they could give blue a new TOURNAMENT VIABLE identity. of course they dont.
But Blue has been good for so many years. Naturally, it deserves to suffer in the purgatory of fecklessness R&D has consigned it to. Although, it seems that Blue has long since paid its debt but R&D forgot about parole.
I predict the term "color pie" will soon be retired in official Wizards communication, to be replaced by the term "abilities pool". Let's hope R&D didn't drink too much before taking a dip.
Apparently, blue mages have gone bankrupt (all those foil Jaces ate the dineros). And they have resorted to holding a garage sale where all blue abilities must go! Not that there are many left, but I think I see something shiny at the bottom of the box. Why, bounce effects would absolutely look lovely on you, Ms. Red! You'll take it? I'll have it wrapped up to go in a jiff.
I won't pretend to know that Lotus Cobra will be a staple, or even be used in any capacity in any competitive decks. I'm no prophet. I haven't play-tested the card. I don't know what the upcoming meta could be. However, if Wizards was even slightly serious about not putting a potential staple in the Mythic slot and bankrupting players, they were wrong to make this card mythic. There are a couple of glaring alarm bells ringing with this card:
A) It has a cheap mana cost. Any card that costs only 2 mana has a much greater chance of being a 4-of in a deck due to mana curving concerns.
B) It does something relatively unique. Any time a card appears that provides a service no other card does, there's always a chance a player will break it wide open in a way that the Future Future League couldn't dream of.
Really, any card design with those two qualities alone should never be made Mythic, if one is looking out for players. But wait, the Cobra has more going for it!
C) It produces a universal and versatile benefit. It makes mana. Everybody needs mana. You need mana, I need mana. And this makes mana of any color, which we need even more.
A universal benefit produced in a unique—but easily achieved—way in a card with a cheap casting cost? There's a high risk such a card will be a staple. Even if Lotus Cobra never makes it into the big time, Wizards has shown they're willing to put cards with such qualities in the mythic slot. Sooner or later, one of those cards will wind up a 40 dollar piece of paper gold. Thank heavens for proxying!
While I'm not personally upset by the rule changes, I totally sympathize with people who are. The changes tweak the power levels of many cards, interactions and strategies. A set of cards a player just bought may now be totally worthless, and unlike when a card it's banned, it's not that a devaluation brought on by abuse. Some beloved and reasonably powered cards are now suddenly neutered. Poor Steve just wanted to be all that he can be, but he was never quite the same after the War on Complexity. So I won't tell players who are upset not to be. And I don't think anybody else should, either.
I do, however, like these changes personally. They do streamline the game for me. Now, if Wizards could just simplify the layering of continuous effects. That produces complexity even judges find bemusing, and changes to it would have a smaller effect on the power level of cards. It really would've been the best place to start, and if people then take to it, they might be more receptive to other simplifications. A missed opportunity.
Wow, at least the RIAA goes after people who copy their music. WOTC is bent on going after people doing free promotion to them, people who generate intense interest and talk in even crap cards that would've otherwise flickered by into obscurity. This is as backwards as Ford suing fansites who make fan art of their shoddy cars. Attacking your own customers is a strategy that has failed every company that tried it. Why exactly does WOTC think it's the exception? The hubris and ignorance is stunning.
Noice! I was thinking of starting a thread on what I found innovative in Alara, but it's just as edifying to have a thread on what's not. Now, I actually like Alara and thinks it has an above average quotient of innovative cards. But I appreciate thoughts like:
Angel's Herald (and for that matter the other 4 heralsd) - These cards are just lazy, and a big source of complaints. I agree because these cards harken back to spirit of the night and his fetchers. This was a theme that i like and as long as there arent too many slots dedicated to it, it shouldnt be a problem, but there are 5 of these and the cards they fetch...are MYTHICS, the hardest to find cards in the set. The casual players (like me) who are the ones who normally like this type of card, but if we pull enough packs to get the mythics we need to play with all 5 of these we will have WAY too many of the enablers. This would have been a cool idea for one shard, but all 5 is just overkill.
I think you nailed it exactly right on how the Heralds were bad design. I initially disdained the Heralds because the sack-smaller-critters-to-fetch-specific-large-critter, or as I like to think of it, CALLING CAPTAIN PLANET, cards have been done. Not only done, but never amounted to anything even in casual play. Why revisit a tired unwanted concept? I dislike them even more after reading your post.
Please, do share more thoughts on Alara. I'd be interested in reading them.
