Personally, I like the idea of having city-covered basic lands. However, we'd need to have normal basics in the block to make them applicable, so there could be cards that apply to city-covered lands similar to the snow-covered lands back in Ice Age. Maybe have 2 arts be normal basic and 2 arts be city-covered basic. To make the city-covered basics easier to get, one would be included in the booster packs like basics are included in the Core Set boosters.
I'd really love to have such an old mechanic come back with today's set design.
Yeah, Scent of Ivy is a great second turn, but there are frequent times when you just don't draw it, and it becomes fodder for Bounty of the Hunt later in the game. This isn't going to replace those cards, it'll work along-side it as free pump to make your second turn 10/10 a second turn 12/12. In Mono Green Stompy, that extra two points could make all the difference.
Blue, it's for decks that aren't going to be playing mana-men because they're playing real fast decks. Decks that run cards like Rogue Elephant, Jungle Lion, and Mtenda Lion aren't going to have mana to spare second turn for a Giant Growth. So having a Giant Growth that's free for tapping the creature you just played that can't attack is REALLY good.
Wow. That's unbelievable. Play a land, play a 1cc creature, attack with the one you already have, cast a Giant Growth, and then cast this variant with the creature you just played.
Personally, I'm quite glad for one simplistic reason: This means that newbies just starting the game will have access to a Serra Angel no matter what. Cards like Serra, while not powerful in today's tournament scene, are really, really good when all your decks consist of are Eager Cadet and Coral Eel.
It'll give Serra a place to shine even if she isn't playable in tournaments anymore.
Pretty much the only difference between that and the way me and my playgroup plays is that we almost always use 60 card decks for consistancy. They still do absolutely stupid things, but they're consistant at it.
I don't see why it makes much of a difference whether it's real or not. It's not like we don't already know all of the information presented here, so whether it's a card or a photoshop doesn't make much of a difference, does it?
On what grounds do you base your claim that Counterspell is overpowered?
Rewind, amazingly good? A clunky 4-mana counter that won´t be able to stop any early threat? Don´t make me laugh.
The only great counter from that list is Mana Leak, because it's cheap and splahable; the other ones barely make the cut; they are serviceable in T2 only because there're no better options available.
A core set IMO must have 4 counters: a cheap, generic soft-counter (a la Mana Leak), a cheap, generic hard-counter (a la Counterspell or Dissipate) and two specialized hard-counters (like Remove Soul or Annul)
They're nerfing blue because Timmy doesn´t like getting his big splashy spells countered and his expensive beefy monsters stolen; and Timmy buys a whole lot more packs than Spike.
Counterspell is overpowered because of its casting cost and versatility for that casting cost. Don't get me wrong, I love blue, but I must admit that it has always been too good.
Counterspell and its ilk are always useful. For 2 mana, you can deal with any threat before it happens. As a person who plays Terminate on a regular basis, I can tell you that it isn't always useful. The other person could be playing no creatures or creatures that cannot be targetted. Counterspell deals with five of the six card types in Magic, with only land being able to get around it. Vindicate, for three mana and sorcery speed, can deal with only four, and it's frequently considered undercosted. Terminate, the card someone else mentioned in comparison, can deal with only one, for two mana of two different colors. Terminate doesn't even come CLOSE to the power of Counterspell.
Rewind may be a clunky 4-mana counterspell, but the fact that it's playable in Type 2 gives you an idea of to the power of the original. For twice the mana, you get a hard counter and an irrelevant ability. That's good enough to be played, because counterspell effects are so good in general.
They're not nerfing blue to please Timmy. They could solve that by printing large creatures with the line "~this~ cannot be countered" and "Protection from blue". They're nerfing blue because it's just too good, simple as that. The fact that after the 8th edition nerfs MUC is STILL a powerful archtype speaks volumes that they haven't done a good enough job yet.
Personally, I hate powerful color hosers, and consider Flashfires to be absurd in still being around.
Boil is somewhat fair (still overpowered) for being against blue. Blue can counter the card, keeping it from resolving. However, white can't deal with it in such a way, and generally will get slaughtered unless white gets better land protection.
Oh well, at least Perish is still long-gone. Hibernation has nothing on Perish X_X
I think Mystic was refering to the Urzatron... not to tooth and nail decks as such. I'm happy to see it stay, now after looking at some Mono-U decks packing the Urzatron I'm tempted to see what other decks can handle 12 lands slots... my first idea is a red deck, as you could power up to Fireball/Blaze mana quickly.
Quote from RickCorgan »
well, we do have Wayfarer... but he's white, so, should Urzatron be powerful again, it will at least be on my favorite color.
And that's what makes it interesting. Basically, the possibility of using the Urzatron in any color to power something interesting out makes it a card that's worth keeping around, in my opinion. It's limited, and it can be risky, but the Urzatron can do some amazing things in the right deck, and it's not limited to green to do it, too. Having 8-9 mana on turn 4-5 is a powerful thing that should be considered whenever the tron is legal.
The Urzatron's potential makes it a card set that I consider very beneficial to the game, and apparently WotC seems to think it's worth keeping around as well.
9th Edition has a LOT of really good casual play cards, from Battle of Wits to weirder things like Form of the Dragon. These cards aren't going to be tournament viable, but they'll create great casual decks with cards that are currently in print and easy for newer players to get. Everyone's gotta start somewhere, and if seeing a card like Biorhythm causes a newbie to start to understand complex interactions and make a hilarious multiplayer deck, then 9th is going to be doing its job. Hell, just the idea of reprinting it makes me think about doing something idiotic with Verdant Force. Sure, it'll cost 16 mana, but that's what green has been good at recently =P
Quote from RMS Oceanic »
You know what I particularly like about 9th? The five original creatures that epitimised their colours have returned together for the first time since Fourth Edition! I'm talking about:
Amen. I like having staple cards like Sengir Vampire easily accessable to newer players so they can use him. While these guys aren't tournament viable, they are better than the curve for the average card a new player would have, and are all rather mana-efficient for their size.
Personally, I saw exactly what I expected in blue. Remember, they've been nerfing it for some time, yet Mono Blue Control is currently a major archtype in the environment. I agree that I would have loved to see Brainstorm, Spiketail Hatchling, and other decent blue cards, but I was definitely not surprised when I saw how badly blue got nerfed.
Also, Counterspell really is too good. When cards like Hinder, Mana Leak, and Rewind are amazingly good, you know the original was flat out undercosted. I personally want them to print a 1UU Counterspell and put it in the core set, myself.
Personally, I'm happy to see the Urzatron stay in the core set. Remember, the key features that made Tooth playable, the non-basic land search, are rotating out with Mirrodin, so it shouldn't be AS overpowered.
Basically, the Urzatron have always been a great way for a deck that needs a lot of mana to get it if they build their deck properly. This allows for decks which need a lot of mana, of which Tooth and Nail is the current poster child. I see no problem with keeping the enablers in the format so that the next creative person can abuse 7 mana from 3 lands if they put the effort into building a deck that can consistantly pull it off.
Basically, they give deckbuilders another option for deckbuilding, because excessively costed spells are not out of reach if your deck can support the Urzatron, meaning a lot of cards that would otherwise never see play, like Tooth and Nail, can have their day in the sun.
After all, I don't think any of you thought "tournament playable" when you saw Tooth and Nail for the first time. Thanks to the tron, we got another archtype for the game, and I consider that to be a good thing, because it provided variety into a metagame dominated by Affinity.
I'd really love to have such an old mechanic come back with today's set design.
Quality, quality card.
It'll give Serra a place to shine even if she isn't playable in tournaments anymore.
Beacon of Immortality, Uyo, Silent Prophet and Pernicious Deed were MADE for multiplayer.
Any game where you can see Jolrael, Empress of Beasts activate and end the game is just hilarious.
Counterspell is overpowered because of its casting cost and versatility for that casting cost. Don't get me wrong, I love blue, but I must admit that it has always been too good.
Counterspell and its ilk are always useful. For 2 mana, you can deal with any threat before it happens. As a person who plays Terminate on a regular basis, I can tell you that it isn't always useful. The other person could be playing no creatures or creatures that cannot be targetted. Counterspell deals with five of the six card types in Magic, with only land being able to get around it. Vindicate, for three mana and sorcery speed, can deal with only four, and it's frequently considered undercosted. Terminate, the card someone else mentioned in comparison, can deal with only one, for two mana of two different colors. Terminate doesn't even come CLOSE to the power of Counterspell.
Rewind may be a clunky 4-mana counterspell, but the fact that it's playable in Type 2 gives you an idea of to the power of the original. For twice the mana, you get a hard counter and an irrelevant ability. That's good enough to be played, because counterspell effects are so good in general.
They're not nerfing blue to please Timmy. They could solve that by printing large creatures with the line "~this~ cannot be countered" and "Protection from blue". They're nerfing blue because it's just too good, simple as that. The fact that after the 8th edition nerfs MUC is STILL a powerful archtype speaks volumes that they haven't done a good enough job yet.
Boil is somewhat fair (still overpowered) for being against blue. Blue can counter the card, keeping it from resolving. However, white can't deal with it in such a way, and generally will get slaughtered unless white gets better land protection.
Oh well, at least Perish is still long-gone. Hibernation has nothing on Perish X_X
And that's what makes it interesting. Basically, the possibility of using the Urzatron in any color to power something interesting out makes it a card that's worth keeping around, in my opinion. It's limited, and it can be risky, but the Urzatron can do some amazing things in the right deck, and it's not limited to green to do it, too. Having 8-9 mana on turn 4-5 is a powerful thing that should be considered whenever the tron is legal.
The Urzatron's potential makes it a card set that I consider very beneficial to the game, and apparently WotC seems to think it's worth keeping around as well.
Amen. I like having staple cards like Sengir Vampire easily accessable to newer players so they can use him. While these guys aren't tournament viable, they are better than the curve for the average card a new player would have, and are all rather mana-efficient for their size.
Also, Counterspell really is too good. When cards like Hinder, Mana Leak, and Rewind are amazingly good, you know the original was flat out undercosted. I personally want them to print a 1UU Counterspell and put it in the core set, myself.
Basically, the Urzatron have always been a great way for a deck that needs a lot of mana to get it if they build their deck properly. This allows for decks which need a lot of mana, of which Tooth and Nail is the current poster child. I see no problem with keeping the enablers in the format so that the next creative person can abuse 7 mana from 3 lands if they put the effort into building a deck that can consistantly pull it off.
Basically, they give deckbuilders another option for deckbuilding, because excessively costed spells are not out of reach if your deck can support the Urzatron, meaning a lot of cards that would otherwise never see play, like Tooth and Nail, can have their day in the sun.
After all, I don't think any of you thought "tournament playable" when you saw Tooth and Nail for the first time. Thanks to the tron, we got another archtype for the game, and I consider that to be a good thing, because it provided variety into a metagame dominated by Affinity.