I can certainly appreciate that some cards are printed in new sets to be legal in Limited play and older eternal non-rotating formats but not for Standard and Pioneer (ie: masterpieces, expeditions, etc), but what's the purpose or advantage of printing cards like youthful valkyrie with artificial scarcity? Here's an uncommon which is decent enough for a specific tribal Pioneer deck, but was printed at such scarcity that it's approximately 3-5x the price it should would be had it been included in draft boosters. Are cards like this excluded from draft boosters specifically because they're considered too strong for limited? Surely I can understand that argument if it was a "common" (in draft boosters), but at uncommon, it's unlikely anyone would've realistically gotten more than two or three in a draft (or sealed event). Strangely, to my surprise, this card wasn't even reprinted in the recent Secret Lair angels deck which would've been a perfect opportunity to improve its availability for those who want to play angels in Pioneer or Commander. Even allosaurus shepherd which was a Jumpstart exclusive card initially got reprinted in Double Masters 2022 for elf players, which is ironic because essentially that mythic with its additional printing may now be less rare than the aforementioned uncommon.
Perhaps I'm just too oldschool and miss the days where there were only three rarities and they were accurate in terms of their print runs (commons were common, uncommons were uncommon, and rares were rare). I can appreciate mythic rarity and the additional rarity of alternate arts and extended borderless variants (from box sets and "collector/vip" packs). However, I find it deceptive and confusing when cards have a pseudo-rarity where they masquerade as "uncommon" despite actually being considerably more rare based on print numbers and distribution.
That being said, I'm simply trying to better understand the logic or psychology behind the decisions to have Set and Jumpstart exclusive cards (which occasionally creep into Standard, Pioneer, and other formats because they're designed to be constructed-playable) with a "false rarity" (in this case, an "uncommon" which is arguably as rare as if not more rare than actual rares which are seemingly more readily available to players (at reasonable/lower secondary market price) because they also appear in Draft boosters.
It may not be treasure cruise or dig through time since you can't target yourself, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's eventually banned in modern, and potentially elsewhere in due time.
That might make perfect logical sense if they didn't transform back and the cards didn't also use "it" on the saga flip sides to objectify the front character sides. Note that the argent etchings also says "exile the argent etchings, then return it to the battlefield (front face up)" as opposed to "...then return her...", or "...then return Elesh Norn..." to subjectively personify the character who (as she) returns. Anyway, it's not that important. It just feels like a linguistic inaccuracy, and slightly unusual to reduce an individual to "it", instead of (more respectfully) at least referring to the card/character being returned by name (if they intentionally wanted to avoid using gender to prevent confusion regarding how the rules handle the transformation mechanic). Similarly, it would be strange if you heard a parent say to their child: "take your brother to the park, then return it home when you're done." One can't help but wonder, if Phyrexian praetors can transform into enchantments, does that effectively make their species tri-gender?
Thus far, I believe the only card which allows this is Mosswood Dreadknight, which unfortunately doesn't fit into Mardu.
Presumably, they didn't want to allow adventures to be cast from the grave on several cards as there would be a risk that such cards would become too powerful or easy to exploit (similar to other cards which can be cast from exile like eternal scourge), so they probably only designed the one for now, with a dies condition and limited window of opportunity time restriction as a test to see if the mechanic was fair and balanced. Give it some time, and perhaps they'll design more cards like this in a future Eldraine set (or supplemental product with adventures).
Harness the storm is interesting, because if you cast an adventure from your hand, you might be able to cast a card with the same adventure in your grave.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but even though the card in the grave only has it's "normal" (permanent) characteristics, rule 715.5. states: "If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name and the player wants to choose an adventurer card’s alternative name, the player may do so."
I'm curious... Did anyone else notice that some recent cards have become genderless or gender-neutral?
I was looking at the recent praetors which transform (Elesh Norn, Jin-Gitaxias, etc), and couldn't help but notice that the activated abilities refer to the characters as "it". Previously, transforming characters like Garruk Relentless acknowledge the character's gender as "him" (even in oracle text). That being said, is there any particular reason why Elesh Norn is no longer considered a "her" despite being the "mother of machines" which obviously implies that she's (still) female? Does she no longer identify as such? I realize that Phyrexian genitalia may be very different from most other creatures in the multiverse, but that presumption notwithstanding, I suppose I'm just wondering why the texts were changed for these new iterations of characters who had (and presumably still have) an established male or female gender? Any explanation, speculation, or insight is appreciated.
