If you have a Phyrexian Metamorph in play, copying Polyraptor, and you deal damage to the metamorph, it's enrage ability triggers and you get a token. Is that token an artifact? This came up in an EDH game today
They can actually print lightning bolt without a problem. The only reason they can't do it right now is because of the 5-8 rule. Basically, a single strong removal spell does not warp a format into a value creature format like what we see in standard right now. What does that is having so many options for removal that someone can jam a deck with enough removal spells they can trade favorably with the field easily.
For example Path of Mettle is pretty weak on it's own and only works against X/1 creatures, but when that gets combined with Lightning Strike, Shock, Magma spray, Vraska's Contempt, that Chupacabra card that I can never remember despite it showing up in masters 25 after just being printed, and other cards that is a lot of removal.
So on rotation I can see them bringing in something like lightning bolt. Wizards Lightning is clunky enough that I think a format with lightning bolt and lightning strike is doable. The only thing is do they want to print it? My guess is the design team doesn't want it to ever see print again in a standard set due to tournament legality. This is especially true if they intend to make a new format using Arena and want to avoid bringing in old school cards like lightning bolt into the online game.
The triple mana cycle cards are probably good for devotion decks and any budget mono builds that are around. I haven't looked at the black one yet, but I think that one has yet to be revealed?
This is really insightful take on the challenge of choosing cards to fit not just in a set, but in a whole format. I think people (myself included) often forget just how complex of a task that really is. But why is it called the 5-8 rule?
Hey, Iuj086 - welcome to the forums. Your presence here is greatly appreciated, because you teach several valuable lessons. Chief among them is that the MtG community is full of swindling scammers, and law-of-the-jungle sharks who will lie and cheat you out of your cards, your money, and your fun - only the smart will survive to enjoy this game, death to the unworthy n00b! Pfft. Darwinism at its finest.
Your brand of selfish, blustering toxicity is part of why I stopped playing for a little under 10 years. So let's make this perfectly clear: you, Iuj086, are bad for the game. You discourage new players, and make the community less enjoyable for established players. The general MtG community doesn't like people like you. Please, either learn to be nice and act with some integrity, or leave the game and don't come back. Go be a jerk in some other community. You will find that we have very little patience for this kind of crap.
PS: you made a duplicate post. I assume you meant to edit the first one, but accidentally created a new one with minor edits instead. Please delete one of them
The most surprising thing to me here is the community's response to the frame. I was so ready to open this thread and just see "This doesn't look like a magic card" with like thirteen upvotes. To my surprise, the response has been mixed, but more positive than negative. It's surprising and refreshing to see such vocal optimism from the general online MtG community.
So as of my writing this, 53 cards are spoiled so far, of which 11 are Mythic, 20 are Rare, 10 are Uncommon, and 10 are Common. I looked through scryfall to see what the value is on each of these cards in their cheapest printing (NB: not all of them have a price for M25 yet, so some of them will be cheaper). Then I separated them in to "bulk" (cheaper than 2 USD) and "non bulk". Here's the breakdown.
C: 10 bulk; 0 nonbulk. This is expected. It's common. Expensive commons are incredibly infrequent.
U: 9 bulk; 1 nonbulk. You could argue this is underwhelming, although many of those non-bulks are at least worth more than 1USD.
R: 6 bulk; 14 nonbulk. This is a good ratio. The majority of the rares spoiled so far are NOT BULK.
M: 2 bulk; 9 nonbulk. This is expected. There's always going to be a few mythics of low value, but the overwhelming majority are worth something.
But of course, these packs cost far more than your average pack, so perhaps the 2USD mark just isn't adequate, so I went back to check how many of these cards, in their cheapest currently priced printing are worth more than the 9.99 msrp of a booster.
R: 6/20
M: 6/11 (NB, some of these are worth several times msrp of a booster, but I'm ignoring that for simplicity)
ok, so odds are not in favour of you making your money back on an individual booster, but that's normal. I haven't done the exact math (nor have I evaluated all the factors, like prices dropping from their current positions, or the odds of pulling a card with the value of several boosters, or the possibility that this is not a representative sample), but as a rough estimate with current information, the odds of at least breaking even are slightly more than 1 in 4. That seems comparable to an ordinary set, no? Given this, could someone explain to me why the value in this set seems to fall short of so many people's expectations?
I have some low-key nostalgia for this card. I remember playing with this version at my daycare after kindergarden https://scryfall.com/card/fem/58b I was struck by the menacing visuals (no pun intended) and the frightening story in the flavour text. I didn't fully understand what it did (try and get any preschooler to parse that ancient templating, I dare you ) but to me, and probably only to me, it's iconic. I wish they'd used scarier art, but nevertheless, I am probably the only one who will actually be very happy if I pull one of these.
That was my first reaction too, but on closer inspection it definitely isn't. Huatli's armor and weapons are always depicted as full of organic-feather shapes, where this character's armor has a far more traditional design, and the white/blue colour scheme is very different from Huatli's amber, red, and white scheme. Huatli also never uses shields as far as I'm aware, just those weird, half-circle things of questionable martial value. As for the Huatli in the planeswalker decks, it seems clear that they're just using placeholders to avoid putting spoiler cards in their packaging displays.
That was my first reaction too, but on closer inspection it definitely isn't. Huatli's armor and weapons are always depicted as full of organic-feather shapes, where this character's armor has a far more traditional design, and the white/blue colour scheme is very different from Huatli's amber, red, and white scheme. Huatli also never uses shields as far as I'm aware, just those weird, half-circle things of questionable martial value. As for the Huatli in the planeswalker decks, it seems clear that they're just using placeholders to avoid putting spoiler cards in their packaging displays.
I'd be surprised if we didn't get Serra. I think her and Urza where the biggest ones people where hoping for the first time around.
Oh yeah, I totally should have put her on the list I'd love to see that, too. Her name is on one of Magic's most iconic cards. About time she got a card of her own (and Vanguard doesn't count XD)
The question is, what planeswalkers might you base four themes around? Last time they used the opportunity to give walker cards to old characters who never had the chance. Maybe it will be similar this time - so who are the candidates?
- Jaya Ballard (yes she will likely be in dominaria, but as a de-sparked mage)
- Urza (seems unlikely to me but y'never know)
- Leshrac (possibly relevant if the Raven Man = Lim-Dûl theory is proven correct)
- Azor (new players would be familiar with him and it'd be cool to see him in walker form)
I wouldn't necessarily want to read *everything*. You certainly don't need to know every single plot point from all the various books, comics, online short stories etc. - and not all of them are good anyway. In your position, I'd want to read some of the well received ones to see whether it's worth catching up. Agents of Artifice for instance was a fun read, and would make a nice jumping-off point for post-mending storytelling. It makes some of the best use of the tighter focus and narrower scope of the neo-walkers that I've read (which isn't everything, to be fair). The good news for you is that pre-mending characters are - obviously - becoming more and more relevant. So if you read Agents of Artifice (or some other well-received bit of modern MtG storytelling) and find that you don't want to know more, then maybe just wait until the Dominaria shorts start appearing online, and pick up lore as you go, looking stuff up if it seems interesting.
Something I only just noticed: the elf with the daggers has a set of leather straps around their left eye, kind of like an eyepatch without the patch. Paying homage to Freyalise?
It's almost certain they're of Llanowar, because Llanowar Elves have always* been depicted with an eyepatch/goggle over their left eye. If I recall my lore correctly, it was Freyalise who began wearing an eyepatch to honour their devotion to her.
*apart from the abysmal 7th Edition version.
I don't know how many times I've looked at that Alpha Llanowar Elves art and not realized that that thing was an eyepatch (I just thought it was some weird abstract stylization, like mtg's older art tends to have), or looked at the modern art and not noticed the straps. Thank you for gifting me with insight on this day.
This is really insightful take on the challenge of choosing cards to fit not just in a set, but in a whole format. I think people (myself included) often forget just how complex of a task that really is. But why is it called the 5-8 rule?
Your brand of selfish, blustering toxicity is part of why I stopped playing for a little under 10 years. So let's make this perfectly clear: you, Iuj086, are bad for the game. You discourage new players, and make the community less enjoyable for established players. The general MtG community doesn't like people like you. Please, either learn to be nice and act with some integrity, or leave the game and don't come back. Go be a jerk in some other community. You will find that we have very little patience for this kind of crap.
PS: you made a duplicate post. I assume you meant to edit the first one, but accidentally created a new one with minor edits instead. Please delete one of them
yeeee
C: 10 bulk; 0 nonbulk. This is expected. It's common. Expensive commons are incredibly infrequent.
U: 9 bulk; 1 nonbulk. You could argue this is underwhelming, although many of those non-bulks are at least worth more than 1USD.
R: 6 bulk; 14 nonbulk. This is a good ratio. The majority of the rares spoiled so far are NOT BULK.
M: 2 bulk; 9 nonbulk. This is expected. There's always going to be a few mythics of low value, but the overwhelming majority are worth something.
But of course, these packs cost far more than your average pack, so perhaps the 2USD mark just isn't adequate, so I went back to check how many of these cards, in their cheapest currently priced printing are worth more than the 9.99 msrp of a booster.
R: 6/20
M: 6/11 (NB, some of these are worth several times msrp of a booster, but I'm ignoring that for simplicity)
ok, so odds are not in favour of you making your money back on an individual booster, but that's normal. I haven't done the exact math (nor have I evaluated all the factors, like prices dropping from their current positions, or the odds of pulling a card with the value of several boosters, or the possibility that this is not a representative sample), but as a rough estimate with current information, the odds of at least breaking even are slightly more than 1 in 4. That seems comparable to an ordinary set, no? Given this, could someone explain to me why the value in this set seems to fall short of so many people's expectations?
Oh please make this a thing. It will make my moronic, battle-cruising, temur-loving, edh-playing, timmy-johnnying soul so very happy.
Oh yeah, I totally should have put her on the list
- Jaya Ballard (yes she will likely be in dominaria, but as a de-sparked mage)
- Urza (seems unlikely to me but y'never know)
- Leshrac (possibly relevant if the Raven Man = Lim-Dûl theory is proven correct)
- Azor (new players would be familiar with him and it'd be cool to see him in walker form)
What do y'all think?
I don't know how many times I've looked at that Alpha Llanowar Elves art and not realized that that thing was an eyepatch (I just thought it was some weird abstract stylization, like mtg's older art tends to have), or looked at the modern art and not noticed the straps. Thank you for gifting me with insight on this day.