Hopefully, WOTC and its lawyer goon squad are too busy at their weekend BBQ (of baby kittens, no doubt) to send out takedown notices to this guy just yet. If all goes well, he should get back to us with the card info before Hasbro ninjas leave him dismembered in a landfill.
I love it when R&D diddles with the color pie in some novel way, and yet have it make complete sense. There's always been an aggressive side to white, with its crusades and lions and first strike and angels of wrath and spanking, giving it Relentless Assault just ties it up nicely. I hope to see more abilities like this granted to white in the future, when it's not just for a pie-fudging expansion.
Thunderblust is a pretty cool design; I think it's the first persist card card explicitly designed to get some benefit that partially offsets the -1/-1 counter on its second time in play. Plus, it's a nice homage to Ball Lightning.
Not only that, but it nicely realizes the flavor of a lightning blast, followed by thunder that rolls right over you. A spiffy design.
I figured I'd offer my analysis as well, although much of it has already been covered.
Overall. I'm wondering how Scrye, Mana Rouge, and "various magazinse" feel about their spoilers being trumped by Wizards themselves. Those magazines tend to rely on sneak peaks and authorized previews to help sell copies. Wizards, in their infinite wisdom and desire to be the FIRST and ONLY true and correct way for spoilers to occur, is now one-upping all the magazines that have preview privileges.
Right on, R-elfie. The level of hypocrisy and control freakishness is astounding. WOTC is against fan rumor-mongering because it preempts their ability to surprise. Well, what do they think they're doing to those magazines? Mind you, unlike those magazines, WOTC's livelihood does not partly depend on being the exclusive source of information about their products.
Those folks in Seattle have a real Rod of Ruin up their Royal Assassin. They really just want to hoard their product information and dictate exactly how every electron carrying every byte of data is released. They make the MPAA and RIAA look like Creative Commons.
But Blue has been good for so many years. Naturally, it deserves to suffer in the purgatory of fecklessness R&D has consigned it to. Although, it seems that Blue has long since paid its debt but R&D forgot about parole.
Don't fret, Blue lives on... in all the other colors.
A) It has a cheap mana cost. Any card that costs only 2 mana has a much greater chance of being a 4-of in a deck due to mana curving concerns.
B) It does something relatively unique. Any time a card appears that provides a service no other card does, there's always a chance a player will break it wide open in a way that the Future Future League couldn't dream of.
Really, any card design with those two qualities alone should never be made Mythic, if one is looking out for players. But wait, the Cobra has more going for it!
C) It produces a universal and versatile benefit. It makes mana. Everybody needs mana. You need mana, I need mana. And this makes mana of any color, which we need even more.
A universal benefit produced in a unique—but easily achieved—way in a card with a cheap casting cost? There's a high risk such a card will be a staple. Even if Lotus Cobra never makes it into the big time, Wizards has shown they're willing to put cards with such qualities in the mythic slot. Sooner or later, one of those cards will wind up a 40 dollar piece of paper gold. Thank heavens for proxying!
I do, however, like these changes personally. They do streamline the game for me. Now, if Wizards could just simplify the layering of continuous effects. That produces complexity even judges find bemusing, and changes to it would have a smaller effect on the power level of cards. It really would've been the best place to start, and if people then take to it, they might be more receptive to other simplifications. A missed opportunity.
I think you nailed it exactly right on how the Heralds were bad design. I initially disdained the Heralds because the sack-smaller-critters-to-fetch-specific-large-critter, or as I like to think of it, CALLING CAPTAIN PLANET, cards have been done. Not only done, but never amounted to anything even in casual play. Why revisit a tired unwanted concept? I dislike them even more after reading your post.
Please, do share more thoughts on Alara. I'd be interested in reading them.
If Helix Pinnacle ever takes off, I demand that Telethon be its nickname.
Not only that, but it nicely realizes the flavor of a lightning blast, followed by thunder that rolls right over you. A spiffy design.
Right on, R-elfie. The level of hypocrisy and control freakishness is astounding. WOTC is against fan rumor-mongering because it preempts their ability to surprise. Well, what do they think they're doing to those magazines? Mind you, unlike those magazines, WOTC's livelihood does not partly depend on being the exclusive source of information about their products.
Those folks in Seattle have a real Rod of Ruin up their Royal Assassin. They really just want to hoard their product information and dictate exactly how every electron carrying every byte of data is released. They make the MPAA and RIAA look like Creative Commons.
I can haz text: