wait wait wait
Charnel troll is the only BG rare that is not part of a cycle?
.... why?
I think every guild has three 'gold rares': one legendary creature, one nonpermanent (instant or sorcery), and one nonlegendary permanent (for most guilds this is a creature but for Izzet it's an enchantment).
I think more surprising then the reference to coffee, is the reference to an "electric tea kettle" on Cosmotronic Wave. I mean it is generally understood that electricity is present and at least somewhat understood (being harnessed for large-scale results), but I wouldn't have thought they had electric small kitchen appliances/conveniences. I would have assumed they made their tea from fire-heated water, not an electric kettle.
wow, you are right... only 3 rare for each multicolor couple... feels like too few...
also, 28 cards that surveils or care about surveil, 21 of them that actually "surveil"
11 cards with undergrowth
10 cards with jump-start
13 cards with mentor
14 cards with convoke
doesn't feel like a balanced expansion... but i guess dimir players are happy
The split cards probably also count toward the rare count, bringing it up to 4 per guild. That's still fewer than we had in RTR block, but yeah.
Also I would assume there are a larger number of surveil cards because surveil is also fueling two other guilds AND there are no other card-flow mechanics in the set, so it has a generally heavier workload than other guild mechanics.
I suppose it also sets the tone for the block, placing the players more in the shoes of the Dimir, a protagonistic force who's trying to figure out what's going on behind the scenes.
Yeah, Surveil wants a bit more space? It's both an add on mechanic (it doesn't impact too much per instance, but constant instances matter) and enables other strategies. I was expecting the other mechanics to be at the 13-15 mark like Rav 1 was.
doesn't feel like a balanced expansion... but i guess dimir players are happy
The split cards probably also count toward the rare count, bringing it up to 4 per guild. That's still fewer than we had in RTR block, but yeah.
Split cards are counted by WotC as a part of the Hybrid cycle (the usual Hybrid in Rav sets is 3 per guild, at common, uncommon, and rare).
The rare count is slightly lower (Rav 1 had 8 per guild but no Mythics, Rav 2 had 5 per guild + 2 Mythics). But they upped the Uncommon and common counts to compensate? Each time I think. Which should help with staying in color.
Wizards din't exactly match my arbitrary and vague, but in some cases also weirldy specific expectations, so obviously this set is a representation of everything what's wrong with modern MtG. I hope Wizards hires me soon so I can make a good set for once.
@Torch Courier: Hey, that's actually a pretty decent 1-drop haster, and good at supporting Undergrowth to boot. Seems like Jund might be a deck to keep an eye out for this Standard, especially once RNA rotates in.
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.
I really like the style of this set. Some really beatyfull art and also quite diverse for current standards.
Also nice to get some more lightheartedly flavored cards like affectionate indrik and I kinda like the punny (if sometimes a bit silly) flavor texts.
Looking at power level and mechanics, set seems at least solid, so all in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like all the designers got excited with surveil and didn't put any real effort into the other mechanics. Outside of Emmara and the rare Loxodon, no new ground broken with Convoke. The other new mechanics seem interesting in a vacuum, but they really didn't do much to make the cards anything worth writing home about. It feels like they played extremely safe with Jump-Start, which led to things feeling really overcosted and unoriginal. Mentor seems kind of dull as well, like they didn't so much explore what it could do so much as just tacked it on creatures like any other keyword word and sent it on (not unlike Unleash, really). Undergrowth has some more interesting applications, but nothing that really jumps out at me.
I don't mean to say that the set is underpowered or bad, only that in comparison to the other Rav blocks, it just feels disappointingly dull.
I don't think it will be possible to say something like "I am going to choose Golgari and make an undergrowth deck" in Limited--hoping to pack your deck with low-cost utility creatures as well as hoping to hit an undergrowth payoff of at least 5 may not be possible. I suspect this applies to jump-start, as well--yes, you can probably make a decent Izzet deck but jump-start isn't going to be the main theme. There are more than enough really decent creatures in both Dimir and Boros that trying to capitalize on surveil or mentor probably will work. Although I normally dislike red/white, I am seriously considering going Boros for prerelease, trying to load up on decent low-cost attackers backed up by a little bit of mentor here and there.
I may change my mind between now and then--I am not even close to taking a more detailed look at the cards, much less adding all the creatures onto my spreadsheet.
Other than that, now that another spoiler season is has finished the time has come for me to disappear until the next set.
