His name is weird, the 'p' in Varolz, the Scar-Striped does not match typical name-font (I'm referencing Precinct Captain and Sunspire Griffin).
This. The "p" and the mana symbols are too far down than normal printing (you should see some color between the bottom of the letter and the art border. Unless this was a printing error (you don't see one aspect out of whack), then I might have to call fake. The Set Symbol is too far over if you look at it with the card type line, not the P/T box. And if the person took the picture, why didn't we get an artist name or collector's number. Seems too convenient.
The ability is good, and makes sense with the guild.
It's the little things that don't completely add up. Would I be shocked if this was real? No. But because today's the 1st...
While I'm (obviously) glad that Enchantment won (and good game Land people), I believe after this vote it will be Arua or not, if anyone wants to lean in that direction. If you're going the "Restrictions Breed Creativity" route like you were with Lands, vote Green.
I figured I might as well just start a new thread for this. I'll be updating the info as we get it. All times are my local time (PST). I am not at the panel, just following as many as I can on Twitter.
10:31 - Marshall Sutcliffe said that the panel is being recorded, but it won't be streaming. It will be released sometime after the panel.
10:35 - @David_Leavitt tweets this photo. Looks like we're almost good to go.
10:41 - @Richstein13 "Taking about DotP 2014 which features Chandra. Big applause for mobile releases. (Rich) #paxeast"
10:42 - "Friends" announced as Theros. @Marshall_LR: "https://twitter.com/Marshall_LR/status/315518732313182209/photo/1"
10:44 - "Romans" and Countrymen" announced as "Born of the Gods" and "Journey Into Nix" @Mulldrifting "https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519081300254721/photo/1"
10:46 - @Dr_Jeebus "Just saw a video with all 10 guild champions. I think more new ones than new guild leaders."
10:47 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) #MTGDGM (Dragon's Maze) will feature the maze discovered by Niv Mizzet, and will determine the ruler of the Ravnica guilds."
10:49 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) There will be 10 champions - one for each guild, who will run the maze. #MTGDGM"
10:53 - @Dr_Jeebus gives us the Gruul Champion text: "Ruric-That, the Unborn 4GR, mythic, Legendary Creature - 6/6 vigilance reach. Must attack. Whenever anyone plays a noncreature, they take 6."
10:53 - @Dr_Jeebus "Guildgates all have "new" art. They're all zoomed out from the original artwork."
10:57 - @David_Leavitt tweets this art: https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315522357043281920/photo/1
10:59 - All three eBooks, via @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315522604263960576/photo/1
11:00 - All Guild Champions are RARE. Full Ruric Thar, the Unbound (Gruul Champion) from @mtgleaks https://twitter.com/mtgleaks/status/315522947207016448/photo/1
11:02 - The Poster of the maze that will be used at the prerelease. @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315523431695265792/photo/1
11:03 - Maze's End does excatly as spoiled (via @Dr_Jeebus). EDIT: "Oh, win condition triggers when you search for a land, not eot as previously thought." Only photo so far (looks like to be the prerelease foil), via @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315523831454388225/photo/1
11:06 - @Mulldrifting "Completing the Maze at your Prerelease gets you a special code that you can redeem." https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315524416228450304/photo/1
11:07 - Q&A time, via @Dr_Jeebus
11:14 - @Dr_Jeebus "On Modern Masters: "It will be available, but it won't be available for very long."
11:16 - @Mulldrifting ""With Modern we feel like we're almost there." - "if you want Scg to run Modern you should let them know that" Scott Larabee" (So, tell @Mulldrifting) EDIT: "Context for "almost there" - He means the Modern ban list and its experimentation period @ScottLarabee"
11:16 - @Dr_Jeebus "Gates must have ten different names for Maze's End's win con."
11:20 - @Mulldrifting "Cipher underpowered? "I feel like we got a better handle on cipher costs and effects for Limited" @davetron"
11:23 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: What do you want to see for the future of Magic? A: (Lots of answers) Accessibility across platforms. Easier to access."
11:26 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Legendary creature roles changed a bit when Planeswalkers were created. In R&D we consider every Legendary's role in Commander."
11:27 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: #MTGGTC seemed more Commander influenced than #MTGRTR in terms of creature costs vs effects."
EDIT: @Wizard_Magic "A: (long answer) We never want two sets to seem exactly the same. We also weigh the needs of Legacy and other formats for long term R&D."
