I'm well aware I added a border to a card that has no border. The words in my post discussed why. I've seen no one imply that they will actually have them (I certainly didn't).
Of course, I can already see how this is going to play out: Maro will answer a comment on Blogatog responding to one of the vocal minority detractors answering that the frames received positive response from the majority of players
Mark Rosewater actually polled people on Social Media and the response was overwhelmingly negative. The main reaction was praise to Wizards for doing something different but criticism for how the Invocations looked nothing like Magic cards.
MTG social media is biased towards heavily enfranchised players. And keep in mind a voluntary polling system will always bias extreme responses as people are more motivated to go out and say them.
We also haven't gotten them in person, and from videos posted by WotC people it looks like they look better in person.
As an example of that, going by his social media interactions, MaRo rated Meld as being "very well received" and "much beloved" on his Tumblr. Researching for his Innistrad/SoI Storm Scale article, he found out that it wasn't as well liked as social media had lead him to believe, and rated it as "Unpopular."
Social Media is all too often just an echo chamber of people with similar views. Basing any kind of factual evaluation on it alone is a recipe for disaster.
Can anyone please explain (or direct me to where I can find an explanation) as to what's the theme behind the invocations? I really don't understand what's holding this masterpiece set together. Dark Ritual and Maelstrom Pulse and Aven Mindcensor and Counterbalance together... I don't get it. What do these cards have in common???
I think I'm one of the few Melvins who find this just as glaring as the gaudy Egyptification of Magic frames.
This has got to be the oddest set of cards ("ALL THE COUNTERSPELLS! And some other things!!") and the ugliest frame/fonts I have seen. Some of the art is good, but ruined by the too-large frames, and a lot of the art just looks bad and weakly CGI'd.
These are going to be cheaper than the Kaladesh inventions, and to the extent the Kaladesh inventions helped drive down the price of other Kaladesh singles by driving players to open more packs... that effect will not be present here. I'm actually relieved I hate this so much, because it saves me money/envy. (That, and now I'll probably open one.)
That said, a normal Loyal Retainers reprint in the set would be great for Commander - that's a very pricey but cool card. Any chance we'll actually get it?
Can anyone please explain (or direct me to where I can find an explanation) as to what's the theme behind the invocations? I really don't understand what's holding this masterpiece set together. Dark Ritual and Maelstrom Pulse and Aven Mindcensor and Counterbalance together... I don't get it. What do these cards have in common???
I think I'm one of the few Melvins who find this just as glaring as the gaudy Egyptification of Magic frames.
Tell you what, you guys pull any of these oh-so-awful-looking Invocations, let me know and I'll provide my mailing address so you can send 'em to me.
Don't get me wrong— I'm not going to quit Magic over these,
and I'll keep any if I open them just as an oddity.
However, if previous patterns hold, I won't open any.
With Expeditions, I was most smitten by the art for Watery Grave.
With the Inventions, my jaw dropped at the sight of Static Orb.
Guess which Expedition and which Invention I opened?
With these, literally none of them has made me say "oh wow, that is GORGEOUS!"
My most glowing response was to Dark Ritual, so maybe I will open one of those.
And again, while I dislike this design intensely,
I realize it is for a small-run promotional product.
I like that other people like this design,
but I'm definitely hoping the next round is more my style.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
I suspect that like the masterpieces these actually look a lot better in physical card form than as a digitalized picture viewed on a smart phone.
My first reaction was a wtf?!? But given I had the sane reaction to the future shifted cards and the masterpieces and then came to love both I'm going to give things the benefit of the doubt.
As to the card choices I can only say that this must have been some blue players wet dream. Force, Counterspell, Daze, Counterbalance, Cryptic, Pact and even Consecrated Sphinx?!? That's many of the best blue cards from modern, legacy and EDH. Feels a bit weird that Brainstorm didn't make the list.
Can anyone please explain (or direct me to where I can find an explanation) as to what's the theme behind the invocations? I really don't understand what's holding this masterpiece set together. Dark Ritual and Maelstrom Pulse and Aven Mindcensor and Counterbalance together... I don't get it. What do these cards have in common???
