Ok. I'm back from reading the rest of my lovely magazine. (On sale soon everywhere) I'll try to paraphrase the relevant new info.
1. Fewer wrath effects in this block vs. in Onslaught. Makes tribal matter more as creatures can't get wiped out as often. (Like with Akroma's Vengeance or Slice and Dice)
2. Tribes diversified across multiple colors. (This was already mostly deducted)
Merfolk: Blue/White.
Featuring "machine-like" combinations from networks of Merfolk. "Tapping to untap, then tapping to do various things... (see Fallowsage).
Goblins: Black/Red
Sacrifice theme (X edition goblins show this)
Possible recursion of goblins from the graveyard to use again.
Kithkin: White/Green
Aggressive. Tribal abilities that enhance aggression.
Abilities that trigger on attack. (Galepowder mage)
Elves: Green/Black
Emphasizing "explosive growth".
"Numer of elves in play matters" effects. (like Wellwisher)
Effects that create elf token creatures. (Devin Low confirms they are just vanilla 1/1 elves)
Faeries: Blue/Black
Evasion abilities. Flying and flash confirmed. Possibly Fear? Tricksy.
Comes into play effects.
Giants: Red/White
Really big. effects that make them larger (pump?). Bonuses for being largest, etc.
"Throwing" effects. (Stone Giant? Woot!)
Treefolk: Green/White/Black
Big. Focus on large toughness. Resilient.
Slow at first, but more powerful once they get going.
Elementals: All Colors
Prevelant across all colors?
Flamekin are Red. Focus on Haste, Firebreathing, Explosive bursts of mana that can be used to cast Elemental spells.
Greater Elementals (named Dread, Hostility, Guile, etc) that span all five colors. Supposedly there is a five color red elemental archetype (Precon?).
3. Tribal as type
Instants, Sorceries and Enchantments all featuring the Tribal type.
4. Planeswalkers
(Not Plainswalkers) Planeswalkers will be strong enough to support non-tribal strategies. Possibly a creatureless archetype?
Edit: Fixed. See! I knew I was going to screw up, even as I was typing it! Heh.
2. Tribes diversified across multiple colors. (This was already mostly deducted)
Merfolk: Blue/White.
Featuring "machine-like" combinations from networks of Merfolk. "Tapping to untap, then tapping to do various things... (see Fallowsage).
"If I do go to heaven, I'll smack god across the face and tell him to get me a grilled-cheeses sandwhich and then say 'Yea what now god!? Say some'in! I dare you!' "
Actually, the real coup of the article is that Planeswalkers are actually Plainswalkers. The reason they cut off the type text on Liliana Vess is they didn't want to deal with the uproar caused when people saw Summon creature- Planeswalker Antelope.
J/K
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Brass Man does not untap as normal; you must pay 1during your upkeep phase to untap it.
I needed this kind of stuff to hype me about the block and the set. the comments I have about this information is that seems like tenth is going to reach its full potencial with lorwyn around. the inter block design thing seems more apparent now, ya?
thanks for the info dude. the mill was in need (after the fake season)
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This confirms the theory that Lorwyn:Onslaught::Ravnica:Invasion. Instead of a big, monotonous "play lots of X" tribal theme, every tribe stretches over multiple colors (to increase the diversity of decks in that theme) and has its own unique mechanics or theme (to make each tribe clearly distinct from the others.) This is a huge improvement to the old tribal model, I think, and it makes me feel good about the set.
kithkin in green? Faeries in black? I'm not saying its bad or that it doesn't fit flavor wise, just wasn't expecting it at all. I love the idea and kinda figured that they would do a cycle of rare elementals, the Greater Elementals, but i wonder if there will be a five color elemental....hmmmm
I'm assuming then thet there will be some multi-colored cards. I was worried that Glittering Wish would really suck when Ravinca rotated out.
It seems that there is a little bit of a color pie creature mix up in Lorwyn.
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It seems like their taking the lessons learn in OLS and doing better on them here (less wrath effect, less swingy games). Hmmm, maybe I should preorder my box now...
W (5 tribes): Elementals, Giants, Kithkin, Merfolk, Treefolk
U (3 tribes): Elementals, Faeries, Merfolk
B (5 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Faeries, Goblins, Treefolk
R (3 tribes): Elementals, Giants, Goblins
G (4 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Kithkin, Treefolk
Hmm, the color balance is rather uneven, which is kind of strange.
I don't like how Faeries are U/B. They should be U/G.
It's not quite Ravnica-ish, in that not each tribe is spread across exactly two colors (Treefolk, for instance, are three colors), and not all ten two-color combinations are represented.
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Righteous. This would call for multicolored tribe decks, which could hopefully lead to multitribe decks. Which of course means more deck types. Which is more fun.
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As my good friend Jesse put it, "When life gives you lemons, combo break them and get them banned."
He doesn't like lemonade...
W (5 tribes): Elementals, Giants, Kithkin, Merfolk, Treefolk
U (3 tribes): Elementals, Faeries, Merfolk
B (5 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Faeries, Goblins, Treefolk
R (3 tribes): Elementals, Giants, Goblins
G (4 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Kithkin, Treefolk
Hmm, the color balance is rather uneven, which is kind of strange.
I don't like how Faeries are U/B. They should be U/G.
It's not quite Ravnica-ish, in that not each tribe is spread across exactly two colors (Treefolk, for instance, are three colors), and not all ten two-color combinations are represented.
The faeries were advertised somewhere before as being "cunning and manipulative." Forgot where, but...sounds pretty blue/black to me.
1) Faeries in black is the most amazing thing I've heard yet. Honestly, to have strictly black goblins (and I guess treefolk) and not other creature types for black-- i'd have been seriously pissed as a black player. Onslaught had zombies at least in addition, and other types-- whereas all i'd seen so far was elementals (all colors) and Boggarts (goblins) for black. Great news for black to have a secondary tribe. And Faeries are suddenly badass. Black creatures should be more tricky then they are. Obviously Elves were going to be in black, but I had a feeling we were going to see Elves in all colors like Elementals. Good to see black is getting some options. Feel bad for red though. I mean Giants? Red doesnt exactly accelerate well....especially absent Seething Song..
2) Kithkin abilities set off based on attacking is amazing. White should be an aggro color, not a control color mainly. Good to see they're pushing it. I also like Merfolk in white.
3) Tribal Sorceries seem too much like the narrowness of Arcane in Kamigawa. Same with instants, although I suppose this allows for amazingly undercosted spells.
4) Champion a --creature type: WTF? Why not call it Nightmare since it was this exact ability on Nightmares in Torment, minus the creature type? For instance... Elven Nightmare, Goblin Nightmare, Kithkin Nightmare, etc. Makes sense, especially with Shadowfall coming--right?
5) Good to hear Planeswalkers arent going to need the tribal enhancements--- most Planeswalkers (Freyalise aside) weren't very society friendly to begin with.
6) Um, I love the 4GG flash Aura. It's going to see serious constructed play-- quote me now all of you.
Great news, thank a lot for the freakin info. I think you're officially EVERYONES hero.
1) Faeries in black is the most amazing thing I've heard yet. Honestly, to have strictly black goblins (and I guess treefolk) and not other creature types for black-- i'd have been seriously pissed as a black player. Onslaught had zombies at least in addition, and other types-- whereas all i'd seen so far was elementals (all colors) and Boggarts (goblins) for black. Great news for black to have a secondary tribe. And Faeries are suddenly badass. Black creatures should be more tricky then they are. Obviously Elves were going to be in black, but I had a feeling we were going to see Elves in all colors like Elementals. Good to see black is getting some options. Feel bad for red though. I mean Giants? Red doesnt exactly accelerate well....especially absent Seething Song..
I have a feeling the absence of Seething Song may be DUE to something we'll see in Lorwyn. Especially since the Flame-Kin have 'bursts as mana' as one of their mechanics...
2) Kithkin abilities set off based on attacking is amazing. White should be an aggro color, not a control color mainly. Good to see they're pushing it. I also like Merfolk in white.
White merfolk are probably going to be more controlling...
3) Tribal Sorceries seem too much like the narrowness of Arcane in Kamigawa. Same with instants, although I suppose this allows for amazingly undercosted spells.
I fail to see how Arcane was narrow. Arcane didn't limit spells in any way. However, it ALSO didn't make spells cheaper. Your comment seems totally wrong to me.
4) Champion a --creature type: WTF? Why not call it Nightmare since it was this exact ability on Nightmares in Torment, minus the creature type? For instance... Elven Nightmare, Goblin Nightmare, Kithkin Nightmare, etc. Makes sense, especially with Shadowfall coming--right?
There's a purpose to tribaling the spells. Probably there will be cards that either punish tribal types (i.e all non-kithkin spells cost 2 more to play, Players ca't play no more than 3 -insert tribe here-spells per turn) or rewards tribal (all goblin spells cost 2 less to play). And this provides for other interactions like tutoring (search your library for a merfolk card, treefolkcycling etc.) and effects that feed off the number of creature types in play or were played that turn. This way, tribal already has more advantages over the spell arcane subtype ever did.
