There's a number of cards I have my eye on in this set already:
Nyxbloom Ancient is a new copy of Mana Reflection - an ability that until now had been unique. Costing one more mana means it won't be a straight upgrade/replacement, also since it's easier to kill, being a creature. Being a creature means it's going to be easier to cheat and tutor though. I'm straight up terrified of what you can do with Sneak Attack for a surprise big turn.
Shadowspear will likely replace Loxodon Warhammer in a lot of my decks. The power boost may be necessary in some, so Lox isn't invalidated, but mostly I want the abilities, and paying half as much to play and equip is a massive upgrade.
Soul-Guide Lantern - I run Scrabbling Claws and Phyrexian Furnace is quite a few decks. They're cheap, they cantrip, and they are easy to recover. Nihil Spellbomb obviously makes it into those decks that can as well. This just seems like a no-brainer. While there are still specific circumstances that I may prefer the others, I feel that the lantern outshines the others in most respects.
Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded isn't quite a replacement for Sneak Attack, but I think that says more about Sneak's activation cost more than Purphoros, and he's still super solid and scary.
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath looks insane. At first it's just a +1 cost Growth Spiral, but then adding in everything that triggers of of creatures entering or leaving, or what you can do with a 6/6, or the fact that it's repeatable, and this card gets nuts.
Nadir Kraken looks like a lot of fun, especially as a cheaper kraken, and it seems a decent token maker as well.
Heliod, Sun-Crowned doesn't look like a game changer, but I actually have a deck idea he'd be good with, as well as slotting him into Karlov.
A big part is that Happily Ever After triggers on the upkeep. It also has a lot more conditions to satisfy. It can be disrupted by clearing out the colors the player has, possibly by nuking the graveyard, or straight up beating their face in.
it's gonna be banned. Why would they ban acadmey and not a card that is just as good if not better (With the painless city of brass ability)
Because it really isn't?
Academy is stupid broken because you can play it as a land drop, which means it comes online sooner, and can start powering stupid stuff by turns 2 or 3.
The RC has shown that they don't care about big mana - Cradle, Coffers, and Nykthos prove as such, and the NewCradle has proven that putting a mana cost on a land does a whole heck of a lot at dropping its power down.
Will this new land be strong? Yes. But coming online after investing 4 mana (assuming you've already got 5 artifacts out, or a combination of artifacts and creatures that can punch through for gold...), and then flipping at the End of Turn, meaning your opponents have a full turn cycle to deal with it before you do anything really stupid, means it won't be as crazy as Academy.
Don't get me wrong, I'll be buying a bunch and jamming them into all sorts of decks - but it's not anywhere close to better than academy.
I think we can expect that there will be a UR Artificer printed *eventually*, given how much it's been clamored for. I've also built several iterations of Grixis Artifacts (Mishra Stax, Marchesa Arcbound), as well as a Shu-Yun Jeskai Artifacts list. So there's definitely places it'd shine.
Heck, I think the ability to tap for multiple blue mana on a single land makes this worth building a little towards in most UR builds.
Shine... Yes. Broken? No.
I love me some artifact decks, and I love me some blue red. I'm excited for this land. But seeing that it comes online after turn 3-4. Needs some creatures to generate gold with. Then flips into a land that does cool stuff... I don't think calling for preemptive banning is necessary.
Again, NewCradle shows us how much power drops when you put a mana cost on it.
Anyone want to sell me on Sigarda's Aid? It looks pretty bad to me despite all of the love its getting. I could see it in a very aura/equipment heavy deck, but those are typically voltron and there's not a whole lot to be gained from flashing them in. Cheating on the equip cost is nice, but how often will you actually take advantage of that?
Stunning Growth is... wow. Trostani is going to eat this up in a heartbeat. You only need 2 lands to make this 'acceptable' value for the cost, but lets be honest, sometimes one land (depending on the land) is enough. And in decks where it will suddenly double your available mana? Yikes. This may push me into adding Scapeshift to trostani, or making a Sidisi Dredge deck.
Sigarda's Blessing/Sigarda's Aid is pretty darn cool. I already like Voltron decks, so this is an easy add for combat tricks, as well as the T3 sword of feast and famine dream.
The only thing that makes them sort of work is the +1/+1 counters are kind of like plants growing. Would you say this card "resonates" with you?
I should probably clarify that I actually agree with you, though I view upon it more with amusement. I find it ironic that taking two typically slow things together suddenly makes them super speedy, hard to catch, and scary...
And yet that's the trope that currently exists in mtg, with a plant (zombie) that flies with wings.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Scaretiller + Retreat to Coralhelm + (Opposition, Cryptolith Rite, Earthcraft, Glare of Subdual, etc)
= dump all lands from GY and hand.
----
+Zuran Orb for infinite life and infinite landfall.
- or -
+ Fetchland + amulet of vigor to get everything.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Seeing as I've already run Purraj of Urborg in the Command Zone... K'rrik has serious potential to go nuts.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
And yet, the only thing that currently differentiates this from Monstrous is that it's repeatable - if you have a way to remove counters...
If they don't play with a way to remove or move counters, then I'll be really upset they just made a second monstrous ability.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Because it really isn't?
Academy is stupid broken because you can play it as a land drop, which means it comes online sooner, and can start powering stupid stuff by turns 2 or 3.
The RC has shown that they don't care about big mana - Cradle, Coffers, and Nykthos prove as such, and the NewCradle has proven that putting a mana cost on a land does a whole heck of a lot at dropping its power down.
Will this new land be strong? Yes. But coming online after investing 4 mana (assuming you've already got 5 artifacts out, or a combination of artifacts and creatures that can punch through for gold...), and then flipping at the End of Turn, meaning your opponents have a full turn cycle to deal with it before you do anything really stupid, means it won't be as crazy as Academy.
Don't get me wrong, I'll be buying a bunch and jamming them into all sorts of decks - but it's not anywhere close to better than academy.
Shine... Yes. Broken? No.
I love me some artifact decks, and I love me some blue red. I'm excited for this land. But seeing that it comes online after turn 3-4. Needs some creatures to generate gold with. Then flips into a land that does cool stuff... I don't think calling for preemptive banning is necessary.
Again, NewCradle shows us how much power drops when you put a mana cost on it.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Stonehewer Giant is good[/c].
Leaving mana open, and then being able to use it, is good.
Not going to rock the boat, but it'll make a pretty splash.
O_O
This... is... amazing...
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Stunning Growth is... wow. Trostani is going to eat this up in a heartbeat. You only need 2 lands to make this 'acceptable' value for the cost, but lets be honest, sometimes one land (depending on the land) is enough. And in decks where it will suddenly double your available mana? Yikes. This may push me into adding Scapeshift to trostani, or making a Sidisi Dredge deck.
Sigarda's Blessing/Sigarda's Aid is pretty darn cool. I already like Voltron decks, so this is an easy add for combat tricks, as well as the T3 sword of feast and famine dream.
Imprisoned in the Moon is pretty crazy. Looks like blue gets to have the Song of the Dryads effects.
Collective Forces is a bit sad that it's a sorcery, but 3 mana to kill an enchantment AND a creature isn't bad at all.
Mausoleum Wanderer adds a new flier for Edric Decks everywhere, and gives an extra Cursecatcher effect for decks everywhere.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
And yet that's the trope that currently exists in mtg, with a plant (zombie) that flies with wings.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek