I like the new Nissa. Other than that.... I feel like this set is Kamigawa level of boring. Kamigawa made me take a hiatus and miss the whole Ravnica block :(. Weak on flavor, I don't understand what the set is trying to accomplish mechanically other than waste time. Like I get the mechanics, I just don't see the reason to take time out of my day to play those mechanics. Look at the gods... they just seem like a lot of work to get gods that don't even compare to theros gods... and there's no death themed Anubis. 1/10 because of nissa and a potential new bolas card at some point.
I agree. We should all only play g/x decks because they are the most objectively fun and anyone who disagrees does not know the truth about EDH. Everyone should just play their decks because interaction beyond high fiving about how many land are in play is unfun and equivalent to casting Stasis while kicking puppies. I for one will never play with anyone who casts tutors, removal spells, blue cards, things I arbitrarily decide I don't like but will probably cast myself later.
I like that WotC made an Egypt set, and made another Graveyard set, and even added more Cycling, but I don't think I'll be buying any cards this year.
I am really unimpressed by the mechanical implementation of two of the set's core mechanics, Aftermath and Embalm, and don't want either in my cube. Aftermath is visually awkward, and none of the cards have either enough efficiency or mechanical elegance/cohesion for me to look past the visual. I don't like mechanically complex or distinct tokens because they become harder to track and document without actual designated tokens, which just turn into one more thing I need to keep track of in order to play.
I'm also somewhat offput by the way the flavor was presented. I'm turned off by the way WotC holds mythology at arm's length. Ali from Cairo and Frankenstein's Monster resonate immediately. They are what they say they are and I don't need to explain them to unenfranchised friends. Kefnet the Mindful and Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons really don't have that same self-explanation. King Macar, the Gold-Cursed, Akroan Horse or Titan of Eternal Fire kind of get the message across, but there's not a compelling reason that they're not just called "King Midas," "Trojan Horse," or "Prometheus" - all of which would be more clear and cut down on the overuse of awkward MtG naming schemes.
Two-thirds of the cards being about "The Trials" or "Crops" also really undermines the "top-down" appeal of media resonance in favor of pushing forward the painfully hamfisted Gatewatch plot-of-the-week.
There are a few cards I like. Liliana, Death's Majesty and Nissa, Steward of Elements are mechanically well designed, and I might cube one or both once they roll out of Standard prices despite their planeswalker subtypes. Pull from Tomorrow looks like a good cube card, and I might buy the cycling lands if the cycle is ever completed. And Grim Strider has sweet flavor despite mentioning both "Crop" and "Hekema." Bounty of the Luxa is very cool mechanical implementation of a flavor idea.
I was really excited for some cool Egyptian flavour in a set, but... It was hit or miss flavour wise. I like the idea of a Bolas plane, as well, and combining the two was no issue for me, but having everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on the plane so concerned on the trials took away from some stuff they could have done to fit the Egyptian theme more. Plus, the God's are way underpowered.. I agree that not doing devotion was an alright idea to make the Theros Gods stand out, but what made the Theros gods so cool was the fact that they were fantastic, with the drawback... These gods, mostly drawback I'm also not seeing a whole lotta cards that'll be good (I don't play standard, so I'm not talking about standard good) nor do I see any of the mechanics sticking around. Cycling coming back is neat, but the cycling duals are meh :/ Having them enter tapped is sorta' lame imo but I can understand why they did it
I feel like Wizard's is being too cautious lately, standard sets feel underpowered and more on the bland side... Hoping that their big announcement eventually is a good one!
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EDH: Bruna, Light of Alabaster | Karlov of the Ghost Council | Breya, Etherium Shaper | Marchesa, the Black Rose | Queen Marchesa | The Mimeoplasm | Avacyn, Angel of Hope |
Pauper:
Orzhov Nightsky Mimic
Frequent lurker and vorthos player
The art looks horrendous on almost every card the depicts non-God creatures. Samut, voice of dissent looks really bad, and I feel the story is going for the whole rebellion thing way too soon after Kaladesh's very basic story.
Just came back from two pre-releases and yeah...everything is just meh.
While I liked exert as a mechanic, embalm seemed a bit strong in limited considering the low amount of removal in the set. The -1/-1 counters theme cards are kinda clunky, but that will probably be more of a draft archetype than sealed.
