Most games I've played since the 1990s use the same grading as magic does: mythic/epic/legendary at the top, then rare, uncommon, common. I don't like the S-tire idea because I still don't know what it means.
I prefer numbers or well-defined terms like rarity used in 'most other games'.
P.S. I'm also still wondering what other people think about the decklists. If they should include more cards from the set itself, if anyone even cares about them, if i should make more, anything.
I agree with the previous comments about preferring decklists that incorporate as many interrelated cards from the new spoiler as possible, then synergistic cards from other sets. I think maybe the decklists would be better in a post-full spoiler wrap up, followed by discussion. This might need to be in a separate thread to work, but I still enjoy reading about contextual uses for the new cards. Shinbatsu's (ultra) budget standard and modern threads are always an enjoyable read, and I think there's great potential here too for breathing life into interesting-but-otherwise-neglected multiplayer cards. Thanks!
Having C-Tier also include niche cards, and having a rarely-used S-tier reminds me a lot of how Johnny Walker grades their whiskey.
F - Red Label - Lowest quality (still good though)
D - Black Label - Simply put, a better version of red.
C - Green Label - A little better than black, but a unique flavor that not everyone will like. The niche one.
B - Gold Label - Just like black, but tastier.
A - Blue Label - Like gold, but very, very smooth.
S - JW Blended Scotch - Not mass produced so each one is very rare and unique, but blows away most of the competition.
I'm thinking the 1-5 (A-F) system is fine, but there's probably no harm in having an S ranking for things that are in the top 1% of all cards ever printed.
Furthermore, what do you think of the idea of an N and N+ tier? N would be for cards that are decent (B or C) but only in certain niches, and N+ would be for cards that are A, or very rarely, S-tier within a narrow niche.
S tier seems common enough to me... I get what you mean about needing another grading class or two, S for super broken, and one for niche sounds good. I would assume that would make your guides longer and more time consuming to write, so don't kill yourself trying to write them...
Deck lists are nice. I'm not at all sold on trying to maximize the amount of new cards in there... I always thought they were there to show how new cards fit into existing archetypes, which seems like a useful exercise. I think a major risk of putting out a list while trying to maximize new cards is that the list is warped to the point where your average player would think they need to build all new decks to play with the cards. My impression was that you wanted to help people see how these cards slide into existing decks.
The glowing review explains the S, even if the reader doesn't know precisely what S means. An S is so rare that it can be qualified when it comes up. Grades smooth out differences between what you write and what we read. I'm often surprised to see a C or D after reading a review, but I can guess the B's easily.
That's kinda what I figured. "This is one of the best cards in the game period" doesn't leave much to personal interpretation.
I commonly include 1 in my Kessig Wolf Run + Sylvan Primordial decks since you'll frequently dump your entire manabase into play at which point the 0/1 is actually more a 20/1 for the purposes of attacking. It also beats cards like Ensnaring Bridge and chump blockers are sometimes relevant. Either way it's a land that ETBU and that taps for mana so running 1 doesn't carry much of a cost and the effect is extremely useful vs Control decks in the lategame.
Maximizing new cards is fine, but for me it could muddy whether or not those new cards are important to the framework or not.
One thing that I don't do is "theme decks" or "fun decks" or force myself to adhere to strict requirements for no reason. I build decks to compete and win games and that rarely means playing 20 cards from a new set. Every now and then they'll give us something like Eerie Interlude or The Gitrog Monster that are legitimately good but I can't exactly spin wool into gold. Most sets are going to be comprised of marginal cards and while you can slot them into lists they're basically never going to be the best cards for the best versions of those brews. Rather than list every Green 6-7 drop as unplayable because Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial exist I would rather discuss how weaker cards can still be played even if they have superior alternatives.
Personally I am only interested in deck lists if the card revolutionizes or creates an archytype(s). If the cards is an upgrade e.g. Anguished Unmaking for Vindicate continue to note it just like you did. If it helps with redundancy or is a budget choice note what it takes the place of and move on. If the card is just the next big beater or similar effect card a list seems unnecessary (to me). The Bygone Bishop decklist seems like an example of this. I looked at the Mindwrack Demon decklists because it is new-ish ground. YMMV.
As to rating, I wonder if you look at the grades differently than I do. I see the letters and C means mediocre to me. Average always takes a beating from people. They don't like it. But most decks that I create do not play all As and Bs. Your review doesn't have to have a bell-curve. The only time you are going to rate something F is when you want to complain about Wizards missing and opportunity or warn people about a card that the hive-mind seems to think is good and you don't. A is similar. When they make something awesome, they make something awesome. Your review should be a bunch of Cs, some Bs, and some Ds because that's what their is. Don't force the bell-curve; it usually will happen. I do like the idea of a Niche rating and see no need for an S tier. That is A+. Grade inflation apparently also effects magic reviews!
