There's a lot to look forward to here. Venture being expanded upon, a new way of expanding color identities/effects, new adventures, new gates, gods, dice-rolling... Should be a very fun time.
Finally copies opponents creatures and not "you control" , the only way clones are not complete poop.
----
Some interesting mechanics and cards, but some especially powerful characters from the games are not so strong in their magic card equivalent (aka Bhaal).
----
With 5 (or more) extra Gate lands, that makes it into some casual "gate" 5-color decks , cheap and potentially effective (even with Golos banned).
I'm really unimpressed so far.
Very low power level overall and the card I'm most excited for is an uncommon.
I also am uninterested in the dungeon mechanic overall, so hopefully the reprints are out of the park?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The "Crazy One", playing casual magic and occasionally dipping his toes into regular play since 1994.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
It seems to be a mix of dungeons and monarch, which is an interesting mix.
I think that getting a free creature from the top ten cards, pumping it up, and protecting it until your next turn after 5 ventures (especially as you essentially gain a free bonus venture each turn if you keep or reclaim initiative) is very much on par with drawing 3 cards and getting any of them (even noncreaturea) for free with increased potential for counterspells after getting 7 venture triggers in a vacuum.
On the other hand, not every deck has giant creatures to throw out… and this doesn’t play into infinite combos with Acererak as you would need to gain initiative to start each loop through undercity… and the simple symmetrical nature of undercity means that the floor can be much lower than it appears.
Even so, I believe we have seen at least one initiative card at common rarity (a 4-mana blue card) and I am genuinely interested to see if anyone is able to use undercity to force out 11/11 Ulamog Crushers in pauper.
Haven't seen a leak this big since Ixalan. Someone's getting fired for this.
except commander legends 1 got spoiled just as much
secondly New phyrexia pretty much the entire set got leaked
Commander Legends 1 is the real mystery (although, if I remember correctly, the leaker got actively suppressed by Wizards at some point). Two pro MTG player Guillaumes got punished for the New Phyrexia godbook leak, and I think at least one of them got fired from a MTG writing position as a result.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Actually the dead three got pretty powered down after the second sundering (then again its better than being dead). The Bhaal is on point for current lore (Descent into Avernus features the dead three). Being a creature fits their slightly above demi-god status. I do hope to see the rest of the Dead Three though, they have fantastic plots surrounding them in general, Bhaal makes sense since the Baldur Gate games, Murder in Baldur's Gate and Descent all involve him in some way..
secondly New phyrexia pretty much the entire set got leaked
Yeah, and that was long before Ixalan.
Don;t forget too that I think Judgment was leaked due to ppl able to see the coding in MTGO before it was released. Either Judgment or Scourge, one of those two.
Also:
TLDR
Did they explain how backgrounds and choosing one works?
Reading the comments on the leakers TT videos, he evidently knows a guy that works for the company that is printing and packaging the set. Dude is being AWFULLY cavalier about thinking nothing will come of this, either to him or to his buddy who apparently swiped the packs and gave them out. He's even offering to sell collector's packs for half the listed price "when he gets more".
Yes I been waning more adventures though I was hoping for more Eldraine themed ones.
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"
Awesome, looks like we're getting the full cast from BG1 & 2 - can't wait to see Viconia, Edwin, Korgan & Irenicus! Strange how a side quest villain (Firkraag) is a mythic whereas one of the main characters (Imoen) is uncommon though...
secondly New phyrexia pretty much the entire set got leaked
Yeah, and that was long before Ixalan.
Don;t forget too that I think Judgment was leaked due to ppl able to see the coding in MTGO before it was released. Either Judgment or Scourge, one of those two.
Also:
TLDR
Did they explain how backgrounds and choosing one works?
'buster
That’s what I want to know as well! I’m guessing that if your commander has the choose a background that it begins the game in the command zone, but can they also be in the 99 of regular decks. I’m assuming so cuz nothing about the templating would prevent it. I’m already sold on buying a box of this. I loved AFR and I think this looks awesome so far. I’m hoping that there will be some of the initiative mechanic in mono white because I have a nadaar blink deck that goes through dungeons pretty fast. I’m surprised no one is talking much about Gale. I think his ability to recure spells from the graveyard is pretty strong and I think with all the new adventures there’s some shinanagins he can pull off with them.
Edit: I don’t think Gale plays with adventures the same way as Lier does it looks like that’s an exclusive for him. Gale has a lot of potential though.
Embrace the dark you call a home,
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
Reading the comments on the leakers TT videos, he evidently knows a guy that works for the company that is printing and packaging the set. Dude is being AWFULLY cavalier about thinking nothing will come of this, either to him or to his buddy who apparently swiped the packs and gave them out. He's even offering to sell collector's packs for half the listed price "when he gets more".
Yikes.
So just like the guy who leaked the first Commander Legends?
I would wager that the Background Cards work exactly like partner, that this new enchantment sits in the command zone with your commander and has its own tax and commander damage. It's basically the glue that makes the draft work.
If I had to guess, I would say that the Backgrounds are kinda like partner, where you can pair a Background in the command zone with a legendary creature that has "Choose a Background".
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.
If I had to guess, I would say that the Backgrounds are kinda like partner, where you can pair a Background in the command zone with a legendary creature that has "Choose a Background".
New phyrexia pretty much the entire set got leaked
You... you do realize that New Phyrexia came out 6 years before Ixalan, right?
yes? (You know I was infact talking about mirrodin besieged block and not 2023/2024 right?)
no matter the system before or after of hiding/prevent cards from being leaked new phyrexia was the worst one. (Though I hear judgement was pretty close to a similar leveled leak)
Sources
https://www.tiktok.com/@wavytsuchikage/video/7086141969352740139
https://www.tiktok.com/@wavytsuchikage/video/7086194089150074158
https://www.tiktok.com/@wavytsuchikage/video/7086280762034769195
https://www.tiktok.com/@wavytsuchikage/video/7086586851271822638?_t=8RWIapucKWg&_r=1
Most of the cards
https://imgur.com/a/4i3P4NI
https://imgur.com/a/qUIx6uk
Finally copies opponents creatures and not "you control" , the only way clones are not complete poop.
----
Some interesting mechanics and cards, but some especially powerful characters from the games are not so strong in their magic card equivalent (aka Bhaal).
----
With 5 (or more) extra Gate lands, that makes it into some casual "gate" 5-color decks , cheap and potentially effective (even with Golos banned).
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
A few neat standouts:
Robe of the Archmagi
Baba Lysaga
Rug of Smothering
Wizards of Thay
Illithid Harvester
Gale
Oji
Jan Jansen
Noble's Purse
C'mon, just move her down and to the right a little. It's not like you're losing background details. That's not the illustrator's fault.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
Very low power level overall and the card I'm most excited for is an uncommon.
I also am uninterested in the dungeon mechanic overall, so hopefully the reprints are out of the park?
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
except commander legends 1 got spoiled just as much
secondly New phyrexia pretty much the entire set got leaked
It seems to be a mix of dungeons and monarch, which is an interesting mix.
I think that getting a free creature from the top ten cards, pumping it up, and protecting it until your next turn after 5 ventures (especially as you essentially gain a free bonus venture each turn if you keep or reclaim initiative) is very much on par with drawing 3 cards and getting any of them (even noncreaturea) for free with increased potential for counterspells after getting 7 venture triggers in a vacuum.
On the other hand, not every deck has giant creatures to throw out… and this doesn’t play into infinite combos with Acererak as you would need to gain initiative to start each loop through undercity… and the simple symmetrical nature of undercity means that the floor can be much lower than it appears.
Even so, I believe we have seen at least one initiative card at common rarity (a 4-mana blue card) and I am genuinely interested to see if anyone is able to use undercity to force out 11/11 Ulamog Crushers in pauper.
i wish we'd gotten level up, or quests, too.
at least there isn't a +2 mace, yet.
baldurs gate, and d&d have almost nothing to do with gates, i'm not sure why they're in here.
Commander Legends 1 is the real mystery (although, if I remember correctly, the leaker got actively suppressed by Wizards at some point). Two pro MTG player Guillaumes got punished for the New Phyrexia godbook leak, and I think at least one of them got fired from a MTG writing position as a result.
I can see Lae'zel, Valaakith's Champion work well with Heliod, Sun-Crowned while Ellyn Harbreeze, Busybody works really well with Smothering Tithe because why not spike the card in price some more right? Mocking Doppelganger could see play with Zedruu the Greathearted. Wizards of Thay seems pretty busted. Sure let's turn all our extra turn spells into Nexus of Fate. Wayfarer's Bauble reprint is always welcome.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Don;t forget too that I think Judgment was leaked due to ppl able to see the coding in MTGO before it was released. Either Judgment or Scourge, one of those two.
Also:
TLDR
Did they explain how backgrounds and choosing one works?
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Yikes.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
If the enchanted creature were to die, would you get to choose whether the aura went into exile or into your hand?
That’s what I want to know as well! I’m guessing that if your commander has the choose a background that it begins the game in the command zone, but can they also be in the 99 of regular decks. I’m assuming so cuz nothing about the templating would prevent it. I’m already sold on buying a box of this. I loved AFR and I think this looks awesome so far. I’m hoping that there will be some of the initiative mechanic in mono white because I have a nadaar blink deck that goes through dungeons pretty fast. I’m surprised no one is talking much about Gale. I think his ability to recure spells from the graveyard is pretty strong and I think with all the new adventures there’s some shinanagins he can pull off with them.
Edit: I don’t think Gale plays with adventures the same way as Lier does it looks like that’s an exclusive for him. Gale has a lot of potential though.
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
https://archidekt.com/user/71716
You... you do realize that New Phyrexia came out 6 years before Ixalan, right?
yes? (You know I was infact talking about mirrodin besieged block and not 2023/2024 right?)
no matter the system before or after of hiding/prevent cards from being leaked new phyrexia was the worst one. (Though I hear judgement was pretty close to a similar leveled leak)