They aren't different cards, as in the main card and a token. Look at the boarder of the mayor. It has an arrow point. The back where our beloved magic the gathering and 5 magic orbs are replaced with the rawr wolf. If any of these types of cards are worth the cardboard they use. People will sleeve rage.
Edit: another reason not 2(card+token) cards. You can't really use dice to represent walls of rule text
It has to be two seperate cards. If the normal back is replaced, it'd be unusable in from a rules/cheating perspective in limited or in any format where the player isn't using sleeves. And if it was some sort of card that opened up like a book, it'll also be unusable as it'd be a different thickness and etc.
The Pokemon TCG did a weird thing where 2cards are used to make 1. They were called Legend cards, and you needed to collect both separately, as they weren't found in the same booster pack.
What about the split card face? I know they didn't give it out as a split card, but they didn't give it out normal size either. This seems like the easiest execution to me.
It has to be two seperate cards. If the normal back is replaced, it'd be unusable in from a rules/cheating perspective in limited or in any format where the player isn't using sleeves. And if it was some sort of card that opened up like a book, it'll also be unusable as it'd be a different thickness and etc.
I am really curious to see how they pull this off because if you have to hunt down tokens that are actually significant to the game stat past a 3/3 with lifelink or deathtouch
What about the split card face? I know they didn't give it out as a split card, but they didn't give it out normal size either. This seems like the easiest execution to me.
Maybe it's just me, but the werewolf seems to have a lot of text for a split card.
I am really curious to see how they pull this off because if you have to hunt down tokens that are actually significant to the game stat past a 3/3 with lifelink or deathtouch
I think like others suggested, the token will come in the same booster pack as a replacement of the rules card or the land. Essentially, they're actually just one card.
Maybe it's just me, but the werewolf seems to have a lot of text for a split card.
I think like others suggested, the token will come in the same booster pack as a replacement of the rules card or the land. Essentially, they're actually just one card.
Hey if they make them guaranteed I'm fine with that
I think it comes with 2 cards. You will have a limited number of Werewolf Night mode and each will have a rarity (and get them accordingly in packs) and then you will have cards that changes into those. They could use the command zone to access them
"When Night comes, search your command zone for {proper WereWolf card} and replace this card with it until Day comes"
edit: maybe the reason for having a rare at Prerelease is because you are actually getting 2 rares
It's really disappointing that in a set all about flavor Wizards is still throwing words together for names as horrible as "Howlpack Anything."
Hurray, Innistrad werewolves officially sound like any other tribe or clan in the Magic universe. That was quick. Fear the Howlpack! Wait, I think the Darkclaw pack is fighting for dominion!
if reel, it would have to be something like like all werewolfs are 3/3 at night or something and there are werewolf tokens you can cover your cards with at night or something weird... interesting idea but odd in execution (at least it would seem)... not sure if its a good idea
Hurray, Innistrad werewolves officially sound like any other tribe or clan in the Magic universe.
Or any other commercial fantasy franchise of the Aughts. This tin-eared compounding fixation has been making me cringe wherever I turn. Who'd have thought that bad writing styles would be so faddish?
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It's really disappointing that in a set all about flavor Wizards is still throwing words together for names as horrible as "Howlpack Anything."
Hurray, Innistrad werewolves officially sound like any other tribe or clan in the Magic universe. That was quick. Fear the Howlpack! Wait, I think the Darkclaw pack is fighting for dominion!
What should the group of Werewolves be named?
Jeez.
Such a beta.
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If it were a token, i think it'd look more like a real token card, with a non-ractangular art box, etc.
I think the night/day mechanic might be land based. Play a land with the night symbol, and it becomes night for that turn (Day being the default). Or, if two or more night/day cards are cast in the same turn, the turn becomes night/day. This would make night/day instants very powerful. Or in general, whoever has the most night/day cards in some zone = game state is that side.
Then there's the graveyard angle that is supposed to be all so important. Perhaps night cards can be pitched/exiled (for a card draw or something), then are up for use by the dudes that transform.
