, this also means none of these "devoid" creatures are exiled by Ugin's -x, which could make him significantly weaker moving forward.
Or more powerful, if you are the guy with the Ugin and more colorless creatures.
Sweepers will still continue to be a thing, and control loves to play against big stompy decks that don't have the fastest starts. Even if the stompy deck contains Ugin, the control deck is just going to spam counterspells, sweepers, and targeted removal.
if Wizards R&D are so concerned with making the game simple and accessible, why do they keep adding these keywords when a simple plain-english "This card has no color" will do? That way, new players don't have to learn extra unnecessary keywords.
That way they can reference "creatures with Devoid", and separate them from traditional colorless creatures, I guess
Musings on the decks
New ally is not an ally, that ability should be reserved for another tribe IMO, one of the cool things about allies was their unique and definitive ability
Awaken could open the door for true 'land tribal' which would be interesting, or it could be a narrow kicker that tries to be limited theme. Time will tell
Landfall is surprising no-one in its inclusion or its example, nonetheless it is an interesting mechanic
Devoid is meh, basically keywording the color indicator from innistrad but I like the new 'runic' frame
Ingest might be interesting as from oblivion sower it looks like Eldrazi will interact with exile. Mill was never the intended wincon for this mechanic
Forerunner of Slaughter will see standard play IMO, it seems like this set's Dreg Mangler. Its ability to give itself haste will likely be its main function, making it an interesting modal card for aggro as well as a lord for Timmy's new tribal/fatties deck
Retreat to Kazandu: Possible landfall-triggered "choose one" enchantment cycle?
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
New ally is not an ally, that ability should be reserved for another tribe IMO, one of the cool things about allies was their unique and definitive ability
There were other allies in the first set that didn't trigger on entering battlefield and only cared about number of allies in play, which is what I assume your complaint with this card is.
if Wizards R&D are so concerned with making the game simple and accessible, why do they keep adding these keywords when a simple plain-english "This card has no color" will do? That way, new players don't have to learn extra unnecessary keywords.
Spelling out that Devoid = colorless is simple and clear. It means you only have to read it once and then you can skim past it every time after that. Plus it allows other cards to add devoid or reference devoid, but I don't imagine they'll use it that way. Changeling was similarly simple.
Yeah, while looking at the leaked image I had the feeling that the top line was basically Changeling but for being colorless. Lo and behold.
Notably, this is the first time a rare was reprinted in more than one Duel Deck (not counting Anthology rereleases): Butcher of Malakir, previously seen in Sorin vs. Tibalt. Now that door is officially open.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Forerunner of Slaughter is junk. Costs RB and Dies to doom blade.
Please explain how said black creature dies to Doom Blade.
Edit: Well, does devoid counteract the black in the casting cost?
Yes, yes it does. You still have to pay black and red to cast it, of course, but for the sake of things like doom blade or protection from black/red and probably some other stuff, it is a colorless creature. As far as standard is concerned, this also means none of these "devoid" creatures are exiled by Ugin's -x, which could make him significantly weaker moving forward.
Thanks, brain fart on my part. I guess I stooped to "Troll Level" considering Kozilek also dies from DB...
Yeah the inevitable card "All permanents lose Devoid" would be a lot more clunky as "All colorless permanents which have colored mana in their casting costs, are the colors of the mana in their casting costs instead of colorless"
Devoid is fine. I wonder if the Oracle text on Ghostflame will change.
I'm a little disappointed in Ingest. Here's hoping next block we get a stronger mill/combat ability key word. I understand that mill is not the reason behind Ingest, but they've been talking about keywording Mill before, and so this is kind of a tease.
At a glance the set looks good, though the only cards I want are the new art Primal Command and Stirring Wildwood. So I'll be getting singles, but still it's a great deck for Ally and Eldrazi fans. The new Primal Command art is phenomenal so I'm excited to finally have an excuse to make room for it. Easier said than done though!
if Wizards R&D are so concerned with making the game simple and accessible, why do they keep adding these keywords when a simple plain-english "This card has no color" will do? That way, new players don't have to learn extra unnecessary keywords.
Spelling out that Devoid = colorless is simple and clear. It means you only have to read it once and then you can skim past it every time after that. Plus it allows other cards to add devoid or reference devoid, but I don't imagine they'll use it that way. Changeling was similarly simple.
