It seems like the numbers are off assuming Advika Taar gets a card. I bet there are 1 or 2 more rares/mythics this time. Considering Advika Taar was on advert art I feel like the odds of her not having a card are really low.
1) windbrisk heights : not great. You often hide something weak and it is not worth the tempo loss. At best run 1.
2) shambling vents : my experience was that running 4 was too much, as it results in drawing frequent multiples. Running 2, I started missing the card when I really needed it. So now I run 3. It is a fantastic card against the aggro decks but note that I do play a more controlling build so playing everything on curve is less of an issue. It single-handedly wins the game against Burn sometimes and it helps leverage against board wipes. Against aggros, the opponent is forced to trade off creatures against it because of the lifelink.
I really want to make some kind of honor of the pure build with 4 of these. It becomes an insane lifelink goyf immune to bolt.
The main reason I rather like 4-cmc Elspeth because flinging Shambling Vents is sooo good.
So, I don't know if anyone else cares, but the flavor in this set is triggering something in me that I don't really appreciate.
Don't get me wrong, it's all beautiful art (in its way) but darn if I don't feel completely terrified by the state of this plane. Ulamog and Kozilek were one thing. I didn't mind their warpy-mindfreak tactics so much as I SERIOUSLY mind the violation that Emrakul is instilling. I mind the fusion of the sister-angels. I mind Hanweir. I mind the effective slow burn that Emrakul is instilling unto Innistrad, which, by the way, won't be a dead plane, but a breeding ground for Eldrazi at this point... And it it ends up being a bit much for me.
This in turn makes me sad that I mad a 2lamog EDH deck simply because I pretty much feel obligated to put in Emra2l because of its power level, which leads me in turn to be reminded of this sickening (seeming) ending to a much-beloved plane, a big part of the game. And it kills me inside that this is something I cannot avoid - being that it is part of the game forever upon simply existing, and I have been playing since 2001 and have no desire to quit or go on hiatus (what would hiatus solve if it's now always to be there?).
Maybe I'm ranting because I've had literal nightmares about body horror in this vein, or that I've been haunted by eldritch, Lovecraftian nightmares in the past, but I am sort of shocked by the level that Wizards has gone to in order to deliver this particular story to people.
Anyone else feel that WotC has gone a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle far this time, at the least?
~Lil Kalki
I agree a lot of it looks uncomfortably grotesque, but I kind of like the fact that it's a direction they were willing to go. That said, new Emrakul is probably never making my Kozilek, the Great Distortion EDH deck.
So you can see to be a staple, you basically have to cost 3 or less (Karn costs 3 lands in his deck) and have a dramatic impact on the game instantly. All the four mana walkers below are just on the cusp of being powerful in modern, but the presence of decks like Burn, Infect, Affinity and combo-linear decks generally makes tapping 4 mana for a card which mostly gives you slow advantages over time not great.
If linear combo-aggro decks were removed from modern, I predict that many of the cards on this list would become modern staples.
I think your 2nd list could be characterized more as "highly deck specific walker" than super-fringe/sideboard. Or the very least I regularly play against people using some of these walkers. Garruk goes in the ramp decks playing T3 Prime Time, Ajani Vengeant goes in RW Land Destruction/Prison, Jace and Jura go in some flavors of UW and UWB control. Etc.
But I think your point largely stands. 4 CMC walkers support highly specific decks/strategies, 3 CMC walkers have a chance and general play for value.
The question remaining is:
if she and the 3 other missing DFCs are not in our leaked checklist: why?
It can't be rarity as there are not 4 mythics with that distribution and certainly more than 5 rares+mythics. Colors usually come before artifacts, even in gold so it's unlikely it's the reason...
I again point to the fact that the card says CH1 with the new tech I'm thinking there is a second checklist card with the Rare and mythic DFCs Arlinn will be on that one
there are 4 missing DFCs yes: 297-269=28 not 24. Ok.
Yet, out of 28 cards one should expect about 7 rares and mythics, not 4. And about 1 or 2 mythics, not 4 either.
I don't see any logic right now for the CH1/CH2 split...
I'm guessing 4 multicolor or 4 legendary/walker DFCs on the 2nd list card.
Flavor wise this card makes me wonder if we might see a Sultai-Colored Frankenstein's Creature type planeswalker. If we expect 5 walkers from the block we've got Sorin, Nahiri, Jace, and Tibalt leaving room for for one more, I think. Could we see a GU or BUG walker? At the very least I think it'd be pretty cool.
I can't stand the way Wizards manages modern, but that said I do not have a huge issue with Eldrazi. (I'd actually like to play an Anti-Eldrazi deck like UW, but it'd cost me $1000+ to put together, whereas I can rotate between 3-odd Eldrazi Archetypes and have spent less then $200 total, maybe closer to $100 on the cards -- I had all but 1 or 2 Eldrazi lands from GP Vegas draft chaf, Oath Eldrazi are/were dirt cheap compared to normal modern staples. I'd actually been putting it together even before the Pro Tour but didn't expect to be "the deck.")
If anything Eldrazi won on the back of a) Chalice on 1 or 0, and b) surprise.
On top of this, without mimic the majority of these Eldrazi decks could generally be tempo'd out with mana leaks and such (though that would just make them start playing more caverns).
