1. Lorwyn Spoiler is complete, everyone!
2. The blog system has now been revamped, and it looks like Hannes has worked hard to restore a lot of the original functionality. I'm not sure if everything is done or not yet, but now is a perfect time to check it out if you haven't yet.
3. New avatar because I love Alacar so very much.
Speaking of Alacar, last night I learned something about him that shook my soul down to its very foundations!
Mwahahaha! Yes, I shocked Photon into a coma. And your avatar gives me the jibblies.
Like I said; I care less whether you agree or not.
If this were an easy discussion, then philosophers would have answered it ages ago.
We disagree, simple.
I value your friendship to much to push this Photon, and I have better things to do (work).
I believe A, you believe B. A could be right, B could be right, C-Z could be right. It is one of those ideas which can neither be proven one way or the other.
First of all, this argument got a little too spikey for my tastes. Secondly, that whole A-Z thing? If any of them could be right, don't discourage other opinions by implying that yours is the 'correct' one, because it's opinion A.
Anyways, I had a blast today on campus, and I hope the rest of my day follows suit.
Here is another UGR threshold deck that i have been fooling around with. Its been playing well and its just something different from the normal UGR threshold build. Gilded drake is just really solid in the mirror taking control of opposing tarmogoyfs is really nice.
Enjoy everyone! I am going to play some dq7 and also going to eat some lunch. I will talk to you all later though and I wish you all a great week! Take care and best wishes!
Why hello there, Alacar, I do so hope you are seeing that my scone gets proper butter! And I must say, more and more you begin to remind me of a young Larry Flint!
Oh, and I think I see a Kraj coming in here. Can I just tell you, he looks just like a little button, makes you just want to press him.
@blaine: welcome to the coffeehouse!
WHY, Thank you!
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Yes, I'm just getting started, but can I just tell you, I've been Photon Eater FOREVER.
glurman and Blaine Woodturtle those are both sexy names; how are the both of you on this fine day? Also how are the rest of you?
So of course today I started working at my local GameStop, not realizing that tomorrow I have to go in from 2:30-9:00 to sell Halo 3 to all the lunatics who are foaming at the mouths and hiding their chubbies over it. *Sigh* Fanboys give me headaches, cept you ether, you keep it to a healthy dose when posting.
But the good news is, this job pays pretty well so I will be able to purchase GHIII the day it comes out and still make my car payments. w00tness!
Today I also switched into AP Gov/Pol. And today lucky for me, we had a faux presidential debate and discussed the primary system. Of course nobody else really even knew who my fav candidate is, Mike Gravel who is an Ex-Alaskan senator and was a chief prosecuter in the Watergate scandal, so they all talked about Obama and Hillary and Rommney and there was some Ron Paul discussion too. It seems like this will be a fun class.
well I didnt do very well against ugr threshold with my GW angel stompy. Angel stompy simply can't keep up against the likes of ugr threshold that run tarmogoyfs, nimble mongooses, and quirion dryads(which in my opinion can be more nasty then goyfs at times). He also counterspelled, stifled, and pithing needle my swords to plowshares, engineered explosives, and powder kegs. My only chance was having an exalted angel equipped to either a jitte or a sword of fire and ice but I didn't even draw her. Oh well..;)
Oh, I'm sorry, that isn't new meat, it's just a hilarious growth. But please feel free to poke it.
glurman and Blaine Woodturtle those are both sexy names; how are the both of you on this fine day? Also how are the rest of you?
I'm doing quite well. Just last night, I received a simply darling Nantucket lightship basket from my dear friend Christine Dreyfuss-Matterhorn, of the Kansas City Dreyfuss-Matterhorns. I told her, "Chrissy, you have been a BAD GIRL". Oh, I tell you, when I saw the receipt I nearly puked up my champagne and Doritos in pure shock.
