MTG Salvation

Standarded.

Seriously though. I actually kind of like this? I mean most of us barely play paper standard these days (thanks Arena!) but in the event that we are imposed playing more often (especially at RCQs), I guess that's fine? Cards already have longevity now because of Pioneer so I'm not super sure that this is the solution. But hey, Dr. Hewey told me first, and I'll give this guy a shot.

The way they've been designing sets lately, almost makes you think that they should just scrap standard anyways and convert the showcase format to Commander anyways.

Some of you grazed upon this point but the fact is WotC has killed competitive magic.
- no GPs
- no real way to get to a PT
- no pptq
- no nationals

All of these events usually were used as a platform to push standard, as they no longer exist, there is very little reason to actually want to play a format that is:
- Rotating constantly
- Every other format may have a higher bar of entry, but that bar of entry is only really paid once (although MH is kind of changing that landscape). Standard is the opposite of that, it's like having constant micro transactions to your game.
- Wotc pivoted the game towards Commander (as it believed that's what most of us wanted - but I think it's more likely that they figured they could make much more money with those products than with anything else, and I think they were right).
- Arena pulling all the standard players to its platform

WotC has been pretty tone-deaf of late (especially regarding this question) and will continue to be so, it appears. I'd love for the game to go back to having 3 block story sets and only 2 standard expansions a year with some supplementary products sprinkled here and there. Give us time to appreciate the card. Right now, every set released already has spoilers 2 weeks after for the next one! That's crazy!

But most importantly...bring back GPs, PTs, PPTQs, Nationals...make us care about competitive play. Right now in Asia, we're about to get the SEA championship. It took several months of weekly events to get its participants. It was not easy to win any of these. But those who are in, the "big" prize? 400$ freaking USD. How is that even worth it for anyone involved? Massive joke.

Remember when we had the big "Pay the pros" crisis...yikes. We all got kicked to the curb and ARE ASKING FOR MORE.

Anyone hoping for anything like before might as well jump ship over to F&B while it's still its own thing (Hasbro will eventually buy them).

Quote from TheOnlyOne652089 »

I am convinced this is a scientific test to see how much you can charge people to buy almost nothing.

Ya did you not see the full text basic lands? They are seriously treating the market like a bunch of donkeys. Sooner or later, this *****'s gonna blow up in their face and no one will play this stupid game. WotC brass is seriously annihilating the game. I miss WotC being a small company run by passionate people

Quote from Ryperior74 »

I don’t see any new cards nor cards taken out


edit oh wait The theory might hold again but Consulate Dreadnought Is not there

You sure about that?

I'm not seeing either Gideon, Thopter or Felidar. The last two I'm not surprised but why is Gideon missing? Considered too strong still? Even for Historic?

Quote from Xcric »

any gimmick to sell this flaming trash pile of a set i suppose.

would've been nice if they put effort into it to sell it on its own merit, and included relevant reprints in it as normal, dedicating more effort to balancing standard where necessary but sure i guess lets go with a gimmick instead

its a nice list... but its also a real *****ty list with no real theme or cohesion to anything. you can get an absurdly priced scroll rack, or you know, argothian scion. so we get a reduced chance to pull something from the list, and then an even further reduced chance to pull something of meaningful value from the list on top of that.

gotta keep them gambling away their dollars.

i'm just so absolutely over this FOMO gambling bull*****.

one of the rare times i will agree with a poster on this board.

This set is incredibly bad. BUT I think this is really really good for magic. We've reached a point where the power level was too high and needed to be reset (for standard at least). So it's just growing pains and I'm glad it finally happened.

Also any additional bonus from buying this thing is welcomed. Sure, you are unlikely to get anything good but at least there's a chance.

Also I would think the expeditions are what was added to sell the set more than anything else.

Quote from Xcric »

Okay that's great. That's marvel. That's not wizards, and that's not magic.
Though magic already has $100 boosters and a large portion of the playerbase is vocally opposed to that practice already.

At best this thread is baseless speculation done in an inflammatory way, at worst... well we'll see.

Although i'm with you on being opposed to the 100$ booster crap (it's going down a dark rabbit hole...) this stuff is selling like mad. So we've given them reason to do it and to keep pushing the envelope. Because people can't make a stand on anything it seems.

The more i see of this the more it's become obvious that this set was a mishmash of rejected EDH reprints and whatever was left over from an angry nerds meeting.

And they are charging over 100$ for some packs. If I didn't think Hasbro was laughing at us suckers before, I sure do so now.

Quote from user-11102155 »

not only date, but also time would have been appreciated :/

somewhere in the world, people go to sleep already and they have no cards to dream about ^^

Well when you wake up tomorrow, you'll have cards to wake up to! it's the same for me, it's 9:57PM, Monday right now. Not so in the states...

Quote from Eesha »

quite an ironic necro-thread, if you think about it.

I get what you're trying to say, but this word does not mean what you think it means.

ironic[ ahy-ron-ik ]SHOW IPA
SEE SYNONYMS FOR ironic ON THESAURUS.COM
adjective
using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning; containing or exemplifying irony:

The necro-ing of this thread has more in common with dad jokes than irony.

Cmon guys, it's a seven mana black spell. It's pure casual fun. That card is hopelessly unplayable in any competitive format. Brawl/EDH? Definitely.

