And the rest of the uncommon split cards aren't too bad for decks looking to double up on some of the simple effects. Sadly there's nothing too synergistic to do with them like the others, but all in all, I'd say we made out pretty well with the splits.
Let's just list all the reasons why Emmara is an awfully-designed card:
1) A 7 mana 5/7 Elf Shaman? Come on. That is ludicrous. You can make up magical justifications all you want but this is just silly and I don't think anyone believe it for a minute.
2) 7 mana to prevent damage to your tokens. What are you supposed to do with your tokens before then? Not take damage? Are you saving them up for Emmara? The purpose of tokens is precisely for them to take (and deal) damage. You have more than your opponent. THAT IS YOUR ADVANTAGE. You don't need them to be more resilient because they're tokens because you can always make more of them. Tokens don't really care about taking damage.
3) Preventing damage in general: I know this is a white thing but come on. Combat is not that big of a deal for a G/W creature deck. What IS a big deal is mass destroy effects. How bout a little protection against that, huh? No? Well I don't mean to get demanding here but the fact of the matter is that Emmara punishes you badly for overextending into any kind of mass control situation. She does nothing in that case to better your position. FOR SEVEN MANA. NOTHING. She's a goofy 5/7 that saves the odd token or two from combat death.
She's a lazy slap in the face from a design perspective. I don't mean to seem entitled and frankly I think most of this set is pretty cool but she just makes near-zero sense to me from a mechanical and flavor standpoint. If I was a Selesnya buff hoping for a good general in this set I would be just totally depressed.
EDIT: What's really, really annoying is how her preview article is written around Commander usage. The whole thing is as forced as it looks. Prevent damage =/= protecting tokens in this format no matter what you are smoking. That card is called Eldrazi Monument and it costs :5mana:.
That article actually mentions Caller of the Claw as a way to protect tokens when it merely replaces nontokens with 2/2s, of which you will not be having that many. It's nowhere close to Fresh Meat.
This perfectly sums up what I did not take the time to write myself about Emmara. Thanks, Supersonik
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
Ready&Willing is a neat card- anti wrath and also a means of ensuring your guys survive combat, pump attached as well, etc. Ghave or other token and creature based decks probably want it.
Blame it on design or development, we have no way of knowing which is the primary culprit. Although personally I lean towards design because while at a more efficient mana cost token decks might actually want her...she would still be a very boring guild champion.
I'm leaning toward development- just of how she is, I feel like she was probably really different starting out and then got changed really late in development for some reason. It doesn't jive with what we saw of Emmara in the books till now (ie. summoning elementals) so part of me suspects she originally had some sort of tuned down effect that we saw on Voice.
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Ask yourselves, all of you, what power would hell have if those imprisoned here could not dream of heaven?
EDH:
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV Zo-Zu the Punisher Phelddagrif
Rhys the Redeemed
Ashling the Pilgrim
Ruhan of the Fomori
Rafiq of the Many
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Aurelia, the Warleader
Animar, Soul of Elements
Borborygmos Enraged
Riku of Two Reflections
But it's terribly designed. It's not good anywhere, The flavor is off, and the reasoning for it in the article is a flat out face slap.
I feel bad for anyone who buys packs and pulls this.
I agree. I don't usually complain about cards but this one pushed me over the edge. I didn't complain about Mirko or Teysa....but Emmara.....just wow. One of the worst cards printed in recent memory. None of it makes sense, I thought it was a joke when first spoiled.
Quote from Chaosof99 »
It's not. She is a high ranking Selesnya official. Her ability is a perfect fit. Her power and toughness is also not outrageous if one doesn't limit oneself to only interpret power/toughness as pure physical attributes.
OK. So a frail, attractive Elf woman who can break most dragons, giants, sphinxes, demons, beasts in half without batting an eyelash makes sense?
Quote from Chaosof99 »
Fair enough. Doesn't mean that the card is badly designed.
I do tend to think that people on the forums overact to certain things. But this card's design makes absolutely no sense. I don't know what the intentions were on this card, but it is a terrible design. MTG is an excellent product but it doesn't mean they are incapable of designing a terrible card here or there.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
It does have a very homelands feel to it - overcosted and lackluster. Thought I don't know about the aborted fetus bit.