At the end of the day, though, I forgave her for her indulgence, because it wasn't so much that she bought it for me as it was that she had bought it for herself, and I just happened to take it from her home after I had suffocated her with her collection of Beanie Babies and ran out the door in a pair of her shoes!
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Yes, I'm just getting started, but can I just tell you, I've been Photon Eater FOREVER.
More like into an alternate personality, it seems. Or perhaps, rather, a similar, more uninhibited personality. 0_0;
I'd be all for picking up a copy of Halo tomorrow, but alas, our 360 remains broken. The whole "red power-button lights of death" thing hasn't fixed itself in the time that it's taken my stepfather to get disgusted with trying to deal with Microsoft customer service. Unfortunate, that.
More like into an alternate personality, it seems. Or perhaps, rather, a similar, more uninhibited personality. 0_0;
I'd be all for picking up a copy of Halo tomorrow, but alas, our 360 remains broken. The whole "red power-button lights of death" thing hasn't fixed itself in the time that it's taken my stepfather to get disgusted with trying to deal with Microsoft customer service. Unfortunate, that.
You missed an... unusual voice chat last night. Meanwhile- similar? That's low.
Well, my mother just called. Our family dog is apparently unable to move and it is looking as though he may need to be put down. He's an 11 year old black labrador/doberman mix, and we've had him since he was 2 weeks old, after his mother was killed. My mother actually bottle fed him till he was weaned. I'm not a dog person- in fact, I always thought I hated dogs, and I never really remember liking him much. Now he is completely helpless and hasn't been able to walk for 24 hours, and they've been up all night trying to get fluid into him with a syringe. It's funny, it's just like when they first got him.
He's apparently in a lot of pain, and at his age its not sure if anything can be done. Anyway, I'm actually tearing up a good deal more than I ever thought I would. I remember feeding him when he was just a little wriggly thing, and by the time I get home again he could be dead, which has me pretty visibly upset.
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[16:23] Alacar Leoricar: maybe if you do it'll make the porn more meaningful
I'm actually enjoying this alternate Photon. His blog is the bee's knees.
Blaine is actually a parody of a few different people. The biggest source is Mamelon's ex-best friend Anthony, who I am sure she has mentioned before (he's the one who she lived with in Missouri temporarily, who also lived with us briefly, and ultimately ended up stealing money from her and dropping her to hang out with her more glamorous ex-boyfriend). She's also a nod to the published persona of my friend John back when he and I worked on a zine together and he published regular articles under a fake identity that was equal parts supervillainess, drag act, and trash TV diva. It's also a fair blending of gay stereotypes and celebrity personalities.
Last night, Mamelon and I were joking around, and the persona came up, and it spilled over into last night's voice chat. Then, this morning I made a quick account to test my privacy settings on my blog, and after I was done, I thought "what the hell", and went ahead and decided to have some fun.
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[16:23] Alacar Leoricar: maybe if you do it'll make the porn more meaningful
You missed an... unusual voice chat last night. Meanwhile- similar? That's low.
Well, my mother just called. Our family dog is apparently unable to move and it is looking as though he may need to be put down. He's an 11 year old black labrador/doberman mix, and we've had him since he was 2 weeks old, after his mother was killed. My mother actually bottle fed him till he was weaned. I'm not a dog person- in fact, I always thought I hated dogs, and I never really remember liking him much. Now he is completely helpless and hasn't been able to walk for 24 hours, and they've been up all night trying to get fluid into him with a syringe. It's funny, it's just like when they first got him.
He's apparently in a lot of pain, and at his age its not sure if anything can be done. Anyway, I'm actually tearing up a good deal more than I ever thought I would. I remember feeding him when he was just a little wriggly thing, and by the time I get home again he could be dead, which has me pretty visibly upset.
Well, you know, I could tell it was you... the similarity is in the vocabulary and writing style, not in the specific details of the assumed persona.
