Although we have confirmation that each guild will receive a new mechanic, to my knowledge, we have no explicit confirmation that no old mechanics will not return. That is, Wizards has not stated that, for example, Selesnya couldn't see both Convoke and Populate.
While this is unlikely as it would result in a proliferation (heh) of keywords, it also seems germane, given Rosewater's tendency to hide lies in the shadow of a truth.
Bloodthrone Vampire has not proven to be ideal, since she's still boltbait even with the sacrifice.
Also, I prefer to run Safehold Elite, Nest Invader, Myr Sire, and other removal-resistant 2-drops to Symbiotic Elf. They get you in the game quicker, and make fine Rancor targets in their own right. This is an aggro deck, after all. Young Wolf and Butcher Ghoul also look pretty good, for similar reasons. I am anxious to attack with a Rancored Wolf on turn 2.
You might consider running Unearth and/or Vines of Vastwood. If you run the 2 drop package I describe, Unearth will return practically everything. In a deck with this many creatures, Vines is often a counterspell. Plus, it is awful to sac a bunch of creatures, only to have your Husk bounced or otherwise removed. Vines can help with that, for the low price of G. The kicker is frosting.
As far as sideboard options go... I have stolen quite a few games by slipping in Tainted Strike game 2. Husk + Rancor + 3 sacrificial victims = game.
Oh, I almost forgot. 4 of your Forests should be Khalni Gardens. It's food for the Husk, and putting Rancor on the plant token is good times. Also, this deck doesn't have too many better things to do turn 1.
This + another creature enchanted with Infinite Reflection means it comes back from exile as a copy of whatever you like. Maybe Epochrasite, off the top of my head.
I would be all over OverExtended, if it were implemented as originally conceived- beginning with Mercadian Masques.
If it is desirable for OverExtended to "have its own identity", I don't think you're going to get a more recognizable characteristic than "OverExtended is Magic without the Reserve List." Also, as mentioned earlier, once Masques drafts start happening on Magic Online, players will expect these cards to be playable. In general, it's better to ban cards rather than blocks for the sake of balance.
In my opinion, OverExtended will largely draw players from three camps:
1) Players who want to play Legacy, but can't get Reserved List cards.
2) Players who want to play that awesome Extended season that Wizards crapped on with the last rotation change.
3) Players fleeing Jace Standard like rats from a sinking ship.
Group 2 will be equally happy with a format that starts at Masques or Invasion, but they'll probably still prefer Modern. There's not much use bending over backwards to please them, since you're not going to, anyway.
Group 3, Standard refugees all, are hard to predict. Will they jettison their Standard decks for an eternal format or tech them out for Modern? It doesn't make sense to have OverExtended cater to players who might not be interested in it.
The first group, though, will be much happier with the larger card pool afforded by beginning with Masques. They expect any eternal card pool to boast Dark Ritual and Brainstorm, and will worry about the format's identity once those cards are accounted for.
There is one legitimate problem, though, with beginning at Masques, which Gavin addresses on the OverExtended website:
However, the bottom line here is this: Mercadian Masques isn’t available on Magic Online and a huge component of this format is Magic Online play. Having a different format for real life play and Magic Online play is confusing and gives the format a mixed identity, so starting at Masques is completely off the table.
It would be very frustrating to find that your OverExtended deck that exists in paper is impossible to construct online. Until Masques block is released online, then, OverExtended can't include it.
However, a statement of intent to include Masques block in OverExtended upon its online release would make a lot of players feel better about the format. (bolded for the tl;dr brigade)
This would also make it plain that Masques block is being excluded solely because it's not available online, and allow for bannings to be considered on a card-by-card basis, as is appropriate. That way you can allow Blood Hound but ban Dust Bowl, if it seems necessary. Much more judicious than dismissing a block's worth of cards.
Seems like a win for everyone, as the broken cards will never be in the format, and everyone with reservations about Masques block can join in the OverExtended fun, too. Party at midnight at the Reserved List's grave.
I found this card while scanning the spoiler for potential Pauper answers to Temporal Fissure, and had similar thoughts. Here is an eternal-playable fly in the Commander ointment.
On the other hand, it is competing with Mental Misstep.
Commander decks are readily available at the shop in MTGO, so digital Flusterstorm can't get too pricy.
Paper players might get soaked. The storm mechanic means its unlikely to see reprinting in a normal expansion any time soon.
If it's a good answer to jace, it will be adopted by Jace decks to win the mirror. Jace has busted standard and it looks like that will continue to be the case until he rotates out.
Given Wizards's failure to address rampant Faeries and rampant Jund, I doubt they'll be able to fix an even bigger mess.
On a lighter note, Beast Within looks pretty fun with Aether Adept.
Yes, it's because i had to upscale my "HQ" image since it was less than the required dimensions. If I had access to better scans the results would probably improve.
Note, too, that the after card is stretched larger than the before card, so that's more to its credit. EDIT: Or maybe they're the same size, either way an improvement. I would make the patch if I had source images and the information to map the art to the file name. I'm surprised no one has done this before.
