So, it's time to say goodbye to Magic 2010 and to say hello to Magic 2011. I know I'm not the only one who liked Magic 2010, as it represented the first time the core set had new cards and was designed to be a challenging and engaging limited environment. In a way I'm sorry to see it go, but hopefully Magic 2011 will live up to the legacy and become an even better core set in terms of drafts and sealed deck tournaments.
It may seem crazy to compare the two sets. After all, over half of the cards are different. How similar can Magic 2010 be to Magic 2011? If you look closer, you'll see that a lot of the new cards are very similar to the old cards. Many of the new 2011 creatures are very simple tweaks on the old 2010 creatures and the same applies to many of the spells. Therefore when learning about the Magic 2011 limited environment, we don't have to start from scratch, we can simply shift our knowledge of Magic 2010.
First, what do we remember about Magic 2010? What were good cards and good strategies? What were the mediocre good cards and strategies?
1. Walls, stalls, and overwhelming attacks.
Overrun and Sleep stole a lot of games. It was actually pretty easy to clog up the battlefield with defensive creatures and wait until you got an Overrun or a Sleep and finish your opponent off. This meant that creatures that could create or break a stalemate were at a premium.
2. Red had everything but it wasn't all that deep.
Everyone was looking to splash red for Lightning Bolt or Fireball. Red wasn't very deep, so you never really wanted to dive into red unless you got some really good uncommons or rares like Dragon Whelp, Goblin Artillery, or Earthquake.
3. Black was a pretty good controlling color.
Black had a treasure trove of removal and some very good defensive regenerators, but it lacked worthwhile creatures unless you were heavily into black. Therefore it was usually a good plan to either try for monoblack or group your black removal with green's monsters.
4. Lots of unplayable cards or skill testers.
In some drafts it is very hard to find 23 playable cards in your colors. Alara block drafters were spoiled with all those high quality cards, because in Magic 2010 the worthless cards are back in bigger numbers. This meant that it is pretty dangerous to go switching colors mid-draft at the drop of a mid-level removal spell.
5. Blue had some great tempo cards
Ice cage and Illusionary Servant added an interesting dynamic to the game. In certain match-ups these cards were amazing, and in other match-ups they were terrible and you wanted nothing more than to sideboard them out of your deck. This type of hard to evaluate cards make for a very interesting draft.
6. White was all about Blinding Mage.
Tappers have always been good, but in Magic 2010, Blinding Mage was amazing. Not only does it combine well with a lot of removal spells such as Entangling Vines and Assassinate but it is a removal effect that you can constantly shift to your opponent's best target.
So, with the Magic 2010 refresher out of the way, it's time to start tackling the new format. Let's look at what's out, what's in, and what's crazy...
Rod of Ruin is finally out of the core set. It was slow, clunky, and often not very useful, but it did have a role. Creatures with 1 toughness are now counting their blessings. Sparkmage Apprentice got angry and left the party so that also adds to this situation, and boosts Prodigal Pyromancer's value. However the pyromancer's favorite hat, Gorgon Flail, is now out of fashion, and so Prodigal Pyromancer is now crying alone at the party.
There's never been a better time to be stone cold and heartless. Gargoyle Sentinel, Stone Golem, and Juggernaut at uncommon are the hired muscle that every color is going to have on their shopping list. These guys will definitely give everybody's sealed deck pool a boost. And it's about time, because Naturalize is tired of sitting out in the sideboard.
Overall you can already see how M2011 is a faster format than M2010. Powerful artifact creatures will run rampant in the suburbs and the relatively defensive Gorgon Flail is replaced with the offensive Warlord's Axe. Yes, I realize that Gorgon Flail can be used offensively, but it doesn't add much power to a creature and it makes any creature into an ideal blocker.
Platinum Angel sticks around to steals games, and she will continue to combo nicely with Whispersilk Cloak if you can get both of them going. While constructed may dislike losing Pithing Needle, it had little play in M2010 due to the fact that it is guaranteed to start out in your sideboard no matter what format you're playing.