[EDH] It's built to be a casual format and to a specific vision, and if you don't like the vision, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to change to accommodate everyone. Big tent is not a goal.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
I have never wanted to sig a quote more than this one in my entire time on MTGS
Just wondering. Are the people who are upset Selesnya fans who were let down or just disappointed in general?
Disappointed in general.
EDIT: This is if your question was referring to Emmara, I still think there are some pretty cool cards in this set and I will pick a few up to try in my decks.
[Dragonshift] - 1UR
Instant
Target creature you control becomes a 4/4 red Dragon with flying until end of turn.
Overload 3UURR
What an H-bomb in limited play. Dear lord. Biggest blowout yet for the mana. Forces insta-trades with X/3s and overruns for the kill with only a few creatures out. Plays so well with Dimir Cypher and Gruul Bloodrush too. I hope I open 3 of these. In Commander? Well these colors don't care all that much about tokens unfortunately. If the U/R goblin deck is ever a thing I guess? Thrax tribal zombies? That's probably the closest thing it's useful for. But it can definitely do some alpha striking there.
The Selesnya/Orzhov split card is pretty sick in Ghave-style token decks. Too bad Selesnya can't use the left half by itself. I think it would be a nice add to Rootborn Defenses and Dauntless Escort.
Actually a little disappointed by the other uncommon split cards. None of them seem as good as Far and Away or Turn and Burn or even Give and Take. Down and Dirty is overcosted and poor for multiplayer. Profit and Loss is a simple weenie pump and Protect and Serve is a simple trade setup. I thought the most of the others were much more clever.
Just wondering. Are the people who are upset Selesnya fans who were let down or just disappointed in general?
I had earnestly hoped that they'd seize the opportunity and make an enchantress general - since there is an existing "enchantments matter" sub-theme in the block(ethereal armor and sphere of safety). But barring that, I'm simply offended that they've tried to pass this on us.
I work on and play other card games and Wizards' "We need bad cards for limited" is the biggest crock of crap ever. An enchantress with something like an enchantment-animating ability could have had traction in many formats.
We don't need ~ 1000 new cards every fiscal year - but your shareholders and Board of Directors do. I'm sure we'd get by just fine on 100 - 200 new cards a year.
EDIT: I'm disappointed in the whole set in general - and I'm voting with my wallet. I'll play in the prereleases, but I won't be purchasing any sealed product.
EDIT: I'm disappointed in the whole set in general - and I'm voting with my wallet. I'll play in the prereleases, but I won't be purchasing any sealed product.
It's been hard to justify buying entire boxes of the sets in this block with so many gold cards that don't fit into our decks, but my group of three friends and I like to buy two boxes and split it between the four of us. That way we spend about $50 each, we get to trade and slot new cards into decks, and we have most of the commons and uncommons we're looking for. Consider splitting a box with a friend if you don't want the whole thing.
I'll usually pick up a pack, a drink or two and a 1$ play ticket when I go to my shop (if they have any sealed product in stock. Don't get me started) So I'll probably eventually accumulate a couple dozen packs - if out of nothing more than not wanting to stick my shop with a slew of $2.15 debit card purchases.
Even at 5/5 I would be reluctant to use it. I don't see many URx decks that can really take advantage of the Overload either. I guess a Grixis RWU Token deck might be good, but it's a very niche card.
EDIT: I'm disappointed in the whole set in general - and I'm voting with my wallet. I'll play in the prereleases, but I won't be purchasing any sealed product.
Isn't the prerelease sealed? And I typically spend $10-$15 on singles each set and then buy 1-2 packs. So your anti-vote is the same as my enthusiastic vote
I had earnestly hoped that they'd seize the opportunity and make an enchantress general - since there is an existing "enchantments matter" sub-theme in the block(ethereal armor and sphere of safety). But barring that, I'm simply offended that they've tried to pass this on us.
I work on and play other card games and Wizards' "We need bad cards for limited" is the biggest crock of crap ever. An enchantress with something like an enchantment-animating ability could have had traction in many formats.
We don't need ~ 1000 new cards every fiscal year - but your shareholders and Board of Directors do. I'm sure we'd get by just fine on 100 - 200 new cards a year.
