Though Maro has indicated that a return to Alara is more an if than a when, my hope is that one day they will return, now that they no longer have the pressure of making three-set blocks. If they do return, there's a chance Cycling will return.
And if Cycling returns, that means we may see duals with cycling like those in Amonkhet return.
However, instead of simply reprinting the allied Cycling duals, what if they chose to print the enemy-color counterparts in the set? My reasoning is that, having learned their lesson from last time, they'll make sure to include at the very least common ally duals (likely the KTK cycle), common Banners (replacing the old Obelisks), and uncommon trilands, so ally fixing will be plentiful. Ally color cycling duals will be fought over in Draft between two shards, while enemy-color duals each fit into one particular Shard, so if one shows up in draft, a player drafting the appropriate shard is more likely to pick it. Plus rare duals are aimed at standard, which needs efficient color fixing, moreso than limited, where the common and uncommon fixers will be more plentiful and thus more important.
Not to mention the cycling duals have the added bonus of playing nicely with Domain from the last trip, though I wouldn't expect Domain to show up this time as that pushes towards five color, a theme which I don't think they'd want to cram into the set.
Another lesson they learned was to make sure each faction had a mechanic, after complaints about Esper and Naya not having proper keywords. So, this time around we could likely see Cycling and five Shard mechanics.
Bant could easily get Exalted, or a tweak on it. My idea is that they get a mechanic called Award that creates Sigil artifact tokens that effectively have Exalted, but spelled out rather than as a keyword proper. This is so Bant has more synergy with Esper than last time while still synergizing with Naya.
Esper obviously wants something artifact-centric. My favorite pick is Metalcraft, which rewards you for controlling three or more artifacts. Metalcraft lines up nicely with Alara's three color theme and Esper's artifact theme, not to mention Bant's Sigils help support it.
Grixis should get something to do with death or the graveyard. They could revisit Unearth, but my idea is that they try a different approach this time, like Morbid, or a new mechanic, maybe one similar to Embalm and Eternalize.
Jund 's Devour mechanic was a bit problematic, both in that it was hard to do at common because of how big creatures with Devour could get, and also because it posed a risk of serious card disadvantage. My suggestion would be to use Bloodthirst, a mechanic that has appeared in Jund colors before, fits Jund's aggressive, predatory nature, builds your resources rather than cannibalizes them, can support any high-power theme Naya might have, and still plays with +1/+1 counters, allowing room for synergy.
Naya's Power 5 focus could return, in which case I would call it Mighty, basically Ferocious but for Power 5. I would consider a scaling mechanic called Supreme that checks the highest power among creatures you control, but scaling effects are hard to do in large number, more so at common, while Mighty is binary, greatly increasing the range of effects you can use with it.
Finally, the Planeswalkers. Since Alara is the home plane of Ajani (from Naya) and Tezzeret (from Esper), I think it stands to reason that both of them would show up in the set, helping support their home Shard's themes (while also lending aid to the other Shard using their color pairs, namely Bant and Grixis). There's a possibility that, after the war with Bolas on Ravnica, Tezzeret decides to start bringing Phyrexians to other worlds using the Planar Bridge, which could lead into a second set where the people of Alara band together against the invaders (and that could be a good place for Domain, that or Converge). Thus, his appearance in the first set would be a prelude to that.
Of course, Ajani would be GW and Tezzeret UB, so that leaves a planeswalker to represent red. Since the main red mechanic of the set would be Bloodthirst, which would be greatly supported by direct damage, Chandra could easily be the red PW for New Alara...but, Alara does have dragons, not to mention Shards of Alara was when we were first introduced to Sarkhan Vol. Thus, he could be the third planeswalker of New Alara, perhaps an ally of Gatewatch by that point. He could be monored for color balance, or he could be BRG, firmly aligning him with Jund, in which case the next set would likely have more red, white, and blue presence to counterbalance the heavier amount of black and green in New Alara's planeswalkers. (Hmm, red, white, and blue planeswalkers in a set focused on a war with the Phyrexians? Now whydoes thatsound familiar?)
