I was about 15 when I started buying and reading the Magic novels, in Englisch cause there were no translations into Dutch ( from the Netherland myself) and probably the main reason I still read most books in English ( working my way thru the Discwords series( which could make an awesome cardgame))
The books and Magic in general have increased my vocabulary a whole lot.
( it's amazing how many answers from the British "Weakest Link" I know simply because of Magic.)
Bring back the real characters instead of Planeswalkers.
In the old stories, they were special and mysterious. Now they are all over the place and cannot be related to imho.
I love this game, but reintroducing some nice storylines would really get me hooked and maybe even persuade me to start playing paper magic again ( only play MTGO now)
First post should say I started playing paper magic after the release of Exodus
My experience with my Angel decks has shown that Battlegrace Angel is far superior to Blinding Angel and actually on par with Exalted. Id make it a mix of Angel of Despair (expensive though at 4 tickets or so), Battle Grace and Exalted.) I completely concur with Moat but also an expensive card. Ghostly prison is cheaper for a similar effect.
Been too long since your last art review but where is the artist interview? (I know it might be hard to get thme to comment after all this time.:))
Urza's Block throughout, was a real topsey turvy set in terms of its play value. Alot of broken interactions and then crappy cards that turned out to be alot better on 2nd look. Lifeline anyone? (Lifeline has an amazing image imho.) I disliked limited Urza's alot but I absolutely LOVED the art. Yes it was somewhat monocromatic but really who doesn't love the art for the serras or Greater Whale etc? Well apparently you don't. But I do. I respect your opinion on the art as being yours but from perspect the art was some of the best at the time in the game. Perhaps more so because of the effect of art in miniature as opposed to how card art looks at full size. I am going entirely from a visceral response with no real interest in whether something makes sense in terms of some matriculated aesthetic.
My parents were both art teachers so I do not intend this to be a slight. I simply just find the art to be amazing with little to no holes to poke. But that is the wonderful thing about art. It is subject to each viewer's tastes, be they refined or not. On the other hand I get the continuity issues you raise. And in particular the Opal cards should have been given better names or different art. That is what happens I think when things are left to the last possible moment. (Just a guess.)
I think the short sales period for classic packs seems a lot more like a money grab than it used to. The reason being that WotC pushed Legacy online before it was ready. This created somewhat of a demand where there might not have been otherwise. I am of the gut feeling however that this can't be the reason WotC did this. They have very rarely made strictly money based decisions in the past that adversely affected the player base so much (other than the horrible push for V3 when it was bad and clearly not ready.) I am sure there is some underlying reason they haven't stated that makes more sense than the pablum we have been fed here. I too do not buy "unique and exciting" or "increased length of events". On the other hand in this extended period of economic devastation it does make sense that WotC would have to pay more attention to it's bottom line to please it's parent company. Keeping the bottom line in the black is crucial. Especially with potentially big changes up ahead. The whole buzz of the innovations for v3.5 etc have died down but some of us can't wait. The disaster that is the V3 UI shall quickly be forgotten when V3.5 comes online er I mean *what's the code word again?*
I am not surprised Urza's singles prices have dropped a little. They were highly inflated by the knowledge that it would only be available for a short time and an expected high demand based on the coming of legacy. I am surprised the crap rares haven't hit the .05 mark yet. That Sapling, Vigor and City of Solitude have gone up speaks to some deck I think though I don't know what it is.
One last thing you list a bunch of packs but not others. No Odyssey, No Mirrodin, No MWV, etc I can't believe those packs have 0 EV or is it because there is no draft current for them? (Nix tix MWV is definitely coming up.)
Agree with Morkje that was, not the line about ill advised telling story through cards, as for me that was one of the reasons i really got hooked on magic. i collected cards just to understand the story better and that helped me imerse myself in the universe (or should that be multiverse?) they were creating.
Deep and well sculpted legends and a belivable world, not a glossy plane filled with sheepherders.
I could not agree more about the art and telling a story. I think wotc moved away from it to push the books harder, but thats just a guess.
And allthough urza block did a good job telling a story through the cards it dosent even begin to touch what tempest block did. That block was close to a comic if read right (and i do belive there was an article about that on the mothership a little while ago) and the legends you knew where fitted into the stories unlike nowdays where for all i know they could just be random dudes with legend subtype.
Like Morkje i also feel that the cards nowdays are nothing more, no story and little flavour. Want good examples of how it should be done? Diabolic Edict from tempest is maybe the finest example, but cards like Coercion, Disenchant, Eladamri`s Vineyard, Giant Strength, Hanna's Custody and pacifism, all from tempest alone, does a great job.
All in all i feel that magic is alienating atm, unless i read up on it by the novels or articles on the mothership i dont have a clue as to whats going on.
Oh and another thing, couldnt they make it a little darker and more adult. Whereas rath cycle could have made for a genuinly good and moody fantasy film, zen block feels like playing d&d with a 13 year old DM.
Excellent review plus great commentary. The Urza's Saga precon The Plague was the first I ever bought, and while you raise a good point about the white art, I think that the art in Saga is quite flavorful, and has a certain je ne sais quoi that some sets lack. I'm not especially excited about RoTE, but maybe they'll get good old Carl to do some great pieces again.
I started playing paper Magic, and having this release online made me realise how awesome the art was.
a couple of reasons:
1)I'm a huge fan or Rebecca Guay and she has done a lot of good work for Urza's Saga.
2) Each colour got his own world/setting/felling.
which leads to
3) I loved how the cards told the story of Urza, his travels and the history of the events about to take place later on. I loved the way old sets told stories in general, and weren't just random cards from a world ( which started with Ravnica I think, but gotten worse with the introduction of the new planeswalkers.
What card from Zendikar tells you about the story? Printing the planewalkers and some legendary creatures doesnt cut it for me.
I liked the cards which had character names in them, like Orim's Chant of Tangarths Glare ( ok, maybe not glare..)
I'm really hoping the return to mirrodin and hopefully the return of old characters ( Karn Planeswalkers PLEASE!!) will bring this back.
Unfortunately, Time Spiral didn't really gave me that feeling altho some old goodies returned.
As for Urza Saga art:
Green is the best imho.
Many cards seem to come straight out of comic books, which i really liked.
Just wondering if there was a reason for you to not be using Obsidian Battle Axe.
Hall of the Bandit Lord also good for the haste.
Which is always a nice thing to have in commander.
Deserted Temple has some nice interactions.
Vesuva is pretty much always useful.
Basically all utility lands are worth a look over.
I had to stop reading to post this. How did Wizards not realize Goblin Lackey is just nuts? Maybe its my knowledge of the future, but wow! How come I cant get a Giant or a Treefolk that does the same thing? I hate goblins and elves.
The Dark was awesome! So many strange cards. Amnesia and Blood of the Martyr still stick out in my mind.
Teaching the kids is going to have to wait a little, since I don't have any physical cards and they are pretty young. But one day...
My approach is slightly different from Hammy's but both can serve to help you control the flow of long articles by hiding lists, spoilers and the like under links. Hope this helps.
Also I recommend you become familiar with the way the editor generates HTML so that you are comfortable altering it.
Adding images is very easy though. Either in HTML use the <img> tag or in rich text mode use the img button on the controls. I recommend previewing each change before saving.
In addition card images are even easier as Jamuraa set up an autocard feature as follows:
Parentheses around a legitimate card name generates a link.
(pic=card name) generates a picture
and
(tmb=card name) generates a thumbnail.
Further more if you look at Godot's articles as an example, you can see how he sets up a drafting using the file provided by the client filtered through a site linked in his articles (by Ben Peebles if I remember rightly.)
Feel free to talk to me in game if you get confused stuck etc. (Winter.Wolf)
PS mana symbols are easy too with (mana=first letter of color) so for instance (mana=b) generates a black mana symbol.
Funny, I took a totally different route. Not that I own Pyros but I wouldn't even have thought of them. Of course with the red borderposts to exile it does make sense. I chose to use Necroplasm Bloodhall Ooze Manaplasm Acidic Slime and Ancient Ooze, using some traditional jund cards for support.
With the new set coming out and defenders being more rampant than ever, why not try a wall tribal. throw in rolling stones and you can attack, you just have to include someone like dosan the siege tower to provide that extra kick in the teeth.
That got me hooked on Magic as well, the story.
I was about 15 when I started buying and reading the Magic novels, in Englisch cause there were no translations into Dutch ( from the Netherland myself) and probably the main reason I still read most books in English ( working my way thru the Discwords series( which could make an awesome cardgame))
The books and Magic in general have increased my vocabulary a whole lot.
( it's amazing how many answers from the British "Weakest Link" I know simply because of Magic.)
Bring back the real characters instead of Planeswalkers.
In the old stories, they were special and mysterious. Now they are all over the place and cannot be related to imho.
I love this game, but reintroducing some nice storylines would really get me hooked and maybe even persuade me to start playing paper magic again ( only play MTGO now)
First post should say I started playing paper magic after the release of Exodus
My experience with my Angel decks has shown that Battlegrace Angel is far superior to Blinding Angel and actually on par with Exalted. Id make it a mix of Angel of Despair (expensive though at 4 tickets or so), Battle Grace and Exalted.) I completely concur with Moat but also an expensive card. Ghostly prison is cheaper for a similar effect.