Either way, the small 3/3 above the real P/T might simply be that you can turn the advisor into a 3/3 werewolf, by bringing into play a werewolf that fits that description, with the night symbol. So it's not him turning into Alpha pack, but Alpha pack is an example of a werewolf that he can turn into.
It just wouldn't make sense to have each werewolf have a single non-wolf form. Flip cards would have worked far better for that.
I know the issue with card backs is a big one, but the more I think about it the more I believe these are the two sides of a double-sided card.
Consider the bottom right side of the Mayor. We see an arrow pointing to the right, and "3/3".
Logically, the arrow has to point somewhere, or there'd be no point in having an arrow there. Whatever it's pointing to is either on the right of the Mayor (i.e. the other half of a split card) or on the back of it.
Now let's consider the 3/3. It's obviously linked with the arrow, which means that it's a hint to what the arrow's pointing to. On a split card though the other half's visible in plain sight, so why would one need a hint towards the other half? (That the Howlpack's card text's very big for a split card makes that option even less likely.)
The only reason why one would mention 3/3 on the mayor is if the mention of the 3/3 is important for game play, but the information's hidden from sight normally. And that would be the case if the Howlpack was printed on the back of the Mayor.
I could be wrong, of course, but that's why I think what we're seeing here are both sides of a double-sided card. I acknowledge the problems with that concept and have no idea how they're gonna remedy them, but the only alternative is a two-card combo, and that solution sounds even more impractical and convoluted.
And, of course, we know that the oversized promo's double-sided too, so it'd make sense if the same were true for the actual thing.
Anyway, we're sure to find out in the next few weeks.
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Ok - We all know the problems with a two sided card... marking and all that.
But lets think like Maro... what is the most elegant way to do werewolves that change states. Obviously a two sided card. I bet they were sitting around one day trying to decide how to do werewolves and someone said it would be easier if we didn;t have to worry about the backs of cards being the same. And maro said that is it. Rather than fight the fact that werewolves need to be double sided to work lets deal with that problem... we will simply mandate sleeves for constructed or WE DON'T CARE IF YOU KNOW THEY ARE COMING. What is the problem with that? It is just as much information for the other person... if anything it pushes the envelope on perfect information. You get to know a little bit more than you did before.... but only if you play werewolves and only when the opponent knows so too - not a problem for limited. Gives you more information if you need to draw a land and have this sitting on top of your deck etc. Also no one is stopping you from playing with sleeves if you want.
I think it has to be a double sided card.... it is the solution that makes the most sense - opens up design space. People will love it mechanically.
Once you challange the idea that we have to have card backs all the same and really think about it - maybe we don't really need to have card backs all the same... or we can mandate sleeves if we think that we do in some environments.
Double sided seems weird and would cause a lot of problems (as people before me already pointed out).
What if it's similar to how an evolution works in a Pokémon game? The 1/1 day card (Mayor of Avabruck) can be transformed into any 3/3 night card (Howlpack alpha) by placing the night card on top of the day card.
This would mean that both cards are regular cards. But some cards can only be used when other cards are already in play. The weak day form would have a few abilities and the night form would be a powerful beast. And you switch between the two (probably at sorcery speed) whenever you could cast an instant/sorcery/...
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Edit: basicly the day/night mechanic is an improved form of enchantments, because you can take the enchantment (night card) back and recast it.
Has anyone noticed that the Howlpack Alpha doesn't have a casting cost on it?
Maybe all the were-creatures are cast as their human or whatever versions, and they when the night trigger condition is met, they simply become vanilla X/X beaters, to keep with the "mindless killer" flavor they seem to be going with for the were-stuff. The small P/T above the normal one simply indicates what kind of were-thing it changes into. That then makes the werewolf simply another version of a token, although one that essentially replaces a card in play. The second card in this pair then goes from being a necessity to being more of a "that's a cool way to indicate a state change of the permanent" thing: not necessary but pretty sweet looking.
Okay, so people rib on Kamigawa because of the Arcane issue... yet people are cheering on Day/Night? I find that a bit silly considering this would be just as insular of a mechanic unless we see it continue to other blocks.
