As of right now, I like Azorius. The promo card is probably the most absurd of all of them, and I think it will likely have the best balance of tempo and control options.
The other consideration for me is that while I love Izzet in principle and theory, I don't like that it's looking like it won't play all that well with Rakdos, which is one of two guilds you could end up having to pair with it due to adjacent color considerations.
Azorius, on the other hand, looks like it could provide great tempo support for an aggressive UGW pairing with Selesnya as well as good control options for a UWR pairing with Izzet.
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As of right now, I like Azorius. The promo card is probably the most absurd of all of them, and I think it will likely have the best balance of tempo and control options.
The other consideration for me is that while I love Izzet in principle and theory, I don't like that it's looking like it won't play all that well with Rakdos, which is one of two guilds you could end up having to pair with it due to adjacent color considerations.
Azorius, on the other hand, looks like it could provide great tempo support for an aggressive UGW pairing with Selesnya as well as good control options for a UWR pairing with Izzet.
Thaaat's a very good point.
I feel like I have to go Izzet just to "vote" for spells over creatures, so WotC can see what I like.
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
As of right now, I like Azorius. The promo card is probably the most absurd of all of them
I think it's the weakest overall, because of the cost. There's a good chance you'll be dead before you manage to get him out, and he can't detain until the next turn. Additionally, since you don't want too many 7-drops in your deck, he'll likely be upgrading another bomb you open rather than adding a bomb to your deck.
Golgari, I want the promo for my own purposes and it seems really solid. Another pack to open Dreg Mangler/Slitherhead/Scorpion etc can't be a bad thing, and getting more utility out of your dead things is a playstyle I really enjoy that seems like a powerful strategy in Limited as well.
Golgari just seems so powerful. A bunch of creatures with flashback - it's not as sweet as spells with flashback, of course, but it's still likely to be the easiest source of card advantage in the format.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
Being limited players we look at things a bit different then the constructed crowd. We play a format where removal is king. From what we have seen so far, I am going Golgari or Radkos. Multiple removal spells should be the deciding factor, especially if you get a guild pack with more chances at the same removal.
Now if they reprint Faith's fetters for Azorius I might change my mind.
Either Azorius or Golgari, mainly for the promo cards you get. Obviously the UW white has the highest raw power, but Corpsejack's Menace seems like it has pretty great synnergy with both the rest of the guild and with unleash if you go jund or just play the black or hybrid ones.
I find it pretty funny that noone's voted for selesnya so far.
Things are still shaping up in terms of power as to which guild will be on top. I really need to see the core commons before choosing.
But if I had to choose today it would be Azorius. Not that its ever a good idea to build your sealed around 1 card, but the playable promo? Untap and win tier. And I'm sure WU will have enough control elements to keep us alive until we can slam it down. Plus WU is the home of flyers and sky decks. And you want three things in sealed. Flyers, fatties, removal. I'll take 2 of those three happily and hope for some splash removal.
Now If i choose my guild then my pool is complete crap to support my promo? Then it goes in the binder I run the most optimal deck.
1. I like the dragon better than Azorius' promo card. I want to be winning around turn 5, not turn 8.
2. Izzet should cover fliers and removal, two of the three factors Pseudo mentioned.
3. I should be able to splash more removal from Rakdos or more fliers from Azorius, depending on what my pool looks like.
Frankly, at the moment it seems like Azorius is the safer bet considering that Rakdos is so weak you don't even want to be adjacent to it. But it comes down to me just not being sold on the Triumverate.
We haven't seen much of Rakdos at the common+uncommon level, but I wouldn't say it's weak so far. Auger Spree is common removal that kills the majority of threats in the format, including Hypersonic Dragon and Corpsejack Menace (Which according to polls, are the prerelease cards for the most popular guilds). Dead Reveler is pretty darn fat.
Selesnya really needs more cards spoiled at common and uncommon. We just haven't seen any.
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The wedding is over. Now it's time for the honeymoon.
The reasoning for it is mostly because of a personal anecdote. When I first started, Guildpact had just recently been released. So when I went to finally buy cards for the first time ever, I told the card shop employee at the time that I felt I identified most with white-blue, which is to say: orderly control. (I knew a LITTLE about Magic.) Sadly, I didn't know that white-blue's bits weren't coming out until Dissension, later that year. So I settled for an Orzhov theme deck and things went from there.
