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Magic: the Gathering |OT4| Izzet Me; Izzet You? A Love Story

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OnPoint

Member
Second draft of Battle for Zendikar OT OP (first for reference). Didn't realize Wizards' planes guide and planeswalkers guide had so much detail until now, though they are inconsistently updated. Notably, the summary for Nissa in the planeswalkers guide (but not on her page) still lists her as an elf supremacist.

Sarkhan's is pretty out of date too. It's something they should probably update with their new focus on story.
 

Toxi

Banned
Legalizing all Planeswalkers as commanders would mean an immediate Doubling Season ban.

Tezzeret the Seeker is fucking bonkers and would be the first Planeswalker to be banned. He's like Arcum Dagsson on steroids with some mana acceleration on the side.
 
Legacy players, could you recommend any Youtube videos or something to help me get a better grasp on the format? I've nearly completed Jeskai Stoneblade (as well as Miracles) and I need to get some education.
 

ElyrionX

Member
Legalizing all Planeswalkers as commanders would mean an immediate Doubling Season ban.

Tezzeret the Seeker is fucking bonkers and would be the first Planeswalker to be banned. He's like Arcum Dagsson on steroids with some mana acceleration on the side.

Yeah both good points here. Tezz is far better than Jace in EDH. And Doubling Season enables way too many shenanigans.
 

Matriox

Member
Legalizing all Planeswalkers as commanders would mean an immediate Doubling Season ban.

Tezzeret the Seeker is fucking bonkers and would be the first Planeswalker to be banned. He's like Arcum Dagsson on steroids with some mana acceleration on the side.

I'm not so sure on the first part, what green planeswalkers are bonkers enough in edh to call for a ban on Doubling Season? The best I've got is possibly Domri Rade, that gives the hexproof trample and doublestrike emblem, but even then he still can't use that ability immediately even with Doubling Season, he would need 1 more turn. Nissa Worldwaker mono green might be a pain, but that makes the entire decks mana base vulnerable to a board wipe lol. (Edit:also cant be used immediately, doh) I just don't see Doubling Season being worse than it currently is due to it being only in green commander decks.

I think we would see pithing needle and Phyrexian Revoker a lot more than we do in edh for sure.
 

Toxi

Banned
I'm not so sure on the first part, what green planeswalkers are bonkers enough in edh to call for a ban on Doubling Season? The best I've got is possibly Domri Rade, that gives the hexproof trample and doublestrike emblem, but even then he still can't use that ability immediately even with Doubling Season, he would need 1 more turn. Nissa mono green might be a pain, but that makes the entire decks mana base vulnerable to a board wipe lol. (Edit:also cant be used immediately, doh) I just don't see Doubling Season being worse than it currently is due to it being only in green commander decks.
Yeah, in hindsight I wasn't thinking of the color restrictions there. Most of the "you win the game" ultimates immediately obtainable with Doubling Season are for non-Green Planeswalkers.

Sarkhan Unbroken's potentially kinda nasty though. Grabbing any dragons in UGR presents a lot of options.
 

Matriox

Member
Why is Rich Hagon doing match observation rather than reporting? Personal choice I assume? Seems weird seeing him not all dressed up and doing mid match commentating.

EDIT: Also, can someone explain to me where the term "Vorthos" comes from? Its about lore every time I read it, but I don't know, is it a combination of "Lore" and another word?

So I just googled it to find it basically means someone who cares about flavor and lore when it comes to the game, but the other half of my question I'm just wondering, much like Timmy and Spike are names I've actually heard of, where did Vorthos come from?

Tragic Arrogance is seeing a really decent amount of play on camera. Most from boards, but seeing play none the less. Also Hangarback Walker's in droves.
 
Yeah, in hindsight I wasn't thinking of the color restrictions there. Most of the "you win the game" ultimates immediately obtainable with Doubling Season are for non-Green Planeswalkers.

Sarkhan Unbroken's potentially kinda nasty though. Grabbing any dragons in UGR presents a lot of options.

Yeah, Sarkhan Unbroken is a one-shot kill with Doubling Season because you just grab a bunch of dragons and Scourge of Valkas and kill the entire table scapeshift-style.

Vraska gets game ending tokens with 3 loyalty remaining to kill a blocker.

Garruk, Caller of Beasts gets his emblem instantly which basically wins the game on the spot. He even survives.

