MTG Salvation

Scars of Mirrodin Speculation

1. Themes
Scars of Mirrodin is poised to release later this month and rumors abound with what may come. First, let's talk about what we know. There will be artifacts! I mean, this is the metallic plane where the denizens have equipment grafted onto them. Second, there is some kind of war going on, with the Phyrexians versus the Coalition Mirrans. This will set up an interesting conflict that we haven't seen lately. You know, not since Rise of the Eldrazi and the inhabitants of Zendikar were fighting the ...oh nevermind. Joking aside we have had a lot of multifactional wars lately with that being the major theme of Shards of Alara block, Lorwyn block, Time Spiral block (I guess?), and Ravnica block so it will be nice to just get down to the good guys versus the bad guys.

The races we saw in Mirrodin were primarily goblin, elf, human, vedalken, leonin, zombie, and myr. There were also a lot of beasts, constructs, golems, drones, and trolls. I'm curious if we will see a revival of vampires since there was only 1 big one (Mephidross Vampire), but they were mentioned many times and I remember expecting to see more of them. It's also a bummer that merfolk are out of gas...I suppose we got the sovereign in M11 to continue to allow people to make decks with ZEN block rather than to lead into Scars block. I'm a big fan of anthropomorphic cats though and I had a lot of equipment-based leonin decks in the past. Hey we just had an equipment-based white race in the kor! Hopefully they'll play nice together, but it seems like we had soldier-theme in ZEN block (seriously, try to find a knight!) and now we are switching to a more chivalrous caste. There was also a cycle of sliths that were pretty interesting and I'd expect to see some sort of slithy homage. Speaking of homage, Atog was reprinted in Mirrodin alongside Megatog as an homage to the original and I would expect to see another relative this year.

2. Mechanics
So far we know that Infect will be a mechanic for the bad guys (Infected creatures deal damage to players in the form of poison counters), it seems like we should have a mechnic for the good guys! Many people are banking on Sunburst but I'm not sure. MaRo has stated that there will be a returning mechanic ("and even some of the mechanical ones—Scars block has a returning mechanic from Mirrodin block—and it just might not involve +1/+1 counters") and his quote hints that it won't be Sunburst. Imprint makes a lot of sense since there is a lot of design area that can be explored in terms of what qualities you care about what you imprinted, but my money is on Affinity. I know it was the boogeyman of Mirrodin but I really think it was only a couple cards that really made it degenerate. I personally opened a box of each set and played against a friend for a whole year and while Affinity was a great strategy it wasn't overwhelmingly dominant between us. Of course, neither of us opened a single Arcbound Ravager so take that for what it's worth. The point is the mechanic has a lot of room to grow and it's been mentioned as a mechanic that will return at some point before. Off the top of my head besids affinity for artifacts and basic lands you could have affinity for creatures (or even creature types), affinity for equipment (leonin!), affinity for cards in the graveyard (threshold-ish), affinity for cards in your hand (how blue!), or the obvious affinity for enchantments (probably not gonna see that one). My point is they scratched the surface with it and while it is obviously a dangerous design area (free spells have a high potential to be broken), itis also something that got people excited to play and make decks.

The only other keyword we know about right now is Proliferate which lets you add 1 counter of the appropriate type to anything that already has counters. This is an intriguing keyword action that hints at a counter sub-theme in Scars block. We already have a lot of cross-block synergy because Zendikar was fairly big on counters too (Allies, Quests/Ascensions, and Levelers were all themes) and looking back we could get Sunburst, Modular, and cash in on 'clockwork' creatures that just like to do stuff with +1/+1 counters in general. Triskelion and Steel Overseer are leading the charge in M11 so this seems more like a matter of when rather than if. I thought Modular was a little confusing and not that powerful but Sunburst was a fun mechanic. In a block filled with easy-to-play artifacts it was already commonplace to be greedy and splash colors, sunburst was the icing on the cake.