Been too long since your last art review but where is the artist interview? (I know it might be hard to get thme to comment after all this time.:))
Urza's Block throughout, was a real topsey turvy set in terms of its play value. Alot of broken interactions and then crappy cards that turned out to be alot better on 2nd look. Lifeline anyone? (Lifeline has an amazing image imho.) I disliked limited Urza's alot but I absolutely LOVED the art. Yes it was somewhat monocromatic but really who doesn't love the art for the serras or Greater Whale etc? Well apparently you don't. But I do. I respect your opinion on the art as being yours but from perspect the art was some of the best at the time in the game. Perhaps more so because of the effect of art in miniature as opposed to how card art looks at full size. I am going entirely from a visceral response with no real interest in whether something makes sense in terms of some matriculated aesthetic.
My parents were both art teachers so I do not intend this to be a slight. I simply just find the art to be amazing with little to no holes to poke. But that is the wonderful thing about art. It is subject to each viewer's tastes, be they refined or not. On the other hand I get the continuity issues you raise. And in particular the Opal cards should have been given better names or different art. That is what happens I think when things are left to the last possible moment. (Just a guess.)
I think the short sales period for classic packs seems a lot more like a money grab than it used to. The reason being that WotC pushed Legacy online before it was ready. This created somewhat of a demand where there might not have been otherwise. I am of the gut feeling however that this can't be the reason WotC did this. They have very rarely made strictly money based decisions in the past that adversely affected the player base so much (other than the horrible push for V3 when it was bad and clearly not ready.) I am sure there is some underlying reason they haven't stated that makes more sense than the pablum we have been fed here. I too do not buy "unique and exciting" or "increased length of events". On the other hand in this extended period of economic devastation it does make sense that WotC would have to pay more attention to it's bottom line to please it's parent company. Keeping the bottom line in the black is crucial. Especially with potentially big changes up ahead. The whole buzz of the innovations for v3.5 etc have died down but some of us can't wait. The disaster that is the V3 UI shall quickly be forgotten when V3.5 comes online er I mean *what's the code word again?*
I am not surprised Urza's singles prices have dropped a little. They were highly inflated by the knowledge that it would only be available for a short time and an expected high demand based on the coming of legacy. I am surprised the crap rares haven't hit the .05 mark yet. That Sapling, Vigor and City of Solitude have gone up speaks to some deck I think though I don't know what it is.
One last thing you list a bunch of packs but not others. No Odyssey, No Mirrodin, No MWV, etc I can't believe those packs have 0 EV or is it because there is no draft current for them? (Nix tix MWV is definitely coming up.)
Looks nice, I would take out Serra Angel and Sustainer of the Realm
for 2 Angel of Despair, 2 Blinding Angel and 4 Exalted Angel's.
You may also want to find a way of including Moat as well, it works wonders for Angel decks.
If you can afford it some Scrubland's and Godless Shrine's would help your mana out.
holy crap FoW at 85... I should sell my three and could fill in all the other holes in my collection jeeze
good stuff as always I know I'm one who wanted the Urza release to be longer, had to rush into a draft just so I could get it done before the deadline
and I'm sure I missed this, but whats with MTGOTraders' stock? Wanted to simply grab a fourth Pestil, but even at common it was out of stock
Agree with Morkje that was, not the line about ill advised telling story through cards, as for me that was one of the reasons i really got hooked on magic. i collected cards just to understand the story better and that helped me imerse myself in the universe (or should that be multiverse?) they were creating.
Deep and well sculpted legends and a belivable world, not a glossy plane filled with sheepherders.
I could not agree more about the art and telling a story. I think wotc moved away from it to push the books harder, but thats just a guess.
And allthough urza block did a good job telling a story through the cards it dosent even begin to touch what tempest block did. That block was close to a comic if read right (and i do belive there was an article about that on the mothership a little while ago) and the legends you knew where fitted into the stories unlike nowdays where for all i know they could just be random dudes with legend subtype.
Like Morkje i also feel that the cards nowdays are nothing more, no story and little flavour. Want good examples of how it should be done? Diabolic Edict from tempest is maybe the finest example, but cards like Coercion, Disenchant, Eladamri`s Vineyard, Giant Strength, Hanna's Custody and pacifism, all from tempest alone, does a great job.
All in all i feel that magic is alienating atm, unless i read up on it by the novels or articles on the mothership i dont have a clue as to whats going on.
Oh and another thing, couldnt they make it a little darker and more adult. Whereas rath cycle could have made for a genuinly good and moody fantasy film, zen block feels like playing d&d with a 13 year old DM.
Excellent review plus great commentary. The Urza's Saga precon The Plague was the first I ever bought, and while you raise a good point about the white art, I think that the art in Saga is quite flavorful, and has a certain je ne sais quoi that some sets lack. I'm not especially excited about RoTE, but maybe they'll get good old Carl to do some great pieces again.
I started playing paper Magic, and having this release online made me realise how awesome the art was.
a couple of reasons:
1)I'm a huge fan or Rebecca Guay and she has done a lot of good work for Urza's Saga.
2) Each colour got his own world/setting/felling.
which leads to
3) I loved how the cards told the story of Urza, his travels and the history of the events about to take place later on. I loved the way old sets told stories in general, and weren't just random cards from a world ( which started with Ravnica I think, but gotten worse with the introduction of the new planeswalkers.
What card from Zendikar tells you about the story? Printing the planewalkers and some legendary creatures doesnt cut it for me.
I liked the cards which had character names in them, like Orim's Chant of Tangarths Glare ( ok, maybe not glare..)
I'm really hoping the return to mirrodin and hopefully the return of old characters ( Karn Planeswalkers PLEASE!!) will bring this back.
Unfortunately, Time Spiral didn't really gave me that feeling altho some old goodies returned.
As for Urza Saga art:
Green is the best imho.
Many cards seem to come straight out of comic books, which i really liked.
Just wondering if there was a reason for you to not be using Obsidian Battle Axe.
Hall of the Bandit Lord also good for the haste.
Which is always a nice thing to have in commander.
Deserted Temple has some nice interactions.
Vesuva is pretty much always useful.
Basically all utility lands are worth a look over.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Getting Page Not Found errors on the price graphs
I had to stop reading to post this. How did Wizards not realize Goblin Lackey is just nuts? Maybe its my knowledge of the future, but wow! How come I cant get a Giant or a Treefolk that does the same thing? I hate goblins and elves.
I liked the article.
im also into allies and i'm planning to build the deck below.. could you please comment on this deck? suggestions will be much appreciated.
31 Creatures:
4 hada freeblade
4 kazandu blademaster
4 oran-rief survivalist
4 umara raptor
4 dauntless escort
3 harabaz druid
2 sea gate loremaster
2 ondu cleric
2 talus paladin
2 kabira evangel
6 Spells:
3 path to exile
3 day of judgment
23 Lands:
6 plains
4 forest
4 island
4 ancient ziggurat
3 seaside citadel
2 celestial colonnade
15 Sideboards:
4 spreading seas
4 celestial purge
3 negate
3 flashfreeze
1 day of judgment
Yw :)
The Dark was awesome! So many strange cards. Amnesia and Blood of the Martyr still stick out in my mind.
Teaching the kids is going to have to wait a little, since I don't have any physical cards and they are pretty young. But one day...
Thanks for the info. I will definitely check all that out. I also posted a question in the forum about my picture issues.
Love the layout, very easy read
Welcome! I too am a fellow "Dark" first-set player...hope you teach your kid(s) magic, I do, it's a great language and math builder.
Hamtastic did a thread on the forums about show/hide scripts and I wrote up a little tutorial of my own here:
http://outofthebrokensky.com/mtgo/tutorial.html
My approach is slightly different from Hammy's but both can serve to help you control the flow of long articles by hiding lists, spoilers and the like under links. Hope this helps.
Also I recommend you become familiar with the way the editor generates HTML so that you are comfortable altering it.
Adding images is very easy though. Either in HTML use the <img> tag or in rich text mode use the img button on the controls. I recommend previewing each change before saving.
In addition card images are even easier as Jamuraa set up an autocard feature as follows:
Parentheses around a legitimate card name generates a link.
(pic=card name) generates a picture
and
(tmb=card name) generates a thumbnail.
Further more if you look at Godot's articles as an example, you can see how he sets up a drafting using the file provided by the client filtered through a site linked in his articles (by Ben Peebles if I remember rightly.)
Feel free to talk to me in game if you get confused stuck etc. (Winter.Wolf)
PS mana symbols are easy too with (mana=first letter of color) so for instance (mana=b) generates a black mana symbol.
Funny, I took a totally different route. Not that I own Pyros but I wouldn't even have thought of them. Of course with the red borderposts to exile it does make sense. I chose to use Necroplasm Bloodhall Ooze Manaplasm Acidic Slime and Ancient Ooze, using some traditional jund cards for support.
I used to play an angel deck, it wasn't tribal but I made it tribal. Let me know what you think.
3 Desolation Angel
4 Serra Angel
4 Sustainer of the Realm
4 Voice of All
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Serra Avenger
4 Chainer's Edict
4 Rout
3 Damnation
2 Vindicate
2 Diabolic Edict
4 Caves of Koilos
11 Plains
10 Swamp
With the new set coming out and defenders being more rampant than ever, why not try a wall tribal. throw in rolling stones and you can attack, you just have to include someone like dosan the siege tower to provide that extra kick in the teeth.