That's very sad to hear about your dog. I'm a great lover of animals, and it pains me to see any one of them suffer. I guess it's due in part to my mother working during my childhood as an assistant vet. 11 years is on the older side for a dog, though, so at least he got to live a full life. I hope you do get to see him before he goes, if he does.
Well, you know, I could tell it was you... the similarity is in the vocabulary and writing style, not in the specific details of the assumed persona.
That's very sad to hear about your dog. I'm a great lover of animals, and it pains me to see any one of them suffer. I guess it's due in part to my mother working during my childhood as an assistant vet. 11 years is on the older side for a dog, though, so at least he got to live a full life. I hope you do get to see him before he goes, if he does.
Well, that and the fact that it says "Photon Eater's Bawdy Gimmick" in the signature...
Yeah... I'm not an animal lover, but I cried for a good while. I'm just now starting to stop, with only the occasional crack or sob here and there. I'm just feeling bad because he is apparently whimpering a lot and in some pain, and because my mother is really torn up by it. Apparently, when I was on the phone with my mom, I gave Mamelon the fright of her life because she only heard a part of it, and thought it was about my father (who is also a bit older, he just turned 61 this Friday).
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[16:23] Alacar Leoricar: maybe if you do it'll make the porn more meaningful
Wow, what happened? How did that line of discussion become heated so quickly?
I guess it seems like most people have already moved past it. That is somehow a surprisingly charged topic.
In other news, I asked about Lorwyn a bit ago, but never gave my feedback. Here are some my thoughts on it:
I like what they did with Lorwyn in a number of ways. It seems like the mechanics they decided on really serve the block as a whole. I want to say why I think so.
Clash - The thing about clash that is really key, while subtle, is that it lets you put the revealed card on either the top or bottom of the library. That's an important function, and since clash is pretty common, it could make a difference in the way the environment plays. It may well serve the same role that scry did, in that it allows a player to search through their deck for lands and helps mitigate flooding or screwing. And like scry, it adds only a little to the price of the cards clash appears on. If clash is popular, this should mean decks that run a bit more smoothly, with room for more different colors and tribes.
Champion - I get the feeling that a lot of people are looking at this mechanic kind of cross-eyed, not knowing what to think of it. But there is at least one thing that is very good about champion - it helps take the bite out of board sweepers. Champion enables the presence of efficiently costed creatures (like Thoughtweft Trio) with a drawback, but it's a drawback that also acts as a kind of insurance against removal. One of the flaws of Onslaught block was that it had a wealth of strong, costly creatures that made decks vulnerable to the high number of mass removal effects that were in the block.
Champion is one of the things that addresses both of those issues. Not only did they print less mass kill cards in the set, but this mechanic allows for less mana-demanding creatures that also give you something to bounce back with if someone does wipe the board.
Evoke - Cycling was a good mechanic in Onslaught block because it gave you an "out" for expensive cards you had in hand. You could play such cards without a lot of worry, because if they ever lost usefulness or were stranded in hand, you could at least cycle them to get a new card.
Evoke looks like it might have that same benefit. So far the creatures with Evoke are pretty big, and not really bad to keep around. However, there should be plenty of times when you might need their effect but don't want to spend that much mana. Evoke gives you that "out" for these creatures, which makes even the least impressive of them a whole lot better.
Changeling - What a great idea! There are so many cards with changeling, and so many of them are good, playable cards. You can fit a changeling into any tribal deck without any real extra cost, and they have a lot of neat effects that can go well with the other tribes. Unlike Mistform creatures, who added types with an activated ability, changelings don't require a lot of hassle to get use out of, are in more than one color, and are generally useful creatures in their own right.
The Tribes - This time around they picked tribes that really feel like tribes. They have distinct themes, have support in at least two colors, and can be used with a genuine strategy in mind. Playing a Kithkin deck probably won't just be a deck that benefits from having a lot of Kithkin in play, like the decks often were in Onslaught block (in which a Wizard deck was basically a deck that got some incrementally better effects from having a lot of wizards in play, but otherwise these effects were just run-of-the-mill blue powers that happened to be tied to creatures in play). A Faerie deck will probably be quite different than a Merfolk deck. A red Elemental deck will probably be very different than a Giant deck.
