I have noticed a recent drop in the price of cards from Alara block. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it's a coincidence, maybe(hopefully) we're finally getting a return to Alara.
The big reason people wanted to return to Alara was for wedge. (And we got a bit of Alara Wedge with Maelstrom Entity and Kaalia of the Vast.) We have Tarkir for that now, though. (Well, not really. Maybe. They've set up Tarkir so that an eventual Return to Tarkir can return to wedge, though.)
Would still be awesome to return, but a few of the shard mechanics were problematic. I mean, really, since when does white care about "power matters"? Or black caring about artifacts, or blue and red getting Apprentice Necromancer-type cards?
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
The big reason people wanted to return to Alara was for wedge. (And we got a bit of Alara Wedge with Maelstrom Entity and Kaalia of the Vast.) We have Tarkir for that now, though. (Well, not really. Maybe. They've set up Tarkir so that an eventual Return to Tarkir can return to wedge, though.)
Would still be awesome to return, but a few of the shard mechanics were problematic. I mean, really, since when does white care about "power matters"? Or black caring about artifacts, or blue and red getting Apprentice Necromancer-type cards?
Well, white cares a lot about power matters. It just tends to be the one hosing big dudes. Black cares about artifacts in artifact blocks. Unearth isn't really that strange in blue or red. They both cheat creatures in, just not usually from the graveyard.
The big reason people wanted to return to Alara was for wedge. (And we got a bit of Alara Wedge with Maelstrom Entity and Kaalia of the Vast.) We have Tarkir for that now, though. (Well, not really. Maybe. They've set up Tarkir so that an eventual Return to Tarkir can return to wedge, though.)
Would still be awesome to return, but a few of the shard mechanics were problematic. I mean, really, since when does white care about "power matters"? Or black caring about artifacts, or blue and red getting Apprentice Necromancer-type cards?
Remember that each Shard was dominated by one color which determined that Shard's mechanical identity. Green cares very much about big creatures, ergo so do red and white. Blue likes artifacts, so white and black followed along. Black is big on necromancy, so blue and red dabbled in it.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Still, white caring about fatties and black caring about artifacts felt weird. Oddly, death triggers appear more in green and black than in red, though red does get some.
Tarkir had the same problem with prowess, FWIW. White really isn't about "noncreature".
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Price drops don't have anything to do with whether WotC is returning to a plane. Tarmogoyf doesn't know it's worth over $100, all it knows is that it's going to go munch on that planeswalker over there because another planeswalker told it to. If price drops indicated we'd return to a plane, we would have returned to homelands and mercadia by now I think.
There are a lot of places to return to before alara and alara was not that well received.
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"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
As much as I loved the set, didn't the plane go Kaboom!? It would effectively be a new plane anyways because the shards are all together and not isolated and uniquely colored. Sure, you could still call it Alara, but it would still effectively be a new set, unlike returning to Ravinca, Innistrad, Zendikar or wherever we have returned to.
Also, yes, the feedback from that set weren't as glowing as they could have been, especially Alara Reborn considering that it was 100% multicolored, and some people really didn't like it. WotC is returning to the most popular places to help further drive sales up, hence the returns to the aforementioned planes.
Still, white caring about fatties and black caring about artifacts felt weird. Oddly, death triggers appear more in green and black than in red, though red does get some.
Tarkir had the same problem with prowess, FWIW. White really isn't about "noncreature".
White's more likely to care about toughness than power, but Naya's white cards were flavored after reverence for the shard's behemoths and other large beasts. It's white leaning green. Black makes sense as an artifacts matter color since it's willing to use anything to win. Red's death triggers tend to be more "when this creature dies" rather than "whenever another creature dies" or "whenever this or another creature dies".
Remember that enchantments and artifacts can trigger Prowess too, and White cares a lot about enchantments and Equipment, so it makes sense as a tertiary Prowess color.
As much as I loved the set, didn't the plane go Kaboom!? It would effectively be a new plane anyways because the shards are all together and not isolated and uniquely colored. Sure, you could still call it Alara, but it would still effectively be a new set, unlike returning to Ravinca, Innistrad, Zendikar or wherever we have returned to.
No, the plane's five shards all recombined into one whole Alara, hence the Conflux. The five Shards still exist as identities, more akin to Tarkir's factions. The Shards are so strongly associated with Alara that players would expect them to return just as BFZ brought back Allies and Landfall and SOI brought back DFCs.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
Would still be awesome to return, but a few of the shard mechanics were problematic. I mean, really, since when does white care about "power matters"? Or black caring about artifacts, or blue and red getting Apprentice Necromancer-type cards?
On phasing:
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Commander: WUBRG Superfriends, GW Rhys Tokens, WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Kitchen Table (now that's real Magic): WUBRG Domain, GU Biovisionary, UB Korlash Grandeur, UW Merfolk Mill
Remember that each Shard was dominated by one color which determined that Shard's mechanical identity. Green cares very much about big creatures, ergo so do red and white. Blue likes artifacts, so white and black followed along. Black is big on necromancy, so blue and red dabbled in it.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Tarkir had the same problem with prowess, FWIW. White really isn't about "noncreature".
On phasing:
There are a lot of places to return to before alara and alara was not that well received.
Currently Playing:
Retired
Also, yes, the feedback from that set weren't as glowing as they could have been, especially Alara Reborn considering that it was 100% multicolored, and some people really didn't like it. WotC is returning to the most popular places to help further drive sales up, hence the returns to the aforementioned planes.
White's more likely to care about toughness than power, but Naya's white cards were flavored after reverence for the shard's behemoths and other large beasts. It's white leaning green. Black makes sense as an artifacts matter color since it's willing to use anything to win. Red's death triggers tend to be more "when this creature dies" rather than "whenever another creature dies" or "whenever this or another creature dies".
Remember that enchantments and artifacts can trigger Prowess too, and White cares a lot about enchantments and Equipment, so it makes sense as a tertiary Prowess color.
No, the plane's five shards all recombined into one whole Alara, hence the Conflux. The five Shards still exist as identities, more akin to Tarkir's factions. The Shards are so strongly associated with Alara that players would expect them to return just as BFZ brought back Allies and Landfall and SOI brought back DFCs.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.