Call of Cthulhu CCG had a Day/Night mechanic that basically works like this:
You play a card with the DAY or NIGHT subtype, the game state is DAY or NIGHT depending. So let's say it's DAY. There are certain things that get pumped, certain effects that happen, certain cards that cannot be played... Then someone plays a NIGHT card... All DAY cards are destroyed and anything that benifited from the game state would lose those effects. It worked very well for that game, and was a VERY simple mechanic... however this just seems MUCH different. I guess it would have to be to avoid directly copying the COC version. People on these boards may not know about that game, but it's popular enough and the company that still produces it is the second largest American board game company behind Hasbro/WOTC.
This is total speculation but not baseless, did you noticed that in the A Planeswalker's Guide to Innistrad there is a lot of "places" drawnings?
Does that mean that will have a Zendikar.like quantity of Lands? The Church of Avacyn screams to be a Legendary Land, maybe this "day-night" thing can be handled by land abilities.
PS: There are 3 drawnings that are just Forest anyway..... and is like Obvios that each of the 4 region will have it's own specific land... Like the Jwar Island, Kabira etc.....
Besides with the release of Innistrad we lose al the Fetchlands, Terramorphic Expanse and Evonlving Wilds.... I guess we need way to go looking for Basic Lands no?
Also you have the 3 seasons Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, New Moon if you see the descrptions each moon gaves different kind of monsters a plus, I think each of these will be like an enchantment with a +1/+1 to werewolves on the Hunter's
It has to be two seperate cards. If the normal back is replaced, it'd be unusable in from a rules/cheating perspective in limited or in any format where the player isn't using sleeves. And if it was some sort of card that opened up like a book, it'll also be unusable as it'd be a different thickness and etc.
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_LEGEND_(TCG)
A terrible idea I think, but (unfortunately) a possiblity...
I am really curious to see how they pull this off because if you have to hunt down tokens that are actually significant to the game stat past a 3/3 with lifelink or deathtouch
Maybe it's just me, but the werewolf seems to have a lot of text for a split card.
I think like others suggested, the token will come in the same booster pack as a replacement of the rules card or the land. Essentially, they're actually just one card.
Hey if they make them guaranteed I'm fine with that
Agreed. If it's something that needs to be found seperately, then I think it's an awful idea. If not, then perfect.
"When Night comes, search your command zone for {proper WereWolf card} and replace this card with it until Day comes"
edit: maybe the reason for having a rare at Prerelease is because you are actually getting 2 rares
Hurray, Innistrad werewolves officially sound like any other tribe or clan in the Magic universe. That was quick. Fear the Howlpack! Wait, I think the Darkclaw pack is fighting for dominion!
Or any other commercial fantasy franchise of the Aughts. This tin-eared compounding fixation has been making me cringe wherever I turn. Who'd have thought that bad writing styles would be so faddish?
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
What should the group of Werewolves be named?
Jeez.
Such a beta.
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I think the night/day mechanic might be land based. Play a land with the night symbol, and it becomes night for that turn (Day being the default). Or, if two or more night/day cards are cast in the same turn, the turn becomes night/day. This would make night/day instants very powerful. Or in general, whoever has the most night/day cards in some zone = game state is that side.
Then there's the graveyard angle that is supposed to be all so important. Perhaps night cards can be pitched/exiled (for a card draw or something), then are up for use by the dudes that transform.
Either way, the small 3/3 above the real P/T might simply be that you can turn the advisor into a 3/3 werewolf, by bringing into play a werewolf that fits that description, with the night symbol. So it's not him turning into Alpha pack, but Alpha pack is an example of a werewolf that he can turn into.
It just wouldn't make sense to have each werewolf have a single non-wolf form. Flip cards would have worked far better for that.
Consider the bottom right side of the Mayor. We see an arrow pointing to the right, and "3/3".
Logically, the arrow has to point somewhere, or there'd be no point in having an arrow there. Whatever it's pointing to is either on the right of the Mayor (i.e. the other half of a split card) or on the back of it.
Now let's consider the 3/3. It's obviously linked with the arrow, which means that it's a hint to what the arrow's pointing to. On a split card though the other half's visible in plain sight, so why would one need a hint towards the other half? (That the Howlpack's card text's very big for a split card makes that option even less likely.)