Garruk, Apex Predator also gets an emblem and survives which pretty much removes one player from the table.

Those are probably the worst ones.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Second draft of Battle for Zendikar OT OP (first for reference). Didn't realize Wizards' planes guide and planeswalkers guide had so much detail until now, though they are inconsistently updated. Notably, the summary for Nissa in the planeswalkers guide (but not on her page) still lists her as an elf supremacist.
I can't be the only one who finds this funny:

nb5QhnS.png
 

Crocodile

Member
Am i the only one who feels awkward/saddened that they basically sanitized Nissa? Like it didn't feel like character development but just plain retconning.
 
If planeswalkers/legendary permanents were legal as commanders what would you play?

It's hard for me to pass up on Dack Fayden or Ashiok. I love stealing stuff from my opponent.

Also, apparently Unscythe and Horde of Notions are the only noncreature, non-planeswalker legendary permanents that are two or more colors. I figured there'd be more than that. Maybe we'll get the minor god-weapons one day.
 

Matriox

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";175630740]If planeswalkers/legendary permanents were legal as commanders what would you play?

It's hard for me to pass up on Dack Fayden or Ashiok. I love stealing stuff from my opponent.

Also, apparently Unscythe and Horde of Notions are the only noncreature, non-planeswalker legendary permanents that are two or more colors. I figured there'd be more than that. Maybe we'll get the minor god-weapons one day.[/QUOTE]

Horde of notions is a creature, and Genju of the Realm would fit too! - To answer the question yes. I would imagine some would get banned, but more potential commanders isn't a bad thing, just weed out the oppressive stuff and we would have more options.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Am i the only one who feels awkward/saddened that they basically sanitized Nissa? Like it didn't feel like character development but just plain retconning.

I think she was in their minds as the G/B Planeswalker, and then they added Garruk and Vraska and changed their minds, so she had to be the mono-green I LOVE FORESTS planeswalker.
 
Horde of notions is a creature, and Genju of the Realm would fit too! - To answer the question yes. I would imagine some would get banned, but more potential commanders isn't a bad thing, just weed out the oppressive stuff and we would have more options.
Yeah i meant genju lol, dont know why i wrote horde >_>
 

Jhriad

Member
I would imagine some would get banned, but more potential commanders isn't a bad thing, just weed out the oppressive stuff and we would have more options.

With the focus on storytelling they're already printing a ton of Legendary creatures in every Standard set going forward, not to mention the new commanders that come out with every Commander product. I think there are more than enough potential commanders entering the format with every release that we don't really need to shoehorn older cards into the Commander slot. We must have gotten like 20 Legendary creatures, most of them with a color identity in 2 or more colors, in the Tarkir block. That said, I would like to see more Planeswalker Commander cards in the future but I'd rather they were created from scratch with the format in mind like the 2014 ones were.
 

Matriox

Member
I had come up with an example for 4 color commanders that mulled over pretty well on MTGS a while ago:

What if it was a 2c commander with a 2c ability different from the colors on the card? Like a UR legendary creature that has haste and flash, 2/2 body, and WG(tap) to destroy target enchantment or artifact

I was really hoping to see something along these lines, granted the difference between a 4c and 5c commander is negligible, I'd still like to see them at some point.

With the focus on storytelling they're already printing a ton of Legendary creatures in every Standard set going forward, not to mention the new commanders that come out with every Commander product. I think there are more than enough potential commanders entering the format with every release that we don't really need to shoehorn older cards into the Commander slot. We must have gotten like 20 Legendary creatures, most of them with a color identity in 2 or more colors, in the Tarkir block. That said, I would like to see more Planeswalker Commander cards in the future but I'd rather they were created from scratch with the format in mind like the 2014 ones were.

I'd agree it isn't necessary, but they're already introducing planeswalkers into the slot, I would rather they just make it a rule that planeswalkers can be commanders and get rid of that text at the bottom.
 
So the interwebs are saying no Zen fetches in Commander products, and not in the return to Zendikar. This sucks. :\

From the Vault: Fetches
Foil fetches of every kind. lulz
 
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";175619043]Yeah, Sarkhan Unbroken is a one-shot kill with Doubling Season because you just grab a bunch of dragons and Scourge of Valkas and kill the entire table scapeshift-style.

