Okay so I was listening to Limited Resources and they were talking about the two competing issues with Planeswalkers. First, if you make them not powerful enough you lose some of the allure of planeswalkers. But - if they are all too powerful limited games will be bad because there will be 2-3 planewlakers a side in each game.
I was thinking about how Rosewater is trying to get a set to play/feel like the thing the set is doing. So what is WAR doing - it is literally a war among planeswalkers. They are fighting each other. What if we had limited embrace commander? What if there was a rule for limited that you are only allowed to have one planeswalker in your deck. You literally have to choose which planeswalker you represent. It might be a straight commander or it might be just a rule that you can only put one in your deck for limited.
This could be a very interesting one off mechanic for limited. It could also be a kind of bridge to get people interested in commander. We have seen changes to limited rules before (i.e drafting of double faced cards etc).
It might be a kind of bridge to do something innovative with a limited format to begin to sometimes change the mechanics of the game itself for limited rather than just the mechanics of the card. It would open up some design space to make limited feel a bit different set to set.
One thing that no one is talking about - the fact that it is two pre-release promos.
Okay - so I know Dominaria had two prerelease promos too - and that leads people to think that it is just the same thing... a planeswalker seeded in each pack etc...
BUT what if it is something different. We know Maro likes this set because it is innovative. This is the key to me. I dont think that Maro would be excited about a set that just has a lot of planeswalkers - I think there is something different going on.
We know that they can seed cards that go together (i.e. Battlebond), we know that there is a theme to the set of planeswlakers teaming up against one another. So... here are some thoughts.
1. Some relation between the cards. Maybe - Planeswalkers that when they 'lose their spark' trun into another card (probaby not because it would just be cleaner to do as a DFC). But what about some spell that you can cast for greater effect if you sac your planeswalker (i.e. a modal spell where extra super effects come from sacing a specific planeswalker - the trick would be you would need to have them seeded together). What else could they do with paired cards that care about one another that makes sense. What about a 'meld' type mechanic where you are guaranteed to get both cards in the pack? Maybe when you draft one you automatically get the other?
2. What about a commander type theme for limited. You can choose only one planeswalker to be your commander in limited. This would allow you to ensure that there were not too many planeswalkers for limited and would be an innovative twist on limited. Might be interesting as a one off to see how you might be able to freshen limited every now and then by changing the mechanics of limited in a fundamental way. Would also bring commander players into limited and get them to experience limited. Think of this kinda like what they did with the last unset with contraptions - they were testing it out there and now we are bringing it into black bordered magic. It could be something that leads to a lot of new ways to enliven limited by having different gameplay. Maro always talks about the gameplay of the set fitting the theme. If this set is all about war between two sides where the planeswalkers are fighting it does naturally lend itself to a commander type scenario feeling right.
The non-combat damage seems good against wildfire decks specifically and random red hosers that pick off multiple creatures (i.e. arc lightning and the like).
I am surprised there is not a thread on him. Seems good to me (I am a 720 unpowered cube with a 8 slot per guild section so maybe I am not the norm). Seems like a top tier Boros card though. Haste with an added +1/+1 counter on something and has a relevant ability to stop damage outside of combat. I like it better than reckoner. I think it is worse than Ajani, Charm and Helix and maybe? new boros angel. Seems very good to me though.
The comparison to Dictate is very apt. I agree dictate is better. I cut dictate so i guess this also doesn't make the grade.
I guess my only thought was that there seems to be a push towards red white tokens in my cube at least. With the glut of repeatable token makers in red white at 3 and four mana that are created and attacking it seemed like it might be good (brim, hero of blade hold, leonin, all the red guys and the red warrior maker). It does grant evasion and a slightly bigger stat boost when compared to dictate, but agree that this is a minor upside compared to the big upside from dictate in other circumstances. I guess for this kind of effect dictate is just better and supports more decks if you want to run it.
I would think with the guys that make tokens on attack this is just the nuts. I mean it plays so well on curve with Hero and Leonin and any of the Red generators (Garrison etc..). It is also good with hangerback. I looked at my cube to see how many token generators I had and it was pretty nuts. I mean this and attack with baldehold is 10 in the air right?
I know it is in a crowded spot... but this seems really really good for so many cards in white.
Brimaz, Spirit keeper, Mentor, Bladehold, Warleader, Angel of Invention, Cloudgoat, All elspeths, Secure the wastes, Spectral Possession, Sram's, Landing, Benalia, Lingering Souls not to mention it has overlap with Red and the many token makers there.
You could have different named keywords to get the cities blessing. Different condition to get cities blessing - but I agree it seems like it would be unlikely and hard to remember.
The only question I have is whether there can be two cities blessing (i.e. can both you and your opponent have it). Or is it just a race to see who gets it for the game.
Interesting for sure - especially ten permanents - makes treasure a lot more interesting and strategic about whether to burn it early.