It's odd though to see fae in black...but at least they have flash and CIP abilities and the evasion part. It'll bake them quite competitive if ever. Access to black removal and Damnation will make the tribe quite good.
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Mmm... HTF did they justify Treefolk in black? I really don't get that... White I can see, as a more rugged and hardy type of tree, lighter and more efficient. Green is pretty "No ****, Sherlock", but... Black? What kind of tree decides to grow in a swamp? Blue for deltas or something might have worked, or red for mountains, but... Black? Were they just going for Rock colors? That would make sense, since that seems to be the stressed theme with Treefolk, efficient use of resources, but... I still don't see how they manage to spin that off.
Elves is somewhat suprising in black since Green and Black are enemies, but I guess the Lorwyn elves are judgmental and harsh. Nice twist though. It was not what I was entirely expecting.
Based on that one card, the whole champion thing doesn't really seem like it would be that useful of a keyword. However, I am thinking that maybe the set will have cards that have benefits for them being removed and them coming back into play. I really will have to see more before I can decide if I actually like this. Right now I am thinking that I will never use it. Seems like any strategy that uses it would just be way too complicated to really work.
I am liking everything else, though. Maybe not the giants in white, but all the other stuff seems cool to me.
Thanks for posting this for us. Thank you.
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I am probably the only person in the world that collects Tarnished Citadels. Not because I like the card, but because I don't want someone to get his hands on one and then attemp to actually play the damned thing.
Cool information, but I hope to see some Zombies, Dwarfs, Myrs?, ooze or rats, maybe not for main tribal theme but one or two of this creatures would make me happy.
And what happened to humans? I heard Lorwyn will not have any humans, is that right?
It's good to see the faeries are going to be Blue/Black, green it's not suppose to have flying creatures, we see a lot in Time spiral block.
I have a feeling the absence of Seething Song may be DUE to something we'll see in Lorwyn. Especially since the Flame-Kin have 'bursts as mana' as one of their mechanics...
Maybe they'll do something with evoke.
3RR
When ~this~ comes into play, add RRRRR to your mana pool
Evoke 2R
whatever/whatever
Or something along these lines...
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Current Playing [T2]:
UBB Rogues UUB Faeries RW Seismic Swans RRR Control
1. Fewer wrath effects in this block vs. in Onslaught. Makes tribal matter more as creatures can't get wiped out as often. (Like with Akroma's Vengeance or Slice and Dice)
2. Tribes diversified across multiple colors. (This was already mostly deducted)
Merfolk: Blue/White.
Featuring "machine-like" combinations from networks of Merfolk. "Tapping to untap, then tapping to do various things... (see Fallowsage).
Goblins: Black/Red
Sacrifice theme (X edition goblins show this)
Possible recursion of goblins from the graveyard to use again.
Kithkin: White/Green
Aggressive. Tribal abilities that enhance aggression.
Abilities that trigger on attack. (Galepowder mage)
Elves: Green/Black
Emphasizing "explosive growth".
"Numer of elves in play matters" effects. (like Wellwisher)
Effects that create elf token creatures. (Devin Low confirms they are just vanilla 1/1 elves)
Faeries: Blue/Black
Evasion abilities. Flying and flash confirmed. Possibly Fear? Tricksy.
Comes into play effects.
Giants: Red/White
Really big. effects that make them larger (pump?). Bonuses for being largest, etc.
"Throwing" effects. (Stone Giant? Woot!)
Treefolk: Green/White/Black
Big. Focus on large toughness. Resilient.
Slow at first, but more powerful once they get going.
Elementals: All Colors
Prevelant across all colors?
Flamekin are Red. Focus on Haste, Firebreathing, Explosive bursts of mana that can be used to cast Elemental spells.
Greater Elementals (named Dread, Hostility, Guile, etc) that span all five colors. Supposedly there is a five color red elemental archetype (Precon?).
3. Tribal as type
Instants, Sorceries and Enchantments all featuring the Tribal type.
4. Planeswalkers
(Not Plainswalkers) Planeswalkers will be strong enough to support non-tribal strategies. Possibly a creatureless archetype?
Edit: Fixed. See! I knew I was going to screw up, even as I was typing it! Heh.
Enjoy!
Hmm, I'm thinking something like Vodalian War Machine
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But uh, it's nice to see enemy tribes thrown in with the allied ones.
