Man, if I opened that box, I'd be freaking pissed.
Shards of Alara just got placed on my "don't buy" list. Sad times for the store I patron!
I just don't see why I would buy boxes/cases of this set when I want... maybe 20 cards.
Anytime you buy a box, you are losing money. Just... don't. Drafting will always leave you with 90% unplayable cards. The sooner people realize this, the better. The point of the matter is that, the best sets have playable cards, teir 1 cards that is, in ALL rarities. Time Spiral, Invasion, Ravnica... They all had playable un/commons. This set, for the most part, has delivered in that area. I think you are underrating all the utility cards in this set. Cards like Agony Warp truly are SO much better than you guys think. Also, by 20 cards... do you mean 20 playsets? Or 5 playsets? I know already that I want playsets of at least 10 different cards, most of them not rare. <_<
As far as I'm concerned, this set is VERY similar, in both theme and power level, to Invasion. I think that it skimped a bit in the bomby rares section, but we've been spoiled. I look at Invasion, and I'm thinking "Well, where are the cards like Void?", but you've already forgotten that they just spoiled a card like Scourglass, or Elspeth. I just don't see where the set is "lacking", in relationship to any other sets.
And the whole idea of overpowering the set after tribal is a mistake (I think the real mistake is overpowering tribal in the first place... but Wizards loves their market research). This is the FIRST set after rotation, and any time that happens, the previous block will take precedence, regardless of it's theme. After conflux hits, and we get more artifact/gy/fatty/ww/token/etc themed cards, it will definitely start to balance out. Already, this set has introduced a possible artifact archetype that needs to seriously be considered, and added some ammunition to the BR Goblin/Token archetypes, and overall already balanced the metagame a little bit. As much as I'd love Engineered Plague to be reprinted, it would unbalance the game, and make half of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor block unplayable.
The set has plenty of power cards, plenty of playable uncommons and commons. That's truly the most you could ask for. It's on par with Invasion imho, and that's good enough for me.
I make a conscious decision to play a sub par card in my FNM deck because i like it. Thats different than legitimately thinking its a good card, and totally different than making the nth list of cards in this thread where i say the cards are okay in some kind of hypothetical vacuum.
Fact of the matter is this set is the worst I've seen since Kamigawa. Of course the cards will be played to an extent, they always are, but that doesn't stop the crippling majority of the set from sucking, and it being a weak set on par.
edit: no, but but I don't like worse versions of them [insert sarcastic smiley]
You also made a conscious decision not to play an excellent set like Kamigawa because building a good deck actually required some thinking instead of throwing together a bunch of obvious bombs....
but it's still a fact that just as many good cards from Kami were played then, in T2 and Ext, as a faster limited set like Ravnica, while many people were whining that Japanese names were hard to pronounce others were making good decks with those cards (matter of fact a while ago some guy put out lists, more than years after the sets had come out and not before the pre-release) showing just that.... despite all the whining Kami had tons of excellent cards
truth is we may like or not like a set for whatever reason, but all sets since Ice Age, and probably earlier, have been at least 3/4 limited filler.... some good cards and the occasional chase rare
personally I find Shadowmoor was just imbalanced R/G and R/B must get all the good cards and everybody else can eff off (with a few exceptions of course).. but that's my opinion
honestly I already like Alara a lot better
Speaking of which @R_E
Dude, I"m a fellow Vancouverite and like you I prefer playing constructed, but I stand by my opinion, every set I can think of (and chronicles and Legends are included) has been 3/4 filler .....
so if you really don't like that, really, you should have quit the game long ago (I often quit buying stuff for the same reason, and play with old cards till a new set entices me back)
So far I lie the flavor of Alara, I don't like Naya but that's cool, it will make other players' happy, and I don't like some cards of course....
but I still think it has a cool flavor and it's gonna be fun to play
if nothing's really really new, well, after many years and thousands of cards, you know what, I'm not surprised
peace, gl
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Niteowl the blue mage....
Originally posted by thepchapin
too many people are relying far too heavily on netdecking instead of actually pushing themselves to find ways to advance the format.
Originally Posted by badjuju
As the Last of the Control Players, we are all part of a sacred brotherhood; a band of brothers who would rather die on their knees tapping islands and giving permission than live on our feet cascading into Blightning
(Love the art too. Cards aside, I could just look at the art forever. Except Grixis. Yuck.)
I've decided to buy all the Esper stuff. But that's just me.
Also, you don't have to compare Alara to Kamigawa. I'm really not seeing the similarities between a "Feudal Japan" setting and a "Torn Plane Split Into Shards" setting. Card quality is not very comparable either, as they have totally different mechanics and themes (and subthemes and sub-subthemes.)
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Thanks to PurpleD for the awesome banner!
(Semi-retired)
You also made a conscious decision not to play an excellent set like Kamigawa because building a good deck actually required some thinking instead of throwing together a bunch of obvious bombs....
but it's still a fact that just as many good cards from Kami were played then, in T2 and Ext, as a faster limited set like Ravnica, while many people were whining that Japanese names were hard to pronounce others were making good decks with those cards (matter of fact a while ago some guy put out lists, more than years after the sets had come out and not before the pre-release) showing just that.... despite all the whining Kami had tons of excellent cards
truth is we may like or not like a set for whatever reason, but all sets since Ice Age, and probably earlier, have been at least 3/4 limited filler.... some good cards and the occasional chase rare
...right. I haven't conceded that there are always good cards enough i guess. Please feel free to tell me again. And criticize my deckbuilding ability too.
And invariable edit: a rotten apple and a rotten orange have enough in common to compare them.
I don't even mind the "nothing new" mentality. Who cares? The game has to evolve all the time, but to my knowledge Unearth has never existed. Nor exalted. Nor colored artifacts.
That's a little bit of new. No one wants to have to relearn the game every set. If it means I have to sift through a few vanilla creatures so be it. It doesn't matter if they have bears, elves or chickens as the creature type, competitive players won't play them. But they're there for a reason.
This story is new, the flavor is new, the set is wonderful in my opinion. I think another large part of the complaints are in relationship to 4/5ths of the powerhouse stuff being the first things from the set anyone saw.
Well, this set was a good concept that may yet prove to be disastrous. From what I see coming from this set, there's maybe one decently-designed shard of the five. Though Jund might give RB Tokens a good push into DtB territory, and Bant will most likely contribute a control archetype, Esper will most likely spawn a deck that sees an amount of play that reaches that Faeries level of annoying ubiquitousness.
Overall, good flavor, nice concept... Timmy will love it, Johnny may have his fun with it, and Spike isn't happy because it gets very little from it.
Me? I'll get my play out of it, Bant and Esper especially... but I'm not too pleased with the disparity in power level from the common/uncommon to the rare/mythic slots.
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:symur::symur::symur::symur::symur:
Several years ago, WotC apparently surveyed Magic players across the globe. They found that people liked turning things sideways, and hated LD. This is the result:
I am just stunned by the fact that there is 0 mana acceleration for green outside of the new creatures that tap for mana. For this rotation, we are losing search for tomorrow, into the north, hunting wilds, mwonvuli acid moss, maybe others, to be replaced by rampant growth from tenth? What gives here? I guess I have to wait for the next set or something.
I don't even mind the "nothing new" mentality. Who cares? The game has to evolve all the time, but to my knowledge Unearth has never existed. Nor exalted. Nor colored artifacts.
I think that they have existed in other forms (Flashback, Amplify, etc), but this set is the natural evolution, just like every set before it. It's nothing groundbreaking (though I think it's all well designed), but nothing really is anymore. As long as it pushes the game a little further, and is well balanced and designed, it's most likely a success. The problem with sets like Kamigawa, which I don't think this set is anywhere near in terms of quality, was the same problems that hosed Coldsnap- set specific abilities, that were so limited, they were useless in everything except block and draft. Arcane? Snow? Cute, but the sets relied too heavily on them. Abilities and overlying themes like "5 power" (as crappy as that is), "Flashback for creatures", and "Artifacts" are pretty timeless, just like "Multicolor", and "Colors/lands matter".
If anything, one of my gripes (I don't even bother griping about limited cards being bad... they are as much a part of magic now as tapping your lands) is that the Mythics weren't fully realized. The planeswalkers are all powerful in unique ways, so they succeeded there, but outside of Hellkite Overlord (amazing), and in some ways Empyrial Archangel (good, but destroyed by Bitterblossom :\), the rest of the mythic legends ranged from FRIGGIN AWFUL (Mayael the Anima) to "Really? Mythic? Why?" (Rafiq, Sedris, etc). Lichs Mirror is fitting in the Mythic slot, since it's a really iconic, huge effect, that even if it doesn't find an immediate home (or never finds a home), it certainly is an epic artifact. But most of the mythic legends are actually WORSE than the some of the old Legends chaff. I'm still completely floored by how useless Mayael is. What was the point of her?
Anywho, that's a pretty small gripe overall. I think they wanted to play it fairly safe this time around ("Let's not piss players off by making the Mythic rarity all desirable"), and they'll up the power of the mythics over time, so that in the end, they will all probably be on a better power level (probably all on the power level of the planeswalkers... undeniably good, but only useful in certain archetypes and niche slots). This IS a new thing, and they need to ease into it slowly. But wow... Mayael is just so terrible.
I am just stunned by the fact that there is 0 mana acceleration for green outside of the new creatures that tap for mana. For this rotation, we are losing search for tomorrow, into the north, hunting wilds, mwonvuli acid moss, maybe others, to be replaced by rampant growth from tenth? What gives here? I guess I have to wait for the next set or something.
I agree. It's just one more sign pointing to Naya being the bastard child of this set. Even Grixis and Jund, colors I thought were turning out terrible, happened upon some sleeper good cards, whereas Naya just got more overcosted jank. I have a feeling that Naya will be the "Giants" tribe from Lorwyn. :\ And yes, I expect some kind of ramping in Conflux, at the very least. Don't forget, we still have artifact acceleration, and cards like Civic Wayfinder, Llanowar Elves, and Farhaven Elf in other blocks. >_>
I think Mayael fits the epic slot. Her ability is fun and a casual bomb. THat's mythic for you.
I am RELIEVED the mythics aren't insane. Isn't that what everyone was worried about? No one wanted to fork out $180 for a playset of something. That was the mythic complaint. Confirmed: no one has to.
I think it's entirely possible Ethersworn Canonist/Stoic Angel will cost more than any of the mythics.
Many thanks for the scans...while I think the art is beautiful, some of the cards are playable and that's all good, I have to say that I feel the power level isn't as strong as maybe some us (me included) would have liked it to be. I also think I understand why: we *actually* have to use this card pool, when we lose cards that just screamed (to me anyway) "cool" (ala. Mystical Teachings, WAkroma) that were are left behind in rotation.
So far I see Corpse Connoisseur as a new form of tutor card for control builds, to set up locks with Empyrial Archangel vs. aggro... ...is that competitive enough?
There is NOTHING more irritating in this community than the tug of war between power creep paranoia and whining that a set doesn't have 90% broken cards made for expert players of the game.
High Tide. Low Tide.
Sets have varying power levels and it keeps the game in check with itself. This set, like all Magic sets, was made with flavor in mind as well as the new player, the old player, the casual player, the constructed player and the limited player.
Not just you. If you don't want to play, don't. I'm sure the card shops will be more enjoyable places to be.
Thank you for the scans. Great job!
And thank you Brodie! That's exactly what I was thinking when I was reading through the posts.
Whining people about 'underwhelming cards'...Jesus! I used to play Magic when Juzam Djinn was one of the most powerful creatures around...Today it seems that a 4cc 4/4 with 2 abilities is just 'standard'...That's not the Magic I want.
I want to play an interesting game not having to concede by turn 4 or 5 because he has the KILLER out and I am mana screwed.
Reduce the ridiculous power of the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor-Block is just what Magic needs.
Well, truthfully as I see it I can't judge the set as a whole due to the seperate design teams. For example I think Jund was one solid home run hit after another, esper though unfocused has plenty of intresting effect, bant was about average to a little underpowered, Grixis couldn't even understand what it was doing, and naya was probaly on crack.
Bant- Designed a useful mechanic and balance control and aggro.
Pros- White gets a solid increase of control and aggro from these guys.
