Our LGS has been looking for fresh ideas, and this one hit me the other day. What if we celebrated the third trip to the plane of Ravnica by doing something that included ALL THREE Ravnica blocks?
Ravinca's popularity is enormous, and the guild themes (Golgari's "graveyard matters," et al) are more or less consistent throughout the sets.
My first thought is to do something like a Block Constructed tournament, but allow Block-Constructed-legal cards from all three Ravnica blocks. The card pool would be larger than the typical Standard, and with more synergy. The downside here is that people might not want to obtain cards just for one event ... but if they're not playable in other formats, they shouldn't cost much, anyway, right?
My second thought was to make it some sort of Limited format, again including all three blocks. Drafting nine packs sounds like too much even for two-headed giant, but what about a nine-pack sealed pool? Would there be too much diversity? Would it be cost-prohibitive?
The problem that seems to arise here (on the Limited end) to me is that the guilds whose mechanics synergize would have an advantage. Golgari would be rolling in it being able to dredge scavenge cards AND fuel undergrowth. And Selesnya would be extremely strong with a double convoke card pool and populate.
The "Ultra-Block Constructed" version of this idea is interesting, however.
I think it's helpful to look beyond how the mechanics synergize and into how the guilds have played in each format. Azorious has 3 mechanics that don't really synergize, but it's consistently played as your typical skies deck, with cheap evasive creatures backed by tempo and spot removal, topped with big flying threats. Whether the tempo comes from forecast, detain, or a well timed addendum spell, it's still backing up the evasive weenies.
Dimir also fills an evasion plus control role in all three formats it's been in. The main issue for it is the weakness of it's dragons maze and gatecrash cards, and how many of it's strong cards in guilds require surveil. Between surveil and transmute though it's easy to find your key cards. I'd imagine it's mill theme would actually be pretty good in this format, as there are strong mill cards in allegiant that Dimir never had access to, not to mention the solid mill spells in gatecrash that were just too slow for that format.
Those are the two least mechanically synergistic guilds. Boros has radiant as an odd duck but it's other two work wonderful together and Boros has always been the weenies attack guild. Simics mechanics are nonbos with eachother but the overriding theme is creatures benefitting from +1/+1 counters, so the mechanics just work ad different ways to get them on creatures. Rakdos has hell-bent as the odd man out but the aggressive playstyle needed to maximize it's other two mechanics tends to lead to hell-bent naturally, so its more synergistic than it seems at first glance. Orzhov, selesnya, golgari, gruul all have obviously synergistic mechanics, while izzet is just all about instants and sorceries, with it's mechanics being various ways to add flexibility to those spells.
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Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I'd play this if it were casual only, since some guild are a bit stronger than others. I like the idea of making a guild deck with a very deep card pool for ecah guild or a Maze's End deck with lots of options to choose from.
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UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
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Our LGS has been looking for fresh ideas, and this one hit me the other day. What if we celebrated the third trip to the plane of Ravnica by doing something that included ALL THREE Ravnica blocks?
Ravinca's popularity is enormous, and the guild themes (Golgari's "graveyard matters," et al) are more or less consistent throughout the sets.
My first thought is to do something like a Block Constructed tournament, but allow Block-Constructed-legal cards from all three Ravnica blocks. The card pool would be larger than the typical Standard, and with more synergy. The downside here is that people might not want to obtain cards just for one event ... but if they're not playable in other formats, they shouldn't cost much, anyway, right?
My second thought was to make it some sort of Limited format, again including all three blocks. Drafting nine packs sounds like too much even for two-headed giant, but what about a nine-pack sealed pool? Would there be too much diversity? Would it be cost-prohibitive?
I'd value any input you might have. Thanks!
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
The "Ultra-Block Constructed" version of this idea is interesting, however.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Dimir also fills an evasion plus control role in all three formats it's been in. The main issue for it is the weakness of it's dragons maze and gatecrash cards, and how many of it's strong cards in guilds require surveil. Between surveil and transmute though it's easy to find your key cards. I'd imagine it's mill theme would actually be pretty good in this format, as there are strong mill cards in allegiant that Dimir never had access to, not to mention the solid mill spells in gatecrash that were just too slow for that format.
Those are the two least mechanically synergistic guilds. Boros has radiant as an odd duck but it's other two work wonderful together and Boros has always been the weenies attack guild. Simics mechanics are nonbos with eachother but the overriding theme is creatures benefitting from +1/+1 counters, so the mechanics just work ad different ways to get them on creatures. Rakdos has hell-bent as the odd man out but the aggressive playstyle needed to maximize it's other two mechanics tends to lead to hell-bent naturally, so its more synergistic than it seems at first glance. Orzhov, selesnya, golgari, gruul all have obviously synergistic mechanics, while izzet is just all about instants and sorceries, with it's mechanics being various ways to add flexibility to those spells.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai