So this isn't a spoiler or a news piece. This is an analysis of a trend and a possible prediction for MTG's future.
I've noticed something interesting now that EMN spoilers (or previews, or pre-spoilers) are unofficially underway. It seems like a lot of the concepts, cards and images we've seen so far have been met with mixed to negative reactions. Now granted, this isn't necessarily unique to this set—in fact I think this thread's discussion could easily apply to many MTG products and releases, including EMA and BFZ—and the material released so far may just be legitimately underwhelming. BUT I do think it's worth asking the question: Did WotC wait too long? Has their strategy of secrecy and protracted reveals begun to blow up in their face? Did delaying things actually make it harder for them to be perceived as anything but failures?
Let's take some examples:
1. New Emrakul.
1a. It wasn't until this weekend that we got solid confirmation of Emrakul's role in the storyline, the set and the promotional campaign. When we finally did, the community felt kinda lukewarm about it. Some were excited to see it (or rather confirmation of it), but others felt like it was kind of meh, especially months after people had seen (and solved) the puzzles related to her involvement. Whereas things like the Conspiracy 1 and 2 promotions had instant payoffs that really charged up the community, the EMN-Emrakul situation devolved into this "will they, won't they" scenario where either result was guaranteed to leave people feeling some type of way. (The continually poor writing and weak overall storyline execution/presentation by Bayer, MaRo et al probably didn't help matters).
1b. Then we finally get her card. And whilst it's unfair to say she's unplayable, the response to this new version has certainly been tepid. Yes, any new Emrakul is gonna be less crazy--no pun intended--than the original. But this version just felt super lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed. And the community felt that. Would it have been like this if WotC hadn't stalled out and hyped up the reveal? Maybe. But maybe not...
2. Werewolf Legend (Ulrich). This one seems like a more obvious example of WotC waiting too long, especially since many people view this guy as the missing component of a cycle from the original INN block. Now again, it's undoubtedly in line with the overall flavor (and more debatably the power level) of that old cycle. Whereas people were expecting a Sliver Hivelord-style tribal king, what what got was a generic goodstuff Legend in line with how Grimgrin, 3-legged Olivia, Geist and Mikaeus were like. None of them were Lords, and only one had even implicit tribal synergies built into it. Ulrich fits this mold. BUT he was horribly delayed, both due to a design oversight in INN and an appsrent desire to "save stuff for last" during the current block. Is it any wonder players are so down on the card now that it's been unveiled? They had almost half a decade to build this thing up in their own minds, mis-remember history and then finally see it at almost the last possible moment. Would it not have been better to just throw the card in SOI and have been done with it a bit sooner?
Ultimately I'm wondering if this "wait till the last minute" strategy that WotC has been practicing with EMN and other products is proving detrimental to their hype train. Would it be better if they tried to do this stuff at least a little bit earlier? What's gained or lost either way? And what impact will this trend have on future spoilers and/or releases?
My main complaint is that the new Ulrich was revealed on the same day as the new Emrakul. Why spoil two of the main cards of the set on the same day a week before actual spoilers begin? You would think Ulrich could have at least been revealed in a UR article or something else on the mothership.
This being my favorite plane, and remarkably the one that has brought me back to the game twice now (general life & free time issues & also $$$), I'm kinda torn both ways.
Vorthos-storyline/Lovecraftiness sank it's hooks in deep. Gameplay wise i'm realizing now that you've posed the question, that ya the last minute reveals kinda sucks. Being on a budget & starting from scratch means not having confirmation of some of the most basic plotpoints of this next half of the block (aka presence of eldrazi & to what extent) limited my building & collecting direction decisions.
We'll see to what extent I may feel salty about this. I can see it shaping up pretty hilariously if my cheap combat tricks + Skulk & Phobia angle gets continued support.
Bringing titans to their knees with 1/1 rats is solid f'ing gold.
If they were going to reveal another Mythic Rare at least give us an exciting one. I have a feeling this was their way of saying "Yes, we're still supporting existing tribes." but telling us nothing about the set as a whole otherwise.
Are these the only 3 cards we're going to see this week?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Rose tint my world, keep me safe from my trouble and pain.
My main complaint is that the new Ulrich was revealed on the same day as the new Emrakul. Why spoil two of the main cards of the set on the same day a week before actual spoilers begin? You would think Ulrich could have at least been revealed in a UR article or something else on the mothership.
I imagine that they thought Ulrich would be a slamdunk regardless, not unlike spoiling an PW alongside a Mythic creature or Rare land cycle. And why not? So many people were purportedly craving a Werewolf Legend. WotC just assumed they could half-ass the design and reveal. A big problem with a lot of WotC's decisions in terms of development and marketing seem to boil down to poor execution (and often laziness).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
My main complaint is that the new Ulrich was revealed on the same day as the new Emrakul. Why spoil two of the main cards of the set on the same day a week before actual spoilers begin? You would think Ulrich could have at least been revealed in a UR article or something else on the mothership.
I imagine that they thought Ulrich would be a slamdunk regardless, not unlike spoiling an PW alongside a Mythic creature or Rare land cycle. And why not? So many people were purportedly craving a Werewolf Legend. WotC just assumed they could half-ass the design and reveal. A big problem with a lot of WotC's decisions in terms of development and marketing seem to boil down to poor execution (and often laziness).
Agreed. Card is good. Art is great. I do want it bad. Yet somehow the opportunity still seems to have been severely missed. Unless we're gonna see werewolves on new planes sometime, the werewolf lord hopes seem dead in the water & that sucks.
A flashy 3 point hook shot does not a glass shattering slam dunk make.
So I believe that I can attempt to answer this in a broad way, but the true issue is that everyone has subjective reasoning for their own points, so ultimately things can and will be different to others. Using your examples:
Emrakul.
Let's start off by addressing the positives, ignoring the negatives. First, we have to give credit to Wizards for the mystery they gave us. Using card art for hints (tentacles randomly showing up, the extra limbs/eyes/etc.) at the big bad was quite appealing. It was a blast trying to crack the code in the early stages of SOI. The best part was the Tamiyo's Journal puzzle. If you look into the original threads on mtgs and Reddit, the explosion of people trying to crack the code was insane. It was truly fun. In addition, the slide into "cosmic horror" feels very fluid and evokes a lot of the feeling it wants to bring out. On paper, this idea is very well designed and it works really well. Their timing, based on their set structure, is arguably the best it can be.
The negatives, though, are important as to why this is ultimately futile, but something I will ultimately encourage them to continue. Let's address the main offender here: the internet. No matter how hard any company tries, people have ready access to an insane network of information and instant communication with others. If you look into shows that attempt to leave hard-to-find clue's in their series for some massive reveal, you'll note that the creators often underestimate the masses (my best example is Gravity Falls) and their ability to work it out amongst themselves insanely fast. Tamiyo's Journal was solved hours after the clues were revealed. A few days ago we had information about a SHIPPING TAG, for crying out loud. The Internet is an omnipresent hurdle that people need to realize is simply impossible to work around without insane levels of secrecy, and even then it rarely works. Let's go to some design flaws, though. The elephant in the room: new Em could never be as powerful as old Em without some serious error. Everyone knows that. I'm not a good enough MtG player to instantly evaluate a card's worth in every format, so I'll ignore new Em's potential power, but we can all agree that it is less than the old. We must accept that this was inevitable. Arguably, she could have had better design, but that's where subjective reasoning hits hard. The real issue with this whole thing goes back to the positives: everything is so cool and we'll designed and just dripping with flavor... Right after the return to Zendikar block. We JUST went back to fight the "big bad" that are the eldrazi. So much build up. So much time and effort put into minor plot points (Gideon on Ravnica, Kiora in Theros, Sorin on Tarkir, introducing Ugin and Nahiri, etc.) about the looming threat of the eldrazi and how our protagonists would defeat them. Then we get back. The climax is here. All the build up and FINALLY we are here. Doesn't matter the opinion of the BFZ block, what matters is that we had our climax and half-resolution. We killed Ula and Kozi, and now we have the looming threat of Em that they can use in the future. Awesome. Except... They didn't end it that way. Here we are, one set later, our return to ANOTHER insanely popular plane, and here's Emrakul, like a giant middle finger to the potential of an amazing story. 'Cause the threat is found immediately. Right after the Eldrazi block, we find it. And while it is okay, cause resolving the Eldrazi storyline HAS to happen sometime, people feel like it's just a too-quick resolution to a problem that's been broadcast over so many years. In addition to all of this, there's a lot of expectation that came from returning to Zendikar and Innistrad, and people, for the most part, feel mildly disappointed. These were two very potent sets in their day, and Wizards is openly pulling back the power level.
It's a cesspool of circumstances that just ends up with people having a bitter taste in their mouth. It's not inherently bad, or disappointing, but there's a lot of factors all playing at once that just feels bad.
Ulrich
I can tl;dr this one a lot more easily, cause it's pretty simple, and the OPPORTUNITY did a really good job on it. Basically they waited too long to put this guy out there. We even got the Zombie Siblings in commander products before him. He's finally revealed, and it's along with Emrakul, with 0 story, 0 articles playing him up, etc. In addition, we have the powerhouse utility card in Huntmaster of the Fells to compare him to, which for most commander junkies would be a preference rather than him. He's not a bad card, just a poorly executed reveal.
My opinion? They're doing pretty well, all considering. I think people are desensitized a bit. I think people expect a lot, maybe too much, and it just can't happen realistically. I have my share of disappointments, but I accept them and love the game and story nonetheless. The new block structure and their move to cohesive linear story has just begun, so I'm happy to give them time to smooth it out. I'm excited to see how this Em on In situation plays out.
Werewolves were my favorite tribe from original Innistrad. I liked it enough to build a casual deck out of it. That said, I've been playing commander for a real real long time, and people that were expecting a legendary werewolf that would solve all your problems for your EDH deck are just delusional. For starters, there are only THREE tribes that work in commander: goblins (with krenko, grenzo or wort), elves (mainly ezuri, but rhys would work) and wizards (only azami). Of these 3, only goblins and elves actually have a 'tribe' feeling, because wizards are barely a tribe at all, they just get insane when you can tap them to draw a card.
There is not enough support for werewolves and it would take at least more 23 years of magic to make werewolves a good tribe in EDH. I love tribal decks and I've tested pretty much all you can test in edh: ents, merfolk, clerics, druids, etc. etc. The tribes just aren't consistent enough, they need to be an evergreen tribe to get enough material for you to build a 99-card deck with them. So I feel like the disappointment would kinda happen anyway, because some people were expecting a legend that would solve all their consistency problems with their EDH decks (which would never happen).
With all That said, if you look at Tazri, she is a MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE well designed card for those expecting the ally commander. She really is. Tutor on a stick, pump the guys, etc. She is powerful in what she does, has crazy sinergy and makes people happy. That's what the werewolf legend should've been and that's where wizards dropped the ball. Ulrich is boring. He didn't even need to have tribal sinergy to be good, just needeed to be smarter design-wise. "How so?" you may ask. Simple: for startes giving him flash. That would allow you to pass the turn to flip your werewolves and leave mana open for your commander. Then you could have him 'flipping' at will. Give him the werewolf clause, but also make it possible to flip by paying mana, for instance, and have his werewolf side be sort of Eidolon like 'whenever a player casts a spell, this player takes 3 points of damage'. That way he makes your opponent not want to cast multiple spells in a turn to unflip your werewolves. Anyway, just one though of course, you would have to think power/toughness and mana cost, but it would make him synergistic, wouldn't hurt the color pie and he wouldn't have to be a lord.
So yeah, WoTC dropped the ball hard on Ulrich's design, I don't think the problem was the timing. However, some people would get disappointed nonetheless, because they had unrealistic expectations.
Emrakul is a similar problem, but I won't extend myself. Make some tweaks here and there (full mindslaver, hexproof) and she would be busted. Completely crazy, and awesome. They played too safe. Without the 'cant be countered' clause I think it would be fair a card with the tweaks. So, once again, not much a problem of the hype, but a problem of the design of the card. If Emrakul turned out to be an awesome card, everything would've payed off, but they hyped and hyped and hyped and because we are in the depowered era of magic they couldn't keep up with all the hype they built. Sad times, but it happens.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
.
Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
Magic players, particularly those who post here, are really bad at evaluating cards before the pros can test them and tell us sheep what is good and what is bad. Case in point, the people calling this new 7/9 Eldrazi ooze DFC reverse card "broken" despite us not knowing what the front of the card looks like, or what its casting cost and flip conditions are.
Magic players, particularly those who post here, are really bad at evaluating cards before the pros can test them and tell us sheep what is good and what is bad.
Please tell me this is hyperbole. Obviously some of the users here are idiots (that's true of all communities), but some are great players, reviewers, builders, designers, etc.
We don't need the proverbial philosopher-kings to TELL US what's true. The pros can contribute to the conversation, but they don't control it.
I agree to a point. They shouldn't have had a "pre-preview" in Emrakul. It left me wanting more spoilers and when they didn't come I lost interest. A whole month or so of previews might be too much, but three weeks would be fine. Or start the previews earlier, spoil the whole set and use the pre-release week to get limited and constructed articles out there. Now we have to wait another five days for offiical previews...bah!
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.
Magic players, particularly those who post here, are really bad at evaluating cards before the pros can test them and tell us sheep what is good and what is bad.
Please tell me this is hyperbole. Obviously some of the users here are idiots (that's true of all communities), but some are great players, reviewers, builders, designers, etc.
We don't need the proverbial philosopher-kings to TELL US what's true. The pros can contribute to the conversation, but they don't control it.
I was being a bit sarcastic but meant what I said. The vast majority of the Magic community is absolutely terrible at card evaluation. Duds like Sin Prodder get hyped to high heaven while legitimately great cards like Kolaghan's Command fly under the radar until a major tournament's results show that they are good. This happens every new set without fail.
But don't worry. I wasn't talking about you. I'm sure you're great at card evaluation.
1. New Emrakul.
1a. It wasn't until this weekend that we got solid confirmation of Emrakul's role in the storyline, the set and the promotional campaign. When we finally did, the community felt kinda lukewarm about it. Some were excited to see it (or rather confirmation of it), but others felt like it was kind of meh, especially months after people had seen (and solved) the puzzles related to her involvement. Whereas things like the Conspiracy 1 and 2 promotions had instant payoffs that really charged up the community, the EMN-Emrakul situation devolved into this "will they, won't they" scenario where either result was guaranteed to leave people feeling some type of way. (The continually poor writing and weak overall storyline execution/presentation by Bayer, MaRo et al probably didn't help matters).
I get confused by this type of response by the MTG community. I was solidly in the "there's no way it would be Emrakul" camp until the evidence from solving Tamiyo's Journal/clue tokens became insurmountable. Even after that, I still held out hope that it wouldn't be Emrakul. I knew it would be, but had this tiny flame of hope that Wizards would do something off the wall that would still make sense. Then, Emrakul. Was I disappointed? Not in the least! Despite really, really wanting something else, Emrakul was spoiled, and she's amazing. She fits the plot line, she ties the stories together, she fits the clues. She's exactly what Wizards has been building to. All the stories have alluded to Emrakul being "out there." To see the culmination of a story is fantastic. Ulamog and Kozilek were not the culmination because they weren't the biggest, the baddest, nor the last. Each block is like reading a novel that's part of a grand arching story across many novels (e.g. Wheel of Times by Robert Jordan). Each novel has it's own major plot and it's subplots, and usually ends with a major conflict/resolution that pertains to the specific novel itself, but is still not the final battle. That takes place in the final novel, usually near the end. The last several years have been building to this point. We are taking part in that culmination, and I am both intrigued to see how it concludes and also to see where we go after the story is concluded.
So, tell me, how is "disappointment" a legitimate response when viewing it in this lens?
1b. Then we finally get her card. And whilst it's unfair to say she's unplayable, the response to this new version has certainly been tepid. Yes, any new Emrakul is gonna be less crazy--no pun intended--than the original. But this version just felt super lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed. And the community felt that. Would it have been like this if WotC hadn't stalled out and hyped up the reveal? Maybe. But maybe not...
How do you know this version is lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed? As noted in the article Wizards wrote today, Emrakul went through lots of design iterations. Lots of playtesting. They have many things to consider when designing a card, and "wow-ing" the audience is only a component of that. Playability, complexity, health of the format, flavor... these all play a part in ensuring that Emrakul is as best as can be for the game as possible. That makes her design not lazy. She's boring? Who else has protection from instants? What other creature let's you Mindslaver? What would be boring would be the same Emrakul as before (and would also be lazy to be the same Emrakul). They designed a very flavorful Emrakul that both demonstrates elements of the original but is also quite different. And we have no idea if she's nerfed or not. We haven't playtested with her yet. It's impossible to say at this point. She could be freakin awesome for all we know. She looks difficult to get into play, but then, what high CMC creature isn't hard to get into play? I would still be quite happy to drop her with Nahiri, because a 13/13 with flying, trample, and haste (thank you Nahiri!) that you can't target with most of your removal is going to absolutely wreck you. And if you can abuse the cost reduction mechanic, she is arguably easier to play and much much stronger than Dragonlord Atarka, who has seem ample play in R/G ramp.
2. Werewolf Legend (Ulrich). This one seems like a more obvious example of WotC waiting too long, especially since many people view this guy as the missing component of a cycle from the original INN block. Now again, it's undoubtedly in line with the overall flavor (and more debatably the power level) of that old cycle. Whereas people were expecting a Sliver Hivelord-style tribal king, what what got was a generic goodstuff Legend in line with how Grimgrin, 3-legged Olivia, Geist and Mikaeus were like. None of them were Lords, and only one had even implicit tribal synergies built into it. Ulrich fits this mold. BUT he was horribly delayed, both due to a design oversight in INN and an appsrent desire to "save stuff for last" during the current block. Is it any wonder players are so down on the card now that it's been unveiled? They had almost half a decade to build this thing up in their own minds, mis-remember history and then finally see it at almost the last possible moment. Would it not have been better to just throw the card in SOI and have been done with it a bit sooner?
Anytime the any community is waiting for something with bated breath, it will invariably be a disappointment to some, if not many. We all come up with our own ideas of what this or that will be, and when reality hits, it doesn't line up with our expectations. And that leads to disappointment. Wizards cannot, cannot deliver a product that will cater to everyone's needs. It's literally impossible. But Wizards is typically also quite transparent where they feel they could have done better and try to learn from their mistakes to make a better overall gaming experience for the community. We should thank Wizards for the Legendary Werewolf first and foremost, because they delivered what many have been asking for. However, I do agree that the design is overly simplistic for the Commander environment. If Wizards is going to do a commander Werewolf justice, it really needs to be part of some Commander product IMO. Cuz I'm gonna be honest, it's a feel bad in draft to open a pack and your rare slot has a Commander designed card. You pass that sucka along!
Ultimately I'm wondering if this "wait till the last minute" strategy that WotC has been practicing with EMN and other products is proving detrimental to their hype train. Would it be better if they tried to do this stuff at least a little bit earlier? What's gained or lost either way? And what impact will this trend have on future spoilers and/or releases?
The waiting until the last minute is typically good. Emrakul was spoiled so late because of the mystery concept, which overall, was really well executed. They didn't do a Werewolf legend, which was a mistake, and it took years before they came back to Innistrad to give us the legend. This is what happens when mistakes are made. What other "last minute" things are there?
I really like Emrakul a lot. It has a strong chance of being my favorite card in the set. No, it isn't as strong as the Aeons Torn, but it can also be cast for a hell of a lot less. Em1 costs 15, period. Em2, in all likelyhood, costs 10 or less and if you modify your deck a little, can easily be the strongest fatty ever printed for the amount of mana you end up paying for it. It doesn't really matter other than flavor that it has a 13 up there since it isn't ever going to be cast for 13.
First There was no mystery. The second they sent Jace to Innistrad, I knew the plot revolved around Emrakul. That was before a single SOI card was reveled. The clues was plain. "They come in threes" nonsense removing all hope of an actual mystery. People hoped and prayed it wouldn't be the villain that was the most extremely obvious one. That hope was in vain. Before the big announcement of it was Emrakul people guessed it was a 13/13 for 13 and one guy even stated it would have an mindslaver effect and would have a cost saver effect based on cards types in the graveyard. There was no mystery and that was the problem. If most people seen it before they announced it it isn't going to excite the masses they way a good mystery could. The story telling as a mystery as it was billed was awful.
Second problem is we had the Watch VS. Eldrazi just last block. There was substantial burnout with Eldrazi especially for those that played limited or modern. The Battle/oath block was not a good limited environments largely do to color imbalances caused the Eldrazi. And until the ban hammer nailed the deck Eldrazi ruined modern as it was far too powerful. I am dreading another Eldrazi based set. Wizards has shown they can't get them right. They failed in all three sets they were in. It was too soon given the burn out of many.
Third problem is they could not match the power of the original Emrakul for balance reasons. That makes it so any card printed will not live up to the build up or it would break the game. There was no fixing this issue. But it disappointed some Emrakul fans.
Forth issue is we just seen a beloved plane wiped out and will never be the same plain they grew to love. There was more then a few disappointed in this. Now there is real fear by some that this will be Innistrad fate. I don't think it will be but some feel it will be. Innistrad is popular, in fact it is many peoples favorite plane. Many don't wan't it prematurely damaged like Zendikar. If it isn't then it really undermines Emrakul as the baddest Eldrazi of them all.
Lastly, Emrakul made a good floating threat. That threat is no longer floating. Other than chasing her away or trapping her, both of which would reduce her as a real treat, there is no good way to preserve both Innistrad and the Eldrazi. This is sloppy story telling on wizards part. After the trap/kill Emrakul there is little left for the gatewatch four/five to do as a team. They are going to have to jump through hoops to keep the band together. If Emrakul wins/flees then we get the same basic story again of Eldrazi vs. the Gatewatch. Reusing the same plot over and over again gets old.
As for Ulrich, I dislike flip cards so I could care less about him. I am not looking forward to the flip Eldrazi. Worse of the last two blocks. The Eldrazi that I am sick of and the flip cards that aren't good for paper draft in my opinion. I really don't like the flip cards. I do realize I am in the minority on flip cards. I really doubt I am in the minority about being sick of the Eldrazi though. I do get the disappointment in those wanting a tribal commander. Ulrich is a poor fit for that. He does nothing for the tribe as a whole. Solid card but a poor commander.
As for Ulrich, I dislike flip cards so I could care less about him.
You mean, you couldn’t.
And Flip-cards really, objectively suck, if you are on a budget, because they require you to buy expensive sleeves. Which gets even worse given that they had already got them right in Kamigawa. (Also for playability, since you didn’t have to memorize all backsides of cards your opponent might play).
Actually, Wizard's printed a set of "Placeholder" tokens that go in your deck in place for the flip card so you don't have to buy sleeves to play them...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The following link is an invitation to join Pucatrade (card trading service though similar to TCGPLayer). If you follow the link then it awards me with tokens to exchange for actual cards. Thanks! https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097
Anyone else remember when they was no spoiler season? You didn't know what the cards were until you opened the pack. No net decking, no hoping for the certain money card that you know was in the set. The thrill of seeing new card for the first time as its played against you...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Premise I: "Knowledge is Power" ~ Sir Francis Bacon, 1597
Premise II: "Power {tends to} Corrupt" ~ Baron Acton, 1887
Conclusion: "Knowledge Corrupts"
I was being a bit sarcastic but meant what I said. The vast majority of the Magic community is absolutely terrible at card evaluation. Duds like Sin Prodder get hyped to high heaven while legitimately great cards like Kolaghan's Command fly under the radar until a major tournament's results show that they are good. This happens every new set without fail.
Even if I bought your premise, your examples aren't great. Prodder was hyped up a bit, but no more than any other decent red 3-drop (something we don't get enough of for Cube or in Constructed). And he's still a decent card, very possibly in the top 5 of red 3-drops in Cube and very easily Standard playable card (now or post-rotation). MeAnwhile, basically all the Commands had their defenders and detractors, with mana cost and color preference being the deciding factors for most players. I think Kolaghan's was actually hyped up pretty high given it's cost and colors, actually.
But don't worry. I wasn't talking about you. I'm sure you're great at card evaluation.
This sounds patronizing, even if it wasn't intended as such. Just saying.
How do you know this version is lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed?
I'm psychic.
As noted in the article Wizards wrote today, Emrakul went through lots of design iterations. Lots of playtesting. They have many things to consider when designing a card, and "wow-ing" the audience is only a component of that. Playability, complexity, health of the format, flavor... these all play a part in ensuring that Emrakul is as best as can be for the game as possible. That makes her design not lazy.
As odd as this might read, a lazy design often doesn't happen overnight. Just like people usually aren't trying to make bad movies. What makes her lazy from an outside perspective is that she doesn't do anything terribly new or unexpected. And the few almost exciting things she does do feel nerfed.
She's boring? Who else has protection from instants?
Yes, she is. And at least 2 others, off the top of my head. More if you count hate bears.
What other creature let's you Mindslaver?
None, including her. She attempts to do a "fair" version of the effect, which is akin to saying "I'm not an [x] but..."
They should have either committed to doing Mindslaver, or done a Time Walk variant, or just done something completely different. As is, it felt very obviously like they wanted to attempt being aggressive with her design but lacked the balls to commit.
What would be boring would be the same Emrakul as before
Or just a weaker variation, which is basically what we got.
They designed a very flavorful Emrakul
I'm no Vorthos, but this doesn't seem very flavorful to me or most of the other players I've talked to (including the ones who like her).
And we have no idea if she's nerfed or not.
That's just disingenuous.
She could be freakin awesome for all we know.
If by "awesome" you mean "see play," then I agree. Either way, my descriptors would still apply. Plenty of boring, lazy, and/or nerfed cards have seen play (mostly in Standard).
Anytime the any community is waiting for something with bated breath, it will invariably be a disappointment to some, if not many.
That was kinda my point.
But Wizards is typically also quite transparent where they feel they could have done better and try to learn from their mistakes to make a better overall gaming experience for the community.
I'd love to say I agree, but I've seen them repeat the same patterns too often. They play lip-service to the thing you're talking about, but they also can make very confusing and poorly thought-out choices regarding design, rarity and distribution of products (see BFZ, OGW, MM2, EMA, etc). I know I might sound oddly mistrustful of WotC, but I'm just very skeptical of this assumption that they put the players' interests in appropriate priority most of the time.
We should thank Wizards for the Legendary Werewolf first and foremost, because they delivered what many have been asking for.
This is entirely the wrong mindset. Saying, "thank you so much" for delivering something we're not satisfied with isn't the way to stoke change. Explaining, clearly and politely, why their release(s) didn't impress us is.
Cuz I'm gonna be honest, it's a feel bad in draft to open a pack and your rare slot has a Commander designed card. You pass that sucka along!
Even though they already do plenty of that regardless (which we apparently agree is a bad thing).
The waiting until the last minute is typically good.
I can point you to dozens of sources which contradict that, including yourself above!
Emrakul was spoiled so late because of the mystery concept, which overall, was really well executed.
Again, gotta disagree there. The problems with the storyline are numerouis and well-documented. As far as the quasi-ARG involving puzzles, meh.
Anyone else remember when they was no spoiler season? You didn't know what the cards were until you opened the pack. No net decking, no hoping for the certain money card that you know was in the set. The thrill of seeing new card for the first time as its played against you...
I know! Wasn't it awful?
Also, I guarantee you netdecking's been around longer than you realize (albeit more subtle and less widespread).
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
Werewolves were my favorite tribe from original Innistrad. I liked it enough to build a casual deck out of it. That said, I've been playing commander for a real real long time, and people that were expecting a legendary werewolf that would solve all your problems for your EDH deck are just delusional. For starters, there are only THREE tribes that work in commander: goblins (with krenko, grenzo or wort), elves (mainly ezuri, but rhys would work) and wizards (only azami). Of these 3, only goblins and elves actually have a 'tribe' feeling, because wizards are barely a tribe at all, they just get insane when you can tap them to draw a card.
There is not enough support for werewolves and it would take at least more 23 years of magic to make werewolves a good tribe in EDH. I love tribal decks and I've tested pretty much all you can test in edh: ents, merfolk, clerics, druids, etc. etc. The tribes just aren't consistent enough, they need to be an evergreen tribe to get enough material for you to build a 99-card deck with them. So I feel like the disappointment would kinda happen anyway, because some people were expecting a legend that would solve all their consistency problems with their EDH decks (which would never happen).
With all That said, if you look at Tazri, she is a MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE well designed card for those expecting the ally commander. She really is. Tutor on a stick, pump the guys, etc. She is powerful in what she does, has crazy sinergy and makes people happy. That's what the werewolf legend should've been and that's where wizards dropped the ball. Ulrich is boring. He didn't even need to have tribal sinergy to be good, just needeed to be smarter design-wise. "How so?" you may ask. Simple: for startes giving him flash. That would allow you to pass the turn to flip your werewolves and leave mana open for your commander. Then you could have him 'flipping' at will. Give him the werewolf clause, but also make it possible to flip by paying mana, for instance, and have his werewolf side be sort of Eidolon like 'whenever a player casts a spell, this player takes 3 points of damage'. That way he makes your opponent not want to cast multiple spells in a turn to unflip your werewolves. Anyway, just one though of course, you would have to think power/toughness and mana cost, but it would make him synergistic, wouldn't hurt the color pie and he wouldn't have to be a lord.
So yeah, WoTC dropped the ball hard on Ulrich's design, I don't think the problem was the timing. However, some people would get disappointed nonetheless, because they had unrealistic expectations.
Emrakul is a similar problem, but I won't extend myself. Make some tweaks here and there (full mindslaver, hexproof) and she would be busted. Completely crazy, and awesome. They played too safe. Without the 'cant be countered' clause I think it would be fair a card with the tweaks. So, once again, not much a problem of the hype, but a problem of the design of the card. If Emrakul turned out to be an awesome card, everything would've payed off, but they hyped and hyped and hyped and because we are in the depowered era of magic they couldn't keep up with all the hype they built. Sad times, but it happens.
There are more tribes than that that work. My Zombie, Elemental, and Ratfolk decks would like to have a word with you.
As for Ulrich, he should have been Tovolar and he should have been a one sided card that read: ETB, Transform all humans you control. Non-human werewolf creatures you control can't transform.
That would have been easy and extremely flavorful. Instead we get a half-hearted attempt at "cool" werewolf legendary.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hi, I'm new!
Mark my words, the Year of Eldrazi will not be the last we see of them.
I've noticed something interesting now that EMN spoilers (or previews, or pre-spoilers) are unofficially underway. It seems like a lot of the concepts, cards and images we've seen so far have been met with mixed to negative reactions. Now granted, this isn't necessarily unique to this set—in fact I think this thread's discussion could easily apply to many MTG products and releases, including EMA and BFZ—and the material released so far may just be legitimately underwhelming. BUT I do think it's worth asking the question: Did WotC wait too long? Has their strategy of secrecy and protracted reveals begun to blow up in their face? Did delaying things actually make it harder for them to be perceived as anything but failures?
Let's take some examples:
1. New Emrakul.
1a. It wasn't until this weekend that we got solid confirmation of Emrakul's role in the storyline, the set and the promotional campaign. When we finally did, the community felt kinda lukewarm about it. Some were excited to see it (or rather confirmation of it), but others felt like it was kind of meh, especially months after people had seen (and solved) the puzzles related to her involvement. Whereas things like the Conspiracy 1 and 2 promotions had instant payoffs that really charged up the community, the EMN-Emrakul situation devolved into this "will they, won't they" scenario where either result was guaranteed to leave people feeling some type of way. (The continually poor writing and weak overall storyline execution/presentation by Bayer, MaRo et al probably didn't help matters).
1b. Then we finally get her card. And whilst it's unfair to say she's unplayable, the response to this new version has certainly been tepid. Yes, any new Emrakul is gonna be less crazy--no pun intended--than the original. But this version just felt super lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed. And the community felt that. Would it have been like this if WotC hadn't stalled out and hyped up the reveal? Maybe. But maybe not...
2. Werewolf Legend (Ulrich). This one seems like a more obvious example of WotC waiting too long, especially since many people view this guy as the missing component of a cycle from the original INN block. Now again, it's undoubtedly in line with the overall flavor (and more debatably the power level) of that old cycle. Whereas people were expecting a Sliver Hivelord-style tribal king, what what got was a generic goodstuff Legend in line with how Grimgrin, 3-legged Olivia, Geist and Mikaeus were like. None of them were Lords, and only one had even implicit tribal synergies built into it. Ulrich fits this mold. BUT he was horribly delayed, both due to a design oversight in INN and an appsrent desire to "save stuff for last" during the current block. Is it any wonder players are so down on the card now that it's been unveiled? They had almost half a decade to build this thing up in their own minds, mis-remember history and then finally see it at almost the last possible moment. Would it not have been better to just throw the card in SOI and have been done with it a bit sooner?
Ultimately I'm wondering if this "wait till the last minute" strategy that WotC has been practicing with EMN and other products is proving detrimental to their hype train. Would it be better if they tried to do this stuff at least a little bit earlier? What's gained or lost either way? And what impact will this trend have on future spoilers and/or releases?
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Vorthos-storyline/Lovecraftiness sank it's hooks in deep. Gameplay wise i'm realizing now that you've posed the question, that ya the last minute reveals kinda sucks. Being on a budget & starting from scratch means not having confirmation of some of the most basic plotpoints of this next half of the block (aka presence of eldrazi & to what extent) limited my building & collecting direction decisions.
We'll see to what extent I may feel salty about this. I can see it shaping up pretty hilariously if my cheap combat tricks + Skulk & Phobia angle gets continued support.
Bringing titans to their knees with 1/1 rats is solid f'ing gold.
Are these the only 3 cards we're going to see this week?
I imagine that they thought Ulrich would be a slamdunk regardless, not unlike spoiling an PW alongside a Mythic creature or Rare land cycle. And why not? So many people were purportedly craving a Werewolf Legend. WotC just assumed they could half-ass the design and reveal. A big problem with a lot of WotC's decisions in terms of development and marketing seem to boil down to poor execution (and often laziness).
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
Agreed. Card is good. Art is great. I do want it bad. Yet somehow the opportunity still seems to have been severely missed. Unless we're gonna see werewolves on new planes sometime, the werewolf lord hopes seem dead in the water & that sucks.
A flashy 3 point hook shot does not a glass shattering slam dunk make.
Emrakul.
Let's start off by addressing the positives, ignoring the negatives. First, we have to give credit to Wizards for the mystery they gave us. Using card art for hints (tentacles randomly showing up, the extra limbs/eyes/etc.) at the big bad was quite appealing. It was a blast trying to crack the code in the early stages of SOI. The best part was the Tamiyo's Journal puzzle. If you look into the original threads on mtgs and Reddit, the explosion of people trying to crack the code was insane. It was truly fun. In addition, the slide into "cosmic horror" feels very fluid and evokes a lot of the feeling it wants to bring out. On paper, this idea is very well designed and it works really well. Their timing, based on their set structure, is arguably the best it can be.
The negatives, though, are important as to why this is ultimately futile, but something I will ultimately encourage them to continue. Let's address the main offender here: the internet. No matter how hard any company tries, people have ready access to an insane network of information and instant communication with others. If you look into shows that attempt to leave hard-to-find clue's in their series for some massive reveal, you'll note that the creators often underestimate the masses (my best example is Gravity Falls) and their ability to work it out amongst themselves insanely fast. Tamiyo's Journal was solved hours after the clues were revealed. A few days ago we had information about a SHIPPING TAG, for crying out loud. The Internet is an omnipresent hurdle that people need to realize is simply impossible to work around without insane levels of secrecy, and even then it rarely works. Let's go to some design flaws, though. The elephant in the room: new Em could never be as powerful as old Em without some serious error. Everyone knows that. I'm not a good enough MtG player to instantly evaluate a card's worth in every format, so I'll ignore new Em's potential power, but we can all agree that it is less than the old. We must accept that this was inevitable. Arguably, she could have had better design, but that's where subjective reasoning hits hard. The real issue with this whole thing goes back to the positives: everything is so cool and we'll designed and just dripping with flavor... Right after the return to Zendikar block. We JUST went back to fight the "big bad" that are the eldrazi. So much build up. So much time and effort put into minor plot points (Gideon on Ravnica, Kiora in Theros, Sorin on Tarkir, introducing Ugin and Nahiri, etc.) about the looming threat of the eldrazi and how our protagonists would defeat them. Then we get back. The climax is here. All the build up and FINALLY we are here. Doesn't matter the opinion of the BFZ block, what matters is that we had our climax and half-resolution. We killed Ula and Kozi, and now we have the looming threat of Em that they can use in the future. Awesome. Except... They didn't end it that way. Here we are, one set later, our return to ANOTHER insanely popular plane, and here's Emrakul, like a giant middle finger to the potential of an amazing story. 'Cause the threat is found immediately. Right after the Eldrazi block, we find it. And while it is okay, cause resolving the Eldrazi storyline HAS to happen sometime, people feel like it's just a too-quick resolution to a problem that's been broadcast over so many years. In addition to all of this, there's a lot of expectation that came from returning to Zendikar and Innistrad, and people, for the most part, feel mildly disappointed. These were two very potent sets in their day, and Wizards is openly pulling back the power level.
It's a cesspool of circumstances that just ends up with people having a bitter taste in their mouth. It's not inherently bad, or disappointing, but there's a lot of factors all playing at once that just feels bad.
Ulrich
I can tl;dr this one a lot more easily, cause it's pretty simple, and the OPPORTUNITY did a really good job on it. Basically they waited too long to put this guy out there. We even got the Zombie Siblings in commander products before him. He's finally revealed, and it's along with Emrakul, with 0 story, 0 articles playing him up, etc. In addition, we have the powerhouse utility card in Huntmaster of the Fells to compare him to, which for most commander junkies would be a preference rather than him. He's not a bad card, just a poorly executed reveal.