The art was all rather unimaginative and boring,and it some cases quite bad. I dunno...all these new sets lack soul.
I feel like it's a flavor flop. There are so many csrds that don't fit the Egyptian flavor pallet. Minotaurs, angels, masticores, none of these belong. Too many of the chaff cards could have had more resonance.
Where's the cool mummy or lich? Pharaoh?
The trials all seem weak as well. The Gods are meh.
With Theros block there might have been mechanical issues, but the block screamed Greek myth and was rich with flavor. But this set seems mostly generic with some Egyptish art platered on the cards, and much of that is weak.
I feel that ultimately WOTC had such a great opportunity to create an amazing set and they missed it both in flavor and mechanic.
I'm not one to usually complain about sets I'm unimpressed with, I just normally keep quiet and wait for them to print a set I'll enjoy. This time however, I had my hopes set a little higher and felt that they didn't deliver.
I agree completely. No sphinxes in an EGYPTIAN THEMED SET?
It is kind of heartbreaking to see something so full of potential ending up being, THIS. Sure Jackals are cool and yeah there is a mummy or two, but still. I mean the Gods are a little offsetting and kind of blah. There is very little theme in terms of egypt. Mummies, Pharaohs, Pyramids.
Even as blah as teh gods are at least tehy resembel teh egyptian gods. Ra, Bastet, Anubis...
I like the instant speed card draw, I was beginning to think we would never see decent instant speed card draw again. My EDH deck will enjoy the cycle lands and that blue enchantment that lets me playfree cards seem cool.
On a side note... They made Rotw rare was it so powerful in OTJ that in todays meta by simple giving it trample it warranted a rare slot?...
Having played with the set this weekend, its a real blast to play. My only complaint is that the flying bombs of Glorybringer and Glyph Keeper are Super strong and put you really far ahead.
Edit: finished up 3 and 2 in Boros using a Glorybringer. The guy who had 2 in the same deck went 5 and 0. That thing is ridiculous and should probably have been mythic for limited.
Well, I liked Plague Belcher? This was the messiest Pre-release I've been to as basically no one was able to get a decently good limited deck built and the whole event turned into 3 color dawdling around. Also, I got a Glorious End, which I used sometimes to win and other times to just kill myself since neither my opponent nor myself were getting the right land drops and it was going to turn 7+.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
There's some really weird interactions that's going to take getting used to:
Ex:
1) the -1 -1 counters theme in G/B.
2) Sequencing Exert, value plays VS just chipping in
3) Cycling cards and knowing when it's best to hold on to them
So, after 2 prerelease events, I went 3-0 with BR aggro and 2-1 with GB counters.
I found the matches interesting and interactive. There were many decision points, and tons of pontential interactions to keep track of (Embalm, Exert). The Combat tricks in W and G are pretty good, and can lead to some huge blow outs. I like the limited environment a lot and am looking forward to find more arch types other than the known 5.
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Standard Arena: Eh? Gruul or Die
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now: G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record) C Eldrazi Tron (9-5) UG Infect RW Burn
I feel like it's a flavor flop. There are so many csrds that don't fit the Egyptian flavor pallet. Minotaurs, angels, masticores, none of these belong. Too many of the chaff cards could have had more resonance.
Where's the cool mummy or lich? Pharaoh?
The trials all seem weak as well. The Gods are meh.
With Theros block there might have been mechanical issues, but the block screamed Greek myth and was rich with flavor. But this set seems mostly generic with some Egyptish art platered on the cards, and much of that is weak.
I feel that ultimately WOTC had such a great opportunity to create an amazing set and they missed it both in flavor and mechanic.
I'm not one to usually complain about sets I'm unimpressed with, I just normally keep quiet and wait for them to print a set I'll enjoy. This time however, I had my hopes set a little higher and felt that they didn't deliver.
I agree completely. No sphinxes in an EGYPTIAN THEMED SET?
It is kind of heartbreaking to see something so full of potential ending up being, THIS. Sure Jackals are cool and yeah there is a mummy or two, but still. I mean the Gods are a little offsetting and kind of blah. There is very little theme in terms of egypt. Mummies, Pharaohs, Pyramids.
Even as blah as teh gods are at least tehy resembel teh egyptian gods. Ra, Bastet, Anubis...
Thoth, not Ra. The lack of a Ra or Horus seems like a really strange miss.
