Uncommons. These are mostly for limited, the idea being that you can play them in any deck like they where auras, but on-color decks will be able to make the most of them
Quickdraw : When an equipment with Quickdraw enters the battlefield, attach it to target creature you control.
A very simple mechanic I came up with to make a card work. I was curious if I could get enough designs out of it to be a real mechanic, so I made a bunch... A few commons to show it off, a cycle of limited-focused uncommons (You can use them in any deck as auras, but in the right colors they become very powerful) and then some rares and mythics to better show off the things that the mechanic can do.
I'm curious about what people think. Are the designs good enough, or is the mechanic to shallow?
Commons. Nothing fancy, you save mana on your first shot by not having to equip them, but they are more expensive then usual after that.
First Strike
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, that player creates a 1/1 red goblin creature with "Creatures you control attack each combat if able."
"Infiltrate and infuriate!" -Goblin Espionage League motto 2/1
I had Orzhov Charm in for a long time after it came out, first mainboard, then sideboard. I never felt like it was really any good. The first mode is virtually useless. The second mode... I mostly used that one, but it then made it so that I often wouldn't get ascendant online. The third mode is an overcosted 1-drop, or a really, really underpowered Proclamation of Rebirth. Sure it has versatility, but the modes are just too meh for me.
I'm not even sure Castigates belong in anymore, combos like twin where a huge deal when I put them in. Not sure I need the discard as bad anymore.
I'm going to try Elspeth Sun's Champion when I get a chance. She -might- be better then Gideon. I was just surprised at how good Gideon was. Or maybe run both.... mmm, mono-white planeswalker control.
The "level up" one-drops are good enough to eat removal or trade early, and later on I like them because sometimes you draw a Ranger of Eos, but fetching Martyr + Ascendant won't get you to 30 life. In this case, fetching up two Figures of Destiny gives you two threats, even if they aren't as strong and take a lot of mana. Still better then a 1/1 lifelink.
You don't HAVE to show every white card in your hand when you use Martyr. If you have a Wrath of God, it's often a good idea to not reveal it. You'll gain 3 less life, but the opponent will think his coast is clear and overextend, leading to nice blowouts.
You can activate Mistveil Plains with a Squadron Hawk trigger on the stack.
You can activate Weathered Wayfarer with a fetchland trigger on the stack, while you have one "less" land in play.
You're a control deck with plenty of creatures. Pathing your own creature (Especially if it's about to die anyways) is always an option on the table as a ramp spell.
So I hadn't played Modern for a while and a friend asked me to come to a PPTQ with him last weekend, so I dusted off my old Martyr-Proc since it's a deck I know like the back of my hand. It... paid off, so I figured I'd put up a tournament report here. Very old-fashion list, but it's got some nice tricks.
Round 1 : Bye. Yay!
Round 2 0-2 vs Affinity. He got one of those stupid affinity god hands game 1. I might have been able to pull off a win, but I miscounted how much damage he could do and played more threats when I should have played a Martyr to gain 6 life and stay alive. Game 2 I managed to draw a TON of hate (Stony Silence AND Kataki AND Ghostly Prison), but aboslulty no gas. He drew lots of lands and killed me with Inkmoth.
Round 3 2-1 vs RG fatties. He ramps like crazy game 1 and I don't get enough removal to deal with 2 Thragtusks and a Garruk Wildspeaker. Game 2 gets winned by a well-timed Wrath of God. Game 3 gets won by 2 Runned Halos on his main threats. Note that 2 Inferno Titans are quite annoying, even with Runned Halo. Also both games he actually Bonfire of the Damned for x=1 just to kill my Weathered Wayfarer, which was a good play for him, but quite amusing to see.
Round 4 2-1 vs Junk. He wins game 1 through having enough pressure to keep me away from 30 life (Juuuust enough, I got up to 29 at one point). Game 2 and 3 where similar in that I brought in Rest in Peace to deal with all his graveyard stuff. I exile the graveyards (including Lingering Souls and such), then a few turns latter he destroys the Rest in Peace and starts refilling his Graveyard for Goyfs, but by that point I have Emeria online and we all know that's usually GG. Scavanging ooze is really annoying. Gideon is really good at killing Rhinos.
Round 5 2 - 0 vs Naya Zoo. I could have tied into 8th spot, but my opponent would have then been in 9h so I had to play it out. I was VERY happy when I saw the matchup. Game 1 he starts with a Kird Ape, I drop a Martyr with the mana to sac it. He attacks, block-sac, he uses Gore-Clan Rampager to push the damage through but I still go to something like 25. Next turn Ghostly Prison comes down and despite him Atarka's Command'ing my next Martyr, he just can't get damage through and I end up killing him with a big fat Figure of Destiny. Game 2 he Atarka's Commands my first Martyr, but he doesn't have incredible pressure, and he keeps mana up for a second one. Too much telegraphing, I wait until I have two Matyrs and play both. He can only Command one of them, which buys me enough time to get a Wrath and stabilize. At that point I just out-value him too much.
I actually placed 3rd before top 8 because so many other people drew, so I got to play first on my next two matches, which was very nice.
Top 8
Round 1 2 - 1 vs Jeskai Control? With Pyromancer's Ascention and Thing in the Ice as win conditions. Really long and grindy matchup, I don't remember most of it. Won game 1 through getting Emeria online and gaining silly high life every turn, managing to survive even with him having 3 flipped Things in play. Killed him with Squadron Hawks who tanked while I was setting up my engine, then came back with Mistveil to fly over the Things and win the game. Game 2 he got 2 Pyromancer's Ascentions online and that was that. Game 3 I used Hide on his Ascention just as he got it online, which he really didn't plan on, threw him completely off his plan and I could seal the deal.
Round 2 2 - 1 vs Bant Knightfall. Game 1 I don't have a particularly good game, but he just never draws a Knight (And wiffs a Collected Company) so that game was mine. Second game he gets TWO knights off his CoCo. I try to stabilize as much as I can (He also had as scavenging ooze as a threat) but I underestimate how fast he can grow his Knight and like in the Affinity matchup I don't play the Martyr that could have saved me. Game 3 I get the stupid hand with Sera's Ascendant active on turn 2.... and good thing I did, because he gets his own combo on turn 3, but by that point I've already hit twice with Ascendant so he's at too low life to make a fully powered knight, and I'm at too high a life for him to depower Ascendant easily. He uses fetches to tap down my Ascendant, but it's taxing on his life, and a Runned Halo on his Knight means he can't use the 10/10 to pick at my life total. He puts a lot of pressure with Scanveging Ooze, but a second Runned Halo takes care of that, and eventually I get a Ranger of Eos to grab me two more Ascendants which take over the sky. He also Boarded in a Worship, which I thought was weird. I don't think he realized he was (usually) the beatdown.
Round 3 Concede to Affinity (Same I played in the regulars). The two previous matches had taken -two hours- each, I hadn't had time to eat since 8 hours ealier and almost no breaks... I was mentally exhausted, and going up against an Affinity with him on the Play. The guy was a grinder who was on his 7th PPTQ trying to get an invite, I didn't really care THAT much for it, so I conceded and got the prize money in exchange. Think we where both happy with that outcome.
I used to run Elspeth, Knight Errant in Gideon's slot, and I was never really satisfied with her, so I wanted to try something new in her slot. I was going to go for Elspeth, Sun's Champion but the store was out, so I went with Gideon instead. I did not regret it, he pulled his weight every time I drew him. I'd probably go to 2 copies even.
Instead of using planeswalker numbers to determine population, a better idea would be to use something that's not story-dependant. We know that Innistrad (At least, the part of the plane we have seen so far. IIRC it was said before that the plane is actually bigger) is just a little larger then France. Medieval France had a population in the range of about 5 million inhabitants during the early-mid middle ages, which seems like the best fitting time period for me.
Now all that would be left is to try and determine the population density compared to historical France and we'll have a rough number.
That's not how "one in X" works, like, at all. It's just an average. There's one Mythic Rare per 8 packs, but if I tell you I opened 3 mythics from the packs I bought yesterday, that doesn't necessarily mean I bought 24 packs. I could have bought anywhere from 1 to 40+. The only thing that the number of Innistradian Planeswalker tells us is that the population of Innistrad is at least 3.
Also the actual figure we got for planeswalkers was "One in a million people have a spark." The vast majority of sparks never ignite, which would make planeswalkers even rarer then one in a million. But that number is much more a rule of thumb, and the real answer is "A planeswalker is as rare as the story needs it." So every plane, no matter how big, will have a handful of planeswalkers. Which is why there aren't hundreds of planeswalkers on say, Ravnica or Zendikar, despite them being many times larger (And in Ravnica's case, more densly populated) then Innistrad.
Also I believe that Sorin made Avacyn a (relativly) short time after vampires actually became a thing on Innistrad, because if he hadn't, then humanity -would- have become extinct. Possibly before vampires, humanity was just holding out. Then the creation of vampires tipped the balance, which is why Avacyn was needed.
So I just thought about something, as someone mentioned reinforcing the walls and roofs of a whole town with silver doesn't make a whole lot of sense... however maybe they where talking about reinforcing -one house- to keep the person that lived inside that house from leaving the house during the full moon? Could the villagers be willingly keeping a werewolf in their village?
For those that remember, there was an ARG for the original innistrad, and it was really, really awesome. Looks like they're doing something similar again! I know I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
As for speculation, I assume that those that went for the Krallenhorde are some angels, and they cut off the woman's arm either by accident, or as collateral damage which they might not care about anymore?
To all the people saying this looks too "Twilight-y", Maro credits Twilight as one of the things that let him convince The Powers that Be to let him do the original Innistrad. Which was the best set ever. So I wouldn't be too worried about Twilight's influence. Especially when there 100 clues pointing to this being very, very Lovecraftian.
I have a special place for Blinding Angel in my heart, it being the rare in the first booster I ever opened. Plus it's a great start to a prison strategy!
A very simple mechanic I came up with to make a card work. I was curious if I could get enough designs out of it to be a real mechanic, so I made a bunch... A few commons to show it off, a cycle of limited-focused uncommons (You can use them in any deck as auras, but in the right colors they become very powerful) and then some rares and mythics to better show off the things that the mechanic can do.
I'm curious about what people think. Are the designs good enough, or is the mechanic to shallow?
Commons. Nothing fancy, you save mana on your first shot by not having to equip them, but they are more expensive then usual after that.
Goblin Spymaster2R
Creature - Goblin Rogue
First Strike
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, that player creates a 1/1 red goblin creature with "Creatures you control attack each combat if able."
"Infiltrate and infuriate!" -Goblin Espionage League motto
2/1
Very cool card.
I'm not even sure Castigates belong in anymore, combos like twin where a huge deal when I put them in. Not sure I need the discard as bad anymore.
I'm going to try Elspeth Sun's Champion when I get a chance. She -might- be better then Gideon. I was just surprised at how good Gideon was. Or maybe run both.... mmm, mono-white planeswalker control.
The "level up" one-drops are good enough to eat removal or trade early, and later on I like them because sometimes you draw a Ranger of Eos, but fetching Martyr + Ascendant won't get you to 30 life. In this case, fetching up two Figures of Destiny gives you two threats, even if they aren't as strong and take a lot of mana. Still better then a 1/1 lifelink.
You don't HAVE to show every white card in your hand when you use Martyr. If you have a Wrath of God, it's often a good idea to not reveal it. You'll gain 3 less life, but the opponent will think his coast is clear and overextend, leading to nice blowouts.
You can activate Mistveil Plains with a Squadron Hawk trigger on the stack.
You can activate Weathered Wayfarer with a fetchland trigger on the stack, while you have one "less" land in play.
You're a control deck with plenty of creatures. Pathing your own creature (Especially if it's about to die anyways) is always an option on the table as a ramp spell.
Round 1 : Bye. Yay!
Round 2 0-2 vs Affinity. He got one of those stupid affinity god hands game 1. I might have been able to pull off a win, but I miscounted how much damage he could do and played more threats when I should have played a Martyr to gain 6 life and stay alive. Game 2 I managed to draw a TON of hate (Stony Silence AND Kataki AND Ghostly Prison), but aboslulty no gas. He drew lots of lands and killed me with Inkmoth.
Round 3 2-1 vs RG fatties. He ramps like crazy game 1 and I don't get enough removal to deal with 2 Thragtusks and a Garruk Wildspeaker. Game 2 gets winned by a well-timed Wrath of God. Game 3 gets won by 2 Runned Halos on his main threats. Note that 2 Inferno Titans are quite annoying, even with Runned Halo. Also both games he actually Bonfire of the Damned for x=1 just to kill my Weathered Wayfarer, which was a good play for him, but quite amusing to see.
Round 4 2-1 vs Junk. He wins game 1 through having enough pressure to keep me away from 30 life (Juuuust enough, I got up to 29 at one point). Game 2 and 3 where similar in that I brought in Rest in Peace to deal with all his graveyard stuff. I exile the graveyards (including Lingering Souls and such), then a few turns latter he destroys the Rest in Peace and starts refilling his Graveyard for Goyfs, but by that point I have Emeria online and we all know that's usually GG. Scavanging ooze is really annoying. Gideon is really good at killing Rhinos.
