I haven't seen anything like a 'hint' in MaRo's twitter feed. Post the posting you're talking about, please. From what I can tell, this is baseless speculation, although it would be rather like WotC to produce a cycle of cards similar to Surgical Extraction.
His last few tweets:
13hr ago: For the colorblind players, the reminder text for Phyrexia mana does spell out which color it is. R & D has a colorblind member so it came up.
13r ago: Phyrexian mana - There's a pretty interesting story about it. You'll have to wait for the #NPH Preview Weeks to start so I can tell it.
2 days ago: Game design reality: When major things go wrong with a design playtest, you've had a great playtest.
Apr 7th: I only ask because I'm hoping to make some classic Magic cards.
Apr 7th: I wonder how many classic Magic cards were designed a half an hour before the design meeting they were assigned for.
I haven't had time to read all 25 pages of thread, so sorry for that:
To me it looks like Surgical Extraction doesn't exile the targeted card in the graveyard, but only the 1-3 other cards it finds in the graveyard, hand and library. Any one?
Pretty sure it nabs the one you targeted as you search the graveyard.
Ok first of all Jace = CMC 4. You cannot Inquisition a damn Jace. For the love of whoever the hell you worship, learn how to ******* read.
Nobody was talking aobut hitting Jace TMS with IoK. It will nail baby Jace, so if anybody said 'get Jace with IoK' I assumed they were talking about this. Duress is the older brother of IoK, and *will* work on Jace TMS. This spaz is unwarranted.
I get the turn one play with IoK. I get that. But against what?
U/W has SFM, JtMS, Celestial Colonnade, Gideon, Falcon Block, AND SofaF. And those are just the win conditions/CA engines. We're not even talking about removal or counters. So the bigger problem is that no matter which one you hit, they still have four win cons left, and you're down two cards on turn one. It's awesome, probably exciting to exile $400 worth of your opponents deck on turn one, right up until you realize that it didn't help you actually win.
I agree with this.
Also, I've been wanting 4x Vengevine for my UG Mongrel deck ever since they were spoiled. Now my entire strategy is kaboom if I ever wanted to go to Legacy. Thanks Wizards.
So, first you talk about how the card doesn't nuke u/w because they have other threats, but then go on to say you can't play a deck because of this card. You're sending mixed messages, sir. If your Mongrel deck needs the Vengevines or else it can't win, you should probably build something better.
...This thread makes me facepalm, over and over and over again.
Really all this card does is make me want to see the rest of the set. Phyrexian mana costs are really cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing all else they do with it.
It's a very good card, don't get me wrong, but - I am way more excited about the counter-eating parasite.
It's very good. It's just not that great in Standard.
Sure, if you can nuke a decks biggest threat against you with it early, it's amazing.
Against Vengevines, well, Fauna decks will just... not pitch Vengevines. Then when you're staring down the lethal Vengevine attack, you'll topdeck this card instead of Go For The Throat.
It will be pretty amazing in Legacy, no doubt about it. Just not sure whether it'll be maindeck or sideboard-only - nuking Force of Will sounds great, but...
I'm not paying Thoughtsieze cash for this anytime soon.
.... nnnno, it's pretty awful. Tarmogoyf was good because it came down on turn 2 and was already probably sizeable.
Broken? No, not yet. Scalable power level? Yes (Think Green Zenith, Stoneforge, etc - just becomes more interesting as more cards are released). Awful? No. This is a very good card. Comparable to 'goyf? Yes, comparable, but not better. This card has a ton of potential, and if you can't see it, well... okay.
In case anybody's interested, I've posted what I think of each card spoiled. It'd be awesome to see if any of my opinions are right, wrong, stupid, or perfect. In case you aren't interested, I've put it in SPOILER form as not to spam. Enjoy!
Chancellor of the Furnace
4RRR
5/5
Creature - (Giant)
At the beginning of the game, if ~ is in your hand, you may reveal it and put a 1/1 red goblin creature with Haste on the battlefield.