I think I'm one of the few Melvins who find this just as glaring as the gaudy Egyptification of Magic frames.
I feel like it was an entirely-Vorthos-based decision - I think the theme is simply powerful cards that could have fit the set (Ancient Egypt) thematically, but will never make it through the guardian gates of R&D. If it's really the case, I'm not surprised why it irritates the Melvin-side of people (I'm mostly Vorthos, but the the two demographics are not exclusive of each other, so I can sort of understand the glaring discrepancy to you since it itches me a bit as well).
On to the main topic (the frames), I don't really like it, but I can see why people particularly enthusiastic about the Ancient Egypt theme like it a lot - it's a very polarizing design, bluntly put. What annoys me the most is the art space - both the Expeditions and Masterpieces had partially transparent text boxes that allowed the full-art to show, while the invocations are a solid chunk of rock. Yes, it fits the flavor, but one of the most attractive selling points of MTG to me, at least is the art and the more space for art there is, the better (which is why I collect Colorless Eldrazi Foils, it's like an entire species dedicated to that). In fact, the invocations seem to have smaller art than regular cards (but the art themselves range quite well, which the reduced size sort of does them injustice) and between them and the Consequence cards (which also constrain 2 arts into 1 side of a card), Amonkhet has already started to not appeal to me visually.
That being said, I do understand the opaque text box was to fit the flavor of the entire design, although that doesn't stop me from not liking it since I'm not as invested in the theme as I am to the art of MTG overall. The text itself is fine, although I really wished that made a difference (be it darker or more "carved") between the actual text and the hieroglyphics in the name/typeline, because I can see some people aren't going to automatically zoom to the center to find the correct words (doesn't help they do camouflage themselves a little too well on top of that).
I do still appreciate that they went out to make the frame flavorful though, even if it wasn't for me, but it also makes me bitter that the Guardian Gates of R&D + Creative do not permit Kamigawa to return, I for one could imagine how gorgeous their customized frames could be (especially if their theme is Legendary Cards).
I don't really care, I'll probably never open one of these.
More interesting, will we see Masterpiece version of split cards like Dusk/Dawn? (I just want to see world burning)
I wonder if the hieroglyphics before/after the cardnames/cardtypes actually mean anything. Like, Wizards may have just put them there for stylistic reasons, but is it possible that Wizards actually did something clever with those symbols like spell out a secret message across all the cards?
Niv-Mizzet likes your suggestion.
That was seriously the greatest thing Wizards ever did in that compartment It truly beat the Emrakul is coming messages from Tamiyo's Journal.
They did it several times before - Original Niv-Mizzet's flavor text (although that's all in one card for fun), the Guildgates in RTR block, the token cards for Conspiracy: Take the Crown and of course, Tamiyo's Journal. The later three more or less reference plot points (Dragon's Maze, Fiora's situation and Emrakul's presence), so if there's a message here it would probably be plot related (or a prophecy of some sort towards the Hour of Devastation). Or it could spell out "NICOL BOLAS IS THE BEST, NICOL BOLAS BEATS THE REST!" for all we know (and of course, it could be just aesthetics and mean nothing).
They are not perfect, but I like them. They fit the flavor of Amonkhet and really have that "Egyptian" feel they should have. My main criticism is that the art looks pretty small and that, for now, I don't really see a theme for all these invocations.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.
The borders are interesting. I don't think I hate them....
But I think the art looks super small on all of them, they should have found a a way to make it bigger
For those that can't read the invocations: the actual text of those are between "|"
Like:
£¥£¥£ |LoyalRetainers| £€¥€¥€€
£€>¥|Creature-HumanAdvisor|€££€£¥¥
Man I really disliked those. the frame is hideous and the theme is so loose.
What is this supposed to mean? They just choose a generic name and threw random slew of spells of different types with no co-relation. The expeditions and inventions where a cohesive theme, but this? Did wizards already burned down their ideas for masterpicies is just throwing random iconic cards at it?