You may know this, but you didn't mention it: The term "Speculative Fiction" is attributed by Wikipedia to Robert Heinlein. Also, the main reason authors use the term is to distinguish themselves from pap like Flash Gordan or the Chronicles of Gor. At any rate, that's why Harlan Ellison says he does so.
Card Text:
Creature - Sliver
Sliver creatures you control get +1/+1.
1/1
Looks worse than Treasure Hunt to me.
While this is unlikely as it would result in a proliferation (heh) of keywords, it also seems germane, given Rosewater's tendency to hide lies in the shadow of a truth.
Flame Jab
Blades of Velis Vel
Travel Preparations
Windborne Charge
Cauldron Haze
Conflagrate (does this work as it seems to? 11R, ping you, pump my whole team?)
Phyrexian Ghoul and Vampire Aristocrate let you play up to 12x Husks. Not that you want 12, but the option's there.
Bloodthrone Vampire has not proven to be ideal, since she's still boltbait even with the sacrifice.
Also, I prefer to run Safehold Elite, Nest Invader, Myr Sire, and other removal-resistant 2-drops to Symbiotic Elf. They get you in the game quicker, and make fine Rancor targets in their own right. This is an aggro deck, after all. Young Wolf and Butcher Ghoul also look pretty good, for similar reasons. I am anxious to attack with a Rancored Wolf on turn 2.
You might consider running Unearth and/or Vines of Vastwood. If you run the 2 drop package I describe, Unearth will return practically everything. In a deck with this many creatures, Vines is often a counterspell. Plus, it is awful to sac a bunch of creatures, only to have your Husk bounced or otherwise removed. Vines can help with that, for the low price of G. The kicker is frosting.
As far as sideboard options go... I have stolen quite a few games by slipping in Tainted Strike game 2. Husk + Rancor + 3 sacrificial victims = game.
Oh, I almost forgot. 4 of your Forests should be Khalni Gardens. It's food for the Husk, and putting Rancor on the plant token is good times. Also, this deck doesn't have too many better things to do turn 1.
1. How does using the law to shut down websites that promote your product make you money?
2. The definition of greed makes no exceptions for cases where the greedy party has made something in the past.
Did you finish mapping the card images? If not, I have an idea or two...
You think?
If it is desirable for OverExtended to "have its own identity", I don't think you're going to get a more recognizable characteristic than "OverExtended is Magic without the Reserve List." Also, as mentioned earlier, once Masques drafts start happening on Magic Online, players will expect these cards to be playable. In general, it's better to ban cards rather than blocks for the sake of balance.
In my opinion, OverExtended will largely draw players from three camps:
1) Players who want to play Legacy, but can't get Reserved List cards.
2) Players who want to play that awesome Extended season that Wizards crapped on with the last rotation change.
3) Players fleeing Jace Standard like rats from a sinking ship.
Group 2 will be equally happy with a format that starts at Masques or Invasion, but they'll probably still prefer Modern. There's not much use bending over backwards to please them, since you're not going to, anyway.
Group 3, Standard refugees all, are hard to predict. Will they jettison their Standard decks for an eternal format or tech them out for Modern? It doesn't make sense to have OverExtended cater to players who might not be interested in it.
The first group, though, will be much happier with the larger card pool afforded by beginning with Masques. They expect any eternal card pool to boast Dark Ritual and Brainstorm, and will worry about the format's identity once those cards are accounted for.
There is one legitimate problem, though, with beginning at Masques, which Gavin addresses on the OverExtended website:
It would be very frustrating to find that your OverExtended deck that exists in paper is impossible to construct online. Until Masques block is released online, then, OverExtended can't include it.
However, a statement of intent to include Masques block in OverExtended upon its online release would make a lot of players feel better about the format. (bolded for the tl;dr brigade)
This would also make it plain that Masques block is being excluded solely because it's not available online, and allow for bannings to be considered on a card-by-card basis, as is appropriate. That way you can allow Blood Hound but ban Dust Bowl, if it seems necessary. Much more judicious than dismissing a block's worth of cards.
Seems like a win for everyone, as the broken cards will never be in the format, and everyone with reservations about Masques block can join in the OverExtended fun, too. Party at midnight at the Reserved List's grave.
On the other hand, it is competing with Mental Misstep.
Commander decks are readily available at the shop in MTGO, so digital Flusterstorm can't get too pricy.
Paper players might get soaked. The storm mechanic means its unlikely to see reprinting in a normal expansion any time soon.
Given Wizards's failure to address rampant Faeries and rampant Jund, I doubt they'll be able to fix an even bigger mess.
On a lighter note, Beast Within looks pretty fun with Aether Adept.
Note, too, that the after card is stretched larger than the before card, so that's more to its credit. EDIT: Or maybe they're the same size, either way an improvement. I would make the patch if I had source images and the information to map the art to the file name. I'm surprised no one has done this before.