As for that second set with the Phyrexians, since five color would likely be a focus there, how does Alara United sound as a name? Alara United in turn could focus more on enemy pairs, showing opposing Shards working together to battle the invading Phyrexian menace. Alara United would likely have 1-2 mechanics for the Alarans and an equal number for the Phyrexians, much like what happened in Scars of Mirrodin. Domain/Converge would logically be one of the Alaran mechanics while the Phyrexians lean towards colorlessness, perhaps with twobrid or phyrexian mana on many of their cards. The Phyrexians would be weighted towards Esper and Grixis colors as those are the Shards where they would most easily gain foothold, while the Alarans lean towards Naya and Bant colors. In other words, the Alarans are more green and the Phyrexians more black, appropriately enough.
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.
I fully support the return to Alara. It was one of the coolest planes. I don't really see any good reason not to want to go back. Tri-coloured themes are cool and wizards has continued to pull inspiration from the plane years after it was finished. In every commander set there is always at least 1 new commander that is from Alara. Gyrus from the latest set, Kess and Nazahn from the one before, Yidris and Breya before that, the list goes on.
We all know that Elspeth isn't really dead, and actually in the underworld on Theros
The new artwork has essentially confirmed that. Eventually she's gonna show up and try to save it right?
Why not just use ferocious for Alara? (Also, they need to separate some of their Tarkir factions from their Alara factions thematically moar.)
As for Elspeth, she's dead, but yes, in the underworld. The question is how she can escape and keep her identity (and her spark)? Actually, now that I think about it, what happens to a dead planeswalker's spark? I mean, Venser transferred his spark to Karn, so at least we won't have Phyrexians reclaiming his corpse, resurrecting him, and learning how to planeswalk. (Though a card with a name like Venser the Tormented would be awesome.)
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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!
I fully support the return to Alara. It was one of the coolest planes. I don't really see any good reason not to want to go back. Tri-coloured themes are cool and wizards has continued to pull inspiration from the plane years after it was finished. In every commander set there is always at least 1 new commander that is from Alara. Gyrus from the latest set, Kess and Nazahn from the one before, Yidris and Breya before that, the list goes on.
We all know that Elspeth isn't really dead, and actually in the underworld on Theros
The new artwork has essentially confirmed that. Eventually she's gonna show up and try to save it right?
Please wizards!
We sure about Gyrus? Did Wizards post an article talking about the backgrounds of the C18 legends besides the planeswalkers? But otherwise, you are correct. Here are all the Alara legends introduced in Commander so far:
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.
I fully support the return to Alara. It was one of the coolest planes. I don't really see any good reason not to want to go back. Tri-coloured themes are cool and wizards has continued to pull inspiration from the plane years after it was finished. In every commander set there is always at least 1 new commander that is from Alara. Gyrus from the latest set, Kess and Nazahn from the one before, Yidris and Breya before that, the list goes on.
We all know that Elspeth isn't really dead, and actually in the underworld on Theros
The new artwork has essentially confirmed that. Eventually she's gonna show up and try to save it right?
Please wizards!
We sure about Gyrus? Did Wizards post an article talking about the backgrounds of the C18 legends besides the planeswalkers? But otherwise, you are correct. Here are all the Alara legends introduced in Commander so far:
In the swamps of Jund, one of the reunited shards of Alara, the terrifying hydra Gyrus hunts–but not alone. Its heads dredge dead things from the murky water and animate them as shadows of their former selves. Zombified crocodiles, snakes, and other creatures serve Gyrus, bringing food to blunt the hydra's insatiable hunger.
@leslak: Ah, thank you. So, non-Beast Hydras besides Progenitusdo exist on Alara, though I suppose we already knew that thanks to Apocalypse Hydra. I'll update my earlier list accordingly.
