Millions of flavour fails "(long text)...lost in what seemed to the Champion to be thought" - that reads like some Year 10 aspiring writer who has not yet learned that less is more. If I was an English teacher, that sentence would fail the whole assignment.
I think you are wrong about this. The card in question is Pensive Minotaur: the name provides a clue. The subtlety of the text lies in the assumption (or fact--since they're making it up anyway) that Minotaurs are mindless or at least not prone to fitful bouts of introspection (although maybe that is reading a bit too much into "pensive")
I think there is at least enough evidence to dispute if not completely belie your theory that it is rank amateurism on display.
Millions of flavour fails "(long text)...lost in what seemed to the Champion to be thought" - that reads like some Year 10 aspiring writer who has not yet learned that less is more. If I was an English teacher, that sentence would fail the whole assignment.
I think you are wrong about this. The card in question is Pensive Minotaur: the name provides a clue. The subtlety of the text lies in the assumption (or fact--since they're making it up anyway) that Minotaurs are mindless or at least not prone to fitful bouts of introspection (although maybe that is reading a bit too much into "pensive")
I think there is at least enough evidence to dispute if not completely belie your theory that it is rank amateurism on display.
Yeah, this is actually relatively subtle and clever for flavor text. The point is not the surface statement "the minotaur was thinking" but the implication made by the text PhanTom thought was odd, i.e., "minotaurs never think, yet this one appeared to be."
Quote from "Phyrre56" »
I doubt Thassa's Ire will prove to be a playable card. 4 mana every turn to tap something is just too much. The game has to go way long for you to take advantage of that, where activating it doesn't also cost you the game because you can never develop your board. It's like a tapper that doesn't really come on line until Turn 10.
I agree. Historically, I think cheap tappers with high activation costs have always been unplayable (Dawnglare Invoker doesn't count, for obvious reasons ), while expensive tappers with cheap activation costs have gone either way depending on the format. I expect Thassa's Ire to be unplayable, and Akroan Mastiff to be a little sketchy, but decent against monsters or voltron.
Mastiff will be an interesting safety valve on the format. If voltrons stay popular, then this will actually be fantastic. Otherwise it'll basically be trash.
Anyone who ever expected Magic to have good flavor text hasn't been paying attention for years. They have a couple gems once in a while, but for the most part the flavor text is bland or outright asinine. The stuff in this set has little reason to be an exception.
I for one really like the simplicity of "it is done" on Deicide. Also, +2 cookies for anybody that didn't initially read the card as "decide" before seeing the art.
Anyone know what color(s) they're going to pick for the Prerelease yet? I think White's promo is the strongest in a vacuum, but I think I like Green as my choice because literally every Green rare is a limited all-star, and the promo is pretty insane as well.
2/1 for 2 is decent in Limited, and it having heroic reminds me of the Zendikar-era aggressive 2-drops. But the other ability (shrinking an opposing heroic creature) can be very good.
I quite like the card - it's a new way to tackle opposing heroic creatures while ensuring you have something too.
2/1 for 2 is decent in Limited, and it having heroic reminds me of the Zendikar-era aggressive 2-drops. But the other ability (shrinking an opposing heroic creature) can be very good.
I quite like the card - it's a new way to tackle opposing heroic creatures while ensuring you have something too.
I think he's pretty good. Obviously he has the same caveat as most of the good heroes in that you need a handful of cheap targeted spells to support him, but the fact that he can just dominate any heroic mirrors is excellent.
2/1 for 2 is decent in Limited, and it having heroic reminds me of the Zendikar-era aggressive 2-drops. But the other ability (shrinking an opposing heroic creature) can be very good.
I quite like the card - it's a new way to tackle opposing heroic creatures while ensuring you have something too.
I wouldn't play it expecting the counter-removing ability to make or break a game, but it's still good even without that. You do need to target it twice to make it not just trade with some other random 2 power creature, but its the best aggro 2-drop in the block so far. I've played Fleshmad Steed and Fellhide Brawler when short of low drops and this is obviously much better.
Yeah, this is actually relatively subtle and clever for flavor text
That was what struck me. Of all the horrible examples, it is doubly ironic to pick one that seeks to buck the trend (its success is open to debate) and, worse, to miss the point of the chosen example. Its like finding the needle in a haystack when you are searching for the hay.
For example, Bladetusk Boar has "auto flunk English class" level writing ending with "..creatures that share a love for the taste of human flesh" which should be pared to "..that share a taste for human flesh". The extra sentence provides no extra content and the added awkwardness is a noticeable detraction stylistically.
I think you are wrong about this. The card in question is Pensive Minotaur: the name provides a clue. The subtlety of the text lies in the assumption (or fact--since they're making it up anyway) that Minotaurs are mindless or at least not prone to fitful bouts of introspection (although maybe that is reading a bit too much into "pensive")
I think there is at least enough evidence to dispute if not completely belie your theory that it is rank amateurism on display.
Yeah, this is actually relatively subtle and clever for flavor text. The point is not the surface statement "the minotaur was thinking" but the implication made by the text PhanTom thought was odd, i.e., "minotaurs never think, yet this one appeared to be."
I agree. Historically, I think cheap tappers with high activation costs have always been unplayable (Dawnglare Invoker doesn't count, for obvious reasons ), while expensive tappers with cheap activation costs have gone either way depending on the format. I expect Thassa's Ire to be unplayable, and Akroan Mastiff to be a little sketchy, but decent against monsters or voltron.
Anyone who ever expected Magic to have good flavor text hasn't been paying attention for years. They have a couple gems once in a while, but for the most part the flavor text is bland or outright asinine. The stuff in this set has little reason to be an exception.
Anyone know what color(s) they're going to pick for the Prerelease yet? I think White's promo is the strongest in a vacuum, but I think I like Green as my choice because literally every Green rare is a limited all-star, and the promo is pretty insane as well.
2/1 for 2 is decent in Limited, and it having heroic reminds me of the Zendikar-era aggressive 2-drops. But the other ability (shrinking an opposing heroic creature) can be very good.
I quite like the card - it's a new way to tackle opposing heroic creatures while ensuring you have something too.
I think he's pretty good. Obviously he has the same caveat as most of the good heroes in that you need a handful of cheap targeted spells to support him, but the fact that he can just dominate any heroic mirrors is excellent.
I wouldn't play it expecting the counter-removing ability to make or break a game, but it's still good even without that. You do need to target it twice to make it not just trade with some other random 2 power creature, but its the best aggro 2-drop in the block so far. I've played Fleshmad Steed and Fellhide Brawler when short of low drops and this is obviously much better.
That was what struck me. Of all the horrible examples, it is doubly ironic to pick one that seeks to buck the trend (its success is open to debate) and, worse, to miss the point of the chosen example. Its like finding the needle in a haystack when you are searching for the hay.
For example, Bladetusk Boar has "auto flunk English class" level writing ending with "..creatures that share a love for the taste of human flesh" which should be pared to "..that share a taste for human flesh". The extra sentence provides no extra content and the added awkwardness is a noticeable detraction stylistically.