I feel so old...so old that I can remember MTGNews (where I was briefly a mod), which begat MTGSalvation, which will beget...something else, I suppose. End of an era indeed. While never a place for robust strategic conversation, it was THE place for spoilers for the last decade and a half or so, and a place I've been happy to call home.
I will miss this place, and will probably resist creating a new account in the new place before finally relenting in a few years after getting too sad to not be able to discuss Commander and rumored cards.
Farewell and RIP, 'Sally. It's been real.
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- Hawk7915
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Member for 14 years, 2 months, and 26 days
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Dec 4, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on The Dos and Don'ts of Silver-Border CommanderI wish I owned a copy of this little gem, as "My Library is Riding the Dilu Horse" sounds like the most vaguely disturbing and awesome thing in the history of MtG.Posted in: Articles -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »See your number one shows why the costume people are immaterial to the community, they only show up at high level events, therefore with CS gone, nothing was lost. No one is cosplaying at my kitchen table or any other. Saying someone playing dress up makes someone buy an intro deck is such a leap of logic even the worst digital marketing hack wouldn't try it.
And your number two, couldn't agree more. Harassment's just not happening at the players playing with cards level that people think it is unless one thinks social media reflects reality. Try going to you local LGS and be a salty POS. People will play the games for an event, but you're not going to participate much beyond pay to play.
If your LGS is rife with rape jokes, name and shame bruh. Can't find Jeremy doing it, though most of his content isn't great, but would love a link.
Fair that we've gotten pretty far into the weeds here. My LGS seems generally great, my wife hasn't run into issues there and has generally bowed out because she hates limited and we're too poor for constructed. I haven't seen much/hardly any of Jeremy's stuff. I've seen a few of Christina's pictures on WotC's social media page but this whole scandal is the first I've really heard of both of them. They'll be gone, and there will be new cosplayers and scumbags to take their place.
I do think there's room for improvement and inclusion, because data says that something like 35-40% of players are women, but only 1% of serious tournament players or even casual "weekend warriors" are women. Some of that may be legitimate gender and cultural differences, but some of it is almost certainly that women feel unwelcome at local FNMs. It doesn't take the extremes of rape jokes and threats to scare 'em off.
Still, we're way off the issue here. It seems like we're both generally in agreement that being civil is good and that we're here for the larger issue and have no actual buy-in on the individuals involved, and I concede that cosplay is a poor/nonexistant marketing tool as it's pretty niche even among nerds. I do think they should be treated with respect, but fair enough that paying cosplayers to come to events like Hascon is probably money better spent elsewhere (like on fixing Gatherer or improving development or getting mainstream press attention). -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »That begs the question, what special accommodations need to be made for non-majority people? As far as I saw from 95-201X, none, but my group and LGS doesn't do any language policing, though we did make fun of the guy with waifu lands until he stopped using them.
I would say the people who demand things non game related do affect the game. Beyond salaries paid by wizards for content managers and other community management roles, money that could be spent on more RnD, better quality product and tourney prize support, we've already seen calls for wizards to pay adults to play dress-up.
So yes people who want to enjoy the game differently are detracting from the game by sapping finite resources. One could say they are growing the pie, but a worse product (ICM and other recent sets) is shrinking the pie more.
1) MaRo doesn't lie, and has repeatedly noted that "casuals" - folks who play for costumes and stories and flinging cards around their kitchen table - are the major audience of Magic the Gathering by a vast, vast magnitude. Super serious players who play professionally, and even semi-serious players who grind FNM every week, are an overall minority of the player population. It is THEIR enjoyment that funds the serious R&D to grind out good products and develop a game that rewards good play at the highest levels. While the recent Standard issues are likely in small part due to overtaxing the development team to serve a story team, the ability to hire new developers and refine/improve R&D with the Play Design team is due to the ever-growing sales from that story change, which has been a huge success for MtG's primary consumers.
2) I don't see why not hitting on people, commenting on their body shape and appearance, or "joking" about rape is an undue and unreasonable accommodation to expect in a professional setting, if you are dead-set on being the very best player beating the very best opponents. If your pleasure comes not from winning but from getting to be a dick to your opponents and drink their tears, you are at odds with the intent of the game. The author, and most female/colored/disabled players, are not asking you to treat them like Kings and Queens. They are asking you to treat them like adults and fellow players. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »One major difference, and I hope you can appreciate this: heterosexuality is, FAR AND AWAY, the norm. Your analogy would make more sense if women (lets, for the sake of argument, make them all unattractive women) continually asked me out this poorly at a card tournament. It would be sad. If men hit on me, that would be very creepy, because they are presuming interest in homosexual activity, which is a minority. That would be like me handing out Planned Parenthood fliers in Iran, and wondering why I am getting shot.
There is also a public policy issue. We want humans to live in the US, interestingly enough. For that, we need people to, you know, mate! Unwanted advances are sad, and when made repeatedly, are in fact harassment. One-off failed pickup attempts are not, and punishing them will lead to more introversion from an already-introversive group. Should we not be encouraging players to date each other, rather than making women at Magic events sacred cows??
I can accept a middle ground: flirt with tact. At a bar, grossly creeping at a girl results in a drink tossing. At a card event, perhaps a shove? But banning that behavior is wrong.
I get what you're saying, and am all for tact. The point of the author, and many other eloquent folks in this thread, is that it is never "just you" playfully flirting and dropping it if she says no or says nothing. It is every. single. opponent. Every single time. My wife usually made clear she was with her husband, and got creeped on the few tournaments she has been to back when we were just engaged and long-distance so she was attending alone. The fact that it is a constant barrage from all parties means even the guy who says "Hey, you're cool, that game was great, let's get coffee sometime" (which I'd consider to be respectful, tactful, and focused on positive qualities instead of just having sex ASAP) can feel pretty unwelcome because you are in fact the 10th guy to proposition her that day. The truth is that the far too many men are NOT that tactful and respectful, and I get that's because they're nervous and awkward but that is a reason and not a terribly compelling excuse. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Kryptnyt »That's fair. I didn't know about any Wolfenstein outcry. If there's flamethrowers in that game, it makes a lot more sense I guess. I still don't think Nazism has anything to do with cosplay however.
Yeah, I spend a ton of time on AV Club and most of my friends are hyper-liberal so I saw some of it. There is a legitimate phenomenon of making a tempest out of a tea kettle so I'm not sure how widespread the outcry REALLY was, but it was widespread enough to vaguely ping my radar so I understood that reference. Considering how fresh, and not well-disseminated, the reference is it would probably be good to edit the section to clarify. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »What you just mentioned (that pickup line) is not harassment, and I fear for a world were that is considered such.
Context matters, so consider my post to be "unsolicited pick-up lines that clearly make the recipient uncomfortable" since sure, you might be flirting and it makes sense to drop old gems like this - but also, if all your pickup lines relate immediately to sex with someone who's just there to play Magic, perhaps you should find a few new ones. THAT's the overall point, really, of my thread here - many here are saying "just let me play cards, this is a game, leave politics and identity out of it", then defending dropping cheesy pick-up lines and trolling for sex with their female opponents who are also just there to play cards. You can't have it both ways. It can't just be a game when it makes you comfortable, and be about your out-of-game needs and wants when it makes you comfortable too.
I opted for a clean example in the interest of not getting a warning or infraction. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »No, that is NOT what it is. I never mentioned feminism and its goods/ills once. I just want to be left alone and not having thought policing.
I know it's a tough line sometimes, but the issue here is that your privilege to be left alone ends when you harm someone else. If you say "hey, you look great in that dress but it'd look greater on my floor", your female opponent calling you on it or reporting you to a judge for unsportsmanlike conduct is no longer a "Thought Police" issue, it is an anti-harassment issue. Treating people with respect, decency, following the golden rule, etc, shouldn't BE a political issue, and the point of the article is that if you take this as an attack on your personal beliefs and politics, perhaps it is time to do some real soul searching regarding those beliefs and politics. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemThe full, in-context quote is:Posted in: Articles
"It should go without saying that if you feel personally attacked when someone denounces the Nazis, you ought to take a good, hard, long look inside yourself to find out where that Nazi sympathy comes from. And then you kill it with fire from a good, old-fashioned, American-made M1A1 flamethrower, a fine weapon responsible for killing many Nazis in the actual World War II."
In context, she refers to killing "those feelings of sympathy" with fire, and there is no advocacy of violence against Nazis. "Kill it with fire" is a common turn of phrase, and is here directed entirely as a metaphorical fire-bombing of negative attitudes some may possess, internally.
