Magic: The Gathering C/D

mist raven is probably the strongest one we've had in a while but its not really a broken card in function, just too efficient

Mulldrifter from Lorwyn was incredibly powerful for a common. Crypt Rats which I believe was common (also from Mirage block which was all wonky power-wise). Mire Boa and River Boa were both nightmares. And let's not forget Wellwisher. Probably the reason behind 90% of all the Onslaught block matches that went to a draw.

oh, I'm forgetting a really obvious one: Armadillo Cloak

the disparity in power level at common in avr was really high, seraph of dawn getting remade as a rare in set with almost no playables is pretty funny to me

Only common from recent years I can think of that I'd call a mistake, and not even a big one, was Dawnglare Invoker. There were ways to deal with it, and 8 mana was a lot even for that block, but an effect like that just straight up wins you the game. At uncommon, would have been ok.

hey yeah pm me before sat vinnie, I am sure we will have some time to talk between rounds

alt we can just plan to meet in the finals

i have won games vs. an active dawnglare invoker but yeah it's not easy - white was pretty weak in that set though so it seemed like they shoved a lot of the color's limited power level into that one card. if i had to redesign it the first thing i would try is 'tap 3 target creatures'

or 'up to 3' obviously

i'm a bit disappointed by UG god's ability, was hoping for an advantage engine and not a scaling enabler. if there's a pushed god in this set it's one of the remaining two i guess.

Yeah good fix for Invoker, puts it in line with the other Invokers: very good but not game-winning.

webmailed you iatee

i am assuming there will be a card drawing strive card to go nuts with the UG god.

got the webmail

yeah the ug god is very edh

tho strive targets so i guess not

sorry, xp to myself

http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/attachments/127/901/635326898266336013.jpg

if this isn't accompanied by a Riddle of Lightning reprint, i'm gonna be disappointed

the disparity in power level at common in avr was really high, seraph of dawn getting remade as a rare in set with almost no playables is pretty funny to me

when did this happen?

in the new set i assume he means. there is a rare that is the same card except with heroic +1/+1

thats what I thought too but "with no playables" makes me wonder

i parsed it as its funny that there was an an apparently rare-worthy common in a set with no playables

AVR was a bizarre draft format all around. I can't think of any other limited format with such a high concentration of bomb rares nor one with so many cards that alternate between "slightly underpowered" and "game ending" depending on when you draw them or what cards you have out when you do.

idk i didn't think it was that terrible or that unusual except for the lack of hard removal. the distribution of power at common was similar to old pre-modern sets. definitely a poorly developed format but i still enjoyed it more than core sets and a few other recent formats like zendikar and 3x gatecrash.

I didn't hate it either, just didn't like essentially being forced into U/G so much, though the B/U "loner" deck was lots of fun if you could get it. I also loved the Goldnight Commander + Thatcher Revolt combo which was basically an instant win. The lack of removal may not have been much of a problem in other sets, but there were so many bomb cards through all three rarities that the format really needed it.

i parsed it as its funny that there was an an apparently rare-worthy common in a set with no playables

yeah i was typing sloppily on my phone and phrased it poorly - seraph of dawn was a common in set with a lot of really bad commons and then was reprinted as a rare in a set with a reasonable # of playables was the point

i enjoyed avr a lot, it was the first format i drafted on mtgo and i played the hell out of it but it wasnt nearly as well balanced as the other sets that have come out since i started playing. i think there were a lot of problems beyond just 'little to no removal', too many cards were situational and too many cards didnt interact well w/ the format like its interesting to see necrobite go from almost completely unusable to a reasonable late pick card.

i don't think the removal was the problem at all, it was the presence of a ton of low-impact cards at common that could almost never trade 1 for 1 with anything (e.g. grounded, banners raised, leap of faith, a bunch of 1/1s and 1/2s) plus the lack of a smoothing mechanic

i think the latter is the biggest factor actually - having enough mana sinks built into a format is such a huge boost to its playability. core sets tend to be bad about this too which is a big part of why i don't like them much.

Well lack of removal was a big issue - outside of Pillar of Fire there really was no way to deal with the various R/W human chaining effects nor was there any good way to deal with a Druid's Familiar outside of 2-1ng yourself (or worse). There definitely felt like a lack of interactivity - most games seemed to come down to who got the best Soulbound combo, or the biggest bomb rare, or the most explosive Human/Thatcher Revolt interactions. Like you could draw your opening hand and figure out very quickly what your chances are.

AVR had a lot of things against it. Removal wasn't great, lots of bad commons AND a few extremely powerful commons. The mechanics were not very skill-testing and decks mostly played on autopilot. I still have a soft spot for the set because I went to the PT that it was the draft format for, so thinking about the set brings up better memories than it deserves.

well, Oracle of Bones just got a lot scarier:

http://mythicspoiler.com/nyx/cards/worstfears.html

does this impact Oracle of Bones? any choices regarding Tribute would happen on your turn and Worst Fears impacts the target player on their own turn

it doesn't impact oracle of bones because both cards are terrible and won't be played outside of edh

the 'you control player' effect has a really unpredictable value, a lot of the time this is an 8 mana time warp

does this impact Oracle of Bones? any choices regarding Tribute would happen on your turn and Worst Fears impacts the target player on their own turn

I mean, in the sense that Oracle is awful unless there's the possibility of some haymaker-type spell like this coming down if they don't pay the Tribute. I disagree that it's "mostly a Time Walk" - as someone who's been Mindslavered a bunch it can really ruin everything in a hurry. Though if you did happen to land it turn 4 with Oracle I suppose there would only be so much damage you could do.

ah, yes, makes sense, don't think many people will be doing this though

no, but I find Oracle of Bones to be such an amusing card anyway, a man can dream right?

the best thing to use with oracle of bones right now is fuse cards since you can hardcast them for cheap but oracle them for a huge mana discount still

i like the modernized city of brass a lot btw, that's an effect that standard really needed.

also lsv wrote this at the end of his column: "I'm excited to see more of Journey into Nyx and am ready to welcome back an old favorite (and very impactful card) in my preview for this column next week!" so now i'm trying to figure out what 'very impactful' reprint they could drop in this set

http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=15682
http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=10844
http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=23564

I have no serious answers

had a really fun experience at a local ptq today - i decided not to play the ptq itself but showed up to do some side drafts and got invited to do some commentating on the top 8 draft and matches which was really enjoyable and exciting

that sounds awesome. anything online??

had a lot of fun at gp philly. met vinnie.

opened a so-so pool u/w w/ decent bestow guys and an ornitharch but my only playable rare was spirit of the labyrinth (which is really clunky in a deck w/ blue draw). my deck was fairly consistent but unexciting and the type of deck that has to be played really tight because your cards aren't going to just win on their own.

lost m1 to a bad (but very nice) player due to a scry mistake / being too lazy to do math
then won my next 4 (vs. two bad players with a lot of bombs, then vs 1 guy who got screwed w/ his draws, and lastly vs my friend from ny who's one of the stronger players here and had a pretty good deck)
then lost a tight match vs a u/g deck due to miscutter hydra one game and the tempo advantage that came w/ the 'put two 3/3 centaurs into play' card g3. I think I played that match really well, just got outdrawn.
dropped at 4-2 because I wasn't going to win 4 in a row and I had a bus ticket home w/ my friend for 730. also I woke up at 4 am and was super exhausted.

vinnie, did your friend end up d2ing?

Yeah my friend did extremely well. Went 8-1 day 1, drafted two solid decks, and ended up playing round 15 for top 8. Unfortunately his opponent (Pierre Mondon) had a bonkers Rakdos deck and my friend didn't have a chance. But he ended up getting $500, couldn't complain.

I had a dream pool and missed day 2. Boon Satyr, Spear of Heliod, Eidelon of Countless Battles, Silent Sentinel, Ornitharch, green Emissary, Raised by Wolves, Archetype of Courage, Ordeal of Heliod, Wingsteed Rider, Leafcrown Dryad, Skyguard, Hopeful Eidelon. My 23rd card was Agent of Horizons. Still confused why I lost. I lost 8 out of 9 die rolls on the day, but I think I was playing my deck too aggressively. I would make a Voltron flyer and trade 5 damage for 5 damage, when really my card quality is so strong, I should've been playing for the long game. A card like Voyage's End would blow me out. Also I had no removal. Think this format isn't good for my playstyle, I need to adapt.

Highlights of weekend were eating at the amazing market across the street and learning the origin of iatee's handle

so, some of these new cards are Interesting huh? 3/4 and 5/5 fliers at 3cmc. inspired gild on a reasonably costed 2/3 stick. an 0/5 sheep. 2 x 3cmc gods. not sure about pharika but athreos seem like a decent enchantment effect that comes down early and had a decent chance to come alive in its particular colors. seems like it could be a big deal in BW aggro.

oh and the 1/3 double strike trample exile & play a card guy. that seems crazy.

yeah way more interesting cards in this set than in born

cider got his riddle reprint

King Midas card is a great topdown card idea though it's weird it doesn't trigger on blocking/blocked by creatures. If you're gonna go the flavor route, why not go all the way?

i'm digging this set so far

that a nice idea w/ the midas having to 'touch' a card to exile it. it also occurred to me that for it to be a curse the exile effect should be mandatory.

Just noticed that new enchantress triggers for itself too, that's a nice boon

Mana Confluence could be a huge card across all formats - I don't see it going below $20

now that riddle of lightning is confirmed, my next more audacious request is for LSV's mystery 'impactful' reprint preview card to be Eternal Witness

The lid is pretty tight this set, huh? Still half the set to go with one week till prerelease. They finally fixed O-Ring!