Ran some searches and Surge Engine actually indeed looks like the cheapest we've ever gotten a Modern-legal 3/X unblockable creature (Latch Seeker forces you to pay all 3 mana at once). Shame that dumb beaters haven't gotten much headway in Modern lately (besides unholy efficient ones like Murktide Regent or Crashing Footfalls), and Surge Engine dies to both no-Delirium Unholy Heat and Boseiju, Who Endures. I suppose those 4-5c Yorion, Sky Nomad decks might actually eventually activate the card-drawing ability on this guy, then blink it with Yorion or bounce it with Teferi, Time Raveler and go for the mana-expensive trip all over again.
Recruitment Officer has a sweet body and a sweet ability...that we'll activate as often as Spectral Sailor's ability. Will the increased card quality and fortunate creature types be enough for Modern?
Queen Kayla bin-Kroog's ability looks really sweet. Shame she's a 3-mana 2/3, so you probably have to put her in a deck full of removal magnets. Luckily, her ability encourages you to put her in a deck full of removal magnets.
So Kayla Bin-Kroog got race swapped, rings of power stlye? Seems unnecessary but ok I guess.
Not quite sure where the race swap assumption comes from - if you're assuming she's Thran, the Thran are/were humans, and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician was one of them. At any rate, she's held to be one of Jodah, Archmage Eternal's ancestors (Jodah apparently also being descended from one of Urza or Mishra through Kayla's son), and Jodah is talked about as being 100% human.
If her skin tone is inconsistent...yeah, blame a style guide changing somewhere.
Maybe this is the comic book depiction of her will explain it better
Those comics were published by a third party and heavily retconned by The Brothers' War novel.
oh the comics weren't canon ok that makes a little bit more sense
They're separated by about 400 years. Kayla would be one of some 8000 Brothers' War era ancestors of Jodah.
There is presumably a canon description of Kayla in the Brothers' War novel and that's probably the only way of establishing anything concrete about her.
Ran some searches and Surge Engine actually indeed looks like the cheapest we've ever gotten a Modern-legal 3/X unblockable creature (Latch Seeker forces you to pay all 3 mana at once). Shame that dumb beaters haven't gotten much headway in Modern lately (besides unholy efficient ones like Murktide Regent or Crashing Footfalls), and Surge Engine dies to both no-Delirium Unholy Heat and Boseiju, Who Endures. I suppose those 4-5c Yorion, Sky Nomad decks might actually eventually activate the card-drawing ability on this guy, then blink it with Yorion or bounce it with Teferi, Time Raveler and go for the mana-expensive trip all over again.
Fatal Push kills it too
All I can say is Fuuuuuuuck I want 4 of the retro frame blueprint Wurmcoil Engine. It's still behind the Kaladesh invention as the coolest, but damn it's awesome.
I was always way into artifacts, even as a kid, so I'm very happy to see the dumbster dive cards are real. Retro frame blueprint artifacts look awesome. I'm very excited to see more of this set.
I like the gold frame too. I remember I got Selenia, Dark Angel as a kid and thought it was really valuable because of the frame, so I stored it in a little hardcase lol... But I much much prefer the old school borders in general and would be happy to see them become the norm again.
Recruitment Officer has a sweet body and a sweet ability...that we'll activate as often as Spectral Sailor's ability. Will the increased card quality and fortunate creature types be enough for Modern?
Queen Kayla bin-Kroog's ability looks really sweet. Shame she's a 3-mana 2/3, so you probably have to put her in a deck full of removal magnets. Luckily, her ability encourages you to put her in a deck full of removal magnets.
Not quite sure where the race swap assumption comes from - if you're assuming she's Thran, the Thran are/were humans, and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician was one of them. At any rate, she's held to be one of Jodah, Archmage Eternal's ancestors (Jodah apparently also being descended from one of Urza or Mishra through Kayla's son), and Jodah is talked about as being 100% human.
If her skin tone is inconsistent...yeah, blame a style guide changing somewhere.
Maybe this is the comic book depiction of her will explain it better
Those comics were published by a third party and heavily retconned by The Brothers' War novel.
oh the comics weren't canon ok that makes a little bit more sense
They're separated by about 400 years. Kayla would be one of some 8000 Brothers' War era ancestors of Jodah.
There is presumably a canon description of Kayla in the Brothers' War novel and that's probably the only way of establishing anything concrete about her.
It would take a deeper look back into the books but off the top of my head she was described as being raven haired with eyes that were liquid pools of darkness. Which makes me think she was similar in appearance to someone of Asian descent.
In all honestly I not going to get too nitpicky about it and just assume that her ethnicity is in constant flux due to Teferi running around in the past.
there was a referenced we missed and quite a bit didn't even know it
It’s 7 right?
we forgot something that taps for 7 total……together
Any time I see something with 7 mana cost I think "Will this work in my tron decks?" hehe. I think this takes way too much setting up, at least in Modern green or eldrazi tron. It could be a different story for Standard if they actually put the urza lands in the set though. But for modern? too slow sadly.
Although, mono blue tron could splash some white for this Urza and run with him? I love mono blue tron even though it's kinda fighting itself hehe.
there was a referenced we missed and quite a bit didn't even know it
It’s 7 right?
we forgot something that taps for 7 total……together
What's all this "we" stuff, that was literally the first thing I thought when I saw 7 lmao
Plus every Tron player ever sees 7 and instinctively thinks "hmm can I use this in Tron"
I honestly would have been surprised if he DIDN'T have 7 on him somewhere
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.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
there was a referenced we missed and quite a bit didn't even know it
It’s 7 right?
we forgot something that taps for 7 total……together
Yep, I've been predicting Tron lands make a comeback in Standard. If it doesn't happen now, it never will.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Instead of tron reprints, I entertain the idea of a cycle of Urza's lands with basic land types and they have special abilities if you have multiple Urza's lands with different basic land types. It would play nicely with domain as well, which is in standard for the same time as Brother's War.
However, in a set that's about the Urza-Mishra conflict, having one of them have their own land type and the other not would be very weird. This would, if any, have been the time to introduce the Mihsra's land type. But we already know that Mishra's Foundry doesn't have the type, so I'm very sceptical about seeing Urza's return.
Cannot stand the old borders personally, don't get the massive hype they've had the last few years beyond being a member-berry cashgrab. If the commander decks are only available in retro will that mean the new cards in those decks won't be available in the proper border? That would suck royally.
Borders are still black. (Except for full-art borderless versions)
Frames are the "retro" versions.
I understand what people are getting at but it is good to denote that the two are indeed different parts of the card.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Cannot stand the old borders personally, don't get the massive hype they've had the last few years beyond being a member-berry cashgrab. If the commander decks are only available in retro will that mean the new cards in those decks won't be available in the proper border? That would suck royally.
I agree. Those old borders are not appealing to me whatsoever.
And unfortunate for the haters your clearly minority since I clearly see some cards in old border I heard tons of people say on retro frame cranial plating “the art looks so much better in retro frame.”
I can't remember, when are we supposed to start seeing the previews for this set?
I swear I heard it somewhere but my sense of time is shot.
Launch party and Mishra preview are tomorrow. ...Launch party is a one-shot and Brothers' War stories start on Oct. 20th. I currently suspect that the stories will be along the lines of "Everyone thinks they know this story...but it turns out that everyone forgot all the details."
And unfortunate for the haters your clearly minority since I clearly see some cards in old border I heard tons of people say on retro frame cranial plating “the art looks so much better in retro frame.”
Oh yes because your single anecdotal experience must mean that everyone prefers retro frames...
And you do realise calling us haters for expressing our opinions is in turn labelling you a hater? People are allowed different preferences you know...
I'm aware plenty of people like the nostalgia of retro frames, good for you - I think it's great there's plenty of options for different frames/arts to suit preferences, like what they did in mh2 etc. But the issue is when they only print cards in a certain way, forcing that style down our throats.
I find retro frames ugly as hell and yes I played back in the 90s, member berries don't work on me! I won't even consider a card unless it has a modern border, so wotc only printing these commander decks in retro loses my business. If they start printing entire sets only in retro then I'd probably quit the hobby.
Retro frame "foil" looks a lot better, as its actual "gold".
The contrast of the text is better on the new ones, as they have more simplistic text boxes.
The new frame gold cards are just "yellow" and dont really pop, some are even darker than the non-foil one and just look awful.
Retro frame foils are quite bright, not as good as the real old ones, but certainly something to appreciate (and people certainly do).
If people play with new frame cards and only have a single one in retro it looks "weird" to them, Magic made sure that people from different ages have very different ideas of whats their "normal".
What are you talking about, retro frame foils are super dark, like they look wet. Modern foils are often indistinguishable from regular cards.
As for the retro frame itself, I have to admit the old frame gives me fuzzy feelings, but objectively speaking the modern frame uses its space much better and is overall easier to read. It's also more neutral which works better with some worlds like Mirrodin, Esper and New Capenna.
