I am behind this idea. It would work in many ways:
1. For drafting strategies it makes sense since it gives a wide choice, my experience from the original ravnica produced 3 color decks almost everytime, so having a 3rd set with wedge combination would not be bad.
2. For formats like commander, the existance of wedge theme at least in one set would provide a wealth of new cards.
3. The same preexisting commander product legends had legends which pretty much work as the fusion of the guild ideals. Rikuu for example seems to fit simic izzet fusion pretty much perfectly, Ghave fits selesnia + golgari, The mimeopalasm is simply the love child of the Simic + Golgari, Khalia the Vast is easily representative of Orzhov + Boros ideals.
That being said though it would be posible an evolution to ravnica be triple color guilds, both allied and non allied and might be worked in some future.
Since the Crusader has protection from black, I figured that, since no damage was dealt, the Harvester would be killed, and the crusader would live. But player A called over a Judge, and the Judge ruled that they both died due to the Harvester having deathtouch. Now, I've never seen this happen before, but I'm pretty sure that the judge was wrong in this scenario.
Deathtouch requires the source to deal damage to a creature; Protection from a color prevents any damage from sources of that color (combat or otherwise). In your scenario the typhoid rats is blocked by a creature with protection from black, since no damage would be dealt (damage is prevented) deathtouch never has any effect.
Also, in a similar scenario, a deathtouch-enchanted Grim Lavamancer wouldn't be able to kill the same Crusader by using his ability, right?
Deathtouch will trigger from ANY source of damage, not just combat. If a creature with an ability like grim lavancer deals damage to another creature it will destroy it thanks to deathtouch.
In your scenario the lavamancer would kill the crusader since A. it would deal 2 damage to the crusader and the crusader only has 2 toughness, B. even if it survived (maybe its a 3/3) deathtouch will kill the crusader. Do notice this is because the crusader has protection from black and green, the lavamancer is red.
A shame my country wont be getting hellvaults... the price of importing them was too huge D:
apparently each helvault weighs in at 58 pounds and is 1 meter tall made of aluminum. Apart from the cost the sealed product cant go through customs without getting opened which would go against the policy.
Awesome promotional product, shame were not getting it.
I think it's probably safe to assume Avacyn, and all the other angels, will likely all be white only. For one thing, Avacyn isn't bald, so I doubt she's B/W. And if she's monocolour, her host will be too.
lol... being bald: the new look for anything B/W
anyways on topic I do think shes distinctly B/W, it makes sense thematically and ever further on her art evokes B/W all the way.
Really really bad product... the walker's themselves aren't even used or are expensive in the secondary market. At least such a bad product will guarantee a low selling price?
As far as ~99% of magic players are concerned, Vintage doesn't even exist, which makes it basically irrelevant in any discussion of a card's power level.
As for Legacy, Dark Confidant has been relegated to a sideboard card in combo decks. There were ZERO copies of it in the top 8 of Grand Prix Indy. Lingering Souls, on the other hand, was the breakout star of the deck that just won said Grand Prix. Is it too soon to say for sure how powerful lingering souls is in Legacy? Yes. Is it absurd to say that it's more powerful then Bob? No. In fact, at the moment, it looks more likely to be true then false.
Lingering Souls is just a good card, legacy is ripe with even stronger cards that are far more likely to get banned such as stoneforge mystic. Comparing Dark Confidant to Lingering souls is absurd.
As for the possible ban of intangible virtue in block, i can totally see this happening. Token decks are absurd with the addition of Sorin and Lingering Souls, while one could argue the other cards are the problem truth is that the virtue is the effect that outright makes it a battle: the deck who draws the virtues is the deck that wins. This is a problem and it always has been when one card determines the outcome of the game.
I still think this card is entirely too powerful, especially for its mana cost.
Compare it to Master Warcraft which only affects 1 player, and you can't choose who that player attacks. This affects two players, and essentially board wipes them. This is insanely powerful.
I would like to say this is completely false IMO. While this effect does cause two distinct instances of "you must attack target player", Master Warcraft lets you hand pick which creatures attack and also (and very importantly) lets you pick which creatures block and how. While the effects are similar I find Master Warcraft a much simpler way of creating board wipes through combat allowing you to manipulate how combat proceeds almost perfectly while this card only instigates attack.
Also as others have said, Master Warcraft is a hybrid card and as such its mana cost might have been different if it was single colored or even multicolored instead of hybrid.
The if the format becomes aggro based, it will be run by zoo. Gifts decks cannot deal with how quick Zoo can explode. Twin decks are no longer consistent in the way they were, and cloudpost and shoal got banned. Like there will be decks, just terrible ones. Making the format "Diverse" but boring as all hell since it will be an aggro format...
oh please theres plenty of viable decks that can compete with zoo even without killing on turn 3.... as If theres not a ton of Wrath of God effects running around (Including Wrath and Damnation) or top of plenty of great creature removal as for you to fear Zoo as a Boogeyman... heck zoo with a perfect hand can barely win by 3rd turn (and by perfect is saying zoo drew 3 nacatal + 2 fetchlands + 2 lightning bolts and nothing happened to anything because heck a 0/4 wall can pretty much screw that plan up)
Great Bans, heck i half expected Emrakul to get banned on top of everything else.
and to all those whiners that keep crying about Ponder and Preordain:
Whats not to get? cheap and effective card filtering is always a problem, and not because of control strategies but because it makes combo consistent and fast (and not just 1 combo deck, ALL OF THEM). In a format that has Thirst for Knowledge, Gifts Ungiven, Compulsive Research and other such cards not getting used because theyre too slow it means your other card filtering (in this case Ponder and Preordain) is too strong. Heck combo still gets to keep Sleight of Hand, Serum Visions and Telling Time which are strictly inferior but perfectly usable filtering cards
and those claiming that control is hurt by ponder and preordain getting banned has to check their brain for damage; why would a slower control deck even choose to take cantrips when they have actual card advantage cards at their disposal....ill take a thirst for knowledge or Compulsive Research any day of the week over a ponder in control :/
I also lol at those people who think zoo strategies cant be overcome... seriously have you been bonked over the head as well and not know theres quite a few creature control options out there from good old Wrath of God to Dismember to Threads of Disloyalty to Firespout all of which can keep zoo in check quite easily?
get over it, the bans clearly make the format more open since it actually allows a variety of decks to actually compete.
If you play it out we have a stack order that looks like this:
1. Kalita's attempts to destroy the Hexmage
2. Hexmage is Sacrificed to remove all counters from Kalitas
3. Blade of the Bloodchief triggers on Hexmage being put into the grave.
granted no other spells are abilities are played, the effects would resolve in reverse order:
3. Blade of the Bloodchief resolves, granting Kalitas 2 aditional +1/+1 counters.
2. Vampire Hexmage's Ability resolves removing any counters from Kalitas.
1. Kalitas' ability is countered since it no longer has a legal target.
The end result would be a 5/5 kalitas with no counters and a dead Hexmage.
My opponent has a Phantasmal Dragon when he decided to play a Stingerfling Spider when no other creatures but his dragon was in play. What happens to the Dragon, can my opponent choose not to target the dragon or does the Spider's trigger force him to target the dragon even if he doesn't want to use the ability.
Im glad they took out Jace and the Mystic, even when I have a playset of both cards.
Jace ban is obvious, he was incredibly polarizing and a crutch on any blue deck, they automatically had to have Jace or they just didnt exist. Its also such a huge card advantage engine that most decks had to bend themselves in order to carry blue sometimes for what it seems was only Jace. Furthermore this is the card I blame for one other thing ruining standard: stupid arbitrary prices.
As for the Stoneforge Mystics there are quite a few things that a lot of people are not getting.
What those people dont get is the fact that the mystic was a tutor card that is card advatange. What does this mean? well simple, MOST TUTORS DO NOT PROVIDE CARD ADVANTAGE, because simply put you spend a card+mana for the tutor effect. Stoneforge doesnt follow this rule since you dont loose a card, you gain a creature (even if it is only a 1/2), and not only is it just a creature but it also carries an ability to cheat what it tutors for at possibly less mana (any usable equipment cost 2 or more) at instant speed in an uncounterable way.....
let me point out that stoneforge isnt even the first equipment tutor ever made, Steelshaper's Gift is, and its cheaper than the mystic (W vs 1W). if the tutoring ability were the issue then the other card would obviously be a power card in legacy.
