The official formats for both RtR and Gatecrash feature three consecutive booster packs of the respective set, i.e. RtR-RtR-RtR or, after the release of Gatecrash, GTC-GTC-GTC. Upon the release of Dragon's Maze, however, the format will once again be warped, so that the draft format will consist of all three sets, in order of latest-->first, as so: DGM-GTC-RtR.
I'm still seriously bugged by the first mode, though. I mean, why did they make this when Simic Charm has the same ability, only better? What was the incentive to not just make it a Turn to Mist that could only target your creatures? Would've made so much more sense with the new Ghost Dad and all that (y'know, for Orzhov's sake).
The first mode seems weird with SImic Charm also running around... Shouldn't it say "Target creature you own" instead? At least then, it'd be good post-Mind Control.
Then again, can't wait to respond to someone trying to kill my Soul Ransom by bouncing the creature and my ransom while still netting myself the two cards
Boros keyrune is very deceptive, nobody is afraid of a 1/1 double striker until they let it through and you buff it up into a 5/1 double striker, it acts as mana otherwise and enables battalion when you need it to, like all artifacts, it is immunity to sorcery speed removal, i have a feeling this card will look better when the entire set is revealed.
I didn't quite think of the Battalion enabling factor... This could turn out better than expected. At least it's still miles better than Izzet Keyrune.
Beyond that, I fail to see how this isn't a good card. Unlike most of the other guildmages, he requires no extra work to be a force on his own. Sure, the 'make a 1/1' does kinda fall flat next to Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage's populate ability, but at least this one doesn't need either 6 mana or another token generator to get going. This guy will have it a lot easier winning on his own than, say, Nivix Guildmage or even Zameck Guildmage (which I think is highly overrated).
Comparing to Duskmantle Guildmage, both his abilities seem better, seeing as they actually affect the board when you're behind/on parity with your opponent. The pump seems better for breaking board stalls and ruining combat math than the random drain 1's, and making a dude must be somewhat better than just milling two cards.
That is one expensive mill spell. I guess Mind Funeral would've been OP? This had the same effect for double the mana o.O
EDIT: Also, I was reeeally rooting for a Boros Swiftblade throwback on that keyrune. Guess that was too powerful as well?
EDIT2: Another comment on Mind Grind: People saying this is good in constructed are not realizing what it really does. Let's say your deck is 26/60 lands, playing control in Standard. This means that roughly every 2.3 cards will be a land when using this thing. With that math, firing this off for, let's say, 10 mana (X=8) would mill someone for 8*2.3=18.4 cards. This, in turn, means that if you manage to fire this off, tapping ten of your hard-acquired lands to fire off one big spell on your main phase, avoiding a counterspell, you only manage to mill ~half their deck. That doesn't seem like such a good deal, especially when most control decks right now run some number of Counterflux/Dissipate.
Besides, why wouldn't you just rather cast a Sphinx's Revelation on your opp's end step and go nuts with that?
It isn't. They've been using the art from the Herald cycle for about every announcement since they were printed.
Every WMCQ in every country hands out these.
Then again, can't wait to respond to someone trying to kill my Soul Ransom by bouncing the creature and my ransom while still netting myself the two cards
I didn't quite think of the Battalion enabling factor... This could turn out better than expected. At least it's still miles better than Izzet Keyrune.
He obviously meant Rix Maadi Guildmage.
Beyond that, I fail to see how this isn't a good card. Unlike most of the other guildmages, he requires no extra work to be a force on his own. Sure, the 'make a 1/1' does kinda fall flat next to Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage's populate ability, but at least this one doesn't need either 6 mana or another token generator to get going. This guy will have it a lot easier winning on his own than, say, Nivix Guildmage or even Zameck Guildmage (which I think is highly overrated).
Comparing to Duskmantle Guildmage, both his abilities seem better, seeing as they actually affect the board when you're behind/on parity with your opponent. The pump seems better for breaking board stalls and ruining combat math than the random drain 1's, and making a dude must be somewhat better than just milling two cards.
EDIT: Also, I was reeeally rooting for a Boros Swiftblade throwback on that keyrune. Guess that was too powerful as well?
EDIT2: Another comment on Mind Grind: People saying this is good in constructed are not realizing what it really does. Let's say your deck is 26/60 lands, playing control in Standard. This means that roughly every 2.3 cards will be a land when using this thing. With that math, firing this off for, let's say, 10 mana (X=8) would mill someone for 8*2.3=18.4 cards. This, in turn, means that if you manage to fire this off, tapping ten of your hard-acquired lands to fire off one big spell on your main phase, avoiding a counterspell, you only manage to mill ~half their deck. That doesn't seem like such a good deal, especially when most control decks right now run some number of Counterflux/Dissipate.
Besides, why wouldn't you just rather cast a Sphinx's Revelation on your opp's end step and go nuts with that?