Flash Freeze encouraged me to look up this article: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr169 In it, he hints that “Counter target red or green spell” would be costed at 1U and explains why. Not really important to this card, but it's just interesting to see it finally get made.
This is MASS reanimation. It's not the same thing as individual reanimation.
And most of your examples are of artifact-retrival. Apparently white's become the color to recover artifacts and enchantments, while black gets creatures... and the occasional artifact, and green gets everything.
White's history has had mass reanimation of enchantments (Replenish), mass reanimation of artifacts (Roar of Reclamation), and individual reanimation of creatures (Breath of Life, Karmic Guide, Reya Dawnbringer). Actually, white has been on the downswing for creature reanimation (the aforementioned Reya being the most recently printed example), but the color is just so good at doing things en masse (*** is in; StP is out) that mass reanimation of creatures may actually make more sense mechanically than single reanimation (as with the mass destruction).
For whether the card itself is real: This isn't strictly better than Living Death, as it can't be played for, say, GGGBB, so it's possible to make, and I think Wizards would be willing to do something like this. Still, like Machius said, just because it's possible doesn't make it real. Although there's some ingenuity behind the mana cost, it's still easily within the realm of fakeability, especially seeing as how it's effectively a reprint; a faker wouldn't have had to create something from scratch, which is where errors are most likely to be committed. I'm calling Continuum Hypothesis on this one (i.e. neither proveable nor disproveable).
Also, the One with Nothing discussion is irrelevant to this card's existence. Wizards makes good rares, and Wizards makes bad rares. The fact that a player could open One for Nothing in a pack does not cancel out the fact that the player could just as easily open Pithing Needle; in order to ensure sales, Wizards just needs to create the top end of cards that people buy the packs for. It's like gambling; create a high potential reward (i.e. Pithing Needle) and people will exaggerate that, while downplaying the risks (i.e. One for Nothing). Also, bad cards have their uses in creating a culture for the game, if nothing else -- Chimney Imp was one of the most talked-about cards in Mirrodin!
Hmm... I could see these as being "unplayable" mana-costless spells, along the lines of Evermind (maybe with mechanical color restrictions). I can't say what it would do to the power level, but it could make sense design-wise.
I have noticed that there will be a chat about the new banned/restricted announcements on Magicthegathering.com. What's more, the announcement will come out halfway through the chat. This seems to be a new format (different from the usual hear-our-reasoning-from-Forsythe-on-Friday approach). Could this suggest a significant announcement, or is it just a new format that they happen to be implementing this time? (I'm not pretending to know whether any formats warrant any bannings at the moment, but it could be possible that this is what it portends.) I'm just surprised that no one has mentioned it in these forums (to my knowledge).
As soon as I saw the Voyager Staff thing for g/r, I thought of some self-powered Sneak Attack mechanic, kind of like Skizzik or Rocket-Powered Turbo Slug. I think the "Rally" ability above looks like a realistic way of doing this.
The sheer number of cards and mechanics that intersect with cards and mechanics I came up with for my own block is starting to scare me. For example, one cycle alone that I came up with is tied to two or three different major mechanics that have appeared since. This really hasn't happened on this scale in the past. If design space is getting narrower, as it seems to be, I'm not sure this is a good sign for the future...
Remind me to make a list of these relationships sometime.
I think the long lines on the sides of the Golgari emblem might be arrows (like a recycling symbol), to represent the cycle-of-life/reanimation idea shared by green and black, and in particular the Golgari (see the Dredge mechanic).
mmm im not really happy about those lands they do hold you back for one mana the turn they come into play.
Yes, but in the long run, they're also the equivalent of two lands in one card. They aren't just a slightly different version of the Invasion duals; they're a slightly different version that's also a cantrip (albeit for lands only).
Yes, it is CONFIRMED that there will be "Dual-esque" lands printed. It is CONFIRMED that those lands will be in the Ravnica block. For logical reasons, as well as quotes. It is CONFIRMED that they will be playable outside of block.
~EDIT~
People! Quite saying that what Forsythe meant were the Painlands! He said they'd be NEW, and LEGACY-playable. Legacy players already have painlands!
The direct quote I believe you're referring to is as follows:
Quote from Aaron Forsythe »
Even though the results of this dual land poll don't look particularly promising, we have more planned for the format as well. I actually think there are some decent decks out there with no (or very few) dual lands, so hopefully the barrier to entry isn't too ridiculous. All will be made clear shortly enough!
This seems to be talking about new forms of dual lands, until you look at the paragraph preceding it:
Quote from Aaron Forsythe »
This question was part of our ongoing research on how much high-level support we can give the Legacy format. Those of you that scour the gamer websites may have seen that there is a Legacy event listed in the GenCon schedule—we'll be announcing the details of that later on here on the site.
Now, that other paragraph again:
Quote from Aaron Forsythe »
Even though the results of this dual land poll don't look particularly promising [in terms of the number of players with the collections necessary to play Legacy], we have more [high-level support] planned for the format as well. I actually think there are some decent decks out there with no (or very few) dual lands, so hopefully the barrier to entry isn't too ridiculous. All will be made clear shortly enough [when we reveal the details of the Legacy event at GenCon]!
So, no. No confirmation. However, the kind people at R&D do look after its Block Constructed players, and so I'm confident they'll come up with something, at least, for the block. (As the focus is on color pairs, and apparently not just on allied color pairs [hence reprinting the Apocalypse painlands], expect to see two land cycles with the same mechanic.)
remove target creature, so first name should be of white... (otherworldly journey comes to mind)... "journey to the aether"
And I had Journey Through the AEther...
I think the flavor is right-on along these lines; I think the best incarnation of it that I've seen in this thread, though, is Journey Through Dreams (bear in mind, I've skipped over most of the thread). If that makes it into the top ten, I'm definitely voting for it.
I'm very glad that my prediction about Wrath did not come true (yet), and I'm pleasantly surprised to see Weathered Wayfarer, Paladin en-Vec (a card I never got to know, but wanted to), Blinking Spirit, a new Tithe out of nowhere, Leonin Skyhunter, and Infantry Veteran in there. I use that last card a lot when I play WW, and it's very effective with first-strikers and flyers...
EDIT: I'm also glad to see that they finally decided to take out the three unplayed, less in-color CoP's and add three good cards in their place.
/B "Dual">
Land
As ~this~ comes into play, choose Island or Swamp. ~This~ is the chosen land type.
The Onslaught fetchlands started out looking much like this, before they were changed into what they are now for purposes of power level and of reducing how much players have to remember. (A bit ironically, I suppose, because Mirage had solved that problem a long time ago with its own fetchlands.)
Personally, I'm hoping that whatever good duals we'll see in Ravnica will be available at uncommon this time.
I came up with a cycle of "Bridges" a while ago for my set, and they're pretty effective and extremely useful with both gold cards (in Ravnica) and the original dual lands (not that this matters -- see below). The other cycle of duals I came up with wound up being reprinted in a more elegant form (Onslaught's fetchlands), so you never know...
Pristine Bridge
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add W to your mana pool. Play this ability only if you control an Island.
T: Add U to your mana pool. Play this ability only if you control a Plains.
Anyway, though, the quote this thread was started for really doesn't have any value for speculation. If we look at the paragraph before it, as well:
This question was part of our ongoing research on how much high-level support we can give the Legacy format. Those of you that scour the gamer websites may have seen that there is a Legacy event listed in the GenCon schedule—we'll be announcing the details of that later on here on the site.
Even though the results of this dual land poll don't look particularly promising, we have more planned for the format as well. I actually think there are some decent decks out there with no (or very few) dual lands, so hopefully the barrier to entry isn't too ridiculous. All will be made clear shortly enough!
