But lord I hope this whole block doesn't end up with Nicol Bolas becoming the next Father of Machines through Tezzeret and combining all the big-bads together in a single alliance that ends with all the ever-green walkers sacrificing themselves in a 3-4 block war...
I think that after we get Planeswalkers in the color combinations we're missing (U/G, etc.) that'll be exactly what happens. A giant Care Bear stare to take down Yawgmoth 2.0. Then we'll leave Dominaria for a few years and then comeback to see how society rebuilt.
I don't think we're going to see time travel. Putting aside if it's possible or not. I think we'll see Karn visiting other planes and fighting the Phyrexian threat.
He may also be building an army to retake Mirrodin. The whole New Phyrexian/Mirrodin Pure thing may have been a clever ruse whereby they've set up a future set to be Mirrodin Pure.
Perhaps we'll have a few sets of Karn's crusade and it will end in Mirrodin Pure.
Cavotta had a lot of energy. It wasn't always laser-focused, but it was there. He's also well-schooled in art technigues. His discussion of the painting style on Henchfiend of Ukor could have come from a college professor. Little bits like that.
It's interesting that people prefer Mirage and Ravnica flavor wise. To me Tempest felt more like a video game than a fantasy novel.
Mirage and Ravnica had conflict but it was not "enivornment altering." The whole world wasn't in peril Crisis on Infinite Earths style. Kaervek was off doing stuff and the Guildpact was threatened, but not everyone was involved. So bad thing were going to happen if the wicked plots were successful, but it wasn't Galactus or the Book of Revelations.
Little things like the poetry in Mirage (which was actually long and quite good) and the Tin Street toughs let you know there was a whole world there. These Sherwood Anderson, Studs Terkel bits are what can add great flavor without getting in the way.
I am certainly looking forward to pulling out some old Mirrodin decks and doing some updates. Things I'm looking at right now: White Weenie/Equp, Green/Black Poison, Trinket Mage/Spellbomb, and Myr. I think Infiltrator Lens plus Infect is amusing. That doesn't make it a good set, but it certainly has potential. It's way too early to tell.
If you're looking at it from a purely economic standpoint: you're not going to recoup $4 a pack unless you're ridiculously lucky and then quit purchasing once you have a decent profit. If cards were $1 a back and buying 100 packs meant always getting a Jacequivalent, sure.
I think Proliferate/Planeswalkers and Poison/Something, Something will come about and we'll have to wait and see. I'm fuming at the lack of artifact lands and I wanted at least one Clockwork creature or a Fifth Dawn-style station, but I'm not ready to say the K-Word and call this bad.
I'm frustrated at Mythics like Mindslaver (I have four already) and Lux Cannon (too slow). Still, we have the Mox and three Planeswalkers. I don't want anither set where one card's worth $75 and nothing else is worth $2, but we don't know that yet.
Memnarch wasn't "the Mirari with legs"; he was a new, unique being created out of the Mirari. What Karn did to him was definitely intended to be much more analogous to death than deactivation and I feel confident that Creative's intention with Memnarch (unlike recent villains like Bolas, the Eldrazi, and the Phyrexians) is that his story is completely over, not to be revisited.
I doubt we'll seem Memnarch again. If the Eldrazi are Galactus/Cthulhu and the Phyrexians are the Brood/Borg led by Dr. Doom then I see Memnarch as someone more like The Wizard or Klaw. Memnarch's certainly not harmless or shallow but he just doesn't have the weight for multiple stories. I thought the whole thing with Panopticon and the Blinkmoths made him creepy and unique but his story is over.
I find the juxtaposition of Phyrexia and Mirrodin odd. It makes sense in some ways but in others I feel like neither is being done justice. Leftovers from story A versus leftovers from story B. So all the survivors from Battlestar Galactica plus ten years are fighting some Borg from ST:TNG plus ten years. Not a good analogy but it does seem like throwing two sets of action figures together and seeing what you get.
I know the black oil was set up a long time ago, but panscrappings from two concluded stories do not nec. make a good third story.
That question about cenobite being a real word made me laugh. It reminded me of when Cerulean Wyvern was printed and people said "Where in Dominaria is Cerulea?" They do sell dictionaries at the grocery store. They're next to the printer paper and crayons.
I think you answered your own question. Yes, there will be TM/Toolbox decks. We need a little bit more information before we can say how good they'll be.
The examples already given show it was a well chosen reprint. I want to see what kind of creature fetch/bounce we get first.
But why this keyword? Why not a poison keyword, and recycling wither on the creatures that should have it?
Infect is slightly different. Creatures with infect can't deal regular damage to players. Creatures with wither can. Creatures with poison/venom(ous) have to deal damage to place poison counters. In the latter case the poison counters are a bonus on top of damage.
There are situations where dealing regular damage would be better than poison counters. In those situations infect is worse than wither and therefore balanced.
Cool. Hadn't seen that yet but did some searching and seems it's been known for a while. Thanks.:)
So Simic, Boros, Dimir, Golgaria, and Selesnya have new characters (and new cards) as Guild Leaders.
The other five have reappearing characters as new cards.
I don't think there are merfolk on Rav now. I was under the impression the one Rav merfolk pic we'd seen was GU planeswalker Kiora Atua.
To me part of the flavor of Rav was not having certain creatures.
So there will still be creatures with the werewolf creature type, but they won't be dual sided.
I think that after we get Planeswalkers in the color combinations we're missing (U/G, etc.) that'll be exactly what happens. A giant Care Bear stare to take down Yawgmoth 2.0. Then we'll leave Dominaria for a few years and then comeback to see how society rebuilt.
He may also be building an army to retake Mirrodin. The whole New Phyrexian/Mirrodin Pure thing may have been a clever ruse whereby they've set up a future set to be Mirrodin Pure.
Perhaps we'll have a few sets of Karn's crusade and it will end in Mirrodin Pure.
It's interesting that people prefer Mirage and Ravnica flavor wise. To me Tempest felt more like a video game than a fantasy novel.
Mirage and Ravnica had conflict but it was not "enivornment altering." The whole world wasn't in peril Crisis on Infinite Earths style. Kaervek was off doing stuff and the Guildpact was threatened, but not everyone was involved. So bad thing were going to happen if the wicked plots were successful, but it wasn't Galactus or the Book of Revelations.
Little things like the poetry in Mirage (which was actually long and quite good) and the Tin Street toughs let you know there was a whole world there. These Sherwood Anderson, Studs Terkel bits are what can add great flavor without getting in the way.
Then we'll probably get a "Christmas present" of a few cards spoiled.
Let Scars have the limelight for a while.
If you're looking at it from a purely economic standpoint: you're not going to recoup $4 a pack unless you're ridiculously lucky and then quit purchasing once you have a decent profit. If cards were $1 a back and buying 100 packs meant always getting a Jacequivalent, sure.
I think Proliferate/Planeswalkers and Poison/Something, Something will come about and we'll have to wait and see. I'm fuming at the lack of artifact lands and I wanted at least one Clockwork creature or a Fifth Dawn-style station, but I'm not ready to say the K-Word and call this bad.
I'm frustrated at Mythics like Mindslaver (I have four already) and Lux Cannon (too slow). Still, we have the Mox and three Planeswalkers. I don't want anither set where one card's worth $75 and nothing else is worth $2, but we don't know that yet.
I doubt we'll seem Memnarch again. If the Eldrazi are Galactus/Cthulhu and the Phyrexians are the Brood/Borg led by Dr. Doom then I see Memnarch as someone more like The Wizard or Klaw. Memnarch's certainly not harmless or shallow but he just doesn't have the weight for multiple stories. I thought the whole thing with Panopticon and the Blinkmoths made him creepy and unique but his story is over.
I find the juxtaposition of Phyrexia and Mirrodin odd. It makes sense in some ways but in others I feel like neither is being done justice. Leftovers from story A versus leftovers from story B. So all the survivors from Battlestar Galactica plus ten years are fighting some Borg from ST:TNG plus ten years. Not a good analogy but it does seem like throwing two sets of action figures together and seeing what you get.
I know the black oil was set up a long time ago, but panscrappings from two concluded stories do not nec. make a good third story.
Time to dust off that old Thran Forge and Viashino Heretic deck.
That question about cenobite being a real word made me laugh. It reminded me of when Cerulean Wyvern was printed and people said "Where in Dominaria is Cerulea?" They do sell dictionaries at the grocery store. They're next to the printer paper and crayons.
The examples already given show it was a well chosen reprint. I want to see what kind of creature fetch/bounce we get first.
Infect is slightly different. Creatures with infect can't deal regular damage to players. Creatures with wither can. Creatures with poison/venom(ous) have to deal damage to place poison counters. In the latter case the poison counters are a bonus on top of damage.
There are situations where dealing regular damage would be better than poison counters. In those situations infect is worse than wither and therefore balanced.
It looks like ZS is out and Water Servant is alphabetically the last blue card. That's not for sure though.
Very excited. Maybe we'll get Manta Riders too.