The "shoot Nazis in Normandy but not New York" bit is specifically referencing the outcry over Wolfenstein's recent release, which a handful of conservatives decried despite Wolfenstein being a long-running series predicated on shooting the hell out of Nazis (something it has in common with many, many, many other Triple A shooter titles on the market), as the context of a Nazi-controlled US still featuring Nazi-shooting was apparently too close to home for some. I admit the messaging is muddled by the long gap (she mentions the game in paragraph one, and the line, with no reference to the game, in her final paragraph), but there is no advocacy of violence here. An edit to make it clear she's referencing Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, however, may be beneficial. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI suppose I can appreciate the desire to "face only the strongest". Christina doesn't even play so that's whatever. I would challenge the assumption that welcoming women, people of color, disabled people, etc to the community somehow will give you less worthy opposition. I'm also not sure that folks who enjoy the game differently (for its art, costumes, flavor, etc) should be made to feel unwelcome or be treated poorly when they won't ever dilute your tournament experience or environment.Posted in: Articles
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Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI find it interesting that many posts here are to "keep politics out of my escapism". I understand and empathize with the sentiment. I come here to get away from the horror show that is modern politics and news. I generally prefer to tune out and avoid confrontation.Posted in: Articles
Here's the thing though; folks like Christina and the author are "bringing their liberal politics into your game" because you, or folks like you, started it.
I am a white man, so I have a limited perspective on many things, but I am also disabled and in a wheelchair. I have 100% had folks talk...real...real...slow to me, or make cracks about "feeling bad beating up on a cripple" at tournaments. I've let it mostly roll off my back or taken them aside and gently told them that that is very uncool of them, as my physical disability does not overly impact my cognitive functioning and it's a bit insulting to assume othewise. Are my opponents who do this immune to criticism? Am I injecting my "SJW politics" into the game by correcting them, or by posting this?
I would hope logically you'd answer "no, that's all fine and fair" - but then why is it wrong for Christina or Alexandra to similarly share their perspective and defend themselves? I would personally not have been as violent or blunt as the author either, but as someone who can only generally imagine what its like to be treated as "less than" every. single. minute of the day, since I get treated as "less than" a few times a week, I also don't really have the right to tell someone that their anger or protest is inappropriate. We can't endorse a community that does stuff like ask women "are you hear with your boyfriend/husband? You look GREAT in that dress. Are you free later? Do you know how to play? Do you just play for the pictures? Are you just doing this for attention from men?" AND also say "whoa, calm down lady, it's just a game" when they get upset at that treatment. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI was a bit nervous about the title here, but this article was dead-on. Many here are quick to say we need to protect valid criticism, but that wasn't the issue here. Christina didn't leave because of "criticism" - it's not like people were telling her she got the colors wrong or ought to have used metal instead of foam on her costume or she should switch to "Urban Decay" for makeup because it doesn't look as tacky and smeared after being in costume all day, or whatever and she couldn't take it. She left because of persistent harassment that crossed the line from respectful criticism to personal attack. The defense of criticism is a borderline non sequitur - it's like leaping into a discussion of how to prevent arson by adding "hey, just remember, roasting marshmallows in your backyard is great though. Let's just remember that some fires are helpful and maybe be a little easier on the arsonist, okay?"Posted in: Articles
The fact that there are so many comments here on MTGS are in defense of Jeremy, or a leap to "if you tell me I can't do as I please to others you are the oppressor and problem!!!!" is as depressing as it is utterly unsurprising. You hit the nail on the head. If you choose to spend your days protecting and defending Nazis, Fascists, rapists, misogynists, and internet trolls, even if you yourself feel you are NOT a Nazi, Fascist, rapist, misogynist, or troll, you can't be surprised to find that you are unwelcome in private communities due to the company YOU have chosen to keep, and the hill YOU have chosen to die on. You really should take a long, hard look at why you feel that this is the side you want to be on if you are uncomfortable with the labels that it entails.
One of the great lies of the 20th century is that all opinions are equal and sacred, that your ignorance is as valuable and valid as my knowledge, and that there is no objective truth. You are absolutely entitled to the opinion that Jeremy is right, that Christina is a crybaby, and that perhaps to go further, women are objects for your amusement or should only wear things that conform to your standards of beauty. You are also entitled to the opinion that the Earth is flat, but that isn't going to help you pass an Astronomy class or leap off the edge of the planet, and you are entitled to the opinion that gravity is a lie but that isn't going to let you take to the air on your own power. You're entitled to the opinion that all medicine is quackery and all nutrition is part of a conspiracy - take a decade off eating healthy and visiting doctors or taking any medicine and get back to me on how you feel. And you will face criticism by those that actually study, learn, research, and listen instead of forming a snap opinion based on their personal, anecdotal, and frequently privileged evidence. That criticism 100% means you will face consequences for sharing the opinions that underline and define Nazis, Fascists, rapists, pedophiles, and misogynists around the world.
I'd say that's the only misstep here. I am not calling you a Nazi - but your spirited defense of them is cause for concern and says a lot about your underlying beliefs and attitudes. If being lumped in with someone that, 10 years ago, we almost all agreed was synonymous with "punchable jerkwads and universal villains" is making you feel discomfort, perhaps it is your beliefs, and not my connecting of the dots, that is the problem. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Or you block. Play removal. Play the game. The game goes on instead of resetting.
RE: Jace - Previously, they cast Jace, do whatever (let's say Brainstorm), you answer Jace for 4 mana with your Jace. Losing deal? It seems that way to me, although I admit not always. Now, they Jace and Brainstorm, and you can...Jace and also do whatever. Brainstorm, Unsummon, Fateseal 'em. You may well still be behind since they got an extra activation, but now Jace is a four mana Jace instead of a four mana Dreadbore.
I'm not going to deny it's less interactive in terms of those two specific cards interacting, "Jace shall never kill Jace" as it were. I'm just utterly unconvinced that the game is ruined forever as a result of it, since you have 56+ other cards to interact with.
I think the biggest deal is how easy it just got to "chain" 'walkers. I'm not sure it will impact any formats, but it is a big deal from a play and design perspective that I can now "T4, Sorin, Vampire. T5, Emblem, cast Sorin, Emblem, swing with +2/+0 to my men".
EDIT:
I'm bad with words, especially this late. Luckily Xenphire is here, being awesome.
Are you really telling me that right now, if you are playing Bant Auras in a mirror, you sit and say "hey, maybe I won't cast my Geist. Maybe I'll wait for him to cast his Geist and then Unflinching Courage it for a 12-point life swing, THEN cast my Geist. STRATEGY!!!!!"
It is, technically, less interactivity in that you now have one less card out of hundreds that can interact with Geist, but I am unconvinced that the current level of interaction was particularly strategic or clever. Things were already a race to the Geist/Jace; now they are slightly moreso. It actually encourages strategy in my mind, because now the solution to busted Legends is to run efficient answers to them (Far // Away, enchantment removal,blockers, and Renounce the Guilds for Geist, for example), instead of encouraging mirror builds because it was "the easy way".
The change is a big deal obviously, but to say that this, THIS (and not loss of mana burn, damage on the stack, interrupts, summons, diverse creature types, tapped blockers not dealing combat damage, old card face, etc) is the end of Magic is absurd. In terms of far-reaching effect it impact a smaller percentage of cards, and it invalidates none: Mirror Gallery and Leyline of Singularity still, more or less, do what you wanted them to do and Sakashima the Imposter and Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, while a little less special, still have gametext that makes them interesting and fun. The change is healthy for the game: I think anything that removes that feel-bad, "Sorry I just kicked your puppy" feeling from new players learning the game is healthy for the game. And if playing your own Geist and Liliana was your only solution to beating those cards, well, learn to play :tongue:.
I am saddened that RoN is likely going to win, since it is the worse design, but I don't hate it and will give it a shot I'm sure (CMC pending of course).
Can you point our where? I hadn't seen that, and it's basically the nail in an already mostly closed and buried coffin for the card (although I give props to the few players that have pointed out that flavor is very black, much more so than any other black draw spell).
P1: "I get to pay life for cards!"
P2: "Dude, it has like four other lines of gametext, you should really..."
P1: "LIFE. FOR. CARDS. NECROPOTENCE 2.0! WOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Sigh. I guess we'll see if the community at large votes different from MTGSally. If not, I hope I'm wrong and we get this at :symb::symb: with the last mode being Mind Rot and the kill mode changed to Cruel Edict
Thanks!
