Magic: The Gathering C/D

xp though i'm with you in that if they do more world-revisiting i'd like it to be a world that didn't get the full-on modern creative-department treatment last time around

haha another 1986 dude here, i played from tempest to onslaught then picked it back up a couple years ago when i ended up w/ a roommate who plays competitively

also re: creative: even though i don't like the extreme to which they've taken style-guide homogeneity in the card art these days i still really love the land/setting art in the game and i think they still knock that out of the park every time. this makes me far more interested in sets on new planes than revisiting old ones

i think theros, if it's what we think flavor-wise, would actually be a reasonable spot for them to bust out some more of the more stylized stuff like rebecca guay etc that's largely been non-present since lorwyn block or earlier

haha cider an-hava township/gavony township was one of the connections i was looking at a few days ago

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2960

^ proto hamlet captain? looking over the set i can def see what you mean about the parallels btw innistrad and homelands. i can also understand not wanting to invest a bunch of time in revisiting planes that are both failures and not as easily communicated to newer players

I remember blowing all my Burger King money on some dude's collection that he sold off when he went to school - $1600 for three Moxes (including a beta Sapphire), Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, all 40 duals (I think this was around when they were banned from Extended, so they were at an all-time low), 4 Mana Drains, 4 Force of Wills, and 20 fetches. Plus, lots of cards that are valuable now, like Sneak Attack and Gaea's Cradle. Not easy explaining that one to my parents, but maybe the best decision I've made. Worst: selling the Sapphire for $300 (it was beat up) in order to pay for a busted head gasket on my freakin' Ford Escort.

how much of that do you still have?

Anyway to join into the actual discussion, I like the art direction they've gone in - agree that things look a bit samey, but when you see the blown up art on WoTC's website it's pretty incredible just how detailed some of it is. I would love a bit more personality - I really like the totally oddball art on Descendant's Path but that seems to be a rarity these days. I miss Phil Foglio and Drew Trucker a lot; shifting from that to very obviously CGI-enchanced stuff by the time of Odyssey was really a disappointment. But they've really done well lately. Except y'know, the whole male-dominated fantasy thing (I'm actually kind of embarrassed to play Lilliana of the Veil for this reason)

As far as world revisiting, I think the dual failures of Time Spiral and Coldsnap kinda made it clear that R&D shouldn't attempt to return to stuff that was problematic in the first place? The only old set that would be real interesting to return to IMO is Arabian Nights.

xp - Almost all of it. Planned to sell a lot of it but luckily I got into online poker shortly after and didn't have to. I broke out my old 5-color deck that I hadn't opened in about five years the other day and was kinda stunned at how much cool junk I had collected. I wish I hadn't left it out in my freezing car so much, I had no idea this stuff would be worth major cash one day. One of the characteristics of 5-C was that you alter or draw on your cards and I remember people regularly defacing dual lands back then.

i still really love the land/setting art in the game and i think they still knock that out of the park every time

land art is probably my favorite magic art - its sorta the most evocative. i like that a lot of the classic mtg land art is similar to the stuff the do know, stuff like taiga or sheltered valley wouldn't look out of place on a modern card

Except y'know, the whole male-dominated fantasy thing (I'm actually kind of embarrassed to play Lilliana of the Veil for this reason)

I think they're a lot better about the overly-sexualized art stuff than most fantasy properties. I mean, they still could tone it down a little, but by comparison I always thought they did ok. I do miss the weirder art stuff. They do a great job now but it's a little homogenous. Would be cool to see a really out-there block that called for some more abstract art, like a dream world or something.

I started playing in middle school in '94, but I similarly took a break around Visions because a big chunk of my collection got stolen around the time I was thinking I needed a new group of friends. Felt like a sign, really. Got dragged back in during college around Odyssey when some roommates wanted to pick the game back up, and I took it more seriously. Although to this day, I'm still pretty much just a limited player who follows Constructed rather than playing it - the only times I've really played it was when I had to for a PT (humblebrags).

I think they're a lot better about the overly-sexualized art stuff than most fantasy properties.

Oh, totally agreed on that. But a lot of it is still pretty bad - Blustersquall for example. Even stuff that's supposed to be horrifying like Nin, the Pain Artist doesn't make it through without gigantic cans. Of course, I come from the days of ogling Serra Angel and that bizarrely sexualized Elvish Ranger (from Alliances) so I'm not really one to talk.

i kind of want to become one of those people who only play mono-red in standard regardless of the metagame, at least for paper events. would save me so much trouble/money on my paper collection and it's almost always a playable deck these days

Renounce the Guilds
https://twitter.com/mtgaaron/status/321700395435053056

scg put these up at 0.99 which seems like the absolute floor for the card, i would preorder a set if i had any intention of playing with them

oops too late they sold out already, will be back up at something higher i assume

It really feels like more of a sideboard card - typically those don't go very high. If you maindeck it I think it's just going to hit a lot of Burning-Trees. Plus most of the white decks I see play Geist or Reckoner so you got to play around that.

you cast it when their obzedat is active and yours isnt imo

i do agree that $.99 is pretty low for a card that A) costs 2 mana, B) is an instant, and C) hits so many tier 1 cards (that are otherwise hard to deal with)

it's a tool for control decks as its most obvious use - it deals with almost all of the nightmare threats - falk aristocrat, geist, obzedat, domri, assemble the legion, aurelia, etc etc. i think it might be maindeckable depending on what the top decks look like after this set is out

in any case, the preorder price should definitely be more than a dollar, even if it eventually settles there after a month of drafting

well I suppose DGM is pretty much guaranteed to have some really good multicolored cards. still my concern with it is how many things it actually hits - all those cards get played a lot obviously but how many decks have more than 4-6 multicolor cards maindeck? and of those that have a lot, can you get nerfed if they play a Burning-Tree Shaman so you can't hit the thing you want? (not that R/G has a lot of good multicolor stuff yet, but it's worth considering)

i don't think you want the card vs burning-tree decks after sideboarding anyway.

