What I find astonishing is the sheer number of players naming Shivan Dragon and Serra Angel. Current Magic is lacking such iconic cards for new beginners. I wonder whether that is unavoidable considering the much more even powerlevel of current sets and the demise of core sets. But most I wonder wether that is an aspect that Wizards should bring back or whether kids will always find a dragon they love.
I never played MtG decades ago, but does it seem plausible creatures like Shivan Dragon and Serra Angel were more memorable because non-creature spells were stronger?
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Modern:UB Taking Turns Modern:URW Madcap Experiment Pauper: MonoU Tempo Delver
Cards don't get the chance to be super-lustworthy nowadays because they're so disposable. Every two months, a new batch of cards comes out and the hype machine no longer cares about what was hot two months ago.
There is no 'baseline' anymore like we had with Alpha or the core sets back in the 90s. Even Hearthstone gives everyone a baseline by keeping the Classic set in print at all times, immune to the rotation of everything else.
Cards don't get the chance to be super-lustworthy nowadays because they're so disposable. Every two months, a new batch of cards comes out and the hype machine no longer cares about what was hot two months ago.
There is no 'baseline' anymore like we had with Alpha or the core sets back in the 90s.
That's an interesting point. Brings up the whole 'are they printing too many cards' argument again.
Palladia-Mors - was selling for $20 at a comic book shop close to where I lived. Was in elementary school at the time, and whined until my dad bought it for me. He was super pissed about it too. Ha!
Can't believe the numbers of us apparently starting magic at the same time but I'm with the chorus,,,,Serra Angel and Shivan Dragon. Serra finally brought me to the game after resistance for some months ( wish I nerded out earlier). Remember one kid having some and buying them for $4 a piece but they were a must in my flying control white blue deck with prodigal sorceror Tim zephyr falcons Serra's and mesa Pegasus yeah that's right.
Shivan is the one I never freaking pulled and drove me crazy plus a buddy with his red burn mama flared Shivan would kick me butt.
On a worse looking back side note, sucks to think I thought it ridiculous for cards to be $75 or $125 like moxes and black lotus. What craziness I thought.... All the meanwhile gladly saving 20-30 bucks up to finally get that Shivan or Jester's Cap. Also thought $15 dual lands were overpriced, what's the difference I thought I got basic lands, didn't understand power on many cards then. No knowledge of much competitive magic and how that worked. No real card shops either so we just played kitchen table magic with crappy decks we made from the starter decks and boosters we bought.
I really don't even know how many FoW I may have opened in alliances and discarded because we were worried about getting Lord of Tresserhorn or Balduvian Hordes.
Mine was birds of. Paradise , which I finally cracked in a pack of 5th (3 for 10) at a mall that no longer exists. I started in the rath cycle and pined for them for quite a while once I knew they existed.
The first card I was dying to own was Shadowmage Infiltrator haha. Way back when it first released I was so excited about the dang thing...I thought it was just about the coolest thing that not only did Finkel design it, but that he was in the image itself.
Oh I've got one that probably no one else in the world has. I started playing right after Legends came out, so I got a bunch of Revised, but then I saw my neighbors Frost Giant from Legends and just had to have it. I paid him 20$ for it, which is insane, but I also got tropical islands for 5$, so you take the good with the bad. And it was the first Rampage card I ever saw. Completely obscure!
The first non-creature I loved was Braingeyser . The art, the power, the versatility. Much better than a 4/4 Rampage 2 for 6 mana!
Oh I've got one that probably no one else in the world has. I started playing right after Legends came out, so I got a bunch of Revised, but then I saw my neighbors Frost Giant from Legends and just had to have it. I paid him 20$ for it, which is insane, but I also got tropical islands for 5$, so you take the good with the bad. And it was the first Rampage card I ever saw. Completely obscure!
The first non-creature I loved was Braingeyser . The art, the power, the versatility. Much better than a 4/4 Rampage 2 for 6 mana!
I wish they would bring back Rampage. It can be a cool mechanic with the right designs (and by 'right designs', I mean don't just slap it onto an otherwise vanilla creature, a la Frost Giant).