"We have more planned for the format" refers to "high-level support" for Legacy. "All will be made clear shortly enough" refers to the GenCon Legacy event. So, this isn't really evidence for new dual lands being printed that are in any way related to the old duals. However, it is likely that good duals will show up in Ravnica. There's more design space now than there was in the past for dual lands, now that both painlands and fetchlands are out of Standard; we can expect to see a higher power level in Ravnica.
White's history has had mass reanimation of enchantments (Replenish), mass reanimation of artifacts (Roar of Reclamation), and individual reanimation of creatures (Breath of Life, Karmic Guide, Reya Dawnbringer). Actually, white has been on the downswing for creature reanimation (the aforementioned Reya being the most recently printed example), but the color is just so good at doing things en masse (*** is in; StP is out) that mass reanimation of creatures may actually make more sense mechanically than single reanimation (as with the mass destruction).
For whether the card itself is real: This isn't strictly better than Living Death, as it can't be played for, say, GGGBB, so it's possible to make, and I think Wizards would be willing to do something like this. Still, like Machius said, just because it's possible doesn't make it real. Although there's some ingenuity behind the mana cost, it's still easily within the realm of fakeability, especially seeing as how it's effectively a reprint; a faker wouldn't have had to create something from scratch, which is where errors are most likely to be committed. I'm calling Continuum Hypothesis on this one (i.e. neither proveable nor disproveable).
Also, the One with Nothing discussion is irrelevant to this card's existence. Wizards makes good rares, and Wizards makes bad rares. The fact that a player could open One for Nothing in a pack does not cancel out the fact that the player could just as easily open Pithing Needle; in order to ensure sales, Wizards just needs to create the top end of cards that people buy the packs for. It's like gambling; create a high potential reward (i.e. Pithing Needle) and people will exaggerate that, while downplaying the risks (i.e. One for Nothing). Also, bad cards have their uses in creating a culture for the game, if nothing else -- Chimney Imp was one of the most talked-about cards in Mirrodin!
Remind me to make a list of these relationships sometime.
Just like I said I would in the earlier thread.
Yes, but in the long run, they're also the equivalent of two lands in one card. They aren't just a slightly different version of the Invasion duals; they're a slightly different version that's also a cantrip (albeit for lands only).
The direct quote I believe you're referring to is as follows:
This seems to be talking about new forms of dual lands, until you look at the paragraph preceding it:
Now, that other paragraph again:
So, no. No confirmation. However, the kind people at R&D do look after its Block Constructed players, and so I'm confident they'll come up with something, at least, for the block. (As the focus is on color pairs, and apparently not just on allied color pairs [hence reprinting the Apocalypse painlands], expect to see two land cycles with the same mechanic.)
EDIT: See below.
And I had Journey Through the AEther...
I think the flavor is right-on along these lines; I think the best incarnation of it that I've seen in this thread, though, is Journey Through Dreams (bear in mind, I've skipped over most of the thread). If that makes it into the top ten, I'm definitely voting for it.
EDIT: I'm also glad to see that they finally decided to take out the three unplayed, less in-color CoP's and add three good cards in their place.
The Onslaught fetchlands started out looking much like this, before they were changed into what they are now for purposes of power level and of reducing how much players have to remember. (A bit ironically, I suppose, because Mirage had solved that problem a long time ago with its own fetchlands.)
Personally, I'm hoping that whatever good duals we'll see in Ravnica will be available at uncommon this time.
Pristine Bridge
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add W to your mana pool. Play this ability only if you control an Island.
T: Add U to your mana pool. Play this ability only if you control a Plains.
Anyway, though, the quote this thread was started for really doesn't have any value for speculation. If we look at the paragraph before it, as well:
"We have more planned for the format" refers to "high-level support" for Legacy. "All will be made clear shortly enough" refers to the GenCon Legacy event. So, this isn't really evidence for new dual lands being printed that are in any way related to the old duals. However, it is likely that good duals will show up in Ravnica. There's more design space now than there was in the past for dual lands, now that both painlands and fetchlands are out of Standard; we can expect to see a higher power level in Ravnica.