Great removal, but i wonder why land destruction at three mana seems to be asking too much.
Everyone seems to want land destruction back. I used to too, but I think land destruction is best relegated to side effects that come later in the game that enable you to take out effects that your opponent is abusing or to mess with their color base. Below three in large enough numbers it just serves to keep on player ahead in a way that has very little comeback potential and on this card in particular it means it always has a target. Land destruction just isn't fun to play or to play against.
Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts.
So adding 1 mana to Pawn of Ulamog in exchange for a less restrictive mana cost, better tokens and decent casting costs causes an upshift to rare. Huh.
the difference between 1/1 and 0/1 is pretty significant to be fair not to mention the synergy with devoid
And man am I disappointed that they did not use Veronique Meignaud's forest for Zendikar ='(
Would've loved for that one to be foil normal bordered. Is anyone really excited about Vincent Proce's forest???
I'm actually most hype about the Jonas De Ro restyling of Omar Rayyan's Lorwyn forest
All I have to say about Menace and Landwalk changes are IT'S ABOUT TIME! Scry being evergreen is unexpected, but very welcomed. I've always wanted some sort of filtering mechanic, like cycling or something, to be evergreen, and this'll do just fine.
Protection is the only one I'm on the fence about. I get the whole "not wanting to punish decks just because of colors" but I like how it served as a form of evasion, and defense. (I wonder if this means we'll see hexproof more because of this)
I'm sad to see protection go away especially on instants or sorceries. Indestructible is probably its replacement, but they always cost indestructible a little higher than protection. Indestructible also doesn't stop blue bounce/tap/enchantments/other targeted removal. Blue is the big winner here - it gets prowess and scry while white loses protection and black loses intimidate.
Protection isn't gone for good, the article states that it will show up when it functions flavorfully and functionally, but not in every set. MaRo even said there's one card in the set with protection. I don't think it will be being replaced by anything. Menace is our new evasion mechanic that allows for counterplay, we already have can't be blocked, and hexproof is a toxic enough mechanic that it has to be printed sparingly. I think the future for avoiding death from instants and sorceries will be temporary indestructibility a la Ajani's Presence
Lately it seems like they're trying to make regeneration more accessible with less "can't be regenerated" cards and smaller creatures with regeneration tacked on.
blue has always been secondary in incremental growth and life and things getting bigger because of it's theme of oceans and progress, see Ludevic's Test Subject. Food chain is blue and green's biggest overlap, which is why the Simic are obsessive with life.
Argh I’m so frustrated with the power level of this set, which I can only describe as “average!”
I expect every new card to be a Constructed staple. I expect every incoming set to completely invalidate current Standard. Do you expect me to have the patience to tolerate a card in standard for almost two years?!
That includes you, too, commons and uncommons! Don’t think you shouldn’t be Constructed-worthy just because of your lower rarity! If I see a new card designed for Limited, I will angrily condemn it as “Limited fodder.” How dare they support a format other than Constructed?!
Oh, and one more thing: I expect the cards not only to be powerful but to be obviously powerful! I have no tolerance for subtlety. You think I have enough time to test, experiment, or innovate?
Spellshock UR
Instant Uncommon
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2. Spellshock deals 2 damage to that player.
Won't be happening any time soon. But seriously, why is this rare, why is this so expensive, and why won't Wizards make good counterspells?
for the same reason they wont make effective creature kill or land d - people dont like playing against it
^ A thousand times this, wizards has eliminated any alternate way to play the game, no combo, no LD, no good counters, very little good discard, and now decent removal is at a premium and wraths start at five mana. All because entitled little brats complain about losing resources and only want to turn dudes sideways.
The reason they're changing up the game isn't because of people wanting to use creatures, it was because things are boring when an aggro-control matchup was decided by "does he have a wrath in his hand". That's not interesting and frankly it was tiresome to both parties. Highly efficient removal was toned down specifically because when creature removal is so much easier, creatures need to be stronger in order to justify people playing them at all and you end up with Thragtusk and Primeval Titan. Maybe you liked exclusive, shakily balanced metas, but that's not most people.
Also land destruction isn't creative or fun. It's boring. For both parties. "Oh look, I made it so you can't play anything." "Fantuckingfastic." "Now watch as I chip you to death while your hand fills up with things you can't play." "So much fun!"
Indeed it it fun to have multiple stratigies available at one time, resource denile should be a thing. If you don't like it play an answer, like one of those good counterspells that don't exist, or play around it. Instead we have creature creature creature creature,great creature, hope you have your four mana rare removal. Also, you pretty much admitted above that wizards is pandering to aggro, thus people wanting to use creatures, and giving control(and other archetypes) the shaft.
I'm saying the reason they're downgrading control and removal is specifically because the archetype was too strong. Notice the creatures are also being given lower power levels. Also, might I add, you're right about multiple strats. I love playing combo decks and it's a shame wizards has trouble printing decks with strong combos because a strong combo isn't fun to play against and so you end up in this power limbo with things like Maze's End which work only sometimes and not too well. But resource denial is lazy game design, plain and simple. The purpose of a game is to have fun and enjoy the thrill of an exciting game, and resource denial games aren't fun. They're tedious and slow and more of a chore, so they see less print. More Nyx-Fleece Ram and Archangel of Thune being sided in for an epic round five final match, less "I'll allow it" "draw go" "no fun allowed this card game is for real adults who hate fun only"
before I go I might mention I don't like wizards pandering to creatures. Notice I mentioned thragtusk and Primetime. I hate those cards, and I think they should have never seen print. I am happy though that now games are more stable. Less powercreep, more stability.