EDIT: I'm disappointed in the whole set in general - and I'm voting with my wallet. I'll play in the prereleases, but I won't be purchasing any sealed product.
I play a game where they do only release 100-200 new cards per year (Android: Netrunner, it's one of Fantasy Flight Games' Living Card Games, they release one 20-card expansion per month). One of the biggest things missing from it is the ability to play a limited format. Wizards' printing of 1000 cards a year enables limited formats. It also enables them to sell more cards, and make more money to keep doing the things they are doing.
While I am disappointed with Emmara specifically and most of Dragon's Maze on the whole, and will likely purchase as little of it as possible, I do prefer Wizards' release style to the alternative when it comes to lots of things like this. Here are some things FFG has been screwing up majorly:
1) Base set distribution. An LCG is supposed to be "buy set X, get a play set (3) of every card, so there's a lower investment". But their base set has many cards with 2 or even 1 copy, forcing you to buy as many as three base sets to get your playsets, and several of these cards are major staples in the game at the moment.
2) Poor spoilage. Each expansion has 20 cards in it, and they reveal ~5 cards 3 months out, most of which are partially obscured so that you can't make a good evaluation because you can't see the cost or specific numbers in the text box. Then (maybe) they release another 3-5 cards in a preview the week before the set releases. I say maybe because last month they didn't. The bulk of the cards end up getting spoiled by whoever gets their hands on the pack first. Which leads me to
3) Questionable distribution. There's no set release date for their packs, they're just sold whenever they get to the shops. Sometimes, this can vary by as much as a week from store to store. Oh, and the pack is tournament legal the second it hits any shelf, including their main storefront that doesn't have to ship it.
4) Focus too far on the future. As stated above, they release monthly but they spoil cards three months out. And sometimes more, as with each "cycle" of 6 packs they show a handful of cards when the cycle is first announced, and some of those don't come out until the end of the cycle 9+ months later. It'd be like if WotC spoiled a card from the second Theros set today, rather than spoil any DGM cards.
5) Insufficient prize support. They do provide prize kits for leagues and tournaments, but the supply has been very short. My LGS that ordered one didn't get it for two months because there was too much demand, and when confronted about it, FGG replied "What do you think we are, Wizards of the Coast?" Additionally, the backs of the promo cards in the prize kits are a different shade from the rest of the cards, meaning they can't be played without opaque sleeves.
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Sold my collection in Jan to buy a motorcycle, but had I kept my Wort, Boggart Auntie deck, Pyrewild Shaman would be a must include. Repeatable sac fodder, repeatable combat trick, repeatable skullclamp fodder, relevant creature type, etc.
Just needed to tell someone there was a card I was excited about. Hypothetically.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
Burntgerbil said worst parts, so the good stuff from either of those expansions should not be considered. No matter how mediocre, unexciting or even bad she may be, she's not as bad as the worst parts of those sets.
I'd say she's slightly worse than Jasmine Boreal. That would put Emmara somewhere around the average power level of legends in that set.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
I play a game where they do only release 100-200 new cards per year (Android: Netrunner, it's one of Fantasy Flight Games' Living Card Games, they release one 20-card expansion per month).
I know netrunner. I believe I played the old one a couple of times and I remember liking it. I'm into Shadowfist - for my money, I feel like it's the best multiplayer experience I've ever had. Their recent LCG relaunch was pretty successful. The game just doesn't work well for duels and limited though - but that's fine, because if I really want that, I'd be playing another game anyway. I'm frustrated that a lot of cardgames watered themselves down by trying to wear too many hats - we've gotta be good at limited/draft/collectible/whatever.
I've been up here in NoVA for about 3 years now and I've seen tides of magic players come and go - competitive drafters & standard players predominantly. These limited "pros" are a dime a dozen - they're there only for the prizes and quite a few in my area are pretty antisocial - but I guess they're a good market for the store and for Wizards. Anyone playing anything else tends to stick around longer.
Back on topic - There is no reason to make her such an uninspiring card. Worst case scenario if they can't get a good fit ? Have us submit and publicly upvote 20 suggested cards for the title/cost/theme and use one of em. The whole process could take a day. There's no reason to lose a card design to development anymore.