3. The block
I'm intrigued about them doing another block of artifacts. For one it's interesting to note that they have very recently done a block on a specific card type (land in Zendikar) so we may end up with landfall decks fighting affinity decks, though I have faith there will be more crossover. Secondly though what else is there to do with artifacts? Most of the really powerful stuff in Magic seems reserved for Planeswalkers. Mindslaver is a PW ultimate, for instance. Of course there's no reason they can't reverse-engineer PW ultimates too, like a spell that let you get every elf from your library and put it into play or one that made all your permanents indestructible for the rest of the game! Of course there will be new artifact keywords and I am looking forward for some new equipments though Bonesplitter is more my style than the Swords-cycle. We also have some reprints to look forward to, both functional ala Reverberate, planeshift-style like Manic Vandal, and direct like Lightning Bolt. Would Pillage be asking for too much? Instant Land Destruction is frowned on as is the 3-casting cost but it represents some of the best versatility in Red destruction.

There's also a new class of planeswalkers to fret about. Elspeth is making her second showing along with a new guy, Koth who looks definitely Vulshok in design. The vulshok were good at destroying artifacts, haste, and grabbing the reigns which seem like good themes to continue. There's also rumors of Venser finally finishing planeswalking college so he can get his degree card. As a big fan of bounce I'm definitely intrigued by his inclusion. Which leaves us with Tezzerett, a fun-loving half-metal blue mage obsessed with artifacts. We also need some removal to head these guys off at the pass, Oblivion Ring is rotating out along with Maelstrom Pulse which are two of the best answers to them in Type 2 today. I'm sure Wizards will print us some good toys even if they can't write 'planeswalker' on the cards. It would also be nice to see some named cards for the new class of Planeswalkers, something like Elspeth's Vengeance or Koth's Rage! j/k

I've played Magic for a long time. My first starter was of Revised and while there were some periods of hiatus, I'm familiar with most of the cards that were ever printed. Before 6th edition and the rules updates, I played the game one way, which was probably almost exactly how the game was designed (thanks to some good teachers). After 6th edition, I stopped playing for a while. The game hadn't changed much, but my other friends had quit or stopped and I was going to college. When I picked the game back up things were different. Fast Effects and Interrupts were gone. Damage and spells went on something called "the stack". I learned all the nuances from friends and started investing heavily again around 8th edition - it seemed like a good time to get back in the game with the new card faces. Playing some MTGO in the interim had refined my knowledge of the rules and I was playing near-perfect magic again.

We are once again on the eve of a new set of changes. I'll list each change and my reaction towards it (for reference here is the link):

1. Simultaneous Mulligans - Like
I like this change because I don't think mulliganing needs to be any more strategic than it already is. If it saves time in tournament magic then there is less chance of matches turning into draws and Magic coverage becomes more exciting.

2A. Battlefields - Dislike
I don't like the term battlefield. While I understand the need for a term and the confusion between coming into play and playing a card, I think they could have done something better. Maybe a different term or keeping it the way it's been.

2B. Cast, Play, Activate - Like
I will love to read new cards that say "cast" on them and I have always used this term since it was present when I learned the game. Very good change, perhaps my favorite.

2C. Exile - Like
This is a good change and one that has been increasingly necessary. I like the new dichotomy it sets up between Black and White - Black removal sends you to the graveyard whereas White removal sends you to exile. Very evocative and flavorful, especially if Blue and Green get some ways to interact with it (mostly retrieval I'd imagine). I can't say enough good things about it and will be glad to stop saying "Removed from the game".

2D. Beginning of the End Step - Dislike
I think it is good they made the distinction, but I'm very displeased that the loophole has not been fixed. While it would bring many functional changes with it, it is very very unintuitive the way you can pull some shenanigans with this step (interacting during the end step to prolong something into another turn). Basically they cleaned up the wording on one of the last glaringly poor and unintuitive rules without actually fixing it.

3A. Mana Pools Emptying - Neutral
I don't really like this change as it will be something else to remember about this large laundry list of changes. If it helps how the game is designed then I guess I'm for it. I doubt this will have ramifications for most people or their games.

3B. Mana Burn Eliminated - Like
I've had some time to think this one over since it was leaked a lot earlier than some of the others and I like it. Not because I don't think mana burn is cool (I do), but because it will be one less thing to explain to new players and the game will only survive by bringing new people to the game. Also I expect it to have almost no impact on most of the games I play.

4. Token Ownership - Neutral
This seems like a change we could've seen with a new set coming out, not a fundamental change in terminology or how the game is played. Not a big deal.

