The Obscura are looking for players to gather intel and play the long con for their cause—promote their deck to players who love strategizing and saving their big reveals for later in a match.
The Maestros
The Maestros believe crime is an art form and want players who will help them win no matter the cost. Promote their deck to players who take pleasure in massacring their opponents.
The Riveteers
The Riveteers are artisans who always finish the job—quickly. Promote their deck to players who prioritize high-speed, hard-hitting attacks in their matches.
The Cabaretti
The Cabarettis love to party—the more people, the better. Promote their deck to players who love to gather and play loads of low-cost creatures.
The Brokers
The Brokers favor brains over brawn: if you don't read their fine print, you may be in trouble. Promote their deck to players who believe a solid defense is the greatest offense.
well three are obvious
esper: that may confirm the theory on hideaway being used here
jund: something in line with “riot”
naya : weenies/tokens
EDIT: it’s the play style of the commander decks instead of the set
There is a caveat here that this is promoting the Commander decks and their playstyles might vary from the main set, like how Silverquill was aggro in Strixhaven but political in Strixhaven Commander
I respect that they have gone different directions from Alara with these (Naya Monsters vs Calibretti Tokens for example). It seems to give the families their distinct persona vs what's happened before and they all seem to make good sense with what we have seen before. Bant prison in particular will hopefully be close to my heart and hopefully Maestros will give me a new card or two for Historic WRU Gearhulk.
There is a caveat here that this is promoting the Commander decks and their playstyles might vary from the main set, like how Silverquill was aggro in Strixhaven but political in Strixhaven Commander
Pretty sure anyone that played with/against Breena, the Demagogue can attest she's at least a 5/7 (sometimes even 7/9) swinging in the air at turn 4 every time. The one that deviated the most was Quandrix but honestly that's because Quandrix itself in the main set had a very weak identity.
I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
I don't mind the plane focused decks too much, especially with these new ones that are basically intro decks. The yearly ones need to stop being linked to specific planes though (and they need to be mono colored soon to get some land and Medallion reprints.)
I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
I don't mind the plane focused decks too much, especially with these new ones that are basically intro decks. The yearly ones need to stop being linked to specific planes though (and they need to be mono colored soon to get some land and Medallion reprints.)
We have sets like Innistrad where we can say that Vampires are Black Red, Zombies are Blue Black etc. We have sets like Ravnica, Alara, or Khans of Tarkir, where we say Blue Black is Dimir, Blue Black Red is Grixis, White Black Red is Mardu.
Becuase of the yearly commander decks being associated with the Spring set, every Spring set is similar to what Ravnica, Alara, and Khans of Tarkir would be. Not only is the set affecting Commander, and it being plane focused, Commander is affecting the set. Every Spring set has to have some color tribe, or clan, or grouping.
The Triomes and Apexes were put into Ikoria because of Commander. Commander also influenced Strixhaven being about 5 enemy color schools, and Capenna being shard color crime families. Every Spring set will be like this, and it is all because of Commander. Sets like Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, or a Kaldheim will never ever be released in the Spring, because it does not have a color based theme just to make the 5 Commander Decks fit.
Instead of revolving the story and themes of the set around the 5 commander decks, why not bring back Core Sets, whose story is based on the 5 characters of the 5 Commander Decks? You have your Summer, Fall, and Winter sets that are based on a specific plane, while the Spring set is a Core set, filled with needed reprints that don't belong to a specific plane, focuses on 5 characters who happen to be the Commanders of the 5 Commander decks.
WOTC could have made a Core Set focusing on the 5 Commander 2014 Characters, and built cards around them. All 5 characters are not related to a single plane, but now our main Commander set has to be focused on one plane, and because the 5 decks have to be color balanced, it affects the theme of the plane they are based on.
We will probably never see Lorwyn any time soon, and we will never ever see Mirrodin again, but if Core Sets came back, and one of the 5 Commander deck commanders is a character from Lorwyn or a pre-compleated Mirrodin, it allows the Core Set to have things like the Boggarts from Lorwyn, or the Myr from Mirrodin, without having those kinds of cards be limited to Masters or Modern Horizons sets. Depending on where the commander character is from, the Core Set can be a sneak peak to a new plane, or allow exposure to a plane we may never visit.
