Sooo... Shreds of Sanity is kinda weird design for red. Flavourful but weird. Don't like that it's a sorcery but you can't have all the things right? Other good cards in red? Nahiri's Wrath, Bedlam Reveler(whom I want to break)... Stromkirk Occultist[/card]? Maybe?
U/W spirits and G/W humans look kinda gross standardwise but I don't really play standard so what do I know. Spell Queller is nuts.
Splendid Reclamation is all sorts of busted. Like go into the repair shop and find a bill waiting for you 4 times the original quoted price busted.
All in all it looks like white made out like a bandit king, with green and blue moping up. Black and red got dregs - though maybe Liliana can pull something off.
As a werewolf fan, this set was an utter failure for me. They ruined my favorite tribe by making them Eldrazi abominations, we got maybe one playable new and one pseudo-playable new werewolf, a failure of a Werewolf commander after waiting all of these years and a big FU to everyone who wanted Moonmist reprinted. A card that wasn't OP the first time around when werewolves were better. Meanwhile the already completely OP Human tribe gets a reprint of their "lord" from the original Innistrad but us werewolf players can't even get a reprint of any of the playable werewolf cards from INN.
There were still a few cool cards unspoiled though. Some I really like. But right now I'm just going to be super salty about the ruination of my favorite tribe. This was probably the only opportunity I'll get until the next Innistrad comes out. I may not even be playing Magic at that point. :/
To be fair, one of the reasons why some cards get a rare/mythic rarity is so Wizards doesn't necessarily have to balance for it in limited. The existence of Demonic Pact justifies its printing in the current standard.
Still, a rare that has no functionality even if you could pick the rest of your draft is not something that I've ever seen in a set. They threw in Goblin War Paint in MM15 just so that Daybreak Coronet had something to go on.
My judgement of the set is this: It seemed really freaking awful in the first 75 or so cards, but surprisingly, a handful of eyepopping rares showed up late to spoiler season. After all is said and done, there are only about 5-6 mythics that are not bulk rares, which is sad, but totally on par for most sets. After seeing all the limited stuff, I'll say that the set is about a C+/B-. Not bad, but not great. (I would give shadows a solid A btw) I'm certain anyone could skip buying a box and get all the rares and mythics they want for under 100 bucks. I'm going to do this for the first time.
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My favorite flavor text: Time of Heroes
Feel free to tell me yours!
Not one meaningful reprint in the entire block. Screw you, Wizards. There's no reason why we couldn't have had a Cavern of Souls reprint. It works with the mechanics of the block and isn't the least bit overpowered. Now that the core set is gone are we expected to wait every 2 years for a new overpriced Masters lottery set to give us some desperately needed Modern reprints? What a joke.
Not one meaningful reprint in the entire block. Screw you, Wizards. There's no reason why we couldn't have had a Cavern of Souls reprint. It works with the mechanics of the block and isn't the least bit overpowered. Now that the core set is gone are we expected to wait every 2 years for a new overpriced Masters lottery set to give us some desperately needed Modern reprints? What a joke.
You'll learn to take your overcosted jank and like it. Because why would WotC reprint something that makes people want to buy Master sets less? Those things are like printing gold for them, with an extreme minimum of effort.
Well, since there wasn't a top 10 cards thread over at New Card Discussion and I'm honestly not quite bothered to create one, I'll just leave a review of my favorite cards in terms of gameplay and flavor of this set here.
Once again with the disclaimer it is ultimately just my opinion and my rating for gameplay isn't solely based on power, but also on innovation (mechanically). Flavor has always been opinionated, so that's easier to get away with. Honestly, overall I'm less impressed with the tribal mechanics on this set than in SOI (my SOI rankings literally listed all the Tribal-Mechanical cards), so they aren't getting much of a spotlight this time round.
Honorable Mentions Olivia's Dragoon/Noose Constrictor - Putrid Imp/Wild Mongrel these are not, but considering how long ago those cards were printed, these are rather acceptable "powered-down" versions of the older cards. They're not strictly worse than the older counterparts (especially when the Dragoon has a relevant creature type).
