Just a funny thing to point out:
Entropic uprising has Army of the damned. Doesn't come with 13 zombie tokens. Wizards FAILED hard on this one. I understand no being able to prepare for how many Elemental or Soldier tokens one might make, but c'mon. I played this deck out of the box last week as was thoroughly disappointed it didn't have the 13 tokens in it. Then I got over it and used dice for the last 3 :).
If he didn't have to tap to go off this would be legacy playable. ANT would run this and just be insane.
Hell, I might play with it in my board just because it's that good when your opponent has no removal. Recur all your lotus petals, that dual land that got wasteland'd, and you can activate it with LED and then your hand's right there in your graveyard to use. Absolutely incredible.
I think it absolutely is legacy playable. It's a decent sized body with a very powerful effect at a low mana cost. 3 is a lot more in legacy than other formats, but not terribly so.
Same here. I am not totally convinced he is not Legacy playable.
My biggest concern is that he needs to survive an upkeep, in a format where removal is efficient, readily available, and played in most decks. If you untap with him you're going to win, but untapping with him is far from a given - against the right deck absolutely, but in most cases he's only a legitimate threat after your opponent has cut all (or most) of his removal.
That's fair. Between swords/path/bolt he's got a lot of efficient stuff to live through. However, I have seen many Legacy games won by a single snapcaster who attacked for 6+ turns.
Obviously that's not ideal or the planned route to victory. I just think the effect attached on to him makes this Magus a "real" card in that format.
If he didn't have to tap to go off this would be legacy playable. ANT would run this and just be insane.
Hell, I might play with it in my board just because it's that good when your opponent has no removal. Recur all your lotus petals, that dual land that got wasteland'd, and you can activate it with LED and then your hand's right there in your graveyard to use. Absolutely incredible.
I think it absolutely is legacy playable. It's a decent sized body with a very powerful effect at a low mana cost. 3 is a lot more in legacy than other formats, but not terribly so.
Cyclonic Rift. It's such a lazy card and very difficult to interact with if you're not playing blue.
The answer to this card is fast pressure. I hate the card too, but my meta's infested with it and the best answer I have found outside of playing on of my blue decks with it too, is pressure. Force them to use it in combat, and not at EOT. Recast most of your stuff. And it's not so bad. I own the card. I play it too. I hate it with a passion.
Bribery is just dumb. My mono-g Selvala deck plays no good targets for it on purpose. There's nothing worse than someone grabbing blightsteel on turn 3 with it. Maybe an eldrazi.
Angels are popular, so they may get included, but I don't feel like they really fit very well into the ancient Egyptian aesthetic.
Everything in Egyptian mythology gets tricky: I've always read of Maat as more of a concept of cosmic order that does't really translate to modern sensibilities, but apparently she was also personified as a goddess in her own right. Isis is perhaps the more famous Egyptian winged goddess, and there's a lot of crossover between the two, although I had never heard of Maat personified. Any time someone knows something about Egyptian mythology that conflicts with what you know, both are probably right, since the religion was practiced for centuries upon centuries in varying forms, and under different God-Kings. Anything any of us know is a tiny sliver of something with a lot of versions, which gives R&D a little wiggle room. Nicol Bolas seems like an obvious Amon Ra (the version of Ra where he is king of the gods).
A god based on Isis (or Maat) would make perfect sense in W, or UW, and I could see her having some group of angels, and being the "good guy" of the story. But, I think people are a lot more excited for animal-headed gods than winged women.
Also, if we have animal headed gods, I really want the animal to be in the type text. Crocodile God is totally different than God. Legendary Enchantment Creature- Crocodile God (plus the expansion symbol) is a ton of text for a little line, but if they cut the animal type, I'm going to have some harsh words to share with the internet about it.
Well... Every culture has its own concept of justice and morality, so it is normal for it to be different from nowday's sensibilities. And yes, ancient Egyptian civilization had been around for so long (more than 3000 years) that with all the political revisionism of their own religion everything can very well be in contrast to itself, depending on the specific period you are looking at.
I was kind of hoping for an inclusion in some way for angels since I don't really see them fitting in Kaladesh and may be in the Egyptian themed plane they could fit as divine enforcers of Bolas' law in some way... If you stretch them a bit... May be...
For the typing of gods, well... Probably you would see God Crocodile instead of Crocodile God. They may be crorodiles, but first of all they are gods.
Or like Theros' gods they might just be gods. As Iroas is clearly a centaur or Xenagos is clearly a satyr.
Having a
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God Crocodile is a bit too long to have on one single line without having to shrink the font and make it look awkward.
Obviously, if these gods are NOT enchantlments, the problem disappears.
Another note, I would like to see the inclusion of vulture-headed bird-men
Would seem cool to have at B or WB.
I don't think they will be enchantments. I actually hope they aren't. They don't have to be. If they are, that's a really fast possible return to devotion. I don't think they'd use devotion, but I'm not sure how they'd represent that transition differently. Maybe a "fixed" affinity, which would play well with Kaladesh, although I'm not sure you can fix affinity. Or they could use metal craft.
