The Dakra Mystic is a bit strange, in that it's actually completely useless in denying your opponent good cards. No matter what your decision is, your opponent will still see exactly one "blind" card (card you haven't seen yet) each draw step.
The main benefit instead seems to be in improving your own draws and/or decks that could normally make use of a Howling Mine effect.
The players championship will now have slots for the Rookie of the Year, the Captain of the previous World Magic Cup winning team, one additional top ranked player from each of North America, Europe, Latin America, Japan, and Asia-Pacific, and one additional at-large slot.
There were also a few changes to the Pro Players club system (most notably, Gold and Platinum players get byes at WMC qualifiers). For full details, see the Announcement
Interesting that the card triggers on all creatures, not just non-token ones. So the Zombie horde grows on its own once it gets started. (I guess Endless Ranks of the Dead works in a similar fashion, albeit with exponential growth).
A useful intermediary in comparing the new Fact or Fiction to the old one.
Imagine a player who knew nothing about magic, and once presented with the two piles just flipped a coin to see which one to give you. On average this mindless player would give you about half the value in your 5 top cards.
The actual pile you'd get from casting the new spell is on average worse than this random pile (since your opponent in actuality can choose the worse of the two piles you present him with). Conversely, the actual pile you'd get from casting Fact or Fiction is on average better than the random pile (since you can always choose the better of the two piles).
I'm still holding out hope for a Predict reprint in slot 59. Probably wouldn't do much in constructed, but it'd have some fun interactions with scry for limited/casual that weren't there the first time around.
The legend rule change is something I do not like at all, and I'm not sure why the did it. I'll admit that part of the reason I don't like it is due to flavor.
Was it really that flavorful before?
"I AM RURIC THAR, THE UNBOWED"
"Hi there, I'm a clone and I'm going to imitate you!"
"Oh no! I'm just going to die of embarrassment at there being someone like me around!".
But wait -- if he doesn't block, and Kibler has Inferno Titan, does he do any better? 3 Spirits get shot down, Snappy doesn't get through, and he can't stick a Lord either.
(I'm in vague recollection mode here, so my analysis stands a good chance of being very off-target). Would the extra spirits make a Vapor Snag be a win then? 2xGalvanic Blast would be about the same (or less) likelihood a draw as Inferno Titan+Vapor Snag, so that situation alone might have been enough to tilt the odds.
"On the next turn Jun'ya drew another Nexus and this time it lived through the Trike's activation and he dropped Morofuji to four. Morofuji looked at the next card of his library but there was no help. Jun'ya Iyanaga was the 2005 National Champion…Or was he?
The table judge had ruled that Jun'ya was able to sacrifice his Frostling to target itself despite having protection from red granted by the Sword of Fire and Ice. During the course of the game it seemed that it was too late to go back but after the match no one - Jun'ya included - seemed happy with the tenth Japanese Nationals ending on a botched call.
There was a full video crew covering the event for a Japanese documentary that was going to follow the National team to Worlds. Between the video tape and the judge's notations every card in hand, in the graveyard, and in play was documented. There was much debate about how to proceed and after lengthy conference between all the tournament officials it was decided that the game would be backed up to the point where the incorrect ruling was made.
The judges and video crew got together and recreated the game state right down to the Mountain on top of Jun'ya's library when he was 'Slavered."
The main benefit instead seems to be in improving your own draws and/or decks that could normally make use of a Howling Mine effect.
There were also a few changes to the Pro Players club system (most notably, Gold and Platinum players get byes at WMC qualifiers). For full details, see the Announcement
Imagine a player who knew nothing about magic, and once presented with the two piles just flipped a coin to see which one to give you. On average this mindless player would give you about half the value in your 5 top cards.
The actual pile you'd get from casting the new spell is on average worse than this random pile (since your opponent in actuality can choose the worse of the two piles you present him with). Conversely, the actual pile you'd get from casting Fact or Fiction is on average better than the random pile (since you can always choose the better of the two piles).
Vesuva comes into play as a copy of Dark Depths, so I believe it would still have the counters on it.
Was it really that flavorful before?
"I AM RURIC THAR, THE UNBOWED"
"Hi there, I'm a clone and I'm going to imitate you!"
"Oh no! I'm just going to die of embarrassment at there being someone like me around!".
edit: As noted in later posts, it's only a very brief hello on the way to the graveyard from the Legendary rule...doh!
Alexander's Deck looks insanely fun to play.
(I'm in vague recollection mode here, so my analysis stands a good chance of being very off-target). Would the extra spirits make a Vapor Snag be a win then? 2xGalvanic Blast would be about the same (or less) likelihood a draw as Inferno Titan+Vapor Snag, so that situation alone might have been enough to tilt the odds.
Game four of the 2005 Japanese National Championship finals. From the coverage at http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.asp?x=mtgevent/jpnat05/welcome#4 :