On the Weekly MTG podcast we have some really strong spell support, one supporting the d20 rolling theme and another possibly fielding in Eternal formats, and an expected reprint.
Also unveiled were a pair of cards in the Monster Manual frame treatment, and a card that compiles all of Blue's removal for when the creature is already on the battlefield.
Yeah, if Stormwing Entity taught me anything, it's that it's surprisingly easy to cast an instant or sorcery spell every turn (or at least most turns). Demilich should be easily broken in Modern (and it should play nicer with any one of Dragon's Rage Channeler and Murktide Regent than those two play nice with each other).
How i feel about competitive players and casual players in EDH: The competitive are german tourists, the casual are italian tourists, both in a italian beach. The italians asking themselves "why are the germans here?" make a legitimate question, the answer is because the beach is beautiful, no matter the country you came from. The italians wanting to ban the germans are dumb, because if the germans pay for their stay and follow the rules like everyone else, they have the right to be in the beach. Hovewer, if the germans started to ask themselves "why are the italians here?"... they would be dumb as hell.
Demilich feels like the most powerful card in the set so far. This is pretty easy to make a 0 mana 4/3 that Snapcaster Mage's every time it attacks. It even has the ability to recur from the graveyard, that feels a very real card in an otherwise very disappointing set.
So... I'm confused. Wizards has held off on making skeletons except in teensy tiny amounts due to cultural pressure in the east and then this set comes out of nowhere with two Mythic Skeletons, a lord that pumps and generates skeletons, and at least 1 common skeleton (plus the beholder skeleton we're getting in the commander decks).
So... I'm confused. Wizards has held off on making skeletons except in teensy tiny amounts due to cultural pressure in the east and then this set comes out of nowhere with two Mythic Skeletons, a lord that pumps and generates skeletons, and at least 1 common skeleton (plus the beholder skeleton we're getting in the commander decks).
The heck?
Chances are the chinese version will have different art (as they almost always change human skulls for chinese card art).
Which will be funny, as its a literal floating human skull.
Maybe its an entirely different more comical art for chinese ?
cool cards. Demilith is extra good for older formarts modern i wonder if turn 2 Demilith will be too much.
I Bolt/Push/PtE/Prismatic Ending Turn 1 Asmor in Modern all the time (and you cannot let her live or she kills at least one of your guys with whatever food she conjured from The Underworld Cookbook); Demilich will be just fine.
Demilich feels like the most powerful card in the set so far. This is pretty easy to make a 0 mana 4/3 that Snapcaster Mage's every time it attacks. It even has the ability to recur from the graveyard, that feels a very real card in an otherwise very disappointing set.
I tested in Modern UR Delver(/Dragon's Rage Channeler/Ragavan?) today - turns out that Demilich is likely surprisingly balanced, as the only way you're playing it and spending less than 4 mana that turn is to play free spells. ...Those are definitely not as commonly played as, say, blue cantrips and red burn. Needing to legit pay the mana costs of everything it casts also helps it be balanced. ...Demilich is still a bugger to deal with in Modern; it's somewhat willing to suicide attack if necessary in order to cast removal.
Can someone please break Demilich with some hardcore meme decking? Here is a start:
4 Demilich
4 Pact of the titan
4 Summoners pact
4 Pact of Negation
4 First Day of Class
4 Chatterstorm
4 Manamorphose
4 street wraith
4 Angels Grace
+ Fast Mana rituals
+ Some lands
Why do you people hype this card so much prematurely?
Do you want it selling at $50 right out the gate?
Does blue devotion even care about this?
This is a bulk mythic which should sell at $4-6 until it proves itself to be useful or effective, let alone consistent
Be objective and stop thinking of Magical Christmas Land.
When's the last time any 4cmc card which cost 4 mana of one color had a big impact on Standard? Phyrexian obliterator?
This card is nowhere near as good
I rest my case
Why do you people hype this card so much prematurely?
Do you want it selling at $50 right out the gate?
Does blue devotion even care about this?
This is a bulk mythic which should sell at $4-6 until it proves itself to be useful or effective, let alone consistent
Be objective and stop thinking of Magical Christmas Land.
When's the last time any 4cmc card which cost 4 mana of one color had a big impact on Standard? Phyrexian obliterator?
This card is nowhere near as good
I rest my case
I evaluate cards prematurely (both at first glance and then by rigging decks on Cockatrice and playing against myself) because it's fun, and I like seeing how good I am at evaluating cards.
