What? You're crazy! Why do you say this?Phyrexian Arena is a trap card in Commander anyway. You shouldn't run it.
It's always served me well in our battlecruiser 1-2 hour games haha I can see your argument if you're playing in a high power or competitive game thoughIt does nothing the turn it comes into play. After that, it draws you a card once a turn at the cost of life. It takes a full two turns around the table just to break even with multiple other black draw spells. You need 3+ turns to draw more cards, and that still has to balance against the fact that the other black draw spells give you the cards immediately and here you must wait many turns to get them. Sign in Blood is a much better card and I'd never run Phyrexian Arena over it. Oh, and Phyrexian Arena can be destroyed (which is relevant when evaluating versus an instant/sorcery).
if everyone on the table likes it that's fine here people groan myself included and I make a point of sometimes irrationally targeting those cards or if I can't, the player that has them.Nah cause they're running it too and laughing about it
I played a game with a friend and he had both Rhystic and Smothering Tithe out and I had Tithe and it was a lot of fun
If you play Commander, please go fill out the First Annual Commander Climate Survey. Seems like the Rules Committee will be at least looking at this one.
All three can go. Take Cyclonic Rift as wellIf they refuse to ban Sol Ring, they should at least ban Mana Crypt and Gaea's Cradle for being dumb ramp.
Signed. I love playing Rift but that's a dumb card I feel slightly apologetic about every time I do.
The power level isn't the issue. The way most players don't win the game and make it go on for another hour after playing it is.I must be in the minority that thinks Cyclonic Rift is at an appropriate power level.
The mana positive rocks too. They make for interesting gameplay.
Non-Commander question:
I'm setting up a draft event for my casual commander group, none of us draft more than five or six times a year. Should we draft Core Set 202 or Modern Horizons? Most people in the group go into a draft event hoping to pull value to recoup the cost of drafting and hoping to get some fun cards to potentially put in their decks. That makes me lean toward Horizons. Why not go big on the potential of pulls...
But...most of us are terrible at drafting...and I can't imagine we'd do well with the complicated draft environment. Which makes me lean toward 2020...
Any input would be appreciated on this!
In a casual event among friends I don't think I'd worry that much about "not being good at drafting" ruining a Horizons draft for you
People bitch about 3feri, but nissa it's miles ahead stronger than him.
People bitch about 3feri, but nissa it's miles ahead stronger than him.
My totally unqualified thoughts on Commander based on my small playgroup:
Cyclonic Rift is in blue (-), does not have a clear parallel in power level in other colors (-), is an instant (-), is in almost every deck that can play it (-), does not have answers (-), and does not always serve to close the game (-)...With that said I don't think it needs to be banned or even that there is something wrong with the power level, it just needs answers in more colors and maybe even better board wipes in other colors. Also, as mentioned: board wipes that just serve as a reset and don't close out the game are the main point of frustration. Cyclonic Rift gets an especially bad wrap because of how ubiquitous it is, but the reality is that many other board wipes create the same reset board state that is undesirable.
I like the idea of Unified Commander Damage, it cleans up the rules nicely. In my play group we actually deal with commander damage frequently, and I'm continually surprised by how often I hear people talk about how irrelevant it is (we are not in a cEDH group). One of the most recent games I played in I won with commander damage, I also run an Atraxa deck that has a reputation in my group for winning via commander damage. Cleaning the rules up sounds great, but you'd certainly have to raise the damage total to 31 or something. I want to test out the rule, but have seen a ton of hate for the idea...
I do not understand why people want to amend the color identity rule to allow hybrid mana to be included in decks that only have one of the two colors in the mana cost. My understanding is that the cards exist with hybrid mana because they function in a design space that either is between both colors, or incorporates design space of both colors. Isn't one reasons for the color identity rule to keep decks flavorfuly on color? If you allow hybrid mana, why not allow split cards that have one side on color? What about cards that don't have the off color pip in the mana cost, but has it in the rules text for an effect (and not reminder text)?
I've heard people talk about (on the Command Zone Summit episodes) restricting conceding to "Sorcery Speed." I love this idea for multiplayer commander games. I know that I've pulled the jerk-move of conceding right after someone swings in on me just to leave them exposed for someone else to swoop in and kill them. It's not a nice thing to do.
Non-Commander question:
I'm setting up a draft event for my casual commander group, none of us draft more than five or six times a year. Should we draft Core Set 202 or Modern Horizons? Most people in the group go into a draft event hoping to pull value to recoup the cost of drafting and hoping to get some fun cards to potentially put in their decks. That makes me lean toward Horizons. Why not go big on the potential of pulls...
But...most of us are terrible at drafting...and I can't imagine we'd do well with the complicated draft environment. Which makes me lean toward 2020...
Any input would be appreciated on this!
The problem is that (which The Command Zone pointed out) you have to explain to players that a card like Beseech the Queen is okay in a non-black deck and Deathrite Shaman is not okay if you're not playing both colours. It creates confusion, especially in an Eternal format that keeps growing.Hybrid cards aren't a middle ground -- that's what gold cards are. They're designed to be cards where it could be a mono-colored card of either of the colors. That's why many call for them to be legal. They don't expand the abilities of what the color could normally do (in theory).
