Using this, is it then safe to say that the most powerful sets of the peaks of magic were artifact basis sets?
Artifacts are inherently very breakable because they can be played in any color, allowing a wide range of support options. That, and for some reason R&D (despite their best efforts) still can't seem to balance their power level (say hi Black Lotus, Skullclamp, Sphinx-Bone Wand, Arcbound Ravager,...)
I actually don't understand why everyone is hating on Homelands so badly, Just because all the cards in it are completely unplayable doesn't mean that the set is bad :D. It's actually lots of fun to draft: since each individual card is uniquely weak and uninspiring the set tends to be pretty balanced. Also you don't need to worry about raredrafters, since the best you can hope for is a Baron Sengir or similar. Boxes of it are worth dirt, too. I got my last one for $25 off of eBay
As for Coldsnap being the worst set ever... no. It's not the best set, but it is not the worst. It had plenty of fun cards, and a couple of good ones. Plus I really enjoyed some of the flavor and snow-themed artwork.
Did anyone here actually try it as the third pack in an Ice Age-Alliances-Coldsnap draft? I've always been curious how well it actually fit in.
I really want to do an Ice Age block draft. However, I think the only real way to do it so its not $20-$30 a person would be a something like Ice Age-Coldsnap-Coldsnap. Also a Block constructed of the new Ice Age block might be interesting. Did they have sanctioned block for Ice Age when Coldsnap was released (That was a point when I wasnt playing magic, so I personally dont know)?
Not exactly, there was some stuff like Koskun Falls and Order of Whiteclay (among other {q} creatures) that work nicely together.
I'll keep my instant speed Chameleon Colossus via Didgeridoo over that mana intensive mess. However, I must say that Falls is another solid card from Homelands (among others).
Homelands just gets a bad rap dont forget it included Merchant Scroll, a good playable tutor that remains on the restricted list to this day. In addition serrated arrow was a powerhouse in it's day.
Homelands just gets a bad rap dont forget it included Merchant Scroll, a good playable tutor that remains on the restricted list to this day. In addition serrated arrow was a powerhouse in it's day.
Merchant Scroll is only good because in vintage you get a bunch of instants that are broken alongside it (IE: gifts ungiven, recall, intuition, or whatever you need at the time). It sees no play at all in legacy because those cards are either banned or not nearly as powerful. In fact, it wasn't until Tog came out (iirc) that merchant scroll became greatly feared as it could tutor Gush and it filled the graveyard up.
I love Rimescale dragon. But I dont like coldsnap, because I find most of the art and flavor unappealing as well as most of the cards I dont really like. (Deepfire Elemental makes me scream THE BALROG COMETH!!! Because it's art and flavortext reminds me of that middle earth demon)
I actually don't understand why everyone is hating on Homelands so badly, Just because all the cards in it are completely unplayable doesn't mean that the set is bad :D. It's actually lots of fun to draft: since each individual card is uniquely weak and uninspiring the set tends to be pretty balanced.
This times a thousand. When your only real bombs are Ihsan's Shade, Baron Sengir, Eron the Relentless, and Autumn Willow the set is really fun and skill testing, as better players can squeak out more mileage from crappy cards. Not to mention they have more time to do so, because the bombs aren't virtual MOABs, and aren't everywhere (seriously, Serra Angel at Uncommon as well as Fireball?).
Saviors of kamigawa was easily the worst set ever. The best card in it was pithing needle, which can easily be picked up now for a few bucks. Not to mention there was not one playable common/uncommon.
yeah, Saviors was pretty bad. That whole "hand size matters" subtheme was very not-fun for me personally because it's counterintuitive to how I play (I don't like hoarding cards, especially good ones I want to use as soon as possible. I know card advantage is important, but that was ridiculous)
The dark and Fallen empires were a bit on the "meh" side, although FE gave me one of my all-time favorite cards, Goblin Grenade.
The only homelands cards I get any use from are the baron (Vampire deck named after him), raksha and hazdur (wg legends deck built around Sisay), the 3-color lands and the ann-hava cards (good for weenie decks, green-matters decks and saproling decks).
NONE of those are the worst, and to the OP I can only say that Coldsnap still did a good job as a casual set and generated so many concepts in crunch and fluff on its own without imbalancing anything that we're sure to have plenty of material for future design for years. Which has yet to be tapped, I might add.
As for the worst...I defer you to my thoughts on the matter here.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
Coldsnap was awesome. I absolutely loved the flavor of the set and loved to draft it. Trying to get 5-6 copies of the "Discard a card, Ripple 4" card was a blast, as was getting Marit Lage out the hard way. Sure, it didn't have the best design, but it's certainly better than what Wizards has done design-wise over the past few years. Zendikar was okay (Rise easily being the best set out of the three), but Shards was awful and should go down as the worst block of all time (Reborn worst set), even worse than Homelands/Fallen Empires as it ruined the balance of the game while FE and Homelands merely did nothing. Just because a format is weak does not make it worse- I never had a chance to play Homelands limited, but CHK-BOK-SOK, a block known for being weak, had an amazing limited format.
Coldsnap was weak, but when it came out it actually did add things to Standard. While I wouldn't want to buy a box, there are some fun cards that are still respected and saught after.
Artifacts are inherently very breakable because they can be played in any color, allowing a wide range of support options. That, and for some reason R&D (despite their best efforts) still can't seem to balance their power level (say hi Black Lotus, Skullclamp, Sphinx-Bone Wand, Arcbound Ravager,...)
I actually don't understand why everyone is hating on Homelands so badly, Just because all the cards in it are completely unplayable doesn't mean that the set is bad :D. It's actually lots of fun to draft: since each individual card is uniquely weak and uninspiring the set tends to be pretty balanced. Also you don't need to worry about raredrafters, since the best you can hope for is a Baron Sengir or similar. Boxes of it are worth dirt, too. I got my last one for $25 off of eBay
As for Coldsnap being the worst set ever... no. It's not the best set, but it is not the worst. It had plenty of fun cards, and a couple of good ones. Plus I really enjoyed some of the flavor and snow-themed artwork.
I really want to do an Ice Age block draft. However, I think the only real way to do it so its not $20-$30 a person would be a something like Ice Age-Coldsnap-Coldsnap. Also a Block constructed of the new Ice Age block might be interesting. Did they have sanctioned block for Ice Age when Coldsnap was released (That was a point when I wasnt playing magic, so I personally dont know)?
I'll keep my instant speed Chameleon Colossus via Didgeridoo over that mana intensive mess. However, I must say that Falls is another solid card from Homelands (among others).
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
Merchant Scroll is only good because in vintage you get a bunch of instants that are broken alongside it (IE: gifts ungiven, recall, intuition, or whatever you need at the time). It sees no play at all in legacy because those cards are either banned or not nearly as powerful. In fact, it wasn't until Tog came out (iirc) that merchant scroll became greatly feared as it could tutor Gush and it filled the graveyard up.
Other than merchant scroll, we got Serrated Arrows as a constructed-sideboard playable, Aysen Bureaucrats is playable, Autumn Willow, Ihsan's Shade, Memory Lapse, and yeah, that's every playable in the set.
WUBRGCommander Decklists - PaperWUBRG
CCCCCommander Decklists - TheorycraftCCCC
Sig Credit: Pegasus Bishop
This times a thousand. When your only real bombs are Ihsan's Shade, Baron Sengir, Eron the Relentless, and Autumn Willow the set is really fun and skill testing, as better players can squeak out more mileage from crappy cards. Not to mention they have more time to do so, because the bombs aren't virtual MOABs, and aren't everywhere (seriously, Serra Angel at Uncommon as well as Fireball?).
Of course, Cube drafting does exist...
And it still managed to give us some vintage-quality sleeper hits: Misdirection, Brainstorm, Rishadan Port, Tangle Wire, Saproling Burst, Accumulated Knowledge, Daze, Gush, Unmask.
we can only hope the power reset for post-Eldrazi is as good to us.
yeah, Saviors was pretty bad. That whole "hand size matters" subtheme was very not-fun for me personally because it's counterintuitive to how I play (I don't like hoarding cards, especially good ones I want to use as soon as possible. I know card advantage is important, but that was ridiculous)
The dark and Fallen empires were a bit on the "meh" side, although FE gave me one of my all-time favorite cards, Goblin Grenade.
The only homelands cards I get any use from are the baron (Vampire deck named after him), raksha and hazdur (wg legends deck built around Sisay), the 3-color lands and the ann-hava cards (good for weenie decks, green-matters decks and saproling decks).
Click the pic for more info.
As for the worst...I defer you to my thoughts on the matter here.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
Judging by this post though, Coldsnap does have a few good cards.