I don't understand why it needs an "exciting effect" to be an excellent card to usher in the new set. It is clear SoM is going to be chalk-full of removal, hand, artifact, creature and likely land too.
Fauna Shaman has its utility, however it can be easily answered. People building deck/combos around this card are going to be in for a surprise. It is not meant to win games every time. It is just another utility card, useful for Naya Vengebraid decks late game when they need a beatstick to finish the opponent. T2: Fauna Shaman is a huge mistake against almost every deck, unless you are using her to bait spot removal away from your other beaters. This is a card that you should drop T4 or later, fetch a Titan or Baneslayer or something you need to bring an end to the game.
I've been following this thread since it started, wishing I could afford to buy a box and contribute, but I just wanted to thank you guys for even the dirty map. At my FNM, after prizes, somebody had pulled a Jace out of the M11 box, and I excitedly stated that there was probably a Primeval Titan to be packed, so I bought 2 packs, requesting the ones from the bottom right corner, and opened Dark Tutelage and none other than the PrimeValue Titan himself. As somebody with a limited budget, it's very helpful to get little boosts now and then, so I wanted to thank the people who worked so hard to get this mapping stuff figured out...
yep, that's my long-winded, slightly intoxicated speech for ya.
What you are experiencing is called the "placebo effect." M11 cannot be mapped, and any chances that you pull the card you expected are simply a coincidence.
YGO was a bad example, but with Mythic Rares, then Traps, now the possibility of a split set?? It's all speculation at this point, but I'm wondering how they will implement this new "feature" for expansions. Will there be a change in FNM booster drafts? Will packs specifically contain cards from different factions or will they be mixed together in all packs? Too hard to make a conclusion at this point but I think it's a bad direction Wizards is taking. Seems like an attempt to further simplify the game mechanics and attract newcomers, with whom do not make up the majority of long-term Magic fans.
For me, Magic started as a very mature fantasy game with epic proportions of fun, diversity and not-too-overpowering abilities (bar a few that have been banned,) but it has been slowly turning into what appears to be a Marketing campaign to help boost Wizards sales. Personally, I'm not a huge fan. I feel like its just getting too expensive and vastly different than the game I used to know and love.
A move to legacy format as well as discontinuing to buy individual packs would make sense to me, but that's not what I was hoping for in this new expansion.
Wow, how can you guys say the art is bad? Honestly? Are you serious... well okay. I guess most of you could do much, much better. Sarcasm aside, it's a step up from the original art which is not nearly as captivating.
I think its funny that wizards thinks that Siege-Gang is too powerful (there was an article pre-M10 on their site) and yet baneslayer is perfectly fine.
Have you seen him in action? If you use him properly he is boss! Baneslayer doesn't offer you 4 creatures for 5cc that can be flung at the enemy at will. I've won plenty of games with him. However, you still make a good point. Baneslayer is a bit overpowered for 5cc.
@SKAReO: Really? You'll quit Magic because they rotated out your favourite card? Imagine what the state of the game would be like if WotC cared about people like you. We'd still have to deal with Lotus, Mox, Time Walk, etc in core sets because WotC doesn't want to rotate them out. We'd have to deal with unlimited numbers of cards per deck because people might quit if they changed the rules. Heck, we'd still be playing for Ante using cards like Shahrazad. Are you for real? Cards rotate. That's the nature of Standard. Don't like it? Go play Legacy, or don't play at all, but nobody really cares.
Clearly I was just whining.
But I think you missed the point. I'm not upset that they removed a powerful card... They didn't give him a replacement that even comes close to resembling his original utility!
Pastels left in the 60's, and good riddance.
These colors remind me of old grannies and tacky window shades.
What you are experiencing is called the "placebo effect." M11 cannot be mapped, and any chances that you pull the card you expected are simply a coincidence.
This.
Jace 2.0 will not very likely be mass printed, I doubt he will ever be reprinted again.
For me, Magic started as a very mature fantasy game with epic proportions of fun, diversity and not-too-overpowering abilities (bar a few that have been banned,) but it has been slowly turning into what appears to be a Marketing campaign to help boost Wizards sales. Personally, I'm not a huge fan. I feel like its just getting too expensive and vastly different than the game I used to know and love.
A move to legacy format as well as discontinuing to buy individual packs would make sense to me, but that's not what I was hoping for in this new expansion.
Have you seen him in action? If you use him properly he is boss! Baneslayer doesn't offer you 4 creatures for 5cc that can be flung at the enemy at will. I've won plenty of games with him. However, you still make a good point. Baneslayer is a bit overpowered for 5cc.
Clearly I was just whining.
But I think you missed the point. I'm not upset that they removed a powerful card... They didn't give him a replacement that even comes close to resembling his original utility!