Why would they replace the Obelisks with the Banners? Obelisks are native to Alara, Banners to Tarkir. Flavor-wise, I don't see a reason for a change.
Well, I was using it more as a term for mana rocks that work like the Tarkir Banners in that they tap for three different colors and can be sacced to draw a card, but because the Shards of Alara have effectively become nations, I could see the Shard Banners being actual Banners. Banners as a concept are most definitely not restricted to Tarkir; they could have Guild Banners on Ravnica if they so wanted. Overall the idea is that you replace the now-defunct Obelisk cycle with a cycle of new, superior mana rocks that add the sac ability from Tarkir's Banners. For example, the Bant rock would look like this:
Bant Rock3
Artifact T: Add G, W, or U. GWU, T, Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.
They made this change in KTK so that each rock would more likely be drafted by players actually playing that faction. A Bant player might grab a Obelisk of Esper or Obelisk of Naya since they support two of Bant's three colors, but a Jeskai player is less likely to grab a Mardu Banner or Temur Banner since they won't be able to use the sac ability, making it less appealing to them. So, if they do return to Alara, the new cycle of mana rocks will be templated like Tarkir's Banners, whether or not they themselves actually are Banners.
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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.
I'm all for seeing a return to Alara. It's my favourite world with my favourite characters, and going back will allow WotC address what they left out of the first visit. Really hoping to see RGW cats supported through a card for Zaliki and supplemental sets haven't delivered in ten years.
Really hoping to see RGW cats supported through a card for Zaliki and supplemental sets haven't delivered in ten years.
Half of me wishes that Arcane Wizardry had been WUB rather than UBR so Feline Ferocity could have been RGW, but red's fireballs and lightning bolts suit Wizards more, and I'm happy we at least finally got some GW Cat legends, two of which I like very much. Since Naya isn't strictly Beast tribal, I could see a RGW Cat legend that finally statisfies the demand, though that legend likely won't be Cat tribal. Of course we could always get a RGW Cat Beast legend. Maybe Felidar exist on Naya?
I'd like to see the Sword of Asha, myself. And a Grixis Demon legend. So far Grixis has had Malfegor and Nefarox as rulers, neither of which have been Grixis-colored, though there's a chance Nefarox will be Grixis-colored when next we see him. Thraximundar could easily have been a Demon.
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.
Well, we're in the middle of a return to Ravnica, so I don't imagine we'll be returning there anytime soon, if ever; Maro's made some ominous hints that there may not be a Ravnica to return to after this visit concludes. Alara sadly is an If according to Maro, but I imagine far more likely than Kamigawa or Lorwyn. Theros is probably the next most likely plane to get a return trip, as it was popular and it has a few major story threads to resolve.
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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.
Meh WOTC doesn't have the balls to nuke Ravnica into the ground. I mean they walked back Dominaria...don't get me wrong I liked returning Dominaria but did it really feel post apocalypse? I mean Zhalfir was gone, Tolaria in ruins although home to a new academy and a New Dark Lord operating out of Yawgmoth's Old Hunts. But all the major players still seem to exist in terms of territory and be in perfectly fine shape.
I will be impressed if Bolas takes out two Gatewatchers. He won't come close to Yawgmoth Named Kill Count.
I do want to go back to Alara though. I mean Tarkir was a three color world and it was popular so Alara has a chance to be good.
First off, Venser gave his spark to Karn, so he's no longer a planeswalker. And because he died, Venser no longer can be a planeswalker. The undead can't hold a spark (and no, Sorin is not undead. Innistrad vampires work a little differently). That said, they just sorta left Venser's corpse in Karn's chamber, so no doubt the Phyrexians found it and compleated it. Nevermind, turns out Karn took Venser's body and hid it somewhere.
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.
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.
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!
*GASP* How could I forget Nazahn? He's one of my favorites from C17! I'll amend the list.
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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.