Maybe the Catrabetti will get "creaturefall" as their mechanic. I remember Maro mentioning it as an obvious choice for the color combo on his blog a few times.
Maybe the Catrabetti will get "creaturefall" as their mechanic. I remember Maro mentioning it as an obvious choice for the color combo on his blog a few times.
I'm personally wondering how often we'll misspell the Cabaretti's name - might this set a new record for most often misremembered name in Magic? Admittedly, I'm having an abnormally tough time remembering Spara's name compared to all the other family godfathers' - I keep thinking it's Spada or Slada or something like that.
I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
Instead of revolving the story and themes of the set around the 5 commander decks, why not bring back Core Sets, whose story is based on the 5 characters of the 5 Commander Decks? You have your Summer, Fall, and Winter sets that are based on a specific plane, while the Spring set is a Core set, filled with needed reprints that don't belong to a specific plane, focuses on 5 characters who happen to be the Commanders of the 5 Commander decks.
You're basically describing the old three-set block format, for the most part, that was Magic's structure up until the Khans/Origins changes to block structure.
As for core sets, this is something I wonder as well. Core sets often give much-needed reprints to the existing STandard/Historic/Modern format and are not affiliated with any particular storyline. I get that Streets of New Capenna is the stand-in (to my knowledge) of a core set, but having core sets regularly provide key card reprints and introduce new ones without being too overbearing (M21 notwithstanding).
I hope they reintroduce core sets in 2023. Even if it's every other year as it was until M10 became an annual occurrence.
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I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
Instead of revolving the story and themes of the set around the 5 commander decks, why not bring back Core Sets, whose story is based on the 5 characters of the 5 Commander Decks? You have your Summer, Fall, and Winter sets that are based on a specific plane, while the Spring set is a Core set, filled with needed reprints that don't belong to a specific plane, focuses on 5 characters who happen to be the Commanders of the 5 Commander decks.
You're basically describing the old three-set block format, for the most part, that was Magic's structure up until the Khans/Origins changes to block structure.
As for core sets, this is something I wonder as well. Core sets often give much-needed reprints to the existing STandard/Historic/Modern format and are not affiliated with any particular storyline. I get that Streets of New Capenna is the stand-in (to my knowledge) of a core set, but having core sets regularly provide key card reprints and introduce new ones without being too overbearing (M21 notwithstanding).
I hope they reintroduce core sets in 2023. Even if it's every other year as it was until M10 became an annual occurrence.
'buster
I actually see this idea as being fairly new. It sounds close to the idea of Magic Origins, except that the 5 central characters are NOT planeswalkers and that each of those central characters has a planeswalker deck built around it (or more likely around a supporting character in that character’s story who would share a color identity and have similar themes).
Story wise, the closest comparisons I can think of are Urza’s Saga (where each color had pieces of a different section of the story) or, again, origins (where there were definite vryn cards, distinct Kaladesh cards, and so forth all built around central characters).
I can imagine a core set with a set of shard legends where about 20% of the set is the journey of a moonfolk ronin through otawara, 20% is a mirran scavenger trying to reclaim a vital treasure for the resistance, 20% is a vampiric conquistador transporting a cursed treasure on a doomed ship on Ixalan, and so forth, with each of those legends getting a commander decks that further expand on their story.
What mechanical themes (and color pairings) wizards wants to explore would inform what commanders wizards would make but the stories of those commanders (and the settings they occupy) could likewise be reflected both in a set and commander deck, without all five commander decks needing to be aimed at a single plane.
In other words, more focused than the old school commander decks (where you get maybe 1 card on a plane every few years) but less focused than the new paradigm (where we get virtually nothing unless we get a whole set on that plane and all commander decks focus on one plane at a time).
The thing I'm worried about is every Spring set may be "make 5 groups of something, 5 shards, 5 clans, 5 schools, 5 crime families, based on color, give them each a keyword ability, their own logos and watermarks, and each of those 5 get a Commander deck. Ikoria is least like this, but they still put in your wedge colored triomes into the storyline, where each locale is missing 2 colors of mana.
2023 Spring set will probably be set on a new plane, with the same formula as Strixhaven and New Capenna. My prediction would be either an Allied color set, or the denizens of that plane only know how to use 1 color of mana.
