Man, why does Red always get the short end of the stick in these kinds of cycles? At first I thought it said "target creature or player", but nope. It's just the world's most underwhelming Lava Axe variant in all the goddamn world. With that said you get all the cool points if you actually manage to kill someone with that. Even the White one's lifegain seems more valuable, because it buys you time to use your new stuff.
Well, aside from maybe the Black and Blue one, they seem all bad, with the Red one being in a whole other level of badness. With recursion, the B and U ones can do some damage, and the Blue one can be fetched with Trophy Mage (but why would you do that?).
If it makes you feel any better, the article's author also misread the red one, and did a whole paragraph about sideboarding it vs. 1-toughness creatures. Pretty embarrassing actually.
Honestly, though, my favorite use for this guy is in a Captain Sissay Commander deck... since Sissay can search for this guy.
Turn 4: Commander
Turn 5: Search for paradox engine and play it.
Turn 6: Search for Rhys and play it, untap, search for Saffi and play it, untap, search for Gaddock Teeg and play it, untap, search for next legend/legendary land
That's not magical Christmas Land, either. That's getting 5 mana sources by turn 5. If ANY of that mana comes from mana rocks, you can start on turn 3 and start going for far longer.
The more I think about this, the more nuts it is. This is auto-include in every Sissay deck from here to eternity (or here until ban, at least).
I actually think the turn 4/5 trick is not the way to go, though - there's too many chances for disruption. I think you just play as a normal Sissay deck for a while, and then once you have sufficient mana rocks/dorks and a haste giver (greaves or Thousand-Year Elixir or something), you just win. Play commander -> search Paradox Engine -> search/play Selvala, Heart of the Wilds if you need more mana -> search/play Dragonlord Dromoka for protection -> search/play Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Akroma's Memorial -> search/play more spells till you just win.
It's nuts because that combo is all just stuff that's probably in a Sissay deck anyway. By adding this one card, you can just win on the spot with nothing but a commander and a few generic support cards.
There seems to be quite a bunch of them. Anyone who's been around during the OG Mirrodin ought to be feeling at aleast a tiny bit uncomfortable seeing, say Reckless Fireweaver . It's not Disciple of the Vault but it looks scarily close. Or it might be even sillier than Disciple of the Vault since this new thing combos with Hurkyl's Recall for example.
Dunno about viability or metagames or what happens in practice and whatnot, but that card just looks like trouble.
Disciple of the Vault is way, way better than Fireweaver. You can play Disciple on a board with a ton of artifacts, including a sac outlet, and you immediately threaten a ton of damage, sometimes enough to win on the spot. Even if they have instant speed kill, you can respond by saccing everything. Fireweaver, on the other hand, has to be played before all the artifacts, meaning his damage will come much more slowly as the artifacts trickle in. This also gives him ample opportunities to die in the meantime. He's also a very bad late-game draw, unlike Disciple. Disciple can close a game out of nowhere, even when behind; Fireweaver at best threatens a predictable trickle of damage. He may still be good in the right deck, but he's no Disciple.
I feel like there was just too much junk printed at the rare and mythic rare slots. There could have easily been better reprints. At common and uncommon again too many junk reprints that no one cares about that could have been better reprinted cards, down shifted rare to uncommon cards, or more story line based cards. Why the F******** is avatar of woe a black mythic rare?! Where is damnation? Another wasted mythic rare slot is platinum angel.
The cards aimed to sell the set are show and tell , berserk , serum visions , and Inquisition of Kozilek which should NOT be a rare. While there are other cards that hold some value those were the stand outs. I give the set a 4/10 for reprints. 6/10 for drafting fun. There are just way too many junk rare reprints that are worth very little, that leave you thinking !!!!negative thoughts!!!! when you open a booster pack.
I would have much rather seen new cards over junk being printed. I'm impressed with there two mythic reprints but it's not enough to sell me a booster box. There are many possible rares out there wizards of the coast that hold a value over $4 that could have been included in your new remix on the core set. Especially nice were are talking about all cards available to be printed from all magic sets ever. I'd have to say that the worth more than $4 reprint bar is set super low for cards at rare or above. Stop reprinting Hamletback Goliath no one cares!
Back in the EMA previews, I'd be nodding right along with these kind of comments. The whole purpose of that set was to ease access to some high-value reprints, and in that context junk mythics and upjumped rarities were legitimately earned complaints.