Furthermore it isnt about Batterskull or the other pieces of equipment. they also handled it right: they made the equipment as it had to be made and didnt cripple their creative designs because of a single broken card, which was the real issue and always was. Batterskull is in no way broken, nor is any other equipment, theyre merely powerful.
good ridance both cards are gone, may their use be bountiful in older formats.
Jace Mind Sculptor is clearly the best single card, its universally good by itself and requires no other cards to be good. Id classify Batterskull as a close second due to how even without Stone Forge Mystic it would be a fantastic card and widely used anyways.
Why not stone forge mystic? Dont get me wrong the card is great, but it is obviously a card that depends widely on the strength of the equipments around it. Its used in legacy due to the power of the old swords and umezawa's jitte and is getting used in standard due to the new swords and batterskull. I remember back a year or so ago when at best it could pick up a basilisk collar and barely run, the card responds to the stength of the equipments not to the value itself has.
1. For drafting strategies it makes sense since it gives a wide choice, my experience from the original ravnica produced 3 color decks almost everytime, so having a 3rd set with wedge combination would not be bad.
2. For formats like commander, the existance of wedge theme at least in one set would provide a wealth of new cards.
3. The same preexisting commander product legends had legends which pretty much work as the fusion of the guild ideals. Rikuu for example seems to fit simic izzet fusion pretty much perfectly, Ghave fits selesnia + golgari, The mimeopalasm is simply the love child of the Simic + Golgari, Khalia the Vast is easily representative of Orzhov + Boros ideals.
That being said though it would be posible an evolution to ravnica be triple color guilds, both allied and non allied and might be worked in some future.
Deathtouch requires the source to deal damage to a creature; Protection from a color prevents any damage from sources of that color (combat or otherwise). In your scenario the typhoid rats is blocked by a creature with protection from black, since no damage would be dealt (damage is prevented) deathtouch never has any effect.
Deathtouch will trigger from ANY source of damage, not just combat. If a creature with an ability like grim lavancer deals damage to another creature it will destroy it thanks to deathtouch.
In your scenario the lavamancer would kill the crusader since A. it would deal 2 damage to the crusader and the crusader only has 2 toughness, B. even if it survived (maybe its a 3/3) deathtouch will kill the crusader. Do notice this is because the crusader has protection from black and green, the lavamancer is red.
apparently each helvault weighs in at 58 pounds and is 1 meter tall made of aluminum. Apart from the cost the sealed product cant go through customs without getting opened which would go against the policy.
Awesome promotional product, shame were not getting it.
lol... being bald: the new look for anything B/W
anyways on topic I do think shes distinctly B/W, it makes sense thematically and ever further on her art evokes B/W all the way.
Lingering Souls is just a good card, legacy is ripe with even stronger cards that are far more likely to get banned such as stoneforge mystic. Comparing Dark Confidant to Lingering souls is absurd.
As for the possible ban of intangible virtue in block, i can totally see this happening. Token decks are absurd with the addition of Sorin and Lingering Souls, while one could argue the other cards are the problem truth is that the virtue is the effect that outright makes it a battle: the deck who draws the virtues is the deck that wins. This is a problem and it always has been when one card determines the outcome of the game.
I would like to say this is completely false IMO. While this effect does cause two distinct instances of "you must attack target player", Master Warcraft lets you hand pick which creatures attack and also (and very importantly) lets you pick which creatures block and how. While the effects are similar I find Master Warcraft a much simpler way of creating board wipes through combat allowing you to manipulate how combat proceeds almost perfectly while this card only instigates attack.
Also as others have said, Master Warcraft is a hybrid card and as such its mana cost might have been different if it was single colored or even multicolored instead of hybrid.