Vraska gets game ending tokens with 3 loyalty remaining to kill a blocker.

Garruk, Caller of Beasts gets his emblem instantly which basically wins the game on the spot. He even survives.

Garruk, Apex Predator also gets an emblem and survives which pretty much removes one player from the table.

Those are probably the worst ones.[/QUOTE]

I have a Doubling Season on the way to me in the mail for my Prossh deck. I'm looking forward to it! Besides the insane Prossh shenanigans, I also have these Planeswalkers in the deck:

1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sarkhan Vol
1 Vraska the Unseen
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
 

Jhriad

Member
So the interwebs are saying no Zen fetches in Commander products, and not in the return to Zendikar. This sucks. :\

From the Vault: Fetches
Foil fetches of every kind. lulz

I believe the wording of Maro's post is that they're not in Battle for Zendikar but them being in the second set of the block a.k.a. "Sweat" was left open. Maybe they'll show up there. If they show up in "Sweat" they would be released and hit peak supply before Modern season starts winding up so that would make sense. The first set in the block after BFZ/Sweat a.k.a. "Tears" might also work depending on how that lines up with the start of Modern season. The fact that their naming scheme for "Tears" lines up with the naming scheme of the Zendikar block could be a clue that there will be some links between that block and the Zendikar block but that's a lot of conjecture on my part. The name could just as well be a hold over from before the new block structure was announced and be relatively independent of ties to the Zendikar block.
 
The fact that their naming scheme for "Tears" lines up with the naming scheme of the Zendikar block could be a clue that there will be some links between that block and the Zendikar block but that's a lot of conjecture on my part. The name could just as well be a hold over from before the new block structure was announced and be relatively independent of ties to the Zendikar block.

That's exactly the case. Codenames are given when even the slightest bit of work starts on a block, and design for Battle for Zendikar had already started before they decided on the two-set block model.
 

kirblar

Member
So the interwebs are saying no Zen fetches in Commander products, and not in the return to Zendikar. This sucks. :\

From the Vault: Fetches
Foil fetches of every kind. lulz
The Spring set (which is likely to be Fairy Tale World) is very likely to have them.

In large part because it's both the start of the new paradigm, and also because it's f'n Fairy Tale World.
 
The Spring set (which is likely to be Fairy Tale World) is very likely to have them.

In large part because it's both the start of the new paradigm, and also because it's f'n Fairy Tale World.

It's also the first set in after Khans rotates, which means that you won't have all 10 at once.

Also, putting highly desirable rares in a set might be good if the pitch for it is "Fairy Tales."
 

Jhriad

Member
Guess I'll actually pay some attention to the GP stream now that the Team Draft portion is about to start. Team Sealed seems cool to play but it's not really any more interesting to watch than a regular ol' sealed tourney.
 
Fairy Tail mechanic
"If a creature your opponent controls would die, if that creature is cool and/or hot, gain control of that creature instead."
 

kirblar

Member
Guess I'll actually pay some attention to the GP stream now that the Team Draft portion is about to start. Team Sealed seems cool to play but it's not really any more interesting to watch than a regular ol' sealed tourney.
Team Sealed is the best format in Magic.

Team Draft is actually less skilltesting and interesting, imo.
 

Jhriad

Member
Team Sealed is the best format in Magic.

Team Draft is actually less skilltesting and interesting, imo.

I dunno, as a viewer Team Sealed would be a lot more interesting if I could watch teams open the pool and build their decks/sideboards. Obviously we can't see that but once their decks are built it's just another sealed deck and if a challenging line of play comes up they can just lean over and confer with their teammates. Watching that is personally only marginally more interesting than a normal Sealed match.

EDIT: That said, as a player I want to play a Team Sealed event so damn bad. Just looks like a blast.
 

kirblar

Member
Jacob Wilson just won the GP w/ Nass/Pardee.....going 1-15 in his games.

I'm real curious if they sandbagged his decks on purpose.
 
Am i the only one who feels awkward/saddened that they basically sanitized Nissa? Like it didn't feel like character development but just plain retconning.

Yeah, I mean, obviously they can get away with it but when you're already peddling low-end fantasy schlock, I don't think that sweeping stuff down the memory hole is really a very respectful way to deal with the fans. Just deal with the fact that you hit bad beats sometimes and move on.