You can say that exact same thing about hundreds of keywords individually, but every time a new keyword is created, that's one more word that a player needs to memorize in order to master the game, and the added complexity adds up over the years.
I have such mixed feelings about this deck. On the one hand, I rather like all the stuff zendikar got. I'm glad to see ally's are coming back, and I'm fairly glad to see landfall return too. I also am rather fond of their new mechanic Awaken, as it encourages saving your spells for more value later on.
But the eldrazi on the other hand... just give me all sorts of bad feelings. Eldrazi Drones are supposed to come out and help you summon your actual massive eldrazi, but instead they seem to be just so aggressive. It goes against everything I loved about the original Rise of the Eldrazi. Also while it seems there will be an eldrazi themed "opponents stuff in exile matters", which I like, ingest is just such a horrible way to get that stuff exiled. I mean... it only exiles 1 card at a time, and you have to actually hit them for it to go off.
Obviously these are very primitive impressions, but I'm a bit worried about how Return to Zendikar limited will turn out.
it saddens me that the only old-border card that got a "face lift" is Rocky Tar Pit
DD used to be one of those products used to bring back old stuff and update its layout. Seems like we're drifting away from that
if Wizards R&D are so concerned with making the game simple and accessible, why do they keep adding these keywords when a simple plain-english "This card has no color" will do? That way, new players don't have to learn extra unnecessary keywords.
Spelling out that Devoid = colorless is simple and clear. It means you only have to read it once and then you can skim past it every time after that. Plus it allows other cards to add devoid or reference devoid, but I don't imagine they'll use it that way. Changeling was similarly simple.
You can say that exact same thing about hundreds of keywords individually, but every time a new keyword is created, that's one more word that a player needs to memorize in order to master the game, and the added complexity adds up over the years.
New players would only have to worry about learning hundreds of different keywords/ability words in larger formats like Modern, Legacy, and Commander, which are geared torwards more enfranchised players anyway. Standard and limited are usually the goto formats for newbies, and in those environments these players only have under two dozen keywords/ability words to worry about at a time.
I like the idea of little Eldrazi aggro with cards like Forerunner of Slaughter, and I hope that the traditional Eldrazi ramp strategy and the new strategy will get equal amounts of support in BFZ.
Notice that none of the new cards summon Eldrazi spawn. Although it's just six cards, which is hardly the best cross-section of a new set, it does make me worried.
Kinda sad that the Eldrazi deck didn't contain green. I feel like it is far less of an Eldrazi deck than I had imagined. There was a lot of cards they could have added. The current Eldrazi deck seems more like some odd red/black Aggro/midrange deck with some odd spell choices.
Not to be the complainer here but that's just my two cents.
I really like the spoiled common and uncommon Eldrazi; they seem really good and make me want to play an Eldrazi deck in the near future. I hope the Sower is the worst of the big Eldrazi to come.
it saddens me that the only old-border card that got a "face lift" is Rocky Tar Pit
DD used to be one of those products used to bring back old stuff and update its layout. Seems like we're drifting away from that
That's been happening for years. They started out fast and it slowed to a trickle. The thing is, old bordered cards are a finite resource to update and just like high dollar reprints, there's only so many of them out there so they have to use them sparingly. I'm still waiting for Cauldron Dance,Crush of Wurms, and Ashes to Ashes, though.
Man, this is a sad pile of cards. These decks are aggressively weak and underpowered. Duel decks are approaching intro deck levels of suck these days...
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My favorite flavor text: Time of Heroes
Feel free to tell me yours!
I personally don't like the deck lists in terms of design. The GW one is trying to do too much at once, I think. It's a mix of Allies, landfall, and random GW creatures. It doesn't really seem coherent. The RB one seems even less coherent. A random jumble of black and red cards with some eldrazi thrown in. Meh.
However, the preview cards are pretty cool (Love the new GW Allie and the landfall enchantment for my Titania deck) and I'm very happy about a foil Avenger of Zendikar, as well as 2x Mind Stone reprint and 2x modern-frame Rocky Tar Pit. Stirring Wildwood was a nice throw-in too, along with It That Betrays and Primal Command has sweet new art.
Sweepers will still continue to be a thing, and control loves to play against big stompy decks that don't have the fastest starts. Even if the stompy deck contains Ugin, the control deck is just going to spam counterspells, sweepers, and targeted removal.
