Thought that Ruric was Raymond Swanland's work at first but it's still not bad.
The colors, shading and slight diagonal positioning is good enough to fool at a glance (especially on card-size), although on closer observation Ruric does feel too "clean" across the art and arguably not "jagged" enough. Some people dislike his art for the "edginess" of that, but I feel that those are the factors that make him distinct within the pool of "realistic-style" artists, which is often difficult to do (abstract-style by default generally makes it easier to distinctly identify each artist, so while I definitely still support more diversity across the board, I do appreciate on an extra level the ability to distinctly differentiate yourself within the "realistic-style" segment.)
He did mention his work for MTG has more or less winded down (The Duel Decks Elvish Archdruid being the last card chronologically released and set-wise his last presence of new art was in Rivals of Ixalan) but hinted there were still a few more unreleased pieces and I'm still waiting for those.
That being said, I think Ruric Thar holds the "best art compared to original" among the lot and arguably the best art outright among the 5 (although being close to Swanland style does give a lot of bias points). When I saw Teysa I thought it was Narset and that spellcaster-look does not fit her aristocrat position (even when she when casts spells personally I don't think it'd look like that). Zegana's art look like it could have been from Ixalan (or maybe even Shadowmoor) more than it does from Ravnica. Rakdos in a vacuum is fine, but I liked the original's art so well I feel all other depictions were just plain inferior. Isperia does feel too "stuck to the building", but the vibrancy of the colors compared to the RTR print stands out enough I'm considering getting one as a replacement in EDH.
I don't comment on the values of the decks (and personally don't care since they're nonfoil), but I appreciate that the Guild Kit system generally prioritizes "fun" with less regard to value-penny-pinching and rarity-balance between the decks. They're like the 60-card versions of the Commander decks, arguably done better than the Commander decks themselves, although it's partially biased since Commander by now has "metas" across the worlds to project upon, which inevitably twists expectations.
It really baffles me that people keep stating the RC/Sheldon is "in a bubble" and needs to see the world more and "acknowledge the common edh group" and then proceed to cite their own experiences as though those are the experiences of the "common edh group" when there is no statistic behind to prove how many people it is common to in order to validate its position as such, which makes those experiences essentially a bubble in by itself.
On top of that, the relevance of the whole thing isn't there - it's professionalism that prevents the RC from applying their bubble onto the whole format. Likewise, even if they saw the whole world and actually calculated what the "the most common group" is, the very policy prevents them from catering to it, because the largest, most common group is still simply put, the largest bubble and the policy behind the RC is to allow for the diversity of bubbles, not to identify and cater to the largest bubble of them all.
One can disagree with the policy, but boy does the pretentiousness that one's own experiences is actually the "common/average one" really rubs me the wrong way, doubly so when people accuse the RC of doing that, when the policy they may or may not agree with actually indicates they do not let their experiences define their decision-making, so what is there for them to be pretentious about if they didn't reinforce their bubble with bans so we have to play it "their way"?
I already did my Commander skim-though in its respective thread in the subforums and I don't bother with other constructed formats at the moment (and am too tired to even try to poke my nose into guessing), so I'll skip through entirely talking about power-levels and potential powerhouses.
Also going to skip talking at length about overall design - to sum it up it's supposed to be Guilds of Ravnica part 2 anyway, but honestly I'm not sure if it's "more-of-the-sameness", or some the deconstruction of guild culture that makes RNA feel "weaker" than GoR in some degrees. I mentioned in the GoR review thread that the Dimir really skyrocketed because they were too ambiguous in the previous blocks, while Izzet just fell flat in sameness in this third visit. Well, for RNA guilds... I think I'll criticize them individually.
Azorius - Flavor-wise they're converting to Old-Kaladesh 2.0, which isn't new so it's just there. I had a bit of hope for Addendum since Time Spiral showed it permitted some good powerful cards, but we ended with mostly Limited Chaff, although it wasn't completely out of the left field for me, but I'm still sort of disappointed. At least Lavinia is really powerful card on her own.
Rakdos - They were always a mess (that's the whole point) and continue to remain to be, but it also carries the same stagnancy Izzet held. Mechanically it was simple as well (actually only Addendum is sort of refreshing in a vaccuum), but I think Rakdos features some of the best novelty toys for EDH.
Gruul - Maybe I had a bit of too much expectations, but I thought they'd be the "Dimir" of the set, but all I see is pretty much a big mess like the Rakdos, but unlike the Rakdos where it is intended, it's more of they didn't quite convey the internal strife of the guild as well, so all we have is Domri and his herd of boars... and a whole bunch of other clans. That being said I can see Riot being the aggro-powerhouse in Limited, I have personal bias in relation to my own decks in EDH, so I'll refrain from speculating its other constructed potential.
Orzhov - Entire culture demolition with Kaya usurping, if she doesn't leave post-Bolas I can see Teysa eventually leading into a direct internal conflict (from flavor I think she only disapproves of having undead as leaders, but otherwise conforms to pretty much how the entire guild operates, whereas Kaya is trying to Robin-Hood the guild from inside), but as of status quo it's pretty messy. Afterlife had potential, but as with addendum, they played safe with it, although the nature of the format and ability reckons I shouldn't underestimate it.
Simic - While everyone's having an identity crisis, guess who already lost it last block and is now winning me over with creature-type combinations instead? I really liked that they established the "Prime Speaker" role as temporary to begin with last block and promptly to show that they moved it over with relative civility. Mechanically, adapt itself is rather lackluster (even with the support), but boy is the +1/+1 general support a lot of toys to play with in EDH.
Flavor-wise I'd rank Simic > Orzhov > Rakdos > Azorius > Gruul from my expectations. Mechanics, from my full bias of my own EDH decks, it'd be Rakdos > Simic = Gruul > Orzhov > Azorius.
Now for the fun part - art and flavor text. Just gonna throw a simple like I did last set. Like last set, the art didn't really do it for me on a personal level.
Honorable mention to the general "chillness" of Orzhov art (Pitiless Pontiff, Seraph of the Scales, Teysa Karlov, Revival). I do appreciate the diversity in the set, but said diversity also made me appreciate what I personally preferred more).
5) Cult Guildmage - They said the Rakdos are the satire-masters now and this art deploys that the most succinctly.
4) Mortify - I just like it. Well being in the set reminds me of the one in Guildpact in particular, so there might be some bias...
3) Titanic Brawl - Pacific Rim...
2) Bedevil - I Know Seb McKinnon is on a roll and many people enjoy his art and I'm glad for him and for them, but personally I can't really appreciate the abstractness of his art as well or as deeply as others here. But Bedevil does stand out in particular in said factor to me.
1) Glass of the Guildpact - It's a simple, yet stunning glass window of the ten guilds. What's there not to like?
Mention to Glass of the Guildpact because I want to reply. "A beautiful idea. Poorly executed." Flashbacks to Azor's lawful-stupid alignment.
5) Clear the Mind - Wiity Dimir text callback award.
4) Skatewing Spy - Considering my flavor assessment of the set... so meta.
3) Blood Crypt - It describes its guild like all the lands, but this is in a way a pretty twisted but yet still true & objective statement.
2) Font of Agonies - I know it's supposed to be twisted in the dark way, but in a vacuum it's a true statement.
1) Resolute Watchdog - The Goodest of Boys.
