There are plenty of two-card combos that can kill multiple players and don't require waiting until your next upkeep, so I don't think that's a huge deal.
Oh, sure, I was never trying to say that it was lolwtfomgbbq bah-roken, just saying that it's a thing you could do as an alternate win condition. I'd laugh for hours the first time that happened to me.
And is an instant win with Sakashima the Impostor or Mirror Gallery + any clone effect. Or kills a player enchanted with Paradox Haze. Still it'd be fun, I think, since you'd need the blue, so you can't run Frankie himself as your general, meaning you'd have to actually work at it.
EDIT: Sorry, triggers on your upkeep, not theirs. So basically, any of those cards lets you kill one person a turn.
If you can't see it: Get two Frankies in play via one of the above methods. Ask the following:
1: Will you answer yes to my next question?
If yes, then 2: Will you scoop right now?
If no, then 2: Will you not scoop right now?
Mindleech Mass, not Wrexial, to be specific (and pedantic).
Except not quite, because the Demon Ninja only hits instants and sorceries, while Mindleech Mass hits artifacts, enchantments, creatures, and even planeswalkers. That seems much more useful.
Technically, the worst case scenario for Vicious Shadows specifically is the one where all of your opponents are in top deck mode... but that's still pretty damn good for you.
As for the card itself, in a token build (or against a token build) it makes convenient wrath deterrent. That's what I use it for in my Norin the Wary deck.
In 2010, the early-year Duel Decks were Phyrexia vs. The Coalition. The theme was chosen as a primer/reminder/hype vehicle for the return of Phyrexia within the Scars of Mirrodin set later that year. But six months was way too long a lead time for this to have any significant impact or synergy. Then, in the Duel Decks of Elspeth vs. Tezzeret, we previewed a couple of Scars of Mirrodin cards. Rather than being a splashy tidbit, these previews dominated the conversation, overshadowing the Planeswalkers themselves. And now we've switched things up. Hmmmm. I'll let you draw your own conclusions...
This would seem to imply that there are going to be preview cards in DD: Izzet vs. Golgari. Furthermore, it even goes so far as to suggest that the preview card/cards are the point, which I think leads credence to the idea of a mythic preview card, i.e. Jarad.
Alternatively, they only switched the types so that they didn't preemptively spoil RTR. If we had been given Izzet vs. Golgari instead of Venser vs. Koth, there would have be a lot more speculation about a return to Ravnica.
Right now, I've got decks at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This is why I kind of really want to build the Mistform Ultimus deck, since it will not only give me one of each mono-colored deck, but also fill in the four slot.
See, for me, I just carry around an extra sleeve of the appropriate color with the deck, to that if my general gets tucked, I can switch it into the spare sleeve. Meanwhile, the generals for all of my decks have the same sleeve - this gives me the option (if I feel like it) to randomly select which deck I will play for a given game.
So is "Player A is getting out of hand, let's team up before he kills us" colluding? What in-game deals are permissible?
I would argue that colluding for the purposes of specifically gaining points would be against the rules, but political decisions where the table (or a subsection thereof) teams up to eliminate one problem player are fine.
3) Angel of Jubilation - She's fragile, but she just hoses so much in this format that it's not even funny. Phyrexian mana, Griselbrand, Necropotence, Birthing Pod, all the combo mana altars, Ghave...
One the other hand, is it just me, or are there a lot of random auras?
My guess on this? The original Ravnica had an aura sub-theme (that was largely lost amongst the multi-color theme). Perhaps that's going to be something they're bringing back with the Return to Ravnica, and hence they want to print some interesting auras to more easily meld the two blocks, similar to the enemy duals in Innistrad.
On the original topic: I'm a fan. I'm looking forward to the pre-release, for one.
Thousand-Year Elixir so you can use abilities even if they don't last until your next untap step. Though hopefully you already have this card in mind.
Along these lines you might consider Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery, so that you can slip your tap effect creatures in right before your untap phase.
If you're worried about people just buying a discounted booster pack, either A: only give the pack at the end, or B: charge $5 instead of $3, so that only players that actually want to play will play, but they'll essentially be buying a pack and have a roughly $.70 buy-in.
It's the beginning of a famous Shakespeare monologue from the play Julius Caesar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends,_Romans,_countrymen,_lend_me_your_ears
Oh, sure, I was never trying to say that it was lolwtfomgbbq bah-roken, just saying that it's a thing you could do as an alternate win condition. I'd laugh for hours the first time that happened to me.
And is an instant win with Sakashima the Impostor or Mirror Gallery + any clone effect. Or kills a player enchanted with Paradox Haze. Still it'd be fun, I think, since you'd need the blue, so you can't run Frankie himself as your general, meaning you'd have to actually work at it.
EDIT: Sorry, triggers on your upkeep, not theirs. So basically, any of those cards lets you kill one person a turn.
If you can't see it: Get two Frankies in play via one of the above methods. Ask the following:
1: Will you answer yes to my next question?
If yes, then 2: Will you scoop right now?
If no, then 2: Will you not scoop right now?
Except not quite, because the Demon Ninja only hits instants and sorceries, while Mindleech Mass hits artifacts, enchantments, creatures, and even planeswalkers. That seems much more useful.
As for the card itself, in a token build (or against a token build) it makes convenient wrath deterrent. That's what I use it for in my Norin the Wary deck.
This would seem to imply that there are going to be preview cards in DD: Izzet vs. Golgari. Furthermore, it even goes so far as to suggest that the preview card/cards are the point, which I think leads credence to the idea of a mythic preview card, i.e. Jarad.
Alternatively, they only switched the types so that they didn't preemptively spoil RTR. If we had been given Izzet vs. Golgari instead of Venser vs. Koth, there would have be a lot more speculation about a return to Ravnica.
I would argue that colluding for the purposes of specifically gaining points would be against the rules, but political decisions where the table (or a subsection thereof) teams up to eliminate one problem player are fine.
Nah, just kiddin'. Love the review so far!
Don't forget ONS/ZEN fetchlands.
My guess on this? The original Ravnica had an aura sub-theme (that was largely lost amongst the multi-color theme). Perhaps that's going to be something they're bringing back with the Return to Ravnica, and hence they want to print some interesting auras to more easily meld the two blocks, similar to the enemy duals in Innistrad.
On the original topic: I'm a fan. I'm looking forward to the pre-release, for one.
Along these lines you might consider Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery, so that you can slip your tap effect creatures in right before your untap phase.
Edit: more if you manage to use Paradox Haze, which is thematically related, even if it doesn't synergize. =P