WotC will save probably 1/100 of a penny on ink per card from changing "enters the graveyard from the battlefield" to "dies". And that's probably the only reason they made the change.
I run a junk/pod list with 3 Beast Within and 2 Doom Blades MB which isn't much. I bring in 4 Memoricide, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, and 1 Linvala. I usually lose game 1 but 2 and 3 are much better.
I thought so too and in early testing he was in. But I was astonished at how many times I couldn't cast him. He and the Obliterator were cut for two Sylvan Rangers and I haven't looked back since.
If there's one thing I like more than creatures its tutoring creatures. I ran a Naya/Shaman build while BBE was still around and have been looking to make a list that had the same kind of gusto.
Creatures that didn't make the cut but may be worth a look:
Baneslayer Angel
Wurmcoil Engine
Sun Titan
Sunblast Angel
Mirran Crusader
Phyrexian Obliterator
Myr Superion
Obstinate Baloth
Vampire Nighthawk
The list plays out pretty well. The nice thing about it is that you have a lot of choices and it puts enormous pressure on your opponent. What I was really hoping to do was maximize the potential of Birthing Pod. Playing a creature, swinging with it, then saccing it to get a bigger one just isn't good enough. There should be an obvious BP path to take: Blade Splicer (1 Golemn) -> Hero of Bladehold (2 Soldiers) -> Precursor Golemn (2 Golemns) -> Grave Titan (2 Zombies) -> Sheoldred (getting back anything you've sacced so far). The nice thing about that whole series of plays is that you're doing other things too. Going through that series of creatures only requires 1-2 mana per turn and doesn't cost cards from your hand.
The other nice thing is that half the time you can just go grab a Persecutor and let him do the work. I thought about a singleton Myr Superion and Phyrexian Obliterator to get off the BP but I'm not a fan of dead draws as they're both pretty uncastable in this list.
Lastly SB choices:
Artifact Hate: I'm expecting to see some Puresteel Paladin and Tempered Steel lists to start popping up thus - Nature's Claim, Creeping Corrosion, Viridian Corrupter, and Acidic Slime
Splinter Twin: Memoricide (duh) and Phyrexian Revoker (in which you name Deciever Exharch, I know it doesn't stop the Tap/Untap ability but when they cast Splinter Twin on it then it gains an activated ability that the Revoker says "No-no" to.)
Caw Blade: See artifact hate + Splinter Twin hate
Infect: I see U/G infect being a deck, maybe, so why not a Melira just in case.
The sideboard will come together with testing, obviously artifact removal is going in but it'll probably be in the form of Viridian Corrupter, there are several avenues of tutoring that.
Emrakul is a no-no as 15 mana is too much.
I'll be testing this weekend against:
Caw-Blade
Tempered Steel
U/B/R Twin Combo
Mono-W PSP
Yeah, MD Beast Within is probably a must, if not it's definitely SB material. Fetches would be wise as well.
It does seem like a lot of ramp into not a whole lot of big stuff, but things balance out quite well in Goldfish testing. If you hit an early Shrine then you power out an Eldrazi with the rampers or if you hit an early pod then you sac your BoP's and Treespeakers for Superions and your Nest Invaders for Leatherback Baloth's. I feel that both are good strategies.
I do think that Vengevine needs to go in over the Predator, now that I think about it. T2 Leatherback Baloth into a T3 Vengevine seems pretty vicious.
Trying to build an aggro deck that a) puts on early pressure and b) has a sense of inevitability. So here's what I came up with, thoughts and suggestions are encouraged.
Shrine of Boundless Growth is really quite amazing. If you hit it T2 then you'll have 10-11 mana available by T5, easily. There are plenty of ways to get the Eldrazi into your hand by virtue of the fact that getting the Shaman into play is pretty easy.
The early pressure causes your opponent to blow whatever spot removal they have so that when the Eldrazi come, they, hopefully won't have anything left.
From my observations and testing, if your opponent activates Jace 3 consecutive times you will loose the game. The CA Jace provides increases on a nearly exponential curve, i.e. four mana for 1 one Brainstorm is underwhelming, but Brainstorming 3 turns in a row represents a calculable amount of CA greater than simply the aggregate total of playing a Brainstorm 3 turns in a row. Essentially every time you Brainstorm after the first time you are getting a greater level amount of CA by virtue of a) drawing a total of 5 cards in three turns, and b) digging 11 cards deep (drawing 2 cards on your draw step, drawing 3 cards off Jace, and filtering through a total of 9 extra cards).
However, a 3/3 beast token does not generate an exponential growth of CA. Therefore, BW is a reasonable answer to Jace.
Furthermore, have you ever dropped your Jace just to kill your opponent's Jace? Yeah.... if that is worth it (which it is), then so is BW.
Lastly, I feel the "drawback" of BW is roughly the same as Goblin Guide. About 1/4 of the time Goblin Guide is gonna hand land after land to your opponent and will be instrumental in your loosing the game, but the card is still worth playing. Likewise I get the sense that the 3/3 token is gonna really hurt you 1/4 of the time but I think you're on the good end of the deal 3/4 of the time. I don't foresee this card seeing legacy play though, handing a 3/3 body to your opponent in legacy is kind of a big deal.
In the full scope of the game, if your opponent lands a Jace then the entire rest of the game is going to revolve around that Jace. I know that blowing up a Jace with BW is some decent tempo loss, but when the hell has a game ever revolved around a 3/3 Beast Token?
Beast Within: I'd much rather my opponent have a 3/3 than a Jace/Gideon!
Torpor Orb: no searchy-searchy for you! (Although, this is potentially worthless. If you're on the play and drop it T2 then you just won the game, but if they're on the play and drop a Mystic or Hawk on T2 then your Torpor Orb you have in your hand is gonna look pretty pathetic)
Hex Parasite: if they know you're running this guy then they're gonna have to pump Jace once or twice to keep him out of the danger zone with this guy, which isn't the best use of Jace, though, again, it's arguably clear that Hex Parasite is pretty bad against Gideon.
@Vistella, agreed. Nissa was the promo last time and she wasn't in M11 >_>
Except that the original DotP wasn't being cross-marketed with any physical card sets and Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012 (which is its official name) is being HEAVILY cross-marketed with Magic 2012.
Your argument and all the similar arguments are using an analogy with relevant dissimilarities and is thus unsound.
And, yes, post rotation the Titans will be nearly worthless. They will never see play in Legacy and Extended doesn't really seem to drive prices (with the sole of exception of Extended Season, obviously).
Here it is, thoughts and suggestions please:
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Blade Splicer
3 Hero of Bladehold
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Precursor Golemn
1 Acidic Slime
2 Grave Titan
1 Sheoldred, the Whispering One
Spells
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Go for the Throat
3 Beast Within
4 Birthing Pod
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
Lands
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Stirring Wildwood
4 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Plains
4 Nature's Claim
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Viridian Corrupter
2 Creeping Corrosion
4 Memoricide
1 Acidic Slime
Creatures that didn't make the cut but may be worth a look:
Baneslayer Angel
Wurmcoil Engine
Sun Titan
Sunblast Angel
Mirran Crusader
Phyrexian Obliterator
Myr Superion
Obstinate Baloth
Vampire Nighthawk
The list plays out pretty well. The nice thing about it is that you have a lot of choices and it puts enormous pressure on your opponent. What I was really hoping to do was maximize the potential of Birthing Pod. Playing a creature, swinging with it, then saccing it to get a bigger one just isn't good enough. There should be an obvious BP path to take: Blade Splicer (1 Golemn) -> Hero of Bladehold (2 Soldiers) -> Precursor Golemn (2 Golemns) -> Grave Titan (2 Zombies) -> Sheoldred (getting back anything you've sacced so far). The nice thing about that whole series of plays is that you're doing other things too. Going through that series of creatures only requires 1-2 mana per turn and doesn't cost cards from your hand.
The other nice thing is that half the time you can just go grab a Persecutor and let him do the work. I thought about a singleton Myr Superion and Phyrexian Obliterator to get off the BP but I'm not a fan of dead draws as they're both pretty uncastable in this list.
Lastly SB choices:
Artifact Hate: I'm expecting to see some Puresteel Paladin and Tempered Steel lists to start popping up thus - Nature's Claim, Creeping Corrosion, Viridian Corrupter, and Acidic Slime
Splinter Twin: Memoricide (duh) and Phyrexian Revoker (in which you name Deciever Exharch, I know it doesn't stop the Tap/Untap ability but when they cast Splinter Twin on it then it gains an activated ability that the Revoker says "No-no" to.)
Caw Blade: See artifact hate + Splinter Twin hate
Infect: I see U/G infect being a deck, maybe, so why not a Melira just in case.
Emrakul is a no-no as 15 mana is too much.
I'll be testing this weekend against:
Caw-Blade
Tempered Steel
U/B/R Twin Combo
Mono-W PSP
It does seem like a lot of ramp into not a whole lot of big stuff, but things balance out quite well in Goldfish testing. If you hit an early Shrine then you power out an Eldrazi with the rampers or if you hit an early pod then you sac your BoP's and Treespeakers for Superions and your Nest Invaders for Leatherback Baloth's. I feel that both are good strategies.
I do think that Vengevine needs to go in over the Predator, now that I think about it. T2 Leatherback Baloth into a T3 Vengevine seems pretty vicious.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Joraga Treespeaker
2 Myr Superion
4 Nest Invader
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Leatherback Baloth
4 Vengevine
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog the Infinite Gyre
3 Birthing Pod
4 Shrine of Boundless Growth
Spells
2 Overwhelming Stampede
Lands
23 Forest
Shrine of Boundless Growth is really quite amazing. If you hit it T2 then you'll have 10-11 mana available by T5, easily. There are plenty of ways to get the Eldrazi into your hand by virtue of the fact that getting the Shaman into play is pretty easy.
The early pressure causes your opponent to blow whatever spot removal they have so that when the Eldrazi come, they, hopefully won't have anything left.
However, a 3/3 beast token does not generate an exponential growth of CA. Therefore, BW is a reasonable answer to Jace.
Furthermore, have you ever dropped your Jace just to kill your opponent's Jace? Yeah.... if that is worth it (which it is), then so is BW.
Lastly, I feel the "drawback" of BW is roughly the same as Goblin Guide. About 1/4 of the time Goblin Guide is gonna hand land after land to your opponent and will be instrumental in your loosing the game, but the card is still worth playing. Likewise I get the sense that the 3/3 token is gonna really hurt you 1/4 of the time but I think you're on the good end of the deal 3/4 of the time. I don't foresee this card seeing legacy play though, handing a 3/3 body to your opponent in legacy is kind of a big deal.
Torpor Orb: no searchy-searchy for you! (Although, this is potentially worthless. If you're on the play and drop it T2 then you just won the game, but if they're on the play and drop a Mystic or Hawk on T2 then your Torpor Orb you have in your hand is gonna look pretty pathetic)
Hex Parasite: if they know you're running this guy then they're gonna have to pump Jace once or twice to keep him out of the danger zone with this guy, which isn't the best use of Jace, though, again, it's arguably clear that Hex Parasite is pretty bad against Gideon.
BBBB
Unblockable
5/5
Right? I would NEVER block this thing. BBBB for an unblockable 5/5 is actually a pretty decent card, not amazing, but pretty good.
Except that the original DotP wasn't being cross-marketed with any physical card sets and Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012 (which is its official name) is being HEAVILY cross-marketed with Magic 2012.
Your argument and all the similar arguments are using an analogy with relevant dissimilarities and is thus unsound.
And, yes, post rotation the Titans will be nearly worthless. They will never see play in Legacy and Extended doesn't really seem to drive prices (with the sole of exception of Extended Season, obviously).