But I agree with the general feel of this thread. It doesn't feel like an Egyptian Plane enough, it feels like Bolas Plane with Egyptian overcoat. And this is in the part of the block that is supposed to be more Egyptian. I know that they want villains to feel environmental, altering everything, but honestly the blocks where we've had an interplanar threat (Phyrexia, Eldrazi, and now Bolas) have been huge misses for me. I didn't think Bolas would be as much of an issue, but they managed to make him part of most of Amonkhet.
I will acknowledge that they wanted to do a Bolas block, but I think Amonkhet just... doesn't capture my interest as much because of it. I'm not concerned about the gameplay as much, there are a couple cards I like. The Gods are not big enough, that's a huge issue, but I'm hoping for something closer to the Myojin, or Iona, or Avacyn. Huge, expensive creatures that alter the entire game just by entering the battlefield. These Gods? They just don't feel worthy of being called Gods. I'll grant the Theros ones aren't much better in that area, but they're a little bit.
But yeah, those are my big complaints. Bolas world with Egyptian coat, it's really obvious when they talked about how they built it that Bolas was more central to how they built the place, they even made a Bolas pie. And the Gods just don't feel big enough. They should feel much more... Timmy. They feel much closer to being Spike cards.
King Macar, the Gold-Cursed, Akroan Horse or Titan of Eternal Fire kind of get the message across, but there's not a compelling reason that they're not just called "King Midas," "Trojan Horse," or "Prometheus" - all of which would be more clear and cut down on the overuse of awkward MtG naming schemes.
Okay, a couple of reasons:
1. If Wizards wants to make an oblique reference to a mythological being, using names like "titan of eternal fire" allows them to avoid making the card legendary... which may have mechanical ramifications and story ramifications (as it is generally assumed nowadays that most legends from a set will be featured in the storyline).
2. If Wizards is making a set for Theros, everything they produce exists on Theros. The name "Trojan Horse" literally makes no sense in a plane that doesn't contain Troy. While the two cards you name break this pattern, I am unaware of any cards like that being printed in the past 20 years.
3. Many players would in fact be more confused by (for example) the actual Sherlock Holmes from our world appearing in a magic set than they would be by an obvious Sherlock Holmes expy. I know that I would be.
If you don't like Wizards wanting to have its cake and eat it too, I can totally understand that. To say that there is no good reason, however, seems a bit disingenuous. Even if you're not a Vorthos players, some players do care about lore and immersion in card design.
Having played with the set this weekend, its a real blast to play. My only complaint is that the flying bombs of Glorybringer and Glyph Keeper are Super strong and put you really far ahead.
Yeah I played against Glyph Keeper... that card was just dumb. Although I'm sure my opponent enjoyed beating my face with it.
I played in the prerelease yesterday and this is one of the better limited formats in quite some time I think. Great abilities.
Besides limited I must admit I don't really feel for this set, as flavor goes I definitely like the more original ideas then just copying an existing world.
There's some really weird interactions that's going to take getting used to:
Ex:
1) the -1 -1 counters theme in G/B.
2) Sequencing Exert, value plays VS just chipping in
3) Cycling cards and knowing when it's best to hold on to them
So, after 2 prerelease events, I went 3-0 with BR aggro and 2-1 with GB counters.
I found the matches interesting and interactive. There were many decision points, and tons of pontential interactions to keep track of (Embalm, Exert). The Combat tricks in W and G are pretty good, and can lead to some huge blow outs. I like the limited environment a lot and am looking forward to find more arch types other than the known 5.
I felt like the stronger pools were definitely green and black as the -1/-1 counter theme had a lot of flexibility in application. Decimator Beetle ended quite a few games for one player and while I did awful, my slapped together jund aggro still pulled reasonably well.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I played in the prerelease yesterday and this is one of the better limited formats in quite some time I think. Great abilities.
Besides limited I must admit I don't really feel for this set, as flavor goes I definitely like the more original ideas then just copying an existing world.
I've gotten to the point with the new two block format that I save my final judgement for when they release the second half of the cards. For example, they got a zombie sub-theme going, but they haven't really taken and ran with it in this first set and instead the stronger theme in isolation is the -1/-1 counters. Blue is really swingy in the pool at the moment as it has some very pushed cycling cards like Drake Haven and Curator of Mysteries, but then the support at the lower CMC is sort of lacking so you end up having to go red or black to find support. Also blue itself is still being butchered by R&D and isn't getting good spells like Turnabout or Exhaustion, the later of which I would have thought would see a reprint in this set given exert (oh, you want to exert? How about we overdo it a bit. ).