Did anyone ever play Mirror of Fate? I really think Mirror of Fate's flavor text should be changed to "You lost the lottery. I'm sorry I'm not a Baneslayer. Please try again." Can you tell I'm happy that it's gone, and replaced with artifacts that actually do something mildly constructive in limited and possibly constructed.
Steel Overseer and Triskelion are great limited cards and seem to be hinting at things to come with (Scars of Mirrodin). Or they could be some kind of red herring used to trick us all into thinking that the return to Mirrodin will be another artifact set. For all we know Mirrodin could have done a Pinocchio and is now a real plane. It is Magic after-all....
So, after a bunch of speculation about lands, all that changes is one lousy card. We lose Gargoyle Castle and gain Mystifying Maze. That really won't affect limited all that much. Both of these lands are top picks and any ability to do double duty with lands is greatly appreciated.
Mystifying Maze is great at stopping tokens. I don't think anyone else has really commented on it. Of course if you're on the short end of a Grave Titan the last thing you want to spend 5 mana on is a way to kill one of your opponent's army of attacking token zombies.
Most of the changes to the black commons are a wash, however, black gains (Lilliana's Specter) as a high draft pick and premium attacker. Unfortunetly, it also loses big time in the trade between Dread Warlock and Bog Raiders. The reason no one wants to join the dark side is because the in-fighting leads to a less than desirable retirement plan.
Most of the other commons are either the same or have rough equivalents in Magic 2010. Don't believe me? Then here is the comparison.
So, in my estimation, black does slightly better, but not enough to really change how you approached it in drafts.
With more artifacts in the set, all colors lose an uncommon. Beyond that, black gains Corrupt over Consume Spirit and Reassembling Skeleton is about the closed black has to a defensive creature. Black is no longer a defensive color. Dark siders can no longer hide behind skeletons and bones. Wall of Bone Of course I never really understood why a planeswalker would think it was a good idea to summon a bunch of bones to hang around at home with him. Skeletons probably aren't that good for conversations and they don't pick up after themselves.
Grave Titan might possibly be the most broken creature ever printed in a core set. At least with Baneslayer Angel you could at least use a number of removal spells on it. Grave Titan avoids Doom Blade and leaves behind an army if you manage to kill it. If you open one, you are black. Other than that, there aren't too many rares that would force you into black.
There are a few other interesting black rares that will rarely see play in limited games, but honestly, it's still all about the Grave Titan.
Blue got its lunch money stolen a lot in Magic 2010. However over the summer it has been working out and it's back for revenge. Most of its creatures have been boosted, the card draw is better, and blue now has a flexible early game counterspell Mana Leak. What more do you want? A six-pack and Abs of steel?
Once again most of the commons that were replaced have analog creatures and spells that fill the same role in Magic 2010. The more things change, the more things remain the same. Let's take a look at the changes made to the commons.
It's pretty much an upgrade all around for blue commons. Blue is king and clearly the deepest color. It is sort of like black in Zendikar. If the drafter next to you has an innate fear of the water and is passing it to you, snap it up. Otherwise the only problem with blue will be fighting other players for it. I'm guessing sealed deck tournaments will be a sea of blue.
Air Servant, Water Servant, Mind Control, and Jace's Ingenuity are all amazing uncommons. Which basically reinforces my central theme. Blue is good. Blue is very good indeed. You know it's gone crazy when red loses Dragon Whelp and blue gains an uncommon that resembles Morphling.
Frost Titan is much better in limited than contructed but it still doesn't hold a candle to Grave Titan. Conundrum Sphinx is huge and combo-rrific with any blue card that says "scry" on it. Those two cards will push you into blue, but other than that there isn't a whole lot of reasons to pick up blue rares and mythics. Stick with the commons and uncommons, they are amazing.