There are quite a few features about this block that look like they will facilitate aggressive play and creature-based strategies. At the same time, there are a lot of good choices for single target removal and other effects that can slow the game down. Blue gets a few really great pieces of countermagic, white gets some of the best removal its had in a while, and the burn in red is reckonable. Aggro likely won't rule all, but it's not like creatures will be semi-useless in this block like they frequently are in other environments.
I just feel really positively about how they are managing the theme this time.
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All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the light that you see. All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the peace that you feel. All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to fill your heart on my own.
But the rainbow is an image of hope for many reasons, as it is a brilliant sight coming out of oftimes dismal weather.
I'd also like to give some thoughts on Lorwyn overall now that the spoiler is complete.
Evoke - In addition to what Mams said, I'd like to add two things - 1) Evoke is a tribal mechanic seemingly. It only shows up on Elementals. And 2) I believe there's a ruling that says you can respond to the creature coming into play before you sacrifice it. This make Evoke FAR more useful than I ever woulda thought it could be. Even maybe a bit broken. Even so I like this alot for limited too as most Evokers have something useful to them.
Champion - This has some interesting casual aspects to it in addition to making some solid creatures for thought exercises. This can be really interesting with CIP effects (like the Evokers for example) and still be solid that things can go awry quick which means you cannot be comfortable even if you're in a fairly large lead in the game.
Changling - Whoda thunk there'd be an entire mechanic that makes Steamflogger Boss actually useful. Oh yeah, GOATNAPPER is useful with these things. Ouch. Flavorful too. I like it but there are so many bad tribal cards out there that are effective against these that it makes me laugh.
Clash - I have nothing to add from above. Clash strikes me as unoriginal and only marginally useful. On the bright side the spells with Clash are still OK for the most part even if you don't win the clash. But I hate luck-based spells in this game so I'll be avoiding these unless I play a reanimator deck or something with Top in it.
Tribal - First, I have to say I'm usually biased against tribal themes. It feels a little TOO overly Timmy for me to get into. With that being said, I think this could've come out far worse than it did. The strategies with the tribes VERY much feels like the same kind of idea they went with when building Ravnica and that gives the entire tribal thing a very solid and whole feel. Plus there seems to be a cycle of cards within the tribes that benefits from having another tribe in the deck so the multicolor pairs that are lacking tribes can still play a deck as though it were tribal. I believe the pairs without a tribe thus far are :symrg:, :symur:, :symgu:, and :symwb:. But could that be a hint that these color pairs are going to get a tribe of their own in the next set?
Overall Set Notes: Really there isn't much reason to NOT play a tribe which kinda stinks, if you ask me. The Planeswalkers, while looking really good at first glance, don't seem to have the thing that hooks me to playing them - For me, they look a lot like having a second head in a 2HG game that never has any card in their hands but never needs mana but also can't protect itself. A plus and minus both but more a minus because it eats up more of your resources than you might realize.
There is an illusion of a control style being evident in the set too but really I'm not sure the cards from the block are strong enough to actually make a control deck. Almost EVERYTHING smells of Aggro and Johnny. Not that that's bad. We all need a break from that occasionally. Or at least we might once Teferi and his bald head leaves the Plane.
My biggest issue with Champion is that it turns a removal spell into a two for one. Sure. softening the blow of Wrath is nice but the risk of losing your huge champion creature when your only target gets removed makes me tentative to consider it for constructed.
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The Golden Rule of forums: If you're going to be rude, be right. If you might be wrong, be polite.