I'm really liking the sound of Lorwyn.
When are previews? Next week?
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Actually, the real coup of the article is that Planeswalkers are actually Plainswalkers. The reason they cut off the type text on Liliana Vess is they didn't want to deal with the uproar caused when people saw Summon creature- Planeswalker Antelope.
J/K
boo
faeries should be blue/green...not blue/black
thanks for the info dude. the mill was in need (after the fake season)
This confirms the theory that Lorwyn:Onslaught::Ravnica:Invasion. Instead of a big, monotonous "play lots of X" tribal theme, every tribe stretches over multiple colors (to increase the diversity of decks in that theme) and has its own unique mechanics or theme (to make each tribe clearly distinct from the others.) This is a huge improvement to the old tribal model, I think, and it makes me feel good about the set.
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I also like hearing that Planeswalkers are going to be extremely strong cards.
It seems that there is a little bit of a color pie creature mix up in Lorwyn.
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U (3 tribes): Elementals, Faeries, Merfolk
B (5 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Faeries, Goblins, Treefolk
R (3 tribes): Elementals, Giants, Goblins
G (4 tribes): Elementals, Elves, Kithkin, Treefolk
Hmm, the color balance is rather uneven, which is kind of strange.
I don't like how Faeries are U/B. They should be U/G.
It's not quite Ravnica-ish, in that not each tribe is spread across exactly two colors (Treefolk, for instance, are three colors), and not all ten two-color combinations are represented.
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The faeries were advertised somewhere before as being "cunning and manipulative." Forgot where, but...sounds pretty blue/black to me.
1) Faeries in black is the most amazing thing I've heard yet. Honestly, to have strictly black goblins (and I guess treefolk) and not other creature types for black-- i'd have been seriously pissed as a black player. Onslaught had zombies at least in addition, and other types-- whereas all i'd seen so far was elementals (all colors) and Boggarts (goblins) for black. Great news for black to have a secondary tribe. And Faeries are suddenly badass. Black creatures should be more tricky then they are. Obviously Elves were going to be in black, but I had a feeling we were going to see Elves in all colors like Elementals. Good to see black is getting some options. Feel bad for red though. I mean Giants? Red doesnt exactly accelerate well....especially absent Seething Song..
2) Kithkin abilities set off based on attacking is amazing. White should be an aggro color, not a control color mainly. Good to see they're pushing it. I also like Merfolk in white.
3) Tribal Sorceries seem too much like the narrowness of Arcane in Kamigawa. Same with instants, although I suppose this allows for amazingly undercosted spells.
4) Champion a --creature type: WTF? Why not call it Nightmare since it was this exact ability on Nightmares in Torment, minus the creature type? For instance... Elven Nightmare, Goblin Nightmare, Kithkin Nightmare, etc. Makes sense, especially with Shadowfall coming--right?
5) Good to hear Planeswalkers arent going to need the tribal enhancements--- most Planeswalkers (Freyalise aside) weren't very society friendly to begin with.
6) Um, I love the 4GG flash Aura. It's going to see serious constructed play-- quote me now all of you.
Great news, thank a lot for the freakin info. I think you're officially EVERYONES hero.
I have a feeling the absence of Seething Song may be DUE to something we'll see in Lorwyn. Especially since the Flame-Kin have 'bursts as mana' as one of their mechanics...
White merfolk are probably going to be more controlling...
I fail to see how Arcane was narrow. Arcane didn't limit spells in any way. However, it ALSO didn't make spells cheaper. Your comment seems totally wrong to me.
I agree. Championing something just sounds dumb.
I hope the mixed color tribes means good mana fixing is coming.
It's odd though to see fae in black...but at least they have flash and CIP abilities and the evasion part. It'll bake them quite competitive if ever. Access to black removal and Damnation will make the tribe quite good.
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Elves is somewhat suprising in black since Green and Black are enemies, but I guess the Lorwyn elves are judgmental and harsh. Nice twist though. It was not what I was entirely expecting.
I am liking everything else, though. Maybe not the giants in white, but all the other stuff seems cool to me.
Thanks for posting this for us. Thank you.
And what happened to humans? I heard Lorwyn will not have any humans, is that right?
It's good to see the faeries are going to be Blue/Black, green it's not suppose to have flying creatures, we see a lot in Time spiral block.
Maybe they'll do something with evoke.
3RR
When ~this~ comes into play, add RRRRR to your mana pool
Evoke 2R
whatever/whatever
Or something along these lines...
UBB Rogues
UUB Faeries
RW Seismic Swans
RRR Control