That's pretty cool, Cheater Hater. That'll go on my morning Magic reading list (heading to bed soon).
Any thoughts on the spoilers so far? I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but I like Stormcrag Elemental for draft. Ojutai's Command seems good with Snapcaster Mage, but might be one CMC too expensive for Modern. I like Silumgar for casual. Nothing's an auto-include in decks of mine yet.
Thanks for the opinions! I'm still looking for suggestions on what to write about next, so let me know, either here or in the comments there. Right now I'm thinking about doing a deep-dive into TRM's commons--I want to write the MMA2 article soon, but I'm guessing we'll get a couple spoilers for it at PAX East this weekend, and those will likely make me course-correct a bit (unless it's just confirmation of Etched Champion )
The one thing I can say here that I can't really say in my articles (especially one on an MTGO-focused site) is that I'm still doing drafts of my sets occasionally on Cockatrice. I don't have a schedule, but I'm certainly trying to do them more often now that I have a reason to.
Spoilers are interesting--Narset seems cool (and should get me to dust off my deck with the old Narset, even if I can never play it in real life ) and Sidisi seems good (since we haven't had pure Diabolic Tutor for a while). I also love rebound coming back, especially since white got one of the most interesting rebound spells last time (Survival Cache). Finally, I have a soft spot for Zombie Lords, and the new one seems really good--maybe even worth trying again to get a Modern deck going?
And holy crap, I did not connect WU Command+Snapcaster in my head--it might be too expensive (and clearly worse than Cryptic in the abstract, except maybe against burn), but it's a crazy interaction. Is there a CMC 2 Twin enabler? Maybe an Intruder Alarm build that uses Idyllic Tutor? I'm going too far down the rabbit hole here
Can a deck play both Ojutai's Command and Cryptic Command? I'd imagine that Cryptic will take precedence the vast majority of the time, but I could see Ojutai's Command being worth trying in a deck more focused on returning creatures or in a metageame/matchup where non-creature spells don't matter as much or are easily answered. There are definitely decks that wouldn't mind a fifth psuedo-Cryptic, I think, even if they currently aren't very good. Modern can change so rapidly, but sometimes just completely fails to budge when I would have expected it to accommodate a new card that it's hard for me to say.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Cheater Hater, your article was good. I'm not familiar with sets of that period, so I don't know if I can provide any feedback, but you seem to have a solid grip on the design principles.
Atarka's Command is probably going in my Modern Burn deck.
Guys, I'm, like, dying here; there were so many MtG spoilers today, I can't take it all in. (WARNING: If you for some reason hate MtG spoilers, read no further!)
* Fall block is Battle for Zendikar
* Duel-faced Planeswalkers in Magic: Origins confirmed; new Lily is a flavour home-run
* 'Goyf is in Modern Masters 2015 again, at mythic
* SO MUCH DRAGONS
Yeah, this has been a crazy spoiler week. I'd a little dissapointed that Tarmogoyf is a mythic instead of a rare, and with a lot of the flavor of Dragons of Tarkir relative to Khans of Tarkir and the corresponding lack of tri-color cards, but we knew about the latter of those two a long while ago. Other than those minor complaints, the spoilers have been great.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Yeah, lots of good stuff today--and I'm glad they didn't repeat the misstep of waiting until the PT to announce the fall set. Of course, no one will guess what I'm most happy about from the panel--and I bet almost no one noticed it and you'll never guess it.
M12 is in the range for MMA2! That means my mill theme doesn't have to work around the lack of Merfolk Mesmerist (and also gets Jace's Erasure if it wants it), and I get a bunch of interesting filler.
In MMA2 news people other than me cares about, while I should have had Karn in the set from day one (I was limiting my planeswalker count--bye Crucible of Worlds!), I'm still surprised that there are MMA1 reprints in the set. While Goyf is an easy slot-in for Azuza (which has been in since day one, even before Amulet got big), I don't know how far down the reprint hole we go. Vendillion Clique? Cryptic Command? Lighting Helix? I still think I have to hold firm on basically no mechanic repeats, and I think there will be no reprints below rare. I also have to keep the overall price of a pack in mind, since Wizards wants them to be limited, but still available for a while I think. Tempest Remastered also threw a wrench in the works; it's probably reason enough to remove Ensnaring Bridge and Grave Pact.
Other than that, the news from the panel I'm most interested in is the Magic Origins DFC planeswalkers, but not for the cards themselves (especially since Liliana seems bad). Instead, I want to know how they'll work--if we assume the only DFC's are the planeswalkers (based both on 277 vs 272 and the complexity level of a "core set"), how will they get into packs? Back in Innistrad they had to be one-per-pack, and since they're printed differently they can't easily (read: cheaply) put them into supplemental products. If they can't be/aren't one-per-pack, what happens to draft? Of course, it didn't help that parts of this question were asked at the Q&A, and the woman who answered the question either had no clue what she was talking about, or has no clue how to gracefully dodge a question.
As for DTK, the best spoiler wasn't even at the panel today (though someone must be able to break Sarkhan--does he instant-ultimate off Doubling Season? Edit: Yes he does!)--it was Blood-Chin Fanatic, the new guy that lets you sac Warriors. I'll let you read that, then remind you Goblin Rabblemaster is a Warrior
The speculation I'm hearing from MTGSalvation is that there will be more than just the five Planeswalkers for dual-faced cards; apparently Wizards said at one point a limited number in a set was not economically feasible. Also, you made me totally rethink Blood-Chin Fanatic (weird name); I usually hate cards that involve sacrificing my own creatures, but you pointed out its power. I'm still more excited for Arashin Foremost for warriors on my non-competitive side, though.
I think your idea of few mechanical reprints makes sense. Can't really comment otherwise because I'm such a nub (but I always read with interest).
(March 8th, 2015, 16:20)TheHumanHydra Wrote: The speculation I'm hearing from MTGSalvation is that there will be more than just the five Planeswalkers for dual-faced cards; apparently Wizards said at one point a limited number in a set was not economically feasible. Also, you made me totally rethink Blood-Chin Fanatic (weird name); I usually hate cards that involve sacrificing my own creatures, but you pointed out its power. I'm still more excited for Arashin Foremost for warriors on my non-competitive side, though.
I think your idea of few mechanical reprints makes sense. Can't really comment otherwise because I'm such a nub (but I always read with interest).
I know that, but the numbers still don't make any sense--remember, Innistrad only had one mythic (and Dark Ascension had two), so for there to be five mythics with a similar scale (and they don't have one or two commons in half the packs), something like half the set would have to DFC's (which clearly isn't a good idea). I think Wizards somehow figured out how to print DFC's without all the economic infeasibility, and draft is just going to have to deal with it
I don't think Arashin Foremost is that bad--Double Strike is a good ability, and it's even better with Chief of the Edge. The problem is that I have no clue what else goes in the BW Warriors shell--or if it isn't just better to get a critical mass of Double Strike creatures (Aven Sunstriker seems okay, for instance) and try to go off with Become Immense.
(March 8th, 2015, 19:33)Cheater Hater Wrote: I know that, but the numbers still don't make any sense--remember, Innistrad only had one mythic (and Dark Ascension had two), so for there to be five mythics with a similar scale (and they don't have one or two commons in half the packs), something like half the set would have to DFC's (which clearly isn't a good idea). I think Wizards somehow figured out how to print DFC's without all the economic infeasibility, and draft is just going to have to deal with it
I don't think Arashin Foremost is that bad--Double Strike is a good ability, and it's even better with Chief of the Edge. The problem is that I have no clue what else goes in the BW Warriors shell--or if it isn't just better to get a critical mass of Double Strike creatures (Aven Sunstriker seems okay, for instance) and try to go off with Become Immense.
Hm, I don't know then. I don't actually know how all the printing stuff works; was just passing on what I'd heard.
I mostly just want Arashin Foremost for a casual Warriors deck. Even from my incredibly limited knowledge/experience of the current Standard, I don't think WB Warriors is a viable deck. It would need multiple new strong cards in Dragons for that (actually, it needs Theros block to rotate).
)
) and Sidisi seems good (since we haven't had pure Diabolic Tutor for a while). I also love rebound coming back, especially since white got one of the most interesting rebound spells last time (Survival Cache). Finally, I have a soft spot for Zombie Lords, and the new one seems really good--maybe even worth trying again to get a Modern deck going? 