That's backwards. Getting a creature out is never a problem, and champion isn't all that much of a drawback. It doesn't make a kill spell a two-for one. Only if you run just two creatures in the entire deck. If you do, you shouldn't play with cards that have the champion ability. Otherwise it's both wrath insurance AND terror insurance. When they kill your creature, the other comes back. It's like a 1-for-nothing.
Ever have a song that you find to be extremely moving and sad, even if it's not a particularly depressing song?
This is one, called I'll Keep Running Until I Get to Your House, is such song for me (linked to song in the entry). It has some personal significance, not just for the associations but the tone and the imagery of it.
I was just listening to it again today after a long time, and felt so emotional because of it, it made me cry for a good while.
All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the light that you see. All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the peace that you feel. All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to fill your heart on my own.
But the rainbow is an image of hope for many reasons, as it is a brilliant sight coming out of oftimes dismal weather.
I have a song like that. Nettie Moore, by Bob Dylan. The song has driven me to tears more than once. When I'm feeling particularly low, I turn down the lights, crack a bottle of scotch, poor a dram, light up a cigarette, and toss this song on. I float away on the crackling, powerful voice, and I transcend my troubles completely.
That's backwards. Getting a creature out is never a problem, and champion isn't all that much of a drawback. It doesn't make a kill spell a two-for one. Only if you run just two creatures in the entire deck. If you do, you shouldn't play with cards that have the champion ability. Otherwise it's both wrath insurance AND terror insurance. When they kill your creature, the other comes back. It's like a 1-for-nothing.
You misunderstand. Scenario: I have exactly one elf creature in play. I play a creature with Champion an Elf. My opponent responds by Terroring my elf. The elf dies; without an elf in play to RFG to the Champion ability, the champion creature is sacrificed. 2-for-1'd.
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The Golden Rule of forums: If you're going to be rude, be right. If you might be wrong, be polite.
** Current New Favorite Person™: Mallory Archer
She knows why.
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Yay Lorwyn spoiler!
HELLO there Blaine, you scamp! How have you been?
She will go on. I am indeed a great conversationalist. Apparently I'm a robotic borg phyrexian version of Homestar Runner.
First of all, this argument got a little too spikey for my tastes. Secondly, that whole A-Z thing? If any of them could be right, don't discourage other opinions by implying that yours is the 'correct' one, because it's opinion A.
Anyways, I had a blast today on campus, and I hope the rest of my day follows suit.
Lorwyn looks great!
Like freeform roleplaying? Try Darkness Befalls Us
Ryttare Kelasin Luna Orelinalei
Here is another UGR threshold deck that i have been fooling around with. Its been playing well and its just something different from the normal UGR threshold build. Gilded drake is just really solid in the mirror taking control of opposing tarmogoyfs is really nice.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Nimble Mongoose
2 Wee-Dragonauts
1 burning tree shaman
2 Gilded Drake
Other Spells
3 Ponder
2 Predict
4 Brainstorm
3 Portent
2 Serum Visions
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Daze
4 Stifle
3 Fire/Ice
4 Force of will
3 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Polluted delta
3 Wooded foothills
2 Island
1 forest
1 Mountain
2 Spell Snare
2 Krosan Grip
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Pyroclasm
2 Pithing Needle
Enjoy everyone! I am going to play some dq7 and also going to eat some lunch. I will talk to you all later though and I wish you all a great week! Take care and best wishes!
Love,
Cecilia
Oh, and I think I see a Kraj coming in here. Can I just tell you, he looks just like a little button, makes you just want to press him.
WHY, Thank you!
Come Sample the Veggie Platter, Gals and He-Gals.
Time to transfer money from a bank account to Paypal -5-7 business days. If it is a Canadian Bank : 7-10
When I set up the exchange : Last Sunday
When my bank released the money : Last Monday
When Paypal said the order would finish : Today
Has it finished? : No
How awesome is that?
Hip hip! Hoo!
If anyone gets that joke, I will love them forever.
glurman and Blaine Woodturtle those are both sexy names; how are the both of you on this fine day? Also how are the rest of you?