Selfless Spirit - Cheaper Dauntless Escort with evasion and more relevant creature type? I would say this card is an improvement most the time (as opposed to Dragoon and Constrictor's marginal changes).
Spell Queller - Powerful and relevant to the tribe, yes... and with the old "O-Ring exile" templating, it does set up itself for great combinations, but somehow I feel like alone it doesn't do quite enough (only truly stopping counterspells) and combo'ed it requires a clunky set-up - sorta the same problems faced by all the other creature cards that used the old templating. Having flash and the relevant creature type (and support), however, makes it better than those other creature cards of the past.
Splendid Reclamation - Another powerful card, but I feel like it's going to be clunky ramp for non-EDH formats in the end, even with all the relevant interactions with fetchlands, because of the speed of those formats. 4-mana may be cheap for potential mass-ramp, but even 4-mana may be too much to pay for faster formats. Definite powerhouse in EDH with fetches and land-based decks though.
Okay, now on to the ranked cards (reminder, all still just my opinion):
10) Stensia Innkeeper - Not for it's power, for it's new stand on "land-meddling" on red. Sure, "freezing" has always been blue's take on "pacifism" effects, but even blue seldom does it to lands. Land destruction has been deemed unfun by R&D for ages, so this new "Land-Freeze" mechanic does seem like a good fit (even if it feels awkward flavor-wise at the moment). The card itself may be weak (pretty much as weak as current land destruction, honestly), but simply having the ability does open new design space and hopefully they'll try to push it in the future.
9) Spirit of the Hunt - Poor Werewolves didn't get much support (I've been spoilt by Moonmist to be impressed by Waxing Moon). This is the best support they've gotten in the set, if you asked me, but it's also legitimately effective enough to be ranked, mainly because of the state of removal currently, at least for standard. Perhaps less impressive everywhere else, but the Werewolves don't particularly have much choices, so it might still make the cut.
8) Unsubstantiate - Unlike with Dragoon/Constrictor/Spirit, this isn't Remand, it fills in a completely different niche even if it does look alike to Remand. It's closest comparion is actually Venser, Shaper Savant. It won't see as much play as Remand, since it's niche is less in-demand (like with Venser), but losing the body and ability to bounce other things for a vastly cheaper cost does make a difference, so I'll say it'll find a home eventually.
7) Grim Flayer - As sad as this is to be the pushed 2-drop Mythic and honestly, will never be as good as Goyf in sheer power (well, Goyf was a mistake anyway), it does at the very least, fuel itself and provides topdeck manipulation at the same time. One of those cards that sheer power (and part-versatility) propelled its way to its placing in my rankings.
6) Liliana, the Last Hope - Like Grim Flayer, this won't match up with Liliana of the Veil, but unlike with Flayer, planeswalkers fill in a different (and usually more specific) niche than creatures. Not all decks run LotV because of reasons and having another 3-mana Liliana with still-great abilities does still open possibilities (at least much more than Flayer).
5) Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Not much to say here. I personally would think it's still worse than Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, even if the earlier version was double-edged, simply because the earlier version was cheaper and its ability protects itself better than the new version. That being said, the new one compliments the old one because it only costs 1 more and isn't affected by the earlier version, so it's a powerful card because the older version exists.
4) Fortune's Favor - Weaker Fact or Fiction this is, but unlike with all those cards I compared with their older counterparts, this one at least makes its weaker component "fun/challenging", so among all those cards, this card ranks the highest.
3) Mausoleum Wanderer - The strongest tribal card in this set, in my opinion. Cursecatcher/Judge's Familiar have all seen play, and this is basically almost them combined with bonuses to boot (that can easily be gotten given the other tribal support). Spirits has a whole might still be weaker/niche since they don't have quantity, but this is quality no doubt.
2) Eternal Scourge - Food Chain. It already breaks itself with an older card... but it's a colorless 3/3 for 3. Simply put, it's also asking to be broken in other ways potentially in the future and fits in any strategy, which is why it's stronger than what I considered the strongest Tribal card in the set.