When this enters the battlefield, put X 1/1 red goblin creatures with Haste onto the battlefield, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Chancellor of the Dross
4BBB
6/6
Creature - (Vampire)
Flying, Lifelink
At the beginning of the game, if ~ is in your hand, you may reveal it. If you do, at the beginning of your first upkeep, you may have each opponent lose 3 life. Gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Draft bombs. Moving on...
Praetor's Grip
1BB
Sorcery
Search your opponent's deck for a card and exile it facedown. While it's exiled this way, you may look at it and play it as though it were in your hand.
This is a little crazy. One B more for a Demonic Tutor that will fetch a card, keep it hidden, and make it discard proof? Sexy.
Urabrask, the Hidden
Legendary Creature - Praetor
4/4
Creatures you control have Haste.
Creatures your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped.
This was 3RR, right? Pretty dang cool. Will be very interesting to see what kind of impact this has. Obvious draft bomb, constructed is a big question mark.
BB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has Infect.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted creature.
When enchanted creature goes to the graveyard from the battlefield, return ~ to its owner's hand.
Eh... it's either a bad Phyresis or a bad removal spell. They may as well have just reprinted Tunnel instead.
"Species Transplantation"
4U
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control are the chosen type in addition to their other creature types. "There is no word more worthless than "evolution" from the mouth of Vorinclex. The only one who knows true Progress is me." -Jin-Gitaxis, Core Auger.
Phyrexian Canceller
BBBB
Creature - Horror
5/5
Trample
Whenever a source deals damage to ~, that source's controller sacrifices that many permanents.
Now THIS I'm excited about. I'm in that 'I love any excuse to play mono-black' club formed back when Necropotence was printed, however.
Karn the Released (?)
(mana cost) 7
Planeswalker - Karn
+4: Target player exiles a card from his or her hand.
-3: Exile target permanent.
-14: Set aside all non-aura permanents exiled by Karn, then restart the game. After that, put into the battlefield under your control all cards set aside this way.
(loyalty) 6
Enormous, playable in any deck, nearly unkillable planeswalker, with ridiculous powers? Yeah, that's a proper Mythic. Practical applications will be interesting.
Caged Sun
6
When Caged Sun enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Creatures you control of the chosen color have +1/+1.
Whenever you tap a land for mana, add one mana of the chosen color to your mana pool.
Not my kind of card. My 6 needs to be something that kills my opponent, not puts me neck-deep in 'win-more' mode.
Puresteel Paladin
WW
2/2
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever an Equipment enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft - As long as you control 3 or more artifacts, equip costs of equipment you control is 0.
Powerful stuff, I'm just not happy to see Quest decks get anything.
Norn's Annex
3PP
Artifact
(P may be paid for with either W or 2 life.)
Creatures can't attack you or Planeswalkers you control unless their controller pays P for each attacking creature.
This is nastier than it looks, if it really just restricts it to 2 life or white mana. Still seems kind of spendy though.
"Phyrexian Unlife"
2W
Enchantment
You do not lose the game for having 0 or less life.
While you are at 0 or less life, all sources of damage to you gains Infect.
"Don't tase me, bro!" ...eh. Again, not my style card, but one wild way to stall out a game.
"Psychological Surgery"
1U
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent shuffles his library, you may look at the top 2 cards of your library. You may exile one of them, then put them back on top of your library in any order.
Scry 2 when my opponent shuffles, kinda? Could be fun, but we shall see. I don't expect this to shake up Standard too hard, but other formats...
"Spellsplitter"
2
0/4
Artifact Creature
P: Target spell that targets a single creature targets ~ instead.
(P may be paid for with either U or 2 life.) "I'll show Vorinclex that for progress you require more than just teeth and nails." - Malcator, Unifier
Someone show me Ali Antrazi's reaction to this, please. Grand Architect got a friend!
"Screamwhip"
4
Artifact - Equipment
Living Weapon
Equip PP (P may be paid for with either B or 2 life.)
Equipped creature has +1/+1 for each Swamp you control.
Nice to see some beefy Living Weapons. Between this and the Cancellor, black has counterspell targets at 4 mana galore now, thus clearing the way for that crippling Mind Sludge.
Hex Parasite
1
Artifact Creature - Insect(?)
