Bitter chill is pretty great. But there's also a fun new Witness Protection variant in Gadwick's First Duel. I will definitely be needing that for my artifact/enchantment cube, though the third chapter is not as good there as it would otherwise be there. Excellent saga to recur.
Three Bowls of Porridge is not a bad value artifact. It's a lot of mana investment, but I like it.
We need more playable colorless cards across the board. This kinda does a ton, and I like all of it. (Stifling my typical comments against creature-creep.)
How big is this thing? 1/1 by itself obviously, but in the average case, just how big do we get? Not a question I expect a concrete answer to, but the key question to this guy's success.
Mid-late in the game, this guy comes down as a 6/6+ easy, and especially in white it benefits from your enchantment based removal. The early game is where it really counts, and I'd guess this is usually a 2/2-3/3 there, which is okay. Not bad off a turn one Thraben Inspector.
This certainly gets bigger than Tarmogoyf as the game goes on. It also fluctuates more, and as Visserdrix mentioned it allows the opponent to juke down its power with removal. A well-timed Pyroclasm can bring you from lofty heights to dorky rabbit. But it also allows you to surprise the opponent with bonus permanents. Resolute Reinforcements for example, and any instant speed token gen.
I like the role mechanic (as someone very against outside tracking mechanics like the dungeon and the ring). Aura tokens are a little complex in the same way equipment tokens are. But as long as there is reminder text, I'm happy with it. Very happy in fact: access to enchantment producers in colors like red? That's perfect for me.
I don't mind a little complexity, I just want the cards to say what they do.
The sac ability has some nice threat of activation going with a cost of just 1. You aren't gonna use it just to upgrade a creature most of the time (though you'll happily turn something like your Combat Thresher into a young hero). But the ability to sac at instant speed makes it easy to embark on what would be chump attacks without losing much.
This seems a fair step up from either of the two vamps-- Falkenrath Gorger, and Falkenrath Pit Fighter. Even the pit fighter's ability almost never gets used. And I'm anti-Ragavan even if I had a copy. So this is the top of the slot if you ask me. And peasant legal!
I'm not quite getting the flavor on this one, but it's definitely good. I think a little more interesting than Needle Spires, both are perfectly playable. I like when the choice has more to do with personal preference than a strict upgrade.
I will say, Lumbering Falls has always been better than it seems, since you don't always know you're dodging your opponent's frustrated Terror. But this is both better and quite a bit more interesting. It's looks fun to make things 3/3 on both sides of the board.
Ravnica Remastered: Sure
Murders at Karlov Manor: Sure. But why are they exactly the clue characters?
Outlaws of Thunder Junction: Had to happen at some point.
Modern Horizons III: Cool
Fallout UB Commander decks: BLECH!!
Bloomburrow: Sweet
Assassin's Creed UB: BLECH!!
Duskmourn: Eh, maybe it'll be nice to get away from Innistrad
Death Race Set: Big vroom vroom cars don't seem like a great aesthetic
Return to Tarkir: 'Bout time
Outer space set: Just keep it space-fantasy
Final Fantasy: BLECH!!
Return to Lorywn: There's been a lot of internet chatter for this, so I'm unsurprised.
Return to Strixhaven: Sure, why not
Upshots: UB continues to be a parasite on the game. Also LoTR shows just how much worse it is as a full draftable set than as just a few cards. And precons are pretty bad too. A secret lair, or a little series like the Transformers one aren't so bad, since it's just a few dinky cards you can ignore. You can't ignore two draftable sets and a pile of precons which often include fairly playable cards.
Beyond that, it's hard to complain. UB is such a poisonous feature that everything else feels like a break.
The effect is really cool. I like historic as a bundling mechanic: yeah it's all about those artifacts, but there are always incidental legendaries and sagas floating around. This is the kind of card I love, but UB is such a turn off.
Sidenote: I fully believe Battles should be added to the historic bundle simply because it makes sense.
Green has the least artifact synergy of all colors (black has lately pulled ahead), and in an artifact cube green relies heavily on being a removal color. For anybody with an artifact cube, this is a triple threat: it's an artifact, it makes another artifact, and it synergizes with other artifacts. As a bonus, powerstones help activate all its abilities.
So this is pretty much an auto-include in a cube like that (such as my peasant artifact/enchantment cube). But unless you are really pushing that theme, it's quite replaceable.
One very cool thing about this card is it is simultaneously a dangerous aggressive threat and a solid defensive card. Animating and attacking for 6 on turn three is a lot of pressure, while food is classic durdling, and gaining 6 life on the back foot can make all the difference.
Looks like we're getting another cycle so there's another choice from the Zendikar manlands.
This particular card is a little more similar to Shambling Vent than I'd like. I prefer the vent for the lower activation cost, but the evasive damage on this guy is nice.
Everyone: STOP TRYING TO WIN THE CULTURE WAR BY POSTING ON THE INTERNET!!!
No matter how smart and compelling your post/ article seems to you, it is not going to change hearts and minds. None of us had ever heard of either of these two people before this nonsense: it is just an excuse to rehash a bigger issue that will never be resolved by making posts and counter-posts on message boards. (Yes, I know saying that here is hypocritical.)
It's like people don't even know that Anointed Procession will be eight bucks in five years. How is it this kind of card always follows this pattern? It seems investors would have destroyed that easy plunder by over-exploiting it.
Not that I mind. I'm happy when cards are cheap, and easily available. Order now for your casual fun purposes, or you'll end up paying way more for the same card. In the mean time, almost every other card in the set will tank in value. Business as usual.
Bitter chill is pretty great. But there's also a fun new Witness Protection variant in Gadwick's First Duel. I will definitely be needing that for my artifact/enchantment cube, though the third chapter is not as good there as it would otherwise be there. Excellent saga to recur.
Mid-late in the game, this guy comes down as a 6/6+ easy, and especially in white it benefits from your enchantment based removal. The early game is where it really counts, and I'd guess this is usually a 2/2-3/3 there, which is okay. Not bad off a turn one Thraben Inspector.
This certainly gets bigger than Tarmogoyf as the game goes on. It also fluctuates more, and as Visserdrix mentioned it allows the opponent to juke down its power with removal. A well-timed Pyroclasm can bring you from lofty heights to dorky rabbit. But it also allows you to surprise the opponent with bonus permanents. Resolute Reinforcements for example, and any instant speed token gen.
I like the role mechanic (as someone very against outside tracking mechanics like the dungeon and the ring). Aura tokens are a little complex in the same way equipment tokens are. But as long as there is reminder text, I'm happy with it. Very happy in fact: access to enchantment producers in colors like red? That's perfect for me.
I don't mind a little complexity, I just want the cards to say what they do.
The sac ability has some nice threat of activation going with a cost of just 1. You aren't gonna use it just to upgrade a creature most of the time (though you'll happily turn something like your Combat Thresher into a young hero). But the ability to sac at instant speed makes it easy to embark on what would be chump attacks without losing much.
This seems a fair step up from either of the two vamps-- Falkenrath Gorger, and Falkenrath Pit Fighter. Even the pit fighter's ability almost never gets used. And I'm anti-Ragavan even if I had a copy. So this is the top of the slot if you ask me. And peasant legal!
Hissing Quagmire is bland, and this is more interesting from flavor to mechanics to gameplay to art. And a better card.
But deathtouch can be a silver bullet against a 12/12 sometimes. I like that it's not a pure upgrade.
Pretty much this. The two mana activation is good. Otherwise, it's hardly interesting.
Murders at Karlov Manor: Sure. But why are they exactly the clue characters?
Outlaws of Thunder Junction: Had to happen at some point.
Modern Horizons III: Cool
Fallout UB Commander decks: BLECH!!
Bloomburrow: Sweet
Assassin's Creed UB: BLECH!!
Duskmourn: Eh, maybe it'll be nice to get away from Innistrad
Death Race Set: Big vroom vroom cars don't seem like a great aesthetic
Return to Tarkir: 'Bout time
Outer space set: Just keep it space-fantasy
Final Fantasy: BLECH!!
Return to Lorywn: There's been a lot of internet chatter for this, so I'm unsurprised.
Return to Strixhaven: Sure, why not
Upshots: UB continues to be a parasite on the game. Also LoTR shows just how much worse it is as a full draftable set than as just a few cards. And precons are pretty bad too. A secret lair, or a little series like the Transformers one aren't so bad, since it's just a few dinky cards you can ignore. You can't ignore two draftable sets and a pile of precons which often include fairly playable cards.
Beyond that, it's hard to complain. UB is such a poisonous feature that everything else feels like a break.
Sidenote: I fully believe Battles should be added to the historic bundle simply because it makes sense.
So this is pretty much an auto-include in a cube like that (such as my peasant artifact/enchantment cube). But unless you are really pushing that theme, it's quite replaceable.
One very cool thing about this card is it is simultaneously a dangerous aggressive threat and a solid defensive card. Animating and attacking for 6 on turn three is a lot of pressure, while food is classic durdling, and gaining 6 life on the back foot can make all the difference.
Looks like we're getting another cycle so there's another choice from the Zendikar manlands.
This particular card is a little more similar to Shambling Vent than I'd like. I prefer the vent for the lower activation cost, but the evasive damage on this guy is nice.
We'll see how the rest look.