What the heck, when did this happen? I guess the first ever tribal wars deck I built, which inspired me to play in the PRE for the first time, is now illegal in the format. It's not enough they don't even print barbarians anymore, now they have to take AWAY ones they (briefly) gave us.
Anyhow, great article Kuma. You didn't seem to like any of the creatures I did in this set.
Great article as always, but you missed one thing. The total number of Barbarians goes down by 1 with Gatecrash.
Lovisa Coldeyes's type has been updated to just Creature – Human.
Budget Tarmogoyf, or will we see Gyre Sage's price becoming huge in the next months? Well, I for one already got my playset, just to be safe. :)
BTW, I didn't mention the combo potentials with Boros Reckoner (Arcane Teachings, Blasphemous Act) because they're pretty obvious already, as it is obvious that the Reckoner is the main attraction of the show here.
I am seeing plenty of functional decks with farseek, chromatic lantern, prism, the defender guy and other fixers that work wonders in a mana greedy deck.
I think people overvalue the shocklands position in deck building. I like the thing the author of Lucky Charms said in his deck Tech. He was asked why only 10 shocklands he said the damage is relevant. The m12/innestrad lands are better in quantity.
As far as chase mythics/rares go I dont think they cause a problem either I was just saying they are more of a problem than shocklands.
Also we both know Paper is a mutant form of magic that will eventually darwin itself out of existence. I am not fashed by what happens in it. :)
I don't claim that people are unable to play standard. I just think it's going to be hard to play competitive decks if you're unable to invest a ton of money in lands. Lands have always been expensive, but I can't recall a time when you necessarily needed a lot of rare lands to make things work. It's not really about the chase cards like Sphinx's Revelation, I don't think.
Just now, I'm brewing a deck that has a total count of zero chase rares, yet has to rely heavily on a mana base. My point isn't just about the online market. The paper shockland reprints are at 10 to 20 dollars each. By no means will those sort of prices foster an open and flexible metagame. There was a time, right around the release of Dark Ascension, when Seachrome Coast topped out at 20 dollars in paper.
This has always been one of the biggest drawbacks in standard: having to invest a lot of money in lands that will lose their value with rotation after a while. It only makes sense if you're into Modern or any other format. Otherwise, when you're done playing standard, you cash out. Then you have to invest in a whole new set of lands all over again. Reprinting them in Dragon's Maze might be the bet decision Wizards can make in situation- at least for the paper market.
I'm sure by now it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that the top 8 lists are filled with decks that run a lot of shocklands. All of these decks are terribly expensive. What is one consequence of expensive decks being everywhere, with little room for budget, rogue builds? The metagame gets top-heavy and stale. Players lose interest. I've watched it happen time and again. I've lost interest myself plenty of times because I invest a ton of money into it and get no return. Will that happen again? It might. It might continue to happen. It might always be a consequence of playing with a limited, underpowered, derpy format like standard.
Looks like I whiffed on Duskmantle Seer. Bought my set at 5 tix each last week ahead of the PT just in case, I thought some U/B/x Delver list might surface, but as usual I can never read those Standard trends. The card looks so good, maybe it's just not the right time... or it stays in bulk mythic land forever and I feel like an idiot. I never learn though, I already have the urge to plunk down 20 on a set of Aurelia's Fury, my brain is like "there's no WAY that card is that cheap in October". I will definitely want those for some tribal wars decks over the next couple years and don't want them to end up in Bonfire price range before I pull the trigger.
QotW: I think I've watched too many sealed release events on Twitch, because I'm finding it hard to be interested in playing one myself now.
Switch the pilgrims to hierach, cut 2 selesnya charm and add 2 pillgrims (better chances of hitting turn 2 geist or smiter), the mana base also looks off, why not fastlands? And what's the cavern naming? Angel (The only creature type shared by 2 cards on your list)? Why not a couple of swords in there? Geist is sick with them.
Anyway, really nice deck idea.
They did tank after extended was ruined a few years ago. And guess what? People were mainly ignoring them. Of course this was pre Modern so there was no format where they were good and not overshadowed but I think this does illustrate why people may not buy them up in droves.
Also if people are somehow really unable to play standard it isn't the mana bases at issue. This might be the most golden time in Magic's history in terms of mana production.
Consider instead the prices of mythics and rares in the market.
I would love it if shocklands tank. One of the biggest obstacles to playing standard right now is not being able to get the correct mana base for the deck that the metagame requires you to play.
Great article, I really enjoyed while reading it. Great job.
* Nightveil Specter is really effective for providing you extra materials. You can get opponent's lands and cast their spells. It provides a good advantage even it doesn't cause a discards.