The worldbuilding of every spring set seems to be created with the fact that they have to release 5 Commander decks with the set. The other 3 sets of the year, the Commander decks are built with the set in mind, like Kamigawa's upgrades and vehicles Commander Decks, but it seems every spring set they just take the 5 Commander Decks, and subdivide the plane into the 5 parts.
My thinking is, if WOTC is going to make similar, if not the same, sets every spring, why not make it a Core Set? If a world calls for a "divide the world into 5 parts" kind of story, that would replace the core set for some years.
Why is there even a major Commander release, with 5 decks, as opposed to 2 decks that the other 3 sets of the year have? It isn't like you are getting one release of Commander every year. You are getting Commander Decks with every set now. If the 5 Commander Decks are supposed to be the core Commander release, it makes sense to turn that set they are associated with into a Core Set. Core Set 2023, Commander 2023. Makes sense. Since it is released in the spring, the year would match the year it would actually release in.
We all know that for WOTC it would be easier to just copy paste the idea for one spring set to every future spring set, just set what the 5 groups are called, and how the 5 groups are color balanced.
I'd like to see Lieutenant Kirtar, Major Teroh, and Commander Eesha again. Not only that, the mystics.
The thing I'm worried about is every Spring set may be "make 5 groups of something, based on color, give them each a watermark, and each of those 5 get a Commander deck.
2023 Spring set will probably be set on a new plane, with the same formula as Strixhaven and New Capenna. My prediction would be either an Allied color set, or the denizens of that plane only know how to use 1 color of mana.
The thing I'm worried about is every Spring set may be "make 5 groups of something, based on color, give them each a watermark, and each of those 5 get a Commander deck.
2023 Spring set will probably be set on a new plane, with the same formula as Strixhaven and New Capenna. My prediction would be either an Allied color set, or the denizens of that plane only know how to use 1 color of mana.
What's the worry? People like defined "guilds".
Do people really like their annual cookie cutter draft set?
The thing I'm worried about is every Spring set may be "make 5 groups of something, based on color, give them each a watermark, and each of those 5 get a Commander deck.
2023 Spring set will probably be set on a new plane, with the same formula as Strixhaven and New Capenna. My prediction would be either an Allied color set, or the denizens of that plane only know how to use 1 color of mana.
What's the worry? People like defined "guilds".
Do people really like their annual cookie cutter draft set?
They do. Kaldheim was a faction set covered in tribal glue, and it was beloved. Strixhaven was different enough as a spells-matter set that you can easily ignore the factions. Innistrad sets are always faction sets, and we went back twice. Neon Dynasty is still relatively silo-ed, but again very much positive reception. Hell, Dominaria draft consists of stapling multiple groups together to see how far you can go on draft fundamentals turned on their head. It really helps new players not get roflstomped from the beginning, too.
I miss when Commander decks weren't consistently plane-locked. They were an opportunity to glimpse other planes awaiting a return. Now they're more of the same. But I don't mind having less to purchase so.
Instead of revolving the story and themes of the set around the 5 commander decks, why not bring back Core Sets, whose story is based on the 5 characters of the 5 Commander Decks? You have your Summer, Fall, and Winter sets that are based on a specific plane, while the Spring set is a Core set, filled with needed reprints that don't belong to a specific plane, focuses on 5 characters who happen to be the Commanders of the 5 Commander decks.
You're basically describing the old three-set block format, for the most part, that was Magic's structure up until the Khans/Origins changes to block structure.
As for core sets, this is something I wonder as well. Core sets often give much-needed reprints to the existing STandard/Historic/Modern format and are not affiliated with any particular storyline. I get that Streets of New Capenna is the stand-in (to my knowledge) of a core set, but having core sets regularly provide key card reprints and introduce new ones without being too overbearing (M21 notwithstanding).
I hope they reintroduce core sets in 2023. Even if it's every other year as it was until M10 became an annual occurrence.
'buster
I actually see this idea as being fairly new. It sounds close to the idea of Magic Origins, except that the 5 central characters are NOT planeswalkers and that each of those central characters has a planeswalker deck built around it (or more likely around a supporting character in that character’s story who would share a color identity and have similar themes).
Story wise, the closest comparisons I can think of are Urza’s Saga (where each color had pieces of a different section of the story) or, again, origins (where there were definite vryn cards, distinct Kaladesh cards, and so forth all built around central characters).
I can imagine a core set with a set of shard legends where about 20% of the set is the journey of a moonfolk ronin through otawara, 20% is a mirran scavenger trying to reclaim a vital treasure for the resistance, 20% is a vampiric conquistador transporting a cursed treasure on a doomed ship on Ixalan, and so forth, with each of those legends getting a commander decks that further expand on their story.
What mechanical themes (and color pairings) wizards wants to explore would inform what commanders wizards would make but the stories of those commanders (and the settings they occupy) could likewise be reflected both in a set and commander deck, without all five commander decks needing to be aimed at a single plane.
In other words, more focused than the old school commander decks (where you get maybe 1 card on a plane every few years) but less focused than the new paradigm (where we get virtually nothing unless we get a whole set on that plane and all commander decks focus on one plane at a time).
They tried this on a creative front with Magic 2013. No one cared because it's a core set.
When a set is a tribal set, it also has to be a faction set. Each tribe is technically a faction. Strixhaven could have been a spells matter set, but they had to add the 5 enemy color factions because of Commander. Same with Ikoria. They had to add the idea of the triomes because of Commander. If this trend continues, let's say the next set of Commander Decks is going to be mono color. Somewhere in the story there could be 5 factions that could only use one color of mana, or something, either in the gameplay or story to justify the 5 mono color commander decks. This also does not change the fact that Strixhaven and Streets of New Capenna have named factions with their own faction symbol.
The spring sets are designed in such a way to make the major Commander release make sense. The other sets don't have this. The problem is that the spring set is trying to restrict what Commanders we could get, that is, they all must be characters from that same plane, and likewise, the major Commander release is restricting what the spring set could be, that is, there has to be some reference, either in gameplay or story, that there must be 5 groups of something, either they are mono color, arcs, wedges, ally color, or enemy color, to coincide with the 5 Commander Decks. Gameplay wise, Ikoria isn't as bad. There are technically no factions in terms of gameplay, but the Triomes, the locations in Ikoria, not the cards, were put in just to justify the wedge colored Commander decks. Any set could have 5 commander decks. The difference is a set like Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, their Commander decks are built with the set's themes and mechanics in mind, while a set like Strixhaven and Streets of New Capenna, the set has to take into account that the major Commander release is a set of 5 enemy color decks for Strixhaven, and a set of 5 arc colored decks for New Capenna. Strixhaven could have been a purely spells matter set, but Strixhaven is also an enemy color set. You can ignore the Strixhaven factions, but the factions still exist.
The spring set, which is also the last set before rotation, should be a set with more reprints than any other set, while also lacking a major theme. The storyline of the set should introduce new characters and glimpses of new plane, while also reintroducing old characters we may never see because they are dead or their plane got destroyed, hence whey that set should not focus on a plane, but on 5 characters. Let's say the 5 characters are arc color aligned. The idea that they are arc colored will not bleed into the core set itself, unlike Ikoria's 5 Triomes, Strixhaven's 5 schools, and New Capenna's 5 Crime Families.
People hated core sets because WOTC didn't build Core Sets to be as complex and as high of a power level as the other 3 sets of the year. Core Sets were always about newer players. The Core Set I am suggesting also has the main Commander release, you know, the CORE commander release to go with a CORE set? I highly doubt people hate core sets just because all the cards in the set aren't thematically linked to a plane.
Just imagine your typical core set, but removed the fact that it has to be an introductory set. Everything else about a core set stays. Reprint heavy, no specific theme, and no specific plane.
I don't agree with your data--we have only two 5 deck set releases based on the spring set (Ikoria and Strixhaven), and Ikoria doesn't have well-defined tribal elements in its decks. I don't see a difference between the Ikoria decks and the decks released for Neon Dynasty. They're always going to be based on a color combination because, uh, Magic, and every set has its own limited archetypes that can be expanded in a commander release. Kamigawa could have just as easily had RW Warriors/Samurai, UB Ninjas, or GW Enchantments as Commander decks.
TL;DR: Out of only two examples, only one actually does the thing you say it does, and that thing isn't unique to the Spring sets.
I'm not talking about the decks. I'm talking about the set. For non-spring sets, the Commander decks are built with the set in mind. Spring sets are built with the Commander decks color identities in mind. Ikoria's triomes, the location not the cards, Strixhaven's Schools and Capenna's crime families.
WOTC can prove me wrong by having a set of allied colored Commander decks for the 2023 spring set and not have anything to do with allied colors, through both gameplay and story.
It's as if 2022's major Commander release is Shard colors, therefore the set must have some sort of a Shard theme.
I'm not talking about the decks. I'm talking about the set. For non-spring sets, the Commander decks are built with the set in mind. Spring sets are built with the Commander decks color identities in mind. Ikoria's triomes, the location not the cards, Strixhaven's Schools and Capenna's crime families.
WOTC can prove me wrong by having a set of allied colored Commander decks for the 2023 spring set and not have anything to do with allied colors, through both gameplay and story.
It's as if 2022's major Commander release is Shard colors, therefore the set must have some sort of a Shard theme.
I think you are thinking about this the wrong way around. The commander decks are done to match the colour archetypes of the set. Yes, Strixhaven and New Capenna are both colour-based faction sets and that does line up neatly with commander decks. But Ikoria wasn't a faction set, it just has a three colour theme. All sets have colour-divided archetypes to varying degrees. It's possible when deciding the lineup of sets for each year WotC are inclined to put sets with clear colour divided archetypes especially faction sets in the right spot for the commander release but I seriously doubt they would be pigeon-holing themselves into designing premier sets around a minor point of convenience for the commander releases.
I'm not talking about the decks. I'm talking about the set. For non-spring sets, the Commander decks are built with the set in mind. Spring sets are built with the Commander decks color identities in mind. Ikoria's triomes, the location not the cards, Strixhaven's Schools and Capenna's crime families.
WOTC can prove me wrong by having a set of allied colored Commander decks for the 2023 spring set and not have anything to do with allied colors, through both gameplay and story.
It's as if 2022's major Commander release is Shard colors, therefore the set must have some sort of a Shard theme.
Okay, but where are you getting that? I agree with DJK--seems to me the Spring Commander releases are based on the Spring set, not the other way around.
I think signofzeta is just pointing out that the major commander releases of the past few years may have had a significant influence on which sets get which release slots. They seem to generally want a full five-deck commander product in the Spring release, and premier sets with multicolor structures and faction themes lend themselves nicely to that kind of commander product. So knowing that those two will be paired up BECAUSE the decks are based on the set, they choose to put them in the Spring slot.
I don’t think they necessarily go into the conversation saying “Okay so this year we’re gonna have a set of five wedge colored commander decks, let’s build a premier set around it.” It’s probably closer to: “So we have these worlds planned for the next few years, and some of them are faction/multicolor sets. Let’s try to space them out one-a-year so that their commander decks have room to breathe (among other reasons).”
If the Spring Commander decks' color identities have absolutely no influence on the set, why does the idea of Wedge colored triomes exist in Ikoria? Why are back to back spring sets some sort of faction set?
If all the Commander Decks' color identities, since Ikoria, were not revealed, would you be able to tell, buy looking at the set only, the color identities of each deck of a non-spring set, compared to the spring set? For non spring sets, there is no way, but for Spring sets, I can easily tell what they are going to be.
If the Spring Commander decks' color identities have absolutely no influence on the set, why does the idea of Wedge colored triomes exist in Ikoria? Why are back to back spring sets some sort of faction set?
If all the Commander Decks' color identities, since Ikoria, were not revealed, would you be able to tell, buy looking at the set only, the color identities of each deck of a non-spring set, compared to the spring set? For non spring sets, there is no way, but for Spring sets, I can easily tell what they are going to be.
Stop pretending that a sequence of two is a pattern and you'll feel better about... probably everything.
Almost every set is a faction set, spring or not. We have had zero non-faction sets since Zendikar Rising. Zero. In a game about conflict, it makes sense for the combatants to have a side in the fight. No brainer, really.
As for why they are color based more often than not (again, regardless of if it is a spring set or not. The loosest color focus on factions in the last two years was Kamigawa, and even that has heavy leaning. One could even argue that Zendikar Rising, not being a faction set, still had mechanically identifiable factions with set color combos in the individual classes that made up the party mechanic) it's pretty simple: the color pie is baked into the game. It is the reason that the game exists. They rarely ever do factions that are not color based. Tribal is probably the only way they do factions outside of color, and even then, each tribe typically falls into 2 or 3 colors.
You're rambling conspiracies that make no sense, are established parts of the game since '93, and have no impact or harm caused at all.
If the Spring Commander decks' color identities have absolutely no influence on the set, why does the idea of Wedge colored triomes exist in Ikoria? Why are back to back spring sets some sort of faction set?
If all the Commander Decks' color identities, since Ikoria, were not revealed, would you be able to tell, buy looking at the set only, the color identities of each deck of a non-spring set, compared to the spring set? For non spring sets, there is no way, but for Spring sets, I can easily tell what they are going to be.
Stop pretending that a sequence of two is a pattern and you'll feel better about... probably everything.
Almost every set is a faction set, spring or not. We have had zero non-faction sets since Zendikar Rising. Zero. In a game about conflict, it makes sense for the combatants to have a side in the fight. No brainer, really.
As for why they are color based more often than not (again, regardless of if it is a spring set or not. The loosest color focus on factions in the last two years was Kamigawa, and even that has heavy leaning. One could even argue that Zendikar Rising, not being a faction set, still had mechanically identifiable factions with set color combos in the individual classes that made up the party mechanic) it's pretty simple: the color pie is baked into the game. It is the reason that the game exists. They rarely ever do factions that are not color based. Tribal is probably the only way they do factions outside of color, and even then, each tribe typically falls into 2 or 3 colors.
You're rambling conspiracies that make no sense, are established parts of the game since '93, and have no impact or harm caused at all.
imo kamigawa is a pretty strict monocolor faction set without actually saying so. white -> imperials red -> rebels blue -> technologists black -> yakuza green -> hippies
They just had a lot of overlaps with creature types, but their colors pretty clearly showed who they worked for. All the blue ninjas worked for the futurists, for instance.
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well three are obvious
esper: that may confirm the theory on hideaway being used here
jund: something in line with “riot”
naya : weenies/tokens
EDIT: it’s the play style of the commander decks instead of the set
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I don't mind the plane focused decks too much, especially with these new ones that are basically intro decks. The yearly ones need to stop being linked to specific planes though (and they need to be mono colored soon to get some land and Medallion reprints.)
We have sets like Innistrad where we can say that Vampires are Black Red, Zombies are Blue Black etc. We have sets like Ravnica, Alara, or Khans of Tarkir, where we say Blue Black is Dimir, Blue Black Red is Grixis, White Black Red is Mardu.
Becuase of the yearly commander decks being associated with the Spring set, every Spring set is similar to what Ravnica, Alara, and Khans of Tarkir would be. Not only is the set affecting Commander, and it being plane focused, Commander is affecting the set. Every Spring set has to have some color tribe, or clan, or grouping.
The Triomes and Apexes were put into Ikoria because of Commander. Commander also influenced Strixhaven being about 5 enemy color schools, and Capenna being shard color crime families. Every Spring set will be like this, and it is all because of Commander. Sets like Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, or a Kaldheim will never ever be released in the Spring, because it does not have a color based theme just to make the 5 Commander Decks fit.
Instead of revolving the story and themes of the set around the 5 commander decks, why not bring back Core Sets, whose story is based on the 5 characters of the 5 Commander Decks? You have your Summer, Fall, and Winter sets that are based on a specific plane, while the Spring set is a Core set, filled with needed reprints that don't belong to a specific plane, focuses on 5 characters who happen to be the Commanders of the 5 Commander decks.
WOTC could have made a Core Set focusing on the 5 Commander 2014 Characters, and built cards around them. All 5 characters are not related to a single plane, but now our main Commander set has to be focused on one plane, and because the 5 decks have to be color balanced, it affects the theme of the plane they are based on.
We will probably never see Lorwyn any time soon, and we will never ever see Mirrodin again, but if Core Sets came back, and one of the 5 Commander deck commanders is a character from Lorwyn or a pre-compleated Mirrodin, it allows the Core Set to have things like the Boggarts from Lorwyn, or the Myr from Mirrodin, without having those kinds of cards be limited to Masters or Modern Horizons sets. Depending on where the commander character is from, the Core Set can be a sneak peak to a new plane, or allow exposure to a plane we may never visit.
