The name of the new planeswalkers has been revealed and had a story about her, pretty safe to say she will be black / white which is unfortunate for how stacked Orzhov is. I was hoping maybe she'd be mono black but after reading today's story she is most likely BW.
Im hoping for some conspiracies that can name tokens as well as actual cards. Prob not realistic logistically, but this is a set to be unrealistic with considering one of the most powerful cube cards ever printed came out in the original. (Backup Plan)
Pretty sure one of the new conspiracies will be a hidden agenda where you name a creature, whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, you become the monarch.
I don't see a huge problem if the new planeswalker is BW, given how much they pushed the planeswalker in the first Conspiracy. Not sure what it would look like. That said, I'd have preferred a powerful UG, GW, or BG planeswalker, roughly in that order.
I hope it isn't Esper or any other 3 color combination, since that would all but rule it out for lots of cubes and cut down severely on playability in every format.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Orzhov already has 3 very playable planeswalkers, plus it's a really tough guild to crack. That being said, a BW planeswalkers from Conspiracy can probably crack the top 4 of the guild if it's a 3 cmc planeswalkers like Dack.
One of her abilities will probably be "destroy/exile target nonhuman creature" as a flavor match for the "assassin that only kills ghosts" angle but conceding that "destroy target spirit" would be garbage.
Given that she's an assassin for hire, perhaps a "draw and lose life" ability is in order, also possible is a gideon-like ability where she becomes a creature but instead of being indestructible she gets unblockable and hexproof as a gameplay match for going into the spirit realm (although those abilities are probably out of BW's pie).
I'm excited for new conspiracies, I don't know what I want but I didn't even know about them before and they were a home run so I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do the second time round.
I would like to see more draft altering cards too, clockwork librarian was awesome. The dream would be a skulking looting Dack who lets you take a card from you opponents drafted pile, but I have a feeling Wizards would avoid printing that because of bad feelings when drafting with strangers.
I would like to see a conspiracy adding replicate, a flashback conspiracy or maybe unearth (equal to casting cast maybe?). Is a cubeable alternate condition too much to ask for?
Could conspiracies not have to name a card? Could they just have an effect? Like an enchantment you can flip and reveal when a certain condition is met (an anthem when you have over X creatures), have a one shot effect (bolt when you cast the second spell) or are a creature (3/3 defender if you are attacked and have no creatures).
The best part is proabaly the things I can't even think of, that's what I like the most.
They could do a Diamond/Talisman/Signet in the same vein as the pick colors land.
Also much like the "start a game with a 1/1 wall" you could have Clues, Gold Tokens, or other such non-dude things.
Or you could do other "pick a color" while drafting. They would have to be powerful enough to offset you giving out that info during a draft.
Example:
Conspiracy Diamond
2
Artifact
Draft this card face up. When you draft it name a color
T: add one mana of the named color.
Or
Conspiracy Knight
WW
2/2
First Strike
Draft this card face up. When you draft it name a color
Protection from the chosen color.
A conspiracy that gives Replicate would be too busted with Time Walk / Recall, assuming the Replicate cost is equal to the casting cost. Hell, it's even busted with Lightning Bolt.
A flashback / unearth conspiracy would be really cool though.
I was thinking to increase the cost but double stroke is pretty nuts and I feel wizards can push the boat out with conspiracies as they can't break older formats and they can control the limited environment so it doesn't break it. I get what you mean though, time walk/recall would be back breaking but for those of us who will likely never have the cards in our cube it would be a dream.
I really like the idea of a high city style mox, the best part is it would proabaly be pretty cheap.
They could do a Diamond/Talisman/Signet in the same vein as the pick colors land.
Or you could do other "pick a color" while drafting. They would have to be powerful enough to offset you giving out that info during a draft.
Example:
Conspiracy Diamond
2
Artifact
Draft this card face up. When you draft it name a color
T: add one mana of the named color
I would need to be naming 2 colours to cube it, or at least I name one then choose an opponent to name another.
A conspiracy that gives Replicate would be too busted with Time Walk / Recall, assuming the Replicate cost is equal to the casting cost. Hell, it's even busted with Lightning Bolt.
A flashback / unearth conspiracy would be really cool though.
But Double Stroke is OK with those cards? Point is, I don't think they're really considering how these cards interact with Time Walk/Recall in design. I agree that's unlikely (flashback seems much more reasonable) but I'm not counting anything out.
Double Stroke: higher floor, lower ceiling than a replicate consspiracy. I'm not saying a replicate is out of the question, just saying it's be really broken.
I think they might surprise us, they took a chance with conspiracies and people seemed to love them, MaRo is always banging on about depth of mechanics and using up as little design space as possible whilst still delivering so I fully expect they have something big up their sleeves.
What about an alternate win condition conspiracy? Wouldn't that the the ultimate goal of any conspiracy?
It would be kinda cool to get a vanguard style card, trade starting hand size for scry 1 each turn for example.