The only reason why one would mention 3/3 on the mayor is if the mention of the 3/3 is important for game play, but the information's hidden from sight normally. And that would be the case if the Howlpack was printed on the back of the Mayor.
I could be wrong, of course, but that's why I think what we're seeing here are both sides of a double-sided card. I acknowledge the problems with that concept and have no idea how they're gonna remedy them, but the only alternative is a two-card combo, and that solution sounds even more impractical and convoluted.
And, of course, we know that the oversized promo's double-sided too, so it'd make sense if the same were true for the actual thing.
Anyway, we're sure to find out in the next few weeks.
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
But lets think like Maro... what is the most elegant way to do werewolves that change states. Obviously a two sided card. I bet they were sitting around one day trying to decide how to do werewolves and someone said it would be easier if we didn;t have to worry about the backs of cards being the same. And maro said that is it. Rather than fight the fact that werewolves need to be double sided to work lets deal with that problem... we will simply mandate sleeves for constructed or WE DON'T CARE IF YOU KNOW THEY ARE COMING. What is the problem with that? It is just as much information for the other person... if anything it pushes the envelope on perfect information. You get to know a little bit more than you did before.... but only if you play werewolves and only when the opponent knows so too - not a problem for limited. Gives you more information if you need to draw a land and have this sitting on top of your deck etc. Also no one is stopping you from playing with sleeves if you want.
I think it has to be a double sided card.... it is the solution that makes the most sense - opens up design space. People will love it mechanically.
Once you challange the idea that we have to have card backs all the same and really think about it - maybe we don't really need to have card backs all the same... or we can mandate sleeves if we think that we do in some environments.
What if it's similar to how an evolution works in a Pokémon game? The 1/1 day card (Mayor of Avabruck) can be transformed into any 3/3 night card (Howlpack alpha) by placing the night card on top of the day card.
This would mean that both cards are regular cards. But some cards can only be used when other cards are already in play. The weak day form would have a few abilities and the night form would be a powerful beast. And you switch between the two (probably at sorcery speed) whenever you could cast an instant/sorcery/...
---
Edit: basicly the day/night mechanic is an improved form of enchantments, because you can take the enchantment (night card) back and recast it.
If you look at the collector's number, the a/b has me worried.
You can find me on MTGO. My username is gereffi.
Mmm interesting speculation.
Maybe all the were-creatures are cast as their human or whatever versions, and they when the night trigger condition is met, they simply become vanilla X/X beaters, to keep with the "mindless killer" flavor they seem to be going with for the were-stuff. The small P/T above the normal one simply indicates what kind of were-thing it changes into. That then makes the werewolf simply another version of a token, although one that essentially replaces a card in play. The second card in this pair then goes from being a necessity to being more of a "that's a cool way to indicate a state change of the permanent" thing: not necessary but pretty sweet looking.
Just a theory.
Call of Cthulhu CCG had a Day/Night mechanic that basically works like this:
You play a card with the DAY or NIGHT subtype, the game state is DAY or NIGHT depending. So let's say it's DAY. There are certain things that get pumped, certain effects that happen, certain cards that cannot be played... Then someone plays a NIGHT card... All DAY cards are destroyed and anything that benifited from the game state would lose those effects. It worked very well for that game, and was a VERY simple mechanic... however this just seems MUCH different. I guess it would have to be to avoid directly copying the COC version. People on these boards may not know about that game, but it's popular enough and the company that still produces it is the second largest American board game company behind Hasbro/WOTC.
Does that mean that will have a Zendikar.like quantity of Lands? The Church of Avacyn screams to be a Legendary Land, maybe this "day-night" thing can be handled by land abilities.
PS: There are 3 drawnings that are just Forest anyway..... and is like Obvios that each of the 4 region will have it's own specific land... Like the Jwar Island, Kabira etc.....
Besides with the release of Innistrad we lose al the Fetchlands, Terramorphic Expanse and Evonlving Wilds.... I guess we need way to go looking for Basic Lands no?
Also you have the 3 seasons Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, New Moon if you see the descrptions each moon gaves different kind of monsters a plus, I think each of these will be like an enchantment with a +1/+1 to werewolves on the Hunter's