I don't know why they'd give this as specific a name as Cylian Elf if it was going into the core set. Although they have Llanowar Elves, so it's not like there isn't precedent.
Put it in perspective.
Eventide had a couple of french vanilla critters: Lingering Tormentor; Smoldering Butcher; and Duskdale Wurm (that's not counting the hybrid ones, as I feel that they're unique enough. Of those, only the Wurm doesn't use one of the set's keywords. Here we have five vanillas and a whole bunch of stuff with just one keyword.
I'm not hating on the set; I just think that this is a bit excessive.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the people who disliked SHM/EVE like Alara, and vice versa (ignoring flavour). How close am I?
Probably pretty close. I loved Lorwyn, one of my favourite sets in a long while. Morningtide was pretty good. I just couldn't get into Eventide, though, and that goes double for Shadowmoor. Something about the lack of focus and colour pie blasphemy. I'm not the biggest fan of hybrid anyway.
I'm thinking I'm gonna like Alara. Lots of interesting decks to be made. The vanilla cards are pretty bad, but not inexcusable.
I love the heavy focus on top-down design. I really do. Some cards seem underpowered, some ridiculously so, but I really love how fleshed-out the Shards are.
Naya is my favourite in this regard. They pretty much made beefy creatures into a tribe. This lets pump be an interesting enabler, though. With a few key cards to ramp your mana, I can see Naya as a very fun casual deck, even bearing in mind that bonuses are a bit redundant when you've got a huge fatty.
Esper has great focus, but some cards that seem watered down just because they got the artifact type. Still, it obviously has enough cards for some sort of Artifact Beatdown deck.
Grixis is... weird. I think it has the least focus of all the Shards. Unearth is a theme, but there aren't many Entomb effects to take advantage of it, and the cards that let you discard seem too slow... I mean, Viashino Skeleton? Give me a Putrid Imp and I'll be somewhat happy. Give me a Mulldrifter Unearth creature or something of the sort to replace the cards lost after death and I'll be happy. I do like the Fleshbag, though; best case scenario, it takes out opponent's great creature while burying a creature past its prime for Unearthing the next turn.
Jund is interesting, though it could use more cheap token production. I like the 3R Devour 3 Viashino, but figure you need more creatures to eat if you're going to last. Removal seems to shut you down, too.
And Bant... well, apart from a few great cards like Paladin, Battlegrace Angel, and Rafiq, you've got a few okay Exalted cards like Angelic Benediction, and that's pretty much it. Lots of ovrcosted stuff here.
I do agree that they're trying to scale back the power level a bit, and that's okay. I have very fond memories of Kamigawa and Prophecy before it.
...But I have no idea what they were high on when they stuck in these vanilla creatures. What new player is going to crack a pack and be excited with a Coral Eel???
Interesting combination of abilities, I suppose. Cycle it away early on, then Unearth it later to do some unexpected damage. Not bad for certain Casual decks, I guess.
Problem is that for now, Esper is the only
shard where the lack of two colors has made a difference gameplay-wise. The other four planes seem to only show what their three colors DO. And i'm sure green will get anti artifacts, which Naya doesn't need. Black will get creatures removal, which Grixis doesn't need. White will get enchantment removel, which Bant doesn't need. Red is getting burn, which it doesn't need (Dragons don't cook). Otherwise, block constructed would jump through the window. So yeah it's a very fine set flavor-wise. But I'm sure it will feel quite "normal" when you play it. And then strange when you consider that each shard gets what it takes to counter ennemies it never saw.
Well, I'm not sure about that. You could argue that Naya has huge beefy creatures with no resistance to removal because conventional removal doesn't exist.
And anyway, who says Grixis doesn't need removal? Where do you think the undead comes from? People get killed. Burn is very Jund. Jund is a place where things burn, all the time. Just like Grixis has Skeletonize.
Bant should have enchantment removal. Enchantments exist in Bant. Green hates them, white loves them, blue doesn't care too much. It's an internal conflict. And anyway, you could have enchantment removal in Naya too, or even in Esper - artifice vs. magic.
And artifacts surely exist in Naya. Why wouldn't they? They're probably just a bit more primitive. And there'll always be those, especially in a wild, idyllic jungle setting, who hate the rise of technology.
Yes, it works out that they all counter the other shards, but the shards themselves don't know that. They're just living their lives, and if a cat warrior blows up a couple of human toys, that doesn't mean they're preparing to invade Esper. That's like saying that Grixis having undead armies that could take over Bant any day is wrong.
That's my take on the matter, anyway. I think this is a great idea for a set, and should be a lot of fun.
Mmm, Dragon Fodder. Red Raise the Alarm is probably quite a bit more useful, and of course it works with all the ridiculous Goblin effects. It just hurts me deep inside that this isn't a Tribal spell that can be fetched by Imperial Hellkite and accelerated by Dragonspeaker Shaman. For that matter, Crucible of Fire deserves it even more than this one.
Noggle's Mischief2:symru::symru:
Tribal Sorcery - Noggle
You gain control of target untapped permanent until end of turn.
If you control a Noggle, sacrifice it at end of turn.
Piercing ArrowG
Tribal Instant - Archer
If you control an Archer, target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Piercing Arrow deals 2 damage to target creature with flying.
AnavolveG
Tribal Sorcery - Volver
Kicker 1U and/or 1B
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
If the 1U kicker cost was paid, that creature becomes 4/4 and gains flying until end of turn.