It would take a deeper look back into the books but off the top of my head she was described as being raven haired with eyes that were liquid pools of darkness. Which makes me think she was similar in appearance to someone of Asian descent.
In all honestly I not going to get too nitpicky about it and just assume that her ethnicity is in constant flux due to Teferi running around in the past.
Kayla Bin-Kroog is the narrator of the novel-- the book uses an Epistolary format where the book is a history of the conflict written by her after the fact in order to set the record straight for future Dominarian historians who are short of first hand accounts of the war and the events leading up to it (it doesn't get much more first hand than Urza's own wife). Consequently, IIRC she doesn't spend much time describing her own appearance, and what she does say doesn't really clarify her skin tone. Since this is her first appearance on a card, as far as the game is concerned the comic is irrelevant (I believe they have retconned comic book characters' appearance before). Hence the decision to finally clarify it and bring the character's appearance up to date with the new art direction for Dominaria. You might have noticed from other sets that Argivian people are more mixed race than previously? Well, I think there is a reason for that, and its rooted in the novel itself.
See, the books at this time loved making references to cards from the sets it was based on, and The Brothers War is no exception. Except the writer decided to not only reference Antiquities, but also Arabian Nights. Mishra commands a bunch of tribes whose appearance and culture is described quite explicitly, and even use Arabic terminology. This isn't in itself a problem-- heck, it makes it clear that Argive as a continent always had multiple races living there. It becomes a problem when you read the book and find out that one of the cards that was name dropped is one of the seven that were banned in 2020 for being culturally insensitive. Its name starts with a J. Since the book declines to describe the race of the Argivians, most readers would default to seeing them as white due to the prevalence of white people in card art at the time and in the fantasy genre as a whole. So you get this uncomfortable real world context of white western people VS Arab peoples for the whole conflict that I don't think the author was intentionally going for, but its there nevertheless thanks especially to the use of the J word. There is no going back and rewriting the book to remove the reference, but now that we're getting new sets set on Dominaria, they can at least mitigate some of the implications by explicitly showing Argivians that aren't pasty skinned like Urza and Mishra. Making Urza's own wife black in particular helps with the recontextualization. It also helps with the complaints that we see black soldiers and knights in other Dominarian kingdoms like Benalia. Black people on Dominaria aren't just found on the Jamurran continent now, and this is a golden opportunity to show that they never were.
So yeah... this change shouldn't come as a surprise, and I as a Vorthos welcome it.
They're separated by about 400 years. Kayla would be one of some 8000 Brothers' War era ancestors of Jodah.
There is presumably a canon description of Kayla in the Brothers' War novel and that's probably the only way of establishing anything concrete about her.
Fatal Push kills it too
All I can say is Fuuuuuuuck I want 4 of the retro frame blueprint Wurmcoil Engine. It's still behind the Kaladesh invention as the coolest, but damn it's awesome.
I was always way into artifacts, even as a kid, so I'm very happy to see the dumbster dive cards are real. Retro frame blueprint artifacts look awesome. I'm very excited to see more of this set.
I like the gold frame too. I remember I got Selenia, Dark Angel as a kid and thought it was really valuable because of the frame, so I stored it in a little hardcase lol... But I much much prefer the old school borders in general and would be happy to see them become the norm again.
It’s 7 right?
we forgot something that taps for 7 total……together
It would take a deeper look back into the books but off the top of my head she was described as being raven haired with eyes that were liquid pools of darkness. Which makes me think she was similar in appearance to someone of Asian descent.
In all honestly I not going to get too nitpicky about it and just assume that her ethnicity is in constant flux due to Teferi running around in the past.
Any time I see something with 7 mana cost I think "Will this work in my tron decks?" hehe. I think this takes way too much setting up, at least in Modern green or eldrazi tron. It could be a different story for Standard if they actually put the urza lands in the set though. But for modern? too slow sadly.
Although, mono blue tron could splash some white for this Urza and run with him? I love mono blue tron even though it's kinda fighting itself hehe.
What's all this "we" stuff, that was literally the first thing I thought when I saw 7 lmao
Plus every Tron player ever sees 7 and instinctively thinks "hmm can I use this in Tron"
I honestly would have been surprised if he DIDN'T have 7 on him somewhere
Yes I do and I am hyped for them.