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StaffYou've already got Golgari Charm, Wrap in Vigor, Rootbound Defenses, and Boros Charm for much the same effect.
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Dauntless Escort does this too and can be Sun Titan'd. I do like this card for Ghave though.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
Dauntless Escort & Rootborn Defenses say hi
And the rest of the uncommon split cards aren't too bad for decks looking to double up on some of the simple effects. Sadly there's nothing too synergistic to do with them like the others, but all in all, I'd say we made out pretty well with the splits.
EDIT: Double Nath'd
RRR - Bosh's School of Hard(cover) Knocks
This perfectly sums up what I did not take the time to write myself about Emmara. Thanks, Supersonik
I'm leaning toward development- just of how she is, I feel like she was probably really different starting out and then got changed really late in development for some reason. It doesn't jive with what we saw of Emmara in the books till now (ie. summoning elementals) so part of me suspects she originally had some sort of tuned down effect that we saw on Voice.
EDH:
Zo-Zu the Punisher
Phelddagrif
Rhys the Redeemed
Ashling the Pilgrim
Ruhan of the Fomori
Rafiq of the Many
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Aurelia, the Warleader
Animar, Soul of Elements
Borborygmos Enraged
Riku of Two Reflections
I agree. I don't usually complain about cards but this one pushed me over the edge. I didn't complain about Mirko or Teysa....but Emmara.....just wow. One of the worst cards printed in recent memory. None of it makes sense, I thought it was a joke when first spoiled.
OK. So a frail, attractive Elf woman who can break most dragons, giants, sphinxes, demons, beasts in half without batting an eyelash makes sense?
I do tend to think that people on the forums overact to certain things. But this card's design makes absolutely no sense. I don't know what the intentions were on this card, but it is a terrible design. MTG is an excellent product but it doesn't mean they are incapable of designing a terrible card here or there.
Would be tight at 5/5, 4/4 is underwhelming.
It does have a very homelands feel to it - overcosted and lackluster. Thought I don't know about the aborted fetus bit.
I have never wanted to sig a quote more than this one in my entire time on MTGS
Looking for Green friendly EDH players/groups in the Toronto area. PM me if this is you.
Disappointed in general.
EDIT: This is if your question was referring to Emmara, I still think there are some pretty cool cards in this set and I will pick a few up to try in my decks.
What an H-bomb in limited play. Dear lord. Biggest blowout yet for the mana. Forces insta-trades with X/3s and overruns for the kill with only a few creatures out. Plays so well with Dimir Cypher and Gruul Bloodrush too. I hope I open 3 of these. In Commander? Well these colors don't care all that much about tokens unfortunately. If the U/R goblin deck is ever a thing I guess? Thrax tribal zombies? That's probably the closest thing it's useful for. But it can definitely do some alpha striking there.
The Selesnya/Orzhov split card is pretty sick in Ghave-style token decks. Too bad Selesnya can't use the left half by itself. I think it would be a nice add to Rootborn Defenses and Dauntless Escort.
Actually a little disappointed by the other uncommon split cards. None of them seem as good as Far and Away or Turn and Burn or even Give and Take. Down and Dirty is overcosted and poor for multiplayer. Profit and Loss is a simple weenie pump and Protect and Serve is a simple trade setup. I thought the most of the others were much more clever.
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
I work on and play other card games and Wizards' "We need bad cards for limited" is the biggest crock of crap ever. An enchantress with something like an enchantment-animating ability could have had traction in many formats.
We don't need ~ 1000 new cards every fiscal year - but your shareholders and Board of Directors do. I'm sure we'd get by just fine on 100 - 200 new cards a year.
EDIT: I'm disappointed in the whole set in general - and I'm voting with my wallet. I'll play in the prereleases, but I won't be purchasing any sealed product.
It's been hard to justify buying entire boxes of the sets in this block with so many gold cards that don't fit into our decks, but my group of three friends and I like to buy two boxes and split it between the four of us. That way we spend about $50 each, we get to trade and slot new cards into decks, and we have most of the commons and uncommons we're looking for. Consider splitting a box with a friend if you don't want the whole thing.
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Even at 5/5 I would be reluctant to use it. I don't see many URx decks that can really take advantage of the Overload either. I guess a Grixis RWU Token deck might be good, but it's a very niche card.
