Wow, seeing one of the most in-demand and high-dollar creatures from Mercadian Masques printed at uncommon is pretty surreal. Not unwelcome, but weird. (What's next, Two-Headed Dragon?) My friends are going to be glad for the Faithless Looting reprint, too.
I wasn't sure what they were going to do with this set, but a lot of cascade and planechase stuff is very fitting. I also love that they took the opportunity to put some cool flavor on the "add/remove time counters" mechanic. The Tenth Doctor pairs great with Jhoira of the Ghitu and I'm sure there will be a bunch of other cool stuff like that.
(PS: Mirrodin was a sci-fi plane that introduced like a dozen new mechanics and keywords. The game will survive. Even if you've got a very narrow definition of science fiction, I can tell you the feel at the time was extremely sci-fi. We were just coming off of Scourge block, collectively very tired, and suddenly everything's shiny and made of metal and there's a whole new card frame?! What the hell is this?!)
New Capenna reminded me so much of the Batman cartoon from the late-80s/early-90s. That style just...ahhhh I can't explain it. The aesthetic...*chef's kiss*
I can explain it! New Capenna and Batman: the Animated Series both use the art deco style, which was very popular in the early 20th century and IMO deserves a big comeback.
Neat reprints! Teysa, Meren, and Neheb are my favorite of these. Though Teysa's the most likely one for me to seek out, since I've run her in most of my Orzhov builds ever since 'Orzhov' first became a thing back in Guildpact. Still not tired of her!
Writing the author to convince him to write more of your favorite character? Gonads of steel, bravo.
If you like stories about trashy, witty, cunning rogues with powerful benefactors, definitely check out The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings.
My first two guesses were that a Wizards employee was going to find it (which it appears they did a good job at avoiding, smartly), or an employee at an LGS who started cracking into product early.
I'm not surprised, since let's be honest, this was never going to come out of some random pack 3 weeks after release like a Wonka golden ticket. The only other way would have been to keep the whole thing a secret, but with the way Wizards is right now, there is a zero percent chance that would have worked.
Also, there's nothing illegal about LGS employees cracking into product before customers get a chance. Hell, I don't know if it's even against Wizards policy. But I do think it's unsportsmanlike and overall Bad Form.
I use an aggregator service, which puts up user-submitted articles from everything from local American papers and news stations to the BBC and Al-Jazeera. It works for me, since it lets me look at stories from a wide variety of angles and get a sense for how things are being reported.
A subtlety in the design for this set, I've noticed, is that a lot of the "heroic" items and creatures work very well when incorporated into Grixis decks.
This guy gets it.
(PS: Mirrodin was a sci-fi plane that introduced like a dozen new mechanics and keywords. The game will survive. Even if you've got a very narrow definition of science fiction, I can tell you the feel at the time was extremely sci-fi. We were just coming off of Scourge block, collectively very tired, and suddenly everything's shiny and made of metal and there's a whole new card frame?! What the hell is this?!)
I can explain it! New Capenna and Batman: the Animated Series both use the art deco style, which was very popular in the early 20th century and IMO deserves a big comeback.
Tell your 13yo that some guy on a Magic forum said they're an amazing artist!
I hope I don't end up needing to get a new Zacama, but if I do, I'll be glad they tossed it in this set!
I also love that he's gonna be showing up a lot more now, since I've had a Lu Bu up my sleeve for years.
If you like stories about trashy, witty, cunning rogues with powerful benefactors, definitely check out The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings.
I'm not surprised, since let's be honest, this was never going to come out of some random pack 3 weeks after release like a Wonka golden ticket. The only other way would have been to keep the whole thing a secret, but with the way Wizards is right now, there is a zero percent chance that would have worked.
Also, there's nothing illegal about LGS employees cracking into product before customers get a chance. Hell, I don't know if it's even against Wizards policy. But I do think it's unsportsmanlike and overall Bad Form.
A subtlety in the design for this set, I've noticed, is that a lot of the "heroic" items and creatures work very well when incorporated into Grixis decks.