MTG Salvation

Quote from Ryperior74 »

Quote from migrena »

[quote from="Ryperior74 »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/the-rumor-mill/815351-new-info-about-ikoria?comment=29"]Oh to prove my theory further it’s not the first time of creatures gaining keyword abilities permanently rather than temporary (and yes aware some depend on what it sees in play)

• Cairn Wanderer
  
• Rayami, First of the Fallen
  
• Majestic Myriarch
  
• Escaped Shapeshifter
  

None of those gets keywords permanently. But we have cards like Riding the Dilu Horse, cards with exert mechanic etc. Those are logistical nightmare and a failure at design, but with proper physical representation on the battlefield they would be interesting addition to the game (although non-permanents adding keywords to permanents undermines the existence of auras and equipment).

</blockquote>

Dude read my comment again I already said these cards are based on what they see rather than permanent (however the delve one is permanent)

I’m not saying the mechanics were based on those I’m saying they probably making a permanent version

Emphasis mine. You have written that those cards gain keywords permanently. They do not. Note that I have removed from the list creatures that actually gain keywords permanently.

Quote from Rosy Dumplings »

My initial gut reaction is that keyword tokens create memory problems as they aren't easily symbolized by non-counter means in the way that dice can symbolize +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters...

...and then I remember that my playgroup can routinely remember that a dorito is an eternalized Adorned Pouncer and distinguish it from a soldier token being represented by a marble.

Probably not the end of the world.

For casual play certainly, but at more competitive levels not maintaining proper game state is penalized infraction. Its better for players to focus gameplay decisions rather mental administrative work. The less stuff that cannot be represented physically the better.

Quote from Ryperior74 »

Oh to prove my theory further it’s not the first time of creatures gaining keyword abilities permanently rather than temporary (and yes aware some depend on what it sees in play)

• Cairn Wanderer
  
• Rayami, First of the Fallen
  
• Majestic Myriarch
  
• Escaped Shapeshifter
  

None of those gets keywords permanently. But we have cards like Riding the Dilu Horse, cards with exert mechanic etc. Those are logistical nightmare and a failure at design, but with proper physical representation on the battlefield they would be interesting addition to the game (although non-permanents adding keywords to permanents undermines the existence of auras and equipment).

Quote from SavannahLion »

Not sure who else makes playmats besides the crummy Chinese knockoffs from AliBaba. Inked Gaming perhaps?

Every company that makes sleeves and deckboxes also does playmats these days. They are slightly better or worse than UP but all of them are basically of the same quality.
UP is doing perfectly fine job with their playmats so I don't see a problem here.

Hi
I'm trying to build Alela, Artful Provocateur deck and I would like one of the wincons to be Future Sight/Magus of the Future + Sensei's Divining Top to generate tokens from Alela and Monastery Mentor. The problem is that the tokens do not have haste and waiting until next turn to attack with them is not good enough. So I'm looking for haste enablers (or something equivalent) in Esper. I can't think of any such effect so I'm resorting to Leyline of Anticipation and Vedalken Orrery. Any suggestions are welcome.

Quote from Carthage »

"You sound like you just don't want to lose"
"I want to win"

Well obviously people play this game to win and not to lose... But do they want to win when playing against decks of considerably lower power? If yes then I would stop playing EDH with them immediately as this is not a healthy attitude. Otherwise you need the reasons why they cannot build decks on the same power level as you.

Quote from Carthage »

"I can't spend money on cards right now"
"I only have the one deck"

This seems to contradict what you said about high power level of deck in your playgroup. As DirkGently said - it's hard to imagine someone with a high power deck but without any collection of cards to power it down or not enough funds to buy low power cards. And even then you can borrow them a deck. Proxying cards is also an option (although proxying cards to power down a deck would be something new to me).

