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[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Redundancy is a good thing though, especially in White EDH.

Bruna provides good immediate card advantage in White, a color that often struggles with card advantage. While she's hardly the most powerful White card at her CMC, she's hardly bad. And as a general, she's a fun, flavorful option that lets you build Angel/Human tribal with an extra cool effect if you can grab Gisela.

While true that redundancy is good, the high CMC is overcrowded with angels already and I like other options more there. The only Angel I'd consider cutting right now is Anya but there are so few Boros Angels as is in my deck already.

This is more or less my current list, missing a sword of fire and ice, ricochet trap instead of reverberate, gamble and mana crypt. I guess I could cut the defy death, I think I'll do that being uncounterabel and having a sozeable body is preferable over a card mostly in for flavour reasons.

 

[Ashodin]

Hmmm

Hanweir might have a place in my standard deck. Both cards are great.

 

[SigmasonicX]

The converted mana cost of a melded cost is equal to both front sides combined.
Flavor reason for no investigate

For those curious re: lack of investigate, when the large flying tentacle monster shows up, you can stop looking for the problem. It's that.

And promo and normal Thalia art.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Hmmm

Hanweir might have a place in my standard deck. Both cards are great.

The Garrison is pretty good on its own and does a pretty reasonable impression of Goblin Rabblemaster.

I don't know that the melded version is necessarily better than just playing Westvale Abbey and Ormendahl, though.

The converted mana cost of a melded cost is equal to both front sides combined.
Flavor reason for no investigate


And promo and normal Thalia art.

Cheesecake Thalia

 

[Ashodin]

Oooh yeah that Thalia art

Christine sprankle already excited fam

@grimace why not both?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Oooh yeah that Thalia art

@grimace why not both?

You mean why not play Hanweir and Westvale? I can think of a few: color fixing reasons, Hanweir requires you to play Red, which is the worst color in standard right now, Writhing Township dies in combat and Ormendahl doesn't, and Township doesn't have flying, which is relevant in that its a Standard in which the boardstates are full of 2/3 ground guys that can't attack into each other.

The upside of course, is that Township doesn't require you to sac anything other than Garrison, I suppose.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Flavor reason for no investigate

You know, now I'm disappointed we didn't get a card like this:

Persistent Search - U
Instant
Investigate.
Madness (0)
"Now, a lot of people are saying that giant noodle monster is behind all this, but I just don't think all the facts are in yet."

 

[DrArchon]

I'm surprised to see a legendary tutor effect in this set.

Thank Christ this thing has first strike. If it didn't this would easily be one of the worst limited "feel bad" cards I've seen.

I mean, it's still gonna suck to have this in your pack instead of a better rare, but at least it won't be 100% worthless.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Gonna make a Thalia and Odric deck with both characters cosplaying as Ciri and Geralt of Rivia respectively. Chandra will be Triss, and Liliana will be Yennefer.

 

[Toxi]

Romance novel cover Thalia

 

[Joe Molotov]

This is the weirdest Liliana art.

Innstrad Slims: Great taste, goes down smooth.

 

[OnPoint]

Those Thalia arts should be switched lol

 

[ThLunarian]

Thank Christ this thing has first strike. If it didn't this would easily be one of the worst limited "feel bad" cards I've seen.

I mean, it's still gonna suck to have this in your pack instead of a better rare, but at least it won't be 100% worthless.

A five-mana 4/4 is always at least respectable. The first strike puts it over the top as a powerful card. It's not a bomb, but there are far worse rares for limited out there

 

[hermit7]

Those Thalia arts should be switched lol

I disagree here.

I am a big fan of the standard art. Not a fan of the promo art at all.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Thank Christ this thing has first strike. If it didn't this would easily be one of the worst limited "feel bad" cards I've seen.

I mean, it's still gonna suck to have this in your pack instead of a better rare, but at least it won't be 100% worthless.

I opened Call the Gatewatch as a promo in Oath prerelease.

 

[DrArchon]

I opened Call the Gatewatch as a promo in Oath prerelease.

I remember the Gatecrash promo event where I opened two copies Biovisionary when I picked Orzhov. That was a fun time.

And yeah, a 5 mana 4/4 is probably pretty solid in white, but I'd still want a better bomb as a rare in limited. The first strike really helps with that though.

 

[red13th]

I love that non promo Thalia!

 

[Angry Grimace]

I remember the Gatecrash promo event where I opened two copies Biovisionary when I picked Orzhov. That was a fun time.

And yeah, a 5 mana 4/4 is probably pretty solid in white, but I'd still want a better bomb as a rare in limited. The first strike really helps with that though.

I did another one where I opened 3 copies of Oath of Jace. And 2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, a Nissa's Renewal and a foil Guardian of Tazeem. I think I lost 1 game the entire prerelease.

 

[Ashodin]

You mean why not play Hanweir and Westvale? I can think of a few: color fixing reasons, Hanweir requires you to play Red, which is the worst color in standard right now, Writhing Township dies in combat and Ormendahl doesn't, and Township doesn't have flying, which is relevant in that its a Standard in which the boardstates are full of 2/3 ground guys that can't attack into each other.

The upside of course, is that Township doesn't require you to sac anything other than Garrison, I suppose.

I was thinking the tokens powering westvale.

And we haven't seen all th red cards in the set bruh

 

[Angry Grimace]

I was thinking the tokens powering westvale.

And we haven't seen all th red cards in the set bruh

I mean, there's only gonna be like 30 red cards. The problem being that it isn't exactly like there's a bunch of red cards that are just missing one card to put them over the top.

 

[Ashodin]

I mean, there's only gonna be like 30 red cards. The problem being that it isn't exactly like there's a bunch of red cards that are just missing one card to put them over the top.

My standard deck needs a better sweeper than fucking radiant flames

 

[charlequin]

I'll dive back into the Jace argument separately a little later, lol.

thats some pretty narrow thinking

There's just pretty hard limits based on the structure of the game. Avacyn is planebound so she can't evolve her relationship to Sorin over multiple sets; the story is told through cards so certain types of subtle characterization aren't possible; their interaction is happening in the midst of a block with a bunch of other stuff happening, before the story goes off somewhere else, so there's not a ton of room to focus on this one relationship. What they went with is something that has some emotional heft and can still be shown on a card.

Expect it will be twice as big as all the other cards, and in sleeves they won't line up perfectly.

Yeah, I guess that's fair. It just doesn't seem like a huge aesthetic problem to me, you just overlap the sleeves a bit, but it's a reasonable critique.

This reminds me - by now, we should have some cards that hint at the themes of next Spring's big set. (With the new three-block standard, all three blocks need to have synergy). I am definitely not saying this is it (they tried legendary as a block theme before, and it turned out poorly), but are there other oddball cards that hint towards anything?

They've already admitted that Kaladesh has (presumably among other things) an artifact theme, which supports the existing colorless-matters theme in BF, presumably will pay off the equipment-matters themes from BFZ and SOI, and should play very well with Investigate.

 

[aidan]

Man. Nothing says, "slightly played," like a meld card.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Yeah, I guess that's fair. It just doesn't seem like a huge aesthetic problem to me, you just overlap the sleeves a bit, but it's a reasonable critique.

Obviously I'm biased on this subject, but most people I've talked to today seem to not like the mechanic very much and think it sounds awkward to play with. Anecdotal evidence and all, so grain of salt.

 

[Xis]

A bunch of the cards from Kaladesh that we saw in Origins were artifact themed, which works pretty well with Investigate (e.g. tapping clues for Aether Grid or as part of Thopter Spy Network)

BFZ's Eldrazi triggering specifically on colorless cards was a hint at an artifact set, and investigate pooping out artifact tokens pointed toward mechanics that care about artifacts on the battlefield.

Maybe I am looking too far into the future, but I'm not talking about the fall set (Kaladesh), but next spring's set (???). Last fall's block (BFZ) had themes that synergize with this fall's block (Kaladesh). This spring's block (SOI/ELM) will synergize with next spring's set in some way, so someone who is really smart and really attentive might be able to make predictions about it.

 

[Ashodin]

Obviously I'm biased on this subject, but most people I've talked to today seem to not like the mechanic very much and think it sounds awkward to play with. Anecdotal evidence and all, so grain of salt.

Go to FNM this week and see how people think. That's what I'm doing.

