So, we are about 93 cards into the spoiler, and I have to say that from what I've seen, for both constructed opportunities and for a limited expansion, this is easily the best/most fun/ highest potential set I can remember. Here are some observations:
1. Very little vanilla, so far. And I don't mean Grizzly Bears vanilla, I mean as a whole the average card sees a power boost. Don't know if it is strictly a multi-colored effect, economy-based, or lack of 1-drops, but there is a palpable quality improvement in this cardset (so far).
2. I feel compelled to buy a case of this. Now whether I will isn't the point, but I've never felt so compelled to buy Magic as I do right now. I think they are putting Subliminal messages in the rules text.
3. I'm relieved to be wrong about an all-gold set. I thought it was a bad idea, but after seeing the multitude and cross-functional card value for constructed applications, it will be unlikely that we will have a consensus "best deck" for some time to come, and that is good for competitive Magic.
4. I can't wait to Draft this. We are going to have to rethink the way we draft Shards and Conflux because there will now be a premium on multicolor card selections over the first 2 packs, in preparation for the strength of the draft pool, pack 3. Sounds like a high risk, high reward strategy, and I can't wait!
5. 2 CMC 3-power conditional creatures are invading Standard, and I don't know what to think about that. Actually, my first thought is that Kithkin are not fast enough to hang with the new Super Mario cycle. Beyond that, I have more questions than answers. Yes, you heard me. Super Mario.
So, we are about 93 cards into the spoiler, and I have to say that from what I've seen, for both constructed opportunities and for a limited expansion, this is easily the best/most fun/ highest potential set I can remember. Here are some observations:
1. Very little vanilla, so far. And I don't mean Grizzly Bears vanilla, I mean as a whole the average card sees a power boost. Don't know if it is strictly a multi-colored effect, economy-based, or lack of 1-drops, but there is a palpable quality improvement in this cardset (so far).
2. I feel compelled to buy a case of this. Now whether I will isn't the point, but I've never felt so compelled to buy Magic as I do right now. I think they are putting Subliminal messages in the rules text.
3. I'm relieved to be wrong about an all-gold set. I thought it was a bad idea, but after seeing the multitude and cross-functional card value for constructed applications, it will be unlikely that we will have a consensus "best deck" for some time to come, and that is good for competitive Magic.
4. I can't wait to Draft this. We are going to have to rethink the way we draft Shards and Conflux because there will now be a premium on multicolor card selections over the first 2 packs, in preparation for the strength of the daft pool, pack 3. Sounds like a high risk, high reward strategy, and I can't wait!
5. 2 CMC 3-power conditional creatures are invading Standard, and I don't know what to think about that. Actually, my first thought is that Kithkin are not fast enough to hang with the new Super Mario cycle. Beyond that, I have more questions than answers. Yes, you heard me. Super Mario.
Yes. You may be right. This set is getting out of hand. I don't know when it should reach the point where I should stop being happy and start getting scared. I mean some of the cards are on par with the better cards in Urza's block and even the crappiest crap common is an easy easy 23rd card in limited. If they don't make Yawgmoth's Will 2.0 here I'll be surprised.
I am petitioning for the removal of mythic rarity. Sig this to join the cause!
Famliy Guy Emperor Says,
"Something, something something, DARK SIDE!
Something, something, something COMPLETE!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHiUitciuJ8
:symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw: SPIKE GAYMER: not just a beatdown, a beatdown sung to the tune of "I Feel Pretty"!
Not the best ever, but it's definately shaping up to be a crazy good set so far. I agree with Desolation Angel with the fact that there can be a possible increase in power creep, but that was expected for an entirely gold block.
Personally I loved the entire Odyssey block the best because there's just so much good stuff to work with that interacts well with many different blocks.
I agree with Desolation Angel on this one. ARB will turn the metagame upside down. There's so many constructed worthy cards in this set, I can't imagine the decks that will come up or wich card will be the biggest threat.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
It is always easy to be tolerant and understanding...Until someone presents an opinion completely opposite to your own.
See, now this I've never seen before. Honestly, there's always the one "This is the worst set ever" guy I've honestly never seen a "This is the best set ever!" post. So it's kind of refreshing.
But yeah, I gotta say the set is looking a lil cooler than I thought. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying "Best Set Ever" but I dig it. I too was sorta freaked out a bit by the idea of an all gold set, but it's shaping up to be interesting. I like when you could look over a list and just be flooded with all these different ideas for entirely new decks, as opposed to just thinking like "Oh, that might be cool in 5cc".
Explain to me a bit more what you mean by the "Super Mario" cycle though.
I like when you could look over a list and just be flooded with all these different ideas for entirely new decks, as opposed to just thinking like "Oh, that might be cool in 5cc".
This.
I have very recently been coming up with all sorts of crazy new decklists that could possibly do some damage in the upcoming Standard. I can't think of a set recently that's let me expand on so many cool ideas and concepts that aren't just decks that build themselves (Tribal decks have a habit of doing this). We still have around 50 cards to go, and I know there will be several niche cards that I will immediately put into my decks
See, now this I've never seen before. Honestly, there's always the one "This is the worst set ever" guy I've honestly never seen a "This is the best set ever!" post. So it's kind of refreshing.
But yeah, I gotta say the set is looking a lil cooler than I thought. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying "Best Set Ever" but I dig it. I too was sorta freaked out a bit by the idea of an all gold set, but it's shaping up to be interesting. I like when you could look over a list and just be flooded with all these different ideas for entirely new decks, as opposed to just thinking like "Oh, that might be cool in 5cc".
Explain to me a bit more what you mean by the "Super Mario" cycle though.
I am a refreshing glass of Lemonade on a hot Summer day. That's right. It's not just my optimistic nature, though, the set is really promising. Mario becomes Super Mario when he combines with a multicolored mushroom and he gets, well, bigger. ARB has 5 2/1 creatures that get +1/+1 and a unique skill when you control a multicolored creature, so it is a pretty good name. Not sure how to tell which one is Mario and which is Luigi, though. I think the Princess could fly. but I digress...
I love the "Super Mario" cycle so much; they have excellent constructed potential. The hybrid mana makes them very easy to cast and it's really easy to get the bonuses onto them.
As for power creep, this was to be expected. When you print multicolored cards, they're on average much more powerful than their monocolored counterparts. An entire set of gold is definately going to increase power creep faster than normal.
Not the best set ever, but pretty high up there. Definitely way better than the previous two pieces of the block. I think I was more excited for Shadowmoor than I am for Alara Reborn, but my excitement for the set is still above average.
I am a refreshing glass of Lemonade on a hot Summer day. That's right. It's not just my optimistic nature, though, the set is really promising. Mario becomes Super Mario when he combines with a multicolored mushroom and he gets, well, bigger. ARB has 5 2/1 creatures that get +1/+1 and a unique skill when you control a multicolored creature, so it is a pretty good name. Not sure how to tell which one is Mario and which is Luigi, though. I think the Princess could fly. but I digress...
Jund Hackblade is Mario: the red one who appears first, and everyone is impressed with. Scrappy little fellow who will win the hearts of casual gamers. Naya Hushblade is Luigi: the green one that got overshadowed and gets much less talk, but will end up being the one that I actually use.
Look at me! I can bold words and use CAPSLOCK to emphasize my point! Hopefully I can trick people into ignoring that I completely have no evidence in my post to back up my claims if I make it look fancy enough.
Very good set so far, but really I know many people will only judge it on how it will effect standard. I see many GREAT cards and the whole set is shaping up to be one of the best designs we've seen in AGES... but time will tell if we'll have cool new archtypes thrive, and how well M2010 will make things look even stronger.
It's definitely my favorite set since the Ravinca days. I've only seen a few commons and like (Along with the borderposts), 1-2 rares that I absolutely didn't like. But there is a very, very large list of cards which I'm excited about.
All of the dragons
All of the 5 power support
Maelstrom Pulse
Maelstrom Nexus (Might be my favorite card of all time XD)
Meddling Mage
Thought Hemmorage
All of the BR stuff
All of the new goodies for Bant
Bloodbraid Elf
And so, so much more. Also the set reprinted one of my favorite removal spells of all time., and has introduced the incredibly exciting Cascade mechanic. This set has a lot of great stuff for both casual and constructed.
