Regarding the effect on prices:
1) Assume the average invention card costs about $75 a month after release.
2) An invention card appears in one out of four booster boxes.
3) Inventions, rares, and mythic rares are sold as singles with valuations dependent upon supply and demand.
Possible conclusion:
As long as inventions inflate demand and EV remains above the purchase price of a booster box, more boxes will be opened, increasing the supply of Kaladesh rares and mythics. The supply of rares and mythics in Kaladesh would meet demand at a lower asking price, allowing rare and mythic prices to drop more rapidly. The drop in the prices of rares and mythics would be offset by increased spending by a minority of individuals on invention cards, increasing the number of boxes that can be opened before stores and individual sellers stop turning a profit on singles. Standard players would eventually be able to purchase singles totaling about 4($90) = $360 in value for 4($90)-$75 = $285, i.e., 79 percent of what the cost would have been without the inclusion of invention cards. The success of Expeditions may indicate this outcome is quite possible. WOTC benefits by selling a larger number of boxes over the lifetime of the set. To succeed in lowering standard prices WOTC must increase card supply, but to do so it must also satisfy those venders who are opening boxes and creating the supply. Time will tell how well this works as a continuous strategy in comparison to trial project of the Expeditions.
It looks like there will be a new group of cards that are sequestered from the others. I wonder if these will be cards that have an energy cost instead of a mana cost. Another possibility is that they are a special inclusion similar to the BFZ/OGW expeditions.
Why?
I noticed that the spoiled lands have reached up to the letter 'S' but only reached collector's number 249/264. Since lands are always ordered to have the highest collector's number, and the lands move from 'B' at 243 all the way to 'S' at 249 (with five of those cards being the new enemy lands) it is unlikely there will be more than 1-3 lands past 'S'. This leaves a strange space for 12-15 cards that may not be lands at all.
Malach of the Dawn is a color-shifted Ghost Ship and so is less likely to see a reprint than a card from Future Sight. The card also uses regenerate, which has fallen out of favor and was printed before development on an Egyptian set began, cf. the Bolas horns on Vengeful Pharaoh. I could see a similar half-man with eagle wings flying around, though.
I agree that the mention of warriors on the preview page suggests Amonkhet as the setting.
If each challenge is two allied colors, then UB vs RG sounds about right. (brains vs brawn)
If instead they are enemy colors, then UR vs WB sounds right. (mages vs warriors)
More likely: Grixis vs Jund (UBR vs BRG) i.e., Alara allied colors entirely reimagined.
Mind might include Nicol Bolas, or a blue-aligned god with a tendency to plot.
Might's warriors sound red-aligned or black-aligned to a god of war.
This is a tempo card. Your opponent must play something eventually, so they must play the worst card in their hand to get rid of the enchantment. Most of the time that worst spell will be about 2+cmc, so they don't get to play a 3+cmc aggro spell early when it would have maximum effect. The next turn you will likely have another land in play to deal with their stranded early nonsense. If played later and the opponent has 1-2 spells in hand, they my have to wait a few turns to play their good stuff while they're hoping to draw a nonland card they can toss away. The spell could almost read instead 'target player cannot cast spells until they discard a nonland card and pay its mana cost. If the spell has madness, it loses madness.' Helpful for sultai delirium / Emrakul.
Since the rogue fetches the rats there is no net card disadvantage with spot removal on this meld.
You trade the rats for an opponent's two-toughness creature. The rats return from your graveyard and effectively become an aura granting +2/+3 to the rogues when you play the rats precombat on your next turn.
Probably you want more rats then rogues then in your mana curve.
The action of melding is not optional once you have the rats in play as the combat step begins.
If your opponent has sorcery speed removal they may have to waste it on your 3/3 instead of getting clobbered by a 5/6 on your next turn. Assuming the meld has haste, you get to play a 5/6 with haste once you have seven mana.
Disrupting the combo only takes instant speed precombat removal, e.g., madness.
Whether the mechanic will be efficient to pursue in limited will be a function of card abilities listed on the melded side that have not been spoiled yet. Judgement on the quality of design will be determined for WotC by the number of times the set is drafted and will be determined for players based upon their enjoyment after experiencing the format for a few weeks. The format is empirical, and neither opinion or a priori reasoned argument will prove its synergies deep or weak. We'll have to see.
Based on the collector's number (130/205) the front side of the card is probably red, most likely crazy mutant humans. The back side of the card has no color indicator and is colorless.
Format type: casual, 60-card constructed or 40-card draft
Restrictions:
(1) Ban list taken from one or more other format(s) like modern and legacy.
(2) Only cards with one or more editions currently below a particular cost may be played.