I'm personally wondering how often we'll misspell the Cabaretti's name - might this set a new record for most often misremembered name in Magic? Admittedly, I'm having an abnormally tough time remembering Spara's name compared to all the other family godfathers' - I keep thinking it's Spada or Slada or something like that.
You're basically describing the old three-set block format, for the most part, that was Magic's structure up until the Khans/Origins changes to block structure.
As for core sets, this is something I wonder as well. Core sets often give much-needed reprints to the existing STandard/Historic/Modern format and are not affiliated with any particular storyline. I get that Streets of New Capenna is the stand-in (to my knowledge) of a core set, but having core sets regularly provide key card reprints and introduce new ones without being too overbearing (M21 notwithstanding).
I hope they reintroduce core sets in 2023. Even if it's every other year as it was until M10 became an annual occurrence.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
I actually see this idea as being fairly new. It sounds close to the idea of Magic Origins, except that the 5 central characters are NOT planeswalkers and that each of those central characters has a planeswalker deck built around it (or more likely around a supporting character in that character’s story who would share a color identity and have similar themes).
Story wise, the closest comparisons I can think of are Urza’s Saga (where each color had pieces of a different section of the story) or, again, origins (where there were definite vryn cards, distinct Kaladesh cards, and so forth all built around central characters).
I can imagine a core set with a set of shard legends where about 20% of the set is the journey of a moonfolk ronin through otawara, 20% is a mirran scavenger trying to reclaim a vital treasure for the resistance, 20% is a vampiric conquistador transporting a cursed treasure on a doomed ship on Ixalan, and so forth, with each of those legends getting a commander decks that further expand on their story.
What mechanical themes (and color pairings) wizards wants to explore would inform what commanders wizards would make but the stories of those commanders (and the settings they occupy) could likewise be reflected both in a set and commander deck, without all five commander decks needing to be aimed at a single plane.
In other words, more focused than the old school commander decks (where you get maybe 1 card on a plane every few years) but less focused than the new paradigm (where we get virtually nothing unless we get a whole set on that plane and all commander decks focus on one plane at a time).
2023 Spring set will probably be set on a new plane, with the same formula as Strixhaven and New Capenna. My prediction would be either an Allied color set, or the denizens of that plane only know how to use 1 color of mana.
The worldbuilding of every spring set seems to be created with the fact that they have to release 5 Commander decks with the set. The other 3 sets of the year, the Commander decks are built with the set in mind, like Kamigawa's upgrades and vehicles Commander Decks, but it seems every spring set they just take the 5 Commander Decks, and subdivide the plane into the 5 parts.
My thinking is, if WOTC is going to make similar, if not the same, sets every spring, why not make it a Core Set? If a world calls for a "divide the world into 5 parts" kind of story, that would replace the core set for some years.
Why is there even a major Commander release, with 5 decks, as opposed to 2 decks that the other 3 sets of the year have? It isn't like you are getting one release of Commander every year. You are getting Commander Decks with every set now. If the 5 Commander Decks are supposed to be the core Commander release, it makes sense to turn that set they are associated with into a Core Set. Core Set 2023, Commander 2023. Makes sense. Since it is released in the spring, the year would match the year it would actually release in.
We all know that for WOTC it would be easier to just copy paste the idea for one spring set to every future spring set, just set what the 5 groups are called, and how the 5 groups are color balanced.
I'd like to see Lieutenant Kirtar, Major Teroh, and Commander Eesha again. Not only that, the mystics.
What's the worry? People like defined "guilds".
https://archidekt.com/user/71716
Do people really like their annual cookie cutter draft set?
The spring sets are designed in such a way to make the major Commander release make sense. The other sets don't have this. The problem is that the spring set is trying to restrict what Commanders we could get, that is, they all must be characters from that same plane, and likewise, the major Commander release is restricting what the spring set could be, that is, there has to be some reference, either in gameplay or story, that there must be 5 groups of something, either they are mono color, arcs, wedges, ally color, or enemy color, to coincide with the 5 Commander Decks. Gameplay wise, Ikoria isn't as bad. There are technically no factions in terms of gameplay, but the Triomes, the locations in Ikoria, not the cards, were put in just to justify the wedge colored Commander decks. Any set could have 5 commander decks. The difference is a set like Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, their Commander decks are built with the set's themes and mechanics in mind, while a set like Strixhaven and Streets of New Capenna, the set has to take into account that the major Commander release is a set of 5 enemy color decks for Strixhaven, and a set of 5 arc colored decks for New Capenna. Strixhaven could have been a purely spells matter set, but Strixhaven is also an enemy color set. You can ignore the Strixhaven factions, but the factions still exist.
