black - A human artificer Planeswalker bound into the service of the evil Nicol Bolas, but he is trying to find a way out. Even on his own, he's dangerous and ruthless. He has somehow embedded himself into Kaladesh as Head Judge.

Non-Planeswalkers:
Rashimi - Green/Blue - A friend of Saheeli who believes that the mystical Great Conduit guides everything, this elf inventor developed a way to teleport an inorganic object to another location, but this creation could lead to disaster.
Pia Nalaar - Red - Chandra's mother, who is actually still alive. She's a skilled inventor and the leader of the Renegade movement on Kaladesh.
Oviya Pashiri - Green - An old woman who plays an important role in the Renegades. She is an old friend of the Nalaar family, and is helping Chandra.

CARD THEMES
Official card list (alternate, includes leaks)
Official mechanics list

Returning mechanics
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The aether that flows through Kaladesh can be converted to fuel for the various machines there. Energy is a separate from mana. Cards can give you energy counters, which never go away until you spend them. Cards that provide energy usually give you a way to spend them, but you can spend the energy on any card you want. Vehicles start out as normal artifacts, and they can't do anything on their own, but get a crew, and things start to happen. Tap any number of creatures you control to pilot the vehicle, and if their total power is greater than or equal to the crew cost, then it turns on and becomes a creature you can send into battle. While the vehicle is affected by summoning sickness, it doesn't matter if the creatures you have crew it do or not. Fabricate will not be returning, but you can still see it in Kaladesh booster packs during Limited. When a creature with fabricate enters the battlefield, you have to choose whether you want it to upgrade itself (put the designated number of +1/+1 counters on it), or create something new (create the designated number of Servo creatures). Depending on the state of the game, either option could be worth choosing.

This is a revolution, isn't it? I revolt.
Revolt
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The citizens of Kaladesh tolerated a lot from the Consulate, but when they started seizing their inventions, enough was enough. Spells with revolt become stronger if you lost any permanent that turn, whether it went to the graveyard or your hand or elsewhere, whether you lost a creature or artifact or land or anything else, and whether an opponent is the cause or you. The effects vary card by card. Be careful about destroying your opponent's stuff if they have mana open. but on the other hand, maybe you should just accept that some destruction is inevitable in a revolution.

Innovations in convocations
Improvise
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Don't the resources to bring out your big spell? No biggie, just improvise with the artifacts you have. When you cast a spell with improvise, you can tap any number of untapped artifacts you control to pay for (1). Note that unlike the similar convoke from earlier sets, this can't pay for colored costs.

RESOURCES
Official articles - Nicknamed the Mothership, these articles are the primary source of news. Recommended columns are Making Magic, written by the head designer, Mark Rosewater (aka MaRo); Magic Story, which tells the story, written by various authors; and Latest Developments, written by various Magic developers. The other articles generally discuss deck building. For older articles before the site changed, go here.
Official card list - Best way to see all of the spoiled cards together, but only updates once a day.
Blogatog - Tumblr ran by Mark Rosewater where he answers questions, updates very frequently.
Drive to Work - Mark Rosewater's weekly podcast about Magic that he literally records as he drives to work. Two episodes are released every Friday.
MTG Salvation's Rumor Mill - The best place to get new card information. The community sucks, though.
Mythic Spoiler - A good way to see what cards have been spoiled, updates throughout the day.
Gatherer - The official method of searching through released cards. Has autocomplete.
magiccards.info - The better search method, with bigger cards, but it doesn't have autocomplete.
Magidex - Another search method of similar quality, updates more frequently than above.
Game store locator

PREVIOUS THREADS
Kaladesh (OT9)
Eldritch Moon (OT8)
Shadows over Innistrad (OT7)
Oath of the Gatewatch OT (OT6)
Battle for Zendikar OT (OT5)
OT4
OT3
OT2
OT1
 
SCHEDULE
Aether Revolt
Start of spoilers - January 2, 2017
Full reveal - January 6, 2017
Prerelease - January 14-15, 2017
Magic Duels Update - January 18, 2017
Release - January 20, 2017
Magic Online Prerelease - January 27, 2017
Magic Online Release - January 30, 2017

Grand Prix Louisville (Legacy) - January 6-8, 2017
Grand Prix San Jose, Grand Prix Prague (Sealed) - January 27-29, 2016
Pro Tour Aether Revolt (Draft, Standard) - February 3-5, 2017
Grand Prix Pittsburgh (Standard) - February 10-12, 2017
Grand Prix Vancouver, Grand Prix Brisbane (Modern) - February 17-19, 2017
Grand Prix Utrecht (Standard) - February 24-26, 2017

Modern Masters 2017
Start of spoilers - February 27, 2017
Full reveal - March 3, 2017
Release - March 17, 2017

Grand Prix New Jersey, Grand Prix Barcelona (Standard) - March 10-12, 2017
Grand Prix Shizuoka, Grand Prix Porto Alegre (Standard) - March 17-19, 2017
Grand Prix Orlando (Limited) - March 24-26, 2017
Grand Prix San Antonio (Team Unified Modern) - March 31 - April 2, 2017

Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might - March 31, 2017

Amonkhet
Start of spoilers - April 3, 2017
Prerelease - April 22-23, 2017

HIGHLIGHTS
Previous thread
November 29
Ajani playmat, Yahenni's Expertise, Trophy Mage, Scrap Trawler, Quicksmith Rebel
December 4
Ajani Unyielding
Ajani, Valorous Protector; Tezzeret, Master of Metal; Heart of Kiran
Quicksmith Rebel, Pia's Revolution, Disallow, Battle at the Bridge, Dark Intimations
December 8
Atlazan and other booster pack art leak(?)
December 12
Consulate Crackdown
December 15
Oath of Ajani
December 18
Tezzeret the Schemer, Quicksmith Spy
December 24
Masterpieces
December 28
Planar Bridge, Paradox Engine

Sunday, January 1
Peacekeeper Colossus
Monday, January 2
Mothership spoilers - Decommission, Night Market Aeronaut, Silkweaver Elite, Foundry Assembler, Sweatworks Brawler, Shipwreck Moray, Consulate Dreadnought, Whir of Invention; Sram, Senior Edificer, Sram's Expertise, Gonti's Aether Heart, Fatal Push
Magic Story - Revolution Begins; Greenbelt Rampager, Greenwheel Liberator, Metallic Mimic, Auronaut Admiral, Winding Constrictor, Siege Modification
Untethered Express, Freejam Regent, Aether Revolt trailer, Pacification Array, Merchant's Porter
Ornithopter, Hungry Flames; Rishkar, Peema Renegade; Release the Gremlins

Tuesday, January 3
Inspirational Statues
Aetherwind Basker, Industrial Tower, Greenbelt Druid, Rishkar's Expertise, Aegis Automaton, Aid from the Cowl, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, Mothership spoilers - Aethergeode Miner, Mechanized Production, Renegade Map, Countless Gears, Reverse Engineer; Yahenni, Undying Partisan, Tezzeret's Touch
Rogue Refiner, art book spoilers, Renegade Rallier
Vintage Super League season 6
Indomitable Creativity, Shock, Airship Bandit

Wednesday, January 4
Lightning Runner
Weldfast Engineer, Outland Boar, Call of Unity, Walking Ballista; Baral, Chief of Compliance; Aetherborn Warrior, Aethertide Whale, Baral's Expertise, Implements
Exquisite Archangel, Magic Story - Burn; Cogwork Assembler, Solemn Recruit, Hidden Reserve, Renegade Wheelsmith, Spire Patrol, Gifted Aetherborn
Hidden Herbalists, Treasure Keeper

Thursday, January 5
Hope of Ghirapur, Aethersphere Harvester
Heroic Intervention
Locket of Myths, Planeswalker Deck cards, Metallic Rebuke, Ravenous Intruder, Heretical Thopterist
Efficient Construction, Universal Solvent, Herald of Anguish; Kari Zev, Skyship Raider; Kari Zev's Expertise, Ragavan
Midnight Entourage
Aether common cycle

Friday, January 6
Full reveal
Felidar Guardian + Saheeli Rai infinite combo, Pre-Prerelease

January 7
Super Sunday Series Championship Day 1
January 8
Super Sunday Series Championship Day 2, Grand Prix Louisville Top 8
Japanese Frontier tournament
January 9
Emergency Banned & Restricted List Update announcement
Limited Set Review: White
Banned & Restricted List Update
January 10
Limited Set Review: Blue
January 11
Legendary Cube returns
Limited Set Review: Black, Magic Story - The Skies over Ghirapur
January 12
Limited Set Review: Red, Magic's digital future
Worth Wollpert (Magic Online) leaving Wizards
January 13
Latest Developments - Standard
Start of Prerelease
January 14
Prerelease
January 16
Tournament rules update, Commander banlist update
January 18
Magic Story - Breaking Points, Magic Duels Aether Revolt update
January 21
SCG Columbus Open Day 1
January 22
SCG Columbus Open Day 2
January 25
Magic Story - Puppets; Friday Night Magic promos
Standard event rewards
January 26
No women in Pro Tour
January 27
Fire at GP Prague, promo card supposed hidden message
January 29
SCG Richmond Open Day 2
January 31
Video event coverage update

February 1
Creative team interviews in place of Magic Stories for next several weeks; Magic Story - Renewal
February 3
Pro Tour Aether Revolt Day 1
February 4
Pro Tour Aether Revolt Day 2
February 5
Pro Tour Aether Revolt Day 3
February 6
Hasbro Q4/Yearly Fiscal Report
February 8
Magic Story Podcast - Doug Beyer
February 9
Grand Prix adjustments, including return of Nationals
February 11
Grand Prix Pittsburgh Day One
February 12
Grand Prix Pittsburgh Day Two
February 16
Plane Shift: Kaladesh
February 18
SCG Baltimore Open Day One, Grand Prix Vancouver Day One
Amonkhet products from the Toy Fair
February 19
Grand Prix Brisbane Top 8, SCG Baltimore Open Day Two, Grand Prix Vancouver Day Two
February 20
Amonkhet full art lands and other art, Modern Masters packaging
February 25
Grand Prix Utrecht Day One, SCG Indianapolis Open Day One
February 26
SCG Indianapolis Open Day Two, Grand Prix Utrecht Top 8

Modern Masters 2017
Landing post

Monday, February 27
Restoration Angel, Stoic Angel
Damnation, enemy fetchlands, shard trilands, guildgates
Goblin Guide
Goblin Assault, Vanish into Memory
Terminate, Primal Command, Domri Rade, Molten Rain, Harmonize

Tuesday, February 28
Venser, Shaper Savant; Thragtusk; Ranger of Eos, uncommon Shard cycle, Griselbrand, Snapcaster Mage
Bonfire of the Damned, Deadeye Navigator, Might of Old Krosa, Grafdigger's Cage, Temporal Mastery
Inquisition of Kozilek, Path to Exile, Zur the Enchanter, Stony Silence
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Abyssal Specter, Phantasmal Image, Seance, Entreat the Angels

Wednesday, March 1
Momentary Blink, Mist Raven, Sphinx's Revelation, Pyromancer's Ascension
Death's Shadow, Craterhoof Behemoth, Abrupt Decay, Liliana of the Veil, Burning-Tree Emissary, Magma Jet, Past in Flames, Basilisk Collar, Vithian Stinger, Extractor Demon, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Bone Splinters, Gnawing Zombie, Mortician Beetle
Terminus
Lingering Souls, Gifts Ungiven
Scavenging Ooze
Blood Moon, Voice of Resurgence

Thursday, March 2
Augur of Bolas, Cruel Ultimatum, Compulsive Research, Fiery Justice, Cavern of Souls
Tarmogoyf, Splicers, Intangible Virtue, Flickerwisp; Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius; Izzet Charm; Serum Visions; Signets
Olivia Voldaren, Mystical Teachings, pro player gossip

Friday, March 3
Full reveal

March 9
Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might leak
March 11
Grand Prix Barcelona, SCG Open Dallas, Grand Prix New Jersey
March 12
SCG Open Dallas Day 2, Grand Prix New Jersey Day 2, Grand Prix Barcelona Day 2
March 13
Banned & Restricted list update - No changes
Worth's proof of concept cards, Richard Garfield interview
March 17
Amonkhet leak - Dusk // Dawn
March 18
Grand Prix Porte Alegre Day 1
March 19
Grand Pix Shizuoka Top 8
Grand Prix Porte Alegre Day 2
March 20
Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might decklists
March 21
Magic Online Pauper issues
March 24
Announcement Day date change, Latest Developments - An Update on Standard
March 25
RIP Mike Davis
March 27
Amonkhet reveals - Oracle's Vault, Archfiend of Ifnir, Glorybringer; Liliana, Death Wielder; Gideon, Martial Paragon
Amonkhet reveals - So Much Amonkhet News
March 28
Amonkhet reveals - Amonkhet Invocations (start of reveal through day)
Amonkhet reveals - Miasma Mummy
March 29
Amonkhet reveals - Amonkhet Invocations full reveal; Magic Story - Impact
Amonkhet reveals - Basic lands
Amonkhet reveals - Unwavering Initiate, Story slides
March 30
Amonkhet reveals - Aven Mindcensor, Glorybringer normal art
Amonkhet reveals - Renewed Faith, Prowling Serpopard
March 31
Amonkhet reveals - Bicycle lands

April 1
Grand Prix San Antonio Day 1
April 2
Grand Prix San Antonio Day 2

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Carrying over from the last thread:

Y
It's funny that the story gets shit on, but as a "new" Magic player (2013), I love the Weatherlight stuff. I haven't read anything nor do I intend to...

That's kind of the thing. The cast and characters of the Weatherlight saga (mostly designed in advance by Rosewater and his co-author to be essentially a fantasy Enterprise crew) are mostly very cool; Rath is really neat; the flashback locations shown off in Urza's Saga are really visually striking and creatively interesting; the Invasion is full of cool ideas and creature designs and individual story moments. If you get it just from the sets it's got a lot going for it, certainly as far as something that's just integrated directly with the card game itself.

The real problem is that the people who took over the overall plotting of the Weatherlight saga from Rosewater were apparently untalented hacks who have no idea how a story works, and about half of the people writing the tie-in novels were even worse. So when you dive in any deeper the Invasion storyline is really just a complete mass of awful nonsense.

Hmm, charlequin, I think your Autocard Everywhere plugin made Soul Burn capitalized in the title.

I figured it was supposed to be like that!
 

bigkrev

Member
My biggest excitement for this year is Frontier making all these bulk rates I have worth more than bulk.
 

traveler

Not Wario
What actually was the last standard competitive piece of equipment? Are we going to have to wait till another Mirrodin block to get more?

I get that Stoneforge Mystic is a problem, but it's banned in modern, wasn't reprinted for standard in the last zen block, and already has great tools to work with in Legacy. As long as the quality equipment pieces are tuned for the sub 5 mana slot, they shouldn't overtake the batterskull/sfm interaction in power level. (and it's even possible that a hypothetical decent 5 mana equipment wouldn't make a legacy splash as the living weapon aspect of the batterskull takes it even beyond its spot on the curve)

It just seems weird to me that they've basically left an entire subtype of cards dead to competitive play for blocks. I suppose Kaladesh isn't the natural spot for it, given that vehicles interact poorly with equipment.
 

Ozigizo

Member
I dunno how I feel about this right now. I know there aren't going to be phyrexians, but I really want phyrexians.
 

traveler

Not Wario
Of the three big bads, Phyrexians will be next in line to address after Bolas in Amonkhet, but I don't know how they revisit them anytime soon having made Kaladesh an artifact centric block. Either they have another artifact centric block or do Phyrexia without artifacts, which would just feel wrong. I assume it'll be at least 3 blocks or so before they even consider returning to that storyline.
 

bigkrev

Member
What actually was the last standard competitive piece of equipment? Are we going to have to wait till another Mirrodin block to get more?

I get that Stoneforge Mystic is a problem, but it's banned in modern, wasn't reprinted for standard in the last zen block, and already has great tools to work with in Legacy. As long as the quality equipment pieces are tuned for the sub 5 mana slot, they shouldn't overtake the batterskull/sfm interaction in power level. (and it's even possible that a hypothetical decent 5 mana equipment wouldn't make a legacy splash as the living weapon aspect of the batterskull takes it even beyond its spot on the curve)

It just seems weird to me that they've basically left an entire subtype of cards dead to competitive play for blocks. I suppose Kaladesh isn't the natural spot for it, given that vehicles interact poorly with equipment.

Runechanter's Pike saw some play in U/W decks in the Innestrad Era, Sword of the Amnethist saw fringe play when Magic Origins was released, and Kite Shield saw some play in Jeskai Ascendency combo decks (though obviously not used as equipment, just used as a zero cost spell).
 
Of the three big bads, Phyrexians will be next in line to address after Bolas in Amonkhet, but I don't know how they revisit them anytime soon having made Kaladesh an artifact centric block. Either they have another artifact centric block or do Phyrexia without artifacts, which would just feel wrong. I assume it'll be at least 3 blocks or so before they even consider returning to that storyline.

You can have Phyrexians and Phyrexian artifacts without necessarily giving them artifact mechanics. In Scars of Mirrodin, it was the Mirrans who had metalcraft, not the Phyrexians, for instance. So, you could just have artifacts be a subtheme.

Anyway, with so little time left, what do you expect from Aether Revolt that isn't related to graveyard exiling?
* There will be cards that allow you to remove energy from opponents, flavored as stealing it from them.
* In addition to improvise asking players to make more tokens with fabricate, there will be cards that make the +1/+1 counter mode with fabricate more important.
* There will be a pilot creature that crashes (destroys) vehicles. Likely a red creature that can temporarily take control of a vehicle, give it haste, and then destroy it after combat. My hope is that this will be a gremlin, and the art resembles that part of Groundhog Day where the groundhog is driving a car.
* Improvise will be the only new named mechanic.
* There will be a reprint of Smash.
 
Of the three big bads, Phyrexians will be next in line to address after Bolas in Amonkhet, but I don't know how they revisit them anytime soon having made Kaladesh an artifact centric block. Either they have another artifact centric block or do Phyrexia without artifacts, which would just feel wrong. I assume it'll be at least 3 blocks or so before they even consider returning to that storyline.
What if... just what if... we get one random card in Aether Revolt that's just like this:

Unsettling Oil (2)
Artifact
Sacrifice Unsettling Oil: Gain control of target artifact and put a +1/+1 counter on it. It becomes an artifact creature if it isn't already.
"I'm telling you, there's something about this stuff that just... doesn't seem right."

I'd love that.
But current WotC isn't clever enough to do this, are they?
 
What if... just what if... we get one random card in Aether Revolt that's just like this:

Unsettling Oil (2)
Artifact
Sacrifice Unsettling Oil: Gain control of target artifact and put a +1/+1 counter on it. It becomes an artifact creature if it isn't already.
"I'm telling you, there's something about this stuff that just... doesn't seem right."

I'd love that.
But current WotC isn't clever enough to do this, are they?

I thought the Emrakul hinting in Shadows over Innistrad was really well done, and was definitely more subtle than that card would be.
 

OnPoint

Member
Of the three big bads, Phyrexians will be next in line to address after Bolas in Amonkhet, but I don't know how they revisit them anytime soon having made Kaladesh an artifact centric block. Either they have another artifact centric block or do Phyrexia without artifacts, which would just feel wrong. I assume it'll be at least 3 blocks or so before they even consider returning to that storyline.

My best guess right now is this:

- It will be several years from now
- When they return to Kaladesh, it will be because the Phyrexians invaded
- Someone repaired Rashimi's portal in secret and accidentally connected with New Phyrexia
- Subsequently the Phyrexians invade through this portal
- Kaladesh is in the middle of the battle for survival when The Gatewatch arrives (now with member WB Elspeth)
- A fierce battle ensues over the block, perhaps The Gatewatch loses a member
- I would like if they lost the battle and had to retreat but did not permanently lose the war and Kaladesh as a whole
 
Some of it was subtle but at the same time most of it was super on the nose.
And yet several people still didn't see it and were genuinely surprised by Emrakul appearing. Still, my point was that they hinted at Emrakul through the art, not with a card specifically pointing it out.

My best guess right now is this:

- It will be several years from now
- When they return to Kaladesh, it will be because the Phyrexians invaded
- Someone repaired Rashimi's portal in secret and accidentally connected with New Phyrexia
- Subsequently the Phyrexians invade through this portal
- Kaladesh is in the middle of the battle for survival when The Gatewatch arrives (now with member WB Elspeth)
- A fierce battle ensues over the block, perhaps The Gatewatch loses a member
- I would like if they lost the battle and had to retreat but did not permanently lose the war and Kaladesh as a whole

Eh, my preference is for the next Kaladesh block to be something like "Jungles of Kaladesh", which explores the world outside the cities (but still has a bunch of artifacts, of course) and thus includes more Indian mythology. Let the Phyrexians take over Vryn.
 

Firemind

Member
The real problem is that the people who took over the overall plotting of the Weatherlight saga from Rosewater were apparently untalented hacks who have no idea how a story works, and about half of the people writing the tie-in novels were even worse. So when you dive in any deeper the Invasion storyline is really just a complete mass of awful nonsense.
Yeah but it has Urza in a mech.

309.jpg
178.jpg
 

Supast4r

Junior Member
What actually was the last standard competitive piece of equipment? Are we going to have to wait till another Mirrodin block to get more?

I get that Stoneforge Mystic is a problem, but it's banned in modern, wasn't reprinted for standard in the last zen block, and already has great tools to work with in Legacy. As long as the quality equipment pieces are tuned for the sub 5 mana slot, they shouldn't overtake the batterskull/sfm interaction in power level. (and it's even possible that a hypothetical decent 5 mana equipment wouldn't make a legacy splash as the living weapon aspect of the batterskull takes it even beyond its spot on the curve)

It just seems weird to me that they've basically left an entire subtype of cards dead to competitive play for blocks. I suppose Kaladesh isn't the natural spot for it, given that vehicles interact poorly with equipment.
They don't design for older formats and this isn't an equipment set hence why we don't have equipment...
 

OnPoint

Member
Eh, my preference is for the next Kaladesh block to be something like "Jungles of Kaladesh", which explores the world outside the cities (but still has a bunch of artifacts, of course) and thus includes more Indian mythology. Let the Phyrexians take over Vryn.

I actually like the sound of that. And Vryn is ripe for it because it has next to nothing else, plus it give their main character a reason to care about the Phyrexians.
 

Yeef

Member
What actually was the last standard competitive piece of equipment? Are we going to have to wait till another Mirrodin block to get more?
Ghostfire Blade saw play in the artifact decks a few seasons back. Back when it was all Hangarbacks, Ornithopters and Ensouls.
 
Amonkhet is likely to be another graveyard set, given the Egyptian theme and a comment from MaRo, but done in a different way than Shadows over Innistrad.
bokketoartandgames asked: In hindsight, is it a mistake that one of the most powerful mechanics in Standard, Delirium, and the deck built around it are based completely on the contents of your graveyard, and the only graveyard removal spells are single target?

There’s a method to our madness which I will explain when all the relevant factors are public. Just keep asking and at some point next year, I’ll answer.

I imagine Amonkhet's graveyard theme will involve exiling somehow. Quoting myself from the previous thread.
I have to imagine that they didn't include graveyard exiling in Standard to create a contrast with when there are tons, but how can a bunch of graveyard exiling be part of a theme? That brought me to the idea of "grave wars", where you and your opponent are both trying to build up your graveyard and stop the other.

One possible implementation of this could be "grave robbing" like this:

Pyramid Raider - 3B
Creature - Human Rogue
Menace
Whenever Pyramid Raider deals combat damage to a player, exile up to two target cards from that player's graveyard and put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.
2/2

The set will have a lot of card that do stuff from the graveyard, though like Kozilek's Return, they will exile themselves after use. Perhaps we'll also straight up get flashback.
 

Supast4r

Junior Member
I wonder. Will Vengeful Pharaoh herald a block all about library manipulation?
Give me innocent blood reprint and I care for nothing else. Innocent blood is in prime position for a reprint and it fits super well in standard: vehicles play around innocent blood, most decks are forced to run some kind of creatures in standard these days, it fits the flavor,etc.
 

Ashodin

Member
Funnily enough, this has actually been my most favorite standard so far: having a playable archetype feels good.
 

guill

Member
ab2j0fubd87y.jpg


So, sharing this from reddit, leaked on some chinese mtg video:

Unofficial Translation:
Peacekeeper Colossus, 3
Artifact - Vehicle (Rare)
1W: Another target Vehicle you control becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
Crew 4
6/6
"Keeping peace? Its sole purpose is to keep people in fear."
--- Saheeli Rai
 

Toxi

Banned
That's kind of the thing. The cast and characters of the Weatherlight saga (mostly designed in advance by Rosewater and his co-author to be essentially a fantasy Enterprise crew) are mostly very cool; Rath is really neat; the flashback locations shown off in Urza's Saga are really visually striking and creatively interesting; the Invasion is full of cool ideas and creature designs and individual story moments. If you get it just from the sets it's got a lot going for it, certainly as far as something that's just integrated directly with the card game itself.

The real problem is that the people who took over the overall plotting of the Weatherlight saga from Rosewater were apparently untalented hacks who have no idea how a story works, and about half of the people writing the tie-in novels were even worse. So when you dive in any deeper the Invasion storyline is really just a complete mass of awful nonsense.
I feel like the end of Rath and Storm/Exodus was the first moment when the Weatherlight story dropped the ball (with Crovax offing Mirri). Then came Mercadian Masques where everyone was stupid, and Nemesis where any potential Crovax had was ruined... And then came Invasion block, where the Weatherlight story just became a colossal piece of shit.

I think there was a serious mismatch of the basic concept of the Weatherlight crew and the scenarios they were put in, especially in Invasion block where you had this over-the-top grim storyline.
 

Poppy

Member
I imagine Amonkhet's graveyard theme will involve exiling somehow. Quoting myself from the previous thread.

maybe it could be some kind of keyword that sends cards from the top of the library into the graveyard, and some kind of mechanic to...reprocess them into exile

yes, it can be called digest and reprocessing
 

Sheentak

Member
I'm coming from yugioh and cardfight vanguard, I know the basics of magic and how to play but I've never really dived in other than a few pre built decks.
Is this a good product to get in the game? As in starting to play at locals and pre releases or is there another up coming set I should check out? Should I wait till the next block?
 
And yet several people still didn't see it and were genuinely surprised by Emrakul appearing. Still, my point was that they hinted at Emrakul through the art, not with a card specifically pointing it out.
So because some people stubbornly disregarded the signs, mostly reddit, their intention wasn't obvious?
We made fun of MaRo and his surprise it's Emrakul. They didn't just hint at it, they practically spelled it out.
There were a couple cards it was done very well, for instance lightning axe, but the rest was tentacles galore.
 

Ashodin

Member
ab2j0fubd87y.jpg


So, sharing this from reddit, leaked on some chinese mtg video:

Unofficial Translation:
Peacekeeper Colossus, 3
Artifact - Vehicle (Rare)
1W: Another target Vehicle you control becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
Crew 4
6/6
"Keeping peace? Its sole purpose is to keep people in fear."
--- Saheeli Rai

English version (of the translation, my copy)

SNwd4v6.png
 

Maledict

Member
Vehicles really haven't clicked for me at all. I don't know if they were intended to be evergreen after these sets, but it feels like they really missed the mark. They feel very uniteractive because of how they work, and I'm not fond of the basic mechanic of summoning creatures only for them to turn sideways to activate bigger creatures.
 

kirblar

Member
Vehicles really haven't clicked for me at all. I don't know if they were intended to be evergreen after these sets, but it feels like they really missed the mark. They feel very uniteractive because of how they work, and I'm not fond of the basic mechanic of summoning creatures only for them to turn sideways to activate bigger creatures.
Vehicles were a "we're gonna do them just to do them" thing. And they're so bad. There's no "good" reason for them to be in the set, they just wanted to do something "fan requested" that I had literally never heard asked for in feedback.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Vehicles are poorly thought out garbage that don't even make sense mechanically. The pilot should fucking die if your helicopter crashes.
 

alternade

Member
I don't mind vehicles honestly. Yeah they are kind of clunky and at times feel like indestructible creatures that just clog up the board. How would you fix them though? Have it give some bonus to the crew but deal damage to the crew when it's destroyed?

Two of those Peacekeeper Colossus would be a great control finisher.
 

Ashodin

Member
as the resident vehicle lover I can say they'll be restricted to Kaladesh unless marketing research for WotC shows they're super popular.
 
I guess I'm on the moderate end of the spectrum on vehicles, since I don't really find them annoying or mechanically problematic, just really, really boring.

I had hoped the reason they were so bland was because they planned to have other cards (instants and such) that interact with them in creative ways, but that hasn't really panned out so far. They're just dull.
 

Santiako

Member
I really like vehicles. Specially for limited. The only mistake I feel is having common ones, they should be uncommon and up (Renegade Freighter at common is just insane, and having sky skiff and copter in the same set is just lame).
 
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