1) Eldritch Evolution - Less potent than Scourge in explosiveness when it works, but also a lot more versatile in possibilities. We've already had precedent in Birthing Pod - even if it's weaker due to 1-use, it does make up with the +2 CMC (or less) versatility and I'll say that makes it a powerhouse in its own right. The reason it ranks higher than Scourge is because it's more versatile and less "broken", so it's both more useful to more applications and less likely to break something (and get perhaps get banned), hence it is more powerful overall.
Now, to move on to the flavor...
Honorable Mentions Thraben Foulbloods, Grapple with the Past, Prey Upon, Docent of Perfection/Final Iteration - The callback cards definitely deserve a mention, although being in the second set, I'm slightly less impressed by them than they were in SOI. Docent of Perfection/Final Iteration might top that by chaining it to a 3-part DFC story, but I personally felt it wasn't that much more impressive either for it to be ranked.
10) Tree of Perdition - Another callback card. Why is this ranked when the others (especially Docent/Iteration) wasn't was simply because I felt it had a sense of elegance not quite present in the other callback cards, mainly from the flavor text (although being a Mythic Tree with a gimmicky ability helps a lot as well).
9) Falkenrath Reaver - Another "simplicity is elegance" card, although this one advances the story rather than callback, so it gets a place ahead.
8) InnistradScience! Yes, two cards share this place because I felt they impressed me nicely on the correct flavor (without being a direct callback), but not enough for me to rank them individually. One does it mechanically, the other through sheer ridiculousness in concept.
7) Vildin-Pack Outcast/Dronepack Kindred - Sure, while the Eldrazi Werewolves were disappointing (since they took up all the slots save for Ulrich - Uncontested Alpha because no one's left to contest...), I felt that they still conveyed transformation the best and among all of them, this one does it the best, because it explicitly shows the tradition between a regular-pack werewolf to a Dronepack one, something we haven't had much story exposition about.
6) Drownyard Behemoth - Like with the Werewolves the "Emerge" Eldrazi needed a representative. Honestly though, I picked this over the others solely because of the art. Emerge didn't do the "Eldrazi Transition" as well as the DFCs, so the power-levels didn't matter and some of the arts felt a bit too gimmicky (as fun as it is to make fun of Calamari...), this Eldrazi Crab represents the "scale" of the Eldrazi through art much better while preserving the gimmick solely through its creature type. It still ranks ahead of the DFCs because there's still some elegance as a standlone Eldrazi card that the Eldrazi initially stood for.
5) Permeating Mass - Better than the Eldrazi itself (whether DFC or not) is the response to the Eldrazi by the plane. Permeating Mass does it both elegantly through abilities and flavor (haven't seen a Spirit directly corrupted by Emrakul, at least) with a dash of humor, although I'll say that humor is a double-edged sword to itself as well (does sort of kill the mood at times).
4) Skirsdag Supplicant - Does not quite cover the Eldrazi (not everything does), but this covers the repercussions of the smaller storyline of SOI and does it with a much better "mood-setting" than the Mass did.
3) Enlightened Maniac/Peace of Mind - Basically, the best of ranked 5) and 4), if you asked me. Peace of Mind is the true representative, although I appreciated the first-person view of the roughly the same situation to put Enlightened Maniac in the same slot.
2) Hanweir Garrison/Hanweir Battlements/Hanweir, the Writhing Township - If 3) was the best of 4) and 5) combined, Hanweir is all them combined, humor included, but Eldrazi typing being enough to neutralize it so it doesn't feel as out-of-place. On top of that, it also utilizes the meld mechanic better than the other two pairs (even if Brisela is more powerful) and hence with much more elegance.
1) Lone Rider / It That Rides as One - Sorry. I'm completely biased here. I just loved Kamigawa and the Japanese have a compound "Jinba ittai" which quite literally translated to "Person and Horse as one Body" so as much as some people felt it was cheesy, I felt it was extremely fitting (honestly EMN is so much like Kamigawa both mechanically and in-story-parallel it's not even funny anymore). It doesn't do a shabby job of the Eldrazi influence either, so it's not completely flavorless outside of that appeal to myself. It's a "meta-thing", but this is my favorite card of the set. So once again, with no denial and full disclaimer, this is a completely biased rank given.