That way they can reference "creatures with Devoid", and separate them from traditional colorless creatures, I guess
Musings on the decks
New ally is not an ally, that ability should be reserved for another tribe IMO, one of the cool things about allies was their unique and definitive ability
Awaken could open the door for true 'land tribal' which would be interesting, or it could be a narrow kicker that tries to be limited theme. Time will tell
Landfall is surprising no-one in its inclusion or its example, nonetheless it is an interesting mechanic
Devoid is meh, basically keywording the color indicator from innistrad but I like the new 'runic' frame
Ingest might be interesting as from oblivion sower it looks like Eldrazi will interact with exile. Mill was never the intended wincon for this mechanic
Forerunner of Slaughter will see standard play IMO, it seems like this set's Dreg Mangler. Its ability to give itself haste will likely be its main function, making it an interesting modal card for aggro as well as a lord for Timmy's new tribal/fatties deck
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
There were other allies in the first set that didn't trigger on entering battlefield and only cared about number of allies in play, which is what I assume your complaint with this card is.
See e.g. Agadeem Occultist, Harabaz Druid, & Sea Gate Loremaster
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Spelling out that Devoid = colorless is simple and clear. It means you only have to read it once and then you can skim past it every time after that. Plus it allows other cards to add devoid or reference devoid, but I don't imagine they'll use it that way. Changeling was similarly simple.
Notably, this is the first time a rare was reprinted in more than one Duel Deck (not counting Anthology rereleases): Butcher of Malakir, previously seen in Sorin vs. Tibalt. Now that door is officially open.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Thanks, brain fart on my part. I guess I stooped to "Troll Level" considering Kozilek also dies from DB...
Devoid is fine. I wonder if the Oracle text on Ghostflame will change.
I'm a little disappointed in Ingest. Here's hoping next block we get a stronger mill/combat ability key word. I understand that mill is not the reason behind Ingest, but they've been talking about keywording Mill before, and so this is kind of a tease.
Custom Set
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hu9uNBSUt92PwGhvexYlwFvsh6_SJBlEEIUV3H9_XyU/edit?usp=sharing
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
You can say that exact same thing about hundreds of keywords individually, but every time a new keyword is created, that's one more word that a player needs to memorize in order to master the game, and the added complexity adds up over the years.
But the eldrazi on the other hand... just give me all sorts of bad feelings. Eldrazi Drones are supposed to come out and help you summon your actual massive eldrazi, but instead they seem to be just so aggressive. It goes against everything I loved about the original Rise of the Eldrazi. Also while it seems there will be an eldrazi themed "opponents stuff in exile matters", which I like, ingest is just such a horrible way to get that stuff exiled. I mean... it only exiles 1 card at a time, and you have to actually hit them for it to go off.
Obviously these are very primitive impressions, but I'm a bit worried about how Return to Zendikar limited will turn out.
DD used to be one of those products used to bring back old stuff and update its layout. Seems like we're drifting away from that
Notice that none of the new cards summon Eldrazi spawn. Although it's just six cards, which is hardly the best cross-section of a new set, it does make me worried.
Cōnservātum album delenda est.
Forked bolt x2 $4
It that Betrays $9
Avenger of Zendikar $4
Primal Command $6
That's 5 of the cards, boss
Not to be the complainer here but that's just my two cents.
I really like the spoiled common and uncommon Eldrazi; they seem really good and make me want to play an Eldrazi deck in the near future. I hope the Sower is the worst of the big Eldrazi to come.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
That's been happening for years. They started out fast and it slowed to a trickle. The thing is, old bordered cards are a finite resource to update and just like high dollar reprints, there's only so many of them out there so they have to use them sparingly. I'm still waiting for Cauldron Dance,Crush of Wurms, and Ashes to Ashes, though.
According to MTGGoldfish, the combined value is about $45. Now things will drop, but...still.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Feel free to tell me yours!
However, the preview cards are pretty cool (Love the new GW Allie and the landfall enchantment for my Titania deck) and I'm very happy about a foil Avenger of Zendikar, as well as 2x Mind Stone reprint and 2x modern-frame Rocky Tar Pit. Stirring Wildwood was a nice throw-in too, along with It That Betrays and Primal Command has sweet new art.
Trades
Pucatrade with me!
(Signature courtesy of Argetlam of Hakai Studios
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
Aren't lands already colorless, because they don't have mana cost nor color indication ?