You always ignore limited application, as if that invalidates R&D's intent to make something good for limited but not a constructed playable card. Blanketing everything thats not chimney imp as limited playable sounds awful. There's a world of difference between grizzly bears and grey ogre, even more so when that grizzly bears is in red. Ignoring limited is the equivalent of ignoring a constructed format. Mental Misstep? How silly!
You also keep calling these gold cards, where the keen difference is you get something when only having one of the colors out. You also get to wait a turn to get full benefits from these creatures on the offensive end.
I dunno, Goblin Deathraiders didn't make much of a splash, and that came with trample for free (and 2 relevant creature types). Maybe the 1 toughness made it too susceptible to the removal of the day?
Well, when competing with a 4/4 for two in the only deck that would play it, I think a lot of things wouldn't be played in construced. Volcanic Fallout didn't help out much either.
Traditionally a lord is a 2/2 that grants an unconditional +1/+1 and an ability to a certain creature type. Lord of Atlantis, Goblin King, and Zombie Master are the originals, with only Zombie Master deviating from the formula (being a 2/3).
Mayor doesn't count as a lord because he is a 1/1 to start with and his other abilities partially depend on what your opponents do. Auriok Steelshaper doesn't count because he takes another card before his bonus kicks in and is a 1/1 as well. Hamlet Captain only grants the bonus when he attacks or blocks and gives no other ability. Wizened Cenn and the Slivers are closest to true lords, but still don't grant extra abilities. None of them are as straight up efficient as Lord of Atlantis.
Coralhelm Commander requires 4 mana to give out a lord effect, Eladamri, Lord of Leaves doesn't even pump, yet the person I replied to had them listed, you should probably be replying to them, not me. I've seen some standards for lords in my day, but the P/T has never been one of them and has nothing to do with being a lord or not, in the least.
Fine. Even when you consider all those cards you mentioned lords, which of them is the best? The answer is still the blue one. It saw Standard play when it was reprinted in Time Spiral and is in a Legacy deck which was top tier until fairly recently. So until Kithkin become a Legacy deck to beat, I still don't think your argument is a good one. Merfolk is a strong tribe and has been strong in multiple formats.
Avoiding the point, issue was blue being the only color to have 2 mana lords. Except for green.
Akroma's Memorial is currently selling for 0.75 tickets on Magic Online....Not that this is some new revelation or anything, but this set is going to be horrible value.
Might I suggest looking in paper land then? Although, I think this set will devalue it.
Hold your horses here. It's a 2/1 for 1R, or a 3/2 for BR. Neither of those are good, so without the regeneration the card probably wouldn't see play outside of limited.
A 3/2 for 2 isn't awful, it could easily see play if BR aggro got some sort of support. Also, yes there is clear limited design put into these cards, 2/1s for 2 and 3/3s for 4 are more than just borderline playable in limited as well. They're really good picks, no way these should ever go late. It wouldn't be a 3/2 for BR anyway, you have a whole turn to go look for that off color and not skip a beat.
These cards give you something while waiting for your splash, where if they were gold they wouldn't. Makes them significantly better, even more so considering that they're already very playable as is.
The boar is the only creature with any chance at seeing Constructed play, IMO.
Ram Gang was a 3/3 for 3 that had Haste and Wither and barely saw play. And guys then were worse in general than they are now.
Well, it barely saw play because faeries had a stranglehold on the format, but he was absolutely the three drop to play in RDW. A power creep in creaturesstill doesn't make a 3/3 for 2 bad.
Yes, anything that isn't 1/2 for 5 is playable in limited, but that doesn't make this cycle good design.
They're not just playable, they're decent picks... a lot of them also sweep games if you play their other color. They clearly have a limited design in mind, at least one is constructed playable.
Akroma's Memorial just halved in price... at least. I hope you didn't just buy or trade for any!
The War Falcon is alright since it can at least block if you don't meet the conditions.
As for the cycle of creatures, the power level is alright (some look playable) but I don't like the design much. This doesn't encourage players to play 2 colours, it REQUIRES them to. Would any of them see play other than as limited filler without the second colour?
2/2 for 2B?
2/2 for 1G?
2/1 flying for 2U?
2/1 for 1R?
3/3 for 3W?
I would have designed them to at least be potentially playable without the second colour, and then decrease the boost you get if you've got the second colour. For example:
2U
Creature - Bird Wizard (U)
Flying
Gets +1/+0 if you control a Plains. 2W: Lifelink until end of turn.
2/3
Otherwise the cost should simply have been 1WU.
They're all solid except the blue and black one, and those give you a lot of reward for having the other color. The blue one is still a flyer at that point as well. Hill giants and grizzly bears have always been playable for limited.
There's a guy at my shop that says "untap" for each permanent he untaps. The worst part is that I don't even have to be playing against him, I get to hear him all night long regardless.
From the OP
EDIT: Nath'd
Spelltwine
You also keep calling these gold cards, where the keen difference is you get something when only having one of the colors out. You also get to wait a turn to get full benefits from these creatures on the offensive end.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=8602698&postcount=224
Avoiding the point, issue was blue being the only color to have 2 mana lords. Except for green.
Well, it barely saw play because faeries had a stranglehold on the format, but he was absolutely the three drop to play in RDW. A power creep in creaturesstill doesn't make a 3/3 for 2 bad.