Smothering Tithe - Considering how much my meta loves to draw, this could potentially be the best mana-generator for Alesha. Font of Agonies - Not sure if I have enough life payment to justify it yet (have not reviewed my decks recently), but if there is, this is solid repreatable removal. Priest of Forgotten Gods - Less of a sac outlet (which the format has way better ones), but the political aspect is pretty intriguing. Vindictive Vampire - Probably the worst of the Die-Drain effects and I might have crossed the threshold of those effects, but keeping note it exists. Electrodominance - "Quicken" for Ryusei that can apply to permanent spells and adds damage (but no draw) for basically an additional R sounds swell. Incubation Druid - Well I never got hold of Bloom Tender for Animar and the foil is ridiculous due to the lack of reprints, so I'll settle. Rampage of the Clans - If Fresh Meat was a defensive option for my tokens, this is the same for my artifacts and enchantments in Freyalise (which has no creature cards, so there's a lot of artifacts/enchantments). Wilderness Reclamation - Freyalise is a token-stax build and since I couldn't put Seedborn Muse into the deck this is pretty much the next best option. Bedevil - Sunforger Package. Hydroid Krasis - Palinchron'sWild Hydra Ride is now fully Hydra. Judith, the Scourge Diva - Likely replacing Drana in Alesha. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade - Honestly, it's just a goodstuff addition to Isperia, but even nowadays you have to be really good to get in on that basis, so... Mortify - Kept not running into the foil, which is now finally going to be abundant. Nikya of the Old Ways - Did I hear mana-doubler for RG in Animar with essentially no drawback? Rhythm of the Wild - This does way too much (counter-protection, optional haste enabler if needed otherwise it enables +1/+1 synergies) in Animar it gets in the few non-creature coveted spots. Haste is such an optional luxury there I think Urabrask is on his way out now... Teysa Karlov - If the Die-Drain train didn't hit its threshold with Judith, this halves down the requirement instead. Theater of Horrors - "Card Draw" for Alesha. Zegana, Utopian Speaker - GU for a 4/4 that replaces itself and grants the Commander trample isn't bad, although it could be considering middling in the myriad of options the deck has to choose from.
Same "Nothing here is final, chances is I'll pick up way less than indicated since I'm so detached at the moment (and the format is so flexible you can afford to be detached, since they're mostly shiny new toys at best)" clause. I haven't even bothered picking up the GoR/UMA things I want, so that goes to show how far I'm behind schedule.
I really want to like Captive Audience, but I know I play in the meta that it's going to be literally a waste of 7 mana. Yes I know the target is known only after it ETBs, but eh where I am the blue-control decks tend to draw really well and are more liberal with their countering to include "if it can potentially heavily cripple me, I'll still counter it" stacked with the knowledge they know I'm more likely to target a player with less board-enchantment removal in the deck.
Font of Agonies though, is something I could totally get behind. Low-cost, flexible card that has little incentive for spot removal.
This card is niche, and considering the popularity of reanimation as a theme and a side-tool in many decks, that niche is bluntly made obvious.
It basically needs blink strategies to shine, so for blink-orientated decks, it definitely is the premier reanimation side-tool of the those decks. If a reanimation-orientated list happens to have a substantial amount of blink cards, then it also rises up the ranks, but notably would likely still fall short of the best general reanimation cards. Then it goes completely downhill from there, since the exile mechanism becomes quite the burden.
As someone who doesn't really utilize blink strategies, this gets a resounding "meh" from me.
I'm not going to touch on the reprints, since I think it's been pronounced very well already in the thread and I don't really have anything new to offer.
I've mentioned this idea before and reiterating it likely won't change anything (nor do I expect to see it this year), but can I finally have my Commander's Arsenal featuring the newly created cards of the year alongside the decks? While they're at that, revert the foil changes to the regular decks, so effectively all new cards would have their foil and nonfoil counterparts released effectively in the same time. The discrepancy that each new year adds is already compounding and clearly the Judge Foil pace of 1 per year isn't actually doing anything in scale. The previews don't even excite me anymore because I know they can't be foiled and hence I consider them ineligible (other than the Commanders, but that's only a handful of cards that can easily miss in design to what I would want to use). When they previewed Teferi's Protection in 2017 my immediate reaction was "Oh boy can't wait to accquire the judge foil in 2018 or 2019".