Twitter, of course, is full of "omg wizards is awesome what will they think of next gimme a job ok plz wizards ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺"

 

[Angry Grimace]

Maybe I am looking too far into the future, but I'm not talking about the fall set (Kaladesh), but next spring's set (???). Last fall's block (BFZ) had themes that synergize with this fall's block (Kaladesh). This spring's block (SOI/ELM) will synergize with next spring's set in some way, so someone who is really smart and really attentive might be able to make predictions about it.

Emerge is a hint as to the triumphant return of Scornful Egotist!

 

[twobear]

This is the weirdest Liliana art.

trying to erase the lilliana of the veil boob slip ic

 

[SigmasonicX]

Maybe I am looking too far into the future, but I'm not talking about the fall set (Kaladesh), but next spring's set (???). Last fall's block (BFZ) had themes that synergize with this fall's block (Kaladesh). This spring's block (SOI/ELM) will synergize with next spring's set in some way, so someone who is really smart and really attentive might be able to make predictions about it.

We had a pretty good idea of what "Lock" was going to be after Magic Origins went into such detail about Kaladesh's world, so we knew what to look for in that case. Without that, I'm sure it would have been harder to find what connected to later sets.

 

[ThLunarian]

I really like that there is a prominent Kamigawan floating around who might be crucial in defeating the Eldrazi menace. I wish they'd introduce a Planeswalker from Dominaria, or maybe even Rath. I guess Rabiah's asking for too much, but some other planeswalker from a throwback bloc would be sweet.

Hell, maybe have Baron Sengir find a Planeswalker spark. Or even Autumn Willow. Or one of the original Legends. That would be badass

 

[Angry Grimace]

Go to FNM this week and see how people think. That's what I'm doing.

Twitter, of course, is full of "omg wizards is awesome what will they think of next gimme a job ok plz wizards ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺"

I talk to a lot of them on Facebook and such already and they didn't seem impressed. I mean, that doesn't really matter that much, of course.

I really like that there is a prominent Kamigawan floating around who might be crucial in defeating the Eldrazi menace. I wish they'd introduce a Planeswalker from Dominaria, or maybe even Rath. I guess Rabiah's asking for too much, but some other planeswalker from a throwback bloc would be sweet.

Hell, maybe have Baron Sengir find a Planeswalker spark. Or even Autumn Willow. Or one of the original Legends. That would be badass

Karn, Venser, Teferi? I guess out of those its just Karn lol. And Liliana Vess.

They did in fact give Bolas a spark way after the fact.

 

[HStallion]

Haven't played or kept up with magic in years but I'm loving the theme of this expansion. Then again I'm a sucker for Lovecraftian fiction. Is there anyplace in particular that's good to catch up on the story and perhaps some of the new art? Really got some cool looking pieces from the OP alone.

 

[Santiako]

I really like that there is a prominent Kamigawan floating around who might be crucial in defeating the Eldrazi menace. I wish they'd introduce a Planeswalker from Dominaria, or maybe even Rath. I guess Rabiah's asking for too much, but some other planeswalker from a throwback bloc would be sweet.

Hell, maybe have Baron Sengir find a Planeswalker spark. Or even Autumn Willow. Or one of the original Legends. That would be badass

Isn't Liliana from Dominaria?

 

[jph139]

Liliana and Nicol Bolas are both from Dominaria. Not that it really comes up much with either of them.

I wonder, when the inevitable return to Dominaria comes, if they'll bring an all-new Planeswalker out, or give it to an older character for full nostalgia points.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Liliana and Nicol Bolas are both from Dominaria. Not that it really comes up much with either of them.

I wonder, when the inevitable return to Dominaria comes, if they'll bring an all-new Planeswalker out, or give it to an older character for full nostalgia points.

Bolas is not confirmed to be from Dominaria. The really old lore suggested that all of the Elder Dragons were planeswalkers so who knows where they were from.

Liliana and Nicol Bolas are both from Dominaria. Not that it really comes up much with either of them.

I wonder, when the inevitable return to Dominaria comes, if they'll bring an all-new Planeswalker out, or give it to an older character for full nostalgia points.

Teferi will just get his spark back.

 

[jph139]

Bolas is not confirmed to be from Dominaria. The really old lore suggested that all of the Elder Dragons were planeswalkers so who knows where they were from.