If the 1B kicker cost was paid, that creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. You lose 3 life.
Xantid Anteater3GG
Creature - Anteater
Whenever you play an Anteater spell, you may put a 1/1 green Insect token into play.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice an Insect or sacrifice Wary Anteater. Its footsteps resonate through the secret halls of ants.
5/4
EDIT: Tsk, Sarnath'd. Oh well, I'll just change my name.
Put it in perspective.
Eventide had a couple of french vanilla critters: Lingering Tormentor; Smoldering Butcher; and Duskdale Wurm (that's not counting the hybrid ones, as I feel that they're unique enough. Of those, only the Wurm doesn't use one of the set's keywords. Here we have five vanillas and a whole bunch of stuff with just one keyword.
I'm not hating on the set; I just think that this is a bit excessive.
Probably pretty close. I loved Lorwyn, one of my favourite sets in a long while. Morningtide was pretty good. I just couldn't get into Eventide, though, and that goes double for Shadowmoor. Something about the lack of focus and colour pie blasphemy. I'm not the biggest fan of hybrid anyway.
I'm thinking I'm gonna like Alara. Lots of interesting decks to be made. The vanilla cards are pretty bad, but not inexcusable.
Naya is my favourite in this regard. They pretty much made beefy creatures into a tribe. This lets pump be an interesting enabler, though. With a few key cards to ramp your mana, I can see Naya as a very fun casual deck, even bearing in mind that bonuses are a bit redundant when you've got a huge fatty.
Esper has great focus, but some cards that seem watered down just because they got the artifact type. Still, it obviously has enough cards for some sort of Artifact Beatdown deck.
Grixis is... weird. I think it has the least focus of all the Shards. Unearth is a theme, but there aren't many Entomb effects to take advantage of it, and the cards that let you discard seem too slow... I mean, Viashino Skeleton? Give me a Putrid Imp and I'll be somewhat happy. Give me a Mulldrifter Unearth creature or something of the sort to replace the cards lost after death and I'll be happy. I do like the Fleshbag, though; best case scenario, it takes out opponent's great creature while burying a creature past its prime for Unearthing the next turn.
Jund is interesting, though it could use more cheap token production. I like the 3R Devour 3 Viashino, but figure you need more creatures to eat if you're going to last. Removal seems to shut you down, too.
And Bant... well, apart from a few great cards like Paladin, Battlegrace Angel, and Rafiq, you've got a few okay Exalted cards like Angelic Benediction, and that's pretty much it. Lots of ovrcosted stuff here.
I do agree that they're trying to scale back the power level a bit, and that's okay. I have very fond memories of Kamigawa and Prophecy before it.
...But I have no idea what they were high on when they stuck in these vanilla creatures. What new player is going to crack a pack and be excited with a Coral Eel???
Creature - Drake
Flying
Shimmering Drake has shroud as long as it is tapped.
2/2
Well, I'm not sure about that. You could argue that Naya has huge beefy creatures with no resistance to removal because conventional removal doesn't exist.
And anyway, who says Grixis doesn't need removal? Where do you think the undead comes from? People get killed. Burn is very Jund. Jund is a place where things burn, all the time. Just like Grixis has Skeletonize.
Bant should have enchantment removal. Enchantments exist in Bant. Green hates them, white loves them, blue doesn't care too much. It's an internal conflict. And anyway, you could have enchantment removal in Naya too, or even in Esper - artifice vs. magic.
And artifacts surely exist in Naya. Why wouldn't they? They're probably just a bit more primitive. And there'll always be those, especially in a wild, idyllic jungle setting, who hate the rise of technology.
Yes, it works out that they all counter the other shards, but the shards themselves don't know that. They're just living their lives, and if a cat warrior blows up a couple of human toys, that doesn't mean they're preparing to invade Esper. That's like saying that Grixis having undead armies that could take over Bant any day is wrong.
That's my take on the matter, anyway. I think this is a great idea for a set, and should be a lot of fun.
Creature - Insect
Swampwalk
Whenever Creeping Earwig deals damage to a player, that player discards a card at random.
1/1
Tribal Sorcery - Noggle
You gain control of target untapped permanent until end of turn.
If you control a Noggle, sacrifice it at end of turn.
Next - Hag.
Artifact Creature - Construct
Whenever a Construct you control is put into a graveyard from play, you may draw a card.
1/1
Artifact Creature - Construct
Trample
Sacrifice an artifact: Attack Machine gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Tribal Instant - Archer
If you control an Archer, target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Piercing Arrow deals 2 damage to target creature with flying.
Next - Jellyfish
Tribal Sorcery - Volver
Kicker 1U and/or 1B
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
If the 1U kicker cost was paid, that creature becomes 4/4 and gains flying until end of turn.
If the 1B kicker cost was paid, that creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. You lose 3 life.
Next - Shaman
Creature - Anteater
Whenever you play an Anteater spell, you may put a 1/1 green Insect token into play.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice an Insect or sacrifice Wary Anteater.
Its footsteps resonate through the secret halls of ants.
5/4
EDIT: Tsk, Sarnath'd. Oh well, I'll just change my name.
Creature - Anteater
Slimy Pangolin gets +1/+1 for each Insect in play.
T: Each player puts a 1/1 green Insect token into play.
1/1