So of course today I started working at my local GameStop, not realizing that tomorrow I have to go in from 2:30-9:00 to sell Halo 3 to all the lunatics who are foaming at the mouths and hiding their chubbies over it. *Sigh* Fanboys give me headaches, cept you ether, you keep it to a healthy dose when posting.
But the good news is, this job pays pretty well so I will be able to purchase GHIII the day it comes out and still make my car payments. w00tness!
Today I also switched into AP Gov/Pol. And today lucky for me, we had a faux presidential debate and discussed the primary system. Of course nobody else really even knew who my fav candidate is, Mike Gravel who is an Ex-Alaskan senator and was a chief prosecuter in the Watergate scandal, so they all talked about Obama and Hillary and Rommney and there was some Ron Paul discussion too. It seems like this will be a fun class.
its really easy good choice
Love,
Cecilia
Oh, I'm sorry, that isn't new meat, it's just a hilarious growth. But please feel free to poke it.
I'm doing quite well. Just last night, I received a simply darling Nantucket lightship basket from my dear friend Christine Dreyfuss-Matterhorn, of the Kansas City Dreyfuss-Matterhorns. I told her, "Chrissy, you have been a BAD GIRL". Oh, I tell you, when I saw the receipt I nearly puked up my champagne and Doritos in pure shock.
At the end of the day, though, I forgave her for her indulgence, because it wasn't so much that she bought it for me as it was that she had bought it for herself, and I just happened to take it from her home after I had suffocated her with her collection of Beanie Babies and ran out the door in a pair of her shoes!
Come Sample the Veggie Platter, Gals and He-Gals.
More like into an alternate personality, it seems. Or perhaps, rather, a similar, more uninhibited personality. 0_0;
I'd be all for picking up a copy of Halo tomorrow, but alas, our 360 remains broken. The whole "red power-button lights of death" thing hasn't fixed itself in the time that it's taken my stepfather to get disgusted with trying to deal with Microsoft customer service. Unfortunate, that.
You missed an... unusual voice chat last night. Meanwhile- similar? That's low.
Well, my mother just called. Our family dog is apparently unable to move and it is looking as though he may need to be put down. He's an 11 year old black labrador/doberman mix, and we've had him since he was 2 weeks old, after his mother was killed. My mother actually bottle fed him till he was weaned. I'm not a dog person- in fact, I always thought I hated dogs, and I never really remember liking him much. Now he is completely helpless and hasn't been able to walk for 24 hours, and they've been up all night trying to get fluid into him with a syringe. It's funny, it's just like when they first got him.
He's apparently in a lot of pain, and at his age its not sure if anything can be done. Anyway, I'm actually tearing up a good deal more than I ever thought I would. I remember feeding him when he was just a little wriggly thing, and by the time I get home again he could be dead, which has me pretty visibly upset.
I'm actually enjoying this alternate Photon. His blog is the bee's knees.
Blaine is actually a parody of a few different people. The biggest source is Mamelon's ex-best friend Anthony, who I am sure she has mentioned before (he's the one who she lived with in Missouri temporarily, who also lived with us briefly, and ultimately ended up stealing money from her and dropping her to hang out with her more glamorous ex-boyfriend). She's also a nod to the published persona of my friend John back when he and I worked on a zine together and he published regular articles under a fake identity that was equal parts supervillainess, drag act, and trash TV diva. It's also a fair blending of gay stereotypes and celebrity personalities.
Last night, Mamelon and I were joking around, and the persona came up, and it spilled over into last night's voice chat. Then, this morning I made a quick account to test my privacy settings on my blog, and after I was done, I thought "what the hell", and went ahead and decided to have some fun.
Well, you know, I could tell it was you... the similarity is in the vocabulary and writing style, not in the specific details of the assumed persona.