Not one meaningful reprint in the entire block. Screw you, Wizards. There's no reason why we couldn't have had a Cavern of Souls reprint. It works with the mechanics of the block and isn't the least bit overpowered. Now that the core set is gone are we expected to wait every 2 years for a new overpriced Masters lottery set to give us some desperately needed Modern reprints? What a joke.
Only reason it isn't in this block is because of MM3 and how it will include Innistrad and RTR, they don't want to take away from it, which is still dumb as they could just have multiple printings, but I guess they don't want to do that.
The set seems pretty good overall. I see playable cards across all colors and rarities which is a good sign.
Are we looking at the same set? I wish I shared your optimism...
Certain colours do have more playable cards than others but overall This set is not as bad as some others have been recently.
I don't play Modern or anything, but it seems like this set will have more to contribute than other sets have recently.
Do you feel you're qualified to speak about modern if you don't play it? I've played it for years and still don't feel qualified to predict what will be playable. But you're a smartass type of kid, you'd know better than me.
i can't help but be disappointed at the lack of a Cavern of Souls reprint, and I feel so sorry for the poor werewolf players out there too: at least vampires look strong at first glance, but the wolves are just so sad.
I'm not sure why WotC decided to keep the Vampires as non-Eldrazis in many cases, but not do the same with werewolves. Maybe they were worried about having too many different ways to transform?
I will hold out hope that one the four color commanders is a WBRG werewolf.
I'm not sure why WotC decided to keep the Vampires as non-Eldrazis in many cases, but not do the same with werewolves. Maybe they were worried about having too many different ways to transform?
I will hold out hope that one the four color commanders is a WBRG werewolf.
They only had room for 21 double-faced cards, versus 184 regular cards. So between Meld and wanting to show off eldrazi transformations, they just didn't have room for regular werewolves (Ulrich nonwithstanding, and him only because they knew they needed to do a werewolf legendary before they left the block). So instead they did the Eldrazi Werewolves, and made them play nicely with the regular ones.
Madness cards in this block were incredibly nerfed sadlyy, not a single one that stands out. Hell i was expecting a 2 costed creature with madness for 1 but nope
Honestly, the card I see that has the most potential in any format is Eternal Scourge Needs some kind of ETB trigger to make it work, but I can pretty much see running it all day every day.
But then, I've always been a sucker for stuff like this and Epochrasite
Convolute is just so bad... we shouldn't be wishing for Cancel in standard...
It (and Terrarion) are reprints from Ravnica: city of Guilds. Spell Shrivel sees constructed play, Convolute will too once Spell Shrivel rotates out (Because it's basically the same thing without devoid and exiling).
It's perfectly fine and counters most threats. If they are playing a 1-drop on turn 5 to play around you then more power to you. Games typically don't last long enough that they have 7 total mana to get anything 3 + out.
I lost a game yesterday because my opponent used Clash of Wills on me twice, for 1. Once when I had 3 mana, and the second when I had 6 and needed to play Sorin. I considered waiting a turn and hoped I drew a land, but I knew my opponent would then have more mana untapped (he only had 2) so I decided to risk it. He was running both Clash and Spell Shrivel.
If you don't realise how good these cards can be then you just haven't played against them.
Now that the core set is gone are we expected to wait every 2 years for a new overpriced Masters lottery set to give us some desperately needed Modern reprints? What a joke.
And now you know why they removed Modern from the pro-tour format lineup. (At least one of the reasons - I half expect to see a new Origins eternal format in 2-3 years)
i can't help but be disappointed at the lack of a Cavern of Souls reprint, and I feel so sorry for the poor werewolf players out there too: at least vampires look strong at first glance, but the wolves are just so sad.
What's the point of reprinting it now? It has no flavour connection with EMN at all, and it can be reprinted almost everywhere. I know it's pricy, but it will come back... I never thought of a reprint: it's a very different story from IoK, whose absense from OGW still screams as utter nonsense.
