I am going to Fate Seal this thread... wait, what do you I'm not a moderator????... OK, ok,okaayyy... can it at least go to the Upside Down"Exile Zone."
Flanking almost was in Allegiance, never say never ! Plague Wight
Yeah, but Flanking is an ability that is actually fun, has only one line of reminder text, isn't complicated, and has been brought back once before.
I'm one of the apparant few that actually appreciates Banding. It's arguably one of the most logical abilities out there (attack as a group, defend as a group). The initial rules were lengthy, but in practice it's really quite simple. But I believe they said before that they're never gonna bring it back because people were moaning the ability was too difficult.
Flanking almost was in Allegiance, never say never ! Plague Wight
Yeah, but Flanking is an ability that is actually fun, has only one line of reminder text, isn't complicated, and has been brought back once before.
I'm one of the apparant few that actually appreciates Banding. It's arguably one of the most logical abilities out there (attack as a group, defend as a group). The initial rules were lengthy, but in practice it's really quite simple. But I believe they said before that they're never gonna bring it back because people were moaning the ability was too difficult.
Wasn't "Soul Bond" an attempt to bring a feeling of Banding that was easy to understand? Like, "Oh, these two both have flying" or "these two have deathtouch"... The only thing that was missing which could have been abused was the defending player chosing how damage was dealt, opposed to the attacker. But I guess in a casual environment that could have been done w/ cards like Master Warcraft or others that do similar affects.
By this point more white mechanics were an attempt to bring banding back in some form than there were white mechanics that weren't. It's also pretty handy / powerful in pauper, and, fun trolling aside, we could use a few downshifts if not completely new cards. Noone mentioned War of the Spark as a place for that, though, but one of the compilation sets or the new modern line as a potential place for them.
And Banding isn't really one of those mechanics that were too clunky or underpowered, quite the opposite. It's a really powerful ability in any format/metagame where the combat step matters.
"Masques Block is the worst block ever! There's not one decent card in there! The whole internet say's so, you're literally the only person who ever said it was good!" - random noob in a conversation with an Eldrazi.
You don't need it to be pushed to make top 8, a simple Benalish Hero or Mesa Pegasus basicaly says "you own combat math". That's sort of the thing with Banding creatures, they just need to be format legal, and combat needs to be in some way relevant. What the individual cards need to be highly playable is to not to be overcosted or to fit into your curve somehow, that's all.
Or they could combine it with another ability. There are things which would combine really well with Banding - reach, deathtouch, afterlife, undying, vigilance, anything that benefits from you screwing with who tanks the damage. The problem is fitting a second ability on a card with banding due to how much reminder text it needs. But any reasonably costed / slightly pushed weenie or ETB midrange stabilizer / board clogger dude with banding could easily make a top 8 in a standard or limited format (or a particularly dude / combat oriented meta in any format). After all, so many white abilities really are "banding light", actual banding is generally stronger. It's not all that great vs. go-wide, it wasn't meant to be, but it's murderous vs. midrange.
If it wasn't for the reminder text, if they just printed a rules clarification token for banding to have handy, they could just stick banding on something that's playable anyway and not account for it in the casting cost. Insta-pushed banding dude, they'd be everywhere. As long as the format is good for white or whichever color they stick it in, ofc, and it tends to have the most sinergy with Abzan colors.
"Masques Block is the worst block ever! There's not one decent card in there! The whole internet say's so, you're literally the only person who ever said it was good!" - random noob in a conversation with an Eldrazi.
Flanking almost was in Allegiance, never say never ! Plague Wight
Yeah, but Flanking is an ability that is actually fun, has only one line of reminder text, isn't complicated, and has been brought back once before.
Flanking is one of those abilities that ought to be regularly assigned to a particular class (Knight). I can understand from a flavour point of view that not all cultures in different planes utilize the same military tactics but it's something that should be more common than it is. It is a cute combat trick.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
The problem with defining this format by what is "fun" is that everyone seems to define fun as what they don't lose to. If you keep losing to easily answered cards, that means you should improve your deck. If you don't want to improve your deck, then you should come to peace with the idea that you are going to lose because you chose to not interact with better strategies.
Flanking almost was in Allegiance, never say never ! Plague Wight
Yeah, but Flanking is an ability that is actually fun, has only one line of reminder text, isn't complicated, and has been brought back once before.
Flanking is one of those abilities that ought to be regularly assigned to a particular class (Knight). I can understand from a flavour point of view that not all cultures in different planes utilize the same military tactics but it's something that should be more common than it is. It is a cute combat trick.
'buster
Agreed, and it can even be used to show that a creature is exceptionally agile in combat, thus allowing for the use on other creatures than knights.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Phasing is only an 8, so there is a chance, although a very slim one.
I feel like the existence of Teferi's Protection (which is actually a really neat use of the phasing mechanic) might make more cards with phasing possible in the future, so the fact it's an 8 kind of surprises me.
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I feel like the existence of Teferi's Protection (which is actually a really neat use of the phasing mechanic) might make more cards with phasing possible in the future, so the fact it's an 8 kind of surprises me.
More cards with phsing in a supplemental product? Sure. But in Standard?
That's what the scale covers: Standard only. And even madness that had the stars align and got to reappear in Standard is still an 8 IIRC.
I also am of the strong opinion that we should distinguish between "phasing" as a keyword ability and "phase out" as keyword action. The former is actually a justifiable 8 or worse, but as a keyword action the chances should look better.
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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]
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Thousand Year Storm borrows from Storm, but is not Storm.
Besides being slightly different functionally, if Storm was printed as a set mechanic it would do very different things to standard.
I could be wrong, but I think the reference was towards Arclight Phoenix.
Upside Down"Exile Zone."I'm one of the apparant few that actually appreciates Banding. It's arguably one of the most logical abilities out there (attack as a group, defend as a group). The initial rules were lengthy, but in practice it's really quite simple. But I believe they said before that they're never gonna bring it back because people were moaning the ability was too difficult.
Wasn't "Soul Bond" an attempt to bring a feeling of Banding that was easy to understand? Like, "Oh, these two both have flying" or "these two have deathtouch"... The only thing that was missing which could have been abused was the defending player chosing how damage was dealt, opposed to the attacker. But I guess in a casual environment that could have been done w/ cards like Master Warcraft or others that do similar affects.
And Banding isn't really one of those mechanics that were too clunky or underpowered, quite the opposite. It's a really powerful ability in any format/metagame where the combat step matters.
Just like a 5/5 for 1 colorless with Banding.
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Or they could combine it with another ability. There are things which would combine really well with Banding - reach, deathtouch, afterlife, undying, vigilance, anything that benefits from you screwing with who tanks the damage. The problem is fitting a second ability on a card with banding due to how much reminder text it needs. But any reasonably costed / slightly pushed weenie or ETB midrange stabilizer / board clogger dude with banding could easily make a top 8 in a standard or limited format (or a particularly dude / combat oriented meta in any format). After all, so many white abilities really are "banding light", actual banding is generally stronger. It's not all that great vs. go-wide, it wasn't meant to be, but it's murderous vs. midrange.
If it wasn't for the reminder text, if they just printed a rules clarification token for banding to have handy, they could just stick banding on something that's playable anyway and not account for it in the casting cost. Insta-pushed banding dude, they'd be everywhere. As long as the format is good for white or whichever color they stick it in, ofc, and it tends to have the most sinergy with Abzan colors.
Flanking is one of those abilities that ought to be regularly assigned to a particular class (Knight). I can understand from a flavour point of view that not all cultures in different planes utilize the same military tactics but it's something that should be more common than it is. It is a cute combat trick.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
He was clearly talking about Captain Lannery Storm
Agreed, and it can even be used to show that a creature is exceptionally agile in combat, thus allowing for the use on other creatures than knights.
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Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
I feel like the existence of Teferi's Protection (which is actually a really neat use of the phasing mechanic) might make more cards with phasing possible in the future, so the fact it's an 8 kind of surprises me.
Likewise, walkers stealing loyalty from opponent's walkers would also be fun.
But I don't mean to hijack the banding thread, so disregard.
More cards with phsing in a supplemental product? Sure. But in Standard?
That's what the scale covers: Standard only. And even madness that had the stars align and got to reappear in Standard is still an 8 IIRC.
I also am of the strong opinion that we should distinguish between "phasing" as a keyword ability and "phase out" as keyword action. The former is actually a justifiable 8 or worse, but as a keyword action the chances should look better.
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."
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