Prediction for, I guess 18 days from now:

Secret Lair: St. Patrick's Day

Aisling Leprecaun x4
Lucky Clover
Gemstone Caverns

and then of course...we need SL: Easter
Golden Egg
The Odyssey Eggs
Zodiac Rabbit

Sullying International Women's Day with yet another grubby cash grab is shameless and highly cyncial.

This card is terrible. 4 turns to ultimate, can’t minus the turn she’s out, and the plus is quite mediocre. I get that she’s a 3 CMC planeswalker, but I’d rather she be 4 CMC and be actually playable.

I hope future iterations are playable. Cool design at least.

This deck is sadly dead in the water at the minute. We can fight after SB but man it's in a bad spot. I haven't sleeved up Ponza since like Febuary

Core sets are the hedge against a constructed environment gone wild. It's the buffer the game needs to ensure "regulation" by the supposed printing of environmental control cards that have no real storyline connectivity to the sets adjacent to it. Core sets act--or should act--as the government set to ensure everything plays out smoothly around it.

'buster

Moonbreaker just for you I went ahead and did those. Here is the breakdown after choosing 3 different configurations (the suggested change of 8 Ramp and 22 Lands, the most common ran of 9 Ramp and 21 Lands, and the highest chance of attaining the desired outcome using 10 Ramp and 22 Lands):

Scenario 1: 1 Ramp and 1 Land after mulling down to 6.
8 Ramp & 22 Lands = 54%
9 Ramp & 21 Lands = 57%
10 Ramp & 22 Lands = 62%

So there is a slight increase in the difference from the suggested adjustment to the common build which was 2% to now 3% which still means not significant enough to me. Even the highest chance to attain the probability was still less than 10% difference.

Scenario 2: 1 Ramp and 1 Land on the draw.
8 R & 22 L = 69%
9 R & 21 L = 72%
10 R & 22 L = 77%

Literally the exact same separation from the 1st scenario (ie 3% and 8% from the suggested change)

Scenario 3: 2 Ramp and 1 Land (this should in theory be the best argument for more Ramp cards as there are more desired Ramp cards for this situation.)

8 R & 22 L = 21%
9 R & 21 L = 25%
10 R & 22 L = 30%

This is where I will rest my case. The most common build gains 1 more percent to put it at a whopping 4% difference. Even in the scenario which should give more ramp cards the best outcome and highest probability of the desire result is still less than 10%.

If it was over 10% then sure there is a valid argument to be made but the swap from 1 BOP to 1 Land is indeed negligible.

Beat bant Eldrazi twice, and just now beat melira pod (on infinite life! Inkmoth nexus FOR THE WIN)

List is as follows:

There is one difference:
Discarding either Emrakul or Coax to Jace.
Emrakul reshuffles your GY -> flipping Jace takes longer
Discarding Coax -> harmless, most opponents won't see it coming via flashback by Jace

PS: Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is the best card in the deck. Getting him flipped is almost GG, Jace, Telepath Unbound does everything we need:
+1 reduces the damage from opposing creatures, and only one activation makes Jace a double-snapcaster on Time Warp, Exhaustion etc pp
-3 is the reason to play Jace. He flashbacks "for free" instead of adding 1U to the mana cost of a Time Warp
-9 is an alternate Win-Condition. Though necessary only in very rare occasions, he wins the game through infinite life, for example
He is the perfect PW/Creature for this deck in my oppinion. Early on, he is a Merfolk Looter to dig deeper / get the Miracle happening. When he flips, you are in a very good position.

Greetings

PPS: The synergy between Walk the Aeons, especially the Buyback, and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is hilarious. Three (3, troi, tres, drei, !!!) extra turns out of one card wins games.

Quote from damagecase »

First of all, an imminent 7/8 isn't pressure? There is plenty of pressure there and no its not a control finisher because it is a dumb beatstick but as goyf has shown innumerable times a dumb beatstick is often times enough.

As to the bob comparison, TiTi might very well keep you alive by blocking that early goyf, nacatl or guide until later in the game when if it flips and you can protect it or you opponent has run out of removal, it will win the game.

Actually, I'd say TiTi is a better late game card than bob because it can stop a reasonable sized body and is four instants away from becoming crushing and its only 2 mana so later game you'll have mana open to instant or sorcery.

An 0/4 Is not pressure, this is not an 7/8, it takes 4 other cards and the mana to cast them, before that, it does nothing, so NO thing does not pressures anything, an 0/4 that may or may not become a 7/8 does not pressure me in the least, my life total remains intact, ditto my planeswalkers, I see you playing this and I'm happy that you didn't play something actually threatening.

If your plan for your 2 drop is "blocking an early goyf", you should probably play wall of omens instead, Bob gives you an extra card every turn and actually attacks, this just "blocks an early goyf".

My argument is not that this is a control finisher, my argument is that no aggro, control or tempo deck wants this, you don't want it in aggro or tempo because it actually DOES NOT pressures the opponent, and you don't want it in control because it is a lousy blocker, it trades with nothing and if it dies you get nothing. It is bad at attacking and bad at blocking.

Would a straight up 2 mana 0/4 be playable in modern? No, it is not, wall of omens sees play because it draws you a card up front. How many tokens on average do you get from a young pyromancer? No more than 3, so NO, you are not gonna be reliably flipping this, and the fact that you get nothing out of this until the moment you play the fourth spell makes this for all intents and purposes, a do nothing card.

How is Leyline good against affinity? What am I missing?