Then Dissension finally came around, and we got some nifty stuff (to this day I still over Grand Arbiter Augustin IV; exactly what I had wanted from Azorius), but the general core of the guild wasn't what I had dancing in my brain when I had started.
Fast forward to today, and even though we've only had tidbits spoiled, Azorius feels ten times better already. I think it's the fact the cards feel more control-flavorful than they did before. Detain is big points in that direction as well.
Now, if you ask me what I'd pick for Gatecrash, here and now? Toughy; it's tied between Dimir and Orzhov. I'd probably lean towards Orzhov, given their flavor though. And because of Debtors' Knell being absurd in Limited.
@Semantics: Call this a hunch, but I think the Izzet/Rakdos pairing is going to depend on the Overload cards. I dunno, but I can just see Unleash plus a theoretical Gigadrowse like card in Overload being disgustingly ouch worthy. "Tap your board, kill you, next game?"
Honestly we should be thinking of this in terms of shards rather than guilds. Long before any spoilers I was going to go Izzet rather than Azor. At this point with the spoilers we have, it looks like WUR is going to be king, pending commons. WBG will probably have its strong suits as well, but avoiding BRx is probably a good idea.
My two favorite guilds, Simic and Orzhov, are not in this set, so I don't care too much. From a pure Spike point of view, Azorius seems like the best bet, but they're my least favorite guild of all, with Izzet a close second, so I'll probably go Golgari as the only other choice with an inherently strong mechanic. Populate and Unleash don't seem well-suited to Sealed, to me.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
I need to see more cards before I finalize my decision. At first I was strong Golgari but seeing as Izzet is getting a flying Teferi I may lean that direction.
In the end, the guild with the most removal will be the best. Currently Izzet is winning in that department, but if Golgari gets more black removal I will return to it. I also really like the scavenge mechanic and could see myself building around that by playing regenerators and making them huge.
UWx. Uw seems to be positioned for the strongest wins. Either I splash izzet for removal or green for any earlier boost. It depends on what my pool offers.
Day two I'll do something wacky. Izzet probably or if I play that day one then rakdos. Looking at wedges probably both days. If I can pull off dual colors that would probably be sweet. Esp mono izzet.
One thing I'm particularly interested in, that's slightly tangential to this thread, is the blue uncommon we just got (the drake). If Faerie Invaders is effectively uncommon in Return to Ravnica, what does this mean for non-Rakdos, non-Selesnya creature quality, would you say?
One thing I'm particularly interested in, that's slightly tangential to this thread, is the blue uncommon we just got (the drake). If Faerie Invaders is effectively uncommon in Return to Ravnica, what does this mean for non-Rakdos, non-Selesnya creature quality, would you say?
Nothing. Faerie invaders is a pretty powerful card in limited, and I don't think they want it at common in consecutive sets because it gets a bit boring.
Of course the drake isn't the same power level as the invaders (probably slightly weaker but we don't know many relevant cards yet).
I'm probably going with the golgari, partly because I want the pre-release card, and partly because I think that a powerful BGW or Jund Agro could be very powerful in Limited format.
I'm going to go with Golgari because it seems like the guild with the most raw power. It might take some luck to pull it off though. Azorius seems like the most consistent overall. Golgari definitely fits my play style though. Play big dudes, make them bigger, virtual card advantage. It is in a good color for removal, which is a plus. The scavenge mechanic kind of demands that you play lots of dudes. White would make a good splash here because of this. On the other hand, you could splash red for more removal. I think this guild just has the most potential to get absolutely nuts.
Izzet is looking third best so far. Overload is a sweet mechanic, but the cards spoiled so far seem to lack the raw power of Golgari, and the consistency of Azorius. I'm really not too impressed by Rakdos or Selesnya so far, but they could be decent support guilds. I could be wrong though, there are a lot more cards to be spoiled.
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Hopefully I'll have a chance to change my mind once we see the complete spoiler.
The other consideration for me is that while I love Izzet in principle and theory, I don't like that it's looking like it won't play all that well with Rakdos, which is one of two guilds you could end up having to pair with it due to adjacent color considerations.
Azorius, on the other hand, looks like it could provide great tempo support for an aggressive UGW pairing with Selesnya as well as good control options for a UWR pairing with Izzet.
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Thaaat's a very good point.
I feel like I have to go Izzet just to "vote" for spells over creatures, so WotC can see what I like.
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I think it's the weakest overall, because of the cost. There's a good chance you'll be dead before you manage to get him out, and he can't detain until the next turn. Additionally, since you don't want too many 7-drops in your deck, he'll likely be upgrading another bomb you open rather than adding a bomb to your deck.
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Now if they reprint Faith's fetters for Azorius I might change my mind.
I find it pretty funny that noone's voted for selesnya so far.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
But if I had to choose today it would be Azorius. Not that its ever a good idea to build your sealed around 1 card, but the playable promo? Untap and win tier. And I'm sure WU will have enough control elements to keep us alive until we can slam it down. Plus WU is the home of flyers and sky decks. And you want three things in sealed. Flyers, fatties, removal. I'll take 2 of those three happily and hope for some splash removal.
Now If i choose my guild then my pool is complete crap to support my promo? Then it goes in the binder I run the most optimal deck.
Sir. PRs are srs bzns.
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1. I like the dragon better than Azorius' promo card. I want to be winning around turn 5, not turn 8.
2. Izzet should cover fliers and removal, two of the three factors Pseudo mentioned.
3. I should be able to splash more removal from Rakdos or more fliers from Azorius, depending on what my pool looks like.
Frankly, at the moment it seems like Azorius is the safer bet considering that Rakdos is so weak you don't even want to be adjacent to it. But it comes down to me just not being sold on the Triumverate.
Selesnya really needs more cards spoiled at common and uncommon. We just haven't seen any.
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(W/U) Azorius (W/U)
The reasoning for it is mostly because of a personal anecdote. When I first started, Guildpact had just recently been released. So when I went to finally buy cards for the first time ever, I told the card shop employee at the time that I felt I identified most with white-blue, which is to say: orderly control. (I knew a LITTLE about Magic.) Sadly, I didn't know that white-blue's bits weren't coming out until Dissension, later that year. So I settled for an Orzhov theme deck and things went from there.
Then Dissension finally came around, and we got some nifty stuff (to this day I still over Grand Arbiter Augustin IV; exactly what I had wanted from Azorius), but the general core of the guild wasn't what I had dancing in my brain when I had started.
Fast forward to today, and even though we've only had tidbits spoiled, Azorius feels ten times better already. I think it's the fact the cards feel more control-flavorful than they did before. Detain is big points in that direction as well.
Now, if you ask me what I'd pick for Gatecrash, here and now? Toughy; it's tied between Dimir and Orzhov. I'd probably lean towards Orzhov, given their flavor though. And because of Debtors' Knell being absurd in Limited.
@Semantics: Call this a hunch, but I think the Izzet/Rakdos pairing is going to depend on the Overload cards. I dunno, but I can just see Unleash plus a theoretical Gigadrowse like card in Overload being disgustingly ouch worthy. "Tap your board, kill you, next game?"
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- Kaladesh
- Zendikar
- Rise of the Eldrazi
- Alara Reborn
- Innistrad <- Personal Favorite
- Dark Ascension
- Avacyn Restored
- Theros
- Return to Ravnica
- Tarkir
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In the end, the guild with the most removal will be the best. Currently Izzet is winning in that department, but if Golgari gets more black removal I will return to it. I also really like the scavenge mechanic and could see myself building around that by playing regenerators and making them huge.
Day two I'll do something wacky. Izzet probably or if I play that day one then rakdos. Looking at wedges probably both days. If I can pull off dual colors that would probably be sweet. Esp mono izzet.
So Pro I have an alpha Volcanic Island
Past Ruminations
Links are broken, will fix in near future.
- Kaladesh
- Zendikar
- Rise of the Eldrazi
- Alara Reborn
- Innistrad <- Personal Favorite
- Dark Ascension
- Avacyn Restored
- Theros
- Return to Ravnica
- Tarkir
Nothing. Faerie invaders is a pretty powerful card in limited, and I don't think they want it at common in consecutive sets because it gets a bit boring.
Of course the drake isn't the same power level as the invaders (probably slightly weaker but we don't know many relevant cards yet).
Draft it on Cubetutor!
RGTHROMOK RG
Izzet is looking third best so far. Overload is a sweet mechanic, but the cards spoiled so far seem to lack the raw power of Golgari, and the consistency of Azorius. I'm really not too impressed by Rakdos or Selesnya so far, but they could be decent support guilds. I could be wrong though, there are a lot more cards to be spoiled.
RUG Riku, Two is Better Than One
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RG Radha, Ramp's Theme Goes With Everything