That's very sad to hear about your dog. I'm a great lover of animals, and it pains me to see any one of them suffer. I guess it's due in part to my mother working during my childhood as an assistant vet. 11 years is on the older side for a dog, though, so at least he got to live a full life. I hope you do get to see him before he goes, if he does.
Well, that and the fact that it says "Photon Eater's Bawdy Gimmick" in the signature...
Yeah... I'm not an animal lover, but I cried for a good while. I'm just now starting to stop, with only the occasional crack or sob here and there. I'm just feeling bad because he is apparently whimpering a lot and in some pain, and because my mother is really torn up by it. Apparently, when I was on the phone with my mom, I gave Mamelon the fright of her life because she only heard a part of it, and thought it was about my father (who is also a bit older, he just turned 61 this Friday).
* Sakura dances
Paypal decided I can have my money ....weee....
And with the current exchange rate, 350 Canadian converted to 340 US.
* Sakura waits for the stampede of Alacars
I guess it seems like most people have already moved past it. That is somehow a surprisingly charged topic.
In other news, I asked about Lorwyn a bit ago, but never gave my feedback. Here are some my thoughts on it:
I like what they did with Lorwyn in a number of ways. It seems like the mechanics they decided on really serve the block as a whole. I want to say why I think so.
Clash - The thing about clash that is really key, while subtle, is that it lets you put the revealed card on either the top or bottom of the library. That's an important function, and since clash is pretty common, it could make a difference in the way the environment plays. It may well serve the same role that scry did, in that it allows a player to search through their deck for lands and helps mitigate flooding or screwing. And like scry, it adds only a little to the price of the cards clash appears on. If clash is popular, this should mean decks that run a bit more smoothly, with room for more different colors and tribes.
Champion - I get the feeling that a lot of people are looking at this mechanic kind of cross-eyed, not knowing what to think of it. But there is at least one thing that is very good about champion - it helps take the bite out of board sweepers. Champion enables the presence of efficiently costed creatures (like Thoughtweft Trio) with a drawback, but it's a drawback that also acts as a kind of insurance against removal. One of the flaws of Onslaught block was that it had a wealth of strong, costly creatures that made decks vulnerable to the high number of mass removal effects that were in the block.
Champion is one of the things that addresses both of those issues. Not only did they print less mass kill cards in the set, but this mechanic allows for less mana-demanding creatures that also give you something to bounce back with if someone does wipe the board.
Evoke - Cycling was a good mechanic in Onslaught block because it gave you an "out" for expensive cards you had in hand. You could play such cards without a lot of worry, because if they ever lost usefulness or were stranded in hand, you could at least cycle them to get a new card.
Evoke looks like it might have that same benefit. So far the creatures with Evoke are pretty big, and not really bad to keep around. However, there should be plenty of times when you might need their effect but don't want to spend that much mana. Evoke gives you that "out" for these creatures, which makes even the least impressive of them a whole lot better.
Changeling - What a great idea! There are so many cards with changeling, and so many of them are good, playable cards. You can fit a changeling into any tribal deck without any real extra cost, and they have a lot of neat effects that can go well with the other tribes. Unlike Mistform creatures, who added types with an activated ability, changelings don't require a lot of hassle to get use out of, are in more than one color, and are generally useful creatures in their own right.
The Tribes - This time around they picked tribes that really feel like tribes. They have distinct themes, have support in at least two colors, and can be used with a genuine strategy in mind. Playing a Kithkin deck probably won't just be a deck that benefits from having a lot of Kithkin in play, like the decks often were in Onslaught block (in which a Wizard deck was basically a deck that got some incrementally better effects from having a lot of wizards in play, but otherwise these effects were just run-of-the-mill blue powers that happened to be tied to creatures in play). A Faerie deck will probably be quite different than a Merfolk deck. A red Elemental deck will probably be very different than a Giant deck.