Quote from Carthage »

"I prefer games with stronger cards"

That's perfectly fine. Suggest assembling different power level pods. Alternate between playing cEDH and casual decks. Maybe they will be interested in using their Mana Crypts and Ancient Tombs to channel some more less obvious stuff and not always flash in hulk first turn.

Quote from Carthage »

"Combo is just part of the game"

Also perfectly fine. But what kind of combo? Flashing in Hulk is a combo. Assembling all Stations is also a combo. Power levels of those are wildly different. Inquire why do they need to play the strongest combo.

I would start by looking at EDHrec data for Kestia: https://edhrec.com/commanders/kestia-the-cultivator

You can generate a lot of card advantage with Kestia but you need to be able to protect her and your other creatures (some kind of evasion also counts as it allows them to attack and not die to blocks).
Stuff that you should look into:
- generating mana from attackers to play drawn cards immediately - Bear Umbra, Nature's Will, Sword of Feast and Famine, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician,
- protecting your attackers and enchantments / recursion - umbras, enchantments that return from graveyard when destroyed like Rancor and Angelic Destiny, Sterling Grove, Privileged Position, Greater Auramancy, Replenish, Open the Vaults, Crystal Chimes, Hall of Heliod's Generosity, Teferi's Protection,
- evasion - Archetype of Imagination, Champion of Lambholt, Keeper of Keys, Open into Wonder, Venser, the Sojourner,
- obvious enchantress stuff - cost reducers and draw from playing enchantments.

A bit different direction can be generating a lot of small tokens and generating value with Enchanted Evening. If you will be sure that your creatures will be small you can use Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive to make sure they will go through and double on draw with Edric, Spymaster of Trest. But this strategy hinges a lot on a few irreplaceable pieces so it will be harder to pull off.

Personally I always like to include as plan B some compact combo which pieces overlap with the rest of the deck, in that case this could be for example Sun Titan + Angelic Renewal + Altar of Dementia / Blasting Station. Sun Titan and Angelic Renewal provide recursion and protection on their own. Altar of Dementia and Blasting Station provide protection against Control Magic effects and when combined they give you win on the spot in most circumstances (note that if you will go really heavy on recursion you can mill yourself with Altar for more value). Bant colors provide multiple possibilities of recurring those pieces so you don't need to hesitate using them for value early game and still have possibility of going off later.

Quote from Gruul Storyteller »

Quote from migrena »

Quote from Gruul Storyteller »

Quote from migrena »

Quote from SavannahLion »

Particularly if you only care for some of the mats, you can sell of the rest. I really only want two out of the seven. The rest are kind of meh for me.

But why, why do they sell them only in bundles? This is just stupid. :/

Not entirely sure why on the initial reasoning either. I just know they have said things like in the following attachement

This just makes it more confusing. So artists will have their own playmats for sale? Do they really expect people to "go in with friends" while the artwork is in so different style than usual?

I have no idea why. Perhaps this was something agreed with the artists.

That would be fine. But they did not make this information clear and available for everyone. I'm getting baffled more and more by recent WotC marketing decisions.

Quote from Ryperior74 »

But regular parter should be spotted in commander legends

Is there an official source of this information?

Quote from Gruul Storyteller »

Quote from migrena »

Quote from SavannahLion »

Quote from xaltair »

The 8 play mats are worth it more than the cards bundle.

Particularly if you only care for some of the mats, you can sell of the rest. I really only want two out of the seven. The rest are kind of meh for me.

But why, why do they sell them only in bundles? This is just stupid. :/

Not entirely sure why on the initial reasoning either. I just know they have said things like in the following attachement

This just makes it more confusing. So artists will have their own playmats for sale? Do they really expect people to "go in with friends" while the artwork is in so different style than usual?

Those are just crappy renders. So they all look washed out, text has atrocious aliasing and pictures have more details than actual cards. Expansion symbol and watermark also will look differently (less pronounced) on real cards. I wish they stopped doing renders and posted pictures of actual cards.