1/1
XP: Target a permanent. Remove up to X counters from that permanent. ~ gains +1/+0 until end of turn for each counter removed this way.
Definitely a good 1-drop for artifact builds and whatnot, but... really? This is the card out of this group that has you all hyped? I would have thought it'd be the other 1-drop.
3G
Instant
Put a 3/3 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield for each creature that went to your graveyard from the battlefield this turn. "Death is a scavenger's favorite appetizer."
That'll learn ya to boardsweep me. I've always loved Caller of the Claw-esque effects.
"Spawning Shell"
3P
Artifact
(P may be paid for with either G or 2 life.)
1P, T, sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a creature with CMC equal to or less than the sacrificed creature's. Put that creature into play, then shuffle your library. Play this ability only when you can play a Sorcery.
"Invasion Parasite"
3RR
3/2
Creature - Insect Imprint - When ~ enters the battlefield, exile target a land.
Whenever an opponent plays a land with the same name as the exiled card, ~ deals 2 damage to him or her.
Too expensive and fragile to have an impact. A 3/4 would have been acceptable.
R
*/*
Creature - Construct
~'s power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifact cards in all graveyards.
THIS is the 1-drop that excites me. This is practically a Tarmogoyf, particularly in this artifact-block Standard! Obviously Kuldotha Red will be taking a good look at this card, but I'm sure there are other metal-heavy strategies that will be able to make this guy a house.
Lots of things to say, here. Let's get to work. First off:
Lots of reaction to Elesh Norn... much of it negative. I don't think it's a 50 cent Mythic - I also don't think it's an expensive Mythic. It's what Mythic rarity should be. It's AWFUL to have Mythic rarity cards that go on to dominate Standard - all that does is completely juice the secondary market, and puts popular competitive Standard decks out of reach for those on a budget worse than ever before. Example:
Jace TMS: 110 dollars because its amazing in Constructed
Stoneforge Mystic: Dominating a format (or possibly 2), and only up to 25 bucks because its merely 'rare'.
I think the Stoneforge situation is better for MTG than the Jace situation.
Just picture having Elesh Norn in play with say, two Priest of Norn. I'm terrified. Insta-dead goblins, Squawks, Mystics, Inkmoths, Mirran and Phyrexian Crusaders alike, littering the battlefield opposite them. 3/6 Vigilant infectors. She's a BEAST. Is she broken? Will she be a 50 dollar card in Standard? No. Which means they've done her right.
Besides, who the heck are you guys to talk that way about Pyramid Head from Silent Hill's mother that way? That dude will tear your skin off for that.
I thought it'd been confirmed through number crunching that Karn would be a Legendary Creature and not a Planeswalker in this set. If that is the case, is there a speculation thread with a strong opinion on what, if any, 'walkers will be in this set? Someone link me please!
A personal aside, spoiled because it is an affronted rant in response to a post earlier in the thread that several others have taken issue with as well:
I call that unconditional love of villains (but the grosser and eviler the better!) immature because it is. I believe the main appeal of villains happens around the teenage years, as part of the rebellious attitude most teenagers develop. Suddenly, they start to question all the things they learned as a kid, and reject most of it...their new hatred of childishness is the first step of being immature...(yes, the two are different) They now consider themselves independent and hate everything they were taught. Learning sucks, family sucks, doing good sucks, listening to my elders sucks, etc. And that leads them down to making stupid decisions, like committing crimes and doing drugs. They now start to think that "forbidden" things like violence, drugs, and sex are "cool".
Because I thought Magneto and Apocalypse from the Marvel Universe were cool growing up, I'm somehow 'the exception' to this because I escaped crime and drugs somehow and survived to be 30, married, and an employed/functional member of society? I think Nicol Bolas is an awesome character, I must be reaching for my crack pipe as I type?
You've got to stop and read what you've typed from time to time to check for clarity, because this is as clear as mud, and is essentially an insult that reads 'liking the bad guy makes you an immoral, immature idiot', which I'm sure goes over well with the community here.