Isn't the prerelease sealed? And I typically spend $10-$15 on singles each set and then buy 1-2 packs. So your anti-vote is the same as my enthusiastic vote
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
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StaffI play a game where they do only release 100-200 new cards per year (Android: Netrunner, it's one of Fantasy Flight Games' Living Card Games, they release one 20-card expansion per month). One of the biggest things missing from it is the ability to play a limited format. Wizards' printing of 1000 cards a year enables limited formats. It also enables them to sell more cards, and make more money to keep doing the things they are doing.
While I am disappointed with Emmara specifically and most of Dragon's Maze on the whole, and will likely purchase as little of it as possible, I do prefer Wizards' release style to the alternative when it comes to lots of things like this. Here are some things FFG has been screwing up majorly:
1) Base set distribution. An LCG is supposed to be "buy set X, get a play set (3) of every card, so there's a lower investment". But their base set has many cards with 2 or even 1 copy, forcing you to buy as many as three base sets to get your playsets, and several of these cards are major staples in the game at the moment.
2) Poor spoilage. Each expansion has 20 cards in it, and they reveal ~5 cards 3 months out, most of which are partially obscured so that you can't make a good evaluation because you can't see the cost or specific numbers in the text box. Then (maybe) they release another 3-5 cards in a preview the week before the set releases. I say maybe because last month they didn't. The bulk of the cards end up getting spoiled by whoever gets their hands on the pack first. Which leads me to
3) Questionable distribution. There's no set release date for their packs, they're just sold whenever they get to the shops. Sometimes, this can vary by as much as a week from store to store. Oh, and the pack is tournament legal the second it hits any shelf, including their main storefront that doesn't have to ship it.
4) Focus too far on the future. As stated above, they release monthly but they spoil cards three months out. And sometimes more, as with each "cycle" of 6 packs they show a handful of cards when the cycle is first announced, and some of those don't come out until the end of the cycle 9+ months later. It'd be like if WotC spoiled a card from the second Theros set today, rather than spoil any DGM cards.
5) Insufficient prize support. They do provide prize kits for leagues and tournaments, but the supply has been very short. My LGS that ordered one didn't get it for two months because there was too much demand, and when confronted about it, FGG replied "What do you think we are, Wizards of the Coast?" Additionally, the backs of the promo cards in the prize kits are a different shade from the rest of the cards, meaning they can't be played without opaque sleeves.
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Just needed to tell someone there was a card I was excited about. Hypothetically.
And sigged.
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StaffShe's about as exciting as Riven Turnbull or Ishan's Shade. Maybe these aren't the WORST parts of Legends and Homelands (certainly beats Grandmother Sengir and The Lady of the Mountain, for example), but she can certainly be compared.
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Wow. The design actually looks like it came from Legends.
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Thing is, there's also Adun Oakenshield, Bartel Runeaxe, Gwendlyn Di Corci, Merieke Ri Berit, Hazezon Tamar, Rasputin Dreamweaver, and a host of other legends I would gladly play before ever considering Emmara.
I'd say she's slightly worse than Jasmine Boreal. That would put Emmara somewhere around the average power level of legends in that set.
I know netrunner. I believe I played the old one a couple of times and I remember liking it. I'm into Shadowfist - for my money, I feel like it's the best multiplayer experience I've ever had. Their recent LCG relaunch was pretty successful. The game just doesn't work well for duels and limited though - but that's fine, because if I really want that, I'd be playing another game anyway. I'm frustrated that a lot of cardgames watered themselves down by trying to wear too many hats - we've gotta be good at limited/draft/collectible/whatever.
I've been up here in NoVA for about 3 years now and I've seen tides of magic players come and go - competitive drafters & standard players predominantly. These limited "pros" are a dime a dozen - they're there only for the prizes and quite a few in my area are pretty antisocial - but I guess they're a good market for the store and for Wizards. Anyone playing anything else tends to stick around longer.
Back on topic - There is no reason to make her such an uninspiring card. Worst case scenario if they can't get a good fit ? Have us submit and publicly upvote 20 suggested cards for the title/cost/theme and use one of em. The whole process could take a day. There's no reason to lose a card design to development anymore.