Serra's Realm--hotness! And ya know what ya know what that means ya know what? PHYREXIA has to be in there baby!
No, seriously. I'd be shocked if it were not, seriously shocked.
My question is -- each of the four decks has 10 plane cards, yes? But is it the same 10 in each deck? I'm guessing so, but hoping for more
The most likely:
Serra's Realm - lock.
Phyrexia
Kamigawa
Lorwyn/Shadowmoor - perhaps it's a flip card? hah. Not sure how they'd do this honestly...
Ravnica
Rabiah -- can't get much more exotic than that.
Ulgrotha is a Vorthos favorite, but they usually try to avoid the taint that is Homelands, so they may avoid it. Shandalar would be even more hotness for a story goober, so I doubt we'd see both. Mercadia would be a wonderful plane to visit, but it was only in the one set and that's also not fondly remembered. Rath may be a lock as well, but as Phyrexia is already up there they might overlap (hah, Rath, overlap.) Mirrodin likewise covers some of the same territory as Phyrexia, flavorwise--and if they do Mirrodin over Phyrexia, I swear by Yawgmoth's ineffable name I'll flip the hell out. Alara is pretty new, but that art we can't recognize looks a bit like the Maelstrom Nexus to me. At least, I can't think of anything else it could be.
Then, of course, there's Dominaria, the homeworld, the largest and most varied plane we've seen. They basically HAVE to do it, but it shouldn't be special. It should be the NORMAL world--maybe the Plane deck starts there? I dunno.
Other planes of note: Wildfire, the burning efreet plane, if some of the decks come with specific planes (the Elemental deck would make the most sense there). Sergovia would be amusing but nobody's clamoring for it (then again, Big/Small world is always the coolest in Mario games). Zendikar is actually hugely likely to be in there, as a sort of flavor preview of the block to come. Cridhe or Equilor or a bunch of other minor planes would be filler, nobody really gives a crap there.
So, assuming there's exactly 10, my list?
Dominaria
Serra's Realm
Phyrexia
Rath
Mercadia
Kamigawa
Ravnica
Ulgrotha
Rabiah
Mirrodin (I'd much prefer Shandalar, but Mirrodin is much more likely)
Looking forward to this. Oooh, ooh, do you get a bonus for controlling Skyship Weatherlight?
This may sound retarded at first, but any thoughts about Mosswort Bridge? With a Naught in play, you can cast whatever's hidden as an instant--such as another Naught, or a Stifle. Or, if you have some slots to spare, a Protean Hulk...
There might be a bit. PM me an email address, I'll send the document to ya, or contact Oracle of Truth and coordinate with him to make sure all the info gets up there.
Another concern I noticed, stumbling through the wiki a while back--there seems to be some information ported directly from Phyrexia.com there. The problem is, Phyrexia.com was kinda crap for fact-checking at best, and contained incorrect or downright made-up info from time to time. I posted a comment on the article I found, but otherwise just be careful with anything mentioned only on Phyrexia.
When you say 'land destruction,' you mean universal land destruction, yes? Just things that sweep all or many lands, not pinpoint land removal. Because that would be silly.
My area has banned Armageddon effects from casual play, which is how we usually play EDH. If any of you find it really annoying, I suggest running Oath of Lieges... it helps EVERYONE dig back out, and makes you a lot of friends at the table to boot :D.
Oh it is! I managed to win a game a week or two back, my Phelddagrifs giving another player enough tokens to keep the strong third at bay long enough for me to set all our lives at 80 or so, until I decked them all off a Temporal Cascade and Prosperity.
Should be getting my hands on Hypergenesis soon. Eureka isn't exactly likely though....
Changed Weird Harvest to Captivating Glance. The Harvest favored aggro decks too much perhaps, while the Glance works wonderfully in multiplayer. "Enchant Bob's Colossus. End of turn, clash with Pete..."
Considering Clear the Land (helps with decking and a nice universal accelerant), Crib Swap/Afterlife (Dangerous creature-b-gone, but here's a consolation prize), Angus Mackenzie because it's goofy and hilarious and keeps people alive; Dawnstrider because it's easier to get and use (though less hilarious), Rofellos's Gift or Crystal Chimes or something in case a Disk or Vengeance wipes my helpin cards, Safeguard for late game stallings/keeping someone alive, Solitary Confinement as a stall/win condition, and Wheel and Deal as a nice 'hurry up and deck already' thing. Any thoughts on any of those?
This deck has almost no way to win. In a duel or even 3 player game, it just dies. Because all this deck does is help the other players. The strategy is to be SO nice to EVERYONE that nobody else wants to kill you, and they take each other out for you. Then, hopefully, deck them, or if they have any Feldon's Cane shenanigans or whatever, maybe general damage? (Phelddagrif is pretty strong, and hard to keep dead). But frankly, this doesn't outright win many matches, but it makes them awesome. And as a bonus, it lets me play tons of terrible cards that other players have to go 'the hell?' and read, then have fun benefiting from.
Jushi Apprentice could be a win card, but usually it just dies before I can activate the flipped ability. I don't have a Jace, but he'll go in here once I get one.
Anyone have any other ideas that would stay within the deck's style, but let it actually win occasionally? Or other awesome helper cards perhaps?
It's a new month, which means it's time for you to pick the best of last month!
You have before you all of March's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here! Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
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sent the document to Oracle of Truth. The glossary is basically anything that happened in the old comics, lots of insight. Also lots of really minor details, but hey, someone might care about Root Spiders.
When I was still active, I was slowly inputting all the information from an old prerevisionist database that Zazdor gave me, with basically everything from all the old comics. I got 60% through it, or thereabouts, before burning out; would someone be interested in finishing the job? I'm sure I could dig the document back up if need be.
The card everyone is ignoring because they don't want it, but I'm almost certain will be in: Dingus Egg. It was on the very first banned list, because land destruction was 'too powerful. Yes, its a booby prize. And exactly the sort of thing they'd do.
I'd give fair odds on Mana Drain though. Yes, this will increase supply--slightly. FtV has a REALLY low printrun and a good chunk of them don't get opened, though, so the market value of old ones wouldn't change appreciably. I also expect at least ONE hard-to-find card on there, similar to say Thunder Dragon from the last one (not to mention the Alara preprint... don't expect a preprint this time, folks!)
Either Necropotence or Yawgmoth's Bargain are a lock, probably the Skull. Too defining not to have. I'd be shocked if we didn't get at least one card of each color, and red gives few options, so I'd go with Lackey there, it's way more exciting than Burning Wish. Worldgorger Dragon also a solid possibility, both are quite possible. Ali from Cairo could also be on there... but nobody wants to see that, and WotC knows it. If they're gonna print a valuable card, it'll be a usefulish one like Drain or Berserk
Oath of Druids seems like the best option for green--something good and playable still in Vintage, but not hugely expensive. Channel seems an auto-lock as well--not only is it restricted/banned, but it was one of the cards instrumental on getting ALL cards 'restricted'--to four per deck. Fastbond would be good too, but both it an Channel would overrepresent Limited Edition.
For a second white card, Land Tax and Enlightened Tutor are the ONLY other real options, and Tax is definitely the better one. Hasn't been seen since 4th, still powerful but not broken (occasionally hear discussion of letting Legacy have it back), it'd be nice to see. Possibly with good art for once.
Black doesn't have many options left. With Demonic Tutor in the next Duel Decks, what's left? Well, tutors. Demonic Consultation, Doomsday, Imperial Seal (highly unlikely, but hilarious if they go through with it), Vampiric Tutor. The only other choice is Disciple of the Vault, and while it's certainly powerful enough to go here, it's a motha****** puppet common. And not a money one, a bloody 25 cent at most common. I'm thinking Vampiric Tutor here, with a longshot call on Imperial Seal. I would say Doomsday, but it and Necro both being BBB looks weird.
So, I've got
Balance
Land Tax
Necropotence
Vampiric Tutor
Goblin Lackey
Worldgorger Dragon
Oath of Druids
Channel
Dingus Egg
I haven't done blue yet, because blue has the most stuff to chose from (of the colors, at least. Brainstorm is the best common, but we saw it not TOO long ago in a Coldsnap precon, and it's still not TOO hard to find thanks to reprintings. Frantic Search wouldn't be as exciting as Gush, though I don't think either is too likely. Flash would be a good one because of it's high profile, Mind's Desire (despite being a recent judge foil) could be great as well, and give the set some appeal for Extended players. Recall would be bleh, but do-able if they want to balance out price/power level with something strong. Serendib Efreet would be an interesting choice you couldn't really argue with. Stroke of Genius was wonderful and they should really represent the Urza bannings somehow. Possibly with Tinker, which is way way WAY more iconic, and probably a lock. Windfall wouldn't suck either, but there's more exciting options. Hurkyl's Recall seems like something they'd do and we'd hate them for, but seriously, Tinker is a way better choice. My call: Flash, Tinker, Mind's Desire.
So I have three slots left for artifacts and lands? Lotus Petal seems like a lock to me as well, leaving two. Ancient Tomb brings me to one. And as much as I'd love Sol Ring, Arcbound Ravager is both infamous and still extended viable--meaning again that non-eternal players would have some reason to buy this.
So, again with my picks, * for ones I'm fairly confident of.
Balance* (hur)
Land Tax*
Mind's Desire
Flash
Tinker
Necropotence*
Vampiric Tutor
Goblin Lackey*
Worldgorger Dragon
Oath of Druids
Channel*
Dingus Egg*
Lotus Petal*
Arcbound Ravager
Ancient Tomb*
I would seriously not be surprised to see Online Classic become a paper format, once they have filled in all the sets Mirage forward. Then again, with all the Masters editions, they may just be turning Classic into Legacy.
I seem to recall MaRo floating the idea of 'build your own standard' as a possible format, letting you play old cards without allowing tooooo much brokenness... but that would be a pain for organizers.
Yeah, I wasn't playing during Limited-Revised, so I didn't have my own memories to rely upon. The cards are still there so the facts were available, but I didn't have so many jokes to crack, hah. Even had I been playing at the time, I'd have been roughly nine at the time.
The entire purpose of the article is to examine the development and repurposing of the core sets, so I'm not sure why you think discussing the hodgepodginess of 5th or the new card frames was out of place. It's a retrospective; those details were both pretty essential to the identity of those two sets, and to their impact.
No, seriously. I'd be shocked if it were not, seriously shocked.
My question is -- each of the four decks has 10 plane cards, yes? But is it the same 10 in each deck? I'm guessing so, but hoping for more
The most likely:
Serra's Realm - lock.
Phyrexia
Kamigawa
Lorwyn/Shadowmoor - perhaps it's a flip card? hah. Not sure how they'd do this honestly...
Ravnica
Rabiah -- can't get much more exotic than that.
Ulgrotha is a Vorthos favorite, but they usually try to avoid the taint that is Homelands, so they may avoid it. Shandalar would be even more hotness for a story goober, so I doubt we'd see both. Mercadia would be a wonderful plane to visit, but it was only in the one set and that's also not fondly remembered. Rath may be a lock as well, but as Phyrexia is already up there they might overlap (hah, Rath, overlap.) Mirrodin likewise covers some of the same territory as Phyrexia, flavorwise--and if they do Mirrodin over Phyrexia, I swear by Yawgmoth's ineffable name I'll flip the hell out. Alara is pretty new, but that art we can't recognize looks a bit like the Maelstrom Nexus to me. At least, I can't think of anything else it could be.
Then, of course, there's Dominaria, the homeworld, the largest and most varied plane we've seen. They basically HAVE to do it, but it shouldn't be special. It should be the NORMAL world--maybe the Plane deck starts there? I dunno.
Other planes of note: Wildfire, the burning efreet plane, if some of the decks come with specific planes (the Elemental deck would make the most sense there). Sergovia would be amusing but nobody's clamoring for it (then again, Big/Small world is always the coolest in Mario games). Zendikar is actually hugely likely to be in there, as a sort of flavor preview of the block to come. Cridhe or Equilor or a bunch of other minor planes would be filler, nobody really gives a crap there.
So, assuming there's exactly 10, my list?
Dominaria
Serra's Realm
Phyrexia
Rath
Mercadia
Kamigawa
Ravnica
Ulgrotha
Rabiah
Mirrodin (I'd much prefer Shandalar, but Mirrodin is much more likely)
Looking forward to this. Oooh, ooh, do you get a bonus for controlling Skyship Weatherlight?
Another concern I noticed, stumbling through the wiki a while back--there seems to be some information ported directly from Phyrexia.com there. The problem is, Phyrexia.com was kinda crap for fact-checking at best, and contained incorrect or downright made-up info from time to time. I posted a comment on the article I found, but otherwise just be careful with anything mentioned only on Phyrexia.
My area has banned Armageddon effects from casual play, which is how we usually play EDH. If any of you find it really annoying, I suggest running Oath of Lieges... it helps EVERYONE dig back out, and makes you a lot of friends at the table to boot :D.
Edit: Eh, people don't wanna mill for it, doesn't do as much as I expected. Tossed in a Wargate instead to see how it works.
Should be getting my hands on Hypergenesis soon. Eureka isn't exactly likely though....
Changed Weird Harvest to Captivating Glance. The Harvest favored aggro decks too much perhaps, while the Glance works wonderfully in multiplayer. "Enchant Bob's Colossus. End of turn, clash with Pete..."
Considering Clear the Land (helps with decking and a nice universal accelerant), Crib Swap/Afterlife (Dangerous creature-b-gone, but here's a consolation prize), Angus Mackenzie because it's goofy and hilarious and keeps people alive; Dawnstrider because it's easier to get and use (though less hilarious), Rofellos's Gift or Crystal Chimes or something in case a Disk or Vengeance wipes my helpin cards, Safeguard for late game stallings/keeping someone alive, Solitary Confinement as a stall/win condition, and Wheel and Deal as a nice 'hurry up and deck already' thing. Any thoughts on any of those?
I don't own thems? Heh, well Show and Tell I do, that might be fun...
Added Jace and Horn of Greed
Soma: Blue Braids and Indentured Djinn, of course! And the Judgment Advocates... must look into that.
2 Plains
4 Forest
3 Island
1 Savannah
1 Tundra
1 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bant Panorama
1 Flood Plain
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Coastal Tower
1 Elfhame Palace
1 Arctic Flats
1 Boreal Shelf
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Treva's Ruins
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Azorius Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Obelisk of Bant
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Sunscape Familiar
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Rainbow Vale
1 Spectral Searchlight
Helps Everyone: 35
1 Oath of Lieges
1 Truce
1 Arbiter of Knollridge
1 Lore Broker
1 Standstill
1 Vision Skeins
1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Noble Benefactor
1 Show and Tell
1 Windfall
1 Indentured Djinn
1 Jace Beleren
1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
1 Dream Halls
1 Temporal Cascade
1 Prosperity
1 Skyscribing
1 Veteran Explorer
1 Tempting Wurm
1 Fecundity
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Heartwood Storyteller
1 Hypergenesis
1 Shizuko, Caller of Autumn
1 Hunted Wumpus
1 Anvil of Bogardan
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Howling Mine
1 Horn of Greed
1 Walking Archive
1 Font of Mythos
1 Gate to the AEther
1 Wall of Shards
1 Sheltering Ancient
1 Questing Phelddagrif
1 Soldevi Sentry
Answers That Also Help: 8
1 Oblation
1 Pongify
1 Arcane Denial
1 Call to Heel
1 Captivating Glance
1 Dream Fracture
1 Vex
1 Nullmage Advocate
1 Proteus Staff
Defense/Win conditions: 10
1 Hallow
1 Invulnerability
1 Righteous Aura
1 Gossamer Chains
1 Words of Wisdom
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Helix Pinnacle
1 Forgotten Lore
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Wargate
Jushi Apprentice could be a win card, but usually it just dies before I can activate the flipped ability. I don't have a Jace, but he'll go in here once I get one.
Anyone have any other ideas that would stay within the deck's style, but let it actually win occasionally? Or other awesome helper cards perhaps?
You have before you all of March's articles to vote on. The single author or column with the most votes will be the winning author (or column), and that author's article with the most votes will be the winning article. In case of multiple authors being tied, the editors will break the tie; in the case of multiple articles being tied for that author, the author will choose one. This ensures that no one is competing against him- or herself.
There is no nomination period; you're voting directly for the Article of the Month here! Go back and read 'em again! You'll find them entertaining the second time, I hope, and it will refresh your memory for better voting. I must stress: Please do not vote unless you have read most if not all of these articles.
Unfortunately, RancoredElf.com is no longer offering store credit as prize. The winner will receive front-page recognition, as well as a happy little trophy to spiff up his or her profile!
You have a week from this posting to vote.
You may discuss the contest and the articles here.
-The Editorial Staff
I'd give fair odds on Mana Drain though. Yes, this will increase supply--slightly. FtV has a REALLY low printrun and a good chunk of them don't get opened, though, so the market value of old ones wouldn't change appreciably. I also expect at least ONE hard-to-find card on there, similar to say Thunder Dragon from the last one (not to mention the Alara preprint... don't expect a preprint this time, folks!)
Either Necropotence or Yawgmoth's Bargain are a lock, probably the Skull. Too defining not to have. I'd be shocked if we didn't get at least one card of each color, and red gives few options, so I'd go with Lackey there, it's way more exciting than Burning Wish. Worldgorger Dragon also a solid possibility, both are quite possible. Ali from Cairo could also be on there... but nobody wants to see that, and WotC knows it. If they're gonna print a valuable card, it'll be a usefulish one like Drain or Berserk
Oath of Druids seems like the best option for green--something good and playable still in Vintage, but not hugely expensive. Channel seems an auto-lock as well--not only is it restricted/banned, but it was one of the cards instrumental on getting ALL cards 'restricted'--to four per deck. Fastbond would be good too, but both it an Channel would overrepresent Limited Edition.
So, where am I so far?
Balance
Necropotence
Goblin Lackey
Worldgorger Dragon
Oath of Druids
Channel
Dingus Egg
For a second white card, Land Tax and Enlightened Tutor are the ONLY other real options, and Tax is definitely the better one. Hasn't been seen since 4th, still powerful but not broken (occasionally hear discussion of letting Legacy have it back), it'd be nice to see. Possibly with good art for once.
Black doesn't have many options left. With Demonic Tutor in the next Duel Decks, what's left? Well, tutors. Demonic Consultation, Doomsday, Imperial Seal (highly unlikely, but hilarious if they go through with it), Vampiric Tutor. The only other choice is Disciple of the Vault, and while it's certainly powerful enough to go here, it's a motha******
puppetcommon. And not a money one, a bloody 25 cent at most common. I'm thinking Vampiric Tutor here, with a longshot call on Imperial Seal. I would say Doomsday, but it and Necro both being BBB looks weird.So, I've got
Balance
Land Tax
Necropotence
Vampiric Tutor
Goblin Lackey
Worldgorger Dragon
Oath of Druids
Channel
Dingus Egg
I haven't done blue yet, because blue has the most stuff to chose from (of the colors, at least. Brainstorm is the best common, but we saw it not TOO long ago in a Coldsnap precon, and it's still not TOO hard to find thanks to reprintings. Frantic Search wouldn't be as exciting as Gush, though I don't think either is too likely. Flash would be a good one because of it's high profile, Mind's Desire (despite being a recent judge foil) could be great as well, and give the set some appeal for Extended players. Recall would be bleh, but do-able if they want to balance out price/power level with something strong. Serendib Efreet would be an interesting choice you couldn't really argue with. Stroke of Genius was wonderful and they should really represent the Urza bannings somehow. Possibly with Tinker, which is way way WAY more iconic, and probably a lock. Windfall wouldn't suck either, but there's more exciting options. Hurkyl's Recall seems like something they'd do and we'd hate them for, but seriously, Tinker is a way better choice. My call: Flash, Tinker, Mind's Desire.
So I have three slots left for artifacts and lands? Lotus Petal seems like a lock to me as well, leaving two. Ancient Tomb brings me to one. And as much as I'd love Sol Ring, Arcbound Ravager is both infamous and still extended viable--meaning again that non-eternal players would have some reason to buy this.
So, again with my picks, * for ones I'm fairly confident of.
Balance* (hur)
Land Tax*
Mind's Desire
Flash
Tinker
Necropotence*
Vampiric Tutor
Goblin Lackey*
Worldgorger Dragon
Oath of Druids
Channel*
Dingus Egg*
Lotus Petal*
Arcbound Ravager
Ancient Tomb*
How's that for a Cube pack?
I seem to recall MaRo floating the idea of 'build your own standard' as a possible format, letting you play old cards without allowing tooooo much brokenness... but that would be a pain for organizers.
Yeah, I wasn't playing during Limited-Revised, so I didn't have my own memories to rely upon. The cards are still there so the facts were available, but I didn't have so many jokes to crack, hah. Even had I been playing at the time, I'd have been roughly nine at the time.
The entire purpose of the article is to examine the development and repurposing of the core sets, so I'm not sure why you think discussing the hodgepodginess of 5th or the new card frames was out of place. It's a retrospective; those details were both pretty essential to the identity of those two sets, and to their impact.