Just adding my 2 boxes to this list to increase the sample size:
2 boxes. 1 fetchland. Of the 15 non-fetch cards that Starcity lists above $5 I got 8 of them. Sorin was my only pull that was worth more than $10 (other than the one fetch). I only paid $90 per box but I didn't even come close to getting any value out of them.
I'm voicing my complaint for this, not because I agree with it at all (I think this whole topic is pretty ridiculous), but if we complain maybe we'll get some other artists doing planeswalkers. Can we get a cycle done by Rebecca Guay please?
Guay doing a cycle of planeswalkers would be enough reason to stop using that card type. Her art is obnoxiously bad.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but D. Alexander Gregory's interpretation of both Liliana and Chandra were poorly judged by both himself and the Magic art directors. He gave them facial features found mostly on anime characters (small chin, big eyes, big mouth, large top of head) and large noses that contrast oddly with the anime features. The shading around their eyes is far too dark, making them look older than they should. It's the combination of clashing features that make the faces look bad. Anime features do not look good on realistic faces.
That said, there are really only 1-2 pieces of art in which Liliana is any sort of "beautiful", and none of them are on planeswalker cards.
Golgari already has two mythics. Red has no mythic. There is little chance b/g will get three.
Wizards has stated many, many times that planeswalkers don't follow themes or count towards "cycles", etc. The fact that the new walker happens to be in Golgari colors doesn't mean it takes the place in that cycle.
To make the reserved list a non-issue, ban all cards in it from legacy.
It doesnt hurt vintage and it makes the big money bump go from entering legacy. This might save legacy but kill modern.
How about you extend the favor of letting me know where I should post such baseless speculcation predicated by what may be rumored in upcoming sets and I'll happily oblige you where your browser isn't afflicted by it. Many thanks, sir.
No it's not. If they reprint the shock lands, they could easily just use the same art that they already have.
Wizard's doesn't re-use art in "expert" sets.
Again, the biggest strike against this card is the fact that the art used is just a crop of an existing Island art. Which Hunter already pointed out, and everyone is just ignoring.
Aww...you almost got it right. The biggest strike is the fact that they used a cropped art that is speculated to be a basic Island and incorrectly attributed it to an artist that did not paint it. That is not Rob's art. I heard it out of his mouth himself. My girlfriend and I spoke with him for a good 15 minutes regarding his art and if he would do anything in the new Ravnica block; he wanted to but was not commissioned to do anything.
I spoke with Rob Alexander at GP Atlanta and he was not commissioned to do any art in the new Ravnica block (at least at the time of us speaking 3-ish weeks ago). That art is definitely not his. That makes this a big-ole fake.
Are these still held every month? I've got a few Modern decks together but here in Charleston there is very little to do other than Standard. I can't make this month's (Diablo 3 comes out just 4 days prior...and that's a high priority, man) but I'd love to come up for something soon.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage was my MVP. With the amount of removal in my deck every time she dropped I could stabilize and overtake the game. With Tamiyo + Holy Justicar I was able to take over a game while my opponent was at 35 life, I was at 2, and he had better creatures. Managed to pull off Tamiyo's ultimate (and keep her on the board) with a Vanishment in hand. I had 11 mana on the board so I was eventually able to just clear his board and slowly chip away at his life total.
Yeah I knew people would say that. I meant not worth it in a competitive stance. So, not worth it because :
-Some TOs charge extra (some dont so bleh)
-The rewards and price structure are less for a pre-release then for a regular tournament (again, this is not always true), and the entry prices are generally higher.
All of this just for a 2 week heads-up playing with cards that are not tournament worthy.
If you're a casual, sure the dice can be sweet...
I know of very few TOs that are actually charging extra. Venues vary, though, so I do know that there will be those that do. Go to a different one.
Here is the thing: this is still exactly the same as any other pre-release. Prize structure, entry price, etc. are all irrelevant in regards to the Hellvault. It is in addition to everything else as a small bonus, nothing more.
Your last sentence is just plain ignorant and an attempt to troll. More than "casuals" use dice and find them useful.
That's some pure fanboyism there...
Hasbro isn't a charity...dude, they give away stuff all the time (pre-release promos, buy-a-box promos, grandprix promos, etc) it's all part of a thing called marketing. You spend money to make money.
In this case, the hellvault was a brilliant marketing tie-in with the game, it made a lot of people consider going to pre releases that wouldnt have gone ordinarly (such as I). but they had to know it would be spoiled in advance, so they had better put something in there to please (at this point I say anything playable would have worked) but instead they royally blew it.
I mean, they could have put some old worthless demons and angels cards (like in the angelic vs demonic decks), even at common, some people wopuld have been pleased. It would have been flavorful, it would have worked.
IF Hasbro isn't a charity, then consumers should vote with their wallet.
The helvault isn't worth it...
That's not "fanboyism" it's just not being greedy. I was planning on going to the pre-release regardless; adding a Hellvault--even with useless items--is a pure bonus. Not paying extra, doing no additional work, no drawback of any kind. How is that not "worth it"? Hell, the die and demon/angel tokens are useful even in gameplay.
thought i readed somthing about, that the stuff from helvault could be easy splitted. something like "if there ar 50-70 players each get 1x A, 2x B and once C", "if there are 70-90 players everyone will get 1x A plus 1x B or 1x C" . the only problem i have, is, that i could't refind the site. but im shure it was a official WotC site i readed about this. maybe anyone else can help out.
As far as I know most TOs are capping the Hellvault section at 54(?) players. There is prize support included for that number. My TO will allow more people into the pre-release but is only allowing the first 54 into the Hellvault part of the event.
Mana Leak wasn't an issue until Snapcaster Mage came along. I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and say Mana Leak isn't a powerful card. It is. But Blue needs an unconditional soft counter at CMC 2. When it doesn't have it, it folds to aggro every time.
Blue did pretty well during the Lorwyn/Shards Standard and there wasn't a 2 mana soft counter then.
2 boxes. 1 fetchland. Of the 15 non-fetch cards that Starcity lists above $5 I got 8 of them. Sorin was my only pull that was worth more than $10 (other than the one fetch). I only paid $90 per box but I didn't even come close to getting any value out of them.
Guay doing a cycle of planeswalkers would be enough reason to stop using that card type. Her art is obnoxiously bad.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but D. Alexander Gregory's interpretation of both Liliana and Chandra were poorly judged by both himself and the Magic art directors. He gave them facial features found mostly on anime characters (small chin, big eyes, big mouth, large top of head) and large noses that contrast oddly with the anime features. The shading around their eyes is far too dark, making them look older than they should. It's the combination of clashing features that make the faces look bad. Anime features do not look good on realistic faces.
That said, there are really only 1-2 pieces of art in which Liliana is any sort of "beautiful", and none of them are on planeswalker cards.
Pretty sure the Zendikar fatpacks had lands with the standard art frame, not the full art lands. The full art ones only came in boosters.
Wizards has stated many, many times that planeswalkers don't follow themes or count towards "cycles", etc. The fact that the new walker happens to be in Golgari colors doesn't mean it takes the place in that cycle.
That would actually murder Legacy.
In the forum titled "Baseless Speculation".
Wizard's doesn't re-use art in "expert" sets.
Aww...you almost got it right. The biggest strike is the fact that they used a cropped art that is speculated to be a basic Island and incorrectly attributed it to an artist that did not paint it. That is not Rob's art. I heard it out of his mouth himself. My girlfriend and I spoke with him for a good 15 minutes regarding his art and if he would do anything in the new Ravnica block; he wanted to but was not commissioned to do anything.
Good turn out, usually?
Blood Artist was also amazing.
I know of very few TOs that are actually charging extra. Venues vary, though, so I do know that there will be those that do. Go to a different one.
Here is the thing: this is still exactly the same as any other pre-release. Prize structure, entry price, etc. are all irrelevant in regards to the Hellvault. It is in addition to everything else as a small bonus, nothing more.
Your last sentence is just plain ignorant and an attempt to troll. More than "casuals" use dice and find them useful.
That's not "fanboyism" it's just not being greedy. I was planning on going to the pre-release regardless; adding a Hellvault--even with useless items--is a pure bonus. Not paying extra, doing no additional work, no drawback of any kind. How is that not "worth it"? Hell, the die and demon/angel tokens are useful even in gameplay.
As far as I know most TOs are capping the Hellvault section at 54(?) players. There is prize support included for that number. My TO will allow more people into the pre-release but is only allowing the first 54 into the Hellvault part of the event.
Blue did pretty well during the Lorwyn/Shards Standard and there wasn't a 2 mana soft counter then.
AVR is a standalone set. The next set to come is M13. It will be drafted and sealed alone.
Lightning Helix
fetch lands
Mutavault