Best post in 36 pages
oh please theres plenty of viable decks that can compete with zoo even without killing on turn 3.... as If theres not a ton of Wrath of God effects running around (Including Wrath and Damnation) or top of plenty of great creature removal as for you to fear Zoo as a Boogeyman... heck zoo with a perfect hand can barely win by 3rd turn (and by perfect is saying zoo drew 3 nacatal + 2 fetchlands + 2 lightning bolts and nothing happened to anything because heck a 0/4 wall can pretty much screw that plan up)
and to all those whiners that keep crying about Ponder and Preordain:
Whats not to get? cheap and effective card filtering is always a problem, and not because of control strategies but because it makes combo consistent and fast (and not just 1 combo deck, ALL OF THEM). In a format that has Thirst for Knowledge, Gifts Ungiven, Compulsive Research and other such cards not getting used because theyre too slow it means your other card filtering (in this case Ponder and Preordain) is too strong. Heck combo still gets to keep Sleight of Hand, Serum Visions and Telling Time which are strictly inferior but perfectly usable filtering cards
and those claiming that control is hurt by ponder and preordain getting banned has to check their brain for damage; why would a slower control deck even choose to take cantrips when they have actual card advantage cards at their disposal....ill take a thirst for knowledge or Compulsive Research any day of the week over a ponder in control :/
I also lol at those people who think zoo strategies cant be overcome... seriously have you been bonked over the head as well and not know theres quite a few creature control options out there from good old Wrath of God to Dismember to Threads of Disloyalty to Firespout all of which can keep zoo in check quite easily?
get over it, the bans clearly make the format more open since it actually allows a variety of decks to actually compete.
If you play it out we have a stack order that looks like this:
1. Kalita's attempts to destroy the Hexmage
2. Hexmage is Sacrificed to remove all counters from Kalitas
3. Blade of the Bloodchief triggers on Hexmage being put into the grave.
granted no other spells are abilities are played, the effects would resolve in reverse order:
3. Blade of the Bloodchief resolves, granting Kalitas 2 aditional +1/+1 counters.
2. Vampire Hexmage's Ability resolves removing any counters from Kalitas.
1. Kalitas' ability is countered since it no longer has a legal target.
The end result would be a 5/5 kalitas with no counters and a dead Hexmage.
[Black/Blue Hoser] 1G
Instant
Put a 3/3 Beast token into play if your opponent controls Blue or Black permanent.
Jace ban is obvious, he was incredibly polarizing and a crutch on any blue deck, they automatically had to have Jace or they just didnt exist. Its also such a huge card advantage engine that most decks had to bend themselves in order to carry blue sometimes for what it seems was only Jace. Furthermore this is the card I blame for one other thing ruining standard: stupid arbitrary prices.
As for the Stoneforge Mystics there are quite a few things that a lot of people are not getting.
What those people dont get is the fact that the mystic was a tutor card that is card advatange. What does this mean? well simple, MOST TUTORS DO NOT PROVIDE CARD ADVANTAGE, because simply put you spend a card+mana for the tutor effect. Stoneforge doesnt follow this rule since you dont loose a card, you gain a creature (even if it is only a 1/2), and not only is it just a creature but it also carries an ability to cheat what it tutors for at possibly less mana (any usable equipment cost 2 or more) at instant speed in an uncounterable way.....
let me point out that stoneforge isnt even the first equipment tutor ever made, Steelshaper's Gift is, and its cheaper than the mystic (W vs 1W). if the tutoring ability were the issue then the other card would obviously be a power card in legacy.
Furthermore it isnt about Batterskull or the other pieces of equipment. they also handled it right: they made the equipment as it had to be made and didnt cripple their creative designs because of a single broken card, which was the real issue and always was. Batterskull is in no way broken, nor is any other equipment, theyre merely powerful.
good ridance both cards are gone, may their use be bountiful in older formats.
Why not stone forge mystic? Dont get me wrong the card is great, but it is obviously a card that depends widely on the strength of the equipments around it. Its used in legacy due to the power of the old swords and umezawa's jitte and is getting used in standard due to the new swords and batterskull. I remember back a year or so ago when at best it could pick up a basilisk collar and barely run, the card responds to the stength of the equipments not to the value itself has.