Conspiracy, however, is NOT EMA. The purpose of this set is not to print a ton of value cards, it's to enable some awesome casual multiplayer draft games. Know some cards that are fun and/or powerful in casual multiplayer? Charmbreaker Devils, Covenant of Minds, Faith's Reward, Wild Pair, and Hamletback Goliath, all rares I'd love to see in my draft. What's more, Platinum Angel and Avatar of Woe are "kill me or die"-caliber threats in a multiplayer game - well fitting mythic rarity. I'd be THRILLED to open either. This set is incredibly well set-up to do what it's aimed to do, and you can't ask for more than that.
If you're going to complain about value-less rares and mythics, why ignore the elephant in the room: Conspiracies and draft-only cards, now at mythic! Once the draft is done, those might as well be blank bits of cardboard (short of making cubes, of course).
Finally, to show that I'm being fair, I agree wholeheartedly on your IoK comment. It's a terrible multiplayer card, and makes no sense as a rare. That is for sure a shameless money grab
Well what a trainwreck this set is on mtgo. I get that in paper there are several big money pulls and there is reasonable excitement for those of you opening packs in person (which from what I gather is majority on this forum. But I did want to break stride and give a voice to mtgo players). But those same big money pulls are worthless online (for reference- crypt - $3 on mtgo, karakas - 39 cents on mtgo , vampiric tutor -22 cents on mtgo, etc etc).
Now this was bound to happen to some extent. But Eternal Masters basically took all the things that have been flooded via vma, promo, or pz1 and just threw them back in. Meanwhile chase cards that are in low circulation (and hence high value) that could have easily been put in this set like Port, Misdirection, Show and Tell were left out. I sold out of my ports last year thinking they would have to see a reprint. Then they announced Eternal Masters and I thought bingo. Guess I lost that bet. Never expected all of them to make it in. But none of the cards on mtgo worth more than $25 other than wasteland (from the set announcement none the less) making it in is a huge surprise.
On modo the set should be called "Eternal Masters: A high five to pauper players, A low five to uncommons" cause the only eternal help to the market is tanking pauper stuff like ancestral mask, hydroblast/pyroblast, firebolt and legacy uncommons in daze and therapy. For the rest of players you are praying you crack a wasteland. As thats the only way you live the finish up in pack value dream.
Really blown away at how little consideration must have been given to the mtgo marketplace when this set was created.
This is a really good point, especially given that this set is pushing Legacy/Vintage entry, and MTGO is (financially) the best place to play those formats because no reserved list.
I'd be really interested to see a fully calculated MTGO expected pack value using current prices. It's got to be way under $10.
Is it just me, or is this "Announcement Day" method a horribly dull way to introduce products? "Oh, hey, here's the next block name. Oh, and the name of its second set. Oh, and commanders are 4-color. Also some Planechase stuff and a Duel Deck." No enthusiasm, only 1 art between all the stuff, no set symbols or previews, and way too much at once to really process? I'd be more hyped by a single one of these announcements in full than by this train of "meh".
On topic: 4-color should be interesting, really exited to see how they address the color pie identity of missing only a single color.
This would be a great card if it were just a 3/1 madness vampire for 2. The card draw ability is amazing ("each player's turn"?!) and will give some serious staying power to the "dump your hand" Vampire aggro decks.
Clue tokens are too parasitic for Jace to use them. Tamiyo? Sure. Jace? Not so much. If Wizards want him to be playable as much as possible (which they do, since he's their main main character, obviously), they wouldn't stick a mechanic that is supportable only in standard/block unless they print some seriously broken investigate cards.
A parasitic mechanic/card is one that would be nearly useless outside of its block (Splice onto Arcane, for example - with no Arcane cards it's worthless text). Clue tokens are not parasitic: if nothing else, it's a delayed cantrip that also allows for artifact synergy. Cards that care about Clue tokens would be parasitic, unless they themselves produce Clue tokens. Tamiyo's Journal, for example, could be used perfectly well in a vacuum (though granted it does get better with other Investigate cards). Since the hypothetical Jace would have investigate himself, he's no parasite.
If you're still feeling sure about it, I'm willing to bet you a cheeseburger that Jace says "investigate" and/or "clue" somewhere in his text
Now that I think about it, there's a pretty good chance the new Jace is going to do some investigating. How about:
Jace, Detective Guy 1UU
Planeswalker - Jace
+2: Investigate
-1 or -2: Some defensive ability (tap, bounce, -X/-0, whatever is fair)
0: You may sacrifice 3 Clues. If you do, (something awesome happens).
Idea is that his ultimate takes clues instead of loyalty as he "solves" whatever he's looking for. Since investigating is slower & more expensive than straight card draw, he could be fairly cheap.
EDIT: Can't believe I missed the chance to name him "Jace Ventura, Pet Detective"
If it makes you feel any better, the article's author also misread the red one, and did a whole paragraph about sideboarding it vs. 1-toughness creatures. Pretty embarrassing actually.
