I'm really curious which colors Serra's deck will be, assuming she gets one. Red is the most common color for angels after white, and it would be a fitting place for Avacyn's fourth angel, but she has to be WB. But they can't do RWB because they just did that color combination in C17. They wouldn't do a 5-color angel deck with Maelstrom Archangel or something, would they?
On that note, I hope they do some good reprints in it. We're long overdue for a Baneslayer Angel reprint, Archangel of Thune could use more (doubt they'd put a $13 card in a preconstructed deck, though), Sigarda's first card could really use one, both DOM and M19 have some decent angels, Archangel of Tithes hasn't shown up in anything but its original set yet nor has Aurelia (or Firemane Angel, but that card is cheap anyway), and Herald of War would make sense.
I just want them for casual play, pretty much. I most often try to get the newest printings of cards if there's more than one. I'm just never sure how many print runs a set will have, or whether cards will spike, or whether to wait for possible reprints in a supplementary set, or any of that. Or, for that matter, when the draft tournaments are. Like, if I'm buying Battlebond cards, would I have better luck buying them a month or two from now instead of now? Do Standard-legal sets drop in price quicker than supplementary sets? And then there's Commander Anthology 2, which seems like it will be pretty limited in its printing.
What's usually the best time to buy singles from a new set if you're looking to get them cheap? A month after release? A year? I assume it's different for Standard-legal ones compared to supplementary ones (and different supplementary sets), but beyond that, I'm really not sure.
This set seems to have a decent number of things for my cat tribal deck. I may have to build one in Arena as well (yes, I know that's one of the starter decks). The djinn and sphinx reprints were unexpected. Apex of Power...I know we've seen it before, but about the only place I can think of where it might fit is my Mizzix Commander deck.
Jeez, with the sheer number of blatant hate cards in this set, where's all the stuff that screws over control decks and mono-red/BR aggro? I've never once played against an energy deck, either in Arena or casual paper, that I found unfun and obnoxious, while I see control and RDW all the freaking time. I have yet to go up against a bogles deck that's annoying either. I don't even play Modern, and some of these cards make me sad.
So the tally of "confirmed" Ravnica 'walkers now includes Jace, Ral, Ajani, and Tamiyo.
I hope the lack of new art for Vraska doesn't mean she won't get a card in Ravnica (or worse, will die)...
I'm pleased to see Tamiyo and Saheeli, though. Hopefully, their cards are good (especially if Saheeli is in C18...the C14 ones were kind of lame when not used as commanders).
I hardly ever trade cards, pretty much for the reasons listed. The only things of mine that people want are things that are too valuable or rare to give up; I don't have any cards with a high value that I don't want (which I suppose is a good thing). The last time I traded with someone, I kind of planned it out and got them the two playsets of cards they wanted, and they ended up not needing one of them, while the other one was only 80% of the price I bought it for when we traded (we were going for equal value if possible). Afterward, I just thought that if I want specific cards, I can just buy them myself, since I'll be doing so anyway, and it's pretty well pointless to trade unless someone actually wants the stuff I'm getting rid of.
I'm still hoping for Rings of Brighthearth. It would even fit with Will and Rowan.
The Urza lands would also be good, along with Rhys the Redeemed, Privileged Position, the Mirrodin swords, Sigarda's first card, Nature's Will, Bear Umbra, Darksteel Colossus...the list goes on.
I actually have a deck very similar to this, at least in terms of being a RW deck that uses copious small, cheap creatures to gain a lot of ETB triggers. Mine focuses less on the lifegain, though. (I have nothing against lifegain, but it wasn't really the point of that particular deck.) I don't have Norin or Purphoros (though I want to get both eventually) nor much in the way of good dual lands, but I do have Impact Tremors, Mentor of the Meek, Massive Raid, Cloudgoat Ranger, Outpost Siege, Cathars' Crusade, Hellrider, Anointed Procession, Twilight Drover, and I did include Burn at the Stake as well. I doubt it's competitive for Modern, but I only ever play casual anyway. Other cards I've considered for it or a similar deck include Auriok Champion, Call for Unity, Eerie Interlude, Elemental Mastery, Foundry Champion, In the Web of War, Jinxed Idol, Path of Bravery, Saltskitter, Springjack Shepherd, and Thraben Doomsayer.
On that note, I hope they do some good reprints in it. We're long overdue for a Baneslayer Angel reprint, Archangel of Thune could use more (doubt they'd put a $13 card in a preconstructed deck, though), Sigarda's first card could really use one, both DOM and M19 have some decent angels, Archangel of Tithes hasn't shown up in anything but its original set yet nor has Aurelia (or Firemane Angel, but that card is cheap anyway), and Herald of War would make sense.
Yeah, Emmara Tandris definitely needs a new card. I wish that they'd kept her Voice of Resurgence ability.
Nope, I hate hexmage effects too. There are enough ways to ruin the day of someone focusing a lot on counters without saying "screw you specifically".
I hope the lack of new art for Vraska doesn't mean she won't get a card in Ravnica (or worse, will die)...
I'm pleased to see Tamiyo and Saheeli, though. Hopefully, their cards are good (especially if Saheeli is in C18...the C14 ones were kind of lame when not used as commanders).
The Urza lands would also be good, along with Rhys the Redeemed, Privileged Position, the Mirrodin swords, Sigarda's first card, Nature's Will, Bear Umbra, Darksteel Colossus...the list goes on.