I consider myself tolerant and open to changes. I like Egyptian theme. I liked Stargate. But this....just NOPE.
I see where they are coming from. Why the textboxes omits colors from mana symbols, to make everything look like sandstone engraving.
BUT:
- really unreadable name when using the "hieroglyphic" font
- no borders. Strange, but it really hurts my eyes
- the capitals in textbox.
- no flavortext altogether (as they really cannot do it with the capitals, italics would look probably silly)
- sandstone engraving imitation = no color in manasymbols = very confusing.
For me, from both gamer and Vorthos viewpoint, a big fail.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
100% Vorthos Spike and Storyline Expert
Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
For me I don't like the hard to read name and type line. Other wise I fine with the deigns, could show more art but not 100% needed for me.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
Expeditions and inventions look really special while still looking like real magic cards. I wonder what's the reasoning behing this over the top design. There surely was a less crass version on the table, still egyptian but more mtg. I do like them on some weird level. If it just wasn't for that pseudo-hieroglyph font.
Also, will the distribution of colors be somewhat even when we have the full list?
Well, I haven't even slept on these yet and I'm starting to warm to them... slightly.
I don't think I'll ever get over the excessive border, small art, and SCREAMING TEXTBOXES,
but the gold parts of the cards will probably look very cool IRL.
I still like the Inventions visual design better,
but this is cool in a (very) different way.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Huh I wonder if we'll get the gods as masterpieces? (sorry if this already been brought up)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
I don't really dig the loose theme... I mean counterspells are not really fit for what invocation means. The new frame is kinda weird and hard to read at first and I was expecting some more extended artwork, but they went ahead and made them even smaller than those on regular cards. Overall a mediocre effort this time around.
What "mistake" was made again? Whining on this site does not even begin to imply a mistake was made.
As an example of that, going by his social media interactions, MaRo rated Meld as being "very well received" and "much beloved" on his Tumblr. Researching for his Innistrad/SoI Storm Scale article, he found out that it wasn't as well liked as social media had lead him to believe, and rated it as "Unpopular."
Social Media is all too often just an echo chamber of people with similar views. Basing any kind of factual evaluation on it alone is a recipe for disaster.
Link to MaRo post saying as much
I think I'm one of the few Melvins who find this just as glaring as the gaudy Egyptification of Magic frames.
Can anyone please explain (or direct me to where I can find an explanation) as to what's the theme behind the invocations? I really don't understand what's holding this masterpiece set together. Dark Ritual and Maelstrom Pulse and Aven Mindcensor and Counterbalance together... I don't get it. What do these cards have in common???
I think I'm one of the few Melvins who find this just as glaring as the gaudy Egyptification of Magic frames.
Don't get me wrong— I'm not going to quit Magic over these,
and I'll keep any if I open them just as an oddity.
However, if previous patterns hold, I won't open any.
With Expeditions, I was most smitten by the art for Watery Grave.
With the Inventions, my jaw dropped at the sight of Static Orb.
Guess which Expedition and which Invention I opened?
With these, literally none of them has made me say "oh wow, that is GORGEOUS!"
My most glowing response was to Dark Ritual, so maybe I will open one of those.
And again, while I dislike this design intensely,
I realize it is for a small-run promotional product.
I like that other people like this design,
but I'm definitely hoping the next round is more my style.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
My first reaction was a wtf?!? But given I had the sane reaction to the future shifted cards and the masterpieces and then came to love both I'm going to give things the benefit of the doubt.
As to the card choices I can only say that this must have been some blue players wet dream. Force, Counterspell, Daze, Counterbalance, Cryptic, Pact and even Consecrated Sphinx?!? That's many of the best blue cards from modern, legacy and EDH. Feels a bit weird that Brainstorm didn't make the list.
Machius proudly supports R_E's right to Rumour!
I feel like it was an entirely-Vorthos-based decision - I think the theme is simply powerful cards that could have fit the set (Ancient Egypt) thematically, but will never make it through the guardian gates of R&D. If it's really the case, I'm not surprised why it irritates the Melvin-side of people (I'm mostly Vorthos, but the the two demographics are not exclusive of each other, so I can sort of understand the glaring discrepancy to you since it itches me a bit as well).
On to the main topic (the frames), I don't really like it, but I can see why people particularly enthusiastic about the Ancient Egypt theme like it a lot - it's a very polarizing design, bluntly put. What annoys me the most is the art space - both the Expeditions and Masterpieces had partially transparent text boxes that allowed the full-art to show, while the invocations are a solid chunk of rock. Yes, it fits the flavor, but one of the most attractive selling points of MTG to me, at least is the art and the more space for art there is, the better (which is why I collect Colorless Eldrazi Foils, it's like an entire species dedicated to that). In fact, the invocations seem to have smaller art than regular cards (but the art themselves range quite well, which the reduced size sort of does them injustice) and between them and the Consequence cards (which also constrain 2 arts into 1 side of a card), Amonkhet has already started to not appeal to me visually.
That being said, I do understand the opaque text box was to fit the flavor of the entire design, although that doesn't stop me from not liking it since I'm not as invested in the theme as I am to the art of MTG overall. The text itself is fine, although I really wished that made a difference (be it darker or more "carved") between the actual text and the hieroglyphics in the name/typeline, because I can see some people aren't going to automatically zoom to the center to find the correct words (doesn't help they do camouflage themselves a little too well on top of that).
I do still appreciate that they went out to make the frame flavorful though, even if it wasn't for me, but it also makes me bitter that the Guardian Gates of R&D + Creative do not permit Kamigawa to return, I for one could imagine how gorgeous their customized frames could be (especially if their theme is Legendary Cards).
Colorless mana symbols.
I don't really care, I'll probably never open one of these.
More interesting, will we see Masterpiece version of split cards like Dusk/Dawn? (I just want to see world burning)
They did it several times before - Original Niv-Mizzet's flavor text (although that's all in one card for fun), the Guildgates in RTR block, the token cards for Conspiracy: Take the Crown and of course, Tamiyo's Journal. The later three more or less reference plot points (Dragon's Maze, Fiora's situation and Emrakul's presence), so if there's a message here it would probably be plot related (or a prophecy of some sort towards the Hour of Devastation). Or it could spell out "NICOL BOLAS IS THE BEST, NICOL BOLAS BEATS THE REST!" for all we know (and of course, it could be just aesthetics and mean nothing).
They are not perfect, but I like them. They fit the flavor of Amonkhet and really have that "Egyptian" feel they should have. My main criticism is that the art looks pretty small and that, for now, I don't really see a theme for all these invocations.
Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.
But I think the art looks super small on all of them, they should have found a a way to make it bigger
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
Like:
£¥£¥£ |LoyalRetainers| £€¥€¥€€
£€>¥|Creature-HumanAdvisor|€££€£¥¥
That said..
MIND TWIST
MIND TWIST
MIND TWIST
MIND TWIST
MIND TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST
That plus Dark Ritual made my inner 13-year old leap up and do a happy dance.
What is this supposed to mean? They just choose a generic name and threw random slew of spells of different types with no co-relation. The expeditions and inventions where a cohesive theme, but this? Did wizards already burned down their ideas for masterpicies is just throwing random iconic cards at it?
I see where they are coming from. Why the textboxes omits colors from mana symbols, to make everything look like sandstone engraving.
BUT:
- really unreadable name when using the "hieroglyphic" font
- no borders. Strange, but it really hurts my eyes
- the capitals in textbox.
- no flavortext altogether (as they really cannot do it with the capitals, italics would look probably silly)
- sandstone engraving imitation = no color in manasymbols = very confusing.
For me, from both gamer and Vorthos viewpoint, a big fail.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also, will the distribution of colors be somewhat even when we have the full list?
I don't think I'll ever get over the excessive border, small art, and SCREAMING TEXTBOXES,
but the gold parts of the cards will probably look very cool IRL.
I still like the Inventions visual design better,
but this is cool in a (very) different way.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
RG Titan Scapeshift GR
UBWAd Nauseam WBU
CEldrazi TronC