11:29 - @Mulldrifting "They did admit Geist of St Traft and Invisible Stalker were too efficient @davetron #MTG #PAX"
11:34 - @Richstein13 "Q: (Izzet) How intertwined will paper and online game become? A: Will only get digital products, not paper, from promo code (Rich) #paxeast"
11:39 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: On mana ramp cards. A: Ramp can be easily over saturated in STD format. There was purposefully less in #MTGGTC."
EDIT: @Wizards_Magic "Cont.- we know ramping to large creatures is fun, but in STD environments, too much ramp potentially dominates interactions vs other decks."
11:14 - @mulldrifting shows a Chandra handout as they leave the hall. EDIT: Seems to be a limited printing signed by the artist. Looks like the panel is over.
The Possibilites are a lot more vast than there are for enchantments...
Wrong.
Enchantments have the most design space of the two card types left. Almost anything that you can put on a creature you can put on an enchantment, and just the opposite as well. Lands don't always have that function.
Oh, and that's just one possibility.
Lands have to tap for mana, and maybe do one other thing as well. Enchantments, well, they can do so much more than lands. It's not just acting as auras enchanting lands, or other permanents. They can take over games, preventing the other player from casting spells or giving you benefits to help destroy your enemies. In fact, Enchantments can totally benefit lands, cause them to double their mana source or even change the color of the mana they produce. The number of enchantments that you see each set vastly outweigh the number of nonbasic lands. Why?
Because there's that much design space for enchantments.
You might think that a bunch of enchantments are "bad" and "unplayable" and think that because there are so many "passable" lands, then there's that much more space to use. You're wrong. There are so many restrictions placed on lands it's not even funny. Lands have to be "better" because there are fewer of them printed; look at Planeswalkers. If there was so much space for lands, they'd be printing them left and right. They could afford to "make mistakes" with "bad lands". But they don't.
There's more design space in lands then there is in enchantments? Please, don't patronize me.
I've said this once, and I'll say it again: Lands don't have the design space that Enchantments have. It's way too early to start restricting ourselves into such a tiny area to work with.
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1219
This. The "p" and the mana symbols are too far down than normal printing (you should see some color between the bottom of the letter and the art border. Unless this was a printing error (you don't see one aspect out of whack), then I might have to call fake. The Set Symbol is too far over if you look at it with the card type line, not the P/T box. And if the person took the picture, why didn't we get an artist name or collector's number. Seems too convenient.
The ability is good, and makes sense with the guild.
It's the little things that don't completely add up. Would I be shocked if this was real? No. But because today's the 1st...
10:31 - Marshall Sutcliffe said that the panel is being recorded, but it won't be streaming. It will be released sometime after the panel.
10:35 - @David_Leavitt tweets this photo. Looks like we're almost good to go.
10:41 - @Richstein13 "Taking about DotP 2014 which features Chandra. Big applause for mobile releases. (Rich) #paxeast"
10:42 - "Friends" announced as Theros. @Marshall_LR: "https://twitter.com/Marshall_LR/status/315518732313182209/photo/1"
10:44 - "Romans" and Countrymen" announced as "Born of the Gods" and "Journey Into Nix" @Mulldrifting "https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519081300254721/photo/1"
10:46 - @Dr_Jeebus "Just saw a video with all 10 guild champions. I think more new ones than new guild leaders."
10:47 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) #MTGDGM (Dragon's Maze) will feature the maze discovered by Niv Mizzet, and will determine the ruler of the Ravnica guilds."
10:49 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) There will be 10 champions - one for each guild, who will run the maze. #MTGDGM"
10:53 - @Dr_Jeebus gives us the Gruul Champion text: "Ruric-That, the Unborn 4GR, mythic, Legendary Creature - 6/6 vigilance reach. Must attack. Whenever anyone plays a noncreature, they take 6."
10:53 - @Dr_Jeebus "Guildgates all have "new" art. They're all zoomed out from the original artwork."
10:57 - @David_Leavitt tweets this art: https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315522357043281920/photo/1
10:59 - All three eBooks, via @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315522604263960576/photo/1
11:00 - All Guild Champions are RARE. Full Ruric Thar, the Unbound (Gruul Champion) from @mtgleaks https://twitter.com/mtgleaks/status/315522947207016448/photo/1
11:02 - The Poster of the maze that will be used at the prerelease. @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315523431695265792/photo/1
11:03 - Maze's End does excatly as spoiled (via @Dr_Jeebus). EDIT: "Oh, win condition triggers when you search for a land, not eot as previously thought." Only photo so far (looks like to be the prerelease foil), via @Mulldrifting https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315523831454388225/photo/1
11:06 - @Mulldrifting "Completing the Maze at your Prerelease gets you a special code that you can redeem." https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315524416228450304/photo/1
11:07 - Q&A time, via @Dr_Jeebus
11:14 - @Dr_Jeebus "On Modern Masters: "It will be available, but it won't be available for very long."