Edit: After reviewing your ratings its seems our views align. I am confused as to why you feel it isn't working.
I think that I'm going to revamp the grading next set by changing the way As work adding the S tier. The problem is that right now I can't actually give anything an A because so few cards printed nowadays can compete with the strongest cards of all time and when you remove A and F from the grading scale it's incredibly awkward to Grade everything else at D, C and B. Like, how can I put AE and Mindwrack Demon on the same tier? AE is legit amazing and very competitive whereas the Demon is a marginal "built-around-me" playable. I also can't put cards like Ongoing Investigation and Sin Prodder on the same tier because even though I don't think that Sin Prodder is very good it's clearly a massive upgrade to cards like Clip Wings. I don't have Sin Prodder in the same tier as a card like The Gitrog Monster, not even close, but it's not as bad as filler trash.
I think that the best solution is to create a new tier for the actual broken stuff because otherwise it ruins the Grading scale.
I went back to check the review. You called AE a B, and the Demon a C ("marginal play-around" should be the poster child for mediocre). You called the Prodder a C, and Ongoing Investigation an F. Perhaps the Demon, as a bit of a beater and stronger build-around should get a plus and the Prodder a minus, but it seems everything is working fine.
Deck lists are nice. I'm not at all sold on trying to maximize the amount of new cards in there... I always thought they were there to show how new cards fit into existing archetypes, which seems like a useful exercise. I think a major risk of putting out a list while trying to maximize new cards is that the list is warped to the point where your average player would think they need to build all new decks to play with the cards. My impression was that you wanted to help people see how these cards slide into existing decks.
When you put it that way, I agree with you and reverse my previous position. The only reason I pointed it out was because literally the next card in the review could also legitimately be played in the same deck list. It was probably a <1% occurrence anyway.
I also agree with Xyx about the number of grades. I think fewer is better even though I suggested a 0-5; that was just to keep with the current standard. I think three is plenty with a 'good', 'bad', and 'broken' categories. The broken cards are the ones that if you play that color, you play that card. the good cards are the ones you consider if you are playing that color and the bad ones are the ones you don't even pick up if they are left on the table after a draft. Succinct posts are better for the typist and the reader. I will say, one thing I noticed more recently is your wit in writing text that relates to the card name or mechanic, this makes the reviews very enjoyable to read.
As for this set in general, it is one of the best blended sets for cards that are both stellar in limited/standard and strong in multiplayer (not necessarily the same card in all formats). Lots of B grades! I'm excited about buying lots of these cards when they rotate out (or dip low enough in price while still in print).
Even if I'm replying to everything I'm reading all of it. Lots of good discussions and many things to consider.
On a separate note I actually understand how Drownyard Temple works now since when I first glanced at it I registered it as a horrifically weak Delirium enabler and never actually bothered to re-read it. I've since updated the grade and review to reflect my new-found understanding of its implications for graveyard-based decks. You'd think that by now I'd be able to pass the "read the effing cards" test but once again I've failed it miserably.
Even if I'm replying to everything I'm reading all of it. Lots of good discussions and many things to consider.
On a separate note I actually understand how Drownyard Temple works now since when I first glanced at it I registered it as a horrifically weak Delirium enabler and never actually bothered to re-read it. I've since updated the grade and review to reflect my new-found understanding of its implications for graveyard-based decks. You'd think that by now I'd be able to pass the "read the effing cards" test but once again I've failed it miserably.
Good update. Why no mention of the Abby in the wrap-up section?
Good update. Why no mention of the Abby in the wrap-up section?
Way too niche. The card is fine as a 1-of in dedicated token decks but that's such a small % of decks that I don't feel comfortable listing it as a reason to get excited over the set.
With all of SoI spoiled, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed in general. With the exception of a few cards here and there, nothing really stood out for me. Either in a Duel setting or in Multi. Still, the artwork and story line is pretty awesome, nitpicking aside.
With all of SoI spoiled, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed in general. With the exception of a few cards here and there, nothing really stood out for me. Either in a Duel setting or in Multi. Still, the artwork and story line is pretty awesome, nitpicking aside.
I'm personally excited about the set as a whole. It has a ton of awesome playables including multiple low CMC threats that scale well into the lategame, multiple cheap utility spells that aren't removal and bomby finishers that provide a ton of card advantage (ala Sire of Stagnation). There's also various unique effects such as Insidious Mist which is ridiculously uninteractive once you stick an Aura/Equipment on it and Drownyard Temple is a "free" source of colorless ramp for self-mill decks and we haven't seen that on a land since Gemstone Caverns. We didn't get the next set of Primordials or anything but as whole I don't see any reason to complain about SOI's offerings to the multiplayer sphere.