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I feel its pretty low powered, with not enough low cost, high power, spells.
This sums it up for me too, Granted we knew this was going to be a powered down block. They did lay the foundation for the block so maybe it gets better with the next set.
I played in the prerelease yesterday and this is one of the better limited formats in quite some time I think. Great abilities.
Besides limited I must admit I don't really feel for this set, as flavor goes I definitely like the more original ideas then just copying an existing world.
I've gotten to the point with the new two block format that I save my final judgement for when they release the second half of the cards. For example, they got a zombie sub-theme going, but they haven't really taken and ran with it in this first set and instead the stronger theme in isolation is the -1/-1 counters. Blue is really swingy in the pool at the moment as it has some very pushed cycling cards like Drake Haven and Curator of Mysteries, but then the support at the lower CMC is sort of lacking so you end up having to go red or black to find support. Also blue itself is still being butchered by R&D and isn't getting good spells like Turnabout or Exhaustion, the later of which I would have thought would see a reprint in this set given exert (oh, you want to exert? How about we overdo it a bit. ).
The 2 block system is one reason standards sucks at the moment, but that's a discussion for another thread. I agree with you that this would have been a great time to reprint Exhaustion, I guess the sheep are to weak for such a card as it may maybe to unfun for them.
I played in the prerelease yesterday and this is one of the better limited formats in quite some time I think. Great abilities.
Besides limited I must admit I don't really feel for this set, as flavor goes I definitely like the more original ideas then just copying an existing world.
I've gotten to the point with the new two block format that I save my final judgement for when they release the second half of the cards. For example, they got a zombie sub-theme going, but they haven't really taken and ran with it in this first set and instead the stronger theme in isolation is the -1/-1 counters. Blue is really swingy in the pool at the moment as it has some very pushed cycling cards like Drake Haven and Curator of Mysteries, but then the support at the lower CMC is sort of lacking so you end up having to go red or black to find support. Also blue itself is still being butchered by R&D and isn't getting good spells like Turnabout or Exhaustion, the later of which I would have thought would see a reprint in this set given exert (oh, you want to exert? How about we overdo it a bit. ).
The 2 block system is one reason standards sucks at the moment, but that's a discussion for another thread. I agree with you that this would have been a great time to reprint Exhaustion, I guess the sheep are to weak for such a card as it may maybe to unfun for them.
It's not the players that are at fault. The R&D at wizards literally can't print many of the powerful blue cards because of the strength of the creatures and them constantly creating these odd mechanics that scale poorly. Right now they have super strong creatures like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Torrential Gearhulk that would make playing around with Turnabout risky. I'd still rather play with cards that follow the core rules of the game like Exhaustion than things like Energy counters and brick counters. They are just getting way too cute with mechanics instead of just making a damn good core experience.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Cant print good blue spells, because their are already OP creatures? That is nonsensical. Exhaustion would have been fine, we have it in Modern, its not game breaking, it sees play in exactly 1 deck (Turns).
It is obviously not the players fault, but instead the R&D Team's fault for listening to players about a decade ago. 'Please dont allow people to counter my spells, blow up my lands, or lock me down with fate seal, it makes me sad'.
Paraphrase and exaggerated for effect, but thats essentially what Maro has told us about a million times, in combination with 'Its good for Limited', as to the reasons we have the vast majority of a set full of literal dumpster tier trash.
Great point however on getting cute with Energy and such instead of just looking at core mechanical functions.
I am really unimpressed by the mechanical implementation of two of the set's core mechanics, Aftermath and Embalm, and don't want either in my cube. Aftermath is visually awkward, and none of the cards have either enough efficiency or mechanical elegance/cohesion for me to look past the visual. I don't like mechanically complex or distinct tokens because they become harder to track and document without actual designated tokens, which just turn into one more thing I need to keep track of in order to play.
