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Magic: the Gathering |OT11| Amonkhet - Have you ever had decks with a Pharaoh?

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Ashodin

Member
PROPHECY BABY

All the Avatars were awesome as hell to me

avatarofwoe.jpg
avataroffury.jpg


RK post on each one :D
 

Zocano

Member
Technically I got in at mirrodin. I have a bunch of onslaught and mirrodin block cards but nothing valuable from then. But I mostly bounced in n out since then and reaaalllyyy got back in at Innistrad.

It's probably why I am so fond of artifact blocks. Or maybe just mirrodin cause Kaladesh seemed kinda meh.

I wanna go back to New Phyrexia.
 

Santiako

Member
I started playing with my brother with a portal second age thing. Then we moved on to Invasion/Planeshift theme decks and brought some friends into the game with 7th edition. My first prerelease was Scourge.

Then I stopped playing after Coldsnap and came back with Battle for Zendikar, my first prerelease of this second era was Shadows.
 
I started for the first time at some point in the first Mirrodin block (don't ask for specifics, I was in elementary school at the time :p). Been on again off again ever since. Basically just kitchen table stuff, though there were a few guys in highschool with more serious constructed decks. Haven't really paid any attention for the last 5 or so years, but like I said when I entered the thread, Egyptian Mythology is just too cool for me to pass this up.
 

DrArchon

Member
Started playing with M13 & Return to Ravnica

I guess I'm relatively new still.

For what it's worth, I took a large hiatus from MtG and came back to it with M13 and RTR. Skipped everything between that and Future Sight. First Mythic Rare I ever got was the reprint of Bolas in M13.
 

ultron87

Member
Played kitchen table with my brother when Ice Age came out. Most prized cards were a Shivan Dragon and Dakkon Blackblade. Then didn't play for a very long time. Started playing again, due to one of the Duels games, right around when New Phyrexia came out.

Was super into Standard from Innistrad to Tarkir, and now I'm primarily a Limited player. (Innistrad + RTR Standard was so goooood.) I also have a Modern deck I occasionally use and also play Proxy Legacy.
 
I was going to mention that this approach has been a disaster (because no one knows they're legal!) but completely forgot to, thanks for bringing it up.

Yeah, this definitely isn't good for anything important enough to be seriously playable. This is why my suggestion is a branded, promoted, static-contents product marketed to new players and tournament players who want staples. Charge $50 for it (this is what a new board game costs), maybe build it so you can mix-and-match it into two decks or something, include all these basic cards that are gonna be tournament staples, rotate it once or twice a year.
 

noquarter

Member
It's bad inasmuch as it's a set that retailers hate, players don't care about, and nobody buys, which it's been from approximately 5th edition onward until its demise.
So it's bad because players don't like it, causing retailers to hate having a slow moving set.

They can make it work of they put in the effort. They started to with M2013, adding slivers, they just completely dropped the ball. M2014 was kind of the same, but also not exiting. M2015 was forgettable. Origins was going a cool way, just not at the right time. Then they dropped it.

Yeah, if they continue doing Core sets the way they have since Fifth Edition, of course most players won't like them. They ended up being the same sets pretty much, just with different bombs (that is the purpose after all). But if they take the M13 idea of adding something to it, not fucking it up, and building up from there They could make a set that players like.

Also, if they go 3-1-2-2 with blocks they have some cool options to do. Choose a good story/world and make that a 3 set block, really focus on story and making it worth it. Plane changing blocks are pretty good stories for this and allow for a Big Small Big if they really want so they can get the draft environment they want. Something like the Gatewatch trying to restore Mirrodin on New Phyrexia, or whatever.

Follow up with a Core Set that is setup for the next couple blocks story wise or gives more back story on a character, maybe teasing a future plane and getting some feedback on it. They could split the Gatewatch up and have a reason for all the staples to show up, with one going somewhere cool. If they add something to help differentiate it from all the other core sets every time, while still giving something new, players might actually start to like them.

Then do there 2 set blocks. This keeps rotation and set releases consistent, allows further plane development if they have the story to go with it, gets the core set back, while still giving them the chance to run through planes and have new places that are exciting.
I bet you didn't know these cards were legal because Wizards kind of doesn't mention it!

They really should just have a core set again. Make it all reprints, make it an every 2 year thing. Call it 11th edition.
I brought up the starter deck cards last thread I think. They have even sort of double downed on this with the planeswalker decks having unique planeswalker.

