MTG Salvation

Saffi's new art fits the card's activated ability, but it doesn't make sense for the flavor text. Wizards should have dropped or changed the flavor text.

There is something oddly appealing to me seeing Wastes in the old land frame.

Quote from Serberus_08 »

Hopefully the Pact cycle is completed, which looks likely from Pact of Negation (I need a foil of that) being spoiled.

Intervention Pact does not fit in the list, so Wizards isn't reprinting the full cycle.

Quote from Flamebuster »

Breath of Fire II featured a "magic school" which allowed you to craft different magics with various elements, and that predated Harry Potter, so Schools of Magic are not exclusive to a particular pop culture phenomenon whether stated or otherwise.

I'm curious to see how this unfolds and the lore/design/world connectivity it has behind it. They say there's no reskin but honestly how can you not do a reskin of a concept that's been done many times before in some form or another?

'buster

Ah, a video game reference! I also remember a PS2 game called GrimGrimoire that also featured a magic school setting, but the rather than magic houses, students were specialized by magic type (sorcery, glamour, alchemy, etc.)

It is possible to avoid using Harry Potter as a reference if they researched other Magic School stories. But, if the students have to use a magic wand that looks like it is from the Harry Potter movies to cast spells, then the association with Harry Potter is unavoidable.

I also think that Maro is backpedalling. Harry Potter is one of the most popular magic school world stories in the last decade, so how can WotC not use ideas from that world?

Quote from H3RAC71TU5 »

I also strongly feel that this could be a white card, although it does have some precedence in blue. Blue being anti-ramp contrasts its color-pie relationship to green, and the method (returning to hand) is characteristically blue. Blue and white should definitely share anti-ramp cards as one of their points of intersection.

Hopefully, white will get some anti-ramp cards which are at least as good as this one, since in the context of this environment it seems to me white needs this more than blue.

This card reminds me of Land Equilibrium

EDIT: Somebody beat me to it in an earlier post.

Quote from Wizmin »

Also there is the fact that UPS and Fedex (especially Fedex) greatly over charge for their services and aren't really competitive for smaller mail. At their rates, selling singles is barely worth it for cards at $10 or under

Yep. And UPS and Fedex don't service more rural or sparse areas very well (i.e. "last mile delivery"). That's why UPS and Fedex (and Amazon) often have shipping services that transfer mail and packages to the USPS to have the USPS make the final delivery. If the USPS ceases to exist, some people won't be getting any mail or packages without paying a lot more money or be forced to go to the nearest UPS/FedEx hub to pick up stuff. In Magic: The Gathering terms, that would ruin most small businesses or sole proprietorships selling singles, since delivery costs will increase dramatically.

Quote from clubalien »

this set was a rip off i spent 600 dollars for two boxes and didnlt pull one jace or one force of will which is why i bought them

You should have bought singles, because unless you wanted full art foil versions of Jace and Force of Will, you might have spent less than $600.

Sorry to hear that you lost the lottery.

Quote from Stoogeslap »

What I find interesting about these "leaks" (quotes because some leaks are intentional) is that I wonder where the card came from? Cards aren't just printed by themselves; they come from a sheet. So what about the rest of the sheet? Or maybe it came from a booster pack? If so, what about the rest of the pack? Scooby Doo mystery is afoot...

From past leaks, the common scenarios seem to be

1) Somebody got access to one of the manufacturer's printers and was able to take a photo of a sheet or steal a sheet.
2) Product for expansions are printed in advance, so they can be shipped to retailers in time for the release date. Somebody with access to a warehouse or distribution center in the pipeline would end up finding a booster.
3) The rare printing error where a card from a future expansion is put into one with an impending release. This might happen if they put the wrong template on the printer, and a few sheets might be run and put into boosters before the technicians catch the problem.

And, there is also that big "god book" scandal 2 years ago, where somebody within WotC disseminated a spreadsheet with the cards of an expansion. That was card information exposed to the public.

Quote from soramaro »

Looks like WotC really noticed that people like Seb McKinnon art, huh. He's been getting a lot of cards recently.

Some people like Rebecca Guay's artwork, but Wizard's isn't commissioning her for regular art sets. I find Seb's artwork similar to Rebecca's in that it's not realistic, which is what I thought Wizard's creative direction has been.

Most of us here are players, not collectors/investors. I no longer have sympathy for stores who base most of their revenue on singles. That business model is slowly becoming not sustainable. Most of these singles high prices are for non-Standard formats, and that player pool is not going to expand rapidly. MTG singles business is becoming a "low-volume, high profit" which is like a luxury good. Cardboard gaming should not turn into a luxury good.

A card game doesn't need strong secondary market monetary value to stay alive. The game needs to be fun and supported. Pokemon and YuGiOh are still alive after 10+ years, and they have higher reprint frequencies. People are obviously still buying their stuff, because if sales weren't meeting the manufacturer's expectations, neither card game would still be alive.

I really like that fact that this puts counters on ANY creature. Similar to Luminarch Aspirant this can place your opponent into the spot of "I only have one removal spell, do I use it on the creature giving out the counters or the beefy one currently wearing the counters," which is better than I would've expected from an uncommon one drop.

Quote from DL_Ojutai »

Man, I swore that art was Seb's. Pretty sweet card though, that flexibility is key. I think it's competitive, but not quite as good as Prismatic Ending. Pitching cards is a pretty big cost. Needing them to be white is a significant restriction. In modern, I honestly don't think you can play both this and Solitude and expect to play both on the cheap consistently. Really like it for Standard/Alchemy/Historic though.

I will point out that this thing can hit artifact lands and Urza’s Saga unlike Ending and that instant speed may matter, though you may still be right.

Quote from Rosy Dumplings »

So… prismatic ending hits planeswalkers and generally costs one less (though this thing notably still hits urza’s saga and moxen for 1 mana) but this card is instant, can hit things costing over 5, doesn’t force multiple colors, and can use that exile clause to hit things faster than Ending when needed.

That seems fairly competitive, no?

Looks like a good removal spell - it also reminds me of Solitude in cheap mode. Dunno how many of the Solitude/Prismatic Ending slots it eats up in practice, especially since I hardcast Solitude at least half the time in Modern(!!), but like Path to Exile, it should at least garner respect.

...Of course, it takes 8 mana, or 6 mana and a white card, etc. just to hit Murktide Regent, and not hitting planeswalkers can be that killer, especially when a lowly Wrenn and Six can recur Urza's Saga and therefore need an immediate answer or Teferi, Time Raveler is actively jamming your game plan, let alone other walkers.

March of Otherworldly Light might be at its best when you expect to hit quite a lot of 3-5-mana value non-planeswalkers with it. Think more Companions, old Jund, that GWUR Blink Goodness deck making the rounds lately, Cascade decks, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician decks, Enchantress, etc.

Quote from Melkor »

Quote from seilaoque »

seems like we're getting new versions from all the Praetors in a multiset cycle then?

Nice....

it would be great to return to Phyrexia soon.

They are 100% building up for a return to Phyrexia, like they are right out in the open about it. Trouble is that they have been building to it since at least 2018 with Dominaria and Karn going to dig up the Sylex, and at this rate it will be 2026 before it happens, assuming they continue with one praetor in the first set of the year and then do Phyrexia after that.

Hopefully that's just the first two and not the pattern. I know it can't be this year, but 2023 or 2024 would be reasonable

I think a a part of that was outside of creatives control.

Some leaker (who got Kamigawa and other spoilers right) said that Sheoldred was suppose to be in Eldraine. Later Maro talked on how Eldraine was originally gonna be two sets with one more focused on the Arthurian side and would have been a bit lighter in tone and one more focused on the Fairy tale side with a darker tone (mimicking how the twins went from the safety of the castle and home to go into the fairy tale woods as part of their quest) and that Kasmina was gonna to be in the set as the Merlin stand in. So if the leaker is right (and they had been right about stuff) seems like the Sheoldred bit got cut out.

Also Theros Beyond Death had its novel cancelled but the brief summary did note that Ashiok learned of Phyrexia from Elspeth and went to learn more about them. While not a praetor per say it is likely Ashiok will become an ally to the Phyrexias since it would be the best nightmare fuel.

Quote from DL_Ojutai »

Quote from Ryperior74 »

Quote from DL_Ojutai »

The fact that O-Kagachi somehow isn't legendary is pretty weird. Only thing making me wonder about realness.

Quote from Melkor »

Yeah I have my doubts about O-Kagachi as well. it sets off warning bells that the only one with a serious deviation from expectations also is the one that looks like it got run over by a car.

You both made one mistake

the Jugan card from the first leak isn't legendary either

I'm sure it's probably legit, but still weird. The green one says "Remnant of" so I can imagine multiple pieces of Jugan's essence floating around. O-Kagachi is specifically in physical form (Made Manifest), so the issue is more glaring. Really like the idea of flip sagas in any event.

I assume it started as a logistical issue of "Legendary Enchantment Creature - Dragon Spirit" being too long for the type line. Since they can't be commanders anyway, not much is lost functionally and it can be justified as them being conjured by whatever magical storytelling is going on instead of being the actual individuals.

WIZARDS! WHY?!?!??! this might be even worse the yuriko power wise you can cheat out the nastiest things

(list as if this is commander)

• blightsteel colossus
  
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  
• Bladegriff prototype
  
• Lord of the void
  
• Zareth san, the trickster
  
• Nightveil specter
  
• Virtus the Veiled
  
• Scion of Darkness
  
• Raven Guild Master
  
• Raving Dead
  
• Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
  

You guys saying it’s free and no money needed


are you sure. There’s only 5 and only going to who spends the most money.

Quote from Rosy Dumplings »

Quote from 5ColorsEDH »

I like the shortening of "Search your library for a" to "Seek"

Note that seek also means "chosen at random". If you seek a basic land, you don't choose which basic land you get.

with not shuffling is the other part of seek

This is the real potential of a digital magic client. I just wish physical packs of magic cards each had a code on the back of the token card that was redeemable for a digital pack of Arena cards.

Quote from 5ColorsEDH »

I like the shortening of "Search your library for a" to "Seek"

Note that seek also means "chosen at random". If you seek a basic land, you don't choose which basic land you get.