I don't hate Revenge the way some people seem too; I'm a huge fan of Megrim effects. They are just historically not playable and I don't trust WotC not to give us this at 4 mana. At :symb::symb: it has its best shot at success, with a shot in Standard. I won't cry if it goes to print, and might play it in a Commander deck or two, but I think the safest vote is still Blood in the Watering Can.
Good points though!
I sorta like the new art. Confidant himself looks lame, but the overall flavor and design is beautiful: Confidant is the power behind the throne, the evil vizier that grants the King his power...and possibly his doom.
Many call this a bad Oversold Cemetery, and for most creature-heavy builds or dredge/self-mill heavy builds, that is a fair accusation (unless we get BitWC at CMC 1 or 2, which is unlikely). However, even a "bad Oversold Cemetery" might be playable in standard and modern at say :1mana::symb::symb:. These formats don't have the option of running Oversold Cemetery currently. The applications of this card are broader, too; it's better in midrange and control builds that don't run 20+ creatures, and it is actually abusable with some brewing (Street Wraith?). It is also vastly better in multiplayer, and likely stronger in limited.
The real selling point here should be that even if WotC sticks our choice at :2mana::symb::symb: or :4mana::symb:, this card would still be awesome in Commander and casual decks worldwide. That may be sour grapes for many of you, but there are 7 (Limited, Commander, Casual Constructed; Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage) formats and we'd at least get a card that would be highly playable and beloved in 2 or 3 out of 7...which has to be better than 0/7.
Now let's look at our competition:
Consuming Contract - This card has delicious flavor now that its creator has explained it, and on its surface it has the possibility of being good in numerous formats (although probably never in Vintage and Limited). However, without knowing X, I'm uncertain I'd ever play this over Liliana of the Veil, Bitterblossom, Dark Tutelage, or Phyrexian Arena for my "incremental advantage" slot. I chose those cards because I imagine we'll be seeing this at 3 mana, maaaybe 2. Again though, we're at WotC's mercy: putting this at 4 or 5 makes it awful unappealing.
Also consider that its design is pretty narrow: you run this in a combo deck that can kill in three turns, or you fill your deck with unplayable jank, probably 8-12 slots of it, and pray it doesn't kill you (Angel's Grace? Reality Strobe? Perilous Research? Claws of Gix?). That likely shoots it out of Standard, Modern, and Legacy contention...unless X is really good. And that brings me to my last point: a vote for Consuming Contract is a vote to let WotC have us at their mercy twice. Sure, if X is a Vampiric Tutor or a Zombify or a Infest, this card might be really stellar. If it's a Coercion or a Mind Rot or a Syphon Life or a Death's Duet, it might be playable in more formats. But if the options we are given are Taste for Blood, Raise Dead, or Decompose? GG, card is awful in all 7 formats without even seeing what our mana cost options are.
This is the vote that counts, as eliminating BitWC this week dooms us all, but for the future let's look at our other two:
Revenge of Necromancy - Before we even begin, this card is only going to be playable in 2-4/7 formats, no matter how aggressively it is costed. Even at :symb:, it won't be relevant enough for Legacy or Vintage, and will not be playable in Limited ever. It is not hard to imagine us getting stuck with it at 3 or 4 mana either, which would pretty much just leave it as a very fringe card in Casual and Commander (so like 1.5/7). At 5 mana, it's truly unplayable. It is a fun design, but also has some issues. Specifically, the thing you're most likely to get (two black mana from them pitching a land) is useless in conjunction with Specters like Hypnotic Specter and "every turn" hand-shredders like Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit. The fact that your opponent has some control most of the time over what you get means this can often be worse than just running Geth's Grimoire. It can be very powerful with Wheel of Fortune and Windfall effects but, again, this leaves us with a narrow casual card.
Demonic Bargain - The natural assumption is that this will be an X-spell, or have a flat cost and require a life payment. Either way, this card is a 1/7 card, only really having a rare home in Commander where you have the life or mana to stave off the drawback and make this a bad Staff of Nin that has some political pull. If we are wrong and it isn't an X-spell...it is still probably worse than Phyrexian Arena unless it is like
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tl;dr: Please, please, please vote for the card with the best chance of not being a $0.25 rare. Vote for Blood in the Watering Can!
1) Consuming vs Blood - I voted Consuming in round 1, but I'm not actually psyched about it. It seems obnoxious and boring in that it will only be good if you can nuke it before you die, and I don't trust WotC to not cost it at 3 or 4. Blood will be good and exciting at Commander at almost any reasonable cost, and if we see it at :3mana::symb: or less could even see play in standard/modern. It is the best design left and the most broad and fun to brew around.