A card being powerful enough in Modern and even Legacy and Vintage can drive up its cost to tens of dollars a pop, even if it's never been Standard-legal. For example, have you seen the price of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer singles lately? Unbelievable.
I mainly look at cards, including Demilich, for their power in Modern. Modern has enough UR(/X) spellslinger decks, even those that can make 8/8 Murktide Regents in Not Magical Christmas Land, that I think I can peg Demilich as good in Modern.
Now my testing so far in UR Delver(/Ragavan) Tempo says that Demilich is a shockingly mid-to-late-game play unless it's in a deck with free spells. (At least a Bolt can make Demilich only cost precisely Archmage's Charm's mana cost, though.) More controlling decks have definitely hated countering and/or booting Demilich repeatedly in testing so far, though. Possibly the bigger obstacle is Demilich's not-so-big body, forcing me to either suicide Demilich or find solid removal in time if a big enough blocker is in the way.
Magic Christmas Land is one thing, to have potentially insane draws "at all" is a bonus over cards that do not have a perfect draw at all.
But if the floor is already a strong card, its only a matter if the card slots into existing decks, or is so so strong that its worth to build a new deck around it to fuel into its power and gimmick.
This card works with a lot of cards very well that already see play in Modern regardless.
Another big point is that a card thats good and you want 4 of them in a deck, increases in demand.
Being "mythic" just makes it even more scarce.
In "standard" this is not too special, as abusing its mechanics is very difficult in standard and if you jump through hoops just to get it killed by 1 spell of the opponent its not worth the effort.
----
Chances are the card is overhyped, then selling it early is good value.
If the card turns out to be effective, chances are prices go up.
Very simple gamble, and hyping a card up in a forum like this here, is just talking to people that already care probably way too much for the game
(The real market manipulation level of hyping a card is done in other realms and magnitude)
----
In this set in particular a lot of monsters that can in D&D lore absolutely "fly" , do not have flying in their Magic card.
Pretty big failure, WotC not implementing their own lore and stat-blocks in such trivial abilities like flying speed vs movement.
They are not even remotely consistent with it even in the same set.
Flameskull is just another flying skull , Demilich does not have flying ... Why exactly ?
Sure, I understand and appreciate all that as I have some formidable Modern decks built and would also play older formats if I had friends who still played them, but how can we already presume the impact of these new cards on the Modern meta which has already undergone quite a bit of change lately with the introduction of several strong cards from Modern Horizons 2, and will undoubtedly be recalibrating to determine what the strongest decks are for the next little while?
Admittedly, I don't play MTGO or even much on Arena these days, and I'm certainly not analyzing every card or the evolution of formats from every angle the way devoted Spikes might, but I still find it strange that cards no longer have to prove themselves before commanding high prices because they're seemingly so pushed by design that even if their intended purpose or combo pieces aren't blatantly obvious, online critics will "solve" where they "belong" in a matter of days if not hours or minutes. It just ruins the whole discovery process (for me) and is disheartening to know that if I want Card X for a Standard brew or Commander deck, that I have to pay a big premium because the fans who loved it upon spoiling had to shout out "This is the best new card for Decks and/or Formats XYZ!" before it's hit shelves and anyone has even had an opportunity to crack open a single prerelease pack.
I suppose my disappointment is with the nature of spoilers season (or more accurately, the reactionary responses to it) and how the double-edged sword of internet hype and distribution has in some ways failed casual players, appealed primarily to investors who try to corner the market on the (presumably) best cards (admittedly, I'm part of this consumer demographic on occasion budget-permitting, because "if you can't beat em, join em"), and collectively, this fomo mindset has inflated the market to new heights. It's an interesting phenomenon to say the least considering collectible cards traditionally had to age or be authentically rare to gain such a tag. Alas, players love their games, and players with money will always compete for better equipment in bidding wars.
Honestly, at the risk of sounding too nostalgic, it's sad that many newer players have probably never even had the experience of sincerely discovering new sets card by card solely by opening packs, because even though that's technically still an option, avoiding spoiler season only puts players at a disadvantage by not getting a head start at processing the data on new game pieces and intersecting variables which can either create new archtypes or augment existing ones in various formats. Many things compound the problem, like pushed multi-format staples printed at mythic which too many people want at least one playset of all at once without enough printings to go around (or sitting in showcases at huge mark-ups). Magic shouldn't be a game of who has the deepest pockets, but even Standard has been like that for sometime because more formats created in recent years have only diluted the pool of good cards printed at rare and mythic. What's ridiculous is that oftentimes after people pay those high tags for amazing new cards (ie: Hogaak, Uro, Omnath, T3feri, etc), they get banned and consumers have basically been robbed with a bait-and-switch.
Ragavan is cute and effective, but is a copy really worth $100?!
What if he turns out to be "too good" and gets banned in a few months for being too dominant or popular online?
Nowadays you can never be too sure, and some purchases are inherently risky when cards seem too good to be true.
It's not like losing your investment on that playset of faithless looting which you can't play anymore
I'm sorry, but there's a reasonable limit regarding cost-to-benefit analysis (especially with new cards despite how good they may appear, as many don't end up performing in practice as well as they can in theory), and that being said, I'm happy to keep playing with goblin guides, vexing devils, and grim lavamancers (and other good 1-drops) instead. Anyone who genuinely believes they "need" that new monkey to win games, remain competitive, or have fun when it didn't even exist until now is only fooling themselves with emotional insecurities. If anything, I believe that it's best to show restraint, spend that $100 on several copies of underestimated cards now, and trade into copies of Ragavan with those at a later date when he drops in price and the other cards rise up
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Spoiler EditorOn the Weekly MTG podcast we have some really strong spell support, one supporting the d20 rolling theme and another possibly fielding in Eternal formats, and an expected reprint.
Source: Weekly MTG
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Spoiler EditorAlso unveiled were a pair of cards in the Monster Manual frame treatment, and a card that compiles all of Blue's removal for when the creature is already on the battlefield.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
The heck?
Demilich is, as expected, brutal. The Skull is dead, long live The Skull.
Chances are the chinese version will have different art (as they almost always change human skulls for chinese card art).
Which will be funny, as its a literal floating human skull.
Maybe its an entirely different more comical art for chinese ?
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
I Bolt/Push/PtE/Prismatic Ending Turn 1 Asmor in Modern all the time (and you cannot let her live or she kills at least one of your guys with whatever food she conjured from The Underworld Cookbook); Demilich will be just fine.
I tested in Modern UR Delver(/Dragon's Rage Channeler/Ragavan?) today - turns out that Demilich is likely surprisingly balanced, as the only way you're playing it and spending less than 4 mana that turn is to play free spells. ...Those are definitely not as commonly played as, say, blue cantrips and red burn. Needing to legit pay the mana costs of everything it casts also helps it be balanced. ...Demilich is still a bugger to deal with in Modern; it's somewhat willing to suicide attack if necessary in order to cast removal.
4 Demilich
4 Pact of the titan
4 Summoners pact
4 Pact of Negation
4 First Day of Class
4 Chatterstorm
4 Manamorphose
4 street wraith
4 Angels Grace
+ Fast Mana rituals
+ Some lands
Someone make this happen.
Http://www.fantasticneighborhood.com/
Comedy gaming podcast. Listening to it makes you cool.
No? I mean the result is completely random but if it means potentially gaining control of their best creature for two turns I'll take that.
Hello Bag of Holding downshifted to uncommon. So great to see you.
That blue giant with Ward 3 will be a nice pick in limited.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Do you want it selling at $50 right out the gate?
Does blue devotion even care about this?
This is a bulk mythic which should sell at $4-6 until it proves itself to be useful or effective, let alone consistent
Be objective and stop thinking of Magical Christmas Land.
When's the last time any 4cmc card which cost 4 mana of one color had a big impact on Standard? Phyrexian obliterator?
This card is nowhere near as good
I rest my case
I used to be a demigod, but now I'm an omnimage
I evaluate cards prematurely (both at first glance and then by rigging decks on Cockatrice and playing against myself) because it's fun, and I like seeing how good I am at evaluating cards.
A card being powerful enough in Modern and even Legacy and Vintage can drive up its cost to tens of dollars a pop, even if it's never been Standard-legal. For example, have you seen the price of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer singles lately? Unbelievable.
I mainly look at cards, including Demilich, for their power in Modern. Modern has enough UR(/X) spellslinger decks, even those that can make 8/8 Murktide Regents in Not Magical Christmas Land, that I think I can peg Demilich as good in Modern.
Now my testing so far in UR Delver(/Ragavan) Tempo says that Demilich is a shockingly mid-to-late-game play unless it's in a deck with free spells. (At least a Bolt can make Demilich only cost precisely Archmage's Charm's mana cost, though.) More controlling decks have definitely hated countering and/or booting Demilich repeatedly in testing so far, though. Possibly the bigger obstacle is Demilich's not-so-big body, forcing me to either suicide Demilich or find solid removal in time if a big enough blocker is in the way.
But if the floor is already a strong card, its only a matter if the card slots into existing decks, or is so so strong that its worth to build a new deck around it to fuel into its power and gimmick.
This card works with a lot of cards very well that already see play in Modern regardless.
Another big point is that a card thats good and you want 4 of them in a deck, increases in demand.
Being "mythic" just makes it even more scarce.
In "standard" this is not too special, as abusing its mechanics is very difficult in standard and if you jump through hoops just to get it killed by 1 spell of the opponent its not worth the effort.
----
Chances are the card is overhyped, then selling it early is good value.
If the card turns out to be effective, chances are prices go up.
Very simple gamble, and hyping a card up in a forum like this here, is just talking to people that already care probably way too much for the game
(The real market manipulation level of hyping a card is done in other realms and magnitude)
----
In this set in particular a lot of monsters that can in D&D lore absolutely "fly" , do not have flying in their Magic card.
Pretty big failure, WotC not implementing their own lore and stat-blocks in such trivial abilities like flying speed vs movement.
They are not even remotely consistent with it even in the same set.
Flameskull is just another flying skull , Demilich does not have flying ... Why exactly ?
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
Admittedly, I don't play MTGO or even much on Arena these days, and I'm certainly not analyzing every card or the evolution of formats from every angle the way devoted Spikes might, but I still find it strange that cards no longer have to prove themselves before commanding high prices because they're seemingly so pushed by design that even if their intended purpose or combo pieces aren't blatantly obvious, online critics will "solve" where they "belong" in a matter of days if not hours or minutes. It just ruins the whole discovery process (for me) and is disheartening to know that if I want Card X for a Standard brew or Commander deck, that I have to pay a big premium because the fans who loved it upon spoiling had to shout out "This is the best new card for Decks and/or Formats XYZ!" before it's hit shelves and anyone has even had an opportunity to crack open a single prerelease pack.
I suppose my disappointment is with the nature of spoilers season (or more accurately, the reactionary responses to it) and how the double-edged sword of internet hype and distribution has in some ways failed casual players, appealed primarily to investors who try to corner the market on the (presumably) best cards (admittedly, I'm part of this consumer demographic on occasion budget-permitting, because "if you can't beat em, join em"), and collectively, this fomo mindset has inflated the market to new heights. It's an interesting phenomenon to say the least considering collectible cards traditionally had to age or be authentically rare to gain such a tag. Alas, players love their games, and players with money will always compete for better equipment in bidding wars.
Honestly, at the risk of sounding too nostalgic, it's sad that many newer players have probably never even had the experience of sincerely discovering new sets card by card solely by opening packs, because even though that's technically still an option, avoiding spoiler season only puts players at a disadvantage by not getting a head start at processing the data on new game pieces and intersecting variables which can either create new archtypes or augment existing ones in various formats. Many things compound the problem, like pushed multi-format staples printed at mythic which too many people want at least one playset of all at once without enough printings to go around (or sitting in showcases at huge mark-ups). Magic shouldn't be a game of who has the deepest pockets, but even Standard has been like that for sometime because more formats created in recent years have only diluted the pool of good cards printed at rare and mythic. What's ridiculous is that oftentimes after people pay those high tags for amazing new cards (ie: Hogaak, Uro, Omnath, T3feri, etc), they get banned and consumers have basically been robbed with a bait-and-switch.
Ragavan is cute and effective, but is a copy really worth $100?!
What if he turns out to be "too good" and gets banned in a few months for being too dominant or popular online?
Nowadays you can never be too sure, and some purchases are inherently risky when cards seem too good to be true.
It's not like losing your investment on that playset of faithless looting which you can't play anymore
I'm sorry, but there's a reasonable limit regarding cost-to-benefit analysis (especially with new cards despite how good they may appear, as many don't end up performing in practice as well as they can in theory), and that being said, I'm happy to keep playing with goblin guides, vexing devils, and grim lavamancers (and other good 1-drops) instead. Anyone who genuinely believes they "need" that new monkey to win games, remain competitive, or have fun when it didn't even exist until now is only fooling themselves with emotional insecurities. If anything, I believe that it's best to show restraint, spend that $100 on several copies of underestimated cards now, and trade into copies of Ragavan with those at a later date when he drops in price and the other cards rise up
I used to be a demigod, but now I'm an omnimage