So, now that all ten guild ability's are out and about, what do you think of them?
Are some better than their previous mechanic or worse or even tied? (For Example: Haunt vs Exhort)
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Convoke vs Populate: Tough choice. Convoke is a much more appealing mechanic from a spike perspective, and it can lead to some very fun cards. Populate is more appealing from a creative card combo perspective. I'll call it a tie.
Replicate vs Overload: Overload had potential; a Shock that overloaded into Pyroclasm would be awesome. Sadly, the only-upside design of overload really killed its interest for me. Replicate is just a really cool mechanic, so it's got Overload beat. Also, Djinn Illuminatus.
Transmute vs Cipher: Transmute is just so freaking useful and versatile. Yes, it's a tutor mechanic, and that leads to repetitive games, but it's just wonderful being able to stuff random Dimir Transmute cards into decks that need a tutor for a lot of things at a specific mana cost.
Dredge vs Scavenge: Dredge made one of the most interesting (If non-interactive) decks in the game. Scavenge makes some counters at sorcery speed. The winner is obvious.
Radiance vs Battalion: Battalion, not even close. Battalion isn't even good, Radiance is just that awkward and annoying.
Bloodthirst vs Bloodrush: Bloodrush is more interesting for me; combat tricks are great in Limited, and the design space for Bloodrush was properly realized (Unlike a lot of the mechanics from Return to Ravnica block).
Haunt vs Extort: Extort for not being confusing rules-wise. It's also not nearly as boring as you'd expect, much like Exalted.
Hellbent vs Unleash: Argh, this is a tough one. Unleash is much better from a constructed standpoint, but it's boring as hell. Hellbent is horrible, but it's more interesting. I'll go for a tie of mediocrity.
Graft vs Evolve: Graft just never got the good cards it deserved.
Forecast vs Detain: I never liked Forecast, and Detain is pretty underwhelming. I'll go with Forecast, just because I enjoy how control-y it is; Detain is more tempo.
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The wedding is over. Now it's time for the honeymoon.
I'd have preferred they kept the old abilities. Not because I think them superior, but because if you are going to revisit a plane, then you should revisit the abilities of that plane as well.
The new abilities could easily have been saved for future blocks. By this logic, I also wish they'd have reprinted the bounce lands instead of the new guild gates.
Convoke vs Populate: In terms of gameplay, I think convoke worked out better, and had that feel of "community" that selesnya wanted to promote. Populate was cute, but that was about it. At least for both of these designs, they could be put on multiple card types, and open design space is always nifty.
Replicate vs Overload: Replicate. I felt the spells were fairly (if almost too fairly) costed, and it always feels good to get more mileage out of your spells. Overload just felt too "all-upside" and boring. Limited on card types, but I guess that's the price of being a UR ability.
Transmute vs Cipher: Transmute. Tutor abilities are fine when they are limited in what they can find, I think. Cipher just felt like they were trying a bit too hard. Cipher depending way too hard on creatures really disappointed me.
Dredge vs Scavenge: DREDGE. No contest. I don't care if dredge made a whole broken deck archetype, its still the most fun I have with to this day. I think it's fine in what it wanted to do, and was happy that it could be placed on any card type. Scavenge really bothered me with how narrow it felt in design.
Radiance vs Battalion: Can I choose neither? Creature metalcraft is really lazy design, and radiance was just awkward to play with. I guess Radiance would win over due to it simply having more variety to expand on, but it would really be a narrow victory.
Bloodthirst vs Bloodrush: I think both were good. Bloodthirst was simple in what it conveyed, and I think it went with how aggressive the guild was. The only thing I dislike is how narrow Bloodthirst really is, and bloodrush has a lot more design space going for it.
Haunt vs Extort: Extort. It was a much more flavorful version of what the Orzhov did (even if it felt cheesy), and it had the added benefit of not confusing the ever living crap out of new players. Both had the space available for design, even if Haunt could theoretically do more. Though it kind of begs the question, if Haunt was too complicated, why was Cipher made...? But moving on.
Hellbent vs Unleash: Hellbent. Unleash, while flavorful, felt incredibly narrow and never did anything creative with it's design. It was just dudes get bigger and better when you unleash em. Hellbent still felt rakdos, and had much more room to grow in design, even if it's just a threshold mechanic.
Graft vs Evolve: This one is honestly a toss up. Both really do what simic wants to be doing, the only difference is Graft didn't really have the support I think it deserved. Evolve had a lot going for it, and had a lot of little synergies that existed, as well as cards worth playing. I do wish they weren't so creature oriented, but oh well. They're both really well done, and I applaud them for doing a good job both times.
Forecast vs Detain: Can I choose neither? Detain is "flavorful", but I didn't really enjoy playing with it. Forecast didn't make much sense to me, but it played interestingly. I think forecast probably gets a little ahead for how open its potential design is. Also don't like how most detain only hit creatures.
I'd have preferred they kept the old abilities. Not because I think them superior, but because if you are going to revisit a plane, then you should revisit the abilities of that plane as well.
Except Dredge and Transmute are simply too good to see print again, IMO.
i prefer the new ones, except for selesnya (convoke over populate) and maybe simic (both graft and evolve play really great)
some people were evaluating from playability perspective, observe that i'm not. i know that graft was weak, but i believe it could be a perfectly functional mechanic for limited.
Are some better than their previous mechanic or worse or even tied? (For Example: Haunt vs Exhort)
Replicate vs Overload: Overload had potential; a Shock that overloaded into Pyroclasm would be awesome. Sadly, the only-upside design of overload really killed its interest for me. Replicate is just a really cool mechanic, so it's got Overload beat. Also, Djinn Illuminatus.
Transmute vs Cipher: Transmute is just so freaking useful and versatile. Yes, it's a tutor mechanic, and that leads to repetitive games, but it's just wonderful being able to stuff random Dimir Transmute cards into decks that need a tutor for a lot of things at a specific mana cost.
Dredge vs Scavenge: Dredge made one of the most interesting (If non-interactive) decks in the game. Scavenge makes some counters at sorcery speed. The winner is obvious.
Radiance vs Battalion: Battalion, not even close. Battalion isn't even good, Radiance is just that awkward and annoying.
Bloodthirst vs Bloodrush: Bloodrush is more interesting for me; combat tricks are great in Limited, and the design space for Bloodrush was properly realized (Unlike a lot of the mechanics from Return to Ravnica block).
Haunt vs Extort: Extort for not being confusing rules-wise. It's also not nearly as boring as you'd expect, much like Exalted.
Hellbent vs Unleash: Argh, this is a tough one. Unleash is much better from a constructed standpoint, but it's boring as hell. Hellbent is horrible, but it's more interesting. I'll go for a tie of mediocrity.
Graft vs Evolve: Graft just never got the good cards it deserved.
Forecast vs Detain: I never liked Forecast, and Detain is pretty underwhelming. I'll go with Forecast, just because I enjoy how control-y it is; Detain is more tempo.
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The new abilities could easily have been saved for future blocks. By this logic, I also wish they'd have reprinted the bounce lands instead of the new guild gates.
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Replicate vs Overload: Replicate. I felt the spells were fairly (if almost too fairly) costed, and it always feels good to get more mileage out of your spells. Overload just felt too "all-upside" and boring. Limited on card types, but I guess that's the price of being a UR ability.
Transmute vs Cipher: Transmute. Tutor abilities are fine when they are limited in what they can find, I think. Cipher just felt like they were trying a bit too hard. Cipher depending way too hard on creatures really disappointed me.
Dredge vs Scavenge: DREDGE. No contest. I don't care if dredge made a whole broken deck archetype, its still the most fun I have with to this day. I think it's fine in what it wanted to do, and was happy that it could be placed on any card type. Scavenge really bothered me with how narrow it felt in design.
Radiance vs Battalion: Can I choose neither? Creature metalcraft is really lazy design, and radiance was just awkward to play with. I guess Radiance would win over due to it simply having more variety to expand on, but it would really be a narrow victory.
Bloodthirst vs Bloodrush: I think both were good. Bloodthirst was simple in what it conveyed, and I think it went with how aggressive the guild was. The only thing I dislike is how narrow Bloodthirst really is, and bloodrush has a lot more design space going for it.
Haunt vs Extort: Extort. It was a much more flavorful version of what the Orzhov did (even if it felt cheesy), and it had the added benefit of not confusing the ever living crap out of new players. Both had the space available for design, even if Haunt could theoretically do more. Though it kind of begs the question, if Haunt was too complicated, why was Cipher made...? But moving on.
Hellbent vs Unleash: Hellbent. Unleash, while flavorful, felt incredibly narrow and never did anything creative with it's design. It was just dudes get bigger and better when you unleash em. Hellbent still felt rakdos, and had much more room to grow in design, even if it's just a threshold mechanic.
Graft vs Evolve: This one is honestly a toss up. Both really do what simic wants to be doing, the only difference is Graft didn't really have the support I think it deserved. Evolve had a lot going for it, and had a lot of little synergies that existed, as well as cards worth playing. I do wish they weren't so creature oriented, but oh well. They're both really well done, and I applaud them for doing a good job both times.
Forecast vs Detain: Can I choose neither? Detain is "flavorful", but I didn't really enjoy playing with it. Forecast didn't make much sense to me, but it played interestingly. I think forecast probably gets a little ahead for how open its potential design is. Also don't like how most detain only hit creatures.
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some people were evaluating from playability perspective, observe that i'm not. i know that graft was weak, but i believe it could be a perfectly functional mechanic for limited.