Villians being 'cool' is not a cause of general teen angst and stupidity. Hormones and maturing bodies are. Suddenly you can make babies, your interactions with your peers are far more intense, and you believe you're smarter than your parents ever were - happens to everybody, regardless of whether or not they thought Darth Vader was awesome. A lot more goes into a person's development than 'villain worship', such as their environment, their parents, the influence of their peers, what they're exposed to in media, their teachers, what traumas they've suffered... no matter how you cut it, 'villain worship' is never where it begins, although I'll grant you that sometimes that's where it ends.
Bottom line; your point is completely wrong, and you should give up attempting this type of armchair psychology. You can be a mature person and like the villains as well. Your theory has no basis in reality and is insulting to people like me. Making a broad generalization with no proof whatsoever and presenting it as fact rather than opinion is... well... immature.
So... if it's my opponent's main phase (when they could cast a sorcery) and they cast something while I have Teferi + Knowledge Pool out, the spell they pulled from Knowledge Pool's exiled cards wouldn't resolve, even though Teferi says its a legal time for them to cast something?
How do Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Knowledge Pool interact? If I play Teferi, then play Knowledge Pool, can my opponent play spells still, or do timestamps mean that the Knowledge Pool rules supercede the Teferi rules?
misterorange on twitter asked MaRo: Please please please tell me there's a cycle of Phyrexian mana-only cards
Maro's response:
Maybe.
Some hint!
His last few tweets:
13hr ago: For the colorblind players, the reminder text for Phyrexia mana does spell out which color it is. R & D has a colorblind member so it came up.
13r ago: Phyrexian mana - There's a pretty interesting story about it. You'll have to wait for the #NPH Preview Weeks to start so I can tell it.
2 days ago: Game design reality: When major things go wrong with a design playtest, you've had a great playtest.
Apr 7th: I only ask because I'm hoping to make some classic Magic cards.
Apr 7th: I wonder how many classic Magic cards were designed a half an hour before the design meeting they were assigned for.
Pretty sure it nabs the one you targeted as you search the graveyard.
Nobody was talking aobut hitting Jace TMS with IoK. It will nail baby Jace, so if anybody said 'get Jace with IoK' I assumed they were talking about this. Duress is the older brother of IoK, and *will* work on Jace TMS. This spaz is unwarranted.
I agree with this.
So, first you talk about how the card doesn't nuke u/w because they have other threats, but then go on to say you can't play a deck because of this card. You're sending mixed messages, sir. If your Mongrel deck needs the Vengevines or else it can't win, you should probably build something better.
Really all this card does is make me want to see the rest of the set. Phyrexian mana costs are really cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing all else they do with it.
It's a very good card, don't get me wrong, but - I am way more excited about the counter-eating parasite.
Sure, if you can nuke a decks biggest threat against you with it early, it's amazing.
Against Vengevines, well, Fauna decks will just... not pitch Vengevines. Then when you're staring down the lethal Vengevine attack, you'll topdeck this card instead of Go For The Throat.
It will be pretty amazing in Legacy, no doubt about it. Just not sure whether it'll be maindeck or sideboard-only - nuking Force of Will sounds great, but...
I'm not paying Thoughtsieze cash for this anytime soon.
Broken? No, not yet. Scalable power level? Yes (Think Green Zenith, Stoneforge, etc - just becomes more interesting as more cards are released). Awful? No. This is a very good card. Comparable to 'goyf? Yes, comparable, but not better. This card has a ton of potential, and if you can't see it, well... okay.
Draft bombs. Moving on...
This is a little crazy. One B more for a Demonic Tutor that will fetch a card, keep it hidden, and make it discard proof? Sexy.
This was 3RR, right? Pretty dang cool. Will be very interesting to see what kind of impact this has. Obvious draft bomb, constructed is a big question mark.
Eh... it's either a bad Phyresis or a bad removal spell. They may as well have just reprinted Tunnel instead.
Now THIS I'm excited about. I'm in that 'I love any excuse to play mono-black' club formed back when Necropotence was printed, however.
Enormous, playable in any deck, nearly unkillable planeswalker, with ridiculous powers? Yeah, that's a proper Mythic. Practical applications will be interesting.