Sure, the sealed product definitely doesn't include me in its target demographic (even in the few foils I was interested in i went for singles that my LGS opened up from), but it's still painful to see new great designs I simply have no desire to incorporate because of their nonfoil-only status, making preview season ironically making me more apathetic to the product line instead.
On the topic of Ravnica's unknown history (which I know isn't covered in the book, but this thread is effectively the current train for the Ravnica storyline/plane discussion):
My current headcanon is the "Forgotten Gods" are simply the Nephilim and in an even further stretch, the Nephilim are simply evolved surviving Eldrazi Spawns/Scions after the Titans were done rebooting the plane that would become Ravnica. Sure, it's stated the Spawns/Scions die without their parent Titan's presence, but Eldrazi research isn't exactly the most documented of facts. We all know the Nephilim weren't exactly powerhouses compared to the actual powerhouses of Ravnica, which might fall in line since Spawns/Scions were relatively weak and if Eldrazi could really evolve, that process would take eons, so the Nephilim could just be a "teen" equivalent at best (or even just children).
Or it's just me thinking it's an awesome idea to leave little lore "clues" to imply all natural planes of existence have "remnants" of Eldrazi meddling with them eons ago, all to imply their purpose in the larger multiplanar ecosystem, but never to again bring that to the forefront, because we all can clearly attest that the Eldrazi become outright terrible "characters" (or "plot devices to be used by oldwalkers" if current record is any indicator) when they are brought to the forefront.
I wouldn't put my faith in a god that got trounced by Rakdos without him even noticing.
Why do you think they were forgotten in the first place, otherwise?
Also, to be fair to Ravnicans, if your interests doesn't lie in line with the any of ten guilds, you basically suffer as a guildless... at that point of refusal to have faith in any of the ten, arguably the Nephilim are the best non-guild entities to have faith in terms of strength.
It'll be hilarious if they (the Nephilim) were evolved leftover Eldrazi Spawn/Scion after the Titans were done rebooting the plane into the Ravnica though. Ugin did mention that the Eldrazi operate on a very large scale of time cycles, so realistically if (one-in-a-large-statistic) Spawns/Scions could actually survive/evolve without their parent titan, it would be a ridiculously long process that we wouldn't get to see happen on say, Zendikar/Innistrad.
As sick as we are of the Eldrazi as "antagonists", I think it'll be awesome to see their impact on every natural plane of existence, especially since they're supposed to transcend it. Eldrazi make for way better as backdrop lore than "antagonists" (or more accurately, plot devices moved around by actual antagonists/oldwalkers if Zendikar/Innistrad were any indication).
This has no room for flavor text but I am pretty sure it was "Get in here nerd, we're going into battle" during the development.
Actually, considering it's R&D... it could have been "Get in the battlement, nerd, we're gonna try to bring banding back."
That being said, this is like Addendum (when it was in Time Spiral, that is)... I could see being a mechanic in the future. Maybe we'll finally get our actual mounting mechanic that isn't compulsory (and narrow) like Champion nor as awkward as Vehicles (okay it wasn't that bad, but some game interactions do make it seem awkward from several directions).
I know the cost would be prohibitive if it happened, but seeing the art (of many people) I really wished it somehow affected each opponent instead since this card reminds me of EDH as a vanity show (of what your deck can do) where your opponents are the audience. But as it is, it's a really powerful political tool (especially with the zombie mode there) to use against a dominant player (since the other opponents are inclined to help protect it as well). It's just the art and flavor feels at odds with its single player impact (I know I could interpret the audience as the player's creatures, but even with that it still doesn't feel quite right in the context of multiplayer EDH to me, flavor-wise).
I wonder if surprised Pikachu is somewhere in the audience...
My takeaway is: Good that Sheldon is starting to wake-up and realize that the game has progressed since its infancy and isn't the same as what it started as. That he and the rest of the RCs should consider fully updating their view of the format so they can be better at tending to it.
Because they've done such a bad job tending it that it's gone from some dudes in a single playgroup to the most popular (and successful) casual format? People tend to gloss over the amount of time and effort it took to get the format where it is today and would rather armchair coach with half-baked ideas.
That's the problem with minimalist approaches when it comes to... marketing (not that the RC pushed for marketing to begin with), people only see the end result and complain, but the point of it was to make it so the format requires as little changes as possible. Much work is done to make sure "nothing" is accomplished.
At the end of the day, the article was pretty much just an opinionated piece from Sheldon and he outright stated it as so, along with the assurance that it doesn't affect the decision-making process of the RC. Using the "Stax case" as an example, so what if he's surprised by his experiences there? We already knew his stand on the matter - bluntly put he generally doesn't favor it, but at the same time he acknowledges there are people out there who enjoy it and therefore doesn't let his personal bias stand in the way of RC decision-making. His surprise of the prevalency of the stax archetype in a larger event isn't going to change that stance (and what I would personally classify as "professionalism"), regardless of how it may have impacted his personal bias.
Well, in Zombie Tribal EDH this is way less symmetrical than it is in a vacuum, which means it's definitely seeing play in the format, although being a 5CMC card that screams "counter me" some metas might also make it less valuable as a card choice, so I wouldn't be running to call it a staple for even said tribe either.
The colors, shading and slight diagonal positioning is good enough to fool at a glance (especially on card-size), although on closer observation Ruric does feel too "clean" across the art and arguably not "jagged" enough. Some people dislike his art for the "edginess" of that, but I feel that those are the factors that make him distinct within the pool of "realistic-style" artists, which is often difficult to do (abstract-style by default generally makes it easier to distinctly identify each artist, so while I definitely still support more diversity across the board, I do appreciate on an extra level the ability to distinctly differentiate yourself within the "realistic-style" segment.)
He did mention his work for MTG has more or less winded down (The Duel Decks Elvish Archdruid being the last card chronologically released and set-wise his last presence of new art was in Rivals of Ixalan) but hinted there were still a few more unreleased pieces and I'm still waiting for those.
That being said, I think Ruric Thar holds the "best art compared to original" among the lot and arguably the best art outright among the 5 (although being close to Swanland style does give a lot of bias points). When I saw Teysa I thought it was Narset and that spellcaster-look does not fit her aristocrat position (even when she when casts spells personally I don't think it'd look like that). Zegana's art look like it could have been from Ixalan (or maybe even Shadowmoor) more than it does from Ravnica. Rakdos in a vacuum is fine, but I liked the original's art so well I feel all other depictions were just plain inferior. Isperia does feel too "stuck to the building", but the vibrancy of the colors compared to the RTR print stands out enough I'm considering getting one as a replacement in EDH.
I don't comment on the values of the decks (and personally don't care since they're nonfoil), but I appreciate that the Guild Kit system generally prioritizes "fun" with less regard to value-penny-pinching and rarity-balance between the decks. They're like the 60-card versions of the Commander decks, arguably done better than the Commander decks themselves, although it's partially biased since Commander by now has "metas" across the worlds to project upon, which inevitably twists expectations.
On top of that, the relevance of the whole thing isn't there - it's professionalism that prevents the RC from applying their bubble onto the whole format. Likewise, even if they saw the whole world and actually calculated what the "the most common group" is, the very policy prevents them from catering to it, because the largest, most common group is still simply put, the largest bubble and the policy behind the RC is to allow for the diversity of bubbles, not to identify and cater to the largest bubble of them all.
One can disagree with the policy, but boy does the pretentiousness that one's own experiences is actually the "common/average one" really rubs me the wrong way, doubly so when people accuse the RC of doing that, when the policy they may or may not agree with actually indicates they do not let their experiences define their decision-making, so what is there for them to be pretentious about if they didn't reinforce their bubble with bans so we have to play it "their way"?
