Let's talk about how you almost assuredly have rageblood shaman out the turn before this. I love that people just overlook tribal when they want a card to be bad, AND DYING TO REMOVAL DOES NOT MAKE A CARD BAD.
I love how everyone is slamming the Oracle, yet it is the only preorder card on SCG that is "out of stock"...
Agent of Fates was also quickly out of stock when it was first previewed at $1, and again at $1.50, and again at $2. It peaked, if I recall, at around $4. And see where that went. I'll save you time, that's nowhere.
At $1 pre-order, it's about as safe as you can get for this type of card. If you order a playset and it does nothing, and is terrible, you lost very little. If it somehow takes off, you made bucko bucks.
That said, the Fated cycle is at $1 right now... so I may just have a little spree with a few of them. The blue, red, and green ones are probably the one I want to get.
Let's talk about how you almost assuredly have rageblood shaman out the turn before this. I love that people just overlook tribal when they want a card to be bad, AND DYING TO REMOVAL DOES NOT MAKE A CARD BAD.
*looks around*
I don't think very many people have brought up the dies to removal argument. A haster, by its nature, is almost immune from the dies to removal argument, as you can swing from the start.
Rather, it's an inconsistent threat at best, that really doesn't have huge pay-off.
Tribal themes generally don't have huge impact, barring a few cases. Those cases generally mean spamming 1-2 drops to quickly accumulate board presence, not waiting 3 turns to get something that *then* allows you to accumulate board presence.
Look, Minotaurs have gotten some tribal love (finally). They will not, however, be the next best thing because they simply don't come up to snuff. It'll be fun for casual crowds, and the occassional FNM decklist, but it won't be a serious contender.
Now, WotC is making it very clear that they're wanting to make a minotaur tribal deck an actual thing, and in such a deck, Oracle of Bones goes from "interesting" to "terrifying".
The difference between oracle and the other cards you named are that those cards have abilities which only become useful in tribal but to a very insane degree - they become nuts in a tribal deck. Oracle doesn't even have a tribal specific ability! You are literally just arguing that it will be good because there will be other minotaur tribal cards. If it was a 5/3 haste goblin for 2RR, with no other abilities, would everyone be blowing their wads over it? Now think about how much constructed caliber tribal support there is for goblins vs. minotaurs.
Let's talk about how you almost assuredly have rageblood shaman out the turn before this.
Will you most assuredly have it out the turn before this? And if you don't, what then? Then it's a 5/3 haste for 2RR, right?
The arguments that oracle of bones is good boil down to "it is a minotaur", a tribe that has previously had no significant tribal support and now is getting a little, though what it is getting isn't exactly lighting my world on fire, but whatever. The card itself just isn't great. Imagine if it was actually a playable minotaur, wouldn't that be better?
Agent of Fates was also quickly out of stock when it was first previewed at $1, and again at $1.50, and again at $2. It peaked, if I recall, at around $4. And see where that went. I'll save you time, that's nowhere.
At $1 pre-order, it's about as safe as you can get for this type of card. If you order a playset and it does nothing, and is terrible, you lost very little. If it somehow takes off, you made bucko bucks.
That said, the Fated cycle is at $1 right now... so I may just have a little spree with a few of them. The blue, red, and green ones are probably the one I want to get.
That's not what I meant at all. All I meant was it is funny to see people bashing it, but secretly buying it just in case it's better than they thought, so they can make a quick buck and change their stance later (if it performs well) and say they knew it was gonna be a good card and that's why they got their cheap copies early on. People really do think it could possibly be good, otherwise they wouldn't be preordering it. If someone is so sure this card has no potential at all, why waste $4 on a playset? Because they know there is a chance it will be good, even if not til Journey or after Rav rotates.
That's not what I meant at all. All I meant was it is funny to see people bashing it, but secretly buying it just in case it's better than they thought, so they can make a quick buck and change their stance later (if it performs well) and say they knew it was gonna be a good card and that's why they got their cheap copies early on. People really do think it could possibly be good, otherwise they wouldn't be preordering it. If someone is so sure this card has no potential at all, why waste $4 on a playset? Because they know there is a chance it will be good, even if not til Journey or after Rav rotates.
Ah, got it.
Personally I'm going to be buying a playset of the Red, Blue, and Green Fated cycle. At $1, I lose nil and I can forsee them becoming a thing in standard in short order (Or long order). The red one is sort of reminiscient of Mizz Mortars to me and is quite a strong removal spell, and the green one might be a true sleeper. Granted, anybody looking at it should keep Advent of the Wurm in mind, which suffers due to the decks that would run it just not performing well. Still, at $1 you honestly could do a lot worse if your speculating.
I think I may just order the Oracle myself, as it's a neat card that I actually may have a use for (Izzet Counter burn would really enjoy, methinks). It's just that at $1 it's interesting enough for many people to go in on. I don't personally think it'll go anywhere though.
I have my eye on a few things that I hope tank a bit in value before I buy or trade into, and a few things I'm willing to trade pretty aggressively for as well (Phenax if someone wants a Karametra or something similar for; a few rare foils such as Hero's Podium; Spirit of the Labyrinth due to having applications in pretty much every format; Courser of Kruphix looks damn good,and is also sold out now on SCG preorders).
I think the Oracle is at least interesting enough to warrant a look, and being so dirt cheap many people are willing to pay it. Most other rares will tank just by how these things go, and most people aren't willing to pay the grossly inflated prices on SCG.