Did anyone play net runner? How about conspiracies I can pay to put counters on whilst face down, you could either trigger an effect like a wrath at 5 counters or a scaleable effect like drawing X cards where X is the counters on it.
A conspiricy that rewards co-conspirators, something like join forces.
Dice, I want a cubeable reason to roll dice (that isn't jack-in-the-mox)
Regardless it is an avenue that i would like to see explored in this set.
Yea I really like the effect, I don't know how much there is beyond land, mox, 2cc Rock though. Protection would be terrible but I dislike it so it's just my personal view.
Regardless it is an avenue that i would like to see explored in this set.
Yea I really like the effect, I don't know how much there is beyond land, mox, 2cc Rock though. Protection would be terrible but I dislike it so it's just my personal view.
They could do a choosable dragon's claw, but that would be bad.
They could also do anthem effects for a color, or a creature that grows based on number of permanents, or a devotion card where you name the color which could be fun.
Definitely excited for new Conspiracies, big fan of the draft-matters stuff. The one issue is that it is hard to make space in the colorless/other section where they end up.
Regardless it is an avenue that i would like to see explored in this set.
Yea I really like the effect, I don't know how much there is beyond land, mox, 2cc Rock though. Protection would be terrible but I dislike it so it's just my personal view.
They could do a choosable dragon claw, but that would be bad.
They could also do anthem effects for a color, or a creature that grows based on number of permanents, or a devotion card where you name the color which could be fun.
The anthem I'm kinda meh on because i feel like they would have to overcost it to make up for the fact it work in any colour, unless your opponent chooses the colour. Maybe as a global anthem where you and an opponent each choose a colour for 2? Could work as a conspiricy.
The growing creature could work but it seems like a G/W effect (in my cube anyway) or does it get bigger based on opponents permanents aswell? Counting everything could be cool.
The devotion one I could get behind though.
Id test a clock work Liberian style card that lets me make an opponents pick for them, might make for bad feelings in an actual conspiricy draft though if someone makes you take a common instead of a rare so I dunno if they would print it though.
I'd like to see interesting conspiracies that are balanced through a cost (beyond the cost of spending a pick). Worldknit is the only one in the first set that has an actual cost attached to it. You want this big advantage? Then you must be willing to pay the price!
Of course, Worldknit is pretty extreme. I'd like to see conspiracies with smaller effects and accordingly smaller, less draft-altering costs.
Stronger effects without a cost quickly become rather unbalanced (see Backup Plan). And being activated randomly is a bad way to "balance" cards (see hidden agendas).
Speaking of which: No more hidden agendas, please. Or at least more non-ha conspiracies to pick from.
Also, no cards with mandatory note-keeping in general.
As far as "normal" new cards are concerned, I really want Wizards to print the enemy Talismans. They most likely won't do them in a standard legal set, so this currently only leaves Commander decks and the Conspiracy sets.
The group of legendary characters they released in conspiracy 1 were really great, and were of sufficient quality and power that I landed up using all of them, except for Selvala, in my edh cube. I'm really hoping they produce another high quality crop in conspiracy 2!
I'd also really love it if they generated another playable esper, jund, or naya legend. Those colors just don't have a rock solid roster for edh cube, IMHO.
New mechanics, Counsel's Dilemma sounds like it can be super clunky or super busted.
Melee—Creatures with this mechanic get +1/+1 until end of turn for each different player you attack. This encourages players to diversify and interact with a wide variety of other players rather than just attacking the weakest or the strongest. Shawn and his team liked melee, as it creates different incentives than normal multiplayer games and would lead to more interaction.
Goad—Whenever a creature is goaded, it's forced to attack on its controller's next turn. It must attack someone though other than you. The design team liked this mechanic because it makes sure that players couldn't just play defensively. It forces the game to progress and makes things happen, all in a way that doesn't punish people politically.
Counsel's dilemma—Conspiracy had a mechanic called will of the council, where cards came with one of two outcomes and the players voted which one occurred. Counsel's dilemma is a tweak of will of the counsel. There are still two effects, but now a single player's vote makes a choice happen. So if you have a choice between effect A or effect B with will of the council, and the vote is three for A and two for B, the result is effect A happens once. With council's dilemma, effect A would happen three times and effect B would happen twice. As Shawn likes to say, it's a mechanic that truly makes every vote matter.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planeswalkers/kaya-ghost-assassin
EDIT: I'm seeing a lot of speculation that she may also be Dimir or Esper, but my money is still on Orzhov.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I hope it isn't Esper or any other 3 color combination, since that would all but rule it out for lots of cubes and cut down severely on playability in every format.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
One of her abilities will probably be "destroy/exile target nonhuman creature" as a flavor match for the "assassin that only kills ghosts" angle but conceding that "destroy target spirit" would be garbage.
Given that she's an assassin for hire, perhaps a "draw and lose life" ability is in order, also possible is a gideon-like ability where she becomes a creature but instead of being indestructible she gets unblockable and hexproof as a gameplay match for going into the spirit realm (although those abilities are probably out of BW's pie).
No idea for the ultimate.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I would like to see more draft altering cards too, clockwork librarian was awesome. The dream would be a skulking looting Dack who lets you take a card from you opponents drafted pile, but I have a feeling Wizards would avoid printing that because of bad feelings when drafting with strangers.
I would like to see a conspiracy adding replicate, a flashback conspiracy or maybe unearth (equal to casting cast maybe?). Is a cubeable alternate condition too much to ask for?
Could conspiracies not have to name a card? Could they just have an effect? Like an enchantment you can flip and reveal when a certain condition is met (an anthem when you have over X creatures), have a one shot effect (bolt when you cast the second spell) or are a creature (3/3 defender if you are attacked and have no creatures).
The best part is proabaly the things I can't even think of, that's what I like the most.
Also much like the "start a game with a 1/1 wall" you could have Clues, Gold Tokens, or other such non-dude things.
Or you could do other "pick a color" while drafting. They would have to be powerful enough to offset you giving out that info during a draft.
Example:
Conspiracy Diamond
2
Artifact
Draft this card face up. When you draft it name a color
T: add one mana of the named color.
Or
Conspiracy Knight
WW
2/2
First Strike
Draft this card face up. When you draft it name a color
Protection from the chosen color.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
A flashback / unearth conspiracy would be really cool though.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I really like the idea of a high city style mox, the best part is it would proabaly be pretty cheap.
I would need to be naming 2 colours to cube it, or at least I name one then choose an opponent to name another.
Regardless it is an avenue that i would like to see explored in this set.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
But Double Stroke is OK with those cards? Point is, I don't think they're really considering how these cards interact with Time Walk/Recall in design. I agree that's unlikely (flashback seems much more reasonable) but I'm not counting anything out.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
What about an alternate win condition conspiracy? Wouldn't that the the ultimate goal of any conspiracy?
It would be kinda cool to get a vanguard style card, trade starting hand size for scry 1 each turn for example.
A conspiricy that rewards co-conspirators, something like join forces.
Dice, I want a cubeable reason to roll dice (that isn't jack-in-the-mox)
Yea I really like the effect, I don't know how much there is beyond land, mox, 2cc Rock though. Protection would be terrible but I dislike it so it's just my personal view.
They could do a choosable dragon's claw, but that would be bad.
They could also do anthem effects for a color, or a creature that grows based on number of permanents, or a devotion card where you name the color which could be fun.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Definitely excited for new Conspiracies, big fan of the draft-matters stuff. The one issue is that it is hard to make space in the colorless/other section where they end up.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
The anthem I'm kinda meh on because i feel like they would have to overcost it to make up for the fact it work in any colour, unless your opponent chooses the colour. Maybe as a global anthem where you and an opponent each choose a colour for 2? Could work as a conspiricy.
The growing creature could work but it seems like a G/W effect (in my cube anyway) or does it get bigger based on opponents permanents aswell? Counting everything could be cool.
The devotion one I could get behind though.
Id test a clock work Liberian style card that lets me make an opponents pick for them, might make for bad feelings in an actual conspiricy draft though if someone makes you take a common instead of a rare so I dunno if they would print it though.
Of course, Worldknit is pretty extreme. I'd like to see conspiracies with smaller effects and accordingly smaller, less draft-altering costs.
Stronger effects without a cost quickly become rather unbalanced (see Backup Plan). And being activated randomly is a bad way to "balance" cards (see hidden agendas).
Speaking of which: No more hidden agendas, please. Or at least more non-ha conspiracies to pick from.
Also, no cards with mandatory note-keeping in general.
As far as "normal" new cards are concerned, I really want Wizards to print the enemy Talismans. They most likely won't do them in a standard legal set, so this currently only leaves Commander decks and the Conspiracy sets.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
I'd also really love it if they generated another playable esper, jund, or naya legend. Those colors just don't have a rock solid roster for edh cube, IMHO.
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
Melee—Creatures with this mechanic get +1/+1 until end of turn for each different player you attack. This encourages players to diversify and interact with a wide variety of other players rather than just attacking the weakest or the strongest. Shawn and his team liked melee, as it creates different incentives than normal multiplayer games and would lead to more interaction.
Goad—Whenever a creature is goaded, it's forced to attack on its controller's next turn. It must attack someone though other than you. The design team liked this mechanic because it makes sure that players couldn't just play defensively. It forces the game to progress and makes things happen, all in a way that doesn't punish people politically.
Counsel's dilemma—Conspiracy had a mechanic called will of the council, where cards came with one of two outcomes and the players voted which one occurred. Counsel's dilemma is a tweak of will of the counsel. There are still two effects, but now a single player's vote makes a choice happen. So if you have a choice between effect A or effect B with will of the council, and the vote is three for A and two for B, the result is effect A happens once. With council's dilemma, effect A would happen three times and effect B would happen twice. As Shawn likes to say, it's a mechanic that truly makes every vote matter.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra