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[SigmasonicX]

"Ojutai, Winter's Soul"
5WU
Legendary Creature - Dragon
Flying, vigilance
Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, Tap target nonland permament your opponents control. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
5/6

I think this is pretty decent.

 

[The Technomancer]

I'm really curious how the whole "whenever a dragon you control attacks" thing plays out, specifically how often that's strategically going to really mean more than "whenever this card attacks", since honestly if you find yourself in a position if you're attacking with three separate dragons you're probably already winning anyway.

 

[Toxi]

I'm really curious how the whole "whenever a dragon you control attacks" thing plays out, specifically how often that's strategically going to really mean more than "whenever this card attacks", since honestly if you find yourself in a position if you're attacking with three separate dragons you're probably already winning anyway.

It does add some extra spice with Mirror Entity, Conspiracy, Xenograft, etc. So I appreciate that.

 

[charlequin]

I'll just chalk it up to the case of a bad art director.

...you mean Jeremy Jarvis, the exact same person who was the art director on Alara?

Any time Magic does a focus on dragons these days, they have to carefully balance their style to avoid stepping on the toes of a pretty large set of predecessors. There are three famous cycles of gold dragons -- the Legends Elder Dragons, the Invasion Primordials, and the Planar Chaos alternate-universe dragons. There's the Alara style, which is heavily associated with Jund and therefore needs to be avoided on other planes. There's the ultra-skinny, slinky Innistrad dragons; the Eastern Kamigawa dragons; the wiry Mirrodin dragons, all of which are fairly recognizable.

The brood mothers seem like perfectly good designs with the goal of "define five new unique styles that can be applied to probably 5+ other lesser dragons each." If you're one of those people who can't stand variations on the base formula then Wizards' creative process is going to make you unhappy a lot.

 

[WanderingWind]

GB, Caleb Durward jacked your deck for his latest CFB video. Sorry bro, but you're now a dirty netdecker

 

[Haly]

Retronetdecker.

 

[pelicansurf]

So is the green/red dragon going to be the epitome of badass? It better be.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

A) I know some have said about be careful to separate your multi-color and hybrid cards but honestly, anytime you can replace a multicolor card with a hybrid one, the playability of your Cube improves overall.

B) I wouldn't worry about PW saturation. Unless you go overboard, I feel its a non-issue as long as aggressive decks are well supported in your Cube.

C) I would also open up the Cube to cards not legal in Modern but printed after 8th Edition - stuff like Conspiracy (not the Draft-Matters cards) and Commander releases. There are some powerful cards in there but nothing that would dominate a Modern format IMO.

One of the problems with having a lot of hybrid cards is that it makes it difficult to give the color combo it's own identity, especially since he's only running three gold card per guild. I think it's important for the colors to have payoff cards that you can expect to wheel if nobody else is playing those colors. If your Selesnya section has three cards, and two of them are Finks (staple) and Militant (not really a staple), there's only one other Selesnya card in the entire draft that's a "payoff" for being in that combination. I think that's a very real downside of going heavy hybrid. In general, I avoid hybrid except in cases where the card is a staple (Finks, Redcap, and to a lesser extent, Cackler) and/or the quality is so high that I can't cut it. I have five cards per guild (405 cards in the cube), so I feel like I'm isolated from this effect and it doesn't bother me so much.

I suppose if you went all-hybrid, that would make for an interesting take on it though.

I would agree about the supplemental printings. That would give you access to Baleful Strix, Brago, Shardless Agent, Song of the Dryads, etc. I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking of right now.

 

[ElyrionX]

So is the green/red dragon going to be the epitome of badass? It better be.

It'd better be. My Animar deck would love a new toy.

 

[Grakl]

"Ojutai, Winter's Soul"
5WU
Legendary Creature - Dragon
Flying, vigilance
Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, Tap target nonland permament your opponents control. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
5/6

I think this is pretty decent.

I love this art. Cool card, too.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Bwahaha. I'm watching Durward's latest video. His opponent flashes in a Containment Priest in response to him cracking a Wooded Foothills with the intent of getting a Dryad Arbor. Durward completely flips out; the interaction between Containment Priest and Dryad Arbor is so bizarre that I hadn't even considered it until it happened.

Magic is such a great game.

 

[ThLunarian]

I don't understand why people don't put Conspiracies and draft-matters cards in their cubes. That's the perfect place for them!

I feel the same way, to a lesser extent, about silver-bordered cards.

Maybe I'll make my own cube to address these issues.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I don't understand why people don't put Conspiracies and draft-matters cards in their cubes. That's the perfect place for them!

I feel the same way, to a lesser extent, about silver-bordered cards.

Maybe I'll make my own cube to address these issues.

I had completely forgotten about those! I have Cogwork Librarian in my cube, and I've considered Agent of Acquisitions as well. I don't like most of the conspiracies themselves; they're generally either not playable, or too good. I've seen people put Power Play in the cube for the aggressive decks, but personally I think that's just too good.

 

[ThLunarian]

I had completely forgotten about those! I have Cogwork Librarian in my cube, and I've considered Agent of Acquisitions as well. I don't like most of the conspiracies themselves; they're generally either not playable, or too good. I've seen people put Power Play in the cube for the aggressive decks, but personally I think that's just too good.

Yeah of course many of the conspiracies are unsuitable. But Worldknit, or the one where you get to start with a 1/1 defender? Those are both great. I wouldn't even be opposed to the Hidden Agendas (even if they're probably not good enough in a highlander draft). There are probably others that I'm forgetting.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Well here's an interesting card:

 

[Lucario]

Apparently, these have counterfeit seals because they're from the Ugin's Fate booster.

I thought Ugin's Fate was only going to contain alt-art reprints from Khans? Odd. I kind of wonder if any cards are exclusive to Ugin's Fate.

Bwahaha. I'm watching Durward's latest video. His opponent flashes in a Containment Priest in response to him cracking a Wooded Foothills with the intent of getting a Dryad Arbor. Durward completely flips out; the interaction between Containment Priest and Dryad Arbor is so bizarre that I hadn't even considered it until it happened.

Magic is such a great game.

I got blown out by this in NJ. Containment Priest is a huge bummer for Elves.

 

[Llyrwenne]

+ Ugin's Fate promo's

Formless Nurturing, Wildcall and Fierce Invocation seem kind of unnecessarily boringly near identical. And why would you run Formless Nurturing over Wildcall?

Am I missing something there?

 

[divisionbyzorro]

+ Ugin's Fate promo's


Formless Nurturing, Wildcall and Fierce Invocation seem kind of unnecessarily boringly near identical. And why would you run Formless Nurturing over Wildcall?

Am I missing something there?

Rarity.

Also - I guess FRF/KTK/KTK limited is going to have a lot of face-down creatures on it. I get the feeling it's going to be very, very chaotic.

 

[OnPoint]

I hate Manifest a lot. It's so boring.

 

[Lucario]

+ Ugin's Fate promo's


Formless Nurturing, Wildcall and Fierce Invocation seem kind of unnecessarily boringly near identical. And why would you run Formless Nurturing over Wildcall?

Am I missing something there?

Formless Nurturing is playable -- it's a common Hill Giant with some upside. You jam Wildcall into every limited deck that's capable of casting it, but it's a rare, so you aren't going to see it as often as something like Nurturing.

I hate Manifest a lot. It's so boring.

Not for Judges!


....

 

[kirblar]

Are we seeing DTK cards here? (Probably not)

 

[bigkrev]

This seems like the most complicated set I can remember. So many words on every card!

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I hate Manifest a lot. It's so boring.

Think about it this way - if I'm reading the set right, they've replaced all "vanilla" creatures with manifests. This is a massive upgrade in complexity.

EDIT: It's a really good thing you only get one pack of FRF in draft. Manifests are incredibly high-variance in a way that I'm not convinced is necessarily "fun."

 

[Toxi]

Well here's an interesting card:

Hey, they fixed Blue removal (sorry, "transformation") so that it actually works more like Polymorph and is not completely color pie breaking.

Too bad it's not an evergreen card.

 

[pelicansurf]

I'm excited! This is gonna make things weird, but exciting.

 

[Llyrwenne]

Formless Nurturing is playable -- it's a common Hill Giant with some upside. You jam Wildcall into every limited deck that's capable of casting it, but it's a rare, so you aren't going to see it as often as something like Nurturing.

I don't mean to say that it is not playable, it's just that I think it is weird that they would print a new card, then another near-identical card in another color ( without it appearing to be a cycle ) and then also a strict upgrade in the same color in the same set; a small set no less. But anyway, I'm still new to Magic, and this is the first set I'll be around for at release, so I'm probably just way off here.

Are we seeing DTK cards here? (Probably not)

That would be interesting; Ugin's Fate containing both KTK and DTK cards as representations of the two possible futures that could be caused due to FRF's events. I actually think you might be right. That would also mean that Formless Nurturing and Fierce Invocation might be part of DTK ( and perhaps even a common Manifest cycle ) which would make more sense to me.

 

[The Technomancer]

I think Rosewater confirmed either on his blog or in his article that Morph is coming back for DTK and Manifest is Fate Reforged only

 

[ultron87]

I do wish Reality Shift was just "turn target creature face down". But that would get too confusing with Morph and Manifest running around.

 

[The Technomancer]

So one thing I'm not clear on: is the state of a facedown card as Morph or a Manifest something the controlling player is responsible for visibly tracking? If not, why would you use the marker tokens when you could leave them all blank and hope that your opponent loses track?

 

[ultron87]

So one thing I'm not clear on: is the state of a facedown card as Morph or a Manifest something the controlling player is responsible for visibly tracking? If not, why would you use the marker tokens when you could leave them all blank and hope that your opponent loses track?

You don't necessarily have to leave them in different piles or anything, but you aren't allowed to conceal anything that previously happened to that card. So if they ask "which facedown is this?" you'd have to respond "that was the Manifested card off Reality Shift" or "that's the second morph I played".

 

[Hero]

Blue gets a two mana instant speed exile effect. Gotta love that color pie.

 

[The Technomancer]

You don't necessarily have to leave them in different piles or anything, but you aren't allowed to conceal anything that previously happened to that card. So if they ask "which facedown is this?" you'd have to respond "that was the Manifested card off Reality Shift" or "that's the second morph I played".

Gotcha

 

[divisionbyzorro]

So one thing I'm not clear on: is the state of a facedown card as Morph or a Manifest something the controlling player is responsible for visibly tracking? If not, why would you use the marker tokens when you could leave them all blank and hope that your opponent loses track?

A card can be face down for three reasons now:

1) It was cast for 3 colorless mana as a Morph. It is marked as a Morph, and you are responsible for marking it both as a Morph and indicating which Morph it is (i.e., Morph #1, Morph #2, etc). It can be turned up at any time for its Morph cost.

2) It was put onto the battlefield as a Manifest effect. It is marked as a Manifest, and you are responsible for marking it both as a Manifest and indicating which Manifest it is (i.e., Manifest #1, Manifest #2, etc). It can be turned up any time for its mana cost or Morph cost (if it has any).

3) It was turned face-down by some other effect (e.g., Ixidron). It is considered a Morph, and must be identified if its identity is known. So an Ashcloud Phoenix that comes back to the battlefield must always be identified as a Morphed Ashcloud Phoenix. If Ixidron (hopefully not getting reprinted) turns creatures face down, they must all be identified by name as well. It can only be turned up for its Morph cost.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

edit: nvm explained better

 

[Toxi]

Blue gets a two mana instant speed exile effect. Gotta love that color pie.

But this time, there's actually significant risk built into the transformation flavor. The problem with Pongify/Rapid Hybridization is that a vanilla 3/3 hardly is a significant risk in a format like Commander. They also felt little like Polymorph because they lacked the card's more unpredictable nature. For one more mana, Reality Shift fixes both issues: You have a random risk factor where the face-down creature can be any creature in your opponent's deck.

Sadly, I expect a return back to "Destroy your opponent's creature, they get a bear token" in blocks without Morph/Manifest.

 

[y2dvd]

Well here's an interesting card:

Apparently, these have counterfeit seals because they're from the Ugin's Fate booster.

I thought Ugin's Fate was only going to contain alt-art reprints from Khans? Odd. I kind of wonder if any cards are exclusive to Ugin's Fate.



I got blown out by this in NJ. Containment Priest is a huge bummer for Elves.

Both of these cards looks constructed playable. It'll be funny playing against Courser of Kruphix as you'll be able to see exactly what will be Manifested. Manifest away a kill spell or a Planeswalker, etc.

 

[Yeef]

The clash pack hits all the right cards with the alt-art this time around: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/arcana/fate-reforged-clash-pack-2015-01-06

 

[kirblar]

lol @ them needing to put courser in everything. These Clash decks are so much better than the Event Decks.

 

[OnPoint]

THE BEARS!

 

[Haly]

Isn't Defector really busted with Jeskai Ascendency? The control switch doesn't happen until it resolves, right? So you could untap it and tap it again to put the ability on the stack, so long as you have more instants to play.

 

[Lucario]

Isn't Defector really busted with Jeskai Ascendency? The control switch doesn't happen until it resolves, right? So you could untap it and tap it again to put the ability on the stack, so long as you have more instants to play.

Yep, that works. Very cool interaction, good eye!

 

[kirblar]

The draw two is part of the resolution, dummies- look at the colon.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Holy crap I want that Clash pack so badly.

Also - I really want to jam Humble Defector into my cube. Tap it for cards, then sac it to Goblin Bombardment. Yum.

EDIT: Ooh, tap for cards, then blink it with Nephalia Smuggler. Tee hee.

The draw two is part of the resolution, dummies- look at the colon.

That doesn't mean it doesn't work. It just means that it won't go infinite.

 

[Lucario]

The draw two is part of the resolution, dummies- look at the colon.

I'm aware; you're still putting another Draw 2 ability on the stack for each instant in your hand, which is Johnny paradise if not constructed playable. I don't think anyone here is assuming that drawing cards is part of the cost

 

[Haly]

Right, I wasn't talking about going infinite. Just that, if you had Ascendency out, each instant you play gets you an additional 2 cards once the stack clears.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

In EDH, you can tap it for cards, then blink it with Deadeye Navigator (as if Deadeye wasn't already broken with every other card).

 

[Lucario]

All we need now is a Crimson Wisps reprint.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

All we need now is a Crimson Wisps reprint.

Give me an Anger reprint.

 

[pelicansurf]

lol @ them needing to put courser in everything. These Clash decks are so much better than the Event Decks.

GR Dragon beast mode indeed. Holy shit! I want to play this with stormbreath... drool.

 

[bigkrev]

In 1v1, if my opponent has Leyline of Sanctity out, is that guy just tap draw 2 with no downside?

That is also a really weird Uncommon. Feels like a rare.