This has always perplexed me, I dislike having my deckbuilding choices limited and multicolored blocks tend to force my hand on card choices.
Yet, multicolor is seemingly very popular with players as a whole.
What about multicolored blocks appeals to people so much?
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What about multicolored blocks appeals to people so much?
I have no idea. Personally, I hate them.
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They let you easily build 2, 3 or even 5 color decks and play enemy colors that would normally be difficult to play. Also, when you get gold blocks, you get all kinds of fun cards that could never be printed as mono-colored cards, like Lightning Helix, Maelstrom Pulse and Mortify. They also tend to supply nice multicolor legends for EDH.
I think the decks were easier to construct. Given either bant, jund, naya, etc. you could pretty much put any of the cards with any others in the shared colors to make a fun deck.
I personally like the hybrid multicolor cards the most. The Shadowmoor Liege Cycle (Wilt-Leaf Liege, etc.) was awesome. It gives you a feeling of how the combo of colors work together.
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Actually, I'd put my money on the balance being there between decks. Having cards restricted to a narrower set of decks just by the mana they need to be casted makes cards that would be very powerful in one color become just good in two or more colors. That in turns makes things more even overall as long as all the color combos present get similar cost:effect ratios.
So by narrowing your card choices you're actually opening up your deck choices. With the exception of Jund crowding out space, you could pretty much do what you wanted in Invasion/Ravnica/Alara blocks.
It's that people want to have more options than five decks/colors to build upon. Multicolor increases the sheer number of different types of decks you can build.
Honestly, all the color pairs (and even some color trios) have almost become their own pie slices now, thanks to Ravnica, Shadowmoor/Eventide & Alara blocks. And all of them (pairs & trios alike) have a mechanic that is very well-established starting point, and all are basically flavorfully & mechanically unique. Throw tribal color pairs in and you have even more deck ideas.
I love good multicolor cards I just wish they weren't quite so liberal with their application. Seems like every single set now has some multicolor.
And seems like always it's a crutch for Tribal subthemes..also (way) overused in recent blocks.
It's a love/hate relationship for me. One one hand, you've got insane deck variety when a gold block is in Standard typically. On the other hand, it's almost impossible for players with almost no disposable income to play a good deck in these formats as the manabase is extremely expensive and it can be hard to justify spending $10 - $12 a piece for ncessary lands. I was in this boat for the longest time and always hated multicolored blocks because of it. Now that I have a good financial situation, I look forward to multicolored blocks as I can actually afford to play in them.
It's that people want to have more options than five decks/colors to build upon. Multicolor increases the sheer number of different types of decks you can build.
Honestly, all the color pairs (and even some color trios) have almost become their own pie slices now, thanks to Ravnica, Shadowmoor/Eventide & Alara blocks. And all of them (pairs & trios alike) have a mechanic that is very well-established starting point, and all are basically flavorfully & mechanically unique. Throw tribal color pairs in and you have even more deck ideas.
I love good multicolor cards I just wish they weren't quite so liberal with their application. Seems like every single set now has some multicolor.
And seems like always it's a crutch for Tribal subthemes..also (way) overused in recent blocks.
Didn't scars block have a whopping 4 multicolord cards in it? All of them also happened to be legendary creatures or planeswalkers as well so I think they can be forgiven for that since that has less to do with the block and more to do with the characters. Zendikar block also only has 3 multicolored cards as well, one being a planeswalker.
They let you easily build 2, 3 or even 5 color decks and play enemy colors that would normally be difficult to play. Also, when you get gold blocks, you get all kinds of fun cards that could never be printed as mono-colored cards, like Lightning Helix, Maelstrom Pulse and Mortify. They also tend to supply nice multicolor legends for EDH.
I fully agree, however anything mortify can do vindicate can do better
I've always loved gold cards, especially the original Palladia-Mors which I gambled away back in '96. No matter what I'm eventually going to trade for another one and complete my set of original elder dragons because those cards have so much nostalgia.
Anyhow, the best I can come up with myself is a game in the top 8 of a PTQ back during Urza block in which we were starting game 3 with time already expired, so the tiebreaker rule was that whoever had more life after 3 turns would win. And I lost to... healing salve.
I'm one of the rare players who plays for fun, so I love multi color sets. They do great things for anyone who plays casual, commander or just loves coming up with weird combinations. In particular I love playing enemy colors and a little support for that helps.
For me personally you get a lot more cool and unique ideas in multicolored blocks and like mentioned before the power level is upped but as long as the cards are hard to cast but not impossible to cast it keeps balance.
Multicolored blocks seem to be more balanced then other sets. Looking back, the color fixing and balance of Rav and Lorwyn/Shadowmoor made them very popular sets. On top of that, mono-colored decks can only be fun for so long, at least to some.
I also think multicolored sets give deck builders more tools and a challenge to build. Any green deck can take Goyf, but you have to play white to play cards like watch wolf or Teeg. (At least until GSZ came along)
Multicoloured costs are also inherently undercosted.
