EDH is awesome as a casual format, and horrible as a competitive format.
When all decks are of roughly an equal power level its the best, but sadly 'power level' is an arbitrary concept that is really hard to judge or control. When you're playing Plated Slagwurm + Loxodon Warhammer and d!ckface over there is playing Vorinclex + Palinchron it can become quite miserable.
I've been mucking around with Jund midrange lately, and I've found that Stormbreath is relatively sub-par compared to Underworld Cereberus. Nine times out of ten I found myself wanting to cast Cereberus instead. He was easier to connect with and his bigger body came in much handier vs other midrange decks and his ability stops Scavenging Oozes from growing. The death trigger is also ok, but you have to be weary of just how many dudes your opponent has in the bin.
EDIT: Not to mention 6 toughness and being both multicolour and black makes him immune to some of the better removal running around at the moment. But he is open to all the white cards though. Might be a meta call.
The original Ravnica books are some of the best Magic books you can read. City of Guilds and Guildpact are great, and have some really funny quirky moments. Particular highlights for me was the character Pivlic, and the Grubb Brothers, a trio of idiot thrulls working for Teysa.
Dissension is a step down, but only a small step. Niv-Mizzet does a weird exit, and although there is a lot of awesome action (mostly centred around Rakdos waking up with an empty belly), it is a bit messy. I found the ending to the trilogy quite satisfying though, and the final 'end boss' of Dissension was way cooler than Szadek or Zomaj Hauc.
Bottom line: these books are definitely worth a read if you're a fan.
All time best Magic novels but are The Brother's War, and the Ice Age trilogy (AKA anything written by Jeff Grubb).
I still go for Verdant Force the original and the best.
I really like the others though, but obviously have yet to test out blue and black.
Magmatic and Baleful both come with stickers saying KILL ME NOW, whilst the advantage Celestial gives is often overlooked. I think Tidal will fall somewhere between the two, depending on how it is abused.
I absolutely LOVE that Kraken!! Best art I've seen for a long time.
Monstrosity seems like a pretty good ability to me really. It reminds me very much of leveller and makes me thing Theros could very well be the next 'battlecruiser' set. Monstrosity allows dudes to get bigger in the late game, hence you have something to spend your mana on. Looking forward to it.
Individually, that red Monstrosity has me thinking. His stats are pretty good for a red creature, and I can't help noting he lives through Wildfire, then upgrades into his own Wildfire-style effect. Been mucking around with UR Wildfire in modern and I can't help think this would be just the kind of niche card for it.
'Setessa' sounds a lot like 'Thalassa' to me- they have exactly the same punchy, hissing rhythm when spoken aloud. I'm guessing its a made up word designed to sound roughly the same.
When all decks are of roughly an equal power level its the best, but sadly 'power level' is an arbitrary concept that is really hard to judge or control. When you're playing Plated Slagwurm + Loxodon Warhammer and d!ckface over there is playing Vorinclex + Palinchron it can become quite miserable.
Sure it means adding a whole other colour, but it comes with goodies like Dreadbore, Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch and the mighty Rakdos's Return too. Try it out.
EDIT: Not to mention 6 toughness and being both multicolour and black makes him immune to some of the better removal running around at the moment. But he is open to all the white cards though. Might be a meta call.
Dissension is a step down, but only a small step. Niv-Mizzet does a weird exit, and although there is a lot of awesome action (mostly centred around Rakdos waking up with an empty belly), it is a bit messy. I found the ending to the trilogy quite satisfying though, and the final 'end boss' of Dissension was way cooler than Szadek or Zomaj Hauc.
Bottom line: these books are definitely worth a read if you're a fan.
All time best Magic novels but are The Brother's War, and the Ice Age trilogy (AKA anything written by Jeff Grubb).
I really like the others though, but obviously have yet to test out blue and black.
Magmatic and Baleful both come with stickers saying KILL ME NOW, whilst the advantage Celestial gives is often overlooked. I think Tidal will fall somewhere between the two, depending on how it is abused.
I wrote more about the Celestial and Magmatic forces in a blog article of mine when they were first released: http://nyxathidgoestotown.com/2012/02/02/my-favourite-cards-of-2011/
As for Tidal, I am dreaming of a casual deck that looks something like this:
4x Pyxis of Pandemonium
4x Temporal Aperture
4x Voltaic Key
2x Unwinding Clock
4x Everflowing Chalice
4x Coalition Relic
4x Hellkite Tyrant
4x Hellkite Igniter
4x Thirst for Knowledge
4x Urza's Mine
4x Urza's Power Plant
4x Steam Vents
3x Mountain
3x Island
Should provide EPIC LoLz
Please don't use retarded to mean stupid. -TK
Monstrosity seems like a pretty good ability to me really. It reminds me very much of leveller and makes me thing Theros could very well be the next 'battlecruiser' set. Monstrosity allows dudes to get bigger in the late game, hence you have something to spend your mana on. Looking forward to it.
Individually, that red Monstrosity has me thinking. His stats are pretty good for a red creature, and I can't help noting he lives through Wildfire, then upgrades into his own Wildfire-style effect. Been mucking around with UR Wildfire in modern and I can't help think this would be just the kind of niche card for it.
It wouldn't be legal