I disagree that it's comparable to other similar cards, even if it seems that way. The biggest difference, and it's a big one, is that it doesn't hit the player who plays it. This is the main reason it's a problem and other actual reset buttons like Planar Cleansing or Evacuation aren't. If you wipe the board except for yours you better damn sure have a plan to win, especially after an hour or so of play. Often times the player who casts it continues to durdle around while everyone attempts to rebuild. It's just a bad feeling for everyone. It creates some really uniquely unfun situations that other wraths/wipes/mass bounce do not.My totally unqualified thoughts on Commander based on my small playgroup:
Cyclonic Rift is in blue (-), does not have a clear parallel in power level in other colors (-), is an instant (-), is in almost every deck that can play it (-), does not have answers (-), and does not always serve to close the game (-)...With that said I don't think it needs to be banned or even that there is something wrong with the power level, it just needs answers in more colors and maybe even better board wipes in other colors. Also, as mentioned: board wipes that just serve as a reset and don't close out the game are the main point of frustration. Cyclonic Rift gets an especially bad wrap because of how ubiquitous it is, but the reality is that many other board wipes create the same reset board state that is undesirable.
The problem is that (which The Command Zone pointed out) you have to explain to players that a card like Beseech the Queen is okay in a non-black deck and Deathrite Shaman is not okay if you're not playing both colours. It creates confusion, especially in an Eternal format that keeps growing.
Thanks for clarifying that point for me. I still have difficulty with the idea that the effect of a hybrid mana spell could reside solely in either of the colors present...why don't those colors have the effect well represented? People should not need the hybrid mana cards because the already have plenty of other cards the produce the desired result. All the discussion I've seen on the topic is about how some hybrid cards would help different colors by giving them access to effects not immediately accessible.Hybrid cards aren't a middle ground -- that's what gold cards are. They're designed to be cards where it could be a mono-colored card of either of the colors. That's why many call for them to be legal. They don't expand the abilities of what the color could normally do (in theory).
Thanks for the info! A few people in the group do try to flip cards, so that short-term value proposition is a good thing to keep in mind! We should have 8 players, and I've opened the conversation up to those players as well.As long as everyone understands what the archetypes are at a basic level, Modern Horizons is a really fun draft. That said, it's more expensive and, for the money, probably not better value. There's a lot of really bad cards in Modern Horizons. I'd also think that, if your group is not 8 players, the balance might be thrown off too much which isn't as much an issue in M20 as it's got five archetypes instead of 10.
M20 was pretty fun in sealed and had some depth. I'd probably recommend that if you're drafting soon as possible. Cards from the set are worth a lot in the short term so anyone who wants to sell them quickly can probably make good money.
I disagree that it's comparable to other similar cards, even if it seems that way. The biggest difference, and it's a big one, is that it doesn't hit the player who plays it. This is the main reason it's a problem and other actual reset buttons like Planar Cleansing or Evacuation aren't. If you wipe the board except for yours you better damn sure have a plan to win, especially after an hour or so of play. Often times the player who casts it continues to durdle around while everyone attempts to rebuild. It's just a bad feeling for everyone. It creates some really uniquely unfun situations that other wraths/wipes/mass bounce do not.
Thanks for clarifying that point for me. I still have difficulty with the idea that the effect of a hybrid mana spell could reside solely in either of the colors present...why don't those colors have the effect well represented? People should not need the hybrid mana cards because the already have plenty of other cards the produce the desired result. All the discussion I've seen on the topic is about how some hybrid cards would help different colors by giving them access to effects not immediately accessible.
Hybrid cards are printed because they're fun and so that decks that care about the colors can play those. They're useful for draft as well, allowing one card to suit two different colors. I don't want to promise there's not a hybrid card that slipped through the cracks, but pretty much every hybrid card should be doing something that a mono-colored card in those colors could do. Of course, that doesn't mean that there is a mono-colored card that does exactly that, which is why people want them to be available for play.
Not unless I manage to make it to at least Lvl 90, and even then this whole pass business is pretty dubious imo.
If u have clear, u can waste their mana by destroying her transformed land cardsPeople bitch about 3feri, but nissa it's miles ahead stronger than him.
Not unless I manage to make it to at least Lvl 90, and even then this whole pass business is pretty dubious imo.
The break even for the pass seems to be level 43. Quoting someone from Reddit who did the math:Not unless I manage to make it to at least Lvl 90, and even then this whole pass business is pretty dubious imo.
We're getting an announcement about the next set this Saturday, and MaRo is hyping up next Monday's article in today's.This is the longest we've gone without spoilers/leaks in a LONG time. Good on them for containing it so far.
But seriously, what's next?
This is the longest we've gone without spoilers/leaks in a LONG time. Good on them for containing it so far.
But seriously, what's next?
When are those due? I think I read somewhere it was mid-July, which sure is nowI'm pumped for the Commander spoilers soon. Either going to make a Yuriko deck or do something with the new stuff, so I'm excited.
When are those due? I think I read somewhere it was mid-July, which sure is now
RIPThey're going to announce when spoilers happen at San Diego Comic Con (also stuff about the fall set as well, presumably like the name/theme). Commander spoilers should appear early August and it'll launch late August.