Might also mean that there is a push away from aggro in limited if the set revolves around 10 permanents mattering it would be crazy if the limited format is the same speed as it is now - because 10 permanents are not happening much in my ixalan drafts
For all those who are concerned about the lack of squirrels the article makes it clear that there are two tranches of tokens (each trance is 50% likely to show up - half th packs have tranche one the double sided foil with one side being textless and the other side being normal). The other tranche are normal for the set with token front and ad backs (so I assume there will be squirrel tokens).
Yeah I guess that is probably more likely - just seems a little normal in some way (like a non time based suspend mixed with conspiracy more than anything)
I was thinking about how Rosewater is trying to get a set to play/feel like the thing the set is doing. So what is WAR doing - it is literally a war among planeswalkers. They are fighting each other. What if we had limited embrace commander? What if there was a rule for limited that you are only allowed to have one planeswalker in your deck. You literally have to choose which planeswalker you represent. It might be a straight commander or it might be just a rule that you can only put one in your deck for limited.
This could be a very interesting one off mechanic for limited. It could also be a kind of bridge to get people interested in commander. We have seen changes to limited rules before (i.e drafting of double faced cards etc).
It might be a kind of bridge to do something innovative with a limited format to begin to sometimes change the mechanics of the game itself for limited rather than just the mechanics of the card. It would open up some design space to make limited feel a bit different set to set.
Any thought on this?
Okay - so I know Dominaria had two prerelease promos too - and that leads people to think that it is just the same thing... a planeswalker seeded in each pack etc...
BUT what if it is something different. We know Maro likes this set because it is innovative. This is the key to me. I dont think that Maro would be excited about a set that just has a lot of planeswalkers - I think there is something different going on.
We know that they can seed cards that go together (i.e. Battlebond), we know that there is a theme to the set of planeswlakers teaming up against one another. So... here are some thoughts.
1. Some relation between the cards. Maybe - Planeswalkers that when they 'lose their spark' trun into another card (probaby not because it would just be cleaner to do as a DFC). But what about some spell that you can cast for greater effect if you sac your planeswalker (i.e. a modal spell where extra super effects come from sacing a specific planeswalker - the trick would be you would need to have them seeded together). What else could they do with paired cards that care about one another that makes sense. What about a 'meld' type mechanic where you are guaranteed to get both cards in the pack? Maybe when you draft one you automatically get the other?
2. What about a commander type theme for limited. You can choose only one planeswalker to be your commander in limited. This would allow you to ensure that there were not too many planeswalkers for limited and would be an innovative twist on limited. Might be interesting as a one off to see how you might be able to freshen limited every now and then by changing the mechanics of limited in a fundamental way. Would also bring commander players into limited and get them to experience limited. Think of this kinda like what they did with the last unset with contraptions - they were testing it out there and now we are bringing it into black bordered magic. It could be something that leads to a lot of new ways to enliven limited by having different gameplay. Maro always talks about the gameplay of the set fitting the theme. If this set is all about war between two sides where the planeswalkers are fighting it does naturally lend itself to a commander type scenario feeling right.
Imagine if:
afterlife 1 was one 1/1 spirit
afterlife 2 was a 2/2 knight
afterlife 3 was a 3/3 centaur
etc.
Also I suspect that simic will have populate as a mechanic as it plays nicely with tokens...
I guess my only thought was that there seems to be a push towards red white tokens in my cube at least. With the glut of repeatable token makers in red white at 3 and four mana that are created and attacking it seemed like it might be good (brim, hero of blade hold, leonin, all the red guys and the red warrior maker). It does grant evasion and a slightly bigger stat boost when compared to dictate, but agree that this is a minor upside compared to the big upside from dictate in other circumstances. I guess for this kind of effect dictate is just better and supports more decks if you want to run it.
Brimaz, Spirit keeper, Mentor, Bladehold, Warleader, Angel of Invention, Cloudgoat, All elspeths, Secure the wastes, Spectral Possession, Sram's, Landing, Benalia, Lingering Souls not to mention it has overlap with Red and the many token makers there.
This seems good enough to me.
Vampires - Ascend (need 10 permanents)
Dinosaurs - Stampede (need 10 toughness)
Pirates - Barter - (need a certain amount of treasure)
Merfolk - Evolve (need a certain amount of +1 counters)
just a thought.
Interesting for sure - especially ten permanents - makes treasure a lot more interesting and strategic about whether to burn it early.
Might also mean that there is a push away from aggro in limited if the set revolves around 10 permanents mattering it would be crazy if the limited format is the same speed as it is now - because 10 permanents are not happening much in my ixalan drafts
That is amazing right? Double sided full art with text on the back and foil... of cube staple tokens?
Seems pretty amazing. I want the lands - now i want the foils - how many boxes am I buying?