Spellshock UR
Instant Uncommon
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2. Spellshock deals 2 damage to that player.
Won't be happening any time soon. But seriously, why is this rare, why is this so expensive, and why won't Wizards make good counterspells?
for the same reason they wont make effective creature kill or land d - people dont like playing against it
^ A thousand times this, wizards has eliminated any alternate way to play the game, no combo, no LD, no good counters, very little good discard, and now decent removal is at a premium and wraths start at five mana. All because entitled little brats complain about losing resources and only want to turn dudes sideways.
The reason they're changing up the game isn't because of people wanting to use creatures, it was because things are boring when an aggro-control matchup was decided by "does he have a wrath in his hand". That's not interesting and frankly it was tiresome to both parties. Highly efficient removal was toned down specifically because when creature removal is so much easier, creatures need to be stronger in order to justify people playing them at all and you end up with Thragtusk and Primeval Titan. Maybe you liked exclusive, shakily balanced metas, but that's not most people.
Also land destruction isn't creative or fun. It's boring. For both parties. "Oh look, I made it so you can't play anything." "Fantuckingfastic." "Now watch as I chip you to death while your hand fills up with things you can't play." "So much fun!"
I'm actually thinking Arel the Whisperer is the leader of the Soundclaw guys. In Sarkhan's story, before he ignited his spark he found his way into a ring of Temur mystics who wore turtle shells, all whispering about dragons and the like.
This set is going to be the worst set ever. now, I know why we have fetch lands in this set
Well Wizards said they will be toning down the power level of cards through next few blocks, so I guess they are starting here.
I have been playing for more than 15 years now and I don't like how much dumber Wizards madee this game from removing damage on stack until now. But I feel even more dumber because I'm still playing it. I guess I will quit when Magic will become next Yu-Gi-Oh.
/end offtopic rant
Magic is toning down its power so it doesn't become the next YuGiOh. The skill required to play yugioh did drop, but only with the advent of thematic, premade strategies which made games move too fast for a stable environment and implemented a stupidly long ban list just to try to maintain some semblance of order. The titans were a reaction to 4 mana wraths and cheap, splashable, counterspells (as well as all the other tools that made control a powerhouse), but the titans then made midrange a must use. They realized printing stronger and stronger cards was going to choke out the game's non-competitive audience (which is far greater than the rest) and so they're trying to fix the damn game.
Everyone seems to want land destruction back. I used to too, but I think land destruction is best relegated to side effects that come later in the game that enable you to take out effects that your opponent is abusing or to mess with their color base. Below three in large enough numbers it just serves to keep on player ahead in a way that has very little comeback potential and on this card in particular it means it always has a target. Land destruction just isn't fun to play or to play against.
the difference between 1/1 and 0/1 is pretty significant to be fair not to mention the synergy with devoid
Yes and no. Yes because you can search them, no because you can't cast cards with no mana cost if I'm not mistaken.
I'm actually most hype about the Jonas De Ro restyling of Omar Rayyan's Lorwyn forest
Protection isn't gone for good, the article states that it will show up when it functions flavorfully and functionally, but not in every set. MaRo even said there's one card in the set with protection. I don't think it will be being replaced by anything. Menace is our new evasion mechanic that allows for counterplay, we already have can't be blocked, and hexproof is a toxic enough mechanic that it has to be printed sparingly. I think the future for avoiding death from instants and sorceries will be temporary indestructibility a la Ajani's Presence
What are you talking about? Black has access to all three of those. Granted, mostly in tertiary, but it still has a history of using those keywords.
I could kiss you for this post.
I'm saying the reason they're downgrading control and removal is specifically because the archetype was too strong. Notice the creatures are also being given lower power levels. Also, might I add, you're right about multiple strats. I love playing combo decks and it's a shame wizards has trouble printing decks with strong combos because a strong combo isn't fun to play against and so you end up in this power limbo with things like Maze's End which work only sometimes and not too well. But resource denial is lazy game design, plain and simple. The purpose of a game is to have fun and enjoy the thrill of an exciting game, and resource denial games aren't fun. They're tedious and slow and more of a chore, so they see less print. More Nyx-Fleece Ram and Archangel of Thune being sided in for an epic round five final match, less "I'll allow it" "draw go" "no fun allowed this card game is for real adults who hate fun only"
before I go I might mention I don't like wizards pandering to creatures. Notice I mentioned thragtusk and Primetime. I hate those cards, and I think they should have never seen print. I am happy though that now games are more stable. Less powercreep, more stability.
The reason they're changing up the game isn't because of people wanting to use creatures, it was because things are boring when an aggro-control matchup was decided by "does he have a wrath in his hand". That's not interesting and frankly it was tiresome to both parties. Highly efficient removal was toned down specifically because when creature removal is so much easier, creatures need to be stronger in order to justify people playing them at all and you end up with Thragtusk and Primeval Titan. Maybe you liked exclusive, shakily balanced metas, but that's not most people.
Also land destruction isn't creative or fun. It's boring. For both parties. "Oh look, I made it so you can't play anything." "Fantuckingfastic." "Now watch as I chip you to death while your hand fills up with things you can't play." "So much fun!"
Magic is toning down its power so it doesn't become the next YuGiOh. The skill required to play yugioh did drop, but only with the advent of thematic, premade strategies which made games move too fast for a stable environment and implemented a stupidly long ban list just to try to maintain some semblance of order. The titans were a reaction to 4 mana wraths and cheap, splashable, counterspells (as well as all the other tools that made control a powerhouse), but the titans then made midrange a must use. They realized printing stronger and stronger cards was going to choke out the game's non-competitive audience (which is far greater than the rest) and so they're trying to fix the damn game.