Jund Hackblade is Mario: the red one who appears first, and everyone is impressed with. Scrappy little fellow who will win the hearts of casual gamers. Naya Hushblade is Luigi: the green one that got overshadowed and gets much less talk, but will end up being the one that I actually use.
I normally kinda hate "nicknames" and think they're super dorky in an ugly way. But these are cute, I could dig it as a dedicated Mario fan that's been down since day one.
Perhaps Esper Stormblade as the Princess what with the aformentioned flying. Bant Sureblade as Toad what with being quicker when holding an item, sort of an implied first strike in a way. Grixis Grimblade as Bowser, what with it being kind of the "bad guy" or sorts.
I normally kinda hate "nicknames" and think they're super dorky in an ugly way. But these are cute, I could dig it as a dedicated Mario fan that's been down since day one.
Perhaps Esper Stormblade as the Princess what with the aformentioned flying. Bant Sureblade as Toad what with being quicker when holding an item, sort of an implied first strike in a way. Grixis Grimblade as Bowser, what with it being kind of the "bad guy" or sorts.
Back to Alara Reborn, does anyone have a vote for best card so far? I'm having trouble finding cards I don't like. Right now Wargate is looking pretty tasty.
I'm rather worried about this set. After playing a Rav/Chk deck against a Lrw/Sha deck, I realized that a lot of what makes a fun, and diverse, meta is many cards that go right to the line of the power curve, but don't break it. This set is murdering the power curve for the sake of getting people excited about the cards. The cards individually may seem more exciting, but the meta as a whole will suffer for it. You be sure that every deck post rotation is going to need a large portion of this set, while some sets like Conflux will probably barely be touched at all.
Almost every Cascade spell breaks the curve entirely. Some is ok, like Ardent Plea. It really acts more like a tutor, and has you pay 1 extra for exalted on whatever you find. However, not all cascade spells were costed to take in account what they might get. Bloodbraid Elf is one such example. A 3/2 Haste creature usually costs 4 by itself. (Vulshock Berserker, Gruul Scrapper.) Now we get that AND as much as a 3 cost spell ontop of that? Simple math tells us that effect is at least 2 cheaper than it should be.
Rorix Bladewing showed us just how powerful an efficient flying haste creature can be. Now we get not just one, but two 7/7 haste creatures for seven. One costs 4UBR, one costs 4BRG. Both centered around :symbr:, a color combination that is already strong in this meta. The grixis one even has an edict thrown in for good measure.
Maelstrom Pulse is obscenely over the curve. Not only does it nearly wipe Vindicate off the map, but it beats the crap out of Putrefy, also. Even not being an instant, the power level of that card is far and beyond what Putrefy's was.
Powerful cards are certainly fun to see initially, but unless they are balanced then it will ultimately make the meta less enjoyable.
I am excited for this set more than I was for Shadowmoor. Eventide, IMO was a god-awful set, with but a very few interesting cards, Figure of Destiny being one.(although I'm still disappointed that they didn't do a cycle of FoD-like cards.)Shards I thought wasn't the greatest set, but ok, Conflux excited me a bit, and this set is just completely bonkers.
I'm loving the absolute love for Naya, as I've been wanting to create a Naya deck that can effectively use Cliffrunner Behemoth.
The artwork for this set is also absolutely amazing, especially Thraximundar, Uril, and Grixis Grimblade. I'm glad that artwork didn't end up being Putrid Warrior.
As far as I know the only card that has really kinda disappointed me is Defiler of Souls. At rare it wouldn't have been as disappointing, but at Mythic this will be the only Mythic rare I would'nt be keen on cracking out of a pack, unless it was draft, then he's at least still useful as a beater. But for this block, he's a day late and a dollar short.
Thraximundar, as opposed to others' opinions, which are good and reasonable, is one of the cards I really was appreciative of as a preview, It's flavorful, Mythic feeling, and excites my inner Timmy. Still think he's blue because blue is the cool color to be.
