Woah there, buddy. Are you suggesting sub-optimal cards can be entertaining? You keep that talk in the crazy plays thread where it belongs!
Haha. Well, it's peculiar. There are some cards that are so bad they're uninteresting and there are some cards that are so good they're uninteresting. Then there's cards that are uninteresting purely because of the effects they have. Take something like Sol Ring or Overflowing Insight for instance. These types of effects are valuable in Commander. Virtually every deck wants to make mana and draw cards, but it's sometimes difficult to staple those effects onto interesting cards, so what we often settle for is playing cards that are solely potent functionally.
One of my decks at the moment is a Queen Marchesa list whose goal is to create the most entertaining games of Magic possible. That's a really difficult goal, and I'm always on the lookout for cards that might assist it, especially since that quality is nebulous and hard to search for.
Varina, I'm not so thrilled about as some, but I guess it fills a niche and will likely be quite popular.
Yennett... this guy's kind of insane. And something to cheat Void Winnower into play early. Um, yay?
Yuriko is the ninja commander Vela wishes she was. Pretty obvious build, but at least something very different.
Anyone else feeling the Jund deck kinda got screwed a bit? Not that it doesn't include some good stuff, but most of it is a lot less interesting than what the other decks are tossing our way.
Reprints...well, we get a Chaos Warp reprint, Hydra Omnivore reprint, Avenger of Zendikar reprint, a bunch of rares of less than $2 value (many under $1), plus Bear Umbra and Enchantress's Presence, both of which have gotten pricy and are very solid, high-value reprints. So far the reprints are not exactly knocking me out, especially outside green. Many are solid cards that already see a lot of play - Sigil of the Empty Throne and Rampant Baloths are staples for good reason - but they are all pretty obvious, and most of them are very readily available already. I am hoping there are a lot of strong reprints still to be spoiled, including perhaps some more premium lands than a bunch of CIPT dual and tri-lands like we usually get in these precons.
Is it just me or do the 2 color commanders Trump the 3 color ones I terms of interest? Yuriko. Xantcha, arixmethes. I mean burniclad may be an alternate general but is also more interesting than the PW he comes with.
I have like 4 decks in mind. I unfortunately buying all 4 decks. (Mainly for digestion. None stand out as fun. I just want the cards inside.
So far looks like Enchantress is strongest to me in terms of synergy/playability. Izzet also decent for theme. I am probably going to buy the esper one because its the most intriguing and pick up singles from rest. Jund...well its got Xantcha and Varchild. Doesnt seem that great to me, like wizards forgot what they were doing...
If I were to rate them today so far (not all spoilers/lists out yet I think) id give :
Esper 8/10
Bant 7/10
Izzet 7/10
Jund 4/10
So far looks like Enchantress is strongest to me in terms of synergy/playability. Izzet also decent for theme. I am probably going to buy the esper one because its the most intriguing and pick upnsingles from rest. Jund...well its got Xantcha and Varchild. Doesnt seem that great to me, like wizards forgot what they were doing...
If I were to rate them today so far (not all spoilers/lists out yet I think) id give :
Esper 8/10
Bant 7/10
Izzet 7/10
Jund 4/10
I would rate bant higher than as per on terms of functionality and just overall power based on spoilers. Jund is pretty bad.
Jund "notsogoodstuff" really was a disapointment. The new cards aren't very exciting and msot of them have no synergy with lands Not even the reprints that they showed were impressive. Avenger of Zendikar is a great card but not excciting since it was already reprinted a couple of times. Also none of the secondary commanders have synergy with the Land theme and thats what disapointed me the msot about the deck.
it seems to me that the Sower of Discord could sometimes change the way the game is played in an intriguing fashion.
Woah there, buddy. Are you suggesting sub-optimal cards can be entertaining? You keep that talk in the crazy plays thread where it belongs!
So the Zedruu thread? But that is not in black!
Edit: I kid, but, that deck does you a ton of silliness like Barren Glory shenanigans. That's a part of what makes it so lovable.