I got into the game in 94-95 era and the first card I really wanted was Dakkon Blackblade, closely followed by Nicol Bolas.
Luckily that lasted for a week or three before I found the beuty of Kird Apes, Chain and Ball Lightnings alongside Lightning Bolts, when we found out that all games must not be 3-5 player grand melees. Chain Lightning was the first single card I bought.
Still the first memories are multiple players grumbling that they cannot find the sixth or seventh land to cast their cards, as we all had 100 card decks with 18 or so lands. We actually had to play lot of extra games just that the one guy with the Dakkon could actually cast it. Sol'kanar the Swamp-King was a beating as were all landwalkers as we all had 5-color decks at the beginning.
Later on I got lot more cards, dual lands and power, but none of those feel quite as special as those early cards did. I still play and collect, but the beginners joy of discovery is impossible to recapture.
I got into the game in 94-95 era and the first card I really wanted was Dakkon Blackblade, closely followed by Nicol Bolas.
Luckily that lasted for a week or three before I found the beuty of Kird Apes, Chain and Ball Lightnings alongside Lightning Bolts, when we found out that all games must not be 3-5 player grand melees. Chain Lightning was the first single card I bought.
Still the first memories are multiple players grumbling that they cannot find the sixth or seventh land to cast their cards, as we all had 100 card decks with 18 or so lands. We actually had to play lot of extra games just that the one guy with the Dakkon could actually cast it. Sol'kanar the Swamp-King was a beating as were all landwalkers as we all had 5-color decks at the beginning.
Later on I got lot more cards, dual lands and power, but none of those feel quite as special as those early cards did. I still play and collect, but the beginners joy of discovery is impossible to recapture.
Yeah ... I came back to Magic after digging up my old cards a few years ago ... the very first sight of them brought back that feeling for a while, but now that I've brought myself up to speed on the whole world of Magic as it stands today, I can't seem to recapture that old feeling any more.
Possibly, Simic Manipulator or Master Biomancer. I started with the Simic and Dimir Intro Decks in Gatecrash, and I was totally into it. Agreed that you can't get back that feeling, when you're just starting to build, have about five other unused on-color cards you could even slot into the deck and nevertheless agonize endlessly over which you'll use, are surrounded by unknown (silly-sounding) names and are just trying to learn more -- that feeling is good. (And is why we all love spoiler season, no matter how much we may bellyache over the cards themselves.)
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"It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes... Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
Another late 90's player here who remembered Serra Angel and Erhnam Djinn being bombs (I played an Ehrnamgeddon deck at the time). Took me a while to get my hands on them.
Then I got back into Magic around M2010 and thought "I bet my Serra Angels are worth plenty of money now!", proceeded to see Baneslayer Angel, and then felt my head explode at the level of creature power creep in the game.
During Legends, when it was still in print, I lusted after Carrion Ants myself. It was a $20+ rare at the time - the highest in Legends as far as I knew at the time. It's almost comical seeing the 5th edition version that you autocarded going for $0.21.
Another similar rare from Legends that was close in price was Killer Bees. That one was pretty envied as well, even though it only fit in heavy Green decks.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
During Legends, when it was still in print, I lusted after Carrion Ants myself. It was a $20+ rare at the time - the highest in Legends as far as I knew at the time. It's almost comical seeing the 5th edition version that you autocarded going for $0.21.
Another similar rare from Legends that was close in price was Killer Bees. That one was pretty envied as well, even though it only fit in heavy Green decks.
Damn forgot about the bees. That card was a house back in the day also at the kitchen table. Never seen the 5th ed. version of the ants until i autocarded it here. I have to pick up at least one of those bad boys.
During Legends, when it was still in print, I lusted after Carrion Ants myself. It was a $20+ rare at the time - the highest in Legends as far as I knew at the time. It's almost comical seeing the 5th edition version that you autocarded going for $0.21.
Another similar rare from Legends that was close in price was Killer Bees. That one was pretty envied as well, even though it only fit in heavy Green decks.
Love the little shields. You protect yourself guys!
I never played MtG decades ago, but does it seem plausible creatures like Shivan Dragon and Serra Angel were more memorable because non-creature spells were stronger?
Modern: URW Madcap Experiment
Pauper: MonoU Tempo Delver
My EDH Commanders:
Aminatou, The Fateshifter UBW
Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed B
Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG
Glissa, the Traitor BG
Arcum Dagsson U
There is no 'baseline' anymore like we had with Alpha or the core sets back in the 90s. Even Hearthstone gives everyone a baseline by keeping the Classic set in print at all times, immune to the rotation of everything else.
That's an interesting point. Brings up the whole 'are they printing too many cards' argument again.
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
Shivan is the one I never freaking pulled and drove me crazy plus a buddy with his red burn mama flared Shivan would kick me butt.
On a worse looking back side note, sucks to think I thought it ridiculous for cards to be $75 or $125 like moxes and black lotus. What craziness I thought.... All the meanwhile gladly saving 20-30 bucks up to finally get that Shivan or Jester's Cap. Also thought $15 dual lands were overpriced, what's the difference I thought I got basic lands, didn't understand power on many cards then. No knowledge of much competitive magic and how that worked. No real card shops either so we just played kitchen table magic with crappy decks we made from the starter decks and boosters we bought.
I really don't even know how many FoW I may have opened in alliances and discarded because we were worried about getting Lord of Tresserhorn or Balduvian Hordes.
Man magic is waaaayyyyyy different now
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
It wasn't until I started seeing other walkers that I noticed that Ral was essentially garbage.
But I now have a nice shiny Ral in my commander deck.
UR Niv-Mizzet, The Firemind
WUR Narset's Coinflip Casino
Modern
UB Mill
He doesn't look that garbage to me. Maybe not Modern-viable but still pretty good.
The first non-creature I loved was Braingeyser . The art, the power, the versatility. Much better than a 4/4 Rampage 2 for 6 mana!
I wish they would bring back Rampage. It can be a cool mechanic with the right designs (and by 'right designs', I mean don't just slap it onto an otherwise vanilla creature, a la Frost Giant).
Luckily that lasted for a week or three before I found the beuty of Kird Apes, Chain and Ball Lightnings alongside Lightning Bolts, when we found out that all games must not be 3-5 player grand melees. Chain Lightning was the first single card I bought.
Still the first memories are multiple players grumbling that they cannot find the sixth or seventh land to cast their cards, as we all had 100 card decks with 18 or so lands. We actually had to play lot of extra games just that the one guy with the Dakkon could actually cast it. Sol'kanar the Swamp-King was a beating as were all landwalkers as we all had 5-color decks at the beginning.
Later on I got lot more cards, dual lands and power, but none of those feel quite as special as those early cards did. I still play and collect, but the beginners joy of discovery is impossible to recapture.
Set to default
Yeah ... I came back to Magic after digging up my old cards a few years ago ... the very first sight of them brought back that feeling for a while, but now that I've brought myself up to speed on the whole world of Magic as it stands today, I can't seem to recapture that old feeling any more.
UBRGrixis Kiki Control
BGUSultai Shadow
GWRBushwhacker Zoo
EDH:
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose
GWU Roon of the Hidden Realm
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
I have a Carrion Ants you can have if you still want it.
Then I got back into Magic around M2010 and thought "I bet my Serra Angels are worth plenty of money now!", proceeded to see Baneslayer Angel, and then felt my head explode at the level of creature power creep in the game.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
During Legends, when it was still in print, I lusted after Carrion Ants myself. It was a $20+ rare at the time - the highest in Legends as far as I knew at the time. It's almost comical seeing the 5th edition version that you autocarded going for $0.21.
Another similar rare from Legends that was close in price was Killer Bees. That one was pretty envied as well, even though it only fit in heavy Green decks.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Damn forgot about the bees. That card was a house back in the day also at the kitchen table. Never seen the 5th ed. version of the ants until i autocarded it here. I have to pick up at least one of those bad boys.
Love the little shields. You protect yourself guys!