Funny as it is, one of the cards I'm most anxious to see is the Deathbringer Thoctar. I don't think I've ever been anxious to see a Pre-con card so much.
If it weren't for debts and such, I would definitely buy a couple of boxes of this set. The last set that made me do that was Ravnica. I like gold, hybrid, or any combination of the sorts. So, in my opinion, this is THE best set since Ravnica.
That is all.
Ninja edit:
Completely forgot about Maelstrom Pulse. Wow. Absurd.
As for best card in the set, it really depends on how players look at a set. Many will say Pulse, or that Meddling Mage, and her dog too.
My opinion: Uril, the Miststalker. My favorite.
Edit 2:
I think the main reason the "Worst Set Ever!!" thread hasn't popped up is because of the fact that most of the cards I've seen in this set have been powered and designed correctly, and there aren't many, if any cards, that truly are overcosted jank. Sure there's stuff that's costed a little high, but the effects of said cards are usually worth the justifiability of a higher cost. Then there's stuff that just nearly obliterates the power curve.(Qasali Pridemage, I'm looking at you.)
A quite intelligently designed set, if I must say.
I collect: Vedalken Heretic, Lorescale Coatl, Reaper King, Worldslayer, Woodwraith Corrupter, Lorthos, the Tidemaker. Soon to collect Conquering Manticore.
I demanded a Manticore, and Wizards delivered. I now demand a Chimaera. The REAL one, not, Chimeric items. I also demand a new Gorgon. And more Manticores please.
I loved the Odyssey block too. In fact, that's why I started to play MTG. But the average quality of this set so far is astonishing. More than half of the commons are playable, they're great uncommons and a bunch of sick, sick rares, plus several Mythics which break games in half.
Though I miss 1CC hybrid creatures, the amount -and goodness- of bears is too much great, even unfair sometimes. I wish Spell Snare were reprinted in M10 or Zendikar... /evilish/
This set will please from the casual player to Constructed -even T2- Tournament player. That's why is so freakin' great to me.
Maybe not the best set ever. But this set is sick!
You might even get your money back by opening cases! Shards and Conflux compared to this is like... uncomparable. Sick, sick, sick...
Most of the rares you would be happy to crack. The power level is ridiculous, Watchwolf and Viridian Zealot splashed together (almost) as a common? - Yeah, I know the Zealot had Vindicate attached to it, but so what? Remove Soul and Raise Dead in a single card? Yes, thanks!
There are so many chase rares here: Chris, CE, Vindicate, even the rares from intro packs are, maybe not chase, but sick!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Island taps for U and cost zero. It should be banned.
This set is really good. I can't fathom the two that came before it this block though. Where they trying to 'wow' everyone by making the rest of the sets suck? Did they design the whole block in one go and push all the good stuff off to ARB? Was it only into ARB design that they figured out lor/sha was going to overpower standard? Did they feel compelled to start with simple cards that bored us veterans, so they had the freedom to expand on the known mechanics in interesting ways? Who knows, but this set really stands on its own compared to the block.
I'm rather worried about this set. After playing a Rav/Chk deck against a Lrw/Sha deck, I realized that a lot of what makes a fun, and diverse, meta is many cards that go right to the line of the power curve, but don't break it. This set is murdering the power curve for the sake of getting people excited about the cards. The cards individually may seem more exciting, but the meta as a whole will suffer for it. You be sure that every deck post rotation is going to need a large portion of this set, while some sets like Conflux will probably barely be touched at all.
Almost every Cascade spell breaks the curve entirely. Some is ok, like Ardent Plea. It really acts more like a tutor, and has you pay 1 extra for exalted on whatever you find. However, not all cascade spells were costed to take in account what they might get. Bloodbraid Elf is one such example. A 3/2 Haste creature usually costs 4 by itself. (Vulshock Berserker, Gruul Scrapper.) Now we get that AND as much as a 3 cost spell ontop of that? Simple math tells us that effect is at least 2 cheaper than it should be.