Green loses Deadly Recluse Oakenform and Entangling Vines without much in the way of replacements. It's big creatures have been replaced by an army of wurms, and to top it off, Overrun was transformed into a rare with a different name and a more unpredictable nature. There is no doubt about it, green has really let itself go. Everybody may be talking about how great Fauna Shaman is but that does nothing to mitigate the fact that green's commons were hit with the ugly stick. The only saving grace is that green got two great color fixers and it is now easier to splash colors with green.
So, whenever someone says they're playing green, ask them what other colors are they playing.... Green's commons changed more than the other colors, and that's not really a good thing. Let's take a look at the depressing state of the changes made to green.
Doesn't Hornet Sting look really sad and pathetic next to Lightning Bolt. It's like WotC is trying to tell us, we're sorry about Lotus Cobra and Vengevine, we promise to make green terrible for the next couple of sets.
Giving Enormous Baloth trample and calling it a wurm does not make up for cancelling Overrun and Howl of the Night Pack. Garruk's Packleader is interesting, but if you're churning out a bunch of 3+/X creatures, do you really need the extra cards? The packleader wears a t-shirt with slogan "I like to win more" on it.
I really like Mitotic Slime, however as long as white has a very big bag of tricks filled with effects that remove creatures without actually putting them in the graveyard such as Path to Exile Journey to Nowhere Pacifism etc, then any card that triggers on entering the graveyard will be next to useless. Sometimes I think that if Mitotic Slime had an ability that put slimes into play when it was exiled instead of put into the graveyard, it would see more play.
Even in the rare department, green loses the biggest limited bombs it ever had. Ant Queen and Master of the Wild Hunt have left the sinking ship that is green in the core set. Bruce Banner has calmed down quite a bit in the last year, and now you might actually not mind him when he's angry.
Here is all you really needed to know about red in Magic 2010. Lightning Bolt Fireball.... end of story... Yes there were a couple of other really good uncommons besides Fireball but seriously red had very little depth. Well, now red has Chandra's Outrage and Act of Treason is now common, and most of the other commons have been upgraded a bit. However there still isn't a whole lot more to see than Lightning Bolt and Fireball.
Once more, let's look at the commons that were replaced. With red it's all about going from terrible to slightly below average...
The upgrades on red cards are a bit deceptive. We used to have a bunch of unplayable, cut them up and use the pictures for tokens, red commons. Now we have a bunch of slightly below average, unexciting red commons. Almost everything has gotten just a little bit better, but they still have a long ways to go to become great.
Losing Goblin Artillery hurts a lot. Well, he hurt me a lot when I had him in 2010, but I miss now that he's gone. Wow, that makes me sound really pathetic.... Anyway, red loses some good cards, and gains a couple of good cards. Fire Servant is good, but really needs to be combined with burn spells to work effectively. I wonder what spells he needs... Oh yes that's right... Even a year later, red is still all about Lightning Bolt and Fireball.
The sky is falling. We've lost Siege-Gang Commander, Earthquake, Manabarbs, and Ball Lightning whatever are we going to do now? AAAARRGGHHHH.. Can't take it.... ARGHHHH..... need to calm down a bit..... <chanting> Lightning Bolt Fireball Lightning Bolt Fireball .... Okay I'm better now. Red is losing a lot of constructed staples, and some of the best rares for pushing us into red are gone. However we also pick up some nice broken cards as well. Cyclops Gladiator can dominate games, especially if you've got one of the nice new red auras for him. Ancient Hellkite and Hoarding Dragon are both very solid picks for red as well, and Destructive Force is certainly a powerful effect even if it isn't an earthquake.
So we no longer have soldiers acting like some kind of telepathic snake aliens with a stabbing spike Blade Sliver. Well, that's probably for the best. Instead our soldier army has been reduced to Infantry Veteran. Man, budget cuts hurt even in Dominaria. So instead of paying for a standing army, white has decided to working with birds and griffins. Why not? They probably work for peanuts, or whatever it is that griffins eat.