There's a few cards I'll be picking up, but there's not that many that scream at me to buy them, outside the Thing in the Ice.
I feel like I should be quoting Kurt Russell when I talk about that card...
Prized Amalgam is ALMOST the card I want, but that ETBT bit is what turns me off for MP use. That said, I'm probably still buying a set.
Over Faithless Looting, Goblin Lore, Control of the Court, Tormenting Voice, Wild Guess and Daretti, Scrap Savant? Eh, maybe... Hapless Researcher does see competitive play so maybe I overlooked this card. Tbh didn't even know that it was in the set until you linked it just now so I must have glossed over it when reading the full spoilers. I probably saw 1/1 Menace for 1 and assumed the worst but the more than I think about it the more that this seems like a very playable Magic card.
Only card I preordered from this set was the Westvale Abbey.
Card is 20 bucks now. You did good kid!
My pre-orders for Thing in the Ice weren't honored FeelsBadMan.
On another note Ulvenwald Hydra is going up in my books already. I think that it's short-sighted to compare it to Primetime because if this ever becomes a $2.50 card I'm going to buy 4 and play them a fair amount. It's a worse card but it's still a threat that tutors up a Cloudpost.
God it feels so wrong to play it over Prime Time but my wallet will thank me
Unfortunately he's not even that cheap at 4 bucks or whatever. Ptimetime is only like 8-10 and definitely worth the extra 20 bucks.
It will take the Hydra rotating out to drop the price. As long as the card is Standard-legal, it will command a higher-than-budget price tag. Even when it rotates out, it's still the best thing in town for EDH.
God it feels so wrong to play it over Prime Time but my wallet will thank me
Unfortunately he's not even that cheap at 4 bucks or whatever. Ptimetime is only like 8-10 and definitely worth the extra 20 bucks.
It will take the Hydra rotating out to drop the price. As long as the card is Standard-legal, it will command a higher-than-budget price tag. Even when it rotates out, it's still the best thing in town for EDH.
Meh look at Woodland Bellower. Same thing and it's like 2.50. 98% of cards decrease drastically in price from their initial pre-sale values but the set's too new for that to have already occurred. A few months from now when the card is also like 2-2.5 bucks I'll definitely be grabbing some.
Meh look at Woodland Bellower. Same thing and it's like 2.50. 98% of cards decrease drastically in price from their initial pre-sale values but the set's too new for that to have already occurred. A few months from now when the card is also like 2-2.5 bucks I'll definitely be grabbing some.
Bellower was never great in EDH and saw minimal Standard play. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hydra hang out at $4 forever since it seems like it will be a regular staple in the Ulamog Ramp deck for its tenure in Standard.
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Meh look at Woodland Bellower. Same thing and it's like 2.50. 98% of cards decrease drastically in price from their initial pre-sale values but the set's too new for that to have already occurred. A few months from now when the card is also like 2-2.5 bucks I'll definitely be grabbing some.
Bellower was never great in EDH and saw minimal Standard play. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hydra hang out at $4 forever since it seems like it will be a regular staple in the Ulamog Ramp deck for its tenure in Standard.
Maybe not great for ultra-competitive EDH play but it's still a "Titan" that provides immediate value when cast. Every Green deck is going to run Fierce Empath and finding your Craterhoof Behemoth isn't horrendous. Otherwise it fetches Eternal Witness and Skullwinder (at worst) which, again, almost every deck will play and be happy to see. The best versions of the best Green decks don't need it but that's because they already have enough easy combo-kills that they don't need value. Still, only a small % of players actually take EDH hyper-competitively and the other 95% are perfectly content to jam cards like Woodland Bellower.
W.r.t to the Standard comment it might see play, I don't really know. Seems worse than World Breaker but if they can afford to run both then sure. I'm not much of a brewer when it comes to Standard so I don't really know one way or another if it'll see play.
All of this seems to ignore the simple fact that Woodland Bellower was part of the Jace lottery. That drove its price through the basement along with every other card in that set.
Hydra won't feel the same downward pressure since Innistrad doesn't really seem to have that kind of breakout card.
I prefer numbers or well-defined terms like rarity used in 'most other games'.