I really hate the graphics they used for Enlightened Tutor. Not only does the figure have no details but the background... well, the term "background" is very generous as there really is none. Compared to other three it does not look good. The author has done not insignificant amount of art for MtG cards and all are head and shoulders above this one.

Quote from NerdSoda »

The reason for the owl is probably Judge's Familiar, so... it makes perfect sense.

The choice of cards is also pretty clever. All of them are tutors because "judge academy" etc.

Was Copter really that ubiquitous? A lot of the decks were playing it but it was expected because it is a good card. It was not warping the meta like the other two and format where people are not required to play answers can easily turn into solitaire.

Quote from SavannahLion »

Quote from xaltair »

The 8 play mats are worth it more than the cards bundle.

Particularly if you only care for some of the mats, you can sell of the rest. I really only want two out of the seven. The rest are kind of meh for me.

But why, why do they sell them only in bundles? This is just stupid. :/

I saw a few matches with the version below. I was surprised how consistent it was.
This version works more like legacy mono-u omnishow deck by which I mean that it does not need to "storm" with multiple draw spells when it goes off. Once Upon a Time and Dig through Time provide enough card selection to find what you need. The problem I see is that all versions hinge quite a lot on Fae of Wishes and due to that folds to unanswered Lost Legacy.

Quote from Ryperior74 »

Quote from migrena »

<insert picture of captain Ahab hunting for whales with MaRo face photoshopped over his>

WotC is lately trying to introduce products which only aim to syphon as much money from the playerbase as possible. Mythic editions, lairs, mystery boosters, those use the same "suprise mechanic" to do this. I'm disgusted by that blatant cash grab and my hopes that supplemental products from next year will be good for players (reprints of chase cards to increase staples availability due to lowering prices) are more or less dead.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/big-things-are-coming-commander-2020-2019-10-30

It’s a commander set coming next year “command legends” I think we are gonna see the most amazing reprints and new cards there there’s 70 new legendaries (it’s give or take but about down in the middle of never gotten a Card old lore legends/new legends/2.0 legendaries who have a card already)

And on top of that the next from the vault it’s commander focused with green commander staples we believe chord of callingis one of the, based on one of the pictures

And to go even further than that 9 commander decks for commander 2020

Commander 2020 and Ikoria lair of behemoths are coming out at the exact same time because the Ikoria themed decks (just like throne of eldraine did) they are commander decks instead and they’re 5 of them again 71 new cards most out of all commander sets

Then in re-re return to zendikar 2 commander decks there it’s almost all reprints in those

Then another 2 decks in commander legends same as zendikar mostly reprints

I understand your position and as much as I would like to be optimistic, releases of last products does not make me so. You seems to be making a lot of assumptions about the quality and contents of future products but I don't see what are those based on. If you have any hard data on actual contents of those products please share it with me.
After reading that commander announcement I had the complately different feelings. For example "71 new cards are not also found in Draft Boosters" make me immediately think "Brawl decks" / "Arcane Signet". It is a very hard to pull off balancing act to make supplemental product with new cards that will be interesting and avoid power creep at the same time. WotC don't have excellent track record doing that.

Quote from thatmarkguy »

(...)
WotC might now deliberately withhold reprints from randomized sets to make secondary market prices go up so they can issue high dollar value reprints direct.

This is exactly what makes me worried about future supplemental products. Why would they put sought after reprints in new products while they can put there sought after new cards? What if Lairs sales numbers show that people are willing to buy products for single cards if the price is below current market price? What incentive do they have then to put more pricey reprints among reprints in those commander products they announced?

Quote from LordRewind »

Currently playtesting Emry and Castle Lochthwain, dropping a Vault of Whispers and Rakdos Signet. More updates to follow, including when the primer moves over to MTGNexus; but I wanted to post an updated none-the-less!

Is the list from OP up to date? Editing date on it suggest it is from February while your latest post with changes is from June.