That said, Nissa's original character was kind of awful so I dunno how much was really lost in this particular case.

I think she was in their minds as the G/B Planeswalker, and then they added Garruk and Vraska and changed their minds, so she had to be the mono-green I LOVE FORESTS planeswalker.

I think it's more that they introduced her, everyone hated her because her card sucked and nothing about her visual style or character traits really made up for that, they realized that her mechanical gimmick was also awful, and switching to the dramatically superior theme choice meant monkeying with the storyline to make it fit.

So the interwebs are saying no Zen fetches in Commander products, and not in the return to Zendikar. This sucks. :\

Most of the speculation for them showing up in BFZ was left over from when we weren't exactly sure when we'd be returning to Zendikar, I think. We know they need to be reprinted, and WotC knows that we know, but I don't think there was ever any serious chance of having both sets in Standard at the same time. The heightened rotation speed means they can jam them into Tears or Lock block, after KTK is out of Standard.

Team Sealed is the best format in Magic.

Team Draft is actually less skilltesting and interesting, imo.

Right. Normal Sealed is a terrible format because the variance factor is much too high; Team Sealed is fantastic because you have a much bigger card pool to draw on, but have to crack the puzzle of how to build three distinct decks out of it. The individual decks wind up on a draft level of power and focus, but the skilltesting level of the deckbuilding is immense.

Jacob Wilson just won the GP w/ Nass/Pardee.....going 1-15 in his games.

I'm real curious if they sandbagged his decks on purpose.

The question's I'd ask about that are a) would it make sense that the deck type they had him playing was the weakest and b) would it make sense to stick him with the shitty deck out of the three people on the team.
 

OnPoint

Member
Should have just put Nissa on Tarkir during the time shift and let that explain it away.

What a waste of easy retcon-sauce.
 
Does choosing happen on resolution or on casting? I got into an argument on Cockatrice as I wanted to respond to my opponent's tragic arrogance by sacing all my shit creatures to my evolutionary leap, to force him to choose to keep my good creature. My opponent argued it was on casting though, so responding would be pointless.

I think it has to be on resolution though, otherwise how would it be different than targeting?
 

Toxi

Banned
Does choosing happen on resolution or on casting? I got into an argument on Cockatrice as I wanted to respond to my opponent's tragic arrogance by sacing all my shit creatures to my evolutionary leap, to force him to choose to keep my good creature. My opponent argued it was on casting though, so responding would be pointless.
EDIT: You make choices on resolving unless it's modal. So in this case, you were right.
 

OnPoint

Member
Does choosing happen on resolution or on casting? I got into an argument on Cockatrice as I wanted to respond to my opponent's tragic arrogance by sacing all my shit creatures to my evolutionary leap, to force him to choose to keep my good creature. My opponent argued it was on casting though, so responding would be pointless.

I think it has to be on resolution though, otherwise how would it be different than targeting?

Evolutionary Leap can be activated in response to Tragic Arrogance's casting. Once TA resolves, however, its ability takes over, your opponent makes choices and you can't put more things onto the stack in response.
 

Toxi

Banned
Looks like It That Betrays, Primal Command, and Stirring Wildwood are all in the Duel Deck
It That Betrays is a very awesome reprint for EDH.

Also, what's up with the Eldrazi on the bottom left? It has two symbols in the mana cost, one of which looks very much like the Red mana symbol, but also has the transparent frame associated with the colorless Eldrazi.
 

kirblar

Member
It That Betrays is a very awesome reprint for EDH.

Also, what's up with the Eldrazi on the bottom left? It has two symbols in the mana cost, one of which looks very much like the Red mana symbol, but also has the transparent frame associated with the colorless Eldrazi.
It's got a new Keyword that makes it colorless.

Ghostfire reprnt time.
 
Reasonable guesses from MTG Salvation:

Joraga Warleader 2GW
Creature - Human Warrior Ally
~'s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
Tap an untapped Ally you control: ~this~ gains your choice of First Strike, Vigilance or Trample until the end of the turn.

Eldrazi Name BR
Creature - Eldrazi Drone
New Ability (This card is colorless.)
1: target eldrazi you control gains haste until the end of the turn.
3/1
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
That's...an interesting way to handle Eldrazi this time around. How much is it really going to matter though outside of interactions with Protection or Intimidate?
 
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