I don't think it will be possible to say something like "I am going to choose Golgari and make an undergrowth deck" in Limited--hoping to pack your deck with low-cost utility creatures as well as hoping to hit an undergrowth payoff of at least 5 may not be possible. I suspect this applies to jump-start, as well--yes, you can probably make a decent Izzet deck but jump-start isn't going to be the main theme.
While I agree on Golgari, the Izzet deck is a deck that cares about Instants and Sorceries, and Jump-start is the mechanic that allows you to get enough spells for it to matter. Saying that you can't make a Jump-start deck is kinda like saying that you can't make a Prowess deck because all cards that have the ability are creatures.
Additionally, Izzet has some discard effects that make Jump-start cards better - Hypothesizzle, Book Devourer - plus Goblin Electromancer which potentially gives you twice the discount.
R.I.P. evergreen prowess - hasn't shown up since Hour of Devastation. If it didn't show for Izzet with multi-castable spells, I think we can say it is not just in danger, but has lost evergreen status.
Oh interesting. I thought it was about Deadly Visit. I thought that cup looked a little small. My coffee mug needs its own seat and seatbelt when I drive to work in the morning.
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I think every guild has three 'gold rares': one legendary creature, one nonpermanent (instant or sorcery), and one nonlegendary permanent (for most guilds this is a creature but for Izzet it's an enchantment).
Emmara
Etrata
Izoni
Niv-Mizzet
Tajic
Assassin's Trophy
Camaraderie
Deafening Clarion
Ionize
Unmoored Ego
Charnel Troll
Firemind's Research
Knight of Autumn
Swiftblade Vindicator
Thief of Sanity
I don't get it. Why are u saying that? Is there a coffee related card??
3BB
Sorcery
You lose the game.
Experimental Frenzy
Spirits
Also I would assume there are a larger number of surveil cards because surveil is also fueling two other guilds AND there are no other card-flow mechanics in the set, so it has a generally heavier workload than other guild mechanics.
I suppose it also sets the tone for the block, placing the players more in the shoes of the Dimir, a protagonistic force who's trying to figure out what's going on behind the scenes.
Definately return to dominaria leveled especially the dimir guild they did redicuously powerful in that one
The rare count is slightly lower (Rav 1 had 8 per guild but no Mythics, Rav 2 had 5 per guild + 2 Mythics). But they upped the Uncommon and common counts to compensate? Each time I think. Which should help with staying in color.
@Capture Sphere: "You win again, technology!"
@Ornery Goblin: "Card games these days! Back in my day, we didn't have no mythic rare! They were all rares! And we were happy with them!"
@Street Riot: Whelp, that pretty much confirms Domri Rade is back. No doubt he's Bolas's Gruul pawn.
@Sure Strike: Sounds fun. ;P
@Torch Courier: Hey, that's actually a pretty decent 1-drop haster, and good at supporting Undergrowth to boot. Seems like Jund might be a deck to keep an eye out for this Standard, especially once RNA rotates in.
@Crushing Canopy: So your elementals supposedly take care not to tread upon a single insect, yet if it's a creepy Dimir bug, it's okay to kill?
@Portcullis Vine: Hey, neat, defender tribal returns.
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.
Also nice to get some more lightheartedly flavored cards like affectionate indrik and I kinda like the punny (if sometimes a bit silly) flavor texts.
Looking at power level and mechanics, set seems at least solid, so all in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
W(W/U)U Ephara - Flash & Taxes W(W/U)U || B(B/G)G Meren - Circle of Life B(B/G)G
RGW Marath - Ever shifting Wilds RGW || (U/R)C(W/B) Breya - Artificial Dominion (U/R)C(W/B)
UBR Becket Brass - take what you can, give nothing back UBR
I don't mean to say that the set is underpowered or bad, only that in comparison to the other Rav blocks, it just feels disappointingly dull.
I may change my mind between now and then--I am not even close to taking a more detailed look at the cards, much less adding all the creatures onto my spreadsheet.
Other than that, now that another spoiler season is has finished the time has come for me to disappear until the next set.
Additionally, Izzet has some discard effects that make Jump-start cards better - Hypothesizzle, Book Devourer - plus Goblin Electromancer which potentially gives you twice the discount.
It's not Kaladesh, but that may be a good thing.
Maybe better luck for Gruul next set.
-Chandra Nalaar
Oh interesting. I thought it was about Deadly Visit. I thought that cup looked a little small. My coffee mug needs its own seat and seatbelt when I drive to work in the morning.