It has a mechanical connection: the tribal theme. The same connection it had to Avacyn Restored. It wouldn't make sense to reprint it in just any set without tribal themes. The complete lack of meaningful value reprints in Standard legal sets since Thoughtseize* and death of the core set just signals that Wizards expects their Masters product to be the sole source of reprints from here on out.
*I don't count the Khans fetchlands as those needed to be printed in a Standard legal set in order to make them Modern legal.
it's a very different story from IoK, whose absense from OGW still screams as utter nonsense.
All Eldrazi-aligned cards in BFZ block had to be colorless, thus IOK didn't fit, so no, it's not nonsense. They could have made a Devoid variant, though. Transgress the Mind comes close, but it hits 3 or greater rather than 3 or less.
You also have to look at what other discard exists in Standard. During KTK-BFZ, we also had Despise and Duress, together able to hit any nonland card. Standard didn't need IOK. Standard still has Duress, and it's about to get Collective Brutality and Whispers of Emrakul.
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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.
According to MaRo, they actually DID reprint IoK, without even adding devoid. It was flavored as the cultists' ritual, so it wasn't Eldrazi magic itself, hence why it could be black, like Ayli herself. It was cut during development for causing problems in Standard.
This is gonna be weird I think, but I'm pretty excited for Thermo-Alchemist since it's a new red addition to the pauper cube red defender archetype that seems pretty okay.
They didn't care that he was the savior of Fort Keff, the great hunter of Ondu, the champion of Kabira. To them, he was just another piece of flesh, a thing with life to be drained away.
This is gonna be weird I think, but I'm pretty excited for Thermo-Alchemist since it's a new red addition to the pauper cube red defender archetype that seems pretty okay.
On curve I think this guy will get in a good 4-5 damage in limited before it blocks something big. I might even drop a kiln fiend in my casual spellslinger deck for this.
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My favorite flavor text: Time of Heroes
Feel free to tell me yours!
Red has only one total card in the set that can be played on turn one if you go first, two if you don't. It is the only color that does not have a single rare that cost less than 3cmc, every other color has at least one rare for each cmc up to 6cmc. So it's possible, in limited, that if you play red, your opponent could have played 3 or more of their rares before you even had enough mana to cast your first. That may not mean anything to anyone else, but to me; having only a single option turn 1, and I have to be lucky to even get any of the one drop in my limited pool, so likely no play on turn one. Then watch an opponent drop a rare, in any of the four other colors. Turn two I get a vanilla bear, they drop their second rare. Turn three I finally get to use one of my brand new fun cards. And that only because I went first. Yes there will be at least one SOI pack in my prerelease so I may get something there, but for this set, red is 3 turns behind right out of the gate. Thanks for the color balance wizards.
I gotta say I really like Conduit of Storms (it can help transform itself) and Kessig Prowler (it is a very sweet 1 drop), but otherwise werewolves kinda got screwed. Humans and spirits got pushed, zombies and vampires got a few more goodies as well as a few pushed cards and best thing we got for werewolves was Ulrich who defiantly could have been pushed more with getting Trample or Flash.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
We knew from the day that Meld was revealed that those were the only Meld cards in the set.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
U/W spirits and G/W humans look kinda gross standardwise but I don't really play standard so what do I know. Spell Queller is nuts.
Splendid Reclamation is all sorts of busted. Like go into the repair shop and find a bill waiting for you 4 times the original quoted price busted.
Tamiyo meet Doubling Season, Doubling Season meet Taimyo - I'm sure you two will be the best of friends.
All in all it looks like white made out like a bandit king, with green and blue moping up. Black and red got dregs - though maybe Liliana can pull something off.
There were still a few cool cards unspoiled though. Some I really like. But right now I'm just going to be super salty about the ruination of my favorite tribe. This was probably the only opportunity I'll get until the next Innistrad comes out. I may not even be playing Magic at that point. :/
Trades
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(Signature courtesy of Argetlam of Hakai Studios
Still, a rare that has no functionality even if you could pick the rest of your draft is not something that I've ever seen in a set. They threw in Goblin War Paint in MM15 just so that Daybreak Coronet had something to go on.
