There are lords for just about every tribe (creature type with a large number of cards). They come out every so often, especially when there is a major tribal thrust, like there was in Innistrad block. In that one, the main tribes were Humans (all colors), Spirits (Blue-White), Zombies (Blue-Black), Vampires (Black-Red) and Werewolves (Green-Red).
The Lords were: Diregraf Captain (Zombies) Drogskol Captain (Spirits) Stromkirk Captain (Vampires) Immerwolf and Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha (Werewolves)
Humans did not really have a "Lord" although several cards did grant bonuses to humans or were made better by a number of them (such as Champion of the Parish).
Understand, for the most part, life gain in and of itself is usually a poor strategy. It can, however, be an important part of a combo.
Basically, the last real strong life gain card I remember being "essential" for standard was Sword of War and Peace, and basically its main reason for being effective was that it offset the use of Phyrexian Mana in Scars of Mirrodin/Innistrad standard for cards like Dismember and Phyrexian Metamorph. They would cause you to lose 2 life (or 4), and then swinging with a creature equipped with SoWaP gained you that life back.
Not saying that life gain is a bad idea, just that it is not a win condition (without something else).
A few gems in there, but overall, for the expected price (over $250) it is a bit underwhelming. Jace and Force are sweet, and there is a lot of utility there, but nothing really worth me shucking out that big a chunk on cards I won't be playing.
Mostly, because it would be too powerful to put back in Standard. An aggressive Standard, like we have now, would merely see Dark Confidant as a cheap, and relatively painless, way to have card advantage. Many aggro decks are full of cards with CMC 3 or less, making a reprinted Bob crazy broken. Same reason they did not reprint Lightning Helix, which would have been WAY too strong in a Standard that included Snapcaster Mage. Notice both of those cards DID get a reprint in Modern Masters.
To be clear: I am not saying the players would make fun of my son for losing. I am saying they would make fun of him for tapping his creatures to block, consistently forgetting to untap, and other actions that show that his head is NOT in the game.
It is by no means complete, and by no means universal.
I know someone who says "And I go team Venture..." every time he attacks with all of his creatures at once.
I have been known to cluck like a chicken when I play a Birds of Paradise, especially since someone I played against cast a Lightning Bolt on one and called it Barbecued Chicken.
Another name for Snapcaster Mage is Tiago, after the player who designed it.
A lot of the lingo will, by it's nature, be group-specific. For instance, in our group, I used to have this habit of tapping all of my lands using both hands, and slightly hunched shoulders, when I was dropping the game-winning effect. That has become "Wayne-tap". It is a joke we all laugh off. Some people say that they are going to "Wayne-tap" their lands when they are acting aggressively in the game. I even heard one saying he was going to "Wayne-tap" his girlfriend's backside. I thought that was hilarious.
Ehrmagersh, a new deck is doing well. Breakz out de banhammerz!
I really have no idea why people get so worked up about it. Build something that can kill it, or play it yourself.
If everyone who complained about Magic could have their way, Combo, Control, Eldrazi, Mill, Burn, Land Destruction, Reanimator, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Burning-Tree Emissary...and, eventually, every other card printed will end up being banned. If you look hard enough, there has to be someone who dislikes EVERY card ever made.
I do know how you feel. I live in a small town where there is 1 other player who likes to make Standard decks. And, we have BRUTAL battles, but we know the other person's deck inside and out. Everyone else, they are PURE casual. As in Pauper Casual Vintage no limits casual. Many of them have the idea that all decks should be built purely on out of the pack luck builds (in effect a HUGE sealed deck that includes every other pack you have ever cracked). Except when THEY want to buy cards.
They say "Standard is boring." They say "Standard is too expensive." Yet they don't mind dropping $200 on lands they want for a deck. They complain about "Internet Combos" (meaning netdecks). They play the same decks year after year, with only the occasional swap out for a card they think is better.
They don't draft well. They don't sealed well. They also get furious if you suggest that a limited card pool is a good thing. "If I have it, I am darned sure going to play it." "Yeah, if I had 4 Black Lotuses, you would for sure see them in a deck." They have decks with 4 Sol Rings. If you suggest that is not a good thing, they say that they don't play competitive, so it doesn't matter. If you don't like it, you can take your cards on down the road. But they will rage quit if an Eldrazi hits the board.
Ends up pretty much being that I play casual with less than half of the people around here, and do my best to get to FNM once a month or so, so that I can play Standard or Draft against people who will actually test my deckbuilding and skills.
I was laughed at, on this very board, for playing 2 Angel of Glory's Rise in my tribal humans deck right as it came out. That deck, without help of the internet, evolved into a Human Reanimator deck, very much like the one that was, for a short time, at the top of the net decks. I had been running that deck, with slight modifications, from the drop of Innistrad to now. I am probably going to finally retire it in 3 months.
That's OK, I remember once, I caught a typo on the mothership as well. The "winning deck list" from the previous weekend's event, a Standard event, featured a deck with 56 cards.
I called Wizards immediately and asked about it. It was corrected within 2 hours. I didn't make a big deal about how stupid Wizards was, though.
Especially when I am teaching someone the game, I am a STICKLER for the rules. I don't do it punitively, I do it educative, but I definitely act like a rules Nazi.
Some of my pet peeves: Drawing before untapping; tapping a creature to declare it as a blocker; and using Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon references during the game. My son keeps asking if we will take him to the next prerelease, and I keep saying that he can't go until he gets his phases correctly down (untap, upkeep, draw) and stops tapping to block. I say that rookie mistakes will keep him from going, not just keep him from winning. And, then, the next turn, he taps to block again.
Or, should I just let him go, get slaughtered and laughed at, and make him want to rage quit Magic forever?
The Lords were:
Diregraf Captain (Zombies)
Drogskol Captain (Spirits)
Stromkirk Captain (Vampires)
Immerwolf and Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha (Werewolves)
Humans did not really have a "Lord" although several cards did grant bonuses to humans or were made better by a number of them (such as Champion of the Parish).
Basically, the last real strong life gain card I remember being "essential" for standard was Sword of War and Peace, and basically its main reason for being effective was that it offset the use of Phyrexian Mana in Scars of Mirrodin/Innistrad standard for cards like Dismember and Phyrexian Metamorph. They would cause you to lose 2 life (or 4), and then swinging with a creature equipped with SoWaP gained you that life back.
Not saying that life gain is a bad idea, just that it is not a win condition (without something else).
He does seem enamored with loops.....
It is by no means complete, and by no means universal.
I know someone who says "And I go team Venture..." every time he attacks with all of his creatures at once.
I have been known to cluck like a chicken when I play a Birds of Paradise, especially since someone I played against cast a Lightning Bolt on one and called it Barbecued Chicken.
Another name for Snapcaster Mage is Tiago, after the player who designed it.
A lot of the lingo will, by it's nature, be group-specific. For instance, in our group, I used to have this habit of tapping all of my lands using both hands, and slightly hunched shoulders, when I was dropping the game-winning effect. That has become "Wayne-tap". It is a joke we all laugh off. Some people say that they are going to "Wayne-tap" their lands when they are acting aggressively in the game. I even heard one saying he was going to "Wayne-tap" his girlfriend's backside. I thought that was hilarious.
Sig it if you like. I would be honored.
Fun = whatever I did draft.
Why can't people draft more fun decks? Oh, right, I drafted those cards.
Complainers gonna complain.
I really have no idea why people get so worked up about it. Build something that can kill it, or play it yourself.
If everyone who complained about Magic could have their way, Combo, Control, Eldrazi, Mill, Burn, Land Destruction, Reanimator, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Burning-Tree Emissary...and, eventually, every other card printed will end up being banned. If you look hard enough, there has to be someone who dislikes EVERY card ever made.
They say "Standard is boring." They say "Standard is too expensive." Yet they don't mind dropping $200 on lands they want for a deck. They complain about "Internet Combos" (meaning netdecks). They play the same decks year after year, with only the occasional swap out for a card they think is better.
They don't draft well. They don't sealed well. They also get furious if you suggest that a limited card pool is a good thing. "If I have it, I am darned sure going to play it." "Yeah, if I had 4 Black Lotuses, you would for sure see them in a deck." They have decks with 4 Sol Rings. If you suggest that is not a good thing, they say that they don't play competitive, so it doesn't matter. If you don't like it, you can take your cards on down the road. But they will rage quit if an Eldrazi hits the board.
Ends up pretty much being that I play casual with less than half of the people around here, and do my best to get to FNM once a month or so, so that I can play Standard or Draft against people who will actually test my deckbuilding and skills.
I called Wizards immediately and asked about it. It was corrected within 2 hours. I didn't make a big deal about how stupid Wizards was, though.
If you like surprises, go for it. Just don't expect to get anything playable outside of casual and edh.
Some of my pet peeves: Drawing before untapping; tapping a creature to declare it as a blocker; and using Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon references during the game. My son keeps asking if we will take him to the next prerelease, and I keep saying that he can't go until he gets his phases correctly down (untap, upkeep, draw) and stops tapping to block. I say that rookie mistakes will keep him from going, not just keep him from winning. And, then, the next turn, he taps to block again.
Or, should I just let him go, get slaughtered and laughed at, and make him want to rage quit Magic forever?