FWIW, "Nyx" could easily be a double entendre, being the name of a plane and a synonym for night. "Journey into Night" sounds pretty cool when you think about it that way.
Personally, I hope the plane is the dream-plane mentioned in Planechase, where the narcomebas are from. In addition to possibly getting a reprint of narcomoeba, it'd be interesting to see other creatures with similar mechanics.
Um, from reading this thread, I figure it was originally in a subforum that warranted either moving or locking the thread. Now that it's in speculation, I don't see how that's justifiable.
The only way I'd support landfall coming back is if +x/+x effects are kept to an absolute minimum. Zendikar block limited was might as well have been called the "Don't Block block".
Personally, I feel that they kept the spirit of the fortifications in the land aura cycle in RTR and GTC. However, I'm not convinced they've abandoned the mechanic entirely.... there's simply too much flavor and design space in there. Perhaps they're biding their time to do a full run at fortifications for a block in the future.
I'm really looking forward to drafting this IRL, but not looking forward to the price of it all. I'll have to treat drafts of this like a special occasion.
So, is fall of the gavel an indication that WotC may not reprint absorb for quite some time, as absorb is completely superior to it (in my mind)?
Absorb and Undermine were broken. Absolutely and irrevocably. Neither will be reprinted. Sorry.
Meanwhile, suffocating blast was also considered too powerful to reprint. This should give you a good idea of the power level we're dealing with, here.
When in doubt, never pick the card that ends up a sideboard card in every other format...or did you main deck plummet in core set drafts?
I understand that those cards can be great against the UW flyer strategy, but in this pack you're better off taking the creature with reach than the sideboard quality removal spell. Especially since those type of cards almost always wheel.
First point: it all really depends on the set, as leaf arrow from Eldrazi rarely sat on the sideboard, with the retardedly abusable common invokers and other flyers running around.
But yes, not as likely to be relevant in this set, and at common it's very likely to pick one up much later in draft anyway.
Anyway: My pick in here is shambler first, since it's on curve, has low color requirements, cuts black entirely to your right, has evasion, and has a low enough scavenge cost to actually be relevant in fast games.
Second is steamcore weird, since it's just a good, efficient creature that can go into three separate guild decks, albeit with a fairly heavy mana liability.
Third is is a tie between blustersquall and dynacharge, since at their absolute worst they're splashable cards that can blow out opponents under fairly manageable conditions.
Now, the real trick is to see if combo is worth playing. Omniscience cheats it in, and Epic Experiment running tron gets crazy value.... but then, running either omniscience or tron epic experiment has a lot more going for it than a random super expensive tri-tutor.
Let's see if massive mana becomes viable in the next year.
There's way too much left unspoiled of the set to make a good judgement call on this card. In standard, a single cheap, repeatable untap effect instantly nullifies 98% of the arguments against its playability. Meanwhile, an playable card that has populate as an activated ability or tied to attacking makes it instantly unplayable forever, since the selesnya charm also happens to be the only known 2 CMC removal that can nuke it at the time.
But barring that, the fact that it straight up survives an on curve mutilate makes it worth looking into for now.
Personally, I hope the plane is the dream-plane mentioned in Planechase, where the narcomebas are from. In addition to possibly getting a reprint of narcomoeba, it'd be interesting to see other creatures with similar mechanics.
Come on prophetic bolt and faith's fetters!
Not in my opinion. Unglued and Unhinged are synonyms for going loony. The third set would likely continue this trend.
Unstable. There's your obvious name.
Absorb and Undermine were broken. Absolutely and irrevocably. Neither will be reprinted. Sorry.
Meanwhile, suffocating blast was also considered too powerful to reprint. This should give you a good idea of the power level we're dealing with, here.
First point: it all really depends on the set, as leaf arrow from Eldrazi rarely sat on the sideboard, with the retardedly abusable common invokers and other flyers running around.
But yes, not as likely to be relevant in this set, and at common it's very likely to pick one up much later in draft anyway.
Anyway: My pick in here is shambler first, since it's on curve, has low color requirements, cuts black entirely to your right, has evasion, and has a low enough scavenge cost to actually be relevant in fast games.
Second is steamcore weird, since it's just a good, efficient creature that can go into three separate guild decks, albeit with a fairly heavy mana liability.
Third is is a tie between blustersquall and dynacharge, since at their absolute worst they're splashable cards that can blow out opponents under fairly manageable conditions.
Now, the real trick is to see if combo is worth playing. Omniscience cheats it in, and Epic Experiment running tron gets crazy value.... but then, running either omniscience or tron epic experiment has a lot more going for it than a random super expensive tri-tutor.
Let's see if massive mana becomes viable in the next year.
Gruul has artwork that looks an awful lot like Garruk.
But barring that, the fact that it straight up survives an on curve mutilate makes it worth looking into for now.