2) Revenge vs Demonic - I've cooled a lot on Revenge after my initial excitement: not good enough in monoblack, and I may very well prefer Geth's Grimoire in any other discard-focused commander deck. Again, I doubt we'll see that at less than 4 mana and that makes it unplayable in any format other than Commander (where discard isn't precisely a game-winning plan). That being said, I hate that Demonic got in on a technicality, and I think it'll be a worse card no matter what, so it gets the nod from me.
That was not the impression I had. The impression I had from the quote is that WotC had realized it is ridiculous to have standards that don't offer enemy-colored decks a dual land anymore, and that all pairs should be equally supported. We've already really seen the benefits of this, with the last three Pre-Rav blocks alternating between Enemy and Allied color duals, but now I imagine they will offer even more support.
This doesn't necessarily mean we'll get 10 duals/core set, but that we'll probably see a full 10 in each expansion OR that we'll always have allied in core, enemy in expansion to keep things even.
Re: The actual rumor - I just can't imagine them letting a Shocks + Fetches standard slide. I'd like to see them (and the Zen fetches) reprinted to get more since I'm sitting at 10/20 for ONS and 4/20 for ZEN, and I am sure they will be some day, but I just don't know about M14 or even Theros. There is increasing evidence for it ("mini-landfall" theme in M14, Development's stated tiredness of the checklands, MaRo's blog) but I remain skeptical. I thought one of the reasons they were tired of the Checklands is because of their interaction with Shocks, which is a knock against the theory.
If you can't get Nature's Lore, perhaps Dawntreader Elk or Yavimaya Elder would be better? More creatures means more chances at gaining life off of Trostani, after all
Obviously the printing of playable swords and then, playable Living Weapons made CawBlade the true oppressor of standard and Fetchlands helped, but Jace warped the format the second Cascade went out the door. And as powerful as Aggro is today, I don't think it has quite the same insanity as Putrid Leech + Thrinax + BBE + Lightning Bolt + Blightning.
I expect Jace as the big draw for FtV: 20 because I don't think any blue card has so warped its standard metagame since the P9 (and that includes Tinker, Delver, Fact or Fiction, and honorary blue cards Psychatog and Sphinx's Revelation), but he will likely never see standard again. I almost think this is a troll thread.
- In general, your curve seems a bit high. Test it since I could be wrong, but if I'm right you may want to consider trading out some of your 6+ drops (with Emarra, Storm Herd, Planar Cleansing, and Trostani's Judgement probably being the lowest impact for you right now) for cheaper cards like Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, Nature's Lore, Selesnya Signet, Selesnya Charm, Lightning Greaves, Aura Mutation, Swords to Plowshares, or Intangible Virtue.
- With all that being said, if you think your curve is fine I still think you should replace three or four of those cards. Specifically I think Vigor, Parallel Evolution, Hour of Reckoning, and True Conviction might do more work in your deck.
- Gavony Township seems like a must-have for this deck.
Hope that helps!
Bonescythe Sliver - Getting this as white's rare sliver is neat. It means that I think we're save from "All Slivers are Indestructible", and it's a better (read: actually playable) version of Fury Sliver for slivers.dec in Modern and Standard.
Charging Griffin - Limited filler, but surprisingly decent limited filler.
Devout Invocation - At least it feels very mythic. Good in Commander token decks? I'm not super interested.
Hive Stirrings - This card is very good in limited and might see play in a standard or even modern Sliver deck. Also: confirms 1/1 Colorless Sliver tokens! My Sliver Queen can finally make real things instead of pennies. We can finally build a Sliver Horde deck without it costing a billion dollars!
Master of Diversion - Limited filler
Seraph of the Sword - Limited bomb, fun casual card, not too great overall. Always nice for us Angel Tribal players to get one that doesn't cost seven trillion mana to cast though.
Glimpse the Future - I read this as 1 to the grave, 2 to hand, and thought everyone freaking out about bad it was: it's an incredibly better Divination! Then I reread it. Wow. This is just awful. I sort of get why: any 1 or 2 mana cantrip or filter they print now threatens Modern, but...Forbidden Alchemy was a thing at common in standard for two years and didn't see a terribly large amount of play at all. Why couldn't this have dug four or five deep, or put two into hand?