Cons- The other two colors in bant get shafted horribly, lots of underpowered jank printed for seeminly limited only.
Esper- The most intresting shard for extended, it panders to artifact lovers everywhere while trying to get the bad taste of affinity out of the mouth of non-supporters.
Pros- solid construction, though unfocused in theme all cards do interact with artifacts somehow.
Cons- Kinda lack some crucial support for standard. Crap like spell snip gets printed over something potentially useful.
Grixis- Something about liches and undead
Pros- Unearth is a cool idea
Cons- Didn't want dredge 2.0 so most unearth cards are jank. In addition despite being one of the shards with a keyword this is the second least focused shard.
Jund- The predator theme prevades the set with a major mechanic and several minor supports all tracing back to the survival of the fittest flavor.
Pros- Easily the best set designed mechanically and flavorally. Everything ties together to give this sense of a violent and brutal ecosystem. The team hit the ball out of the park with this shard.
Cons- I really don't have any with this shard, this is the ravinca set amoung the shards as it was design very much close to perfectally.
Naya- Fat appeals to obese people?
Pros- A few golden cards here for the older formats to help out zoo.
Cons- 5+ gets minor benifits is one of the worse ideas for design since pretty much forever. Seriously I try to be nice when criticizing design but this group was retarded or high during production. This shard starkly stands out as one of the worse least focused and jank concetrated shards of them all. Seriously, if this was some game show these guys would be packing their bags.
Welp. This set sucks. I'm going over it again later and start making a list of things I'd actually use, then just pick up singles. Gonna be a short list though. Mainly r/w/g Zoo stuff, that charm is by far the best one. Thanks for the scans. Ashley Wood art on Lich's Mirror is pretty killer, I like that guy. Oh yeah, and Sigil Blessing is ridiculous.
I definitely agree with some of the negative comments posted here, such as "Too much vanilla!", "Too much French vanilla!", and "This card could have been printed monocolored!". Plus it proved what an utterly terrible mistake it was to reduce the set sizes.
But does that spoil the set for me? No, no it doesn't. It's not a hit on the level of Invasion or Time Spiral, but thankfully no Ice Age- or Ravnica-level snorefest either. (Yes, you read that right, I hate Ravnica. I hate it so very much.)
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
I'm happy that invincible hymn isn't so broken now that you have to count your library. Before they changed the wording you could have had people gaining ridiculously high "guesses" of the number of cards in their library.
I'm happy about all the constructed playable commons/uncommons in this set, and about the extreme dearth of good rares (I mean seriously, covenant of minds? What were they thinking? It costs 5 mana for an effect that's significantly worse than drawing three cards!). It should be a pretty budget-friendly set. I just hope Sarkhan's price doesn't go too far through the roof.
Overall a lot of really, really, utter, utter crap in the monocolored common slot! I see a lot of nice stuff, but I really didn't need a 2nd Grizzly Bears, nor a 4/3 vanilla creature for 4B, nor a tricycle of 7cc vanilla cyclers... It seems they really pushed multicolor cards at the expense of monocolor. And what's up with Vectis Silencers? Six mana for a 1/2 deathtouch? Why?!?
I just realized they made a near-cycle of vanilla creatures... The 2/2 elf in green, the 2/1 in blue, the 4/3 in black and the 5/1 in red. 11th filler?
Anyway, luckily I also see a lot that I like in the multicolor slots, and there are some pretty decent monocolor cards as well, but indeed, I think we're back to Champion of Kamigawa power. So, it's only a matter of time before we the Japanese find the hidden gems...
Anytime you buy a box, you are losing money. Just... don't. Drafting will always leave you with 90% unplayable cards. The sooner people realize this, the better. The point of the matter is that, the best sets have playable cards, teir 1 cards that is, in ALL rarities. Time Spiral, Invasion, Ravnica... They all had playable un/commons. This set, for the most part, has delivered in that area. I think you are underrating all the utility cards in this set. Cards like Agony Warp truly are SO much better than you guys think. Also, by 20 cards... do you mean 20 playsets? Or 5 playsets? I know already that I want playsets of at least 10 different cards, most of them not rare. <_<
As far as I'm concerned, this set is VERY similar, in both theme and power level, to Invasion. I think that it skimped a bit in the bomby rares section, but we've been spoiled. I look at Invasion, and I'm thinking "Well, where are the cards like Void?", but you've already forgotten that they just spoiled a card like Scourglass, or Elspeth. I just don't see where the set is "lacking", in relationship to any other sets.
And the whole idea of overpowering the set after tribal is a mistake (I think the real mistake is overpowering tribal in the first place... but Wizards loves their market research). This is the FIRST set after rotation, and any time that happens, the previous block will take precedence, regardless of it's theme. After conflux hits, and we get more artifact/gy/fatty/ww/token/etc themed cards, it will definitely start to balance out. Already, this set has introduced a possible artifact archetype that needs to seriously be considered, and added some ammunition to the BR Goblin/Token archetypes, and overall already balanced the metagame a little bit. As much as I'd love Engineered Plague to be reprinted, it would unbalance the game, and make half of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor block unplayable.
The set has plenty of power cards, plenty of playable uncommons and commons. That's truly the most you could ask for. It's on par with Invasion imho, and that's good enough for me.
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Esper especially. Esper just totally made it for me.
I no longer care about the quality (which is, IMO, pretty friggin AWESOME), but the fact that they made colored artifacts. Finally.
Artifacts: Cool.
Making them black/blue (white is an afterthought): Cooler.
Giving it a planeswalker: Cooler-er.
Dropping it all together into a super-special-awesome story?: Priceless.
Thanks to PurpleD for the awesome banner!
(Semi-retired)
You also made a conscious decision not to play an excellent set like Kamigawa because building a good deck actually required some thinking instead of throwing together a bunch of obvious bombs....
but it's still a fact that just as many good cards from Kami were played then, in T2 and Ext, as a faster limited set like Ravnica, while many people were whining that Japanese names were hard to pronounce others were making good decks with those cards (matter of fact a while ago some guy put out lists, more than years after the sets had come out and not before the pre-release) showing just that.... despite all the whining Kami had tons of excellent cards
truth is we may like or not like a set for whatever reason, but all sets since Ice Age, and probably earlier, have been at least 3/4 limited filler.... some good cards and the occasional chase rare
personally I find Shadowmoor was just imbalanced R/G and R/B must get all the good cards and everybody else can eff off (with a few exceptions of course).. but that's my opinion
honestly I already like Alara a lot better
Speaking of which @R_E
Dude, I"m a fellow Vancouverite and like you I prefer playing constructed, but I stand by my opinion, every set I can think of (and chronicles and Legends are included) has been 3/4 filler .....
so if you really don't like that, really, you should have quit the game long ago (I often quit buying stuff for the same reason, and play with old cards till a new set entices me back)
So far I lie the flavor of Alara, I don't like Naya but that's cool, it will make other players' happy, and I don't like some cards of course....
but I still think it has a cool flavor and it's gonna be fun to play
if nothing's really really new, well, after many years and thousands of cards, you know what, I'm not surprised
peace, gl
Originally posted by thepchapin
too many people are relying far too heavily on netdecking instead of actually pushing themselves to find ways to advance the format.
Originally Posted by badjuju
As the Last of the Control Players, we are all part of a sacred brotherhood; a band of brothers who would rather die on their knees tapping islands and giving permission than live on our feet cascading into Blightning
I've decided to buy all the Esper stuff. But that's just me.
Also, you don't have to compare Alara to Kamigawa. I'm really not seeing the similarities between a "Feudal Japan" setting and a "Torn Plane Split Into Shards" setting. Card quality is not very comparable either, as they have totally different mechanics and themes (and subthemes and sub-subthemes.)
Thanks to PurpleD for the awesome banner!
(Semi-retired)
...right. I haven't conceded that there are always good cards enough i guess. Please feel free to tell me again. And criticize my deckbuilding ability too.
And invariable edit: a rotten apple and a rotten orange have enough in common to compare them.
That's a little bit of new. No one wants to have to relearn the game every set. If it means I have to sift through a few vanilla creatures so be it. It doesn't matter if they have bears, elves or chickens as the creature type, competitive players won't play them. But they're there for a reason.
This story is new, the flavor is new, the set is wonderful in my opinion. I think another large part of the complaints are in relationship to 4/5ths of the powerhouse stuff being the first things from the set anyone saw.
Overall, good flavor, nice concept... Timmy will love it, Johnny may have his fun with it, and Spike isn't happy because it gets very little from it.
Me? I'll get my play out of it, Bant and Esper especially... but I'm not too pleased with the disparity in power level from the common/uncommon to the rare/mythic slots.
Several years ago, WotC apparently surveyed Magic players across the globe. They found that people liked turning things sideways, and hated LD. This is the result:
Gift of the Gargantuan seems really really good. And Puppet Conjurer, while not as good, is reminiscent of Sacred Mesa.
I think that they have existed in other forms (Flashback, Amplify, etc), but this set is the natural evolution, just like every set before it. It's nothing groundbreaking (though I think it's all well designed), but nothing really is anymore. As long as it pushes the game a little further, and is well balanced and designed, it's most likely a success. The problem with sets like Kamigawa, which I don't think this set is anywhere near in terms of quality, was the same problems that hosed Coldsnap- set specific abilities, that were so limited, they were useless in everything except block and draft. Arcane? Snow? Cute, but the sets relied too heavily on them. Abilities and overlying themes like "5 power" (as crappy as that is), "Flashback for creatures", and "Artifacts" are pretty timeless, just like "Multicolor", and "Colors/lands matter".
If anything, one of my gripes (I don't even bother griping about limited cards being bad... they are as much a part of magic now as tapping your lands) is that the Mythics weren't fully realized. The planeswalkers are all powerful in unique ways, so they succeeded there, but outside of Hellkite Overlord (amazing), and in some ways Empyrial Archangel (good, but destroyed by Bitterblossom :\), the rest of the mythic legends ranged from FRIGGIN AWFUL (Mayael the Anima) to "Really? Mythic? Why?" (Rafiq, Sedris, etc). Lichs Mirror is fitting in the Mythic slot, since it's a really iconic, huge effect, that even if it doesn't find an immediate home (or never finds a home), it certainly is an epic artifact. But most of the mythic legends are actually WORSE than the some of the old Legends chaff. I'm still completely floored by how useless Mayael is. What was the point of her?
Anywho, that's a pretty small gripe overall. I think they wanted to play it fairly safe this time around ("Let's not piss players off by making the Mythic rarity all desirable"), and they'll up the power of the mythics over time, so that in the end, they will all probably be on a better power level (probably all on the power level of the planeswalkers... undeniably good, but only useful in certain archetypes and niche slots). This IS a new thing, and they need to ease into it slowly. But wow... Mayael is just so terrible.
I agree. It's just one more sign pointing to Naya being the bastard child of this set. Even Grixis and Jund, colors I thought were turning out terrible, happened upon some sleeper good cards, whereas Naya just got more overcosted jank. I have a feeling that Naya will be the "Giants" tribe from Lorwyn. :\ And yes, I expect some kind of ramping in Conflux, at the very least. Don't forget, we still have artifact acceleration, and cards like Civic Wayfinder, Llanowar Elves, and Farhaven Elf in other blocks. >_>
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I am RELIEVED the mythics aren't insane. Isn't that what everyone was worried about? No one wanted to fork out $180 for a playset of something. That was the mythic complaint. Confirmed: no one has to.
I think it's entirely possible Ethersworn Canonist/Stoic Angel will cost more than any of the mythics.
Perhaps they took it out to make room for the overcosted beef. Wouldn't that be hilarious.
So far I see Corpse Connoisseur as a new form of tutor card for control builds, to set up locks with Empyrial Archangel vs. aggro... ...is that competitive enough?
Thank you for the scans. Great job!
And thank you Brodie! That's exactly what I was thinking when I was reading through the posts.
Whining people about 'underwhelming cards'...Jesus! I used to play Magic when Juzam Djinn was one of the most powerful creatures around...Today it seems that a 4cc 4/4 with 2 abilities is just 'standard'...That's not the Magic I want.
I want to play an interesting game not having to concede by turn 4 or 5 because he has the KILLER out and I am mana screwed.
Reduce the ridiculous power of the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor-Block is just what Magic needs.
High Tide. Low Tide...Exactly...
Current signed cards count (31.12.16):
Artist alters: 828
Beta Project: 2574/2853
Grand Total signed cards: 42'091
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I'm surprised to hear people say this.
Ever since Kamigawa, the power level of sets has just been going up!(although the relative power of TSP to RAV is debatable, of course)
Alara doesn't look like it's going to break the trend at all!
Standard will be over NLT turn 5!
Seriously, Jeremy Jarvis served another winner in terms of illustration.
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
Bant- Designed a useful mechanic and balance control and aggro.
Pros- White gets a solid increase of control and aggro from these guys.
Cons- The other two colors in bant get shafted horribly, lots of underpowered jank printed for seeminly limited only.
Esper- The most intresting shard for extended, it panders to artifact lovers everywhere while trying to get the bad taste of affinity out of the mouth of non-supporters.
Pros- solid construction, though unfocused in theme all cards do interact with artifacts somehow.
Cons- Kinda lack some crucial support for standard. Crap like spell snip gets printed over something potentially useful.
Grixis- Something about liches and undead
Pros- Unearth is a cool idea
Cons- Didn't want dredge 2.0 so most unearth cards are jank. In addition despite being one of the shards with a keyword this is the second least focused shard.
Jund- The predator theme prevades the set with a major mechanic and several minor supports all tracing back to the survival of the fittest flavor.
Pros- Easily the best set designed mechanically and flavorally. Everything ties together to give this sense of a violent and brutal ecosystem. The team hit the ball out of the park with this shard.
Cons- I really don't have any with this shard, this is the ravinca set amoung the shards as it was design very much close to perfectally.
Naya- Fat appeals to obese people?
Pros- A few golden cards here for the older formats to help out zoo.
Cons- 5+ gets minor benifits is one of the worse ideas for design since pretty much forever. Seriously I try to be nice when criticizing design but this group was retarded or high during production. This shard starkly stands out as one of the worse least focused and jank concetrated shards of them all. Seriously, if this was some game show these guys would be packing their bags.
These are some really nice pics there, and nifty references.
What bugs me is that the wonderful filigree blonde did not end up as Esper Battlemage. I hope that would turn out to be a promo foil.
Oblivion Ring...meh, liked the old art better, however, the flavortext is a win:
LOR: A circle of sugar and a word of forbiddance.
SoA: A circle of light and a word of confinement.
Tortoise Formation is simply
I am quite surprised that such a great art as Dreg Reaver ended up as vanilla junk, almost unplayable even in Limited.
Cylian Elf.... great picture, WHY THE HECK is it on Grizzly Bears?
Soul's Might is one of the first Kev Walker's arts that I dislike. He knows how to do better arts...
Well, but otherwise the art is great...the cards sometimes not so much, but c'est la vie
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
But does that spoil the set for me? No, no it doesn't. It's not a hit on the level of Invasion or Time Spiral, but thankfully no Ice Age- or Ravnica-level snorefest either. (Yes, you read that right, I hate Ravnica. I hate it so very much.)
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
I'm happy about all the constructed playable commons/uncommons in this set, and about the extreme dearth of good rares (I mean seriously, covenant of minds? What were they thinking? It costs 5 mana for an effect that's significantly worse than drawing three cards!). It should be a pretty budget-friendly set. I just hope Sarkhan's price doesn't go too far through the roof.
Overall a lot of really, really, utter, utter crap in the monocolored common slot! I see a lot of nice stuff, but I really didn't need a 2nd Grizzly Bears, nor a 4/3 vanilla creature for 4B, nor a tricycle of 7cc vanilla cyclers... It seems they really pushed multicolor cards at the expense of monocolor. And what's up with Vectis Silencers? Six mana for a 1/2 deathtouch? Why?!?
I just realized they made a near-cycle of vanilla creatures... The 2/2 elf in green, the 2/1 in blue, the 4/3 in black and the 5/1 in red. 11th filler?
Anyway, luckily I also see a lot that I like in the multicolor slots, and there are some pretty decent monocolor cards as well, but indeed, I think we're back to Champion of Kamigawa power. So, it's only a matter of time before we the Japanese find the hidden gems...