Feel free to tell me yours!
You'll learn to take your overcosted jank and like it. Because why would WotC reprint something that makes people want to buy Master sets less? Those things are like printing gold for them, with an extreme minimum of effort.
Once again with the disclaimer it is ultimately just my opinion and my rating for gameplay isn't solely based on power, but also on innovation (mechanically). Flavor has always been opinionated, so that's easier to get away with. Honestly, overall I'm less impressed with the tribal mechanics on this set than in SOI (my SOI rankings literally listed all the Tribal-Mechanical cards), so they aren't getting much of a spotlight this time round.
Olivia's Dragoon/Noose Constrictor - Putrid Imp/Wild Mongrel these are not, but considering how long ago those cards were printed, these are rather acceptable "powered-down" versions of the older cards. They're not strictly worse than the older counterparts (especially when the Dragoon has a relevant creature type).
Selfless Spirit - Cheaper Dauntless Escort with evasion and more relevant creature type? I would say this card is an improvement most the time (as opposed to Dragoon and Constrictor's marginal changes).
Spell Queller - Powerful and relevant to the tribe, yes... and with the old "O-Ring exile" templating, it does set up itself for great combinations, but somehow I feel like alone it doesn't do quite enough (only truly stopping counterspells) and combo'ed it requires a clunky set-up - sorta the same problems faced by all the other creature cards that used the old templating. Having flash and the relevant creature type (and support), however, makes it better than those other creature cards of the past.
Splendid Reclamation - Another powerful card, but I feel like it's going to be clunky ramp for non-EDH formats in the end, even with all the relevant interactions with fetchlands, because of the speed of those formats. 4-mana may be cheap for potential mass-ramp, but even 4-mana may be too much to pay for faster formats. Definite powerhouse in EDH with fetches and land-based decks though.
Okay, now on to the ranked cards (reminder, all still just my opinion):
10) Stensia Innkeeper - Not for it's power, for it's new stand on "land-meddling" on red. Sure, "freezing" has always been blue's take on "pacifism" effects, but even blue seldom does it to lands. Land destruction has been deemed unfun by R&D for ages, so this new "Land-Freeze" mechanic does seem like a good fit (even if it feels awkward flavor-wise at the moment). The card itself may be weak (pretty much as weak as current land destruction, honestly), but simply having the ability does open new design space and hopefully they'll try to push it in the future.
9) Spirit of the Hunt - Poor Werewolves didn't get much support (I've been spoilt by Moonmist to be impressed by Waxing Moon). This is the best support they've gotten in the set, if you asked me, but it's also legitimately effective enough to be ranked, mainly because of the state of removal currently, at least for standard. Perhaps less impressive everywhere else, but the Werewolves don't particularly have much choices, so it might still make the cut.
8) Unsubstantiate - Unlike with Dragoon/Constrictor/Spirit, this isn't Remand, it fills in a completely different niche even if it does look alike to Remand. It's closest comparion is actually Venser, Shaper Savant. It won't see as much play as Remand, since it's niche is less in-demand (like with Venser), but losing the body and ability to bounce other things for a vastly cheaper cost does make a difference, so I'll say it'll find a home eventually.
7) Grim Flayer - As sad as this is to be the pushed 2-drop Mythic and honestly, will never be as good as Goyf in sheer power (well, Goyf was a mistake anyway), it does at the very least, fuel itself and provides topdeck manipulation at the same time. One of those cards that sheer power (and part-versatility) propelled its way to its placing in my rankings.
6) Liliana, the Last Hope - Like Grim Flayer, this won't match up with Liliana of the Veil, but unlike with Flayer, planeswalkers fill in a different (and usually more specific) niche than creatures. Not all decks run LotV because of reasons and having another 3-mana Liliana with still-great abilities does still open possibilities (at least much more than Flayer).
5) Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Not much to say here. I personally would think it's still worse than Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, even if the earlier version was double-edged, simply because the earlier version was cheaper and its ability protects itself better than the new version. That being said, the new one compliments the old one because it only costs 1 more and isn't affected by the earlier version, so it's a powerful card because the older version exists.