Really? I always assumed the Elder Dragons were all from Dominaria and Bolas got his spark sometime after the war.

So I guess it's just Lili... oh, and Karn, as I'm thinking of old revivable characters.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Really? I always assumed the Elder Dragons were all from Dominaria and Bolas got his spark sometime after the war.

So I guess it's just Lili... oh, and Karn, as I'm thinking of old revivable characters.

It was something about an interplanar conflict, but they had a lot more loopholes back then like Airships that can cross planes.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

There's just pretty hard limits based on the structure of the game. Avacyn is planebound so she can't evolve her relationship to Sorin over multiple sets

why cant she. Narset is no longer planebound. Not saying its the best course of action, but its already another option. It would also be an alternative way for innistrad to lose its guardian

 

[Angry Grimace]

why cant she. Narset is no longer planebound. Not saying its the best course of action, but its already another option. It would also be an alternative way for innistrad to lose its guardian

I mean, its kind of mental masturbation at this point since Avacyn is dead.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Haven't played or kept up with magic in years but I'm loving the theme of this expansion. Then again I'm a sucker for Lovecraftian fiction. Is there anyplace in particular that's good to catch up on the story and perhaps some of the new art? Really got some cool looking pieces from the OP alone.

The story section in the OP has a fan catch-up guide to the Eldritch Moon story, and here is the official story archive.

For recommendations for other particular stories, here's a post I made over a year ago.

Oh, this got bumped up. I suppose I'll post that big post I was working on that I decided not to post when this topic wasn't getting much activity.

Like I said I would, I'll post some recent Magic stories I liked. This turned out a lot longer than I intended, so I'll just put a few at the top, then the others will just be recommended for those interested in more.

Ajani, Mentor of Heroes (About a lion-man, or leonin, planeswalker named Ajani coming to the Greek-inspired world of Theros)
Summary of Theros e-book, needed to understand the next story
Ajani's Vengeance (What Ajani does after the events of the e-book)
Kruhpix's Insight (Epilogue to the Theros story)
The Hunter Cannot Pity (Story of a planeswalker from the birth of his powers to his death, ties into the Garruk story)
Monster (Notable for having Garruk beat up Jace, who is simultaneously the most popular and most hated character in Magic)
The First World is the Hardest (Origin story for a villain named Ob Nixilis)


Don't quite remember how good they were, but had positive feelings when skimming over for this post:
In Praise of the Worldsoul, part 2, part 3 (Takes place on Ravnica, a city-world ruled by various guilds; features interactions between Selesnya, Gruul, and Rakdos guilds)
The Seven Bells, part 2 (Takes place on Ravnica, about Izzet mad scientist shenanigans, format is borked from transfer to new site)
Gruul Ingenuity (Takes place on Ravnica, about a Gruul fighter learning new magic, has a preview card)
The Absolution of the Guildpact (Takes place on Ravnica, about Boros guys watching a play about the events of the first Ravnica story, has a preview card, links are borked)
Persistence of Memory (Takes place on Ravnica, about Dimir intrigue)
The Burying, part 2 (Takes place on Ravnica, origin story for Domri Rade, a Gruul planeswalker)
The Guild of Deals (Takes place on Ravnica, about a guy being dicked over by the Orzhov guild)
Expectations (Takes place on Ravnica, semi-sequel to Persistence of Memory, about Azorius and Dimir guilds)
Life in the Ring (Takes place on Ravnica, about the Rakdos guild, notable in that it's one of the few stories where they actually come off as noble)
Preparation (Takes place on Dominaria, I think, which was the main world for early Magic; about Jhoira)
Zurbit's Day (Unknown plane, notable just for the ending involving a cat)

