@wtwlf that was an extraordinary explanation, thanks so much for articulating what's been nagging at me for the better part of two years now. I've had such a hard time squaring my experience and expectations with what other people are doing in their own cubes, and it never occurred to me that it's just because people built their environments away from draw-go and more towards going all-in on initiative (a mechanic I don't support, especially since it seems like it's genuinely format warping to the exclusion of so much else).
@steve_man I get what you're saying, but I definitely remember relying on Ghazban Ogre and Rogue Elephant in my stompy decks back in the day
Thanks for all your hard work writing this up, wtwlf! Looks like slim pickins for us small cubers, which I am very much okay with.
Interesting take on battles. You'd think that Wizards would want people to play their splashy new mechanic and release cards that are more pushed, but maybe they're just being careful at the beginning.
Great stuff wtwlf, always appreciate the work you put into these. Love your explanations (though I'll confess I don't really understand the distinction you're making with Conduit), especially because I didn't grok the nuance of Nissa's tokens being X/X instead of */* until you pointed it out. Seems like that's going to be a real PITA to keep track of, but I guess I'll give it a spin and see how it plays.
Great writeup as always, thanks for all your hard work on these! Gotta say that I'm pretty annoyed at Wizards for making their set releases as confusing as possible. I was just as confused as rantipole to not see Lethal Scheme here.
Moving away from that, I'm curious: do you prefer writing up sets that have a ton of overpowered and exciting cards (like NEO), or do you enjoy the challenge of finding more diamonds in the rough and advocating for those lesser-talked about cards (like SNC)?
Just wanted to echo everyone's sentiments here and say thanks for the article! I'm in the same boat as rantipole--going to add Portable Hole and watch the manlands. Really hoping that some of them prove to be 360-450 worthy for the long haul, though from your report that seems unlikely.
Awesome article as always! Only surprise was that Sea Gate Restoration ended up so low--I figured you were going to grade all of the mythic MDFC lands as stone cold 360 staples. Looks like only 3 or 4 are--which is still outrageous.
Can't wait to give the set a whirl. I think I might be the only person on the internet with a small cube that's excited to play Akoum Hellhound.
OMG, somehow I missed the Time Spiral Remastered announcement. Thanks for bringing it to my attention Cythare
I've always thought foil looks kinda dumb so I go out of my way to not foil my cube, but if these old bordered cards only come in foil, it's still worth it. I plan to upgrade every card possible.
So, uh, is this card any good? It looks awful to me, but in the past couple weeks, across multiple platforms, I've heard it described as black's best aggro 1-drop.
That can't possibly be true, can it? People with experience with this card, can you chime in and tell me why I'm crazy for dismissing it?
@steve_man I get what you're saying, but I definitely remember relying on Ghazban Ogre and Rogue Elephant in my stompy decks back in the day
Interesting take on battles. You'd think that Wizards would want people to play their splashy new mechanic and release cards that are more pushed, but maybe they're just being careful at the beginning.
Thanks again for your hard work!
Thanks!!
Moving away from that, I'm curious: do you prefer writing up sets that have a ton of overpowered and exciting cards (like NEO), or do you enjoy the challenge of finding more diamonds in the rough and advocating for those lesser-talked about cards (like SNC)?
For what it's worth, I'm happy to read either
Can't wait to give the set a whirl. I think I might be the only person on the internet with a small cube that's excited to play Akoum Hellhound.
I've always thought foil looks kinda dumb so I go out of my way to not foil my cube, but if these old bordered cards only come in foil, it's still worth it. I plan to upgrade every card possible.
I know you usually do these after you've playtested the cards a fair bit--I assume you weren't able to do so this time around, right?
That can't possibly be true, can it? People with experience with this card, can you chime in and tell me why I'm crazy for dismissing it?