The more I think about this, the more nuts it is. This is auto-include in every Sissay deck from here to eternity (or here until ban, at least).
I actually think the turn 4/5 trick is not the way to go, though - there's too many chances for disruption. I think you just play as a normal Sissay deck for a while, and then once you have sufficient mana rocks/dorks and a haste giver (greaves or Thousand-Year Elixir or something), you just win. Play commander -> search Paradox Engine -> search/play Selvala, Heart of the Wilds if you need more mana -> search/play Dragonlord Dromoka for protection -> search/play Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Akroma's Memorial -> search/play more spells till you just win.
It's nuts because that combo is all just stuff that's probably in a Sissay deck anyway. By adding this one card, you can just win on the spot with nothing but a commander and a few generic support cards.
Disciple of the Vault is way, way better than Fireweaver. You can play Disciple on a board with a ton of artifacts, including a sac outlet, and you immediately threaten a ton of damage, sometimes enough to win on the spot. Even if they have instant speed kill, you can respond by saccing everything. Fireweaver, on the other hand, has to be played before all the artifacts, meaning his damage will come much more slowly as the artifacts trickle in. This also gives him ample opportunities to die in the meantime. He's also a very bad late-game draw, unlike Disciple. Disciple can close a game out of nowhere, even when behind; Fireweaver at best threatens a predictable trickle of damage. He may still be good in the right deck, but he's no Disciple.
Back in the EMA previews, I'd be nodding right along with these kind of comments. The whole purpose of that set was to ease access to some high-value reprints, and in that context junk mythics and upjumped rarities were legitimately earned complaints.
Conspiracy, however, is NOT EMA. The purpose of this set is not to print a ton of value cards, it's to enable some awesome casual multiplayer draft games. Know some cards that are fun and/or powerful in casual multiplayer? Charmbreaker Devils, Covenant of Minds, Faith's Reward, Wild Pair, and Hamletback Goliath, all rares I'd love to see in my draft. What's more, Platinum Angel and Avatar of Woe are "kill me or die"-caliber threats in a multiplayer game - well fitting mythic rarity. I'd be THRILLED to open either. This set is incredibly well set-up to do what it's aimed to do, and you can't ask for more than that.
If you're going to complain about value-less rares and mythics, why ignore the elephant in the room: Conspiracies and draft-only cards, now at mythic! Once the draft is done, those might as well be blank bits of cardboard (short of making cubes, of course).
Finally, to show that I'm being fair, I agree wholeheartedly on your IoK comment. It's a terrible multiplayer card, and makes no sense as a rare. That is for sure a shameless money grab
That "except for card draw" is pretty huge, though. I mean, Baleful Strix is a "worse version" of Tidehollow Strix except for card draw
On topic: As with all cost-reducing abilities, it's going to depend on the particular cards that have it.
What a time to be alive
This is a really good point, especially given that this set is pushing Legacy/Vintage entry, and MTGO is (financially) the best place to play those formats because no reserved list.
I'd be really interested to see a fully calculated MTGO expected pack value using current prices. It's got to be way under $10.
On the flipside, Elvish Vanguard at common!
Necropotence disproves this claim.
On topic: 4-color should be interesting, really exited to see how they address the color pie identity of missing only a single color.
This would be a great card if it were just a 3/1 madness vampire for 2. The card draw ability is amazing ("each player's turn"?!) and will give some serious staying power to the "dump your hand" Vampire aggro decks.
A parasitic mechanic/card is one that would be nearly useless outside of its block (Splice onto Arcane, for example - with no Arcane cards it's worthless text). Clue tokens are not parasitic: if nothing else, it's a delayed cantrip that also allows for artifact synergy. Cards that care about Clue tokens would be parasitic, unless they themselves produce Clue tokens. Tamiyo's Journal, for example, could be used perfectly well in a vacuum (though granted it does get better with other Investigate cards). Since the hypothetical Jace would have investigate himself, he's no parasite.
If you're still feeling sure about it, I'm willing to bet you a cheeseburger that Jace says "investigate" and/or "clue" somewhere in his text
Jace, Detective Guy 1UU
Planeswalker - Jace
+2: Investigate
-1 or -2: Some defensive ability (tap, bounce, -X/-0, whatever is fair)
0: You may sacrifice 3 Clues. If you do, (something awesome happens).
Idea is that his ultimate takes clues instead of loyalty as he "solves" whatever he's looking for. Since investigating is slower & more expensive than straight card draw, he could be fairly cheap.
EDIT: Can't believe I missed the chance to name him "Jace Ventura, Pet Detective"