Jund "notsogoodstuff" really was a disapointment. The new cards aren't very exciting and msot of them have no synergy with lands Not even the reprints that they showed were impressive. Avenger of Zendikar is a great card but not excciting since it was already reprinted a couple of times. Also none of the secondary commanders have synergy with the Land theme and thats what disapointed me the msot about the deck.
Avenger is a good enough reprint since a) it is actually on theme and b) it is a $7 card so it is nice to see it get another reprint.
However, the rest of what you said is valid. I was most looking forward to Lands Matter and to find out that we get such a small number of *new* cards that care about lands is disappointing. I like Windgrace and will run him as the general, but the most of the rest cards that are even tangentially related to lands are disappointments:
Nesting Dragon - This is the card that made me say "most" above. A free 0/2 token that turns into a 2/2 Dragon when it dies seems like pretty good value. I am excited to play this card to see what it does. Crash of Rhino Beetles - A big 15/15 for 5 is nice, but just "being big because you have lands" doesn't seem exciting. Turntimber Sower - When first spoiled, I thought this was a good card but I no longer think so. To get tokens, your lands need to go to the graveyard. To get lands back (and to your hand no less; not even the battlefield) you need to sac 3 creatures. It seems less than ideal since putting a bunch of lands in hand doesn't do much so you essentially sac 3 creatures to make your land drop. Maybe we will see something that let's you discard lands for something? Gyrus, Waker of Corpses, Thantis, the Warweaver, & Xantcha, Sleeper Agent - I am not as concerned about the Legendaries being something outside the theme (though at least 1 more that cared about lands would have been nice) so these two are actually fine in my book as they do fill a niche. I do like Xantcha design the most of these 3.
And, I guess that is it. Of the new cards, only 4 (including the General) seem related to lands in any way and none of them, beyond Windgrace, are all that exciting. Comparing it to the Bant deck where they got a lot of new goodies, it is disappointing that there are so few new cards that do much with the "lands matter" theme.
Also, are any of these cards of the hot-commodity Legacy type?
Nothing that's really taken off so far. A couple things that the more brew oriented legacy players might pick up to play around with, but certainly nothing like Scavenging Ooze or True-Name Nemesis. The most likely seem like Reality Scramble or Aminatou, the Fateshifter and those are both pretty long shots for seeing anything beyond fringe play.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
So far looks like Enchantress is strongest to me in terms of synergy/playability. Izzet also decent for theme. I am probably going to buy the esper one because its the most intriguing and pick upnsingles from rest. Jund...well its got Xantcha and Varchild. Doesnt seem that great to me, like wizards forgot what they were doing...
If I were to rate them today so far (not all spoilers/lists out yet I think) id give :
Esper 8/10
Bant 7/10
Izzet 7/10
Jund 4/10
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Varchild will be printed in the Izzet deck.
Primordial Mist is exactly what I'd imagined a manifest-commander to look like. On the one hand I'm happy it saw print, but on the other hand I'm sad it's not on a commander.
But that's just me. I want a commander for every unique mechanic. Convoke, Energy, Manifest, Ninjutsu (yay!), Shadow, Skulk, Soulbond, Subgames, Voting...
Follow me on instagram @TheMTGWord
Woah there, buddy. Are you suggesting sub-optimal cards can be entertaining? You keep that talk in the crazy plays thread where it belongs!
One of my decks at the moment is a Queen Marchesa list whose goal is to create the most entertaining games of Magic possible. That's a really difficult goal, and I'm always on the lookout for cards that might assist it, especially since that quality is nebulous and hard to search for.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Magus of the Balance is costly to use, but very strong.
Loyal Unicorn is amazingly strong as a lieutenant effect. This will be auto-play in so many decks.
Boreas Charger - impressive land ramp on a stick, great with flicker effects.
Aminatou's Augury - damn strong as well.
Night Incarnate is pretty nifty.
