With that in mind - that the set has a lot of high powered Midrange roleplayers that don't look like they fill new roles, but only a few unique new effects - Standard looks like it will be fine. Probably above average even. I don't immediately see anything unfair that looks like it could dominate, but it looks like a pretty tried and tested sort of environment of efficient removal and value creatures duking it out.
I think mission briefing is overrated even its main benefit it doesn't target rings hollow to me. Sure can your opponent with scavenging ooze cold stop you from getting the card you want ala snapcaster no...but looking at the board state and you available blue mana left untapped they should be able to figure out your best option and get rid of it. Not a problem in a monoblue deck but eh two color or three color I don't see it.
I want to like the set, and there are a few individual cards that I enjoy, but I can't get past an overall feeling of disappointment. We've seen everything in this set somewhere else before, mostly from previous Ravnica visits (which was my biggest gripe with RTR block as well). There wasn't really anything new in this set. All the cycles are old, except for the DDMM uncommons, which I actually think is a great cycle to use to push players into committing to two colors. Most of the mechanics are tweaks on old mechanics. Three of them are returning mechanics. Split and hybrid feel shoehorned into the set, as though they were obligated to put them in the set and didn't have enough space. Even the individual card designs seem like revamps of old things. Mission Briefing is similar to Snapcaster Mage. Assassin's Trophy is just a better Abrupt Decay. Charnel Troll is a lot like Lotleth Troll.
The only individual card that really amused me was Divine Visitation.
I just hope our next visit ditches most of these trends and experiments more.
As someone who plays a lot of mono-red Pauper and Commander I can't really say the set had many cards I was interested in. I got pretty much all I wanted out of it for 7 dollars on pre-release day. From this, rather narrow, perspective
- Runnaway Steam-Kin is obviously interesting.
- Erratic Cyclops is also interesting. Hilarious with Masques-and-older pitch spells which cost no mana to play but have huge casting costs.
- Experimental Frenzy is laughably broken, at least in commander. The only balancing on it is that mono-red doesn't have tutors in Commander, but that's basically that. Dunno about Standard and Modern, but it would be strange if it doesn't end up showing in older formats. It's also a good test of "how long has someone been playing Magic" - the more you've been around the more ways around it's restrictions and payoffs to having it in play come to mind.
- The Abrade Goblin is a nerfed abrade who swings for a small bit and can be tutored up with Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter and Moggcatcher, which is quite a handy thing. Not very likely to play a role in Standard unless Eldrazi show up again or something, but he'll see play somewhere.
Everything else that I picked up is kinda meh and niche-ish, but not necessarily bad for a certain function. The pinging wall is another red earlygame roadblock for commander, to keep folks from running you over while you set up. The Rare goblin mentor guy might have his uses (he's not that great though). The +1/+1 +haste for R Instant thingy is probably alright in heroic/spam decks, Dirrect Current is actually fine (probably a bit too high costed for anything but being a value card in Commander), and there might be a few more cards.
What's funny is how completely off everyone's radar the good ones are price-wise. Experimental Frenzy is 0.25 E on Cardmarket currently. The cyclops is 0,08. Runaway Steam-Kin is at 2 E at least, but I kinda feel the other two could cause so much more mayam. I suppose it's a good time to take it off people's hands.
The Frenzy and the Cyclops remind me of Tarmogoyf in a certain way. When Goyf came out you could spot who's been around for Oddysey block and who hasn't. Folks who haven't played Oddysey block thought the card was garbage and were giving it away. Folks who've played Oddysey immediately knew that the power level on that thing was through the roof and were taking them off the other guy's hands.
"Masques Block is the worst block ever! There's not one decent card in there! The whole internet say's so, you're literally the only person who ever said it was good!" - random noob in a conversation with an Eldrazi.
Experimental Frenzy is now a $6 card. Steam-Kin is over $4.
Yep. Folks caught up with the sillyness a bit. Frenzy is probably way more ridiculous than just 6$, mind you. Also, I came to my LGS today and Risk Factor was a 5$ card when I walked into the store. An hour later, folks were selling it for 7.5 $.
Once the commander crowd figure out that the Steam-Kin enables an infinite Grinning Ignus loop, as in it becomes common knowledge, that thing will be worth a pretty penny. Folks have been looking for ways to go infinite with Ignus for ages and as oposed to other ways to successfully loop him this thing can be tutored for very easily in mono red.
I haven't seen anyone really nail the fact that if you cast and jumpstart Gravitic Punch with Erratic Cyclops in play and then attack for a total of 20 damage in one turn. Mana enabled by Runaway Steam-Kin and/or Catalyst Elemental and/or cost reduction provided by Goblin Electromancer if we're just talking standard-legal stuff. Maybe folks have figured it out.
I've got access to waaaaay too many red cards from all the time MtG has existed, but there's red stuff in this set that up there with the best of it. I'm a bit worried about what happens when Gruul and Rakdos roll around in the next set. They're the sort of guys who do what red's traditionally good at. It might turn out to not be as silly good as this set, simply because red got messed-up-strong cards in areas it usually lacks in, but god help us if the tradish RDW fodder turns out to be this caliber of crazy.