For example, the common Bog Imp has several editions below a median price of $.20 on tcgplayer, whereas Sleight of Hand or Lava Spike would be inadmissible. A similar price cutoff would apply to a finite number of allowed uncommons and rares, maybe 8 uncommons and 4 rares per constructed deck. To start with, I was thinking a maximum of $.20 for commons, $.35 for uncommons and $.50 for rares.
Motivation: If it's a pauper-like format then the cards available ought to be any of the cheapest cards, including those inexpensive rares that can be snapped up for interesting play. Great for constructing cubes on a budget.
Regarding the effect on prices:
1) Assume the average invention card costs about $75 a month after release.
2) An invention card appears in one out of four booster boxes.
3) Inventions, rares, and mythic rares are sold as singles with valuations dependent upon supply and demand.
Possible conclusion:
As long as inventions inflate demand and EV remains above the purchase price of a booster box, more boxes will be opened, increasing the supply of Kaladesh rares and mythics. The supply of rares and mythics in Kaladesh would meet demand at a lower asking price, allowing rare and mythic prices to drop more rapidly. The drop in the prices of rares and mythics would be offset by increased spending by a minority of individuals on invention cards, increasing the number of boxes that can be opened before stores and individual sellers stop turning a profit on singles. Standard players would eventually be able to purchase singles totaling about 4($90) = $360 in value for 4($90)-$75 = $285, i.e., 79 percent of what the cost would have been without the inclusion of invention cards. The success of Expeditions may indicate this outcome is quite possible. WOTC benefits by selling a larger number of boxes over the lifetime of the set. To succeed in lowering standard prices WOTC must increase card supply, but to do so it must also satisfy those venders who are opening boxes and creating the supply. Time will tell how well this works as a continuous strategy in comparison to trial project of the Expeditions.
Why?
I noticed that the spoiled lands have reached up to the letter 'S' but only reached collector's number 249/264. Since lands are always ordered to have the highest collector's number, and the lands move from 'B' at 243 all the way to 'S' at 249 (with five of those cards being the new enemy lands) it is unlikely there will be more than 1-3 lands past 'S'. This leaves a strange space for 12-15 cards that may not be lands at all.
What do you think these cards are?
U: Mages, Sphinxes, Predatory Birds -- [~Thoth?]
B: Zombies, Mummies, Priests, Scorpions, Scarabs -- [~Anubis?]
R: Jackals, Warriors, Lizards, Other Cats -- [~Apep?]
G: Snakes, Lizards, Crocodiles, Hippos, Beasts of Burden -- [~Geb?]
If each challenge is two allied colors, then UB vs RG sounds about right. (brains vs brawn)
If instead they are enemy colors, then UR vs WB sounds right. (mages vs warriors)
More likely: Grixis vs Jund (UBR vs BRG) i.e., Alara allied colors entirely reimagined.
Mind might include Nicol Bolas, or a blue-aligned god with a tendency to plot.
Might's warriors sound red-aligned or black-aligned to a god of war.
Try it out. http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/58369
http://www.cubetutor.com/samplepack/58369
Since the rogue fetches the rats there is no net card disadvantage with spot removal on this meld.
You trade the rats for an opponent's two-toughness creature. The rats return from your graveyard and effectively become an aura granting +2/+3 to the rogues when you play the rats precombat on your next turn.
Probably you want more rats then rogues then in your mana curve.
The action of melding is not optional once you have the rats in play as the combat step begins.
If your opponent has sorcery speed removal they may have to waste it on your 3/3 instead of getting clobbered by a 5/6 on your next turn. Assuming the meld has haste, you get to play a 5/6 with haste once you have seven mana.
Disrupting the combo only takes instant speed precombat removal, e.g., madness.
Whether the mechanic will be efficient to pursue in limited will be a function of card abilities listed on the melded side that have not been spoiled yet. Judgement on the quality of design will be determined for WotC by the number of times the set is drafted and will be determined for players based upon their enjoyment after experiencing the format for a few weeks. The format is empirical, and neither opinion or a priori reasoned argument will prove its synergies deep or weak. We'll have to see.
Absence of color indicator on DFC backsides without color: Compare to: Chalice of Death
Restrictions:
(1) Ban list taken from one or more other format(s) like modern and legacy.
(2) Only cards with one or more editions currently below a particular cost may be played.
For example, the common Bog Imp has several editions below a median price of $.20 on tcgplayer, whereas Sleight of Hand or Lava Spike would be inadmissible. A similar price cutoff would apply to a finite number of allowed uncommons and rares, maybe 8 uncommons and 4 rares per constructed deck. To start with, I was thinking a maximum of $.20 for commons, $.35 for uncommons and $.50 for rares.
Motivation: If it's a pauper-like format then the cards available ought to be any of the cheapest cards, including those inexpensive rares that can be snapped up for interesting play. Great for constructing cubes on a budget.