They could even go with Duel decks being part of Standard. They don't want to use them as an avenue to reprint money cards anymore, just make them all Standard legal and through reprints in there. Casuals would probably like having two FNM 'ready' decks for $20.

Speaking of "one time a year for players to jump in", when did all of you start playing Magic? I was introduced to the game with Alliances cards, but didn't really start playing till Stronghold.


I would like a Conspiracy-like product designed for 1v1. Give me new cards, give me "draft matters" cards, and give me a cohesive world, but please don't force me to play Multiplayer
Started in Revised. Friend's Mom found two starter decks after reading about them in the paper. Played through Exodus, got pissed at them adding rarity symbols and something else. Also around the time I was starting to work and didn't have time for more than one hobby (videogames won out) Bought packs through Mirrodin, then joined the Navy. Got back into it around Roe. Since then been playing pretty consistently.

Will probably at least draft until I can't find a place to draft at. And have a cube that I will hopefully never have to get rid of. Just keep updating it and have it as a nice 4-8 player game.
 

ajf009

Member
Edit: Got started around Mercadian Masques, also got a lot of Ice Age Cards around that time (i was young) wish i had cracked dozens of Urza block packs insead

The only other way to maintain it is to do current setup + a 5th core set that only comes out once every two years and takes the place of an *MA or CNS type product and has its own rotation.


Make it once every five years even, assuming the same base cards make up the set every time, Wizards (Hasbro) makes no money printing the same cards again and again that nobody will buy. That way you can also throw in needed reprints every so often
 

traveler

Not Wario
I think core sets serve a pretty useful function and they've done a pretty great job incorporating both old essentials and nice, new designs in core sets in the past. My only beef with them is that limited is dreadfully boring.
 

GoutPatrol

Forgotten in his cell
I was going to mention that this approach has been a disaster (because no one knows they're legal!) but completely forgot to, thanks for bringing it up.

Some sort of core set is badly needed. The reason that jumps to "bye bye 2-block" is because of the rotation decision.

One of these days I want to put Sphinx of Magosi in my deck and see what people say. It fits with Amonkhet!

edit: When they had the Modern flashback draft last year I really loved playing 9th and 10th edition core set limited.
 
Speaking of "one time a year for players to jump in", when did all of you start playing Magic? I was introduced to the game with Alliances cards, but didn't really start playing till Stronghold.

I grew up a hundred miles from the nearest LGS, so while I bought some packs and did some mild kitchen table play all the way back to the beginning, it wasn't until Ice Age that I ever had much of anyone to play with.

I didn't play much while I was in the military (too busy, too deployed), and came back around to it (and much more enthusiastically) with the Innistrad block.

I still dip out for a block or two at a time when it suits me; the Magic itch is very much something I can turn off if I just plain don't like a set.
 
I can't help but notice that the only source of this core set information appears to be this one Reddit thread, none of the other Magic boards I go to are discussing this, and no evidence has been produced other than this one screenshot. As far as I can tell, no one else has actually seen this question.

The Atlazan leak at least had art you couldn't find anywhere else. This is literally just text that anyone could make.

EDIT: Google searching "Magic core set return" and limiting it to the past 24 hours puts this thread as one of the top results. It's the only result other than the Reddit thread that's actually about this.
 

red13th

Member
Maro's tumblr is quite apologetic today.

I started with 4th Edition, foreign black border (Portuguese!), stopped during Masques, returned with Ravnica.
 

aidan

Hugo Award Winning Author and Editor
I started playing way back with Fourth Edition and Ice Age, but took a break around Tempest/Stronghold. Eventually returned to the game around the time Dragon's Maze was coming out. First prerelease event was for Theros.
 

zethren

Banned
I started buying packs of Prophecy and Mercadian Masques back in the day, mostly for the art at the time. It was something fun to collect with my brother.

But later on I started actually playing the game when OG Mirrodin came out. Learned with a few friends and had a blast for a few years before falling out of it eventually.

But in college, around when Zendikar first hit, I got sucked back in when a few dorm neighbors and I started hanging out more and becoming friends. They had these fancy new cards called "planeswalkers" that just blew my mind haha...

I've been playing on and off ever since then, with my favorite block being the first run of Innistrad.
 
They can make it work of they put in the effort.

Nah, the problems with the core set are structural. It's never going to be as interesting to draft because of the mechanical shallowness (they only ever succeeded once at having a Core Set be good in limited, with M13.) It's never going to have good value for money because one of its goals is to reprint cards people need into Standard, which means it inevitably fills up with $3 overprinted rares and has to burn potentially valuable slots (like dual land cycles) on stuff people already have.

M12 was great.

M12, really?!
 
But in college, around when Zendikar first hit, I got sucked back in when a few dorm neighbors and I started hanging out more and becoming friends. They had these fancy new cards called "planeswalkers" that just blew my mind haha...

Planeswalkers were definitely eye-popping when I got back in. There really hasn't been anything comparable since. ("Oh man, let me tell you about VEHICLES! They're... basically artifact creatures designed by a chimp.")
 

Santiako

Member
I think vehicles were mostly well received. They did warp most of limited around them, but other than that I think most people like them.
 
Planeswalkers were well-enough received that they became a de facto card type in basically every set.

Vehicles have been well-enough received that when they bring them back for a block or two in a few years we might be able to have a 50/50 split on whether or not it's a mistake.
 

y2dvd

Member
I think vehicles were mostly well received. They did warp most of limited around them, but other than that I think most people like them.

Some of the vehicles were too good for limited tbh. The power to rarity was weirdly unbalanced. When a common and uncommon vehicle feels more like rare and mythic, it can lead to some unfun games.
 

Yeef

Member
Some of the vehicles were too good for limited tbh. The power to rarity was weirdly unbalanced. When a common and uncommon vehicle feels more like rare and mythic, it can lead to some unfun games.
Renegade Freighter was a hair too strong. Dino train was way too strong. Other than those two, I think the common and uncommon vehicles were in a good place.
 
I think I started playing during the Tempest block? I learned about MtG during the Mirage block but didn't start playing till maybe about a year or two later.
 

Tunoku

Member
My Ultra Pro Eclipse sleeves just arrived and boy they are fantastic. I need to get my store to carry these, I'll be replacing my KMCs with them. The front side is matte though, so foils aren't as pretty.
 

A_Dang

Member
I first started playing right when original Ravnica hit, then dropped off at Cold Snap and missed some sweet sweet sets and then came back in Theros and have been firmly back in the game from then on. I really wish I had stuck with it and enjoyed those golden years....

Question: Is any one looking for a copy of Leovold? I have a copy I am going to pitch on eBay but would rather offer it for trade here first.
 

Jhriad

Member
Started playing during Revised/Fallen Empires era and stuck around buying packs until I stopped around Masques block. Came back near the end of Theros block.

I think vehicles were mostly well received

Ehhh. I'd say it's largely been a pretty lukewarm response but maybe I'm reading too much into the reactions of the MTG players I know.
 

Maledict

Member
Going back to dominaria as a two block set is depressing to think about

Just going to say, it doesn't matter how many blocks they give dominaria - you are going to be dissapointed.

Dominaria doesn't work as a plane. It has more locations and continents in it than every other plane combined right now. Each continent on Dominaria should be its own plane. There is absolutely no way to make a two, three, or even four set block that gives you the feel and aesthetics of Yavimaya, Llanorwar, Urborg, Ottaria, Benalesh, all the mirage continent, etc. Etc. Dominaria is just too big a place with too many different environments and too much history for them.
 

Daedardus

Member
What's up with the print quality of Amonket? Half the boosters in the bundle have small cuts in the booster packs and some cards in a couple of my boosters are straight up scratched with a milimeter deep 3 centimer wide scratch. A few of them also feature ink issues. I can understand that, but the scratches are just unacceptable. Luckily it was just the commons but I don't want it to happen to one of my rares.
 

Maledict

Member
I think vehicles were mostly well received. They did warp most of limited around them, but other than that I think most people like them.

I don't know anyone who liked them. In Limited they utterly dominate the format, and in standard their creatures that are immune to sorcery speed removal, which makes the game feel far more uninteractive.
'
I honestly don't even see why they exist. They feel like something they did because everyone has been saying how easy they would be to do for ages. Also thematically I'm not keen - Magic doesn't have guns but it does have bullet trains and flying aircraft carriers apparently...
 

Justin

Member
I started playing last weekend during the pre-release. Since then I have bought the 10 pack bundles of the last two sets and have a Amonkhet box waiting for me after work. Going to my first FNM tonight.
 

DrArchon

Member
I think vehicles were mostly well received. They did warp most of limited around them, but other than that I think most people like them.

I think they would've been better received if they hadn't been quite as pushed as they were. I mean, they've had to ban one of them and there's no shortage of people who said they should've banned another. Even stuff like Aethersphere Harvester is pretty pushed, it's just that no one uses it because Heart exists.

I'd have been down for more exploration of vehicles as a returning card type if this fist batch hadn't been awful to deal with.
 
I don't know anyone who liked them. In Limited they utterly dominate the format, and in standard their creatures that are immune to sorcery speed removal, which makes the game feel far more uninteractive.
'
I honestly don't even see why they exist. They feel like something they did because everyone has been saying how easy they would be to do for ages. Also thematically I'm not keen - Magic doesn't have guns but it does have bullet trains and flying aircraft carriers apparently...
MaRo seems pretty confident that vehicles were well received and are likely to return.

I think they would've been better received if they hadn't been quite as pushed as they were. I mean, they've had to ban one of them and there's no shortage of people who said they should've banned another. Even stuff like Aethersphere Harvester is pretty pushed, it's just that no one uses it because Heart exists.

I'd have been down for more exploration of vehicles as a returning card type if this fist batch hadn't been awful to deal with.
Isn't it more the opposite? Players get more excited about a mechanic if it has broken cards. Players like equipment for the Swords, etc.
 

DrArchon

Member
Isn't it more the opposite? Players get more excited about a mechanic if it has broken cards. Players like equipment for the Swords, etc.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I still would've preferred them to have been toned down a bit.

Or rather, they could've kept the same power level if they printed some decent instant speed removal alongside them. I would've felt much better about Vehicles if Hero's Downfall was still a thing.
 

El Topo

Member
I think the problem was really just the lack of reasonable answers. There wasn't really much reason *not* to play Smuggler's Copter. You weren't punished for playing the card. Heck, quite the opposite.
 

y2dvd

Member
I don't know anyone who liked them. In Limited they utterly dominate the format, and in standard their creatures that are immune to sorcery speed removal, which makes the game feel far more uninteractive.
'
I honestly don't even see why they exist. They feel like something they did because everyone has been saying how easy they would be to do for ages. Also thematically I'm not keen - Magic doesn't have guns but it does have bullet trains and flying aircraft carriers apparently...

This have been my biggest issue with vehicles and standard in general. Sorcery spells beside Demolition (and artifact hate) simply could not deal with Vehicles. In standard, you simply could not tap out, hence why we all wanted another Hero's Downfall. Felidar ban should make sorcery good again though.
 
MaRo on "vanilla creatures matter" as a major theme
catnamedjones asked: In regards to Muraganda and a vanilla creature theme, sets tend to have only 15 or so cards with any given keyword ability with a few extra cards to support that ability. So, for Muraganda, you make 15 vanilla creatures or so, sets usually have about 5 so you're only increasing it by 10, put 5 more cards that care about vanilla creatures like Petroglyphs, and flesh out the rest of the set with 2 or 3 other mechanics. So for about 20 cards out of 264, not sure what the problem is.

Let's walk through this. I'm going to talk about this as a limited theme because it's easier to show the problem.

Players play roughly sixteen creatures and seven spells which means fifteen creatures in the set would have to push heavily towards common to get the as-fan up.

Usually we concentrate a theme in certain colors because it allows us to make less cards of the theme, but vanilla creatures serve a general purpose and need to be in all colors.

We could just push the theme in certain colors and have other colors have the normal amount of vanilla creatures but we're creating a trap for players unaware of the full content of the set. We don't usually put one Goblin in an off-color if we have a Goblin tribal theme, for example.

That means fifteen might not be enough and already we're above the level of vanillas in core sets. We have bigger problems to fry though.

What cards are you going to enhance vanilla creatures with? Creatures? That would make them not vanilla and eat into your viable creature space.

Let's assume you make them noncreatures. That's a smaller pool and you still need things like creature removal and other utility cards (card drawing, other permanent removal, counterspells and such).

Let's say we work all that out. What is the play experience? If you don't draw the cards that care, you're playing a game with mostly vanilla creatures. It's a bit monotonous and is missing important things like evasion to keep games from stalling.

Making you care about a tribe can be fun because we can make a bunch of cool individually evocative cards in that tribe that play fun even if you don't draw the tribal cards. That's very hard to do with vanilla creatures.

I've just hit the tip if the iceberg. There's a limit, for example, to how many power points you want to put into vanilla creatures as they aren't sexy.

And that in many words is why ”vanilla matters" is tough to do.

That's not saying we won't ever find a way, but it is a lot harder than I think most fans of the idea understand.

He doesn't bring up heavy use of tokens, but that also has its share of problems and would warp the environment, as seen by populate in Return to Ravnica. Plus, you know, many of the tokens in that set had abilities.

And creatures with "when this ETB, create tokens" are not vanilla creatures themselves.
 
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