*GASP* How could I forget Nazahn? He's one of my favorites from C17! I'll amend the list.
I like how Kess looks like she's carrying dust around. Someone "Let me guess, your home?" her. (Which, then again, her and Kaalia.)
My theory is that the shards won't be so heavily defined as they were in the original Alara block. Simple reason: Alara is now whole. We already saw in Alara Reborn, immigrants from one shard to another like Vedalken Heretic. And we've seen cards representing Alara in wedges and four-color in supplemental sets.
As for when? I assume it won't be in the next two years. They want to cycle a bit before going back to multicolor.
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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!
I think they're going to backpedal a bit and retain each Shard's identity (you still have the Bant Kingdoms, the Grixis Deadlands, and so on), but maybe demonstrate immigrants from one Shard to another. Say for example Bloodthirst is the new Jund mechanic; we'd get a Vampire with Bloodthirst that shows there are now Vampire clans in Jund, tracing their origins back to Grixis but favoring Jund's hotter, fresher blood. Likewise we could get Leonin Knights officially associated with Bant and Equipment, despite descending from Naya's Nacatl. Each card in New Alara has a dominant Shard or Domain that determines which watermark the card gets. Qasali Pridemage for instance would be considered a Bant card, as it features Bant's mechanic from that set and is clearly weighted towards Bant in flavor. Rhox Brute would be a Jund card. And so forth.
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.
True. Though I don't think Bant's contribution to the equipment cycle, Shield of the Righteous, ever saw play.
I wonder how the nacatl feel about the leotau?
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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!
Now that I think about it, the Nacatl and Leonin in New Alara would probably have a lifegain subtheme going on thanks to Ajani. Indeed, I could see lifegain being the GW subtheme of New Alara. One of the mini-cycles could be uncommon Recognition enchantments that Award you whenever you do a particular thing:
G Scout's Recognition - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you get awarded. W Healer's Recognition - Whenever you gain life, you get awarded. U Sorcerer's Recognition - Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you get awarded.
To make the wording for award sound a little less awkward, I'm trying a new wording that can potentially affect different players (handy for, say, a team-based set like Battlebond ). If the green one triggering off land proved to be too good, then the lifegain trigger could be moved to the green Recognition instead.
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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.
If they are going to retain each shard when they return to Alara, they're going to need to go back and refine what each shard is because, honestly, most of them are pretty lame and ill-defined as three color societies/lands. Naya, Grixis, and Bant could all easily be changed to mono-green, black and white and hardly anything there would feel out of place. Compared to the Ravnivan Guilds, of which each feels like a synthesis of each of their colors, most of the Shards feel like mono-color sundaes with the other two colors as sprinkles on top and I don't think that's a satisfactory place to be for the worlds that are the flagship names of these tri-color combinations.
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
Alara was a terrible draft environment. In retrospect the EDH and flavour communities grew to love it, but its draft was awful.
Mechanically the set did not feel to have much of a theme, and any set with 3 colour faction/shards/guilds is going to have a massive issue. If the fixing is too good and sextant/mana washer-esque, you end up in four or five col good stuff. If it is three col and linked by a 3 cc artifact that fixes the shard, the person who goes T1land/T2land - cheap 2 col dude-/ T3 3 mana rock/ T4 4cc or more likely 5cc common in 3 cols just flat out wins when the opponent goes land/no spell because they don't have the right two cols/no rock and still no spell because they are still missing a col.
In short you hit 3 cols and a half decent curve you win if the opponent doesn't, which is MTG but which also will happen more often. The fixes to this are easy but thematically hard to pull off. 1 and 2 cc dudes that are playable in single cols, scry or similar, morph, alternate costs, hybrid mana, not many as many multi mana cards or a very slow environ with lots of single cc removal and modal cards. Trouble is many of these have been done elsewhere and would engender complaints that it does not feel like Alara. I would be happy if they just did the set and made it full of Scry, but even then I would wager many would say that does not feel like Alara.