4) Fortune's Favor - Weaker Fact or Fiction this is, but unlike with all those cards I compared with their older counterparts, this one at least makes its weaker component "fun/challenging", so among all those cards, this card ranks the highest.
3) Mausoleum Wanderer - The strongest tribal card in this set, in my opinion. Cursecatcher/Judge's Familiar have all seen play, and this is basically almost them combined with bonuses to boot (that can easily be gotten given the other tribal support). Spirits has a whole might still be weaker/niche since they don't have quantity, but this is quality no doubt.
2) Eternal Scourge - Food Chain. It already breaks itself with an older card... but it's a colorless 3/3 for 3. Simply put, it's also asking to be broken in other ways potentially in the future and fits in any strategy, which is why it's stronger than what I considered the strongest Tribal card in the set.
1) Eldritch Evolution - Less potent than Scourge in explosiveness when it works, but also a lot more versatile in possibilities. We've already had precedent in Birthing Pod - even if it's weaker due to 1-use, it does make up with the +2 CMC (or less) versatility and I'll say that makes it a powerhouse in its own right. The reason it ranks higher than Scourge is because it's more versatile and less "broken", so it's both more useful to more applications and less likely to break something (and get perhaps get banned), hence it is more powerful overall.
Now, to move on to the flavor...
Thraben Foulbloods, Grapple with the Past, Prey Upon, Docent of Perfection/Final Iteration - The callback cards definitely deserve a mention, although being in the second set, I'm slightly less impressed by them than they were in SOI. Docent of Perfection/Final Iteration might top that by chaining it to a 3-part DFC story, but I personally felt it wasn't that much more impressive either for it to be ranked.
10) Tree of Perdition - Another callback card. Why is this ranked when the others (especially Docent/Iteration) wasn't was simply because I felt it had a sense of elegance not quite present in the other callback cards, mainly from the flavor text (although being a Mythic Tree with a gimmicky ability helps a lot as well).
9) Falkenrath Reaver - Another "simplicity is elegance" card, although this one advances the story rather than callback, so it gets a place ahead.
8) Innistrad Science! Yes, two cards share this place because I felt they impressed me nicely on the correct flavor (without being a direct callback), but not enough for me to rank them individually. One does it mechanically, the other through sheer ridiculousness in concept.
7) Vildin-Pack Outcast/Dronepack Kindred - Sure, while the Eldrazi Werewolves were disappointing (since they took up all the slots save for Ulrich - Uncontested Alpha because no one's left to contest...), I felt that they still conveyed transformation the best and among all of them, this one does it the best, because it explicitly shows the tradition between a regular-pack werewolf to a Dronepack one, something we haven't had much story exposition about.
6) Drownyard Behemoth - Like with the Werewolves the "Emerge" Eldrazi needed a representative. Honestly though, I picked this over the others solely because of the art. Emerge didn't do the "Eldrazi Transition" as well as the DFCs, so the power-levels didn't matter and some of the arts felt a bit too gimmicky (as fun as it is to make fun of Calamari...), this Eldrazi Crab represents the "scale" of the Eldrazi through art much better while preserving the gimmick solely through its creature type. It still ranks ahead of the DFCs because there's still some elegance as a standlone Eldrazi card that the Eldrazi initially stood for.
5) Permeating Mass - Better than the Eldrazi itself (whether DFC or not) is the response to the Eldrazi by the plane. Permeating Mass does it both elegantly through abilities and flavor (haven't seen a Spirit directly corrupted by Emrakul, at least) with a dash of humor, although I'll say that humor is a double-edged sword to itself as well (does sort of kill the mood at times).
4) Skirsdag Supplicant - Does not quite cover the Eldrazi (not everything does), but this covers the repercussions of the smaller storyline of SOI and does it with a much better "mood-setting" than the Mass did.
3) Enlightened Maniac/Peace of Mind - Basically, the best of ranked 5) and 4), if you asked me. Peace of Mind is the true representative, although I appreciated the first-person view of the roughly the same situation to put Enlightened Maniac in the same slot.
2) Hanweir Garrison/Hanweir Battlements/Hanweir, the Writhing Township - If 3) was the best of 4) and 5) combined, Hanweir is all them combined, humor included, but Eldrazi typing being enough to neutralize it so it doesn't feel as out-of-place. On top of that, it also utilizes the meld mechanic better than the other two pairs (even if Brisela is more powerful) and hence with much more elegance.
1) Lone Rider / It That Rides as One - Sorry. I'm completely biased here. I just loved Kamigawa and the Japanese have a compound "Jinba ittai" which quite literally translated to "Person and Horse as one Body" so as much as some people felt it was cheesy, I felt it was extremely fitting (honestly EMN is so much like Kamigawa both mechanically and in-story-parallel it's not even funny anymore). It doesn't do a shabby job of the Eldrazi influence either, so it's not completely flavorless outside of that appeal to myself. It's a "meta-thing", but this is my favorite card of the set. So once again, with no denial and full disclaimer, this is a completely biased rank given.
EDIT: Fixed Spelling Errors
Only reason it isn't in this block is because of MM3 and how it will include Innistrad and RTR, they don't want to take away from it, which is still dumb as they could just have multiple printings, but I guess they don't want to do that.
Do you feel you're qualified to speak about modern if you don't play it? I've played it for years and still don't feel qualified to predict what will be playable. But you're a smartass type of kid, you'd know better than me.
The color red did get more playable cards than both black and blue. I'm not sure why people are complaining about how bad the color is. Red got at least 2 good burn spells, Incendiary Flow, Collective Defiance, Savage Alliance, and Nahiri's Wrath. Red also got a few good creatures Stromkirk Occultist, Mirrorwing Dragon, and Bedlam Reveler.
I will hold out hope that one the four color commanders is a WBRG werewolf.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
http://wizardsmagic.tumblr.com/post/147060718451/avacynthepurifier-theres-no-mention-of-hal-and
It is rather surprising we didn't get more than just one reprint for Madness cards.
But then, I've always been a sucker for stuff like this and Epochrasite
It (and Terrarion) are reprints from Ravnica: city of Guilds. Spell Shrivel sees constructed play, Convolute will too once Spell Shrivel rotates out (Because it's basically the same thing without devoid and exiling).
It's perfectly fine and counters most threats. If they are playing a 1-drop on turn 5 to play around you then more power to you. Games typically don't last long enough that they have 7 total mana to get anything 3 + out.
I lost a game yesterday because my opponent used Clash of Wills on me twice, for 1. Once when I had 3 mana, and the second when I had 6 and needed to play Sorin. I considered waiting a turn and hoped I drew a land, but I knew my opponent would then have more mana untapped (he only had 2) so I decided to risk it. He was running both Clash and Spell Shrivel.
If you don't realise how good these cards can be then you just haven't played against them.
And now you know why they removed Modern from the pro-tour format lineup. (At least one of the reasons - I half expect to see a new Origins eternal format in 2-3 years)
It has a mechanical connection: the tribal theme. The same connection it had to Avacyn Restored. It wouldn't make sense to reprint it in just any set without tribal themes. The complete lack of meaningful value reprints in Standard legal sets since Thoughtseize* and death of the core set just signals that Wizards expects their Masters product to be the sole source of reprints from here on out.
*I don't count the Khans fetchlands as those needed to be printed in a Standard legal set in order to make them Modern legal.
All Eldrazi-aligned cards in BFZ block had to be colorless, thus IOK didn't fit, so no, it's not nonsense. They could have made a Devoid variant, though. Transgress the Mind comes close, but it hits 3 or greater rather than 3 or less.
You also have to look at what other discard exists in Standard. During KTK-BFZ, we also had Despise and Duress, together able to hit any nonland card. Standard didn't need IOK. Standard still has Duress, and it's about to get Collective Brutality and Whispers of Emrakul.
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.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
On curve I think this guy will get in a good 4-5 damage in limited before it blocks something big. I might even drop a kiln fiend in my casual spellslinger deck for this.
Feel free to tell me yours!
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I call it fun with Madness