Not of fan of the five color Nyxborn cycle we're seeing. I hate these, "One in each color, slightly different flavor" cycles, and even more so when there's several already in a set.
Sadly, the Merfolk is pretty dull for a Merfolk, but that astronomer has potential.
In the current standard there simply aren't many maindeckable high-impact spells that you would want to play without Oracle on the board, which is important to consider. Cruel Ultimatum style cards not being in standard *really* harm this creature's playability IN STANDARD.
90% of all commons from every set aren't designed to see competitive play outside of limited.
Which, once again, is the CRUX, the ESSENCE of the problem:
IF they balanced the cards BETTER, instead of balancing most of them to BE WORSE, limited would play just as fine.
I mean:
How many players quit because of the price of playing even casually on MTGO (where the casual decks consists of homebrew using only various tournament staples) -- and how much is the lack of playable cards pushing 'the price of playing' because only pushed cards are playable, while most others are specifically DESIGNED to be unplayable??
DESIGNING cards to be unplayable is just nuts -- it's essentially forcing the price of individual cards (designed to be playable) up -- which is exactly what they're doing.
Agent of Fates was also quickly out of stock when it was first previewed at $1, and again at $1.50, and again at $2. It peaked, if I recall, at around $4. And see where that went. I'll save you time, that's nowhere.
At $1 pre-order, it's about as safe as you can get for this type of card. If you order a playset and it does nothing, and is terrible, you lost very little. If it somehow takes off, you made bucko bucks.
That said, the Fated cycle is at $1 right now... so I may just have a little spree with a few of them. The blue, red, and green ones are probably the one I want to get.
*looks around*
I don't think very many people have brought up the dies to removal argument. A haster, by its nature, is almost immune from the dies to removal argument, as you can swing from the start.
Rather, it's an inconsistent threat at best, that really doesn't have huge pay-off.
Tribal themes generally don't have huge impact, barring a few cases. Those cases generally mean spamming 1-2 drops to quickly accumulate board presence, not waiting 3 turns to get something that *then* allows you to accumulate board presence.
Look, Minotaurs have gotten some tribal love (finally). They will not, however, be the next best thing because they simply don't come up to snuff. It'll be fun for casual crowds, and the occassional FNM decklist, but it won't be a serious contender.
The difference between oracle and the other cards you named are that those cards have abilities which only become useful in tribal but to a very insane degree - they become nuts in a tribal deck. Oracle doesn't even have a tribal specific ability! You are literally just arguing that it will be good because there will be other minotaur tribal cards. If it was a 5/3 haste goblin for 2RR, with no other abilities, would everyone be blowing their wads over it? Now think about how much constructed caliber tribal support there is for goblins vs. minotaurs.
Will you most assuredly have it out the turn before this? And if you don't, what then? Then it's a 5/3 haste for 2RR, right?
The arguments that oracle of bones is good boil down to "it is a minotaur", a tribe that has previously had no significant tribal support and now is getting a little, though what it is getting isn't exactly lighting my world on fire, but whatever. The card itself just isn't great. Imagine if it was actually a playable minotaur, wouldn't that be better?
Limited card is designed purely for limited.
90% of all commons from every set aren't designed to see competitive play outside of limited.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
Ah, got it.
Personally I'm going to be buying a playset of the Red, Blue, and Green Fated cycle. At $1, I lose nil and I can forsee them becoming a thing in standard in short order (Or long order). The red one is sort of reminiscient of Mizz Mortars to me and is quite a strong removal spell, and the green one might be a true sleeper. Granted, anybody looking at it should keep Advent of the Wurm in mind, which suffers due to the decks that would run it just not performing well. Still, at $1 you honestly could do a lot worse if your speculating.
I think I may just order the Oracle myself, as it's a neat card that I actually may have a use for (Izzet Counter burn would really enjoy, methinks). It's just that at $1 it's interesting enough for many people to go in on. I don't personally think it'll go anywhere though.
I have my eye on a few things that I hope tank a bit in value before I buy or trade into, and a few things I'm willing to trade pretty aggressively for as well (Phenax if someone wants a Karametra or something similar for; a few rare foils such as Hero's Podium; Spirit of the Labyrinth due to having applications in pretty much every format; Courser of Kruphix looks damn good,and is also sold out now on SCG preorders).
I think the Oracle is at least interesting enough to warrant a look, and being so dirt cheap many people are willing to pay it. Most other rares will tank just by how these things go, and most people aren't willing to pay the grossly inflated prices on SCG.
Sadly, the Merfolk is pretty dull for a Merfolk, but that astronomer has potential.
How To Keep Your FOIL Cards From Curling: http://youtu.be/QTmubrS8VnI
The Best Deck Boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEwgLph_Pjk
The Best Binders: http://youtu.be/H5IauASYWjk
Fixed.
Which, once again, is the CRUX, the ESSENCE of the problem:
IF they balanced the cards BETTER, instead of balancing most of them to BE WORSE, limited would play just as fine.
I mean:
How many players quit because of the price of playing even casually on MTGO (where the casual decks consists of homebrew using only various tournament staples) -- and how much is the lack of playable cards pushing 'the price of playing' because only pushed cards are playable, while most others are specifically DESIGNED to be unplayable??
DESIGNING cards to be unplayable is just nuts -- it's essentially forcing the price of individual cards (designed to be playable) up -- which is exactly what they're doing.