Honestly, whatever ends up dominating standard or working out or whatever, Guilds of Ravnica will end up remembered long-term for the mono red rare suite more than anything. Surveil's certainly good, there's pushed stuff around, but you know... none of it is a splashable, cheaper red Future Sight. You'd think that it would be practically impossible to make red floor people after Amonkhet rotates, since Amonkhet already kinda raised the bar on obnoxious mono-red higher than it's probably ever been. But there you have it.
"Masques Block is the worst block ever! There's not one decent card in there! The whole internet say's so, you're literally the only person who ever said it was good!" - random noob in a conversation with an Eldrazi.
After opening a box, I felt really underwhelmed. Sure, there's going to be value in Standard-viable cards, but nothing really stood out for me. The art didn't exactly thrill me either, aside from a couple things by McKinnon - everything has a gentle smudged or blurred effect to it.
I got a foil Ral and a non-foil Vraska, which was nice, but I probably would've preferred it the other way around. A 5 mana walker better bring some serious moves to the table and I'm pretty sure Ral doesn't have the chops for that.
Dimir kind of got half their wish - Surveil will definitely see play across all formats, but there's not really any good payoffs for actually Surveiling. How many cards have text that say "Whenever you Surveil, do X"? Dimir Spybug, Disinformation Campaign, Blood Operative, Darkblade Agent. The effects cry out for an infinite loop exploitation, because you certainly won't win off the back of these alone. It's half a mechanic that needs support from either Undergrowth or Jump-Start or something outside of Standard to be really useful.
Undergrowth is limited by its necessity to fill the graveyard with creatures. Mill is indifferent to whether you're putting creatures or lands or spells in, most of the time, so that's a big strike against it.
Jump-Start is just a worse version of Flashback.
And Mentor is probably the most usable out of the lot, but again, it's limited. Mentor isn't Battalion - I wish it were. It's like they took Evolve and made it actually usable, but then it's still not quite good enough.
Big fan oh Surveil as a possible evergreen mechanic. The golgari cards where interesting to build around, some Dimir cards. Oh yeah and Assassin's Trophy.
As far as dislikes, Boros as a whole for EDH, and Selesnya didn't really do anything new, as far as mechanics or new cards. Both the set and the PW deck Planeswalkers were kind of a miss for me, (maybe Vraska, Golgari Queen excluded).
Thousand-Year Storm - For taking me by complete surprise with an enchantment that effectively grants Storm to your spells.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
One thing I was really bummed at was not seeing a guild-affiliated vehicle. This would've been a prime opportunity to showcase vehicles in this capacity.
And because they weren't in GRN we can pretty much guarantee they won't be in RNA.
Other than that it's your usual multicoloured heaven for those who drool over it. TBH I actually like Ravnica as a regular setting and I'm sure they could do more with it; I'm hoping GRN III will provide the grounds to do so successfully.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
I sincerely believe that it is towards this kind of product that wizbro will do good to its shareholders and its customers.
I like the encrustation of guilds watermarks on basic lands. Can be a bit too busy / pressed, but the idea is nice.
There are a lot of good cards in this set. Mausoleum Secrets and Mission Briefing are fairly unique new spells and Doom Whisperer looks like he has a unique effect, even if he's fairly fragile. Sinister Sabotage is a good upgrade to Dissolve, Knight of Autumn is an upgrade to Qasali Pridemage and Assassin's Trophy is an upgrade to Abrupt Decay. Thief of Sanity, Legion Warboss and Ral, Izzet Viceroy look like lateral replacements/alternatives for Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Goblin Rabblemaster and Keranos, God of Storms. Then there are a bunch of decent but pretty interchangeable creathres filling Uncommon to Mythic slots.
With that in mind - that the set has a lot of high powered Midrange roleplayers that don't look like they fill new roles, but only a few unique new effects - Standard looks like it will be fine. Probably above average even. I don't immediately see anything unfair that looks like it could dominate, but it looks like a pretty tried and tested sort of environment of efficient removal and value creatures duking it out.
So overall, it looks like a thumbs-up for me, but the kind where if I just pass on the set and my cube keeps its Abrupt Decay over Assassin's Trophy, or Chart a Course over Mission Briefing, I won't lose any sleep.
The only individual card that really amused me was Divine Visitation.
I just hope our next visit ditches most of these trends and experiments more.
- Runnaway Steam-Kin is obviously interesting.
- Erratic Cyclops is also interesting. Hilarious with Masques-and-older pitch spells which cost no mana to play but have huge casting costs.
- Experimental Frenzy is laughably broken, at least in commander. The only balancing on it is that mono-red doesn't have tutors in Commander, but that's basically that. Dunno about Standard and Modern, but it would be strange if it doesn't end up showing in older formats. It's also a good test of "how long has someone been playing Magic" - the more you've been around the more ways around it's restrictions and payoffs to having it in play come to mind.
- The Abrade Goblin is a nerfed abrade who swings for a small bit and can be tutored up with Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter and Moggcatcher, which is quite a handy thing. Not very likely to play a role in Standard unless Eldrazi show up again or something, but he'll see play somewhere.
Everything else that I picked up is kinda meh and niche-ish, but not necessarily bad for a certain function. The pinging wall is another red earlygame roadblock for commander, to keep folks from running you over while you set up. The Rare goblin mentor guy might have his uses (he's not that great though). The +1/+1 +haste for R Instant thingy is probably alright in heroic/spam decks, Dirrect Current is actually fine (probably a bit too high costed for anything but being a value card in Commander), and there might be a few more cards.
What's funny is how completely off everyone's radar the good ones are price-wise. Experimental Frenzy is 0.25 E on Cardmarket currently. The cyclops is 0,08. Runaway Steam-Kin is at 2 E at least, but I kinda feel the other two could cause so much more mayam. I suppose it's a good time to take it off people's hands.
The Frenzy and the Cyclops remind me of Tarmogoyf in a certain way. When Goyf came out you could spot who's been around for Oddysey block and who hasn't. Folks who haven't played Oddysey block thought the card was garbage and were giving it away. Folks who've played Oddysey immediately knew that the power level on that thing was through the roof and were taking them off the other guy's hands.
There's value in them thar hills...packs.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Yep. Folks caught up with the sillyness a bit. Frenzy is probably way more ridiculous than just 6$, mind you. Also, I came to my LGS today and Risk Factor was a 5$ card when I walked into the store. An hour later, folks were selling it for 7.5 $.
Once the commander crowd figure out that the Steam-Kin enables an infinite Grinning Ignus loop, as in it becomes common knowledge, that thing will be worth a pretty penny. Folks have been looking for ways to go infinite with Ignus for ages and as oposed to other ways to successfully loop him this thing can be tutored for very easily in mono red.
I haven't seen anyone really nail the fact that if you cast and jumpstart Gravitic Punch with Erratic Cyclops in play and then attack for a total of 20 damage in one turn. Mana enabled by Runaway Steam-Kin and/or Catalyst Elemental and/or cost reduction provided by Goblin Electromancer if we're just talking standard-legal stuff. Maybe folks have figured it out.
I've got access to waaaaay too many red cards from all the time MtG has existed, but there's red stuff in this set that up there with the best of it. I'm a bit worried about what happens when Gruul and Rakdos roll around in the next set. They're the sort of guys who do what red's traditionally good at. It might turn out to not be as silly good as this set, simply because red got messed-up-strong cards in areas it usually lacks in, but god help us if the tradish RDW fodder turns out to be this caliber of crazy.
Honestly, whatever ends up dominating standard or working out or whatever, Guilds of Ravnica will end up remembered long-term for the mono red rare suite more than anything. Surveil's certainly good, there's pushed stuff around, but you know... none of it is a splashable, cheaper red Future Sight. You'd think that it would be practically impossible to make red floor people after Amonkhet rotates, since Amonkhet already kinda raised the bar on obnoxious mono-red higher than it's probably ever been. But there you have it.
I got a foil Ral and a non-foil Vraska, which was nice, but I probably would've preferred it the other way around. A 5 mana walker better bring some serious moves to the table and I'm pretty sure Ral doesn't have the chops for that.
Dimir kind of got half their wish - Surveil will definitely see play across all formats, but there's not really any good payoffs for actually Surveiling. How many cards have text that say "Whenever you Surveil, do X"? Dimir Spybug, Disinformation Campaign, Blood Operative, Darkblade Agent. The effects cry out for an infinite loop exploitation, because you certainly won't win off the back of these alone. It's half a mechanic that needs support from either Undergrowth or Jump-Start or something outside of Standard to be really useful.
Undergrowth is limited by its necessity to fill the graveyard with creatures. Mill is indifferent to whether you're putting creatures or lands or spells in, most of the time, so that's a big strike against it.
Jump-Start is just a worse version of Flashback.
And Mentor is probably the most usable out of the lot, but again, it's limited. Mentor isn't Battalion - I wish it were. It's like they took Evolve and made it actually usable, but then it's still not quite good enough.
Convoke is slow and again, not much payoff.
Some of the standalone cards are quite good though - Emmara, Soul of the Accord is, in my opinion, the best card of the set. It's no Rhys the Redeemed but it's as close as we're gonna get. Shame Anointed Procession cycled out.
As far as dislikes, Boros as a whole for EDH, and Selesnya didn't really do anything new, as far as mechanics or new cards. Both the set and the PW deck Planeswalkers were kind of a miss for me, (maybe Vraska, Golgari Queen excluded).
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
And because they weren't in GRN we can pretty much guarantee they won't be in RNA.
Other than that it's your usual multicoloured heaven for those who drool over it. TBH I actually like Ravnica as a regular setting and I'm sure they could do more with it; I'm hoping GRN III will provide the grounds to do so successfully.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
I like the encrustation of guilds watermarks on basic lands. Can be a bit too busy / pressed, but the idea is nice.
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