My opinion? They're doing pretty well, all considering. I think people are desensitized a bit. I think people expect a lot, maybe too much, and it just can't happen realistically. I have my share of disappointments, but I accept them and love the game and story nonetheless. The new block structure and their move to cohesive linear story has just begun, so I'm happy to give them time to smooth it out. I'm excited to see how this Em on In situation plays out.
Hope that's a good answer. :3
There is not enough support for werewolves and it would take at least more 23 years of magic to make werewolves a good tribe in EDH. I love tribal decks and I've tested pretty much all you can test in edh: ents, merfolk, clerics, druids, etc. etc. The tribes just aren't consistent enough, they need to be an evergreen tribe to get enough material for you to build a 99-card deck with them. So I feel like the disappointment would kinda happen anyway, because some people were expecting a legend that would solve all their consistency problems with their EDH decks (which would never happen).
With all That said, if you look at Tazri, she is a MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE well designed card for those expecting the ally commander. She really is. Tutor on a stick, pump the guys, etc. She is powerful in what she does, has crazy sinergy and makes people happy. That's what the werewolf legend should've been and that's where wizards dropped the ball. Ulrich is boring. He didn't even need to have tribal sinergy to be good, just needeed to be smarter design-wise. "How so?" you may ask. Simple: for startes giving him flash. That would allow you to pass the turn to flip your werewolves and leave mana open for your commander. Then you could have him 'flipping' at will. Give him the werewolf clause, but also make it possible to flip by paying mana, for instance, and have his werewolf side be sort of Eidolon like 'whenever a player casts a spell, this player takes 3 points of damage'. That way he makes your opponent not want to cast multiple spells in a turn to unflip your werewolves. Anyway, just one though of course, you would have to think power/toughness and mana cost, but it would make him synergistic, wouldn't hurt the color pie and he wouldn't have to be a lord.
So yeah, WoTC dropped the ball hard on Ulrich's design, I don't think the problem was the timing. However, some people would get disappointed nonetheless, because they had unrealistic expectations.
Emrakul is a similar problem, but I won't extend myself. Make some tweaks here and there (full mindslaver, hexproof) and she would be busted. Completely crazy, and awesome. They played too safe. Without the 'cant be countered' clause I think it would be fair a card with the tweaks. So, once again, not much a problem of the hype, but a problem of the design of the card. If Emrakul turned out to be an awesome card, everything would've payed off, but they hyped and hyped and hyped and because we are in the depowered era of magic they couldn't keep up with all the hype they built. Sad times, but it happens.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
Please tell me this is hyperbole. Obviously some of the users here are idiots (that's true of all communities), but some are great players, reviewers, builders, designers, etc.
We don't need the proverbial philosopher-kings to TELL US what's true. The pros can contribute to the conversation, but they don't control it.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
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.
I was being a bit sarcastic but meant what I said. The vast majority of the Magic community is absolutely terrible at card evaluation. Duds like Sin Prodder get hyped to high heaven while legitimately great cards like Kolaghan's Command fly under the radar until a major tournament's results show that they are good. This happens every new set without fail.
But don't worry. I wasn't talking about you. I'm sure you're great at card evaluation.
I get confused by this type of response by the MTG community. I was solidly in the "there's no way it would be Emrakul" camp until the evidence from solving Tamiyo's Journal/clue tokens became insurmountable. Even after that, I still held out hope that it wouldn't be Emrakul. I knew it would be, but had this tiny flame of hope that Wizards would do something off the wall that would still make sense. Then, Emrakul. Was I disappointed? Not in the least! Despite really, really wanting something else, Emrakul was spoiled, and she's amazing. She fits the plot line, she ties the stories together, she fits the clues. She's exactly what Wizards has been building to. All the stories have alluded to Emrakul being "out there." To see the culmination of a story is fantastic. Ulamog and Kozilek were not the culmination because they weren't the biggest, the baddest, nor the last. Each block is like reading a novel that's part of a grand arching story across many novels (e.g. Wheel of Times by Robert Jordan). Each novel has it's own major plot and it's subplots, and usually ends with a major conflict/resolution that pertains to the specific novel itself, but is still not the final battle. That takes place in the final novel, usually near the end. The last several years have been building to this point. We are taking part in that culmination, and I am both intrigued to see how it concludes and also to see where we go after the story is concluded.
So, tell me, how is "disappointment" a legitimate response when viewing it in this lens?
How do you know this version is lazy, boring, and kinda nerfed? As noted in the article Wizards wrote today, Emrakul went through lots of design iterations. Lots of playtesting. They have many things to consider when designing a card, and "wow-ing" the audience is only a component of that. Playability, complexity, health of the format, flavor... these all play a part in ensuring that Emrakul is as best as can be for the game as possible. That makes her design not lazy. She's boring? Who else has protection from instants? What other creature let's you Mindslaver? What would be boring would be the same Emrakul as before (and would also be lazy to be the same Emrakul). They designed a very flavorful Emrakul that both demonstrates elements of the original but is also quite different. And we have no idea if she's nerfed or not. We haven't playtested with her yet. It's impossible to say at this point. She could be freakin awesome for all we know. She looks difficult to get into play, but then, what high CMC creature isn't hard to get into play? I would still be quite happy to drop her with Nahiri, because a 13/13 with flying, trample, and haste (thank you Nahiri!) that you can't target with most of your removal is going to absolutely wreck you. And if you can abuse the cost reduction mechanic, she is arguably easier to play and much much stronger than Dragonlord Atarka, who has seem ample play in R/G ramp.
Anytime the any community is waiting for something with bated breath, it will invariably be a disappointment to some, if not many. We all come up with our own ideas of what this or that will be, and when reality hits, it doesn't line up with our expectations. And that leads to disappointment. Wizards cannot, cannot deliver a product that will cater to everyone's needs. It's literally impossible. But Wizards is typically also quite transparent where they feel they could have done better and try to learn from their mistakes to make a better overall gaming experience for the community. We should thank Wizards for the Legendary Werewolf first and foremost, because they delivered what many have been asking for. However, I do agree that the design is overly simplistic for the Commander environment. If Wizards is going to do a commander Werewolf justice, it really needs to be part of some Commander product IMO. Cuz I'm gonna be honest, it's a feel bad in draft to open a pack and your rare slot has a Commander designed card. You pass that sucka along!
The waiting until the last minute is typically good. Emrakul was spoiled so late because of the mystery concept, which overall, was really well executed. They didn't do a Werewolf legend, which was a mistake, and it took years before they came back to Innistrad to give us the legend. This is what happens when mistakes are made. What other "last minute" things are there?
I'll give them credit for creating cute puzzles. I won't give them credit for a non-existent "mystery".
Honestly if you're expecting anything but the laziest, most obvious solution from anything Wizards creative pumps out you're doing it wrong.
First There was no mystery. The second they sent Jace to Innistrad, I knew the plot revolved around Emrakul. That was before a single SOI card was reveled. The clues was plain. "They come in threes" nonsense removing all hope of an actual mystery. People hoped and prayed it wouldn't be the villain that was the most extremely obvious one. That hope was in vain. Before the big announcement of it was Emrakul people guessed it was a 13/13 for 13 and one guy even stated it would have an mindslaver effect and would have a cost saver effect based on cards types in the graveyard. There was no mystery and that was the problem. If most people seen it before they announced it it isn't going to excite the masses they way a good mystery could. The story telling as a mystery as it was billed was awful.
Second problem is we had the Watch VS. Eldrazi just last block. There was substantial burnout with Eldrazi especially for those that played limited or modern. The Battle/oath block was not a good limited environments largely do to color imbalances caused the Eldrazi. And until the ban hammer nailed the deck Eldrazi ruined modern as it was far too powerful. I am dreading another Eldrazi based set. Wizards has shown they can't get them right. They failed in all three sets they were in. It was too soon given the burn out of many.
Third problem is they could not match the power of the original Emrakul for balance reasons. That makes it so any card printed will not live up to the build up or it would break the game. There was no fixing this issue. But it disappointed some Emrakul fans.
Forth issue is we just seen a beloved plane wiped out and will never be the same plain they grew to love. There was more then a few disappointed in this. Now there is real fear by some that this will be Innistrad fate. I don't think it will be but some feel it will be. Innistrad is popular, in fact it is many peoples favorite plane. Many don't wan't it prematurely damaged like Zendikar. If it isn't then it really undermines Emrakul as the baddest Eldrazi of them all.
Lastly, Emrakul made a good floating threat. That threat is no longer floating. Other than chasing her away or trapping her, both of which would reduce her as a real treat, there is no good way to preserve both Innistrad and the Eldrazi. This is sloppy story telling on wizards part. After the trap/kill Emrakul there is little left for the gatewatch four/five to do as a team. They are going to have to jump through hoops to keep the band together. If Emrakul wins/flees then we get the same basic story again of Eldrazi vs. the Gatewatch. Reusing the same plot over and over again gets old.
As for Ulrich, I dislike flip cards so I could care less about him. I am not looking forward to the flip Eldrazi. Worse of the last two blocks. The Eldrazi that I am sick of and the flip cards that aren't good for paper draft in my opinion. I really don't like the flip cards. I do realize I am in the minority on flip cards. I really doubt I am in the minority about being sick of the Eldrazi though. I do get the disappointment in those wanting a tribal commander. Ulrich is a poor fit for that. He does nothing for the tribe as a whole. Solid card but a poor commander.
Actually, Wizard's printed a set of "Placeholder" tokens that go in your deck in place for the flip card so you don't have to buy sleeves to play them...
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
Premise II: "Power {tends to} Corrupt" ~ Baron Acton, 1887
Conclusion: "Knowledge Corrupts"
Even if I bought your premise, your examples aren't great. Prodder was hyped up a bit, but no more than any other decent red 3-drop (something we don't get enough of for Cube or in Constructed). And he's still a decent card, very possibly in the top 5 of red 3-drops in Cube and very easily Standard playable card (now or post-rotation). MeAnwhile, basically all the Commands had their defenders and detractors, with mana cost and color preference being the deciding factors for most players. I think Kolaghan's was actually hyped up pretty high given it's cost and colors, actually.
This sounds patronizing, even if it wasn't intended as such. Just saying.
I'm psychic.
As odd as this might read, a lazy design often doesn't happen overnight. Just like people usually aren't trying to make bad movies. What makes her lazy from an outside perspective is that she doesn't do anything terribly new or unexpected. And the few almost exciting things she does do feel nerfed.
Yes, she is. And at least 2 others, off the top of my head. More if you count hate bears.
None, including her. She attempts to do a "fair" version of the effect, which is akin to saying "I'm not an [x] but..."
They should have either committed to doing Mindslaver, or done a Time Walk variant, or just done something completely different. As is, it felt very obviously like they wanted to attempt being aggressive with her design but lacked the balls to commit.
Or just a weaker variation, which is basically what we got.
I'm no Vorthos, but this doesn't seem very flavorful to me or most of the other players I've talked to (including the ones who like her).
That's just disingenuous.
If by "awesome" you mean "see play," then I agree. Either way, my descriptors would still apply. Plenty of boring, lazy, and/or nerfed cards have seen play (mostly in Standard).
That was kinda my point.
I'd love to say I agree, but I've seen them repeat the same patterns too often. They play lip-service to the thing you're talking about, but they also can make very confusing and poorly thought-out choices regarding design, rarity and distribution of products (see BFZ, OGW, MM2, EMA, etc). I know I might sound oddly mistrustful of WotC, but I'm just very skeptical of this assumption that they put the players' interests in appropriate priority most of the time.
This is entirely the wrong mindset. Saying, "thank you so much" for delivering something we're not satisfied with isn't the way to stoke change. Explaining, clearly and politely, why their release(s) didn't impress us is.
Even though they already do plenty of that regardless (which we apparently agree is a bad thing).
I can point you to dozens of sources which contradict that, including yourself above!
Again, gotta disagree there. The problems with the storyline are numerouis and well-documented. As far as the quasi-ARG involving puzzles, meh.
I know! Wasn't it awful?
Also, I guarantee you netdecking's been around longer than you realize (albeit more subtle and less widespread).
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.
There are more tribes than that that work. My Zombie, Elemental, and Ratfolk decks would like to have a word with you.
As for Ulrich, he should have been Tovolar and he should have been a one sided card that read: ETB, Transform all humans you control. Non-human werewolf creatures you control can't transform.
That would have been easy and extremely flavorful. Instead we get a half-hearted attempt at "cool" werewolf legendary.
Mark my words, the Year of Eldrazi will not be the last we see of them.
RGUCascade Cascade -- When you want to put a Roil Elemental into play before a Boundless Realms is cast...RGU
QFT. I feel like this applies to the majority of designs these days, honestly. Thus the problems and complaints.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube