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[Metroidvania]

R&D wussing out on annihilator for BfZ was so disappointing.

Doesn't bane of Bala ged technically still have it? Even better, with exile instead of sac?

edit: Beat, lol.

 

[traveler]

I don't really understand Emrakul's identity. If Emrakul really is behind the events on Innistrad, it seems like corruption is her thing, but turning people's minds and madness is already Kozilek's thing. Emrakul's identity, from her prior card at least, doesn't really make any sense- she bends time? We're not really seeing evidence of time distortions on Innistrad.

 

[Ashodin]

Here's the list of cards currently up for use in RW Equipment:

Want 4x of

Want 2x of (Top end finisher?)

Potential?

2 or 4x

SB card

Potential draw engine

Fuckin' 4x. VERY good in RW.

Eh, less aggro + more control. SB card?

Need to see more transform creatures in RW.

Might run this with the Heirloom.

I think in this deck's aggro focus, this guy could be what helps you seal the deal.

We'll see. Works best with tokens.

 

[charlequin]

I don't really understand Emrakul's identity.

The idea, at least as of BFZ and the Zendikar art book, is that Ulamog devours and destroys, Kozilek distorts space and reality, and Emrakul twists and corrupts living beings.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I hadn't seen the English version of this until Ashodin's post. Good to see more Magic poetry.

 

[traveler]

The idea, at least as of BFZ and the Zendikar art book, is that Ulamog devours and destroys, Kozilek distorts space and reality, and Emrakul twists and corrupts living beings.

I guess I wasn't making the appropriate distinction between Kozilek and Emrakul's domains.

And, yeah, that kind of seals the deal for me re:Em on Inn. It was the one loose end I didn't see the answer to.

 

[HK-47]

I hadn't seen the English version of this until Ashodin's post. Good to see more Magic poetry.

Appropriately creepy. A+ flavor.

 

[Ashodin]

This is awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee with RW Equipment. Languish not so much

 

[Supast4r]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/standard-power-level-2016-02-05

There goes Liliana of the Veil's chances of seeing a reprint

 

[OnPoint]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/standard-power-level-2016-02-05

There goes Liliana of the Veil's chances of seeing a reprint

1. That article is from February.
2. It's referencing a different standard than we'd have now.
3. I think Delirium/Skulk could help keep her in check.
4. There's more ways to deal with planeswalkers than there used to be.

 

[Supast4r]

1. That article is from February.
2. It's referencing a different standard than we'd have now.
3. I think Delirium/Skulk could help keep her in check.
4. There's more ways to deal with planeswalkers than there used to be.

He is saying that even the idea of LOTV is messed up and shouldn't be in standard so her chances are almost zero now.

 

[OnPoint]

He is saying that even the idea of LOTV is messed up and shouldn't be in standard so her chances are almost zero now.

Is he?

While there certainly are cards that are too powerful for Standard without any context, most of the time the cards in question would be fine, except that the interactions with other existing cards in Standard would make it too strong. One of the problems with reprints is that we don't get to tweak the numbers.

For example, we tried Liliana of the Veil in Magic 2015 and found her to be too strong for Standard. Some of that was because the mono-black decks were already very strong, but some of it was that the card is just very efficient. It does see play in both Legacy and Modern, after all. And while the card wasn't oppressive in its first time in Standard, we generally don't want to intentionally reprint something that we believe might be the strongest card in the format. It just leads to things being stale and prevents new things from flourishing. You will see cards in Standard in the future that are as strong as or stronger than Liliana of the Veil, but it's likely that we misevaluated just how strong they were in development.

Seems to me he was more worried about it being too strong then, then he goes on to say we'll see cards of equal or maybe even greater power levels. I'm not saying it's a lock, but your doom-and-gloom for it now is founded on a lack of comprehension of what he's saying.

 

[Hero]

They could definitely do it, but monoblack 1cc and 2cc spells/creatures would suffer in return.

 

[Ashodin]

Definitely going to be post-mortem where "oh yeah uh Liliana of the Veil uh yeah uh we wanted her in but we decided Eternal Masters instead so uh yeah we uh yeah just wanted to make new cards instead of reprints just like BFZ/OGW uh yeah. Expect to see low-key common/uncommon reprints. We really don't want to do retreads of old cards so they stay $100+ ok? uh yeah"

 

[Crocodile]

Source

 

["God's Beard!"]

RR for a 2/2 first strike is rare? I wouldn't bat my eye if that card was common. Hell, it's worse than Zada's Commando in a lot of ways.

:-|

 

[Santiako]

If the burn wasn't shite, the 2/1 R Vampire and this wolf would be a nice base for a Sligh Standard deck.

 

["God's Beard!"]

RB Madness/Vampire tribal should just be called Malkavians.

 

[Ashodin]

Source

art is terrible.

 

[Yeef]

Reminds me of Resident Evil.

 

[SigmasonicX]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";198968898]RR for a 2/2 first strike is rare? I wouldn't bat my eye if that card was common. Hell, it's worse than Zada's Commando in a lot of ways.

:-|[/QUOTE]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but the potential double strike makes it fine for rare.

 

[zethren]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";198968898]RR for a 2/2 first strike is rare? I wouldn't bat my eye if that card was common. Hell, it's worse than Zada's Commando in a lot of ways.

:-|[/QUOTE]

A 2/2 for 2 is good.
A 2/2 for 2 with 1st strike is better.
Probability for doublestrike makes it a fine mid and late game top deck as well.

It's a good card.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Erebos' Titan seems like it might play well with Madness against decks that recur creatures like that new mythic zombie or Kolaghan's Command decks.

 

[Ashodin]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";198970492]Erebos' Titan seems like it might play well with Madness against decks that recur creatures like that new mythic zombie or Kolaghan's Command decks.[/QUOTE]

Can't you remove cards from their GY too to trigger its effect?

Also the dude is super good with Languish

 

[charlequin]

Re: the discussion about Bruna and Gisela:

strymon asked: After the Magic Story two weeks ago, and especially after seeing Sigarda, I was eagerly anticipating seeing twisted versions of Bruna and Gisela. It doesn't seem like that's going to be the case - I'm a little disappointed.

Patience. : )

 

[Ashodin]

Re: the discussion about Bruna and Gisela:

awwwwww shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

 

[kirblar]

White/Black Angel reborn probably in EDM as well.

From Twitter- LSV's "counterpoint" to me an Arid thinking SSG really should have been banned eons ago in Modern:

Luis Scott-Vargas ‏@lsv 3h

@mtg_ianduke @armlx @Kirblar024 counterpoint: it led to a serious strategic discussion in the PT finals on Cavern naming Ape. @Marshall_LR

 

[charlequin]

White/Black Angel reborn probably in EDM as well.

My chances at an Edgar Markov just keep going down.

From Twitter- LSV's "counterpoint" to me an Arid thinking SSG really should have been banned eons ago in Modern:

He's got you there.

 

[kirblar]

You just want that tentacle hat, don't ya.

 

[Yeef]

Speculation: I think Horror-tribal will be a minor theme in Eldritch Moon.

 

[Megalosaro]

Sup MtGGAF. I dot play magic, but I am a dnd fan, so that means we are sort of like cousins.

Is there any sort of Lore to MtG? How deep is it? Any sort of cliff notes version?

I like looking at magic cards. Can't say I like playing them though. Mostly because I've never played it.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Sup MtGGAF. I dot play magic, but I am a dnd fan, so that means we are sort of like cousins.

Is there any sort of Lore to MtG? How deep is it? Any sort of cliff notes version?

I like looking at magic cards. Can't say I like playing them though. Mostly because I've never played it.

Yup, there's a story summary in the OP.
Basically, wizards that can go to different dimensions called Planeswalkers. We mainly just followed individual Planeswalkers durdling around, but now they formed a superhero team.

STORY
Trailer
Lore introduction
Guide to Innistrad

Innistrad is a world where humanity beset on all sides by monsters: restless spirits, necromancers and skaab stitchers raising the dead, demons and their worshipers, aristocratic vampire families, and ferocious werewolves, among many more. Long ago, the vampire Planeswalker Sorin Markov realized that if things stayed the course, the humans would go extinct and the vampires would be left without food. Playing the long game, he created the archangel Avacyn to protect the humans, and thus ensure the survival of the vampires into the distant future, even if it meant many of his own would die in the process. Avacyn became the most holy figure on Innistrad, leading the angels in support of humanity, while the rest of the world remained ignorant of her true purpose.

In the present, the heroes of the Gatewatch faced ancient horrors known as the Eldrazi, and have defeated two of the three Eldrazi Titans on the plane of Zendikar. The last and most powerful, Emrakul, is unaccounted for. The telepathic Planeswalker Jace Beleran has come to Innistrad to track down Sorin, since he helped seal away the Eldrazi in the first place, but when he arrives, he discovers that things have gotten weird. Some sort of madness is spreading through the land, and not even the angels are spared. Their wings have become soaked in blood and they are slaughtering humans, forcing the humans to fight both monsters and their former protectors. Meanwhile, the stone-shaping lithomancer Planeswalker who also helped seal away the Eldrazi, Nahiri, has resurfaced with a mysterious vendetta against the Markov family of vampires. Jace must turn detective to understand just what happened, and what this could be a portent of.

Shadows over Innistrad story
Story archive - Scroll to the bottom for chronological order; the layout of this archive is trash.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

All the lore is jace nowadays but if you go back a decade it had some great and some awful lore.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Holy shit the mana is bad in SOI Standard, even for 2 color decks.

I've been messing with the Malkavians just to get a sense of what decks might look like:

Creatures(24):

• 4 Falkenrath Gorger
• 4 Indulgent Aristocrat
• 4 Heir of Falkenrath
• 4 Asylum Visitor
• 3 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 3 Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

Spells(10):

• 4 Grasp of Darkness
• 4 Fiery Temper
• 2 Kolaghan's Command

Enchantments(2):

• 2 Call the Bloodline

Lands(24):

• 4 Foreboding Ruins
• 4 Smoldering Marsh
• 4 Cinder Barrens
• 6 Swamp
• 4 Mountain
• 2 Blighted Fen

Sideboard:

• 4 Duress
• 3 Rending Volley
• 3 Self-Inflicted Wound
• 2 Unnatural Endurance
• 1 Ruinous Path
• 2 Ob Nixilis

And goddamn does it feel like every single land comes into play tapped. That said, all the madness synergies are as fun as I was expecting.

It might wind up just being single color + colorless for the aggro decks this season.

 

[Ashodin]

Planeswalkers used to be near-god badasses that played fucking chess games with each other for the fate of worlds

Now they're checkers-playing wannabe-hero types

 

[Exokell]

Planeswalkers used to be near-god badasses that played fucking chess games with each other for the fate of worlds

Now they're checkers-playing wannabe-hero types

Sorin, Nicol Bolas, and Ugin aren't near God?

 

[Ashodin]

Sorin, Nicol Bolas, and Ugin aren't near God?

Not any more. They're extremely powerful, but not near-God shapeshifter status.

Reddit:

CLUE TOKEN FLAVOR TEXT:

"[Remember] to have Jenrik research Markov Manor."
"Consider [this:] the shepherd turns on her flock. Why?"
"The symbols-When did [they] change?"
"With angels [came] mysteries."
"Their chanting grows louder [as] the tide rises."
"Fore every answer, [three] questions."

"You speak to me of the threat of Ulamog. But [do not forget: they came as three]."

Ugin's Insight

holy fuck dudes

 

[JulianImp]

Sup MtGGAF. I dot play magic, but I am a dnd fan, so that means we are sort of like cousins.

Is there any sort of Lore to MtG? How deep is it? Any sort of cliff notes version?

I like looking at magic cards. Can't say I like playing them though. Mostly because I've never played it.

There's planeswalkers, who are mages who can travel at will between different planes, which work as realms or universes. A long time ago planeswalkers would never age (but could still die) and were ridiculously powerful (they never got any cards) and there're lots of books and lore about these old-style walkers, but then there was a multiverse-spanning cataclysmic event in the story that resulted in old planeswalkers disappearing and being replaced by neo-walkers which were still strong but not omnipotent unlike their predecessors (basically a move they pulled to make planeswalker cards printable).

The pre-mending story and expansions used to focus a whole lot on a single plane (Dominaria) and lots of events that happened on (or to) it, but a short while before the mending the game had already begun planes-hopping to create expansions set on a host of other planes that weren't Dominaria, and the addition of planeswalker cards allowed Wizards to give the story more continuity than what they had before, which was a host of planes with very loose connections to each other.

 

[charlequin]

You just want that tentacle hat, don't ya.

I am nothing if not transparent in my motivations.

 

[kirblar]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";198968898]RR for a 2/2 first strike is rare? I wouldn't bat my eye if that card was common. Hell, it's worse than Zada's Commando in a lot of ways.

:-|[/QUOTE]
Rarity feels right to me.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Reddit:

 

[Ashodin]

Worth noting Magic Duels will have SOI 2 days before paper game release. Sweet.

 

[charlequin]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";198975184]

[/QUOTE]

Every time someone mentions something on reddit I wind up looking at the thread and I always, always regret it. This one has a long angry comment about how obviously it has to be Marit Lage in Innistrad because Emrakul wouldn't have had time to get frozen in the ice.

 

[HK-47]

Magic is fantastic art and intriguing flavor text in search of a decent storyteller. Thats the lore in a nutshell.

 

[kirblar]

Magic is fantastic art and intriguing flavor text in search of a decent storyteller. Thats the lore in a nutshell.

TCGs are awful at storytelling. The investigation stuff in this set is amazing though.

 

[Ashodin]

I mean I don't want to say it's Emrakul but

Spoiler

We still don't DEFINITIVELY know

Tolarian Community College's card:

Despoiler of Souls' buddy?

Naw, RISEN EXECUTIONER TIME

Holy shit Liliana, Defiant Necromancer works GREAT too!

 

[charlequin]

TCGs are awful at storytelling.

This is why they've made so many past pushes into environmental storytelling! The way this set's doing it is really fine though.

 

[WanderingWind]

I mean I don't want to say it's Emrakul but

Spoiler

We still don't DEFINITIVELY know

Tolarian Community College's card:

Despoiler of Souls' buddy?

Naw, RISEN EXECUTIONER TIME

Holy shit Liliana, Defiant Necromancer works GREAT too!

I been telling ya'll about my gal Lili.

 

[Imperfected]

The environmental storytelling and even the overarching metaplot (as with SoI) is fine, it's just when they try to narrow down to a conventional narrative with conventional characters (hi Jace) that it all goes horribly, horribly wrong.

SoI is basically Bloodborne until Jace pokes his head in, then suddenly it's Yu-Gi-Oh.

 

[A Serious Man]

Online Jace down nearly $20 over the last five days, even after being the most played card at GP Paris. I understand he'll be good post-rotation but without the ability to splash him into whatever fucking deck you want I can see him settling down around $20 or so. I'm very tempted to sell my playset now and then rebuy it once the dust has settled.