It's a tutor effect. As an uncommon. This is a card meant for limited. Stop being disappointed about the lack of constructed applications for cards that were not created for constructed.
And this doesn't address the dry way this is written. Even without giving new information a flavor text written from Liliana's perspective (to include information that the story did not have due to being written from Djeru's perspective) during the Hour of Revelation story when this happens:
Quote from The Hour of Revelation by Alison Luhrs »
The demon smiled, razor teeth and fathomless eyes a portrait of power and despair. Its voice boomed out again across the river of blood.
“I know you are here, Liliana Vess. You cannot hide from me.”
could transport the same information but also help to transport feelings - maybe just the awe inspired by the demon, maybe Liliana's determination despite this display of power. Flavor text that makes you feel something.
But when you say "Of course" when someone asks "Must we write flavor test to dryly explain the story for people who don't read the articles?" you do not affirm only that enfranchised players should get to experience the story - which is a fairly uncontroversial point - but you also affirm that it needs to be delivered "dryly" and that's just not the way to go.
As I have said before I do wish it was not "dryly" written. However, I acknowledge that dry writing is what conveys the maximum amount of information to people that have not read the stories. What we call "dry" is "informative" for an outsider. Look at the card, there's only room for three lines of flavour text, which is not much. Having it be a quote, for example, would waste the third line on the attribution.
My position when it comes to things like these is that that people are professionals of their field who have worked on this game for years. I trust that this unsightly piece of flavour text was arrived at because given constraints (such as "make sure that new and less enfranchised players understand how this character ties into the story even though he's not the main baddy" and "make it fit in three lines of text") and is the best result they manage after several tries (remember, there's also a time constraint as flavour text is one of the last things to be created, closer to release date). Could it be better? For sure, with enough time and people, I am sure we'd manage to make a better sounding text that conveys the same amount of information and maybe even give it a flavourful angle, but given the constraints, I choose to believe this is close to the best these pros could do in the given time.
Must we write flavor test to dryly explain the story for people who don't read the articles?
Of course. What other answer is there for that question? I hope you can forgive them for sacrificing a few cards' flavour text for the benefit of players less enfranchised than you.
This isn't just some throwaway common or uncommon creature; this is a legendary creature who we've been waiting for a while to see, and while his relatively brief depiction in the story was enough to make one take a liking to his character (IMO), we still don't know much about him beyond his connection to Liliana. This text didn't help in that regard.
Yeah, I am not alleging that it does or that I do not wish that it did. But they needed to throw a bone to the less enfranchised players and let them know why this seeming random demon with no connection to Bolas is relevant to the story. Us, enfranchised players, get all the "bones" that we want from stories present and future.
Must we write flavor test to dryly explain the story for people who don't read the articles?
Of course. What other answer is there for that question? I hope you can forgive them for sacrificing a few cards' flavour text for the benefit of players less enfranchised than you.
Sweet! The unset that youve all been clamoring for and wont buy!
I know, im about to get a flood of responses saying otherwise, but if the past has proven anything, this will sell well for a week or two and then you'll never find anyone interested in it again
I find this a weird decision, considering the Un-Sets are pretty much supported by the full-art lands (that's magnitudes greater than Zendikar and Amonkhet) and that's about it.
I hope they went into this decision without high (or any) expectations (at least in terms of sales/profits)... because I don't have any.
According to the people who know the numbers, Unhinged sold decently for a supplemental product. However, it was seen as a failure because the print run was that of a normal Magic expansion.
Proof that enough vitriol is enough to change Wizards' minds. They may cite data but I'm positive the massive negativity surrounding their inaction had its fair share of influence.
That said, about time. Let's see what happens now.
This is a poor attitude to have. Why? Because many times vitriol will be produced with no warranted (or at least sufficient) causes. I hope I don't need to spell out why it would be a bad thing if Wizards surrendered factual, data-backed exploration of an issue to bending over at every juncture where a mob of loud, angry fans is formed. This time the vitriolic mob was right, yes, but since the issue was real and would evidently be exposed by data-gathering, feedback needn't be vitriolic to do its thing.
I don't see the problem with GU Nissa? That's a very natural and expected character growth after her time in Kaladesh, if you read the stories carefully. In Kaladesh she learned that humanoid-made technology can be a beautiful expression of understanding of the natural order and that even lifeforms created as a byproduct of people's "meddling"(aetherborn) are a welcome part of the world.
Hmm, I do wonder, if white can get this half of Doubling Season now, can we also get a Green card that doubles counters alone? This Standard will have lots of different counters begging to be doubled. (And yes, I understand that such a card will have to include a restriction for Planeswalkers.)
That flavour text. I can almost picture an acolyte asking his teacher, "Master, why are there 5 Gods and 5 Trials but only 4 Hours? Maybe there is an Hour we don't know about?" "Don't be silly, stop questioning the teachings of our God-Pharaoh".
My favorite card hast to be Venser, the Sojourner. I love flickering effects and Venser was a repeatable, free one. It made unassuming cards like Kor Hookmaster and Glimmerpoint Stag into hard locks, resetted PWs, recovered "mind-controlled creatures and abused things like Titans and Spine. I had more fun than its healthy with that card.
Basically sums up the first reactions to every card, every set.
And yet, impossibly, people manage to play Standard and other constructed formats with these cards, set after set.
As I have said before I do wish it was not "dryly" written. However, I acknowledge that dry writing is what conveys the maximum amount of information to people that have not read the stories. What we call "dry" is "informative" for an outsider. Look at the card, there's only room for three lines of flavour text, which is not much. Having it be a quote, for example, would waste the third line on the attribution.
My position when it comes to things like these is that that people are professionals of their field who have worked on this game for years. I trust that this unsightly piece of flavour text was arrived at because given constraints (such as "make sure that new and less enfranchised players understand how this character ties into the story even though he's not the main baddy" and "make it fit in three lines of text") and is the best result they manage after several tries (remember, there's also a time constraint as flavour text is one of the last things to be created, closer to release date). Could it be better? For sure, with enough time and people, I am sure we'd manage to make a better sounding text that conveys the same amount of information and maybe even give it a flavourful angle, but given the constraints, I choose to believe this is close to the best these pros could do in the given time.
Yeah, I am not alleging that it does or that I do not wish that it did. But they needed to throw a bone to the less enfranchised players and let them know why this seeming random demon with no connection to Bolas is relevant to the story. Us, enfranchised players, get all the "bones" that we want from stories present and future.
Of course. What other answer is there for that question? I hope you can forgive them for sacrificing a few cards' flavour text for the benefit of players less enfranchised than you.
According to the people who know the numbers, Unhinged sold decently for a supplemental product. However, it was seen as a failure because the print run was that of a normal Magic expansion.
This is a poor attitude to have. Why? Because many times vitriol will be produced with no warranted (or at least sufficient) causes. I hope I don't need to spell out why it would be a bad thing if Wizards surrendered factual, data-backed exploration of an issue to bending over at every juncture where a mob of loud, angry fans is formed. This time the vitriolic mob was right, yes, but since the issue was real and would evidently be exposed by data-gathering, feedback needn't be vitriolic to do its thing.
Hoooo!
-1/-1 and +1/+1 counters.
Bricks
If we don't get proliferate in the second set of this block, I'll be very pissed/sad.
Yes, but maybe not permanently, while they put out a few more standard blocks to reprint from.