Also going to skip talking at length about overall design - to sum it up it's supposed to be Guilds of Ravnica part 2 anyway, but honestly I'm not sure if it's "more-of-the-sameness", or some the deconstruction of guild culture that makes RNA feel "weaker" than GoR in some degrees. I mentioned in the GoR review thread that the Dimir really skyrocketed because they were too ambiguous in the previous blocks, while Izzet just fell flat in sameness in this third visit. Well, for RNA guilds... I think I'll criticize them individually.
Azorius - Flavor-wise they're converting to Old-Kaladesh 2.0, which isn't new so it's just there. I had a bit of hope for Addendum since Time Spiral showed it permitted some good powerful cards, but we ended with mostly Limited Chaff, although it wasn't completely out of the left field for me, but I'm still sort of disappointed. At least Lavinia is really powerful card on her own.
Rakdos - They were always a mess (that's the whole point) and continue to remain to be, but it also carries the same stagnancy Izzet held. Mechanically it was simple as well (actually only Addendum is sort of refreshing in a vaccuum), but I think Rakdos features some of the best novelty toys for EDH.
Gruul - Maybe I had a bit of too much expectations, but I thought they'd be the "Dimir" of the set, but all I see is pretty much a big mess like the Rakdos, but unlike the Rakdos where it is intended, it's more of they didn't quite convey the internal strife of the guild as well, so all we have is Domri and his herd of boars... and a whole bunch of other clans. That being said I can see Riot being the aggro-powerhouse in Limited, I have personal bias in relation to my own decks in EDH, so I'll refrain from speculating its other constructed potential.
Orzhov - Entire culture demolition with Kaya usurping, if she doesn't leave post-Bolas I can see Teysa eventually leading into a direct internal conflict (from flavor I think she only disapproves of having undead as leaders, but otherwise conforms to pretty much how the entire guild operates, whereas Kaya is trying to Robin-Hood the guild from inside), but as of status quo it's pretty messy. Afterlife had potential, but as with addendum, they played safe with it, although the nature of the format and ability reckons I shouldn't underestimate it.
Simic - While everyone's having an identity crisis, guess who already lost it last block and is now winning me over with creature-type combinations instead? I really liked that they established the "Prime Speaker" role as temporary to begin with last block and promptly to show that they moved it over with relative civility. Mechanically, adapt itself is rather lackluster (even with the support), but boy is the +1/+1 general support a lot of toys to play with in EDH.
Flavor-wise I'd rank Simic > Orzhov > Rakdos > Azorius > Gruul from my expectations. Mechanics, from my full bias of my own EDH decks, it'd be Rakdos > Simic = Gruul > Orzhov > Azorius.
Now for the fun part - art and flavor text. Just gonna throw a simple like I did last set. Like last set, the art didn't really do it for me on a personal level.
Honorable mention to the general "chillness" of Orzhov art (Pitiless Pontiff, Seraph of the Scales, Teysa Karlov, Revival). I do appreciate the diversity in the set, but said diversity also made me appreciate what I personally preferred more).
5) Cult Guildmage - They said the Rakdos are the satire-masters now and this art deploys that the most succinctly.
4) Mortify - I just like it. Well being in the set reminds me of the one in Guildpact in particular, so there might be some bias...
3) Titanic Brawl - Pacific Rim...
2) Bedevil - I Know Seb McKinnon is on a roll and many people enjoy his art and I'm glad for him and for them, but personally I can't really appreciate the abstractness of his art as well or as deeply as others here. But Bedevil does stand out in particular in said factor to me.
1) Glass of the Guildpact - It's a simple, yet stunning glass window of the ten guilds. What's there not to like?
As for flavor text...
Honorable Mentions for fun text - Concordia Pegasus, Humongulus, Catacomb Crocodile, Titanic Brawl
Mention to Glass of the Guildpact because I want to reply. "A beautiful idea. Poorly executed." Flashbacks to Azor's lawful-stupid alignment.