And on top of that there are probably hosers coming next block (there always are).
Of course they will take over the metagame for the near future because they're exciting, cool, and new. I'll probably play Eldrazi myself because I've got the cards (literally had to spend less than $100 for one more land and some copies of Oath Eldrazi) while obtaining the cards needed for figuring out how to counter them would cost an arm and a leg already.
In paper modern the meta is as much about budget constraints as it is about deck power and most people can't afford to switch or build new modern decks on a dime.
I've got the cards for BW eldrazi, but like mono-black because it is consistent like a perfectly made silk pie and does really well against combo and ramp decks that depend on having specific key pieces in play to get things out on time. Infect, boggles, and Affinity all gave me a really hard time though. Ratchet bomb helped significantly against affinity, but infect was just too fast and GW hexproof ended up being hard because of needing some indirect removal.
I play GB and have found a combination of Ratchet Bombs and Engineered explosives to be pretty decent against both. My build has changed since I last posted, now looks like this:
Am still playing with the mana base (the various 1-of and 2-of lands mostly). Have tried various things in the Dismember slot, but Dismember has typically been pretty good. Have not been sold on the 4 Ghost Quarter plan, and like having some basics and also can run fewer lands with Stirrings. Considering trying 2 Quarters and no Cavern, trying other lands, etc. Went to 1 Mire because getting 2 is pretty bad, as is 1 + Eldrazi Land, etc. Sideboard has been alright. Lot of it can be found with Stirrings which is nice. Warping Wail is good vs. Scapeshift and Living End, and a few decks with utility 1-drops, but hasn't otherwise proven super useful. Would like to fit another Engineered Explosives but Ratchet Bomb can be better if you haven't hit both your colors, etc. Likewise the matchups where Skite is good you want more, but with Twin gone it's not as universally good.
Have not gotten near enough testing in but maybe will try something along these lines at an SCG tourney in the near future.
I think it's an artifact. Could be anything from Aether Vial to Azorius Signet.
The main reason I rather like 4-cmc Elspeth because flinging Shambling Vents is sooo good.
Also have seen someone use the lifegain mode on their opponent to kill a Death's Shadow in a casual game, though I'd consider that mostly a fluke.
I agree a lot of it looks uncomfortably grotesque, but I kind of like the fact that it's a direction they were willing to go. That said, new Emrakul is probably never making my Kozilek, the Great Distortion EDH deck.
I think they're both near worthless in our deck.
I think your 2nd list could be characterized more as "highly deck specific walker" than super-fringe/sideboard. Or the very least I regularly play against people using some of these walkers. Garruk goes in the ramp decks playing T3 Prime Time, Ajani Vengeant goes in RW Land Destruction/Prison, Jace and Jura go in some flavors of UW and UWB control. Etc.
But I think your point largely stands. 4 CMC walkers support highly specific decks/strategies, 3 CMC walkers have a chance and general play for value.
To the extent that you don't expect really unfair/comboish decks you can skip discard somewhat. I'd actually suggest the MTG Goldfish article as a reference for doing so: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-95-36-tix-modern-white-black-tokens .
I'm guessing 4 multicolor or 4 legendary/walker DFCs on the 2nd list card.
On top of this, without mimic the majority of these Eldrazi decks could generally be tempo'd out with mana leaks and such (though that would just make them start playing more caverns).
And on top of that there are probably hosers coming next block (there always are).
Of course they will take over the metagame for the near future because they're exciting, cool, and new. I'll probably play Eldrazi myself because I've got the cards (literally had to spend less than $100 for one more land and some copies of Oath Eldrazi) while obtaining the cards needed for figuring out how to counter them would cost an arm and a leg already.
In paper modern the meta is as much about budget constraints as it is about deck power and most people can't afford to switch or build new modern decks on a dime.
I play GB and have found a combination of Ratchet Bombs and Engineered explosives to be pretty decent against both. My build has changed since I last posted, now looks like this:
2 Pyxis of Pandemonium
3 Relic of Progenitus
Eldrazi
2 World breaker
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Oblivion Sower
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Wasteland Strangler
4 Blight Herder
Tutors/Card Selection
2 Expedition Map
4 Ancient Stirrings
Removal/Disruption
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Dismember
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Eye of Ugin
2 Swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Twilight Mire
3 Feed the Clan
2 Pithing Needle
1 Spellskite
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Silent Arbiter
1 All is Dust
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Warping Wail
Am still playing with the mana base (the various 1-of and 2-of lands mostly). Have tried various things in the Dismember slot, but Dismember has typically been pretty good. Have not been sold on the 4 Ghost Quarter plan, and like having some basics and also can run fewer lands with Stirrings. Considering trying 2 Quarters and no Cavern, trying other lands, etc. Went to 1 Mire because getting 2 is pretty bad, as is 1 + Eldrazi Land, etc. Sideboard has been alright. Lot of it can be found with Stirrings which is nice. Warping Wail is good vs. Scapeshift and Living End, and a few decks with utility 1-drops, but hasn't otherwise proven super useful. Would like to fit another Engineered Explosives but Ratchet Bomb can be better if you haven't hit both your colors, etc. Likewise the matchups where Skite is good you want more, but with Twin gone it's not as universally good.
Have not gotten near enough testing in but maybe will try something along these lines at an SCG tourney in the near future.