there are a lot of multicolored creatures seeing play and even if a deck only plays a handful they tend to be the strongest ones in the deck.

i'm not saying this card is going to be a format staple, but i see it as a dreadbore-type card, something that sees a bit of play as a removal option, and dreadbore was like $8 at release time and is still well over $1 now

If DGM brings more powerful multicolor staple cards I can see it being really good - you wouldn't want to put in a card if it only deals with their 3 Aristocrats for instance. Junk Rites plays both Loxodon Smiter and Ghost Dads, I can see it useful there. But there aren't many decks like that.

Advent of the Wurm's collector number is #51. Which means that if it's the first gold card alphabetically then we're only getting 10 cards of each color. Sounds about right

Wow, hadn't thought about that. Guess we're in for lots of gold. If they hadn't already blown the "all-gold set", this would have been a perfect time to use it.

still my concern with it is how many things it actually hits - all those cards get played a lot obviously but how many decks have more than 4-6 multicolor cards maindeck?

every tier one and two deck has at least one target for it and most have several even the burning-tree decks have consistently had domri somewhere in their 75 and blitz decks have ghor-clan rampager. i was actually wondering if it might be viable in blitz decks though as a way of dealing w/boros reckoner since they're probably the least immune and it also hits stuff like detention sphere and olivia and other problem cards for the deck

least should be most there

problem is it eats one of your emissaries which is the same result the more proactive answers to reckoner already have

i enjoy the demographic of this thread. i'm right there with y'all (87)

modern magic art is generally dreadful, i think, but i also agree that land art has become progressively more stunning. love the foglios tho

That must be the sweet spot for magic players, it was just starting up around the age where you guys might start nurturing a card collecting addiction. I'm super old so I was focused on buying baseball and Star Wars cards as a kid. Couldn't do much with those though. By the time mtg came around, I was graduating from high school and more interested in sex, drugs, and rock n roll.

Only now that I'm rapidly approaching middle age with a kid of my own am I able to return to my childhood love of games and trading cards.

also iunno... all things considered the new spoilers don't really look too broken? the instant wurm is sweet but probably on the same power level as resto anyways. i think it'll be a balanced set when all is said and done.

i like exava a lot. not sure where she's better than hellrider or falkenrath aristocrat yet but at least she'll be around longer in standard

i think they're saving some stuff

feeling a little underwhelmed by Exava, think I like the deathtouch dude more

Exava looks sweet. She is better than Hellrider on an empty board, and better than Falkenrath Aristocrat against decks with Tragic Slip, though probably worse than either overall. In her favor, first strike is very relevant right now, but being Legendary hurts. After rotation, I think she'll get played.

Lavinia just got spoiled too. Interesting ETB effect, wonder if she has combo potential?

Lavinia seems pretty nice, protection against red is interesting

apparently the flavor texts on the RTR and GTC guildgates have certain letters with slightly raised flavor text, and if you put them together and read them vertically they read "THE GUILDS OF RAVNICA" in RTR and "WILL DESTROY EACH OTHER" in GTC. sounds like a crackpot theory but if you have any guildgates by you check it out, this is actually for real

the dragons maze ones have raised letters too but we haven't seen all 10 yet

can't wait to scoop to t5 lavinia dozens of times in standard over the next year and a half...

just when you resolved to commit yourself to mono red

ehh i don't think she's better vs mono-red than just aggro in general. can always add a land or 2 and break out the thundermaw hellkites again. also i can see people using her as a falter on a stick in UW geist aggro decks too

Trostani's Summoner
5GW
Creature - Elf Shaman
When Trostani's Summoner enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance, a 3/3 green Centaur creature token, and a 4/4 green Rhino creature token with trample onto the battlefield.
1/1

uncommon. this seems pretty fun

BRING BACK REVELLARK!!

we already have restoration angel and unburial rites, don't be greedy

I like that card

also that cycle of 2/4 commons that marshall previewed in the limited article is going to do a ton of work towards slowing the format down, i think. not only do they block most of the aggro cards in both RTR and GTC, they also make you want to play multiple ETB-tapped lands in your decks, since getting the trigger on any of them is pretty huge. red one is probably the worst, black probably the best.

not to mention that 2-color decks basically won't be viable unless you want your deck to be real diluted

well yeah but the worry was that the format would still be tempo-ey due to all the gatecrash aggro cards and detain/unleash, this cycle is the type of thing i want to see if it's gonna be more ponderous like it should be (tempo-ey 3-color just means lots of unfun manascrew deaths and such)

http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/tcg/products/dgm/tiwoirwiixix/inoog6pejv_EN.jpg

rad art, crap card

yeah her old card was a lot more interesting for constructed. this one's still a fine board control card in limited and maybe very specific block or standard matchups but it's not too exciting

also flavor-wise i'm not sure why a human with a crippled leg is a 4/4 vigilance

I'm thinking Boros/Azorious can be real nasty if it gets the right cards (Gore-House and Lyev Skynight, for example) - it would be slower then GTC Boros but it would have flyers. I guess we'll see if DGM has any more 3-power 2CC dudes.