- William The Giant
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Last active Thu, Jun, 25 2015 23:05:56
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Feb 5, 2014William The Giant posted a message on Launch Giveaway!Sigarda, Host of Herons: I play a lot of free-for-all multiplayer and having a well costed flyer that sicks to the board and shut down Eldrazi is a Swiss Army knife for defense and offense. Oh, and the art is absolutely stellar. She looks like a classic angel with just a hint of green thrown in, love it.Posted in: Announcements
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The goal is having all cards with female heroes in the artwork.
Here's the result so far:
24 Plains
Creatures
3 Mother of Runes
3 Cenn's Tactician
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Veteran Swordsmith
4 Banisher Priest
4 Ballynock Cohort
2 Sunblast Angel
2 Angel of Jubilation
2 Angelic Overseer
4 Crusade
It's actually pretty good thanks to the synergies between the creatures. I mostly use it casual one vs. one, or in group games. I do often find myself wishing for a Austere Command or even Return to Dust. Banisher Priest is a work horse. Valient Guard and Boros Elite used to have a place, but were replaced for more utility.
One cool side-effect of building this deck is I find myself very interested in each new set release, hoping for new cards with artwork to fit the set.
3 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Guide
3 Memnite
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Signal Pest
Sorcery (12)
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Shrapnel Blast
Artifact (8)
4 Chromatic Star
4 Terrarion
Land (16)
14 Mountain
2 Mutavault
3 Collateral Damage
3 Pyroclasm
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Rending Volley
3 Shattering Spree
Is there a name for this list? It's not really burn or goblins, just an explosive red list.
Dispel and/or Spell Pierce for the sideboard
18 Gruuls
Creatures
4 Experiment One
4 Kird Ape
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Storm Entity
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Atarka's Command
2 Become Immense
4 Manamorphose
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Rancor
E-1 and Swift get stuck together often, even though they're almost a non-bo, I think this mix helps to even them out a bit more. I kind of wanted to go 4 of on Storm Entity, since this is the poor cards one chance to shine, but it's probably best where it's at.
Mishra's Bauble would have made it in, but Manamorphose saves a few bucks.
The whole deck is a real glass cannon, and probably territory better suited for mono-red, but I think there's a bit of fun here just the same.
Would be good for moral I'm sure if even newbs could bling out a deck with full art lands.
I'm saying there could be a standard set of cards geared and balanced for teaching new players the game. There would be nothing random about it. You'd know what you were getting, there would be playsets of each card, and goal would be giving new players a chance to play the game and practice deck building without the arms race that comes with the TCG.
I was suggesting there could be an LCG "Core Set" kind of like a "Deck Builder's Toolkit" but with play sets instead of random cards. These LCG sets could be branded so they'd be easy to sort out from other sets, and this way Wizards could just print balanced cards aimed at new players in these LCG sets. The "Core Set" as we know it will officially retire wit M16, and I'm thinking this could be a better gateway set for the game.
So, for instance, a core set might include 30 or each land and play sets of solid cards like Shock, Garruk's Companion, and Storm Crow.
I like the new rotation plan for Standard MaRo outlined, and I think it will make them even more money. I think Limited and even Standard will thrive. I'm suggesting the LCG: Core Set might be the sort of thing a parent buys their child off Amazon for $30, and then once they know how to play they want more cards and they go get hooked on the hard stuff.
I was especially interested in his comments on a Core sets as a poor vehicle for new players. From what he said it looks like they want to make a product specifically geared to new players which will be easily available instead of released once a year. I was thinking a LCG core set would fit this role really well. The card could have the same back but with a different marking in the place of the hologram so they could be Legacy legal and yet easily distinguished from Standard sets. A core box based on the LCG model would be accessible to new players since deck building and balancing would be much simpler and yet still enjoyable. Where Portal was a cluster of random unplayable junk a LCG core could be solid cards designed to work together.
The only thing I see making this approach unlikely, and the reason I'm guessing it won't happen, is that it pulls out the gambling aspect of MtG which has long been a staple. However, we've seen with Netrunner a game can be totally addicted and profitable without gambling involved in the sales.
I've got hope anyway. Thoughts?
I was thinking a LCG core set would fit this role really well. The card could have the same back but with a different marking in the place of the hologram so they could be Legacy legal and yet easily distinguished from Standard sets. A core box based on the LCG model would be accessible to new players since deck building and balancing would be much simpler and yet still enjoyable. Where Portal was a cluster of random unplayable junk a LCG core could be solid cards designed to work together.
The only thing I see making this approach unlikely, and the reason I'm guessing it won't happen, is that it pulls out the gambling aspect of MtG which has long been a staple. However, we've seen with Netrunner a game can be totally addicted and profitable without the sale model involving this gambling aspect.
I've got hope anyway. Thoughts?
Add: Here's a link to the news from MaRo
I know about nothing about either of those cards. I can say neither looks worth $5, at all. Angus still looks considerable more playable though.
I can't tell if you're being serious. A marginal, yet popular, card sees a reprint, the price goes down, then the card goes from marginal to absolute garbage, and it's still Chronicles fault the value is down? People site Chronicles as some sort of value draining nexus when the set was full of just pure garbage.
The cards have almost no playable value, that's why they've never bounced back. Chronicles wasn't a failure in my book because it overprinted, it was a failure because it overprinted absolute garbage. Heck, Serpent Generator is a top ten from that set.
I really like:
Archetype of Aggression
Searing Blood
Fanatic of Xenagos
and even
Xenagos, God of Revels
But, I can't imagine trading out anything for one. The closest thing to playable, to me, looks to be Searing Blood. I imagine it might let budget players swap out Searing Blaze since there aren't fetches to support them. Of course, the bid difference is Searing Blaze is never a dead card if you've got the mana to cast it you can still get 1 damage, but Searing Blood might be a dead draw.
The Fanatic is a beast, but I'd rather drop the smaller Flinthoof Boor with guaranteed haste than this big guy who gets his first attack a turn later. I still think it's a nice card though.
Aggression is something I could imagine playing two of just to see how it does as a bomb. Giving all our little dude trample with a solid three drop does sound awesome, just not sure how it would work in practice.
With Xenagos himself I just have no interest in the mid-game. I imagine if I can play him, and I need him, then I'm already dead.
Thoughts?
Oh, and sorry for using the broken card tags, but I'm not motivated to link to the spoilers for each card.