Last year's commander product was a bit of a let down. Two of the decks didn't really do what WotC said they did, lands and top of the deck matters, and the reprints were a bit meh. Hopefully this year's can do something a bit new, like colorless.
The top of the deck matters theme was something new and the Enchantment deck wasn't that bad (and new for Bant). The artifact theme was strange because we got Breya in 2016, and a Artifact Planeswalker in build from scratch (2014) and already had good Artifact commanders in the color combination like Jhoira. Brudiclad is some thing new I guess. Only the "Land-Matter" Deck was a miss (well because it wasn't Lands matter).
We got some known Characters like Lord Windgrace, Xantcha, Tawnos, Varchild, Saheeli and Arixmethes (they are newer but well known)
The new cards were all fine, the commander storm was okayish but they mess up the reprints and in addition they rise the price.
I personally dislike that they have to make one of the Commander decks in each cyle "off-theme" now, that feels like two different commander products being released at the same time. "What's this year's theme?" "It's X, but one of the decks is Y instead because some people may not like X." I hope they find a way around that this year.
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 personally dislike that they have to make one of the Commander decks in each cycle "off-theme" now, that feels like two different commander products being released at the same time. "What's this year's theme?" "It's X, but one of the decks is Y instead because some people may not like X." I hope they find a way around that this year.
I actually like that concept. There are only four decks per year, most new legends and reprinted legends abide to the deck theme, I don't mind having some off-theme legends as well. If we look at 2018, those off-theme legends are actually more interesting in design than the straightforward on-theme legends, and they are still related to the decks within the batch: Varchild does combat/tokens, Varina draws/discard top card, Thantis functions with landfall tokens of its deck, Gyrus works with Windgrace's discard, Xantcha reaps ramping in the land deck, and Arixmethes benefits from land/creature auras. Even in 2017, each deck has legends who don't 100% benefit from tribal theme, but a player could still make tribal decks out of them.
Is it wrong that between the two announced products, I am more interested in the core set than the commander product? Especially after last year's offering?
That is the advantage of Tribal you can do a Race or Class and have each legend in that Race or Class care about something slightly different.
That's my perspective as well, and probably what WotC was counting on until 2017. But the public did not perceive the inner differentiation of the cards and put a high weighed on the very visible and highly marketed outer differentiation by themes and the very visible unifying theme of tribal.
It's that perception of unifying themes that can result in a perception of "this product is not for me, because I don't care about (those) tribes" that the new policy would have to address. The strategy of not having a (wholy) unified theme by making a deck-sized exception is currrently on trial.
I personally think the better way would be to market the feature of sub-commanders and transformative decks better. The "tribal" decks specifically were riding on a strength of tribal: Hooking the tribe ab with a mechanical theme that automatically becomes a secondary approach to deck building.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Presumably you simply pick popular enough tribes, have powerful reprints, and create strong/interesting new cards especially Legends.
The problem with Commander 2018 was you look at the Commanders and its just bad.
Aminatou is good, she is interesting at least and does something different. Probably doesn't hurt she is in powerful color combination. I mean its hard to go wrong when pairing anything with Blue or Black in commander. Add to that she got Yuriko in her deck, Kamigawa has a big fanbase, plus commander ninjutsu. Not to mention the theme is lose enough to be super flexible for her.
The other ones though. Not so great. Not to mention most expected Oldwalkers like Serra to show up. And we only got one in Lord Windgrace as compared to last time. Which had Four of them. I think Ob is technically one the timeline is a bit tricky. And Windgrace's deck missed the theme by a country mile.
Presumably you simply pick popular enough tribes, have powerful reprints, and create strong/interesting new cards especially Legends.
The problem with Commander 2018 was you look at the Commanders and its just bad.
Just to point it out: The policy change over having one exception AFAIK was implemented after 2017 and already in effect 2018 with one of the decks not being themed around a card type. So wether 2018 was the inferior product has no bearings on that question.