Rorix Bladewing showed us just how powerful an efficient flying haste creature can be. Now we get not just one, but two 7/7 haste creatures for seven. One costs 4UBR, one costs 4BRG. Both centered around :symbr:, a color combination that is already strong in this meta. The grixis one even has an edict thrown in for good measure.
Maelstrom Pulse is obscenely over the curve. Not only does it nearly wipe Vindicate off the map, but it beats the crap out of Putrefy, also. Even not being an instant, the power level of that card is far and beyond what Putrefy's was.
Powerful cards are certainly fun to see initially, but unless they are balanced then it will ultimately make the meta less enjoyable.
I concure. This exactly what I'm afraid of as well.
Maestrom Pulse was my first clue. "Holy ****! They just obsoleted putrefy!"
Rhox Brute was my second. "WTF! The "vanillia crap commons" are comprable to 3rd pick uncommons from Shards? Something's wrong here."
Cards like bitterblossom might be awsome at first, but they actually don't make Type 2 any more fun to play in the long run.
My only hope is that the sheer volume of powerful cards will lead to a diverse metagame instead of the opposet.
Extendend, EDH, and Eternal formats love sets with this kind of power level. Standard, however, gets a set like this and it can torpedo the format.
My suspicion is that these cards have something to do with Odyssey Block rotating out of Extended; witch Mark Rosewater admitted in an interview was the last set they purpiosly made to have a degenerate power level.
But one caveat. The many of cards in here may not go down in value like they usually do in post standard rotation. Many of these cards will be players in extended for a long, long time. At least that's good news.
I am petitioning for the removal of mythic rarity. Sig this to join the cause!
Famliy Guy Emperor Says,
"Something, something something, DARK SIDE!
Something, something, something COMPLETE!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHiUitciuJ8
:symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw: SPIKE GAYMER: not just a beatdown, a beatdown sung to the tune of "I Feel Pretty"!
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1. Very little vanilla, so far. And I don't mean Grizzly Bears vanilla, I mean as a whole the average card sees a power boost. Don't know if it is strictly a multi-colored effect, economy-based, or lack of 1-drops, but there is a palpable quality improvement in this cardset (so far).
2. I feel compelled to buy a case of this. Now whether I will isn't the point, but I've never felt so compelled to buy Magic as I do right now. I think they are putting Subliminal messages in the rules text.
3. I'm relieved to be wrong about an all-gold set. I thought it was a bad idea, but after seeing the multitude and cross-functional card value for constructed applications, it will be unlikely that we will have a consensus "best deck" for some time to come, and that is good for competitive Magic.
4. I can't wait to Draft this. We are going to have to rethink the way we draft Shards and Conflux because there will now be a premium on multicolor card selections over the first 2 packs, in preparation for the strength of the draft pool, pack 3. Sounds like a high risk, high reward strategy, and I can't wait!
5. 2 CMC 3-power conditional creatures are invading Standard, and I don't know what to think about that. Actually, my first thought is that Kithkin are not fast enough to hang with the new Super Mario cycle. Beyond that, I have more questions than answers. Yes, you heard me. Super Mario.
Yes. You may be right. This set is getting out of hand. I don't know when it should reach the point where I should stop being happy and start getting scared. I mean some of the cards are on par with the better cards in Urza's block and even the crappiest crap common is an easy easy 23rd card in limited. If they don't make Yawgmoth's Will 2.0 here I'll be surprised.
Famliy Guy Emperor Says,
"Something, something something, DARK SIDE!
Something, something, something COMPLETE!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHiUitciuJ8
:symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw:
SPIKE GAYMER: not just a beatdown, a beatdown sung to the tune of "I Feel Pretty"!
Personally I loved the entire Odyssey block the best because there's just so much good stuff to work with that interacts well with many different blocks.
But yeah, I gotta say the set is looking a lil cooler than I thought. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying "Best Set Ever" but I dig it. I too was sorta freaked out a bit by the idea of an all gold set, but it's shaping up to be interesting. I like when you could look over a list and just be flooded with all these different ideas for entirely new decks, as opposed to just thinking like "Oh, that might be cool in 5cc".
Explain to me a bit more what you mean by the "Super Mario" cycle though.
This.
I have very recently been coming up with all sorts of crazy new decklists that could possibly do some damage in the upcoming Standard. I can't think of a set recently that's let me expand on so many cool ideas and concepts that aren't just decks that build themselves (Tribal decks have a habit of doing this). We still have around 50 cards to go, and I know there will be several niche cards that I will immediately put into my decks
I had high hopes for this set and am yet to be disappointed.
I am a refreshing glass of Lemonade on a hot Summer day. That's right. It's not just my optimistic nature, though, the set is really promising. Mario becomes Super Mario when he combines with a multicolored mushroom and he gets, well, bigger. ARB has 5 2/1 creatures that get +1/+1 and a unique skill when you control a multicolored creature, so it is a pretty good name. Not sure how to tell which one is Mario and which is Luigi, though. I think the Princess could fly. but I digress...
As for power creep, this was to be expected. When you print multicolored cards, they're on average much more powerful than their monocolored counterparts. An entire set of gold is definately going to increase power creep faster than normal.
Jund Hackblade is Mario: the red one who appears first, and everyone is impressed with. Scrappy little fellow who will win the hearts of casual gamers. Naya Hushblade is Luigi: the green one that got overshadowed and gets much less talk, but will end up being the one that I actually use.
All of the dragons
All of the 5 power support
Maelstrom Pulse
Maelstrom Nexus (Might be my favorite card of all time XD)
Meddling Mage
Thought Hemmorage
All of the BR stuff
All of the new goodies for Bant
Bloodbraid Elf
And so, so much more. Also the set reprinted one of my favorite removal spells of all time., and has introduced the incredibly exciting Cascade mechanic. This set has a lot of great stuff for both casual and constructed.
Trades
Pucatrade with me!
(Signature courtesy of Argetlam of Hakai Studios
I normally kinda hate "nicknames" and think they're super dorky in an ugly way. But these are cute, I could dig it as a dedicated Mario fan that's been down since day one.
Perhaps Esper Stormblade as the Princess what with the aformentioned flying. Bant Sureblade as Toad what with being quicker when holding an item, sort of an implied first strike in a way. Grixis Grimblade as Bowser, what with it being kind of the "bad guy" or sorts.
Love your av btw, rhyaxeau. What's that guy from?
I actually come from a race of small furry terminators bent on world domination. We are active politically, you can find out more here:
http://www.inews3.com/topstory.php?id=52687961786561757c546865204675727279
for news of our origin, check out this article:
http://www.slashgear.com/mits-furry-robot-is-capable-of-human-learning-235400/
Back to Alara Reborn, does anyone have a vote for best card so far? I'm having trouble finding cards I don't like. Right now Wargate is looking pretty tasty.
Almost every Cascade spell breaks the curve entirely. Some is ok, like Ardent Plea. It really acts more like a tutor, and has you pay 1 extra for exalted on whatever you find. However, not all cascade spells were costed to take in account what they might get. Bloodbraid Elf is one such example. A 3/2 Haste creature usually costs 4 by itself. (Vulshock Berserker, Gruul Scrapper.) Now we get that AND as much as a 3 cost spell ontop of that? Simple math tells us that effect is at least 2 cheaper than it should be.
Rorix Bladewing showed us just how powerful an efficient flying haste creature can be. Now we get not just one, but two 7/7 haste creatures for seven. One costs 4UBR, one costs 4BRG. Both centered around :symbr:, a color combination that is already strong in this meta. The grixis one even has an edict thrown in for good measure.
Maelstrom Pulse is obscenely over the curve. Not only does it nearly wipe Vindicate off the map, but it beats the crap out of Putrefy, also. Even not being an instant, the power level of that card is far and beyond what Putrefy's was.
Powerful cards are certainly fun to see initially, but unless they are balanced then it will ultimately make the meta less enjoyable.
I'm loving the absolute love for Naya, as I've been wanting to create a Naya deck that can effectively use Cliffrunner Behemoth.
The artwork for this set is also absolutely amazing, especially Thraximundar, Uril, and Grixis Grimblade. I'm glad that artwork didn't end up being Putrid Warrior.
As far as I know the only card that has really kinda disappointed me is Defiler of Souls. At rare it wouldn't have been as disappointing, but at Mythic this will be the only Mythic rare I would'nt be keen on cracking out of a pack, unless it was draft, then he's at least still useful as a beater. But for this block, he's a day late and a dollar short.
Thraximundar, as opposed to others' opinions, which are good and reasonable, is one of the cards I really was appreciative of as a preview, It's flavorful, Mythic feeling, and excites my inner Timmy. Still think he's blue because blue is the cool color to be.
Funny as it is, one of the cards I'm most anxious to see is the Deathbringer Thoctar. I don't think I've ever been anxious to see a Pre-con card so much.
If it weren't for debts and such, I would definitely buy a couple of boxes of this set. The last set that made me do that was Ravnica. I like gold, hybrid, or any combination of the sorts. So, in my opinion, this is THE best set since Ravnica.
That is all.
Ninja edit:
Completely forgot about Maelstrom Pulse. Wow. Absurd.
As for best card in the set, it really depends on how players look at a set. Many will say Pulse, or that Meddling Mage, and her dog too.
My opinion: Uril, the Miststalker. My favorite.
Edit 2:
I think the main reason the "Worst Set Ever!!" thread hasn't popped up is because of the fact that most of the cards I've seen in this set have been powered and designed correctly, and there aren't many, if any cards, that truly are overcosted jank. Sure there's stuff that's costed a little high, but the effects of said cards are usually worth the justifiability of a higher cost. Then there's stuff that just nearly obliterates the power curve.(Qasali Pridemage, I'm looking at you.)
A quite intelligently designed set, if I must say.
I collect: Vedalken Heretic, Lorescale Coatl, Reaper King, Worldslayer, Woodwraith Corrupter, Lorthos, the Tidemaker. Soon to collect Conquering Manticore.
I demanded a Manticore, and Wizards delivered. I now demand a Chimaera. The REAL one, not, Chimeric items. I also demand a new Gorgon. And more Manticores please.
Though I miss 1CC hybrid creatures, the amount -and goodness- of bears is too much great, even unfair sometimes. I wish Spell Snare were reprinted in M10 or Zendikar... /evilish/
This set will please from the casual player to Constructed -even T2- Tournament player. That's why is so freakin' great to me.
You might even get your money back by opening cases! Shards and Conflux compared to this is like... uncomparable. Sick, sick, sick...
Most of the rares you would be happy to crack. The power level is ridiculous, Watchwolf and Viridian Zealot splashed together (almost) as a common? - Yeah, I know the Zealot had Vindicate attached to it, but so what?
Remove Soul and Raise Dead in a single card? Yes, thanks!
There are so many chase rares here: Chris, CE, Vindicate, even the rares from intro packs are, maybe not chase, but sick!
I concure. This exactly what I'm afraid of as well.
Maestrom Pulse was my first clue. "Holy ****! They just obsoleted putrefy!"
Rhox Brute was my second. "WTF! The "vanillia crap commons" are comprable to 3rd pick uncommons from Shards? Something's wrong here."
Cards like bitterblossom might be awsome at first, but they actually don't make Type 2 any more fun to play in the long run.
My only hope is that the sheer volume of powerful cards will lead to a diverse metagame instead of the opposet.
Extendend, EDH, and Eternal formats love sets with this kind of power level. Standard, however, gets a set like this and it can torpedo the format.
My suspicion is that these cards have something to do with Odyssey Block rotating out of Extended; witch Mark Rosewater admitted in an interview was the last set they purpiosly made to have a degenerate power level.
But one caveat. The many of cards in here may not go down in value like they usually do in post standard rotation. Many of these cards will be players in extended for a long, long time. At least that's good news.
Famliy Guy Emperor Says,
"Something, something something, DARK SIDE!
Something, something, something COMPLETE!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHiUitciuJ8
:symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw::symrw:
SPIKE GAYMER: not just a beatdown, a beatdown sung to the tune of "I Feel Pretty"!