This is from a source of mine who has come through with early info in the past, and is to be trusted. Unfortunately it's not much to go on, but at this point anything helps (especially since we pushed away our other early source... but let's not cry over spilled milk I guess).
Ravnica will contain a myriad of race creature types including lots of humans, elves, goblins, and so on. Then there are the less abundant creature types like zombies, wurms, insects, angels, etc. There'll also be plenty of less common races from previous blocks which wouldn't normally be seen except on the world they came from. An example is... loxodons! There are tons of "occupation" creature types too, like soldier, wizard, cleric, and so forth. The overall flavour is one of true fantasy (mirage style) mixed with political intrigue (masques style), in a very gold invasion-like environment, with Urza's-level card power.
My question is: How do they fit wurms into a city?
My other reaction is: Did that say Urza's block power level?
OMG! He can't be serious about the power level... Poor, poor Kamigawa Block. Me like the muchos races thing going on though, in an international city you'ld expect a lot of different people too!
Edit: Heh... First! (Always wanted to say that ;))
I like the idea of Urza level power cards. They pump alot of good cards into the environment to make it easier for people to play older formats and I don't care what anyone says but in many cases broken cards are evry fun to play (Until they get played to much and force you too lose tournaments).
Great stuff here R_E, I had a sneaking suspiscion we'd see ton's of races in Rav, it is a 'city' isn't it? I'm glad our sources are offering up new info, even if it is just helpful hints for now, it's all good.
Intriguing... So I guess it's likely to have a token kitsune, nezumi etc (not that rats don't appear everywhere, but anthro ones are a little rarer)?
As for the power level: If it's as high as he's implying kami block may never dominate T2. Of course, for 'closed' formats (RBC, Rav block limited) the overall power level is irrelevant, as long as it's even.
Please let Ravnica not have such terrible names like Kiki-Jiki, 8.5 Tails, Jushi, Yamabushi, Hisoka, Kashi, Myojin, Tatsumasa and so on...
I know... the names drove me insane. Not only were they lame and annoying, but they didn't fit into a 40-character eBay auction!
Yeah I really like the internatonal feel the set seems to have. People from all over the world(s?) coming and living together in a huge city, complete with Magic's version of medieval fantasy. Sweet! I'm glad the focus isn't on "tribes", and instead creature types are back to having mostly a flavourful purpose. Also it sounds like they're sticking to elegant, useful occupations instead of adding three or four annoying creature types on cards it doesn't need to be on.
Creature - Human Druid Shaman Warrior
It's like they were adding creature types with the "more the merrier" attitude or something. And when nothing else fits, just call it a shaman!
As for Urza's power level,wtf?
I'd like it to be true since i miss the brokeness but godamn,that will be weird.
Hopefully the cards will be nice and powerful WITHOUT the broken degenerate cards like Time Spiral and so on. I don't think R&D is crazy enough to print stuff that needs insta-banning (coughskullcoughclampcough) anymore!
Perhaps the huge slump seen in Kamigawa block sales has spurred the powers-that-be into pressuring R&D into putting out some high quality sets?
1) The Wurms obviously live underground or are very little like Warping Wurm.
2) He lies! He must lie! I think they mean Urza power across cards. Rather than Tolarian Academy POWER!, it's like X + Y + Z = Power!
Reminds you of Affinity doesn't it?
Myriad of Races - Are the planes crashing together? Maybe we'll see the other Kodama's sprout out of opposite sides of the city.
Anyway, I would sign for Invasion-block power immediately. That set was so chockfull of playable cards, commons through rares, it was impossible to not find a competitive deck to your liking. Urza's power equals brokenness for me, I'd rather have Invasion power any day... Still, this sounds definitely like a set worth our money
When he means power, It think it means stuff like Echo (my absolute favorite creature mechanic) and 'CoP Creature Bounce' will be back in droves. And maybe well see 'Fading' or a fixed 'Phasing' back!
As for spell, I see low costs, but lots of drawbacks. Cumulitive Upkeep, Life, Hand, Sacrificing, Cannot Draw Cards Next Turn (Blue no likey!); ect.
Much like any set (I don't complain about sets like everyone else)... I anticipate this one. Because I plan to buy two cases of 9th... I may not be able to invest in Rav as much as I'd like to... however, knowing there are a myriad of creature types.. I am excited and will try to buy a lot. To see the variations of dual lands they plan on printing should be VERY interesting.