* Gyre Sage: My first impression was that this card was hyped for a Mana guy but after playing with it, I can say that she can be very effective beater due to Evolve ability. In aggro/Midrange beat decks, Syre Sage can grow like 3/4 to 5/6 most of the times. And at that point you don't even care that she can produce 3 or 4 mana. In creature heavy decks she can really grow very fast. I'm planning to test her in the Modern in my Mono Green Stompy deck as a budget substitute of Tarmogoyf.
* Ghor-Clan Rampager; is really a good Beast member. Maybe it will become of one the staples in the Beast deck. 4 CMC for 4/4 body with trample is fair enough, but its Bloodrush ability is amazing and very cheap.
* Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is my favorite creature at Gatecrash as Tribal evaluation. He is good even without any extra Milling or pod strategies.
Beside the above member, I believe that we will also see; Legion Loyalist, Firemane Avanger, High Priest of Penance Rubblebelt Raiders and Slaughterhorn in the tribal games.
I admit I was taken by surprise by the lack of Aurelia's Fury upward movement. I expected great things from that card (and I still do.) That Thespian Stage hasn't taken off yet isn't so surprising. Splinter Twin, Knight of the Reliquary and other great format shaping cards have gone completely under the radar until they were suddenly "good". I expect TS to fill a similar role in some future deck.
At the moment in current standard even without any real enemy to worry about in the form of wasteland like cards it isn't really performing up to snuff because what does it want to copy? A shockland? OK Reasonable but not amazing. I've done this to fix my mana and it isn't the worst play ever but it does take 3 mana and costs a turn.
I am a little surprised Nightveil Specter hasn't made the spotlight yet. It seems perfectly poised as a control antidote to certain aggro cards as well as just being completely unfair if it gets a couple of attacks under its ghostly belt.
RE: Melissa, congrats of course to some very fine play. But I can't help but wonder when it will finally be the situation where we wont remark on the gender/nationality/religion of our top players because the diversity will be complete.
I just generally don't like mana-intensive activations on small creatures. As a consequence, I can't evaluate properly the guildmages.
I think Master Biomancer is a midrange powerhouse. You don't need evolve, he IS evolve. He sets up for a 7/5 Thragtusk that gives birth to a 5/5 token. Even Birds of Paradise become beaters. Cards that don't need specific interactions to be strong (but you can still find many to make them stronger) are, well, strong. :)
This said, I started this series by saying that I'm not that good at guessing what the next best thing will be. And yet, in my M13 evaluation I made a case for Thundermaw Hellkite, nobody was particularly impressed at the time, and now it's the top card of the set and one of the top cards in Standard. :) (Of course, meta is meta, I know.)
I think your evaluations are generally correct though I will point out at least one where your commentary seems off the mark. Vizkopa Guildmage's two abilities work in tandem with extort which is important since there is a whole series of cards that fit together for the Orzhov puzzle. Is this more than a fun deck? Who knows but I have managed to win quite a few games off of his 2nd ability in combination with ghastly mana and a cheap guy for extortion.
Whether this deck type can succeed in the vicious scummy back alley of tribal legacy is another story entirely. I don't hold high hopes that many of the new cards will be impactful there except maybe Reckoner vs Goblins.
I dont find Master Biovisionary to be overly impressive but it is sure fun to steal with Simic Manipulator and is a great evolve creature since there are PLENTY of things to steal for one power and even more for 2.
Nightveil Specter is my favorite card of the set in terms of creatures and does an amazing job of hosing an opponents game plan if they don't respond to it or play a good flying blocker.
I usually only stop recording if I lose round 1, because those drafts are understandably light on content (although they can still be enlightening).
I normally have slightly more recorded drafts lying around than articles for them to go into, so that makes me able to select the coolest ones to post.
That's certainly another option. Doesn't sound like a bad idea. I have to say one of my main problems with the deck is that even when you have turn 3 Tron you will usually want to play a blue mana source before turn 3 so you can use Repeal, Condescend etc. This means you either have to play a Talisman or play an Island and settle for the slower Turn 4 Tron. Not devastating but definitely annoying.
What the heck, when did this happen? I guess the first ever tribal wars deck I built, which inspired me to play in the PRE for the first time, is now illegal in the format. It's not enough they don't even print barbarians anymore, now they have to take AWAY ones they (briefly) gave us.
Anyhow, great article Kuma. You didn't seem to like any of the creatures I did in this set.
will nerf out the legenary land thats going to be in DGM, so look for value in a set or so, but as soon as it comes out, theyll be on another set.
Great article as always, but you missed one thing. The total number of Barbarians goes down by 1 with Gatecrash.
Lovisa Coldeyes's type has been updated to just Creature – Human.