5.Combat Damage No Longer Uses the Stack - Like
This is the big one. Overall I like the changes because I think it makes the game more intuitive. While I have gotten used to using stack shenanigans during combat, it always did feel a little dirty. If my friends weren't paying enough attention or missed an opportunity, then it was my skill at manipulating these timing rules that gave me an edge in some games. However, there will still be strategy and skill in combat, in fact perhaps more than before.

The new blocking rules represent a very real change to how the game is played and may go down as the single most significant change. There is now an order to assigning combat damage that matters, which seems to inherently strengthen the colors that tend to block, like White and Green. I don't like this aspect of the change and it does not seem intuitive to me, though I will say that may be a result of playing a certain way for a long time. I do hope that new keywords are added which give back the attacker some power over deciding exactly how damage is dealt and I bemoan that we need a keyword for it to happen (I don't think deathtouch really covers it, as deathtouch is more about flat-out destroying creatures rather than making good damage assignments and using that later in the turn).

The change also weakens bounce effects (but not as much as some people are going on about - the most powerful bounce is usually your opponent's creature not saving your own). It greatly weakens creatures with sacrifice clauses, but as other people have pointed out in the forums, it leaves room to design overall stronger creatures with sacrifice abilities which can create tension in decision making. Overall I agree with these changes, though I'm wary of the tedium that will take place when I try and figure out how to properly attack into a gang-block.

6. Deathtouch - Like
I like this one as we are finally getting back to what creatures like Thicket Basilisk were trying to do way back when. Kill creatures. If you take damage from a deathtouch creature, short of some miraculous spell or ability, you die! Good change, more intuitive, and slightly strengthens regeneration (a good thing).

7. Lifelink - Like
I really like this one as a player who loved Spirit Link back in the day. The triggering nonsense and shenanigans that have been used to avoid letting lifelink creatures do their damage and punch through while netting their owners some life are coming to a close. Now I just wish it were called Spirit Link.

To round out my discussion of the changes I'll say that I'm really glad that Ball Lightning is back as it is a long-time favorite red card of mine (that they have done numerous riffs on but never quite recreated the magic the original had. I like the new Undead Slayer (and tribal hosers in general). I love the new vampire though it wouldn't fit in my RAV/TS Vampire tribal deck. It's nice to know that we will be able to build some vampire decks (without playing Jyhad :D). Acidic Slime is very cool because it's a green potential 2-for-1 and a neat guy with decisions to make on playing him. Which leaves us with the new dual which I'm quite disappointed in. Another rare cycle after a very strong uncommon cycle in Alara makes me wince and the power level does not seem to be what was promised (they do not accurately replace the painlands). They are simple and good for a core set, but I think the blue ones are going to be worth more than the other ones for good reasons (control/combo likes them, aggro does not).

So overall the changes are well-thought out and needed. Some of them may rankle (even for a couple years), but the game will continue, hopefully stronger than it was.

An Homage to Ravnica Block's Development

Part 1: What Ravnica Did
The development team behind Ravnica was led by Brian Schneider (Aaron Forsythe was lead developer at the time) and the philosophy could be boiled down to creating a lot of choices for players, or as the team phrased it "creating a sea of tier 2 cards". While many people (myself included) appreciated this philosophy at the time, I think it is even more relevant to see the genius of it today, when we are no longer in such a situation. Ravnica Block unfortunately never got a chance at competitive block play, as the formats for that year were Extended, Standard, and Limited. Nevertheless Ravnica had a huge influence on standard (as most sets following an underpowered block* would), especially by the time Guildpact was on the scene. Yet that influence didn't obsolete Kamigawa completely.

Each guild was given potential for competitive success, though naturally some had more success than others. Boros and Selesnya were major players for most of the time they were legal in type II, though Gruul would eventually supplant Boros. Golgari and its dredge theme would become a major archtype in Extended, while Dimir cards if not its mill theme rose to power with the release of Time Spiral. Izzet created a potent deck combined with the Urzatron and Orzhov was playable with or without any help, though Ghost Dad was competitive for a time. Rakdos decks caught on when combined with Time Spiral and the Simic guild also put the Urzatron to good use. The Azorius guild had some implications for control, but Time Spiral's blue/black recipe would oust it before it had much of a chance.