Round 5 2 - 0 vs Naya Zoo. I could have tied into 8th spot, but my opponent would have then been in 9h so I had to play it out. I was VERY happy when I saw the matchup. Game 1 he starts with a Kird Ape, I drop a Martyr with the mana to sac it. He attacks, block-sac, he uses Gore-Clan Rampager to push the damage through but I still go to something like 25. Next turn Ghostly Prison comes down and despite him Atarka's Command'ing my next Martyr, he just can't get damage through and I end up killing him with a big fat Figure of Destiny. Game 2 he Atarka's Commands my first Martyr, but he doesn't have incredible pressure, and he keeps mana up for a second one. Too much telegraphing, I wait until I have two Matyrs and play both. He can only Command one of them, which buys me enough time to get a Wrath and stabilize. At that point I just out-value him too much.
I actually placed 3rd before top 8 because so many other people drew, so I got to play first on my next two matches, which was very nice.
Top 8
Round 1 2 - 1 vs Jeskai Control? With Pyromancer's Ascention and Thing in the Ice as win conditions. Really long and grindy matchup, I don't remember most of it. Won game 1 through getting Emeria online and gaining silly high life every turn, managing to survive even with him having 3 flipped Things in play. Killed him with Squadron Hawks who tanked while I was setting up my engine, then came back with Mistveil to fly over the Things and win the game. Game 2 he got 2 Pyromancer's Ascentions online and that was that. Game 3 I used Hide on his Ascention just as he got it online, which he really didn't plan on, threw him completely off his plan and I could seal the deal.
Round 2 2 - 1 vs Bant Knightfall. Game 1 I don't have a particularly good game, but he just never draws a Knight (And wiffs a Collected Company) so that game was mine. Second game he gets TWO knights off his CoCo. I try to stabilize as much as I can (He also had as scavenging ooze as a threat) but I underestimate how fast he can grow his Knight and like in the Affinity matchup I don't play the Martyr that could have saved me. Game 3 I get the stupid hand with Sera's Ascendant active on turn 2.... and good thing I did, because he gets his own combo on turn 3, but by that point I've already hit twice with Ascendant so he's at too low life to make a fully powered knight, and I'm at too high a life for him to depower Ascendant easily. He uses fetches to tap down my Ascendant, but it's taxing on his life, and a Runned Halo on his Knight means he can't use the 10/10 to pick at my life total. He puts a lot of pressure with Scanveging Ooze, but a second Runned Halo takes care of that, and eventually I get a Ranger of Eos to grab me two more Ascendants which take over the sky. He also Boarded in a Worship, which I thought was weird. I don't think he realized he was (usually) the beatdown.
Round 3 Concede to Affinity (Same I played in the regulars). The two previous matches had taken -two hours- each, I hadn't had time to eat since 8 hours ealier and almost no breaks... I was mentally exhausted, and going up against an Affinity with him on the Play. The guy was a grinder who was on his 7th PPTQ trying to get an invite, I didn't really care THAT much for it, so I conceded and got the prize money in exchange. Think we where both happy with that outcome.
LIST :
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Godless Shrine
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Mistveil Plains
4 Marsh Flats
2 Arid Mesa
12 Plains
Creatures
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Serra Ascendant
2 Figure of Destiny
1 Student of Warfare
1 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Path to Exile
4 Proclamation of Rebirth
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Wrath of God
3 Castigate
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Gideon Jura
1 Wrath of God
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Hide // Seek
4 Runed Halo
2 Leyline of Sanctity
I used to run Elspeth, Knight Errant in Gideon's slot, and I was never really satisfied with her, so I wanted to try something new in her slot. I was going to go for Elspeth, Sun's Champion but the store was out, so I went with Gideon instead. I did not regret it, he pulled his weight every time I drew him. I'd probably go to 2 copies even.
Now all that would be left is to try and determine the population density compared to historical France and we'll have a rough number.
Also the actual figure we got for planeswalkers was "One in a million people have a spark." The vast majority of sparks never ignite, which would make planeswalkers even rarer then one in a million. But that number is much more a rule of thumb, and the real answer is "A planeswalker is as rare as the story needs it." So every plane, no matter how big, will have a handful of planeswalkers. Which is why there aren't hundreds of planeswalkers on say, Ravnica or Zendikar, despite them being many times larger (And in Ravnica's case, more densly populated) then Innistrad.
Also I believe that Sorin made Avacyn a (relativly) short time after vampires actually became a thing on Innistrad, because if he hadn't, then humanity -would- have become extinct. Possibly before vampires, humanity was just holding out. Then the creation of vampires tipped the balance, which is why Avacyn was needed.
For those that remember, there was an ARG for the original innistrad, and it was really, really awesome. Looks like they're doing something similar again! I know I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
As for speculation, I assume that those that went for the Krallenhorde are some angels, and they cut off the woman's arm either by accident, or as collateral damage which they might not care about anymore?