I like the idea of an alternate cost. However, the word "instead" only appears once in the orb. My guess would be similar to what Ako80 suggested, except that the text is referring to an optional effect, not an alternate cost.
EDIT: Mine doesn't work either, and borderpost only appears 10 times on the orb so it is at most on each card twice. It's almost certainly an alternate cost.
Thought Hemorrhage actually seems best against Boat Brew/Reveillark decks to me. BB doesn't run any countermagic and if you strip their Reveillarks it pretty much shuts down their long game plan. I think it will still have its uses against 5CC (not so much against Faeries) but like several people have said 5CC will just find another huge bomb to run alongside Broodmate Dragon as their kill condition.
Heya all, great thread you all have going here. I just wanted to jump in with a few thoughts since I am considering playing Ramp for Regionals in a few months.
The first question is Resounding Thunder vs. Banefire. Personally, I am thinking that Resounding Thunder is just as good because for essentially 1 extra mana (Banefire for 7 vs. cycling Resounding Thunder for 8 will both net you 6 damage.) you are getting to draw a card and play the spell at instant speed. Also, it is better spot removal earlier in the game since Banefire is far more clunky as a sorcery. Of course, the downside is that you can't get more than 6 damage out of it. I realize we are not going to play more than 2 Banefire so it's not a huge deal, but it's still something to think about.
Also I haven't really seen much debate on which board sweepers to use and how many are appropriate, even though it is one of the most important aspects of the deck. The candidates are:
Jund Charm - Versitile with 3 very relevant modes in the current metagame. Volcanic Fallout - Instant speed and uncounterable is a huge plus. Firespout - Deals an extra point of damage, can potentially be one-sided if you are playing against Faeries or tokens. Infest - Gets around that pesky Burrenton Forge-Tender.
Personally, I think 4 Jund Charm is a must. Reveillark is the best creature in T2 right now and is utilized in so many decks. The ability to deal a Reveillark player's graveyard is one of my favorite things about this deck. It's also not totally dead against non-aggro matchups.
As for the others, I don't think there is a definitive #2 right now. I would say that this deck should play 6-7 sweepers MD. A lot will depend on your metagame and the decks you expect to face. If you play a lot of Kithkin, Tokens, or Boat Brew with maindeck Forge-Tenders then Infest seems like the right choice. Otherwise Volcanic Fallout is probably your best option, but I would be curious to hear other people's thoughs on the matter because there doesn't seem to be any consensus as to the best configuration of board sweepers.
Lastly, it's cool to see you all are trying out Ajani Vengeant as well. I added 3 to my current build about a week ago and I think it is absolutely the correct choice.
At least they make you register your decks. Here in Kansas City they don't even make you register which makes me fearful that people will try and abuse the system. I didn't play anyone I felt was cheating but my friend played against someone who had Wort + Mad Auntie (neither foil), Tarfire, and Nameless Inversion. He managed to win but it was awfully suspicious. I wish they would at least make you register, even with no deck swap.
Nothing personal, but I don't think you should be giving anyone draft advice. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I think you're going to find mine is much more popular than yours.
I agree it is the best Limited card in the set (and I'll go so far as to include rares). At this point having read over the whole spoiler there is nothing that I would take over it. If your opponent does not have an answer immediately you will win. If the board is stalled, you will win. He's either going to kill one creature per turn or shoot your opponent (or planeswalker) for 2 per turn for free. Also, who cares if it's red and red seems kind of weak? (Not a sentiment I agree with, but it seems popular at the moment). I only see one red mana symbol on the entire card in a set where two colors + a splash or three colors will be the norm. It will be played in every deck where it is opened/drafted and will be the most annoying card to play against in the whole format. Just wait and see.
I'm not buying that these are real.. way too much convenience coming so shortly after Hasbrospy with all those little details that he got nitpicked over (no collector numbers, not in theme with the set, etc.) all "fixed" in this new batch of cards. I also don't buy the story that they are coming from a source inside WoTC. I can't believe anyone there would risk it after the whole R_E fiasco, and even then, they can't remember names, mana costs, and creature types, but they can remember the collector numbers? Seems awfully suspicious.
As for the cards themselves, the only one that seems unreasonable to me is the green rare. We already know it's expensive (some variant of XGGG), and for that you get 1 life per turn and the ability to play an extra land each turn? There's really no synergy whatsoever between those two abilities or flavor that I can think of, and it's a horrible card in both Limited and Constructed for that cost. For reference, Exploration costs G for the same "play 2 lands per turn" ability and it only saw play in the Turboland combo deck. The white common to me also seems like a card they would not print, because keeping track of a tapped down effect for two turns seems like a headache for judges and players alike. The rest are just boring and predictable.
*crosses his fingers and hopes for real spoiled cards soon*
I've seen this a number of times before, and shot it down. They aren't doing this. Period. Why? Because (le gasp) mechanics are the meat of future sets; giving away their mechanics would really spoil the sets, and there is no way they're doing it. Its just a bad idea for WotC, plus they'd only have at most 2 years to choose from, and many would probably be sketchy or even cut before they made it anywhere.
They aren't doing this, if you want to speculate about it, do it in the appropriate thread in the speculation forum. It won't happen, but the speculation forum is for bad ideas like that.
You must have missed MaRo's entire column last week where he described this entire block as a "calculated risk". Just wait, it'll happen, even if it's only a few cards or a few keywords.
People have been making speculations about the entire block mechanic progression, but I think it's pretty obvious if you think about it that:
Time Spiral = Mechanics from old blocks based in Dominaria. Planar Chaos = Mechanics from non-Dominaria blocks (Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica). Future Sight = Mechanics from future blocks.
As for these cards themselves.. I'm honestly kind of disappointed. I really look forward to learning NEW mechanics and NEW cards when a new set comes out, and seeing that the set will be dominated by things I've already seen before leaves me feeling a little empty. Hopefully some of the other cards that will come down the pipe will redeem the set a little more in my eyes.
EDIT: Mine doesn't work either, and borderpost only appears 10 times on the orb so it is at most on each card twice. It's almost certainly an alternate cost.
firewild - 3
mistvein - 3
fieldmist - 3
wildfield - 3
Veinfire - 3
borderpost - 10
untapped - 1
It's not untapped land. Probably something similar though.
The first question is Resounding Thunder vs. Banefire. Personally, I am thinking that Resounding Thunder is just as good because for essentially 1 extra mana (Banefire for 7 vs. cycling Resounding Thunder for 8 will both net you 6 damage.) you are getting to draw a card and play the spell at instant speed. Also, it is better spot removal earlier in the game since Banefire is far more clunky as a sorcery. Of course, the downside is that you can't get more than 6 damage out of it. I realize we are not going to play more than 2 Banefire so it's not a huge deal, but it's still something to think about.
Also I haven't really seen much debate on which board sweepers to use and how many are appropriate, even though it is one of the most important aspects of the deck. The candidates are:
Jund Charm - Versitile with 3 very relevant modes in the current metagame.
Volcanic Fallout - Instant speed and uncounterable is a huge plus.
Firespout - Deals an extra point of damage, can potentially be one-sided if you are playing against Faeries or tokens.
Infest - Gets around that pesky Burrenton Forge-Tender.
Personally, I think 4 Jund Charm is a must. Reveillark is the best creature in T2 right now and is utilized in so many decks. The ability to deal a Reveillark player's graveyard is one of my favorite things about this deck. It's also not totally dead against non-aggro matchups.
As for the others, I don't think there is a definitive #2 right now. I would say that this deck should play 6-7 sweepers MD. A lot will depend on your metagame and the decks you expect to face. If you play a lot of Kithkin, Tokens, or Boat Brew with maindeck Forge-Tenders then Infest seems like the right choice. Otherwise Volcanic Fallout is probably your best option, but I would be curious to hear other people's thoughs on the matter because there doesn't seem to be any consensus as to the best configuration of board sweepers.
Lastly, it's cool to see you all are trying out Ajani Vengeant as well. I added 3 to my current build about a week ago and I think it is absolutely the correct choice.
Thanks!
Nothing personal, but I don't think you should be giving anyone draft advice. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I think you're going to find mine is much more popular than yours.
nvm jarsyl found it: Soulbright Flamekin
As for the cards themselves, the only one that seems unreasonable to me is the green rare. We already know it's expensive (some variant of XGGG), and for that you get 1 life per turn and the ability to play an extra land each turn? There's really no synergy whatsoever between those two abilities or flavor that I can think of, and it's a horrible card in both Limited and Constructed for that cost. For reference, Exploration costs G for the same "play 2 lands per turn" ability and it only saw play in the Turboland combo deck. The white common to me also seems like a card they would not print, because keeping track of a tapped down effect for two turns seems like a headache for judges and players alike. The rest are just boring and predictable.
*crosses his fingers and hopes for real spoiled cards soon*
You must have missed MaRo's entire column last week where he described this entire block as a "calculated risk". Just wait, it'll happen, even if it's only a few cards or a few keywords.
Time Spiral = Mechanics from old blocks based in Dominaria.
Planar Chaos = Mechanics from non-Dominaria blocks (Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica).
Future Sight = Mechanics from future blocks.
As for these cards themselves.. I'm honestly kind of disappointed. I really look forward to learning NEW mechanics and NEW cards when a new set comes out, and seeing that the set will be dominated by things I've already seen before leaves me feeling a little empty. Hopefully some of the other cards that will come down the pipe will redeem the set a little more in my eyes.