There are quite a few features about this block that look like they will facilitate aggressive play and creature-based strategies. At the same time, there are a lot of good choices for single target removal and other effects that can slow the game down. Blue gets a few really great pieces of countermagic, white gets some of the best removal its had in a while, and the burn in red is reckonable. Aggro likely won't rule all, but it's not like creatures will be semi-useless in this block like they frequently are in other environments.
I just feel really positively about how they are managing the theme this time.
All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the peace that you feel.
All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to fill your heart on my own.
Gaymers | Magic Coffeehouse | Little Jar of Mamelon | Natural 20
Evoke - In addition to what Mams said, I'd like to add two things - 1) Evoke is a tribal mechanic seemingly. It only shows up on Elementals. And 2) I believe there's a ruling that says you can respond to the creature coming into play before you sacrifice it. This make Evoke FAR more useful than I ever woulda thought it could be. Even maybe a bit broken. Even so I like this alot for limited too as most Evokers have something useful to them.
Champion - This has some interesting casual aspects to it in addition to making some solid creatures for thought exercises. This can be really interesting with CIP effects (like the Evokers for example) and still be solid that things can go awry quick which means you cannot be comfortable even if you're in a fairly large lead in the game.
Changling - Whoda thunk there'd be an entire mechanic that makes Steamflogger Boss actually useful. Oh yeah, GOATNAPPER is useful with these things. Ouch. Flavorful too. I like it but there are so many bad tribal cards out there that are effective against these that it makes me laugh.
Clash - I have nothing to add from above. Clash strikes me as unoriginal and only marginally useful. On the bright side the spells with Clash are still OK for the most part even if you don't win the clash. But I hate luck-based spells in this game so I'll be avoiding these unless I play a reanimator deck or something with Top in it.
Tribal - First, I have to say I'm usually biased against tribal themes. It feels a little TOO overly Timmy for me to get into. With that being said, I think this could've come out far worse than it did. The strategies with the tribes VERY much feels like the same kind of idea they went with when building Ravnica and that gives the entire tribal thing a very solid and whole feel. Plus there seems to be a cycle of cards within the tribes that benefits from having another tribe in the deck so the multicolor pairs that are lacking tribes can still play a deck as though it were tribal. I believe the pairs without a tribe thus far are :symrg:, :symur:, :symgu:, and :symwb:. But could that be a hint that these color pairs are going to get a tribe of their own in the next set?
Overall Set Notes: Really there isn't much reason to NOT play a tribe which kinda stinks, if you ask me. The Planeswalkers, while looking really good at first glance, don't seem to have the thing that hooks me to playing them - For me, they look a lot like having a second head in a 2HG game that never has any card in their hands but never needs mana but also can't protect itself. A plus and minus both but more a minus because it eats up more of your resources than you might realize.
There is an illusion of a control style being evident in the set too but really I'm not sure the cards from the block are strong enough to actually make a control deck. Almost EVERYTHING smells of Aggro and Johnny. Not that that's bad. We all need a break from that occasionally. Or at least we might once Teferi and his bald head leaves the Plane.
Current New Favorite Person™: Mallory Archer
She knows why.
This is one, called I'll Keep Running Until I Get to Your House, is such song for me (linked to song in the entry). It has some personal significance, not just for the associations but the tone and the imagery of it.
I was just listening to it again today after a long time, and felt so emotional because of it, it made me cry for a good while.
All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to be the peace that you feel.
All that I yearn for, for richer or poorer, is to fill your heart on my own.
Gaymers | Magic Coffeehouse | Little Jar of Mamelon | Natural 20
Also, I just requested to join the gutter :X
Smart move?
You misunderstand. Scenario: I have exactly one elf creature in play. I play a creature with Champion an Elf. My opponent responds by Terroring my elf. The elf dies; without an elf in play to RFG to the Champion ability, the champion creature is sacrificed. 2-for-1'd.
Current New Favorite Person™: Mallory Archer
She knows why.