5) Clear the Mind - Wiity Dimir text callback award.
4) Skatewing Spy - Considering my flavor assessment of the set... so meta.
3) Blood Crypt - It describes its guild like all the lands, but this is in a way a pretty twisted but yet still true & objective statement.
2) Font of Agonies - I know it's supposed to be twisted in the dark way, but in a vacuum it's a true statement.
1) Resolute Watchdog - The Goodest of Boys.
Smothering Tithe - Considering how much my meta loves to draw, this could potentially be the best mana-generator for Alesha.
Font of Agonies - Not sure if I have enough life payment to justify it yet (have not reviewed my decks recently), but if there is, this is solid repreatable removal.
Priest of Forgotten Gods - Less of a sac outlet (which the format has way better ones), but the political aspect is pretty intriguing.
Vindictive Vampire - Probably the worst of the Die-Drain effects and I might have crossed the threshold of those effects, but keeping note it exists.
Electrodominance - "Quicken" for Ryusei that can apply to permanent spells and adds damage (but no draw) for basically an additional R sounds swell.
Incubation Druid - Well I never got hold of Bloom Tender for Animar and the foil is ridiculous due to the lack of reprints, so I'll settle.
Rampage of the Clans - If Fresh Meat was a defensive option for my tokens, this is the same for my artifacts and enchantments in Freyalise (which has no creature cards, so there's a lot of artifacts/enchantments).
Wilderness Reclamation - Freyalise is a token-stax build and since I couldn't put Seedborn Muse into the deck this is pretty much the next best option.
Bedevil - Sunforger Package.
Hydroid Krasis - Palinchron's Wild Hydra Ride is now fully Hydra.
Judith, the Scourge Diva - Likely replacing Drana in Alesha.
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade - Honestly, it's just a goodstuff addition to Isperia, but even nowadays you have to be really good to get in on that basis, so...
Mortify - Kept not running into the foil, which is now finally going to be abundant.
Nikya of the Old Ways - Did I hear mana-doubler for RG in Animar with essentially no drawback?
Rhythm of the Wild - This does way too much (counter-protection, optional haste enabler if needed otherwise it enables +1/+1 synergies) in Animar it gets in the few non-creature coveted spots. Haste is such an optional luxury there I think Urabrask is on his way out now...
Teysa Karlov - If the Die-Drain train didn't hit its threshold with Judith, this halves down the requirement instead.
Theater of Horrors - "Card Draw" for Alesha.
Zegana, Utopian Speaker - GU for a 4/4 that replaces itself and grants the Commander trample isn't bad, although it could be considering middling in the myriad of options the deck has to choose from.
Same "Nothing here is final, chances is I'll pick up way less than indicated since I'm so detached at the moment (and the format is so flexible you can afford to be detached, since they're mostly shiny new toys at best)" clause. I haven't even bothered picking up the GoR/UMA things I want, so that goes to show how far I'm behind schedule.
Font of Agonies though, is something I could totally get behind. Low-cost, flexible card that has little incentive for spot removal.
It basically needs blink strategies to shine, so for blink-orientated decks, it definitely is the premier reanimation side-tool of the those decks. If a reanimation-orientated list happens to have a substantial amount of blink cards, then it also rises up the ranks, but notably would likely still fall short of the best general reanimation cards. Then it goes completely downhill from there, since the exile mechanism becomes quite the burden.
As someone who doesn't really utilize blink strategies, this gets a resounding "meh" from me.
I've mentioned this idea before and reiterating it likely won't change anything (nor do I expect to see it this year), but can I finally have my Commander's Arsenal featuring the newly created cards of the year alongside the decks? While they're at that, revert the foil changes to the regular decks, so effectively all new cards would have their foil and nonfoil counterparts released effectively in the same time. The discrepancy that each new year adds is already compounding and clearly the Judge Foil pace of 1 per year isn't actually doing anything in scale. The previews don't even excite me anymore because I know they can't be foiled and hence I consider them ineligible (other than the Commanders, but that's only a handful of cards that can easily miss in design to what I would want to use). When they previewed Teferi's Protection in 2017 my immediate reaction was "Oh boy can't wait to accquire the judge foil in 2018 or 2019".