Perhaps the best place to visit Alara would be in a supplemental product, that way EDH fans would get their 3 col monstrosities and they would not have to change the mechanical feel too much, enabling more Cascaders etc.
Each Shard is lead by one particular color. Same with the Clans of KTK. You can't handle tricolor the same way you do dualcolor. With dualcolor, you can afford to be symmetric. But if you want a tricolor faction to have a cohesive identity, one of the three colors has to take the lead to help inform that faction's mechanical focus.
Let's say you had a world themed around crime. GWU could be lead by blue in that world and Investigate could be its mechanic. By the same token, WUB would be lead by black, and maybe have a theme of politics, corruption, and organized crime. UBR would be lead by red, and could focus on theft and Gold or Treasure, with maybe a hint of pleasure-oriented businesses such as drug dealing and red-light districts going on in the background. BRG would be lead by green and probably be the "ecoterrorist luddite" faction, focused on violent crimes such as vandalism and murder. And finally we'd have RGW lead by white, a faction of vigilantes fighting for justice at the expense of the law.
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.
The fifth issue of the IDW Chandra comic is available for preorder now, and it’s #1 of a second miniseries rather than #5 of the first. The title is “Chandra: Trials of Alara.” We could be looking at the name of our return set here.
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Give Zaliki a Card
I must have all the cats!
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However, instead of simply reprinting the allied Cycling duals, what if they chose to print the enemy-color counterparts in the set? My reasoning is that, having learned their lesson from last time, they'll make sure to include at the very least common ally duals (likely the KTK cycle), common Banners (replacing the old Obelisks), and uncommon trilands, so ally fixing will be plentiful. Ally color cycling duals will be fought over in Draft between two shards, while enemy-color duals each fit into one particular Shard, so if one shows up in draft, a player drafting the appropriate shard is more likely to pick it. Plus rare duals are aimed at standard, which needs efficient color fixing, moreso than limited, where the common and uncommon fixers will be more plentiful and thus more important.
Not to mention the cycling duals have the added bonus of playing nicely with Domain from the last trip, though I wouldn't expect Domain to show up this time as that pushes towards five color, a theme which I don't think they'd want to cram into the set.
Bant could easily get Exalted, or a tweak on it. My idea is that they get a mechanic called Award that creates Sigil artifact tokens that effectively have Exalted, but spelled out rather than as a keyword proper. This is so Bant has more synergy with Esper than last time while still synergizing with Naya.
Esper obviously wants something artifact-centric. My favorite pick is Metalcraft, which rewards you for controlling three or more artifacts. Metalcraft lines up nicely with Alara's three color theme and Esper's artifact theme, not to mention Bant's Sigils help support it.
Grixis should get something to do with death or the graveyard. They could revisit Unearth, but my idea is that they try a different approach this time, like Morbid, or a new mechanic, maybe one similar to Embalm and Eternalize.
Jund 's Devour mechanic was a bit problematic, both in that it was hard to do at common because of how big creatures with Devour could get, and also because it posed a risk of serious card disadvantage. My suggestion would be to use Bloodthirst, a mechanic that has appeared in Jund colors before, fits Jund's aggressive, predatory nature, builds your resources rather than cannibalizes them, can support any high-power theme Naya might have, and still plays with +1/+1 counters, allowing room for synergy.
Naya's Power 5 focus could return, in which case I would call it Mighty, basically Ferocious but for Power 5. I would consider a scaling mechanic called Supreme that checks the highest power among creatures you control, but scaling effects are hard to do in large number, more so at common, while Mighty is binary, greatly increasing the range of effects you can use with it.