Part 2: What Ravnica Avoided
Skullclamp and Arcbound Ravager. Meloku, the Clouded Mirror and Uzemawa's Jitte. Tarmogoyf. Cryptic Command. Bitterblossom. What do these cards have in common? They are significantly better than they should be, though in Magic terms that means they may only be a mana cheaper than they should be. Ravnica for the most part avoided having a card that was a "must play" for competitive magic. Loxodon Heirarch was very good; Lightning Helix was an incredible utility card. Watchwolf reset the bar on what an aggro creature could do for 2 mana. Faith's Fetters was an omni-answer that provided free life - at common! Dark Confidant was developed into one of the most amazing black creatures ever printed, but it had limitations and could not be thrown into every deck. Giant Solifuge was a beating, but had a negative popularity score from the day it was released! Remand was a frustrating counterspell, but was ultimately a tempo card. Char was a defining burn spell, providing 4 damage for 3 mana, but its drawback and the environment (lifegain everywhere) balanced it. There were an incredible amount of good cards, but they didn't provide so much advantage that you needed to play them to have a competitive deck.

In limited, block, and type II you can scan the block's worth of cards and few things stand out as being overpowered. Glare of Subdual, admittedly, was a complete bomb in limited. Dredge has proven incredible with some older (and newer) blocks supplementing it. However it is nothing like the situation we have today, which is essentially the situation Magic had been in for a long time before Ravnica - with overpowered cards being let through development to 'push' a theme or color (or by accident). Unlike the recent tribal block, where certain tribes were 'pushed' intentionally or perhaps simply underestimated by development, each guild had some success.

Compare this to Lorwyn and its tribes. Two years of Faeries along with some kithkin, merfolk, and treefolk successes. Faeries became a major player in Extended as well. Shadowmoor fared little better, bringing little with it to fight the major tribes, despite its large number of hybrid cards. It did have some standouts like Demigod of Revenge, but many of its cards were just incorporated into Lorwyn's already strong tribes. Elves were popular and incorporated into Rock variants for a time, but the namesake Elf-ball in Extended owes little to Lorwyn. I don't mean for this to turn into a rant against Lorwyn; I am simply pointing out the differences between the two philosophies. Lorwyn development wanted to make powerful, tier 1, exciting cards and lots of them. Yet even when you try to develop many tier 1 cards, the best rise to the top. A card like Bitterblossom, providing continual virtual card advantage turn after turn for a pittance of life is clearly undercosted at 1B. It's closest existing analogs, Phyrexian Arena or Breeding Pit cost more or have additional restrictions. Even the similarly themed enchantment Goblin Assault is a mana more, despite making worse creatures (they lack evasion) and the enchantment itself not being tribal. The fact that Bitterblossom spits out creatures with two relevant creature types (one the dominant tribe of the block) makes this error stand out even more. It is palpable how great the difference is between Lorwyn and Ravnica block are when giants were clearly developed for casual players, with only one nod at competitve potential (Countryside Crusher).

Time Spiral block interacted with Ravnica and it did not immediately create any "must play" cards. It wasn't until Future Sight's Tarmogoyf that Magic returned to the familiar scene of a single overpowered card dominating mutliple formats and ultimately becoming a card you played if you were playing that color (unless you couldn't afford any). While this creature's power level was a mistake, it was designed at a higher mana cost than it was developed at (presumably because its power was not apparent at the time). This is a story repeated many times through the annals of Magic development and the fact that Ravnica block doesn't have any such story is a testament to its development teams.

Part 3: The Future of Magic?
Shards of Alara block is the latest and it is off to a good start. It seems to be trying to slow down the environment with tap lands and multiple colors vying for deck space. While it has pricey mythic rares, they are not integral to multiple deck's success. The first card that seems truly undercosted and "must-play" is a utility card (Path to Exile), an answer - not a threat. For now, it hasn't had the chance to add much to a very glutted Type II environment and it is hard to gauge how its legacy will hold up until we see the next block and M10. However I have far greater hopes of investing in Magic again in the future than I've had for the last few years.

While there are numerous factors that influence a Magic block's design and development, as well as its legacy, I wrote this after picking up some decks for the first time in a couple years and trying to identify what made Magic so much fun for me. Ravnica was hardly perfect and I'm sure I lost some hair trying to acquire sets of shocklands (though deckbuilding was certainly feasible with the 'karoos' and signets), but it was the most Magic I've bought in a long career of slinging spells and cracking boosters. Here's hoping that this year's block leads me (and others like me) back to buying and playing with new sets.

*Referring the general power level of the cards.