Stories I remember were good:
The Lost Confession (Takes place on New Phyrexia, described in my earlier post; about Elspeth and that place)
The Consequences of Attraction (Takes place on Theros, a Greek myth inspired story involving a woman getting screwed over by a god and turned into a siren)
Building Toward a Dream, part 2 (Takes place on Theros, about an attempt at peace between humans and leonin that goes wrong)
Asphodel (Takes place on Theros, about a girl who encounters the zombie of her father)
Cowardice of the Hero (Takes place on Theros, about a man and the step-father he hates, the latter of whom ends up dying, has a preview card)
Emonberry Red (Takes place on Theros, notable for being about a gay male romance, though it's a Greek tragedy)
Kiora's Followers (Takes place on Theros, about Kiora arriving and messing around)
Dreams of the City (Takes place on Theros, sequel to Building Toward a Dream)
Nissa, Worldwaker (Takes place on Zendikar, about Nissa fighting Eldrazi, has a preview card)
Comin' Through (Just a cute comedic story about a goblin delivering soup during a battle, though it may test your tolerance for references to specific cards)
The Lithomancer (Takes place on Zendikar in the far past, about the sealing of the Eldrazi, has a preview card)
Sorin's Revelation (Takes place on Tarkir, about Sorin investigating the plane, has a preview card)

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

I mean, its kind of mental masturbation at this point since Avacyn is dead.

Im not really sure what you are getting at. I was disappointed by the complete waste of avacyn's story and was proposing alternatives. thats it

 

[HStallion]

The story section in the OP has a fan catch-up guide to the Eldritch Moon story, and here is the official story archive.

For recommendations for other particular stories, here's a post I made over a year ago.

Awesome! I'll have something to read tonight. There are times I really would like to get back into Magic but not sure I have the time or money anymore.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Im not really sure what you are getting at. I was disappointed by the complete waste of avacyn's story and was proposing alternatives. thats it

Avacyn's death was a pretty significant plot point in the SOI story though, I assume it was always planned. I don't think she had much of a personality anyways from the stories we read. I guess I just don't think they're likely to make more entities than they already have able to move between planes.

 

[ThLunarian]

Does Ormendahl have any actual role in the story? How does he stack up against the Eldrazi? Is he already too corrupt for them to be able to do much to him or what?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Does Ormendahl have any actual role in the story? How does he stack up against the Eldrazi? Is he already too corrupt for them to be able to do much to him or what?

He's just a random demon as far as I can tell.

 

[charlequin]

Obviously I'm biased on this subject, but most people I've talked to today seem to not like the mechanic very much and think it sounds awkward to play with. Anecdotal evidence and all, so grain of salt.

I just don't think there's really info either way until people play with them. Everyone was psychotically opposed to DFCs when those got announced.

Maybe I am looking too far into the future, but I'm not talking about the fall set (Kaladesh), but next spring's set (???). Last fall's block (BFZ) had themes that synergize with this fall's block (Kaladesh). This spring's block (SOI/ELM) will synergize with next spring's set in some way, so someone who is really smart and really attentive might be able to make predictions about it.

Oh. I'll have to poke back through SOI later. We've kind of gotten off track of my predictions at this point, spring 2017 is almost certainly another new world but we've run low on active hints for what it might be.

I really like that there is a prominent Kamigawan floating around who might be crucial in defeating the Eldrazi menace. I wish they'd introduce a Planeswalker from Dominaria, or maybe even Rath. I guess Rabiah's asking for too much, but some other planeswalker from a throwback bloc would be sweet.

Rath stopped existing a long time ago so we actually pretty much know no one from there ever became a planeswalker. I'd be surprised not to see another Dominarian PW (besides Liliana, Karn, Bolas, Venser, and all the pre-Mending characters) show up when we finally do a block returning there.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I just don't think there's really info either way until people play with them. Everyone was psychotically opposed to DFCs when those got announced.



Oh. I'll have to poke back through SOI later. We've kind of gotten off track of my predictions at this point, spring 2017 is almost certainly another new world but we've run low on active hints for what it might be.



Rath stopped existing a long time ago so we actually pretty much know no one from there ever became a planeswalker. I'd be surprised not to see another Dominarian PW (besides Liliana, Karn, Bolas, Venser, and all the pre-Mending characters) show up when we finally do a block returning there.

Muraganda: Vanilla Matters™

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I still don't like Double Faced Cards even though there are some great ones they are just awkward to use all around.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I still don't like Double Faced Cards even though there are some great ones they are just awkward to use all around.

I like them just fine, I just don't like the specific trigger for Werewolf flippy-floppy. It's basically just random whether it happens.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Brisela - Feels like too much work only to get 2 for 1'd.

She has pseudo-hexproof. Most of the stuff that kills her in standard are wraths that would kill both angels anyway.