Powerful stuff, I'm just not happy to see Quest decks get anything.
This is nastier than it looks, if it really just restricts it to 2 life or white mana. Still seems kind of spendy though.
"Don't tase me, bro!" ...eh. Again, not my style card, but one wild way to stall out a game.
Scry 2 when my opponent shuffles, kinda? Could be fun, but we shall see. I don't expect this to shake up Standard too hard, but other formats...
Someone show me Ali Antrazi's reaction to this, please. Grand Architect got a friend!
Nice to see some beefy Living Weapons. Between this and the Cancellor, black has counterspell targets at 4 mana galore now, thus clearing the way for that crippling Mind Sludge.
Definitely a good 1-drop for artifact builds and whatnot, but... really? This is the card out of this group that has you all hyped? I would have thought it'd be the other 1-drop.
That'll learn ya to boardsweep me. I've always loved Caller of the Claw-esque effects.
Too expensive and fragile to have an impact. A 3/4 would have been acceptable.
THIS is the 1-drop that excites me. This is practically a Tarmogoyf, particularly in this artifact-block Standard! Obviously Kuldotha Red will be taking a good look at this card, but I'm sure there are other metal-heavy strategies that will be able to make this guy a house.
Lots of reaction to Elesh Norn... much of it negative. I don't think it's a 50 cent Mythic - I also don't think it's an expensive Mythic. It's what Mythic rarity should be. It's AWFUL to have Mythic rarity cards that go on to dominate Standard - all that does is completely juice the secondary market, and puts popular competitive Standard decks out of reach for those on a budget worse than ever before. Example:
Jace TMS: 110 dollars because its amazing in Constructed
Stoneforge Mystic: Dominating a format (or possibly 2), and only up to 25 bucks because its merely 'rare'.
I think the Stoneforge situation is better for MTG than the Jace situation.
Just picture having Elesh Norn in play with say, two Priest of Norn. I'm terrified. Insta-dead goblins, Squawks, Mystics, Inkmoths, Mirran and Phyrexian Crusaders alike, littering the battlefield opposite them. 3/6 Vigilant infectors. She's a BEAST. Is she broken? Will she be a 50 dollar card in Standard? No. Which means they've done her right.
Besides, who the heck are you guys to talk that way about Pyramid Head from Silent Hill's mother that way? That dude will tear your skin off for that.
I thought it'd been confirmed through number crunching that Karn would be a Legendary Creature and not a Planeswalker in this set. If that is the case, is there a speculation thread with a strong opinion on what, if any, 'walkers will be in this set? Someone link me please!
A personal aside, spoiled because it is an affronted rant in response to a post earlier in the thread that several others have taken issue with as well:
Because I thought Magneto and Apocalypse from the Marvel Universe were cool growing up, I'm somehow 'the exception' to this because I escaped crime and drugs somehow and survived to be 30, married, and an employed/functional member of society? I think Nicol Bolas is an awesome character, I must be reaching for my crack pipe as I type?
You've got to stop and read what you've typed from time to time to check for clarity, because this is as clear as mud, and is essentially an insult that reads 'liking the bad guy makes you an immoral, immature idiot', which I'm sure goes over well with the community here.
Villians being 'cool' is not a cause of general teen angst and stupidity. Hormones and maturing bodies are. Suddenly you can make babies, your interactions with your peers are far more intense, and you believe you're smarter than your parents ever were - happens to everybody, regardless of whether or not they thought Darth Vader was awesome. A lot more goes into a person's development than 'villain worship', such as their environment, their parents, the influence of their peers, what they're exposed to in media, their teachers, what traumas they've suffered... no matter how you cut it, 'villain worship' is never where it begins, although I'll grant you that sometimes that's where it ends.
Bottom line; your point is completely wrong, and you should give up attempting this type of armchair psychology. You can be a mature person and like the villains as well. Your theory has no basis in reality and is insulting to people like me. Making a broad generalization with no proof whatsoever and presenting it as fact rather than opinion is... well... immature.
The other thing looks like the monster that mauled Zim in the 'Zim Eats Waffles' episode.