Jace's Mindseeker - Second best creature type line ever! That's about it though. My blues sorta-milling Commander decks will just keep on playing Diluvian Primordial, and I can't imagine needing two of that sort of effect. I guess if I do though, and if I'm not in black to run Memory Plunder, I'd take Jace's Fisher over Chancellor of the Annex.
Grim Return - Artwork is outstanding. The card is alright: instant helps it a lot, and I think I'd happily play it in Commander and casual.
Liliana's Reaver - That actually seems maybe close enough to see play in Standard! If only Boros Reckoner wasn't going to kick its ass every time. It is a very awesome zombie card though.
Rise of the Dark Realms - I'm glad we finally got a Liliana-flavored spell that really shows her "vast necromancy powers granted by the Veil" ability. This is a very mythic mythic, and for most mono-black EDH decks (and many B/x/y decks) should be a near-auto include. It seems significantly more of a blowout than Plague Wind[/card or Decree of Pain, honestly.
Marauding Mauler - Limited filler with some cute synergy with that elf that was spoiled yesterday.
Molten Birth - Funny, but doesn't seem that strong outside of decks looking to abuse Krark's Thumb.
Ogre Battledriver - In the Web of War on a stick is excellent! Limited bomb, casual powerhouse, EDH staple (Ruric-that in particular is thrilled to seem him). Maybe constructed playable, but it's hard to say and I'm leaning towards no: while his effect is incredibly powerful being just a Hill Giant on the turn he enters the battlefield probably isn't good enough.
Thorncaster Sliver - Wow. Holy crap. I'd imagine most competitive sliver decks aren't super pumped to pay 5 for a 2/2 sliver, but...wow. Turning the team into Hellridering ninja death assassins is absolutely terrifying. Heck of a curve-topper for the sliver army.
Young Pyromancer - Really solid card, although absolutely not in the same vein as Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, Stoneforge Mystic, and Bob. Those are cards that are basically must-plays in their color and (except Stoneforge who demands 1-3 other slots be equipment) require no real investment on your part, and are so potent they are often worth splashing for in numerous competitive formats. Pyro here is more like Delver of Secrets: a subtle card that must be built around but is potentially very strong in the right deck/format.
Into the Wild - It's okay and I'd play it in most Commander decks. It isn't as awesome as Oracle of Mul Daya, but makes up for it by not being so fragile.
Predatory Sliver - And look, it's a new and improved Muscle Sliver! I honestly wasn't sure that we'd get one. This card puts Slivers on the map for Standard and makes them mean in modern where they have two creatures like this at two mana. Sidenote: All our spoilers are from Duels 2014, where I'd bet the constructed deck is Naya Slivers. I can't imagine we won't see some black and blue ones even if they end up with slightly less. At the very least, I thought it was strongly hinted that we're getting a sister of sorts to Sliver Queen?
Primeval Bounty - six mana is too much to play this outside of EDH, but I love durdly bonus cards like this :). Will likely play it in my Doran deck and, when I get around to building it, my Momir Vig deck.
Rumbling Baloth - Limited filler.
Savage Summoning - Not drawing a card almost makes this worse than Insist and Scout's Warning even though it combines the effects, and a +1/+1 counter isn't enough upshot. We'd need to be living in a truly oppressive 12+counter format for me to want to maindeck or even sideboard this, and that format hasn't existed for nearly fifteen years.
Sporemound - At five mana this is a hard sell in limited and standard. Might be funny with Ghave though, but Ghave combos with: cards so it'd be hard to find room for it.
Woodborn Behemoth - Limited bombish card. A 4/4 for 5 isn't bad, and in a long game an 8/8 trampler is unbeatable.
Guardian of Ages - Meh. Flavorful but largely unplayable artifact creature.
Ring of Three Wishes - I'm a huge fan, and my Karn EDH deck will happily play this instead of Planar Portal. Most of my cards are three card combos max (and Karn is usually a piece of them), and I have a smattering of proliferate and sac + recur cards if I really need more wishes.
Sliver Construct - limited filler
Staff of the Death Magus - The flavor on these are neat, but I really wish we just got Demon's Horn and the other charms back
Vial of Poison - Flavorful limited filler.
Overall, M14 is looking like a very worthy 20th anniversary set.