Varina, I'm not so thrilled about as some, but I guess it fills a niche and will likely be quite popular.
Yennett... this guy's kind of insane. And something to cheat Void Winnower into play early. Um, yay?
Yuriko is the ninja commander Vela wishes she was. Pretty obvious build, but at least something very different.
Anyone else feeling the Jund deck kinda got screwed a bit? Not that it doesn't include some good stuff, but most of it is a lot less interesting than what the other decks are tossing our way.
Reprints...well, we get a Chaos Warp reprint, Hydra Omnivore reprint, Avenger of Zendikar reprint, a bunch of rares of less than $2 value (many under $1), plus Bear Umbra and Enchantress's Presence, both of which have gotten pricy and are very solid, high-value reprints. So far the reprints are not exactly knocking me out, especially outside green. Many are solid cards that already see a lot of play - Sigil of the Empty Throne and Rampant Baloths are staples for good reason - but they are all pretty obvious, and most of them are very readily available already. I am hoping there are a lot of strong reprints still to be spoiled, including perhaps some more premium lands than a bunch of CIPT dual and tri-lands like we usually get in these precons.
I have like 4 decks in mind. I unfortunately buying all 4 decks. (Mainly for digestion. None stand out as fun. I just want the cards inside.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Varchild. Doesnt seem that great to me, like wizards forgot what they were doing...If I were to rate them today so far (not all spoilers/lists out yet I think) id give :
Esper 8/10
Bant 7/10
Izzet 7/10
Jund 4/10
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Also, are any of these cards of the hot-commodity Legacy type?
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
So the Zedruu thread? But that is not in black!
Edit: I kid, but, that deck does you a ton of silliness like Barren Glory shenanigans. That's a part of what makes it so lovable.
Beating Face with Bane
Beatrice, the Golden Witch
However, the rest of what you said is valid. I was most looking forward to Lands Matter and to find out that we get such a small number of *new* cards that care about lands is disappointing. I like Windgrace and will run him as the general, but the most of the rest cards that are even tangentially related to lands are disappointments:
Nesting Dragon - This is the card that made me say "most" above. A free 0/2 token that turns into a 2/2 Dragon when it dies seems like pretty good value. I am excited to play this card to see what it does.
Crash of Rhino Beetles - A big 15/15 for 5 is nice, but just "being big because you have lands" doesn't seem exciting.
Turntimber Sower - When first spoiled, I thought this was a good card but I no longer think so. To get tokens, your lands need to go to the graveyard. To get lands back (and to your hand no less; not even the battlefield) you need to sac 3 creatures. It seems less than ideal since putting a bunch of lands in hand doesn't do much so you essentially sac 3 creatures to make your land drop. Maybe we will see something that let's you discard lands for something?
Gyrus, Waker of Corpses, Thantis, the Warweaver, & Xantcha, Sleeper Agent - I am not as concerned about the Legendaries being something outside the theme (though at least 1 more that cared about lands would have been nice) so these two are actually fine in my book as they do fill a niche. I do like Xantcha design the most of these 3.
And, I guess that is it. Of the new cards, only 4 (including the General) seem related to lands in any way and none of them, beyond Windgrace, are all that exciting. Comparing it to the Bant deck where they got a lot of new goodies, it is disappointing that there are so few new cards that do much with the "lands matter" theme.
But that's just me. I want a commander for every unique mechanic. Convoke, Energy, Manifest, Ninjutsu (yay!), Shadow, Skulk, Soulbond, Subgames, Voting...
It's best that some of these never happen.
- Rabid Wombat
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Without thinking deeply, I know I want Primordial Mist, Windgrace, Aminatou, Keshia, Brudiclad, Arix, Xantcha, Turntimber Sower, Endless Atlas, and Yuriko.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Estrid, the Masked
Varina, Lich Queen
Tuvasa, the Sunlit
Estrid's Invocation
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
Windgrace's Judgment
Retrofitter Foundry
Saheeli's Directive
Treasure Nabber
Only singles