I'm also somewhat offput by the way the flavor was presented. I'm turned off by the way WotC holds mythology at arm's length. Ali from Cairo and Frankenstein's Monster resonate immediately. They are what they say they are and I don't need to explain them to unenfranchised friends. Kefnet the Mindful and Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons really don't have that same self-explanation. King Macar, the Gold-Cursed, Akroan Horse or Titan of Eternal Fire kind of get the message across, but there's not a compelling reason that they're not just called "King Midas," "Trojan Horse," or "Prometheus" - all of which would be more clear and cut down on the overuse of awkward MtG naming schemes.
Two-thirds of the cards being about "The Trials" or "Crops" also really undermines the "top-down" appeal of media resonance in favor of pushing forward the painfully hamfisted Gatewatch plot-of-the-week.
There are a few cards I like. Liliana, Death's Majesty and Nissa, Steward of Elements are mechanically well designed, and I might cube one or both once they roll out of Standard prices despite their planeswalker subtypes. Pull from Tomorrow looks like a good cube card, and I might buy the cycling lands if the cycle is ever completed. And Grim Strider has sweet flavor despite mentioning both "Crop" and "Hekema." Bounty of the Luxa is very cool mechanical implementation of a flavor idea.
I feel like Wizard's is being too cautious lately, standard sets feel underpowered and more on the bland side... Hoping that their big announcement eventually is a good one!
Bruna, Light of Alabaster | Karlov of the Ghost Council | Breya, Etherium Shaper | Marchesa, the Black Rose | Queen Marchesa | The Mimeoplasm | Avacyn, Angel of Hope |
Pauper:
Orzhov Nightsky Mimic
Frequent lurker and vorthos player
It's just another forgettable bland soulless corporate set.
Here is a failure at facial anatomy.
While I liked exert as a mechanic, embalm seemed a bit strong in limited considering the low amount of removal in the set. The -1/-1 counters theme cards are kinda clunky, but that will probably be more of a draft archetype than sealed.
The art was all rather unimaginative and boring,and it some cases quite bad. I dunno...all these new sets lack soul.
I agree completely. No sphinxes in an EGYPTIAN THEMED SET?
It is kind of heartbreaking to see something so full of potential ending up being, THIS. Sure Jackals are cool and yeah there is a mummy or two, but still. I mean the Gods are a little offsetting and kind of blah. There is very little theme in terms of egypt. Mummies, Pharaohs, Pyramids.
Even as blah as teh gods are at least tehy resembel teh egyptian gods. Ra, Bastet, Anubis...
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
On a side note... They made Rotw rare was it so powerful in OTJ that in todays meta by simple giving it trample it warranted a rare slot?...
New 3 mana Gideon looks great too.. just waiting for his price to drop a bit.
And some other cards that I like are Rhonas = a 3 mana 5/5, and also Hazoret's Monument for it's card filtering ability.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Edit: finished up 3 and 2 in Boros using a Glorybringer. The guy who had 2 in the same deck went 5 and 0. That thing is ridiculous and should probably have been mythic for limited.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Give Zaliki a CardI must have all the cats!
Most humans and avens look like each other, the cats look shopped and everything else just looks super boring.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Ex:
1) the -1 -1 counters theme in G/B.
2) Sequencing Exert, value plays VS just chipping in
3) Cycling cards and knowing when it's best to hold on to them
So, after 2 prerelease events, I went 3-0 with BR aggro and 2-1 with GB counters.
I found the matches interesting and interactive. There were many decision points, and tons of pontential interactions to keep track of (Embalm, Exert). The Combat tricks in W and G are pretty good, and can lead to some huge blow outs. I like the limited environment a lot and am looking forward to find more arch types other than the known 5.
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now:
G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record)
C Eldrazi Tron (9-5)
UG Infect
RW Burn
Thoth, not Ra. The lack of a Ra or Horus seems like a really strange miss.
But I agree with the general feel of this thread. It doesn't feel like an Egyptian Plane enough, it feels like Bolas Plane with Egyptian overcoat. And this is in the part of the block that is supposed to be more Egyptian. I know that they want villains to feel environmental, altering everything, but honestly the blocks where we've had an interplanar threat (Phyrexia, Eldrazi, and now Bolas) have been huge misses for me. I didn't think Bolas would be as much of an issue, but they managed to make him part of most of Amonkhet.