So, my suggested Mechanics lineup would be thus:
Bant - Award
Esper - Metalcraft
Grixis - Morbid
Jund - Bloodthirst
Naya - Mighty
Neutral - Cycling
Of course, Ajani would be GW and Tezzeret UB, so that leaves a planeswalker to represent red. Since the main red mechanic of the set would be Bloodthirst, which would be greatly supported by direct damage, Chandra could easily be the red PW for New Alara...but, Alara does have dragons, not to mention Shards of Alara was when we were first introduced to Sarkhan Vol. Thus, he could be the third planeswalker of New Alara, perhaps an ally of Gatewatch by that point. He could be monored for color balance, or he could be BRG, firmly aligning him with Jund, in which case the next set would likely have more red, white, and blue presence to counterbalance the heavier amount of black and green in New Alara's planeswalkers. (Hmm, red, white, and blue planeswalkers in a set focused on a war with the Phyrexians? Now why does that sound familiar?)
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.
We all know that Elspeth isn't really dead, and actually in the underworld on Theros
The new artwork has essentially confirmed that. Eventually she's gonna show up and try to save it right?
Please wizards!
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
As for Elspeth, she's dead, but yes, in the underworld. The question is how she can escape and keep her identity (and her spark)? Actually, now that I think about it, what happens to a dead planeswalker's spark? I mean, Venser transferred his spark to Karn, so at least we won't have Phyrexians reclaiming his corpse, resurrecting him, and learning how to planeswalk. (Though a card with a name like Venser the Tormented would be awesome.)
On phasing:
We sure about Gyrus? Did Wizards post an article talking about the backgrounds of the C18 legends besides the planeswalkers? But otherwise, you are correct. Here are all the Alara legends introduced in Commander so far:
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.
Yes Girus is a hydra from the merged shard of jund.
Gyrus, Waker of Corpses
—Lim-Dûl, the Necromancer
Well, I was using it more as a term for mana rocks that work like the Tarkir Banners in that they tap for three different colors and can be sacced to draw a card, but because the Shards of Alara have effectively become nations, I could see the Shard Banners being actual Banners. Banners as a concept are most definitely not restricted to Tarkir; they could have Guild Banners on Ravnica if they so wanted. Overall the idea is that you replace the now-defunct Obelisk cycle with a cycle of new, superior mana rocks that add the sac ability from Tarkir's Banners. For example, the Bant rock would look like this:
Bant Rock 3
Artifact
T: Add G, W, or U.
GWU, T, Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.
They made this change in KTK so that each rock would more likely be drafted by players actually playing that faction. A Bant player might grab a Obelisk of Esper or Obelisk of Naya since they support two of Bant's three colors, but a Jeskai player is less likely to grab a Mardu Banner or Temur Banner since they won't be able to use the sac ability, making it less appealing to them. So, if they do return to Alara, the new cycle of mana rocks will be templated like Tarkir's Banners, whether or not they themselves actually are Banners.
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.
Give Zaliki a CardI must have all the cats!
Half of me wishes that Arcane Wizardry had been WUB rather than UBR so Feline Ferocity could have been RGW, but red's fireballs and lightning bolts suit Wizards more, and I'm happy we at least finally got some GW Cat legends, two of which I like very much. Since Naya isn't strictly Beast tribal, I could see a RGW Cat legend that finally statisfies the demand, though that legend likely won't be Cat tribal. Of course we could always get a RGW Cat Beast legend. Maybe Felidar exist on Naya?
I'd like to see the Sword of Asha, myself. And a Grixis Demon legend. So far Grixis has had Malfegor and Nefarox as rulers, neither of which have been Grixis-colored, though there's a chance Nefarox will be Grixis-colored when next we see him. Thraximundar could easily have been a Demon.
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.
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.
I will be impressed if Bolas takes out two Gatewatchers. He won't come close to Yawgmoth Named Kill Count.
I do want to go back to Alara though. I mean Tarkir was a three color world and it was popular so Alara has a chance to be good.
That said, they just sorta left Venser's corpse in Karn's chamber, so no doubt the Phyrexians found it and compleated it.Nevermind, turns out Karn took Venser's body and hid it somewhere.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.