11:16 - @Mulldrifting ""With Modern we feel like we're almost there." - "if you want Scg to run Modern you should let them know that" Scott Larabee" (So, tell @Mulldrifting) EDIT: "Context for "almost there" - He means the Modern ban list and its experimentation period @ScottLarabee"
11:16 - @Dr_Jeebus "Gates must have ten different names for Maze's End's win con."
11:20 - @Mulldrifting "Cipher underpowered? "I feel like we got a better handle on cipher costs and effects for Limited" @davetron"
11:23 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: What do you want to see for the future of Magic? A: (Lots of answers) Accessibility across platforms. Easier to access."
11:26 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Legendary creature roles changed a bit when Planeswalkers were created. In R&D we consider every Legendary's role in Commander."
11:27 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: #MTGGTC seemed more Commander influenced than #MTGRTR in terms of creature costs vs effects."
EDIT: @Wizard_Magic "A: (long answer) We never want two sets to seem exactly the same. We also weigh the needs of Legacy and other formats for long term R&D."
11:29 - @Mulldrifting "They did admit Geist of St Traft and Invisible Stalker were too efficient @davetron #MTG #PAX"
11:34 - @Richstein13 "Q: (Izzet) How intertwined will paper and online game become? A: Will only get digital products, not paper, from promo code (Rich) #paxeast"
11:39 - @Wizards_Magic "(Sean) Q: On mana ramp cards. A: Ramp can be easily over saturated in STD format. There was purposefully less in #MTGGTC."
EDIT: @Wizards_Magic "Cont.- we know ramping to large creatures is fun, but in STD environments, too much ramp potentially dominates interactions vs other decks."
11:14 - @mulldrifting shows a Chandra handout as they leave the hall. EDIT: Seems to be a limited printing signed by the artist. Looks like the panel is over.
Guild Champions with their art:
Azorius - Lavinia of the Tenth (https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315520676184354816/photo/1)
Boros - Tajic, Blade of the Legion (https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315521641713123328/photo/1)
Dimir - Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker (https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315520741279932416/photo/1)
Golgari - Varloz, the Scar-Striped (https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315520238093484032/photo/1)
Gruul - Ruric-Thar, The Unbowed (https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315521088157265921/photo/1)
Izzet - Melek, Izzet Paragon https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315520130706706432/photo/1
Orzhov - Teysa, Envy of Ghosts (https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315521028644290560/photo/1)
Rakdos - Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch (https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315521759543701504/photo/1)
Selesnya - Emmara Tandris (https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315520566142586881/photo/1)
Simic - Vorel of the Hull Clade (https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315521512419504128/photo/1)
Various arts:
- https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/315522357043281920/photo/1
- https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519796135460864/photo/1
- https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519751487123456/photo/1
- https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519858429280256/photo/1
- https://twitter.com/mulldrifting/status/315519918382665728/photo/1
If a Mod wants to clean this up, go ahead. I think I'm done here.
Wrong.
Enchantments have the most design space of the two card types left. Almost anything that you can put on a creature you can put on an enchantment, and just the opposite as well. Lands don't always have that function.
Oh, and that's just one possibility.
Lands have to tap for mana, and maybe do one other thing as well. Enchantments, well, they can do so much more than lands. It's not just acting as auras enchanting lands, or other permanents. They can take over games, preventing the other player from casting spells or giving you benefits to help destroy your enemies. In fact, Enchantments can totally benefit lands, cause them to double their mana source or even change the color of the mana they produce. The number of enchantments that you see each set vastly outweigh the number of nonbasic lands. Why?
Because there's that much design space for enchantments.
You might think that a bunch of enchantments are "bad" and "unplayable" and think that because there are so many "passable" lands, then there's that much more space to use. You're wrong. There are so many restrictions placed on lands it's not even funny. Lands have to be "better" because there are fewer of them printed; look at Planeswalkers. If there was so much space for lands, they'd be printing them left and right. They could afford to "make mistakes" with "bad lands". But they don't.
There's more design space in lands then there is in enchantments? Please, don't patronize me.
Vote enchantments.
I still don't think it's the best type to design in a vote. Go enchantments.
Reprinting basic snow lands in Modern Masters might be a possibility. The use of snow mana could make for some nice limited cards.
Won't happen. That's part of the deal with making them FTV.