Jace was the only one affected by the scroll that Emrakul rewrote. She seems to have a thing for him.
He is the MtG poster boy, so why wouldn't she? The way WotC just has to involve him I'm fully expecting "Jace, Messiah on the Cross", as a card in "Return to Ravnica...Again".
Still, I enjoyed the ending, if not the journey in this block's story.
Just a random thought: Are phyrexians "alive". Or are they more artificial than biological? It was just a thought I had when thinking about the story lines so far. If the gatewatch needs a weapon to defeat the phyrexians, and Emrakul sees mirrodin as "ready" for cleansing/rebirth due to their machine nature, things could get interesting.
I liked the payoff here. The whole time I was reading I was waiting for the mindslaver, and thought it wasn't coming. Well done, WotC creative team.
To be fair, Homeward Path was designed for Commander and its rarity is entirely arbitrary.
It being a $7 card is a direct consequence of its rarity. It is far from arbitrary.
The rarity of new commander cards is determined/set by how many precon decks get it.
lol. The rarity of regular expansions is determined/set by how many packs get it. The only difference is you know the contents of one, but the principle of distribution per product=rarity remains the same.
I wonder what the theme will be for these. Random 4-color legends? Old ones as cards? And if the former, from which plane(s)?
Maybe they won't all be creatures. Something like Urza as a WUBR planeswalker commander?
They are going to sit on planeswalkers commanders I think.
Doesn't make much sense to go 4 colour creatures AND planeswalkers in the same product when this is an annual release.
It does if RG Legend flips into BW walker. And gets rid of the pesky need for "~ can be your commander," text. Although I agree I don't think it will be planeswalkers again for a bit.
Yeah, I can't really take that statement seriously, simply due to how the cards here work.
Tamiyo is the first Bant walker and that ult is extremely powerful, and her + and - abilities are pretty useful as well. Will be seen for sure.
Elder Deep-Fiend will be seen as well. Biggish dude about to die? Pay two blue and suddenly you have a bigger baddie who taps down some stuff while he's at it.
On that note, Emerge is a strong mechanic. There's a lot of stuff on the 3-4-5 CMC scale that you don't mind sacrificing to big Emerge dudes as they've done their job anyway. Suddenly you have a cheap fatty.
Decimator of the Provinces looks like an uncounterable Overrun most of the time. When is that a bad thing for Green swarm decks?
Emrakul, the marquee card of the set, will see play. It's especially mean with Ugin's Nexus, making for a double whammy.
Brisela may have the downside of the new Gisela not really being an EDH card, but Bruna certainly is and it gives Angel-based decks a new whammy. Oh, or Gaddock Teeg decks? Who have plenty of ways to tutor for the two?
Thalia is an improved Imposing Sovereign, making her great for hatebear decks. She's also a fantastic hate piece against Richboy McMoneybags and his 10 fetches 10 duals 10 shocks lists. Thalia's Lancers, in the meantime, is a blinkable tutor with a decent body, and thus will see play.
Blue has gotten a lot of control/spellslinger support already, between Curious Homunculous/Voracious Reader, Delver 3.0, and Niblis of Frost. Unsubstantiate is an EDH staple with the Ashcoat Bear removed, so that will see play too.
I could go on, but there's already a lot that will be slotted into various decks. Whether they're fit for your decks is a question for another time, but you cannot say this set brings nothing new.
Also Gisa & Geralf is the best Dimir Zombie Tribal legend ever.
Tamiyo is good. Very good.
Elder deep fiend is a way worse cryptic command.
Decimator is a worse craterhoof.
Emrakul may be the worst of the big eldrazi yet printed.
Brisela is unplayable if half your meld eats a swords/path. Alone one is alright, but worse than baneslayer.
Thalia is good in hatebears, and I'll get one eventually for my Teeg deck, but I already have artifacts/enchantments that are harder to kill that do her job.
Gisa and Geralf roll over to wheel of sun and moon, Leyline of the void, two enchantments their colors can't deal with. Havenghoul Lich does their job 10x better in 100% of scenarios. They should have just had his ability, then I'd be mildly impressed.
I have around ten decks. If I can barely find one-two worthwhile cards, one because she's obviously been pushed to ridiculous levels to sell an otherwise lackluster set, I call that a bust. I'm not saying these cards are strictly unplayable, I'm saying for each instance you find there's already a card that does it better, and most of them printed within recent years so they're easily attainable, for me. I have 7 cryptic commands from my standard playing days. Will I ever play that janky octopus? Nope.
Not all commander players are as competitive as you. For instance, I am looking forward to slotting the "ultimate" delver in one of my decks.
That's the thing: I play a full range of decks. My Norin deck is all chaos. Whim of the fates, warp world, omen machine, etc. it is not competitive. I even have a Wrexial deck that is strictly a theme deck with the general altered to president Cthulhu. Nothing goes in that deck if it isn't totally on theme. It's so bad. It's never won a game. But each time I play it, it's fun because I explain why each card is leading to the summoning of the Elder God. I play EDH for all facets of the format, and I'm just totally underwhelmed with this set. Sorry. Seems like some people don't want to hear that. I didn't realize it was New Card Discussion Only if You Like the New Cards.
@Mrdown2urth I did sell a play set of promo's actually. I kept the rest in case I ever play another format where they're useful, and I'd still have a few for EDH.
So you play an all Cthulhu themed Wrexial deck... and you have no slots and aren't excited for Elder Deep Fiend? In a Non competitive build?
Yeah. Because I don't get the darkness vibe from it. It just taps some stuff. Don't get me wrong, it was close, but eh. I'm keeping "pay 8 tap 8" guy in that slot. Partly because when I cast him the "wtf is that" looks are awesome. If elder deep-fiend caused you or others to sac on cast/ETB? He's probably make it. If he destroyed something? Sure. But he's an elder deep-fiend and all he can do is occupy stuff(tapping) vs. destroying(bounce), he's not that elder or that much of a fiend.
Just looking at the card for the first time since I bought it, what part of him is blue? The size vs cost is green/red. The random is red. Wtf is blue about this card?
This is so terrible. 7 mana? And all you gain is 6 at the start? They added an ancestral recall onto an omniscience because that wasn't enough and then put this garbage out. "But it's 13x2, the flavors!". What flavor? Why not 13x3? Or x4?
If it was 4x the card would completely destroy Limited.
I honestly think this is a conscious reference to Archangel's Light.
I get that.
With how much it affects set design I almost wish they'd make a separate product for drafting, because one format holding the rest hostage when it comes to card design is getting old. The card still didn't need to be rare. Uncommon would have been fine, and not warped limited as it doesn't stack in your opening hand.
Is Archangel's light really something that needs referenced?<---What someone in Design and Development should have said.
Entropic uprising has Army of the damned. Doesn't come with 13 zombie tokens. Wizards FAILED hard on this one. I understand no being able to prepare for how many Elemental or Soldier tokens one might make, but c'mon. I played this deck out of the box last week as was thoroughly disappointed it didn't have the 13 tokens in it. Then I got over it and used dice for the last 3 :).
That's fair. Between swords/path/bolt he's got a lot of efficient stuff to live through. However, I have seen many Legacy games won by a single snapcaster who attacked for 6+ turns.
Obviously that's not ideal or the planned route to victory. I just think the effect attached on to him makes this Magus a "real" card in that format.
I think it absolutely is legacy playable. It's a decent sized body with a very powerful effect at a low mana cost. 3 is a lot more in legacy than other formats, but not terribly so.
The answer to this card is fast pressure. I hate the card too, but my meta's infested with it and the best answer I have found outside of playing on of my blue decks with it too, is pressure. Force them to use it in combat, and not at EOT. Recast most of your stuff. And it's not so bad. I own the card. I play it too. I hate it with a passion.
Bribery is just dumb. My mono-g Selvala deck plays no good targets for it on purpose. There's nothing worse than someone grabbing blightsteel on turn 3 with it. Maybe an eldrazi.
I don't think they will be enchantments. I actually hope they aren't. They don't have to be. If they are, that's a really fast possible return to devotion. I don't think they'd use devotion, but I'm not sure how they'd represent that transition differently. Maybe a "fixed" affinity, which would play well with Kaladesh, although I'm not sure you can fix affinity. Or they could use metal craft.
Either way, I hope they aren't enchantments.
He is the MtG poster boy, so why wouldn't she? The way WotC just has to involve him I'm fully expecting "Jace, Messiah on the Cross", as a card in "Return to Ravnica...Again".
Still, I enjoyed the ending, if not the journey in this block's story.
I liked the payoff here. The whole time I was reading I was waiting for the mindslaver, and thought it wasn't coming. Well done, WotC creative team.
lol. The rarity of regular expansions is determined/set by how many packs get it. The only difference is you know the contents of one, but the principle of distribution per product=rarity remains the same.
It does if RG Legend flips into BW walker. And gets rid of the pesky need for "~ can be your commander," text. Although I agree I don't think it will be planeswalkers again for a bit.
Yeah. Because I don't get the darkness vibe from it. It just taps some stuff. Don't get me wrong, it was close, but eh. I'm keeping "pay 8 tap 8" guy in that slot. Partly because when I cast him the "wtf is that" looks are awesome. If elder deep-fiend caused you or others to sac on cast/ETB? He's probably make it. If he destroyed something? Sure. But he's an elder deep-fiend and all he can do is occupy stuff(tapping) vs. destroying(bounce), he's not that elder or that much of a fiend.
Yep. At the cash register. Don't buy it.
I get that.
With how much it affects set design I almost wish they'd make a separate product for drafting, because one format holding the rest hostage when it comes to card design is getting old. The card still didn't need to be rare. Uncommon would have been fine, and not warped limited as it doesn't stack in your opening hand.
Is Archangel's light really something that needs referenced?<---What someone in Design and Development should have said.