SelesniaConvoke. Also on some cards If you convoke a spell, you get X for number of creatures that convoked
New Mechanics BorosMentor When a Creature with Mentor attacks another attacking creature with lesser power gets +1/+1 counter DimirSurveil Graveyard Scry, scrying but card goes to the graveyard. IzzetJump-Start cast an instant or sorcery from the graveyard Discard a card as part of the cost GolgariUndergrowth. Bonus for number of creatures in your graveyard.
Note that Jump-start seems to require exiling the card that you're casting, so it's a more specific version of flashback rather than a variant on retrace.
After reading them again and thinking for a bit, I think Undergrowth has the most potential despite not being exactly clear how it'll work from the description. Is it going to be like Threshold (i.e. "Do X. If you have 4 or more creatures in your graveyard do Y instead")? Or will it be like a cost-reducing mechanic (i.e. "This spell costs 1 less for each creature in your graveyard")? Maybe a mix of the two if it ends up being just an ability word.
I think people are underrating jumpstart as a "weak flashback", but remember that flashback is normally overcosted to compensate for the effect (and sometimes flashback cards also have a higher normal mana cost to boot). Neither is the case for jump-start. Of course it depends on what kind of cards they made with it, but still, it has potential.
Surveil is quite good too, you can do much more with cards in your graveyard than on the bottom of your library and Scry is already a pretty good keyword ability.
Boros... I don't know about that one. Feels underwhelming, but could be useful (for example with inexpensive first and double strike creatures being mentored by something else). Not a fan of Boros attack focus anyway, so I'm just holding out on that one.
They talked about convoke being more interesting this time around, so I guess we'll see how that pans out. It's a good ability either way.
Depending on the cards it is printed on, undergrowth could be very strong, and it has good synergy with both the other Golgari mechanics as well as Surveil.
The only thing I find a bit iffy is that this set seems to concentrate on the graveyard judging from the mechanics. Feels a bit like Innistrad to be honest, not something I really like to see in a Ravnica set. But that's only a minor issue.
I can understand them wanting to save the truly innovative mechanics for less cramped sets, but at least in text form these don't seem all too exciting. I think most of them will play well thougj, because they're just variants or already "proven" mechanics.
@ChrisBP7: They commented on that in the stream. Convoke and Mentor are creature (battlefield) matters abilities, Undergrowth forms the bridge in a way (cares about both, creatures and the graveyard) and Jumpstart and Survey are graveyard mechanics. This doesn't really make GRN a graveyard block.
I think they all feel flavorful, Mentor is a nice play on the agro Boros playstyle and for year I've been saying scry should be focused in UB and now here we are I think they are a little simple but I gonna wait for the cards to see how they are used first.
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Jump-Start is going to make some waves. Already thinking of how to abuse it in Modern.
Oh and as usual, RW (Boros) gets the lamest/weakest mechanic.
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STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
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Interested in Surveil and Jump-Start. The Boros one looks like weaker Bolster, so meh? Convoke is always sweet, but having upside for a potential blowout is a nice though. Golgari should have just been Dredge, so meh on this.
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Boros is going to be pretty fast, it seems. The Draft Uncommon writes itself, doesn't it? It may not be quite as fast as in Gatecrash, as you can only Mentor other attackers, but still... creature density matters a lot, as always.
Dimir's Surveil at least seems to have a Storm value less than 8, even if it's poaching from Sultai. I hope that Surveil and Mentor are both action keywords, so that abilities can trigger off of them. Surveil will be good, regardless, but I do rather feel bad that their mechanic still has the least direction for winning the game.
Convoke is Convoke, and will be good.
Golgari is way up in the air.
I greatly appreciate how Surveil can fuel both Golgari and Izzet. Very well done here.
And yeah, Madness is looking actually possible for Rakdos, which is a bit terrifying.
Before Scry became evergreen, I used to say that it was the perfect mechanic for Dimir due to its secretive nature. And then I recall suggesting a while back that Graveyard Scry would be a good mechanic for Silumgar. Surveil will certainly work well with Undergrowth.
I'm a little surprised they went with a Flashback variant (and a little disappointed Izzet is once again just the instants and sorceries guild). Maybe they could have used the discard cost for various things as an ability word, like activated abilities and alternate casting costs? I wouldn't start calling it "weak Flashback" though, not when Madness is a thing. I also expect that some of the spells will get stronger when you jump-start them, like a Shock that becomes a Bolt or a Force Spike that becomes Mana Leak. This increases the likelihood that Rakdos will get Madness in RNA.
I think I'd thought of a mechanic like Undergrowth before when working on an Egypt-themed set. My main concern is that it doesn't play particularly well with Scavenge, as Scavenge removes creature cards from your graveyard. The most common Undergrowth abilities I foresee are +1/+1 bonuses, +1/+1 counters, and lifegain. Impossible's suggestion of cost reduction sounds good too, basically affinity for dead creatures.
Now Boros is playing with +1/+1 counters, eh? I can't help but think of more elegant weapons from more civilized eras. ;P Maybe there will be some Mentor triggers?
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
These mechanics are all fairly basic, so I'm hoping the individual cards will have interesting, synergistic designs. Like a Mentor creature that makes tokens, or a Jump-Start spell that cantrips.
Interested in Surveil and Jump-Start. The Boros one looks like weaker Bolster, so meh? Convoke is always sweet, but having upside for a potential blowout is a nice though. Golgari should have just been Dredge, so meh on this.
Don’t hold your breath on ever seeing Dredge again. MaRo has already said that it’s an inherently a broken mechanic, arguably the most broken that they’ve ever printed.
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New Mechanics
Boros Mentor When a Creature with Mentor attacks another attacking creature with lesser power gets +1/+1 counter
Dimir Surveil Graveyard Scry, scrying but card goes to the graveyard.
Izzet Jump-Start cast an instant or sorcery from the graveyard Discard a card as part of the cost
Golgari Undergrowth. Bonus for number of creatures in your graveyard.
Surveil could be good in a self-mill strategy.
But yeah......situational and weak (for now)
But overall I am disappointed.
Jump-start is a fun flashback/retrace/spellshaper variant. Maybe some will have that "Increasing" effect of being bigger when cast from the GY.
Dimir now cares about self-mill?
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Surveil is quite good too, you can do much more with cards in your graveyard than on the bottom of your library and Scry is already a pretty good keyword ability.
Boros... I don't know about that one. Feels underwhelming, but could be useful (for example with inexpensive first and double strike creatures being mentored by something else). Not a fan of Boros attack focus anyway, so I'm just holding out on that one.
They talked about convoke being more interesting this time around, so I guess we'll see how that pans out. It's a good ability either way.
Depending on the cards it is printed on, undergrowth could be very strong, and it has good synergy with both the other Golgari mechanics as well as Surveil.
The only thing I find a bit iffy is that this set seems to concentrate on the graveyard judging from the mechanics. Feels a bit like Innistrad to be honest, not something I really like to see in a Ravnica set. But that's only a minor issue.
@ChrisBP7: They commented on that in the stream. Convoke and Mentor are creature (battlefield) matters abilities, Undergrowth forms the bridge in a way (cares about both, creatures and the graveyard) and Jumpstart and Survey are graveyard mechanics. This doesn't really make GRN a graveyard block.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I'm sure it will get as much eternal format play as the others...
Mentor sounds underwhelming, even though I expect it to be something like Mentor 1/2/3/etc to give different number of counters depending on the card.
The other three sounds like they can actually be good. Graveyard shenanigans always can be good.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Oh and as usual, RW (Boros) gets the lamest/weakest mechanic.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
Boros is going to be pretty fast, it seems. The Draft Uncommon writes itself, doesn't it? It may not be quite as fast as in Gatecrash, as you can only Mentor other attackers, but still... creature density matters a lot, as always.
Dimir's Surveil at least seems to have a Storm value less than 8, even if it's poaching from Sultai. I hope that Surveil and Mentor are both action keywords, so that abilities can trigger off of them. Surveil will be good, regardless, but I do rather feel bad that their mechanic still has the least direction for winning the game.
Convoke is Convoke, and will be good.
Golgari is way up in the air.
I greatly appreciate how Surveil can fuel both Golgari and Izzet. Very well done here.
And yeah, Madness is looking actually possible for Rakdos, which is a bit terrifying.
I'm a little surprised they went with a Flashback variant (and a little disappointed Izzet is once again just the instants and sorceries guild). Maybe they could have used the discard cost for various things as an ability word, like activated abilities and alternate casting costs? I wouldn't start calling it "weak Flashback" though, not when Madness is a thing. I also expect that some of the spells will get stronger when you jump-start them, like a Shock that becomes a Bolt or a Force Spike that becomes Mana Leak. This increases the likelihood that Rakdos will get Madness in RNA.
I think I'd thought of a mechanic like Undergrowth before when working on an Egypt-themed set. My main concern is that it doesn't play particularly well with Scavenge, as Scavenge removes creature cards from your graveyard. The most common Undergrowth abilities I foresee are +1/+1 bonuses, +1/+1 counters, and lifegain. Impossible's suggestion of cost reduction sounds good too, basically affinity for dead creatures.
Now Boros is playing with +1/+1 counters, eh? I can't help but think of more elegant weapons from more civilized eras. ;P Maybe there will be some Mentor triggers?
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Don’t hold your breath on ever seeing Dredge again. MaRo has already said that it’s an inherently a broken mechanic, arguably the most broken that they’ve ever printed.