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.
True, but there's also being strictly worse than Manalith, which is itself strictly worse than Darksteel Ingot, Chromatic Lantern, and Coalition Relic, technically Spectral Searchlight but that mostly matters in team games now that mana burn is no longer a thing.
Also, Manite forgot two: Kess, Dissident Mage is from Grixis, and Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith is from Naya.
On phasing:
*GASP* How could I forget Nazahn? He's one of my favorites from C17! I'll amend the list.
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.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
I like how Kess looks like she's carrying dust around. Someone "Let me guess, your home?" her. (Which, then again, her and Kaalia.)
My theory is that the shards won't be so heavily defined as they were in the original Alara block. Simple reason: Alara is now whole. We already saw in Alara Reborn, immigrants from one shard to another like Vedalken Heretic. And we've seen cards representing Alara in wedges and four-color in supplemental sets.
As for when? I assume it won't be in the next two years. They want to cycle a bit before going back to multicolor.
On phasing:
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.
I wonder how the nacatl feel about the leotau?
On phasing:
Now that I think about it, the Nacatl and Leonin in New Alara would probably have a lifegain subtheme going on thanks to Ajani. Indeed, I could see lifegain being the GW subtheme of New Alara. One of the mini-cycles could be uncommon Recognition enchantments that Award you whenever you do a particular thing:
G Scout's Recognition - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you get awarded.
W Healer's Recognition - Whenever you gain life, you get awarded.
U Sorcerer's Recognition - Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you get awarded.
To make the wording for award sound a little less awkward, I'm trying a new wording that can potentially affect different players (handy for, say, a team-based set like Battlebond ). If the green one triggering off land proved to be too good, then the lifegain trigger could be moved to the green Recognition instead.
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.
-Chandra Nalaar
Mechanically the set did not feel to have much of a theme, and any set with 3 colour faction/shards/guilds is going to have a massive issue. If the fixing is too good and sextant/mana washer-esque, you end up in four or five col good stuff. If it is three col and linked by a 3 cc artifact that fixes the shard, the person who goes T1land/T2land - cheap 2 col dude-/ T3 3 mana rock/ T4 4cc or more likely 5cc common in 3 cols just flat out wins when the opponent goes land/no spell because they don't have the right two cols/no rock and still no spell because they are still missing a col.
In short you hit 3 cols and a half decent curve you win if the opponent doesn't, which is MTG but which also will happen more often. The fixes to this are easy but thematically hard to pull off. 1 and 2 cc dudes that are playable in single cols, scry or similar, morph, alternate costs, hybrid mana, not many as many multi mana cards or a very slow environ with lots of single cc removal and modal cards. Trouble is many of these have been done elsewhere and would engender complaints that it does not feel like Alara. I would be happy if they just did the set and made it full of Scry, but even then I would wager many would say that does not feel like Alara.
Perhaps the best place to visit Alara would be in a supplemental product, that way EDH fans would get their 3 col monstrosities and they would not have to change the mechanical feel too much, enabling more Cascaders etc.
Let's say you had a world themed around crime. GWU could be lead by blue in that world and Investigate could be its mechanic. By the same token, WUB would be lead by black, and maybe have a theme of politics, corruption, and organized crime. UBR would be lead by red, and could focus on theft and Gold or Treasure, with maybe a hint of pleasure-oriented businesses such as drug dealing and red-light districts going on in the background. BRG would be lead by green and probably be the "ecoterrorist luddite" faction, focused on violent crimes such as vandalism and murder. And finally we'd have RGW lead by white, a faction of vigilantes fighting for justice at the expense of the law.
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.
The fifth issue of the IDW Chandra comic is available for preorder now, and it’s #1 of a second miniseries rather than #5 of the first. The title is “Chandra: Trials of Alara.” We could be looking at the name of our return set here.
Give Zaliki a CardI must have all the cats!