Hence why I said it wasn't so surprising :) And welcome back. Moar Articles??
The stage hasn't taken off because it does nothing in standard. Outside of standard there is this card called Vesuva which is WAY better.
And good news! They unblocked this site at work now, so I can attempt to be an active member again!
Budget Tarmogoyf, or will we see Gyre Sage's price becoming huge in the next months? Well, I for one already got my playset, just to be safe. :)
BTW, I didn't mention the combo potentials with Boros Reckoner (Arcane Teachings, Blasphemous Act) because they're pretty obvious already, as it is obvious that the Reckoner is the main attraction of the show here.
I am seeing plenty of functional decks with farseek, chromatic lantern, prism, the defender guy and other fixers that work wonders in a mana greedy deck.
I think people overvalue the shocklands position in deck building. I like the thing the author of Lucky Charms said in his deck Tech. He was asked why only 10 shocklands he said the damage is relevant. The m12/innestrad lands are better in quantity.
As far as chase mythics/rares go I dont think they cause a problem either I was just saying they are more of a problem than shocklands.
Also we both know Paper is a mutant form of magic that will eventually darwin itself out of existence. I am not fashed by what happens in it. :)
I don't claim that people are unable to play standard. I just think it's going to be hard to play competitive decks if you're unable to invest a ton of money in lands. Lands have always been expensive, but I can't recall a time when you necessarily needed a lot of rare lands to make things work. It's not really about the chase cards like Sphinx's Revelation, I don't think.
Just now, I'm brewing a deck that has a total count of zero chase rares, yet has to rely heavily on a mana base. My point isn't just about the online market. The paper shockland reprints are at 10 to 20 dollars each. By no means will those sort of prices foster an open and flexible metagame. There was a time, right around the release of Dark Ascension, when Seachrome Coast topped out at 20 dollars in paper.
This has always been one of the biggest drawbacks in standard: having to invest a lot of money in lands that will lose their value with rotation after a while. It only makes sense if you're into Modern or any other format. Otherwise, when you're done playing standard, you cash out. Then you have to invest in a whole new set of lands all over again. Reprinting them in Dragon's Maze might be the bet decision Wizards can make in situation- at least for the paper market.
I'm sure by now it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that the top 8 lists are filled with decks that run a lot of shocklands. All of these decks are terribly expensive. What is one consequence of expensive decks being everywhere, with little room for budget, rogue builds? The metagame gets top-heavy and stale. Players lose interest. I've watched it happen time and again. I've lost interest myself plenty of times because I invest a ton of money into it and get no return. Will that happen again? It might. It might continue to happen. It might always be a consequence of playing with a limited, underpowered, derpy format like standard.
I definitely got burned on Fury but I dont care. Really I have my 4 and unless they pop to some unreal price they will stay where they are.
I think the new Bob is just not quite good enough in today's meta. Wait for Dragon Maze and see if it gets better.
Looks like I whiffed on Duskmantle Seer. Bought my set at 5 tix each last week ahead of the PT just in case, I thought some U/B/x Delver list might surface, but as usual I can never read those Standard trends. The card looks so good, maybe it's just not the right time... or it stays in bulk mythic land forever and I feel like an idiot. I never learn though, I already have the urge to plunk down 20 on a set of Aurelia's Fury, my brain is like "there's no WAY that card is that cheap in October". I will definitely want those for some tribal wars decks over the next couple years and don't want them to end up in Bonfire price range before I pull the trigger.
QotW: I think I've watched too many sealed release events on Twitch, because I'm finding it hard to be interested in playing one myself now.
Switch the pilgrims to hierach, cut 2 selesnya charm and add 2 pillgrims (better chances of hitting turn 2 geist or smiter), the mana base also looks off, why not fastlands? And what's the cavern naming? Angel (The only creature type shared by 2 cards on your list)? Why not a couple of swords in there? Geist is sick with them.
Anyway, really nice deck idea.
They did tank after extended was ruined a few years ago. And guess what? People were mainly ignoring them. Of course this was pre Modern so there was no format where they were good and not overshadowed but I think this does illustrate why people may not buy them up in droves.
Also if people are somehow really unable to play standard it isn't the mana bases at issue. This might be the most golden time in Magic's history in terms of mana production.
Consider instead the prices of mythics and rares in the market.
I would love it if shocklands tank. One of the biggest obstacles to playing standard right now is not being able to get the correct mana base for the deck that the metagame requires you to play.
so are the shocks just going to be a buck a piece from now on? I mean, with redemption going to tank, plus reprints in dgm, talk about a gult of pain!
Great article, I really enjoyed while reading it. Great job.
* Nightveil Specter is really effective for providing you extra materials. You can get opponent's lands and cast their spells. It provides a good advantage even it doesn't cause a discards.
* Gyre Sage: My first impression was that this card was hyped for a Mana guy but after playing with it, I can say that she can be very effective beater due to Evolve ability. In aggro/Midrange beat decks, Syre Sage can grow like 3/4 to 5/6 most of the times. And at that point you don't even care that she can produce 3 or 4 mana. In creature heavy decks she can really grow very fast. I'm planning to test her in the Modern in my Mono Green Stompy deck as a budget substitute of Tarmogoyf.
* Ghor-Clan Rampager; is really a good Beast member. Maybe it will become of one the staples in the Beast deck. 4 CMC for 4/4 body with trample is fair enough, but its Bloodrush ability is amazing and very cheap.
* Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is my favorite creature at Gatecrash as Tribal evaluation. He is good even without any extra Milling or pod strategies.
Beside the above member, I believe that we will also see; Legion Loyalist, Firemane Avanger, High Priest of Penance Rubblebelt Raiders and Slaughterhorn in the tribal games.
Blippy, great article for Standard Meta review. Looking forward for the next instalments.
It's amazing to see that there are lots of different deck variants there. But in the Core, most of them are nearly following the same patterns.
I admit I was taken by surprise by the lack of Aurelia's Fury upward movement. I expected great things from that card (and I still do.) That Thespian Stage hasn't taken off yet isn't so surprising. Splinter Twin, Knight of the Reliquary and other great format shaping cards have gone completely under the radar until they were suddenly "good". I expect TS to fill a similar role in some future deck.
At the moment in current standard even without any real enemy to worry about in the form of wasteland like cards it isn't really performing up to snuff because what does it want to copy? A shockland? OK Reasonable but not amazing. I've done this to fix my mana and it isn't the worst play ever but it does take 3 mana and costs a turn.
I am a little surprised Nightveil Specter hasn't made the spotlight yet. It seems perfectly poised as a control antidote to certain aggro cards as well as just being completely unfair if it gets a couple of attacks under its ghostly belt.
RE: Melissa, congrats of course to some very fine play. But I can't help but wonder when it will finally be the situation where we wont remark on the gender/nationality/religion of our top players because the diversity will be complete.
I just generally don't like mana-intensive activations on small creatures. As a consequence, I can't evaluate properly the guildmages.
I think Master Biomancer is a midrange powerhouse. You don't need evolve, he IS evolve. He sets up for a 7/5 Thragtusk that gives birth to a 5/5 token. Even Birds of Paradise become beaters. Cards that don't need specific interactions to be strong (but you can still find many to make them stronger) are, well, strong. :)
This said, I started this series by saying that I'm not that good at guessing what the next best thing will be. And yet, in my M13 evaluation I made a case for Thundermaw Hellkite, nobody was particularly impressed at the time, and now it's the top card of the set and one of the top cards in Standard. :) (Of course, meta is meta, I know.)
I think your evaluations are generally correct though I will point out at least one where your commentary seems off the mark. Vizkopa Guildmage's two abilities work in tandem with extort which is important since there is a whole series of cards that fit together for the Orzhov puzzle. Is this more than a fun deck? Who knows but I have managed to win quite a few games off of his 2nd ability in combination with ghastly mana and a cheap guy for extortion.
Whether this deck type can succeed in the vicious scummy back alley of tribal legacy is another story entirely. I don't hold high hopes that many of the new cards will be impactful there except maybe Reckoner vs Goblins.
I dont find Master Biovisionary to be overly impressive but it is sure fun to steal with Simic Manipulator and is a great evolve creature since there are PLENTY of things to steal for one power and even more for 2.
Nightveil Specter is my favorite card of the set in terms of creatures and does an amazing job of hosing an opponents game plan if they don't respond to it or play a good flying blocker.
So awesome to see Melissa doing so well. I like it when other women succeed at magic. :)
I second this idea!
That's two good ideas, actually - both the failed experiment bonus and the hidden swearing. :)
Ha! Maybe you could put a spectacularly failed draft as a bonus at the end. I'd like to hear you swear in Portuguese. :)
I usually only stop recording if I lose round 1, because those drafts are understandably light on content (although they can still be enlightening).
I normally have slightly more recorded drafts lying around than articles for them to go into, so that makes me able to select the coolest ones to post.
That's certainly another option. Doesn't sound like a bad idea. I have to say one of my main problems with the deck is that even when you have turn 3 Tron you will usually want to play a blue mana source before turn 3 so you can use Repeal, Condescend etc. This means you either have to play a Talisman or play an Island and settle for the slower Turn 4 Tron. Not devastating but definitely annoying.