Sure, the sealed product definitely doesn't include me in its target demographic (even in the few foils I was interested in i went for singles that my LGS opened up from), but it's still painful to see new great designs I simply have no desire to incorporate because of their nonfoil-only status, making preview season ironically making me more apathetic to the product line instead.
My current headcanon is the "Forgotten Gods" are simply the Nephilim and in an even further stretch, the Nephilim are simply evolved surviving Eldrazi Spawns/Scions after the Titans were done rebooting the plane that would become Ravnica. Sure, it's stated the Spawns/Scions die without their parent Titan's presence, but Eldrazi research isn't exactly the most documented of facts. We all know the Nephilim weren't exactly powerhouses compared to the actual powerhouses of Ravnica, which might fall in line since Spawns/Scions were relatively weak and if Eldrazi could really evolve, that process would take eons, so the Nephilim could just be a "teen" equivalent at best (or even just children).
Or it's just me thinking it's an awesome idea to leave little lore "clues" to imply all natural planes of existence have "remnants" of Eldrazi meddling with them eons ago, all to imply their purpose in the larger multiplanar ecosystem, but never to again bring that to the forefront, because we all can clearly attest that the Eldrazi become outright terrible "characters" (or "plot devices to be used by oldwalkers" if current record is any indicator) when they are brought to the forefront.
Why do you think they were forgotten in the first place, otherwise?
Also, to be fair to Ravnicans, if your interests doesn't lie in line with the any of ten guilds, you basically suffer as a guildless... at that point of refusal to have faith in any of the ten, arguably the Nephilim are the best non-guild entities to have faith in terms of strength.
It'll be hilarious if they (the Nephilim) were evolved leftover Eldrazi Spawn/Scion after the Titans were done rebooting the plane into the Ravnica though. Ugin did mention that the Eldrazi operate on a very large scale of time cycles, so realistically if (one-in-a-large-statistic) Spawns/Scions could actually survive/evolve without their parent titan, it would be a ridiculously long process that we wouldn't get to see happen on say, Zendikar/Innistrad.
As sick as we are of the Eldrazi as "antagonists", I think it'll be awesome to see their impact on every natural plane of existence, especially since they're supposed to transcend it. Eldrazi make for way better as backdrop lore than "antagonists" (or more accurately, plot devices moved around by actual antagonists/oldwalkers if Zendikar/Innistrad were any indication).
Actually, considering it's R&D... it could have been "Get in the battlement, nerd, we're gonna try to bring banding back."
That being said, this is like Addendum (when it was in Time Spiral, that is)... I could see being a mechanic in the future. Maybe we'll finally get our actual mounting mechanic that isn't compulsory (and narrow) like Champion nor as awkward as Vehicles (okay it wasn't that bad, but some game interactions do make it seem awkward from several directions).
I wonder if surprised Pikachu is somewhere in the audience...
That's the problem with minimalist approaches when it comes to... marketing (not that the RC pushed for marketing to begin with), people only see the end result and complain, but the point of it was to make it so the format requires as little changes as possible. Much work is done to make sure "nothing" is accomplished.
At the end of the day, the article was pretty much just an opinionated piece from Sheldon and he outright stated it as so, along with the assurance that it doesn't affect the decision-making process of the RC. Using the "Stax case" as an example, so what if he's surprised by his experiences there? We already knew his stand on the matter - bluntly put he generally doesn't favor it, but at the same time he acknowledges there are people out there who enjoy it and therefore doesn't let his personal bias stand in the way of RC decision-making. His surprise of the prevalency of the stax archetype in a larger event isn't going to change that stance (and what I would personally classify as "professionalism"), regardless of how it may have impacted his personal bias.