Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Dark Ascension was far superior IMO. I think the only card in Avacyn I will remember will be Restoration Angel, which is one of my favorite cards of all time. But it does not make the set.
Dark Ascension just kept the whole Innistrad atmosphere and it had some powerhouses such as Messenger, Aristocrat, Sorin, and of course, Lingering Souls.
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Playing Magic Since 1995 -
Best Standard of all time was "Scars/12/Innistrad"
Fav Cards of all time: Geist of Saint Traft; Kaalia of the Vast
I enjoyed Dark Ascension more because of its remarkable cards like Gravecrawler and Huntmaster of the Fells and some other cards mentioned above, plus it continued the fantastic transform and flashback effects from Innistrad. Soulbond is nifty and all, but DKA is more fun on paper for me. Plus I love the art. AVR's art looks kind of cheap.
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EDH/Commander
UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
Dark Ascension. While triple Innistrad was better than Innistrad-Dark Ascension, it was still a pretty decent draft format. There were some powerful cards, but they weren't just at rare and mythic; you had stuff like Loyal Cathar, Pyreheart Wolf, the lords, etc.
Avacyn Restored limited was horrible. It has some very powerful cards, but they were pushed rares and mythics. The flavor destroyed the interesting setting of Innistrad. Miracle was one of the most obnoxious abilities I've ever played with.
I do like some things about Avacyn Restored, but Dark Ascension is the clear winner here.
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The wedding is over. Now it's time for the honeymoon.
I guess that most people will agree that, overall, Dark Ascension was a better set, because it made one of the greatest Draft seasons ever (I still prefer DKA-ISD-ISD better than 3x ISD, though), but I have my reasons to love Avacyn Restored more. Because humans (oh, you'll see me posting that a lot). It gave WR Humans many new tools. While it gave the world Griselbrand and Craterhoof, DKA gave Lingering Souls that see much more play in constructed formats, plus insane mythics such as Falkenrath Aristocrat and Huntmaster of the Fells. Other aspects such as lands, I never liked the BG land from DKA, and always found it too weak compared to the Innistrad ones, and I'm a big fan of Slayers' Stronghold - and I approve it more than Vault of the Archangel for some reason. The cycle of gold lords is also awesome and remarkable, and was pretty useful on drafts and such (and, for a tribal lover like me, great tools for decks).
And Miracles.
Love Miracles. Bonfire of the Damned was a card that I wanted to cry when I first saw it.
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(Give your LGS judge a hug. He deserves it.)
Nothing. All I want is Heroes vs. Monsters spoilers.
That's a good point, and well made. Besides Blood Artist, all the best cards in AVR were rare or mythic. The fact that the set wasn't nearly as opened as Innistrad, for example, just makes the cards that much more expensive.
As much as I love my big, chunky angels, I gotta go with Dark Ascension. I guess I liked the darker atmosphere...I guess part of it, too, is I'm just not a fan of standalone sets. This is something I think RTR block did well. Two large sets, equally played, then both pulled in by a small set. You don't have one sitting at the side feeling kinda awkward.
:symur::symb:Modern Grixis Control:symur::symb:
Standard MonoBlack Devotion:symb:
:symbg:Tribal Zombies:symbg:
AVR had the worst limited scenario EVER.
UB Sacrifice
RWU Miracle Control
Modern
UB Tezzerator
Clint Cearley ♥
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Dark Ascension just kept the whole Innistrad atmosphere and it had some powerhouses such as Messenger, Aristocrat, Sorin, and of course, Lingering Souls.
Best Standard of all time was "Scars/12/Innistrad"
Fav Cards of all time: Geist of Saint Traft; Kaalia of the Vast
Griselbrand, Cavern of Souls, Restoration Angel, Terminus, Vexing Devil, Blood Artist and Entreat the Angels have all seen play in multiple formats.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Bruna, Light of Alabaster and Avacyn, Angel of Hope are everything a mythic should be: Powerful, splashy and somewhat expensive legends that have great art.
It also had lots of fun "build around me" cards like Deadeye Navigator, Lone Revenant, Homicidal Seclusion, Druids' Repository, Descendants' Path, Primal Surge and Demonic Rising, not to mention tournament-winning cards like Craterhoof Behemoth, Angel of Glory's Rise and Silverblade Paladin.
However, Dark Ascension has my favourite card of all-time, Loyal Cathar, so it's probably a wash.
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
Avacyn Restored limited was horrible. It has some very powerful cards, but they were pushed rares and mythics. The flavor destroyed the interesting setting of Innistrad. Miracle was one of the most obnoxious abilities I've ever played with.
I do like some things about Avacyn Restored, but Dark Ascension is the clear winner here.
Thanks to Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery Signatures!
And Miracles.
Love Miracles.
Bonfire of the Damned was a card that I wanted to cry when I first saw it.
(Give your LGS judge a hug. He deserves it.)
That's a good point, and well made. Besides Blood Artist, all the best cards in AVR were rare or mythic. The fact that the set wasn't nearly as opened as Innistrad, for example, just makes the cards that much more expensive.
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
The creator of Maro's Magic 8-Ball!