The other ones though. Not so great. Not to mention most expected Oldwalkers like Serra to show up. And we only got one in Lord Windgrace as compared to last time. Which had Four of them. I think Ob is technically one the timeline is a bit tricky. And Windgrace's deck missed the theme by a country mile.
Well, people just should get around to accepting that we get Serra eventually, but only if the needs of the deck align. There is IMO no large risk of never getting Serra, but I wouldn't put the same faith into getting Windgrace or Feldon. So in general I'm happier about getting a Sidar Kondo than an Ur-Elspeth, because it's not "bound to happen".
And the 'oldwalker'/'newwalker' distinction is disingenious. People care about "old characters" more than "oldwalkers". They could declare any number of new characters - e. g. Estrid - oldwalkers and it still wouldn't hit nostalgia/recognition. Ob and Nahiri were relevant because they had never had a planeswalker card before, but were already known (more or less directly) to be existing planeswalkers. The cards answered an interest in knowing more about these established characters and having them represented as game pieces.
Missing the expectations as in the Windgrace/land deck is really a larger issue that happens far too often. It's reminiscent of Theros failing to provide the enchantment-theme or Battle for Zendikar resting on Eldrazi-war entirely without paying hommage to the adventure-world underneath. Really little to excuse there. Its certainly an issue to miss expectations like that.
I'd also argue that it's hard to notice the hole/exception in deck themes in 2018, because "planeswalker commanders" was the perceived theme and that pattern didn't have an exception (unless you count two-colors vs. three-colors, but no one really does in a four-decks paradigm). The themes of the decks were just not as much of a perceived singular mold as tribal - which just shows how much of a jerk reaction this "exception rule" really is.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
The guy who is in charge of Commander said tht they have heard our criticisms of C18 and are taking them to heart. Hopefully that means better sets
of course they said that.That doesn't nake it true. WOTC has made a habit of lying and misrepresentation and general cluelessness as of late. I'll take it seriously when they outline what exactly they plan on doing differently.
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Check out my Sales 50% OFF everything for the next 48 hours.
of course they said that.That doesn't nake it true. WOTC has made a habit of lying and misrepresentation and general cluelessness as of late. I'll take it seriously when they outline what exactly they plan on doing differently.
They usually outline their exact process once the product gets released.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Hey wizard, you know what's better than nothing? Something!
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How i feel about competitive players and casual players in EDH: The competitive are german tourists, the casual are italian tourists, both in a italian beach. The italians asking themselves "why are the germans here?" make a legitimate question, the answer is because the beach is beautiful, no matter the country you came from. The italians wanting to ban the germans are dumb, because if the germans pay for their stay and follow the rules like everyone else, they have the right to be in the beach. Hovewer, if the germans started to ask themselves "why are the italians here?"... they would be dumb as hell.
That is the advantage of Tribal you can do a Race or Class and have each legend in that Race or Class care about something slightly different.
I would be all for class tribal, but they would practically need an entire block of cards to have enough to make four decks with that can possibly share cards among them. Only ~55 new cards won't cut it.
They made announcements for M20 and C19 but more or less snuck War of the Spark under our noses. Wonder why they did that...
I didn't purcahse any C18 so I can't comment on it but hopefully this one will be worthwhile. Truly told I haven't picked up any Commander product at all since its inception. Move along now!
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
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Little info on themes or any such thing. Of note are release dates: the Core Set is coming out July 12 and Commander will be out August 23 this year.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Make it better this time with more good reprints that are needed
But yeah the lowered the power, failed on themes, ...I am not sure they got one thing right with last year's Commander.
I predict a return to Tribal.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
We got some known Characters like Lord Windgrace, Xantcha, Tawnos, Varchild, Saheeli and Arixmethes (they are newer but well known)
The new cards were all fine, the commander storm was okayish but they mess up the reprints and in addition they rise the price.
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
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.