I will acknowledge that they wanted to do a Bolas block, but I think Amonkhet just... doesn't capture my interest as much because of it. I'm not concerned about the gameplay as much, there are a couple cards I like. The Gods are not big enough, that's a huge issue, but I'm hoping for something closer to the Myojin, or Iona, or Avacyn. Huge, expensive creatures that alter the entire game just by entering the battlefield. These Gods? They just don't feel worthy of being called Gods. I'll grant the Theros ones aren't much better in that area, but they're a little bit.
But yeah, those are my big complaints. Bolas world with Egyptian coat, it's really obvious when they talked about how they built it that Bolas was more central to how they built the place, they even made a Bolas pie. And the Gods just don't feel big enough. They should feel much more... Timmy. They feel much closer to being Spike cards.
Okay, a couple of reasons:
1. If Wizards wants to make an oblique reference to a mythological being, using names like "titan of eternal fire" allows them to avoid making the card legendary... which may have mechanical ramifications and story ramifications (as it is generally assumed nowadays that most legends from a set will be featured in the storyline).
2. If Wizards is making a set for Theros, everything they produce exists on Theros. The name "Trojan Horse" literally makes no sense in a plane that doesn't contain Troy. While the two cards you name break this pattern, I am unaware of any cards like that being printed in the past 20 years.
3. Many players would in fact be more confused by (for example) the actual Sherlock Holmes from our world appearing in a magic set than they would be by an obvious Sherlock Holmes expy. I know that I would be.
If you don't like Wizards wanting to have its cake and eat it too, I can totally understand that. To say that there is no good reason, however, seems a bit disingenuous. Even if you're not a Vorthos players, some players do care about lore and immersion in card design.
Glyph Keeper and Curator of Mysteries are both sphinxes.
I'll pick them up over the course of the next 6 months.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Yeah I played against Glyph Keeper... that card was just dumb. Although I'm sure my opponent enjoyed beating my face with it.
Besides limited I must admit I don't really feel for this set, as flavor goes I definitely like the more original ideas then just copying an existing world.
RJaya Ballard, Task Mage Mono Red Control Decklist
WNahiri, the Lithomancer Mono White Control Decklist
RGWUKynaios and Tiro of Meletis Aikido Control Decklist
UBGisa and Geralf Tribal Aggro Decklist
URGRiku of Two Reflections Non-combo coolstuff Decklist
RWUBruse Tarl, Boorish Herder and Kraum, Ludovic's Opus Equipments Decklist
WBAthreos, God of Passage Reanimate/Goodstuff Decklist
I felt like the stronger pools were definitely green and black as the -1/-1 counter theme had a lot of flexibility in application. Decimator Beetle ended quite a few games for one player and while I did awful, my slapped together jund aggro still pulled reasonably well.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I've gotten to the point with the new two block format that I save my final judgement for when they release the second half of the cards. For example, they got a zombie sub-theme going, but they haven't really taken and ran with it in this first set and instead the stronger theme in isolation is the -1/-1 counters. Blue is really swingy in the pool at the moment as it has some very pushed cycling cards like Drake Haven and Curator of Mysteries, but then the support at the lower CMC is sort of lacking so you end up having to go red or black to find support. Also blue itself is still being butchered by R&D and isn't getting good spells like Turnabout or Exhaustion, the later of which I would have thought would see a reprint in this set given exert (oh, you want to exert? How about we overdo it a bit. ).
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
It's not the players that are at fault. The R&D at wizards literally can't print many of the powerful blue cards because of the strength of the creatures and them constantly creating these odd mechanics that scale poorly. Right now they have super strong creatures like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Torrential Gearhulk that would make playing around with Turnabout risky. I'd still rather play with cards that follow the core rules of the game like Exhaustion than things like Energy counters and brick counters. They are just getting way too cute with mechanics instead of just making a damn good core experience.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
It is obviously not the players fault, but instead the R&D Team's fault for listening to players about a decade ago. 'Please dont allow people to counter my spells, blow up my lands, or lock me down with fate seal, it makes me sad'.
Paraphrase and exaggerated for effect, but thats essentially what Maro has told us about a million times, in combination with 'Its good for Limited', as to the reasons we have the vast majority of a set full of literal dumpster tier trash.
Great point however on getting cute with Energy and such instead of just looking at core mechanical functions.
Gigadrowse, Remand, and Exhaustion are some of the most elegant cards Wizards has ever printed, but instead we get Samut, Voice of Dissent and Prowling Serpopard lol why do I even play this game...
Spirits