Lightning Helix is a 'fair' card in a world where you only have access to basic Mountains and Plains, or possibly 4 copies of City of Brass.
Here in the real world, it's undercosted since players will stack the deck to maximise their chances of having access to :symr::symw: on turn 2 with fetchlands and duals. It also explains why the price of mana bases has escalated to where it is now compared to Magic's earlier years.
Idk, I just like 2 color decks. I feel that mono colored can get boring sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I do like mono-colored, but I also just love to mix-and-match different colors. Still, I feel like WotC is way over-doing it on multi-colored blocks. I'd welcome RTR a lot more if we didn't get out of Alara a while back.
I'd welcome RTR a lot more if we didn't get out of Alara a while back.
Speaking as a newer player who's never been around for a multicolor block, I'm looking forward to it a lot. Magic's actually attracted a TON of new players in the past couple of years, and while I agree that isn't a good reason to do a certain theme too much - new players are always going to be joining - it does seem like fine justification for speeding up the cycle by a year or so.
And the time isn't actually all that sped-up. There were four blocks between Invasion and Ravnica and two blocks between Ravnica and Alara - there have been three blocks between Alara and RTR. I think it just seems fast because there was so much multicolor for a few years there. Ravnica to Time Spiral (which had a ton of gold cards) to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (a lot of gold followed by a hybrid theme) to Alara was way too much. That said, they've backed down in the last few years; Zendikar and Scars had almost no multicolor, and I get a feeling it was a (very) minor subtheme in Innistrad partly to support RTR when it hits standard.
Multicolor allows designers to make more powerful cards, but then balance them with colors. For example if Lightning helix was 1R, it would be much more powerful. But by making it WR, its limited because it forces you to play a specific color pairing.
Yet, multicolor is seemingly very popular with players as a whole.
What about multicolored blocks appeals to people so much?
BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
I have no idea. Personally, I hate them.
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BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
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Jhoira of the Ghitu
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Rosheen Meanderer
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Vela the Night-Clad
So by narrowing your card choices you're actually opening up your deck choices. With the exception of Jund crowding out space, you could pretty much do what you wanted in Invasion/Ravnica/Alara blocks.
Honestly, all the color pairs (and even some color trios) have almost become their own pie slices now, thanks to Ravnica, Shadowmoor/Eventide & Alara blocks. And all of them (pairs & trios alike) have a mechanic that is very well-established starting point, and all are basically flavorfully & mechanically unique. Throw tribal color pairs in and you have even more deck ideas.
I love good multicolor cards I just wish they weren't quite so liberal with their application. Seems like every single set now has some multicolor.
And seems like always it's a crutch for Tribal subthemes..also (way) overused in recent blocks.
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Didn't scars block have a whopping 4 multicolord cards in it? All of them also happened to be legendary creatures or planeswalkers as well so I think they can be forgiven for that since that has less to do with the block and more to do with the characters. Zendikar block also only has 3 multicolored cards as well, one being a planeswalker.
I fully agree, however anything mortify can do vindicate can do better
I've always loved gold cards, especially the original Palladia-Mors which I gambled away back in '96. No matter what I'm eventually going to trade for another one and complete my set of original elder dragons because those cards have so much nostalgia.
Seriously though, who wouldn't love some of the amazing new gold cards like Olivia Voldaren, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Sigarda, Host of Herons? These cards are just full of flavor and potential!
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I also think multicolored sets give deck builders more tools and a challenge to build. Any green deck can take Goyf, but you have to play white to play cards like watch wolf or Teeg. (At least until GSZ came along)
Lightning Helix is a 'fair' card in a world where you only have access to basic Mountains and Plains, or possibly 4 copies of City of Brass.
Here in the real world, it's undercosted since players will stack the deck to maximise their chances of having access to :symr::symw: on turn 2 with fetchlands and duals. It also explains why the price of mana bases has escalated to where it is now compared to Magic's earlier years.
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Speaking as a newer player who's never been around for a multicolor block, I'm looking forward to it a lot. Magic's actually attracted a TON of new players in the past couple of years, and while I agree that isn't a good reason to do a certain theme too much - new players are always going to be joining - it does seem like fine justification for speeding up the cycle by a year or so.
And the time isn't actually all that sped-up. There were four blocks between Invasion and Ravnica and two blocks between Ravnica and Alara - there have been three blocks between Alara and RTR. I think it just seems fast because there was so much multicolor for a few years there. Ravnica to Time Spiral (which had a ton of gold cards) to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (a lot of gold followed by a hybrid theme) to Alara was way too much. That said, they've backed down in the last few years; Zendikar and Scars had almost no multicolor, and I get a feeling it was a (very) minor subtheme in Innistrad partly to support RTR when it hits standard.
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The "more restricted" mana costs lend much more acceptable power.
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