I actually like that concept. There are only four decks per year, most new legends and reprinted legends abide to the deck theme, I don't mind having some off-theme legends as well. If we look at 2018, those off-theme legends are actually more interesting in design than the straightforward on-theme legends, and they are still related to the decks within the batch: Varchild does combat/tokens, Varina draws/discard top card, Thantis functions with landfall tokens of its deck, Gyrus works with Windgrace's discard, Xantcha reaps ramping in the land deck, and Arixmethes benefits from land/creature auras. Even in 2017, each deck has legends who don't 100% benefit from tribal theme, but a player could still make tribal decks out of them.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
What about the new product that modern players should have been excited for at the end of february?
That's my perspective as well, and probably what WotC was counting on until 2017. But the public did not perceive the inner differentiation of the cards and put a high weighed on the very visible and highly marketed outer differentiation by themes and the very visible unifying theme of tribal.
It's that perception of unifying themes that can result in a perception of "this product is not for me, because I don't care about (those) tribes" that the new policy would have to address. The strategy of not having a (wholy) unified theme by making a deck-sized exception is currrently on trial.
I personally think the better way would be to market the feature of sub-commanders and transformative decks better. The "tribal" decks specifically were riding on a strength of tribal: Hooking the tribe ab with a mechanical theme that automatically becomes a secondary approach to deck building.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
The problem with Commander 2018 was you look at the Commanders and its just bad.
Aminatou is good, she is interesting at least and does something different. Probably doesn't hurt she is in powerful color combination. I mean its hard to go wrong when pairing anything with Blue or Black in commander. Add to that she got Yuriko in her deck, Kamigawa has a big fanbase, plus commander ninjutsu. Not to mention the theme is lose enough to be super flexible for her.
The other ones though. Not so great. Not to mention most expected Oldwalkers like Serra to show up. And we only got one in Lord Windgrace as compared to last time. Which had Four of them. I think Ob is technically one the timeline is a bit tricky. And Windgrace's deck missed the theme by a country mile.
Just to point it out: The policy change over having one exception AFAIK was implemented after 2017 and already in effect 2018 with one of the decks not being themed around a card type. So wether 2018 was the inferior product has no bearings on that question.
Well, people just should get around to accepting that we get Serra eventually, but only if the needs of the deck align. There is IMO no large risk of never getting Serra, but I wouldn't put the same faith into getting Windgrace or Feldon. So in general I'm happier about getting a Sidar Kondo than an Ur-Elspeth, because it's not "bound to happen".
And the 'oldwalker'/'newwalker' distinction is disingenious. People care about "old characters" more than "oldwalkers". They could declare any number of new characters - e. g. Estrid - oldwalkers and it still wouldn't hit nostalgia/recognition. Ob and Nahiri were relevant because they had never had a planeswalker card before, but were already known (more or less directly) to be existing planeswalkers. The cards answered an interest in knowing more about these established characters and having them represented as game pieces.
Missing the expectations as in the Windgrace/land deck is really a larger issue that happens far too often. It's reminiscent of Theros failing to provide the enchantment-theme or Battle for Zendikar resting on Eldrazi-war entirely without paying hommage to the adventure-world underneath. Really little to excuse there. Its certainly an issue to miss expectations like that.
I'd also argue that it's hard to notice the hole/exception in deck themes in 2018, because "planeswalker commanders" was the perceived theme and that pattern didn't have an exception (unless you count two-colors vs. three-colors, but no one really does in a four-decks paradigm). The themes of the decks were just not as much of a perceived singular mold as tribal - which just shows how much of a jerk reaction this "exception rule" really is.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
They usually outline their exact process once the product gets released.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
I would be all for class tribal, but they would practically need an entire block of cards to have enough to make four decks with that can possibly share cards among them. Only ~55 new cards won't cut it.
There is still today (Friday) and next week. I'm curious what the new twist in Core 2020 is?
I didn't purcahse any C18 so I can't comment on it but hopefully this one will be worthwhile. Truly told I haven't picked up any Commander product at all since its inception. Move along now!
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.