I wonder how much of the "Urza's powe rlevel" stuff is going to only be good in old formats, but have no real power in T2. If WotC starts another combo winter/summer...
"Sufficiently advanced experience is indistinguishable from clairvoyance." -Carsten
"Ah those eyes, those horrible creepy eyes!" -Chaosof99
DCI Level 3 Judge & TO "I do not consider myself a hero. I know only what the Vec teach:
justice must always be served and corruption must always be opposed."
Go read! I am one of the three authors of Cranial Insertion.
But seriously, if you can't remember "Woapalanne", just call me Eli.
Urza's block had a nice fun interesting power level (outside broken, broken, horribly broken cards) and kinda got a bad reputation. Every single card felt playable in some way, the power curve was very pushed but for the first little bit it felt pretty balanced and fun. I left magic because the power level got pushed down so much (even relative to Tempest block) and I missed it...
Lets hope for a strong, balanced, flavorful mix, and not broken busted cards (Academy) or mechanics that work a so well together at the expense of everything else (Affinity) that you have to hate them out. Maybe we'll see echo, or buyback return? Phasing is already fixed a little (remove from the game, and return later) and we have Flanking... (Bushido) Fading would be fun to bring back... Cumulative upkeep was a fun weird mechanic that worked kinda well too, but was a total pain to keep track of. I'd love to see banding, although it doesn't have a chance, and rampage isn't flexible enough and they just print it on cards flatout anyways.
R&D's main strategy is likly to keep Blue from rearing it's evil combo-happy head in a power-set, keep Green from getting bigger than it's already gotten, and finally develop on Black/Red/White. This is probably including flooding the T2 format with constant stream of gold cards (with the goodies we'll see in the lands).
~Give me Echo, and i'll fall in love with R&D all over again.
I hate to bring up the inevitable star wars reference, but after hearing this new info about ravnica it's sounding a lot like Coruscant from the prequel trilogy. Huge, plane-wide city that's widely known and has races from lots of different planes traveling in it.
While doubtful, it'd be cool if they printed a couple of Ninjas in RAV. Ninjas really got the shaft by only appearing in Betrayers. I slapped a really cool Ninja deck together for casual play, and was very disappointed that none were printed in SOK. I could see a few sneaky Ninjas for hire, hiding in the back alleys of Ravnica. A long shot, but I'd be cool. :smile2:
High power leveled sets are not inherently bad, but what does start to make the game unfun is overly-synergistic block mechanics. That was the problem with Mirrodin block; not only was it high powered, it was also incredibly synergystic such that it made creative tournament deck design incredibly difficult if not impossible. What would be ideal is a high powered but non-synergystic block, thus allowing people to create a myriad of powerful tier 1 decks.
Yeah I really like the internatonal feel the set seems to have. People from all over the world(s?) coming and living together in a huge city, complete with Magic's version of medieval fantasy. Sweet!
OMG... So Rav = DOminaria's New York City!!! Woot!!
Anyway, great info. I'm a cosmopolitan kind of guy, so this obviously gets me even more excited.
Ravnica will contain a myriad of race creature types including lots of humans, elves, goblins, and so on. Then there are the less abundant creature types like zombies, wurms, insects, angels, etc. There'll also be plenty of less common races from previous blocks which wouldn't normally be seen except on the world they came from. An example is... loxodons! There are tons of "occupation" creature types too, like soldier, wizard, cleric, and so forth. The overall flavour is one of true fantasy (mirage style) mixed with political intrigue (masques style), in a very gold invasion-like environment, with Urza's-level card power.
I'm lovin it. Urza's block card power!, didn't experience it, but I heard the stories. Oh and zombies, real zombies, like Onslaught block zombies? Too good to be true.(I still beleive the info), thanks R_E!
GOGO ZOMBIES!
Ravnica will contain a myriad of race creature types including lots of humans, elves, goblins, and so on. Then there are the less abundant creature types like zombies, wurms, insects, angels, etc. There'll also be plenty of less common races from previous blocks which wouldn't normally be seen except on the world they came from. An example is... loxodons! There are tons of "occupation" creature types too, like soldier, wizard, cleric, and so forth. The overall flavour is one of true fantasy (mirage style) mixed with political intrigue (masques style), in a very gold invasion-like environment, with Urza's-level card power.
My question is: How do they fit wurms into a city?
My other reaction is: Did that say Urza's block power level?
.
Edit: Heh... First! (Always wanted to say that ;))
...
...and ...GOGO Rancored!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great stuff here R_E, I had a sneaking suspiscion we'd see ton's of races in Rav, it is a 'city' isn't it? I'm glad our sources are offering up new info, even if it is just helpful hints for now, it's all good.
Many thanks to our source too.
As for the power level: If it's as high as he's implying kami block may never dominate T2. Of course, for 'closed' formats (RBC, Rav block limited) the overall power level is irrelevant, as long as it's even.
I know... the names drove me insane. Not only were they lame and annoying, but they didn't fit into a 40-character eBay auction!
Yeah I really like the internatonal feel the set seems to have. People from all over the world(s?) coming and living together in a huge city, complete with Magic's version of medieval fantasy. Sweet! I'm glad the focus isn't on "tribes", and instead creature types are back to having mostly a flavourful purpose. Also it sounds like they're sticking to elegant, useful occupations instead of adding three or four annoying creature types on cards it doesn't need to be on.
Creature - Human Druid Shaman Warrior
It's like they were adding creature types with the "more the merrier" attitude or something. And when nothing else fits, just call it a shaman!
.
Thanks 'Tog for the Banner, it's rules.
Hopefully the cards will be nice and powerful WITHOUT the broken degenerate cards like Time Spiral and so on. I don't think R&D is crazy enough to print stuff that needs insta-banning (coughskullcoughclampcough) anymore!
Perhaps the huge slump seen in Kamigawa block sales has spurred the powers-that-be into pressuring R&D into putting out some high quality sets?
.
2) He lies! He must lie! I think they mean Urza power across cards. Rather than Tolarian Academy POWER!, it's like X + Y + Z = Power!
Reminds you of Affinity doesn't it?
Myriad of Races - Are the planes crashing together? Maybe we'll see the other Kodama's sprout out of opposite sides of the city.
As for spell, I see low costs, but lots of drawbacks. Cumulitive Upkeep, Life, Hand, Sacrificing, Cannot Draw Cards Next Turn (Blue no likey!); ect.
~"Whatever happens, happens"
---
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No no, it's *crocodiles* in the sewers.
I wonder how much of the "Urza's powe rlevel" stuff is going to only be good in old formats, but have no real power in T2. If WotC starts another combo winter/summer...
"Sufficiently advanced experience is indistinguishable from clairvoyance." -Carsten
"Ah those eyes, those horrible creepy eyes!" -Chaosof99
DCI Level 3 Judge & TO
"I do not consider myself a hero. I know only what the Vec teach:
justice must always be served and corruption must always be opposed."
Go read! I am one of the three authors of Cranial Insertion.
But seriously, if you can't remember "Woapalanne", just call me Eli.
Sneaky ninja....
(_______________)w
\wwwwwwwww /w
\ wwwwwww//w
\wwww /////w
___\www//////___w
/www\/////////wwww\
\__________________/
( ( ' ) (( O )) )
- - - cnnnn- - - - - - - - - - cnnnn- - -
I wish I had a life
Lets hope for a strong, balanced, flavorful mix, and not broken busted cards (Academy) or mechanics that work a so well together at the expense of everything else (Affinity) that you have to hate them out. Maybe we'll see echo, or buyback return? Phasing is already fixed a little (remove from the game, and return later) and we have Flanking... (Bushido) Fading would be fun to bring back... Cumulative upkeep was a fun weird mechanic that worked kinda well too, but was a total pain to keep track of. I'd love to see banding, although it doesn't have a chance, and rampage isn't flexible enough and they just print it on cards flatout anyways.
~Give me Echo, and i'll fall in love with R&D all over again.
~"Whatever happens, happens"
---
Oh well, I guess I'll always be a flavor geek.
Some wurms may be in the sewers. There are black Wurms.
Does that mean there will be cards banned before they become tournament legal, like Memory Jar?
http://www.destinationmtg.com
Anyway, great info. I'm a cosmopolitan kind of guy, so this obviously gets me even more excited.
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I'm lovin it. Urza's block card power!, didn't experience it, but I heard the stories. Oh and zombies, real zombies, like Onslaught block zombies? Too good to be true.(I still beleive the info), thanks R_E!
GOGO ZOMBIES!
Dinosaurs Rock. (pun intended)