All right, let's take a deeper look at the common changes to the set.
White makes some powerful gains in limited and now commands an air force that rivals blue. Of course Blue has Air Servant which can really put a damper on anyone running flyers, so I'm not sure cutting the soldier budget was such a great idea. All kidding aside, white didn't lose a whole lot, gains more evasion creatures and a decent flying giant growth. It will continue to be a strong color choice.
Rejoice, for Harm's Way is gone. Say goodbye to one of the most difficult to play spells on Magic Online due to the templating. When it first came out, you almost had to play it incorrectly a couple of times before you figured out how Magic Online interpreted it to work.
Ajani's Pridemate is one of those cards that is going to lead people astray. On the face of things, it looks very powerful, however the one card it combos with most effectively has been removed from the core set. Just imagine the horrible thought of facing down a turn 1 Soul Warden followed by a turn 2 Ajani's Pridemate. Soul Warden would have made Ajani's Pridemate a first pick. Without the warden, we're left with a card that encourages you to play really really horrible cards like Angel's Feather and Ajani's Mantra. At uncommon, it's difficult to get enough pridemates to make life gain cards good enough to be put in a deck, and without those life gain cards, the pridemate is nothing special.
White doesn't shake things up that much in the rare and mythic rare departments. It gains a Titan and loses a captain. So why is it that green, red, white all lose their token makers and black gets what it is perhaps the best token generator of all time? I just don't get the unfairness of it all. I reviewed black four colors ago and I still can't stop talking about how stupidly obscene Grave Titan is..... But back to white, if you open a large white creature, you are probably going to want to draft white. However everything rare in white can be trumped by a Doom Blade, so don't pick those huge flyers to early. Unless of course you open a Baneslayer. However, if you open a Baneslayer you don't necessarily need my help to convince you to take it.
Conclusions
Magic 2011 is a faster environment than Magic 2010. Most of the walls, regeneraters and Deadly Recluse/s have been taken out of the set. In addition, trample has been added to many of the beefier creatures. The set is filled with efficient artifact creatures which means that all colors have access to beefy game ending creatures and there are few defensive creatures to stand in the way.
Green has been nerfed by losing Deadly Recluse, Overrun, Howl of the Night Pack, Ant Queen, and Oakenform without adequate replacements. This means that green has two strategies left. First, play a big creature with trample and hope that it isn't killed. Second, steal the other color's good splashable cards and play three or more colors. While these strategies can work, they are significantly weaker than the arsenal that green had in Magic 2010.
Blue has received a tremendous boost in card quality and therefore will see a lot more play. Scry is a very power ability and the ability to know what to bury under you library and what to keep will determine many games. If you're drafting, always be on the look-out to see if blue is open.
Red doesn't change a whole lot. It gets a bit more aggressive with Fling Act of Treason and Arc Runner but it is still all about Lightning Bolt and Fireball. Red also gets the pumper
Black gets a bit of a glass jaw with the loss of Wall of Bone and Dread Warlock, but it picks up some offensive power with (Lilliana's Specter). And of course there is Grave Titan. There I mentioned it again, are you happy now?
White actually doesn't change all that much. It still relies heavily on Blinding Mage and Pacifism to take command of the game. It still has some very powerful flyers at all rarities, and it is still king of the weenies. The only real change is that now it has some very nice pump spells in Mighty Leap and Inspired Charge. I don't think these will be first picks or anything like that, but they do add a bit to white's bag of tricks. Even if those tricks have been stolen from green.
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Well, that's about it for me. Have fun at the prerelease and regular release events.
-Marcus
"Shuyin Knight of Zanarkand" on Magic Online.
4 Comments
Whilst I disagree with a few of the specific numbers, I really like this format for discussing Core Set Limited.
That was massive and mathamatical!
That was massive, mathematical AND the most complicated, elegant and detailed way of saying "draft Blue/X in M11 drafts".
LE
What can I say, I like to SHOW my work. :-)