I even wish they would do some of the lands like Sheltered Valley with the bluish text box with purple trim for a real throwback feel.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Yep, I've been predicting Tron lands make a comeback in Standard. If it doesn't happen now, it never will.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
However, in a set that's about the Urza-Mishra conflict, having one of them have their own land type and the other not would be very weird. This would, if any, have been the time to introduce the Mihsra's land type. But we already know that Mishra's Foundry doesn't have the type, so I'm very sceptical about seeing Urza's return.
Frames are the "retro" versions.
I understand what people are getting at but it is good to denote that the two are indeed different parts of the card.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
|| 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 ||
And unfortunate for the haters your clearly minority since I clearly see some cards in old border I heard tons of people say on retro frame cranial plating “the art looks so much better in retro frame.”
I swear I heard it somewhere but my sense of time is shot.
Launch party and Mishra preview are tomorrow. ...Launch party is a one-shot and Brothers' War stories start on Oct. 20th. I currently suspect that the stories will be along the lines of "Everyone thinks they know this story...but it turns out that everyone forgot all the details."
Oh yes because your single anecdotal experience must mean that everyone prefers retro frames...
And you do realise calling us haters for expressing our opinions is in turn labelling you a hater? People are allowed different preferences you know...
I'm aware plenty of people like the nostalgia of retro frames, good for you - I think it's great there's plenty of options for different frames/arts to suit preferences, like what they did in mh2 etc. But the issue is when they only print cards in a certain way, forcing that style down our throats.
I find retro frames ugly as hell and yes I played back in the 90s, member berries don't work on me! I won't even consider a card unless it has a modern border, so wotc only printing these commander decks in retro loses my business. If they start printing entire sets only in retro then I'd probably quit the hobby.
The contrast of the text is better on the new ones, as they have more simplistic text boxes.
The new frame gold cards are just "yellow" and dont really pop, some are even darker than the non-foil one and just look awful.
Retro frame foils are quite bright, not as good as the real old ones, but certainly something to appreciate (and people certainly do).
If people play with new frame cards and only have a single one in retro it looks "weird" to them, Magic made sure that people from different ages have very different ideas of whats their "normal".
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
As for the retro frame itself, I have to admit the old frame gives me fuzzy feelings, but objectively speaking the modern frame uses its space much better and is overall easier to read. It's also more neutral which works better with some worlds like Mirrodin, Esper and New Capenna.
That should how they made Dakkon and his BlackBlade
Kayla Bin-Kroog is the narrator of the novel-- the book uses an Epistolary format where the book is a history of the conflict written by her after the fact in order to set the record straight for future Dominarian historians who are short of first hand accounts of the war and the events leading up to it (it doesn't get much more first hand than Urza's own wife). Consequently, IIRC she doesn't spend much time describing her own appearance, and what she does say doesn't really clarify her skin tone. Since this is her first appearance on a card, as far as the game is concerned the comic is irrelevant (I believe they have retconned comic book characters' appearance before). Hence the decision to finally clarify it and bring the character's appearance up to date with the new art direction for Dominaria. You might have noticed from other sets that Argivian people are more mixed race than previously? Well, I think there is a reason for that, and its rooted in the novel itself.
See, the books at this time loved making references to cards from the sets it was based on, and The Brothers War is no exception. Except the writer decided to not only reference Antiquities, but also Arabian Nights. Mishra commands a bunch of tribes whose appearance and culture is described quite explicitly, and even use Arabic terminology. This isn't in itself a problem-- heck, it makes it clear that Argive as a continent always had multiple races living there. It becomes a problem when you read the book and find out that one of the cards that was name dropped is one of the seven that were banned in 2020 for being culturally insensitive. Its name starts with a J. Since the book declines to describe the race of the Argivians, most readers would default to seeing them as white due to the prevalence of white people in card art at the time and in the fantasy genre as a whole. So you get this uncomfortable real world context of white western people VS Arab peoples for the whole conflict that I don't think the author was intentionally going for, but its there nevertheless thanks especially to the use of the J word. There is no going back and rewriting the book to remove the reference, but now that we're getting new sets set on Dominaria, they can at least mitigate some of the implications by explicitly showing Argivians that aren't pasty skinned like Urza and Mishra. Making Urza's own wife black in particular helps with the recontextualization. It also helps with the complaints that we see black soldiers and knights in other Dominarian kingdoms like Benalia. Black people on Dominaria aren't just found on the Jamurran continent now, and this is a golden opportunity to show that they never were.
So yeah... this change shouldn't come as a surprise, and I as a Vorthos welcome it.