I remember people complaining about them from the moment they were announced on up to right now.
The have-nots will always complain about the products which they either can't afford or don't interest them.
Personally, my primary complaint is that as a Canadian, I have to pay for shipping (which is free for domestic US consumers) in addition to currency rate conversion which adds to the cost significantly. Early on, I also had to pay duty upon delivery, which fortunately has since been corrected and included in the initial purchase costs (perhaps due to the new smaller eco-friendly packaging). I was also slightly annoyed that it took many months to receive the "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" deck, but I assume that was solely due to the coins which weren't "minted" in time for prompt distribution.
As for value, lest we forget each drop also contains a bonus "mystery" card in addition to those revealed, and none of the drops have gone down in price (to my knowledge, except perhaps the serum visions drop) since the date they were released, that is, if they're kept sealed. Truthfully, most drops appreciate in value better than my mutual funds, so I suppose my only complaint now is that I don't have more disposable income to order more of them (spare copies to keep sealed) so I can trade them at later dates for double, if not more than what I paid.
Overall, I say this is a great product line for those who want cards which are very different with unusual alternate art, and for those who don't, there are plenty of other supplemental products containing reprints (ie: Masters sets and Commander decks). There's no denying that Secret Lair is certainly much better than the days of From The Vault where I literally had to take time off work to line up at stores before they opened on release dates, pay huge mark-ups despite MSRP being a thing at the time (especially for FTV 20), and occasionally even had to win raffles/drawings just to have an opportunity to buy a single box set because supply was so limited which often resulted in several frustrated customers leaving the stores empty handed who gave dirty looks towards whoever won the right to purchase said products. At least now there's enough supply to meet demand and we can order these "specialty" box sets directly from WotC without having to deal with the dramatic retail nonsense of yesteryear.
Reduce the cost on the Collector's Vault by 1 (there are ways, I know, just nothing off the top of my head) and one can mill through the deck for a win w/ that mill zombie or Jace. That'll be a combo piece for sure. Then w/ anything that damages of off tokens dying or tokens or artifacts dying or coming into play for damage, bada bing, bada boom, game over. Card is busted. Might be a chase uncommon now that I think about it.
Wait, how are we going to dig infinitely when Collector's Vault needs to tap in order to loot? Something that makes Collector's Vault untap every time it makes that Treasure token?
I'm not feeling this blind obedience art and much prefer the original.
I can appreciate the spirals might be intended to hypnotize us in some way, but the more I look at it, this card just bothers my eyes.
That's actually a pretty nice Adventure on this card. Shame the body just doesn't seem worth it in Modern.
Indeed, it dies to lightning bolt, but if it was 1/4, then it wouldn't have vigilance (or it would have to be rare)
Obviously, there has to be a reasonable limit to what they print on 2CMC 2-in-1 cards at uncommon rarity.
Still looks pretty decent for a Standard or Pioneer faerie tribal deck, but not sure it'll make the cut for Commander.
Perhaps to encourage migration to the new domain, any user who had an account here should be given a "Legendary", "Legacy", or "Vintage" user account upon signing up for added prestige depending on how many years they were active or posts they had.
Where's my wallet?!
shouldwould be had it been included in draft boosters. Are cards like this excluded from draft boosters specifically because they're considered too strong for limited? Surely I can understand that argument if it was a "common" (in draft boosters), but at uncommon, it's unlikely anyone would've realistically gotten more than two or three in a draft (or sealed event). Strangely, to my surprise, this card wasn't even reprinted in the recent Secret Lair angels deck which would've been a perfect opportunity to improve its availability for those who want to play angels in Pioneer or Commander. Even allosaurus shepherd which was a Jumpstart exclusive card initially got reprinted in Double Masters 2022 for elf players, which is ironic because essentially that mythic with its additional printing may now be less rare than the aforementioned uncommon.Perhaps I'm just too oldschool and miss the days where there were only three rarities and they were accurate in terms of their print runs (commons were common, uncommons were uncommon, and rares were rare). I can appreciate mythic rarity and the additional rarity of alternate arts and extended borderless variants (from box sets and "collector/vip" packs). However, I find it deceptive and confusing when cards have a pseudo-rarity where they masquerade as "uncommon" despite actually being considerably more rare based on print numbers and distribution.
That being said, I'm simply trying to better understand the logic or psychology behind the decisions to have Set and Jumpstart exclusive cards (which occasionally creep into Standard, Pioneer, and other formats because they're designed to be constructed-playable) with a "false rarity" (in this case, an "uncommon" which is arguably as rare as if not more rare than actual rares which are seemingly more readily available to players (at reasonable/lower secondary market price) because they also appear in Draft boosters.
Any opinions or insights would be appreciated.
It may not be treasure cruise or dig through time since you can't target yourself, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's eventually banned in modern, and potentially elsewhere in due time.
Presumably, they didn't want to allow adventures to be cast from the grave on several cards as there would be a risk that such cards would become too powerful or easy to exploit (similar to other cards which can be cast from exile like eternal scourge), so they probably only designed the one for now, with a dies condition and limited window of opportunity time restriction as a test to see if the mechanic was fair and balanced. Give it some time, and perhaps they'll design more cards like this in a future Eldraine set (or supplemental product with adventures).
Harness the storm is interesting, because if you cast an adventure from your hand, you might be able to cast a card with the same adventure in your grave.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but even though the card in the grave only has it's "normal" (permanent) characteristics, rule 715.5. states: "If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name and the player wants to choose an adventurer card’s alternative name, the player may do so."
I was looking at the recent praetors which transform (Elesh Norn, Jin-Gitaxias, etc), and couldn't help but notice that the activated abilities refer to the characters as "it". Previously, transforming characters like Garruk Relentless acknowledge the character's gender as "him" (even in oracle text). That being said, is there any particular reason why Elesh Norn is no longer considered a "her" despite being the "mother of machines" which obviously implies that she's (still) female? Does she no longer identify as such? I realize that Phyrexian genitalia may be very different from most other creatures in the multiverse, but that presumption notwithstanding, I suppose I'm just wondering why the texts were changed for these new iterations of characters who had (and presumably still have) an established male or female gender? Any explanation, speculation, or insight is appreciated.
The have-nots will always complain about the products which they either can't afford or don't interest them.
Personally, my primary complaint is that as a Canadian, I have to pay for shipping (which is free for domestic US consumers) in addition to currency rate conversion which adds to the cost significantly. Early on, I also had to pay duty upon delivery, which fortunately has since been corrected and included in the initial purchase costs (perhaps due to the new smaller eco-friendly packaging). I was also slightly annoyed that it took many months to receive the "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" deck, but I assume that was solely due to the coins which weren't "minted" in time for prompt distribution.
As for value, lest we forget each drop also contains a bonus "mystery" card in addition to those revealed, and none of the drops have gone down in price (to my knowledge, except perhaps the serum visions drop) since the date they were released, that is, if they're kept sealed. Truthfully, most drops appreciate in value better than my mutual funds, so I suppose my only complaint now is that I don't have more disposable income to order more of them (spare copies to keep sealed) so I can trade them at later dates for double, if not more than what I paid.
Overall, I say this is a great product line for those who want cards which are very different with unusual alternate art, and for those who don't, there are plenty of other supplemental products containing reprints (ie: Masters sets and Commander decks). There's no denying that Secret Lair is certainly much better than the days of From The Vault where I literally had to take time off work to line up at stores before they opened on release dates, pay huge mark-ups despite MSRP being a thing at the time (especially for FTV 20), and occasionally even had to win raffles/drawings just to have an opportunity to buy a single box set because supply was so limited which often resulted in several frustrated customers leaving the stores empty handed who gave dirty looks towards whoever won the right to purchase said products. At least now there's enough supply to meet demand and we can order these "specialty" box sets directly from WotC without having to deal with the dramatic retail nonsense of yesteryear.
Either way, it's about time mass hysteria finally got a reprint.
Looks more like Swarovski crystal.
The lead is what causes life loss.
Always felt too good to be a common.
Perhaps grinding station and clock of omens or blinkmoth urn?
I also like collector's vault, might have to find room for it in my Daretti, Scrap Savant commander deck.
I can appreciate the spirals might be intended to hypnotize us in some way, but the more I look at it, this card just bothers my eyes.
Indeed, it dies to lightning bolt, but if it was 1/4, then it wouldn't have vigilance (or it would have to be rare)
Obviously, there has to be a reasonable limit to what they print on 2CMC 2-in-1 cards at uncommon rarity.
Still looks pretty decent for a Standard or Pioneer faerie tribal deck, but not sure it'll make the cut for Commander.