The spring set, which is also the last set before rotation, should be a set with more reprints than any other set, while also lacking a major theme. The storyline of the set should introduce new characters and glimpses of new plane, while also reintroducing old characters we may never see because they are dead or their plane got destroyed, hence whey that set should not focus on a plane, but on 5 characters. Let's say the 5 characters are arc color aligned. The idea that they are arc colored will not bleed into the core set itself, unlike Ikoria's 5 Triomes, Strixhaven's 5 schools, and New Capenna's 5 Crime Families.
People hated core sets because WOTC didn't build Core Sets to be as complex and as high of a power level as the other 3 sets of the year. Core Sets were always about newer players. The Core Set I am suggesting also has the main Commander release, you know, the CORE commander release to go with a CORE set? I highly doubt people hate core sets just because all the cards in the set aren't thematically linked to a plane.
Just imagine your typical core set, but removed the fact that it has to be an introductory set. Everything else about a core set stays. Reprint heavy, no specific theme, and no specific plane.
TL;DR: Out of only two examples, only one actually does the thing you say it does, and that thing isn't unique to the Spring sets.
WOTC can prove me wrong by having a set of allied colored Commander decks for the 2023 spring set and not have anything to do with allied colors, through both gameplay and story.
It's as if 2022's major Commander release is Shard colors, therefore the set must have some sort of a Shard theme.
I think you are thinking about this the wrong way around. The commander decks are done to match the colour archetypes of the set. Yes, Strixhaven and New Capenna are both colour-based faction sets and that does line up neatly with commander decks. But Ikoria wasn't a faction set, it just has a three colour theme. All sets have colour-divided archetypes to varying degrees. It's possible when deciding the lineup of sets for each year WotC are inclined to put sets with clear colour divided archetypes especially faction sets in the right spot for the commander release but I seriously doubt they would be pigeon-holing themselves into designing premier sets around a minor point of convenience for the commander releases.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
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I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
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Okay, but where are you getting that? I agree with DJK--seems to me the Spring Commander releases are based on the Spring set, not the other way around.
I don’t think they necessarily go into the conversation saying “Okay so this year we’re gonna have a set of five wedge colored commander decks, let’s build a premier set around it.” It’s probably closer to: “So we have these worlds planned for the next few years, and some of them are faction/multicolor sets. Let’s try to space them out one-a-year so that their commander decks have room to breathe (among other reasons).”
If all the Commander Decks' color identities, since Ikoria, were not revealed, would you be able to tell, buy looking at the set only, the color identities of each deck of a non-spring set, compared to the spring set? For non spring sets, there is no way, but for Spring sets, I can easily tell what they are going to be.
Stop pretending that a sequence of two is a pattern and you'll feel better about... probably everything.
Almost every set is a faction set, spring or not. We have had zero non-faction sets since Zendikar Rising. Zero. In a game about conflict, it makes sense for the combatants to have a side in the fight. No brainer, really.
As for why they are color based more often than not (again, regardless of if it is a spring set or not. The loosest color focus on factions in the last two years was Kamigawa, and even that has heavy leaning. One could even argue that Zendikar Rising, not being a faction set, still had mechanically identifiable factions with set color combos in the individual classes that made up the party mechanic) it's pretty simple: the color pie is baked into the game. It is the reason that the game exists. They rarely ever do factions that are not color based. Tribal is probably the only way they do factions outside of color, and even then, each tribe typically falls into 2 or 3 colors.
You're rambling conspiracies that make no sense, are established parts of the game since '93, and have no impact or harm caused at all.
imo kamigawa is a pretty strict monocolor faction set without actually saying so. white -> imperials red -> rebels blue -> technologists black -> yakuza green -> hippies
They just had a lot of overlaps with creature types, but their colors pretty clearly showed who they worked for. All the blue ninjas worked for the futurists, for instance.