I agree with the previous comments about preferring decklists that incorporate as many interrelated cards from the new spoiler as possible, then synergistic cards from other sets. I think maybe the decklists would be better in a post-full spoiler wrap up, followed by discussion. This might need to be in a separate thread to work, but I still enjoy reading about contextual uses for the new cards. Shinbatsu's (ultra) budget standard and modern threads are always an enjoyable read, and I think there's great potential here too for breathing life into interesting-but-otherwise-neglected multiplayer cards. Thanks!
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
F - Red Label - Lowest quality (still good though)
D - Black Label - Simply put, a better version of red.
C - Green Label - A little better than black, but a unique flavor that not everyone will like. The niche one.
B - Gold Label - Just like black, but tastier.
A - Blue Label - Like gold, but very, very smooth.
S - JW Blended Scotch - Not mass produced so each one is very rare and unique, but blows away most of the competition.
I'm thinking the 1-5 (A-F) system is fine, but there's probably no harm in having an S ranking for things that are in the top 1% of all cards ever printed.
Furthermore, what do you think of the idea of an N and N+ tier? N would be for cards that are decent (B or C) but only in certain niches, and N+ would be for cards that are A, or very rarely, S-tier within a narrow niche.
Mono Red's Strengths and Mono White's Strengths
Deck lists are nice. I'm not at all sold on trying to maximize the amount of new cards in there... I always thought they were there to show how new cards fit into existing archetypes, which seems like a useful exercise. I think a major risk of putting out a list while trying to maximize new cards is that the list is warped to the point where your average player would think they need to build all new decks to play with the cards. My impression was that you wanted to help people see how these cards slide into existing decks.
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cEDH: WUBR Blue Farm WUBR, UG Kinnan Flips UG, U Urza Scepter U
But I do wonder if you missed something here.
Second Harvest
It doesn't say "creature token".
So it copies anything made with a Prototype Portal.
And clues as well.
That might or might not improve the rating.
But it's well worth mentioning.
As a person who tucks artifact lands in the portal (in a nonbroken non affinity deck) I'm looking forward to double those at least once in my life...
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
That's kinda what I figured. "This is one of the best cards in the game period" doesn't leave much to personal interpretation.
I commonly include 1 in my Kessig Wolf Run + Sylvan Primordial decks since you'll frequently dump your entire manabase into play at which point the 0/1 is actually more a 20/1 for the purposes of attacking. It also beats cards like Ensnaring Bridge and chump blockers are sometimes relevant. Either way it's a land that ETBU and that taps for mana so running 1 doesn't carry much of a cost and the effect is extremely useful vs Control decks in the lategame.
One thing that I don't do is "theme decks" or "fun decks" or force myself to adhere to strict requirements for no reason. I build decks to compete and win games and that rarely means playing 20 cards from a new set. Every now and then they'll give us something like Eerie Interlude or The Gitrog Monster that are legitimately good but I can't exactly spin wool into gold. Most sets are going to be comprised of marginal cards and while you can slot them into lists they're basically never going to be the best cards for the best versions of those brews. Rather than list every Green 6-7 drop as unplayable because Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial exist I would rather discuss how weaker cards can still be played even if they have superior alternatives.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
As to rating, I wonder if you look at the grades differently than I do. I see the letters and C means mediocre to me. Average always takes a beating from people. They don't like it. But most decks that I create do not play all As and Bs. Your review doesn't have to have a bell-curve. The only time you are going to rate something F is when you want to complain about Wizards missing and opportunity or warn people about a card that the hive-mind seems to think is good and you don't. A is similar. When they make something awesome, they make something awesome. Your review should be a bunch of Cs, some Bs, and some Ds because that's what their is. Don't force the bell-curve; it usually will happen. I do like the idea of a Niche rating and see no need for an S tier. That is A+. Grade inflation apparently also effects magic reviews!
Edit: After reviewing your ratings its seems our views align. I am confused as to why you feel it isn't working.
I went back to check the review. You called AE a B, and the Demon a C ("marginal play-around" should be the poster child for mediocre). You called the Prodder a C, and Ongoing Investigation an F. Perhaps the Demon, as a bit of a beater and stronger build-around should get a plus and the Prodder a minus, but it seems everything is working fine.
I also agree with Xyx about the number of grades. I think fewer is better even though I suggested a 0-5; that was just to keep with the current standard. I think three is plenty with a 'good', 'bad', and 'broken' categories. The broken cards are the ones that if you play that color, you play that card. the good cards are the ones you consider if you are playing that color and the bad ones are the ones you don't even pick up if they are left on the table after a draft. Succinct posts are better for the typist and the reader. I will say, one thing I noticed more recently is your wit in writing text that relates to the card name or mechanic, this makes the reviews very enjoyable to read.
As for this set in general, it is one of the best blended sets for cards that are both stellar in limited/standard and strong in multiplayer (not necessarily the same card in all formats). Lots of B grades! I'm excited about buying lots of these cards when they rotate out (or dip low enough in price while still in print).
On a separate note I actually understand how Drownyard Temple works now since when I first glanced at it I registered it as a horrifically weak Delirium enabler and never actually bothered to re-read it. I've since updated the grade and review to reflect my new-found understanding of its implications for graveyard-based decks. You'd think that by now I'd be able to pass the "read the effing cards" test but once again I've failed it miserably.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Good update. Why no mention of the Abby in the wrap-up section?
Way too niche. The card is fine as a 1-of in dedicated token decks but that's such a small % of decks that I don't feel comfortable listing it as a reason to get excited over the set.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I'm personally excited about the set as a whole. It has a ton of awesome playables including multiple low CMC threats that scale well into the lategame, multiple cheap utility spells that aren't removal and bomby finishers that provide a ton of card advantage (ala Sire of Stagnation). There's also various unique effects such as Insidious Mist which is ridiculously uninteractive once you stick an Aura/Equipment on it and Drownyard Temple is a "free" source of colorless ramp for self-mill decks and we haven't seen that on a land since Gemstone Caverns. We didn't get the next set of Primordials or anything but as whole I don't see any reason to complain about SOI's offerings to the multiplayer sphere.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Smokestack, Possessed Portal, it combos with all of those Stax cards that seek to slowly grind each player out of the game.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Gave me a chuckle.
Ás far as red goes, I'll be picking up some Insolent Neonate, to go into my Goblin Welder deck.
There's a few cards I'll be picking up, but there's not that many that scream at me to buy them, outside the Thing in the Ice.
I feel like I should be quoting Kurt Russell when I talk about that card...
Prized Amalgam is ALMOST the card I want, but that ETBT bit is what turns me off for MP use. That said, I'm probably still buying a set.
Over Faithless Looting, Goblin Lore, Control of the Court, Tormenting Voice, Wild Guess and Daretti, Scrap Savant? Eh, maybe... Hapless Researcher does see competitive play so maybe I overlooked this card. Tbh didn't even know that it was in the set until you linked it just now so I must have glossed over it when reading the full spoilers. I probably saw 1/1 Menace for 1 and assumed the worst but the more than I think about it the more that this seems like a very playable Magic card.
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Polluted Delta
4x Blood Crypt
3x Swamp
3x Mountain
Creatures (13)
4x Insolent Neonate
1x Sire of Insanity
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3x Griselbrand
1x Archetype of Endurance
1x Tidespout Tyrant
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4x Faithless Looting
4x Tormenting Voice
2x Wild Guess
4x Exhume
4x Animate Dead
4x Dance of the Dead
2x Buried Alive
4x Massacre
1x Diabolic Servitude
Yeah that was bad of me, should have paid more attention. Good catch!
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Card is 20 bucks now. You did good kid!
My pre-orders for Thing in the Ice weren't honored FeelsBadMan.
On another note Ulvenwald Hydra is going up in my books already. I think that it's short-sighted to compare it to Primetime because if this ever becomes a $2.50 card I'm going to buy 4 and play them a fair amount. It's a worse card but it's still a threat that tutors up a Cloudpost.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Unfortunately he's not even that cheap at 4 bucks or whatever. Ptimetime is only like 8-10 and definitely worth the extra 20 bucks.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Meh look at Woodland Bellower. Same thing and it's like 2.50. 98% of cards decrease drastically in price from their initial pre-sale values but the set's too new for that to have already occurred. A few months from now when the card is also like 2-2.5 bucks I'll definitely be grabbing some.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Bellower was never great in EDH and saw minimal Standard play. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hydra hang out at $4 forever since it seems like it will be a regular staple in the Ulamog Ramp deck for its tenure in Standard.
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Maybe not great for ultra-competitive EDH play but it's still a "Titan" that provides immediate value when cast. Every Green deck is going to run Fierce Empath and finding your Craterhoof Behemoth isn't horrendous. Otherwise it fetches Eternal Witness and Skullwinder (at worst) which, again, almost every deck will play and be happy to see. The best versions of the best Green decks don't need it but that's because they already have enough easy combo-kills that they don't need value. Still, only a small % of players actually take EDH hyper-competitively and the other 95% are perfectly content to jam cards like Woodland Bellower.
W.r.t to the Standard comment it might see play, I don't really know. Seems worse than World Breaker but if they can afford to run both then sure. I'm not much of a brewer when it comes to Standard so I don't really know one way or another if it'll see play.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Hydra won't feel the same downward pressure since Innistrad doesn't really seem to have that kind of breakout card.
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
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